Valentine "Felty"
Coil of Ruddell's Station
Valentine Coil-"Felty II"
Biography published 1999 in the Ruddellsforter Newsletter.
By Jim Sellars
The
story of the Coil family at Ruddell's Station has been preserved through the
experiences of a young boy named Valentine "Felty" Coil. An elder
Valentine Coil, who is believed to be his grandfather, immigrated to America on
the ship Edinburgh and landed at the port in Philadelphia on September 15,
1749.(1) The elder Felty Coil brought with him from Rotterdam, Holland his wife
Margaret and their children Gabriel, Jacob, George, Martin, Elizabeth and
Barbary settling in the colony of Virginia. Felty and his three oldest sons,
Gabriel, Jacob and George served in the militia of Augusta County in 1756. From
records in the Augusta court the four men appear to have supplied the militia
with flour, potatoes and beef for the company during the time of their service.
In 1761 Felty purchased two tracts of land from James Trimble containing 230
acres located on the South Branch of the Potomac River above Trout Rock. The
family became established on their new farm in Augusta County where the elder
Felty was naturalized August 22, 1764.(2)
A
tale passed down in the Coil family, which has been confused with young Felty's
captivity, is the story of Jacob and George's capture by the Indians. This
incident may have happened while the two were young men in there twenties. They
had been captured by a band of Indians and were tied with ropes. Jacob gnawed
through his ropes releasing himself where he then untied his brother. They
dressed themselves as Indians and disappeared into the woods escaping from
their Indian captors. Jacob was said to be a large man with great strength and
when his brother tired he carried him. George left his brother hidden in some
brush and continued on arriving safely at a frontier station. The guards didn't
recognize at first since he was dressed like an Indian, but once he called out
to the guard they realized who he was and let him into the fort. Afterward
Jacob and a few others returned to George's hiding place and carried him off to
safety.(3)
The
younger Felty Coil was born about 1768 and his sister Mary "Polly"
about 1762; both are believed to be children of Martin Coil though
documentation to prove this has not been found. When the elder Felty Coil died
in 1766, his son Martin was left 130 acres from the estate with the provision
that he allow his mother and sisters to live upon the land. Felty made it clear
in his will that if Martin "proves disobedient or by turbulent means,
offers to deprive them of peaceable enjoyment, he is to lose all rights of
possession and the land is to dissolve to his mother, and after her demise to
Barbary and Elizabeth." Martin sold his inheritance September 27, 1779 to
John and Elizabeth Zumwalt and after this Martin does not appear in any
Virginia record.
Soon
after the sale of Martin's land he probably came to Kentucky with his family
and settled at Ruddell's Station. In one of Dr. Lyman Draper's interviews with
a pioneer settler there is mention of the "Kyle" family who resided
at Ruddell's Station when it was captured in 1780. This was a common variation
of the name Coil. The story goes that Felty and his sister Mary
"Polly" were captured by Captain Bird's army of Canadians and Indians
and were carried across Ohio to Niagara Falls. He was taken into Canada where a
squaw who had lost a son adopted him. He lived with his Indian mother until his
marriage to an Indian girl.(4) Other stories handed down in the family say he
was brought to Canada and purchased by a British officer whose wife imposed
upon him and made him a slave.(5)
According
to an August 13, 1783 article in the Pennsylvania Gazette, there were four
members of the "Coile" family prisoners of the Indians. It listed
Martin and Barbary who may have been Felty's parents and "Cristin" or
Christian and Barbury possible siblings of Felty and Polly.
The
story continues that the notorious Simon Girty, who had been among his captors,
met Felty at a public house in Canada. After inviting him to drink and when
under the influence of "fire water," Felty bantered Girty for a
fight. Girty refused but grew very talkative, revealing the whereabouts of
Felty's family. On the strength of the Girty information, Felty returned to
Kentucky where he found an uncle who went with him to Pendleton County, West
Virginia. This was probably Jacob Coil, Martin's brother, who at the time was
living in Bourbon County. Felty soon found his mother and discovered she had
remarried to a man named Hendricks. When Felty's mother saw her long lost son,
she did not recognize him until "by means of a mark" then she knew it
was her Felty. After this visit with his mother, Felty returned to his wife and
children in Canada.
After
his wife's death, Felty left Canada joining his uncle Gabriel who settled in
Ross County, Ohio. In Canada, Valentine had learned the art of whisky making,
supplying it for the English Fur Trading Company. He followed this trade in
Fayette County, Ohio for a time, setting up a distillery near Washington Court
House. He eventually abandoned the whisky business and moved into town.(6)
Felty
Coil died in Fayette County, Ohio on November 28, 1853 at the age of 85 years
and his sister Polly on the same day in 1857 at the age of 95 years. Both are
buried in the Sugar Creek Baptist Cemetery in Fayette County, Ohio.(7)
1. Strassburger, Ralph Beaver. Pennsylvania German Pioneers: A Publication of the Original Lists of Arrivals in the Port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808. Edited by William John Hinkle. Norristown, PA: Pennsylvania German Society, 1934. 3 vols. Vols. 1 and 3 reprinted by Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore. 1964. Reprint 1983. Vol. 1, 1727-1775. p. 402.
2. Breitbard, Gail. Some Shenandoah Valley Naturalizations. The Lost Palatine. 1983. No. 8, pp. 3-4. Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County 1745-1800, Augusta County Court Records, order book No. XXIV, p. 519, 525
3. Pamela Rooney to author, July 25, 1999. Original in possession of the author.
4. Allen, Frank M, ed. History of Fayette County, Ohio, Indianapolis: 1914, p. 284.
5. Pamela Rooney to author, July 25, 1999. Original in possession of the author.
6. Allen, Frank M, ed. History of Fayette County, Ohio, Indianapolis: 1914, p. 284.
7. Pamela Rooney to author, July 25, 1999.