JAMES GALLOWAY, SR.
In the January issue of the QUARTERLY in
the con-
tribution entitled, "Revolutionary
War Soldiers Buried
in Clark County, Ohio," there is
on pages 95-96, a sketch
of James Galloway, Sr., which contains
a number of
errors. These are due evidently for the
most part to
errors in previous sketches in county
histories and to a
confusion of the name of James
Galloway, Sr., with
other Galloways by the name of James.
The following
sketch is by Dr. W. A. Galloway, of
Xenia, and is
authentic in every particular:
James Galloway, Sr., was born in
Cumberland County, Penn-
sylvania, May Ist, 1750, and resided
there until the War of the
American Revolution. The monument
marking his grave gives
1775 as the date of his removal from
Pennsylvania to Kentucky,
where he settled on lands adjacent to
Stony Creek in the present
bounds of Fayette County.
The military record in the War of the
Revolution shows
three enlistments: 1776, 1777 and 1779,
all of which were
served under Pennsylvania officers. For these services he sub-
sequently drew a United States pension.
He was married in Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania, to
Rebekah Junkin on October 29, 1779. Seven children of this
union survived, one of whom was given
the name of James. The
suffixes "Sr." and
"Jr.," designating them, became necessary be-
cause of their later extensive public
relations. James Galloway,
Sr., was Treasurer of Greene County,
Ohio, from the date of its
organization, 1803 to 1819. His son,
James Galloway, Jr., was
Deputy Surveyor, by appointment, for
Virginia Military Lands
which lay between the Scioto and Little
Miami Rivers.
James Galloway, Sr., participated in
many Kentucky Indian
skirmishes, the most notable of which
was the disastrous battle
of Big Blue Licks, August 19, 1782. In October following, he
joined General George Rogers Clark's
punitive expedition against
the Shawnees at Old Chillicothe. Considerable "Indian prop-
(613)
614 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications
erty" was destroyed, but no lives
on either side were lost during
this expedition. He and his friends first saw the fine lands
of
the Miami valley in 1782, and determined
to, settle there perma-
nently when safe to do so. After the
Treaty of Greenville, 1795,
these lands became available for safe
settlement.
James Galloway, Sr., and the other first
settlers near Old
Chillicothe were Scotch Associate
Presbyterians (Seceders) who
were not in harmony with Kentucky policy
of human slavery.
For this reason, he, with his family,
moved from Kentucky in
1797, and established the permanent
family home five miles north
of Xenia, Ohio, on the present
Springfield and Xenia road. This
location was a short distance north of
Old Chillicothe, the prin-
cipal Shawonoese (Shawnee) Indian
village on the Little Miami
River.
From 1797 to the date of his death, he resided at this
place. He and his wife are buried in the
Massie's Creek Scotch
Associate graveyard, usually called the
Stevenson cemetery, four
and one half miles northeast of Xenia,
Ohio. On the memorial
tablet is the following inscription:
In memory of James Galloway, born in
Pennsylvania, May
Ist, 1750, died near Xenia, Ohio, August
6th, 1838, aged 88
years, 8 months, 5 days. He was a pioneer in Kentucky
in 1775,
a soldier of the Revolution in 1776, an
honest man and a pious
Christian.
Upon an adjoining stone tablet is the
simple inscription,
part of which time has effaced:
Rebekah Galloway
Born Oct. 2nd, 1759. Died August 31st, 1812,
Aged 52 years and -- months.