Gypsy Heart
Gold Member
Trader" Hughes was the first permanent settler
in Amherst Co. Va. He and his Indian wife established a
trading post on the north side of the James River, west of the
Tobacco Row Mountains (circa late 1600's).
Traders began to move their goods along the upper James
River around 1720. According to Alexander Brown in his 1895
book, "Cabells and Their Kin", Hughes was the first known
white man to open a post for Indian trade above "the falls".
He built his cabin deep in the silent forests along the Blue Ridge.
Hughes traded with the local Monacan Indians and was
accepted by them because of his wife's heritage.
The stone chimney attached to the trading post was a well
established landmark and was used as a reference point for
many surveys done by William Cabell. Part of the chimney
remains today.
On November 7, 1999, this writer (Victor Hughes) sought out the old remains of
the Trader Hughes cabin and trading post. The location was found
just off the trail around Otter Lake at coordinates 37.55627 degrees
North by 79.35203 degrees West. The ruins are just off the hiking trail
and covered by thick growth. All that remain are the bottom 4 feet of
the chimney and a raised earthen outline of the building's foundation.
Trader Hughes' grandson, Robert Davis developed a second
trading post further down the James River at the mouth of the
Pedlar River.
The Trader Hughes Story (one version)
THE LEGEND:
Most histories of Amherst County, Va recount the first
settler in the area as being an Indian trader known as "Trader
Hughes". He, along with his Indian wife, Nicketti, established
a trading post on the James River about a half-mile west
of the mouth of Otter Creek. This location was where several
Indian paths intersected and near the river access to
the "Valley of Virginia". This must have been a busy
intersection by 1700 standards!
According to Dr. William Cabell, HUGHES had the
first stone chimney in the area, which qualified him at
the first permanent settler. Hughes' wife, Nicketti, was
the great grand daughter of the legendary Indian Chief
Opechanacanough Powhatan and niece to Pocahontas.
Trader HUGHES and his wife had a daughter named
Mary Elizabeth HUGHES, who was born in Jamestown
about 1654. She married an Welsh settler named Nathaniel
Davis about 1680. They had a daughter in 1711 named
Abadiah Davis who married William Floyd and their grandson,
John Floyd played an important part of the formation of
Amherst Co. and later became governor of Va.
THE FACTS:
Victor Hughes traced his ancestors back to William HUGHES
of Amherst Co. by tracking the ownership of property
that was passed from father to son. This property plays
a key role in unraveling the family connections. The
property is described as located on Harris Creek
near a small branch known as Fawn Creek in present
day Amherst Co. (not far from the Tobacco Row Mountains).
The "Executives Journals of the Council of Colonial
Virginia", V. 5, page 136, gives the 1743 patent of George
Carrington for 6000 acres on both sides of Harris Creek
on the north side of the Fluvanna River in then Goochland
County. Page 249 of this book gives the petition of George
Carrington to include the adjoining patents of John Floyd
and Orlando Hughes in his acreage.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=hughestree&id=I5304&printer_friendly#s2
in Amherst Co. Va. He and his Indian wife established a
trading post on the north side of the James River, west of the
Tobacco Row Mountains (circa late 1600's).
Traders began to move their goods along the upper James
River around 1720. According to Alexander Brown in his 1895
book, "Cabells and Their Kin", Hughes was the first known
white man to open a post for Indian trade above "the falls".
He built his cabin deep in the silent forests along the Blue Ridge.
Hughes traded with the local Monacan Indians and was
accepted by them because of his wife's heritage.
The stone chimney attached to the trading post was a well
established landmark and was used as a reference point for
many surveys done by William Cabell. Part of the chimney
remains today.
On November 7, 1999, this writer (Victor Hughes) sought out the old remains of
the Trader Hughes cabin and trading post. The location was found
just off the trail around Otter Lake at coordinates 37.55627 degrees
North by 79.35203 degrees West. The ruins are just off the hiking trail
and covered by thick growth. All that remain are the bottom 4 feet of
the chimney and a raised earthen outline of the building's foundation.
Trader Hughes' grandson, Robert Davis developed a second
trading post further down the James River at the mouth of the
Pedlar River.
The Trader Hughes Story (one version)
THE LEGEND:
Most histories of Amherst County, Va recount the first
settler in the area as being an Indian trader known as "Trader
Hughes". He, along with his Indian wife, Nicketti, established
a trading post on the James River about a half-mile west
of the mouth of Otter Creek. This location was where several
Indian paths intersected and near the river access to
the "Valley of Virginia". This must have been a busy
intersection by 1700 standards!
According to Dr. William Cabell, HUGHES had the
first stone chimney in the area, which qualified him at
the first permanent settler. Hughes' wife, Nicketti, was
the great grand daughter of the legendary Indian Chief
Opechanacanough Powhatan and niece to Pocahontas.
Trader HUGHES and his wife had a daughter named
Mary Elizabeth HUGHES, who was born in Jamestown
about 1654. She married an Welsh settler named Nathaniel
Davis about 1680. They had a daughter in 1711 named
Abadiah Davis who married William Floyd and their grandson,
John Floyd played an important part of the formation of
Amherst Co. and later became governor of Va.
THE FACTS:
Victor Hughes traced his ancestors back to William HUGHES
of Amherst Co. by tracking the ownership of property
that was passed from father to son. This property plays
a key role in unraveling the family connections. The
property is described as located on Harris Creek
near a small branch known as Fawn Creek in present
day Amherst Co. (not far from the Tobacco Row Mountains).
The "Executives Journals of the Council of Colonial
Virginia", V. 5, page 136, gives the 1743 patent of George
Carrington for 6000 acres on both sides of Harris Creek
on the north side of the Fluvanna River in then Goochland
County. Page 249 of this book gives the petition of George
Carrington to include the adjoining patents of John Floyd
and Orlando Hughes in his acreage.
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=hughestree&id=I5304&printer_friendly#s2
YEP! WELL done, GH; wife & I LIVED in the mountains of Tobacco Row, back in '99 - 2002 or so... Trader Hughes left descsendants (free blacks) ALL over the area where we lived; and "The Settlement" (home of the Monacan Nation, on BEAR Mountain), was over the ridge from us, about two miles. The Peaks of Otter (in today's Bedford County) DOES have POLLY'S ORDINARY, which is near the "remains" of the old trading post. Know all about Nikki, as she was Pokey's niece or something (Pocahontas); Pokey was my grandma, quite a few generations back; love her daddy MORE (Powhatan), 'cause he was "MEAN"... like ME! HA, HA, HA! 
Will find some e-pics to share; not much left of original structure. 
