The Massacre of Susan Wylie

Susan Wylie was Granddad’s 5th Great-Grandmother, and the daughter of James Wylie. Funny thing to note about James Wylie: There is mention of funds being paid to John Campbell for his owl burial and the notation that seven gallons of liquor were present at his funeral on 30 January 1761.  A good send-off, indeed!

Susan married Nathaniel Day circa 1737, likely in Pennsylvania. Susan and Nathaniel had five known children.  Several of the children were born while residing in Plumstead Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It is largely believed that Nathaniel Day died in 1754, after being scalped, but surviving They go on to state that Susan and her children then migrated to Virginia with her father.

Various accounts of the Wylie family have been repeated about the tragedy that unfolded following attacks from Natives.  The events of the attack on the Day family in 1756 were given in great detail by their son John.

Some say the farm was attacked by Natives while the family was working in the fields.  The youngest child, David was killed instantly.  Susan, Martha and Sarah “Sally,” were all taken prisoner by the Shawnee and marched over the mountains in the Cacapon River area of Frederick County.  Martha would later recall a hunch her mother had that she would not survive the kidnapping, having heard Susan remark to her fellow adult prisoners that of all those kidnapped, she was the only one who had not been provided with moccasins and was, therefore, left to march barefoot.

The History of Pocahontas County says that the group of Natives and their prisoners were getting ready to move on from camp when  one of the warriors walked up to Susan and struck her a stunning blow between her shoulders with his war club, knocking the breath out of her, and then, seemingly within an instant, lifted her scalp from her head.  She was left there in a state of insensibility and it was never known whether she recovered consciousness or died immediately.

A party of twenty, under Captain Fry, had set out to try and rescue the prisoners, among them was Susan’s 14 year-old son John. The following account was provided by John, many years later, when he was applying for a military pension:

  "The Shawnee Indians had come into Botetourt County in the said State of Virginia and killed my brother David Day and taken my mother and two sisters, Sally Day and Martha Day, prisoners, and also took some other property and made for their towns, the first night the Indians camped on a mountain, between Capcapon River and Cedar Creek and at that camp killed my Mother, Susan Day … Captain Fry raised twenty men of which I was one. We followed said Indians, and when we came to the Indian camp aforesaid, there lay my mother dead, and stripped naked, her head skinned and we lifted her and laid her between some rocks and laid some rocks over her: and we followed on after the Indians, and the second day came in sight of them at their camp, and I raised my gun to shoot one of them, and just as I was about to draw trigger, I saw one of my sisters rise up right before the muzzle of my gun between me and the Indian: and I was so alarmed at seeing my sister rise before my gun that I involuntarily hollered, which so alarmed the Indians that they broke and ran, leaving the prisoners, and what they had at the camp, and run with all their might: and we got the prisoners, and what property the Indians left at the camp, and brought all safe to the fort."