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Submitted: 4/23/20 • Approved: 4/27/20 • Last Updated: 4/27/20 • R1855-G0
1747 - 1781
Peter settled near Mill Creek in Randolph Co, WV about the year 1772 and built a homestead at the mouth of Shaver's Run. He served in the Virginia Militia during the Revolutionary War as an Indian scout and spy. In 1781, shortly after returning home from the war, Peter was killed and scalped by Indians along with his father in law, Francis Riffle, and many others in what was known as the Tygarts Valley Indian Massacre. Shaver's Mountain and Shaver's Fork River, located in Randolph Co., WV, were named in his honor.
Story has it that his family consisted of three sons, his wife Sarah, who would soon give birth to their forth child, and another man who is thought to be Paul Shaver Jr. They had spent the day visiting and towards night went home. Peter took a near way. His wife and the other man (Paul Jr) rode the same horse. When near home the body of Peter was seen lying across the path. His wife put her hand to her face to hide the sight and exclaimed that her husband had been killed. The other (Paul Jr) man tried to calm her by saying it was a log across the path, but it was soon seen that he had been killed and scalped only minutes before. The rest of the family escaped to a neighbor's home and from there fled the valley. Within a few months, his wife gave birth to a child, a son, and on his face was a large red birthmark like the mark of a hand. It was always attributed to his mother placing her hand to her face after seeing the tragic sight of her husband being dead and scalped. This son was Francis Shaver the great grandfather of Clement L. Shaver, a noted politician in West Virginia.
Tradition says that Peter Shaver's father, Paul Shaver , was the old man that was present when the body of Peter was found, killed and scalped by the Indians. This would be impossible since his father died nine years prior in 1772 which is documented in the "Chronicles of the Scotch Irish Settlement ". Others believe it to be his brother Paul Shaver II. Paul was 22 and was disabled from a wound in the leg that he received during the war. (Source: MAGAZINE of HISTORY and BIOGRAPHY, Number Eight 1936, Randolph County Historical Society, Elkins, West Virginia).
Contributed on 4/23/20 by tomtodd
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Record #: 1855