Historical Marker

This historical marker seen on Monday, 14 May, at the Arcadia exit on I-81 in Virginia, the exit where Wattstull Inn sits up on the hill east of the Interstate:

Cartmill's Gap

This gap, just west, is named for Henry Cartmill who acquired land nearby on Purgatory Creek. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), conflicts between Indians and settlers increased in this area. In 1757, Indians laid waste to several neaby farmsteads, including the Robert Renick settlement a few miles north near present-day Natural Bridge. Renick was killed, while his wife and children (William, Robert, Thomas, Joshua, and Betsy) were taken captive. A neighbor, Hannah Dennis, also was made prisoner; Joseph Dennis, her husband, and their child were among those killed. The Indians escaped south through Cartmill's Gap.

Lots of interesting stuff in this, not the least of which is Purgatory Creek! That sounds like it could be the title of a great little historical novel. Captivity such as that experienced by those taken prisoner in the story above was fairly common in 18th- and 19th-century America. The captivity narrative--in which a captive wrote his or her story or told it to somebody who wrote it--became a popular literary genre unto itself.