S Butler and S Hibbs Family History Our Family's Journey Through Time

Barbara Culp

Barbara Culp

Female 1733 - Aft 1790  (> 58 years)


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  • Name Barbara Culp
    Birth 1733  Bucks Co, PA Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Female
    Misc Fact 1761 
    She was attacked by Indians, stripped naked, scalped, and left for dead 
    Death Aft 1790  Camden District, Chester Co, SC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Findagrave.com 07 Jul 2020 
    See Notes 
    DAR.org 05 May 2021 
    See his Notes -- husband MCKENNEY, WILLIAM -- Ancestor #: A077666 
    Person ID I1307  Butler Family Tree
    Last Modified 6 Jun 2026

    Father Hans Casper Kolb,   b. 13 Jul 1692, Swartzenau, Palatinate, Germany Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Between 30 Sep 1769 and 30 Apr 1770, Camden District, Chester Co, SC Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 77 years)
    Relationship natural
    Mother Anna Alcordas Phillis,   b. Between 1701 and 1715, Germany Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Bef 12 May 1764 (Age < 63 years)
    Relationship natural
    Marriage Abt 1729 
    Family ID F466  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family William McKinney-xx,   b. 1729   d. 27 Apr 1785, Chester Co, SC Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 56 years)
    Marriage Abt 1752  Craven Co, SC Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 

    • Children:

      son John McKinney 1753 Chester Co, SC - d. bet. 1770-1843 in Monroe Co, MS
      - married Frances (Fannie) Jordan 1791
      - d/o Henry Jordan and Frances Rives
      son William McKinney 1755 - 1842
      son Henry McKinney abt 1756 - abt 1813
      dau Elizabeth McKinney 1759
      - married James Cargel abt 1820 Scotland
      dau Hannah McKinney 11/1/1761 - 1839
      - married John Steadman
      dau Mary McKinney 12/3/1767 - 1856
      - married Ralph McFadden
      son James McKinney 1768 - 1844
      - married Elizabeth ???
      son Joseph McKinney
      - married ??? Robbins
    Family ID F849  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 6 Jun 2026

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 1733 - Bucks Co, PA Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - Aft 1790 - Camden District, Chester Co, SC Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos
    Rev-War-Vet--McKinney-William--Ancestor #A077666--(husband Barbara Culp)
    Rev-War-Vet--McKinney-William--Ancestor #A077666--(husband Barbara Culp)
    McKinney-Barbara-(Culp)
    McKinney-Barbara-(Culp)
    McKinney-Barbara-(Culp)-1
    McKinney-Barbara-(Culp)-1

  • Notes 

    • - ** See marriage notes for list of children **

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      Found at findagrave.com on 7/7/2020

      Barbara Culp McKinney

      Birth: 1733 Pennsylvania, USA
      Death: 1782 (aged 48–49) Chester County, South Carolina, USA
      Burial: Burnt Meeting House Church CemeteryChester County, South Carolina, USA
      Memorial #: 7975042
      Bio:
      Barbara Culp McKinney's parents were Hans Casper and Anna Phillis CULP. Barbara married William McKinney. In 1761, she was attacked by Indians, stripped naked, scalped, and left for dead. She later somewhat recovered and bore several children. Their children were Hannah and Mary McKinney.See Hans Culp at: Find A Grave Memorial# 18013570
      Family Members
      Parents
      Hans Casper Culp 1692-1770
      Anna Alcordas Phillis Kolb Culp 1710-1764
      Spouse
      William McKinney 1729-1785
      Siblings
      Benjamin Culp 1741-1819
      John Kolb Culp 1750-1809
      Children
      Mary McKinney McFadden 1767-1856
      Created by: Edward Lanham (46501776)
      Added: 11 Oct 2003
      URL: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7975042/mck
      Citation: Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 07 July 2020), memorial page for Barbara Culp McKinney (1733–1782), Find a Grave Memorial no. 7975042, citing Burnt Meeting House Church Cemetery, Chester County, South Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Edward Lanham (contributor 46501776) .
      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      found at http://www.mendheim-usa.com/web/hckolbdesc/pafg02.htm#981

      4. Barbara Culp (Hans Kaspar (Casper) ) was born about 1733 in Bucks Co. PA. She died after 1782 in Camden District, SC.

      During the time of the Indian war Barbara (Culp) McKinney, was scalpedin the ?wilderness? of South Carolina by Cherokees and survived.Elizabeth F. Ellet tells her story in ?The Women of The AmericanRevolution? written in 1850.

      Barbara married William McKinney son of Patrick McKinney and (Mary) Patrick McKinney Wife about 1752 in Craven Co. SC. William was born about 1729. He died on 27 Apr 1785 in Chester County, South Carolina.

      DAR descendants of William McKinney

      Shirley A. Williamson 433622
      Lucille O. McBride 449687
      Sarah O. Walker 454619

      Will dated 11-20-1782 and estate appraised 9-25-1784
      Will names sons: John, William, James, Henry
      daughters: Hanna and Mary who was stated to be a minor.

      According to LDS microfilm records, William was born in Scotland, theson of Patrick and Mary McKinney. He came to the US, lived briefly inFrederick Co Va
      other source says death in 1787

      William and Barbara had the following children:

      17 M i John McKinney was born in 1753 in Chester County, South Carolina. He died in 1770/1843 in Monroe Co. MS.
      John married Frances (Fannie) Jordan 1 daughter of Henry Jordan and Frances Rives. Frances was born 2 in 1791.
      + 18 M ii William McKinney was born in 1755. He died in 1842.
      + 19 M iii Henry McKinney was born about 1756. He died about 1813.
      20 F iv Elizabeth McKinney was born in 1759.
      Elizabeth married James Cargel. James was born about 1820 in Scotland.
      + 21 F v Hannah McKinney was born on 1 Nov 1761. She died in 1839.
      + 22 F vi Mary McKinney was born on 3 Dec 1767. She died in 1856.
      + 23 M vii James McKinney was born in 1768. He died in 1844.
      24 M viii Joseph McKinney.
      Joseph married FNU Robbins.
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      According to www.davidculp.com research:
      Barbara was scalped by Indians.

      married ??? McKinney
      ------------------------------------------------------------------
      See Also http://www.ejlanham.com/LifeontheFrontier
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      found at http://www.ejlanham.com/LifeontheFrontier

      Life On The Frontier

      The Story Of Barbara Culp McKinney

      Indian Territory
      Chester District, South Carolina
      1761

      Home

      Barbara Culp McKinney's grave at Burnt Meeting House Church
      Cemetery, Chester Co., SC.

      While researching the genealogy of my Patrick family, I became obsessed in learning more about our
      descendants before James Patrick, the private tutor of Mrs. Anna Morrison (Stonewall) Jackson. What
      I found was absolutely fascinating.

      They came across the “big water” from Ireland, England, Scotland, and Germany. Their names were
      Kolb (Kolb’s Farm on the Kennesaw Mtn. Battlefield), Culp (Culp’s Hill at Gettysburg), Abendschon,
      Adams, Banks, Bell, Benton, Chileab, Hamilton, Ferguson, Ferris, Abendschon, Bailey, Hyatt, Ivey,
      Jordan, Lawrence, Leighton, Lewis, Mayer, Morton, McFadden, Mumforde, Nunnery, Patton,
      Partridge, Pollock, Price, Ringgold, Schumacker, Simpson, Smith, Stubbleson, Tribble, Vaughan,
      Waite, Waters, White, Williams, Winston, and Woodson. They also came from America. Yes, I said
      America, American Indian from our McDaniel line.

      In our family tree have three veterans of the French-Indian Wars, eleven in the Revolutionary War (one
      was a Tory), two in the War of 1812, two in the Mexican War, and one hundred seventy-four in the
      Civil War. They range from privates to Generals. Most survived their respective wars, but many did
      not. Life on the frontier was hard in those days.

      But the one person, out of all those frontier men, that I found the most intriguing was not a man…but a
      woman named Barbara Culp McKinney, my 5th Great Aunt. This is her true story as written in the
      book “Women of the American Revolution.”

      The little settlement of white settlers had spread over the rich lands on Fishing and Rocky Creeks, the
      dwellings being gathered into clusters, of which there were some three or four within a short distance of
      each other. Not a great way from Steel’s and Taylor’s Forts was another settlement consisting of a
      few families, among which were those of William McKenny and his brother James. These lived near
      Fishing Creek. In the summer of 1761, sixteen Indians, with some squaws of the Cherokee tribe, took
      up their abode for several weeks near what is called Simpson’s Shoals, for the purpose of hunting and
      fishing during the hot months. In August, the two McKennys being absent on a journey to Camden,
      William’s wife, Barbara, was left alone with several young children. One day she saw the Indian
      women running towards her house in great haste, followed by the men. She had no time to offer
      resistance; the squaws seized her and the children, pulled them into the house, and shoved them behind
      the door, where they immediately placed themselves on guard, pushing back the Indians as fast as they
      tried to force their way in, and uttering the most fearful outcries. Mrs. McKenny concluded it was their
      intention to kill her, and expected her fate every moment. The assistance rendered by the squaws,
      whether given out of compassion for a lonely mother, or in return for kindness shown them, --proved
      effectual for her protection till the arrival of one of the chiefs, who drew his long knife and drove off the
      savages. The mother, apprehending another attack, went to some of her neighbors and entreated them
      to come and stay with her. Robert Brown and Joanna his wife, Sarah Ferguson, her daughter Sarah
      and two sons, and a young man named Michael Melbury, came in compliance with her request, and
      took up their quarters in the house. The next morning Mrs. McKenny ventured out alone to milk her
      cows. It had been her practice heretofore to take some of the children with her, and she could not
      explain why she went alone this time, though she was not free from apprehension, it seemed to be so by
      a special ordering of Providence. While she was milking, the Indians crept towards her on their hands
      and knees; she heard not their approach, nor knew anything till they seized her. Sensible at once of all
      the horror of her situation, she made no effort to escape, but promised to go quietly with them. They
      then set off towards the house, holding her fast by the arm. She had the presence of mind to walk as
      far off as possible from the Indian who held her, expecting Melbury to fire as they approached her
      dwelling. As they came up, he fired, wounding the one who held Mrs. McKenny; she broke from his
      hold and ran, and another Indian pursued and seized her. At this moment she was just at her own
      door, which John Ferguson imprudently opening that she might enter, the Indians shot him dead as he
      presented himself. His mother ran to him and received another shot in her thigh, of which she died in a
      few days. Melbury, who saw that all their lives depended on prompt action, dragged them from the
      door, fastened it, and repairing to the loft, prepared for a vigorous defense. There were in all, five
      guns. Sarah Ferguson loaded for him while he kept up a continual fire, aiming at the Indians wherever
      one could be seen.

      Determined to effect their object of forcing an entrance, some of the savages came very near the house,
      keeping under cover of an outhouse in which Brown and his wife had taken refuge, not being able on
      the alarm, to get into the house. They had crept into a corner and were crouched there close to the
      boarding. One of the Indians, coming up, leaned against the outside, separated from them only by a
      few boards, the crevices between which probably enabled them to see him. Mrs. Brown proposed to
      take a sword that lie by them and run the savage through the body, but her husband refused; he
      expected death, he said, every moment, and did not wish to go out of the world having his hands
      crimsoned with the blood of any fellow creature. “Let me die in peace”, were his words, “with all the
      world”. Joanna, though in the same peril, could not respond to the charitable feeling. “If I am to die”,
      she said, “I should like first to send some of the redskins on their journey. But we are not so sure we
      have to die don’t you hear the crack of Melbury’s rifle? He holds the house. I warrant you, that
      redskin looked awfully scared as he leaned against the corner here. We could have done it in a
      moment.”

      Mrs. McKenny, meanwhile, having failed to get into her house, had been again seized by the Indians,
      and desperately regardless of here own safety, was doing all in her power to help her besieged friends.
      She would knock the priming out of the guns carried by the savages, and when they presented them to
      fire would throw them up, so that the discharge might prove harmless. She was often heard to say,
      afterwards, that all fear had left her, and she thought only of those within the building, for she expected
      for herself neither deliverance nor mercy. Melbury continued to fire whenever one of the enemy
      appeared; they kept themselves, however, concealed, for the most part, behind trees or the outhouse.
      Several were wounded by his cool and well-directed shots, and at length, tired of the contest, the
      Indians retreated, carrying Mrs. McKenny with them. She now resisted with all her strength, preferring
      instant death to the more terrible fate of a captive in the hands of the fierce Cherokees. Her refusal to
      go forward irritated her captors, and when they had dragged her about half a mile, near a rock upon
      the plantation now occupied by John Culp, she received a second blow with the tomahawk which
      stretched her insensible upon the ground. When after some time consciousness returned, she found
      herself lying upon the rock, to which she had been dragged from the spot where she fell. She was
      stripped naked, and her scalp had been taken off. By degrees the knowledge of her condition, and the
      desire of obtaining help came upon her. She lifted up her head, and looking around, saw the wretches
      who had so cruelly mangled her, pulling ears of corn from a field near, to roast for their meal. She laid
      her head quickly down again, well knowing that if they saw her alive, they would not be slack in coming
      for finish the work of death. Thus she lay motionless till all was silent, and she found they were gone;
      then with great pain and difficulty she dragged herself back to the house. It may be imagined with what
      feelings the unfortunate woman was received by her friends and children, and how she met the
      bereaved mother wounded unto death, who had suffered for her attempt to save others. One of the
      blows received by Mrs. McKenny had made a deep wound in her back; the others were upon her
      head. When her wounds had been dressed as well as was practicable, Melbury and the others assisted
      her to a bed. Brown and his brave wife having then joined the little garrison, preparations were made
      for defense in case of another attack’ the guns were all loaded and placed ready for use, and
      committing the house to the care of the Browns, Melbury sallied forth, rifle in hand, and took to the
      woods. He made his way directly, and as quickly as possible, to Taylor’s Fort at Landsford. The men
      there, informed of what had happened, immediately set about preparations for pursuing the treacherous
      Indians who had thus violated the implied good faith of neighbors by assailing an unprotected woman.
      The next morning a number of the, well armed, started for the Indian encampment at the shoals. The
      Cherokees were gone; but the indignant pursuers took up the trail, which they followed as far as Broad
      River. Here they saw the Indians on the other side, but did not judge it expedient to pursue them
      further, or provoke an encounter.

      In the meantime William McKenny had reason for uneasiness in his absence from home; for he knew
      that the Indians had been at the shoals some time, nor was the deceitful and cruel character of the tribe
      unknown to him. He was accustomed long afterwards to tell of the warning conveyed to him while on
      his road to Camden; two nights in succession he dreamed of losing his hat, and looking upon this as an
      omen of evil, became so uncomfortable that he could proceed no further. Taking one of the horses out
      of the wagon, he mounted and rode homeward at his utmost speed. Reaching his own house a little
      after dark, he was admitted by the women as soon as he made himself known. The scene that greeted
      his eyes was one truly heart-rending; the slain man, John Ferguson, still lay there, and in the same
      apartment the dying mother and Mrs. McKenny, more like one dead than living, mangled almost past
      recognition- the blood still gushing from her wounds, and drenching the pillows on which she lay. No
      fictitious tragedy could surpass the horrors of this in real life.

      Days later a group of men from the area trailed the Indians within miles of the Cherokee Nation. One of
      the men, Thomas Garett, killed the Indian that scalped Mrs. McKinney and actually found her scalp in
      the Indian’s shot bag.

      The wounds in Mrs. McKenny’s head never healed entirely; but continued to break out occasionally,
      so that the blood flowing from them stained the bed at night, and sometimes fragments of bone came
      off; nevertheless, she lived many years afterwards and bore several children. She was at the time with
      child, and in about three months gave birth to a daughter-Hannah, afterwards married to John
      Stedman- living in Tennessee in 1827. This child was plainly marked with a tomahawk and drops of
      blood, as if running down the side of her face. The families of McKenny and McFadden residing on
      Fishing Creek, are descended from this Barbara McKenny; but most of her descendants have
      emigrated to the West. The above-mentioned occurrence is narrated in a manuscript in the hand-
      writing of her grandson, Robert McFadden.

      Several years later, Barbara would be faced with an equal threat in her life that would test her strength
      and devotion for her family. For in the near future, the clouds of war would open and pour out eight
      years of hell. Once she committed to that war of independence, to retreat was unacceptable, no matter
      how imposing the task ahead. The mounting investment in her blood, sweat, and tears influenced a final,
      decisive resolution of the great question of the American independence. Thanks to Barbara Culp
      McKenny, and others like her, an independent nation was born
      The End

      Edward Jordan Lanham
      4-2001
      Credits: Ellet, Elizabeth F.; The Women of the American Revolution
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