Chief Hokolesqua Opeechan Stream "Wynepuechsika Keiga-tugh-qua" Cornstalk - Anyone want to study Cornstalks?

Linda (Carr) Buchholz

I'm interested in studying

Paskawo, gedcom/RE7076155
Robert Pounds, Jr
Rachelle Roby kit#AH6520100
Beverly Renee Hallman Marsh, Gedmatch Kit #XK9447597
@kent malcom
@Vicky Hudson
Thomas Robbins

Yes Interested -- I'll betcha Charles Grant & Kent Malcom would be too because the Cornstalk families tie into the Bluejacket families.

Shawnee leader
Personal details
Born ca. 1720
Pennsylvania
Died November 10, 1777
Fort Randolph, Virginia (now West Virginia)
Cause of death Killed by soldiers from Fort Randolph
Resting place Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Spouse(s) Helizikinopo (1715-1756), m. ca. 1739; Ounaconoa Moytoy (1715-1755), m. ca. 1740; Catherine Vanderpool (1725-1806) or 1808, m. 1763-1777
Relations Brother of Nonhelema
Children Aracoma Cornstalk, Elinipsico Cornstalk (1745-Oct. 10, 1777)
Parents Moytoy II Pigeon of Tellico (of Tainesi (Cherokee)) (1687-1760), Hawwaythi [1]
Known for Prominent leader of the Shawnee nation
Nickname(s) Keigh-tugh-qua and Wynepuechsika

Charles Dean Grant A181160 Kent Lee Malcom

Cornstalk (Shawnee: Hokoleskwa or Hokolesqua) (ca. 1720 – November 10, 1777) was a prominent leader of the Shawnee nation just prior to the American Revolution (1775-1783). His name, Hokoleskwa, translates loosely into "stalk of corn" in English, and is spelled Colesqua in some accounts. He was also known as Keigh-tugh-qua and Wynepuechsika.

Cornstalk opposed European settlement west of the Ohio River in his youth, but he later became an advocate for peace after the Battle of Point Pleasant (1774). His murder by American militiamen at Fort Randolph during a diplomatic visit in November 1777 outraged both American Indians and Virginians.

Biography
Early years
Historians believe he may have been born in present-day Pennsylvania, and with his sister, Nonhelema, moved to the Ohio Country, near present-day Chillicothe, when the Shawnee fell back before expanding white settlement. Stories tell of Cornstalk's participation in the French and Indian War (1754–1763), though these are probably apocryphal. His alleged participation in Pontiac's Rebellion (1763–1766) is also unverified, though he did take part in the peace negotiations.

Dunmore's War

Cornstalk monument located at Logan Elm State Memorial in Pickaway County, Ohio.
Cornstalk played a central role in Dunmore's War of 1774. After the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix, settlers and land speculators moved into the lands south of the Ohio River in present-day West Virginia and Kentucky. Although the Iroquois had agreed to cede the land, the Shawnee and others had not been present at the Fort Stanwix negotiations. They still claimed this area as their hunting grounds. Clashes soon took place over this. Cornstalk tried unsuccessfully to prevent escalation of the hostilities.

Attempting to block a Virginian invasion of the Ohio country, Cornstalk led a force of Shawnee and Mingo warriors at the Battle of Point Pleasant. His attack, although ferociously made, was beaten back by the Virginians. Cornstalk retreated and would reluctantly accept the Ohio River as the boundary of Shawnee lands in the Treaty of Camp Charlotte.

Cornstalk's commanding presence often impressed American colonials. A Virginia officer, Col. Benjamin Wilson, wrote of Cornstalk's speech to Lord Dunmore at Camp Charlotte in 1774: "I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose powers of delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk on that occasion."

American Revolution
With the American Revolution begun, Cornstalk worked to keep his people neutral. He represented the Shawnee at treaty councils at Fort Pitt in 1775 and 1776, the first Indian treaties ever negotiated by the United States. Many Shawnees nevertheless hoped to use British aid to reclaim their lands lost to the settlers. By the winter of 1776, the Shawnee were effectively divided into a neutral faction led by Cornstalk, and militant bands led by men such as Blue Jacket.

A replica of Fort Randolph, where Cornstalk was murdered.
In the fall of 1777, Cornstalk made a diplomatic visit to Fort Randolph, an American fort at present-day Point Pleasant, seeking as always to maintain his faction's neutrality. Cornstalk was detained by the fort commander, who had decided on his own initiative to take hostage any Shawnees who fell into his hands. When, on November 10, an American militiaman from the fort was killed nearby by unknown Indians, angry soldiers brutally executed Cornstalk, his son Elinipsico, and two other Shawnees. Private Jacob McNeil was one of the soldiers who participated in the capture of the Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, and tried to prevent his murder at Fort Randolph (West Virginia). McNeil testified: "That he was one of the guards over the celebrated Indian chief Corn Stalk [sic: Cornstalk or Hokoleskwa] – that when he was murdered [10 Nov 1777] he this affiant did all he could to prevent it – but that it was all in vain the American (soldier)’s exasperated at the depredations of the Indians."[2]

American political and military leaders were alarmed by the murder of Cornstalk; they believed he was their only hope of securing Shawnee neutrality. At the insistence of Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia, Cornstalk's killers — whom Henry called "vile assassins" — were eventually brought to trial, but since their fellow soldiers would not testify against them, all were acquitted.

Cornstalk was originally buried at Fort Randolph.

Legacy
In 1840 Cornstalk's grave was rediscovered and his remains were moved to the Mason County Courthouse grounds. In 1954 the courthouse was torn down and he was reburied in Point Pleasant. A local legend claims that he took his revenge in the 1960s by sending the mysterious Mothman to terrorize Point Pleasant.[3] Legends arose about his dying "curse" being the cause of misfortunes in the area (later supplanted by local "mothman" stories),[4][5] though no contemporary historical source mentions any such utterance by Cornstalk.

See also
Chief Cornstalk Wildlife Management Area
References
"(Chief) Hokoleskwa Cornstalk (Colesqua) b. 1715 d. 10 November 1777". Rodovid EN. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
Pension Application of Jacob McNeil
"Fighting Chief Cornstalk's Remains Laid to Rest Again". The Charleston Gazette. Charleston, WV. 1954-09-21. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
Troy Taylor (2002). "The Cornstalk Curse!". Ghosts of the Prairie, Haunted West Virginia. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
"Welcome to Point Pleasant, West Virginia!". Mason County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Retrieved 2013-02-18.
Downes, Randolph C. Council Fires on the Upper Ohio. University of Pittsburgh Press, 1940.
Kellogg, Louise Phelps. "Cornstalk" in the Dictionary of American Biography, vol II. New York: Scribner, 1928.
Sugden, John. "Cornstalk" in American National Biography. Oxford University Press, 1999.
Roosevelt, Theodore. The winning of the West, Volume 1 G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1889
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Cornstalk
Wikisource has the text of the 1900 Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography article Cornstalk.
"Cornstalk" at shawnee-bluejacket.co

Cornstalk Shawnee Chief

chief cornstalk One of the great Chiefs of the Shawnee Indians was Cornstalk, pictured at the left. Chief Cornstalk was described as a handsome man with a charismatic personality. He was a great warrior, extremely proficient orator, brilliant organizer, and was admired by both his enemies and his tribe for his cunning strategy in warfare.

He led a Confederacy of Tribes against the encroachment of the white settlers, trying to get the indians to leave their lands and to protect their sacred hunting grounds in Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. It is his death that defines Cornstalk as being a true Native American Hero.

His last words, as he lay dieing, were a curse placed upon the area where he was murdered. Modern day Point Pleasant, West Virginia has many residents who believe the curse was and is real. The area does have many incidents which have occurred over the last 200 years that do seem to be related with Chief Cornstalks last words.

A Little History Of The Shawnee And Cornstalk
Born around 1720, most probably in Pennsylvania, Cornstalk and the Shawnee were pushed west to the Ohio Country when he was a young boy.

Little is known about Cornstalk until about 1763. This account tells of the warrior leading a band of about 60 Shawnee into Greenbriar County, Virginia. The Shawnee were quite upset about the constant advancement west of the white settlers. In an attempt to get them to leave, it is reported that Cornstalk and his band befriended the settlers and then murdered everyone at Muddy Creek and then some 50 others at Clendenin Settlement in June of 1763.

Cornstalk and the Shawnee sided with the French in the French and Indian War. They feared the English would continue to advance into the Ohio Country and they needed to be stopped. In 1764 the Shawnee were defeated by Colonel Henry Bouquet. Cornstalk was taken prisoner so that the Shawnee would sign the treaty. They agreed to not fight the English again.

For the next decade there was fighting between the English and the Ohio natives. The constant arrival of more white settlers caused much tension. Cornstalk tried to ease the situation peacefully but he was in the minority by 1774. On May 3, 1774, English colonists murdered 11 Mingo Indians. Retribution was demanded by the Mingo and the Shawnee people. Cornstalk promised to protect the English fur traders because they were innocent of this crime.

The British decided to increase military presence by building more forts and to allow more white settlements to be built which enraged the Shawnee even more. The British began to destroy entire villages and the life sustaining crops of the villages. The thought seemed to be that the natives would just give up and move farther away.

At this time, Cornstalk began to have a change of heart about the white settlers. Lord Dunmore sent 1000 men to build a fort in what became West Virginia to attack the Shawnee. Cornstalk sent 1000 warriors to drive Dunmore’s forces out. On October 10, 1774 the Battle of Point Pleasant took place between Dunmore’s troops and the Shawnee. As Dunmore drove the natives north of the Ohio River, he asked that a discussion for a peace treaty be started. While discussions were going on, Colonel Andrew Lewis crossed the Ohio and destroyed several villages. Fearing that Dunmore planned to destroy them, the Shawnee agreed to the terms of the treaty. They gave up all lands east and south of the Ohio River, released captives, and promised not to attack colonists traveling down the river.

Cornstalk, a man of his word, abided by the treaty for the remainder of his life. By 1777 the Shawnee were urged by the British to drive the white settlers out of the region. The American Revolution had begun and the British wanted the help of the Shawnee. Cornstalk and one of his sons went to Point Pleasant to warn the Americans of the impending attack.

Cornstalk was treated well and even began helping the Americans make maps and strategy for defeating the approaching enemies. A report came into the fort that some Shawnee had killed an American soldier. Seeking revenge the colonists killed Cornstalk on November 10, 1777 along with his son and other natives that were in custody.

Before he died, Cornstalk uttered what has become known as “The Curse of Cornstalk”.

history of the shawnee
Native American Tribes: The History and Culture of the Shawnee

Did his people call him Cornstalk? His name has been recorded as Hokolesqua, Colesqua and Keigh-tugh-qua in the languages of the Native Americans and was freely translated by the white men to mean “blade of corn” and became known to most as Cornstalk.

Cornstalk’s Curse
“I was the border man’s friend. Many times I have saved him and his people from harm. I never warred with you, but only to protect our wigwams and lands. I refused to join your paleface enemies with the red coats. I came to the fort as your friend and you murdered me. You have murdered by my side, my young son. For this, may the curse of the Great Spirit rest upon this land. May it be blighted by nature. May it even be blighted by its hopes. May the strength of its peoples be paralyzed by the stain of our blood.” -Chief Cornstalk November 10, 1777

Point Pleasant Has Some Eerie History Since The Curse
Many tragedies and disasters were blamed on the curse:

1907: Coal mine disaster in Monogah, West Virginia. There were 310 miners who lost their lives in what is known as the worst coal mine disaster in America.

1944: 150 people lose their lives when a tornado tears through the tri-state area in June of 1944.

1967: Disaster at Silver Bridge causes 46 people to fall into the Ohio River losing their lives. This December 15th tragedy has been connected to the Mothman Curse with people saying they say the Mothman and reporting strange lights in the sky. Other paranormal events were also reported.

1968: 35 people are killed when the Piedmont Airlines plane crashes near Kanawha Airport in August of 1968.

1970: Southern Airways DC-10 crashes into a mountain near Huntington, West Virginia on November 14. There were 75 people killed in this tragedy.

1976: An explosion at the Mason County Jail causes the town of Point Pleasant to shake in the middle of the night. On that March night the husband of Harriet Sisk came to the jail with explosives hidden in a suitcase. His plan was to blow up his wife and himself. His attempt was successful while he also took the lives of three law enforcement officers. Harriet was in the jail facing charges of murdering her infant daughter.

1978: Chemicals contaminate the town of Point Pleasant’s water supply and wells in January due to a freight train derailment.

1978: The collapse of some construction scaffolding causes 51 men to die at the Willow Island power plant. This tragedy occurred in St. Marys which is north of Point Pleasant during the month of April.

There have been many strange events since Cornstalk’s curse was uttered. Fires and floods that could happen anywhere but there were two floods that almost completely wiped out Point Pleasant. On in 1913 and the other in 1937 could be considered just a hazard of river life. Was the barge explosion just before Christmas in 1953 connected or just something that would have happened anyway? Did Cornstalk cause the destruction of an entire city to be burned in the fire that occurred in the late 1880s? Did Chief Cornstalk and his curse cause the local economy of Point Pleasant to decline from dwindling river traffic and commerce or was that a natural turn of economics?

Is the curse of Cornstalk real? It is difficult to say but there are so many really tragic events that it does make one wonder. Reports of eerie lights, sightings of the Mothman, and other strange tales makes one wonder if the utterings of a disappointed and angry Shawnee Chief have lasted over the span of time to curse the area.

Source of statistics: Haunted West Virginia – The Cornstalk Curse

http://native-american-totems.com/tribal-history-and-lore/cornstalk...

Fighting Chief Cornstalk's Remains Laid to Rest Again

Charleston Gazette
September 21, 1954
The last page of a sad chapter of American history was written at this Ohio River community today.

Chief Cornstalk, the Shawnee Indian leader who was taken hostage and murdered by white men to whom he had come to talk peace, was given a final resting place in a small park near the field of his most famous battle.

His oft-moved grave now lies beside those of Colonial soldiers killed in that struggle—the battle of Pt. Pleasant, Oct. 10, 1774 and Frontier Heroine Ann Bailey.

In a lengthy ceremony at noon today, Cornstalk's last remains— three teeth and 15 bone fragments—were sealed in an aluminum box in the center of a four-ton stone monument bearing the simple inscription: "Cornstalk."

The monument and remains had been removed from the grounds of the old Mason County courthouse, which is being torn down to make way for a new court building.

It was at least the third time the chieftain's body had been interred.

After his death In 1777, he was buried near Fort Randolph the Colonial outpost at which he had been killed. Then in 1840, street- builders here unearthed his grave, and the remains were moved to the courthouse grounds,

This year, with the decision to raze Mason County's old courthouse and erect a new $700,000 structure in its place, it was decided to move the grave to historical Tu-Endie-Wei Park at the junction of Ohio and Kanawha Rivers.

Amateur archeologists began digging last Saturday morning, and after 10 hours of fruitless labor, it was feared that the chief's remains might not be found. But early Sunday, persistent diggers came upon rust stains from the metal box in which Cornstalk had been reburied. In loose earth, they found the teeth and bone fragments which were decided to be "undoubtedly those of Cornstalk."

The reburial today was directed by members of the Pt. Pleasant chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The story of Cornstalk's seizure and murder is one of the dark spots in American history.

Born about 1735 in what is now Ohio, the future chieftain was named "Kei.gh-tugh-qua," meaning "maize plant"—hence the English name "Cornstalk."

Little is known of his early life, but by 1763 he had become a Shawnee tribal chieftain and led war parties against several white settlements.

In 1764, soldiers raided his tribal town and took him captive. He was carried to Fort Pitt as a hostage, but escaped the following year.

In the following years, he became Sachem of all Shawnee tribes and finally king of the northern confederacy of Indian tribes, composed of the Shawnees, Delawares, Mingoes, Wyandottes and Cayugas.

On Oct. 10, 1774, he led 1,100 of his braves against an equal number of Colonial troops at Pt. Pleasant and after a violent battle, was defeated.

Following his defeat, Cornstalk pursued a peace policy and forbade his braves to molest whites.

But in 1777, with the American Revolution at its height, he returned to Pt. Pleasant with two companions to warn settlers that the British were trying to incite his tribesmen to attack them.

Fearing an attack, Colonial soldiers seized Cornstalk and his companions and imprisoned them in Fort Randolph as hostages.

A month later, Cornstalk's son, Ellinipsico, came to the fort to see his father. During his visit, a soldier walking near the fort was killed by an Indian and other soldiers rushed to Cornstalk's quarters to kill him In revenge.

Cornstalk, who is described by historians as a handsome, intelligent, and highly honorable man, stood calmly in the doorway to his room and faced his slayers.

He was felled by nearly a dozen rifle shots. The soldiers then entered the room and killed Cornstalk's son and two companions.

The murder of their chieftain turned the Shawnees from a neutral people into the most implacable warriors, who raided Virginia settlements tor 20 years after the incident.

http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/corn1.html

Chief Cornstalk
The following is a list of books and articles about Chief Cornstalk which can be found at the West Virginia State Archives Library.

BOOKS AND JOURNALS
Benjamin, J.W. "Prelude to Peace with the Indians, Cornstalk Raider and Peacemaker," Part I, The West Virginia Review, Vol 24: September 1947,. pp 15-17, 22.

____________ "Prelude to Peace with the Indians, Warriors Without a Chief," Part II, The West Virginia Review, Volume 25: October 1947. pp. 20-22, 26.

Comstock, Jim. "Cornstalk," The West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia, Vol. 6: 1976, pp. 1131-32.

Conley, Phil. "Cornstalk," The West Virginia Encyclopedia, Vol. 1: 1929, pp. 182-183.

Ewing, A. "Cornstalk's Raid on the Greenbrier---1763," The West Virginia Review, Vol. 13: June 1936, pp. 266-268.

Lambert, Harold. "Cornstalk King of the Rhododendron Country," West Virginia History Quarterly, Vol. 19, April 1958, pp.194-203.

Thwaites and Kellogg. "Dunmore's War," (Wisconsin Historical Society, 1905).
973.27 T548.

Truman, Timothy. Straight Up to See the Sky, Forestville, CA: Eclipse Books, 1991.
RR977 T677s.

VERTICAL NEWSPAPER CLIPPING FILE
"Point Pleasant 'Curse' Told," 12-20-1967.
"Did Chief Cornstalk Leave a Curse on Point Pleasant," by Helen M. White, 12-24-1967.
"Chief Cornstalk Referred to as Being Brave Man," 10-6-1971.
"The Curse of Cornstalk," by Pat Siler, 11-29-1970.
"The Curse; Disaster is Reminder of Chief Cornstalk's Warning," 4-29-1978.
"Death of Cornstalk," 7-13-1933.
"Vanishing Curse of Cornstalk," 8-3-1958.
"Colonial Week-end Trip of Cornstalk," 1-2-1927.
"Murder of Cornstalk," 1-24-1924.
"Old Letter Tells of March on Cornstalk, by Shirley Donnelly, 5-13-1958.
"Cornstalk," by Andrew Price, 1-28-1926.
"Cornstalk's Curse Termed Only Myth," 12-19-1967.
"The Curse of Cornstalk?," by Adrian Gwin, 12-18-1967.
"Fighting Chief Cornstalk's Remains Laid to Rest Again," 9-21-1954.
"The Curse of Cornstalk, Does the Indian Chief Still Punish Point Pleasant," 8-17-1989.

WEB SITES
"Cornstalk, The Shawnee Chief
An article by Rev. William Henry Foote

http://www.wvculture.org/history/notewv/corn.html

Bellinda Gail Myrick-Barnett (Myrick)

Here's Geni Profile for Cornstalk

Hokolesqua, Sachem Cornstalk

A Daughter of Cornstalk married Chief Meaurroway Straight Tail & are the grandparents of Chief Richard "of Cranny Creek" Parker

Straight Tail//Piqua {Waterbird}} Shawnee

Straight Tail Meaurroway Opessa

Nimeetha “Mitha” Parker (Straight Tail), Piqua Shawnee

Chief Richard Bryant "Parker", of Saraunaton Creek

Nimeetha.....born c. 1656?.....mother of Richard.....born c. 1660? I don't think so....

Typo

Bellinda Gail Myrick-Barnett (Myrick) Need to look at birthdates fro Nimmetha & Richard -- I have her as circa 1650 and I have Chief Richard Parker as circa 1675.

Ok, I really didn't want to get the "other" tree involved in this.... you will see a lot of good noted geni pros and curators involved....so tread lightly.....

Straight Tail Meaurroway Opessa

Sewatha Straight Tail and Martin Chartier are my 8th great-grandparents.

Chief Meaurroway Straight Tail, Pekowi and Shawano Woman Straight Tail, of the Bear Clan -- My 11th grandparents

We have the same blood running thru our veins. Hopefully that doesn't scare you...lol

No it doesn't at all. LOL

This....

Straight Tail//Piqua {Waterbird}} Shawnee

And this.....

Straight Tail//Piqua {Waterbird}} Shawnee

are going to be in reference to the same person. You will have to figure out exactly how to "word" everyone to do any merging.

Hey Linda, we are cousins at least twice.....thru my dad AND thru my mom.

Here's the thing.....Chief Meaurroway was supposed to have two wives....NN Pekowi died 1666 and Shawano daughter of Hokoleskwa died c 1700. Sewatha is pretty well documented because of being married to Martin Chartier.

Believe it or not....I ain't quite figured it out yet....but there is some kind of connection to Queen Aliquippa.

Diana Collins The Daughter of Cakundawanna Sevana Straight Tail was one of the wives of Chief Chief "Half King" Tanacharisson, his other wife was Queen Aliquippa. Nothing to do with the Cornstalk line.

Aliquippa traveled to....somewhere....with,,,,one of the Chartiers....I'll have to find it again. Working daylight next 3 days. Will keep checking in on things.

“Queen” Aliquippa, of the Seneca master profile here. She was “not” the wife of Tanacharisson, the Half-King

They were chiefs at the same time, that’s all. He had his own family (as did she).

Billie June Keaffaber Worked on those trees for Geni.

Here’s Martin Chartier & Sewatha Chartier (Straight Tail)

Sewatha has parent conflict should be corrected. And the tree lacks notes.

All I know is when was researching Tanacharison Half King we found George Washington Journal saw all three Queen Aliquippa Tanacharison Half King and Washington in same places a lot. Love though journals so detailed. Linda Diane you all free to add motify profiles if you have any other information as what I had was all I could find. I don’t have Native American resources as some do. But love to see the Native American Documention.
Billie

Wow ,

Well gene Changed my relationship to him again Erica,

https://www.geni.com/path/Billie-June-Keaffaber+is+related+to+Tanac...