When the American Revolution broke out in 1776, the Cherokee had grown tired of colonial encroachment on their land, so they went to war against the Americans. Fighting had been going on between American and British troops for several months. In the southeast, the British were trying to persuade the Creeks and Cherokees to attack frontier settlements. The Creeks were reluctant to join in, but the Cherokees were more receptive.
During the French and Indian War the Cherokee had originally been allied with the British and had sent warriors north to assist in the British attacks against the French and their Indian allies. Encroachment on their land and underhanded dealing by traders from South Carolina had already created tensions, and, when Cherokee warriors returning from the north were attacked and killed by frontier settlers in western Virginia, they abandoned the alliance and rose against the British. After some initial success they were badly defeated and withdrew from the war.
July 1, 1776
After the end of the French and Indian War, the Cherokee had again suffered from the encroaching settlers and cheating traders. By 1776, they were ready to rise again, so they launched a two pronged attack: one group attacking the settlements of Virginians along the Holston River and another group attacking the Carolina frontier where Jacob and his family lived.
On the morning of July 1, 1776, county records report that Jacob Hite’s South Carolina homestead was raided by Cherokees. Jacob was killed on site, while Frances and their two daughters were captured and marched away as prisoners.
Their home was set on fire but did not fully burn. All of Jacob and Frances’ enslaved people who could be found were taken away, including 7-year-old Abba. Historians don’t presently know anything more about Abba’s family – if they were in South Carolina, if they were taken by the raiding party, if they were killed, or if they escaped.
What about Abba?
Historians have primary sources to understand the story of Jacob Hite and his family, but his enslaved men, women, and children are largely, if not completely, unknown. We only know about Abba because of Major Isaac Hite Jr’s meticulous records keeping in later years when he buys her from his cousin, George. Had this sale not happened, historians may have never learned so much as Abba’s name let alone her existence.
| American Indians & The Revolutionary War |
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Historical marker in Greenville, South Carolina 2
But the fact is we do know that Abba was with Jacob in South Carolina. She was enslaved by him at the time of the Cherokee raid on his homestead. She witnessed it all – the attack, the killings, the kidnappings. She was herself taken prisoner at 7-years-old and forced to live as an enslaved girl in the Cherokee Nation for nearly 10 years until Jacob’s son, George Hite, bought and brought her back to Virginia.
- Timberlake, H. (n.d.). The Three Cherokees, 1762. Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_Cherokee.jpg. ↩︎
- Early white settlement / the massacre of jacob hite historical marker. Early White Settlement / The Massacre of Jacob Hite Historical Marker. (2016, June 16). https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=24254 ↩︎