Opposition: Col. William Stacy, 1734-1802

We've already run across this American Revolutionary War officer twice, during the Cherry Valley Massacre and at the Big Bottom Massacre.  Now it's time to bring him fully into his own.

William Stacy was born in Gloucester, Massachusetts in 1734.  He married and raised a large family, eventually resettling in New Salem, Massachusetts.  He was a shoemaker or cordwainer by trade, through he may also have invested in banking and merchant shipping, meaning that he was a wealthy man with a financial stake in the American Revolution.  He was a Captain in New Salem's militia in April, 1775, when the town responded to the crisis at Lexington and Concord.  Tearing up his royal commission, he offered to lead anyone who wanted to head off to help their fellow militiamen fight the Redcoats.  He was present during the siege of Bunker Hill and several other opening battles during the Revolution. 

He became a Lt. Col. in Ichabod Alden's 7th Massachusetts Regiment and found himself posted to Cherry Valley in New York.  This was a potential hotspot as the Loyalist regiment, the Queen's Rangers or Butler's Rangers was prevalent in the area, along with Mohawk and Seneca warriors under Joseph Brant and Cornplanter, respectively.  Despite warning that an attack was imminent, neither Stacy nor Alden took any precautions.  They remained at their local headquarters in town when the Rangers and Native attacked.  Stacy was taken prisoner, but his son Benjamin and nephew Rufus saved the family honor by sprinting to the makeshift palisade in town and rallying the men.  Unfortunately, it was too late.  The Rangers and Native contingent overran the town and the men inside the fort were obliged to surrender. 

By the account of another officer of the regiment who was also taken prisoner, Stacy was stripped and tied to a stake for a ritual death a la William Crawford.  Brant forbade it, and ordered Stacy released.  Stacy was a Freemason, as was Brant, so that might have had something to do with it.  However, Joseph Brant, contrary to popular rumor, was not into torturing prisoners or inflicting unnecessary killing.  Prisoners were much better if they could be ransomed for a payoff, and if not, they weren't worth the trouble of keeping.  He would rather let them go or turn them in to the British, which is what happened to Stacy.  Stacy was held prisoner at Fort Niagara, where family legend stated that Molly Brant wanted Maj. Butler to carry out the death sentence on him.  As a high-ranking woman, the sister of a Mohawk war chief, Molly was within her rights traditionally to make this demand.  Butler was also within his rights to refuse it, which he did.  Stacy was transferred to Fort Chambly in Montreal, where he wasn't exchanged until 1782.  He was later received by George Washington, who presented him with a gold snuff box.

Many Revolutionary War officers never received their arrears wages in money, or at least money that was worth while,  Instead, they were offered promissory notes for land in the Ohio Valley.  Stacy was wise enough to see the eventual outcome of this and in 1788 moved to what is now Marietta, Ohio.  Two of Stacy's son, John and Philemon, had also come west.  Unable to secure any land claims, they had settled in an area known as Big Bottom, near what is now Stockport, Ohio.  Unfortunately for them, Miami and Delaware/Lenape Natives also claimed the land and, in 1791, during the high of Little Turtle's War, this was a dangerous place to be.  Stacy learned of a planned attack on the Big Bottom settlement.  In the harsh winter, taking a horse to ride the thirty miles to give his sons warning wasn't an option.  Massachusetts isn't a mecca for figure skating and hockey for no reason, and the old man reached for some skates.  He skated 30 miles up the frozen Muskingum River to warn John and Philemon to be ready.  Unfortunately, on January 2, 1791, the settlement was attacked.  John was killed and Philemon taken captive and died later.

Having now lost two sons, William Stacy wasn't about to give up.  He oversaw the erection of a stockade to protect Marietta against Indian attacks, and was active in the Masons and the local Society of the Cincinnati.  He also served as foreman of the first Grand Jury of Washington County, Ohio.  He finally died in 1802, having lived a long an active life.  His worthy opponent, Joseph Brant, would follow in 1807.