Using Details From Various Newspapers to Bring Ancestors and Their Stories to Life
Nathaniel Straughan was born May 8, 1792 near Frankfort in Shelby County, Kentucky. His parents were John Corbin Straughan and Mary Saunders. John was a soldier during the Revolutionary War, fighting in Daniel Morgan's Riflemen in the 3rd, 7th, and 11th Virginia Regiment for the Continental Line. He was in the Battle of Freeman's Farm and the Battle of Saratoga. He was also at Valley Forge. Family stories say that on the night of Nathaniel's birth, Native Americans came to John's stable and stole two horses. John and the neighbors pursued the men to the bank of the Ohio River where they fought. One of the Native Americans was killed and another badly injured. The horses were taken back. Upon returning home, they found that other natives had driven Mary from her bed and tied her up some distance away in the woods. They had left Nathaniel on the ground by the house with the cabin burning to the ground. John later built another cabin on the same site. Nathaniel married Chr...