Dorton's Fort

KA-13

William Dorton Sr and his family settled near here by 1773 and built a fort, one of several defensive structures built by settlers of European descent on the Virginia frontier. Dorton's sons William Jr, Moses, and Edward fought in the Revolutionary War. Edward and at least one of the two other brothers served at the Battle of King's Mountain on 7 Oct. 1780. During this period, conflicts occurred between early settlers and Native Americans in this region, resulting in the death of a fourth son, name unknown, in 1777. Capt. William Dorton Jr served in the Washington and Russell County militias and died in 1826. He is buried just southwest of here.

Department of Historic Resources, 2004

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Robert M. Addington, History of Scott County, Virginia (Kingsport, Tn.: Privately Printed, 1932), 113-117 [Note this source confuses Dorton’s Fort with the Kilgore House]; Luther F. Addington and Emory L. Hamilton, Indian Raids and Massacres of Southwest Virginia (Kingsport, Tn.: Cecil L. Durham, n.d.), 123-134; Lars Dorton and Bill Porter, “Dorton’s Fort Correction,” The Appalachian Quarterly, March 1993: 33-34; William P. Palmer, ed., Calendar of Virginia State Papers and Other Manuscripts ... Preserved in the Capitol at Richmond, 11 vols. (1875-1893; reprint, New York: Kraus Reprint Corp., 1968), 5:500-501, 6:636-637, 654, 7:111-119, 123-124, 210; Tom Rudder, Patricia Dorton Warry, and Barnett McConnell, “The Dorton Family of Southwest Virginia,” The Appalachian Quarterly December 1999: 68-73; Washington County Deed Records.