Mary Draper Ingles

On 30 July 1755, during the French and Indian War, Shawnee Indians attacked the Draper's Meadow settlement nearby. They killed Col. James Patton, Casper Barger, Mrs. George Draper, and a Draper child, wounded James Cull, and captured Mary Draper Ingles, her two sons, Mrs. John Draper, and Henry Leonard. The Indians took their captives to Ohio. After several months, Ingles escaped and wandered some 800 miles to return home, a legendary feat. She and her husband, William, moved near Radford and operated a New River ferry. She died and was buried there in 1815, aged 83.