A Woman of Courage on the West Virginia Frontier: Phebe Tucker Cunningham

by Robert Thompson

Author Robert Thompson recounts the harrowing story of Phebe Tucker Cunningham, from her marriage at Prickett's Fort to her return to the shores of the Monongahela.
Life on the West Virginia frontier was a daily struggle for survival, and for Phebe Tucker Cunningham, that meant the loss of her four children at the hands of the Wyandot tribe and being held captive for three years until legendary renegades Simon Girty and Alexander McKee arranged her freedom. Thompson describes in vivid detail early colonial life in the Alleghenies and the ways of the Wyandot, providing historical context for this unforgettable saga.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2013

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Ed Harold]

I am a descendent of Phoebe Cunningham through my maternal grandmother, from her second batch of children after the first batch of 4 were murdered. My last name isn't Cunningham, so I am not a direct descendant. My maternal grandmother was born in a house in the same town that Phoebe is buried in, Freed, WVa on Leading Creek Road. And we used to have our family reunions for several decades up a nearby branch hollow. My now-deceased Granny told me some of the stories that were handed down about Phoebe. I haven't read this book, but my 81 year old mother wants me to buy it for her, if I can figure out how to buy it online. I don't know if the book tells this, but, at one point while the white people were searching for her, immediately after her capture, she was being held in a cave under threat of death if she hollered out while the well-armed white settlers were directly above the cave, within hearing distance if she had hollered for help. And earlier, a neighbor in a nearby cabin who also was being attacked by the same Indians, chopped a hole in the back wall of his cabin and escaped into the woods. I forget the exact details of that, because my Granny told me that part of the story back in the late 1970's. I was there at Phoebe's grave in the late 1970's when a group of US military servicemen came (Army, I think) and did a ceremony to honor her husband who was a veteran of the Continental Army for 13 months fighting Indians, which became the US Army on June 14, 1775, which is Flag Day. It's clear why he chose to become a soldier and fight Indians, after his four children were murdered, and his wife kidnapped, and his log cabin burnt. He certainly had an "axe to grind".

[Terri]

An historical look at life on the early frontier, this tells the story of the abduction by Indians of Phebe Tucker Cunningham. After watching her three young children killed, she is marched off and adopted into an Indian tribe. The author does an excellent job of portraying the cultural differences between the Indians and the British and American settlers, not placing blame on any specific group. There is a chapter on Simon Girty, which maybe was longer than necessary considering the small part he played in Phebe's return home. I think the takeaway from this book is Phebe's spirit and courage. Long after I would have given up, she kept going and ended up not only getting herself back home, but reuniting with her husband, starting a new family, and living to a good old age. Truly a woman of endurance and strength!

[Bonnie]

I enjoyed the book, but not because the story was about Phebe Cunningham because in reality only about 10% of the book actually focused on her and her story.
The book covered the history of the area of western PA, northern WV, western MD and the Ohio/Kentucky country. The characters were true to other histories of the area and the timeline spot on. The descriptions of life in the Wyandot villages and the rigors of frontier existence were excellent.
The book is good and I liked it, but it definitely was less about Phebe and more about the history of the area and cultural aspects of the time.
In fact, I think there were more pages about Simon Girty and his life than about Phebe. Which makes sense because Girty has more documented history than Phebe or other captives who led quiet lives on the frontier raising families, crops and livestock.

[Chris]

The information about Phebe is pretty limited, and of questionable value. For instance, the author perpetuates misinformation about the family ancestry. Thomas' father was not Hugh, but Adam. Phebe's father was named William, but we really don't know anything else beyond that. She was most likely born in the colonies, and her supposed Irishness seems to be based entirely on her red hair. The stories mostly come from some sensationalist 1800's era books that leaned into the "savage Indian" bias of the era, as well as Phebe's later accounts to Congress when trying to get her husband's Revolutionary War pension.

The best value of this book comes from its provision of the context of the times. Phebe's story is really a vehicle for explaining, in a fairly even-handed manner, WHY these sorts of things happened. It has an easy-to-read brief history of the various interactions between local tribes and the different colonizers, and where things went wrong in each group's understanding of the other.

[J. Straley]

A Tough Frontier Woman

This book is well research, with many sidelights that illustrate the wild and wooly life in Revolution times. Clearly the Indians never really have a chance to hold back the tide of European peoples. This seems to have been typical when an advanced culture meets aboriginal peoples. I would speculate hat the Cro Magnons against the Neanderthals would play out in the same pattern. The extended description of Simon Girty was quite interesting, though much of it probably belonged in a separate book. It notes that Phoebe had no children during her time with the Indians, an insight to her captors. She was fertile all that time, having more kids on her return to husband Thomas. Considering her beginnings in England , many adventures, child after child, and final settlement in the backwoods of mid 19 th century America, well, one can only say it was one helluva ride!

[Paul Lunger]

Robert Thompson's "A Woman of Courage on the West Virginia Frontier: Phebe Tucker Cunningham" is an attempt to tell the story of the author's great x5 grandmother who was kidnapped by the Wyandots and eventually returned. The majority of Thompson's story isn't so much about the individual herself, but more-so about the native peoples that took her as well as the circumstances facing settlers in what was then western Virginia & into the Northwest Territory part of Ohio. For anyone familiar with the majority of the players in this book this tale will provide little new information and the lack of major detail on Cunningham's life at times hurts this book which realistically could've been an essay in a greater work on peoples taken (& returned) from their captors in that part of the 18th century. A huge disappointment.

[Kristian Kilgore]

Good history of the Ohio River Valley and Allegheny Plateau in/around the Revolution. Phoebe Cunningham’s story is really a backdrop for larger conversations about the area, the time period, the Wyandot Tribe and a curiously in-depth look at the infamously colorful Simon Girty.

It’s a quick read, and fairly well written. It was given to me by a friend who is related to Phoebe Cunningham.

[Steven Heath]

Review

I was hoping for a story, which you do get, but some of the book also morphed into text book type of information which seemed to deviate from the store. But, regardless, I did enjoy the book.

[Susan]

Wonderful history of early America as well as a biography of my 5th great grandmother Phebe Tucker Cunningham. I do wish that the author could have included more about what happened to her during her three years of captivity but if the primary sources are not available, the information has simply been lost to time. Excellent sense of time with Phebe's story centered within the broader context of political, military and social history.

[Amber Kay]

The book was more of a history of the Wyandot Indians, the French and Indian War, and many other historical items/people from that time period. There was very little about Phoebe Tucker Cunningham.