William Bowden

• Name: William Bowden
• Born: October 7, 1827 at Bishopnympton, Devonshire, England
• Died: July 2, 1907 Brigham City, Utah
• Related through: Erin's grandmother Idonna Nuttall Madson

William Bowden was born October 7, 1827 at Bishopnympton, Devonshire, England. He was the son of Benjamin Bowden and Mary Steel. He was one of six sons; their names were John, Richard, Thomas, George and Benjamin.

He was converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was baptized in 1842 when he was 15 years old.

In 1852 he met and married Ann Grinny. They were married for 55 years. Three girls were born to them while they lived in England. They moved later to Wales where two more daughters were born to them. The work in Wales was plentiful and gave them the opportunity to save the money they needed to come to the United States.

They sailed from Liverpool in the spring of 1863 on the ship S.S. Synosure. After a very rough sea voyage, which took six weeks, they landed in New York City on July 19, 1863. One child died in Wales and another was buried at sea.

The trip from New York to Council Bluffs was made by trains. Here they joined a pioneer company. The long hot, dry trek across the plains was more than the young couple expected. William walked most of the way because of his good health and vigor. William and Ann were undaunted and anxious to reach the land of Zion.

Their lifetime wish was realized when they arrived in Salt Lake City on October 10, 1863 with the Horton Heights Company. After a few days rest they journeyed on to Brigham City where they made their home at the foot of the beautiful Wasatch Mountains east of town.

William was an exceptionally good farmer. A fruit orchard was planted. The peaches raised there were some of the first in the area. He made a large pond above his home where a natural spring kept it full of water and was used for irrigation purposes. It was also enjoyed for swimming by family members during the summer months.

The canyon immediately above his property was named “Bowden Canyon,” because he was among the first settlers of that area. It is the first canyon just north of the “B” and directly up from 5th or 6th North.

William and Ann were the parents of 15 children. Their names were Emma, Mary Ann, Mavia, Elizabeth, Nora, Jane, Priscilla, Abigail, Thomas, Rachael, Benjamin, John, Joseph, George and Henry. He and his wife received their endowments on January 19, 1869 at the Endowment House in Salt Lake City. They had eight of their children sealed to them at this time.

Music was their great love which brought many happy hours with the family gathered around the organ singing to their hearts content. This love of music was passed on to future generations. The Bowden’s have been known to be noted “songbirds.”

He passed away at his home July 2, 1907 at the age of 80. He is buried in the Brigham City Cemetery.

This article is a combination of articles by Vera Bowden Murdock and Verda B. Knavel from the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers archive.

James Dennis Nuttall

• Name: James Dennis Nuttall
• Born: October 14, 1856 Tottington, Lancashire, England
• Died: October 24, 1931 College Ward, Cache, Utah
• Related through: Erin's grandmother Idonna Nuttall

James Dennis Nuttall, son of William Nuttall and Alice Hopkinson Nuttall was born October 14, 1856 at Tottington, Lancashire, England and was the youngest of 10 children.

His autobiography:
About the year 1860 I went with my parents to Edenfield and I well remember the cotton panic caused by the Civil War in the United States and celebrating the marriage of the Prince of Wales in 1863.

The next two or three years I attended school at Edenfield and in about 1867 we moved to Twine Terrace and I commenced to work in the cotton mills. I also attended school at Bank Lane or Suttleworth, here is where I first saw the Mormon Elders who came occasionally and had meetings in our house. My parents joined the church several years before I was born. We belonged to the Tottington Branch of the Manchester Conference. I was baptized, along with others, on February 8, 1868 by Nephi Hawerth and confirmed by Thomas Schfield.

On June 20, 1868 my sister Alice and her husband, William Horworth, emigrated on the packet ship Emerald Isle from Liverpool and landed in New York on August 14. Thirty-seven deaths occurred on the voyage of over eight weeks. From that time on I continued to attend church and work in the cotton mills at Twine Terraces until I came to America in 1873.

Father was a farmer. My sister Mary worked in the cotton mills and my oldest sister Ann was a widow with three children. Her husband, John Robinson, was killed in the cotton mill on October 26, 1867 and her youngest child died soon after. She also worked in the cotton mills until she emigrated with our parents in 1872. Father and mother and my sister Ann and her two little girls, Mary and Esther, set sail on the steamship Wisconsin on July 31, 1872. My other sister Mary and I went to Liverpool to see them off, and then we returned to work and saved enough in eleven months to immigrate ourselves. On July 10, 1873, we sailed on the steamship Nevada and landed in New York on July 23. We arrived in Ogden on August 1, 1873. Father, who had settled in Millville, Cache County, the year before, came to Ogden to meet us with a team and wagon. Father and I slept out of doors which was the first time I had ever slept outside, and I got acquainted with the mosquitoes. I also had a meal with the first brown bread I had ever tasted. We came to Brigham City the first night and Millville the next. Indians were plentiful and we saw them every day.

Father was farming some land on shares so I helped him cultivate corn and we hauled some hay from the muddy river and when the grain was ready to harvest Father cut it was a scythe and together we raked it with hand rakes and tied it into bundles by hand and when it was ready we hauled it and stacked it. Later it had to be thrashed with a thrashing machine.

Sometime this month a two day meeting or conference took place in a bowery in Logan at which Brigham Young was present, this was the first time I had seen him.

Sometime during the latter part of October 1873, I went to Brigham City to work in the woolen mills to take the place of my sister Alice whose was sent home to Millville to her sick husband who died in November. I got board and lodging at the home of Levi Bradshaw and I was put to work weaving blankets and other cloth. (He goes on to list many of his co-workers at the mill. Of note he mentions that James Pett was the manager and that Elizabeth Pett worked as a weaver. An interesting connection.)

The United Order was the rule we were working under and we were supposed to be on hand a few minutes before 7 a.m. at the mill so we could kneel down together and have prayers before starting the wheel and everything worked alright. When Christmas came I went home to Cache Valley for a few days. We also got time off in March when we ran out of wool. I got to stay for two or three weeks until more wool came in.

On the 5th of February 1874 I went with the Brigham City Brass Band in a boxcar to witness the driving of the last spike in the Utah Northern Railroad between Willard and Ogden. The following summer and winter passed without anything of note happening. All that I earned at the mill except for paying my board and clothes I sent home to father and mother and sister, Mary, except for an occasional show ticket. I slept in the mill for eight months as a watchman and got 50 cents a night.

The summer of 1875 passed pretty much the same as the past year, working steady except two or three weeks in the spring waiting for new work. I attended Sunday School and Meetings pretty regular. Our Sunday School went on an excursion to Logan. We rode flat cards with seats fixed on and covered with brush for shade. We surely enjoyed the trip. The winter of 1875 and 1876 was quite severe with lots of snow.

Mother died on January 28th but they did not let me know for I could not have been to the funeral as the railroad was blocked with snow over the divide. Sometime that winter or spring I became a member of the YMMIA when it was first organized in Brigham City. The Sunday Schools, meetings, dances and theaters were all held in the Court House buildings and Brigham City was all in one ward, Calvin Nicholas was bishop.

The mill closed down as usual in the spring for want of wool and to put in some new machinery and I came home again for two or three weeks sometime in January or February. This being leap year I got an invitation to attend a leap year ball with a partner and I took Elizabeth Bowden, it was sure a swell affair. We had supper at intermission at James Barrons and from this time on we went together steady.

When I came back to work she had to go to work at Hansen Dairy at Collingston, but she came back home after about a month. On the 2nd of July she went to the valley of her uncle Bill in Box Elder canyon to milk her father’s cows and then coming home they ran a race to see who could get home first and the saddle synch broke and she was thrown to the ground and broke her arm. On the 4th of July Jim Baron, Bill Chatterton and I went to Ogden to celebrate, it being the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States. On the 24th of July, James Barron and his wife, my girlfriend and I came over to Cache Valley on the train to celebrate. Father fetched us home in a day or two to Brigham City in a wagon.

On the 1st of October I went to go see President Snow of the Box Elder Stake to get a recommend to go and get married. I was then ordained an Elder by President Snow and got my recommend. In a few days we went to the Salt Lake Endowment House and were married by John Taylor on October 10. We came home the next day and stayed at Bowden’s for a few days. Then we rented a room and went to keeping house and I kept on working at the mill. Two or three weeks later there were several young couples married by civil ceremony, the Endowment House being closed. The Brass Band came one night and serenaded each of us and on New Year’s Day we had our wedding supper.

In 1877 I worked steadily at the mill and we had to move two or three times. On the 29th of August word came that President Young had died and the mill stopped until he was buried on Sunday, September 2. Our first child was born on October 9 and we named him William LeRoy. The woolen mills burned down on December 21st and I was out of work. They started to rebuild the mill and I got a job until spring with the masons. In the latter part of March father came by team and wagon to move us to Cache Valley. On April 1 we arrived in West Millville and that summer and fall we planted and harvested crops like other people.

1879 The past years passed as usual on the farm except occasionally a visit to Brigham City to visit our relatives and they came and visited us. Our second child was born on July 25 in Brigham City, we named him James Dennis. My wife went to stay at the home of her parents while she was confined and I fetched them home two weeks later.

1880 This year passed as usual putting in crops and harvesting them. Making visits to Brigham City and Deweyville.

1881 This year passed not keeping any record. Farming and doing other odd jobs. Our third child was born October 22. We name him Thomas Edward.

1882 Another year passed like the previous one.

1883 Still farming and doing other odd jobs. Benjamin Reuben was born November 22.

1884 Father Nuttall died June 28. Farming and labor as usual.

1885 Going to the canyon for wood. Working on the farm as usual. Alice Ann was born December 22.

1886 The years have passed with no record. I have been busy in religious and temporal way doing what I thought to be right and in the future I intend to keep a better record.

1888 On February 14 another little girl was born to us and we named her Media Elizabeth. I was a school trustee for the first seven years after College Ward was made and on November 8, Election Day, I was elected Justice of the Peace and was allowed $20 for my labors.

1889 This year was much the same as the previous years. I took care of my farm and family and attended our civil and religious duties.

1890 On January 26 another little girl was born to us and we called her Mary Arletta. During the years that followed I took care of my farm and was also the first and only Mail Carrier to carry mail from Logan to College Ward. My wife was a substitute. We made two trips a week, Wednesday and Saturday until November 20, 1904. On December 1, 1904 rural free delivery was started.

1899 On July 4, I was elected trustee for two more years. In November I went to Salt Lake City with some produce and bought and organ for the family. In November I was also re-elected as Justice of the Peace. On March 5, 1899 I was sustained as ward clerk of the College Ward, a position I held for 30 years. I was set apart as President of the First Elders Quorum to be organized in the College Ward on January 31, 1904.

My wife and I were fortunate in raising all our children and they were all married in the temple to good companions. Two of our sons were called to fulfill missions for the church. I have always tried to do my duty and be useful in the ward where we lived and have always had a testimony of the gospel.

On January 30, 1922, I lost my faithful wife and companion. My sister Alice Taggert of Salt Lake City came to spend the rest of the winter and summer with me and made frequent visits to see me for the next years. On August 14, 1925 I lost my youngest son Benjamin Reuben, he was killed in an accident. Our oldest son, William LeRoy, had died some years previous on June 22, 1910.

James was ordained a High Priest February, 1, 1908 in a Hyrum Stake Priesthood meeting. The last three years of his life he spent with his daughters. He died of pneumonia October 24, 1931 at the age of 76.

This history was given to the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers by Alverta Nuttall Bowler, granddaughter, in 1967.

Elizabeth Bowden

• Name: Elizabeth Bowden Nuttall
• Born: March 5, 1860 Swansea, Wales
• Died: January 30, 1922 Brigham City, Utah
• Related through: Erin's grandmother Idonna Nuttall Madson

Elizabeth Bowden Nuttall was the fourth daughter of Ann Grinny and William Bowden. She was born March 5, 1860 in Swansea, Wales.

At the age of three she immigrated to the United States with her parents. They landed in New York in the spring of 1863. They traveled by train as far as Council Bluffs. Here they were assigned to an immigrant company that was starting west. The wagons were loaded very heavy and all that were able to walk were obliged to do so. Elizabeth although very small walked most of the way from the Missouri River to the Salt Lake Valley.

A young man by the name of Charles Ballintyne was the teamster of the wagon to which the Bowden family was assigned. As the wagon was heavily loaded, when approaching hills, Charles would say “You little girls (meaning her mother and two sisters) will have to get out and walk.” He would often allow two other young ladies assigned to the same wagon to ride, while Elizabeth and her sisters walked. The little girls would scold him quite a bit about this seeming favoritism. Later on when they settled in Brigham City this same young man was their neighbor.

Elizabeth’s early years in Brigham were typical of real pioneer life. Her father had a small farm east of town and supported the family as best he could by raising fruit and hiring out as a butcher.

While still a young girl, Elizabeth, with a number of other girls from Brigham City, hired out to work at the Hansen Dairy and Cheese Factory, located at a place then know as Cottonwood Hollow about 20 miles north of Brigham on the divide between Box Elder County and Cache County. The factory, a two story rock building built in the spring of 1871 is still standing.

She later worked at the home of one of President Lorenzo Snow’s wives. Here she was treated as one of the family. She would often refer to Sister Snow as Aunt Adeline.

At the age of 16, she married James Dennis Nuttall, a young man who had emigrated about five years previous. They were married in the old Endowment House in Salt Lake City in October of 1876 by Apostle John Taylor. They often said that when they left the Endowment House all James had was 10 cents in his pocket and with that he bought two rolls for their lunch.

They made their home in Brigham City for the next two years where James was employed as a weaver in the Woolen Mills. Here their first child, a son, was born to them. They then moved to Cache Valley and settled on a farm two miles west of Millville. Living with James’ father and taking care of him until he died six years later.

They belonged to the Millville Ward until the College Ward was organized and they belonged to this new ward for the rest of their lives. They took an active part in all the affairs of this new community. Elizabeth was always active in the church and walked many miles to attend to her duties. She was an officer in the Primary for many years, first as a counselor and then as president. She was also a member of the choir and a Relief Society teacher for years.

James was the first and only mail carrier to carry the mail from Logan to College Ward. Elizabeth was his substitute. This trip was made twice a week, Wednesdays and Saturdays for several years. As James was a farmer and often had other work to do Elizabeth carried the mail a great deal of the time. For the first few years the trip was made with a horse and cart, later with a surrey or buggy. Elizabeth loved horses and was very proud to drive a spirited animal. The work ended December 1, 1904 when Rural Free Delivery was put into effect.

She loved music and was a good singer. She was blessed with a happy, cheerful disposition, a wonderful characteristic she carried into the homes where she was called to nurse the sick. A talent she was richly endowed with and one duty she dearly loved to perform. She was the mother of seven children, four boys and three girls. Two of her sons fulfilled missions.

After their children were all married they moved away from the farm and settled in a cozy home near the meeting house. Here she spent the remaining years in active service in the church and nursing the sick. She passed away January 30, 1922 in Brigham City from an appendicitis. She was stricken with it while she was helping her daughter who had just had a new baby. She is buried in Millville, Cache County.

This article was written by Media Nuttall Dunn, daughter, for the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. I found it in their archives.

Ann Grinny

• Name: Ann Grinny Bowden
• Born: October 16, 1832 Georgemympton, Devonshire, England
• Died: April 8, 1917 Brigham City, Utah
• Related through: Erin's grandmother Idonna Nuttall Madson

Ann Grinny was born October 16, 1832 in Georgemympton, Devonshire, England. Her mother died when she was still a baby. In fact her mother was found dead in bed with her baby daughter laying beside her trying to nurse. The little girl was shifted from one place to another until she was able to care for herself.

While she was still a young girl the Mormon missionaries came to the home where she was staying and she was converted. She was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1850.

She married William Bowden in 1852. Though small in stature and young in years she met life vigorously and with her husband was soon planning to come to America and Utah.

Three girls were born to them in England: Emma, Mary Ann and Mariah. They moved from England to Swansea, Wales where her husband could get better work in order to raise money for their trip to America. Here two more girls were born, Elizabeth and Sarah Jane.

Shortly before they left for America a sad accident occurred when their little daughter Marie, who was nine years old, was burned to death. Because they were Mormons they were refused a burial plot in the church yard. A kind neighbor let them bury her in the top of one of his graves. This had to be done at night.

They sailed from Liverpool, England early in the spring of 1863 on the ship S. S. Synsoure. They were six weeks on the ocean, some days going back as far as they had advanced the previous day, as the weather was so bad. She was pregnant and the food was different than what she was used to so the trip proved very hard. During the sea voyage, little Sarah Jane contracted the measles and died. She was buried at sea. They landed in New York City on July 19, 1863.

They came as far as Council Bluffs by train, a long trip in those days. Here the immigrants were divided into companies and so many wagons, horses, mules, cattle, etc. were assigned to each company. As the wagons were heavily loaded, all those who were strong and well were obligated to walk. It was a long tiresome journey in the heat of the summer months.

They arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in October. A few days later they traveled north to Brigham City where they made their home. They settled on a small farm just east of town where they planted an orchard. Their peach trees were some of the first one planted in that locality. Their first son, William was born shortly after they arrived in Brigham City.

Ann Grinny Bowden was the mother of 15 children, five boys and ten girls. She was small in stature, active and ambitious with a keen sense of humor. She was kind and generous. Never did she fail anyone in need. She met the problems of the day with energy and with a willing heart. She was skilled with the needle and did all the sewing for the family, besides lots of fancy work. She also took an active part in the organizations in the ward and had a firm testimony of the gospel.

She was blessed with a beautiful head of dark brown hair. She always parted it in the middle and braided it in two large braids. She would wind each large braid around the top of her head and finish with a bun on the back of her neck. She was a proud English lady with a distinctive mind of her own. In matters of importance you always knew where Grandma stood.

She was active and able to take care of herself until a few weeks before she died. She passed away in Brigham City, Utah on April 8, 1917 at the age of 82. She is buried in Brigham City.

This article was written by Media Nuttall Dunn, granddaughter, for the Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. I found it in their archives.

Henry Mace I

• Name: Henry Mace I
• Born: 1720/1730 England
• Died: 1781 Hampshire, West Virginia
• Related through: Erin's grandmother Idonna Nuttall Madson

Henry Mace I was born in 1720/1730 in England. He died in 1781 in Hampshire, West Virginia. He married Ann Petty about 1750. She was born about 1730 in Pennsylvania. She died about 1800 in Hardy, West Virginia. They had seven children. We are descended through their son Henry Mace II.

Henry and his brother Nicholas both bought land in what was then Augusta County, Virginia. There was another brother, John, who ended up in N.C. and was later killed by Indians along with his family. A son, Jacob, survived and came north to live with Maces in present day Hardy County. Henry and Nicholas moved north to present day Hardy in the early 1770s. I got the majority of this article from a book about the Mace family by a woman named Gretchen Ann
Mace Velasco. She does not believe that the name was Mace originally but was Maese/Maisch or some variation thereof. She also thinks they came to Virginia from what is now Dauphin/Lebanon County, Penn. and that they were Huguenots. I thought that way very interesting, see this article about Huguenots.

The Western Augusta Territory was a vast, wild area featuring mountains, deep ravines, severe climate and many rivers and streams flowing west to the Ohio and Kanawa rivers. Fertile land was scarce and in the early 1700's only the hardiest of pioneer colonists ventured into the area. For the most part these pioneers were illiterate, relatively backward and adaptable to such severe environment. About 1715, the West Augusta territory, by order of the English King George I, was reformed into eight large counties, one of which was Augusta located in the northeast corner of present West Virginia. In 1753, the present county of Hampshire was formed from part of Augusta County. About 1758 Henry Mace I moved over from the south Pennsylvania border to the newly formed Hampshire County. Henry homesteaded in a valley on the South Fork of the Potomac River about twenty miles south of Moorhead, Hampshire County, VA. (now West Virginia)

From the limited data on Henry Mace I, it appears that he was a solid citizen. Early Augusta County records show that on January 2, 1761 he signed a petition for the building of a road. Also, Henry was made a naturalized citizen on November 16, 1774. It is known that he was illiterate, and that he fit the pattern for survival in the out-back area of Virginia. He preferred the isolation and the freedom from the influence of English royalty which dominated the coastal plains area. Henry was physically tough, willing to jerk a living off the land, and a good hunter of game in the wild.

After years of farming and hunting, the residents of Hampshire County faced the prospects of the American Revolution and its consequences to them. Few residents fully understood nor joined actively in the prosecution of the Revolutionary War. Henry, along with other Hampshire residents enlisted in the 2nd Virginia Regiment of the Continental Army. Two sons John and Isaac Mace also enlisted. Service for the Hampshire military unit was probably confined to drilling and standing by for further orders as most of the active warfare was confined to the north and east colonial areas. Henry was a private in the "2nd Regiment of Virginia, Continental Army". His military record shows that he entered service July 1777 and deserted camp 10 August 1777 after a month and 10 days of service.

As the war progressed it became necessary for the newly formed continental government to assess and collect taxes and to raise the quota of men to carry on the war. This development caused the rebellion of a group of Hampshire residents who, in 1780, formed an insurgent band which refused to pay higher taxes and to furnish more men under the quota act. A group of Hampshire county English royalists formed a Tory party led by John Claypole with the avowed purpose of joining English General Cornwallis when he entered the area. The purpose of these insurgent groups became hopelessly confused in the illiterate minds of many Hampshire residents. Many signed conflicting petitions in support of both insurgent groups (the loyalists and the patriots). Henry Mace was one of them.

Henry Mace, while suspected of being a Tory (a British loyal) at the time of his death, did not merit the label in view of his illiteracy. The truth is that he and his two sons along with other illiterate mountain men of Hampshire County, Virginia were "taken in" by a John Brake and his partner, John Claypole. These two men were literate and wealthy --- both certain that British General Cornwallis would quell the colonial rebellion thereby making them influential in post-war developments in Hampshire County. The personal loyalty of the mountain men to Brake and Claypole did not include and understanding of what the two were up to.

In 1781 complaints were made by the sheriff or collectors of the revenue complained to Colonel Vanmeter (Patriot) that the people of Hampshire County resisted his attempts to collect taxes and furnish the quota of men to serve in the Patriot Army. General Morgan was called upon to quell this "rebellion". About June 18th, the Colonial Army marched from Winchester and arrived in the Tory section of Hampshire County. They took Claypole as prisoner and moved up the Lost River and crossed the South Branch Mountain. They found a cabin near the summit which was searched. An elderly man named Mace (Henry) and two of his sons ran from the cabin. Henry being closely pursued by an aid to General Morgan named Capt.William Snickers was aiming to take out Henry with his sword. One of Henry's sons, Isaac seeing this, fired a shot which passed through Snickers’ horse's neck. The horse and Snickers fell to the ground. An Irish waiter to General Morgan who had been with the Colonials thought Snickers was dead and shot Henry Mace in the excitement of the moment. It turns out that Snickers had only been bruised.

A petition for pardon of Henry Mace signed by his son John Mace was submitted and heard by the Hampshire County Court. Henry was posthumously pardoned later that year.

Sources
"Lyman Chalkey, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement of Virginia, Vol 1 16 Nov 1774.
Gretchen Ann
Mace Velasco "The Mace Family in America, A Genealogy and History 1720-1990"

William Currence

• Name: William Currence 
• Birth: 16 Sep 1727 in Ulster, Northern Ireland
• Death: 1780 or 1781 in Mill Creek, Randolph County, (West) Virginia 
• Related through: Erin's grandmother Idonna Nuttall Madson

William Currence, a son of Samuel Currence, was born in Ireland September 18, 1727 and was killed by Indians in Randolph County, Virginia on May 12, 1781. He came to America about 1744 when he was just seventeen years old. He married Lydia Steele about 1751. Lydia, a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Smith) Steele, was born in Pennsylvania about 1725 and died in Randolph County August 29, 1820.

After the death of his mother, William's father married a wealthy and aristocratic woman who could not get along with her step children. According to local tradition, he left his home in Ireland when a disagreement arose between himself and his step-mother, while his father was not around. Believing that harmony was no longer possible, he at once entered upon his journey to America. A short distance from home, he met his father, Samuel, who enquired where he was going. The son replied "to America". After finding admonition unavailing, the father dismounted and a foot race resulted. The young man finally leaped over a ditch which the parent could not cross and eluded his fathers pursuit. I found some accounts that said he was a stowaway on the ship and others that mentioned his father paid for his passage.

He landed at a Maryland port and moved inland to western Augusta County, Virginia and later moved to Tygarts Valley in Randolph County and settled in what is now the town of Mill Creek. He and Lydia raised a large family. Our family is descended through their daughter Ann. In Mill Creek he built a tub mill, which is supposed to have been the first water mill in Randolph County. The area became known as Currence Mill Creek, later the Currence was dropped but the name is still "Mill Creek".

William built Currence Fort in 1774. He maintained it during Dunmore's War and later during the Revolutionary War until his death by Indians while on a scouting party two miles south of the fort. The fort was used by soldiers and spy rangers, who moved from fort to fort. He is listed as a signer of a 1776 petition to the Virginia Assembly in Richmond.

He was killed by an Indians on October 7, 1780 or May 12, 1781 (I found it both ways) at the age of 64. Frank Riffle (we are also related to the Riffle family) was also killed on the same day in the same area. According to one of the books I found online William Currence's family tried in vain to stop him from taking the "ill fated trip". His son was sent to the field for a horse and returned with the excuse that the animal could not be caught. But the father was persistent, and under threats of punishment the lad brought the horse to his father. William was then shot and killed by an Indian’s rifle.

Sources: 

Randolph Co., History by Bosworth; p. 334-339.
Randolph Co., History by Maxwell; p. 359.
"Warnaar Hornbeck Descendants", p 256,
'The West Virginia Heritage Encyclopedia', Vol 6, p 1214. 
Vol 4, p 17, Magazine - History and Biography Published by Randolph County Historical Society. National Number 45 3703.
"The Mace Family in America, A Genealogy and History 1720-1990" by Gretchen Ann
Mace Velasco, p 15,
"Bicentennial History of Randolph County, West Virginia", by Donald L Rice, p 7