Humbly sheweth, That altho' we have been considered an interior settlement, yet from various unfortunate occurrences, it must appear that we are equally exposed with the most distant frontier settlements.

That by attending to the geography of the Southwestern frontier, it will appear that from the western settlement of Russell County, on Clinch River, and the eastern of Lee in Powell's Valley, there is an uninhabited space of more than twenty miles north or your petitioners' dwellings, which makes us to that extent a frontier to the State,

That the predatory parties of the Indians, always industrious in discovering the weakness of our settlements, have for years past made their inroads through this vacant or uninhabited space, and have committed several cruel murders in the neighborhood of your petitioners, as will appear by the following detail:

August 26, 1791, a pary of Indians head by a Captain Bench, of the Cherokee tribe, attacked the house of Elisha Ferris, two miles from Mockison Gap, murdered Mrs. Ferris at his house, and made prisoner Mrs. Ferris and her daughter, Mrs. Livingston, and a young child together with Nancy Ferris. All but the latter were cruelly murdered the first day of their captivity.

April 1793, the same chief with a party of Indians, attacked and murdered the family of Harper Ratcliffe, six in number, about eight miles west of the above-mentioned gap.

March 31, 1793, the enemy attacked on Powell's Mountain Moses Cockrell and two others, who had horses loaded with merchandise; killed two men, took all the gods, and pursued Mr. Cockrell nearly two miles.

July 17, 1793, Bench with two other warriors traversed the settlement, on the north fork of the Holston for upwards of twenty miles, probably with the intention of making discoveries where were negro property. Int his route they fired at one Williams, and took prisoner a negro woman, the property of Paul Livingston, who after two days captivity made her escape.

And lastly, April 6, 1794, the melancholy disaster which befell Mr. Livingston's family and property, which has urged this application for assistance to prevent the depopulation of a considerable settlement.

From the above facts your Excellency and Council will be a judge of the justice of our claim, that such protection be afforded us, as the State may be able to afford and our necessities require.

All of which we submit with deference and your petitioners will ever pray.