1759, Henry Skaggs was born in South Carolina, possibly Abbeville Co., in the Spring of the year, and further states in his 1832 pension application that "there never was any register of his age that he heard of and he now only states it from the statements of his mother to him" which reveals that she outlived her husband by some years.

177? Sept. 13. A list of persons sworn to the States in Capt. McCORKLE's Company of Montgomery Co., VA, includes HENRY SCAGGS, son of AARON; James (longman); John (Gourd Head); John, Jr.; John Zachariah; and Moses SCAGGS.

Another researcher interpreted the preceding list as:
Sworn of Capt. Daniel Triggs Company: 9th September 1777
Sept. 13, 1777, includes John Scaggs, Junr.; Archibald Scaggs; Charles Skaggs; John Skaggs (Goard Head); Moses Skaggs; John Hankins [md. Elizabeth "Betsy" Skaggs]; John Skaggs; HENRY SKAGGS (son to AARON); Zachariah Skaggs.
Sept. 15: Richard Whitt [md. Susannah Skaggs]; James Skaggs (longman).
Ruby Altizer Roberts, Cambria, Va., in Virginia Vital Records (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1984), 214-15; actual page images at FamilyTreeMaker's GenealogyLibrary.com

The identity of Henry's parents has not been discovered, at least not definitively. Evidence suggests that Henry's father could either be Aaron SKAGGS or Henry SKAGGS the Long Hunter, and there are logical arguments supporting both suppositions. It appears certain, however, that Henry was a grandson of James SKAGGS and wife Rachel (maiden name unknown) of the New River country in southwest VA.
The primary evidence is based on the 1832 depositions of Henry and his cousin, Archibald SKAGGS (son of Charles SKAGGS, one of the Long Hunters, and Lucy THOMPSON), in their respective pension applications for their service during the Revolutionary War. Additional evidence is based on the 1777 militia list of Capt. McCorkle's Company in Montgomery Co., VA, that identifies a Henry Skaggs as a son of Aaron. (The date of this 1777 militia list is crucial because our Henry, born in 1759, turned 18 in 1777.) Perhaps this Aaron d. leaving a young family, and perhaps Henry the Long Hunter raised Henry "son of Aaron." For whatever reason, it appears that our Henry (b. 1759) followed in his namesake's footsteps and settled on Russell's Creek in the Green River country of KY suspiciously near Henry the Long Hunter on Pitman's Creek. Or, perhaps the younger Henry was the first-born son of the elder Henry who gave his son his due inheritance in life, and therefore did not include him in his will (it is said that the elder Henry md. Mary THOMPSON ca. 1755, yet their eldest known child was b. Dec. 1762, seven years later; Lucy was a sister of Mary THOMPSON who md. Charles SKAGGS, Henry's brother). Henry the Long Hunter d. in 1809 or 1810, and it was in 1809 that the younger Henry moved from Green Co. to Grayson Co. However, other records (the THOMPSON diary and 1836-37 court documents) do not include a son named Henry which discounts Henry the Longhunter as the father of the Grayson Co. Henry.
There are a number of records for several years beginning in 1772 that identify an Aaron Sr. and Aaron Jr. in southwest VA, and it appears that Henry (b. 1759) had a brother Aaron and a son Aaron. However, there is little, if any, firm evidence of an Aaron SKAGGS as the son of James and Rachel.

Henry served three tours of duty in the Virginia militia during the Revolutionary War, and received Pension #S30701 from August 17, 1833, until his death in 1851. In his 1832 application, he stated that he was born somewhere in South Carolina in the Spring of 1759; that he lived in Botetourt Co., VA, on Little River, a branch of New River (later in Montgomery Co., VA) during the time of his militia duty; that after the war, he went to KY, stayed awhile, then returned to New River; that he went to Green Co., KY, on Russell Creek in 1790, and to Grayson Co. on Rock Creek in 1809 [the year before Grayson Co. was formed]. Henry and his cousin, Archibald SKAGGS [son of Charles SKAGGS and Lucy THOMPSON], served together on two of Henry's three militia tours.

Newly found information suggests that the SKAGGS families went to Abbeville Co., SC, when they fled the New River area of southwest Virginia after an Indian attack. Barren Co., KY, Deed Book A (Abstracts), p.235: Archibald THOMPSON of Barren, Power of Attorney, 16 Dec 1805, to James Forbis to sell 150 acres on the waters of long cane in the county of Abbeville, South Carolina. --Jemima Gee Morse, e-mail, Feb. 24, 2000.

At a court held for Washington County November 21st, 1781
Present Arthur Campbell, John Kinkead, Robert Campbell, Gentlemen.
The Grand Jury Present Alexander Smith for Adultry with Jane Gibson, Jacob Young for horse Raceing, James Douglas for same, Evan Evans for same, Thomas Gross for misprison, Daniel Young for Breach of the Peace, Col. John Smith for Breach of the Sabbath, Andrew Colvill for Horse Raceing, Henry Graham for same, John Young for same, Archibald Brumley for same, James Dysart for same, Joseph Snodgrass for same, Major David Campbell for same, HENRY SKAGGS for Audultery with NANCY DAVIS, AARON SKAGGS for same with SARAH LYON, Sarah Kennedy for Fornication, Mary Pierce for same, William Robinson for Neglect of the Road, Daniel Young for same, John Funchouser for same, James Piper for same, William Batie for same, Widow James for fornication, and they having nothing further to present are Discharged. Ordered that process issue against the Several persons this day presented. --Annals of SouthWest Virginia 1769-1800, p.1091 (appears to be an actual transcription).

The adultry charges in this record most likely meant that these couples, in 1781, had not been married by the Church of England and were therefore illegally married. It was not until a new law passed in May of 1783 that other clergy and laymen were allowed to perform legal marriages. (The Revolutionary War "officially" ended in 1783.) --Roseann Reinemouth Hogan, Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research, page 81; also see www.wvculture.org/HISTORY/ahnews/0604news.pdf; and numerous other excellent websites devoted to the subject of early marriage banns, bonds, and licenses in Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
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SKAGGS, Henry to BESS/BASS, Anna, cons Anna BESS, 1 Jan 1797.
Green Co., Ky. Marriages 1793-1836 Book A
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/ky/green/vitals/marr/marrbka.txt

Compare these two marriage records. The preceding record suggests that Anna Bess / Bass gave consent to marry Henry Skaggs (what does this mean if Anna was around age 50? -- does this suggest she was a spinster?). The 1801 record that follows is no longer in a Kentucky database at Ancestry and appears to be in error.

1801 June 1, Henry SKAGGS md. Anna BASS, Green Co., KY (Dodd, Early Am. Marriages: KY to 1850). Henry was age 42 in 1801, and, according to the 1830 Grayson Co. census, Anna was about the same age (both were recorded as age 70-80). While it is possible that Anna might have had one or two children with Henry, the 1830 census does not support this. Nothing further is known about Anna BASS, and it appears that she may have been a spinster at the time of her marriage to Henry. The male, age 15-20, recorded in Henry's household in 1830 was Gideon SKAGGS, son of Henry's dau., Rebecca, b. out of wedlock ca. 1815.

The 1858 register of Grayson Co., KY, deaths (page image at Ancestry.com) gives the parents of James Skaggs who d. May 1, 1858, as Henry & Anna Skaggs, Anna's name being more familiar than Henry's first wife Nancy (and the mother of his children) who had died about 60 years earlier.
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1809, Henry SKAGGS moved from Green Co., KY, to Hardin Co. in an area that became Grayson Co. several months later. According to Doris Bratcher (letter, Aug. 7, 1982), a Hardin Co. deed indicates that Henry acquired 284 acres from Peter Weaver. Doris also said that a portion of this land remains in her family.

1810 Jan. 25, Grayson Co. formed from Hardin and Ohio counties.
1810 July 21, Grayson Co. tax list, Henry SKAGGS, 284 acres on Rock Creek (surveyed by George May), 6 horses, 1 white male over 21 (b. before 1789).

all Scaggs enumerated in 1810 Grayson Co., KY, census:
Martin Scaggs, p.240 line 43: 1 0 1 0 0 : 0 0 1;
William Scaggs, p.240 line 44: 3 0 0 1 0 : 0 0 1;
Henry Scaggs, p.241 line 9: 0 0 1 0 1 : 0 2 0 0 1;
James Scaggs, p.241 line 16: 1 0 1 0 0 : 0 0 1.

1810 Grayson Co., KY, census, p.241,
line 9, Henry SCAGGS: 0 0 1 0 1 : 0 2 0 0 1
1 M & 1 F 45 & over (b. before 1765);
1 M 16-26 (b.1784-1794; Aaron?); 2 F 10-16 (b.1794-1800; Nancy & Rebecca).

all Scaggs enumerated in 1820 Grayson Co., KY, census (names are roughly alphabetized):
Martin Scaggs p.151 line 4: 2 0 0 0 1 0 : 2 0 0 1 : 2 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
Wm Scaggs p.151 line 5: 0 0 0 1 : 1 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
Wm Scaggs p.151 line 13: 3 2 0 0 1 0 : 1 0 0 1 : 3 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
James Scaggs p.151 line 19: 3 1 0 0 1 0 : 1 0 0 1 : 3 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
Henry Scaggs p.152 line 10: 0 1 0 0 1 3 : 1 0 0 1 : 1 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
Richard Scaggs p.152 line 16: 2 2 0 0 1 0 : 1 2 0 1 : 2 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
James Scaggs p.152 line 17: 4 0 0 0 1 0 : 1 0 0 1 : 3 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
Aron Scaggs p.152 line 18: 1 0 0 0 1 0 : 2 0 1 : 1 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
Henry Scaggs p.152 line 20: 1 0 0 1 0 1 : 0 0 1 0 1 : 2 engaged in agriculture; no slaves;
Shiderick Scaggs [Sallings, not Scaggs] p.152 line 21;
Jeremiah Scaggs p.152 line 22: 0 1 0 0 0 1 : 1 0 0 1 : 2 engaged in agriculture; no slaves.

1820 Grayson Co., KY, census, p.152, line 10, Henry SCAGGS: 0 1 0 0 1 3 : 1 0 0 1
3 M 45 & over (b. before 1775); 1 M & 1 F 26-45 (b.1775-1794);
1 M 10-16 (b.1804-1810); 1 F under 10 (b.1810-1820). Which Henry is this?

1820 Grayson Co., KY, census, p.152,
line 20, Henry SCAGGS: 1 0 0 1 0 1 : 0 0 1 0 1
1 M & 1 F 45 & over (b. before 1775; Henry b.1759 & wife);
1 M & 1 F 16-26 (b.1794-1804; Burgess Thomas & wife Rebecca Skaggs);
1 M under 10 (b.1810-1820; Rebecca's son Gideon b.1815).

all Scaggs enumerated in 1830 Grayson Co., KY, census:
Aron Skaggs, p.313 line 10: 0 0 0 0 1 : 2 0 0 0 1;
Martin Skaggs, p.313 line 11: 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 : 0 1 1 1 0 0 1;
James Skaggs, p.316 line 8: 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 : 0 1 1 0 0 0 1;
Henry Skaggs, p.321 line 6: 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.

1830 Grayson Co., KY, census, p.321,
line 6, Henry SKAGGS: 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
1 M & 1 F 70-80 (b.1750-1760; Henry b.1759 & wife);
1 M 15-20 (b.1810-1815; Rebecca's son Gideon b.1815).
Burgis THOMAS and wife Rebecca SKAGGS, line 4: 1 1 0 0 1 : 1 0 0 0 0 1.

SKAGGS-L, October 23, 1999, from Norman Warnell (Normanlw@aol.com).
Henry SKAGGS of Grayson Co., KY. There are errors in spelling but I'm quoting exactly as it appears in the deposition (caps are mine) ...
"The Deposition of HENRY SKAGGS taken at his own house in Grayson County on the 15th day of December 1835. To be red as evidence in a Suit in Chancery now depending in the Green Co. Circuit Cort . . ."
"1st Question by one of the heirs to viz William RHEA: Was you or was you not at Pitmans Station in & Early day now in Green County.
"1st Answer I was [note: The date they are discussing was the fall of 1779 and the spring of 1780; Pitmans Station was located in Nelson Co. before it became Green County; Henry SKAGGS Longhunter was also on Pitmans Creek during this time--he entered his land on the upper waters of Pitman's Creek, Feb. 1780]
"Question by Same Did you or did you not understand after you left Pitmans Station for Virginia that the Indians drove the Settlers of said Station from the station in the same year you left the station afforsd,.
"Ans Yes they tole me so.
"Question by same Was or was not the Creek above stated that runs near Pitmans Station called Pitmans Creek now in Green County when you moved from Virginia a few years after you was first at Pitmans Station and caled so by the setlers.
"Ans Yes It was
"4th Quest by Same In what year did you the deponant come to Pitmans Station & who came with you & how long did you Stay at sd station.
"Ans I do not recollect what time I came there RICHARD SKEGGS came with me to Pitmans Station. I think I came ther in The Fall & left Ther The March following. [1779-1780]
"9th Question by same Was you the deponant at any other Station but Pitmans Station during The time you stade at sd Station & If you was say what station & did you not return in March from Pitmans Station to Virginia.
"Ans My home was at Pitmans Station but I used to hunt from Pitmans Station to JAMES SKEGGS station on brush creek. I did return from Pitmans Station the Month of March back to Virginia.
"11th Question by Same In what year did you The deponant return to Green County from Virginia & did or did you not live in Virginia Forom The time you left Pitmans station in March until you returned to Green County.
"Ans I do nowt know in what year I returned back I lived in Virginia until my return back to Green County."
(According to the Nelson County tax list, etc., Henry of Grayson County was back by 1787 when he appears on the tithable list for Nelson County with Aaron SKAGGS. Another Henry SKAGGS, the famous Longhunter, was a landowner on Pitman's Creek in 1787 as was William PITMAN. PITMAN, a hunting companion of Henry SKAGGS Longhunter, was killed by Indians at his station two years later, 1789.) --Norman Warnell

After his wife died in the 1830s, Henry lived with son James until his death in 1851.

1840 Grayson Co., KY, census, Henry SKAGGS [living with son James], p.135, no Twp. listed.
1840 Grayson Co., KY, pensioners list, p.162, Henry SKAGGS, age 80 [b. ca.1760].

All Skaggs in 1840 Grayson Co., KY, census: Aaron, Abraham, Henry, Isham, James, Martin, Martin, Thomas

1850 Grayson Co., KY, census, p.21, August 17, 1850:
Henry SKAGGS, 97 M, none, VA [b. in 1759, Henry was age 91]; with
279/279 James SKAGGS, 65 M, farmer, $500 real, VA;
Kessiah, 63 F, VA; John W., 21 M, farmer, KY.

Henry is buried in the old Skaggs family cemetery in the field behind the old Pine Grove School, formerly Henry's farm.

The Death of John SKAGGS. John W. SKAGGS died at his home on Rock Creek, October 2, 1906, where he had lived since he was nine years old. He was the son of James SKAGGS and a grandson of Old HENRY SKAGGS who was a soldier in the War of 1812 [sic; should read Rev. War]. He was among the first settlers of Rock Creek in Grayson County. I knew Old HENRY well. He never came to town only on the 4th of March and 4th of September each year to make out papers to draw his pension, which was made every six months. He left his original certificate of his honorable discharge with my father, Jack THOMAS, who was the County Court Clerk, for safe keeping, which long after was destroyed in the Court House fire. When I was a small boy, I would sit and listen to him tell of his battle with the Indians. --by Ed THOMAS (1824-1912, Grayson Co. Court Clerk; succeeded his father, Jack THOMAS 1790-1865) in the Leitchfield Gazette; handwritten transcription courtesy Doris Bratcher, January 1998 (caps added).
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In the Grayson Co. Public Library in Leitchfield, KY, I found a very thick hand lettered Millerstown family book that lists several Millerstown, KY (Grayson Co.) families. I have been told the info was collected in the 1940s, but I don't know. There is a letter of corrections and additions dated Dec. 29, 1979. The corrections are by the same lady who is thanked for providing most of the SKAGGS info, Mrs. Tempie Bell Witten.
Quoting from the introduction to the SKAGGS family section [caps added]: "A Henry SKAGGS Sr. is said to have come to America from Scotland. However, the SKAGGS name is not included in a listing of the families of Scotland, and it probably orginated in Scandinavia. It is also said that this same Henry SKAGGS and his brother James came through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky with Daniel BOONE.
"Another Henry SKAGGS (possibly a son of the above) was born in the Spring of 1759, in South Carolina. This man later lived in Botetourt County, Virginia, where in 1779 and again in 1780 he enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, serving under Capt. James THOMPSON, and later in Gen. McINTOSH's Indian Expedition.
"After the War, this last "Hunting Henry" SKAGGS came to Kentucky, stayed a few months, and returned to Virginia. He came again to Kentucky about 1790, and settled on Russell's Creek in Green Co. [Ky]. He resided there until 1809 when he moved on to the Rock Creek area of Grayson County--near Millerstown. One source says that he was one of six sons who came to Grayson County with his father. However, it would seem much more likely that he himself was the father--and that he had the six sons. His known family is as follows:
"Hunting Henry SKAGGS b. ca. 1759 d. 1850/51. James SKAGGS b. ca. 1785 m. Kessiah WITTEN, one son John W. SKAGGS d. 10/02/1906. Nancy SKAGGS b. ca. 1787 m. John WITTEN.
"It seems likely that the following were other children of Hunting Henry SKAGGS. However, we have no proof that such was the case: Martin SKAGGS, Sr. b. ca. 1788 VA m. Mary.
"It also lists six possible Hunting Henry SKAGGS grandsons as follows: Abraham D. SKAGGS b. ca. 1805/10 m. Mary GRAHAM. Isham SKAGGS b. ca. 1811 m. Rachel DOWNS. Thomas T. SKAGGS b. ca. 1812 m. Barbara. Martin SKAGGS b. ca. 1814 m. Nancy. Gilbert SKAGGS b. ca. 1815 m. Catherine. Cibba (?) SKAGGS b. ca. 1820 m. Martha." --Betty Pierce <pierce@kvnet.org>, <SKAGGS-L@rootsweb.com>, Sept. 3, 2000.

Clifton HARRIS' father also talked of an "Uncle Henry SKAGGS." Clifton wrote us in March 1976 that "I guess I call him Uncle because my father called him Uncle. There definitely was no family relationship between my family and the SKAGGS family. My father [John Mayhew HARRIS] had a habit of always referring to older people as Uncle or Aunt. No doubt he acquired this habit as a boy from his parents. I doubt if my father remembered Uncle Henry, but I don't believe he died until after my father was born (1850). But he being a very notorious man, a famous frontiersman, hunter, Indian fighter and friend of Daniel BOONE, and my father having been born and raised in the community where Uncle Henry lived and died, and no doubt, like most boys, was given to hero worship, he eagerly absorbed all the stories which were still being told at that time.
"And the time the two young men told him [Henry] they were going to scare him, he told them not to try it because in the first place they couldn't scare him, and secondly, they might get hurt. As long as he lived, he always carried his trusty old rifle. Sometime after this, he was riding horseback along one of the old trails through the woods and hearing a noise of some kind to one side of the road and being always on the alert, was ready for any eventuality. His attention was centered on the direction from which the noise came. Immediately he observed two feathers rising up from behind a log and before the man's eyes came to a level with the top of the log, Uncle Henry put a bullet through his skull. My father made the remark, 'Uncle Henry SKAGGS did not know the meaning of the word, fear'."

Henry SKAGGS' gr-gr-grandson, Alvie SKAGGS, wrote in his memoirs that Henry had a son John William SKAGGS who was a Primative Baptist minister and went to Oregon or Washington.

• Married: ABT. 1781 in (?)Washington Co., VA

1. William SKAGGS b: BEF. 1784
2. James SKAGGS b: 18 JUL 1786 in Tazewell Co., VA
3. Martin SKAGGS b: ABT. 1788 in Virginia (probably Montgomery Co.)
4. Aaron SKAGGS b: ABT. 1792 in (probably Green Co., KY, on Russell Creek)
5. Nancy SKAGGS b: 15 JAN 1795 in Gray's Fork, Green Co., KY
6. REBECCA SKAGGS b: ABT. 1796 in Green Co., KY, on Russell Creek

• Married: 1 JAN 1797 in Green Co., KY