148-George MUSE, b. 1720, England, s/o ______?, d. Jan/Feb 1790, Nelson Co., KY, m. (149) Elizabeth BATTAILE, d/o Lawrence and Sarah (_____) BATTAILE, d. 27 Feb 1786, by whom he had two sons.. He m. 2nd. Ellender NEEL, probably from Caroline Co., VA, by whom he had two daughters. George MUSE, may be one of the most colorful characters in the MORROW-WALTON line. George MUSE emigrated to the colonies at about the same time as Lawrence Washington, father of George Washington. He had been a Colonel in the British Army, achieving distinction as adjutant in the Spanish Wars with Admiral Vernon in the Cartengna (sp.?) Campaign. He wrote what is supposed to be the first book in the colonies on military tactics in the evolution and movement of troops, and instructed George Washington on military tactics early in his career. His principal residence appears to have been Caroline Co., VA. In 1750 he was added to the list of tithables according to Augusta Co. Records. MUSE was a Lt. Colonel, in the Virginia Militia, and second in command to Washington, in the expedition against the French and Indians, when they were forced to build Fort Necessity to defend themselves from the French, and subsequently forced to surrender. Unfortunately, because of his behavior during this episode, MUSE, was not given a vote of thanks by the VA Assembly. There is some evidence that he was drunk during the engagement. Despite this he received thousands of acres of land on the Ohio and Kanawha River for his service during the war. In 1770, Washington set out to secure the bounty lands for the French and Indian War soldiers. Forty-six miles below the present day site of Charleston, WV, on the Kanawha River, he selected some of the bottom land in which George MUSE was given 10026 acres. In Cook', 'Washington's Western Lands', a diagram of this land appears on page 53. In two surveys in 1773, Muse received a survey of 7894 acres on the Kanawha, and 3323 acres in the Poco River Tract. MUSE was not satisfied with the survey, and accused Washington of taking the best land for himself, and wrote a rude letter to Washington stating his dissatisfaction. Evidently Muse was drinking when he wrote the letter as demonstrated by Washington in his reply. The letter in part:
"....I am not accustomed to receive such from any man, nor would I have taken the same language from you personally, without letting you feel some mark of my resentment. I advise you to be cautious in writing me a second in the same tenor; for, though I understand you were drunk when you did it, yet give me leave to tell you that drunkenness is no excuse for rudeness. But for you stupidity and sottishness you might have known by attending to the public gazette that you had your full quantity of thousand acres of and allotted you...that is, nine thousand and twenty-three acres in the great tract, and the remainder in the small tract... and all my concern is that I have engaged myself in behalf of so ungrateful and dirty a fellow as you are."
Despite the behavior of George MUSE in these dealings with Washington, most writers believe that Washington appears to have taken every effort to be fair in the land distribution. One exception, is Flexner "George Washington, The Forge of Experience 1732-1775, p299-301, states that Washington and a Dr. Craik took the best lands for themselves. Washington apparently held no malice toward the MUSE family, because for several decades after the Revolutionary War, Battaile MUSE, s/o George MUSE, was the business agent for Washington's estates in Frederick, Berkeley, Jefferson, and Fauquire counties in VA. (FH6, US6, VAB6, VAAUG1). (WASHINGTON/MUSE LETTERS) Children:
148.1 Battaile MUSE b. 30 Sep 1751 d. Mar 1803....see#74
148.2 Lawrence MUSE b. ___? d. c1789
148.3 Catherine (Hetty) MUSE
148.4 Caroline MUSE
148.2-Lawrence MUSE, b. ____?, d. c1789, in KY, m. Elizabeth ________, a merchant from Tappahanock who later became a member of the VA General Assembly..
148.3-Catherine (Hetty) MUSE, m. William SHROPSHIRE, d. by 1803. Catherine m. 2nd., 8 Oct 1798 in King George Co., VA, James DAVIS b. 1731 d. 1808, who died intestate in King George Co. (VAB1, Vol. 1, p2)
148.3a William B. SHROPSHIRE
148.3b John H. S. SHROPSHIRE
148.4-Caroline MUSE, m. bef. 1796, William GREGORY (or may have been William Spilsbury GREGORY). They may have had several children, but the number and names are not known.
FAMILY CONTENT PAGES
WALTON LICKLIDER ENTLER MORROW GENERATIONS