"Ellison Familar Summers County Name" by John Faulconer This article appeared in the Beckley Post-Herald Newspaper on 22 Apr. 1981. Copies are available on microfilm in the Beckley Newspapers Archives located at 801 N. Kanawha St., Beckley, WV 25802-2813. Submitted By: Melissa Bailey Duggins FAMILAR NAME: The name Ellison is a familar one in Summers and adjoining counties as families by this name played an important role in this area's development and many are still residents in this area and in other parts of West Virginia. Thanks to Clem Ellison of Hinton this is the first of a series of columns on the Ellison family and Ellison Ridge whose location is familiar to most area residents, but I doubt if many know that it was named in honor of James Ellison, a chief Indian scout and soldier, who served throughout the war for American Independence. Before going further into this interesting bit of local history let us locate Ellison Ridge for the few readers who may not be familiar with the name. Ellison Ridge is located in the southwestern part of Summers County in Jumping Branch District and runs from the west side of the Bluestone River to the crest of Flat Top Mountain. It is at this point that Summers, Raleigh, and Mercer counties meet. ELLISON CAPTURED: James Ellison II was a resident of Crumps Bottom of New River in Summers County, most of which is now covered by the Bluestone Lake. It was at Crumps Bottom October 19, 1730 that Ellison and Matthew Farley were attacked by seven Shawnee Indians. Farley swam across New River and escaped, but Ellison was wounded so badly in the shoulder that he was unable to swim, but he did run upstream only to be captured later within a mile of Fort Field, His captors carried him about 15 miles up the Bluestone and Paint Creek Indian Trail which ran along a spur of Flat Top Mountain. This spur afterwards was known as Ellison Ridge. The Indians arrived at the ridge with their prisoner just after dark. They camped on the east side of the ridge, across from the present forks where one road now leads to Streeter and the other to Flat Top. The Indians bound Ellison's hands and removed his moccassins for the purpose of torture. He finally worked the thong loose from his ankles and escaped with his hands still bound behind him. He hid in cliffs about 500 feet away on land formerly owned by Alex Basham. The Indians left after an unsuccessful search for Ellison who managed to saw the thongs that bound his hands on a sharp stone, and he then returned to Farley's Fort at Crumps Bottom. GREAT HUNTING: A Dr. Bill Lilly owned part of the land where the Indians camped and from which Ellison escaped. He returned to the scene many times during his lifetime, and planted a tree on the spot of the camp where it remained until it was cut down in 1912. Ellison Ridge was known as a great hunting ground for the Indians and the Shawnee, Cherokee, Iroquois, Mingo, and perhaps other tribes crossed the ridge to hunt and fish in Bluestone River. It remained a vast wilderness until Sept. 23, 1883 when Robert, John, Josiah and Jonathan Lilly purchased 3,000 acres from Alfred Beckley, for whom the city of Beckley was named. The land purchased by the Lillys was known as Lilly's Panther Knob Survey. SUCK CREEK: Most everyone has heard of Suck that originates on the eastern slope of Ellison Ridge. The name is derived from suck holes along the creek. There are two forks of Suck Creek, north and south which united near the old Suck Creek School, and then flowed into the Bluestone near the Beecher Meadows farm. The name Dust Lick remembered by old time citizens is also in the area. It was a deer lick used by the Indians to kill deer. Mountain Creek rises in the Flat Top Mountain south of Ellison Ridge and flowed into the Big Bluestone a short distance above where Pipestem Park's Mountain Creek Lodge is now located. The Big Bluestone has its sources in Tazewell County, Virginia and was named by the Indians because the rocks on the bottom look blue when the water is clear. The Bluestone joins New River at the Bluestone Bridge on Route 20.