Israel Christian

Israel Christian (17201784) was an 18th-century American pioneer, militia officer, politician and businessman. One of the earliest landowners in Kentucky, he founded the town of Fincastle, Virginia. He was also a representative of Augusta County in the House of Burgesses from 1759 to 1761. Four of his daughters became married to William Fleming, William Bowyer and Stephen Trigg, all colonels in the Kentucky Militia, as well as Presbyterian minister Caleb Wallace. Three counties in Kentucky, as well as the Town of Christiansburg, Virginia, were named in honor of his son William Christian, and two of his sons-in-law, Fleming and Trigg. Biography Israel Christian was born in Ireland, most likely in the Presbyterian enclave at Derry. His uncle Gilbert Christian had previously arrived in Pennsylvania in 1726 and, after living in Lancaster for a time, he and his family were among the first to settle in the Valley of Virginia in 1732. Christian was engaged in the mercantile business in Dublin when he received news of his uncle's success in the American colonies and decided to emigrate there himself in 1740. He became a successful merchant in the Staunton River area before arriving in Augusta County (now Botetourt County) around 1740. He married Elizabeth Starke, reportedly a woman of "vigorous and cultivated intellect", around 1741 or 1742 and together had six children. He later became an officer in the Virginia Militia with the rank of captain. During the French and Indian War, he served on the 12-man war council after Augusta was attacked by the French and Shawnee in 1756. Held at the Augusta Courthouse on 27 July, the council members included Colonels John Buchanan and David Stewart, Major John Brown, Captains Joseph Colton, Robert Scott, Patrick Martin, Robert Breckenridge, James Lockhart, Samuel Stalnaker, Thomas Armstrong and his cousin William Christian. He was named "captain of horse" that same year.