Portal:Indian Captivity Stories/Mrs. Dunavant/Validation

it remains unclear as to what Mrs. Dunavant's presentation of the killing of Major John Cowan, and capture Mary was based. It seems likely that she was aware of JB Cowan's letters, or at least had the information in those letters available to her, and that they shaped her understanding. The extract given in Fleming, 1971 identifies Major John's mother as Ann Cowan who was held captive by Indians "for several years". She further identifies his wife Mary Walker as "his cousin". This seems to clearly link Major John to the couple Samuel Cowan (?-1776) and Ann Walker (?-aft1780).

While we have not yet examined Mrs. Dunavants papers directly, we can nonetheless attempt a preliminary validation based on what Fleming tells us about her views. The following assumes the following:


 * Major John Cowan was killed by Indians between 1778 and 1780
 * This took place on the Clinch River, probably in the Castle's Woods area of SW Virginia
 * His mother was Ann Walker, wife of Samuel Cowan
 * Ann Walker had been previously captured by Indians, and taken north into captivity for several years
 * Major Cowan's wife was his cousin Mary Walker

The question can be asked "Which of the above facts can be independently validated?