Mary Draper Ingles, trans-Alleghany pioneer, was born in Philadelphia in 1732, the daughter of George and Elenor Hardin Draper. In 1748, she moved with her parents to Southwest Virginia, where Mary married William Ingles (born in London, 1729) in 1750. The Draper and Ingles families together established the first English-speaking settlement west of the Alleghanies at Draper's Meadow (predecessor to today's Blacksburg).

In July 1755, Mary Draper Ingles, her sons George and Thomas, her sister-in-law Betty Draper and others were captured during a Shawnee raid and were led up the New River and into present-day Kentucky. Eventually, Mary escaped, and her 850-mile trek back to her home has been documented in a number of published sources and a dramatic interpretation.

After her return, Mary and her husband William lived in Bedford County for several years but eventually returned to Montgomery County. At a location within the bounds of present-day Radford, Virginia, they established Ingles Ferry, which eventually grew to include a tavern, general store and blacksmith shop. Mary would give birth to four more children (John, Mary, Susan and Rhoda) before her husband died in 1782. Mary died in 1815.