A history of Kentucky

Preface

In the preparation of this book, an attempt has been made to relate the events of practical, everyday life, in such a manner as to make the study of the history of our State a pleasure to the pupil. While adhering to facts as closely as they could be ascertained, the aim has been that the whole shall entertain as a connected story. Special effort has been made to portray the spirit of the Kentuckians, in order that the student may understand and revere the people from whom he is sprung. To this end, more space has been given to their characteristics as indicated by tales of particular acts, than to the statistics of battles in which they have taken part.

As this is a narration of the life of a State, and as the connection of one incident with another is of more importance in a work of this kind than the grouping of kindred topics, the chronological order of development has been followed.

The subject naturally divides itself into five clearly marked periods. And these lend themselves readily to important subdivisions. That portion of the history which extends to the close of the War of 1812 belongs to the poetic stage in the State’s life; and that which follows, to the prose stage. It has been necessary in developing the later prose periods to depart somewhat

PREFACE from the simple method followed when setting forth the early poetic periods. But this seems rather an advantage; for if the interest of the pupil is awakened at the outset, he will be eager to follow the fortunes of his State to the end, and will, it is hoped, patiently study the more prosaic episodes, in order to get a thorough grasp of the whole.

It has been my earnest desire that the work should -be historically sincere. The difficult aim has been constantly before my mind to make it impartial in all instances, and at the same time forceful and inspiriting. A Kentuckian, from my infancy I have been imbued with a knowledge and love of the State. And yet, having grown up in the New Kentucky, in her days of quietude, I have been enabled to approach the consideration of her significant periods with little individual prejudice. I have made a laborious and careful study of all available material, and I have tried to let the actions of the people, as they have been unfolded to me, speak for themselves, and reveal the Kentuckians. It is my hope that what I have written will find favor with my own people. E. S. K.

Contents

I—. PIONEER DAYS

1669-1782

PAGE*

Chapter I

The history of Kentucky is at once unique and attractive. It begins like a romance, thrilling in tales of heroic deeds and exciting adventures. From the „ ^ , ,

0 Kentucky’s

earliest settlement of the State, all through the honored crises in its own life and the life of the nation, p0Sltl0n Kentucky has held an honored position, and has produced men of great and noble character. None but the brave dared or desired to risk the perils of these untried forests ; therefore, Kentucky was founded by men of forceful qualities, remarkable as well for strength of mind as for endurance of body. The tide of immigration has passed, for the most part, to the north and to the south of Kentucky ; hence its present population consists almost exclusively of the descendants of the early settlers. The men who are prominent to-day are, in the main, sons of fathers whose fathers helped to establish the Commonwealth.

Long ages before Kentucky was discovered, there dwelt in the land a race of beings called Mound Builders, on account of the mounds or monuments they The Mound erected. Many of these mounds have been Builders opened, and have been found to contain bones of human

IO beings and of the mastodon (a gigantic animal now extinct), as well as implements of stone, flint arrowheads, and pieces of pottery. Until recently, historians believed that these

Relics from Mounds remains indicated a people different from, and more civilized than, the Indians; but modern scientists have concluded that the Mound Builders were simply the ancestors of the present Indians.

At the time when Kentucky was visited by the first pioneers, it was not the home of Indians, as were many of the other parts of America ; but it was the

Kentucky as 1

seenby hunting ground and battlefield of neighboring

tribes from the north, the west, and the south.

The beautiful and luxuriant forests were filled with elk and buffalo and varieties of game that have long been extinct.

flfr „ - ■'M' /y r

Wild Animals of Kentucky

II Indian valuation of the land

Seven rivers drain the land, — the Big Sandy, the Licking, the Kentucky, the Salt, the Green, the Cumberland, and the Tennessee. Following a northwestward course through the east, the middle, and the west of the State, these all flow into the Ohio, and thence into the waters of the mighty Mississippi.

The Indians were by no means ignorant of the value of this land. They were prepared to resist its permanent settlement to their utmost ability, so that the pioneers, or first white men who came to Kentucky, had to contend not only with the wild beasts of the forest but with the equally savage Indian warriors. From the fierce encounter of Indians with Indians, and Indians with pioneers, it came about that the State was called “ The Dark and Bloody Ground.”

That courage which was a necessity to our forefathers is still a marked characteristic of the sons of Kentucky. The pioneers were men sent forth by the wis- courage of dom of God to found a new Commonwealth. Kentuckians They went in peace, but with their rifles cocked to defend their lives from the Indians.

In the early days of American discovery, some people

Indian Warriors believed that there was a great river in America leading across the continent to China. The distin-

First white

guished Frenchman, La Salle, while in search meninKenof this river, in the year 1669 or 1670, passed tucky

through a portion of Kentucky from the Big Sandy to the rapids of the Ohio. As early as 1750, Dr.

Thomas Walker of Virginia led an exploring party into Kentucky by way of Powell’s Valley, through the mountains in the eastern part of the State, and built a log cabin on the Cumberland River. But the land company he represented yvas not successful, and he returned home with little knowledge of the country. One year later, Christopher Gist, an agent of the Ohio Land Company, beheld, stretching out before him, from some point on the Kentucky River, the impressive and beautiful land of Kentucky. There is also a tradition that, in the year 1754, a man by the name of McBride cut his initials on a tree at the mouth of the Kentucky River.

Faint rumors now reached Virginia and North Carolina of the fertile land beyond the mountains, and, in the year Daniel Boone 1769, John Findley piloted Daniel Boone and m Kentucky f0ur companions into the country which

he had visited two years before. These courageous men were not driven by persecution, nor by the need to seek a livelihood for themselves and their families. Each one left behind him a “ peaceable habitation,” as Boone called his quiet home on the Yadkin, in North Carolina, and started forth with a rifle in one hand and a hatchet in the other, in quest of adventure.

They pitched their tent on the banks of the Red River (a branch of the Kentucky), and remained peace-

Boone and J ' 1

Stewart in the fully hunting until late in December. But one day Boone and John Stewart, when alone in the woods, were captured by Indians. After seven days they succeeded in making their escape, and returned to their camp, to find it deserted, no trace being left of their former companions. Boone and Stewart were soon joined by Squire Boone, a younger brother of Daniel’s; but shortly after this,

Stewart was killed by Indians. The two brothers, finding that they did not have enough ammunition, decided that the younger should go back to North Carolina to supply their need. Daniel was now left alone in the vast forests.

In July, 1770, Squire Boone arrived with the ammunition. The two brothers remained until March of the following year, and then returned to North The Long Carolina. Five other adventurers had joined Hunters them in their camp on the Red River. In the year 1769, a party of about forty men from Virginia and North Carolina went out on a hunting expedition. Nine of this

Daniel Boone company, led by Colonel James Knox, reached Kentucky the following year, and explored the country about the Cumberland and Green rivers. They did not come in contact with Boone’s party. From the length of time all these adventurers were absent from home, they were called “The Long Hunters.”

Up to the year 1763, France had claimed the country on the east of the Mississippi which included Kentucky. Conflicting After the French and Indian War, Great

claims Britain gained the right to this region. But

because of prior possession, various tribes of Indians laid claim to the country. In the year 1768, the English government purchased from the tribes of Indians called the Six Nations the title to all the lands lying between the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. This treaty was held at Fort Stanwix, now Rome, in New York.

Bounty lands on the Ohio River were then granted to many of the officers and soldiers of the Virginia troops, Surveyors sent and surveyors were sent to mark them out. to Kentucky Thus were brought to Kentucky many of the clever and gallant young men of Virginia whose names, or those of their descendants, afterwards became associated with the history of the State.

Two interesting characters of this period were Hancock Taylor and John Floyd. They were deputies under , _ Colonel William Preston, surveyor of Fin-

Hancock Tay- ... .

lor and castle County, Virginia, of which Kentucky

was a part until 1776. These men started forth in the high hopes of their young manhood, to survey the far-famed lands of Kentucky. Honor and wealth lay before them, and all the exciting pleasures of a perilous undertaking. The one was shot down by Indians a few months after his arrival ; the other lived nine years — long enough to establish his family in Kentucky, and to aid in founding the new country — and then he fell a victim to the same death.

There were other surveyors in the early days of Kentucky to whom a romantic interest attaches. Captain Thomas Bullitt, of Virginia, at the head of a party, in 1773, made surveys of land for Dr. othersurveyors John Connolly, at the falls of the Ohio, where the city of Louisville now stands. Close upon his explorations fol-

Early Kentucky Settlers lowed those of James Douglas, who visited Big Bone Lick, where he found scattered on the ground the bones of the mastodon, whose huge ribs he used for his tent poles. The scholarly John Todd, later to be noticed, and his brother Levi, came to Kentucky in the same capacity, as did also two representatives of the Lee family of Virginia.

The same year, there came into Kentucky a party of hunters and surveyors from Virginia, led by three brothers, James, George, and Robert McAfee, who later on became i6

The McAfees Boone, and others prominent in the new country. This visit was for investigation, and after selecting lands on the Salt River, in Mercer County, they made their way homeward, wellnigh exhausted by the trials of the journey. In Powell’s Valley they met a large party which Daniel Boone was guiding into Kentucky. The life in the wilderness was so delightful to Boone that he determined to make his home there. On the 25th of September, 1773, he set out with his wife and children, and was joined by five other families and forty men besides. Their progress was interrupted, however, on the very threshold of Kentucky soil by an Indian attack, and six of the company were killed, Boone’s son being one of the number. This so disheartened the pioneers that they turned back toward their old homes.

The same year, Simon Kenton roamed through Kentucky. The following year, James Harrod and forty men Indian hostiii- built themselves cabins and laid off the town ties of Harrodsburg, which, however, they were

soon obliged to abandon. Shortly afterward, Governor Dunmore of Virginia sent Daniel Boone and Michael Stoner to guide out of the wilderness the surveyors who were in Kentucky. The Shawnee Indians had become so hostile to the settlement of Kentucky that it was dangerous for any white man to remain there. They were now gathering under their great chief, Cornstalk, for the bloodiest conflict that ever occurred between the whites and the Indians.

The battle of Point Pleasant took place the 10th of Battle of Point October, 1 774, near the mouth of the Kanawha Pleasant River. The white forces were collected

by General Andrew Lewis, but the latter took no personal part in the fight, being occupied with superintending the erection of certain breastworks, necessary for the encounter. The forces consisted mainly of sturdy Scotch- Irish from Virginia, under the command of Colonels Charles Lewis, William Fleming, and John Field. They were joined by two companies of brave men from beyond the Cumberland Mountains, who were eager to avenge the injuries they had suffered from the Indians ; one of these companies was under the command of Captain Russell, and the other under Captain Evan Shelby, who, with his fifty volunteers from the Watauga settlement, in North Carolina, hurried forward to the encounter. The attack was opened upon the division of Colonel Charles Lewis, but he was soon mortally wounded. In quick succession, the two remaining colonels, William Fleming and John Field, were cut down, the one being wounded, the other slain. The command then fell to Captain Shelby.

From sunrise the battle raged fiercely. Victory wavered between the two sides. Many had already fallen, when, toward noon, Cornstalk determined to outflank Result of the the whites and, by a bold movement, to end battle the conflict. But just at this time, Isaac Shelby, then a young lieutenant left in charge of his father’s company, determined also to make a flank movement against the Indians. He took with him two other companies, commanded by James Stewart and George Matthews. They crept through the underbrush, along the banks of the Kanawha, and surprised the enemy in the rear. The Indians became alarmed and began to retreat. The fighting, however, did not cease until near sunset. The victory thus gained by the whites was of the utmost importance in the settlement of Kentucky. Shortly afterward, the Shawnees entered into a treaty with Governor Dunmore, of Virginia. They gave up all their title to the lands i8 south of the Ohio River, and promised not to molest the white men further. Peace now reigned for a time, and the pioneers were enabled to make their homes in Kentucky.

Kentucky’s romantic history.

Interesting relics found in ancient mounds.

Mound Builders the ancestors of Indians.

No Indian homes found in the region.

The region the Indian hunting ground.

A valuable region.

Indians determined to resist its settlement.

The courage of the pioneers.

La Salle in Kentucky in 1669 or ’70.

Walker, Gist, and McBride come before 1754.

Findley guides a party in 1769.

Boone and Stewart captured.

They escape, to find their camp deserted.

They are joined by Squire Boone.

Stewart is killed by Indians.

Squire Boone goes home and returns.

The brothers leave in 1771.

The Long Hunters.

Great Britain gains the region in 1763.

Also, she buys it from the Six Nations.

Floyd, Taylor, and other surveyors sent to Kentucky.

The McAfee brothers.

Boone’s party attacked by Indians.

Simon Kenton visits Kentucky.

James Harrod lays off Harrodsburg.

Indian hostilities force the surveyors to leave.

Indians gather under their great chief, Cornstalk.

The battle of Point Pleasant.

Colonels Lewis, Field, and Fleming killed or wounded.

Captain Evan Shelby commands.

Flank movement against the Indians.

The whites gain a significant victory.

Dunmore’s treaty secures peace for a time.

Chapter II

In the year 1775, permanent homes were made in Kentucky. James Harrod and his company came back to their cabins, which they had been forced to Permanent leave by Indian hostilities, and the McAfees statlons returned to their settlement on the Salt River. Not far from Harrodsburg, Benjamin Logan, with a few slaves, erected a station, to which he brought his family during the following year. A most important aid to the settlement of the country was the road Daniel Boone cut from Cumberland Gap to the fort in Madison County which bore his name.

Far and wide was spread Boone’s glowing account of the unknown region ; and though he did not succeed in firing very many with a desire to brave the Boone,s perils of its untried forests, the news soon account of the reached some of the influential and wealthy men of North Carolina, who quickly foresaw the vast riches and power which might be theirs if they could gain possession of it.

We have already seen that the Six Nations had sold to the English their title to that vast area of country which included the present State of Kentucky, Sale of Indian and that after the battle of Point Pleasant, the tltles Shawnee Indians, also, had renounced their right to the region. But such was the lawless and unstable condition of Indian possessions that the ownership seemed to rest with that nation which had gained the latest victory in the tribal wars. Thus the Cherokees, likewise, asserted a claim to the land.

Captain Nathaniel Hart, of North Carolina, formed a company, known as Henderson and Company (consisting Henderson and of himself, his two brothers, and six others), to company purchase this Cherokee title. They chose Colonel Richard Henderson as their legal head. Across the country, a distance of about three hundred miles, Hart and Henderson went to hold a conference with the Indians at their villages beyond the Alleghany Mountains. The Indians promised to consider the matter, and sent a committee to examine the goods to be given in exchange for the land. These proved satisfactory, and a place of treaty was determined upon. On the 17th of March, 1775, twelve hundred savage warriors assembled at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River. The nine members of the company were there, and all the men, women, and children of the settlement gathered to hear the decision of the council. When the Indian chiefs finally decided, after much speech-making on both sides, to sell to the whites their “ hunting ground,” — about seventeen million acres of land, — for the consideration of ten thousand pounds sterling, there was great rejoicing.

The land bought by the company lay on the other side of the mountains; and though it was covered with wide- The colony of sPrea(ling forest trees, they gave it the pic- Transyivania turesque and not inappropriate name of Tran-

in America , . » / . / 7 ,r'i r

sylvama, beyond the woods . I he purpose ot the company was to found a colony of which they should be the proprietors, and to sell lands to persons desiring to make their homes in the region. The scheme was brilliant and gigantic ; and though it was soon abandoned, it had a most important influence on the future of the State. The proprietors were all educated men, who attracted to the country other men of ability.

Daniel Boone was sent ahead to open a road for the proprietors. The trace then cut was later widened into the famous Wilderness Road,1 one of the two

, , 11-1 r n i Boone’s road

ways (the other being by means ot flatboats down the Ohio) by which there entered Kentucky the brave men and women who laid the foundations of the State. Colonel Boone’s company consisted of about twenty-two men, and they were joined by a party of eight, under the leadership of Captain William Twetty. Their task was not so difficult as it was perilous, and just before it was completed their courage was put to the test. One morning, while they still lay asleep in camp, they were attacked by Indians. Two of their number were killed, and one was wounded so seriously that he could not be moved immediately. With that spirit of heroism inspired by the times, several, of the men remained with their wounded comrade at the risk of their lives, while the others went on ahead about fifteen miles, to select a site upon which to erect a fort.

When the proprietors arrived, they found three stations besides Boonesborough already settled in the country. Thev called for an election of delegates from

J # ° The Boones-

these, in order that laws might be made for borough the government of the colony. Twelve dele- parhament gates were duly elected and sent from Harrodsburg, Boiling Springs, and St. Asaph’s or Logan’s Station, and six

1 The Wilderness Road. By Thomas Speed. Filson Club Publication No. 2.

were elected for Boonesborough. This first legislative assembly held west of the Alleghanies met at Boonesborough, May 23, 1775, under the branches of a mighty elm which could comfortably shelter in its shadow one hundred people. The parliament passed nine laws to the satisfaction of all concerned, and adjourned to meet the following autumn ; but it never again assembled.

The independent settlers in the country soon became dissatisfied, and asked Virginia to take them under her protection. Accordingly, in 1778, the legislature of that State annulled the purchase of the Transylvania proprietors ; but in order to compensate them for their loss, she granted them 200,000 acres of land, and gave good titles to all those who had bought lands from the company.

The structure Boone and his men erected at Boonesborough was the first military fortification on Kentucky The Boones- soil, and it proved a very secure stronghold

borough fort against the unskilled attacks of savages. It

was laid out as a parallelogram, inclosed by posts sharpened at the end and driven firmly into the ground. At the four corners were built strong two-story log cabins with

windows which looked out _ V on the open space or court * of the inclosure. The sides which faced the windows, but only loopholes through* which the pioneers could fire at their enemies.

Pioneer women

The furnishings of the cabins were very rude, — a bed in one corner made of upright forks of trees, on which rested poles whose ends were thrust into holes _ r

r _ The furnish-

in the wall of the building, and on these poles ings of the were thrown for mattress and covering the skins of wild animals ; a rough-hewn dining table, and a few three-legged wooden stools. The windows were covered with paper saturated with bear’s oil, through which the light penetrated, and an air of cheerfulness was gained by the huge fireplace which stretched nearly across one side of the room.

Shortly after the fort was completed, in September, 1 775, Daniel Boone brought his wife and daughter to Kentucky. At Harrodsburg, also, Hugh McGary, Richard Hogan, and Thomas Denton settled with their families. In November of this year, John McClellan brought his family into Kentucky, and, in company with Colonel Robert Patterson, built a station which was named McClellan’s.

Here, fifteen years later, the town of Georgetown was incorporated. With the coming of the women, home life began in the wilderness, with all of its hardships, its perils, and its inspiriting A Backwoods Girl adventures. The women stood side by side with the men, and suffered and grew strong, labored and prospered, with them. To-day we look back to their lives of unselfish devotion, and are thrilled by admiration for their courage. There are no wild beasts for us to fight, no Indians, no dangers from hunger and cold. But if we would be true children of brave ancestors, there is a battle to enter far harder and more worthy of victory than any they were called upon to wage — a battle for the honor and purity of our own lives and of the State.

Daniel Boone can in no way stand as a type of the early Kentuckians. They were far more remarkable and clever men. He did not feel himself inspired by character of any high motive, though he was always kind DamelBoone

and courageous. He sought the unpeopled lands of Kentucky because he loved the wild life of the woods.

With the coming of civilization, he departed. But he was an instrument in the hands of God to open the way for the foundation of a great State.

By the side of Daniel Boone there towers another picturesque figure, Simon Kenton, famous _

Simon Kenton

as an In-

startling adventures.

Simon Kenton dian scout, and the hero of many

His manhood began with a tragedy. He loved a girl who was won by his friend. He fought a duel with his rival, and, believing that he had killed him, fled from his old home in Virginia, and under another name tried to forget his deed in the wilderness of Kentucky. But he could not forget. The burden of that thought weighed heavily

Running the Gauntlet

upon his naturally kind and simple-hearted nature. Long years afterward, he ventured to return to Virginia to visit his family and to bring them to Kentucky. To his overwhelming joy, he found the man he supposed he had killed, alive and ready to be his friend.

, Once he was captured by Indians. Eight times he was made to run the gauntlet ; that is, to run down a long line of Indian men, women, and boys, each armed with a tomahawk, club, or switch, with which the runner was struck. Three times he was tied to the stake to be burned alive, and every time he was saved through some unexpected deliverance. By his daring coolness, he filled even the Indians with terror, and thus he aided much in the settling of the new country. But he, too, like Boone, passed away before the advance of civilization in Kentucky.

For the most part, the pioneers of Kentucky were from that unsurpassed race of people, the Scotch-Irish, who . settled in the valley of Virginia, and then

of the spread out into the neighboring States. Their

Kentuckians , , , rc , . . .

ancestors had suffered religious persecutions in the Old World, and the pioneers brought into the rich, free land of Kentucky an intense love of God, of liberty, and of education, — three important factors in the greatness of a nation as well as of an individual. Such men, seeking homes and prosperity for their children, were not to be daunted even by the fury of the savages.

Occasionally, the faint-hearted would grow weary of the hardships and dangers, and would depart ; but they left behind them the strong and brave who were worthy to be Healthful life the possessors and founders of the beautiful of the pioneers new coun|-ry< The men could not safely plant

the crops, nor could the women milk the cows, except under the protection of armed guards who stood ready for the attacks of Indians ; yet none the less they persevered in their determination to remain. An existence of healthful work with a steadfast purpose made them cheerful. The children played, and the young people laughed and were happy, although the only variety in their lives was the dread of a surprise or an occasional Indian raid.

One day in the summer of 1776, Jemima Boone and the two daughters of Colonel Richard Callaway were out on the Kentucky River, in a canoe, when they were captured by five Indians. The girls tried to beat a romantic off the savages, while they screamed for help. episode Being unsuccessful in their efforts, they dropped broken twigs or torn bits of their gowns to mark the way they were carried. Boone and Floyd, with a party of men

Beating off the Savages from the fort, went in pursuit. They searched for two nights and days, but did not overtake the Indians until they had gone about forty miles from Boonesborough. There they found the girls, thoroughly frightened, but unharmed. It is entertaining to learn that three weeks later the first wedding upon Kentucky soil took place when Squire Boone united in marriage Betsy Callaway, the eldest of the girls, and young Samuel Henderson, one of the rescuing party.

PIONEER BAYS

Permanent homes in Kentucky.

Harrod and his company return.

The McAfees again at their station.

Boone’s account impresses influential men of North Carolina.

Their desire to buy the region.

The Cherokees’ claim.

Hart and Henderson form a company.

Colonel Henderson elected president.

Conference with Indians at Watauga.

Indians sell their hunting ground.

Colony of Transylvania in America.

Boone cuts the Wilderness Road.

His company attacked by Indians.

Boonesborough fort erected.

Arrival of the proprietors.

Other stations previously settled.

Delegates appointed to frame laws for the colony.

Boonesborough parliament meets, May 2 3, 1775.

The proprietors’ purchase annulled.

The compensation made by Virginia.

The Boonesborough fort, a strong fortification against Indians.

The rude furnishings of the cabins.

Daniel Boone’s family arrive.

Other families come to Harrodsburg.

McClellan’s station built.

Pioneer women.

Character of Daniel Boone.

Simon Kenton’s adventures.

The pioneers mostly Scotch-Irish.

Character of the early Kentuckians.

Healthful and happy life in the wilderness.

Indian raids the only variety.

Capture of Jemima Boone and the Callaway girls.