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A HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
REVISED EDITION
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from
The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant
http://www.archive.org/details/historyofkentuck00inkink
Ky.
A
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
BY
ELIZABETH SHELBY KINKEAD
-
NEW YORK .:. CINCINNATI .:. CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
COPYRIGHT, 1896, 1909, 1919, BY AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
EP 0
TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER William Burp Linkead FROM WHOM WAS DERIVED WHATEVER TRUTHFUL UNDERSTANDING OF THE KENTUCKY PEOPLE THIS LITTLE BOOK CONTAINS
88°
86°
84°
82°
R
·Miami
0
H Chillicothez I
O
KENTUCKY
FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO THE CIVIL WAR
I ND I
A N
A
Cincinnati Newport
R
39.
Covington
Scioto
Point Pleasant x
SCALE OF MILES
4
0 5 10 20 30 40 50 60
Vincennes
Big Bone Lick
Licking
Kanaw
ILLINO I
S
Oldham
Cynthiana)
&George- town
Paris
Big
Louisville
Pisgah
Cr. Bryans Sta.
38
Versailles
Mt.Sterling
to Kaskaskia
Lexington
Re
R.
I
Bardstown Harrodsburg
Boonesborough
M
Mississippi
R.
St.Asaph's or Logans Sta.
S
x
Ohio
Camp Wild Cat
S
· Bear Wallow
37
0
Bowling Green
Glasgow
ll Springs
Road
Cum-be
TR. R
o Hickman
p Clarksville
Ft. Henry
Ft.Donelson
T
E
N
S
S
E
E
0
36 -
Nashville
36
BRADLEY & POATES ENGR'S, N.Y.
88º
86º
84°
82°
WEST
uha
Ashland
Blue Licks
Ruddell's Sta.
Rapids of the Ohio f
FRANKFORT
Kentucky
S. Fork
Maysville
Wabash
38
Camp Nelson
Sandy
A
Camp Dick Robinson, --- Richmond
Salt
Perryville® Danville=
I
Mt.S.
A
Greenville
Paducaho
GINI
Columbus
Tompkinsville ·
Cumberland
Gap"
ir Greek Gan Powell's
R.
Cumberland
Tennessee
Russellville ·
Wilderness
R.
I
39
Ohio
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 character- istics 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 im- portance 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
5
6
PREFACE
from the simple method followed when setting forth the early poetic periods. But this seems rather an ad- vantage; 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 thor- ough grasp of the whole.
It has been my earnest desire that the work should be historically sincere. The difficult aim has been con- stantly before my mind to make it impartial in all in- stances, 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 con- sideration 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
I. FIRST WHITE MEN IN KENTUCKY . . 9
II. EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN KENTUCKY . 19
III. THE COUNTY OF KENTUCKY 29
IV. DIVISION OF THE COUNTY O
. 40
II-THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE 1782-1792
V. THE DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY · 50
VI. BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE 59
VII. THE SPANISH CONSPIRACY 69
VIII. THE END OF THE STRUGGLE . 82
III - FOUNDING OF THE COMMONWEALTH
1792-1850
IX. ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT 93
X. POLITICAL SITUATION IN KENTUCKY .105
XI. THE WAR OF 1812 . I16
XII. LOCAL AFFAIRS · 127
XIII. CIVIL AFFAIRS AND THE MEXICAN WAR
· 141
7
8
CONTENTS
IV - THE CIVIL WAR
1850-1865. PAGE
XIV. THE SITUATION IN KENTUCKY 151
XV. KENTUCKY'S POSITION OF NEUTRALITY 161
XVI. THE INVASION OF KENTUCKY · 173
XVII. THE SECOND INVASION OF KENTUCKY 186
XVIII. CIVIL CONFLICTS . .
. · 196
V- THE NEW KENTUCKY
Since 1865
XIX. THE RESTORATION OF PEACE
.
. 205
XX. THE ERA OF TRANSITION
212
CONSTITUTION OF KENTUCKY .
. 227
INDEX
.
. 0
. . 273
I-PIONEER DAYS, 1669-1782
CHAPTER I
FIRST WHITE MEN IN KENTUCKY, 1669-1775
THE history of Kentucky is at once unique and attract- ive. It begins like a romance, thrilling in tales of heroic deeds and exciting adventures. From the earliest settlement of the State, all through the Kentucky's honored crises in its own life and the life of the nation, position
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 Ken- tucky ; hence its present population consists almost exclu- sively 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
9
IO
PIONEER DAYS
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
Reiics from Mounds
remains indicated a people different from, and more civil- ized than, the Indians; but modern scientists have con- cluded 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
pioneers
seen by hunting ground and battlefield of neighboring tribes from the north, the west. and the south. The beautiful and luxuriant for- ests were filled with elk and
buffalo and varie- ties of game that have long been extinct. Bears and wolves, pan- thers, tigers, and wild cats abounded in the dense undergrowth.
Wild Animals of Kentucky
II
FIRST WHITE MEN IN KENTUCKY
Seven rivers drain the land, - the Big Sandy, the Lick ing, 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
Indian valua-
tion of the to their ut-
land most 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 pio- neers, it came about that the State was called " The Dark and Bloody Ground."
Indian Warriors
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
12
PIONEER DAYS
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 men in Ken- of this river, in the year 1669 or 1670, passed tucky
La Salle
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 was not successful, and he returned home with little knowledge of the coun-
try. 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 in Kentucky four other 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.
13
FIRST WHITE MEN IN KENTUCKY
They pitched their tent on the banks of the Red River (a
Boone and branch of the Kentucky), and remained peace-
Stewart in the fully hunting until late in December. But one woods
day Boone and John Stewart, when alone in the woods, were captured by Indians. After seven days they succeeded in making their es- cape, and returned to their camp, to find it deserted, no trace being left of their former com- panions. 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, find- ing that they did not have enough Daniel Boone 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 ammuni- tion. 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 Caro- lina went out on a hunting expedition. Nine of this
14
PIONEER DAYS
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 gov- ernment 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, and surveyors were sent to mark them out.
Surveyors sent
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 asso- ciated with the history of the State.
Two interesting characters of this period were Han- cock Taylor and John Floyd. They were deputies under
Hancock Tay-
Colonel William Preston, surveyor of Fin-
lor and castle County, Virginia, of which Kentucky -
John Floyd
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 -
.
15
FIRST WHITE MEN IN KENTUCKY
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 Ken- tucky to whom a romantic interest attaches. Captain Thomas Bullitt, of Virginia, at the head of a
Other surveyors
party, in 1773, made surveys of land for Dr.
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
16
PIONEER DAYS
prominent in the new country. This visit was for investiga- tion, and after selecting lands on the Salt River, in Mercer
County, they made their way homeward, well-
The McAfees, Boone, and nigh exhausted by the trials of the journey.
others
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 deter- mined to make his home there. On the 25th of Septem- ber, 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 thresh- old of Kentucky soil by an Indian attack, and six of the company were killed, Boone's son being one of the num- ber. This so disheartened the pioneers that they turned back toward their old homes.
The same year, Simon Kenton roamed through Ken- tucky. The following year, James Harrod and forty men
built themselves cabins and laid off the town Indian hostili-
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 danger- ous for any white man to remain there. They were now gathering under their great chief, Cornstalk, for the blood- iest conflict that ever occurred between the whites and the Indians.
The battle of Point Pleasant took place the 10th of Battle of Point October, 1774, near the mouth of the Kanawha Pleasant River. The white forces were collected by General Andrew Lewis, but the latter took no per- sonal part in the fight, being occupied with superintending
17
FIRST WHITE MEN IN KENTUCKY
the erection of certain breastworks, necessary for the en- counter. 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, com- manded 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 fight- ing, 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 KENT HIST
-
18
PIONEER DAYS
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 Ken- tucky.
RECAPITULATION
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 set- tlement.
The courage of the pioneers.
La Salle in Kentucky in 1669 or '70.
Walker, Gist, and McBride come be- fore 1754.
Findley guides a party in 1769.
Boone and Stewart captured.
They escape, to find their camp de- serted.
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
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN KENTUCKY, 1775-1776
IN the year 1775, permanent homes were made in Ken- tucky. James Harrod and his company came back to their cabins, which they had been forced to Permanent leave by Indian hostilities, and the McAfees stations
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 settle- ment 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 perils of its 'untried forests, the news soon Boone's account of the land 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 pos- session 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 titles Shawnee Indians, also, had renounced their right to the region. But such was the lawless and unstable condition
19
20
PIONEER DAYS
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 com- mittee 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-
spreading forest trees, they gave it the pic-
The colony of Transylvania in America turesque and not inappropriate name of Tran- sylvania, beyond the woods. The purpose of 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
21
EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN KENTUCKY
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 ways (the other being by means of flatboats Boone's road 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. They called for an election of delegates from these, in order that laws might be made for The Boones- borough
parliament
the government of the colony. Twelve dele- gates were duly elected and sent from Harrodsburg, Boil- ing Springs, and St. Asaph's or Logan's Station, and six
1 The Wilderness Road. By Thomas Speed. Filson Club Publication No. 2.
22
PIONEER DAYS
were elected for Boonesborough. This first legislative assembly held west of the Alleghanies met at Boones- borough, 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 propri- etors ; 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 Boones- borough 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 sharp- ened at the end and driven firm- ly into the ground. At the four corners were built strong two-story log cabins with windows which looked out on the open space or court of the inclosure. The sides which faced the forest had no windows, but only loopholes Fort at Boonesborough through which the pioneers could fire at their enemies.
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