USA > Kentucky > Franklin County > The history of Franklin County, Ky. > Part 1
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1800
Glass
F457
Book
F856
GPC
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. Page
Formation. Location, Organization. Government, etc.
CHAPTER II.
Indian Incursions and Other Incidents Prior to 1800. 14
CHAPTER III. 21
Geological Formation. Minerals, Soil, Timber, etc.
CHAPTER IV.
Settlements and Other Incidents Prior to 1800
CHAPTER V.
40
Events From 1800 to 1810
CHAPTER VI.
53
Events From 1810 to 1820
CHAPTER VII.
71
Events From 1820 to 1830
CHAPTER VIII.
91
Events From 1830 to 1840
CHAPTER IX.
111
Events From 1840 to 1850
CHAPTER X.
132
Events From 1850 to 1860
CHAPTER XI.
14.8
Events From 1860 to 1870.
CHAPTER XII.
175
Events From 1870 to 1880
CHAPTER XIII.
195
Events From 1880 to 1890
CHAPTER XIV.
211
Events From 1890 to 1900
CHAPTER XV.
Events From 1900 to 1910
CHAPTER XVI. 213
The Churches of Franklin County
CHAPTER XVII.
Present Time (1912)
DEDICATION
To the men and women whose lives and achievements have done so much to enrich the history of Franklin County, this work is dedicated.
L. F. JOHNSON.
PREFACE.
Carlyle said: History is the essence of innumerable bio- graphics.
Longfellow said: They who live in history only seemed to walk the earth again.
Voltaire said: History is little else than a picture of human crimes and misfortunes.
Lord Bolingbroke said: I think that history is philosophy, teaching by example.
The Author does not claim that the following pages meas- ure up to the standard given by any of the above Authors, but if this work can create or increase interest in the biography, his- tory and traditions of the Kentucky pioneers it will not have been done in vain.
The Author.
The History of Franklin County, Ky.
CHAPTER I.
Formation of Franklin County, Location, Organization of County Government, History of the County for seven years as shown by the early records of the County.
On December the 31, 1776, the Virginia Legislature passed an act establishing Kentucky County, which included the ter- ritory now known as the State of Kentucky. In May, 1780, Kentucky was divided into three counties, to-wit: Jefferson, Fayette and Lincoln; these three counties cornered at Frank- fort. What is now known as North Frankfort and that part of Franklin county north or east of the Kentucky river was in Fayette. Where South Frankfort now is, and the part of the county south or west of the Kentucky river and south of Ben- son Creek, was in Lincoln, and the territory now known as West Frankfort or Bell Point, and that part of the county west of the river and north of Benson Creek was in Jefferson.
Nelson county was formed from a part of Jefferson in 1784, Bourbon from a part of Fayette in 1785; Mercer and Madison were formed from portions of Lincoln, in the same year, Mason was formed out of Bourbon, and Woodford out of Fayette in the year 1788. These were the nine counties of the State when it was admitted into the Union on June the 1st, 1792. Frank- lin county was formed by the Kentucky Legislature in the year 1794 out of portions of Woodford, Mercer and Shelby, and on the 10th day of May of that year the act establishing the county went into effect. At that time its boundary was as follows, to-wit: "Beginning at the Scott line where it leaves the South fork of Elkhorn, thence a straight line to strike the Kentucky river, and crossing the same one mile above the
6
THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
mouth of Glenn's Creek; thence up the Kentucky river to the mouth of Cove Spring branch on the south side thereof ; thence up the said branch to the Cove Spring; thence west to the Wash- ington line; thence with same down Salt river to the mouth of Crooked Creek; thence up the main fork of Crooked Creek. to the head thereof; thence with the dividing ridge at the junc- tion of the forks of Benson; thence down Benson to where the old wagon road from Boone's old station to Harrodsburg crosses at the mouth of the most northerly fork of Benson; thence a direct line to the mouth of Elkhorn; thence down the Kentucky river to the mouth thereof; thence up the Ohio to the Scott line; thence with the said line to the beginning."
Portions of Franklin were taken to from the county of Gal- latin in 1798, Owen in 1819, and Anderson in 1827, and a portion of Gallatin was taken to form Carroll in 1838. One hundred years after its formation, its boundary included only about two hundred and twelve square miles, which is a very small part of its original territory; the county is now about twenty miles long at its greatest length, and about cighteen miles wide at its greatest width. Franklin is bounded on the south by Anderson and Woodford, on the east by Scott, on the north by Henry and Owen and on the west by Shelby; it is located in the north central part of the State, about thirty- eight and one-fourth degrees latitude and about eighty-five longitude; its mean annual temperature is 56 degrees. The Kentucky river runs through it from south to north the en- tire length of the county, dividing it into two nearly equal parts. The other streams of importance in the county are Benson, Glenn's Creek and Elkhorn.
On the 10th day of May, 1795, which day had been desig- nated by the Kentucky Legislature for the act establishing the county of Franklin to go into effect, Governor Isaac Shelby made the following proclamation and appointments, to-wit : "The State of Kentucky: To all who shall see these presents, greeting. Know ye that reposing special trust and confidence in the knowledge, integrity and abilities of John Logan, Ben- nett Pemberton, Anthony Crockett, Baker Ewing, Richard Apperson, William Ware, Thomas Lillard and John Arnold,
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
Esquires, I have nominated and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate do appoint the said John Logan, Ben- nett Pemberton, Anthony Crockett, Baker Ewing, Richard Apperson, William Ware, Thomas Lillard and John Arnold, Justices of the Peace in and for the County of Franklin, of whom the three first herein named or any two of them are authorized to hold the Court of Quarter Session in said county and to discharge all the duties of Justices of said county ; and the remaining Justices of the peace above named, or any three of them, are authorized to hold the County Court for said county, and to discharge all the duties of a Justice for said County Court in manner prescribed by law. In testimony whereof I have caused these letters to be made patent and the seal for the Commonwealth to be hereto affixed.
"Given under my hand as Governor for said State at Lex- ington, this the 10th day of May, One thousand seven hundred and ninety-five.
"ISAAC SHELBY, "By the Governor, "James Brown."
This board of magistrates when organized into a Court, ap- pointed Willis Lee, who by virtue of said appointment was the first County Clerk of Franklin county; and the Governor ap- pointed and commissioned John Smith as the first Sheriff of the county; and the Governor also appointed Turner Richard- son, Coroner. January 19, 1796, the Governor appointed and commissioned Stephen Arnold a Justice of the Peace, or Judge of Quarter Session. This completed the official organization of the county. These brave pioneers in whom the Governor of this Commonwealth reposed "special trust and confidence in their knowledge, integrity and abilities," commenced the government and control of this large territory, then more than six times its present area. One of the first orders was "that the county levy be fixed at three shillings cach tithable, for the present year."
The sheriff was ordered "to confine such persons as he may, directed by law, take into his custody, in one of the upper
8
THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
rooms of the public jail until a prison be built by order of the Court for this county." James Arnold, who was a brother-in- law of Anthony Crockett, and the father of John and Stephen Arnold, all three of whom were magistrates then in office, was ordered by the County Court to lay off a county road from the mouth of Glenn's creek to Frankfort; the public road entered Frankfort over the present right of way owned by the L. &. N. R. R. Co., but it was west of and below the present tunnel. Thomas Hickman was allowed thirty-five pounds for erecting a stray pen on the square allotted for the court house.
At the April term, 1796, it was "ordered that the gallows be erected at the intersection of the road leading from Saunders' mill with the Lexington old road, three-quarters of a mile from Frankfort." This is now the Feeble Minded In- stitute property near the intersection of the Georgetown and Millville turnpike roads.
At the August term, 1797, it was "ordered that William Trigg, Thos. Montague and Daniel Weiseger be appointed commissioners to have erected stocks, pillory and whipping- post on the public grounds near the jail, to be paid for out of the county levy."
Charles M. Bird, the first County Attorney, and who acted as both State and County Attorney, was allowed the sum of twenty pounds for his services for one year. During the first several years of this new county, the two most important ques- tions before the Court were the destruction of wolves and the construction of public roads; a bounty was offered for the scalp of each wolf that was over six months old; the county record shows that hundreds of wolves were killed and their scalps were paid for by the County Court.
Public roads were laid off and built in every direction from the city and a great many cross roads were also constructed; nearly all of the public roads leading from Frankfort were established prior to 1800.
Two bridges were built by Nat Saunders and Chas. Patter- son across Elkhorn near the Forks in 1798; the contractors agreed to keep these bridges in repair for seven years; but be- fore the expiration of that time they had gotten so much out
9
THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
of repair that the County ordered suit to be brought on the con- tract.
In 1798, Stephen Arnold and William Payne were ap- pointed a committee of the Court to locate and superintend the erection of a large store-room for the reception of tobacco, flour and hemp. They located the house on the lots number 227 and a part of 226; these are the lots on which the city school now stands. The warehouse was large enough to store four hundred hogsheads of tobacco, five hundred barrels of flour and a large quantity of hemp.
In 1797, after two years of service, Willis Lee was succeeded by Wm. Trigg as County Clerk, and John Smith was succeeded by Nat Richardson as Sheriff of the county. James Roberts was the first Jailer and James Blair succeeded Chas. M. Bird as County Attorney.
The county levy for the year 1797 was fixed at "three shil- lings cach tithable," being the same as the previous year.
On account of the extensive forests and the large amount of mast, the farmers were enabled to fatten their hogs at small expense, and in order to prevent the loss of their stock, they had their distinguishing ear marks recorded, as shown by the following orders:
"Ordered that William Payne's mark, which is as follows to-wit: A crop and two slits in each car, be recorded. Also John Satterwhite's mark, which is a crop and overkeel in the right and a slit in the left, be recorded." This plan of having their "ear marks" recorded was followed by the farmers of this county for many years.
On Tuesday, November 25, 1800, the following order was entered: "It is ordered that the sheriff do bring immediately before this Court Nancy Hutton, to answer the contempt of- fered this Court by leaving a young infant on the Clerk's table." The sheriff returned after a short time, and reported that said Nancy Hutton could not be found, and it was thereupon or- dered that Samuel Hutton be summoned to appear before the next Court to show cause, if any he could, why he should not support the infant left by the said Samuel's wife on the Clerk's table.
10
THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
The first District Court for Franklin county was convened at the State House on Tuesday, the 9th day of February, 1796. Buckner Thurston and James G. Hunter were the Judges, Willis Lee was appointed Clerk during good behavior. The first Grand Jury failed to return any indictments and no cases were tried during the term.
Thomas Todd and James Blair were admitted to practice law, and James Hughes was admitted at the following term.
The Kentucky Gazette was published in the year 1787, at Lexington, Ky.
On May 12, 1796, John Breckinridge, James Brown, Wil- liam Murray, Chas. F. Bird, Samuel Irvine, John Allen, Wil- liam McDowell, Isham Tolbett and Richard Lage were sworn in as attorneys of the Frankfort bar.
On Tuesday, the 6th day of August, 1799, on motion of Henry Clay and William Warren, they were admitted to prac- tice as attorneys at law in this Court, who thereupon severally took the oath prescribed by law, also the oath to support the Constitution of the United States.
Catherine London, a spinster, was charged with murder; she was tried, and on April 3, 1798, was convicted and sentenced to be hung; and on Thursday, the 10th day of May, 1798, be- tween the hours of ten and two o'clock, she was hung upon the gallows near the public jail in the town of Frankfort. Hugh Johnson was tried and convicted of a felony on August 6th, 1798, and on August the 9th was again brought to the bar in custody of the jailor; and it being demanded of him if he had anything to say why the Court should not proceed to give judg- ment and award execution thereof according to law, he said he claimed the privilege of the law concerning the benefit of clergy ; "Thereupon it is considered by the Court that the said Hugh Johnson be burned in the hand, and the Sheriff of the county do cause execution of this judgment to be done im- mediately upon the said Hugh Johnson in the presence of and at the bar of this Court, which being accordingly done and pro- clamation being made as the manner is, whereupon the said Johnson is discharged out of custody." "The benefit of clergy" was an arrest of judgment introduced in England
.
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
early in its history ; it had its origin from the pious regard paid by Christians to the church in its infant state; the persons of clergymen were exempt from criminal process before the secu- lar judge. At first no man could claim this benefit except clergymen, but in the course of time, in order to mitigate the severity of the law, the privilege was extended to a great many who were accused of crime; but the laymen were not put upon the same footing as the clergy, being subjected to a slight pun- ishment and denied the privilege a second time. The punish- ment was by branding in the hand with a hot iron in order to distinguish them from the clergy, in case of a second applica- tion for the benefit.
Prior to the installation of the penitentiary system in the year 1800 all felons were punished with death; minor offenses were punished by branding in the hand, pillory, stocks, whip- ping post and by ducking stool.
Augustine Adams, a laborer, was charged with horse steal- ing; he was convicted April 2nd, 1799, and on Monday, the 29th day of April, 1799, he was hung near the public jail in the town of Frankfort.
William Dougherty, a laborer, charged with robbery, was tried, convicted and sentenced to be hung April 2nd, 1799; the verdict was set aside and he was released on bail; he was re- turned to the custody of the Court, but made his escape August the 5th, 1799.
James Mills was charged with a felony and convicted, and on April the 5th, 1799, he claimed the benefit of clergy, was burnt in the hand "and proclamation being made as the man- ner is," was discharged from custody. This was the last case where the benefit of clergy was granted in Franklin county. Henry Fields, a farmer from Woodford county, was charged with murdering his wife; he was defended by Henry Clay. After a long trial, which lasted several days, he was found guilty on August 10th, 1799, and on the same day, H. Clay, his attorney, filed a motion in arrest of judgment; at that time there was no appeal in a criminal case. His first ground was "because he was indicted for the murder of Sallie Fields and was tried for the murder of Sarah Fields." 2nd.
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
"That his late wife, whom he was indicted for having mur- dered, was called and known by the name of Sallie Fields, and never by the name of Sarah Fields." 3rd. "That the descrip- tion of the manner of the death of the said Sallie in the said in- dictment contained, is repugnant and impossible." (On Au- gust the 12th the Court held that the grounds for the motion were not sufficient, and he was hung upon the gallows near the public jail on Thursday, the 19th day of September, 1799;) $138.75 was paid by the county for guarding Fields from August 12th to September 19th.
The first public jail was located on the north side of Holmes Street, near the intersection of High, a few doors west of the entrance to the female department of the penitentiary, a small store room is now located there. The State House was used as a court house by the Franklin county officials until 1806.
Prior to 1800 there were only four houses built on the ground now known as South Frankfort; there was a small log house near the large warehouse located on the ground now used for the public school. There was a house on Shelby Street just back of James Heeney's property, where the old brick seminary building was located, and there was another one where Miss Exum's property is located, on what is now Mur- ray street.
On December 14, 1793, there was an act of the Legisla- ture for clearing a wagon road from Frankfort to Cincinnati ; it was alleged that such a road would be productive of private convenience and public utility ; seven years were given in which to complete the road.
There was also a law enacted on December 7, 1794, which gave free transportation across the ferry at Frankfort for all citizens living on the south side of the river "on each county court day, days of holding court of quarter session, days of public elections and general musters." In December, 1798, a ferry was established across the Kentucky river "at the rope walks," one mile above Frankfort. The "rope walks" was the old-fashioned hand factory for spinning hemp, making rope, etc.
13
THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
The Frankfort Bridge Company was incorporated Decem- ber 29, 1799, for the purpose of building a bridge from the end of Ann Street to the south side. Prior to 1800 the Court caused to be located and surveyed six thousand acres of land and the same was vested in "The Trustees of the Kentucky Seminary" for educational purposes. This was the first step in the direction of free public schools in the county.
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TIIE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
CHAPTER II.
Indian Incursions and other Incidents prior to 1800; State- ments from The Palladium; the Pioneer.
Franklin County, within its present boundary, was, to a great extent, protected from the Indian incursions and depre- dations, committed by them in other sections of the country known as Kentucky, on account of its central location and from the further fact that in the carliest settlement of the county forts were built in nearly every direction from it.
There was McClelland's fort, where Georgetown now stands, which was built in 1776; Harrodstown (Harrodsburg) was built in 1774; Logan's Fort in 1775; Louisville in 1778; Booneborough in 1775; Bryan's Station, in Fayette county in 1779; Houston's (Paris) Station in 1776, Squire Boone's Sta- tion (Shelbyville) prior to 1780; Arnold's Station in Ander- son County in 1783; Johnson's Station in Scott County in the same year. These Stations practically surrounded Franklin County and though they did not give absolute protection, the presence of Indians in the neighborhood of any of these Sta- tions, as soon as detected, the news was sent to all sections of the country and only a few instances are recorded where death re- sulted from a conflict between the two races.
In the year 1780, Stephen Frank, Nick Tomlin, Wm. Bryant and others were on their way to Mann's Salt Lick in Jefferson County, and they camped on the present site of Frankfort. In the early morning they were attacked by the Indians and Frank was killed and two other members of the party, Bryan and Tomlin were wounded, but they were able to make their escape. The fact that Frank was killed and the further fact that there was a fairly good ford on the Kentucky River near- ly opposite to the entrance of Devil's Hollow gave to Frank- fort the name Frank's ford which was contracted to Frankfort.
One of the carliest and most prosperous settlements was in Quinn's Bottom, about four miles from Frankfort on Elkhorn Creek. This settlement was made up of the Cook brothers, Louis Martin, Wm. Dunn and Wm. Bledsoe, with their
15
THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
families and several other families. In April, 1792, about one hundred Indians made a raid on this settlement. The first information the settlers had of their presence, was a volley fired at the two Cooks who were at the time engaged in shearing sheep. Both of the Cooks were killed, one of whom fell on the doorstep. The widows of the two men were all that were left to defend the cabin and their three small children; their cour- age, however, made them equal to the occasion. They im- mediately pulled the dead body of the murdered man into the room and barred the door. The Indians made a rush for the door and tried to beat it down; one of the women secured a gun, but having no bullets, she split a piece of lead and rounded it to fit the rifle, and quickly loaded it; the Indians were still persisting in their efforts to break the door; she placed the muzzle of the gun through a small opening between the logs and took deliberate aim and fired at a very large Indian and shot him dead. They then abandoned the idea of breaking in the door and some of them climbed to the roof and set fire to it. One of the women went up to the loft, while the other handed to her some water with which to put out flames as often as the torch was applied; the water failing, she took a lot of eggs and put out the fire; and as a last resort they used the blood soaked vest of the dead husband and smothered the fire with it. The brave defense made by these women prolonged the contest until the Indians became afraid that the rest of the settlement would be warned of their presence, they abandoned the as- sault; they sunk the body of the dead Indian in Elkhorn Creek and the whole force moved on to attack the other settlers in that neighborhood. During the raid they killed, in addition to the two Cooks, Louis Martin, two sons of William Dunn and a negro man; and they captured and carried away with them two negro men. A company of about one hundred men were quickly collected from the forks of Elkhorn and other sections of the County who went in pursuit of the Indians and followed them to the Ohio River, across from Cincinnati and there abandoned further pursuit.
The camping ground of Hon. Jas. A. Scott, known as "Indian Rock" is located near the scene of the above described
16
THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
contest, the Indian who was killed by the Cook woman, floated down the creek and lodged against a large rock very close to where the camp is located. There are several families, of prominence, now living in Franklin County, (1907) who are direct descendants of the Cooks.
About the year 1788, Stephen Arnold and a companion were hunting wild turkeys. They had reached a point near the present Frankfort and Lawrenceburg road, a few hundred yards north of where the Blakemore Distillery now stands. While passing around the top of a fallen tree, they came with- in twenty paces of five Indians; as soon as they saw the In- dians, Arnold directed his companion to fire and at the same time fired his own gun at the closest Indian; two of them be- ing in line the same bullet killed both of them. Arnold's friend stood as though paralyzed with fear and was captured without firing a shot, one of the Indians remained with the captive and the other two pursued Arnold; his enemies were between him and the fort, which was about three miles away ; he made a wide circuit, with them in hot pursuit. He at- tempted to reload his rifle as he ran but in attempting to shove the bullet down, his ram rod caught on a bush and was knocked out of his hand and his enemies were so close to him that he did not have time to recover it,-then, indeed, there was a race for life; there had been some recent rains, the ground was soft, his mocassins were wet and heavy . with mud. He could see that his enemies were gaining on him. He had lost his gun. He took his hunting knife from his belt and cut the strings of his mocassins as he ran and con- tinued his flight barefooted; the race continued until they got in sight of Arnold's Station, when the Indians gave up the pursuit and returned to their captive, whom they took north with them and afterwards sold him to some white man who returned him to his Kentucky home.
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