USA > Kentucky > Jessamine County > A history of Jessamine County, Kentucky, from its earliest settlement to 1898 > Part 4
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He was a man of the highest courage, truest patriotism, noblest public spirit, thorough culture and splendid talent. His poem, "The Boatman's Horn," induced by the associations and mem- ories of his childhood on the Ohio, when listening to the large and sonorous horns the boatmen were accustomed to blow to announce their coming to the landing places on the river, is a real poetic gem :
The Boat Horn.
O boatman, wind that horn again, For never did the list'ning air Upon its lambent bosom bear So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain. What though thy notes are sad and few,
By every simple boatman blown, Yet is each pulse to nature true "And melody in every tone. How oft in boyhood's joyous day,
Unmindful of the lapsing hours, I've loitered on my homeward way By wild Ohio's brink of flowers, While some lone boatman from the deck Poured his soft numbers to that tide, As if to charm from storm and wreck
The boat where all his fortunes ride ! Delighted nature drank the sound, Enchanted-echo bore it round In whispers soft, and softer still, From hill to plain and plain to hill,
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History of Jessamme County, Kentucky.
Till e'en the thoughtless, frolicking boy, Elate with hope and wild with joy, Who gamboled by the river side And sported with the fretting tide, Feels something new pervade his breast, Chain his light step, repress his jest. Bends o'er the flood his eager ear To catch the sounds, far off, vet near- Drinks the sweet draught, but knows not why The tear of rapture fills his eye; And can he now, to manhood grown, Tell why those notes, simple and lone, As on the ravished ear they fell, Bind every sense in magic spell? There is a tide of feeling given- To all on earth-its fountain, Heaven, Beginning with the dewy flower Just ope'd in Flora's vernal bower, Rising creation's orders through With louder murmur, brighter hue, That tide is sympathy ; its ebb and flow Gives life its hues of joy and woe ; Music, the master spirit that can move Its waves to war, or lull them into love ; Can cheer the sinking sailor 'mid the wave And bid the soldier on , nor fear the grave ; Inspire the fainting pilgrim on his road, And elevate his soul to claim his God. Then, boatman, wind that horn again ! Though much of sorrow mark its strain, Yet are its notes to sorrow dear. What though they wake fond memory's tear? Tears are sad memory's sacred feast, And rapture oft her chosen guest.
BOATMAN'S HORN.
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
First Settlers.
John Hunter, Jacob Hunter and Samuel Hunter came to Jessamine county in the spring of 1779. Jacob was the oldest and was born in 1753. They first stopped at Boonesboro in 1778 and were employed by Elias Hite, son of Abraham Hite, who was at that time engaged in the surveying of lands in Kentucky. The father of these young men died at Boonesboro. They had two sisters. They had been employed by Mr. Hite as chain- carriers, and they all settled close to each other on Hickman creek. The following letter shows when they were dismissed :
Thursday, April I. 1779.
Dear Father: Dismiss the chain carriers, John Hunter, Samuel Hunter and Jacob Hunter ; pay them six shillings per day for three months' services on Boone and Hickman creeks.
ISAAC HITE.
Tell Mr. Douglas to go at once to Boonesboro.
Here, in 1780, was born Joseph Hunter, who was the first white child born in the present boundary of Jessamine county. Joseph Hunter lived to be quite an old man. He died in 1858. The old home of these first settlers em- braced about 900 acres of land, which has now been in cultivation 120 years and is still fertile and productive. The old house for a long time was the property of John Portwood, who was a son- in-law of John Hunter. The farm is situated about six miles east of Nicholasville on the pike leading to Boone's Ferry.
When John Portwood died, Dudley Portwood, his son, sold a part of the farm containing 200 acres to Jessamine county for the erection of a poor house.
The Hunter homestead was built of brick and is still standing, and was erected about 1798. One of the bricks in the chimneys has this date upon it.
Jacob Hunter left Jessamine county and went to Owen county, where he died after attaining the extreme age of one hundred years.
Samuel Hunter settled some miles above these other two
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
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KENTUCKY PIONEER'S DRESS.
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
brothers, on Hickman creek, and they were unquestionably the first white men who ever undertook a permanent settlement in Jessamine county. They did not build forts or blockhouses, and were doubtless driven in about 1782, when the Indians were so determined in their assaults on the Kentucky settlers.
Early Settlers on Jessamine Creek.
The early settlers on Jessamine creek were mostly German Protestants who came in large part from Pennsylvania and Mary- land, with a few from Virginia. The following letter written by Dr. Peter Trisler to Rev. David Zeisberger in 1794, from Jessa- mine county, will prove valuable, historically :
Jessamine Creek, September 4, 1794
Dear David: I am exceedingly sorry that you did not come along with your father during his recent visit to this delightful country. The sun shines brighter in this country, and the skies are more blue, than the damp, moist atmosphere at the mouth of the Cuyahoga. A good school is needed among us, and I invite you once more to leave that inhospitable country of savages and cold winds.
Faithfully yours,
PETER TRISLER.
From most reliable records Rev. Jacob Rhorer was the founder of the first Moravian church on Jessamine creek, in 1794, and the building was used as a Moravian church by the Rhorer family up to near the beginning of the Civil War.
The following are the names of the early settlers who were of German parentage and belonged to the Moravian Church, or "United Brethren": Arnspigers, Alcorns, Cormans, Bowmans, Bruners, Earthenhousers, Easleys, Funks, Fraziers, Grows, Gil- mans, Goforths, Hiffners, Howsers, Harbaughs, Horines, Rit- ters, Rices, Masners, Zikes, Ketrons, Waggamans, Warmslys, Overstreets, Quests, Yosts, Hoovers, Trislers, Turks, Turpins, Shreves, Veatches, Vantresses, Naves, Cogars, Crows, Cooleys, Cawbys, and Schmidts. Nearly all of these names were in the list of German settlers in the western part of Jessamine county,
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
who were largely the followers of John Huss. They were men of great common sense, good judgment, honesty, a high sense of morality, and great lovers of freedom, and their descendants still reside in that part of Jessamine county which their ancestors in the early history of the state settled.
In 1884 Jolin Cawby had a Bible which was printed at Wit- tenberg in 1440. This Bible was brought from Germany to Maryland in 1780, by Peter Trisler, who, in 1794, settled in the present limits of Jessamine county, where he died April 22, 1821. This old Bible was the property of Mrs. Nancy Horine, who was a grandaughter of Dr. Trisler.
Dr. Peter Trisler was born in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1745. He came to Hagerstown, Maryland, when a very young man, and settled on Jessamine creek in 1791. When he came from Germany he brought the old Bible above referred to, and this book contained records of a large number of the families above named. From this stock German settlers have gone through- out the West and South, and they usually became men of thrift, energy, character and brains. Some now in Illinois and many in Missouri have carried away with them the splendid qualities of these early settlers, and in their new homes have shown the sterling qualities of their ancestors, who did so much to create and promote the best interests of the new state they helped to found in the then wilderness of Kentucky.
Names of those who settled in other parts of Jessamine from 1782 to the close of the century :
Archibald Bristow ; Manoah Singleton ; Elder Michael Rice; Jacob Howser; David Watson, Sr .; Jacob Sedowski, afterward removed to Bourbon county ; James McKinney ; Jeremiah King; Col. Jos. Crockett ; Abraham Howser; Jacob Rhorer; John Welch; Jacob Bruner ; James Overstreet ; Chris. Mason; Wm. Moss ; Jno. Thornton ; Patrick Watson ; Fielding Pilcher ; Shad- rach Pilcher ; Samuel Rice; Minor Young; Rev. Jno. Hudson ; Jeremiah Dickerson; Wm. Fletcher; Wm. Bowman; John Two Nine Scott; Col. Byrd Prewitt ; Jno. Johnson ; Jno. Lowry ; Thos. Caldwell; Col. Geo. Walker; John Lewis ; James Duncan ; Chas. Duncan ; Jonas Davenport ; James McCabe; Jacob Rice ; Rev. Nathaniel Harris; Col. Wm. Price ; Col. Jno. Price ; Major
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
Netherland; Benj. Blackford; Benj. Adams; Jno. Todd; Robt. Campbell; Abraham Cassell; Francis Lowers; Thos. Shanklin ; Robt. Shanklin: Daniel Mitchell; Thomas Rowland; Thomas Overstreet.
Black's Station.
It is strange that, from the time of the settlement at Harrods- burg in 1774 down to 1779, there were no stations established in Jessamine county. In Mercer, Boyle, Fayette, Woodford, Mad- ison, Scott and Franklin, numerous stations were erected, but with all the richness of the land in Jessamine county, none came to found a fort within its midst. There were surveys made in the county during this time, one of which, the Abram Hite survey of 2,000 acres on Marble creek, was both permanent and important, and discussed in the fort at Harrodsburg in 1774 and 1775. A Mr. Black established a station on what is known as the G. B. Bryan farm, half way between Nicholasville and Brookline on the Harrodsburg turnpike. It was on the old trace which led through the county along the waters of Jessamine creek to the waters of South Elkhorn. There were several large boiling springs in the locality, and as these were always in demand for settlements, Black located his station there. It was composed of several cabins, and the land was originally part of what is known as the "Craig Survey." and was subsequently owned by Archibald Logan, who was a rich tanner and had an establishment in Lex- ington.
Logan conveyed this land to his daughter, Mrs. Hord, when he left Jessamine county in 1829, and the house known as the Patterson House is where Logan lived. Mrs. Hord conveyed the place to her daughter, Mrs. Worley, and she conveyed it to others, and it is now owned by the Bryan's heirs.
Beginning with 1783, this station became quite an important one, and was one of the stopping places for those who followed the trace from Mercer and Boyle to Franklin and Woodford counties. The difficulty in obtaining water in this general section was very great, and Joel Watkins, in his diary, says : June 24- "Forded river at mouth of Hickman ; after travelling seven or eight miles on the road that leads from the river to Lexington I
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
turned to the left of said road and crossed a water course called East Jessamine : after leaving the said creek, the land is very level and of a very pretty mulatto soil and the growth is black and white oak, hickory, and some walnut and sugar trees, and the under- growth hazel nut and red bud, till I arrived at West Jessamine. I proceeded up said river to head, the land altering as I proceeded up said creek until I came near the head springs, the land there appearing very rich till I struck the waters of South Elkhorn. This day I passed several good farms, and especially John Craig's. badly watered between the two Jessamines, so much so that people settled only along the said creeks." This scarcity of water was doubtless one of the reasons for establishing the sta- tion at Black's.
Watkins says August 18, 1889: "Passed Dick's river at Mc- Guir's, from thence we proceeded to Curd's Ferry on Kentucky. which is at the mouth of Dick's river-the latter we forded- (here the cliffs are of amazing height); we proceeded towards Lexington about eight miles ; we turned to the left of said road past Black Station on the waters of Clear creek, proceeded on- ward, the land lying very well, but the growth indicating the rock being nigh the surface of the earth ; we crossed several forks of Clear creek ; we came to Captain Woodfolk's mentioned on page 22 ; from this place the land continued very slightly, both soil and Growth, to Mr. Watkins', at which place we arrived about dark- received very kindly."
He also says, August 24: "Monday, after breakfast with Mr. W., set out for the south side of Kentucky river, agreeing with the aforesaid gentleman at parting to keep up a literary cor- respondence, past Black Station again and crossed the two forks of Jessamine and arrived at Kentucky river at the mouth of Hickman, which I forded, and arrived at Mr. Walker's at two hours besun."
It will be seen that the trace along by Black's Station was the road usually traveled by those who passed from Garrard and Mercer and Boyle to Woodford and Franklin.
Another station in Jessamine county was built by Levi Todd a little northwest of Keene-its exact location can not now be de- termined-it. is, however, laid down upon Filson's map, but was abandoned. This was a fort. The road from Harrodsburg to
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
Lexington doubtless passed by Black's Station, and from this on to Todd's Station. There was also another route by which they crossed the river to the mouth of Hick- man, followed Hickman for some distance, and then turned northeast towards Lexington, then their route fol- lowed Hickman for several miles, then struck East Jessamine and followed it to its head at Mrs. Horine's on the Southern Rail- road, about a mile east of Nicholasville, and from this over to the headwaters of Jessamine, and from this along the general route of the Lexington and Harrodsburgh turnpike to Lexington. This is shown by deposition of David Williams, which was filed in the case of Manson's Executors vs. Craig Williams, in which Williams deposes as follows :
"He was well acquainted with Hickman's creek from a small distance above the survey, 'Abram Hite,' to the head of the creek, and that the east fork of Jessamine was as well known to the peo- ple of Harrodsburg as Hickman's creek was. The east fork of Jessamine lay more out of the course generally taken by hunters in traveling from Harrodsburg to the waters of the Licking; they commonly fell on main Jessamine above the mouth of East Fork ; thence up the main Jessamine spring ; thence crossing the waters of Hickman to Boone's creek, and over to the head of Stroud's creek, where there were roads leading down most of its branches to the Salt Licks. It was also common to pass by main Jessa- mine above the East Fork and by Todd's station on the waters of Hickman to go to the headwaters of South and North Elkhorn. This deponent, with others, frequently took this road to avoid large canebrakes."
The Last Indians.
The high cliffs, covered with dense forests of cedar and other timber, along the Kentucky river, and their utter inaccessibility, rendered them excellent hiding places for the Indians who dis- turbed the settlers as late as the end of 1792. No great incur- sion of the Indians into Kentucky happened after the battle of Blue Licks, in 1782, but predatory bands, consisting of four or five men bers, both from the south and from the north, gave the set- tlers great disturbance and uneasiness and murdered a great
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
many women and children. Shortly after the battle of Blue Licks the people abandoned the forts and scattered out in their log cabins over the state. Fear of Indian raids had been removed and the immense tide of settlers which came into the state dur- ing this period took up lands in every part, but as late as 1792 many people were killed in Garrard, Lincoln, Madison and Jessa- mine. On July 6, 1793, Major Benjamin Netherland wrote the following letter to Governor Shelby, which gives a contemporane- ous account of these troubles :
"Mingo Tavern, Fayette county, Ky .. "July 6, 1792.
"To His Excellency, Isaac Shelby, "Governor of Kentucky :
"Dear Sir-Your letter of the 29th of June, was handed to me on yesterday by John Wilson. I tender to you my hearty, warm thanks for the good opinion you express concerning my poor services in the defense of our beloved country. To enjoy your confidence and friendship may well be considered a distinguished honor, and I shall at all times consider it a pleasure to be of serv- ice to you.
There have but few depredations occurred in these parts of the county. Last year it was reported three men were killed by a party of Shawnees. They were pursued, overtaken and two of them were killed the following day at Boonesboro. About three months ago two Indians crossed the Kentucky at the mouth of the Dix river, and came among the settlers, as they said, for trading. I was not pleased at seeing such treacherous enemies, and gave orders to Tom Lewis and his father to keep a watch on them. They spoke English very well and were trying to make the im- pression that they were our best friends. When they left the next morning they met one of the settlers named Michael Hiffner, who had been to see Thomas Rowland, who settled on a planta- tion some miles above. The Indians told Hiffner he must let them have his horse. This he refused, when he heard the snap of a gun. He at once jumped from the horse and stabbed the In- dian to the heart. He then turned upon the other, who shot him in the arm and ran off into the timber. Hiffner, being a good In- dian fighter and a brave and active man, pursued him, and before
į
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
the Indian could reload his gun Hiffner caught him and knocked his brains out with a club, and threw his body down the high cliffs into the river. The body of the Indian he stabbed to death was buried. A party of Wyandots killed a man at the mouth of Jessamine last spring. At the various crossings Indian tracks have been discovered. At Paint Lick two years ago two men were killed by this same party of Indians. It is my opinion that if 50 mounted men were employed to scour the Kentucky river cliffs during the fall, I feel sure no more of our people would be ambushed and killed. These hills and cliffs, Major Whitley says, are good hiding places for Indians to do us much injury. I must urge you to appoint Tom Wilson captain and lieutenant of this end of the county. He is young and active and can run like the wind, and such service would be in keeping with his nature, which is daring and full of adventure. I would seek the place myself, but I have so long neglected my private affairs that it would be ruinous for me to put my affairs into the hands of others, who seek their own interest to the neglect of mine, besides I have now the high and responsible duties of husband and father, which I can not throw aside without doing great injustice to the innocent who look to me for protection as husband and father.
"Your old friend,
" B. NETHERLAND."
All sorts of "varmints" were plentiful in the days of the early settlers. Bears and rattlesnakes were in great abundance. On the farm of Mr. Alexander Willoughby, near Sulphur Well, one of the great curiosities was a place known as "Rattlesnake Spring." When the land was first settled this spring was a great resort for these snakes. The water issued from a large crevice in a lime- stone rock, overlaid by a bold bank. Near the spring was a cave. Major Netherland, who visited the place in 1796, says : "In the fall of the year they would crawl from the cave to the spring and enter the crevice of the rock, where they remained torpid during the winter. When the warmth of spring revived them they would emerge from the crevice and the cave and bask in the warm sun. At this season they fell an easy prey to the destroyer. Henry Allsman, who is now living on this portion of Mr. Willoughby's land, told me he and his family have killed *
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
hundreds of them in the last week. He would pile them up on a log heap and burn them. By this wholesale slaughter, this enemy of God and man was extirpated, and in another season of spring and summer nothing will remain of that representative of the transgression but his hateful name."
The man Allsman here referred to was the father of the no- torious Andrew Allsman, who caused General McNeil to shoot ten innocent men at Palymra, Mo. He was born on this farm in 1805 and left home in 1829. Allsman boasted on the streets of Palmyra of causing the death of these men. The next day after he made this dreadful confession his dead body was found hung and riddled with bullets. He had been put to death by Col. Joe Porter's men in the neighborhood.
The First Powder Mill
Erected in Jessamine county was located on Hickman creek, near the old Union Mill. The old powder houses remained there as late as the year 1850. These powder mills were owned by Richard Laffoon, but the powder house was erected by Robert Crockett, and after he left the country, it fell into the hands of the Laffoons. It was struck by lightning and destroyed in 1837.
The first paper mill in Jessamine, was erected on Jessamine creek at the old Glass Mills by Thomas Bryan in 1837, and he carried it on until 1848.
The first burr mill-stones ever imported to Jessamine, came from France in 1837, and were used by Bryan in what is known as the Henry Glass Mills.
The First Mill.
The first mill built in Jessamine county was constructed by Meredith Wright, father of Mr. Robert Wright, who still lives in Nicholasville at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Mere- dith Wright was the first millwright in the state, and the mill he built was Haydon's Mill, afterward run by Mr. Gavin Steele. Mr. Wright also built the Union Mills and the Torbett Mills. He was among the earliest settlers in Kentucky, and came from
121
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
Culpeper Courthouse, in Virginia, and immediately settled in Jessamine county. His mills were used generally by the early settlers, and the one used by David Trabue in Jessamine county was among the first and most primitive. The process of grind- ing was very slow ; each man's or boy's grist was ground in its turn, and sometimes a wait of twelve hours was required before the flour could be taken home.
Thomas Berry, brother of Joseph and Lewis Berry, ran the paper mill on Jessamine creek, where the character of paper made was good for the opportunities of manufacture. It was deep blue and broadly lined, but it was smooth, with a good polish, and held the marks distinctly.
In 1825 James Wilson owned and ran a powder mill on Clear creek. The power used was horse power, and the mortars and pestles were operated by this power. Powder was then worth $I a pound.
At this time a fine flour mill was operated also on Clear creek by Mr. Campbell Steele, who was the grandfather of Wm. L. Steele, of Nicholasville, and Mr. John Steele ; and a hominy mill was operated by Samuel Ruffner on Clear creek. The pestles were operated by horse power.
Early Houses,
House building in Jessamine county in early days was not a very expensive or protracted work. The houses were rude and simple structures of hewn logs and the chinks stopped with mud or filled with stone and then plastered with mud on the outside. The roof was made of clap-boarding about three feet long and four inches wide. and along these were placed poles supported by blocks of wood and these were weighted so as to hold the clap- boarding in place. There was rarely more than one window, which was at the side of the door. In early days it had no glass but was closed by a wooden shutter made of heavy oak boards. The floors were made of logs or puncheons hewed smooth on one side with an adze. The logs were generally split to a convenient size and length, and then hewed flat. The doors were made of riven boards fastened together with wooden pins to wooden
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
slabs. These doors always had the latch on the inside and a hole was bored above the latch about 4 inches, through which a leathern string passed and so fastened to the latch on the in- side. When this string was taken in there was no way to open the door from the outside. In the morning the string was passed back from the inside so that any party who desired to enter could raise the latch. From this comes the Kentucky proclamation of hospitality, "You will always find the latch-string on the outside." The chimneys were made of logs plastered with mud. The back and jambs were either covered with mud or stones were placed on the inside to keep the heat from setting them on fire. The fire places were often 10 or 12 feet wide, and while they consumed an enormous quantity of wood, they made jolly good fires, which lent cheerfulness and comfort to the whole house. Weather- boarding was not used until about 1815. Some of these houses are still standing in the county, and in some of the brick houses which were erected in early times, the doors were made without nails. One of the earliest brick houses erected in Jessamine county was that of William Shreve, which was built in 1793 and is now owned by Mrs. John Simms, a short distance west of the Cin- cinnati Southern depot, and it is still in a good state of preserva- tion.
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