USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume I > Part 16
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"The Indians are now reconnoitering our settle- ments in order that they may hereafter direct their attacks with more fatal effect and we seem patiently to await the stroke of the tomahawk. Strange, in- deed, it is that although we can hardly pass a spot which does not remind us of the murder of a father,
a brother or a friend, we should take no single step for our own preservation. Have we forgotten the surprise of Bryan's or the shocking destruction of Kincheloe's station? Let us ask you-ask your- selves-what is there to prevent a repetition of such barbarous scenes? Five hundred Indians might be conducted, undiscovered, to our very threshold and the knife may be put to the throats of our sleeping wives and children. For shame! Let us arouse from our lethargy; let us arm, associate and em- body; let us call upon our officers to do their duty and determine to hold in detestation and abhorrence and treat as enemies to the community every person who shall withhold his countenance and support of such measures as shall be recommended for our common defense. Let it be remembered that a stand must be made somewhere; not to support our pres- ent frontier would be the height of cruelty, as well as folly; for should it give way those who now hug themselves in security will take the front of danger and we shall in a short time be huddled together in stations, a situation in our present circumstances scarcely preferable to death. Let us remember that supineness and inaction may entice the enemy to general hostilities, while preparation and offensive movements will disconcert their plans, drive them from our borders, secure ourselves and protect our property. Therefore,
"Resolved, That the convention in the name and behalf of the people. do call on the lieutenants or commanding officers of the respective counties of this dectrict, forthwith to carry into operation the law for regulating and disciplining the militia, and
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that the emergency does not admit of delay upon the part of anyone.
"Resolved, That it be recommended to the officers to assemble in their respective counties and concert such plans as they may deen, expedient for the de- fense of our country, or for carrying expeditions against the hostile nations of Indians."
This address bears the marks of that ad- dressed to the Virginia legislature and is as- sumed to have been from the same pen, that of Gen. James Wilkinson who later was to become notorious for his connection with the intrigues of Spain on the American continent.
Thomas M. Green, in his "Spanish Conspir- acy," paints the following word portrait of General Wilkinson: "From his advent in Kentucky in 1784, as the active representative of a Philadelphia mercantile association, no man in the district exerted a more extended nor a more corrupting influence in its public affairs than Gen. James Wilkinson. Slightly under the average height, his form was yet a model of symmetry and grace and his manly and dignified carriage at once attracted the attention of every observer. If his brilliantly handsome face won instant admiration, his gracious manners no less pleased and invited confidence. While fitted by native talent to move in the most refined circles of American society he yet possessed and exerted all the arts which secure the favor of the multitude and excite the enthusiastic admiration of the vulgar. His command of language enabled him with ease to give to his ideas a forceful expression, while his full and musical voice was pleasant to the auditor. With an ardent and mercurial temperament, the fire of which was easily communicated to others, his gestic- ulation was at once animated and studied. With these genuine qualities of an orator, he had all the tricks of a popular declaimer. As a writer, he had precisely that order of talent which was most effective at the time and with those to whom his literary effusions were ad- dressed. Dealing largely in exaggeration, yet
most skillful in suppressions and in muddying the waters, his defense of himself before the courts-martial which tried him in 1809 and afterwards, was more adroit and not less in- genious than that made for his friends and coadjutors in intrigue. With real capacity for military command and love for the 'pomp and circumstance of war,' he was fertile in resources, invincible in energy and courage- ons in war. Constantly asserting the integrity of his own motives and boasting of his own love of truth, as well as of glory, he was not slow to resent by an appeal to the duello, if need were, any impeachment of his honor. And yet he was probably as utterly destitute of all real honor, as venal, as dishonest and as faithless as any man who ever lived. His selfishness was supreme and his self-indul- gence boundless, while his knowledge of all that is mean and corrupt in mankind seemed intuitive. With an ambition that was at once vaulting and ever restless and a vanity that was immeasurable, to gratify the one and to offer incense to the other, he did not scruple to pander to the vices of his fellow-men to excite their cupidity and to tempt them to treason. An inappeasible craving for the adulation of the sycophantic impelled him to the most prodigal expenditures, to support an immodest hospitality and a vain-glorious state to which his ruined fortune was inadequate; he plunged heavily into debt and was then careless of his obligations, and to the pecun- iary losses his extravagances occasioned to others he was indifferent."
Colonel Green was a man who used the Eng- lish language with much discrimination. In making an inventory of farming implements a spade to him would be a spade and nothing more. His pen portrait of General Wilkin- son is proof of that and as a mere literary ex- ercise is well worth the space given it here. Later developments in the history of the state bring General Wilkinson again to the front, in the consideration of which it will be well
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to keep in view the verbal photograph from Colonel Green's pen, though the latter was not without prejudices, which sometimes ran away with his judgment.
The memorial of the Danville convention was favorably received by the people of Ken- tucky who were constantly increasing in num- bers and in the confidence of their capacity to protect themselves and their families from the depredations of the Indians. So great was this increase that on August 26. 1786, Madi- son county was organized as the fifth county of the district. This occurred at the home of Capt. George Adams, about two miles from the present site of Richmond. Justices of the peace were named at the same time and were commissioned as such by Patrick Henry, who was serving a second term as governor of Vir- ginia. The defense of the new county was placed in the hands of James Barnett, as col- onel of the militia. There were at that time about thirty thousand white people in the dis- trict.
In January, 1786, the Virginia assembly gave its assent to the proposed separation and thus a second important step was taken in the direction of statehood. But the people did not blindly rush forward into the proposed new condition. To the contrary, they prudently considered the steps yet to be taken. evidenc- ing a more conservative view than had marked the action of the convention. The act of the Virginia legislature severing them from the parent state was calmly considered.
Smith, in his "History of Kentucky" from whom we now quote, says: "The preamble of the act referred to the express desire of the good people of the district of Kentucky that the same should be erected into a sep- arate state and be formed into an independ- ent member of the American Union; and the general assembly, judging that such a partition of the commonwealth was rendered expedi- ent by the remoteness of the more fertile, which must be the most populous, part of
said district, and by the interjacent natural impediments to a convenient and regular com- munication therewith, resolved as follows:
"Be it enacted, etc., That on the respective court days in August next ensuing, the free male inhabit ants of the district of Kentucky shall elect repre- sentatives to continue in appointment for one year, with the powers and for the purpose to be mentioned in this act: For Jefferson, five; for Nelson, five; for Fayette, five; for Bourbon, five; for Lincoln, five; for Madison five; and for Mercer, five, to meet in Danville on the fourth Monday of September following to determine whether it be expedient that the district should be erected into an independent state on the terms and conditions following :
"(First) .- That the boundary between the pro- posed state and the state of Virginia shall remain the same as at present separates the district from the residue of the commonwealth.
"(Second) .- That the proposed state shall take upon itself a just proportion of the public debt of this state.
"(Third) .- That all private rights and interests in lands within the said district derived from the laws of Virginia prior to such separation shall re- main valid and secure, under the laws of the pro- posed state, and shall be determined under the laws now existing in this state.
"(Fourth ) .- That the use and navigation of the Ohio river so far as the territory of the proposed state or the territory which shall remain within the limits of this commonwealth lies thereon shall be free and common to the citizens of the United States.
"And if the convention shall approve of the erection of the district into an independent state, they are to fix a day posterior to the Ist of Septem- ber, 1787, on which the authority of Virginia and her laws under the exceptions aforesaid are to cease and determine forever. Provided, however, that prior to the first day of June, 1787, the United States in congress shall assent to the erection of said district into an independent state."
This act was ordered to be transmitted to the Virginia delegates in congress with in- structions to endeavor to secure from that body early and favorable action upon a meas- ure admitting the new state.
It will be observed that in the act of separa- tion, the Virginia legislature stipulated that the representatives of the district of Ken-
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tucky should be elected by "the free male in- habitants" and Smith italicizes these four words, not having the fear of the suffragettes before his eyes. It seems that the women of Kentucky were deemed equal to bringing water to the besieged inmates of Bryan's sta- tion from a spring surrounded by painted savages, but in the matter of a separation of the district from Virgiina, they had no part, not being "free male inhabitants."
It will be observed in the order for an elec- tion that the number of counties in the dis- trict had been increased by the erection of Bourbon and Mercer counties the number thus reaching seven. These seven counties were thus brought into a prominence which they have ever since maintained in the excellence of their soil and the intelligence and integrity of their inhabitants.
It will be recalled that the constitution of the United States was adopted by the Convention September 17, 1787, and the application of Kentucky for the permission of Virginia to make formal application for admission into the Union, was therefore made before the or- ganic bond of union had been adopted and ac- cepted by the original states. The constitu- tion was to become effective when ratified by nine of the states. On the 20th of June, 1788, Virginia by a vote of eighty-eight to seventy- eight ratified the instrument. New York fol- lowed the example of Virginia at a later date ; North Carolina hesitated for two years and Rhode Island for three but finally all the states had acquiesced and the "Articles of Confeder- ation and Perpetual Union" adopted Novem- ber 15, 1777, by the Continental congress, were succeeded by a new Charter of Liberty, the Constitution of the United States, finder the wise provisions of which the fringe of states along the Atlantic border have been ex- panded until it reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and forty-eight stars now adorn the flag which originally bore but thirteen. May that majestic galaxy never again be dis- Vol 1 -- 7
turbed by internecine strife, nor a star re- moved by attack from enemies without.
Kentucky's appeal did not at once secure responsive action from the congress. George Washington had become president ; old things were passing away; new ones were taking their place when the congress met March 4, 1789. The eastern states were free from war and its alarms and so enjoyed the era of peace, after long years of strife, that ears which should have been keen of hearing were dulled to the dire tidings coming from the westward of the mountain ranges where the hardy pioneers were still the victims of sav- age atrocities. The people to the eastward were not callous; they were simply quiescent, and Kentucky seemed so far away that they were unable to appreciate the dangers and sufferings of the gallant spirits, the men and women, who, hourly taking their lives in their hands, were carving out of a savage wilder- ness a new commonwealth which was to add glory and honor to the Union in the near-by years. Colonel Smith, in his history, sums up the situation in this condensed and potent form: "The neglect and indifference shown but repeat the almost unbroken examples of folks bearing with patience and composure the ills and misfortunes of neighbors, provided those neighbors will bear all the griefs and privations of the same." Another philosopher has said, in effect, that we enjoy a certain de- gree of pleasure in hearing of the misfortunes of our friends. It is to be hoped that this lat- ter philosopher is in error, but as this is an at- tempt at history and not a philosophical trea- tise, no attempt will be made to controvert the assertion.
Though the treaty of peace with Great Brit- ain had been negotiated and signed in 1783. the English government had steadily refused to evacuate the posts held on the northwestern frontier, thus giving aid and comfort to their former savage allies, who, using these posts as bases of supplies, made frequent forays
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upon the settlements west of the Appalachian range. Spain had looked with longing eyes upon Kentucky, hoping to add it to her do- main upon the western continent. Her Mach- iavelian efforts to attain the desired end hav- ing failed of effect, the Indians to the south, no longer dreading Spanish restraint, renewed their attacks upon the whites. Thus Kentucky, as in later years, lay between two fires, each destructive, and against each of which she must battle alone, unaided by the newly- erected Federal government. Her people did battle and they won alone. It is now and has ever been a characteristic of the Kentuckian that he never knows when he is whipped. To a youthful Confederate soldier who came back to his Kentucky home after the surrender, his father said : "Well, my son, I told you before you went into the army that Mr. Lincoln would whip you."
"I beg your pardon, father, but Mr. Lincoln never whipped us ; he simply beat us. No- body can whip us."
In the seven years from the signing of the treaty of peace, from 1783 to 1790, fifteen hundred men, women and children were mur- dered by savages in Kentucky ; to say nothing, in the face of such dire fatality, of the value of property destroyed. But no man or wo- man faltered. God bless the memory of the latter, for no nobler beings ever existed. "There were giants in those days." It is Kentucky's proudest boast that there were heroines in those days, and no belted earl of the monarchies of the Old World, can give to his descendants a prouder heritage than these brave women gave their sons who can say : "My mother was of the Kentucky pioneers." Witness the women of Bryan station; the splendid girls from Boonesborough who in captivity, marked their trail so that those who followed might the more easily discover them ! Orders of nobility are of no avail in Ken- tucky. Every man in whose veins courses the blood of these pioneers, outranks the proudest
duke who wears the Star and Garter. Upon his breast, if he would, he might wear the badge of a duty well performed, of a danger never evaded: of a motherhood never sur- passed since the days of the Spartans. Some day, somewhere, in Kentucky, there will be erected a monument, imperishable as the mem- ory of their deeds, to "The Mothers of Ken- tucky."
Congress hesitated but the savages did not. Their raids grew in number and in violence as they found opposition at certain points weakened. Colonel William Christian, an ac- complished gentleman and soldier, led his troops against them and fell in action, dying a soldier's death; had he lived, the highest honors might have been his. He had served honorably in the disastrous Braddock cam- paign, had married the sister of Patrick Henry. He was a born soldier. After his honorable service in Virginia and elsewhere he came to Kentucky in 1785 and settled in Jefferson county and was constantly active in all military operations for the defense of the people. It has been suggested that had Colonel Christian not met the fate of a sol- dier, he would, in all probability, have been the first governor of the new commonwealth.
It is impossible to enumerate here the multi- plicity of Indian depredations at this period, as it is equally impossible to give the full meed of praise to those brave spirits who met the savage forays and saved Kentucky to the white man. As has been stated elsewhere in this work, it was the savage hunting ground and they gave it up only after a struggle which proved that the white man was born to be the Indian's master and would never yield until that mastery had been accepted. Despite the atrocities of savage warfare, it is with a sort of sympathy that one contemplates the efforts of the untutored savage to preserve to himself and his children the heritage that had come down to him from his forefathers. They were here first, so far as the records show, but the
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Anglo-Saxon will not be denied ; his land hun- secure from savage alarms in Philadelphia, ger must be appeased. Today, he owns from was sitting supinely by and doing nothing. the Atlantic to the Pacific and not yet satis- fied, his flag flies in Hawaii, the Philippines and Porto Rico. Whether it will further ex- tend its influence it is not the province of this work to say. It is enough to know that if it wants to go further, it will go.
During these Indian raids, Gen. George Rogers Clark, by authority of the Virginia legislature, led a force against the Indians on the Wabash but was unsuccessful. General Clark was sore in spirit because Virginia, as he thought, had not properly recognized his former successful military exploits. He had also, unfortunately, cultivated personal habits which interfered with his success as a com- mander.
Colonel Logan was more successful and taught the Shawnees a lesson never forgotten, which kept them ever afterwards away from Kentucky. In this expedition of Colonel Logan's success was dimmed by the loss of Captain Christopher Irvine, of Madison county, whose gallant impetuosity led him to his death at the hands of a savage enemy. While approaching a Shawnee village an old chief, named Moluntha, came out to meet the whites, bedecked in tawdry finery so dear to the savage heart. After passing successfully many of the whites who were amused at his display of finery, Moluntha, who had been at the slaughter at Blue Licks, approached Major McGary, who had, by his rashness, been re- sponsible for the awful results of that battle. McGary asked if he had been at Blue Licks and when the old chief responded "Blue Licks," he drew his tomahawk and ruthlessly murdered him. It would have been well for Kentucky had McGary never entered its bor- ders. He brought not only disaster at Blue Licks but dishonor in the Shawnee country.
Kentucky was marking out its destiny with the consent of Virginia: she was protecting her scattered settlements, but the congress,
In the meantime, delegates were elected to the fourth convention called to meet at Dan- ville in September, 1786. On assembling, it was found that so many of the delegates were absent on military duty that a quorum could not be obtained. Adjournment was had from day to day until January, 1787, when a suffi- cient number of delegates was present to pro- ceed to business and a resolution was adopted to the effect that it was expedient for and the will of the good people of the district that the same should become a state separate from and independent of Virginia, upon the terms of the act hitherto referred to.
The legislature of Virginia in the meantime. had taken action on the original memorial and adopted a new measure annulling the first which fact was certified to the president of the Danville convention by a member of the legis- lature. This created discomfiture in the con- vention which adjourned, its members return- ing to their homes to await results.
A letter was received from a member of the Virginia legislature stating the reasons which induced the actions of that body which were in substance as follows:
First-That the original law, requiring a decision on the subject of separation in time, if adopted, for congress to determine on the admission of Kentucky into the Union before the first day of June, 1787, could not, in con- sequence of delay, be executed.
Second-That the twelve months allowed to the convention for other purposes, might, in the divided state of public opinion, involve difficulties, especially as there did not appear to be in the minority a disposition to submit to the will of the majority.
Third-That the proceedings of the con- vention would be subject to objections in con- sequence of defects in the law.
The preamble assigns as reasons for the act, the failure of the convention to meet and
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the inpracticability of executing the law for want of time. It further expressed a contin- ued disposition in the legislature to assent to the proposed separation. It enacts that at the August courts of the year 1787, the free male inhabitants of the district, in their respective counties, should elect five members for each county to compose a convention to be held at Danville on the third Monday in the ensuing September.
The 4th of July, 1787, was fixed as the limit within which congress was to express its as- sent to the admission of the proposed state into the Confederation. This action meant the postponment of the matter for an entire year. By the first act separation might possi- bly have occurred in 1787; by the second, it was postponed until 1789. The people were disappointed but not hopeless. Under the most favorable circumstances they could not enter the Union for two years and, recogniz- ing the conditions surrounding the newly-
formed Union, they realized that there might yet be other years of waiting. They could wait and they could also fight. Congress had made treaties with the Indians : the latter had ruthlessly disregarded them. The United States authorities paid no attention to these violations and the people of Kentucky found themselves neglected but by no means helpless or hopeless. When there was fighting against the Indians necessary, there was no lack of fighting men from Kentucky. Congress might delay the matter of admission ; meanwhile Kentucky, as occasion offered, was giving practical demonstrations of its fitness to be a member of the sisterhood of states. The pa- tience with which Kentucky awaited the act of justice was only equalled by the equanimity with which it met every difficulty and the bravery with which, for years. it combatted the savage enemies whose bitter attacks were constantly met with unremitting regularity.
CHAPTER XVIII.
WILKINSON, THE DISCORD SOWER-FREE NAVIGATION OF THE MISSISSIPPI-SPANISH DESIGNS NARROWLY AVERTED WILKINSON'S STUMBLING BLOCK.
In this hour of doubt and uncertainty, the tempter came to Kentucky. The attempt at self-government was an experiment. Men doubted if a Republican form of government could continue to exist ; the constitution was a venture into new fields and was yet to be tested and it is not to be wondered at that there were doubters, some who predicted fail- ure. It will not be forgotten that there were men who wished that Washington should be a king rather than a president. The men who dreamed of a successful republic never de- spaired. Almost, they believed the Federal constitution to be an inspired instrument ; never for a moment did they fail in the belief that Divine Providence was watching over the new land and that, in the end, all would be well with it and them. But, at the same time, they kept their powder dry and were in a con- stant state of defense against their savage foes.
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