Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 106

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II > Part 106

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By his will, which was probated in the Nelson court, he bequeathed to Wm. Rowan his beaver hat, shoe, knee, and stock buckles, walking-stick, and spectacles ; and to Dr. Wm. Thornton, Eliza Vail, John Rowan, and James Nourse, the balance of his estate. Many believed that Wm. Rowan got the lion's share of the estate.

His grave, in the graveyard of Bardstown, is about 14 feet north of Jesse McDonald's tombstone, about 30 feet from the fence on the north side and nearly 33 feet from the eastern fence. Alex. Mccown often pointed out the grave, and took good care of a steamboat model and other interesting objects left by Fitch; but they were destroyed in the burning of MeCown's house in 1804.

The Family Magazine, vol. vi, page 386, says : "John Fitch and James Rumsey [the latter then a Virginian, but afterwards emigrated to Kentucky ], in the year 1783, without connection or acquaintance, brought into form plans for the use of steam vessels on the great rivers and Inkes, and along the in-

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dented sea-coast of the United States. Both in 1784 exhibited their plans to Gen. Washington. Rumsey made his project public by a model before his rival; but Fitch first reduced his to successful practice upon the Delaware. This was in 1785. In the following year Rumsey also succeeded in starting a boat upon the Potomac."

A violent pamphlet controversy arose between the two as to who first ap- plied steam to the motion of boats. Mr. Fitch told a friend that, on his way from Kentucky to Philadelphia, he passed through Winchester, Va .; and while resting there, informed Mr. Rumsey of his "firm conviction that the agency of steam might be used in navigation, and that he was then on his way to Philadelphia and Europe, to get friends to assist in carrying into effect his plans in connection therewith."*

In 1813, when Robert Fulton brought suit in New York to enforce his claim as the inventor of steam navigation, the opposing lawyer defeated the suit by producing in court one of John Fitch's pamphlets in the above con- troversy-which certainly proved that both Fitch and Rumsey had prior claims to the invention of steamboats. For the purposes of this sketch, al- though we can not decide absolutely as to whether Fitch or Rumsey first made the great discovery, we take pleasure and pride in recording that they both lived for many years, and died, Kentuckians. The legislature would honor the state and the cause of useful science, by having their remains removed to the State Cemetery at Frankfort, buried side by side, and a joint monument erected to their memory.

Gov. THOMAS NELSON, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, from whom this county received its name, was a native of Virginia. He was educated in England ; and entered the Virginia house of burgesses, in 1774. In the military organization of Virginia, at the breaking out of the war, he was appointed to the command of a regiment. In 1775, he was sent to the general congress at Philadelphia, and was a member of that body at the time of the Declaration of Independence. About this time he was appointed, by the state of Virginia, a brigadier general, and invested with the chief command of the military of the state. In 1779, he was again, for a short time, a member of congress, but was forced by ill health to resign his seat. In 1781, he succeeded Mr. Jefferson as governor of Virginia ; and continued to unite in himself the two offices of governor and commander of the military forces, until the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. He died in 1789, aged fifty years.

NICHOLAS COUNTY.

NICHOLAS county-the 42d in order of formation, and the last before 1800-was formed in 1799, out of parts of Bourbon and Mason, and named in honor of Col. Geo. Nicholas. A portion of its territory was taken to form Robertson county in 1867. It is situated in the N. E. middle part of the state, and is bounded N. by Robertson and Fleming counties, E. by Fleming and Bath, s. by Bath and Bourbon, and w. by Bourbon and Harrison. The Licking river flows through the county in a N. w. direction, and forms part of the N. E. boundary line; the other more important streams are Hinkson creek, which forms its southern boundary, Somerset, Cassidy, Beaver, Brushy Fork, and Flat creeks. That portion of the county which borders upon Bourbon and Bath counties is gently undulating, and very rich and productive; the remainder of the county, with the exception of the valleys of the

# Letter of Robert Wickliffe, in Am. Pioneer, i, pp. 32-37.

LOWER BLUE LICK SPRINGS, KY. (Destroyed by fire, April 7, 1862)

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Licking and its tributaries, is broken oak lands. The soil is based on limestone, with red clay foundation, The staple articles of production and commerce are corn, wheat, rye, oats, tobacco, whiskey, cattle, hogs, and mules.

Towns .- Carlisle, the county seat of Nicholas, is situated on the Maysville and Lexington railroad, 33 miles s. w. of Mays- ville, 34 N. E. of Lexington, 16 N. E. of Paris, 58 from Frankfort, and 510 from Washington city ; contains a brick court house and clerks' offices in a handsome public square, 4 churches, 1 bank, 1 newspaper (the Mercury), 8 lawyers, 4 physicians, 3 taverns ; 5 dry goods, 2 drug, 2 stove and tin, 1 hardware, 1 furniture, and 3 millinery stores ; 5 groceries, 13 mechanics' shops, and 3 livery stables; was incorporated in 1816 ; population in 1870, 606, and growing handsomely since the opening of the railroad. [Two terrible fires in 1873 scourged Carlisle: one, Jan. 5th, destroyed 15 buildings and stores, loss over $100,000, and the other, in May, destroyed probably half that amount of property.] Moorefield, 6 miles E. of Carlisle on the turnpike to Sharpsburg, contains a dry goods store, grocery, church, school house, and town hall, and several mechanics' shops; population about 60. Lower Blue Licks, at the celebrated springs of the same name, is a small village with considerable trade ; at this point there is a wire suspension bridge over the Licking river, at the crossing of the Maysville and Lexington turnpike.

STATISTICS OF NICHOLAS COUNTY.

When formed. See page 26

Population, from 1800 to 1870 .p. 258

Tobacco, corn, wheat, hay ... pages 266, 268

Horses, mules, cattle, hogs .. ... p. 268

66 whites and colored. .p. 260 Taxable property, 1846 and 1870 ... p. 270

towns .. .p. 262 Land-No. of acres, and value ...... p. 270 Latitude and longitude .p. 257

white males over 21. .p. 266

children bet. 6 and 20 ..... p. 266

Distinguished citizens ... .. see Index.

MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE FROM NICHOLAS COUNTY.

Senate .- Thos. Throckmorton, 1811-15 ; James Parks, 1815-19, '30-34; Jas. Hughes, 1822, died in office, succeeded by John H. Rudd, of Bracken co. ; Andrew S. Hughes, 1824-28; Samuel Fulton, 4828-30 ; Gen. Thos. Metcalfe, 1834-38; Col. John S. Mor- gan, 1838-44; Dr. John F. McMillan, 1847-50; Fitch Munger, 1850; Thompson S. Parks, 1851-33 ; Thos. F. Hargis, 1871-75. From Nicholas and Bourbon counties- John Savery, 1808. [See Fleming co.]

House of Representatives .- Robert MeIntire, 1802, '03, '04 ; Franklin Collier, 1805, '09, '10 ; Thos. Throckmorton, 1808; Jesse Basket, 1811; Gen. Thos. Metcalfe, 1812, '14, '15, '16, '17 ; John C. Baker, 1818, '22 ; Jas. Hughes, 1819; Daniel P. Bedinger, 1820 ; Henley Roberts, 1820, '26; Wm. MeClanahan, 1821, '22, '25 ; Col. John S. Morgan, 1824, '33; Samuel Fulton, IS24, '25, '26, '32; Thos. West, Robert C. Hall, 1827 ; John Baker, 1828; Jas. Parks, 1829; Wm. H. Russell, 1830; George W. Rud- dell, 1831 ; Thos. Chevis, 1834; Win. Norvell, 1835 ; -. Sandford, IS36 ; Moses F. Glenn, 1837, '39; John W. Sharpe, 1838 ; John M. Raymond, 1840 ; Chas. C. Whaley, 1841; Jas. Stitt, 1542, '43; David Ballingall, 1844, '47 ; John W. Finnell, 1845; John Hall, 1846, '53-55 ; Jas. H. Holladay, 1848; Jas. P. Metcalfe, 1549, '50; JJohn B. Holladay, 1851-53; George C. Faris, 1855-57 ; Wmn. J. Stitt, 1857-59; Nelson Sledd, 1859-61 ; John W. Campbell, 1861-65 ; Dr. John F. McMillan, 1865-67 ; Thompson S. Parks, 1867-69; J. S. Lawson, 1871-73.

The First Newspaper published in Nicholas county was in 1853, by Col. Samuel J. Hill, the Carlisle Ledger. In 1855, it was purchased by the " Know Nothing" or Native American party, and continued for about a year as the Carlisle American, edited by James A. Chappell. The Carlisle Mercury, begun in 1867 by Win. R. Anno, published afterwards by Judge Thos. F.

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Hargis and others, was purchased in 1870 by Scudder & Darnall, who still publish it (July, 1873).

Milk Sickness, in the dry months of 1856-7, cansed the death of cattle in a pasture on the farm of B. W. Mathers, near Carlisle. It was attributed to the water from the only pond in the enclosure; but a careful analysis of the water by Prof. Robert Peter, of the state geological survey, failed to dis- close any injurious mineral matter or other element which might be sup- posed to cause disease. 'Nor did any thing in the composition of the rock (mudstone or sandstone) surrounding the pond explain the origin of the milk sickness. The water that runs off the slopes of the ridges, about 70 feet above the valleys, over the outcrop of the silicious mudstone, is highly charged with magnesia, and is also milky from suspended particles of clay or else of extremely fine silex. This description of water, if habitually used, acts in- juriously on man and stock .*

" The sterility of the soil on the cedar hill, on the site of the celebrated battle-ground near the Lower Blue Lick Springs, on the opposite side from the Lick Springs, has often been a matter of wonder-inasmuch as the princi- pal mass of the hill is composed of the beds of the same blue limestone for- mation which affords elsewhere so fertile a soil. The explanation of this re- markable phenomenon is found in the fact, that at an elevation of 130 to 140 feet above low water in the Licking river, the fossiliferous beds of the blue limestone are here covered up by barren sand and quartz pebbles, strewed over the site of the battle-ground. This sand and gravel lies from 70 to 80 feet above the layers of the blue limestone, exposed not far above the bridge."t " The presence, as a substratum, of a fine-grained sandstone con- taining a few specks of mica at the Blue Lick Springs is the reason of that sterility and paucity of soil-which has generally been attributed, by early observers, to the trampling of the herds of buffaloes which formerly frequented the licks."±

An Apple Tree, remarkable for size and venerable for age, was in 1852 still thrifty and healthy, upon a farm then owned by ex-Gov. Thos. Metcalfe, on the road from Samuel Arnett's to Carlisle. One foot above the ground its circumference was 10 feet; at 4 feet up, 8} feet around; at 8 feet up, 8 feet 7 inches; then it had three prongs, 5} feet, 4 feet 7 inches, and 32 feet in circumference, respectively. Its spreading branches were 60 feet across, or 180 feet in circumference. When a seedling scion, in 1795, it was found near the "Burned Cabins," a favorite camping place for emigrants, and transplanted to Samuel Peyton's yard, to the very spot it occupied more than 57 years after. It bore abundantly of apples good for cooking and late use.

An Extraordinary Race .- The following incident, illustrative of the times and the man, was published shortly after the death of ex-Gov. Thos. Metcalfe, the most prominent citizen of Nicholas county (see sketch under Metcalfe co.) :

About the year 1795, there arrived in Nicholas county, a proud young Virginian, riding a noble steed. He was given to boasting, and by assumed airs of importance highly irritated the wild boys of the Licking hills. Con- tident of the fleetness of his horse, he bantered the neighbors for a race. It was known to a few that a couple of the best racers in the county had been repeatedly run against one another, and were of about the same speed. A poor boy of that neighborhood had, for the amusement of the owners, run them against one another-he riding both horses at the same time. The young Virginian was notified that if he would ride himself, they would run two horses at the same time against his, and would bet on their success what they could afford, which was mostly the skins of various wild animals, against any thing of equal value. The challenge was accepted, and a meadow in a creek bottom selected for a half-mile race. The day arrived ; the three horses were brought forward. For the rider of the two, appeared this same poor boy, about half-grown, barefooted, bareheaded, dressed in a tow-linen shirt, pantaloons of the same material. The dress was not assumed for the occa- sion, but was the best his purse could bear, although neither neat nor gaudy. He was endowed with a well formed head, a keen, penetrating eye, a fearless,

Kentucky Geological Survey, vol. iii, p. 105. t Same, p. 106.

# Same, p. 360.

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benevolent and cheerful countenance; and was animated with a noble zeal for the occasion, believing the honor of Kentucky was at stake. The riders mounted, the boy having one foot on each horse. The signal was given. Away went the racers at full speed, and for about two hundred yards, it could not have been decided who was ahead. The boy in endeavoring to run near a stump, three feet high, did not guide exactly as he intended ; the stump was leaped by one of the horses, which greatly disturbed the equilibrium of the rider, but did not throw him. The Virginia horse dashed ahead. The other two ran with great fleetness, and at six hundred yards it was neck and neck. At the end of the race the pair of horses were a full length ahead, amid the huzzas and shouts of the multitude.

The young Virginian paid his losses without a murmur. A big treat -was proposed by those in luck, and accepted by the crowd. The successful rider was looked for, but could not be found; unaccustomed to applause, he had disappeared. The Virginian, however, avenged himself on two subsequent occasions, by beating each horse singly, they having a different rider. But he was again mortitied by being beat by the boy riding at the same time both horses.

RESIDENCE OF EX-GOV. THOMAS METCALFE, 1846.

And who was that boy ? At that time echo would have answered, who It was Thomas Metcalfe, well known in after years. He held many offices of trust and honor ; he was governor of Kentucky, was ten years in the house of representatives in congress, and a short time in the United States senate. He fought in the war of 1812 against Great Britain, and volunteered three times against Spain. He was an eloquent man, social, hospitable, fond to the last of song, frolic, and fun.

An Ancient Burying-Ground is still observable in Nicholas county, 7 miles north of Sharpsburg and 5 miles south of the Upper Blue Licks. The eleva- tion or mound, which is now (1872) but little above the level of the surround-

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ing country, embraces nearly an acre. It is covered with fragments of human bones, some of them of giant size. A lower jaw-bone, exhumed about 1867-with the teeth all perfect-was readily fitted over the jaw of a large man. A thigh-bone, also, when laid upon the thigh of a man 6 feet high, projected several inches beyond the cap of the knee. Articles resembling beads have been dug from the mound. Fragments of earthernware are scattered all over it. A black loam of considerable depth covers most of the mound.

Near the Upper Blue Lick Springs, on the top of a barren ridge, is a place over 100 feet square smoothly paved with very large flat stones. The marks of the tools used in dressing them are still visible. They must have been transported at least a mile, as stones of this size are not to be found nearer. It has been suggested that the place was prepared for sacrificial purposes or other ceremony, by some race anterior to the Indians of the 18th century.

Stations .- In 1789, the only station between Limestone (Maysville) and Lexington, sixty-four miles, was at the Lower Blue Licks, erected by a gen- tleman named Lyons, who carried on making salt. He entertained travelers, and had a family of negro servants. He dealt with great fairness with the settlers, was very popular, and had a fine run of custom for that day. There is reason to believe, but it is not certain, that the Tanners had erected some kind of a station several years before. The settlers were in the habit of going in groups to the springs for salt-making, from 1775 down-camping there, but making no permanent improvement. Irish station was 5 or 6 miles south of the Lower Blue Licks, on the road to Lexington, and John Miller's about 6 miles further on.

Daniel Boone's Sword .- In July, 1847, the editor of the Galena (Illinois) Mercury claimed to have in possession the identical sword used by Daniel Boone-the first and for a time the only sword in Kentucky. At the battle of the Blue Licks, where it was the only sword in possession of the Kentuck- ians, it was lost in the Licking river by Col. John Todd ; and when recovered, several years after, was identified by Mrs. Todd as the sword her husband had borrowed of Daniel Boone. The blade was short and roughly made, of good steel ; the haft or handle covered with a piece of buckhorn, and the guard made of iron §th inch thick.

The great historic spots in Nicholas county are the Upper and the Lower Blue Lick Springs-among the most remarkable and most valuable in the world, and the water from both of which has an extended sale and use prob- ably not equaled in the United States, if elsewhere in the world. As fash- ionable watering-places, or resorts for health, recreation, and amusement, the accommodations at the Upper springs have always been limited, and the attendance correspondingly small. At the Lower spring, which has been much more widely known, the improvements were very greatly extended in 1845 (see engraving). The main building was . 670 feet in length, three stories high, with about 1,800 feet of gallery; the dining room 100 by 36 feet, the ball room 80 by 26. In the ensuing fifteen years, it frequently happened that 400 to 600 guests at a time were at this hotel. During the civil war, April 7, 1862, the main buildings were destroyed by fire, the work of an incendiary, and have not been rebuilt. The accommodations in 1873 are substantial but not extensive. The large cedar grove which occupies the site of the battle-ground was formerly enclosed and set in blue grass.

The water of the two springs does not greatly differ in component proper- ties. Repeated analyses show the following ingredients : Sulphuretted hydro- gen gas and free carbonic acid gas, about 1-36th of the former and 1-5th of the latter in the volume of the water; carbonates of lime and magnesia ; chlorides of sodium, potassium, and magnesium ; bromide and iodide of mag- nesium ; sulphate of lime and potash ; alumina, phosphate of lime, oxide of iron, and silicic acid; with traces of oxide of manganese, and of apoerenic and crenic acids. It is a highly valuable water, and acts as a nervous stimu- lant, diaphoretic, diuretic, aud emmenagogue.

For a hundred years (since 1773) these springs have been known to the whites, and for the first forty years of that time furnished much of the salt supply of middle and north east Kentucky. "The Upper Blue Lick salt works

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in 1805 were fed by three pumps set in a spring-from which flowed as much water as would supply 1,000 kettles." At the same time salt was more ex- tensively manufactured at the Lower spring.

The Saline contents in 1,000 grains of the water were accurately analyzed and weighed by Prof. Robert Peter, as the chemist of the state geological survey. Taking the data thus obtained, he found that " the large Lower spring emitted 678 gallons per hour, equal to 26,272 gallons in the day of 24 hours. Supposing the saline matters to constitute but one per cent. of the water, the amount brought out in one hour would be more than 58 pounds avoirdupois. But say that 50 lbs. an hour is the proportion, the quantity will amount to 438,000 lbs. per annum. The specific gravity of common salt being 2.257, this quantity in solid lump would contain about 310 cubic feet-or be enough to form a cube of salt nearly 7 feet on a side !" Thus in the 100 years since the first discovery of this spring, the grand total of salt which has flowed off in a liquid state is 876,000 bushels, or 21,900 tons. Probably three-fourths as much more has thus flowed off from the Upper springs ; in all, nearly 40,000 tons, or over 1,500,000 bushels. "And yet the water flows on, without any sensible diminution of its saltness. Whence is all this saline matter obtained ? Is there, embedded in the deeper strata of the blue limestone, an immense layer of salt rock-derived from the original ocean under which the rock was deposited ?" It has been well said that " the quantity of saline and other matters brought out from the interior of the earth by these and other similar springs is immense, and sets at defiance all efforts to find ont their source !"

Discovery of the Blue Licks .- A party of men from Pennsylvania, several of them living on or near the Youghiogheny river in Westmoreland county- probably a portion of the company under Gen. Wm. Thompson (see under Mason county, page 549), for James Perry deposed, June 19, 1802, that they " had surveyed a number of other tracts of land for their company, on the waters of North Licking and other places "-discovered the Upper Blue Licks in July, 1773. Maj. John Finley, Col. James Perry, James Hamilton, and Joshua Areher were of the party. Perry and Hamilton surveyed the several tracts; and on July 26, 1773, the one which included what " they called the Blue Lick, at that time. and until some of the company found a large lick down the river ; then they called it the Upper Blue Lick, and the other the Lower Blue Lick."* On their return to Pittsburgh, they drew lots, and this tract fell to John Finley, who after the Revolutionary war (in which he was major of the 8th Pennsylvania regiment of Continental troops) came out and settled upon it. At his death, it fell to his son, David D. Finley, who continued to live upon it until about 1871.

From depositions in a number of land suits in Fayette, Bourbon, Nicholas, and Fleming counties, it is probable that the whites who entered Kentucky through Cumberland Gap in 1775, became acquainted with the Upper Blue Lick first. An Indian war road led from the mouth of Cabin Creek, in now Mason county, to the Upper Blue Lieks-which by an official survey in 1816 proved to be 25} miles long; and Flanders Callaway, son-in-law of Daniel Boone, deposed, in 1817, that in 1775 he met at that lick a party ot Indians, 5 men, 5 squaws, and some children. Two war roads led from the same point into other roads and to the Lower Blue Licks; which afterward became the most noted and celebrated of the two-in early day, because of the great battle fought there in 1782, and, in recent years, because of the éclat as a watering-place given to it by private enterprise.

The two springs, from 1775 to 1785, were called "the two" salt springs," the "salt springs on Licking," the " upper and lower salt springs," the "upper and lower blue springs," the "salt licks on Licking;" until, in later years, they are known usually as the Upper and Lower Blue Lick springs- while the " Little Blue Lick " designates the small lick in the southern part of Madison county.

# Deposition of James Perry, in Finley rx. Elijah Harlan's Heirs, 1802 ; Testimony of Joshua Archer before Fayette county court, March 12, 1783 ; Declaration of John Finley, in above case, March 8, 1811, and his Deposition in suit of Henry Clay and Geo. M. Bedinger ts. Thos. Rowland, June 29, 1802.

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The First Expedition after the Powder brought down the Ohio river by (Gen.) George Rogers Clark and John Gabriel Jones in Dec., 1776, and secreted on the Three Islands, some 10 miles above Limestone (Maysville), set out from McClelland s station (Georgetown) a day or two after the arrival there of Clark and Jones with the intelligence. Nine men on horseback, under Col. John Todd, piloted by Jones, were waylaid on Dec. 28th, on Johnson's Fork of Licking, near the Lower Blue Licks, by a small party of Indians, who were following the recent trail of Clark and Jones. The savages made a sudden and vigorous attack, killed Jones and Win. Graden, and took Jos. Rogers prisoner. Josiah Dixon was missing, and never after heard of. The rest, among them Samuel MeMillin, retreated safely. (For an account of the second and successful expedition, see under Lewis county.)

Capture of Salt-makers .- On the Ist of January, 1778, Daniel Boone, with a party of 30 men, went to the Lower Blue Licks, to make salt for several dif- ferent garrisons from which they had been collected. On Feb. 7th, while out hunting, to procure meat for the company, Boone was captured by a party of 102 Indians and 2 Frenchmen-on their march to attack Boonesborough. They brought him, next day, to the Licks, where he by signs at a distance persuaded them not to resist, having already made honorable terms of sur- render for the 27; 3 having been sent home with salt. Of the latter was Win. Cradlebaugh, who deposed in 1808 that he and about 20 others, shortly after the capture of Boone's party, went to the Blue Licks to hide the kettles, and thus preserve them from the Indians; and in the ensuing summer, " brought them home."

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 106

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1654

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654