Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 39

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 39

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HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, FRANKFORT, KY.

245

FRANKLIN COUNTY.

clusive of the sum already borrowed, with which to pay the members of the legislature, etc .- was in the "big log tavern" of Robert Megowan, on Main street, on the spot covered in 1872 by Thomas Bradley's hardware store .¿

During the first session, on June 18th, the legislature-in accordance with the 10th article of the constitution, and being reminded thereof by the first governor, Isaac Shelby, in his first " message"-made choice of five com- missioners, | "to fix on the place for the permanent seat of government," " to receive grants from individuals therefor, and to make such conditions with the proprietors of the land so pitched on by them, as to them shall seem right, and shall be agreed to by said proprietors; and to lay off a town thereon,

in such manner as they shall judge most proper." These commissioners were Robert Todd, of Fayette ; Thos. Kennedy, of Madison ; Henry Lee, of Mason ; and John Allen and John Edwards, of Bourbon county. They were selected thus : From 21 persons chosen by ballot by the first house of representatives, the representatives from Mercer (Samuel Taylor, John Jouett, Jacob Froman, and Robert Mosby) struck one, and the representatives from Fayette (Wm. Russell, John Hawkins, Thos. Lewis, Hubbard Taylor, Jas. Trotter, Jos. Crockett, Jas. McMillan, John McDowell, and Robert Pat- terson) another, and so on alternately until only the five above remained- three of whom were required to concur in the selection. They began their labors on the 4th of August, 1792, visited in person or fully considered the advantages of the several competing localities-Legerwood's Bend, Delaney's Ferry, Louisville, Frankfort, Leestown, Lexington, and Petersburg-and on the 5th of December finally decided in favor of Frankfort " as the most proper place for the seat of government." From this last meeting John Edwards was absent; and Gen. Robert Todd was one of the three who voted for Frankfort, despite his great interest (one thousand acres of fine land near it) in selecting Lexington in preference. [For the proposal accepted, see page 182.]

The first general assembly was engaged 12 days in its first, and 48 days in its second session. The second assembly-which was the first at Frankfort- convened Nov. 4, 1793, and adjourned Dec. 21-being in session 48 days. The third assembly continued its session from Nov. 3, 1794, to Dec. 17-45 days; the fourth, from Nov. 2, 1795, to Dec. 21-50 days; the fifth, from Nov. 7, 1796, to Dec. 17-41 days; the sixth, an adjourned meeting, from Feb. 6, 1797, to March 17-40 days.

By act approved Dec. 19, 1792, five " directors of public buildings," to be appointed by the governor, were empowered to make choice from the ground given by Andrew Holmes of that most convenient for the capital and other public buildings, to agree on plans for the buildings, employ workmen, and superintend their erection-the expenses not to exceed the present subscrip- tions; to collect and disburse the sums subscribed, convert the lots into money, etc.

The Second State House of Kentucky, also temporary, was the large frame house afterwards belonging to Maj. James Love, on the bank of the river in the lower part of Frankfort. In this the session beginning Nov. 4, 1793 was held. Dec. 21, 1793, £5 [$163] were appropriated to James Tompkins, for two platforms for the chairs of the speakers of the two houses, and £4 [$13}] to Nathaniel Sanders for twelve benches. This building (see engraving) was purchased in 1870 by James G. Dudley, torn down, and replaced by a handsome mansion. It was notable, also, as the headquarters of Aaron Burr, when in Frankfort in 1806; in the rear end room were planned some of the details of his conspiracy. In it was preached the first sermon ever heard in Frankfort.

The Third State House of Kentucky-the first permanent one, erected for the purpose-was occupied for the first time as the capitol by the third gen- eral assembly, on Monday, Nov. 3, 1794. A work published in 1796 described it as " a large sightly stone building." Another, et later date, as " a parallel- logram, 86 by 54 feet, built of rough marble, and with a cupola rising from the center of a square root. The public offices are on the first floor, the hail

# Ranck's Lexington, p. 175.

Senate Journal, 1792, pp. 22, 84.

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FRANKLIN COUNTY. 1

of the house of representatives on the second, and the senate chamber on the third." It was destroyed by fire, Nov. 25, 1813.

Bv acts of 1794 and 1795 were appropriated sums of $500, $300, and $2,000, besides several small sums for furniture ; altogether, the state seems to have paid not exceeding $3,500 towards the first permanent capitol-the remainder having been subscribed by Andrew Holmes and others to secure the location at Frankfort.

The Fourth State House of Kentucky was, of course, temporary-a building rented by the state until the completion of a new capitol. By act of Jan. 31, 1814, John Brown, Daniel Weisiger, Richard Taylor, Win. Hunter, and Jephtha Dudley were appointed commissioners to contract for and superin- tend the construction of a new building of brick, not exceeding 120 feet in front by SO feet deep, two stories high, with two rooms on the first floor for the accommodation of the legislature, and with rooms on the second floor for the courts of justice ; and of wings, one story high, detached from the main buildings, for the offices of the register, auditor, treasurer, and secretary of state-all to be fire-proof. The commissioners were to solicit and receive voluntary contributions from the citizens ; but forbidden to make any con- tract on the faith of the state, or making the state liable for the payment. It was especially "provided that, in no respect whatever shall the passage of this law be considered as a pledge, to the citizens of Frankfort or those who may subscribe to the re-building of the capitol, of the continuance. of the seat of government at Frankfort." "The amount paid for rent of " the house prepared for the use of the legislature," was, in 1813, $1,070, and for rent of tempor- ary public offices, $575.

The Fifth State House of Kentucky (see engraving) and public offices were built in 1814-16, of brick, at a cost of $40,000-of which $20,900* were realized from individual subscriptions ($13 from citizens of Henry county, $50 from Louisville, $350 from Lexington, $330 from Shelby county, $550 from Woodford county, $100 from a citizen of Virginia, and the remaining $19,607 from citizens of Frankfort and Franklin county), and the balance was appropriated by the state, $4,600 in 1815, $10,000 in 1816, $3,100 in 1818, and .$1,200 in 1819. Of this sum, $1,016 were paid in Philadelphia for a bell, $188 for its transportation to Frankfort, and $32 for hanging it in the cupola-total, $1,236. Of about 280 persons in some way connected with the subscription-fund or the work of building, but three are now (Oct., 1873), after the lapse of 59 years, known to be living-Rev. Thos. P. Dudley, now of Lexington, Francis P. Blair, now of Washington city, and Harrison Blanton, of Frankfort-each between 80 and 90 years of age, after an hon- ored and useful life.

There is nothing in the items of expenditure of this capitol to indicate any judicious attention to one of the original propositions-that of making it fire-proof; and in a few years, like its predecessor, it fell a victim to the devouring flames. On Thursday morning, Nov. 4, 1824,f at 7:30, A. M., the cry of " Fire " was heard-" the State House is on fire!" A spark from one of the chimneys in which the soot was burning was drawn through the vene- tian blind of the tall cupola, and directly re-issued in a bright blaze, curling up above the ball and vane, and wrapping itself around the airy structure. Upward and downward the flames spread, out of reach of the fire-engine which the state had helped to purchase as a protection against fire, and beyond the power of willing hands to check or control. Down into the attic the fire crept, beneath the massive roof, through which it burst in a hundred places. In less than half an hour the timbers of the roof began to fall in, breaking through the floors and ceilings, and down into the apartments below. The whole interior-which in an hour was to resound with the voices of men earnest in legislation for the common weal-was soon a mass of flame, a roaring furnace; and in less than two hours ail that was combustible, with plastering, bricks, and stones, was a pile of smoking and smouldering rub- bish. The brick walls, the chimneys, and the four massise columns of the portico were left standing ; a small part of the north wall, where the window-

# Senate Journal, 1819, pp. 259-271. f Correspondence Maysville Eagle, Nov. 10, 1824.

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FIRST (PERMANENT) STATE HOUSE, FRANKFORT, KY. (Built, 1793-94 ; and Destroyed by fire, Nov. 25, 1813.)

SECOND (PERMANENT) STATE HOUSE, FRANKFORT. KY. ( Built, 1814-16; and Destroyed by fire, Nov. 4, 1824.)

THIRD (PERMANENT) STATE HOUSE, FRANKFORT, KY .- Built, 1827-29.

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FRANKLIN COUNTY.

openings were thickest, fell down. A large portion of the furniture, some original state papers of value, 3,580 volumes of Kentucky legislature acts, statutes, and court of appeals reports,* and several hundred muskets were burnt, $1,228.91 of public moneys stolen from the state treasury, and a still larger sum belonging to the treasurer's private funds, while removing the funds and books.t The two buildings on either side of the capitol, contain- ing the public offices-those of the auditor and treasurer on the left, and of the secretary of state and register of the land office on the right-were saved from the flames.

The Sixth State House of Kentucky, again temporary and rendered neces- sary by the recent fire, was double-the senate occupying the seminary building, on the east side of the state house square, and the house of repre- sentatives the large meeting-house or church on the west side.# The latter body was again pursued by fire. On Dee. 12, 1825, while the house was in session, about 3 o'clock p. M., flames burst from the roof and spread rapidly. The destruction was complete-again including many printed volumes of legislative journals and acts.|| The sittings of the house of representatives were transferred to the Methodist church-for the use of which a voluntary rent was paid, for the sessions beginning in Dec., 1826, 1827, and 1828 .¿

The Seventh State House of Kentucky, the third built for the purpose, was first occupied by both houses of the legislature on Dec. 7, 1829, and is the same in which the sessions are still held (1873). Although the former capi- tol was burned Nov. 4, 1824, it was not until Jan. 12, 1827, that a bill was approved providing for the re-building-under John Brown, Peter Dudley, John Harvie, and James Shannon as commissioners, who were authorized to contract "in behalf and in the name of the state of Kentucky." $20,000 were appropriated then, $20,000 on Feb. 12, 1828, $20,000 on Jan. 29, 1829, $12,500 on Jan 29, 1830, $9,500 on Jan. 15, 1831, and $2,200 on Dec. 23, 1831-making the entire cost of the present state house about $85,000.T This building (see engraving) was briefly described in a large geographical work in 1832 as " entirely of marble, with a front presenting a portico sup- ported by Ionic columns-the whole having an aspect of magnificence. The stairway under the vault of the dome has been much admired." It is a large and very handsome structure, built of polished Kentucky marble-with a portico in front supported by six columns of the Ionic order. The senate and representative halls are in the second story, each of moderate capacity, hand- somely finished-the former ornamented with a full length portrait of Gen. Wm. Henry Harrison suspended over the president's chair, and on either side the full length portraits of Henry Clay and Gov. Isaac Shelby ; while, in the house of representatives, immediately in rear of the speaker's chair, is a portrait of Gen. George Washington, large as life, and, on the right and left, portraits of Gen. La Fayette and Col. Daniel Boone. The rooms in the lower story are appropriated to the state library, the land office, and the court of appeals-the latter room adorned with a portrait of ex-Chief Justice George Robertson. The public grounds embrace an area of four or tive acres, and are studded with a variety of handsome shrubs and forest trees. In front of the capitol is a fountain, supplied with water from the Cove spring two miles distant. The governor's house is a large, plain building of brick-no longer creditable to the wealth, pride, and public spirit of the people of Kentucky.

Further Description .- Of the three permanent State Houses-those built for the purpose-the one built in 1794 was of stone, similar to the present " Capitol Hotel " at Frankfort, very rough and unsightly, and three stories high; the first occupied by the public offices-auditor, treasurer, register, and public printer; in the second, were the hall of the house of representa- tives, and rooms for its committees, and for the court of appeals, general court, and federal court; the senate chamber was in the third story-and hence the familiar distinction, at that early day, of the "upper" and " lower house." In this story, also, was the secretary's office.

* House of Representatives Journal, 1824, pp. 135-137. + Same, pp. 94-95, 509-520. # Same, pp. 65, 66. | Maysville Eagle, Dec. 21, 1825. 2 Acts 1826-7-8.

T Session Acts, 1827-8-9-30-1.

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FRANKLIN COUNTY.

The second building-which, like the first, occupied the same site as the present State House-was two stories high ; the first story being divided by a wide hall for the courts and for committee rooms, while both houses of the legislature occupied the second floor. The state offices were detached-in double brick buildings on either side, facing the capitol : the treasurer's office in the south room, now (Jan., 1874) occupied by the auditor, and the auditor's office in the north room, of the west building; while, in the east building, the office of secretary of state was in the south room, and the land office in the north room. These latter rooms were burned, Nov. 21, 1865; while the west building, with some old additions, still stands. On the east side of the square was the seminarv building, used for the sessions of the senate from Nov., 1824, to Jan., 1827; while on the west side of the square was the church, which was burned in Dec., 1825, while the house was in session (see page 247). The Franklin county court house, in 1820, stood in the south- east corner of the capitol square. The fence in front of the square was of post and railing, the rails being sawed .*

The Eighth State House (that is to be, as per engraving)-the fourth per- manent one-or, strictly and technically speaking, the " Fire-Proof Offices at the Seat of Government"-took shape, practically, under the act of Feb. 2, 1869, appropriating $100,000 " for the purpose of erecting a building or buildings to contain suitable apartments and fire-proof rooms for the principal public officers of the state, required by law to reside at the seat of govern- ment." This act appointed the governor, John W. Stevenson, and nine other commissioners-Ambrose W. Dudley, Geo. W. Craddock, Dr. Hugh Rodman, Samuel I. M. Major, Philip Swigert, J. Mason Brown, Isaac T. Martin, Geo. W. Anderson, and Dr. Norvin Green-" to employ an architect, and first cause to be made a suitable plan and specification of the improvements con- templated," and then erect a building " of stone, and as near fire-proof as may be." In their first report to the senate, Jan. 13, 1870, "being satisfied that it would be very important to the interests of the state that" the building should be so located and erected as " to form a part of a more extensive im- provement of the capitol," they say that " the building now in course of con- struction is intended to constitute the east wing of a more extended edifice ; when finished, to be complete within itself, and so arranged as to furnish thoroughly fire-proof offices, and thus secure some of the important archives of the state against the possibility of loss from fire or other casualty ; this wing or building is intended to contain suitable offices for the auditor, treas- urer, the governor, and his two secretaries, and also a large and commodious chamber for the senate. The plan adopted contemplates the erection, on the west side of the present capitol, of a similar building " (re- quiring $200,000 more, to complete the two), which would furnish to the remaining officers of the state "commodious and safe offices in which to transact their business, and secure their papers and books from casualties of all sorts; and also a suitable chamber for the house of representatives, much more roomy and commodious than the present one-all which can be done within the present year," 1870.

A bill passed the senate, March 17, 1870, appropriating $25,000 more to complete the east wing; but it was not acted on in the house. The act of March 9, 1871, appropriated $55,000 " for the purpose of finishing the apartments and fire-proof rooms for the offices of the state." A bill passed the senate, March 6, 1872, appropriating $60,000 for "completing all the unfinished apartments in the building known as the fire-proof offices;" but it was rejected in the house, April 10, 1873, by a decisive vote. Thus, after the expenditure of $155,000, the building is still incomplete as to the new senate chamber, but is occupied by several of the public offices.

# Gideon Shryock, in 1827, the draftsman and general superintendent of the present capitol, is still living in Louisville (Jan., 1874), aged 72; he furnished us the pen- sketch from which the engraving of the capitol burned in 1824 was made.

Harrison Blanton, a resident of Frankfort since 1807, and still living (Jan., 1874), aged 8-, was one of the contractors for the brick work of the capitol burned in 1824, and for the stone work of the present capitol. From him we learned much that is embodied above.

PROPOSED NEW STATE HOUSE, FRANKFORT, KY., East Wing ( Fire-Proof Offices) Erected, 1860 72.

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FRANKLIN COUNTY.

The Survey of the Land whereon Frankfort now stands was first made on Friday, July 16, 1773, by Hancock Taylor, a deputy or assistant of Col. Wm. Preston, then official surveyor of Fincastle county, Va .- which county then included a large part of western (now West) Virginia, together with all of the country noir known as the state of Kentucky. Two, if not all, of Taylor's regular surveying party were Matthew Bracken (after whom Bracken creek was named, and from it Bracken county), and Jacob Drennon (who gave name to Drennon creek in Henry county). Two surveys were made-em- bracing together 600 acres, and including most of the bottom on which Frank- fort is built-for Robert McAfee, one of the McAfee company of five (see under Mercer county ) with whom Taylor's party had met, on May 28th, pre- ceding, on the Kanawha river, and had since been traveling, exploring, and surveying with.

Why these two surveys were never officially made out and recorded does not appear ; but the omission, coupled with the fact that the McAfees found much richer and more attractive bodies of land, on Salt river in now Mercer county, which they surveyed and settled upon near each other, make it pro- bable that the Frankfort surveys were abandoned for those in Mercer. The fact that they were made, at the time stated, is incontestible-the three brothers, James, George, and Robert McAfee, each having kept a journal and made note of the circumstance, and the leading facts in their journeyings being preserved, in several courts, in sundry depositions by members of the company. Moreover, the extraordinary shape-as if to cover all the bottom not included in the McAfee surveys, resembling that of a dagger or bowie- knife, extending from the northeast, and only the point of it reaching on to the town-plat-of the recorded survey of 200 acres, made eleven months after (June 17, 1774), by the same deputy surveyor, Hancock Taylor, for Zachary Taylor, "a sergeant in the 2d Virginia regiment," is strong confirmation of the correctness and the supposed approval and permanency of his two surveys for Robert McAfee. And moreover, the surveyors of all the 11 neighboring surveys of 1783 and 1784-although made by or for men diligently seeking to take up good lands-seemed familiar with the MeAfee and the Zachary Taylor surveys, and carefully avoided them. Moreover, Humphrey Marshall, who became noted for his keenness in searching for land openings, although he had two surveys made in 1784-of 100 and 800 acres-less than two miles N. and a little E. of . of Frankfort, did not discover until 1785 that the MeAfee surveys were not of record ; when he immediately had a survey made of 260 acres, covering the present town-plat of old or north Frankfort, except the point of Zachary Taylor's recorded survey above.

The most of South Frankfort was included in the E. part of a 500 acre survey for George Campbell in 1789, the extreme southern portion of it hav- ing been embraced in the N. E. corner of the 1,000-acre survey of George Mason in 1784. The surveys surrounding or adjoining the city were-in 1783, two of Win. Haydon, of 425 and 1,000 acres each, on the east; and in 1784, on the north, Hancock Lee's of 500, and Edmund Lyne's of 400 acres.

Rev. HENRY (or HARRY ) TOULMIN, a native of England-son of Rev. Joshua Toulmin, D. D., born 1740, died 1815, a distinguished Unitarian clergyman and author of several important works-and himself a Unitarian minister and a follower of the celebrated Dr. Priestly, emigrated to Kentucky about 1791. In 1792, he prepared and sent back to England for publication " 1 Description of Kentucky, etc.," an octavo pamuplilet, of 124 pages, with map, which grouped in admirable form for that day the advantages of soil, climate, river navigation, and free government-inviting and stimulating emigration from Europe. He was a man of talents and of great learning ; and was the secretary of state of Kentucky during Gov. Garrard's two terms, 1796-1804. He removed to Alabama, early in this century, and died at an advanced age. One of his sons, Gen. T. L. TOULMIN, born in Kentucky in 1796, died at Mobile July 6, 1856, was a statesman of Alabama, filled various public offices, and was re-elected for a long series of terms to represent the Mobile district in the senate of that state.

[Some additional matter about Franklin county will be found in Volume I.]

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FRANKLIN COUNTY.

FEMALE HEROISM .- The facts in the following account of an attack on Innis' settlement, near Frankfort, in April, 1792, are derived from the Rev. Abraham Cook, a venerable minister of the Baptist church, himself a pioneer, who died in 1855, 90 years of age, and the brother of Jesse and Hosea Cook, the husbands of the two intrepid and heroic females whose bravery is here recorded :

Some five or six years previous to the occurrence of the event named, a settle- ment was commenced on South Elkhorn, a short distance above its junction with the North fork, which, though not very strong, was considered a sort of asylum from Indian invasion. About Christmas in the year 1791, two brothers, Jesse and Hosea Cook and their families, their brothers-in-law, Lewis Mastin and family, and William Dunn and part of his family, with William Bledsoe and family, moved to Main Elkhorn, about three miles from the above named place, and formed a settlement in a bottom there, known as Innis' bottom. A man by the name of Farmer, with his family, shortly after made a settlement a short distance lower down the creek ; and an overseer and three negroes had been placed on an improvement of Colonel Innis' a short distance above. The new settlement was between three and four miles from Frankfort, at that time containing but a few families. It was composed of newly married persons, some with and others with- out children. They had been exempt from Indian depredations up to the 28th of April, 1792, although a solitary Indian on horseback, had passed it in the night, during the preceding winter. The two Cooks settled in cabins close together ; Mastin and Bledsoe occupied double cabins some three hundred yards from the Cooks; the cabin of Dunn was about three hundred yards from those above named, and Farmer's about the same distance below the Cooks: while Innis' overseer and negroes were located about three-fourths of a mile above.

On the day above mentioned (the 28th of April, 1792), an attack was made on three several points of the settlement, almost simultaneously, by about one hun- dred Indians. The first onset was made upon the Cooks. The brothers were near their cabins, one engaged in shearing sheep, the other looking on. 'The sharp crack of rifles was the first intimation of the proximity of the Indians; and that fire was fatal to the brothers-the elder fell dead, and the younger was mortally wounded, but enabled to reach the cabin. The two Mrs. Cooks, with three children, (two whites and one black), were instantly collected in the house, and the door, a very strong one, made secure. The Indians, unable to enter, dis- charged their rifles at the door, but without injury, as the balls did not penetrate through the thick boards of which it was constructed. They then attempted to cut it down with their tomahawks, but with no better success. While these things occurred without, there was deep sorrow, mingled with fearless determination and high resolve within. The younger Cook, mortally wounded, immediately the door was barred, sunk down on the floor, and breathed his last : and the two Mrs. Cooks were left the sole defenders of the cabin, with the three children. There was a rifle in the house, but no balls could be found. In this extremity, one of the women got hold of a musket hall, and placing it between her teeth, actually bit it into two pieces. With one she instantly loaded the rifle. The Indians, failing in their attempts to cut down the door, had retired a few paces in front, doubtless to consult upon their future operations. One seated himself upon a log, apparently apprehending no danger from within. Observing him, Mrs. Cook took aim from a narrow aperture and fired, when the Indian gave a loud yell, bounded high in the air, and fell dead. This infuriated the savages, who threat- ened (for they could speak English) to burn the house and all the inmates. Sev- eral speedily climbed to the top of the cabin, and kindled a fire on the boards of the roof. The devouring element began to take effect, and with less determined and resolute courage within, the certain destruction of the cabin and the death of the inmates, must have been the consequence. But the self possession and intrepidity of these Spartan females were equal to the occasion. One of them instantly as- cended to the loft, and the other handed her water, with which she extinguished the fire. Again and again the roof was fired, and as often extinguished. The water failing, the undaunted woman called for some eggs. which were broken and the contents thrown upon the fire, for a time holding the flames at bay. Their next resource was the bloody waistcoat of the husband and brother-in-law, who 'ay dead upon the floor. The blood with which this was profusely saturated, checked the progress of the flames-but, as they appeared speedily to be gather-

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 39

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