Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 40

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 40

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251

REMAINS OF BOONE.

ing strength, another, and the last expedient * * * * *

proved successful. The savage foe yielded, and the fruitful expedients of female courage triumphed. One Indian, in bitter disappointment, fired at his unseen enemy through the boards, but did not injure her, when the whole immediately descended from the roof.

About the time the attack commenced, a young man named McAndre, escaped on horseback in view of the Indians, who, it was supposed, would give the alarm to the older neighboring settlement. As soon as they descended from the house- top, a few climbed some contiguous trees, and instituted a sharp look-out. While in the trees, one of them fired a second ball into the loft of the cabin, which cut to pieces a bundle of yarn hanging near the head of Mrs. Cook, but without doing furtl:er injury. Soon after, they threw the body of the dead Indian into the adja- cent creek, and precipitately fled.

A few moments after the Cooks were attacked, Mastin, in conversation with Mo- Andre near his cabin, was fired upon and wounded in the knee ; but not so badly as to disable him. He commenced a rapid retreat to his house, but received a second shot, which instantly killed him. McAndre escaped on horseback, and carried with him to the old settlement one of Mastin's small children. Dunn and two of his sons, one aged sixteen and the other nine years, the only members of the family then in the bottom, not having been observed by the Indians when the attack commenced, escaped to the woods and separated. The old man made his way safely to the older settlement, but the boys were afterwards discovered by the Indians, and both murdered. One of the negroes at Innis's quarter, being sick, was killed, and the two others taken captive, (the overseer being absent). Of the captives, one died among the Indians, and the other returned to his mas- ter. The survivors of this infant colony were taken to the older settlement, and found all the kindness and hospitality so characteristic of pioneer life.

The alarm was quickly communicated to the adjacent settlements, and before night-fall, a body of from seventy-five to one hundred men were in hot pursuit of the retreating foe. The main body of the Indians, however, reached the Ohio and crossed it safely, in advance of the Kentuckians. A small party who had lingered behind and stolen some negroes and horses from another settlement, were overtaken on the succeeding morning. a short distance from the Ohio, by a por- tion of the pursuing force, among them the venerable William Tureman. of the city of Maysville, then a youth. The whites fired, and the hindmost Indian fell, severely wounded. One of the whites imprudently rushed his horse through the tall grass to the spot where the Indian fell, when the latter raised his rifle and shot him through the heart. He then rose to his feet, and attempted to reach the thicket to which his companions had retreated, but was fired upon and killed, some fifteen or twenty balls having been lodged in his body.

REMAINS OF DANIEL BOONE .- At its session of 1844-45, the legislature of Ken- tucky adopted measures to have the mortal remains of the celebrated pioneer, DANIEL BOONE, and those of his wife, removed from their place of burial on the banks of the Missouri, for the purpose of interment in the public cemetery at Frankfort. There seemed to be a peculiar propriety in this testimonial of the veneration borne by the commonwealth for the memory of the illustrious dead ; and it was fitting that the soil of Kentucky should afford the final resting place of his remains, whose blood in life had so often been shed to protect it from the fury of savage hostility. It was as the beautiful and touching manifestation of filial affection shown by children to the memory of a beloved parent; and it was right that the generation who were reaping in peace the fruits of his toils and dan- gers, should desire to have in their midst, and decorate with the tokens of their love, the sepulchre of this primeval patriarch, whose stout heart watched by the cradle of this now powerful commonwealth, in its weak and helpless infancy, shielding it with his body from all those appalling dangers which threatened its safety and existence.

The consent of the surviving relations of the deceased having been obtained, a commission was appointed, under whose superintendence the removal was effec- ted; and the 13th of September, 1845, was fixed upon as the time when the ashes of the venerable dead, would be committed with fitting ceremonies to the place of their final repose. It was a day which will be long remembered in the history

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of Franklin. The deep feeling excited by the occasion, was evinced by the as- sembling of an immense concourse of citizens from all parts of the State; and the ceremonies were most imposing and impressive. A procession, extending more than a mile in length, accompanied the coffins to the grave. The hearse, decorated with evergreens and flowers, and drawn by four white horses, was placed in its assigned position in the line, accompanied as pall bearers, by the following distinguished pioneers, viz. Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Scott: / General James Taylor, of Campbell; Captain James Ward, of Mason; General Robert B. McAfee, and Peter Jordan, of Mercer ; Waller Bullock, Esq., of Fay- ette; Captain Thomas Joyes, of Louisville ; Mr. Landon Sneed, of Franklin ; Colonel John Johnston, of the State of Ohio; Maj. E. E. Williams, of Kenton ; and Colonel William Boone, of Shelby. The procession was accompanied by several military companies, and by the members of the Masonic Fraternity, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in rich regalia. Arrived at the grave, the company was brought together in a beautiful hollow near the grave, ascending from the center on every side. Here the funeral services were performed. The hymn was given out by the Rev. Mr. Godell, of the Baptist church ; prayer by Bishop Sonle, of the Methodist Episcopal church ; oration by the Honorable John J. Crittenden ; closing prayer by the Rev. J. J Bullock, of the Presbyte- rian church ; and benediction by the Rev. P. S. Fall, of the Christian church. The coffins were then lowered into the graves. The spot where the graves are situated, is as beautiful as nature and art combined can make it. It is designed to erect a monument on the place.

Honorable JOHN BROWN .- The present high rank that Kentucky occupies in the Union, is but a continuation and expansion of the impulse first given by those who rescued the land from the dominion of the savages. No country was ever settled by men of more distinct character from the great mass, and the infu- sion of those traits was so common to the population of the early emigrants, that it will take centuries to eradicate it from their descendents. More of the gal- lant officers of the American revolution, and their no less gallant soldiers, found a retreat in Kentucky, than in any other part of America ; and they brought with them to the west, the young men of enterprise and talent and courage who, like Sidney, were determined to " find or to make" a way to distinction. Among the pioneers of Kentucky, no one acted a more conspicuous part than the gentleman whose naine is at the head of this notice, and a brief sketch of his life is not only appropriate, but indispensable, to a work having for its object an elucidation of the history of the State.

Mr. Brown was born at Staunton, Virginia, on the 12th day of September, 1757. He was the son of the Rev. John Brown and Margaret Preston. His father was eminently distinguished as a Presbyterian minister of piety and learn- ing, a graduate of Princeton college, and pastor for forty-four years of the church at Providence meeting house in Rockbridge. The mother was a woman of re- markable energy of character and vigor of mind-the second daughter of John Preston and Elizabeth Patton, and sister of William Preston, of Mrs. Breckin- ridge, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Howard, from whom are descended the Prestons, the Breckinridges, the M'Dowells, the Harts, and many other distinguished fam- ilies in Kentucky and Virginia. The children were reared in the hardy nurture of the western borderers, and having no patrimony in expectancy. were habitua- ted to depend on their own energies for success in life. A good education was all that they could look for, and this was carefully bestowed. John, being the eldest, was sent to Princeton, at which place he was a student when the Ameri- can army made its memorable retreat though the Jerseys. The college was bro- ken up, and he joined the troops and crossed the Delaware with them, and re- mained with the army under Washington for some time as a volunteer. He sub- sequently was a member of a volunteer company from Rockbridge, which com- pany was under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette. He completed his education at William and Mary college-assisted the celebrated Dr. Waddill for two years as a teacher in his school-read law in the office of Mr. Jefferson. and removed to Kentucky in 1782, arriving directly after the battle of the Blue Licks ; and from that date to the period of his death he was a citizen of the western country.

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THE BROTHERS BROWN.

From the commencement of our political history, Mr. Brown was called to act a prominent part. He was elected a member of the Virginia legislature from the district of Kentucky, and was, by the legislature of that state, appointed a repre- sentative to the "old Congress," in 1787, and also in 1788. In 1789 and 1791, he was elected by the people of Kentucky a representative to the first and sec- ond Congress, under the present constitution. After Kentucky became a state, he was three times consecutively elected a senator in the Congress of the United States, and continued in the senate until 1805, when he retired to private life. It was his fortune as a politician, to live to be nearly, if not the very, last survi- vor of the old Congress; and he was the first member of the Congress of the United States ever sent from the great valley of the Mississippi ! He came to it in his youth, and it was a vast and dangerous wilderness-he lived to see it un- der the dominion of eleven powerful and independent sovereignties, teeming with a population of more than seven millions of people, and holding the balance of power in the national confederacy. Coming into public life at the close of the Revolution, he was brought into an intimate association with many of the most prominent actors of that eventful period, and enjoyed the personal friendship of General Washington, Mr. Adams, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe. General Washington honored him, in conjunction with General Charles Scott, Benjamin Logan, Harry Innes and Isaac Shelby, with important commissions of a military trust, with power to enlist men, commission officers, and carry on war at home and abroad. He was the projector of several of the military expeditions into the Indian countries, and accompanied one of the most successful of them as a volunteer, lending the influence of his example to enforce his official exhorta- tions. He was a most distinguished actor in all the events that attended the admission of Kentucky into the Union, and the securing for the west the naviga- tion of the Mississippi; and the efforts of no one individual contributed more to bring about those results. In the celebrated controversy between Mr. Jefferson and Colonel Burr for the presidency, he, then a senator from Kentucky, advoca- ted the claims of Mr. Jefferson with zealous ardor. Mr. Jefferson pressed upon him, during his administration, the acceptance of several highly important and lucrative offices, all of which he declined. The intimacy and friendship which existed between them, commencing while he was a student in the office of that world-renowned statesman, continued without interruption throughout life. When Mr. Monroe became president, he also addressed him a letter, wishing to know in what manner his administration could testify its regard for his character and early public service; but he declined all preferment. With the public men of the west, he was on terms of the most endearing friendship. With General George Rogers Clark, Governor Shelby and Governors Scott and Madison, and with Judges Innes and Todd, and Colonels Nicholas and Breckinridge, and their illustrious associates, he held the most confidential intercourse, and their attachment, com- menced in periods of danger and under circumstances of trial, never wavered. This eminent man-eminent as a patriot, as a statesman and citizen-lived to the advanced age of 80 years, and died at his residence in Frankfort on the 28th of August, 1837. His accomplished wife, the daughter of the Rev. John Mason, of the city of New York, and sister of the Rev. John M. Mason, both distin- guished divines, survived him but a few months.

Honorable JAMES BROWN. a brother of the Honorable John Brown, was a dis- tinguished lawyer in Kentucky, and a cotemporary at the bar of the Honorable Henry Clay, (both of whom married daughters of Colonel Thomas Hart), and also of George Nicholas, Mr. Murray, John Breckinridge, and others, and was distinguished, even in such competition, as an able lawyer and eloquent speaker. He was appointed first secretary of state of Governor Shelby. Upon the pur- chase of Louisiana, he removed to New Orleans, was associated with Mr. Liv- ingston in the compilation of the civil code, was several times elected to the senate of the United States, and subsequently received the appointment of min- ister to France, in which capacity he resided many years in the city of Paris, admired for his ability as a diplomatist, and beloved for his munificent hospitality. He died in the city of Philadelphia in 1836.

Dr. SAMUEL BROWN, also another brother of the Hon. John Brown, was a graduate of Edinburgh, and very distinguished for his medical writings, and for

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many years filled, with great credit to himself and usefulness to the institution, the chair of professor of theory and practice of medicine in the Transylvania University. He died in Alabama.

Dr. PRESTON W. BROWN, the youngest of the brothers, was a graduate of the school of medicine in Philadelphia, and favorably known to the profession as a successful practitioner of medicine in Kentucky. He died in Jefferson county in 1826.

Governor GEORGE MADISON was born in Virginia, about the year 1763. His career was one of distinction in arms as well as the cabinet. He was one of the soldiers of the American revolution. Before he was of age, whilst yet a boy, he threw himself in the ranks, and with a gallant bearing passed through the scenes of his country's first and great struggle for independence. He was also engaged in the battles which were fought by the early settlers of Kentucky with the Indians of the north-western territory. At the head of his company, Captain Madison was wounded at St. Clair's defeat in 1791 ; and he was again wounded in the attack upon the camp of Major John Adair, by the Indians, in 1792. Ma- jor Adair, in his report of that battle to Brigadier General Wilkinson, speaking of Captain Madison, whom he had ordered to take a party and gain the right flank of the enemy, says :- " Madison's bravery and conduct need no comment ; they are well known." This was his reputation in military life -- to speak in fa- vor of his courage was considered superfluous-all who saw him in the field, both men and officers, knew him to be brave-that knowledge came, as if by in- tuition, to all who beheld him-his looks, his words, his whole demeanor on the field, were emphatically those of a soldier. No hero ever shed his blood in the cause of his country more freely than George Madison; when called into her service, there seemed no limit to his patriotism, no bounds to his zeal in her be- half. It did in truth appear as if he considered himself-all he had, and all he could do-a free gift, a living sacrifice, to be offered up on the altar of his country.

Having passed through two wars with honor and distinction, and having set- tled permanently in Kentucky at a very early period, he was soon called upon to take part in the civil administration of the State. On the 7th of March. 1796, he was appointed by Governor Shelby auditor of public accounts, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of William McDowell, which office he held for more than twenty years. During the whole of this period, his official duties, and his position at the seat of government, threw him in constant personal intercourse with persons from every quarter of the State; and the influence which he thus acquired, and the universal confidence and love with which he inspired all who knew him, were so unbounded throughout Kentucky, that there was no office within the gift of the people which he could not easily have attained, without the slightest solicitation.

In the summer of 1812, a requisition was made on the State of Kentucky to aid in an expedition against Canada and the Indians of the north-western terri- tory, who, at that time, were in alliance with the British. In obedience to the call of the government, Colonel John Allen raised a volunteer regiment of Ken- tuckians, and George Madison, then auditor of public accounts, accepted the of- fice of second major under him, at the earnest solicitation of Captains Hickman, Ballard and others, who had served with him in previous campaigns against the Indians, and knew, therefore, how to appreciate his skill as an officer. At the memorable battle of the river Raisin, which occurred in January, 1813, in which that regiment suffered so severely, and in which Colonel Allen, Captains Ninip- son, McCracken, Hickman, and a host of others fell. Madison behaved with ex- emplary firmness and courage. He was in immediate command of the force that stood within the pickets, and by his calm and collected bearing, and his desper- ate resolution, exacted terms of capitulation from General Proctor, the commander of the British and Indians, by which his men and all the wounded were to be thrown under the immediate protection of the British commander, and saved from the violence of savage cruelty. Accordingly, Madison and such of the Americans as were able to march, were removed to Malden, whence he and the other officers were sent to Quebec. The non-commissioned officers and privates

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SOLOMON P. SHARP.

were shortly afterwards discharged on parole, and permitted to return to the Uni- ted States. In consequence of the shameful violation by Proctor of the terms of capitulation entered into with Madison-in permitting the Indians to massacre our wounded men left at the river Raisin-a retaliation was apprehended, and Madison and our other officers were kept in confinement at Quebec as hostages.

In the year 1816, having resigned his office as auditor of public accounts, Major Madison was urged from every section of the state to become a candidate for gov- ernor. So loud and so general was the call made on him, that he consented to run. - Colonel James Johnson, who had distinguished himself at the battle of the Thames, was announced as the opposing candidate. Colonel Johnson had not, however, been engaged very long in the canvass, before he found it impossible to resist the popularity of Major Madison. He accordingly retired during the very heat of the canvass, and declined the race, declaring that it was utterly futile for him or any body else to run against a man so universally popular and beloved, as he found his opponent to be. He was not, however, permitted to enjoy very long the high honor conferred upon him by the State with such marked distinction. He died on the 14th day of October, 1816, and left a whole people to mourn over his loss with a sorrow as deep as was the love which they had borne him.

Col. SOLOMON P. SHARP .- In a work designed to perpetuate a knowledge of the remarkable events that have transpired in Kentucky, and the memory of dis- tinguished men who have given renown to the State, the name of Colonel Sol- omon P. Sharp deserves a conspicuous place. It was the fortune of this able man to illustrate, by his own career, the noble tendency of our republican insti- tutions, and to teach to his youthful countrymen the important lesson that each may, and must be, the architect of his own fortunes, and that there is no station to which the humblest may not aspire. He was born of a parentage that brought him no aid but that which an unsullied name can give. His father had been a soldier of the Revolution, and one of the gallant but obscure borderers who gained the memorable victory at King's mountain. The war being over, he moved from Washington county, in Virginia, first to the neighborhood of Nashville, Ten- nessee, and in a short time afterwards to the vicinity of Russellville, Kentucky. It was at the latter place that Colonel Sharp grew up to manhood, having been but a very small child at the period of his father's removal to the Green river country. At that early day, that region was almost a desert, and but few advan- tages were possessed by the young for mental improvement. The simplest rudi- ments of education were all that even the most favored could expect, and even these were only to be obtained by alternate interchange between the labors of the farm and the employments of the school room. Still, such was the nursery of many of the inost distinguished men of Kentucky ; and in that school they ac- quired a vigor of constitution and independence in thought, action and speech, that gave them throughout life, a force of character which enabled them to leave their impress on the times in which they lived.

Col. Sharp, at the early age of nineteen, had, in the midst of innumerable and, to any but a brave spirit, insurmountable difficulties, gained admittance to the bar. He entered the profession unknown, without the influence of friends or fortune, his sole dependence being on his own energies. But, in a short time, he stood forth before all observers as a youth of uncommon promise, and, in his earliest professional efforts, he displayed powers of reasoning, of research and of eloquence that drew upon him the admiration and esteem of the whole community. As a reasoner. his powers were remarkable, clear, discriminating and logical ; in debate, he had few equals and no superiors. His style of speech was of the conversa- tional order-plain and concise-he was always understood ; and those who heard him, felt that they were taking part in unravelling the propositions which he sought to make manifest. He seldom turned aside from his subject, unless to relieve the mind from the tenseness of the argument; and when this was neces- sary, he never lacked a playful sally or happy illustration to suit his purpose. Without any thing like redundancy, he never hesitated for a word, and was strictly fluent from the force of his own thought, and he never became excited that he had not a convinced and sympathising auditory.

At the earliest period pennissible by the constitution. he was elected a member of the Kentucky legislature, and on the political theatre displayed talents of such

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rare order that, at twenty-four years of age, he might have been considered one of the first public men in Kentucky. He was again and again honored by a seat in the legislature, until, by the general voice of the district in which he lived, he was transferred to the Congress of the United States, and for two successive terms, embracing the most interesting period of the administration of Mr. Madi- son, he occupied the very front rank among the most eminent politicians of that day. He was the room mate and intimate friend of the Hon. John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina ; and stood side by side with him, in the support of the admin- istration of Mr. Madison. The high estimation in which he was held by that distinguished statesman, is attested by his having been heard to declare, more than once, that " he was the ablest man of his age that had ever crossed the mountains."

Enticing as were these early political honors to a youth of honorable ambition, and holding out, as they did, the prospect of still further advancement, Col. Sharp relinquished them all with cheerfulness, in order that he might -devote himself with more assidnity to the labors of his profession. Having married the daughter of Colonel John M. Scott, of Frankfort, and his reputation as a lawyer being commensurate with the State, he determined to remove to the seat of gov- ernment, where the supreme court of the State, and the federal court of the dis- trict of Kentucky held their sessions. Before these two distinguished tribunals -distinguished for the great learning of the presiding justices, and the unsur- passed ability of the lawyers who practiced before them, Colonel Sharp was the acknowledged equal of the most eminent, and acquired a practice as extensive and lucrative as any practitioner at the bar, and the docket of the court of appeals of that day, shows his name to almost every litigated case, from the first day of his location in Frankfort.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 40

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