Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 50

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

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Upon the arrival of the party at the Wabash towns, preparations were made for the sacrifice, but an influential squaw, in pity for the tender years, and in ad- miration of the heroism of the youth, interposed and saved his life. The mother was also saved from the stake, by the interposition of a chief, who desired to make her his wife. The mother and son were ultimately redeemed by traders, and returned to their desolate home. Mrs. Hart (who has often been heard to declare, that she would have preferred the stake to a union with the Indian chief ) subsequently married a man named Countryman, and lived in Hardin to a very advanced age, and died about the year 1840. Young Hart also lived to old age, in Missouri. ..

In the year 1790, Mr. Frederick Bough arrived in Kentucky, and being on the 13th of October in that year, in company with a young man of his acquaintance, near Jacob Vanmeter's fort, in Hardin county, fell in with a party of Indians. As they approached, he observed to his companion that he thought he saw an In- dian; hut the young man ridiculed the idea, and coolly replying, " you are a fool for having such thoughts," kept on his way. They soon discovered a party of Indians within ten yards of them. The young man, exclaiming, " Good God ! there they are!" fled with the utmost precipitation, but taking the direction from the fort, was soon caught by one of the savages, and barbarously killed. Mr. Bough, in running towards the fort, was fired at by the whole party in pursuit, which consisted of four, and was hit by three of them. One ball struck him in the left arm, another on the right thigh, and the third, passing through his waist- coat and shirt, grazed the skin of his left side. He was still, however, able to ' run, but, in attempting to cross a creek on his way to the fort, he stuck in the mud, when one of the Indians caught him, pulled him out. and felt of his arm to see if it was broken. Finding it was not, he pulled out a strap with a loop at the end, for the purpose of confining Mr. Bough; but he, suddenly jerking away his hand, gave the savage a blow on the side of the head, which knocked him down By this time two other Indians came up, the fourth having gone in

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pursuit of the horses. Mr. Bough kicked at the one he had knocked down, but missed him. Just at that moment one of the other Indians aimed a blow at his head with a tomahawk, but in his eagerness struck too far over, and hit only with the handle, which, however, nearly felled Mr. Bough to the ground ; but he, in- stantly recovering himself, struck at the tomahawk and knocked it out of his antagonist's hand. They both grasped at it, but the Indian being quickest, picked it up, and entered into conversation with his companion. The latter then struck Mr. Bough with a stick, and as he stepped forward to return the blow, they all retreated, (probably fearing an attack by a party from the fort), and sud- denly went off, leaving one of their blankets and a kettle, which Mr. Bough took with him to the fort. [The foregoing particulars were communicated to the edi- tor of the Western Review, in 1821, by Mr. Bough himself, then residing in Bath county.]

Colonel JOHN HARDIN was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, October 1st, 1753. His parents were poor, and compelled to labor for their livelihood. Martin Har din, the father, removed from Fauquier county to George's creek, on the Monon gahela, when John was about twelve years of age. He had already learned the use of the rifle. The new settlement was quite a frontier. Old Mr. Hardin thought it was in Virginia ; but it turned out, when the line was settled and run, that he was in Pennsylvania. In their new situation, hunting was an occupation of necessity ; and it was not long before Indian hostilities commenced, and war was added to the former motive for carrying the rifle. Young Hardin, finding even in the first of these, scope for the exercise of his active, enterprising dispo- sition, and not being called to any literary occupation, for there were no schools, hunting became his sole pursuit and chief delight. With his rifle he traversed the vales, or crossed the hills, or clambered the mountains, in search of game, insensible of fatigue, until he became one of the most expert of the craft. The rapidity and exactness with which he pointed his rifle, made him what is called a "dead shot."

In the expediton conducted by Gov. Dunmore against the Indians in 1774, young Hardin served in the capacity of ensign in a militia company. In the en- suing August, he volunteered with Captain Zack Morgan, and during an engage- ment with the savages, was wounded while in the act of aiming his rifle at the enemy. The better to support his gun, he had sunk on one knee, and whilst in this position, the ball struck his thigh, on the outer side, ranged up it about seven inches, and lodged near the groin, whence it never was extracted. The enemy were beaten and fled. Before he had recovered from his wound, or could dispense with his crutches, he joined Dunmore on his march to the Indian towns. Soon after the peace which ensued, Hardin turned his attention towards Kentucky, as to a scene for new adventure ; and had actually prepared for a journey hither, but this was abandoned, probably on account of the increasing rumors of an approach- ing war with Great Britain. The American Congress having determined to raise a military force, Hardin applied himself to the business of recruiting, and with such success that he was soon enabled to join the continental army with the com- mand of a second lieutenant. He was afterwards attached to Morgan's rifle corps, which was generally on the lines ; and with which he served until his resignation of his commission as first lieutenant, in December 1779. In the meantime he acquired and held a high place in the esteem of General Daniel Morgan, by whom he was often selected for enterprises of peril, which required discretion and intre- pidity to ensure success. A few anecdotes have been preserved, which illustrate very forcibly the coolness, courage, and eminent military talents of Hardin, and which are for that reason related. While with the northern army, he was sent out on a reconnoitering excursion with orders to capture a prisoner. for the pur- pose of obtaining information. Marching silently in advance of his party, he found himself on rising the abrupt summit of a hill, in the presence of three British soldiers and a Mohawk Indian. The moment was critical, but without manifest- ing the slightest hesitation he presented his rifle and ordered them to surrender. The British immediately threw down their arms-the Indian clubbed his gun. They remained motionless, while he continued to advance on them ; but none of his men having come up to his assistance, he turned his head a little to one side and called to them to come on. At this time the Indian warrior observing his

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eye withdrawn from him, reversea his gun with a rapid motion, with the inten- tion of shooting. Hardin caught the gleam of light which was reflected from the polished barrel of the gun, and readily devising its meaning, brought his own rifle to a level, and without raising his piece to his face, gained the first fire, and gave the Indian a mortal wound, who however was only an instant too late, send- ing his ball through Hardin's hair. The rest of the party were marched into camp, and Hardin received the thanks of General Gates. Before he left the ariny he was offered a Major's commission in a regiment about to be raised ; but he declined, alleging that he could be of more service where he then was. In 1779 he resigned and returned home. It appears that in 1780, the year after leaving the army, he was in Kentucky, and located lands on treasury warrants, for him- self and some of his friends. In April 1786, he removed his wife and family to Nelson, afterwards Washington county, in Kentucky. In the same year he vol- unteered under General Clark for the Wabash expedition, and was appointed quartermaster. In 1789, among other depredations, a considerable party of Indians stole all his horses, without leaving him one for the plow. They were pursued, but escaped, by crossing the Ohio. In the course of this year he was appointed county lieutenant with the rank of colonel, which gave him the command of the militia of the county. As the summer advanced he determined to cross the Ohio, and scour the country for some miles out in order to break up any bands of Indians that might be lurking in the neighborhood. With two hundred mounted men he proceeded across the river, and on one of the branches of the Wabash, fell on a camp of about thirty Shawanees, whom he attacked and defeated, with a loss of two killed and nine wounded. Two of the whites were wounded-none killed or taken. From these Indians Colonel Hardin recovered two of the horses and some colts which had been stolen in the spring ; and it is worthy of remark, that no more horses were stolen from that neighborhood during the war. There was no expedition into the Indian country, after Hardin settled in Kentucky, that he was not engaged in; except that of General St. Clair, which he was prevented from joining by an accidental wound received while using a carpenter's adze. In the spring of the year 1792, he was sent by General Wilkinson with overtures of peace to the Indians. He arrived on his route towards the Miami villages attended by his interpreter, at an Indian camp about a day's journey from the spot where Fort Defiance was afterwards built. Here he encamped with the Indians during the night, but in the morning they shot him to death. He was a man of unassuming manners and great gentleness of deportment; yet of singular firm- ness and inflexibility. For several years previous to his death he had been ? member of the Methodist church.

-The foregoing sketch is abridged from Marshall's History of Kentucky, and much of it is his exact language. Letters preserved by Hardin's family show that he reached Fort Washington, April 27, 1792. May 19th, he was still at the fort, whence he was to set out, on the ensuing Monday, " for the Sandusky towns, and Maj. Truman for the Miami towns, and try to form a junction at the mouth of Miami river, which is called Rosadebra, where we expect to form a treaty with all the Indians we can collect at that place." He hoped to return in two or three months, but it might be longer, as he would have to " wait the pleasure of the Indians." He reproached himself, in this letter, for having left his family, and " thrown his life into the hands of a cruel, savage enemy." Another account says, " He was on his way to the Shawnees' town; had reached within a few miles of his point of destina- t'on, and was within what is now Shelby county, Ohio-when he was over- taken by a few Indians, who proposed encamping with him, and to accompany him the next day to the residence of their chiefs. In the night, they basely murdered him, as was alleged, for his horse and equipments, which were at- tractive and valuable. His companion, a white man, who spoke Indian and acted as interpreter, was uninjured. When the chiefs heard of Hardin's death they were sorry ; for they desired to hear what the messenger of peace had to communicate. A town was laid out on the spot, about 1840, in the state road from Piqua through Wapakonetta, and named Hardin in memory of the unfortunate man."

Col. Hardin left three sons and three daughters, several of whom became distinguished, or raised children who became distinguished. The eldest,

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Martin D., born June 21, 1780, died Oct. 8, 1823, aged 43, was a man of singular ability, cut off in the prime of life [see sketch p. 000]. His second son, Mark, born 1782, is still living at Shelbyville (January, 1873), aged 91, hale, hearty, an elegant gentleman of the old school ; was register of the land office of Kentucky from 1805 to 1814, resigning because of the small salary ; in May, 1866, was one of the elders, (and ex-Gov. Chas. A. Wickliffe the other,) of the Presbyterian church, who, as commissioners or delegates from the Presbytery of Louisville to the old school Presbyterian General Assembly, in session at St. Louis, were excluded from seats in that body because they had signed and adopted the "strangely abused and still more strangely admired Declaration and Testimony." The eldest daughter married Rev. Barnabas McHenry (see sketch of him, p. 000), and was the mother of the late John H. McHenry, of Owensboro, and Martin D. McHenry, both distinguished at the bar and in congress, and the former also on the bench.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN, late President of the United States, born in Hardin co., Ky., in that part since included in Larue county, Feb. 12, 1809; removed to Spencer co., Indiana, in 1816; received but a limited education; worked at splitting rails, and was a boatman on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers; re- moved to and worked on a farm in Illinois, 1830; served as a volunteer captain in the Black Hawk war, 1832; for four terms, 1834-36-38-40, a member of the Illinois legislature ; studied law in the interim ; a delegate to the national convention which nominated Gen. Taylor for president, 1848; a representative in congress from Illinois, 1847-49; president of the United States, 1861-65; re-elected Nov., 1864; assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, "Good Friday," while seated in a private box in Ford's Theatre, in Washington city. Such, in brief, is the public record of Abraham Lincoln.

He put on the robes of office as president at a stormy period of our country's history. The cotton states had seceded. They had formed a provisional government at Montgomery, Ala., under the name of the Confederate States, and formally separated from the Federal government. Mr. Lincoln was in- augurated March 4, 1861-the military under Lieut. Gen. Scott being pre- sent for his protection. It was a needless precaution, and the result of un- founded apprehensions. His inaugural was couched in unhappy terms, but nevertheless it announced the firm determination to "hold, occupy, and possess the places belonging to the Federal government," and to maintain the Union unbroken.

Mr. Lincoln must be judged by his declarations and his public acts. He said he had no feeling other than kindness towards the Southern people ; and there can be no question but that he was disposed towards a conciliatory policy, at the outset of his administration. He could scarcely have said or done otherwise. In his celebrated canvass with Mr. Douglas for U. S. sen- ator in 1854, he admitted that he was hostile to slavery, but denied that he had any purpose or right to interfere with that institution as it existed in the states under the Constitution. He only claimed that congress had the right, if they deemed proper, to forbid its existence in the territories. Moreover, the party which nominated and elected him to office had promulgated the same doctrines. It is fair, then, to admit that Mr. Lincoln's sole purpose, before the war, was to preserve the Union in its integrity. Great changes occurred afterwards.

In March, 1861, the Confederate States sent three commissioners to Wash- ington to secure the withdrawal of the Federal soldiers from Fort Sumter, and to arrange if possible for a peaceful separation of those states from the old government. Mr. Seward, the secretary of state, whether with or with- out the consent of the President, adopted a temporizing policy, and deluded them by a quasi assurance that their hopes might be realized. The com- missioners awoke to a sense of their situation when an attempt was made secretly by the Federals to send succor to Maj. Anderson at Fort Sumter. They at once left Washington and returned to Montgomery, Ala. The assault on Sumter was followed by President Lincoln calling out 75,000 men to "defend the capitol," but it was in truth to inaugurate the war. The

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North obeyed the invitation with alacrity ; but Kentucky, Virginia, Missouri, Maryland and Delaware either maintained a sullen silence, or declined, in defiant terms, to furnish their quota. The South, now aroused to her danger, prepared to meet the invaders. And even the "Union " men of that day in Kentucky denounced the " hare-brained policy " of Mr. Lincoln, and resolved to maintain strict neutrality as between the hostile sections. The folly of that position was plainly demonstrated when, four months afterwards, the Federal troops overran the state, without even a protest, much less a show of resistance, from the authorities.

It is not within the scope of this sketch to present in detail the events of the war, nor of Mr. Lincoln's connection therewith, other than those meas- ures which give him a place in history. The legislation of congress, in its various phases, bore to a great extent the impress of his mind ; but the chief measures on which he relied to demoralize and subdue the Southern people were his proclamations for "amnesty" and the emancipation of the blacks. The former was puerile, for no one of any value to the Confederacy aban- doned its cause. The latter was remote in its effects, for it raised no rebell- ion among the slaves, and scarcely any disaffection was apparent. They toiled faithfully as of old, and in the absence of the master in the field they protected his wife and little ones at home. Nor were these relations changed until the cessation of the war. Mr. Lincoln had removed Gen. Fremont for a premature attempt to free the slaves in Missouri as a war measure. He had disapproved of a similar action of Gen. David Hunter in South Caro- lina; and in issuing his proclamation it was declared to be an " indispensa- ble necessity " of the war. But his public plea and private explanations, in this as well as in other matters, justifies the assertion that he was not can- did and straightforward. It was understood to be a war measure; and it excited anger, and perhaps disgust, among his " Union " supporters in the Bor- der slave states. On the other hand, it caused a corresponding joy among the fanatics of the North.

Now, the history of the emancipation proclamation, as detailed by Mr. Lincoln to an ex-governor of Kentucky, together with his own opinion of it, forms an interesting episode. Mr. Lincoln said he was reluctant to make the proclamation. But there had been a meeting of the governors of nine Northern states at Altoona, Pa., in the summer of 1862, to consider the con- duct of the war. They resolved, and informed Mr. Lincoln of their deter- mination, that they would furnish no more men for the war unless a measure of this character was adopted. Mr. Lincoln further said he had no power to coerce them to furnish troops. and without their earnest co-operation the war would prove a failure and the Union perish. Its safety he considered paramount. Nevertheless, so reluctant was he to issue the proclamation- that in September he merely gave warning of what he proposed to do- hoping that in the meantime something would occur that would relieve him from the necessity of so doing. These state officials, however, subsequently, renewed their demand, coupled with the same threat; and the campaign of 1862 closing with disaster and gloom to the Federal cause, he promulgated the proclamation, Jan. 1, 1863.

Mr. Lincoln, in the conversation referred to, admitted that the proclama- tion had no validity in law, and afterwards urged the adoption of a constitu- tional amendment which would give it force and legality. Mr. Lincoln vio- lated his pledges to the Border slave states, and most flagrantly in regard to Kentucky. Repeatedly he promised that slavery should not be interfered with in those states, and that there should be no recruiting for soldiers among the slaves of Kentucky. When our people were satisfied that the war was for the abolition of slavery, for the subjugation of the people of the South, and not for the restoration of the Union, they entered their protest. Their manliness invited the criticism and censure of the fanatics in and out of con- gress, and they determined on the humiliation of Kentucky. This was the secret of negro recruiting in Kentucky. Mr. Lincoln possibly could not restrain this action; but the Union men, to whom he originally made his pledges, consider that he broke his faith with them. And far less excusable was his conduct in declaring martial law in Kentucky, July 5th, 1863-on

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the plea that certain persons in the state were concocting a plan to invite the Confederates into the state for the purpose of "civil war." The result was that Joshua F. Bullitt, late chief justice of the state, ex-Lieutenant governor Richard T. Jacob, and other prominent citizens were arrested-without war- rant, without proof-and either sent to prison or banished. In one instance, a brutal Federal general, one Paine, at Paducah, sent into banishment not only a number of citizens, but also women and children. This was done without any specifications of guilt, and no time or opportunity was allowed them to establish their innocence. These and many other gross outrages are justly chargeable to Mr. Lincoln's administration.

But the war was a success. The Confederacy was crushed, and the spirits of her warriors broken. Mr. Lincoln, who in the meantime had been chosen for a second term for president, visited Richmond after the capitulation at Appomattox Court House. He met there leading Virginians, and gave his consent for the legislature to meet ; and although this was withdrawn through malign influences on his return to Washington, yet he otherwise indicated a friendly and generous spirit towards those lately in rebellion. In the midst of the preparations to rehabilitate the South, to re-establish peaceful relations between the two sections, a pistol in the hands of John Wilkes Booth sent a bullet crashing into his brain. He was never again conscious, and died the next morning. A sad end to an eventful history !

The historian of this day can not do justice to this remarkable man. The North-man would draw his character in terms of glowing eulogy ; the Southron would point his pen with bitterness and gall. The one would absurdly as- cribe to him the lofty virtues of Washington, the other would class him with Grimaldi the clown. And both would be wide of the mark. He was a man of quaint humor and genial disposition, patient, calm, self-poised, and thor- oughly honest. His administration of the government was for no selfish or personal ends, but meant for the general good. The rectitude of his public conduct was above suspicion, and his love of country must ever challenge admiration.

HARLAN COUNTY.

HARLAN county, the 60th formed in the state, was erected in 1819 out of parts of Floyd and Knox counties, and named in honor of Maj. Silas Harlan. From that date, for a period of 48 years, it was the extreme south-eastern county, until Josh Bell county was formed in 1867 out of its southern and south-eastern part ; this took off about 200 voters. It is bounded N. by Perry and Letcher counties, E. and s. by the Virginia state line, and w. by Josh Bell county. It is a high, rugged, and mountainous county, with a fertile soil, and heavily timbered with good timber of all kinds. On the southern border lies the great Stone or Cumberland mountain, surmounted by a stupendous rock one mile long and 600 feet high ; on the northern border the Pine mount- ain, ranging nearly east and west, and separating this from Letcher and Perry counties ; and in the eastern part the Black mountain, probably an arm of the Cumberland. The products are corn, wheat, oats, rye, and tobacco ; stock raising is carried on to some extent.

Mount Pleasant is the county seat and only town ; is 168 miles from Frankfort, 34 miles from Cumberland Ford or Pineville, in Josh Bell county, and 49 miles from Whitesburgh, in Letcher county ; and contains a court house and 4 lawyers, 5 stores, grist

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and saw mill, tavern, and 4 mechanics' shops ; population about 50. Elsewhere in the county are 1 lawyer, 1 doctor, 3 stores, 2 saw mills, and 7 grist mills.

STATISTICS OF HARLAN COUNTY.

When formed .. See page 26 | Tobacco, hay, corn, wheat .. pages 266, 268

Population, from 1820 to 1870 .p. 258 Horses, mules, cattle, and hogs ... .. p. 268

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

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

white males over 21. p. 266 Latitude and longitude .p. 257

children bet. 6 and 20. .p. 266

Distinguished citizens. .see Index.

MEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATURE FROM HARLAN COUNTY.

Senate .- Thos. Jefferson Percifull, 1851-53 ; from the district of Harlan, Clay, Knox, and Whitley, Robert George, 1829-33 ; from same counties and Laurel, Franklin Bal- linger, 1837-41.

House of Representatives .- Jas. Farmer, 1824, '25, '26, '34 ; Hiram Jones, 1833; John Jones, 1844; Jas. Sparks, 1845; Jas. Culton, 1847, '55-57; Carlo B. Brittain, 1850 ; Hiram S. Powell, 1861-65; Elijah C. Baker, 1865-67; Elijah Hurst, 1869-71; from Harlan and Knox counties, Jas. Love, 1828, '29, '30 ; Jas. Dorton, 1836, '38 ; A. G. W. Pogue, 1843 ; Wm. Word, 1848 ; Drury Tye, 1851-53 ; from Harlan, Knox, and Lawrence, Robert George, 1827 ; from Harlan and Clay, Thos. J. Buford, 1835. From Harlan-Geo. B. Turner, 1873-75.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 50

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