Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 52

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 52

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Col. Henderson's Report .- A letter, dated at Boonesborough, June 12, 1775, from Col. Richard Henderson to his co-proprietors of Transylvania-Thos. Hart, Nathaniel Hart, David Hart, John Luttrell, John Williams, Wm. John- ston, James Hogy, and Leonard Henly Bullock-gives this "idea of the geo- graphy of our country." at that time :*

" We are seated at the mouth of Otter creek, on the Kentucky river, about 150 miles from the Ohio. To the west, about 50 miles from us, are two settle- ments, within 6 or 7 miles one of the other [ These were the Boiling Spring (afterwards called Fontainebleau), and Harrodsburg]. There were, some time ago, about 100 at the two places; though now, perhaps, not more than 60 or 70-as many of them are gone up the Ohio, etc. ; and some returned by the way we came, to Virginia and elsewhere. These men, in the course of hunting provisions, lands, etc., are some of them constantly out, and scour the woods from the banks of the river near 40 or 50 miles southward. On the opposite side of the Kentucky river, and north from us, about 40 miles, is a settlement on the crown lands, of about 19 persons [ Probably the " Hinkson company "]; and lower down, towards the Ohio, on the same side, there are some other settlers [Probably the " Miller company "]-how many, or at what place, I can't exactly learn. There is also a party of about 10 or 12, with a surveyor, [The " Douglass and Gist party " above, ] who is employed in search- ing through that country, and laying off officers' lands; they have been for more than three weeks within 10 miles of us, and will be for several weeks longer, ranging up and down that country.'

First Family north of Georgetown .- In the latter part of April, 1776, Samuel MeMillin came with Capt. John Haggin and family "to the cabin where Hagyin lived in that year, and remained there, or in that neighborhood, until after Christmas-about which time the neighborhood was driven off by the Indians and the settlement entirely evacuated." Capt. Haggin removed his family in July to MeClellan's fort, at Georgetown. John Miller, Alex. Pol- lock, Samuel Nesbitt, Wm. Steele, and Win. Bays came to John Hagyin's cabin in July, 1776-" where Haggin was then living with his family." Wm.

* Hall's Sketches of the West, ii, 267.

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Kennedy was there, also. Haggin's cabin was on Paddy's run, in Harrison county, not far from Hinkson's settlement or station.

Besides those just named, Wm. Nesbitt, Wm. Craig. Geo. Bright, Jas. Me- Graw, Jas. MeMillin, John MeMillin, Jos. Peake, Thos. Shores, Robert Thomp- son, Wm. Miller, Wm. McClellan, Wm. Houston. Col. Benj. Harrison (after whom the county was named), Thos. Moore, and Robert Keen, came to Har- rison county, and most of them made improvements, in 1776. Thos. Shores planted potatoes in the spring of that year, and several of the others raised corn. Michael Stoner, Thos. Whitledge, and Thos. Dunn raised corn in what is now Bourbon county, in 1776. James Kenney, Thos. Kennedy, Robert Whitledge, James Galloway helped to make improvements in Bourbon county.

John Lyon's Company .- On May 3, 1776, a company of 10, from Pennsyl- vania-John Lyon, John Boggs, Henry Dickerson, Thos. Dickerson, Win. Graydon, James Kelly, James Little, Wm. Markland, John Virgin, and Reason Virgin-" came to John Hinkson's improvement, where some persons had resided for nearly a year past." At the instance of Hinkson, Wm. Hoskins conducted them to some rich lands which had not been taken up, some miles to the east-probably on Houston creek (then called Martin's creek), in Bour- bon county ; at any rate, "Townsend and Cooper's run were between their improvements and Hinkston." Besides the usual improvements-uncovered cabins, small clearing, initials on trees, etc .- they covered John Lyon's cabin, 14x16 feet, with boards, made it their "station-camp," split some rails, in- closed a piece of ground, planted some corn, peach stones, and apple seeds, and lived there until June; when seven, and shortly after two others, returned up the Olrio river to Redstone. Win. Graydon remained in the country, and in the summer of 1777 was killed by Indians at the Shawnee spring.

Hinkson's Settlement, "on Licking creek," says a letter from Col. John Floyd to Col. Wm. Preston, dated at Boonesborough, July 21, 1776, " has been broken up; 19 of the settlers are now here, on their way in-John Hinkson among the rest. They all seem deaf to any thing we can say to dissuade them; 10, at least, of our people are going to join them-which will leave us with less than 30 men at this fort. I think more than 300 men have left the country since I came out, and not one has arrived-except a few cabiners down the Ohio." On July 7, 1776, the Indians had killed John Cooper-who raised the first corn in Harrison county; at least the first in quantity sufficient to furnish seed to the immigrants in 1776.

Capture of Ruddle's and Martin's Stations .- From depositions of Isaac Ruddle, James Ruddle, Nicholas Hart, Samuel Vanhook, and John Burger- who were among the prisoners taken, and whose lives were spared-and from other sources, it appears that Vanhook and probably most of the others were not released from captivity for 4 years and 2 months ; that several never re- turned, but continued to live among the Indians ; and that, when on their way to besiege Bryan's station, Aug. 14, 1782, in which they failed, and in the disastrous battle of the Blue Licks on the 19th of the same month, the Indians required Nicholas Hart and several others of the prisoners to come with them-thus making them witnesses of the perils and sufferings of their friends, without the power to help them. When murdering some of the women and children, after the capture, they coneluded to adopt little Johnny Lail, two years old, if he should have the nerve and endurance required of an Indian boy; so they rolled him rapidly down the bank, and he did not cry-thus securing his own adoption and that of his brother George, three years older. Johnny was returned, with the other prisoners, after the close of the war, and lived to be nearly eighty years old and a useful citizen. George remained with the Indians and married among them ; afterwards he came back and settled in the home of his childhood, but his Indian wife deserted him and went back to her people.

Hinkson's or Ruddle's station was on the north side of South Licking, about a mile below the mouth of Townsend creek, and a mile and a quarter above the present Lair's station, on the Kentucky Central railroad. It was originally settled by John Hinkson in April, 1775, who remained there for fifteen months, and a little community was gathering around it; but it was abandoned in July, 1776, through fear of the Indians. Hinkson came back

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afterwards and occupied his "improvement" on the south side of South Licking, opposite his first "settlement." In April, 1779, Isaac Ruddle, from Logan's station, assisted by John Burger, rebuilt the old station and fortified it; his brother, James Ruddle, and others soon followed ; it increased in strength, and henceforth was most generally known as Ruddle's station, although still frequently called Hinkston's. [The common belief that there was once a pioneer station at what is now well known as Ruddell's Mills is incorrect.] In 1845, the late Charles Lair-whose farm embraced the sta- tion, and who, in 1794, had taken down the old gate and remnant of the stock- ading-blasted in the side of the rocky river-bluff below his house, and about 300 yards from the old fort, a substantial vault, to which, in addition to the dead of his kin, he transferred all the remains of the murdered at the time of the capture in 1780, the bodies having been thrown in a pile and covered with stones at the time.

The following account of the capture of the two stations is the fullest and most accurate to be obtained :

In the summer of 1780, a formidable military force, consisting of six hundred Indians and Canadians, under the command of Colonel Byrd, an officer of the British army, accompanied by six pieces of artillery, made an incursion into Ken- tucky. The artillery was brought down the Big Miami, and thence up Licking as far as the present town of Falmouth, at the forks of Licking, where, with the stores and baggage, it was landed, and where Colonel Byrd ordered some huts to be constructed, to shelter them from the weather. From this point Colonel Byrd took up his line of march for Ruddle's station, with one thousand men. Such a force, accompanied by artillery, was resistless to the stockades of Kentucky, which were altogether destitute of ordnance. The approach of the enemy was totally undiscovered by our people until, on the 22d of June, 1780, the report of one of the field pieces announced their arrival before the station. This is the more extraordinary. as the British party were twelve days in marching from the Ohio river to Ruddle s station, and had cleared a wagon road the greater part of the way. This station had been settled the previous year, on the easterly bank of the south fork of Licking river, three miles below the junction of Hiukston and Stoner's branches of the same stream. A summons to surrender at discretion to his Britannic majesty's arms, was immediately made by Col. Byrd-to which demand Captain Ruddle answered, that he could not consent to surrender but on certain conditions, one of which was, that the prisoners should be under the pro tection of the British, and not suffered to be prisoners to the Indians. To these terms Colonel Byrd consented, and immediately the gates were opened to him No sooner were the gates opened, than the Indians rushed into the station, and each Indian seized the first person he could lay his hands on, and claimed him as his own prisoner. In this way the members of every family were sep- arated from each other; the husband from the wife, and the parents from their children. The piercing screams of the children when torn from their moth- ers-the distracted throes of the mothers when forced from their tender offspring, are indescribable. Ruddle remonstrated with the colonel against this barbarous conduct of the Indians, but to no effect. He confessed that it was out of his power to restrain them, their numbers being so much greater than that of the troops over which he had control, that he himself was completely in their power.

After the people were entirely stripped of all their property, and the prisoners divided among their captors, the Indians proposed to Colonel Byrd to march to and take Martin's station, which was about five miles from Ruddle's; but Col. Byrd was so affected by the conduct of the Indians to the prisoners taken, that he peremptorily refused, unless the chiefs would pledge themselves in behalf of the Indians, that all the prisoners taken should be entirely under his control, and that the Indians should only be entitled to the plunder. Upon these propositions being agreed to by the chiefs, the army marched to Martin's station, and took it without opposition. The Indians divided the spoils among themselves, and Colonel Byrd took charge of the prisoners.

The ease with which these two stations were taken, so animated the Indians, that they pressed Colonel Byrd to go forward and assist them to take Bryan 's station and Lexington. Byrd declined going, and urged as a reason, the improb-

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ability of success; and besides, the impossibility of procuring provisions to sup- port the prisoners they already had, also the impracticability of transporting their artillery by land, to any part of the Ohio river-therefore the necessity of de- scending Licking before the waters fell, which might be expected to take place in a very few days.

Immediately after it was decided not to go forward to Bryan 's station, the army commenced their retreat to the forks of Licking, where they had left their boats, and with all possible dispatch got their artillery and military stores on board and moved off. At this place the Indians separated from Byrd, and took with them the whole of the prisoners taken at Ruddle's station. Among the pri- soners was Captain John Hinkson, a brave man and an experienced woodsman. 'The second night after leaving the forks of Licking, the Indians encamped near the river ; every thing was very wet, in consequence of which it was difficult to kindle a fire, and before a fire could be made it was quite dark. A guard was placed over the prisoners, and whilst part of them were employed in kindling. the fire, Hinkson sprang from among them and was immediately out of sight. An alarm was instantly given, and the Indians ran in every direction, not being able to ascertain the course he had taken. Hinkson ran but a short distance before he lay down by the side of a log under the dark shade of a large beech tree, where he remained until the stir occasioned by his escape had subsided, when he moved off as silently as possible. The night was cloudy, and very dark, so that he had no mark to steer by, and after traveling some time towards Lexington, as he thought, he found himself close to the camp from which he had just before made his escape. In this dilemma he was obliged to tax his skill as a woods- man, to devise a method by which he should be enabled to steer his course with- out light enough to see the moss on the trees. or without the aid of sun, moon, or stars. Captain Hinkson ultimately adopted this method : he dipped his hand in the water, ( which almost covered the whole country), and holding it upwards above his head, he instantly felt one side of his hand cold ; he immediately knew that from that point the wind came-he therefore steered the balance of the night to the cold side of his hand, that being from the west he knew, and the course . best suited to his purpose. After traveling several hours, he sat down at the root of a tree and fell asleep.

A few hours before day, there came on a very heavy dense fog, so that a man could not be seen at twenty yards distance. This circumstance was of infinite advantage to Hinkson, for as soon as daylight appeared, the howling of wolves the gobbling of turkeys, the bieating ot fawns, the cry of owls, and every other wild animal, was heard in almost every direction. Hinkson was too well ac. quainted with the customs of the Indians, not to know that it was Indians, and not beasts and birds that made these sounds-he therefore avoided approaching the places where he heard them, and notwithstanding he was several times within a few yards of them, with the aid of the fog he escaped, and arrived safe at Lex- ington, and brought the first news of that event.

The Indians not only collected all the horses belonging to Ruddle's and Mar- tin's stations, but a great many from Bryan 's station and Lexington, and with their booty crossed the Ohio river near the mouth of Licking, and there dispersed. The British descended Licking river to the Ohio, down the Ohio to the mouth of the Big Miami, and up the Miami as far as it was then navigable for their boats, where they hid their artillery, and marched by land to Detroit. The rains having ceased, and the weather being exceeding hot, the waters fell so low, that they were able to ascend the Miami but a short distance by water.

The following account of an adventure at Higgins' block-house, near Cynthi- ana, is from the notes of Mr. E. E. Williams, of Covington, Ky., an actor in the events which he records :

After the battle of the Blue Licks, and in 1786, our family removed to Hig- gins' block-house on Licking river, one and a half miles above Cynthiana. Be- tween those periods my father had been shot by the Indians, and my mother mar- ried Samuel Vanhook, who had been one of the party engaged in the defence at Ruddle's station in 1780, and on its surrender was carried with the rest of the prisoners to Detroit.

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Higgins' fort, or block-house, had been built at the bank of Licking, on pre- cipitous rocks, at least thirty feet high, which served to protect us on every side but one. On the morning of the 12th of June, at day light, the fort, which con- sisted of six or seven houses, was attacked by a party of Indians, fifteen or twenty in number. There was a cabin outside, below the fort, where William M'Combs resided, although absent at that time. His son Andrew, and a man hired in the family, named Joseph McFall, on making their appearance at the door to wash themselves, were both shot down-M'Combs through the knee, and McFall in the pit of the stomach. McFall ran to the block-house, and M'Combs fell, unable to support himself longer, just after opening the door of his cabin, and was dragged in by his sisters, who barricaded the door instantly. On the level and only accessible side, there was a corn-field, and the season being favor- able, and the soil'rich as well as new, the corn was more than breast high. Here the main body of the Indians lay concealed, while three or four who made the at- tack attempted thereby to decoy the whites outside of the defences. Failing in this, they set fire to an old fence and corn-crib, and two stables, both long enough built to be thoroughly combustible. These had previously protected their ap- proach in that direction. Captain Asa Reese was in command of our little fort. " Boys," said he, " some of you must run over to Hinkson's or Harrison's." These were one and a half and two miles off, but in different directions. Every man declined. I objected, alleging as my reason, that he would give up the fort before I could bring relief; but on his assurance that he would hold out, I agreed to go. I jumped off the bank through the thicket of trees, which broke my fall, while they scratched my face and limbs. I got to the ground with a limb clenched in my hands, which I had grasped unawares in getting through. I recovered from the jar in less than a minute, crossed the Licking, and ran up a cow-path on the opposite side, which the cows from one of those forts had beat down in their visits for water. As soon as I had gained the bank, I shouted, to assure my friends of my safety, and to discourage the enemy. In less than an hour, I was back, with a relief of ten horsemen, well armed, and driving in full chase after . the Indians. But they had decamped immediately, upon hearing my signal, well knowing what it meant, and it was deemed imprudent to pursue them with so weak a party-the whole force in Higgins' block-house hardly sufficing to guard the women and children there. McFall, from whom the bullet could not be ex tracted, lingered two days and nights in great pain, when he died, as did M'Combs, on the ninth day, mortification then taking place.

Maj. WILLIAM K. WALL, for sixty-one years one of the leading citizens of Harrison county, was born in Washington co., Pa., May 19, 1786. His parents, John Wall and Hannah Ketchum, emigrated to Kentucky about 1791, settling first in Mason county for a few months; but removed to the neighborhood of what is now Cynthiana, more than a year before the organ- ization of Harrison county. In March, 1794, when the court of quarter sessions first met in Harrison county, John Wall was one of the associate judges. The son, then only eight years old, received in the schools of Scott and Harrison counties a fair English education, with a partial course in Latin. He and Hon. John T. Johnson studied law together at Georgetown, in the office of Col. Richard M. Johnson. Young Wall was licensed, Sept. 9, 1809, by judges John Allen and Wm. McClung, and settled to the prac- tice in Cynthiana; in the war of 1812, was a private in Capt. Johnson's company ; a representative in the Ky. legislature in 1814, '15, '16, '17, anc '18, and a senator, 1846-50; commonwealth's attorney, under commissions from six successive governors, 1820-43, when he resigned ; a candidate for congress in 1843, but after a vigorous canvass in a district politically op- posed to him, was beaten by about 343 majority, by Col. John W. Tibbatts. Maj. Wall was a clear, forcible, and practical speaker, but not often eloquent ; a lawyer of decided ability, and a citizen of high character, honored and useful. He died of pneumonia, March 22, 1853, aged nearly 67.

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HART COUNTY.

Judge JOHN TRIMBLE, one of the most eminent citizens of Harrison county, was among the earliest natives of Kentucky-born Dec. 4 1783, 83 years be- fore it became one of the United States. His oldest brother Robert-distin- guished as a judge of the court of appeals at 31, appointed chief justice of Kentucky at 33 but declined, judge of the U. S. district court for Kentucky at 39, and on the bench of the U. S. supreme court at 49-was born in Virginia in 1777 (see sketch under Trimble co.); and in 1780, their father, Wm. Trimble, emigrated to Kentucky, and settled in Clark co., not far from Boonesborough, where John and another brother, James, were born. The younger boys were liberally educated by an uncle, who came to reside in their father's family.

At the age of 19, John Trimble was secretary to Robert Evans, governor of the territory of Indiana, and resided for two years at Vincennes; return- ing to Kentucky, studied law with Col. Geo. Nicholas, one of the greatest jurists of America ; practiced law at Paris, 1807-16; was appointed circuit judge, and removed to Cynthiana, where he resided until his death, July 9, 1852-aged nearly 69; resigned that office, and was immediately, Jan. 15, 1825, appointed by Gov. Desha third judge of the "new" court of appeals, which he held a short time and resigned ; May, 1826, was tendered by Pres- ident John Quincy Adams the U. S. judgeship for the district of Kentucky, but ill health prevented its acceptance ; was a representative in the legisla- ture in 1826, 1833, and 1835; in the latter session, extending into 1836, he strenously advocated the proposed railroad from Charleston to Cincinnati, thereby exciting the violent opposition of the leaders of his party (Dem- ocratie), and he never again was a candidate before the people.

Judge Trimble was an able lawyer. His argument-in the U. S. circuit court, in the case of Shores' Heirs vs. Casey and others-upon the question whether the issuing by the government of a patent for land conferred seisin, was pronounced by Preston S. Loughborough (no mean judge) the finest he had ever heard in any court, Few men could equal him, in arguing an ab- stract question of law depending upon principle. The law to him was an object of enthusiastic attachment. He was as noble as a citizen and as true as a friend-as he was able as a lawyer. Only those who came into professional collision with or knew him intimately, ever suspected the gen- eral variety of his knowledge and his severely critical judgment.

This county was named in honor of Colonel BENJAMIN HARRISON, who re- moved to Kentucky from Pennsylvania at an early day. He was a member of the convention which met at Danville in 1787, from Bourbon county ; was a member of the convention which met the succeeding year (1788) at the same place ; and was also a member, from Bourbon, of the convention which forned the first constitution of Kentucky, and which assembled at Danville in 1792. In the same year, after the adoption of the constitution, he was elected a senatorial elector from Bourbon county. In 1793, he was elected a representative from Bourbon county, being a member of the legislature when the county of Harrison was formed.

HART COUNTY.

HART county, the 61st made in the state, was formed in 1819 out of parts of Hardin and Green counties, and named in honor of Capt. Nathaniel G. T. Hart. It lies on both sides of Green river, in the south-west middle part of the state ; and is bounded N. by Grayson, Hardin, and Larue counties, E. by Green, s. by Barren, and w. by Edmonson and Grayson. The face of the country, except along the river bottoms, is rolling, and in some

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parts hilly and broken ; the soil generally is very productive. Tobacco and hogs are the leading articles of export. Green river, during a portion of the year, is navigable for steamboats as high as Munfordville. Nolin creek, on the N. w. border, is navig- able for flat-boats in high water, and would furnish fine water- power throughout the year.

Towns .- Munfordville, the county seat-named after Richard I. Munford, former proprietor, and incorporated in 1858-is on the north bank of Green river, where it is crossed by the Louisville and Nashville railroad, 73 miles s. of Louisville, and 90 miles s. w. from Frankfort ; population in 1870, 249. Caverna-in- corporated 1864, by its old name Horse Cave-is on the railroad; 7 miles s. of Munfordville; population in 1870, 479. Wood- sonville-named after Thos. Woodson, sen., and incorporated in 1851-is on the railroad and on the s. bank of Green river, op- posite Munfordville ; population in 1870, 140. Monroe is 13 miles s. E. ; named after President Monroe. Leesville is 12 miles N. The other railroad stations are Bacon Creek, 7 miles N., and Rowlett's 2, and Woodland 10 miles s. of Munfordville. Hardy- ville, incorporated in 1861, is 8 miles from Munfordville ; popu- lation 68. Hammondville, Barnettsville, Canmer, Priceville, and Three Springs are small places, all incorporated.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 52

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