Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 79

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 79

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Having signified his resolution to his men, he commenced the attack by shoot- ing down Winnemac himself. The action lasted till they had fired three rounds apiece, during which time Logan and his brave companions drove the enemy some distance, and separated them from their horses. By the first fire Winnemnac and Elliott fell ; by the second a young Ottawa chief lost his life ; and another of the enemy was mortally wounded about the conclusion of the combat, at which time Logan himself, as he was stooping down, received a ball just below the breast bone ; it ranged downwards, and lodged under the skin on his back. In the mean time Bright Horn was also wounded by a ball which passed through his thigh. As soon as Logan was shot he ordered a retreat ; himself and Bright Horn, wounded as they were, jumped on the horses of the enemy and rode to Win- chester's camp, a distance of twenty miles, in five hours. Captain John, after

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taking the scalp of the Ottowa chief, also retreated in safety, and arrived at the camp the next morning. After lingering with his wounds, Logan expired at Winchester's camp on the third day after his arrival. He was buried with all the honors due to his rank.

Earliest Settlements .- As stated under the head of Pioneer Stations above, it is as certain as such matters can usually be made, at this late day, that actual settlements were made in Logan county in 1780-probably in the fall. The foot-hold then obtained by the whites, although very slowly increased, does not seem to have ever been yielded. Besides those mentioned, a settle- ment is said to have been made in the N. E. part of the county, on Gaspar river. The most definitely known early settlement was that of Mr. Smart, in 1782, s. w. of Russellville, on the Elk fork of Red river, about five miles from its mouth .*

Russellville .- The public spring which induced the first settlement in Rus- sellville-for the early settlements of Kentucky were never made except near fine springs or streams of water-was well known as early as 1784. The original stockade (as we learn, together with much of what immediately fol- lows, from the remarkable address of Judge John W. Caldwell, Jan. 11, 1870, on " Russellville-Past, Present, and Future,") was opposite this spring, on the east side of Main street. The first habitation in the valley was a small cabin erected, probably in 1780, about 90 feet N. E. from the spring, in a dense canebrake, and thatched with cane. It was doubtless the shelter of a single hunter, who kept lonely watch for several moons before others joined him and made a settlement; "who he was, whence he came, whither he went, are facts which sleep with the dead."

Russellville was regularly laid off in 1795; in 1800 was the 14th town in population in the state, in 1810 the Sth, and in 1830 the 6th. From the latter date, as shown by the decennial census (see page 264), its population steadily decreased for more than thirty years-until after the breaking out of the civil war. During the war, or shortly after its close, it entered upon a new career of prosperity, and its population has nearly or quite doubled already (1873). In 1810 it was probably the third most important business town in the state, supplying the commercial wants of southern Kentucky and a con- siderable portion of Tennessee. "The town, as originally laid out, began at Barclay street, and terminated at the old Southern Bank-with a square on each side of Main street, which was then the only thoroughfare. There was a pond where the court house now stands. Maulding's hill, named from an old settler, was the public cemetery, and then beyond the corporate limits. Dr. Ayres Stewart laid the foundation for its commercial prosperity ; his merchandise and a small keg of salt were brought through the wilderness, by his brother, Wm. Stewart, on a pack-horse. Its first hotel was opened by Mr. Handley, in a double log-house, now the residence of Samuel Long. Its first brick building was erected for a clerk's office, and is now the property of R. S. Bevier. Its first store-room. was located on Becker's corner. Its first brick dwelling was built by Win. Whitaker, a Marylander, and is now the residence of Oscar C. Rhea." Its first newspaper, the Mirror, was estab- lished about 1807, by Samuel Adams, of Baltimore ; succeeded by Ira Wood- ruff & Co., in 1810; and they, in 1813, by Charles Rhea. who changed the name of the paper to the Weekly Messenger. Ifis sons, Albert G. and Oscar C. Rhea, one or both, have edited and published the present Weekly Herald for over 29 years The first moneyed institution of Russellville was the Far- mer's Bank of Logan, succeeded by a branch of the old Commonwealth Bank. The first church, and only one until 1812, was located where Bradley's livery stable stood in 1870, and was worshiped in by a Baptist congregation. The first high school for girls was erected above the old Methodist church ; it was burnt down by mischievous boys during a Christmas spree in 1835. The first postmaster was Joseph Ficklin.

Great Men .- Logan county has produced more than her quota of great men. "Four times the gubernatorial wreath of Kentucky has crowned the statues of her fame-John Breathitt, James T. Morehead, John J. Crittenden,

* Depositions in suit of Russell's Heirs ts. Craddock.

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and Charles S. Morehead. Four times the spotless mantle of the chief justice of the commonwealth has fallen upon the shoulders of those who were mem- bers of her bar-Ninian Edwards, George M. Bibb, Ephraim M. Ewing, and Elijah Hise. Three times the laurels of the foreign ministry of the nation have been worn with honor by those who were her citizens-Anthony Butler, Ninian Edwards, and Elijah Hise. Five times the chief executive chairs of other states have been filled by those who went forth from her midst-Ninian Edwards and John McLean to Illinois, Richard K. Call to Florida, Robert Crittenden to Arkansas, and Fletcher Stockdale to Texas ; besides these, Wm. L. D. Ewing was lieutenant governor of Illinois. She has sent forth one major general of the United States army, James Boyle, and one surgeon general of the same, Dr. D. McReynolds; and one supreme judge of Mississippi, Joseph E. Davis." Presley Ewing, one of the most brilliant young men of Kentucky, who died Sept. 27, 1854, when only 32, was then in congress from this district.

For biographical sketches, see as follows : Gov. JOHN BREATHITT under Breathitt county, Judge GEO. M. BIBB and SOLOMON P. SHARP under Franklin county, Gov. JOHN J. CRITTENDEN under Crittenden county, Gov. JAMES T. MOREHEAD under Kenton county, and Gov. CHARLES S. MOREHEAD under Jefferson county.

Gov. NINIAN EDWARDS was born in Montgomery co., Maryland, in March, 1775, and died of cholera, at Belleville, St. Clair co., Illinois, July 20, 1833- aged 58. His early education was in company with, and partly under the tuition of, the celebrated Wm. Wirt-whose bosom friend he was for 43 years. His academic education was continued under other tutors, and at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pa. He studied law and medicine together, and became proficient in both. In 1794, at the age of 19, he was sent by his father to take care of his landed estate in Nelson co., Ky., where he opened and im- . proved a farm (upon which his father settled in 1800), built distilleries and tanyards, and showed great capacity for business. Before he was quite 21, he was elected to the Ky. house of representatives in 1796, and re-elected in 1797 by an almost unanimous vote. From the time he was 19 until 22, he indulged in habits of dissipation and gambling; but by a determined resolu- tion broke loose from old associates, removed in 1798 to Russellville, Logan county, and began the practice of the law both in Kentucky and Tennessee. Without a dollar of his own in 1799, in four years practice and judicious investment of what he made, he became rich ; then went upon the bench as presiding judge of the general court, and filled in rapid succession the offices of circuit judge in 1804, fourth judge of the court of appeals on Dec. 13, 1806, and chief justice of Kentucky on Jan. 5, 1808-all before he was 33 years of age. In 1804, he was chosen one of the presidential electors who cast the vote of the state for Thos. Jefferson. "The great secret of his success was owing to his powerful intellect, and to his energy and untiring industry."

On the 24th of April, 1809, he was appointed by President Madison gover- nor of Illinois territory, which he accepted ; he was twice re-appointed, Nov., 1812, and Jan., 1816. In advance of any action by congress, he organized companies of rangers, supplied them with arms, built stockade forts, and established a cordon of posts from the Wabash river to the mouth of the Missouri-thus preparing with extraordinary energy for defence against the Indians. In 1816, he was a commissioner to treat with the Indians; in 1818, when Illinois became a state, was sent to the U. S. senate for six years : then appointed minister to Mexico, but declined; in 1826, was elected governor of Illinois for four years, retiring in 1831 to private life. Gov. Reynolds said of him, in 1852, " Nature bestowed upon Edwards many of her rarest gifts ; he possessed a mind of extraordinary compass, and an industry that brought forth every spark of talent with which nature had gifted him; these made him a very superior man."

Hon. JOHN McLEAN was born in North Carolina in 1791, and died in Illinois, Oct. 4, 1830-aged 39. Ilis father and family emigrated to Logan county in 1795, when John was four years old. Whatever of education he could get, with the limited advantages of that day, he availed of; studied law, .

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and in 1815 removed to Shawneetown, Illinois, without other capital than what is the lot of many lawyers: "He was poor, talented and ambitious." " Besides his great strength of mind, there was no man in Illinois, before or since his day, that surpassed him in pure natural eloquence; nature made him a great orator." His first serious trial of strength was for a seat in con- gress, upon the admission of Illinois into the Union in 1818. His opponent, Daniel P. Cook, was also a Kentuckian (from Scott county), quick, wiry, eloquent, determined. From the stump of a tree literally (this had been the origin of the phrase " stump speaker ") they spoke, all over the settled parts of the new state. McLean was elected then, and served two years, 1818 and 1819; but at the next election Cook beat him. McLean was elected a num- ber of times, to the house of representatives of Illinois, from Gallatin county, and was nearly always chosen speaker of the house. He was twice elected to the U. S. senate-in 1824-25 to fill a vacancy, and then for a full term 1829-35; but died in the second year of the term. Had he lived, every honor in the state was within his reach; no man possessed a stronger hold on the people of Illinois. A county (of which Bloomington is the county seat) was named in honor of him. [He must not be confounded with another John MeLean, who lived awhile in Mason county, Ky., removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, became a member of congress, 1812-16 (leaving it just as the above John McLean entered it); was postmaster general under Presidents Monroe and John Quincy Adams, and a justice of the U. S. supreme court, 1829, until his death, 1861.]

LYON COUNTY.

LYON county, the 102d in order of formation, was erected in 1854, out of the southwestern half of Caldwell county, and named in honor of Chittenden Lyon. It is bounded N. by Livingston and Crittenden, E. by Caldwell, s. by Trigg, and w. by Marshall and Livingston counties. Its boundary line on the N. is Living- ston creek, and on the w. the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers, except for a few miles between the two ; the latter winds cen- trally through the county. The climate is temperate, and the atmosphere bracing and healthful. The surface is in some sec- tions hilly, in others undulating or level. The soil is fertile, producing in abundance the finest fruits, cereals, grasses, and potatoes. The leading exports are iron ore and iron, tobacco and pork.

Towns .- Eddyville, the county seat-settled in 1799 by Mat- thew Lyon, sen., and incorporated January 13, 1810-is situated on the N. bank of the Cumberland river, 45 miles above its mouth, and 192 miles from Louisville by the Elizabethtown and Paducah railroad ; it has 4 churches (Methodist and Episcopal, and Baptist and Methodist for colored people), 6 lawyers, 3 phy- sicians, 7 dry goods stores, 7 groceries, 2 hotels, a large tobacco factory, 2 warehouses, jeweller and watch-maker, gunsmith, 3 blacksmith and 3 wagon and carriage shops, saw and lath mill, wool-carding factory, and tanyard ; population by the U. S. cen- sus 386 in 1870, and 599 in 1860; it received its name from the large eddies in Cumberland river-one just below, the other two miles above, the town. Parkersville, 10 miles s. E. of Eddyville, named after Thos. Parker, a wealthy citizen, is a neat and thriv-

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ing town of about 150 inhabitants, with a flourishing academy, Baptist church, saw and grist mill, blacksmith shop, furniture shop, hotel, 3 stores, and 2 physicians. The Rolling Mill of D. Hillman & Sons, where large quantities of iron are manufactured, is a town of about 200 inhabitants, with a store, grocery, church, and physician. Millville, 4 miles E. of Eddyville, is a small vil- lage. Cuttawa, after the original Indian name of the Kentucky river, is the new name of Union Furnace, below Eddyville; and the residence of Col. Charles Anderson, ex-lieutenant governor of Ohio, although a native of Jefferson co., Ky.

STATISTICS OF LYON COUNTY.

When formed. See page 26 | Hay, corn, wheat, tobacco ... pages 266, 268

Population, from 1860 to 1870 ... p. 258 Horses, mules, cattle, and hogs ...... p. 268

whites and colored. .. p. 260 Taxable property, in 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 LYON COUNTY.

Senate .- None resident in the county.

House of Representatives .- Willis B. Machen, 1857-59; Wm. J. Stone, 1867-69 ; Finis A. Wilson, 1871-73.

Streams .- Not a county in Kentucky is so finely watered as Lyon. Springs of limestone water abound. The Tennessee and Cumberland rivers furnish . transportation, by the largest steamboats, most of the year. Livingston creek, 100 miles long, is one of the largest in the state; Eddy creek, from E. to w. through the center of the county, is fed by large springs, and of sufficient volume for mills at all seasons ; is now the site of several fine mills.

Iron Manufacture .- One of the most successful rolling mills in the west is that of Hillman & Sons. The Suwanee Furnace, formerly conducted on a large scale, has been idle since 1860.

Iron Ore .- Probably in no section E. of the Mississippi and s. of the Lake Superior region, are there such deep and inexhaustible beds of iron ore as in Lyon county. Ore from the Iron Mountain bank, 3 miles w. of the Su- wanee furnace, contained 59.973 per cent. of iron. In the ores from the Mammoth furnace, the proportion of phosphoric acid is large and of alumina small-requiring the use of pure clay or other argillaceous material with the flux, and an increased amount of lime, to make the iron purer and more tough. Some cold blast white pig iron, made at this furnace in 1859, was too hard to be filed, and dissolved, in acids and by means of iodine, with great difficulty. Limestone for flux is abundant.

Some pig iron was refined in the hearth of the furnace at Suwanee, in 1859, which, on analysis, proved to be "very hard, brittle, white iron; pre- sented a confused bladed crystalline appearance on the fractured surface; was about the color of impure nickel ; was refined by Kelly's method-in which Bessemer's process for the purification of iron seemed to be measur- ably anticipated, viz : by dipping the tuyere into the melted metal in the hearth of the furnace, and forcing the cold blast through it."

The Elizabethtown and Paducah railroad passes through the Suwanee iron mines, and through the ore banks of the Messrs. Machen, and of Gov. Ander- son, exposing immense iron beds. Que hill, 1,000 feet broad at the base and 100 feet high, is an almost solid mass of ore-which is already being shipped in large quantities to mix with the Missouri Iron Mountain and Lake Superior ores. New furnaces are about being erected -one by a company of Louisville capitalists-and an immense impetus will thus be given to the iron business.

Coal, of the best quality for smelting purposes, is found in great quantity in Hopkins county, from 25 to 40 miles E., by railroad ; and large bodies of timber are convenient, for making charcoal iron.

A Cavern, over half'a mile in length, extends under the town of Eddyville --

-A

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from the mouth of which flows a spring or stream of water sufficient to sup- ply a large city. Another spring within the town limits has a similar capacity. The cavern was explored in 1848, by " Ned Buntline" (E. Z. C. Judson) and others ; but nothing attractive or remarkable found, except the large stream of water rushing onward like an underground river.

Eddyville was made the seat of justice of Caldwell, when that county was established in 1809; it was removed to Centerville, returned to Eddyville, but again removed and fixed permanently at Princeton. In 1854, Eddyville, became the county seat of the new county of Lyon.

Ship Building .- In 1811-12, Matthew Lyon, sen., built at Eddyville the hulls of several vessels of war for the U. S. government ; they were floated out the rivers to the ocean.

Col. MATTHEW LYON, the most remarkable character among the public men of southwestern Kentucky, was born in Wicklow co., Ireland, in 1746, and died at Spadra Bluff. Arkansas Territory, Aug. 1, 1822-aged 76. His father. while Matthew was a small boy, engaged in a conspiracy against the British crown, for which he was tried, condemned, and executed. His widow soon married ; and Matthew, at the age of 19, fled from the cruelty of a step-father to America. To secure his passage, he bound himself to the captain to work for twelve months after his arrival. The captain sold him to a farmer in Connecticut for two bulls; he served his time faithfully and became a free man; bnt ever after his favorite by-word was " By the bulls that bought me." Subsequently he became a citizen of Vermont; and in 1776, when the Revo- lutionary war broke out, entered the army of the colonists as a lieutenant. In the latter part of that year, he was reduced to the ranks for disobeying orders by leaving his command on Onion river (to visit his sweetheart) ; but he subsequently served as temporary paymaster of the Northern army in 1777, and in 1778 as deputy secretary of the governor of Vermont, and also clerk of the court of confiscation; and eventually rose to the rank of colonel of militia. At the close of the war he married the girl who cost him his lieu- tenantcy ; but she soon died, leaving one child. He founded the town of Fairhaven in 1783, where he built saw mills, grist mills, an iron foundry, engaged in paper making from basswood, and in a variety of other occupa- tions; and at one time edited a newspaper, to which he gave the strangest of names-" The Scourge of Aristocracy and Repository of Important Political Truth ;" it was of an ultra-democratic character, and part of the types and the paper were manufactured by himself. He served that town in the Ver- mont legislature 10 years ; in 1786, he was assistant judge of Rutland county.

Becoming an active political leader, he was elected to congress in 1797 by the anti-federal party ; and during his service, married Mrs. Benlah Galusha, a widowed daughter of Gov. Thos. Chittenden, of Vermont. He was extremely bitter against the administration of President John Adams; and in Oct., 1798, under the alien and sedition laws, was convicted of a libel on the pres- ident, fined $1,000 and confined for four months in the Vergennes gaol. An attempt to expel him from congress as a convicted felon failed for want of a two-thirds vote. During this congressional term, he had a violent personal altercation on the floor of the house, caused by spitting in the face of Roger Griswold, of Connecticut, ending in blows; but the motion to expel them was defeated. In 1799, while a prisoner in gaol, he was re-elected for two years, 1799-1801, and taken from prison by his friends to represent them in congress. Just before tlo close of this term, on Feb. 17, 1801 (see 1st vol.) on the 36th .ballot, Col. Lyon decided the painful and protracted seven days' voting for president, by casting his vote and that of Vermont for Thos. Jefferson-making him president in preference to Aaron Burr.

In the spring of 1801, with his family, and his sons-in-law, John Messenger and Dr. Geo. Cadwell, and their families, Col. Lyon sailed down the Ohio river and np the Cumberland to Caldwell county, and founded Eddyville. During this year his daughter, his first child by the second marriage; died, and was the first white person buried at Eddyville. He became a large land- holder, and owned many slaves. He served in the legislature of Kentucky, and again in congress for eight years, 1803-11.

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MADISON COUNTY.

Nov. 4, 1811, after his final retirement from congress, the speaker of the house presented his petition, setting forth his prosecution and conviction under the sedition law (see " State Trials of the United States "), that he had suffered imprisonment, and been made to pay the sum of $1,060.90. and that he wished the money refunded. It was not until 18 years after his death, on July 4, 1840, a law was passed, paying to his heirs the specified sum, with interest from Feb., 1799. It was considered by congress that the fine was paid under a void law, and on principle should be refunded.

In 1811-12, Col. Lyon was employed by the U. S. war department to build gun-boats for the war with England, but he became bankrupt from the specu- lation. In 1820, he was appointed by President Monroe a factor among the Cherokee Indians in Arkansas; and when that territory was organized in 1822, was elected the first delegate to congress, but did not live to take liis seat. His remains were interred at Eddyville. His sons-in-law removed, in 1802, to the Illinois country, were repeatedly members of the Indiana terri- torial and of the Illinois state legislatures, of the constitutional convention, county judge, and otherwise honored and useful. His son Matthew (father of Gen. H. B. Lyon), represented Caldwell county for two years in the Ky. legis- lature, 1834 and '35, and died young, in 1840. Of his son Chittenden, see below.

Gov. John Reynolds, of Illinois, said of Matthew Lyon : "He possessed some talent, and was always, during a long and important life, an excessively warm and enthusiastic partisan in politics. He was a droll composition. His leading trait of character was his zeal and enthusiasm, almost to madness itself, in any cause he espoused. He never seemed to act coolly and deliber- ately, but always in a tumult and bustle-as if he were in a house on fire, and was hurrying to get out. His Irish impulses were honest, and always on the side of human freedom ; this covered his excessive zeal."

Col. CHITTENDEN LYON, after whom Lyon county was named, was the oldest son of Col. Matthew Lyon above; represented Caldwell county in the Ky. legislature, in 1822, '23, and '24, and the district in congress for eight years, 1827-35. He was a man of prodigious physical proportions, being 63 feet high in his stockings, and weighing 350 pounds. He was the champion fighter of that whole region, in his day. In 1825, Col. Lyon was engaged in a very ex- citing contest for a seat in the state senate, in which he was defeated by Dickson Given; and some years later, in a no less exciting race for congress, in which Linn Boyd was his unsuccessful competitor. During one of these contests, Andrew (or Andy) Duncan-a man of like powerful frame and strength, and nearly as large, and his equal in personal prowess, for both were as game as Old Hickory himself-proposed to Col. Lyon, to whom he was bitterly opposed, that he would vote for him at the election, if he (Lyon) "would go out on fair ground, and fight him a fair old-fashioned Kentucky fist fight." Col. Lyon had braved too many storms, and steered too many flat and keel-boats over dangerous shoals, to be backed down by so fair a proposition ! So, at it they went-Duncan quite confident that he could give the colonel a good trouncing. No easy task, it proved. The fight was long and bloody, and neither showed signs of relinquishing the field or even whis- pering " hold, enough." At last, friends parted them, and called it a drawn battle. The contestants washed, took a drink together of old Robertson whisky (of which they were both fond), shook hands, and made friends for the oc- casion, as they were personally. Duncan kept his part of the contract, and gave a hearty vote for his jolly competitor in the square stand-up fight.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 79

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