USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II > Part 86
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Besides Boonsborough, there were several other forts or stations in Madison -among them, Hoy's, Irvine's, Estill's and Hart's, or White Oak stations. The latter station was situated about a mile above Boonsborough, in the same bot- tom of the river, and was settled in 1779. The settlers were composed princi- pally of families from Pennsylvania-orderly, respectable people, and the men good soldiers. But they were unaccustomed to Indian warfare, and the conse-
* McClung's sketches of Western Adventure
II ... 34
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quence was, that, of some ten or twelve men, all were killed but two or three." During the fall or winter of 1781-2, Peter Duree, the elder, the principal man of the connexion, determined to settle a new fort between Estill's station and the mouth of Muddy creek. Having erected a cabin, his son-in-law, John Bullock and his family, and his son Peter Duree, his wife and two children removed to it, taking a pair of hand-mill stones with them. They remained for two or three days shut up in their cabin, but their corn meal being exhausted, they were com- pelled to venture out, to cut a hollow tree in order to adjust their hand-mill. They were attacked by Indians-Bullock, after running a short distance, fell. Duree reached the cabin, and threw himself upon the bed. Mrs. Bullock ran to the door to ascertain the fate of her husband-received a shot in the breast, and fell across the door sill. Mrs. Duree, not knowing whether her husband had been shot or had fainted, caught her by the feet, pulled her into the house and barred the door. She grasped a rifle, and told her husband she would help him to fight. He replied that he had been wounded and was dying. She then pre- sented the gun through several port holes in quick succession-then calmly sat by her husband and closed his eyes in death. After waiting several hours, and seeing nothing more of the Indians, Mrs. Duree sallied out in desperation to make her way to the White Oak Spring, with her infant in her arms, and a son three or four years of age, following her. Afraid to pursue the trace, she entered the woods, and after running till she was nearly exhausted, she came at length to the trace. She determined to follow it at all hazards, and having advanced a few miles further, she met the elder Mr. Duree, with his wife and youngest son, with their baggage, on their way to the new station. The melancholy tidings induced them, of course, to return. They led their horses into an adjoining canebrake, unloaded them, and regained the White Oak Spring fort before daylight.
About the same time, an attack was made on Estill's station, three miles south of Richmond, by a party of about twenty-five Wyandots. They killed one man, took a negro prisoner, and disappeared. Captain Estill was the commander of the station, and he immediately raised about an equal number of men and pur- sued them. He overhauled them at the Little Mountain, where the bloody ,bat- tle was fought recorded under the head of Montgomery county.
In August, 1792, seven Indians attacked the dwelling house of Mr. Stephen- son, in Madison county. They approached the house early in the morning, be- fore the family had risen, forced open the door, and fired into the beds where the members of it lay. Mrs. Stephenson was severely wounded, having her thigh and arm broken; but the rest of the family escaped unhurt. Mr. Stephenson sprang from his bed, seized his rifle, and returned the fire of the savages. Two young men, living with him, came to his assistance, and a severe conflict ensued. The assailants, although double the number of the defenders of the house, were ultimately expelled, having one of their number killed and several wounded. Mr. Stephenson was badly wounded, and one of the young men killed in the contest.
NATHANIEL HART, the elder, came to Kentucky in 1775, being among the first pioneers to the State. He was born in the year 1734, in Hanover county, Vir ginia.' His father having died while he was young, his mother removed with the family to North Carolina. In 1760, Mr. Hart married, and engaged for sev- eral years in the mercantile business. In 1770 and 1771, he commanded a com- pany in North Carolina in suppressing an insurrection, the object of which was to shut up the courts of justice and prostrate government itself. For his gallant and spirited behaviour while in the discharge of the arduous and hazardous du- ties which devolved upon him, he was handsomely complimented by the officers of the government. Shortly after this, Captain Hart, who had listened to the glowing descriptions which Boone gave of the beauty and fertility of the soil of Kentucky, was fired with the idea of forming a permanent settlement in a region presenting so many attractions to the adventurer. Accordingly, through his in- strumentality, a company was formed composed of his own and four other fami- lies, with Colonel Henderson as its legal head, for the purpose of undertaking
* Letter of Nathaniel Hart, Sen., to Governor Morehead.
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. WILLIAM IRVINE.
the purchase and settlement of the wilderness of Kentucky. As soon as the company was organized, Captain Hart set out alone on a trip to the Cherokee towns, on Holston, to ascertain, by a previous conference with the Indians, whether the purchase could be effected. After a propitious interview, he returned to North Carolina, taking with him a delegation of the Indian chiefs, who re- mained to escort the company back to the treaty ground, when, on the 17th of March, 1775, they negotiated the purchase of Transylvania from the Indians, and immediately departed for the Kentucky river. From this period Captain Hart spent most of his time in Kentucky, although he did not attempt to bring his family out till the fall of 1779. In August, 1782, as he was carelessly riding out in the vicinity of the fort, he was killed and scalped by a small party of In- dians, who made their escape, although warmly pursued by Colonel Boone. His widow survived him about two years. Their descendants all reside in Ken- tucky.
In the final settlement of the affairs of Henderson & Co., the company allowed Captain Hart two hundred pounds for the extraordinary services rendered and risk incurred by him in the settlement of Kentucky.
... Capt. CHRISTOPHER IRVINE, with his younger brother, the late Col. William Irvine, removed to Kentucky in 1778 or 1779, and settled in the present county of Madison, near where the town of Richmond now stands. In 1786, Capt. Ir- vine raised a company, and joined an expedition under Gen. Logan against the Indians in the northern part of Ohio. While on this expedition, he met his death in rather a singular manner. In a skirmish which took place, an Indian, who had been severely wounded,-a brave and fearless fellow,-made great efforts to effect his escape. Capt. Irvine and a part of his company gave pursuit, and were enabled to trail him by the blood which flowed from his wound, and stained the high grass through which he passed. The Indian discovered his pursuers, and when the foremost approached within rifle shot, he fired and killed him. He re- treated again, and in his wounded state, loaded his rifle as he ran. Another of Capt. Irvine's company getting considerably in advance of his companions in the chase, the wounded Indian again turned, shot him dead, and resumed his retreat, reloading his rifle as he fled. The delay produced by the fatal effect of his fire, enabled him to get some distance ahead of his pursuers. Capt. Irvine. after losing two of his men by the fire of the Indian, became very much excited, and, contrary to the earnest advice of his party, determined to lead in the pursuit. He gave chase, and in a few minutes was within a short distance of the Indian, when the latter, with but too fatal an aim, fired a third time, and killed him. One of his men, who was close upon his heels. instantly sprang to the place where the In- dian had concealed himself, and found him again loading his rifle! As quick as thought, he struck the Indian to the ground, and beat out his brains with the breech of his gun.
Capt. Irvine was a man of high character and standing-intrepid, energetic, and daring-with a strong and vigorous intellect-popular in the community, and beloved and admired by his pioneer companions. His widow married Gen. Rich- ard Hickman, of Clark county, afterwards lieutenant-governor of Kentucky. I7 - vine, the county seat of Estill county, was named in honor of Capt. C. Irvine. and his brother, Col. William Irvine.
Col. WILLIAM IRVINE came to the county with his brother, and built a station, called Irvine's Station, near where Richmond stands. Col. Irvine was in the hard-fought and bloody battle at Little Mountain, known as " Estill's defeut," in the year 1782. About the close of the action, while Joseph Proctor, Irvine. and two others, were endeavoring to cover the retreat of the whites, Irvine was se- verely wounded, by a bullet and two buck shot entering his body a little above the left groin. The Indian who shot him, saw him fall, and, leaving the tree be- hind which he was sheltered, made a rapid advance with the view of tomahawk- ing and scalping him. Irvine, as he approached, raised and presented his gun, which had just been fired, and was then empty, when the savage rapidly retreat- ed to his tree for protection. Proctor, who was about fifty yards off, seeing the disabled condition of Irvine, called to him to mount, if he could, Capt. Estill's horse, (the owner naving been previously killed), and retreat to a given point on
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the trace, aboct ibree miles distant .- promising him that he would, from the' point, conduct him to his station in Madison. This assurance was given by Proe. tor under the conviction that, from the severity of Irvine's wounds, combined with the great loss of blood, he would be unable to proceed further on the retreat than the point designated. Irvine determined to follow the advice of Proctor ; but the Indian who had wounded him, appeared resolved to baffle all his efforts to make his escape. As Irvine attempted to mount, the Indian would abandon his shelter, and make towards him with his tomahawk, when the former would raise and present his empty gun. and the latter as quickly retreat to his tree. This was repeated four times in succession. On the fifth trial, Irvine succeeded in mounting the horse, and safely reached the place designated by Proctor. Upon his arrival, he was exceedingly faint from loss of blood, but had sufficient presence of mind to diverge from the main trace, and shield himself in a thicket near by. Here he dismounted. and holding on to his horse's bridle, laid himself against a log to die. In a short time. Proctor and his two companions reached the place of ren- dezvous, and the former, true to his promise, determined to search for Irvine : the latter objected, under the apprehension that the Indians were in close pursuit. Proctor, however. persisted in the search, and, in a few minutes, discovered, through the bushes, the white horse rode by Irvine. He approached cautiously, and with a stealthy step, fearing an Indian ambuscade. Irvine, notwithstanding, caught the sound of his footsteps, and suffered all the horrors of death, under the impression that the footsteps were those of an enemy and not a friend. He was, however, speedily undeceived. Proctor bound up his wounds, and relieving his burning thirst by a supply of water from a contiguous branch, mounted him on horseback, and placing one of the men behind to hold him. safely conveyed him to Bryan 's station, where they arrived on the succeeding day. Col. Irvine suf- fered severely from his wounds, and did not fully recover his health for several vears, The bullet and shot were never extracted, and he carried them with him to his grave. He died in 1820, thirty-eight years after receiving his wound.
Colonel Irvine was a man of estimable character and high standing. When Madison county was established, he was appointed clerk of the quarter session and county courts, and after the quarter session court was abolished, was made clerk of the circuit court. These offices (clerk of the county and circuit courts) he held until his death. While clerk of the former courts. and before the sepa- ration of Kentucky, he was elected to the legislature of Virginia-was a mem- ber of several conventions held at Danville, preparatory to the introduction of Kentucky into the Union, and was a member from Madison, of the convention which formed the second constitution of Kentucky. He was repeatedly elected an elector of president and vice-president of the United States. No man had a stronger hold upon the affections of the people, and but few have gone to the grave more generally lamented.
Col. JOHN SPEED SMITH, for forty years one of the leading lawyers and most prominent public men in eastern Kentucky, was a native of Jessamine co., Ky., born ; settled in Richmond when its bar was one of the ablest in the country, with Martin D. Hardin at its head, and rapidly rose to prominence ; represented Madison county in the Ky. house of representatives, 1819, '27, '30, '39, '41, and '45, and in the senate, 1846-50; was speaker of the former body, 1827; a representative in congress during Monroe's admin- istration, 1821-23; appointed, by President J. Q. Adams, secretary of lega- tion to the U. S. mission, sent to the South American congress which was to assemble at Tacubaya ; appointed, by President Jackson, U. S. attorney for the district of Kentucky; appointed by the Ky. legislature, Jan. 5, 1839, as joint commissioner with Ex-Gov. James T. Morehead, to visit the Ohio legis- lature, and solicit the passage of laws to prevent evil-disposed persons in that state from enticing away, or assisting in the escape of, slaves from Kentucky, and to provide more efficient means for recapturing fugitive slaves by their masters or agents-which mission was entirely and handsomely successful. In the campaign of 1813, in the war with England and her Indian allies, he served as aid-de-camp to Gen. Harrison, and proved himself a brave and vigilant officer.
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A Little Girl dreamed that a ladder was let down from heaven, and she went up on it. Several hours after telling her dream. she and three other children, little boys, went into the valley near the new Estill's station (2 miles s. E of the old Estill's station, and 5 miles from Richmond), after hickory nuts. They were surprised by Indians and captured. The little girl was killed, but the boys were carried off, and afterwards rescued or returned.
Richmond is on the Town fork of Dreaming creek, a branch of Otter creek, just 13 miles from the site of the old fort at Boonesborough, by the meanders of Dreaming and Otter creeks-as surveyed, Dec. 1, 1812, by Maj. John Crooke, surveyor of Madison county. By an air-line, the distance between those points is just 275 yards over 10 miles. The Town fork was so named, "owing to an old Indian town [pre-historic] near where the Court House now stands "-so says the deposition of Archibald Woods, Sen., Aug. 27, 1814.
For biographical sketches of citizens of Madison county, see as follows: Col. Daniel Boone, under Boone co. ; Squire Boone, under Shelby co. ; Col. Richard Callaway, under Calloway co. ; Gen. Green Clay, under Clav co .; Capt. James Estill and Rev. Joseph Proctor, under Estill co. ; Col. Richard Henderson, under Henderson co .; Gen. Martin D. Hardin, under Washing- ton co .; and Rev. John H. Brown, D.D., under the sketch of the Presbyterian church.
SAMUEL ESTILL, a younger brother of Capt. James Estill, and celebrated . as an Indian fighter, was born in Virginia, Sept. 10, 1755, came to Boones- borough in the winter of 1778-9, and in the spring of 1781 to his brother's (Estill) station. He lived to be an old man, quite as remarkable for his size as in early life for his active bravery. It took a side of leather to make him a pair of boots. When he joined the Baptist church and was immersed, it required the strength and assistance of 12 men to baptize him, seated in a chair. His weight at death was 412 pounds.
Judge DANIEL BRECK was born in Topsfield, Mass., Feb. 12, 1788, and died at Richmond, Ky., Feb. 4, 1871-aged 83. His father, Rev. Daniel Breck, was a chaplain in the war of the Revolution, and as such was with Montgom- ery and Arnold in the assault upon Quebec, and wintered with the army in Canada; was afterwards pastor first in Massachusetts, then in Vermont, and lived to be nearly 100 years of age. The son, after many struggles in obtain- ing his education, alternately teaching and attending school, graduated in 1812 at Darmouth college, and out of a large and brilliant class was selected to deliver the Philosophical Oration. He came to Richmond, Ky., Dec., 1814, and began the practice of law, rapidly achieving success and fame, as one of the ablest lawyers in the state; was chosen a representative in the Ky. legis- lature in 1824, '25, '26, '27, and '34-during which he originated the system of internal improvements, the Northern Bank, and other important measures; was appointed to the court of appeals bench, April 7, 1843, retiring in 1849 to run for congress, where he served two years, 1849-51, the intimate friend and counselor there, in the memorable struggle over the Compromise Meas- ures, and through life, of Henry Clay and John J. Crittenden, and enjoying also the contidence and highest regard of Daniel Webster. He is pronounced by the profession one of the profoundest and most learned of the court of ap- peals bench. His death was noticed in a special message to the legislature, of marked appropriateness and discrimination, by Gov. Stevenson-his last act before retiring from the gubernatorial chair; and in eloquent addresses in the Ky. senate and house of representatives. In private life, he was em- inently active and useful ; he was exempted from the infirmities of age; his history at length would be a history of Madison county-from his intimate connection with its courts, its schools, its banks, its roads, its politics, and every other interest. He had singular self-reliance, balance, evenness of temper, and tenacity of purpose. In learning and mental discipline, he was equaled by few of the public men of his day ; in great practical wisdom and almost unerring judgment, surpassed by none. He was a firm believer in the Christian religion, and died established in its hopes. He was married in
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1819 to Miss Jane B. Todd, a daughter of Gen. Levi Todd, of Fayette county, one of the early pioneers of Kentucky, and one of the founders of Lexington in 1779.
Gen. CASSIUS MARCELLUS CLAY, son of Gen. Green Clay, was born in Madi- son co., Ky., Oct. 19, 1810; a graduate of Yale college, and a lawyer by profession ; elected to the Kentucky legislature from his native county. in 1835, and again in 1837 ; removed to Fayette county, which he represented in the legislature in 1840, but was defeated at the next election on account of his anti-slavery views. In 1844, he canvassed the Northern states and denounced the annexation of Texas as a scheme for the extension of slavery.
In 1845, he established at Lexington a paper, The True American, in the interest of the abolition or anti-slavery party. His indiscreet and violent" articles aroused the indignation of the community, which in a public meeting resolved on its suppression by forcible means if necessary, and advised Mr. Clay of this action. He returned a defiant answer, armed his office, and declared he would defend it until he perished. Fortunately for both parties he was prostrated by an attack of brain fever, and the people packed up his type and presses and removed them to Cincinnati. On his recovery, he re- sumed the publication of his paper in that city, and subsequently at Louis- ville, and circulated it in Kentucky without further molestation.
In 1846, while in command of a company of cavalry in the Mexican war, . he was captured and held a prisoner for several months. On his return home he was presented by his fellow citizens with a sword in honor of his services. He continued his labors in the anti-slavery cause, and offered as a candidate for governor in 1851. His canvass of the state was extremely perilous, for the people were deeply incensed against the Abolitionists, but he passed unharmed through the ordeal. He received 3,621 votes, drawn from the Whig party, which defeated their candidate for governor ; L. W. Powell, Democrat, being chosen by only 850 majority, while for lieutenant governor John B. Thompson, Whig, had 6,145 majority. In the late civil war, Mr. Clay espoused the Union cause, and was commissioned major general in that service ; but pending its acceptance, he was appointed by Mr. Lincoln, in 1862, minister to Russia, where he remained until 1869. Mr. Clay's political views are now what are termed Conservative or Liberal Republican, in con- tradistinction or opposition to those who are supporters of President Grant's administration.
CHRISTOPHER CARSON, generally known as Kit Carson, the most famous mountaineer, trapper, and guide of the last third of a century, was a native of Madison co., Ky., born on Tate's creek, Dec. 24, 1809, and died at Fort Lynn, Colorado, May 23, 1868-aged 58. Col. Wm. Rodes, of Richmond (still living, 1873), remembers seeing Kit on horseback behind his mother, as his father, Lindsay Carson, and family started on their tour of emigration to the then Far West, now Howard co., Mo. At 17, young Carson joined a hunting expedition, which gave him a taste for wild life on the plains he never could change ; he was for 8 years a trapper, for 8 years more hunter for Bent's fort, then guide in the celebrated explorations of Lieutenant (after- wards Republican candidate for U. S. president in 1856, and in the Civil war a major general) John C. Fremont; lieutenant in rifle corps, U. S. army, 1847 ; U. S. Indian agent in New Mexico, 1853; in the Federal army, during the Civil war, rose to be colonel, then brevet brigadier general; and in 1865 resumed his Indian agency. He was one of the pioneers of the wool trade of California, in 1853 drove across the plains 6,500 sheep-an enter- prise of great hazard and immense results. He was remarkable as a judge of Indian character, and for his influence with and control over the Indians ; and to the day of his death, was noted for his modesty.
JAMES MADISON, the fourth president of the United States, in honor of whom this county received its name, was born in Port Royal, a town on the south side of the Rappahannock, in Virginia, on March 5, 1751. The house of his
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parents, however, was in Orange county, where he always resided. Mr. Madi- son received the very best education the country afforded, having graduated at Princeton college, during the presidency of the celebrated Dr. Witherspoon. Upon leaving college, he studied law, not, however, with a view of making it a profession. In 1776 he was elected to the legislature of Virginia. At the suc- ceeding county election he was not returned, but when the legislature assembled he was appointed a member of the council of State, which place he held until he was elected to Congress in 1779. Whilst a member of the council of State, he formed an intimate friendship with Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson, which was never afterwards interrupted. He continued in Congress from 1780 till the expiration of the allowed term computed from the ratification of the articles of confederation in 1781. During the years 1780-81-S2-83, he was a leading, ac- tive and influential member of that body, and filled a prominent part in all its deliberations. In the years 1784-85-86, he was elected a delegate to the State legislature. In 1786 he was a member of the convention at Annapo- lis, which assembled preliminary to the convention at Philadelphia, which formed the federal constitution. Of the latter convention he was also a member, and assisted to frame the present constitution of the United States. He continued a member of the old Congress by re-appointment until its expiration in 1786. On the adoption of the constitution, he was elected to Congress from his district, and continued a member from 1789 till 1797. He was the author of the celebrated resolution against the alien and sedition laws passed by the Virginia legislature in 1798. When Mr. Jefferson was elected president in 1801, he appointed Mr. Madison secretary of state, in which office he continued during the eight years of Jefferson's administration. In 1809, on the retirement of Mr. Jefferson, he was elected president, and administered the government during a period of eight years. At about sixty years of age, he retired from public life, and ever after- wards resided on his estate in Virginia, except about two months, while at Rich- mond as a member of the convention in 1829, which sat there to remould the con- stitution of the State. His farm, his books, his friends, and his correspondence, were the sources of his enjoyment and occupation during the twenty years of his retirement. On the 28th of June, 1836, he died, as serene, philosophical and calm in the last moments of his existence as he had been in all the trying occa- sions of life. When they received intelligence of his death, the Congress of the United States adopted a resolution appointing a public oration to commemorate his life, and selected the Hon. John Q. Adams to deliver it.
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