Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 91

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 91

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

561

MASON COUNTY.

" head " or title of "The Eagle" was cast shortly after the siege of Fort Meigs, in that fort, by a printer-soldier named Rogle, who presented it to his fellow-soldier, Richard Corwine, one of its publishers-so we were told, in 1872, by Elias P'. Hudnut, another fellow-soldier from Maysville.

The Monitor was published by Win. Tanner until about 1839, then by Richard H. Stanton for several years, and finally for a short time by Basil D. Crookshanks. Judge Stanton (member of congress, 1849-55, and now circuit judge of the Mason district, 1868-74) was its editor for about three- fourths of its existence. He has been, ever since, a frequent and at times a regular writer for the Democratic press at Maysville, of marked versatility and vigor, finding recreation in it from the graver labors of the bar and the bench. 1

Besides those already mentioned, Mason county has numbered among her citizens a long roll of editors and of writers for the press. Among those of greatest brilliancy and power were : Col. James C Pickett, of the Eagle in 1815, and of the Washington city Globe about 1855-60 (see biographical sketch); John Biekley, of the Lexington Kentucky Gazette, 1814; Col. Wm. Henry MeCardle, of the Maysville Whig Advocate, 1838, and of the Vicks- burg Whig and New Orleans Delta, 1839-60; Win. Musgrove, of the Lexington (Mo.) Express, 1845-55 ; Henry Waller, of the Eagle, 1838 (repre- sentative from Mason county in the Kentucky legislature, 1845 and 1846, and now a leading member of the Chicago bar) ; Elijah C. Phister, for the Eagle, in 1849 (see biographical sketch) ; Win. P. Conwell, of the Post Boy in 1850, for the Eagle in 1853-54, and the Cincinnati Daily Commercial in 1855-56 (one of the very ablest writers and chancery-lawyers of his day, but, like many of Kentucky's most promising young men, the victim of an appetite which sapped his energy and usefulness) ; John D. Taylor, of the Western Star, 1843-44, Post Boy, 1850-51, and for several other papers (a delegate to the convention which formed the present constitution of Ken- tucky, 1849-50, and member of the state senate, 1851-53 ; died April 4, 1871, aged 67) ; Col. Thos. B. Stevenson, of the Eagle, 1850-53. and previously of the Franklin Farmer, Frankfort Commonwealth, Cincinnati Atlas, and Cin- cinnati Chronicle, and for several other papers (a speaker and writer of singular fluency, vigor, and power, was president of the Maysville and Big Sandy railroad company, 1852-54, and appointed by President Buchanan U. S. associate judge for the territory of New Mexico, March, 1858. but de- clined; died in 1863, aged 60); Richard Henry Lee, of the Eagle, 1828-30. and leading editor of the Cincinnati Daily Commercial, 1855-57, up to the time ot his death (representative in Kentucky legislature, 1832, and for several years mayor, of the city of Maysville) ; Henry B. Brown, of the Eagle, May, 1842-45 (aite:ward representative in the Ohio legislature from Cinein- nati, and prosecuting attorney of that city); Walter N. Haldeman, of the Louisville Dime, Mirning Courier, and Courier-Journal (the most enterpris- ing and successful of all Kentucky publishers-see biographical sketch under Jefferson county ) ; Chas. D. Kirk, of the Post Boy, reporter and war corre- spondent for the Louisville Courier and other papers, and editor of the Louis- ville Duily Sun, for several years, up to his sudden death on the street in that city, Feb., 1870; Jos. Sprigg Chambers, founder of the Herald, 1847-50; Thos. M. Green, of the Frankfort Commonwealth, 1857-60, and Eagle, 1860-73 (an able speaker and writer, elector for Seymour and Blair, 1868, and un- successful candidate for congress, 1866); Maj. Henry T. Stanton, of the Express, 1857-58, and Bulletin, 1868-70 (author of " The Moneyless Man," " Fallen," and other beautiful poems, published in oue volume, at Baltimore, 1870) ; Dr. Thos. E. Pickett, for the Eagle, 1870, of the Evansville ( Indiana) Courier, 1871, and Lexington Observer and Reporter, 1871-72.

But the list is too formidable to enumerate them so much in detail, or re- peat any maines already mentioned. Of ministers of the Gospel, former residents of Mason county, who have been editors, are-Rev. John T. Elgar, D. D., of the American Presbyterian, Nashville, 1542-18; Rev. Wm. L. Breck- inridge, D. D., of the Louisville Presbyterian Herald, 1838-45; Bishop Hlub- bard H. Kavanaugh, of a Temperance paper at Maysville, 1841-43; Elder Jos. D. Pickett, of two papers, 1811 ; and Rev. Henry M. Soudder, for the II ... 36

562

MASON COUNTY.

Eagle, 1854. Of physicians, besides Dr. Pickett, Dr. Daniel Drake and Dr. Leonidas M. Lawson, of medical magazines, Dr. Richard G. Dobyns, for the Eagle, Dr. Wm. H. MeGranaghan, of a Virginia paper, and Dr. Samuel L. Marshall, of the Express. Of lawyers, who have been writers for a cam- paign or editors for less than three years-Judge Geo. Collings, of the Tip- pecanoe Banner, 1840; ex-Lieut. Gov. John F. Fisk, of the Henry Clay Bugle, 1844; Jas. P. Metcalfe, of the Frankfort Yeoman, 1850; John L. Scott, of the Washington (Ohio) Era, 1848-49; Sam. J. Rea, for several Maysville papers, and of the Philadelphia Daily Times, 1855-57; L. A. Welch, of the Bulletin and other papers, 1869-71. To these are to be added :- Amos and Samuel L. Corwine, of the Yazoo (Miss.) Banner, 1838-42, and Cincinnati Chronicle, 1842-19; Wm. Glenn, of the Flemingsburg Messenger, 1849-51, and Petersburg ( Il.) Bugle, 1852-56 ; Col. Thos. C. Hunt, of the Natchitoches (La.) Chronicle, 1843-56 (member of the Louisiana legislature); Robert McKee, of the Express, 1856, Louisville Democrat, 1856-60, and Selma (Ala.) Times; Win. T. Tillinghast, of the Express, 1853, and the Cincinnati Insur- ance Chronicle, 1869-73; Capt. Lewis Gordon Jenkins, of the Ripley Bee, 1848-55; Col. Samuel J. Hill, of the Express, Watchman, Daily Ledger, and Carlisle Ledger, 1852-60; Wm. H. McKinnie, of a Flemingsburg paper, 1844, and Uniontown Gazette, 1869-73; Col. John B. Herndon, Frankfort correspondent of Louisville Courier, 1855, and corresponding editor of Eagle, 1858-59; Win. H. Purnell, on Louisville Journal staff, 1857-59; Geo. For- rester, of Express, 1830-62 ; Alex. Cummins, of Uniontown Gazette, 1867-69; Jno. Scudder, of Carlisle Mercury, 1870-73; Clarence L. Stanton, of Bul- letin, 1872-73; and Wm. D. Hixson, reporter or local for Post Boy, Watchman, Ledger, 1850-55, Eagle, 1855-56 (author of "History of Maysville and Mason County," to be published in fall of 1873).

Of all these, Col. Samuel Pike is the veteran ; has been at once the busiest and most enterprising, and the least permanent; has seldom been out of the editorial harness since 1832, now 41 years, and has published scarcely less than 40 different papers-in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, and last at Huntington, West Virginia; is a partisan writer of remarkable vigor, not much elegance, but a model of industry and labor. Wm. Tanner, editor in 1827 of the Harrodsburg Central Watchtower, of several other papers, of the Maysville Monitor, 1830-39, and Frankfort Yeoman, 1841-51, while a decided partisan editor, was a man of remarkable gentleness and quiet. His old friend Amos Kendall employed his versatile powers in connection with telegraph extension, which he found far more profitable and congenial than the harassments and hard knocks of editorial life.

Harmar's Expedition .- At the request of Brig. Gen. James Wilkinson, in letter of April 7, 1790, Brig. Gen. Josiah Harmar, on the 18th of that month, at the head of 100 regular troops and about 230 Kentucky volunteers under command of Gen. (afterwards governor) Charles Scott, marched from Lime- stone (Maysville), by a circuitous route, to the Scioto river, some miles above its mouth, then down to the Ohio-hoping to enclose and crush out a band of villainous Indians, who had been systematically and successfully harassing every passing emigrant boat, sometimes capturing or killing the entire crew. 'The attacking party was too large to move as secretly and rapidly as was necessary, and the savages escaped from the trap. Only four were discovered, pursued, and killed, and their scalps brought into Limestone, by a small de- tachment of the militia .*

Daniel Boone, the great pioneer, was a resident of Maysville in Sept., 178S, as early as 1787, and probably in the summer of 1786. A deed, still partly legible, among the burnt records of Fayette county, shows that he and his wite were in (now West) Virginia, near the mouth of the Big Kanawha, ou April 28, 1786. How late he remained at Maysville is not known. Depo- sitions show that he was in northern Kentucky in 1795; and Rev. Thos. S. Hinde saw him, in Oct., 1797, on pack-horses, take up his journey for Mis- souri, then Upper Louisiana. f In 1782, he and Levi Davis, Robert Forbes, John Gray, and John Angus MeDonald were together at May's Lick. In

# Dillon's History of Indiana, pages 240-2.

1 American Pioneer, vol. i, page 327.

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MASON COUNTY.

Oct. or Nov., 1782, he was at Limestone (Maysville), in company with Wm. Hoy, Flanders Callaway (his son-in-law), Win. Cradlebaugh, Peter Harget, and others, and then examined the land around, and talked of settling there. That company went to Lawrence creek, and then to Bracken creek, where Boone showed them his name carved in 1776, on a tree near its banks. Simon Kenton was with Daniel Boone, Ignatius Mitchell, and Mr. Hunter, on Lawrence creek in 1776; and again in 1778, with Boone, Alex. Barnett and 16 others .*

In Oct., 1780, immediately after Edward Boone (Daniel's brother) was killed by Indians on Grassy lick, in the N. E. part of Bourbon county, a party of 60 men from five stations, under Capt. Chas. Gatliffe, with James Ray second in command, went in pursuit-among them Daniel Boone himself, his son Israel Boone, Jacob Stucker, Peter Sholl, Israel Grant, James MeIntire, and -. Strode, passed through the eastern portion of Mason county, until the advance traced the Indians across the Ohio river, just below the mouth of Cabin creek. They returned by way of Mayslick, and at the Lower Blue Licks scattered to their several stations.

The First Surveying in Mason county, in 1773, 1775, and 1776, did not require protection from the Indians, for they were not upon the war-path in those years. But in 1780 to 1784 they were more or less troublesome, and the surveying was done in a military manner. The hunters went in advance as spies; the surveyors, chain-carriers, and marker-men followed in line, while the man who cooked for the company, preceded by the pack-horse, brought up the rear, and acted as rear-guard. Every man carried his own baggage, and his arms-consisting of a rifle, tomahawk, and scalping-knife. They seldom carried provisions, their rifles generally affording them an abundant supply of game.

Mayslick has a history ; but still more of it is unwritten than of Washington or Maysville. Gen. Levi Todd, of Lexington, deposed in 1804 that " from 1779 to that day, Mays' Lick has been a place of much note ; it was for some years oftener called May's Spring, after the large spring between 50 and 100 yards from the town, near the road side. Robert McMillin deposed, Oct. 15, 1804, that " Mays' Lick or May's Spring was, in early day, one of the finest places on the north side of Licking, and as such much talked of; it lay on the buffalo road leading out from Limestone to the Lower Blue Licks and was much noted as a camping ground, and also noted as being troubled with Indians."

The first definite mention of Mayslick by name, so as certainly to identify the spot, is in a deposition of Col. Robert Patterson (one of the founders of . Lexington), taken Oct. 19, 1818. He says that in Nov., 1775, he and David Perry, Wm. McConnell, and Stephen Lowry, on their way from Pennsylvania . to Leestown, on the Kentucky river, one mile below Frankfort, entered Ken- tucky at the mouth of Salt Lick creek in now Lewis county, followed up that stream and its west fork, then across Cabin creek, to the Stone Lick where Orangeburg now is, thence to Mayslick where they struck the buffalo trace leading from Limestone to the Lower Blue Licks, etc. It is probable that Simon Kenton, Thos. Williams, John Smith, James Harrod, and other old hunters had previously been to May's Spring; but they do not mention it defi- nitely in any depositions the author has seen, although they traveled from either the mouth of Cabin creek or Limestone to the Lower Blue Licks. They were certainly there, not long afterward; as were Daniel Boone and others in 1776, and the 30 men who went after the powder in Jan., 1777 (see descrip tion and names under Lewis county).

Just when it took the name of May's Lick or Spring is not known. John May, one of the original owners by patent of the land at Maysville (who was killed by Indians on a boat descending the Ohio, March 20, 1790,f) was the original owner. His agent and attorney, the celebrated JJudge Harry Innes, of Frankfort, in the Kentucky Gazette of March 22, 1788, advertised " for sale,

* Depositions of Levi Davis ; Peter Harget, April 30, 1814, and Simon Kenton, Aug. 15, 1814.

t Charles Johnston's Narrative of his own Capture, p. 15. Also, this work, p. 570.

الر.

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564

MASON COUNTY.

a tract of land containing 1,400 acres on the waters of the North Fork of Licking, lying on the road from Limestone to the Lower Blue Lieks-being May's settlement and pre-emption, and includes May's Lick; I will warrant the title." The purchasers of this land were the first settlers of Mayslick, and gave it its name. They were three brothers, Abraham, Cornelius, and Isaac Drake (sons of Nathaniel Drake, of Plainfield, Essex county, New Jersey ), David Morris, and John Shotwell, with their families. David Morris' wife was a sister of Shotwell, and Isaac Drake's wife and her grown sister, Miss Lydia, their cousins (daughters of Benj. Shotwell). Isaac Drake had two children, Daniel (afterwards the celebrated Dr. Daniel Drake) then 2} years old, and Elizabeth, a babe in arms (afterwards Mrs. Glenn). They came together by boat, landing, June 10, 1788, at " The Point" (Maysville), which consisted of a few cabins only, where they remained a few days ; thence to Washington, which was " something of a village of log cabins ;" thence, in the fall, to their new purchase and future home. The Drakes built three cabins on the north side of the little brook which crossed the road, and the land was so divided that every subdivision had an angle or corner in the salt lick. Before winter the five cabins were finished, each one story high, with port-holes and a strong bar across the door, clapboard roof, puncheon floor, and a wooden chimney .*

In the spring of 1790, a body of travelers, sitting around their camp-fire, a mile north of Mayslick, were fired upon by Indians, and one man killed. The presence of mind of a woman saved the party ; with an axe, she broke open a chest in one of the wagons, got out the ammunition and distributed it to the men, calling on them to put out the camp-fires and fight. This they did with a will, excepting one young married man, who, in his fright, ran off to the village and left his wife behind him. The Indians soon retreated. t

In 1791, Miss Lydia Shotwell was married (the first marriage in Mayslick)- a number of friends from Washington and others coming to the wedding armed. During the wedding, an alarm was given-of an Indian attack on a wagon, 5 miles out on the road to Lexington. The armed men mounted their horses and galloped off rapidly to the seene. It proved to be a false alarm-the first wedding " sell" in Mason county, and rather serious to be appreciated.

The First School in Mayslick was taught by a Scotchman named McQuilty, in 1789 or 1790; who was succeeded by another Scotchman, named Wallace, in 1791-92; and he by a Baptist preacher, Rev. Hiram Miram Curry, in 1792-94. Dilworth's spelling-book, an old English production, was the first book in each.

Mayslick and neighborhood increased rapidly in population-the families of Lawson (father of Dr. Leonidas M. Lawson), Johnson, Waller, Dougherty, Threlkeld, Bassett, Mitchell, Glover, MeLean (father of Justice John McLean, of the U. S. Supreme court), Desha (afterwards governor), Dye, Hixson, Caldwell, and others, moving in. The Shotwells, Shreves, and other old and influential families of Louisville, emigrated there from Mayslick. As the first settlers were all Baptists, the first church was built by that denomination, but their first place of worship was Deacon David Morris' barn.

The First Merchant of Mayslick was Cornelius Drake, who also had the first still house in that region. The first tavern-keepers were two others of the first five settlers-David Morris and John Shotwell.

The First Teacher at Washington whose name has been preserved, was John Winn, in 1792-93.

Edmund Phillips, in Feb., 1785, came to Maysville, where and at Waring's station he lived, that summer.t He brought out to Kentucky his father, Moses Phillips, with his wife (a daughter of Francis MeDermid), their sons, Johu, Gabriel, and Moses, and sons-in-law, Peter and Wm. Byram, and Clement Theobalds, their wives, and a family of negroes; after living awhile at Bryan's station, they settled at Lee's station. In the summer of 1787, the three brothers, with three of the negroes, engaged at work in the field, were fired upon by Indians, concealed in the tall corn; Moses was killed, John

* Letters of Dr. Daniel Drake to his Children, pp. 3-15.

# Deposition, Aug., 1820.

t Same, page 23.

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MASON COUNTY.

badly wounded, and the negroes captured. In a few hours, a party of whites pursued them across the Ohio at Logan's gap, 6 miles below Maysville, and came up with the young negro man Bob, weltering in his blood-tomahawked because of his resistance. Further pursuit was fruitless. Some years after, the other negroes, Isaac and Sarah, were recovered from captivity.

The Last Survivor of the First Settlement of Mason county was Mrs. Elizabeth Ellis, widow of Esq. James Ellis, of Washington, who died of cholera, June 6, 1833. She was the daughter of Abner Overfield, born March 30, 1784, in Northampton co., Pa., and brought to Simon Kenton's station in Nov., 1784, when 7 months old .* After living there 13 years, her father removed his family to John Kenton's station, two miles distant, and lived there over a year; then, in the spring of 1787, built a large-sized log-house, with a loft, with heavy shutter to the only window, of 6 lights of 6x8 inch glass, on the Best farm about 1 mile west, where some of his descendants still live. His was the second family which settled in Mason county. A few years later he built a stone house, which was torn down in 1870 by Robert Downing, who (in 1873) owns the land; it was probably the first stone dwelling built north of the Licking river. A few weeks before her death (Oct. 3, 1871, aged 87), Mrs. Ellis described John Kenton's station to the artist who sketched it as. given, on page 000.

The First Settler with his family near Maysville and outside of the block- house, was George Mefford, in a cabin on the farm where his son John lived until his death, April 11, 1872, 2 miles due s. of Maysville. One night, when he was absent, an attempt was made by Indians to steal his horses. An old horse that had a distaste for Indians and whose seent of them was wonderfully acute, gave the alarm by loud snorting-which Mrs. Mefford, who was alone with her small children, instantly understood. She had the pres- ence of mind to build a roaring fire, which, shining through the crevices of the cabin, convinced the Indians that the house was full of men, and they scampered off immediately for fear of discovery and pursuit. The Indians continued so troublesome that they moved back to Maysville awhile ; then, with several other families, went out and built Mefford's station.

Lot Masters and Hezekiah Wood, one Sunday morning about 1790, went "out from Mefford's station, to catch the horses to ride to church. The horses had been belled, and turned out to graze on the cane. The Indians caught them, removed the bells-by ringing which, they decoyed the men away from the station, intercepted, killed, and scalped them. Being in warm weather, their bodies were found by the vultures circling about them, and buried on the spot-Wood on Lawrence creek, opposite where Young's old mill stands (1 mile w. of the Lexington turnpike), and Masters a quarter of a mile below, up a small ravine. Masters' grave is still marked by a stone, but Wood's was washed into the creek, many years ago.

The First Teacher in Maysville was Israel Donalson, who, when 23 years old, reached Limestone ou the evening of the Ist of June, 1790, on an emigrant boat-one of a fleet of 19, of which Maj. Parker, of Lexington, was admiral and pilot. The arrivals filled the public house to such an extent, that some of the new comers "could not get either food. fire, or bed, or any other nour- ishment but whiskey!" "A number of men spent the night sitting in the room, which was a grand one for those days." During the summer of 1790, and probably during the ensuing winter, Mr. Donalson taught school in Mays- ville. ; In the spring of 1791, he removed to Massie's fort or block-house, 12 miles above Linestone, where Manchester, Ohio, now stands. When out surveying, a few miles above there, he was captured by Indians, in May, 1791, adopted by them, and dressed in their uniformn-bare-headed, his hair cut close, except the sealp and foretop, which they had put up in a piece of tin, with a bunch of turkey feathers which he could not undo; they had also stripped off the feathers of two turkeys, and hung them to the hair of the sealp. He made his escape, barefoot. and reached Cincinnati, exhausted and foot-sore. When he arrived at Limestone, two months after his capture, he

* Depositions of Abner Overfield, Oct. 9, 1797, and March 14, 1805.

t American Pioneer, i, 426.

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MASON COUNTY.

had a hearty greeting from every man, woman, and child, and especially from his late scholars. He settled at Manchester, and died there in 1860, aged 93- having lived an honored and useful life; he was one of the first common pleas judges, held many public offices, and was a member of the convention which formed the first constitution of Ohio in 1802-and the last survivor of that body !

The First Frame House in Maysville was built by Charles Gallagher, on the s. E. corner of Market and Front streets (where Dr. Wm. R. Wood's drug store was for forty years). He also kept the first store in Maysville.

The First Brick House built in Mason county was by Simon Kenton, near his old station, and still stands-being part of the residence now owned by Dr. Alex. K. Marshall, and for many years owned by Thos. Wood Forman. The second was the large 2} story on w. side of Main st., Washington, owned and occupied for many years by David V. Rannells, and taken down about 1852. The next three-and there is some doubt which was prior in time- were : 1. The elegant mansion of Capt. Thos. Marshall, in Washington, now the residence of his son, Martin P. Marshall ; 2. The residence of Col. Alex. D. Orr, in Charlestown bottom, which was afterwards the residence of Judge Wm. McClung, and since of John A. Keith-burnt down about 1854, but re- built upon the same substantial walls; and 3. The store-house and residence of John Armstrong on Front street, in Maysville, burnt down several years afterward, but rebuilt-the same occupied as Lee & Rees' store, 1835-45, and as the Eagle office, 1850-54. These are the oldest brick houses north of Lex- ington, and all built about 1793-96.

The First Ferry at Maysville, authorized by law of the Mason county court, was in 1794, to Benjamin Sutton, the owner of two lots on the north or out- side of the present Front or Water street, just above the foot of the street named after him ; it was re-granted in 1801. The same court granted a ferry in 1797 to Edmund Martin (which was still operated in 1803 and later); another, in 1808, to Jacob Boone ; another, in 1818, to J. K. Ficklin, and another, in 1823, to Benj. Bayless (the last two were discontinued about 1826). Sutton sold his lots and ferry to Armstrong. Power and Campbell, who attended to the ferries granted to Boone and Martin, lived in Aberdeen, Ohio. In 1829, the court of appeals decided that the town of Maysville owned the river front, and was entitled to the ferry right .* Edmund Martin, before 1797, purchased of John May's estate all unsold lots in Maysville, and the balance of land in May's 800 acre patent, and held the ferry until 1829.

The First White Children born in Mason county, were :

1. Col. Joseph Logan, son of John Logan, in Mckinley's Block-house .... .Sept. 27, 1785

2. Mrs. Ezekiel Forman, née Dolly Wood, in Washington Dec. 14, 1786

3. John Mefford, son of Geo. Mefford, in Maysville ... . Dec. 4, 1787

4. Mrs. Joseph Morris, nee Mary Overfield, in Kenton's station. Sept. 6, 1788 5. Mrs. Emily ( Milly ) Hancock, daughter of Jacob Boone, in Maysville .... Dec. 6, 1788

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 91

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