USA > Kentucky > Trigg County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 4
USA > Kentucky > Christian County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 4
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Davis settled permanently on the place where they had built the block - house, and which is the place now owned by Mr. John H. Bell, whose father, Dr. J. F. Bell, himself quite an early settler of the county, pur- chased direct from Davis. The place is noted on the map of Christian County as having been settled in 1762, but this is either a typographical error, or a mistake on the part of the compiler of the map. Daniel Boone, to whom history accords the honor of being the first permanent settler in Kentucky, did not make his first visit to the State until 1769; hence, Montgomery. and Davis could not have been here as early as the county map indicates, and then, too, Collins says they came in 1785. But Capt. Darwin Bell, a son of Dr. Bell, states that his father learned from Davis direct, that he came here in 1782, which is probably correct. Davis and Montgomery, as we have said, built a block-house as a protection for their families against the Indians, who were then plenty, and on more than one occasion it afterward became a " House of Refuge " to the few scattered settlers, as the following incident will show: A man named Carpenter had settled near where Trenton, in Todd County, now stands. He had a small sugar camp, and was one day engaged in making sugar, when he was surprised by a band of Indians. They had stealthily ap-
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
proached and got between him and his cabin, where his family was at the time. Carpenter was sitting by the fire smoking his pipe and attending the boiling of sugar water, when he discovered the Indians, and, springing to his feet, he started for Davis' block-house, with the savages in hot pur- suit. They followed him to Montgomery Creek and then gave up the chase. During the entire race, Carpenter is said to have kept his pipe in his mouth. He made his way to the block-house and told his story. Davis, who, like most of the early frontiersmen, was skilled in Indian- fighting, gathered the few men from the little station and returned with Carpenter, fully expecting to find his cabin burned and his family mur- dered. But, contrary to their dismal forebodings, the Indians had not molested them, having, as it seems, become alarmed and retreated. The men now proposed to follow and chastise the savages, but Davis advised otherwise, stating that he knew the Indian character better than they ; that he felt sure they expected, and even desired to be followed, and would set a trap for their pursuers ; and, as a last argument against what he deemed a risky adventure, refused to accompany them. They branded him with cowardice, and disregarding his wholesome counsel, started off in pursuit of the "red skins." Davis' son, to atone for his father's ap- parent lack of courage, joined, and accompanied the party. True to the predictions of Davis, they fell into an ambuscade at Jesup's Grove, then called Croghan's Grove, and young Davis was killed and others wounded.
Davis was a fatalist, and believed that "what is to be will be" whether or no, and that it was one of the irrevocable decrees that his son should perish as he did. While he mourned for him, and deplored his untimely fate, it seemed a consoling reflection to him that it was to be, and there was no help for it. Although he built a block-house and a cabin, and, it is said, entered land, yet he paid little attention, if any, to the opening or cultivating of a farm, but spent most of his time in hunt- ing and trapping. It is told of him, that when on his way to Kentucky, he bought a dozen apples in Pittsburgh, the seeds of which he preserved. and planted on the place where he located. Mr. Bell informs us that one of these trees is still standing, and bearing fruit. A strange tradition prevails among the early settlers, that when Davis came here, he found a stone chimney standing alone on the place where he located, and evi- dences of a house having once stood by it; also a pear tree, in bearing. stood near by. The pear tree is still standing and bearing fruit, although, according to that tradition, it must be over 100 years old. The question is, who was here prior to 1782, to build houses with stone chimneys and plant pear trees? This would indicate that Davis and Montgomery were not the first white men in Christian County.
In some respects Davis is said to have been a remarkable man. Il-
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
literate he was, but less ignorant than many of the early frontiersmen. He was a pioneer in the full sense of the word, and sought the solitudes of the pathless woods, the dreariness of the desert wastes, in exchange for the trammels of civilized society. Of the latter, he could not endure its restraints, and he despised its comforts and pleasures. He yearned for freedom-the wild freedom of the great wilderness-and exiled him- self from his native place that he might fully enjoy it. He came West, crossed the mountains, and he did not burn the bridges behind him, be- cause there were none to burn. He hunted and fished, and fought the Indians in their own way and fashion, and altogether he had a lively time of it. Like Daniel Boone, he came to the wilderness, not to settle and subdue it, but to hunt the deer and bear, to roam at large and to en- joy the lonely pastimes of a hunter's life, remote from society and civili- zation. He was fond of recounting the perils and excitements of the chase to his friends and boon companions. His stories were wonderful and bordered on the marvelous, and many of them would, it is said, have done justice to Joe Mulhatton. A sample is the following : He once shot a bear, and it fell backward into a cavern twenty feet deep. In order to get it he backed up his old horse to the mouth of the cavern, fastened a grapevine around the bear's neck and the horse's tail, and though the bear weighed 400 pounds, his old horse drew it out.
Such was one of the first settlers-one of the first white men who ever came to Christian County. Such as he was he had to be to blaze out the way for those who were to come after him, and to pave the way for that higher and nobler civilization that has followed the era in which he lived. As game grew scarcer and scarcer, and population increased, he became disgusted at the encroachments of civilization, and emigrated to Missouri, then an unbroken wilderness, save by a few pioneer hunters like himself. There he lived out the remainder of his life and died at a good old age. A grandson of his-Jo Davis-is said to have attained to considerable prominence in that State, and in Northwestern Illinois ; so much so that a county of the latter State bears his name, though the spelling of it has been changed to Daviess.
The above sketch would perhaps be an extravagant drawing of the early pioneer generally; yet there is much in it that recalls a type and character of that day. Most of the first white men came here as hunters and trappers, and as such filled their mission in life and passed away. And should they now revisit the land where they flourished, and behold their "degenerate successors," with no hunting-grounds, no moccasins, no leather breeches and hunting-shirts, nor flint-lock guns, their great hearts would wither and decay like plucked flowers.
There is much of romance in the story of the first settlers of Ken-
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
tucky. The spirit of adventure allured these pioneer hunters to come into this vast wilderness. The beauty of the country gratified the eye, its abundance of wild animals the passion for hunting. They were sur- rounded by an enemy, subtle and wary, and ever ready to spring upon them. But these wild borderers flinched not from the contest ; even their women and children often performed deeds of heroism in the land where "the sound of the war-whoop oft woke the sleep of the cradle," from which stern manhood might have shrunk in fear.
Other Settlers .- A century has passed since the settlement of Davis and Montgomery, and the first influx of whites is dead and gone. In all probability, there is not an individual living in Christian County who was here at the time of its formation ; if so, they could have been little more than infants then. With the long lapse of time between then and now, and no source to draw from except the county records, it is not pos- sible to give a correct list of the settlers prior to 1800. The oldest citi- zens now living can only give the names of those whom they have heard their elders speak of, for many of the very first settlers either died or went away before they were born, or before the period back to which their recollection extends. From the records of the county, and from all other sources at command, we find that among the earliest settlers, and the peo- ple living here when the county was formed, were the following : Jacob Barnett, Moses Shelby, Jonathan and Charles Logan, James Robinson and his sons Abner, James and Green, Brewer Reeves, Hugh Knox, Jon- athan Ramsey, Benjamin Lacy, Matthew Wilson, Bartholomew Wood, Samuel Hardin, Abraham Stuart, Adam Lynn, Alexander Lewis, John Dennis, John Campbell, Samuel Means, William Armstrong, John Wil- son, John Maberry, James Thompson, Young Ewing, John Clark, Oba- diah Roberts, James Shaw, James Richey, James Henderson, John Cau- dry, Charles Hogan, Isaac Fitsworth, Michael Pirtle, Isaac Shoat, Will- iam Prince, Willis Hicks, Samuel Bradly, James Reeves, Michael Dill- ingham, George Robinson, Sr., Samuel Kinkeade, Julius Saunders, James Decon, Charles Staton, James Kerr, James Waddleton, Joseph Kuyken- dall, Robert Cravens, Capt. Harry Wood, George Bell, Peter Carpenter, Henry Wortman, James Kuykendall, Abraham Hicks, Henry Clark, James Lewis, David Smith, James Elliott, John Roberts, George, Benja- min and Joab Hardin, Francis Leofftus, Peter and John Shaffer, Benja- min Campbell, Thomas Vaughn, James Lockard, William Stroud, Sr., Edward Taylor, Henry Wolf, William Means, Levi Cornelius, John Mc- Daniel, Neil and Sandy Blue, " Hal " Brewer, Justinian Cartwright, Azariah Davis, William and Benjamin Dupuy, Joseph Cavender, Robert Warner, Edward Davis, John Wilcoxon, etc., etc. Little is known of the great majority of these people; of many of them absolutely nothing is
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
known, except, as shown by the records, they were here prior to 1800, and where most of them lived no one knows. Some may have lived in the present County of Henderson, and some beyond the Cumberland River, for Christian County originally was large, and its boundaries far beyond what they are now. They have all passed away, and of the many no trace exists except their names inscribed in the old faded, musty rec- ords.
James Robinson .- But little is known, as we have said, of the ma- jority of those whose names we have mentioned, and of many of them nothing. But of the few of whom we have gathered some facts is James Robinson. It is not improbable that he was here next after Davis and Montgomery. If not, there could have been but few here between them, as it is a family tradition that he came as early as 1788. He was from North Carolina, and was a revolutionary soldier ; entered the army at the beginning of the struggle, and carried his musket-and used it, too- until the sons of liberty conquered a peace before the walls of Yorktown. He returned home to find his wife dead, and his family scattered, and ever after may be termed a wanderer in the wilderness. The dark and bloody ground, as Kentucky was even then known, was attracting attention, and he wandered hither. He spent some time in the fort at Boonesboro, but, ever restless, he resumed his wanderings, and came to what is now Chris- tian County, and built a cabin in the present Precinct of Wilson. Here he remained about a year, and returned to North Carolina, gathered up the scattered members of his family, and brought them to Kentucky. His sons who came here were Abner, James and Green. The first died in Wilson Precinct, where he settled; James commanded a regiment under Gen. Jackson in the battle of New Orleans, was the Captain of the Regulators spoken of elsewhere in this volume, and also died in Wilson Precinct. Green, the youngest of the brothers, was killed in the Black Hawk war. No braver and more valiant soldiers ever fought for their country than the old revolutionary hero, James Robinson, and his sons. Some years after he brought his family here, he went to Tennessee, and eventually died at Port Royal. In the chapter on Wilson Precinct, much more will be said of the Robinsons. They were men of note, and their footprints may still be seen in the community where they lived, and where descendants still perpetuate a name that should not be forgotten.
Many of the people mentioned above will be further noticed in subse- quent chapters of this work, together with the names of other settlers. This brief glance at the pioneers is merely to show the occupation of the country prior to the organization of the county, and as we proceed we shall refer more fully to them. A few words of their life in the wilder- ness, and we will turn our attention to the formation of the county and its legal life.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Hardships and Privations .- Prior to 1800, Christian County was a vast waste, with only here and there meager settlements of hardy pion- eers. Much of the county was an unbroken stretch of barrens or prairie land, inhabited by wild animals, the settlements being confined to the timber. These pioneers came here, they knew not why, and at once seemed to realize that to look behind them with regret was useless. Fig- uratively, they had put their hand to the plow, and looked not back.
The rifle and the fish-hook antedated the grater and the rude hand- mill in supplying food. The question of bread, after the first coming of a family, until they could clear ground to raise their home supply, was often a serious one indeed. Corn was the staple production, but even after it was raised there were no mills to grind it, and this made the grater a useful article in every household. Wheat was not grown for a number of years, as there were neither mills nor markets for it. Many of the earliest settlers squatted in the north part of the county, among the hills and the springs and the timber. The ground was light and fresh, and, while not so rich as in the barrens, yet, when the undergrowth of the forests was removed, and the large trees deadened, the cultivation of the ground was an easy matter. Believing the barrens would never be worth anything, except for pasturage, the good old pioneers from North Carolina sought the hills of the North, as we have said, where flowed per- ennial springs, and grew towering forest trees,
"in whose tops
The century-living crow grew old and died."
The difficulties encountered here by the first settlers were very great. They were in a wilderness remote from any cultivated region, and ammu- nition, food, clothing and implements of industry were obtained with great difficulty. Then the merciless savage was not very far distant, and although, as a general thing, peaceable and friendly, it was in their nature to accept the slightest pretext for putting on the war-paint, the tomahawk and the scalping-knife. These threatened difficulties only increased danger, toil and suffering.for the few and widely separated fami- lies. The accumulated dangers drew the people nearer together, and they lived in a state of comparative social equality. Aristocratic distinctions were left beyond the mountains, and the first society lines drawn were to separate the very bad from the general mass. No punctilious formalities marred their gatherings for "raisings " and "log-rollings," but all were happy and enjoyed themselves in seeing others happy. The rich and the poor dressed alike, the men wearing mostly hunting shirts and pants of buckskin, while the ladies attired themselves in coarse fabrics produced by their own hands.
But in this primitive state, and with all these difficulties surrounding
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
them, and the hardships incident to a new country, the propriety of form- ing a new county began to be debated among the people. Toward the close of the year 1796, the contemplated project became a reality.
Organization of the County .- It seems almost incredible to us now that little more than a hundred years ago Kentucky, with her 37,680 square miles and her 117 counties, formed but a part of an individual county ; yet such is a fact of history. In 1775, when the original thir- teen colonies revolted, and cast off the yoke of the mother country, the territory now embraced in the State of Kentucky constituted a part of Fincastle County, Va., which, on the 31st of December, 1776, was divided into three counties, and of which Kentucky formed one county of the Old Dominion. In 1781, Kentucky County was divided by an act of the General Assembly of Virginia into three counties, viz. : Jefferson, Fayette and Lincoln. Jefferson embraced "that part on the south side of Kentucky River which lies west and north of a line beginning at the mouth of Benson's Big Creek, and running up the same and its main fork to the head; thence south to the nearest waters of Hammond's Creek and down the same to its junction with the Town Fork of Salt River ; thence south to Green River, and down the same to its junction with the Ohio." Fayette embraced "that part which lies north of the line beginning at the mouth of Kentucky River, and up the same to its middle fork to the head; and thence southeast to the Washington line." (The present State of Tennessee was then known as the "District of Washington," and was represented by deputies chosen by the Colonial Assembly of North Caro- lina.) "Lincoln embraced the residue of the original county of Ken- tucky."
By an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, passed in October, 1784, Jefferson County was divided, and that portion south of Salt River was formed into an independent county, and called Nelson. An act passed May 1, 1785, divided Fayette, calling the northern part Bour- bon, and another act passed August 1, of the same year sub-divided Lin- coln, creating Mercer and Madison Counties. May 1, 1788, Mason County was formed out of a part of Bourbon, and Woodford out of a part of Fayette, thereby making four counties out of the original Fayette, two out of Jefferson and three out of Lincoln. These nine counties com- prised the Commonwealth of Kentucky at the time of its admission into the Union as a State, June 1, 1792.
Washington was the first-born of the new State, and was formed out of a part of Nelson the same year (1792) the State was admitted. Also during the same year Scott was formed from a part of Woodford; Shelby from a part of Jefferson ; Logan from a part of Lincoln ; Clark from portions of Lincoln and Nelson ; Harrison was formed in 1793 from
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
portions of Bourbon and Scott; Franklin in 1794 from portions of Woodford, Mercer and Shelby, and Campbell from portions of Harrison, Scott and Mason. Bullitt was formed in 1796 from portions of Jefferson and Nelson, and the same year Christian was formed from a part of Logan, and was, therefore, the twenty-first county organized in the State. Christian traces her origin, ancestrally speaking, back to Lincoln, one of the three original counties, being a daughter of Logan, and a grand- daughter of Lincoln.
The act of the Legislature for the formation of Christian County, en- titled, "An act for the division of Logan County," is as follows :
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That from and after the 1st day of March next, the county of Logan shall be divided into two distinct counties, that is to say, all that part of the said county included in the following boundaries, to wit : Be- ginning on Green River, eight miles below the mouth of Muddy River ; thence a straight line to one mile west of Benjamin Hardin's; thence a straight line to the Tennessee State line, where it crosses the Elk Fork ; thence along the said line to the Mississippi River ; thence up the same to the mouth of the Ohio, and up the same to the mouth of Green River ; thence up the same to the beginning, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Christian, and all the residue of the said county shall retain the name of Logan.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the courts of Quarter Sessions for said county shall be held on the third Monday in February, April, June and September in every year, and the County Courts of said county shall be held on the third Monday of every month in which the Court of Quarter Sessions is not hereby directed to be held.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the Justices to be named in the commission of the peace for said county of Christian, shall meet at the house of Brewer Reeves, in said county, upon the first court day after the said division shall have taken place ; and hav- ing taken the oaths prescribed by law, and the Sheriff being legally qualified, shall then proceed to fix upon a place to hold courts in the said county, in such place as shall be deemed the most central and convenient for the people ; and thereafter the County Court shall proceed to erect public buildings at such place ; and until such buildings are com- pleted, the Court of Quarter Sessions and County Court may adjourn to such place or places as they may severally think proper.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the Justices of the Court of Quarter Sessions at their first session, and the Justices of the County Court at their first court, shall proceed to appoint and qualify their clerks: Provided, however, that the appointment of a place to erect the public buildings shall not be made unless a majority of the Justices of the county concur ; nor of a clerk unless a majority of the Justices of the court for which he is to be appointed concur ; but such appointment shall be postponed until such majority can be had ; but each may appoint a clerk pro tempore.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for the Sheriff of said county of Logan to collect or make distress for any public dues and officers' fees, which shall re- main unpaid by the inhabitants thereof at the time such division shall take place, and shall be accountable for the same in like manner as if this act had not been made, and the court of the said county of Logan shall have jurisdiction in all actions which shall be depending before them at the time of such division ; and they shail try and determine the same, issue process, and award execution thereon.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the said county of Christian shall not be entitled to a Representative until an enumeration is hereafter taken, and ratio established by law,
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
but the said county shall be considered as a part of Logan County, and the inhabitants thereof shall be entitled to vote in the same for Representative.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That this act shall commence and be in force from and after the passage thereof.
EDW. BULLOCK, Speaker House of Representatives. JOHN CAMPBELL, Speaker Senate, pro tem. JAMES GARRARD, Governor.
Approved December 13, 1796.
By reference to the map it will be seen that the County of Christian at the time of its formation was almost as large as the present State of Massachusetts, and from its original territory have been carved wholly or in part Muhlenburg, Todd, McLean, Hopkins, Webster, Henderson, Union, Crittenden, Caldwell, Trigg, Livingston, Lyon, Marshall, Callo- way, Graves, Ballard, McCracken, Hickman and Fulton Counties. The first inroad upon Christian was in 1798, when Henderson, Livingston and Muhlenburg were created; the last in 1819, when Todd, and in 1820, when Trigg were formed. Since then the boundaries of Christian have remained the same, unless it has been some petty change to accommodate a particular neighborhood. Even with all the drafts upon her territory, Christian by the last census was the fourth county in the State in point of population, and the thirteenth in wealth.
The County's Name .- Christian County was named in honor of Col. William Christian, a noted soldier and Indian fighter. Collins gives the following sketch of him : He was a native of Augusta County, Va., and was educated at Staunton. When very young he commanded a company attached to Col. Bird's regiment, which was ordered to the frontier during Braddock's war. In this service he obtained the reputation of a brave, active and efficient officer. Upon the termination of Indian hostilities, he married the sister of. Patrick Henry, and settled in the county of Bote- tourt. In 1774, having received the appointment of Colonel of militia, he raised about three hundred volunteers, and by forced marches made a distance of 200 miles, with the view of joining the forces under Gen. Lewis, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha. He did not arrive, however, in time to participate in the battle of Point Pleasant, which occurred on the preceding day, the 10th of October, 1774. In 1775 he was a member of the General State Convention of Virginia. In the succeeding year, when hostilities had commenced between Great Britain and the American colonies, he received the appointment of Colonel in the Virgin- ia line of the regular army, and took command of an expedition composed of 1,200 men, against the Cherokee Indians. No event of moment oc- curred in this expedition, the Indians having sued for peace, which was concluded with them. After his return from this expedition, Col. Christian resigned his command in the regular service, and accepted one .
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