USA > Kentucky > Madison County > Glimpses of historic Madison County, Kentucky > Part 4
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SYCAMORE HOLLOW
Sycamore Hollow is one of the important historic spots in Ken- tucky. The place is an elongated depression of two or more acres, which opens into the Kentucky by means of a small stream called Spring Lick, or Creek. The Hollow became and remained the center of activity at Boonesborough. Its springs afforded water for man and beast and its giant sycamores and elm extended their benevolent branches. Just below it or near its upper edge not far from its entrance into the Kentucky the settlers built the large strong fort which Henderson advised. Under the "Great Elm," on May 23-27, 1775, was organized the government of the Transyl- vania Colony; and on Sunday, May 28, 1775, this same tree became the house of worship during the first recorded religious service held in Kentucky, John Lythe officiating. A "Giant Sycamore" of the Hollow witnessed the famous powwow with the Indians before the long siege of Fort Boonesborough in September, 1778. Skulking savages sought points of advantage among trees of the Hollow
The last of the three great Sycamores at Boonesborough in 1775. See "Sycamore Hollow," pp. 26-7.
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Daniel Boone, from Chester Harding's painting in the Filson Club.
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during Indian attacks, and children gamboled about this natural enclosure during periods of safety. Cabins were built and the soil tilled, and apparently the Hollow was included in the corporate limits of Boonesborough.
George W. Ranck says in his book on Boonesborough (1901) that of the three giant sycamores which graced this spot in Daniel Boone's day "one fell in 1873 and the other in 1885. .. ," and that the third, "hallowed by time, decay, and the leaden storms of a Revolutionary conflict, is now a mere shell within which four or five men could stand. It is the one solitary thing still at Boones- borough that has felt the familiar touch of Boone and Henderson and Kenton." Collins says (1874) that the sides of two of these trees toward the fort "were literally killed [in 1778] by the bullets fired during the long siege at the Indians concealed behind them."
The last of these three giant sycamores was removed in October and November, 1932, by the author of this book and some of his students to Richmond to be preserved for posterity. Its diameter at the base is six feet and two inches. The tree had died a few years before its removal. Sycamore Hollow is still noted as one of the largest sycamore groves in the United States. The springs in and near the place did much to influence Boone in choosing this site for his settlement. The springs no longer flow. The Hollow has filled to a depth of about nine feet since the Government built locks in the Kentucky River to aid navigation. Solid parts of the trees were removed below the surface to its roots to be used in making souvenirs.
BOONESBOROUGH
The arrival of Daniel Boone and his party at the Kentucky River on April 1, 1775, was the beginning of the town of Boonesborough, which thus became the second settlement in Kentucky. Harrods- town, or Harrodsburg, as the place was later called, had been settled in June, 1774, by James Harrod and a party of Virginians, who abandoned the place late in July, 1774, because of Indian hostilities. They returned, however, March 15, 1775, and made Harrodsburg a permanent settlement, thus antedating the settle- ment at Boonesborough by seventeen days.
Boonesborough played an important part in the early history of Kentucky, as is told elsewhere in this book. By the time of its incorporation in October, 1779, a town plat of twenty acres had
OLD FORT AT BOONSBOROUGH, 1775.
The Fort at Boonesborough. Reproduced from an illustration in Lewis Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky, published in 1847.
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been laid off into streets and 119 lots. It was estimated that fifty acres more would soon be needed for the same purpose. The re- mainder (570 acres ) of the section of land allotted the town was to be used as "commons" by the townspeople. The act of incorpora- tion named Daniel Boone, Richard Callaway, James Estill, and seven others as trustees. They declined to serve, however, and in 1787 a supplementary law vested the government in ten other men, including Green Clay, William Irvine and Robert Rodes.
Boonesborough may be said to have had an auspicious beginning. It was established by the Transylvania Company, whose purpose was to found a colony west of the Allegheny Mountains. It had the first considerable fortification, and it was the first seat of govern- ment in what later became Kentucky. One of its citizens, Richard Callaway, obtained the first ferry rights (October, 1779) in Ken- tucky at Boonesborough, and it was the first town in Kentucky to be incorporated (October, 1779). The town was also first in other particulars, but it was doomed to oblivion as an urban com- munity.
It appears that in 1789 Boonesborough had "upwards of a hundred and twenty houses," and in 1792 it was conspicuous for its ship- ments of tobacco in barges down the Kentucky River. In 1792, Green Clay, William Clark, William Irvine, and thirty other Ken- tuckians offered the State 18,550 acres of land and 2,630 pounds sterling to locate its capital at Boonesborough. The town's pros- perity, however, continued to wane. The census of 1810 gives its population as sixty-eight, and other government records show that it was intermittently a United States postoffice until December 4, 1866, when, it appears, postal service was discontinued and not resumed until the time of rural free delivery.
The place today has not even a country store, and there remains no vestige of the old cemetery which had its beginning within the walls of the fort. Even the last of the three giant sycamores, which witnessed many important stirring events in the first decade of Kentucky's early history, was removed to Richmond late in 1932.
Boonesborough is now only a bathing beach and a small sum- mer resort. Its significance in the Nation's history, however, war- rants the construction of an appropriate monument on the site of its old fort, the restoration of this fort, and the development of a national park within the corporate limits of the old town.
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ESTILL'S DEFEAT
This narrative is so closely related to Boonesborough and Madison County that it may be properly told here. Col. Caperton's uncle, Adam Caperton of Fort Boonesborough, was killed in this en- gagement with the Indians, and Captain Joseph Proctor, a hero of the battle, established the first Methodist Church, Proctor's Chapel, in Madison County. The Burnam brothers, Caperton and Rollins of Richmond, are greatgrandsons of W. H. Caperton. More- over an impressive monument stands in the Richmond cemetery in honor of Captain James Estill, who was killed in "Estill's Defeat." Col. Caperton's account follows almost verbatim Captain Proc- tor's narrative of this "Battle of Little Mountain" in Montgomery County.
The monument to Captain Estill in the Richmond cemetery has an engraving on the marble portraying the most exciting incident of the battle. A marker for Fort Estill will be placed on Route 25 south of Richmond in the near future.
"One of the most remarkable pioneer fights, in the history of the West, was that waged by Captain James Estill, and seventeen of his associates on the 22nd March, 1782, with a party of Wyandot Indians, twenty-five in number. Sixty three years almost, have elapsed since; yet one of the actors in that sanguinary struggle, Rev. Joseph Proctor, of Estill County, Ky., survived to the 2nd Dec. last, dying in the full enjoyment of his faculties in the 90th year of his age. His wife, the partner of his early privations and toils, and nearly as old as himself, deceased six months previously.
"On the 19th March, 1782, Indian rafts without any one on them, were seen floating down the Kentucky river, past Boonesborough. Intelligence of this fact was immediately dispatched by Col. Logan to Capt. Estill, at his station fifteen miles from Boonesborough, and near the present site of Richmond, Ky., together with a force of fifteen men, who were directed to march from Lincoln county to Estill's assistance, instructing Capt. Estill, if the Indians had not appeared there, to scour the country with a reconnoitring party, as it could not be known at what point the attack would be made.
"Estill lost not a moment in collecting a force to go in search of the savages, not doubting, from his knowledge of the Indian character, that they designed an immediate blow at his or some of the neighboring stations. From his own and the nearest stations,
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he raised twenty-five men. Joseph Proctor was of the number. Whilst Capt. Estill and his men were on this expedition, the In- dians suddenly appeared around his station at the dawn of day, on the 20th of March, killed and scalped Miss Innes, daughter of Captain Innes [sic], and took Monk, a slave of Estill, captive.
"The Indians immediately and hastily retreated, in consequence of a highly exaggerated account which Monk gave them of the strength of the station, and number of fighting men in it. No sooner had the Indians commenced their retreat, than the women in the fort (the men being all absent except one [sic] of the sick list) dis- patched two boys, the late Gen. Samuel South and Peper Hacket, to take the trail of Capt. Estill and his men, and, overtaking them, give information of what had occurred at the fort. The boys suc- ceeded in coming up with Capt. Estill early on the morning of the 21st, between the mouths of Drowning creek and Red river.
"After a short search, Capt. Estill's party struck the trail of the retreating Indians. It was resolved at once to make pursuit, and no time was lost in doing so. Five men of the party, however, who had families in the fort, feeling uneasy for their safety, and unwilling to trust their defence to the few who remained there, re- turned to the fort, leaving Capt. Estill's party, thirty-five in num- ber. These pressed the pursuit of the retreating Indians as rapidly as possible, but night coming on they encamped near the Little Mountain, at present the site of Mount Sterling.
'Early next morning, they put forward, being obliged to leave ten of the men behind, whose horses were too jaded to travel further. They had not proceeded far, until they discovered by fresh tracks of the Indians, that they were not far distant. They then marched in four lines until about an hour before sun set, when they discovered six of the savages helping themselves to rations from the body of a buffalo, which they had killed. The company was ordered to dismount. With the usual impetuosity of Kentuckians, some of the party fired without regarding orders, and the Indians fled.
"One of the party, a Mr. David Cook, who acted as ensign, exceedingly ardent and active, had proceeded in advance of the company, and seeing an Indian halt, raised his gun and fired. At the same moment another Indian crossed on the opposite side, and they were both levelled with the same shot. This occurring in view
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of the whole company, inspired them all with a high degree of order and confidence.
"In the meantime, the main body of the Indians had heard the alarm and returned, and the two hostile parties exactly matched in point of numbers, having twenty five on each side were now face to face. The ground was highly favorable to the Indian mode of warfare; but Capt. Estill and his men, without a moment's hesita- tion, boldly and fearlessly commenced an attack upon them, and the latter as boldly and fearlessly (for they were picked warriors ) engaged in the bloody combat. It is, however, disgraceful to relate that, at the very onset of the action, Lieut. Miller, of Capt. Estill's party, with six men under his command, "ingloriously fled" from the field, thereby placing in jeopardy the whole of their comrades, and causing the death of many brave soldiers. Hence, Estill's party numbered eighteen and the Wyandots twenty five.
"The flank becoming thus unprotected Capt. Estill directed Cook with three men to occupy Miller's station, and repel the attack in that quarter to which this base act of cowardice exposed the whole party. The Ensign with his party were taking the position as- signed, when one of them discovered an Indian and shot him, and the three retreated to a little eminence whence they thought greater execution could be effected with less danger to themselves, but Cook continued to advance without noticing the absence of his party until he had discharged his gun with effect, when he immediately retreated, but after running some distance to a large tree, for the purpose of shelter in firing, he unfortunately got entangled in the tops of fallen timber, and halting for a moment, received a ball which struck him just below the shoulder blade, and came out below his collar bone. In the meantime, on the main field of battle, at the distance of fifty yards, the fight raged with great fury, last- ing one hour and three quarters. On either side wounds and death were inflicted, neither party advancing or retreating. 'Every man to his man, and every man to his tree.'-Capt. Estill at this period was covered with blood from a wound received early in the action; nine of his brave companions lay dead upon the field; and four others were so disabled by their wounds, as to be unable to con- tinue the fight. Capt. Estill's fighting men were now reduced to four. Among this number was Joseph Proctor.
"Capt. Estill, the brave leader of this Spartan band, was now
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brought into personal conflict with a powerful and active Wyandot warrior. The conflict was for a time fierce and desperate, and keenly and anxiously watched by Proctor, with his finger on the trigger of his unerring rifle. Such, however, was the struggle be- tween these fierce and powerful warriors, that Proctor could not shoot without greatly endangering the safety of his captain. Estill had had his right arm broken the preceding summer in an en- gagement with the Indians; and, in the conflict with the warrior on this occasion, that arm gave way, and in an instant his savage foe buried his knife in Capt. Estill's breast; but in the very same moment, the brave Proctor sent a ball from his rifle to the Wyandot's heart. The survivors drew off as by mutual consent .- Thus ended this memorable battle. It wanted nothing but the circumstance of numbers to make it the most memorable in ancient or modern times! The loss of the Indians, in killed and wounded, notwithstand- ing the disparity of numbers after the shameful retreat of Miller, was even greater than that of Capt. Estill.
"It was afterwards ascertained by prisoners who were recaptured from the Wyandot, that seventeen of the Indians had been killed, and two severely wounded. . ..
"There is a tradition derived from the Wyandot towns, after the peace, that but one of the warriors engaged in this battle ever returned to his nation. It is certain that the chief who led on the Wyandots with so much desperation, fell in the action. Throughout this bloody engagement the coolness and bravery of Proctor were unsurpassed. But his conduct after the battle has always, with those acquainted with it, elicted the warmest commendation. He . brought off the field of battle, and most of the way to the station, a distance of forty miles, on his back, his badly wounded friend the late brave Col. Wm. Irvine, so long and so favorably known in Kentucky.
"In an engagement with the Indians at the Pickaway towns, on the Great Miami, Proctor killed an Indian Chief. He was a brave soldier, a stranger to fear, and an ardent friend to the institutions of his coutry. He made three campaigns into Ohio, in defence of his country and in suppressing Indian wars. He had fought side by side with Col. Daniel Boone, Col. Callaway, and Col. Logan.
"He joined the Methodist Episcopal Church in a fort in Madison county, Ky., under the preaching of Rev. James Haw. He was ordained by Bishop Asbury in Clarke County, Ky., 1809. He had
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been a local preacher more than half a century, and an exemplary member of the Church for sixty five years.
"He was buried with military honors. The several military com- panies of Madison and Estill counties, with their respective officers, and more than a thousand citizens, marched in solemn procession to the grave."-See R. H. Collins, History of Kentucky (1874), pp. 634- 36 -- By Col. William H. Caperton
BOONE'S ROCK IN TOWN
As the senior author stated in his A Glimpse at Historic Madison County and Richmond, Kentucky (1934):
"Daniel Boone and his brother Squire came to Kentucky in 1769 to hunt and explore. To replenish their supply of ammunition, salt and other necessities Squire returned, in 1770, to the settlements east of the mountains, and it is believed that, on his return to Ken- tucky some months later, he cut his name and the date on this large limestone rock to inform his brother Daniel of his whereabouts. The rock stood in the southern part of Madison County between Buzzard Basin Knob and Morton's Knob until 1891, when it was removed to the Courthouse Square in Richmond. It is a valuable relic of the earliest pioneer days in Kentucky.
"The rock originally stood on end between the knobs as though it had been planted there by a race of giants. Another large stone, similar in shape, lies flat only a few feet away. Perhaps 'Daniel Boone 1770' is inscribed on its under side.
"The elevation of each knob is about 1400 fect. The elevation of the stream ( Blue Lick Creek) and the road below is about 850 feet. The point where the rock stood has an elevation of about 1250 feet."
Since the statement above was published, Dr. Wilbur G. Bur- roughs of Berea College and some of his students turned the second rock over and found nothing carved on the under side of it.
The following account appeared in the Richmond Climax shortly after the removal of the stone to the court house square.
"On last Friday, Sheriff J. W. Bales, a special committee ap- pointed by the County Court of Claims for the purpose, had the noted Boone's Rock brought into Richmond from its ancient post in the extreme southern part of the county. The rock, as hereto- fore described in these columns, stood about two miles southeast
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of Joes Lick Knob, and in a horseshoe cove, nearly surrounded by mountains.
"The rock was found to be set about four feet in the ground. It measured eleven feet in length, nearly four feet in width at the bottom and 22 inches at the top, by 16 or 20 inches in thickness. The faces are slightly irregular. The general appearance of the rock is perhaps nearer that of an obelisk than any other figure. It weighs 7,500 pounds.
"The inscription is
1770 SQUIRE BOONE
"The letters are large, bold and distinct.
"The history of the rock is this: Daniel Boone and a party came to Kentucky in 1769 and encamped in what is now Estill county, at some point on Red River, a few miles above where it empties into Kentucky River. That was in the spring time, and the party continued to hunt and explore until near December, when Boone and Stewart, while exploring down on Kentucky River, were cap- tured by the Indians. They were carried away toward the North a week's travel, but escaped, one night, and found their way back to the Red River camp. The remainder of the party had disappeared, in fact, have never been heard from to this day. Boone and Stewart were now alone in the wilderness. Soon thereafter, Squire Boone and a companion came on their trail in search of the explorers who had now been from home more than a half a year, and without tidings of them.
"The meeting in the wilderness can better be imagined than described. But within the following few days, while hunting, Stewart was killed by the Indians and the un-named man, who came with Squire Boone, was devoured by the wolves. The old year was now gone, and time was working its way into the new. The place was too dangerous even for the daring Boones, so they resolved to change location. They proceeded to the mouth of Station Camp Creek, and up that to Red Lick Fork, thence up to Joes Lick Knob Fork, and near the head of that stream found the horseshoe cove named above. This was in the early spring. They built a cabin and continued to hunt and explore. In the month of May, Squire Boone set out for North Carolina to replenish the now almost exhausted stock of ammunition and left Daniel without even the companion-
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ship of a dog. The world does not afford a similar instance of self- imposed exile hundreds of miles from civilization and in a land of savages and wild beasts. 1417530
"During the absence of Squire Boone, Daniel traversed the country as far away as the mouth of Green River, the Falls of the Ohio, and the Kentucky River perhaps as far up as the place since called Boonesborough. In the latter part of July, Squire Boone re- turned to the camp in the horseshoe cove, and cut upon the rock in question the inscription above quoted. When Daniel Boone re- turned to camp, he knew that Squire had come from North Carolina.
"So the brothers met again in the wilderness. They spent the winter at the camp, continuing their explorations.
"In the summer of 1771, they broke camp and returned to North Carolina. . . .
"Thus, after performing for 131 years the office of sentinel over the oldest camp in Kentucky that can now be pointed out, the noble rock has been honored by a conspicuous place in the front yard of the Court-house in Richmond, immediately in front of the County Clerk's office, and near Main street.
"It is meet and right that the rock should be so honored. It is Kentucky's oldest monument, marked by the hand of man. We do not say erected, for it is evident that the rock was ended up in a land-slide. But what is more remarkable is that it should have rested at an exact perpendicular and the edges precisely North and South, the faces consequently to the East and West.
"Let the council properly preserve the relic by passing special and necessary ordinances."
"Under the head of 'Erected,' the Register of Friday has this remarkable production: "The Boone Rock, of which so much has of late been said, was removed last week from near Joe's Lick Knob and erected in the Court House Yard. There were no public cere- monies, as suggested by the Register last week, and the solitary relic stands unwept, unhonored and unsung. The mythological history of the rock can be found in Collins' History of Kentucky, to which our readers are respectfully referred for further par- ticulars, as the Register is far more interested in the affairs of the living present than the dead past . .. .
'Why did the Register suggest public ceremonies over a rock that it thinks has a 'mythological history'? Did the Register mean
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to aid in putting an imposition and fraud upon the public? Why didn't it say at once that the rock was fraudulent and protest against the action of the County Court? .. ..
"Who says the history of the rock, as related by Collins, is mythological? No one but the Register. Mr. Collins does not say so. He says that Squire Boone cut his name and date on the rock probably to inform Daniel Boone of his (Squire's ) return from North Carolina. No matter for what purpose, just so he really cut it, and at the time indicated. That Squire and Daniel Boone occupied for two years a camp on the head waters of Station Camp Creek, or Red Lick Creek, or Joes Lick Branch, as it is variously termed by different writers, is perfectly clear. .. . James B. Ballard was born 113 years ago, and from his boyhood he knew Boone's Rock. It was on his farm, and his son, Capt. P. P. Ballard ... presented the rock to the County Court in behalf of the heirs of James B. Ballard. To be more specific, the rock belonged to J. Len Ballard, who bought out the other heirs, gave it to the county and had it brought in.
"The tradition of all that country is replete with the history of Boone's Rock. The rock bears upon it in large letters the initials of Gen. Green Clay, one of the earliest surveyors, cut more than a century ago. And there is yet other evidence. .. . If Squire Boone didn't cut his name on that rock, who did? Wouldn't any man in the world, if he were going to cut a name on a conspicu- ous rock found in the dense woods, cut his own name? But if he must cut another name, and especially if that name must be Boone, isn't it entirely probable that he would cut Daniel's instead. of Squire's? Who will say no? The Register says 'it is well known that Squire Boone was not much of a scribe.'
"Does the Register mean to say that the County Judge, who presided, the eighteen Magistrates who voted for the proposition, the Sheriff who made the motion, the Chancellor of the University, who sat by and wanted the rock for the museum of the college, and the committee composed of Col. Caperton, Major Burnam, Col. Estill, the venerable Mr. Yates, Capt. Ballard, Dr. Jennings, at- torney Sullivan, and the editor of the CLIMAX-who has long made the history of the county a study-are a lot of noodles, doing some- thing not worthy space in its columns, alongside of the man who drove a wagon ?. ... "
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