USA > Kentucky > Historical sketches of Kentucky : embracing its history, antiquities, and natural curiosities, geographical, statistical, and geological descriptions with anecdotes of pioneer life, and more than one hundred biographical sketches of distinguished pioneers, soldiers, statesmen, jurists, lawyers, divines, etc. > Part 80
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In the campaign of the full of 1781, Colonel Shelby served under General Marion, a distinguished partizan officer, of the holdest enterprise. He was called down by General Greene to that lower country, with five hundred mounted rifle- men from the western waters, in September. 17-1. to aid the general in intercept- ing Cornwallis, at that time blockaded by the French fleet in the Chesapeake. and who, it was suspected, would endeavor to make good his retreat through North Carolina to Charleston ; but, upon his lordship's surrender in Virginia, Colonel Shelby was attached to General Marion's command belew. on the Santee, and was second in command of a strong detachment of dragoons. under Colonel Mayhem, ordered to carry a British post at Fairlawn, near Monk's Corner, eight or ten miles below the enemy's main army. under General Stuart. Information had been received by General Marion that five hundred Hessians at that post were in a state of mutiny, and would surrender to any considerable forre that might appear before it. But the officer commanding the post having some appre- hensions of their fidelity, had marched them off to Charleston. the day before Colonel Mayhem appeared before it. The post, however, was surrendered. with one hundred and fifty British prisoners. The British general at Ferguson's Swamp, nine miles in the rear, made great, though unavailing efforts to inter- cept Mayhem's party on their return with the prisoners to General Marich's encampment. Immediately after this excursion, the British commander retreated with his whole force to Charleston.
As the period for which the mounted volunteers had engaged to serve was about to expire, and no further active operations being contemplated, after the retreat of the enemy towards Charleston, Colonel Shelby obtained leave of absence from General Marion, to attend the assembly of North Carolina. of which he was a member, which would sit two hundred miles distant. about the first of December. Marion addressed a letter on the subject to General Greece, which Colonel Shelby was permitted to see, speaking in high terms of the e. n- duct of the mountaineers, and assigning particular credit to Colonel Shelby for his conduct in the capture of the British post, as it surrendered to him after an inef- fectual attempt by an officer of the dragoons.
In 1752. Colonel Shelby was elected a member of the North Carolina assem- bly, and was appointed one of the commissioners to settle the pre-emption claims upon the Cumberland river, and to lay off the lands allowed to the officers and soldiers of the North Carolina line, south of where Nashville now stands. Ho performed this service in the winter of 1792-3, and returned to Boonsborough, Kentucky, in April following, where he married Susanna, second daughter of Captain Nathaniel Hart. one of the first settlers of Kentucky, and one of the pro- prictors styled Henderson & Co., by their purchase of the country from the ther- okres. He established himself on the first settlement and pre-emption granted in Kentucky, for the purpose of pursuing his favorite occupation, the cultivation
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528
SHELBY COUNTY.
of the soil ; and it is a remarkable fact, pregnant with many curious reflections, that at the period of his death, forty-three years. after, he was the only indivi- dual in the State residing upon his own settlement and pre-emption.
He was a member of the early conventions held at Danville for the purpose of obtaining a separation from the State of Virginia ; and was a member of that convention which formed the first constitution of Kentucky, in April, 1792. In May following. he was elected the first chief magistrate, and discharged its ardu- ons duties with signal advantage to the State. The history of his administration of an infant republic in the remote wilderness, would fill a volume with deeply interesting incidents, exhibiting him advantageously in the character of a soldier. of a lawgiver, and a diplomatist ; but the limits prescribed to this sketch will not permit a detail of them.
After completing the organization of the government under the provisions of the constitution, by filling the various offices created by it, the earnest attention of the governor was directed to the defence of the State against the Indian incur- sious, and the border war to which the people were exposed by their remote and unprotected position in the wilderness. Gen. Washington's paternal regard to the same high object was mamiested in the cautious and extensive arrangements which were made under the direction of Gen. Wayne for a strong expedition against the north-western Indians, who were stimulated and aided by the British and provincial forces occupying posts within our boundary. The confidence of Washington, as well as of the people of Kentucky, was reposed in the energy and patriotism of Gov. Shelby. This was evinced in his almost unanimous ele- vation to the chief magistracy, as well as in the answer of the first legislature to his message, and in a letter from Gen. Knox, secretary of war, of July 12, 1792.
In the subsequent letter from the war department, the defensive operations for the protection of Kentucky were committed exclusively to his judgment and dis- , cretion, and whenever there was a prospect of acting offensively against the In- diaus of the north-west. the president made an appeal to his patriotism and that of the State, in furnishing mounted volunteers in aid of the regular force. His energy and the gallantry of Kentucky was signally displayed in the valuable suc- cour rendered to Gen. Wayne on the memorable 20th of August, 1791. His en- lightened forecast, and the valor of Kentucky, presented on this occasion, as en the equally glorious 5th of October, 1813, the means of victory both in men and transportation, at a critical moment to the scene of action-to victories the most decisive in their results to any heretofore known in Indian warfare.
Whilst the people of Kentucky were interrupted in their business and prosper- ity by the attention necessary to the progress of the Indian war. they were an- noyed by continued apprehensions of losing the navigation of the Mississippi. on which their commercial existence depended. In the midst of these difficulties. a new and unexpected occasion presented itself for the display of Gov. Shelby's diplomatic sagacity. The complaints and remonstrances of the Spanish minister indneed the general government to open a correspondence with Gov. Shelby, for the purpose of suppressing an expedition, which was represented to be in contem- plation, by La Chaise and other French agents, against the possessions of Spain on the Mississippi. Gov. Shelby had no apprehensions that they would succeed in organizing the necessary force. and under this impression his reply to the de- partment of state, October 5th, 1793, was forwarded, without considering that he had not authority under existing laws to interfere in preventing it. But the grant- ing of commissions to Gen. Clark and other influential individuals, and the actual attempt to carry the plans of French emissaries into effect. induced the governor to examine the subject more thoroughly, and conceiving that he had no legal " !- thority to interfere. be addressed a letter. January 13th, 1794. to the secretary of state, expressing these doubts, and assuming an attitude, which, though profis- ing the most devoted regard to the Union, had the effect of drawing from the gen- eral government a full development of the measures which had been pursued ! : securing the navigation of the Mississippi. These explanations by the depart- ment of state, and by the special commissioner, the eloquent Col. James Innes. attorney general of Virginia, who was deputed by Gen. Washington to proce. . to Kentucky to communicate with the governor and legislature. removed all ground of uneasiness, and created a tranquillity in the public mind which had not existed Rince the first settlement of the State.
529
ISAAC SHELBY.
The whole subject was communicated by Gov. Shelby to the legislature on the 15th of November. 1794, and the part he took in it was approved by that body. The act of Congress on the subject, passed after the receipt of Gov. Shelby's letter, shows conclusively that the legislature of the United States did not con- ceive that previously he had authority to interfere in the mode recommended by the department of state. This measure on the part of Gov. Shelby, though it might seem to conflict with the opinions and policy of Gen. Washington, did not produce in the mind of the father of his country any diminution of the respect and confidence he had theretofore reposed in him; for in May following, Gen. Knox, secretary of war, in a letter detailing the plans of the general government, in relation to Wayne's proposed campaign, takes occasion to say, that " the pre- sident, confiding in the patriotism and good disposition of your excellency, re-
quests that you will afford all the facilities, countenance and aid in your power, to the proposed expedition. from which, if successful, the State of Kentucky will reap the most abundant advantages." In the next paragraph. he is appointed president of the board for selecting the field and company officers, and concludes with the assurance that ". Gen. Wayne has been written to, not to interfere in the defensive protection of Kentucky, which is hereby, in the name of the president of the United States, confided to your excellency, under the following general paragraph," etc.
At the close of his gubernatorial term, he returned to his farm in Lincoln, with renewed relish for the cares and enjoyments which its management necessarily created. He was as distinguished for the method and judgment and industry, which he displayed in agricultural pursuits, as he had exemplified in the more conspicuous duties of the general and the statesman. He was the model of an elevated citizen, whether at the plow, in the field, or in the cabinet.
He was repeatedly chosen an elector of president, and voted for Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Madison. He could not yield to the repeated solicitations of influential individuals in different parts of the State, requesting him to consent to be a can- didate for the chief magistracy, until the exigencies of our national affairs had brought about a crisis which demanded the services of every patriot. In this contingency, he was elected, upon terms very gratifying to his feelings, a second time to the chief magistracy, at the commencement of the war, in 1812, with Great Britain.
Of his career at that eventful period, it would be impracticable, in the limits of this sketch, to present even an outline. His energy, associated with a recol- lection of his revolutionary fame, aroused the patriotism of the State. In every direction he developed her resources, and aided in sending men and supplies to. the support of the north-western army under Gen. Harrison. The legislature of Kentucky, in the winter of 1812-13, contemplating the necessity of some vigor- ous effort, in the course of that year, to regain the ground lost by the disasters at Detroit and at the river Raisin, passed a resolution authorising and requesting the governor to assume the personal direction of the troops of the State, whenever, in his judgment, such a step would be necessary. Under this authority, and at the solicitation of Gen. Harrison, he invited his countrymen to meet him at New- port, and to accompany him to the scene of active, and, as he predicted, of deci- sive operations. Upon his own responsibility he authorized the troops to meet him with their horses. Four thousand men rallied to his standard in less that thirty days ; and this volunteer force reached the shore of Lake Erie just in time to enable the commander-in-chief to profit by the splendid victory, achieved by the genius and heroism of Perry and his associates. It was a most interesting incident, which augured favorably of the issue of the campaign, that Gov. Shelby should arrive at the camp of Gen. Harrison precisely at the moment when Com- modore Perry was disembarking his prisoners. The feelings of congratulation which were exchanged by the three heroes, at the tent of the general on the shore of Lake Erie, may be more readily conceived than described. The writer of this article had been previously dispatched by Gen. Harrison to Commodore Perry, to ascertain the result of the naval battle, and, returning with Perry, was present at this interview.
In the organization which Governor Shelby made of his forces, he availed himself of the character and respectability of the materials at his command. Generals Henry and Desha were assigned to the command of the two divisions,
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530
SHELBY COUNTY.
and General Calmes, Caldwell, King, Chiles and Calloway to the brigades. His confidential staff was composed, among other respectable citizens, of the names- of Adair, Crittenden and Barry, so well known in the history of the State and of the nation. As governor of Kentucky, his authority ceased as soon as he passed the limits of the State; but the confidence of General Harrison and of all the troops, in his judgment and patriotism was so exalted, that he was regarded as the Mentor of the campaign, and recognized as the senior major-general of the Kentucky troops. In the general order of march and of battle, the post assigned to him was the most important, and the subsequent battle evinced that the armangement was as creditable to the sagacity of General Harrison as it was complimentary to the valor of Governor Shelby.
In all the movements of the campaign, whether in council or execution, mon- uments of his valor and of his energetic character were erected by the gratitude of the commander-in-chief, of all his troops, and of the president of the nation, who spoke officially of his services with the veneration which belongs only to public benefactors. The legislature of Kentucky and the Congress of the Uni- ted States expressed their sense of his gallant conduct in resolutions which will transmit his name to posterity, 'as a patriot without reproach and a soldier with- out ambition.'
The vote of Congress assigning to him and to General Harrison each a gold medal, commemorative of the decisive victory on the Thames, was delayed one session in consequence of some prejudice prevailing in the public mind in rela- tion to General Harrison. As soon as Governor Shelby was advised of this fact. he solicited his friends in Congress, through Mr. Clay, to permit no expression of thanks to him, unless associated with the name of General Harrison. This magnan- imous conduct and the unqualified commendation which he gave of the career of General Harrison on that campaign, connected with a favorable report of a com- mittee at the next session of Congress, instituted at the request of the general, of which Colonel R. M. Johnson was chairman, led to the immediate adoption of the original resolution.
Governor Shelby was unremitting in the aid which he extended to the opera- tions of the general government during the war. He furnished troops to defend the country around Detroit, and dispatched an important reinforcement to Gen- eral Jackson for the defence of New Orleans. Ilis sagacity led him to send General Adair as adjutant-general, with the rank of brigadier-general, to meet the precise contingency, which actually occurred, of General Thomas being sick or disabled. The result of this measure was exhibited in the critical succor afforded by General Adair on the memorable 8th of January.
In the civil administration of the State, Governor Shelby's policy continued to establish and confirm the sound principles of his predecessors. Integrity, fidel- ity to the constitution, and capacity, were the qualifications which he required in public officers : and his recommendations to the legislature enforced a strict regard to public economy and to the claims of public faith. In the fall of 1-16, his term expired, and he retired again to the sweets of domestic life, in the prose- cution of his favorite pursuit.
In March, 1817, he was selected by President Monroe to fill the department of war ; but his advanced age, the details of the office, and his desire, in a period of peace, to remain in private life, induced him to decline an acceptance of it. In 1818, he was commissioned by the president to act in conjunction with Gen- eral Jackson in holding a treaty with the Chickasaw tribe of Indians. for the pur- chase of their lands west of the Tennessee river within the limits of Kertuchv and Tennessee, and they obtained a cession of the territory to the United States, which unites the western population, and adds greatly to the defence of the coun- try, in the event of future wars with the savages, or with any European power. This was his last public act.
In February, 1820, he was attacked with a paralytic affection, which disabled his right arm, and which was the occasion of his walking lame on the right les. His mind continued unimpaired until his death, by apoplexy, on the 18th Julv. 1826, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. It was a consolation to his attheted family to cherish the hope that he was prepared for this event. In the vigor of life he professed it to be his duty to dedicate himself to God, and to seek an interest in the merits of the Redeeiner. He had been for many years a member
531
SIMPSON COUNTY.
of the Presbyterian church, and in his latter days, he was the chief instrument in erecting a house of worship upon his own land.
The vigor of his constitution fitted him to endure active and severe bodily exercise, and the energetic symmetry of his person, united with a peculiar suav. & ity of manner, rendered his deportment impressively dignified ; his strong nitq- ral sense was aided by close observation on men and things; and the valuable qualities of method and perseverance, imparted success to all his efforts.
SIMPSON COUNTY.
SIMPSON county was formed in 1819, and named in honor of Capt. JOHN SIMPSON. It is situated in the southern part of the State, and is drained by Big Barren river and its tributaries : bounded on the north by Warren; east by Allen; south by the State of Tennessee ; and west by Logan. The surface is gene- rally level, or very slightly undulating ; the soil, based upon lime- stone, with red clay foundation, is rich and very productive. The staple products are Indian corn, wheat, and tobacco.
Valuation of the taxable property of Simpson in 1846, 81,368,- 842; number of acres of land in the county, 115,948; average value of lands per acre, 84.49; number of white males over twenty-one years of age, 955; number of children between five and sixteen years old, 1,197. Population in 1840, 6.537.
FRANKLIN, the seat of justice and only town of Simpson, is sit- uated near the centre of the county, about one hundred and fitty miles from Frankfort. It contains the court-house and other county buildings, two churches, (Union and Christian,) five law- yers, eight physicians, two schools, two taverns, ten stores and groceries, and eighteen mechanical trades-population, 300. Es- tablished in 1820, and named after Dr. Franklin.
The Hon. JOHN SIMPSON (for whom this county was named) came to Lincoln county at an early day, having migrated with his father from Virginia. The date and place of his birth is not recollected-but he arrived in Kentucky at a period when she was subject to the predatory incursions of the savage foe. He. when quite a lad, accompanied the intrepid Wayne on several expeditions, and contributed his part in the eventful scenes of the border war which afflicted the first republic in the wilderness.
The decisive victory of Wayne having established a general peace, young Simpson availed himself of the kind counsel of the late lamented and illustnos jurist, Col. John Allen, to remove to Shelby county, and to enter upon the stody of the law,-a pursuit which, after arms, exercised the strongest influence upon the ambitious youth of the country. Young Simpson soor established hither in his profession, as well by the accuracy and soundness of his judgment, as hy the amenity of his manners. He rose, at an early day, to distinction, profession- ally and politically, having been repeatedly elected to the legislature. In 1-11-12. he was elected speaker of the house of representatives ; and in August, lele, was chosen to a seat in the Congress of the United States.
In the meantime, however, the aggressions of Great Britain upon the nights and interests of the United States, led to a declaration of war, and Kentucky was called upon to furnish 5,500 men, her quota of the 100.000 authorised to be re- ceived into service by Congress. Mr. Simpson raised a company of volunteer riflemen, and was attached to the regiment commanded by bis old friend, Col.
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532
SPENCER COUNTY.
Allen. This regiment formed part of the brigade of Gen. Payne, and marched with the first troops from Kentucky, to reinforce Gen. Hull at Detroit.
The events of the campaign are given in McAfee's history of the war in the western country. The regiment of Allen performed its part in the timely relief afforded by Gen. Harrison to the important post of fort Wayne : and the company of Capt. Simpson participated in the gallant though disastrous events at the river Raisin, brought on by the unauthorised movement under Gen. Winchester. Allen and Simpson sealed their devotion to their country by their blood, on that memo- rable occasion ; and the patriots who were united in life by so many ties, were not divided in their deaths. Simpson was distinguished by his uncommon height, as well as that of his first sergeant, the present venerable Col. S. Harbison, of Shelbyville. His bones yet rest where they fell, with no monument to mark the spot; but the State which he served and honored in his life and in his death, has perpetuated his memory in the name of one of her counties. He left no family, but the rich legacy of his fame descends to his country.
SPENCER COUNTY.
SPENCER county was formed in 1824, and named in honor of Captain SPEAR SPENCER. It is situated in the middle portion of the State, and watered by Salt river, which flows through the county from east to west : bounded on the north by Jefferson and Shelby ; east by Anderson ; south by Nelson ; and west by Bullitt. The tributaries of Salt river are, Brashear's, Big Beech, Ash's, Simpson's, Plumb and Elk creeks. Along the river and creeks, there are numerous fertile valleys ; but the surface of the county is generally undulating or hilly, with a rich soil, based on limestone. The principal products are-corn, wheat, rye, oats, hemp, tobacco and grass. The articles of export are, horses, mules, cattle, hogs, hemp, whisky and tobacco.
Valuation of taxable property in Spencer in 1846, $2,115,577 ; number of acres of land in the county, 111,313 ; average value of land per acre, $10.73 ; number of white males over twenty- one years old, 979 ; number of children between five and sixteen years of age, 1,103. Population in 1840, 6,585.
TAYLORSVILLE, the seat of justice of Spencer county, is situated on Salt river, thirty-one miles east from Louisville, and about thirty-two miles from Frankfort : contains a brick court-house and other county buildings ; Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist and Roman Catholic churches-the two latter large and handsomely finished edifices ; a very neat and substantial Seminary building. with eighty pupils connected with the seminary, in which the Latin and Greek languages are taught in connection with the higher branches of English; a female school with twenty-four scholars ; four lawyers, two physicians, seven merchants, two taverns, and thirty mechanics' shops : population 500. Incorpo- rated in 1829-named after Richard Taylor, the proprietor of the land. Mount Eden is a small village about twelve miles from Taylorsville-containing a post office, two physicians, there stores, two taverns and five mechanical trades. Population 150.
533
KINCHELOE'S STATION.
Taylorsville is located in a beautiful valley, comprising about one hundred and sixty acres of land, lying immediately in the forks of Salt river and Brashear's creek. The creek runs parallel with the river for several hundred yards, and then making an abrupt turn, flows into it at right angles : this, with the elevation in the rear, leaves the bottom or valley in an oblong square, the longest sides extend- ing up and down the river and creek. In this bottom. about equi-distant from the river and creek, and nearer the upper than the lower end, is a hill or mound, rising to an elevation of from seventy to eighty feet above the general level, and containing an area of six acres. The shape of this mound is oval, resembling an egg, ranging from north to south ; the south end of easy ascent, while the north is steep and more abrupt. Within the recollection of aged per- sons still living, the timber upon this mound was observed to be of the same size and character of that upon the bottom land, and the whole was remarkably heavy. The mound has the appearance of being a natural, rather than an artifi- cial embankment. A Catholic church has been recently built on one side of it.
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