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 84
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Very soon after the general peace, he went to some of the southern Indian towns to reclaim some negroes, that had been taken in the contest; when he was put under more apprehension than he had been at any time during the war. A half-breed, by the name of Jack Taylor, who spoke English, and acted as inter- preter, if he did not intend to procure Whitley's death, at least determined to in- timidate him. The Indians being assembled, as soon as Whitley had declared the purpose of his visit. Taylor told him he could not get the negroes ; and taking a hell that was at hand, tied it to his waist, then seizing and rattling a drum, raised the war-whoop. Whitley afterwards said, when telling the story, " I thought the times were squally ; I looked at Otter Lifter : he had told me I should not be killed :- his countenance remained unchanged. I thought him a man of honor, and kept my own." At this time the Indians gathered about him armed, but fired their guns in the air. to his great relief. Whitley finally succeeded in regaining his negroes, and returned home.
Sometime after the affair of the negroes, he again visited the Cherokees, and was everywhere received in the most friendly manner.
In the year 1813, being then in the sixty-fifth year of his age, he volunteered with the Kentucky militia, under Gov. Shelby, and fell in the decisive and vieto- rious battle of the Thames, on the 5th of October.
Col. Whitley was a man above the ordinary size, of great muscular power. and capable of enduring great fatigue and privation. His courage as a soldier was unquestionable, having been foremost in seventeen battles with the Indians, and one with a more civilized foe. In the battle of the Thames, he fell at the first fire. His memory is cherished throughout Kentucky with profound respect, as that of one uniting the characters of patriot and hero.
WOODFORD COUNTY.
WOODFORD county was formed in 1788, and named after Gen. WILLIAM WOODFORD. It was the last of the nine counties organ- ized by Virginia previous to the separation of Kentucky, and her
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"GARDEN OF KENTUCKY."
admission into the Union. It is situated in the heart of the State, and drained by Kentucky river and its tributary streams : bound- ed on the north by Franklin and Scott; east and south-east by Fayette and Jessamine ; and south-west by. Mercer and Ander- son, the Kentucky river forming the dividing line. The county is triangular in shape, and comprises between one hundred and eighty and one hundred and ninety square miles. The face of the country is level, or very gently undulating-the soil equal to any in the State in fertility, being based on limestone, and deep, rich and friable. The timber is luxuriant, and of the finest qual- ity -- embracing the black walnut, blue and black ash, hickory, black locust, sugar-tree. &c. Woodford has been appropriately termed the " asparagus bed " of Kentucky. The farms are large, generally under fence, and in a high state of cultivation; the population intelligent, refined and independent. Hemp, corn, oats and wheat, are the staple products ; horses, mules, cattle, hogs, bagging and bale rope, the principal exports.
Valuation of taxable property in Woodford in 1846, $6,607,- 906 ; number of acres of land in the county, 116,693 ; average value of land per acre, $32.58 ; number of white males over twenty-one years of age, 1,367 ; number of children between five and sixteen years old, 1,038. Population in 1840, 11,740.
VERSAILLES, the seat of justice of Woodford, is situated near the centre of the county, directly on the turnpike road from Lex- ington to Frankfort, twelve miles from the former and fourteen from the latter place-and is a beautiful, thriving town, with a population of about 1400 hundred souls. It contains a handsome brick court-house, and other county buildings ; four churches, Bap- tist, Presbyterian, Methodist and Christian; three female schools, one seminary, averaging nearly two hundred scholars; twelve lawyers, fourteen physicians, two taverns, eight stores, four gro- ceries, eight bagging factories, one wool factory, masonic hall, and twenty mechanics' shops. Established in 1792, and named after the city of Versailles in France. On the southern border of the town, about one hundred yards from the court-house, a large cave spring, of clear, crystal water, issues from an abrupt break on gradually descending ground, and flows off in a stream of sut- ficient size to afford water power for a small grist mill or manu- facturing establishment ; and a wool carding factory, which has been burnt down, was formerly located upon it. This cave or natural conduit runs under the town in a general direction from north to south. Immediately over it, in front of the court-house, a public well has been dug, which affords at all seasons, an ample and inexhaustible supply of water for the town.
Midway is a handsome village, situated on the Lexington rail road, and contains four hundred inhabitants. It has three churches, five physicians, two taverns, three stores, two groceries, three hemp factories, two schools, and a number of mechanics' shops. Took its name from its central position on the rail road between
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Lexington and Frankfort. Mortonsville is also a neat village, sit- uated four miles south of Versailles, and two miles from the Ken- tucky river-contains a Christian church, three physicians, one female school, four stores and groceries, one bagging factory and eight mechanics' shops, with a population of 350. Named after Mr. Morton, the proprietor.
From the RECOLLECTIONS of Major HERMAN BOWMAR, senior, a venerable pio- neer of Woodford, now nearly eighty years of age, active, sprightly, and intelli- gent, we gleau the following facts, concerning the settlement of that county, sketches of character, incidents, &c. The father of Major Bowmar removed to Kentucky in 1779, and settled at Colonel Bowman's station in Mercer, and in 1789, removed to Woodford. In 1791, Major Herman Bowmar, then twenty-two years of age, was qualified as a deputy sheriff of Woodford-the county then embracing portions of the present counties of Franklin and Scott, being divided into two sheriff's districts. His acquaintance, consequently, became extensive, and his recollections, kindly furnished for this work, show a remarkable tenacity of memory.
As late as the year 1782, there were no settlements within the bounds of the present county of Woodford. In the winter of 1782-3, Captain Elijah Craig, who commanded the fort at Bryant's station, in 1782, removed to Woodford, and settled a station about five miles from Versailles, and ten miles from Lexington- the county of Woodford then composing a part of the territory of Fayette. The close of the revolutionary war caused an immense emigration to Kentucky, and during the years 1783-4-5-6-7 and 8, the increase of population in Woodford was so great, as to give the county, at the close of the year last mentioned, as many veters as there are at present (1847) in her reduced territory. That por- tion of the original territory of Woodford, lying on the lower Elkhorn and the lower Mercer, on the north side of the Kentucky river, was an exposed and guar- ded frontier from 1783 to 1793.
On the opposite side of the river, in Mercer county, there was no man of his day who excelled Capt. James Ray, (the late Gen. James Ray,) in his activity, bravery and efficiency, as a pioneer commander and Indian fighter. But lower down. as the frontier extended, the most active and efficient was the late Capt. John Arnold, who settled a station on the waters of Little Benson creek in 1783, about seven or eight miles above the site of Frankfort. Several other stations were settled higher up than that of Arnold, his being the extreme frontier; but not having sufficient men to guard them with safety, against the apprehended in- cursions of the savages, they were abandoned in about a year, and the occupants returned to the older settlements, in Mercer. These settlements were re-occupied in the year 1756. Capt. John Arnold was the commandant of a company of spies for several years, and, with Samuel Hutton and others as his associates, ranged the country as far as Drennon's lick.
In 1792, Jacob Coffinan, who owned and resided on the land on which Law- renceburg, the county seat of Anderson, is now located, was killed and scalped. Maj. Bowmar was of the party raised to pursue the savages and avenge his death ; but the pursuit was unsuccessful. During the same year, Capt. Todd, residing then in Woodford, but now embraced in the territory of Scott, was riding alone down the river hill where South Frankfort is situated, when he was fired at by several Indians, who waylaid his path, and killed and scalped. The men in Frank- fort heard the report of the guns and the scalp halloo, but were unable to cross the river in time to render him any assistance. Todd was an estimable man, and his death was greatly lamented.
The Saturday before the first Monday in May, 1792, (the first election day un- der the government of Kentucky, ) twenty-five Indians crossed the Lexington road about two miles above Frankfort, and fired at William Chinn, who was riding down the road. Chinn escaped unhurt, and gave the alarm. Abont a mile fur- ther in their progress, they took John Dimint prisoner. They then proceeded about five miles farther up into Woodford, and encamped in a rocky chf of Main Glenn's creek, eight or nine miles from Versailles. Here they remained during the night and succeeding day (Sunday). The alarm being spread through the
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GEORGE M. BIBB.
surrounding country, several hundred men were out during Sunday, scouring the neighborhood; twenty-five of whom lodged at Lewis Easterday's, about three miles above Frankfort, on Sunday night. The Indians, on the same night. were induced by Dimint to go to Easterday's still-house, where they were unsuccess- ful in obtaining whisky, but managed to steal the horses of the twenty-five whites, and by a rapid movement soon crossed Main Elkhorn. A party under Col. John Grant, and another under captains Nathaniel Sanders and Anthony Bartlett .- the former from the neighborhood of Georgetown, and the latter from the south side of Elkhorn, -- having been united, got upon the trail of the Indians, and com- menced a rapid pursuit. As they approached the Eagle hills, the Indians were overtaken by the whites, several shots exchanged, and one of their number killed. * The Indians abandoned their horses, and fled precipitately to the hills with their prisoner. Dimint effected his escape while the Indians were engaged in crossing the Ohio, and returned in safety to his family, bringing home the evidence of his captivity-the " buffalo tug " with which his arms had been confined.
Among the most active and reliable men in the defence of the North Elkhorn frontier, the settlement at the main forks of Elkhorn, and those at Frankfort and its immediate neighborhood. were Col. John K. Grant and Capt. Samuel Grant, with their brothers; Maj. Thomas Herndon and Jacob Tucker; the late Col. James Johnson and Capt. Lucket, as they grew up ; Capt. Nathaniel Sanders, Capt. A. Bartlett, Capt. Pemberton, (the late Gen. Bennet Pemberton.) and Wil- liam Haydon and sons. On the Elkhorn, below the forks, old Mr. Church and sons, Jeremiah Craig, and others, distinguished themselves by their bravery and zeal.
Woodford was principally settled by emigrants from eastern and western Vir- ginia ; but there were many families from the states of North Carolina, Mary- land, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and quite a respectable number from Ireland and Germany.
The Honorable GEORGE M. BIBB, t is a native of Virginia-emigrated to Ken- tucky when young-studied law, and soon distinguished himself at the bar for his legal acquirements, solid judgment and cogent reasoning. He rose rapidly in his profession, and it was not long before he was numbered among the ablest and soundest lawyers in the country. He became well known in a short time-was in politics a republican-acquired the esteem and confidence of his countrymen, to which his honest, consistent and undeviating advocacy of the rights of the occupying claimants contributed not a little. He was appointed by the legisla- ture of Kentucky to defend the occupying claimant laws before the supreme court of the United States and against the State of Virginia-a trust which he discharged with great ability and in a very satisfactory manner to his countrymen.
Judge Bibb has been three times chief justice of the State of Kentucky-the second time upon the reorganization of the court of appeals at the session of 1821-3-consequently belonged to the new court side of the old and new court question, by which the State was so long and so fearfully agitated about that time, and of course believed in the competency of the legislature to enact what were called relief laws -- including laws for the stay of execution, replevin laws, and laws for the valuation of property taken in execution-without which power, the legislative branch of the government would seem to be imperfect.
Judge Bibb has been twice elected to the senate of the United States-the last time when General Jackson was first elected president of the United States -to whom he gave his cordial support, both when the general was first a candi- date in 1-21, and when he was elected in 1828-which support was in a short time withdrawn. however. What cause of dissatisfaction he had with that illus- trious patriot, is but imperfectly known to the writer of this sketch.
Upon the Judge's retirement from the Senate, he was appointed chancellor of the chancery court of the city of Louisville, in which tribunal he tully sustamed his high character as an able and impartial administrator of justice. And in that office he continued until invited in 1944. by President Tyler, to take charge of the treasury department of the United States. From this he retired in 1545. upon
* The respective friends of Col. Grant and Capt. Sanders, claimed for their commander the honor of shooting th s Indian.
+ The sketch of Judge Bibb properly belongs to Franklin or Jefferson, but was not received until after the descriptions of those countries were stereotyped.
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WOODFORD COUNTY.
the inauguration of President Polk : and since then he has resided at Washing- ton city, practicing law in the supreme court of the United States, and in the courts of the district of Columbia; and has the rare good fortune of enjoying in the evening of his life, much of the activity, with all the mental vigor and viva- city of his younger days.
The Honorable JOHN J. CRITTENDEN, of the United States' senate ; the Honor- able JOHN J. MARSHALL, late judge of the Louisville circuit court ; and the Hon- orable THOMAS A. MARSHALL, chief justice of the State of Kentucky, were all natives of Woodford county.
General WILLIAM WOODFORD, in honor of whom this county received its name, a revolutionary officer of high merit, was born in Caroline county, Virginia. He early distinguished himself in the French and Indian war. Upon the assembling of the Virginia troops in Williamsburg, in 1775, consequent upon the hostile atti- tude of Lord Dunmore, he was appointed colonel of the second regiment. In the military operations immediately subsequent, in that section of the State, his naine is honorably mentioned in history, particularly at the battle of Great Bridge, fought December 9th, upon which occasion he had the chief command, and gained a signal victory over the enemy. He was finally promoted to the com- tinand of the first brigade, in which station he served through the war. He was `in various actions, in one of which, the battle of Brandywine, he was wounded. He was made prisoner by the British in 1780, during the siege of Charleston, and taken to New York, where he died on the 13th of November, of that year, in the 46th year of his age.
APPENDIX.
THE following account of the last excursion of the Indians into Kentucky, is copied from M'Donald's Sketches. It should have appeared under the head of Mason County, but was accidentally omitted :
" in the course of this summer (1793). the spies who had been down the Ohio, below Limestone, discovered where a party of about twenty Indians had crossed the Ohio. and sunk their cances in the mouth ot Hoit's creek. The sinking of their ennoes, and concealing them, was evidence of the in- toation of the Ind ans to re-cross the Ohio at the same place. When Kenton received this michli- gar hed span ned a messenger to Bourbon county, to apprise them that the Indians had crossed Ur Ohio. and had taken that direction : whilst he forthwith collected a small party of choice spirits, when he coului depend upon in cases of emergency. . Among them was Cornelius Washburn. who had the eunn ny of a fox. for ambuseading, and the daring of a lion for encountering" With This party, Kenton crossed the Olo. at Limestone, and proceeded down to opposite the mouth of Hoit's erer's. where the Indian canoes lay concealed. Here his party lay concealed four days. Before the V saw or heard anything of the Indians. On the fourth day of their ambuscade. they observed three Illans come down the bank, and drive six horses into the river. The horses swan over The Jad. ans then ra. sed one of their canoes they had sank. and crossed over. When the Ind.ans came near the shore, Kenton d. scovered, that of the three men in the canoe, one was a white man. As re thongist the white man was probably a prisoner, he ordered his men to fire alone at the Indians, and save the white man. H.s men fired ; the two Indiens fell. The headway which the canoe had, ran It npon the shore : the whne man in the canoe picked up his gun, and as Kenton ran down to the water's edge. to receive the men. he snapped his gun at the whites. Konton then ordered his mnen to & # him. He was immediately shot. About three or four hours afterwards, on the san." da. . .... more Indians, and another white man came to the river, and drove in five horses. The Horses - con over: and the Indians raised another of their sunk canoes, and toliowed the horses across the Uno As soon as the cartee touched the shore with the Indians Kenton's party fred upon them and killed Lori all. The white man, who was w th tles party of Indians, had his chra ent. his nose bored and the marks which distinguish the Indians. Kenton and his men s'il kept up the artne, wie. know me Here were still more Indians, and one canoe behind. Some time in the night, the Hills Lody of the ladies came to the place where their canoes were sank, and hosted The owls, But not ree sving any answer. they began to think a'l was not righ: The Indians were as vigilant as was The two part ra who had been killed the main body expected to find encamped on the o'nerade of the Oh of and as no answer was given to their hooting, which was doubles. agreed upon as a counters un. one of the Indians must have swym the river to recomo tre and discover What had become of their friends. The Indian who swam the river, innithave if scoveret ' 90 havale. He went upon a high hill, or know which was immediately in Kenton's Fear, and give tar a long and load sells ; after which he informed his friends that they must immediately me the their escape, as there was a party of whites waylaying them. Kenton had several men who under- siooit the Indian language. Not many minutes after the Indian on the hill had warned his com-
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APPENDIX.
panions of their danger, the Bourbon militia came up. It being dark, the Indians broke and run, leasing about thirty horses, which they had stolen from about Bourbon. The next morning. some avempts were made to pursue the Indians; but they had scattered and struggled off in quen small part.es. that the pursuit was abandoned, and Kenton and his party returned home. without the adan making any more noise or relat than would have taken place on the return of a party from a com- mon hunting tour. Although Kenton and his party did not succeed as well as they could wish, or their friends expected, yet the Indians were completely foiled and defeated in their object : six of them were killed, and all the horses they had stolen were retaken, and the remainder of the Ind.ang seattered, to return home in small squads. This was the last inroad the Indians made in Kentucky ; from henceforward they lived free from all alarms .??
SCIENCE AND LITERATURE, IN KENTUCKY.
BY A KENTUCKIAN.
THE following contribution to the literary history of the West, is but a frag .. ment ; yet. it is hoped, that it may serve as a stimulus to those who have oppor- tunity and ability to do full justice to western talent. In presenting the casual sketches which follow, we aim merely to call attention to the subject. We are by no means indifferent to the merits of many other distinguished and gifted sons of Kentucky ; and would gladly, were it in our power. at present, enlarge this sketch to a full outline of the science and literature of our native state.
In literature, science, and the arts, the condition of the Western States has not been favorable to progress. The talent, and force of character, which Kentuchians have so offen manifested in a brilliant manner, have found their field in business, in personal adventures. enterprise, war and ein grat.on, or in forensie and political strife. The caim pursuit of Piers was not the natural voca- tion of the brave pioneers, or of their immediate descendants. Yet even under these adverse c'r cumstances, Kentucky has had not only orators, soldiers, and statesinen of the first rank. but art. sts. scholars, and literary men of whom she may be justly proud. The bar of Kentucky. some tiurty or forty years since, was probably unsurpassed in any other State. Her Allen. Rowan. Clay, Davicss, Hays, and others, were truly intellectual giants. Her artists have won high distinction. The produc. tions of Jouent display the hand of a master, and compare favorably with European stamlands Among her male and female poetical writers, we nuignt name several who have an American repu- tation. Her men of science and invention have produced works of aint,ty, and inventions of the highest importance. We do not propose even to ( numerate these. but we cannot abstain from allud- ing to one of Kentucky's brave and hardy pioneers, JOHN FITCH, who while engaged m exploring the wilderness and rivers of the west. and wielding his r.de in expeditions against the hostile savages, conceived the great invention of the STEAMBOAT at a time when he was not even aware of the exis- tence of a steam engine. Having demonstrated the practicability of his invention long before the more successful Fulton introduced the steamboat into general use, he is undoubtedly entitled to the highest rank among American inventors. No invention has contributed more to the wealth and power of the West than the Steamboat. To John Fitch belongs the honor of demonstrating more than sixty years ago. that the rivers of the West would be navigated, and the Adanuc ocean eross ed by steain ; and although he was not sustained by publie or private co-operation in carrying out his whole scheine-he was enabled to build a steamboat which in 1756 at Philadelphia made a speed of eight miles an hour. Fitch was truly one of our greatest national benefactors. The comparative negleet of his high claims upon the gratitude of his countrymen inspires us with a lively sympathy in his behalf. He enjoys however that honor which Cato preferred -- for we may well ask why hs countrymen have not erected a monument to his memory.
In medical science, Kentucky has not been backward. Her two medical colleges are the most prosperous in the West, and some fifteen or twenty of her talented sons have been called to occupy professorships in the medical colleges of other states. We do not propose to enumerate her di- inguished medical men. but offer the following sketches-the materials for which happened to be within our reach, as specimens of Kentucky talent.
DR. BENJAMIN WILAINS DUDLEY has long been conspicuous as an eminent surgeon. Dr. D. way born in Spottsylvania d'o, Virgin a. April 12. 17-5. Some months after his birth. his father emigrated to Kentucky. Dr. D. was educated in Transylvania Uinversity. In his professional studies ne at tended the courses of lectures at Philadelphia, and graduated in 1-06. After thus receiving the 1 struction of Rush. Barton, Physic, Shippen, Woodhouse and Wistar. he pract sed his profession at Lexington until 1:10 .- then visited Loudon and Paris, and spent four years in those cities. pron. ng by the instructions of Cooper, Dupuytren. Larrey, Boyer. Dubois, Abernethey. Cline, Cuvier. &c. After a papelage of two years in the: hospitals of London. he was honored with a degree, which com statuted him a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Not only were his pecuniary means "[. hausted by the long residence abroad, but his books and instruments, and a cabinet of rare minerals, were destroyed by the burning of the custom house at London.
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