USA > Kentucky > History of pioneer Kentucky > Part 16
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These two delegates reached Richmond in November, 1785, and at once began work toward having their peti- tion granted. They found the Virginia lawmakers sur- prisingly pliable as far as separation was concerned. On January 6, 1786, they passed the first Enabling Act providing for the separation of Kentucky on certain conditions.30 These conditions were that there should be no change in the boundary; that Kentucky assume a part of the State debt; that land rights remain un- changed ; that residents and nonresidents be equal in the matter of taxation; that the Ohio be open to navigation ; and that all disputes between Virginia and Kentucky be settled by arbitration. For the accepting or rejecting of these conditions, a convention should be held at Dan- ville on the first Monday in September, and, if accept- ing, Kentucky should become a State at some date prior
30 Hening, Vol. XII, p. 37. Madison's letters during this period reflect the entire willingness of Virginia to grant a separation to Kentucky.
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to September 1, 1787, provided that Congress, before June, 1787, had admitted her to the Union.
This last provision aroused the ire of the Kentucky politicians, of whom Wilkinson was deservedly the leader: They did not desire admission to the Union, but imme- diate and unconditional independence. Wilkinson and others announced themselves as candidates for the "Fourth" Convention on a platform calling for imme- diate independence. Wilkinson was opposed by John Marshall in a heated campaign, but was elected; his enemies asserted that his election was secured only by illegal acts on the part of the militia officers at the ballot box. But when the convention was called together in Danville on the twenty-sixth of September, it was speedily discovered that there was no quorum present for the transaction of business. The cause of such a con- dition of things was to be found in Indian troubles.
The Indians north of the Ohio River had never ceased to be troublesome. After the Northwest territory had been ceded by Virginia to the Confederation, the latter government had appointed .Clarke, Butler and Lee as commissioners to make treaties with the Indians within its bounds.31 In January, 1785, at Fort McIntosh, they made a treaty with the Wyandots, Delawares, Chip- pewas and Ottawas; one year later at Fort Finney peace was made with the Shawnese. For the moment, however, the making of peace seemed to increase the virulence of Indian hostilities. They literally swarmed over the land, stealing the horses and cattle, murdering the settlers and exasperating the Kentuckians beyond measure. In the spring of 1786, a band of seventy outcast Cherokees,
31 Butterfield, Clarke's Conquest of the Illinois, p. 497.
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called Chickamaugas, moved north and settled beyond the Ohio River, whence they gave their entire energies to the harassing of the Kentucky settlements.32 In April of this year Logan wrote to Governor Henry of Virginia, complaining bitterly of the Indian depredations and suggesting that a campaign be made against them. He gave his opinion that Clarke, then residing at Louis- ville, was the proper man to lead the campaign. Clarke was just then recovering from a sickness, the origin of which Logan charitably refrained from mentioning. Gov- ernor Henry thereupon instructed Logan to call a meeting of the field officers and take such measures as were necessary to protect themselves from the Indians.33 These instructions were given in May, and as the sug- gestion to make Clarke leader had not been disapproved by the Governor, Logan called a meeting of the officers for the second of August, with the avowed intention of placing Clarke in charge of the militia.34 Henry had told them to do what was necessary to protect themselves, and to their minds this authorized them to lead an expe- dition across the Ohio if they thought best. While the officers were waiting for the time of meeting, there came to their hands a petition from Jefferson County that the militia of the entire district be called out to aid her against the Indians.35 This appeal was signed by fifty-four original settlers of the county and George Rogers Clarke's name was in the number. The entire district, in fact, was demanding that something be done, and when the meeting was finally called to order at Harrodsburg on the second of August
32 Cal. Va. St. Papers, Vol. IV, p. 119.
33 Ibid., p. 120.
34 Ibid., p. 155.
35 Cal. Va. St. Papers, Vol. IV, p. 160.
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no time was lost in placing Clarke in control and deciding upon a campaign against the northern Indians.36 What- ever scruples the officers may have had in regard to leading a Virginia army into foreign territory were easily over- come by an opinion of the District Court that such an expedition was legal.37 That Clarke had been dismissed from the Virginia line, had become a notorious drunkard and an object of suspicion to the Kentuckians did not at all prevent them from selecting him as their leader.
The invading army was to consist of two thousand men and they were ordered to rendezvous at Clarkesville oppo- site Louisville. Yet when the time came to go not more than half that number could be persuaded to march and these went reluctantly, having no confidence in Clarke. From the beginning disaster and mismanagement attended the undertaking.38 The troops marched overland to Vincennes and awaited there the arrival of the provisions. These had been loaded on nine keel boats and started to Vincennes by way of the Ohio and the Wabash. But low water on the latter stream delayed them nine days and when they arrived at Vincennes the discontented army found that half of the provisions were spoiled. Logan had been left behind in Kentucky to lead a force against the Shawnese. Clarke's open intemperance had alienated the loyalty of officers and men, and a rumor that he had proposed terms to the Indians spread through the rank and file and brought the fermenting rebellion to a crisis. Three hundred men de- serted and returned to Kentucky. Clarke had to content himself with remaining at Vincennes where his high-handed conduct of affairs soon brought down upon him the wrath
36 Ibid., p. 166.
37 Ibid., p. 195.
38 Butterfield, Clarke's Conquest of the Illinois, p. 505.
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of Virginia and the Confederation. Meanwhile Logan had collected seven hundred and ninety men and led them against the Shawnese with his customary skill and good fortune.39 He was gone twenty days, burned the Shawnese towns, killed a number of warriors, took numerous prisoners and returned rapidly and successfully. Logan's success, however, was as unpopular as was Clarke's failure. While Logan himself was doubtless guiltless of misconduct, his lieutenants, and notably Patterson, aroused the ire of the Kentuckians by their assumption of authority.40 It was charged and proven that there was much impressing of private property for the campaign and that even some of the militia had been sold into slavery. In a letter to Henry, Colonel Todd asked for an investigation into the non- success of Clarke's army.41 Altogether it was a long time before the Kentuckians forgot the animosities of this un- happy campaign.
The "Fourth" Convention had all this time been sitting at Danville without a quorum. The members present were far from idle. They had prepared and sent to the Vir- ginia Assembly in the care of John Marshall a memorial setting forth their discontent with the Enabling Act and the impossibility now of fulfilling its conditions regarding the time of separation ; they requested a modification. The Virginia Assembly thereupon passed the second Enabling Act. By the provisions of this act Kentucky was to become a separate State in January, 1789, if Congress admitted it to the Union before July 4, 1788. It also called for another convention to be held in Danville on the third Mon- day in September. When the militia of Logan's and
30 Cal. Va. St. Papers, Vol. IV, p. 204.
40 Ibid., p. 186.
41 Ibid., p. 182.
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Clarke's armies returned to Kentucky, a quorum was ob- tained in the convention only in time, according to the second Enabling Act, to adjourn.
The land was already fermenting with discontent over the luckless expedition of Clarke and this fresh delay in the Statehood movement added to the irritation. Wilkin- son and his friends declared for immediate independence without regard to membership in the Union. To make matters worse a "Committee of Correspondence" made up of Pittsburg gentlemen, sent a communication to Kentucky declaring that John Jay, the secretary of state, and Don Gardoqui, the Spanish minister, were negotiating for the surrender to Spain of the Mississippi. This truthful rumor Wilkinson with ready oratory transmuted into a reality. A convention was called to protest against the outrage, but the delegates when they came to meet found that the said outrage had entirely failed to materialize. 42
The "Fifth" Convention met in September and again went through the solemn form of petitioning Virginia for separation.43 They also sent a petition to Congress asking for admission to the Union and prevailed on Virginia to send one of the Kentucky delegation, John Brown, to Con- gress as district representative. But when Brown reached Philadelphia he found the old Confederation already mori- bund. Congress was willing to do nothing but wait for the new government to go into effect. The time named in the second Enabling Act for the admission of Kentucky passed without the Kentucky memorial being acted upon. Meanwhile the Kentuckians had elected a convention to frame a Constitution. This convention assembled at Dan-
42 Littell, Political Transactions, Appendix VIII.
43 Ibid., p. 32.
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ville July 28, 1788, with Samuel McDowell as president. Hardly were they organized for business before a letter was received from Brown reporting his failure and ascribing it to the efforts of the New England representatives who were influenced by jealousy of the rapidly growing West. He mentioned an interview he had had with Don Gardoqui in which the Spanish minister had offered many privileges to Kentucky if she would set up an independent government. The convention after a debate of five days issued a call for another convention to be held in November at Danville.
The election that followed was bitterly contested between the Court party headed by members of the District Court and the Country party which was in favor of conservative action. The result was a victory for the latter and when the Convention-the "Seventh"-met in November, the Court party found itself in the minority. Wilkinson and Brown were both members of the convention and did their utmost to secure an immediate declaration of independence. Their influence was great. Brown had long been a member of the Virginia Assembly and possessed deservedly the con- fidence of his people. Wilkinson was now more popular than ever. He had taken a cargo of ham, flour and to- bacco on flat boats to New Orleans in June, 1787, and sold it for a great advance over Kentucky prices.44 There can be no doubt but that he made arrangements with the Spanish Governor Miro to detach Kentucky from the Union in return for a pension and liberal trading privileges for himself. There can, likewise, be no doubt in the minds of those who understand western character that Wilkinson had not the slightest intention of keeping faith. He was, as he later termed it, "bluffing" for his own financial gain. He
44 Collins, Vol. I, p. 21.
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remained in July and August at New Orleans and started home in September. Like most travelers of that time, he came by sea to Baltimore and then overland to Kentucky where he made his appearance in February, 1788, riding in a coach drawn by six horses, possessed of great funds and a signed pass from Miro that he could bring any cargo he wished to New Orleans without paying duty. He soon interested Innes, the district attorney, and Sebastian, one of the district judges, in his plans and the evidence seems to show that they also became pensioners of Spain with the same motives as Wilkinson.
The various conventions and their efforts to achieve Statehood were not the only matters that claimed the atten- tion of the Kentuckians at this period; in fact, the entire movement for autonomy occupied but a minor place in the thoughts of the people. It was a movement in which the politicians of the district were keenly interested, but the Kentucky people then, as now, were little disposed to be guided by their politicians and remained for the most part passive, notwithstanding the great efforts to arouse their interest and their passions. No greater misconception could possibly be had of the true state of affairs in Ken- tucky at this time than to represent the people as being in a state of constant excitement over the Statehood move- ment; it interested them only intermittently and their at- tention and thoughts were commonly directed to other things. Kentucky was beginning to develop a commerce of her own and her people were fast spreading over the entire district. As the people scattered and trade grew greater a demand arose that the rivers should be provided with ferries and that roads should be established over which goods might be transported. In October, 1785, the Vir-
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ginia Assembly passed an act establishing three addi- tional ferries over the Kentucky River and two over the Ohio in Jefferson County.45 The provision for ferries over the Ohio indicate that population and trade were begin- ning to extend from Kentucky northward into the Indian territory. One year later the Assembly passed an act providing for a State road to be built from Lexington to the falls of the Great Kanawha and to be completed in three years.46 As provision had already been made for a road from the Kanawha to Richmond, Kentucky was to be given direct communication with the Virginia capital.47
As the population of Kentucky continued to increase, Virginia met the need for closer government by a multi- plication of the counties. In October, 1785, Bourbon was formed from Fayette County and Lincoln was subdivided into Lincoln, Madison and Mercer. The next year a still further division was made by forming Mason from Bour- bon and Woodford from Fayette. The creation of these new county governments made it possible to organize more effectively the militia of the district and to provide for a better maintenance of order and distribution of justice.48 Another important step was taken in October, 1788, when the Assembly formed the Kentucky counties into a district with one representative in Congress.
Military affairs also occupied no little part of the at- tention of the Kentuckians during 1786 and 1787. In March, 1787, while Colonel Logan was absent in Rich- mond, Captain John Logan 49 raised a company of one hundred and thirty men and led them into Tennessee on
45 Hening, Vol. XII, p. 83.
46 Ibid., p. 282.
47 Ibid., p. 218.
48 Ibid., pp. 653, 658, 663.
49 Cal. Va. St. Papers, Vol. IV, p. 256.
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the trail of a band of marauding Cherokees. He aimed to attack the Cherokee town of Crow Town, but missed his way and fell in with a band of Chickamaugas. To the Kentuckians in their present temper this seemed a special dispensation of Providence, and they promptly made use of it. Seven of the Indians were killed. Then the Ken- tuckians returned home, leaving a trail of furious Indians behind them. Hardly were they gone when some forty of the Chickamaugas set out for Kentucky to avenge the death of their kinsmen.50 Happily they were met by the Indian trader Martin and were persuaded to abandon the warpath. This expedition of Logan's was like that of Clarke's in the preceding year in that it had been an illegal invasion of foreign territory. As it was, Virginia was prompt to frown upon such measures, and in May the Gov- ernor sent positive instructions to the Kentucky officers that the militia under no conditions was to be led out of the district. After that the militia officers contented them- selves with plans for defense and did not again cross the boundary.51 In February, 1787, they called out two companies of militia for permanent service, one to guard Limestone, which had become a great landing place for the immigrants to Kentucky, and another to range the frontier of Fayette in a search of prowling Indians. Muter and Innes recommended to the Governor in the early spring that he should appoint four Indian commissioners to give their entire time to the management of Indian affairs in Kentucky. Randolph did not take the advice, but con- tented himself with a message to Congress, asking that Virginia be given permission to chastise the Indians that
60 Ibid., p. 261.
51 Cal. Va. St. Papers, Vol. IV, pp. 237-427. Passim.
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were harassing Kentucky, but nothing came of the request. In the midst of these exasperations there came instructions from Virginia for the punishment of Clarke and Logan for undertaking the campaign of 1786, and the district attorney, Innes, contributed toward the feeling the mili- tary had for Virginia by refusing to execute the order. In April, 1788, the Indians again became troublesome and a meeting of the field officers was called at Danville. They called out three hundred and sixty-six of the militia for permanent duty and enlisted a special force of sixty-six scouts to hunt for Indians. As a result of these vigorous measures, Kentucky enjoyed a degree of peace for the next few months that she had not known for many years.
Mention must be made of two events that were subjects of interest to the Kentuckians of this period. One was the settlement of Ohio and the other was the formation of the State of Franklin by the people of Tennessee, who were living under much the same conditions as were the Kentuckians. Ohio had acquired a quasi-Constitution by the Ordinance of 1787, and the activities of the Ohio Land Company and its subsidiary, the Scioto Company, soon resulted in bringing settlers into the land. This was a two- fold advantage to Kentucky: it interposed a barrier be- tween the Indians and the Kentuckians and it placed a line of settlers along the route that their trade took in going to Philadelphia. It would have been no more than natural if Kentucky had been influenced by the example of Ten- nessee to declare its independence. Virginia, whose wish it was that Kentucky should not have separation until provision had been made for taking her into the Union, feared for the effect that the example of Franklin might have. Pressure was brought to bear on the infant State
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and Virginia received assurances from the de facto Frank- lin government that Kentucky would not be supported by her in a course that Virginia feared. That there ever was any danger that Kentucky would allow herself to be in- fluenced by the example of Franklin is not credible to anyone who understands the nature of the genus Kentuckian. It was much more likely that the Kentuckians would be influenced by Spanish promises.
In the "Seventh" Convention Brown declared that Spain stood ready to extend various commercial privileges to Kentucky if she were independent. Wilkinson told of his trip to New Orleans in the summer of 1787 and read a lengthy memorial on the subject of trade with that city. Wilkinson was given a vote of thanks by the convention, which, after drafting an address to Virginia and another to the people of Kentucky, adjourned. Virginia in the meantime had heard of the inaction of Congress in admit- ting Kentucky and had passed the third Enabling Act, December 29, 1788.52 The act, after calling for another convention to meet in July, 1789, had provided that Ken- tucky, in becoming a separate State, should assume a part of the domestic debt of Virginia and should continue de- pendent on her as to the lands given by Virginia to her soldiers in Kentucky.
To these two provisions the Kentuckians had no inten- tion of submitting, and when the "Eighth" Convention met, July 20, 1789, its first act was to send a protest to Virginia and ask for a modification of the terms. Vir- ginia readily complied, passed a fourth Enabling Act omit- ting the obnoxious provisions and called a convention for July 26, 1790. Kentucky was to become independent of
52 Hening, Vol. XII, p. 788.
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Virginia on a day to be fixed by the "Ninth" Convention provided Congress had previously admitted her to the Union. It was to be the duty of the "Ninth" Convention to call another for the purpose of framing a Constitution for the new State.
The "Ninth" Convention named June 1, 1792, as the date of separation, issued a call for the Constitutional Convention and adjourned after sending a memorial to the new Federal government, asking for admission to the Union. Washington, now president, recommended the admission of the new State. February 1st, Congress passed the requisite act, and on June 1, 1792, having framed a Constitution and elected Isaac Shelby as first governor, Kentucky passed from a district into a State and became a member of the Union.
During the last two or three years preceding the sepa- ration of Kentucky from Virginia the district had lived in comparative peace as far as the Indians were concerned. The Indians had now even ceased to penetrate into the interior of Kentucky at all, even for horse stealing, and confined their activities to harassing travelers on the two main routes into Kentucky, the Wilderness Road and the Ohio River. A summary stop was put to the Wilderness Road depredations in December, 1790, when the county- lieutenants of Mercer, Madison and Lincoln were instructed to order out a guard of thirty men alternately to take their station at Cumberland Gap and protect the travelers. The efforts to prevent the marauding on the Ohio River or to avenge it was more protracted. In September, 1790, the Federal government placed General Harmar in command of an expedition against the Miami villages. A detach- ment of three hundred militia under Colonel Hardin joined
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him at Fort Washington at the mouth of the Licking and the army marched northward, only to meet with a disas- trous defeat at the hands of the Indians led by Big Turtle. The conduct of the Kentucky militia in this battle was dis- graceful, and was exceeded only by the rashness of their leader, Hardin. But with characteristic western disposition they refused to take the blame and insisted that Harmar had been the cause of the defeat.
The Federal government now appointed a Board of War to reside in Kentucky, with authority to call out the Kentuckians for service against the Indians. In May, 1791, this Board ordered an expedition against the Wabash Indians and gave the command of it to General Charles Scott, with Wilkinson as second in command. Seven hun- dred mounted men composed this army, and they met with complete success. But the expedition of St. Clair in November, 1791, had a far different ending. The Ken- tuckians were distrustful of regular officers and went with St. Clair reluctantly. Before the day of the battle three-fourths of the one thousand men that had started with him had deserted and the remaining were far from distinguishing themselves in the battle. But the various expeditions, successful or not, were all beneficial to Ken- tucky, inasmuch as they kept the attention of the Indians distracted from her borders. Within a few months a leader was to be found whose success would wipe out all memory of these defeats.
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ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL.
T HE economic beginnings of Kentucky are to be found almost as far back in the past as the founda- tions of its political history. At the beginning of the French and Indian war, the Governor of Virginia gave to the militia of his State a specific reason for enlistment in the promise of western lands. According to the terms of his proclamation, 200,000 acres of land were to be sur- veyed on or near the south bank of the Ohio River and divided among the militia.1 The terms were liberal, as was appropriate in the case of men who in all probability would not live to demand their execution. For reasons which do not require explanation, these lands were not surveyed till the close of the struggle, and in 1763 the proclamation of King George in regard to his newly won territory again took up the land question. The land was to be surveyed for the veterans in amounts proportionate to their rank. Field officers were to receive 5,000 acres ; captains, 3,000; subalterns or staff officers, 2,000; non- commissioned officers, 200; and the lowly private, 50.2
But the same proclamation that set forth these terms likewise closed the Kentucky lands to settlements, reserv- ing them to the Indians. Not until 1770 did the Virginians obtain the legal sanction to settle in Kentucky. In Octo- ber of that year the treaty of Lochaber with the Chero- kees placed the western boundary at the Kanawha, and Colonel Donelson in surveying ran it along the Kentucky instead. This action, acquiesced in by all parties, opened
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