USA > Kentucky > Irish pioneers in Kentucky : a series of articles published in the Gaelic American > Part 2
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AN IRISH SCHOOLMASTER.
Daniel was educated by an Irish schoolmaster, whose name. however, does not appear in any of the published lives of the great pioneer. He is mentioned particularly in Flint's "First White Man of the West." and by Abbott in his "Life of Daniel Boone." "There were no schools in those remote districts of log cabins." says Abbott. "But it so happened that an Irishman of some education strolled into that neighborhood, and Squire Boone engaged him to teach his children and those of the adjacent settle- ments. These hardy emigrants met with their axes in a central point of the wilderness and in a few hours constructed a rude hut of logs for a school-
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house." Here Daniel Boone was first taught to read and write by the rov- ing Irish schoolmaster. That was in 1734.
John Finley originally went from Pennsylvania to Virginia. thence to North Carolina. In the War of the Revolution, he was Major of the Eighth Pennsylvania Regiment of Continental Troops. His descendants now live in Nicholas County, Kentucky.
According to the narrative of Daniel Boone, dictated to John Filson in 1784 by the noted pioneer himself. Boone and his party set out from the Yadkin on May 1. 1709, and after surmounting many difficulties, they ar- rived on June " at a place supposed to be in the vicinity of Abington, in Laurel County, where Finley had previously been trading with the Indians. The party remained two years and traversed the whole region. They were harassed by the Indians, and Boone was captured, but managing to make his escape, he returned to North Carolina in 1771 and spread through the Western settlements of Virginia and North Carolina the most glowing accounts of the inexhaustible fertility of the soil.
In the second expedition of the celebrated pioneer, the ubiquitous Irish- man was again represented in the persons of James Mooney, Joseph Holden, John Kennedy and Wilham Boland. Two years after Boone's return, Vir- ginia sent out surveyors to locate lands on the Ohio River. The first sur- veying party was under the command of Captain Thomas Bullitt, and ac- companying him we find three brothers named James. George and Robert McAfee, afterwards to become famous in Kentucky history. On the arrival of the party at the conduence of the Ohio and Kentucky Rivers-noted as the place where James McBride disembarked nineteen years before. the Me- Afees separated themselves from their companions and descended the latter river as far as the Forks of Elkhorn, exploring the country and making sur- veys in various places. They were exposed to fierce attacks by the Indians, but invariably managed to keep the savage redmen in check.
LOUISVILLE LAID OUT ON LANDS OWNED BY IRISHMEN.
That was in the summer of 1773. Perkins, in his "Annals of the West," says that the MeAfees. John Higgins, and some others. "separated from the main party and went up the river, explored the banks and made many important surveys, including the valley in which the Capital City of Frankfort now stands." Portion of the Bullitt expedition went on up the Kentucky River to the Falls, and "laid out on behalf of John Campbell and John Connolly the plan of the present City of Louisville." The his- torians says that Campbell and Connolly were natives of Ireland.
Five years later, in October, 1778, Collins says the permanent founda- tions of the City of Louisville were laid, by the erection of a fort by Cap- tain James Patton, Richard Chenoweth, John Tuel ( Toole ?), William Faith and John McManus. He also says that "two surveys were made before Louisville was laid out." and that "the second survey was made by William Peyton and Daniel Sullivan." In 17-0, the Legislature of Virginia passed "an Act for the establishment of the town of Louisville at the Falls of the Ohio." By this Act, eight Trustees were appointed "to lay ont the town on a traet of land which had been granted to John Connolly by the British
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Crown and which he had forfeited by his adherence to the royal cause." Among the eight Trustees are mentioned "Andrew Hynes and Daniel Sulli- van. Gentlemen."
THE M'AFEE BROTHERS.
Mann Butler. a Kentucky historian, says the MeAfee brothers were the sons of James MeAfee. a pioneer of Botetourt County, Va. "Fired by the glowing description of the beauty and fertility of Kentucky. they deter- mined to visit it in search of a new home, and on June 1, 1773. they struck out across the mountains to the Kanawha River, about four miles above the month of Elk River, where, having sent their horses back by John Mc Cown and James Pawling. they descended the river in canoes." By pre- vious arrangement, they joined Hancock Taylor, the leader of another sur- veying party, with whom they ascended the Kentucky River as far as Dren- non's Lick. Here they found a white man named Joseph Drennon who had crossed the country one day ahead of the MeAfees.
"The unted companies joined the expedition under Captain Thomas Bullitt. and the three parties proceeded together down the Ohio as far as the mouth of Limestone Creek, where the City of Maysville now stands. At the mouth of the Kentucky the companies separated. the MeAfee party followed a buffalo trace and crossed the river below Frankfort at what is now Lee's Town. Here they turned up the river and surveyed for 600 acres at the place where the Capital City was afterwards located, this being the first survey on the Kentucky River."
HARDSHIPS OF THE PIONEERS.
From the Kentucky they took a Southeast course across Dick's River, and soon found themselves in a barren and mountainous region. For days they went without food. their feet were blistered and bruised by the rocks; no water could be found and no game. At length. Robert MeAfee, by a lucky shot. the last in his ponch, managed to kill a deer which had strayed far from the herd, and thus the party was saved from starvation. After passing through many privations and horrors. the ragged and forlorn party returned safely to their friends in Botetourt County.
It will be observed that the historians differ slightly as to the details of the tour of the MeAfees. Butler's statement is probably more correct than that of the others, for he says that his information was taken from the Original MeAfee family papers, which are said to be still preserved as part of the records of Providence Church. the first established in Kentucky. "These papers." says Butler, "embrace the adventures of that enterprising and bold family from 1773 to the final settlement of the family in peace and in the plenty of Kentucky." We shall later quote extracts from these papers concerning the adventures of this noted Irish-American family.
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Irish Pioneers in Kentucky.
The McGarrys, Dentons and Hogans Formed the First Domestic Circle in Kentucky-The Brave, But Rash, Captain Hugh McGarry.
"In Captain James Harrod's company of adventurers who came to Ken- tucky in 1774" says Collins, "was John Lynch. He occupied a cabin at Harrodsburg when. on September 8. 1775, General James Ray. accompanying his mother. Mrs. Hugh Melarry. her husband and children. Richard Hogan and Thomas Denton with their families and several others, reached Har- 101-burg." John Hayes, a boy of fifteen, was one of the party.
Among the "first Justices of the Peace appointed in Mercer County" were Hugh MeGarry, Samuel McAfee, Jolin Irvine and Samnel MeDowell all of Harrodsburg. And "among the carly settlers of Harrod-burg." says Collins. "distinguished for their bravery, activity and enterprise. were Major- Hugh MeGarry, Harlan. McBride and Chapline. The former was ardent. impetuous and rash, but withal. a man of daring courage, in- domitable energy and untiring perseverance."
The MeGarrys. Dentons and Hogans came from the backwoods of North Carolina. and no doubt. like Boone, were from the Yadkin River District. Butler says that after Boone had returned from his second expedition to Kentucky he had arranged with the MeGarrys. Dentons. Hogans and other settlers to proceed to Powel's Valley. on the head of Holston River, where they would effect a juncture and go on to Boonesborough.
Boone's party, however, was attacked by Indians, several of his men were killed, and was thus prevented from joining his North Carolina neigh- bors. By common consent, MeGarry was the leader of the party, and after waiting three months for Boone, they decided to go on alone. Arriving at the Dick River they became bewildered. and knew not which way to turn. Lofty, precipitons cliffs confronted them and barred their path. McGarry went by himself to explore the way, and by accident fell on the path between Harrodsburg and Harrod's Station. The party soon arrived at the latter place, from where they were led to the settlement of Harrods- burg.
THE FIRST WHITE WOMAN IN KENTUCKY.
Mrs. McGarry, Mrs. Denton and Mrs. Hogan were the first white women who are known to have lived in and formed the first domestic circle in Southeastern or Middle Kentucky. Collins -ays there were about fifty
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Catholic families in the territory about this time, the majority of whom were at Harrod-burg. They were largely composed, no doubt, of the Irish settlers.
One of them, Dr. George Hart, is referred to in Bishop Spaulding's "Sketches of the Early Catholic Missions in Kentucky." Benjamin J. Webb, in his "History of Catholicity in Kentucky," says Hart was a na- tive of Ireland, who settled first in Maryland. and in the Spring of 1775 emigrated to Harrodsburg. Hart and William Coomes and family, ac- cording to Webb, were "the first Catholics who are known to have settled in Kentucky." (The author was probably unaware of the fact that the McGarrys and Hogans had settled there previous to that time. as we assume from their names these were Catholics). Dr. Hart he describes as "an exemplary Irish Catholic." "He was one of the first physicians, if not the very first, who settled in Kentucky." He lived for many years at Harrodsburg. where he was engaged in the practice of his profession. He gave the ground for and built the first Catholic Church in Kentucky, at Bardstown.
CAPTAIN HUGH M'GARRY.
Captain Hugh McGarry was a noted Kentucky soldier and pioneer. He fought under the famous Generals, George Rogers Clark and Benjamin Logan. In the War of the Revolution the Kentuckians, under the command. of Colonel Daniel Boone, Majors Harlan, Edward Bulger and James Mc- Bride, and Captains John Bulger, John McMurtry, Hugh McGarry and other officers met the Indian allies of the British in several bloody conflicts.
In one desperate fight, on December 19, 1782, on the banks of Licking River, near Bryan's Station, 160 men of their command met a large force of Indians. The Kentuckians met with a severe reverse, and McGarry was blamed for the defeat. When the Kentuckians reached the river they found the enemy sheltered behind rocks and trees, and, notwithstanding their superior numbers, did not venture forth to the banks of the stream, preferring to await the crossing of the Americans, when they would swoop down like a vulture on its prey, and overwhelm the comparatively small band. The officers held a conference, and decided to wait the coming of Logan, who was then at Logan's Fort, several miles away, collecting reinforcements. "Two plans were proposed by Colonel Boone." says Butler, "one to divide into two parties and send one-half the men up the river, cross over and take the savages in the rear; the other to have the whole force remain intact and reconnoiter the ground well before crossing the river."
M'GARRY LED THE CHARGE.
But the impetuous McGarry would brook no delay. He insisted that to pause in the face of the enemy would be an act of cowardice; that their superior strength was only an imaginary danger. and confident that the Indian- would flee on the first assault was unwilling to accept the more mature advice of Boone and his brother officers. While the Council was hesitating between the two plans proposed. MeGarry suddenly spurred his horse into the stream and cried aloud: "Let all who are not cowards
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follow me." The gallant band could not endure this taunt, coming as it did from one who was extremely popular among them.
"They dashed into the stream, cach striving to be the foremost. They pressed forward in great disorder, with MeGarry leading and fol- lowed by Boone. Harlan and MeBride. They found themselves in a narrow valley. The ravines and rocks swarmed with Indians, who poured in a devouring fire." Majors Harlan, McBride, Gordon, Todd, Trigg, Bulger and other officers were killed, and "McGarry, although more deeply involved in the ranks of the enemy than any other officer, escaped totally unhurt." Sixty men were killed, a number wounded and seven captured and borne off by the enemy.
Although the impetuous Irishman is roundly scored by the historians for his rash act. Butler says: "It is due to the memory of McGarry to say that he had counselled a delay of twenty-four hours at Bryan's Station until Logan could arrive with his reinforcements." If his advice had not then been rejected the Kentuckians, in all probability, would have been saved a disastrous defeat.
CAPTAIN JOHN M'MURTRY.
Only very few of the killed and wounded were ever recorded, but among the few we notice the Irish names John Kennedy and Andrew Me- Connell. Four of the seven prisoners were slain by the Indians, and Cap- tain John MeMurtry was one of the three whose lives were spared through the timely intervention of an Indian chief. The prisoners were forwarded to Montreal, and in July 1783, were exchanged and sent to Ticonderoga, whence they reached their homes in Harrodsburg on August 28. Mc- Murtry was in several engagements afterwards, and fell in the battle of Miami River. near Chillicothe, O., known as Harman's defeat, on October 22, 1790. Captain MeClure, a Mr. MeClary, and Major McMullin, who commanded the militia, are conspicuously mentioned as participants in this battle. According to a sketch of Captain John Rose, which appeared in the Harrodsburg Central Watchtower of February 28, 1829, written by General Robert B. MeAfee, one of the historians of the War of 1812, "the brave McMurtry's name heads the list of the honored dead of Kentucky, en- graved upon the Battle Monument."
John McMurtry went from Virginia to Kentucky, and was one of the earliest settlers at Harrodsburg. He built the first grist mill run by water power in Kentucky, near Shakertown, in 1782. His cousin, William MeMurtry, was a noted Indian fighter. His biographer assumes, without having any knowledge of his antecedents, that he was of Scotch descent, but, as the name is just as Irish as it is Scotch, and indeed more so, we venture to include his name in this category of Kentucky's Irish settlers.
The McGarry family were prominent in the early days of Kentucky. They were land owners. and after the war were extensive dealers in horses. The records of the Court of Over and Terminer of Angust, 1783, show that Hugh MeGarry was fined for betting on a horserace on the previous May 15th. For this very grievous offence the Court pronounced "that Hugh McGarry, Gentleman, be deemed an infamous gambler, and that he shall
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not be liable to any ofice of trust within the State." An "infamous gen- tleman" is a term that may be difficult to define according to modern ethics!
Collins says that "in 1812 Hugh McGarry built a log cabin on the present site of the City of Evansville, Ind., which was the first dwelling erected by a white man in that section of the Indian Territory." Evans- ville was founded four years later.
PATRICK KENNEDY, WESTERN EXPLORER.
We also find traces of Irish pioneers even further West about this time. In 1773, one Patrick Kennedy and several companions started from the French settlement at Kaskaskia, now in Randolph County. Ill., and explored the country along the Mississippi River from Kaskaskia to a con- siderable distance beyond the site of the present City of St. Louis.
In Imlay's America (published in London in 1797), the author refers to "the Journal of Patrick Kennedy, giving an account of an expedition undertaken by himself and several coureurs des bois in the year of 1773, from Ka-kaskia village to the headwaters of the Illinois River." Ken- nedy's Journal is almost entirely devoted to the topography of the coun- try, rather than to the results of the expedition which he commanded. The information contained in his Journal is admitted to have been of great value to the government and people of that section for many years.
According to Collins, "the first visitors to Boone County were the MeAfee brothers, George Croghan, James McCoun, Joseph Drennon, Wil- liam Bracken and John Fitzpatrick, who arrived there in July. 1773." Is it not remarkable that they all bore Irish names? Colonel Croghan was the father of Major Croghan, the heroic defender of Fort Stephenson, an account of whose great exploit we hope to give in a later paper. He was born in Ireland.
The first surveys in Bracken County were made by Bullitt and Fitz- patrick in 1773. and by John Doran in 1774. This was on Locust Creek.
In 1774, Boone returned to Kentucky, and in the following April he constructed a fort in what is now Clark County, and since called Boones- borough. In September, 1774, Colonel Richard Calloway and others, with their families. reached the settlement, and in March, 1776, Colonel Benja- inin Logan, descendant of an Irish pioneer. brought his wife and family to Logan's Fort. near Stanford, in Lincoln County.
When Kentucky was formed into a county of Virginia, in 1776, Logan and Calloway were among the four Justices appointed. Logan was a General of the Revolutionary Army. Judge William Logan, his eldest son, "one of the most gifted and eminent of the early sons of Kentucky," was born in the fort at Harrodsburg on December S, 1776.
NEARLY 50 PER CENT. GAELS.
From "depositions and other authenticated statements," examined by Judge Collins, he shows that the following persons were residents of Har- rod-burg during the year 1775: John Dougherty. John Cowan. William Crowe. William Field. James Gilmore, John Higgins, Henry Higgins, Richard
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Hogan. Patrick Jordan, Garrett Jordan. Daniel Linn, John Lynch. James, Robert. George, Samuel and William Me Afep, James MeCown, John McCown, Hugh MeGarry, John MeGee. William MeMurtry, Alexander McNeil, James Ray and Thomas Ryan. Of 54 families which comprised the entire settlement at that time 25 bore Irish names. Several of these were at Harrodsburg before Daniel Boone's party from North Carolina had yet reached Ken- tucky, and laid the foundations of Boonesborough.
An erroneous impression prevails that the first permanent settlement in Kentucky was at Boone-borough in 1775, but Collins shows that the , earliest settlement was that of Harrodsburg in 1774, in which the Irish pioneers took part. When Boonesborough was established as a town, by an Act of the Virginia Legislature in October. 1779. trustees were appointed, among whom are mentioned Edward Bradley, John and Thomas Kennedy, and William Irvine. James Hogan is mentioned as having conducted a ferry across the Kentucky River at Boonesborough in 1785.
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Irish Pioneers in Kentucky.
John Reilly and Francis Dunlevy, Sons of Irish Immigrants, Established the First Schools in the Settle- inents of the Ohio.
According to Collins, the present town of Columbia, on the Ohio, was laid out by a party of Is men who came down that river in November, 1758, and landed at the mouth of the Little Miami. where they erected a log fort. Among the party, the historian mentions Captain James Flinn, John Reilly and Francis Dunlevy.
This John Reilly is distinguished as the first schoolmaster in the American settlements on the Ohio. There are many authorities for this statement, among them Collins' "History of Kentucky," Venable's "Begin- nings of Literary Culture in Ohio." the "Magazine of Western History for February, 188s." and McBride's "Pioneer Biography of Butler County, O." He was also the first to establish a school in Cincinnati.
Reilly was born in Chester, Pa., on April 10, 1763. His father had emigrated from Ireland some years previously, and after spending some time in Philadelphia, settled on a farm near Chester. When the future schoolnaster was only six years old the family removed to Staunton, in Augusta County. Va. This part of Virginia was then a frontier settle- ment, and the Reillys, among others, were under the necessity of congre- gating in block houses or forts for security against the attacks of the savages.
At the age of seventeen John Reilly joined the First Virginia Regiment of the Revolutionary Army and served 18 months under General Greene. The young soldier received his baptism of fire in the battle of Guilford Court House on March 15, 1781, at which he had the satisfaction of seeing the enemies of his father's and his own country fly before the victorious American troops. His second engagement was at the battle of Camden, S. C., on April 25, 1781. in which he witnessed-and probably with shame and chagrin-the so-called "Irish Volunteers" under Lord Rawdon fighting on the side of his country's enemies. He was with the army of General Greene when in the following May it invested the town of Ninety-Six, which the British had fortified.
He fought at the battle of Eutaw Springs on September 18, 1781, in which we are told "he distinguished himself for his bravery." The re- sult of this battle was that the enemy was crippled in the South.
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After leaving the army, he returned to his home in Virginia, but be- coming excited by the favorable accounts of the rich country in the West, he left his home in the winter of 1783 and set out to seek his fortune in the wilds of Kentucky. He was busily engaged in the vicinity of Danville for about six years as a manufacturer of machinery for the settlers and planters of that section. He also taught school at the same time.
IRISH AMONG THE FIRST IN COLUMBIA, O.
Here he met the noted hunter and pioneer, Captain James Flinn, and his future friend and co-worker, Francis Dunlevy. In 1788 Flinn organized an expedition to the then Northwest Territory and proceeded to the Ohio River, where they erected a blockhouse on the spot where the City of Co- lumbia, O., now stands. It is related that while the fort was being built some of the settlers had to stand guard while the others were at work. Among the little band of adventurers who first settled where Colum- bia now is, like a forlorn hope, and who preceded the mutitude who were to follow, were Captain Flinn. his father and two brothers, Daniel Griffin, Hugh Dunn, Cornelius Hurley, Patrick Moore, William Moore and James Manning, besides Reilly and Dunlevy.
The county histories of this section of Ohio indicate that Irish immi- grants were among the first to settle there. There was one large settle- ment called Coleraine, seventeen miles from the City of Cincinnati, which was established in 1790 by a number of emigrants from Coleraine, in An- trim. In January, 1791. the settlers at Columbia were alarmed by the ar- rival of an express from Cincinnati of an Indian attack on Dunlap's Sta- tion at Coleraine. John Reilly and Patrick Moore hastily summoned a party of volunteers for the purpose of relieving Dunlap and his neighbors. Reilly and Moore went in advance of the main body to give notice in case the enemy should spring a surprise. The party proceeded cautiously until they reached Coleraine, where they met the Indians and drove them off.
The settlement was attacked on several occasions, and the author of "Pioneer Biography of Butler County" mentions Reilly and Captain Flinn as among the most eager in turning out and scouring the vicinity for traces of the Indians.
THE FIRST SCHOOL IN OHIO.
It was on June 21, 1790, that Reilly opened the first school in Colum- bia. In the following year, Dunlevy, who had in the meantime returned to Kentucky, rejoined Reilly. Immigrants came flocking into the neigh- borhood, making it necessary to enlarge the school, Dunlevy taking the classical department and Reilly the English. A warm friendship sprung up between the two Irish-American schoolmasters, which was terminated only by the death of Dunlevy at Lebanon, Ky .. on November 5, 1839.
Dunlevy was born near Winchester, Va., of Irish parents, on December 31, 1761. When about ten years old, his father removed with his family to Pennsylvania. At the age of 14. we are told, Francis shouldered his rifle and served in a campaign against the Indians, continuing in the mili- tary service until the close of the Revolutionary War. He assisted in
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building Fort McIntosh at the mouth of Beaver River in the Spring of 1778, this having been the first regularly built fort within the territory now comprising the State of Ohio. He was at the disastrous battle of the plains of Sandusky, where the commander of the American troops, Colonel Crawford, was tortured and burned to death by the Indians. Dunlevy and two others managed to make their escape through the wilderness to Pitts- burgh.
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