USA > Kentucky > Irish pioneers in Kentucky : a series of articles published in the Gaelic American > Part 5
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The early settlements were generally undertaken by men with families, voluntarily formed into small emigrating companies and usually without the authority of or aid from the Government. When they arrived at the place of their destination, their first work was to select a suitable site, where they built cabins for the accommodation of their families. These cabins were so arranged as to form a kind of fort for their protection and defence. These places were called "stations" and generally received their names from the leader of the party
Thus we find, among others, such stations as Rice's, Kenny's, Mc- Guire's, McCormack's, Mullins', Kennedy's, Sullivan's, Daniel Sullivan's, McGarry's MeGee's MeKinley's, MeConnell's Collins', Masterson's, Gil- more's, McFadden's, Casey's, Kelly's, Finn's, Hynes', Cox's, Feagan's, Bryan's, Dougherty's, Drennon's, Fleming's, Higgins', Lynch's, Cassidy's Station, and so on, indicating that many Irishmen were among the leading soldiers and settlers of early Kentucky.
MICHAEL CASSIDY, INDIAN FIGHTER.
Michael Cassidy, who established Cassidy's Station, was a noted set- tler and Indian fighter of Fleming County. After the war, he educated and fitted himself to take a prominent place in the Legislative halls of his adopted State. We shall quote what Collins' "History of Kentucky" says of this noted Irishman.
"Michael Cassidy was a native of Ireland, whence he emigrated to the Colonies in his youth. At the breaking out of the war, he enlisted and
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served for several years in the ranks of the patriot army. After leav. ing the army he went to Kentucky and attached himself to Strode's Sta- tion. in what is now Clark County. Thence he removed to Fleming County and settled at Cassidy's Station.
"He was remarkably small in stature, and there are many amusing stories told of hi- contests with Indians, who looked upon him as a boy. On one occasion while eucamped in the woods with two other friends named Bennett and Spohr. three Indians attacked their camp and killed Bennett and Spohr at the first fire. Cassidy sprung to his feet, but was soon over- powered and made prisoner. The Indians, supposing him to be a boy, and proposing to relieve the tedium of the night. selected the smallest of their number to carre him up with a large butcher knife for their diversion. Cassidy, whose fiery spirit little predispo-ed him to suffer an unresisting martydom. grappled with his antagonist and flung him several times with great violence to the earth, greatly to the amusement of the other Indians, who laughed immoderately at their companion's defeat by one seemingly so disproportioned in strength.
The two Indians, finding that it was growing a serious matter, came to the rescue of their companion. and with several strokes of their war clubs felled Cassidy to the ground. Fortunately, Cassidy fell with his hand upon the knife which his competitor had let fall, and arising. brandished it with such fierceness that the Indians fell back, when he stepping to one side. darted rapidly into the woods. The darkness of the night enabled him to elude his pursuers, until he came to a deep pool of water overhung by a large sycamore. Under the roots of this tree. up to his neck in the water, he remained concealed until the Indians, flashing their torches around him in every direction, gave up in despair. He carried to his grave the marks of the Indian clubs to testify with what good will they were given.
IRISH WIT SUCCEEDS.
"Upon another occasion, while hunting on Cassidy's Creek, in what is now Nicholas County. he very unexpectedly found himself in close proxim- ity to a powerful Indian in a place quite free from timber. Each ob- served the other about the same time and both leveled their guns. But Cassidy, to his consternation, found that his pocket handkerchief was tied around the lock of his gun so as to prevent its being cocked, and he feared to untie it. lost the Indian. perceiving it. should fire. They re- mained pointing their guns at each other in this manner for some time. The Indian not firing. Cassidy suspected that something was the matter with his gun also and began to take off his handkerchief, when the Indian fled to a tree. Cassidy followed at full speed, and taking a circuit so as to bring the Indian in view. fired and wounded him in the shoulder. Drawing his knife, he made toward the wounded Indian, in whose gun he now perceived the ramrod. When Cassidy approached the Indian (lying on the ground extended his hand. crying brother.' Cassidy told him he was 'a damned mulatto hypocrite, and he shouldn't claim kin with him. Saint Patrick! but he would pummel him well!" After a desperate con-
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fliet with the Indian, who, though deprived of the use of his right arm, proved no contemptible toe, and whose nakedness afforded no tangible hold, Cassidy succeeding in despatching him.
"Cassidy was in upwards of 30 Indian fights, and so many were his hair-breadth escapes that he was commonly said to have a charmed life. He served in the Legislature repeatedly, lived respected and died regretted at his station in the year 1-29."
In Franklin County the first surveys were made by Hancock Taylor, whose party consisted of himself. Matthew Bracken and Joseph Drenon. Bracken Connty and Drennon Creek in Henry County were named after these pioneers. John Fitzpatrick and John Doran made two surveys in 1774 of all the land now embraced in the Capital City of Frankfort. These surveys were made for Robert MeAfer. William Dougherty, a laborer, was "tried and convicted for robbery" in this county in 1799, and "sentenced to be hung" on April 2 of that year, but the verdict was set aside and Dougherty was released.
Collins says the Frankfort surveys were abandoned by the MeAfees for other- in Mercer County. Each of the brothers. Joan. George and Robert MeAfee, kept a journal which are still preserved at Providence Church. The leading facts of their journeying- were preserved therein and in several court and sundry depositions by members of the company.
MANY IRISH-NAMED PLACES.
In this vicinity there are several old places called by Irish names, such as Doylesville. Nolin. Riley, Brannon, MeAfee, Conway, O'Bannon, Powers, Keene. Connersville, Duganville, Nevins, Murphy, MeCormick, Fagan, Irvine. Donnelly, MeCracken, Keavy, Joyce. Ward, Gauley, Welch- burg. Boyle. Dunnville. McKee, Mckinney. Curry, Flanagan, Blake, Casey Creek, Sexton's Creek, Moore's Creek. Coffey, Mayo, Tyrone, Waterford and Doneraile. It would be well to know how these places came by their names, and perhaps. in later papers, we may be able to narrate some inter- esting details concerning their origin, for the information of our readers.
Among the women of Franklin County mentioned by Collins was Ann MeGinty, who is referred to as "a woman of great energy and self-reliance, who brought the first spinning wheel to Kentucky and made the first linen in that section of the country from lint of nettles and buffalo wool." She is mentioned by Collins as "very ingenious." The land and conrt records of Franklin County indicate that she and her husband, James McGinty, were possessed of lands there. She died in 1815. Her tomb can be seen in the Old Fort Cemetery near Harrodsburg. She lived for a time in the Old Fort, called "Kentucky's first settlement." Her nationality is not given, but that she may have been an Irishwoman may be judged from her knowledge of the primitive operation of fabricating sach -imple materials as nettles and the wool of the buffalo into linen suitable for ordinary use.
William Dann and family lived in Franklin County in 1791 in a set- tlement on South Flkhorn Creek. He is on record as taking part against an Indian invasion at that place in 1792.
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IRISH PIONEERS IN GALLATIN AND GRANT COUNTIES.
Among the "early settlers of Gallatin County" are mentioned Henry Dougherty, Richard Masterson. Martin Hawkins and Percival or Pierce Butler, the last of whom was the son of .Thomas Butler of Kilkenny. A descendant of the first Dougherty, Robert S. Dougherty, was a Representa- tive from Gallatin County from 1827 to 1829, a Senator in IS30. and again a Representative in 1835. Other Representatives in the Legislature from this county were William O. Butler in 1817, Thomas S. Butler in 1826, and E. Hogan in 1869, all of whom were descended from early settlers in the vicinity.
In the official records of Grant County we find mention of the MeGills, McCanns. Goughs. and particularly of the O'Hara family. Major James O'Hara and Kean O'Hara, with their father and one other brother, came from Ireland to Maryland in the year 1798. Collins, the eminent historian of Kentucky, refers to Kean O'Hara as "one of the most distinguished of Kentucky educators, having taught school in that State for more than 50 years." Ile relinquished teaching for the law, and settled in practice at Williamstown, where "he attained an enviable position as a professional lawyer and able advocate." He was the father of James O'Hara, Judge of the Covington Judicial District, and of Theodore O'Hara, the dis- tinguished poet. journalist and soldier, the author of the immortal com- position. "The Bivouac of the Dead."
Kean O'Hara. or Kane O'Hara. as he is more frequently referred to in the Kentucky records. was a United Irishinan. What part he took in the Rebellion has never been recorded, but. after the arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, he was obliged to fly the country and seek asylum in America. He married into one of the most distinguished families in Maryland, his wife having been descended from one of the earliest settlers of that Colony who had come over with Lord Baltimore. Soon after his marriage he settled in Danville, Ky., from where he later removed to Woodford County, and thence to Frankfort.
O'HARA THE GREATEST KENTUCKY POET.
Theodore O'Hara, his son. was the greatest poet Kentucky has ever produced. When a very young man he entered the law office of the famous John C. Breckinridge, who afterwards became Vice-President of the United States, and on whose staff O'Hara in later years served through the Civil War. About 1845 he entered the employ of the Government, and during the Mexican War served as an officer in the Second U. S. Cavalry.
We take the following from an article on O'Hara, which appeared in a recent issue of the Kansas City Star :
"The occasion for writing 'The Bivouac of the Dead' was closely con- nected with the events of O'Hara's own life. The Kentucky troops buried their dead on the field of Buena Vista. but a few months later the State brought home the ashes of the principal officers to rest in the cemetery at the capital. They ware accorded the most magnificent funeral ever witnessed in Kentucky. A little later the State erected a handsome
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monument, occupying a central position in the cemetery. in honor of all Kentuckians who had fallen while battling for their country. It was at the dedication of this monument that Theodore O'Hara first read his famous poem. He seemed to have had in mind, however, only Colonels MeKee and Clay and the other officers who fell at Buena Vista, as all of his references are to that engagement.
"The poem itself is an almost flawless work of poetic genius and has been pronounced by competent critics to be perhaps the most perfect of its kind in the English language. The first verse is by far the most widely known and quoted, but among all the similes with which the poem is en- riched surely none is more beautiful than that in which Kentucky is likened to a Spartan mother who, as she handed him his shield on his departure for war. would say: 'Come back with this or upon it.' And thus the poet says of Kentucky :
"She claims from war its richest spoils- The ashes of her brave."
"That the poem. as has been said, is one which strikes a note of uni- versal human sympathy is best evidenced by the wide use which has been made of it outside of Kentucky. The national Government has used it extensively in the cemeteries at Gettysburg, Arlington and Vicksburg, the entire poem being reproduced on separate blocks of stone in the latter instance. It is also significant that 'The Bivouac of the Dead' should have been inscribed on the monument erected by the British Government in honor of those soldiers who died in the Crimea.
"It is even now thrilling to think of that scene in the cemetery at Frankfort that summer's day sixty years ago. The State's great dead lay around him under the primeval forest trees which crown a beautiful bluff of the Kentucky River. In a close circle around the newly-erected monument lay O'Hara's own comrades of the Mexican War. The monminent itself was impressive and bore the names of battles and of the Kentuckians who had engaged in them. Some had fought the Indians at Point Pleasant, at Boonesborough and in the disastrous battles of .Blue Licky' and .Estill's Defeat.' They had participated alike in the defeats of Harmar and St. Clair and the brilliant victory of "Mad Anthony' Wayne at Fallen Timbers. Others had fought the British at King's Mountain during the Revolution, where Ferguson, Cornwallis's best lieutenant, was defeated and killed. and at New Orleans in the War of 1812. Last of all came the names of those who had fallen at Monterey and Buena Vista. Deeply moved by the events which had just transpired, who can think what a flood of emotion must have flowed through the mind of Theodore O'Hara as for the first time the expectant multitude heard the impressive measure of that beautiful verse: "The muffled drum's sad roll has beat The soldier's last tattoo: No more on life's parade shall meet That brave and fallen few. On fame's eternal camping ground Their silent tents are spread. And glory guards with solemn round The bivouac of the dead."
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Irish Pioneers in Kentucky.
Exiles From Erin Were Among the First Surveyors and Improvers-Simon Kenton, Called One of the Fathers of the West, Was the Son of an Irish Emigrant.
One of the early surveyors of Jefferson County was Peter Casey. who, according to Collins, wald there in 1775. In this vicinity, at various time -. are mentioned descendants of Irish settlers who assisted in making the law- of their native State. Among them we find such names as Moore. Denny. Hughes, Butler. Melone. Harney. Logan, Bryan. Irvine. Downing, tassilly. Kearney and Campion. In the first exploring party that ever passed through this region were John Fitzpatrick and John Doran (1773), and Matthew Bracken and Joseph Drennon of the MeAfee party (1771). "The first encampment of regular settlers," as Collins describes them, "comprising. among a few others. the families of Captain James Patton, John Tuel (Toole), and John MeManus. was in 1778 on Corn Island op- posite the present City of Louisville, but since all washed away. The island was so named because these settlers first planted and raised corn on it in that year, the first ever raised within a radius of 25 miles around."
The names of some of the early stations of Jefferson County indicate the prominence of Irishmen in that region. Members of the Sullivan family erected several stations between 1770 and 1782, to which they gave their names. The original proprietor of the land where Louisville now stands was Dr. John Connolly. a native of Ireland. He was a surgeon in the royal forces. On December 16, 1773. Collins relates that Connolly received a patent for a grant of 2,000 acres in that part of Finca-tle
County. Va .. now Jefferson County. Ky. In 1774. Connolly purchased 2.000 acres adjoining his original patent. Colonel John Campbell. "an Irish gentleman." in honor of whom Campbell County was named. was Connolly's nearest neighbor. Connolly lost portion of his great estate in 17-0 "on account of his activity in the royal cause." The first church erected in Louisville was in 1911. It was a Catholic Chapel. and was erected chiefly for the Irish settlers and their families.
SIMON FENTON, AN IRISH-AMERICAN.
One of the most celebrated pioneers of the West was General Simon Kenton. after whom Kenton County is named. He was born of obscure
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parents in Faquier County, Va., on April 13, 1755. Collins and Lossing both say his father was an Irishman.
"When a youth of 16," writes Collins, "he had an encounter with a rival for the affections of his sweetheart, and Kenton, thinking he had killed his rival, thought himself ruined beyond redemption. The wilderness of the West offered him a secure asylum and he plunged at once into the woods. After much suffering, he arrived at Ise's Ford on Cheat River in April, 1771, where he gave his name as Simon Butler."
Thus at the age of 16, this man who, in the hands of the Almighty, was so instrumental in redeeming the great West from the savages and opening the way for the stream of civilization which has since poured over its fertile plains, desolate in heart and burdened with a supposed crime, was thrown upon his own resources to struggle with the dangers and privations of the wilderness.
In the Fall of 1771, he accompanied a party down the Ohio River as far as the mouth of the Kentucky and landed at the identical place where James McBride, the premier explorer of Kentucky, had embarked 17 years before. Here the party hunted and trapped with great success and lived a free and unrestrained life until the spring of 1774. The trouble with England was brewing, and the Indians, being excited against the Colonists, the settlements were attacked by the redmen, the white settlers suffering dreadful hardships. Several of them were lost in the woods, among them Fitzpatrick and Hendricks, whom Kenton rescued and brought to his station near Washington, Ky.
All Western historians offer generous testimony to the valiant services rendered Kentucky and to the cause of the patriots by this celebrated Irish-American pioneer. "He battled with the Indians in a hundred en- counters." writes Collins, "and at the head of his brother pioneers ranged the pathless forest in freedom and safety." "He was a noble pioneer in the march of Western civilization," says Lossing; "became the companion of Boone, and with him and his co-laborers wrested Kentucky from the redmen."
In 1778, he joined the forces of General George Rogers Clark at the Falls of the Ohio, and after the surprise of Kaskaskia he returned to Boonesborough. Toward the close of that year he was captured by the Indians, and finally became a prison laborer in the hands of the British at Detroit. Aided by a trader's wife, he escaped in company with two fellow- prisoners, the renowned Captain Bullitt and Lieutenant Coffee, and arrived at the Falls in July, 1779. He subsequently joined Clarke in his ex- peditions.
REVISITED HIS FATHER.
In 1782, learning that he had not killed his rival in love, and that his old father still lived, he went to Virginia, and, after spending some time among the friends of his early youth, he returned to Kentucky, taking his father and family with him. On the way the old man died; the remainder of the family reached Kenton's settlement in safety. From that period, until Wayne's expedition in 1793, Kenton was much engaged in Indian warfare.
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Lossing, in his "Field Book of the American Revolution," relates a pathetic story, showing how in the closing days of his checkered career, this celebrated pioneer was destined to feel "the bitter effects of wrong, ingratitude and neglect."
On account of some legal matters concerning his lands in Kentucky, he was imprisoned for twelve months upon the very spot where he built his cabin in 1775. In 1802, beggared by lawsuits and losses, he became landless. Yet he never murmured at the ingratitude which pressed him down, and in 1813 the veteran joined the Kentucky troops under Shelby, and was in the battle of the Thames. In 1824, when 70 years old, he journeyed to Frankfort, in tattered garments and upon a miserable horse, to ask the Legislature of Kentucky to release the claims of the State upon some of his mountain lands. He was stared at by the boys, and shunned by the citizens, for none knew him. At length General Thomas Fletcher recognized him. gave him a new suit of clothes and entertained him kindly. When it was known that Simon Kenton was in town, scores flocked to see the old hero. He was taken to the Capitol and seated in the Speaker's chair. His lands were released. and afterwards Congress gave him a pension of $240 per year. He died at the age of 81 years, in 1836, at his residence at the head of Mad River. in Logan County, Ohio, in sight of the place, where, 58 years before, the Indians were about to put him to death.
We wonder how many Kentuckians of the present generation know that Simon Kenton, one of the most celebrated pioneers of their State, who is famed in song and story, the boast of Kentucky and the pride of the West; who had battled with the Indians in a hundred encounters and "wrested Kentucky from the savage," was the son of an obscure Irish im- migrant ?
IRISH SETTLERS IN COVINGTON.
Many of the early settlers of Covington, in Kenton County, bore Irish names. The first known white man in that vicinity was James McBride (1754). John Martin settled there with his family in 1795, near Ruddle's station. He was born on the high seas in 1723 while his parents were on a voyage from Ireland. They first located at Beesontown (now Uniontown), Pa. From there they went by water to Limestone (now Maysville). Ky., in 1791, with other families, guarded by a few soldiers. The Irish family established a settlement on the road between Cincinnati and Lexington in 1795. There are still a great many Martins in that section of Kentucky, who are noted for their large families, and who are descended from the Irish immigrants of 1723.
A family named Mullins settled early in Kenton County, where they established a station, called by their name. Other old settlers were William Mackoy and his three sons, John, William and Robert; Robert Fleming, William Cummings, John Donovan, Thomas Kennedy and his three sons, Samuel, Joseph and Robert, and his three grandsons, and Robert Kyle and five sons. Patrick Leonard settled in Kenton County some time after the Revolutionary War. He was the second husband of the famous "Captain" Molly Pitcher, the Irishwoman who immortalized herself at the battle of
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Monmouth on June 16, 1778. John Bulger, a noted Indian fighter under Logan. settled in the county about 1779.
Most of the land now embraced in the City of Covington was known as Kennedy's Ferry previous to 1813. Thomas Kennedy had a large estate there. and up to 1829 his descendants operated the ferry. Thomas conducted the ferry on the Kentucky side and Francis Kennedy on the Ohio side. It was the principal crossing for travel from Lexington to the interior of Kentucky, and the Kennedys proved themselves extremely useful in trans- porting the soldiers of the Indian expeditions during the War of the Revolution and for many succeeding years.
Covington was established by an Act of the Legislature, approved February 8, 1815, on 150 acres of Thomas Kennedy's farm, which had been purchased from him the previous year. One of its streets was named after him. He occupied the only stone house in Covington for many years. It is described as "an elegant stone residence with panelled rooms." The first factory in Covington was erected by Charles McAllister and William Yorke. There is also mention of a family named Doniphan, who came over from Clermont County, O .. and who on one occasion sheltered General Simon Kenton while sick from his arduous campaigns against the Indians.
In 1788, we find mention of William Connell. Samuel Mooney, Sylvester White and William MeMillan among the pioneers of Kenton County. These, with several other settlers left Limestone on December 24, 1788, to form the settlement of Losanteville (the original name of Cincinnati).
THE FIRST WHITE CHILD IN CINCINNATI.
The first white child of Losanteville is said to have been John Cummins, who was born there on December 18, 1788. The first house ever built on the site of Losanteville was erected in July, 1780, for the purpose of sheltering the men of Captain Hugh McGarry's company, who were wounded in an attack by the Indians. MeGarry's party had been detached from General George Rogers Clark's army, which had been marching along the Kentucky side of the Ohio. McGarry was detailed to reconnoitre the posi- tion of the enemy on the Indiana side. Others who are mentioned among those who located early in the settlement at Losanteville were Francis Kennedy, with his wife and seven children, and families named McConnell and McHenry.
The first settlement near Covington was on November 18, 1788, at Columbia, on the north side of the Ohio. The party passed through Kenton County and were mostly immigrants who had come from Browns- ville, Pa., via the Monongahela River. They were headed by Captain Flinn, and among the 40 colonists who pushed their fortunes with him were Flinn's father and two brothers; the premier schoolmasters of Ohio already mentioned, John Reilly and Francis Dunlevy: Joseph Cox, Daniel Gritiin. Cornelius Hurley, John Manning, John Mccullough, Patrick and William Moore, John Reynolds, and John Ferris. These names are all taken from the "Journal of Judge William Goforth," one of the first Territorial Judges appointed by Washington.
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