USA > Kentucky > Petitions of the early inhabitants of Kentucky to the General Assembly of Virginia, 1769-1792 > Part 7
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That your Petitioner was captur'd by the Indians at the battle of the Blue Licks whilst a soldier under Capt. Daniel Boon, was taken by them to their Towns, from there to Detroit where he remained sometime & from thence was carried to Canady where he was confin'd in close Gaol for upwards of Two years-That previous to your Petitioner's Captivity he had acquir'd a right of Preemption in the County of Fayette & that shortly after his releasment, went out to the Western Country laid his claim before the County Court of Fayatte & obtained a Preemption Certificate for One thousand Acres of Land which Certs. is hereunto annexed and that upon appli- cation for a preemption Warrant is inform'd, that your Honble House did at their last Session of Assembly pass a Resolution forbidding the issuing any Treasury Land Warrants untill the further order of the Genl. Assembly, Which has deprived your Petitioner of the Benefit of his Location. Your Petitioner therefore prays that your Honble House will take his Case
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Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky
under Consideration & grant him such relief as you in your Wisdom shall think just-And your Petitioner as in duty bound will ever pray &c.
Endorsement on back of petition: May 26th. 1784-Refd. to props. Moved to be discharged-June 10th 1781-propositions discharged and referred to a committee of the . . on the state of the Commonwealth.
NUMBER 21.
TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER & GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES-
The Petition of Patrick Doran Humbly sheweth that your Memorialist is entitled to a right of Preemtion to a tract of land in Lincoln County which will apear by a certificate issued November 1783. by the Court of the said County of Lyncoln-
Your Memorialist prays that your honourable house will so order that a warrant may Issue on his certificate & he as in duty bound will pray &c .-
Endorsement on back of petition: May 28, 1784-Refd. to props-(rejected) (repd.)
NUMBER 22.
TO THE HONOURABLE SPEAKER AND HOUSE OF DELEGATES FOR THE COMMON- WEALTH OF VIRGINIA.
The Petition of William Lytle of Kentuckey Settlement humbly Sheweth, That Your Petitioner in the year 1775 hired a Certain Ash Emerson to make an improvement for him in Kentuckey at a Certain place called the dry run, for which he made him full satisfaction as by his Certificate herewith sent will appear. Also that your Petitioner came by Water, and landed at the falls of Ohio with his family in the Spring of the Year 1780, a few days before the term of the Court of Commis- sioners Expired, then siting at Herodsburgh 70 or 80 miles Distant from the falls, shortly after Landing your Petitioners horses Strayed away, and having a wife and large family of small Children to provide for was compelled to stay till he could make some shelter to protect them from the weather and before
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To the General Assembly of Virginia
he could find them to enable him to proceed to the Commis- sioners to lay in his claim, their powers Expired and he being unacquainted with the law and reduced to such Circumstances by Sickness & Misfortunes, as rendered him unable to apply to the general Court to make good his Claim within the time limited by law, Your Petitioner was therefore advised to apply to the County Court wherein his claim lay for redress, the Court was of opinion his case did not come under the Description prescribed in the law for their Cognizance, Whereby your Petitioner is deprived of his just right, & Claim, Your Petitioner therefore most humbly prays that you will be pleased to take his unfortunate case under your Serious Consideration, and Grant him Such redress by a law, or otherwise as you in your wisdom and Judgment may think just and reasonable and your Petitioner as in duty bound will ever pray.
William Lytle.
April 14th 1782-
We the undernamed Subscribers, Inhabitants of Fayette County, in Virginia, being made Duly sensible of the truth of every circumstance Your Petitioner has herein mentioned, do humbly pray your honourable House his behalf, to grant him his petition, and we your Petitioners as in duty bound shall pray-
Willim. M Connell James McConnell James January William Steel Levi Todd
This is to certify that I Ash Emerson made an improvement for the youse [use] of William Little in the year 75 in Cantucky on a run called the Dry Run above my owne improvement for which he made me full satisfaction pr me Ash Emerson.
Endorsement on back of petition: June 4th 1784-referred to propositions- (rejected) (rept.)
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Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky
NUMBER 23.
To THE HONOURABLE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA,
The petition of the Inhabitants of the District of Kentucky humbly sheweth, That your petitioners from a variety of Inci- dents which have accrued and will still accrue in acquiring prop- erty in Land in this Western Country, are like to be over- whelmed in Litigation; which will not only create discords amongst us, but ruin hundreds of poor Families, who being opprest and stript of almost their whole Substance by the Indians, have not the Means of defraying the Expences of a Law Suit upon the present Establishment. In this State of Indigence we have the additional mortification to find that not a few of those who have been more fortunate are taking pos- session of our just Claims knowing that we are not able to make Opposition. Such of your Honourable House as have not been Eye Witnesses can form no Idea of the Distresses which many of your petitioners have suffered for a Series of Years from the cruel and vindictive Hand of the Savages; and now on the back of these Distresses to be compelled into a Court of Judicature, by those who are endeavouring to avail themselves of our poverty and that Ignorance of the Law which was unavoidable in our remote Situation, will complete our Ruin: If we prose- cute our Claim the last Cow and Horse must be sold to main- tain the Suit; or if we decline the Contest, the Land upon which we had Hopes of supporting ourselves and Families in peace during the Remainder of our Lives will be wrested from us.
Your petitioners are therefore induced to pray that Circuit Courts may be established for the special purpose of trying Caveats, to be held by the Judges of our Supreme Court at such stated Times and places in each County as they shall think most convenient to the people, where they shall proceed in a summary Way to hear and determine according to Law and Equity all Caveats in the respective Counties where the Lands lie. These Courts to be attended by the Sheriff of the County
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To the General Assembly of Virginia
and his Deputies, and by the Clerk of the Supreme Court who shall keep record of the Business relating to Caveats in each County in separate Books:
In all other Respects the Court and their officers shall exercise the same powers, observe the same Rules of procedure, and be entitled to the same Fees as are now prescribed by Law in the Case of Caveats; save only, that a Jury need not be summoned and empannelled unless the Nature of the Cause shall make it necessary, or either of the parties contending shall require it; and as the pleadings are not to be had in writing, if Counsel shall be thought necessary at all, we presume that the Fee heretofore allowed to Attorneys for conducting Land Causes in County Courts will be sufficiently adequate.
We are encouraged by the former Benevolence of the Legis- lature in appointing Circuit or District Commissioners in a Case nearly Similar, to submit this plan to the Consideration of the General Assembly, which if it can consistently be adopted, will curtail the greater part of the Expence of Litigation and at the same time render equal Justice to the Litigants; and we flatter ourselves that in Compassion to our many and compli- cated sufferings, this or some other Mode suited as far as possible to our Circumstances will be established for the Trial of Cave- ats, which at present are like to be the great Source of Con- tention amongst us.
And your petitioners shall ever pray &c.
[Names.]
Endorsement on back of petition: June 5th 1784-referred to propositions- (rejd.)
Relief was given to complainants in two aets entitled, An Act for giving further time to enter certificates for settlement rights and to loeate warrants upon preemption rights and for other purposes. Henings Statutes, Vol. 11, 291.
An Act to give further time for the probation of deeds and other instruments of writing and for other purposes. Henings Statutes, Vol. 11, 204.
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Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky
NUMBER 24.
TO THE HONBLE THE SPEAKER AND THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA
That whereas a memorial was presented by the representa- tives and others on their behalf in December last to the Honble Assembly then sitting, praying for a court of assize &c for the better government of your memorialists. And they finding a matter of that very great importance to the reciprocal interest of the State in general, neglected, or at least not attended to agreeable to their wishes as part of the state, more particularly at this critical conjuncture of affairs, when the interest of the indigent inhabitants so loudly call for some ease or indulgence; Your memorialists would wish to observe that the very great distance from them to the seat of Government render it imprac- ticable for those in poorer circumstances to maintain their Just rights to lands, and next to impossible for the civilist to punish offences of the most criminal nature, a number of other evils might be enumerated to prove the utility of the exersize of laws-under the authority alluded to, or some other similar thereto
Your memorialists must beg leave to observe that they have been lately alarm'd at finding that Congress has not only refused the Cession offer'd them by a former Assembly, But a committee of that August body appointed for the purpose of Enquiry have resolved. "That Virginia, has not any just right to land, Northwest of the Alleghany mountains, That with pamphlets we have seen and now conceive to have been written for the purpose of prejudicing the publick against the claim of Virginia, and to prepare your memorialists for paying twenty pounds sterling pr hundred for their own lands, Your memorial- ists do conceive from the very principal of the constitution of America, that if the country they possess does not in right belong to Virginia, the prosperity [property] of course must be vested in themselves, and that congress has no right to any part thereof, and when your memorialists through your Honble house make a request to Congress for a new state and are
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To the General Assembly of Virginia
received into the union, They are then and not before subject as another state, Those are reasons they think necessary to offer to your Honble house, But your memorialists have ever considered themselves and country as part of Virginia and were happy in being so. Her laws suited them and do yet suppose it to be to their interest to be Governed by Her, untill it shall appear for their mutual advantage to separate, at which period it is expected their will be no objection, What your memorialists at present wish is Virginia protection to them as part of the State intitled to all its privileges or an information of what they may expect; Justice is what they claim, and that the Equity of their pretentions will allow them, they view themselves as Virginians, and as such they hope what is alluded to will not be given up without their consent-They allso know that it is through them and those they claim as citizens of their detached country that the greatest part of the western waters is not now in the possession of our most inveterate enimies, and could easily prove the importance they have been to the interest of the United States-Your memorialists therefore hope that your Honble house will take their case into considera- tion & grant them such relief as to you may seem Just & reasonable
[Names.]
NUMBER 25.
TO THE HONORABLE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA.
The Subscribers resident, in the Counties of Jefferson, Fayette, Lincoln, and Nelson, composing the district of Ken- tucky, being chosen at free Elections, held in these Counties respectively, by the Freemen of the same, for the purpose of constituting a Convention to take into Consideration the General State of the District, and espressly to decide on the expediency of making application to your Honorable Body, for an Act of Seperation -: deeply impressed with the impor-
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Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky
tance of the measure, and breathing the purest filial affection,- Beg leave to Address you on the momentous Occasion .-
The Settlers of this distant region, taught by the arrange- ments of Providence, and encouraged by the conditions of that Solemn Compact, for which they paid the price of Blood, to look forward to a Seperation, from the Eastern parts of the Commonwealth, have viewed the subject leisurely. at a distance and examined it with caution on its near approach; irrecon- cileable as has been their situation to a connexion with any Community beyond the Apulachian Mountains, other than the Federal Union Manifold as have been the grievances flowing therefrom, which have grown with their growth, and increased with their Population; They have patiently waited the hour of Address nor ever ventured to raise their voices in their own cause. Untill Youth quickening into manhood, had given them vigor and Stability .-
To recite minutely the causes and reasoning, which directed, and will justify this Address, would we conceive be a matter of impropriety at this Juncture; It would be preposterous for us, to enter upon the support of facts and consequences, which we presume are incontestible; our sequestered situation, from the seat of Government, with the intervention of a mountainous desart of two hundred miles, always dangerous, and passable only at particular seasons, precludes every Idea of a connexion, on. Republican principles; The Patriots who framed our Con- stitution Sensible of the impracticability of connecting perma- nently, in a free Government, the extensive Limits of the Com- monwealth, most wisely made provision for the Act which we now Solicit -. To that Sacred Record we Appeal .-
'Tis not the ill directed or inconsiderate Zeal of a few, 'tis not that impatience of Power to which ambitious minds are prone, nor yet the baser consideration of Personal Interest, which influence the people of Kentucky; directed by superior motives, they are incapable of cherishing a wish unfounded in justice, and are now impelled by expanding evils, and irremedi-
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To the General Assembly of Virginia
able grievances, universally seen, felt and acknowledged, to obey the irresistible dictates of self preservation, and seek for Happiness, by means honourable to themselves, honourable to you, and injurious to neither .-
We therefore with the consent and by the authority of our Constituents, after the most Solemn deliberation being warned of every consequence, which can ensuc, for them, for ourselves and for Posterity unborn-do Pray-That an act may pass at the ensuing session of Assembly, declaring and acknowledging the Sovereignty & Independence of this district .-
Having no object in view, but the acquisition of that Security and happiness, which may be attained by a Scrupulous adher- ence to principles of private justice and public Honor, we should most willingly at this time, enter into the adjustment of the concessions, which are to be the condition of our Seperation. did not our relative situation forbid such negotiation, anxious however to bring this interesting part of the transaction, to a Speedy Issue, we have appointed the Honble George Muter & Harry Innes Esquires to present this Address, and in our behalf to enter into & ratify such engagements, as may ascertain the general Principles, on which the final adjustment of the condi- tions of Seperation is to be established .-
Our application may exhibit a new spectacle, in the History & Politicks of Mankind-A Soverign Power; solely intent to bless its People agreeing to a dismemberment of its parts, in order to secure the Happiness of the whole-and we fondly flatter ourselves from motives not purely Local, it is to give Birth, to that catalogue of great events, which we pursuade ourselves, is to diffuse throughout the World. the inestimable blessings, which mankind may derive from the American Revolution .-
We firmly rely, that the undiminished Lustre of that Spark, which kindled the flame of Liberty, and guided the United States of America to Peace & Independence, will direct the Honourable Body, to whom we Appeal for redress of Manifest
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Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky
grievances, to embrace the Singular Occasion, reserved for them, by Devine Providence; to Originate a precedent, which may Liberalize the Policy of Nations and lead to the emancipation of enslaved millions .-
In this Address we have discarded the complimentary stile of adulation & insincerity-it becomes Freemen when speaking to Freemen. to imploy the plain. manly unadorned Language of Independence . .[?] September 23d 1785.
[Names.]
Endorsement on back of petition. Octo. 1785-Refd. to Whole as Com .- November 14th 1785-Committee of Whole discharged and referred to Ths. Madi- son, Henry Lec, Bullit, Ronald, Carrington, Alexr. White, Corbin, Page, Th. Smith, and Prentis.
The first action looking toward the creating of Kentucky into a separate State is found in an act entitled, An Act concerning the erection of the district of Ken- tucky into an independent state. Henings Statutes, Vol. 12, 37.
"Whereas it is represented to be the desire of the good people inhabiting the district known by the name of the Kentucky District that the same should be separated from this Commonwealth whereof it is a part and be formed into an independent member of the American Confederacy and it is judged by the General Assembly that such a partition of the Commonwealth is rendered expedient by the remoteness of the more fertile which must be the more populous part of the said district and by the interjacent impediment to a convenient and regular com- munication therewith, Be it enacted," etc.
A convention was to be held at Danville on the fourth Monday of September made up of delegates from the seven counties, five from each. The call was to be posted twenty days and the clection was to continue five days to give full opportunity for expression of opinion.
The boundary was to be unchanged, the new State was to assume its just proportion of the debt. the lands of non-residents were not to be taxed above those of residents, grants of land by the new State were not to interfere with grants made by Virginia, lands set apart for soldiers were subject to grant only by Vir- ginia, up to 1788, the use of the Ohio River to be cominon, disputes between Vir- ginia and Kentucky to be settled by a commission, and assent of United States Congress to the separation necessary.
NUMBER 26.
TO THE HONOURABLE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CITIZENS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA, IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY MET-
The petition of the Inhabitants of Lincoln County- humbly sheweth-
That your petitioners beg leave to present their following Request to your Honble House, confiding in your Wisdom &
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42400
So the Eincurable Representatives of the Citizens of the corners. Sialli of Virginia in general, Ulfsemble met The petition of the Inhabitants of Sin humbly .
What wear Gebenen bey how to prosent thing Marine Moquette your Menble Rose, confiture Wis den Caricia Evennement of the at home , What fre jusning to lan before band. Viit was Melhores takar bete haveion goodration of proper Manger hade and. Correctie Bajonet and ges the more reads grisviene these Uslider hour french. That are muni . worked on What ever geantes de of Grounds, that the sawes of the hundred and josh dem of Sand which your Mouth, Sous formede revered in the the s' the youngfen belang'A abodeburgh" the most , on - renient and sulals in the carter , It's not only bono commedicas to ane con moment bisping the fourth but also contrat be the present barbatebands of the Same . Und we can apuce vous Mente Rousse not only the statue but de natural tilation ( Convenances en erworben ever Respect welt. for Ganaste Saude the Somnifer bang wachsende lavet van falde and add washned by man muss Gaiting Springs and a large Arom Moving gude though the tame ficos babi quantomes Habe of Ofernon that is theway of the wire . Mantile case rent it'in infounte .
---
I found we would go thers too trans to waresent to never Seenthe Rose on croit friday the premises with the 'Stan of a down dragged to do some . Promo that your Heart' he's. would Make the Whole inte forit ration Caffe on theiger Conversing the Same de Suchelaissons Other Gligens in a Manner most soveat & to was Midini and Thinmanten ...
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CUT OF FACSIMILE PETITION
Photograph of a petition from Lincoln County to the General Assembly. Illustrative of the source from which the book is made.
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To the General Assembly of Virginia
generous Encouragement, of this Scheme; Which they persume to lay before You --
That your petitioners taking into their serious Considera- tion, of a proper place for Trade and Domestic Business, and for the more ready procuring those Articles in our precincts that are much wanted in the new Country; Are of opinion, that the Survey of Six hundred and forty acres of Land, which your Honble House formerly reserved for the Use of the Garrison & Town of Harrodsburgh, is the most convenient and suitable in the County, It not only being commodious to any convenient Division of the County, but also central to the present Inhabi- tants of the same; And we can assure your Honble House not only its relative; but its natural Situation & Conveniences, are almost in every Respect suitable for Domestic Trade; The Premises being sufficiently level very fertile and well watered, by many never failing Springs and a large Stream running quite through the same; from which Circumstances We are of opinion that no Survey of the same Quantity can excel it in the County-
And we would further beg leave to present to your Honble House, an exact plot of the premises, with the plan of a Town adapted to the same; praying that your Honble House would take the whole into Consideration, & pass an Act for Conveying the same to Freeholders, and other Citizens in a Manner most agreeable to your Wisdom and determination-
For which your petitioners are bound in duty to pray- [Names.]
Endorsement on back of petition: Lincoln Pets. for a Town-(reasonable).
The request for a town in Lincoln was granted in an act entitled, An Act for establishing a town in the county of Lincoln. Henings Statutes, Vol. 12, 223. "That six hundred and forty acres of land allowed by law, including the said village or township, shall be and the same is hereby vested in William Christian, John Brown, Robert Mosby, Samuel Lapsley, peter Casey, John Smith, Samuel Taylor, John Cowan, John Gilmore, James Harrod, Abraham Chaplaine, William Kennedy, and Benjamin Logan."
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Petitions of the Early Inhabitants of Kentucky
NUMBER 27.
TO THE HONOURABLE THE SPEAKER AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES FOR THE COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA-
The petition of sundry inhabitants of the county of Lincoln humbly sheweth-
That they labour under great inconveniences from the large extent of said county and number of inhabitants therein; and that the vast number of litigants whose causes must of necessity be determined in the court of said county renders it very tedious and expensive attending the same for the calling of their causes and oppressive to. the justices who determine them-
Your petitioners beg leave to represent to your honourable house that the aforesaid Grievances may be redressed by laying off two distinct counties to be taken from the county of Lincoln to be bounded as follows, viz. The first county- By a line beginning at the confluence of sugar Creek and Ken- tucky river thence proceeding by a direct line to John Crows sinking spring, the mouth of Clark's Run, thence a straight line to Wilson's Station in the fork of Clark's run thence the same course continued to the line of Nelson County -- Thence with said line to the line of Jefferson county, thence with that line to the Kentucky River, Thence up said river to the Begin- ning. For one distinct county-The second county-By a line beginning at the confluence of Kentucky river and sugar creek, thence up said creek to the fork James Thompson lives on, thence up said fork to the head thereof, thence a straight line to where an East course from John Ellis's will intersect the top of the ridge that divides the waters of Paint Lick from the waters of Dicks river, thence along the top of the said ridge southwardly opposite Harman's lick, thence 45° East to the main Rock Castle river, thence running up said river to the head thereof, thence with the ridge that divides the waters of Kentucky river from the waters of Cumberland river to the line of Washington county, thence along said line to the main
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