USA > Kentucky > Boyle County > Danville > The Political Club, Danville, Kentucky, 1786-1790. Being an account of an early Kentucky society from the original papers recently found > Part 3
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* It is interesting to observe how closely the railroad follows the old Wilderness Road. From Crab Orchard to Cumberland Gap the old road can be seen from the car windows almost continuously on one side or the other.
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THE POLITICAL CLUB.
FORMATION OF THE CLUB.
In view of the advantageous situation of Danville in the early days, as has been shown, it is not unnatural that there were then found in and about that little inland town a number of the most important men who had come out to the West, nor is it unnatural that these men were, as we now know, associated together for purposes of consultation and discussion and mutual instruction concerning the subjects of the higliest prac- tical importance to themselves and the people of Ken- tucky at large.
In the fall of 1786, eleven years after Daniel Boone had first marked out the Wilderness Road, and five years after Danville was laid out as a town, and three years after it became the Capital of Kentucky, an association was there formed entitled "The Political Club."
For several reasons this society is a subject of pecul- iar interest, and deserves to have its history particularly recorded.
Its very early date and location at the place where all the early conventions were held connect its work with that of these civic assemblies.
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The roll of members shows that nearly all were members of the conventions; their names show that they were the leading men and most influential citizens in the new western community. The subjects discussed show the practical and timely character of their delib- erations. The minutes of their meetings show the seriousness and dignified gravity of men who were in earnest and felt the weight of responsibility. It is evi- dent that they were imbued with a consciousness that upon them was cast the work of securing for the inhab- itants of Kentucky a government adapted to their wants and necessities. They saw around them a magnificent body of land, and appreciated the advantages it afforded, the wonderful attractions it offered to settlers, and the promise it held for the future. They saw it rapidly fill- ing up. They had, by their own toilsome journey to Ken- tucky, experienced the full sense of the wide separation from the Virginia government. They felt the necessity for a home government, and set themselves diligently to work upon the practical questions of the hour.
Great, however, as must have been the influence of this society upon the times, it is a singular fact it has no mention in any history. Richard H. Collins, who searched in every section of the State with the most indefatigable industry for every thing illustrative of the
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THE POLITICAL CLUB.
character and work of the early Kentuckians, came upon 110 trace of this society. The traditions of Danville, strange as it may seem, failed to perpetuate it. The members-who in their later years found homes in other towns of the State, Lexington, Frankfort, Louisville, Bardstown, Versailles, and others -- did not preserve in any form, recorded or otherwise, the memory of this club.
The accidental finding of the original papers of the club, and the consequent publicity of the fact that so important and interesting a society had an existence in the early days at Danville, led Colonel R. T. Durrett, the President of the Filson Club, to examine his im- mense stores of old manuscripts for any reference or allusion to it they might contain. He was rewarded with finding one mention of the club. In the manu- script journal or diary of Major Beatty, a paymaster in the United States Army, is an entry of date August 29, 1786. The Major, after narrating that he had paid off some western troops at the Falls of the Ohio, proceeds to tell how he journeyed to Limestone by way of Dan- ville. At Danville he spent a night, and he gives the following account of a meeting of The Political Club:
"Very much disturbed by a Political Club which met in the next house where we slept and kept us awake till 12 or I o'clock.
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THE POLITICAL CLUB.
This club is very commendable in a new country. It is composed of members of the most respectable people in and near Danville, who meet every Saturday night to discuss politics. Some pretty good speechies and some tolerable good arguments made use of last night. The dispute was: One side insisted that an Act of Assembly was not law when it did not perfectly agree with the Constitution of the State. It was opposed by the other party, and a very long debate took place."
The minutes of the club contain an account of this very debate, and show that the decision of the club was that an Act of Assembly must be in accordance with the Constitution of the State.
So far as the records disclose the club had an exist- ence from 1786 until 1790. Its secretary was Thomas Speed, then a young man, well educated and trained in a clerk's office. He wrote a fine, clerkly handwriting, and evidently was careful and methodical. In after years he was a Circuit Court Clerk; several times member of the State Legislature, and once a member of Congress.
His methodical habits led him to put up the records of The Political Club in a package, label it "Political Club Papers," and place them in a drawer of his secre- tary with other papers which had served their purpose and were not likely to be wanted. He probably did this when the club ceased to meet, which was in 1790. The · papers were discovered by the present writer in the
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year IS7S. They had, therefore, remained untouched for eighty-eight years .* Examination of the package showed that it contained the records of a society of which no living person had any information. The names of the members were there, the constitution and rules of pro- cedure, the minutes of the meetings, and various other papers pertaining to the conduct and work of the society.
The papers were brought to Louisville by the writer, where they were eagerly inspected by persons versed in early Kentucky history, particularly Colonel R. T. Dur- rett, Colonel Jolin Mason Brown, and Richard H. Collins, and the "find" was pronounced to be of the greatest . interest and value. An account of the discovery was published by the present writer in September, IS78, in the Louisville Commercial, which was copied by other newspapers in Kentucky. The Commercial then said editorially :
"The existence of The Political Club is not mentioned in any history, and so far as we know there is no tradition of it, and, except for the discovery a few weeks ago of the papers of the club, all memory of this truly remarkable association of men would
* Thomas Speed, the Secretary of the Club, removed from Danville to Bardstown in 1793, where he resided until his death in 1842. The desk he used was the old-fashioned sort, with a writing shelf, and drawers below. In these drawers he put away many "old papers." After his death the desk was used, but the drawers of "old papers " were not disturbed. In IS7S the present writer unlocked the drawers, and among the papers was found the
1555775
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have been lost entirely. The records are now nearly one hundred years old. They have been preserved in a drawer of an old desk which belonged to the secretary of the club. They alone perpetuate the memory of The Political Club."
The Courier-Journal said :
"The extracts which have been published are sufficiently full to satisfy ordinary curiosity, but the publication of the whole record would be a valuable contribution to the history of Kentucky. Such papers discovered in any State having a well-conducted historical society would be seized upon as a most valuable and interesting acquisition."
In addition to the account given in the Louisville Commercial, an address upon the subject of The Political Club was afterward delivered at Danville by Judge Alexander P. Humphrey, which was published in the Courier-Journal. Mention of the society and the dis- covery of its records is made in Shaler's recent History of Kentucky, and in the "Political Beginnings of Ken- tucky," by Colonel John Mason Brown, and also in other late publications.
package labeled "Political Club Papers." The package had remained so long closely packed with others it had become partially glued to them, and separated with a crackling or tearing sound. They were tied with a string made of homespun flax. Though yellow with age they were perfectly pre- served. The writer's father, then nearly seventy, was present, and, though he had been familiar with the desk all his life, he stated to the writer that he knew nothing whatever about the papers or of the club.
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THE POLITICAL CLUB.
Colonel John Mason Brown, whose remarkable knowl- edge of Kentucky history was so well known, pays this tribute to the members of The Political Club:
"The list of names of the members of The Political Club will suggest to every one familiar with the early story of Kentucky a just idea of the usefulness of that body. It would not have been possible to assemble another body within the District equal to these men in accomplishments, experience, and possession of public con- fidence. Their names appear on every page of Kentucky's earlier history."
Professor Shaler, a native of Kentucky, in his recent history of the State (having the original papers before him), says:
"This association was composed of about thirty of the brightest spirits of the times, who were resident in and about Danville. On its roll we find the names of many of those who had already or were afterward to lead the State in the paths of peace or war."
Judge Humphrey in his address says:
"In this list of names will be found inen who filled every office of honor in this State. Indeed they are to Kentucky, in its strug- gles for life and greatness, equal in importance to the ships given in Homer, to the Greeks at Troy."
The attention the subject has received shows the interest taken in the discovery of the existence of the society, and has demonstrated its importance in the early history of events in Kentucky.
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THE POLITICAL CLUB.
THE MEMBERS.
The club consisted of thirty members. Their names were as follows:
Harry Innes,
Samuel McDowell,
Christopher Greenup,
William McDowell,
John Brown,
Benjamin Sebastian,
Robert Craddock,
Baker Ewing,
Thomas Todd,
P. Tardeveau,
John Belli,
William Kennedy,
G. J. Johnston,
Willis Green,
George Muter,
James Speed,
Peyton Short,
Matthew Walton,
Stephen Ormsby,
William McClung,
Thomas Allin,
James Brown,
Thomas Speed,
Robert Dougherty,
Abe Buford,
Joshua Barbee,
John Overton, jr.,
James Overton,
David Walker,
James Nourse.
This is a striking list of early Kentucky nanies. Some of the men at that time were officially connected with public offices in the District of Kentucky, and nearly all of them afterward held important offices of . trust and honor in the State and General Governments.
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THE POLITICAL CLUB.
Brief biographical sketches of these earnest-minded men can not fail to impress even those to whom their names are unfamiliar, with the excellent material of the club, and a mention of some of their descendants will show that the weight and high character of the mem- bers have been transmitted to subsequent generations. Not only were they conspicuous in shaping the begin- nings of a commonwealth, they were the ancestors of a race which has taken a large part in guiding its career.
It will not be necessary to speak of them in words of sounding praise, or describe at length their charac- teristics. Their names alone bring to mind the history of Kentucky. Mention of the positions of trust they filled tells the story of their merit. A few brief sugges- tions will suffice to show how permanently their work and influence were impressed upon the State.
They were men who had passed through the training of the Revolution. The natural force that was in them had been developed in times that tried men's souls and ripened the faculties of men at an early age. The energy and enterprise which led them to the west were coupled with intelligence and education. Every member of the club had received a good education. Many had studied law under the best advantages. In the records
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of the club, as well as in other accounts, there is plain proof of the possession of accomplishments belonging to the best colonial society. They were all men of high type intellectually; men of that class who would take prominent positions in any of the legislative assemblies of our country at any time.
Their environments in the backwoods of Kentucky did not preclude the exhibition of a dignified refinement and courtesy of demeanor acquired before they left their eastern homes. It is an historic fact that very many of the early immigrants to Kentucky were people of ability and substance. The seventy thousand who went thither within the fifteen years from 1775 to 1790, went with the deliberate purpose of removing permanently to the West with their families. They were not from overcrowded districts, nor were they surplus population. They were people of the best position in Virginia, Penn- sylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas, whose intelligent foresight taught them that a great field for progress lay on the western waters, and they had the enterprise to make the most of a golden opportunity. They reaped a rich reward in the rapid advancement in value of the large tracts of land they acquired.
A pleasing light is thrown upon the character of the pioneers by the records of The Political Club. In the
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various papers they drafted, in the minutes of the club meetings, and in their letters there is a cultivated diction and an excellence of handwriting contrasting strongly with ideas suggested by the simplicity of living in their rude log cabins, dressed in homespun and buck- skin, and figliting Indians.
There is evidence also of a broadness of judgment, an aversion to injustice, a liberality and fairness of deal- ing, and a warmth of friendship and comradeship natural to men cast together in a new country and mutually dependent upon one another.
We have seen that it was natural that a group of intellectual men should be found at Danville. It is proof of the singular excellence of a community that thirty such members as constituted The Political Club could be chosen by ballot from so small a population. Thus the value of the long lost records and the desira- bility of their publication is emphasized, as they give indisputable proof of the fact that by the movement of population, known as the "great immigration," the same kind and class of people were suddenly planted in Kentucky as had given to the Colonies their world famous reputation for courage, independence, and en- lightenment.
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THE POLITICAL CLUB.
JUDGE HARRY INNES.
Among all the men who were engaged in the work of securing order and government for the people of Kentucky in the pioneer days, no one was more con- spicnous than Judge Innes. He had both legal knowl- edge and practical common sense, and this combination of qualities fitted him for peculiar usefulness. He was born in Caroline County, Virginia, January 4, old style, 1752, and died at Cedar Hill Farm, near Frankfort, Kentucky, September 20, IS16, in the sixty-fifth year of his age. When a member of The Political Club he was thirty-five years of age.
He was the second of three sons of Reverend Robert and Catherine Richards Innes. The eldest son, Robert, was a physician, and the two younger were lawyers. James, the youngest, became Attorney- General of Vir- ginia, and was a member of the Virginia convention which adopted the Constitution of the United States.
Harry was a school - mate of James Madison, and his life-long friend.
In 1772 he obtained his license to practice law in the Colony of Virginia from John Randolph and G. Wythe, by the authority of the General Court. He at once acquired a large business, and practiced in the counties
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of Bedford, Chesterfield, Fincastle, Amelia, Cumberland, Pittsylvania, Caroline, Botetourt, and Franklin. In 1778 he was appointed deputy attorney for the county of Bedford by Governor Patrick Henry. In 1779 he was appointed escheator for that county by Governor Thomas Jefferson, and afterward was made collector of specific tax for the same county by Governor Benjamin Harrison. In 1782 he was appointed District Commissioner for the counties of Halifax, Charlotte, Pittsylvania, Henry, Bed- ford, and Campbell by Governor Harrison. The services rendered in this position were very valuable, and he received the special thanks of the Governor and the War Department. Also under the appointment of the Virginia Legislature he was employed to determine land claims.
In 1782 he was appointed assistant judge for the "District of the Western Waters," and in October of the same year Governor Harrison appointed him judge of that District. In1 October, 1784, he was elected by the legislature of Virginia Attorney-General for the Western District, which office he filled until 1787. He was ap- pointed by President Washington United States District Judge for Kentucky in 1789, in which capacity he served the remainder of his life. His position as judge did not preclude him from public service of other kinds. In
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1790 he was authorized by the United States Secretary of War to take military measures for the protection of the frontiers against hostile Indians, and in 1792 he was associated with Generals Charles Scott and Isaac Shelby, Colonel Benjamin Logan, and Honorable John Brown in the "Military Board " appointed to act in conjunction with the commander of the United States forces in organizing the militia for expeditions against the Indians. His conduct in these affairs was so admirable that it elicited the thanks and commendation of President Washington.
In 1792 he was chosen one of the electors provided for by the first constitution of Kentucky, and presided over that body, which chose the first Governor, Isaac Shelby, and also the State Senators.
In 1799 he was a member of the convention which framed the second Constitution of Kentucky. Another feature of his active and useful life is that from 1787 until 1793 he was President of Transylvania College. It may be said, indeed, that the name of Judge Harry Innes is connected with every important event in the affairs of early Kentucky history. He was held in the highest esteem as a judge, and trusted and honored as a citizen.
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Judge Innes was twice married. First, to Elizabeth Calloway, daughter of Colonel James Calloway, of Bedford County, Virginia. The children of this marriage were four: First, Sarah, who married Francis Thornton. A son of this marriage was Judge Harry Innes Thornton, of California, whose wife was a sister of Honorable John J. Crittenden. Second, Katherine, who married Samuel G. Adams, of Virginia, and their son, Thomas Adams, was the father of Gilmer Adams, now prominent among the business men of Louisville. Third, Elizabeth, who married Thomas C. Alexander, of Virginia. Fourth, Ann, who married John Morris, of Virginia.
The second wife of Judge Innes was Mrs. Ann Shiel, widow of Doctor Hugh Shiel. Their only child, Marie Knox, married John H. Todd, of Frankfort, Kentucky, and after his death she became the second wife of John J. Crittenden.
The descendants of Judge Innes are found in many parts of the United States: The Thorntons in Alabama. Virginia, California, and Kentucky; the Alexanders and Forbeses in Virginia; the Adamses in Kentucky, New York, Virginia, and Texas; the Pollards in Louisiana and California; the Crittendens and Todds in Kentucky ; the Morrises, of Frankfort. Kentucky. The late Major Eugene Wilkinson Crittenden, U. S. A., was a soldier in the late war. Lieu- tenant John J. Crittenden, who was killed in Custer's fight, was also a descendant of Judge Innes. The late Lieutenant John H. Todd, U. S. A., and Lieutenant -Commanding C. C. Todd, U. S. N., were great-grandsons of Judge Innes. Lieutenant John Jordan Crittenden, of the Twenty-second United States Infantry, is also a great-grand- son.
JUSTICE THOMAS TODD.
Thomas Todd was born in King and Queen County, Virginia, January 23, 2765. His father was Richard Todd, of Virginia. He was left an orphan at an early
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age, but received an excellent education. He was a skillful surveyor and an accomplished clerk, as a young man; then a practicing lawyer, and then a judge. He was the clerk of all the early Kentucky conventions, . also clerk of the United States District Court until 1792, and when the Kentucky Court of Appeals was established he was appointed clerk of that court. This office he held until ISo1, when he was appointed by Governor Garrard Judge of the Court of Appeals. In IS06 he became the Chief Justice. At that time, however, the increase of population in the western country demanded the creation of a new United States Circuit and an additional Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The States of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio constituted the new circuit, and Thomas Todd was appointed by Presi- dent Jefferson to the Supreme Bench. In this position he continued until his death. He died at his home near Frankfort, February 7, 1826.
The bar of the Supreme Court passed resolutions expressing their regret and high appreciation of his character and sense of the great loss to the court and the country at a meeting presided over by William Wirt, Attorney-General of the United States. The resolutions were presented by Daniel Webster.
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The first wife of Justice Thomas Todd was Elizabeth Harris, a sister of Mrs. Judge Innes. The children of this marriage were: First, Elizabeth, who married John Hanna. Second. Ann Maria, who married Edmund Starling. Third, Harry Innes, who died unmarried. Fourth, Charles S., well known as Honorable Charles S. Todd, of Owensboro, Kentucky. He was chief of staff to General William Henry Harrison during the Indian wars, and was appointed by President Tyler minister to Russia. One of his sons is Doctor Charles H. Todd, of Owensboro; another is Captain Thomas Todd, of Shelby County, Kentucky. Fifth, John Harris, well known as John H. Todd, of Frankfort, Kentucky. He represented Franklin and Owen counties in the legislature in 1822-1824, and was most influential in that body. He married Maria Knox Innes in 1817. Their children: Harry I., Catherine, Lucy, and Elizabeth A. Among the leading business men of Louisville is George D. Todd, son of the last named Harry I. Todd.
The second wife of Justice Thomas Todd was Mrs. George Steptoe Washington, whose maiden name was Lucy Payne, and she was a sister of Mrs. James Madison. Their children: William J., who died young; Madisonia, and James Madison, whose daughter married Arthur Peter, of Louisville.
GEORGE MUTER.
At the time of the formation of the club, George Muter was Chief Justice of the District Court of Ken- tucky. Associated with him on the bench were two other members of the club, Samuel McDowell and Harry Innes. The clerk of the court was Christopher Greenup, also a member of the club. This court hield its sessions at Danville. It was established under an Act of the
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Virginia Legislature passed in 1782, Kentucky having in 17So been divided into three counties-Jefferson, Fayette, and Lincoln-and they constituted the "Kentucky Dis- trict." The Act made provision for a court for this District having jurisdiction of all treasons, murders, felonies, crimes, and misdemeanors, and also of law and equity cases. The court held its first session in 1783 at Harrodsburg, but in that year it was removed to Danville. Judge Muter held his office until Kentucky became a State, and then in 1792 became Judge of the Court of Appeals, and so continued for eleven years, being the first Chief Justice.
In addition to his services in a judicial capacity, he had served in the Revolution as the commander of a ship of war. He came to Kentucky with the military title of Colonel, and was a pioneer soldier as well as one of the most useful of all of the early builders of the Kentucky Commonwealth. He was a member of all the conventions which, from 1785 to 1789, were held at Danville for the purpose of erecting Kentucky into a State. In 1785 he and Judge Harry Innes were deputed by the convention of that year to proceed to Virginia and lay before the legislature the petition of Kentucky to be made a State, which service they performed. He was a member of the convention which framed the first
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constitution in 1792. In that year he was one of the electors under that constitution to select the first Gov- ernor of the State-their choice being Isaac Shelby. They also chose the first State Senators. It is notice- able that besides Judge Muter six other members of The Political Club-Short, Todd, Greenup, Innes, Samuel McDowell, Kennedy -- were electors, the four latter being all who were sent from Mercer County. The total num- ber from all the State was forty.
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