jessamine-settlers

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Source: A history of Jessamine County, Kentucky

By Bennett Henderson Young
Contributed by Barb Z.

First Settlers

John Hunter, Jacob Hunter and Samuel Hunter came to Jessamine county in the spring of 1779. Jacob was the oldest and was born in 1753. They first stopped at Boonesboro in 1778 and were employed by Elias Hite, son of Abraham Hite, who was at that time engaged in the surveying of lands in Kentucky. The father of these young men died at Boonesboro. They had two sisters. They had been employed by Mr. Hite as chain-carriers, and they all settled close to each other on Hickman creek. The following letter shows when they were dismissed:

Thursday, April 1, 1779.

Dear Father: Dismiss the chain carriers, John Hunter, Samuel Hunter and Jacob Hunter; pay them six shillings per day for three months' services on Boone and Hickman creeks.

Isaac Hite. Tell Air. Douglas to go at once to Boonesfooro.

Here, in 1780, was born Joseph Hunter, who was the first white child born in the present boundary of Jessamine county. Joseph Hunter lived to be quite an old man. He died in 1858. The old home of these first settlers embraced about qoo acres of land, which has now been in cultivation 120 years and is still fertile and productive. The old house for a long time was the property of John Portwood, who was a son- in-law of John Hunter. The farm is situated about six miles east of Nicholasville on the pike leading to Roone's Ferry.

When John Portwood died, Dudley Portwood, his son, sold a part of the farm containing 200 acres to Jessamine county for the erection of a poor house.

The Hunter homestead was built of brick and is still standing, and was erected about 1798. One of the bricks in the chimneys has this date upon it.

Jacob Hunter left Jessamine county and went to Owen county, where he died after attaining the extreme age of one hundred years.

Samuel Hunter settled some miles above these other two brothers, on Hickman creek, and they were unquestionably the first white men who ever undertook a permanent settlement in Jessamine county. They did not build forts or blockhouses, and were doubtless driven in about 1782, when the Indians were so determined in their assaults on the Kentuckv settlers.

Early Settlers on Jessamine Creek

The early settlers on Jessamine creek were mostly German Protestants who came in large part from Pennsylvania and Maryland, with a few from Virginia. The following letter written by Dr. Peter Trisler to Rev. David Zeisberger in 1794, from Jessamine county, will prove valuable, historically:

Jessamine Creek, September 4, 1794

Dear David: I am exceedingly sorry that you did not come along with your father during his recent visit to this delightful country. The sun shines brighter in this country, and the skies are more blue, than the damp, moist atmosphere at the mouth of the Cuvahoga. A good school is needed among us, and I invite you once more to leave that inhospitable country of savages and cold winds.

Faithfully yours,

Peter Trislek.

From most reliable records Rev. Jacob Rhorer was the founder of the first Moravian church on Jessamine creek, in 1794. and the building was used as a Moravian church by the Rhorer family up to near the beginning of the Civil War.

The following are the names of the early settlers who were of German parentage and belonged to the Moravian Church, or "United Brethren": Arnspigers. Alcorns, Cormans, Rowmans, Bruners, Earthenhousers, Easleys, Funks, Fraziers, Grows, Gilmans, Goforths, Hiffners, Howsers, Harbaughs, Horines, Ritters, Rices, Masners, Zikes, Ketrons, Waggamans, Warmslys, Overstreets, Quests, Yosts, Hoovers, Trislers, Turks. Turpins. Shreves, Veatches, Vantresses. Naves, Cogars, Crows, Cooleys, Cawbys, and Schmidts. Nearly all of these names were in the list of German settlers in the western part of Jessamine countv, \vho were largely the followers of John Huss. They were men of great common sense, good judgment, honesty, a high sense of morality, and great lovers of freedom, and their descendants still reside in that part of Jessamine county which their ancestors in the early history of the state settled.

In 1884 John Cawby had a Bible which was printed at Wittenberg in 1440. This Bible was brought from Germany to Maryland in 1780, by Peter Trisler, who, in 1794, settled in the present limits of Jessamine county, where he died April 22, 1821. This old Bible was the property of Mrs. Nancy Horine who was a grandaughter of Dr. Trisler.

Dr. Peter Trisler was born in .Wittenberg, Germany, in 1745. He came to Hagerstown, Maryland, when a very young man, and settled on Jessamine creek in 1791. When he came from Germany he brought the old Bible above referred to, and this book contained records of a large number of the families above named. From this stock German settlers have gone throughout the West and South, and they usually became men of thrift, energy, character and brains. Some now in Illinois and many in Missouri have carried away with them the splendid qualities of these early settlers, and in their new homes have shown the sterling qualities of their ancestors, who did so much to create and promote the best interests of the new state they helped to found in the then wilderness of Kentucky.

Names of those who settled in other parts of Jessamine from 1782 to the close of the century:

Archibald Bristow; Manoah Singleton; Elder Michael Rice; Jacob Howser; David Watson, Sr.; Jacob Sedowski, afterward removed.to Bourbon county; James McKinney; Jeremiah King; Col. Jos. Crockett; Abraham Howser; Jacob Rhorer; John Welch; Jacob Bruner; James Overstreet; Chris. Mason; Wm. Moss; Jno. Thornton; Patrick Watson; Fielding Pilcher; Shadrach Pilcher; Samuel Rice; Minor Young; Rev. Jno. Hudson; Jeremiah Dickerson; Wm. Fletcher; Wm. Bowman; John Two Nine Scott; Col. Byrd Prewitt; Jno. Johnson; Jno. Lowry; Thos. Caldwell; Col. Geo. Walker; John Lewis; James Duncan; Chas. Duncan ; Jonas Davenport; James McCabe; Jacob Rice ; Rev. Nathaniel Harris; Col. Wm. Price; Col. Jno. Price; Major Netherland; Benj. Blackford; Benj. Adams; Jno. Todd; Robt. Campbell; Abraham Cassell; Francis Lowers ; Thos. Shanklin ; Robt. Shanklin: Daniel Mitchell: Thomas Rowland ; Thomas Overstreet.

Black's Station.

It is strange that, from the time of the settlement at Harrodsburg in 1774 down to 1779, there were no stations established in Jessamine county. In Mercer, Boyle, Fayette, Woodford, Madison, Scott and Franklin, numerous stations were erected, but with all the richness of the land in Jessamine county, none came to found a fort within its midst. There were surveys made in the county during this time, one of which, the Abram Hite survey of 2,000 acres on Marble creek, was both permanent and important, and discussed in the fort at Harrodsburg in 1774 and 1775. A Mr. Black established a station on what is known as the G. 15. Bryan farm, half way between Nicholasville and Brookline on the Harrodsburg turnpike. It was on the old trace which led through the county along the waters of Jessamine creek to the waters of South Elkhorn. There were several large boiling springs in the locality, and as these were always in demand for settlements. Black located his station there. It was composed of several cabins, and the land was originally part of what is known as the "Craig Survey," and was subsequently owned by Archibald Logan, who was a rich tanner and had an establishment in Lexington.

Logan conveyed this land to his daughter, Mrs. Hord. when he left Jessamine county in 1829, and the house known as the Patterson House is where Logan lived. Mrs. Hord conveyed the place to her daughter, Mrs. Worley. and she conveyed it to others, and it is now owned by the Bryan's heirs.

Beginning with 1783, this station became quite an important one, and was one of the stopping places for those who followed the trace from Mercer and Boyle to Franklin and Woodford counties. The difficulty in obtaining water in this general section was very great, and Joel Watkins, in his diary, says: June 24— "Forded river at mouth of Hickman; after traveling seven or eight miles on the road that leads from the river to Lexington I turned to the left of said road and crossed a water course called East Jessamine ; after leaving the said creek, the land is very level and of a very pretty mulatto soil and the growth is black and white oak, hickory, and some walnut and sugar trees, and the undergrowth hazel nut and red bud, till I arrived at West Jessamine. I proceeded up said river to head, the land altering as I proceeded up said creek until I came near the head springs, the land there appearing very rich till I struck the waters of South Elkhorn. This day I passed several good farms, and especially John Craig's, badly watered between the two Jessamines, so much so that people settled only along the said creeks." This scarcity of water was doubtless one of the reasons for establishing the station at Black's.

Watkins says August 18, 1889: "Passed Dick's river at McGuir's. from thence we proceeded to Curd's Ferry on Kentucky, which is at the mouth of Dick's river—-the latter we forded— Then the cliff's are of amazing height); we proceeded towards Lexington about eight miles; we turned to the left of said road past Black Station on the waters of Clear creek, proceeded onward, the land lying very well, but the growth indicating the rock being nigh the surface of the earth ; we crossed several forks of Clear creek; we came to Captain Woodfolk's mentioned on page 22; from this place the land continued very slightly, both soil and Growth, to Mr. Watkins', at which place we arrived about dark— received very kindly."

He also says, August 24: "Monday, after breakfast with Mr. W., set out for the south side of Kentucky river, agreeing with the aforesaid gentleman at parting to keep up a literary correspondence, past Black Station again and crossed the two forks of Jessamine and arrived at Kentucky river at the mouth of Hickman, which I forded, and arrived at Mr. Walker's at two hours besun."

It will be seen that the trace along by Black's Station was the read usually traveled by those who passed from Garrard and Mercer and Boyle to Wood ford and Franklin.

Another station in Jessamine county was built by Levi Todd a little northwest of Keene—its exact location can not now be determined—it, is, however, laid down upon Filson's map, but was abandoned. This was a fort. The road from Harrodsburg to Lexington doubtless passed by Black's Station, and from this on to Todd's Station. There was also another route by which they crossed the river to the mouth of Hickman, followed Hickman for some distance, and then turned northeast towards Lexington, then their route followed Hickman for several miles, then struck East Jessamine and followed it to its head at Mrs. Horine's on the Southern Railroad, about a mile east of Nicholasville, and from this over to the headwaters of Jessamine, and from this along the general route of the Lexington and Harrodsburgh turnpike to Lexington. This is shown by deposition of David Williams, which was filed in the case of Manson's Executors vs. Craig Williams, in which Williams deposes as follows:

"He was well acquainted with Hickman's creek from a small distance above the survey, 'Abram Hite,' to the head of the creek, and that the east fork of Jessamine was as well known to the people of Harrodsburg as Hickman's creek was. The east fork of Jessamine lay more out of the course generally taken by hunters in traveling from Harrodsburg to the waters of the Licking; they commonly fell on main Jessamine above the mouth of East Fork; thence up the main Jessamine spring; thence crossing the waters of Hickman to Boone's creek, and over to the head of Stroud's creek, where there were roads leading down most of its branches to the Salt Licks. It was also common to pass by main Jessamine above the East Fork and by Todd's station on the waters of Hickman to go to the headwaters of South and North Elkhorn. This deponent, with others, frequently took this road to avoid large canebrakes."

The Last Indians

The high cliffs, covered with dense forests of cedar and other timber, along the Kentucky river, and their utter inaccessibility, rendered them excellent hiding places for the Indians who disturbed the settlers as late as the end of 1792. No great incursion of the Indians into Kentucky happened after the battle of Blue Licks, in 1782, but predatory bands, consisting of four or five men hers, both from the south and from the north, gave the settlers great disturbance and uneasiness and murdered a great many women and children. Shortly after the battle of Blue Licks the people abandoned the forts and scattered huts in their log cabins over the state. Fear of Indian raids had been removed and the immense tide of settlers which came into the state during this period took up lands in every part, but as late as 1792 many people were killed in Garrard, Lincoln, Madison and Jessamine. On July 6, 1793, Major Benjamin Netherland wrote the following letter to Governor Shelby, which gives a contemporaneous account of these troubles :

"Mingo Tavern, Fayette county, Ky.,

"July 6, 1792. "To His Excellency, Isaac Shelby,

"Governor of Kentucky:

"Dear Sir—Your letter of the 291h of June, was handed to me on yesterday by John Wilson. I tender to you my hearty, warm thanks for the good opinion you express concerning my poor services in the defense of our beloved country. To enjoy your confidence and friendship may well be considered a distinguished honor, and I shall at all times consider it a pleasure to be of service to you.

There have but few depredations occurred in these parts of the county. Last year it was reported three men were killed by a party of Shawnees. They were pursued, overtaken and two of them were killed the following day at Boonesboro. About three months ago two Indians crossed the Kentucky at the mouth of the Dix river, and came among the settlers, as they said, for trading. I was not pleased at seeing such treacherous enemies, and gave orders to Tom Lewis and his father to keep a watch on them. They spoke English very well and were trying to make the impression that they were our best friends. When they left the next morning they met one of the settlers named Michael Hiffner, who had been to see Thomas Rowland, who settled on a plantation some miles above. The Indians told Hiffner he must let them have his horse. This he refused, when he heard the snap of a gun. He at once jumped from the horse and stabbed the Indian to the heart. He then turned upon the other, who shot him in the arm and ran off into the timber. Hiffner, being a good Indian fighter and a brave and active man, pursued him, and before the Indian could reload his gun Hiffner caught him and knocked his brains out with a club, and threw his body down the high cliffs into the river. The body of the Indian he stabbed to death was buried. A party of Wyandots killed a man at the mouth of Jessamine last spring. At the various crossings Indian tracks have been discovered. At Paint Lick two years ago two men were killed by this same party of Indians. It is my opinion that if 50 mounted men were employed to scour the Kentucky river cliffs during the fall, I feel sure no more of our people would be ambushed and killed. These hills and cliffs, Major Whitley says, are good hiding places for Indians to do us much injury. I must urge you to appoint Tom Wilson captain and lieutenant of this end of the county. He is young and active and can run like the wind, and such service would be in keeping with his nature, which is daring and full of adventure. I would seek the place myself, but I have so long neglected my private affairs that it would be ruinous for me to put my affairs into the hands of others, who seek their own interest to the neglect of mine, besides I have now the high and responsible duties of husband and father, which I can not throw aside without doing great injustice to the innocent who look to me for protection as husband and father. "Your old friend,

" B. Netherland."

All sorts of "varmints" were plentiful in the days of the early settlers. Bears and rattlesnakes were in great abundance. On the farm of Mr. Alexander Willoughby, near Sulphur Well, one of the great curiosities was a place known as "Rattlesnake Spring." When the land was first settled this spring was a great resort for these snakes. The water issued from a large crevice in a limestone rock, overlaid by a bold bank. Near the spring was a cave. Major Netherland, who visited the place in 1796, says: "In the fall of the year they would crawl from the cave to the spring and enter the crevice of the rock, where they remained torpid during the winter. When the warmth of spring revived them they would emerge from the crevice and the cave and bask in the warm sun. At this season they fell an easy prey to the destroyer. Henry Allsman, who is now living on this portion of Mr. Willoughby's land, told me he and his family have killed hundreds of them in the last week. He would pile them up on a log heap and burn them. By this wholesale slaughter, this enemy of God and man was extirpated, and in another season of spring and summer nothing will remain of that representative of the transgression but his hateful name."

The man Allsman here referred to was the father of the notorious Andrew Allsman, who caused General McNeil to shoot ten innocent men at Palymra, \lo. He was horn on this farm in 1805 and left home in 1829. Allsman boasted on the streets of Palmyra of causing the death of these men. The next day after he made this dreadful confession his dead body was found hung and riddled with bullets. He had been put to death by Col. Joe Porter's men in the neighborhood.

The First Powder Mill

Erected in Jessamine county was located on Hickman creek, near the old Union Mill. The old powder houses remained there as late as the year 1850. These powder mills were owned by Richard Laffoon, but the powder house was erected by Robert Crockett, and after he left the country, it fell into the hands of the Laffoons. It was struck by lightning and destroyed in 1837.

The first paper mill in Jessamine, was erected on Jessamine creek at the old Glass Mills by Thomas Bryan in 1837, and he carried it on until 1848.

The first burr mill-stones ever imported to Jessamine, came from France in 1837, and were used by Bryan in what is known as the Henry Glass Mills.

The First Mill.

The first mill built in Jessamine county was constructed by Meredith Wright, father of Mr. Robert Wright, who still lives in Nicholasville at the advanced age of eighty-one years. Meredith Wright was the first millwright in the state, and the mill he built was Haydon's Mill, afterward run by Mr. Gavin Steele. Mr. Wright also built the Union Mills and the Torbett Mills. He was among the earliest settlers in Kentucky, and came from Culpeper Courthouse, in Virginia, and immediately settled in Jessamine county. His mills were used generally by the early settlers, and the one used by David Trabue in Jessamine county was among the first and most primitive. The process of grinding was very slow; each man's or boy's grist was ground in its turn, and sometimes a wait of twelve hours was required before the flour could be taken home.

Thomas Berry, brother of Joseph and Lewis Berry, ran the paper mill on Jessamine creek, where the character of paper made was good for the opportunities of manufacture. It was deep blue and broadly lined, but it was smooth, with a good polish, and held the marks distinctly.

In 1825 James Wilson owned and ran a powder mill on Clear creek. The power used was horse power, and the mortars and pestles were operated by this power. Powder was then worth $1 a pound.

At this time a fine flour mill was operated also on Clear creek by Mr. Campbell Steele, who was the grandfather of Wm. L. Steele, of Nicholasville, and Mr. John Steele; and a hominy mill was operated by Samuel Ruffner on Clear creek. The pestles were operated by- horse power.

Early Houses.

House building in Jessamine county in early days was not a very expensive or protracted work. The houses,were rude and simple structures of hewn logs and the chinks stopped with mud or filled with stone and then plastered with mud on the outside. The roof was made of clap-boarding about three feet long and four inches wide, and along these were placed poles supported by blocks of wood and these were weighted so as to hold the clap- boarding in place. There was rarely more than one window, which was at the side of the door. In early days it had no glass but was closed by a wooden shutter made of heavy oak boards. The floors were made of logs or puncheons hewed smooth on one side with an adze. The logs were generally split to a convenient size and length, and then hewed flat. The doors were made of riven boards fastened together with wooden pins to wooden slabs. These doors always had the latch on the inside and a hole was bored above the latch about 4 inches, through which a leathern string passed and so fastened to the latch on the inside. When this string was taken in there was no way to open the door from the outside. In the morning the string was passed back from the inside so that any party who desired to enter could raise the latch. From this comes the Kentucky proclamation of hospitality, "You will always find the latch-string on the outside.'' The chimneys were made of logs plastered with mud. The back and jambs were either covered with mud or stones were placed on the inside to keep the heat from setting them on fire. The fire places were often 10 or 12 feet wide, and while they consumed an enormous quantity of wood, they made jolly good fires, which lent cheerfulness and comfort to the whole house. Weather- boarding was not used until about 1815. Some of these houses are still standing in the county, and in some of the brick houses which were erected in early times, the doors were made without nails. One of the earliest brick houses erected in Jessamine county was that of William.Shreve, which was built in 1793 and is now owned by Mrs. John Simms, a short distance west of the Cincinnati Southern depot, and it is still in a good state of preservation.

The First Vineyard

John Frances DeFoure was a native of Vevay, Switzerland, and planted the first vineyard west of the Alleghanies, in Jessamine county in 1796. The land was patented by William Hazelrigg in 1785. The place is ten miles southeast of Nicholasville, and is the land on which Col. Percival Butler lived when Gen. Wm. O. Butler was born in 1791. Col. Percival Butler had moved to this section because the Indians were less dangerous than in the northwest territory. The DeFoures, purchased the land from Colonel Hazelrigg, who lived and died in Bourbon county. They afterwards settled in Vevay, Indiana, and named the county Switzerland. They were very successful in Indiana, and became very wealthy. The deed and agreement between the DeFoures and Hazelrigg is recorded in Deed Book 1, page 34, in the Jessamine county clerk's office.
The land chosen did not suit the varieties of the grape introduced. Hybridizing and crossing had not yet developed the excellent varieties of grapes which can now be grown in all parts of the United States. The European grapes were not adapted to the soil of Kentucky. All other fruits in the early settlement of the state, were produced in perfection. The cherries from Virginia and Pennsylvania, the apples and peaches from Virginia and North Carolina, and the pears from Virginia grew with marvelous rapidity, and were free from all diseases, and in twenty years after the settlement of Kentucky magnificent orchards were abundant in all parts of the Commonwealth. The Janet or Jeniton, the Limber Twig, the Horse apple, the Spice apple, the Pryor Red, Morton's Pearmain. the summer apple, propagated by slips brought over the mountains or produced from seed; found in the virgin soil of Kentucky, a vigor and an abundance of crops which satisfied the fullest wants of the new communities; but the grapes found wild in the forests of either Virginia or Kentucky were not utilized, or domesticated, and for a long while but few grapes were grown.

The Kentucky Vineyard Association was organized in Lexington in 1799. and seven hundred and fifty acres of land "lying in the big bend of the Kentucky river near the mouth of Hick- man creek," were secured as the site for planting the vineyard. Great expectations were created. There was supposed to be no limit to the products and production of the state and if Europe could grow grapes, it was confidently assumed Kentucky could do likewise and better. The announcement of the association declared that, "in less than four years, wine may be drunk on the banks of the Kentucky, produced from the European stock."

The experiment was a dismal failure. Down in the swamps of North Carolina on the banks of the Catawba river was then growing the splendid Catawba grape and on the islands in James river in the midst of the forests and dense thickets the Norton's Va. (Virginia seedling) was yearly producing prolific crops, either of which, if transplanted to Kentucky, would have produced a vintage which would have done all the promoters of the Kentucky Vineyard Association desired and prophesied, but these early grape growers went to Europe rather than unto the forests of America for their plants, and misfortunes were the result.

Another vineyard was started by some Swiss settlers on the banks of Jessamine creek near the Crozier Mill, but these, after some years of cultivation of the European varieties, abandoned their vines and homes and sought' success in more congenial climes.

James DeFoure, who was at the head of the vineyard at mouth of Hickman creek, after his failure there, had the sagacity to discover that the European varieties were not adapted to this portion of the country. Alexander, a gardener for Governor Penn, had propagated before the war of the Revolution, a grape now called by his name, which was thought to be the celebrated grape of the Constantia colony from the Cape of Good Hope, but which in reality was a native variety. It was called also the Cape grape. DeFoure planted this vine at Vevay, Ind., and made the first successful attempt to establish a vineyard in America. His experiments in Jessamine county at least showed him the true path to success and wealth at Vevay.

Kentucky Pioneers

God always provides men for occasions. In emergencies they invariably arise to fill the measure of the hour. Men are fashioned by their surroundings and they must be judged by the same standard.

The settlement of Kentucky and its wresting from the savage, made an unusual demand upon the Ruler of the Universe. It required a man unknown in the past history of the human race. It must be a man devoid of fear, filled with love of adventure, with an instinct of freedom as strong as that of the eagle; as self- reliant as the king of beasts, as hospitable as the Arab—who in the mighty desert despises the yoke of the oppressor and who protects with his life the guest who sits at his board; as patriotic as the Roman, as enterprising as the Carthaginian, as fearless as the Saxon, as defiant of death as the Turk; and, with all these, the subtle instincts of the Indian and his heroism under misfortune.

The Virginia cavalier, with his superb gallantry, ennobled by his lofty, gentlemanly instincts, would not meet the requirements. The Pennsylvania settler, with his indomitable patience and unfailing courage, fell short of the demands, and the sturdy Scotch- Irishman of North Carolina, with his unquenchable love of freedom backed by his superb bravery and uplifted by his abiding faith in God, was not equal to what the time and circumstances exacted of the men who should undertake the seemingly impossible task of conquering Kentucky.

As we turn backward one hundred years to commemorate the character, lives and virtues of our forefathers and to understand their sacrifices, their valor and their splendid achievements, let us briefly picture their surroundings.

These Kentucky pioneers were to conquer a land four hundred miles away from help or succor. It was an untrodden forest, with no roads or path except such as the buffalo in his migrations had trampled through the canebrake, or beasts of prey had traced in their search for food. It had no human inhabitants, and its defense was by common consent imposed upon the savage red men, who claimed as their lands that vast country which stretches from the great lakes in the Northwest to the waters of the Tennessee, the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi rivers recovering an area of over 300.000 square miles. No survey had marked its lines; he who traversed the solitude and depths of the forest must rely upon the stars, or nature's marks upon the trees, as his guide. All supplies must be carried on pack-horses or pack-men; powder and lead were to be transported over six hundred miles ; not a single blade of wheat or stalk of corn as yet had sprung from its virgin and fertile soil. He who entered its domain must always be prepared to meet an alert, savage, brave and merciless foe. The cooing of the babe, the wail of defenseless women, or the appeal of the helpless prisoner, found no sympathy or response in the foe who defended this land. Death by the tomahawk or at the stake was the punishment the Indian meted to those who invaded his beloved hunting ground. As he asked and expected no quarter for himself, he gave none to his white foe. I»y day and by night the merciless warfare was to be waged. The coming of the morning sun only quickened and vitalized anew his 'barbarous plans, and its departure at night only gave time for more relentless resolve -to drive out the intruder.

What race, what country, could produce men for such a task?

The settlement of Kentucky and its possession and the maintenance of the white man's supremacy was a part of God's plan to make the colonies free and to form in America a republic—a government of the people by the people, which was to be the great beacon light of freedom and the vanguard of mankind for the establishment in the world of true national liberty.

The thousand pioneers flung out into the wilds of Kentucky, with their log stations and forts, close by the homes of the savages, whom England was arming and teaching to slay white men and white women and white children—with their skill as woodsmen, with their courage as soldiers, and with their endurance as frontiersmen, and with their fierce hatred of the barbarous Indians, were worth ten thousand men on the Atlantic under leaders as great as even Washington, Greene, or La Fayette.

These Kentucky pioneers stayed savage invasion of Virginia and Pennsylvania. They kept back the herd of marauders and murderers, which in the wilds of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, longed for an opportunity to imbue their hands in white men's blood, and the savage wrath which would have poured itself with irresistible tide over the settlements of the upper Ohio, Monongehela and the Kanawha, turned its savage and bitter force upon the stations in Kentucky. The thousands of brave and noble men, and still braver women, who from 1775 to 1783, died in the Kentucky wilderness, surrendered their lives to protect Virginia and Pennsylvania and stood the red men at bay, while the colonists were enabled to fight and defeat the British soldiers along the Atlantic coast.

Creation of the County of Jessamine.

1798 was the banner year for the creation of new counties. In 1792 seven had been formed, in 1793, one; in 1794 two, in 1796 six had been formed, and in 1798 thirteen were made, of which Jessamine was one, and the thirty-sixth in the state. It was carved entirely out of Fayette, and given one representative in the Legislature; while Fayette county retained six representatives, the number to which it had before the separation been entitled. The inequality of representation had not then been so fully recognized as afterwards. The whole population of Fayette county at the time of the division was about 18,000. Jessamine took off at least one-fourth of the population of Fayette and was given one member, while Fayette. with only three times the population of newly made Jessamine, had six, or twice the voice in legislation that was given her newly sent out daughter.

The creation of some counties was fought for years, but that of Jessamine produced but little hard feeling. Fayette had always been generous in the partition of territory. With 264.000 acres, after some protesting and legislative discussion, she surrendered 101,000 of it to create another county. Doubtless the retention of her six representatives had something to do with acquiescence in the division.

The men in the Senate those days, were men of wide, broad views. They were chosen not by districts, but from the state at large by the Commission formed for that purpose under the terms of the Constitution of 1792. The Senate then consisted of only eleven members. The Senator representing Fayette was James Campbell. In the House, Col. Robt. Patterson, John McDowell, John Parker, Walter Carr. Thos. Caldwell, McGregor,

These were wide-gauge men, and private interest was subordinated to public interest and local benefit.

The real cause leading up to the formation of the county, was some friction between the officers of Fayette county and the people in the Marble creek neighborhood.

New counties were already being rapidly formed. Starting with nine in 1792, by the beginning of the session of 1798, sixteen new ones had been created, five of which—Scott, Shelby, Clark, Franklin and Montgomery—had been created close to Fayette.

Col. John Price was then a resident of the Marble creek district and he set about securing the formation of a new county. His influence with the Revolutionary soldiers, who then constituted so large a share of the legislators, was very strong. The battle over the act (creating the new county) continued from November 15 to December 19, 1798.

The journal of the House shows that the petition for the act. signed by the citizens demanding such an act, was on November 9. 1798, read and referred to the proper committee. The copy of the record and the extracts from the minutes of the Palladium tell the story of the struggle. They are as follows :

Journal.

Page 24. Thursday, November 15, 1798.

Resolved, that the petition of sundry inhabitants of Fayette county, whose names are thereunto subscribed, setting forth that they labor under great inconveniences from their detached situation from their present seat of justice; and praying that the said county may be divided, agreeably to certain lines therein proposed, is reasonable.

The said resolution being read, was ordered to lie on the table.

Pages 80-81. Tuesday, December 18, 1798.

Several petitions from sundry inhabitants of Fayette county, in opposition to the division thereof, were presented and ordered to lie on the table until the end of the present session.

The house then took up the bill for the division of Fayette county.

Page 85. Wednesday, December 19, 1798.

Mr. Slaughter, from the joint committee of enrollments, reported that the committee had examined the enrolled bill entitled "An act for the divis,on of Fayette county," and that the same was truly enrolled. Whereupon the speaker signed the said enrolled bill.

Ordered, that Mr. Slaughter inform the senate thereof.

Extracts from the Minutes of the Kentucky Legislature of 1798, in the Palladium.

November 9, 1798. A petition from Fayette praying for a division of that county, was read and referred to the proper committee.

November 20. Several reports were made and the following petitions were read and referred to the committee on propositions
and grievances: A petition praying that a division of Fayette county may not take place.

November 23. The following bills were reported and read a first time: A bill for the division of Fayette.

November 24. In committee of the whole went through the bill for the division of Fayette, which, after some amendments, was ordered to be referred.

November 26. A bill for the division of Fayette was read a third time and passed. Yeas 24, Nays 15.

December 4. Concurred in the senate's amendments to the bill for the division of Fayette.

December 18. Several petitions from Fayette against the division of that county, were laid on the table to the end of the session.

Took up the bill for the division of Fayette with the governor's objections, which were agreed to.

Some very important assistance must have been rendered in securing the necessary legislation tor the creation of the county by Col. Joseph H. Daveiss; for, in a letter written to him eight months after the passage of the act, Col. John Price proceeds to thank Colonel Davis for his services in this regard.

At this time Colonel Daveiss was a resident of Frankfort and later was United States District Attorney for Kentucky.