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Squire
Boone
Always
in a history of pioneers of
Shelby
County
must come first the names of Boone, Shannon, Owen, Ballard, Hall,
Allen, Pope, Simpson, Logan, Knight, and on almost endlessly.
Squire
Boone, a younger brother of the great pioneer, Daniel Boone, was
born not far from Reading, in Berks County, Pennsylvania, about
1737, and was left an orphan when about eight years old; soon after
he was taken to near Winchester, Virginia, and thence to Holeman's
Ford, on the South Yadkin River, North Carolina, in what was then
Rowan County, but is now Wilkes County and about eight miles from
Wilkesboro, the county seat of the latter. His youngest sister,
Hannah, was still living in 1872, in the adjoining county, Caldwell,
at the ripe age of eighty-five.
Late
in the fall of 1769, Squire Boone and another adventurer (name
unknown), left the Yadkin in search of his brother Daniel, who with
five others had gone to the wilds of
Kentucky
, on the first of May preceding. They stumbled upon Daniel's
camp—the locality of which is unknown, but was probably on Station
Camp Creek in now Estill County—shortly after his and John
Stewart's seven days' captivity among Indians; during which time
their companions, John Findlay, Joseph Holden, James Monay and Wm.
Cool, had abandoned the camp and gone home. The joy of that meeting
cannot be described. Soon after, John Stewart was killed by Indians
and Squire's companion went home by him-self, leaving the brothers
alone in the wilderness. They "prepared a little cottage to
defend them from the winter storms." On May 1, 1770, Squire
"returned home to the settlement by himself, without bread,
salt or sugar, without company of his fellow-creatures or even a
horse or dog." On July 27, 1770, Squire met Daniel,
"according to appointment, at the old camp." They, soon
abandoned this camp for fear of Indians, and "proceeded to
Cumberland River
, reconnoitering that part of the country until March, 1771, and
giving names to the different waters." About April, 1771, they
returned to
North Carolina
, to make preparations for removing to
Kentucky
.
On
September 25,1773, with their families, they started for their new
home; and in Powell's Valley, were joined by five
families and forty men; on October 10, when still a few miles east
of Cumberland Gap, the rear of their company was attacked by
Indians; who killed six men—among them James Boone, Daniel's
eldest son; aged eighteen—and wounded one
man. They retreated with their families until March, 1775. They
reached Boonesborough on March 31, or April 1, of that
year, and immediately began to erect the fort; and there made their
home for several years. On the twenty-fifth of May
ensuing, Squire Boone had his first legislative experience— taking
his seat as one of the delegates from Boonsborough in
the Transylvania Convention.
It
appears from his and other depositions, taken in 1795, 1797, 1804,
1806, and 1808, and from other sources, that Squire Boone continued
generally a resident of Boonesborough until early in 1779, when he
removed to Clear Creek, in Shelby County, and erected near where
Shelbyville now stands, the station known as Squire Boone's Station
or the "Painted Stone." Here he made his home until 1806,
except when compelled to abandon it for a short time in consequence
of the exterminating Indian raids on Long Run in 1781, and to move
to the station at the Falls (
Louisville
). He had been shot in his left shoulder at the siege of
Boonesborough, was shot in his breast and in one arm in defense of
his station, Then again shot while removing the people to
Louisville, as just stated.
While
thus disabled and suffering from wounds, he was elected a
representative to the Virginia Legislature; and in his own person
bore to that body an appeal more eloquent and touching than his
mouth could utter for assistance to the brave
defenders of the frontier. To the day of his death he cherished a
proud remembrance of the handsome reception and generous attentions
of his brother Legislators and the people of
Richmond
. His plain hunter's garb, backwoods manners,
and unhealed wounds seemed to be the key to their hearts and sense
of justice; his appeal was not urged in vain. In his old days he was
deprived of every vestige of his property mainly, it is alleged,
through the land sharks who hunted
up a better title to his land—while he rested in fancied security,
believing that what he had redeemed from the wilderness and shed his
blood to defend from the savages, was assuredly his own. In a
deposition at his own house in
Shelby
County
,
May 18, 1804, he said, "he was principled against going into
the town of
Shelbyville
upon any business whatsoever"—the
cause of which deep-seated feeling the author has not learned. It
may have been because of what seemed to him the persecution of the
courts. Shortly after, he was in prison bounds in
Louisville
for debts which he could not pay. Kind friends obtained his release.
In 1806—with his sons, Isaiah, Enoch, Moses, and Jonathan, and the
five sons of his nephew, Samuel Boone—he, like his great precedent
and elder brother, left Kentucky with a sad heart; and forming a new
settlement
(called "Boone Settlement"), in the then territory of
Indiana, in what is now Harrison County, about twenty-five miles
north-
west of Louisville, erected a small mill and laid the foundation of
a flourishing and populous township, called also, "Boone
Township," which is now the happy home of many worthy
Kentuckians and their descendants. One of them, John Boone, a native
of Shelby County, Kentucky, was a prominent member of the convention
which formed the constitution of
Indiana
, and afterwards of the State Legislature. Squire Boone died there,
in 1815, and at his special request was buried in a cave near the
summit of a lofty eminence that commanded a beautiful and extended
view. He was a man of strong and earnest feelings and con via ions,
simple-hearted, patriotic and religious.
Source: Original data: Willis, Geo. L.. History of
Shelby County, Kentucky. Louisville, Ky.: C.T. Dearing
Print. Co., 1929.
William
Shannon
The
name Shannon, in its different forms is widely distributed throughout
the
United States
. Although they are supposed to run back to a common ancestry in
Ireland
, there are several stocks in this country which seem to have no
connection with one another. So far as can be discovered at the
present time, the earliest member of the branch to which the subject
of my sketch belonged, was Thomas Shannon, who died in
Sadesbury
Township
,
Lancaster County
,
Pennsylvania
, in April, 1737. In his will, filed in the office of the Register of
Wills, in
Lancaster
, he names five children, Samuel, John, Margaret, Anna and Thomas. His
farm was divided between his sons, John and Samuel, with the provision
that his wife, Agnes, should be supported for the remainder of her
life out of the share falling to Samuel: The other children arc
variously provided for.
John
Shannon is the only one of these children of whom any further record
can be found. He was one of the executors of his father's will and
presumably spent his life on the farm which he inherited. He seems to
have been a man of some standing in the community, for in June, 1746,
he was given a commission as captain to organize a company of men for
an expedition against
Canada
. The company was formed and sent to
Albany
,
New York
, where they spent the winter. They were finally discharged, October
31, 1747, the attack upon
Canada
having been postponed.
John
Shannon married Sarah Reid, the daughter of John Reid, of
Delaware
. He probably died in the latter part of 1767, for on January 7, 1768,
his son John, appeared before an orphan's court at
Lancaster
, and asked for a division of the estate. He was the father of eleven
children, one of whom was William Shannon,.whose life and adventures
are the subject of this paper.
The
exact date of the birth of William Shannon is not known, but he is
understood to have been the oldest of the family. His sister, Agnes,
was born in I744 which would place his birth somewhere about 1740. Not
much is known of his early life. He seems to have settled in
Virginia
, at an early age, for his name appears on a roster of the militia of
Augusta
County
, in 1758. There is reason to believe that he was a member of
Braddock's expedition against Fort DuQuesne.
During
the war of the Revolution, his name appears in the records of the War
Department, as ensign and lieutenant in
Captain William Lewis' company of the first
Virginia
regiment. The company muster and payrolls carry his name until
November 30, 1777, when they show that he had resigned, date not
stated. He probably served again at a later period for he is called
Captain Shannon, in the family traditions. There was a Captain William
Shannon, who served as quartermaster under George Rogers Clarke in his
western expedition, but it has not been ascertained whether it was
this one or not.
There
is a tradition that he was a captain in Colonel Lochry's regiment,
which was sent down the Ohio River in the summer
of 1781, to join General Clark, in his intended expedition against
Detroit
. Captain Shannon was sent ahead with seven
men to carry a letter to
Clark
, announcing the approach of reinforcements. Near the present site of
Lawrenceburg
,
Indiana
, they were attacked by the Indians. Several men were killed, and the
rest, including Captain Shannon, were made prisoners.
Lochry,
unaware of their capture, was attacked at the south of Lochry's Creek,
a short distance below
Aurora
, and defeated.
Forty-two were killed, including Colonel Lochry,
Shannon was carried north some distance, but was released or made his
escape.
A
difficulty arises in connection with this story from the fact that in
the Pennsylvania Archives, Volume XIV, Page 698, the Captain Shannon
of Lochry's expedition is called Samuel. Heitman's Historical Register
of the Officers of the Continental Army, speaks of a Captain Samuel
Shannon, who was captured by the Indians on the
Ohio
, in 1781, carried north and put to death. Whether this was the same
one or another is not known. It is hoped that something may be
discovered which will verify the story. William Shannon is said to
have been very much liked by the Indians, and they showed kindness to
him on several occasions.
About
the close of the Revolution, he settled in
Kentucky
. He was a member of the Virginia Legislature
(Jefferson
County), in 1790*, and of the Kentucky House of Representatives (
Shelby
County
), in 1793. He was an engineer and surveyed his own land, which he
received from
Virginia
while Patrick Henry was Governor. He took up large tracts of land in
Kentucky
—two hundred thousand, it is said. The present city of
Shelbyville
,
Kentucky
, was laid out on his farm, and he gave it a plot of ground for a
public square.
He
was preparing to go as an officer with
Wayne
on his expedition against the Indians of Ohio, in 1794, when he came
to his death in a quarrel with John Felty. He was struck on the head
with a stone and died the next day, July 5, 1794. He was never
married. His quarrel with Felty, resulted, his descendants say, from
his resentment at language used by Felty in the hotel dining room. In
their difficulty he threw a dirk knife at Felty, inflicting a wound
from which Felty, also, died.
| Source: Original data: Willis, Geo. L.. History of
Shelby County, Kentucky. Louisville, Ky.: C.T. Dearing
Print. Co., 1929. |
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