Breckinridge County KyArchives News.....Martin Wale - Breckinridge County Pioneer September 22, 2021 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ky/kyfiles.html ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Dana Brown http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00005.html#0001067 February 3, 2022, 12:09 pm The Herald News Newpaper September 22, 2021 MARTIN WALE – BRECKINRIDGE COUNTY PIONEER BY LESLIE GALLOWAY HAYCRAFT THE HERALD NEWS NEWSPAPER 9/22/2021 EDITION Martin Wale was born in Culpepper County, Va. Jan. 18, 1769. He married Nancy Buford from Bedford County, Va. Jan. 4, 1791 after which the couple moved to Kentucky in 1803. Nancy was the daughter of Capt. Thomas Buford who was killed in 1774 at Point Pleasant fighting Indians. He was wounded in the morning and continued to fight despite his wounds which were not dressed until the close of battle, thus dying of blood loss. The Wale family were Welsh, coming to this county in the early 18th Century. Two of the Wale brothers, George and William, had fought in the Revolutionary War. William was killed in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. George fought through the entire war only to die on the way home. Martin and Nancy chose to settle in Breckinridge County between what is now Harned and Garfield. Mr. Wale and his son Hopkins Otey Wale owned about 2,000 acres which was called Princes of Wales Plantation. The property was on both sides of current day Highway 60 and was centered roughly where Freedom Church Toad is today. Census records show that the Wale family brought several slaves with them when they moved from Virginia. At that time this area would have been all wooded and only a path for wagons. Thanks much to this family and their hired help, travel through this area improved. It was necessary for them to clear their land for crops. As early as 1816, Mr. Wale operated a stagecoach station believed to have been located on “dead man’s curve.” This was still in operation during the Civil War. There was a tollgate there for the stagecoach line. In 1816, Mr. Thomas Lincoln and family spent the night at the Inn (stagecoach station) at Prince of Wales. Mr. Lincoln paid his family’s way by splitting wood. Abe Lincoln, his son, was only around seven years old at the time of that trip. The family was on their way from Hodgenville to Indiana. Prince of Wales post office was established in 1862. It was closed in 1878 and then re-established as the town Garfield. Martin and Nancy had six children, of them Hopkins was the son who continued to operate the property at Prince of Wales. Martin fought at the Battle of Tippecanoe and died in 1750. Martin Wale and Nancy are buried in what is now known as Wales Cemetery which lies near US 60 on the original homesite of Prince of Wales Plantation. Martin’s grave and that of his wife were without gravestones until a military headstone was installed in 2010. There are headstones for Hopkins O. Wale, his wife, and for other descendants of Martin and Nancy. Many other graves in the cemetery are marked only with fieldstones – these are often believed to be slaves or children from long ago. Wales Cemetery has continued to be used today by descendants of these families. My dear friend Ginny Hamm owns a large farm which includes several beautiful acres of the original Prince of Wales Plantation and includes the cemetery as well. She is the perfect caretaker of this place! I would like to thank the Breckinridge County Archives which is a wealth of information. Additional Comments: Copied from original article, with permission from Leslie Galloway Haycraft (reporter) and the Herald News newspaper, from their 9/22/2021 edition. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/breckinridge/newspapers/martinwa568gnw.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/