MISC: Early Settlements, Clark County KY -------------------------------------------- Contributed for use in USGENWEB Archives by: Darla Woosley Woosley Date: 03 March 1999 -------------------------------------------- **************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free genealogical information on the Internet, data may be freely used for personal research and by non-commercial entities as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format or presentation by other organizations or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for profit or any form of presentation, must obtain the written consent of the file submitter, or his legal representative and then contact the listed USGENWEB archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net. ***************************************************************************** KFY: NEWSPAPER-Clark County KY Early SettlementsThe following is a transcription of articles which the transcriber foundin a scrapbook at the Clark County KY Public Library. There was noidentification to tell who compiled the scrapbook. It containedarticles of historical nature which had been printed in "The WinchesterSun". The articles titled "Clark County Chronicles" and were "conductedand collaborated by the Clark County Historical Society". Thetranscriber kept all spelling, misprints, and punctuation as it was inthe articles. They were printed in installments starting March 29,1923. EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN CLARK COUNTY Though not the oldest by several years, one of the very earlysettlements in the eastern portion of the county, on Big Stoner, nearGoshen church was known as the Tracy Settlement. The very interestingaccount of this settlement which follows was written by the late Captain B. A. Tracy, about the year 1890. Captain Tracy was the son of GeneralObediah Tracy, and the grandson of Charles Tracy, one of the pioneersmentioned. A copy of this manuscript is in the collection of the ClarkCounty Historical Society and has not heretofore appeared in print, andwill no doubt be read with great interest not only by the descendents ofthe settles mentioned, but also by Clark county citizens in general. A SCRAP OF CLARK COUNTY HISTORY CHAPTER 1 In the early spring of 1783 a band of hardy, resoluteRevolutionary soldiers who had been comrades and messmates throughoutthe long and bloody war that terminated in our independence from thegovernment of that old tyrant, King George III, having just beendischarged from further service to their country, and finding theirhomes, in many instances, in waste, determined to emigrate to the darkand bloody grounds of Kentucky, having heard very glowing descriptionsof its fertility and great abundance of wild game. Accordingly about fifteen families, some from Virginia, othersfrom Marys Potomac westward to Kentucky, bringland, started from thebanks of the ing with them some horses, a few cattle, thirty or forty slaves and a few necessary household articles. After many hardshipsand trials, heroically borne by both men and women, they halted upon thebanks of Big Stoner in what is now the eastern part of Clark County, andafter examination of the country around, determined to establish asettlement, as they learned that there was a considerable settlement tenmiles west of the Strode's Station, and other settlements in otherdirections, though at much greater distances. The section of the county in which they chose to stop was anundisturbed wilderness, not a single cabin (as they thought-Ed.) nearerthan the neighborhood of Strode's Station. The timber was large and ofthe most desirable sorts, the cane was thick and high, the wildernesswas complete and unbroken save by a large buffalo trace that passedthrough this immediate section from the South running North toward Upperand Lower Blue Licks. A few of the giants of the forest as it then existed arestanding yet, and many thousands of them have been felled within therecollection of the writer. Of the men and their families who composedthis settlement the writer remembers the names of Edmond Ragland, whobuilt his home on the land now known as the Thomas Gardner farm; CharlesTracy, who built his cabin within fifty yards of where the old Tracyresidence now stands; Richard Hainey built his cabin near the site ofElija Miller's present residence; Wyatt Hulett built about halfwaybetween Hainey and Tracey. The logs would not be more than four feetlong. The roof was made of four foot boards, put on two double, andfastened in place by straight edge logs laid across each course ofboards, the first of these roof logs was fastened in place by beingpinned to the first rib pole, the next was kept in place by scatches oneend resting against the first roof log and extending to the second, andso on to the top or comb. A few chimneys to these houses were builtentirely of stone. William Halley's chimney was entirely of stone andhad a fire place on either side, so that one chimney did for two rooms.Others were built up four, five, or six feet with stone and thenfinished with sticks and mortar, these sticks for chimney building wereriven about the size, or a little larger than tobacco sticks, the chimney was then built up after the fashion of a chicken coop, and thespace between the sticks was plastered with a stiff mortar made ofyellow clay, and some chimneys were built from the foundation with mudand sticks and then protected from the fire by large flat rocks set upat the sides and back of the fire place. One of these houses was built entirely of sassafras logs, fromtwelve to eighteen inches in diameter, unhewn, but the bark taken off. This house was moved about sixty yards to another site in 1795, andremoved again, about thirty feet in 1850, and to this day is beingoccupied by a family---one hundred and seven years after it was firstbuilt, and the logs are apparently as sound as they ever were. CHAPTER II Edmond Ragland was several years the oldest man in the colony, and was also the wealthiest man, that is, he had more negroes, morehorses and cattle. So far as silver and gold was concerned, it was notworth a banbee for there was nothing to buy. So it was decided by thecolonists that he should build a much larger and much stronger housethan any other in the colony in order that his house might serve as asort of fort for the colony, in the event of a raid by the Indians,which they had many reasons for believing might at any time occur. Accordingly he built a house twenty by thirty feet, two stories high, ofvery heavy poplar and white oak logs, and made it in every way verystrong, having a special reference in its building for a defense of thecolony from the outside. The house was divided into four rooms, twobelow and two above, by means of a heavy plank partitions, the plankbeing sawed with whip saw, with very large stone chimneys at either endof the house. There was so much to be accomplished by this colony with such an insufficiency of tools, that it was not until after the first snow ofthe approaching winter had fallen, that many of them were able to getinto their houses. It must be remembered that in addition to thewhites, there were thirty to forty negroes to be provided for withhouses, besides the approach of winter brought with it large packs ofravenous wolves, that made it absolutely necessary to build other stronghouses or stables for the protection of the live stock, and ere thiscould be done, a favorite horse or cow had often to be taken into the family room at night for its protection from ravenous beasts of theforest. In addition to all these cares, they were kept in a state ofcontinual anxiety by rumors of Indian raids upon Strode's Station,Bryant's Station, and other places, but whilst there were raids upon Strode's Station, Bryant's Station, Lexington, Boonesboro, EstillStation, and other places, not a single Indian was seen or heard of, inthe vicinity of Big Stoner Settlement during the year of 1783. It ispossible that they had not heard of this settlement, and accidentally failed in their rambles to stumble upon it. All possible arrangementshad, however, been made by the colonists for their coming. Mr.Ragland's strong house had been put in the best possible condition, gunand ammunition were ready at a moment's warning. The few valuables were kept packed ready to be grabbed on the run, or else buried wherenot likely to be found. An agreement had been made with othersettlements to warn them by a swift messenger of the approach ofsavages. It had been agreed by the colonists that a certain shrillintonation of the horn, sounded from house to house, should serve as anote of warning, and that each family should run with all possible hasteto Mr. Ragland's strong house. One of Charles Tracy's daughters, Jahoba, (who became the wifeof Edmond Ragland's son Robert) told the writer that at the time ofwhich we write, she was eight or ten years of age, and how well sheremembered this shrill note of the horn, and how at its sounding they(to give her words) ??????? Ragland's. But these alarms, to use theirexpressions, were frequently false alarms, and it was not until sugarmaking time, in early spring of 1784, that they actually received avisit from Indians. They had been warned by a swift running messengerfrom another settlement of their coming. All the people and valuableshad been collected at Mr. Ragland's, and everything made secure for thesafety of the women and children, and then the men sallied forth withguns in hand, eager to meet these savages of the forest. Travelingnorthward and keeping near the line of the big buffalo trace, they hadgone scarcely a mile when from the top of a hill they discovered fifteenor twenty Indians around Mr. William Hailey's house trying to effect anentrance, and having failed to batter the doors down, one big buck hadmounted to the roof, and was effecting an entrance by that route. Whendiscovered, the settlers were scarcely a hundred yards off, and a steadyaim from one of their rifles brought the Indian to the ground a corpse.In the fight that ensued two other Indians were known to have beenkilled, and several others seriously wounded. The Indians retreatedprecipitately, the settlers following eagerly, but with prudence andcaution, coming in sight of them several times, though at too great adistance to do further execution. Following on for several miles, thesettlers saw indications that led them to believe that the party ofIndians that they were pursuing were not all that were engaged in theraid and fearing that another party might have fallen upon another partof their settlement, they hastened to return only to find all quiet inthe settlement, and the women and children greatly rejoiced at theirsafe return. These alarms now for a time became quite frequent, so thatthe colony was kept in a constant state of anxiety and while some menwere at work clearing more land and making preparations for anothercrop, others with trusty rifles in hand were scouring the country aroundon the watch for the approach of these cruel and bloody savages. On another occasion not long after this the Indians made theirappearance on Stoner in considerable numbers, but were surprised by thewhites in their camp and quickly repulsed with a loss of several oftheir number, retreating in the direction of Strode's Station. Theywere overtaken about the spot where the Newport News and MississippiValley depot now stands in Winchester, and a fight that then ensued anIndian was killed on the spot now occupied by the residence of Col.Robert Winn. In this fight the whites suffered a severe loss by thedeath of one of their bravest of their number, a gallant young manwhose name the writer regrets has been lost, but remembers that he was acousin to the Sphars. But what became of the savages after the fight just alluded to the writer does not clearly remember, the paper givingaccount of this fight having been lost, but thinks it proved to be apart of a large band of Indians that were at the same time menacingStrode's Station and Bryan's Station. After the Indian raid last alluded to the Big Stoner Settlementenjoyed comparative quiet for a considerable period, though neverentirely free of anxiety on that account, at least, not for severalyears after the time of which we write. Mrs. Jahoba Ragland told the writer that after one of these raids and Charles Tracy's family returnedto their home from Mr. Ragland's, they found a favorite cow "CrumpleHorn" and a faithful watch dog "Ruler" had been killed by the Indians during their absence, and ????? now the children and servants of thefamily wrung their hands and wept in the bitterness of grief over thedeath of these favorite animals that had accompanied them from the banksof the Potomac. Some time after this Ezra Brown's family had gone to visit CharlesTracy's to spend a social day, Mr. Brown being at home all alone andhaving finished the job of work on which he had been engaged, decided totake his gun and go into the woods and kill a deer and being desirous ofmaking a still hunt fastened his dogs, Brylo and Sylo, in a house sothey could not follow him. He was not long in the woods when he wasattacked by a pack of half a dozen wolves; he quickly dispatched one ofthem with a load in his gun, the other five made not the slightest halt,but came at him snarling and snapping. He clubbed his gun and at thefirst blow killed another wolf, but it still being so hard pressed hesprang into a tree with the four remaining wolves jumping at his legs ashe went up. He climbed quickly to the top of the tree and began callinglustily for his dogs, Brylo and Sylo, who hearing their master's excitedcall after much scratching and gnawing finally effected their escapefrom their prison and went with all speed to their master's rescue. Thedogs cleaned up the wolves and Mr. Brown came down from the tree, andpicked up the fragments of his gun and walked home, fully resolved neverto go into the woods again without his faithful dogs, Brylo and Sylo, athis heels.It might have been stated by the writer ere this that in some of thenumerous raids made by the Indians upon the Big Stoner Settlement, morethan one of the settlers' houses were burned, sand others set fire to,but being of green wood, ceased burning before doing much harm. Quite alot of their live stock was killed or driven off, much scanty householdeffects were destroyed, and they were severely harassed in many ways,but they were a brave resolute people, and finally triumphantly overcomeall of their disasters. The settlement having relapsed into comparative quietude aboutthe year 1785 or 1786, Richard Hainey proceeded to build the first millever built upon the waters of Big Stoner, the site of this mill beingupon the land now owned by and within a short distance of the presentresidence of deaf Jimmie Ramsey, and about a quarter of a mile, a littleeast of north, of Goshen Church. The name of the millwright whoconstructed this mill for Mr. Hainey was David Petty. The dam was builtof stone and brush, the mill house was said to have been small, indeedit was in every way a rude structure. Just where the burrs or stonescame from the write is unable to state, but they were probablymanufactured on the ground out of material found in the neighborhood.The mill was a small affair, but did good work, and would grind severalbushels of corn into meal in a day and a night, and was consideredlightening and a luxury compared with the old method of pounding corninto meal in a mortar. It must be borne in mind that the "Big Stoner" of which wewrite, a hundred years ago, was quite a different stream from the BigStoner of today. Then it contained within its banks almost as muchwater as the Red River of today. There were very many places within itsbanks that would swim a horse at any season of the year, and it was amuch wider stream then than now and abounded with the finest fish.Charles Tracy, who was probably the most successful fisherman of thecolony, did not think anything of going to Stoner with hook and line andcatching forty or fifty pounds of fish in a day, many of his catchesweighing several pounds apiece. The writer remembers forty or fifty years ago when theBrandenburg mill (situated a short distance above where the Hainey millhad once stood) was in operation nearly the entire year, except in verydry seasons, with two sets of stones and saw mill being propelled by astream that would not now furnish power enough to run the same machinerythirty days in a year. The adjacent forest being cut away, exposing thestream and its banks to the sun, thereby created a large absorption thathad not before existed. Hundreds, perhaps many thousands, of gushingsprings that daily emptied their waters into this stream, have fromcultivation, and many other causes disappeared. The washing of plowedsoil from either side for many years has filled its bed and so narrowedits bank that the Big Stoner of today is a mere branch compared with theBig Stoner of a hundred years ago. Chapter III During the year of 1785 the colony received accessions to theirnumber from North Carolina, from near the former home of thedistinguished pioneer, Daniel Boone. Among them were John Rupard, thegrandfather and great-grandfather of all the Rupards now living in Clarkcounty. He built his house a short distance south of Edward Raglan,about a quarter of mile from the present site of Dodge, or K. U.Junction. Absolom March and two brothers built their houses on thenorthern border of the settlement, near William Halley, William Jackson,and Mr. Ladd. Some of them brought quite a number of slaves and were in many ways a valuable acquisition to the colony, sharing with them thetrials, hardships, and dangers that fell to the lot of all Kentuckypioneers. Several other families came with those named from NorthCarolina, among them David and John Hampton, who after a short stop atBig Stoner, went on to Strode's Station. David Hampton was the fatherof our highly esteemed and venerable fellow citizen, A. Howard Hampton.After a time, the Hamptons left Strode's Station and settled upon theland that Mr. Howard Hampton now lives upon. And Mr. William Hainey andtwo or three others being rather afraid to risk their scalps in theunprotected wilds of Big Stoner, went on with their families to Strode'sStation and BoonesboroThere perhaps never lived in the County of Clark a man who possessed toa greater extent of love, the esteem, the perfect confidence of his fellow citizens than Thomas Boone. His remains now lie in the churchyard at Lulbegrud, covered by a handsome monument erected by hisbrethren, and not by other people, as has falsely been written andpublished. It id true, however, that a few men, prominent members ofother denominations, of the character of Thomas Boone, came forth andasked to be permitted to contribute to the monument of this humbleservant of God.. During the years 1786 and 87 the settlement enjoyed some respitefrom Indian encroachment and made considerable progress: a number ofnew fields were cleared and put in cultivation, the crops of corn, flax,and tobacco were largely increased, dwellings were made more comfortableand in some instances added to, tobacco houses were built, ready for thecoming crop. They were built of logs, usually about twenty feet square,and often twenty-five feet to the plates with tier poles built in, everythree and a half or four feet. They raised what was called LittleFrederic and Big Frederic tobacco, always cured it with fire, usinghickory wood for that purpose, or else burned coal pits and usedcharcoal. Tobacco soon became the currency of the county. It was somany pounds of tobacco for a day's work, or for a horse or cow, andfinally when taxes were levied it was so many pounds of tobacco. Tobacco was sent back over the mountains to Virginia on pack horses, asa currency (rather than a commodity) with which to purchase variousarticles needed by the settlers.When courts were established in county, all fees and services of thecourts were paid with tobacco, thus it will be seen that an articleunsuitable for either food or raiment, used only to gratify an unnaturalbut acquired taste for a filthy practice, took position above everyother article of production. Flax was one of the essential crops of the colony, for on thisthe settlers, depended largely for raiment. The stalks, which grewthree or four feet high, were rotted and broken, similar to hemp, and itwas then turned over to the women who by a process called swingling,separated the coarser fibres from the finer, and it was then spun andwoven by hand into linen, the coarser fibres being made into what wascalled towlinen and used for working suits for men, and for the negroesof both sexes. The finer linen was used for shirts, for sheets for thebeds, for men's suits, and for ladies' dresses, and many a coy maidenhas appeared to very decided advantage robed in a dress of thismaterial. Cotton was also grown in small quantities by some of thesettlers, although in this climate it grew scarcely higher than a man'sknee, with a very limited number of bolls to the stalk, yet it was very essential to the settlers. The seed had to be separated from the lintby hand, an exceedingly slow, tedious process. It was then carded intorolls by hand and spun by hand and used for the most part as warp in themaking of jeans and linseys. All the wool used (a very limited amount)by these settlers for several years was obtained from Virginia and brought out in the usual way, upon pack horses. Wool, like cotton, wascarded, spun and woven by hand. The writer has seen in his day somemost beautiful dresses of linsey similar to those made by the settlers,possessing perhaps the advantage of better coloring material than thatused by the settlers. It must not be supposed that during the years of 1786 and 87 ofwhich we have been writing that everything in the settlement was sereneand lovely---far from it. Whilst this colony did not receive a singlevisit from the Indians during either of those years, they heard offrequent depredations upon other settlements and of the most shockingmurders, so that they were often in the greatest state of consternation.Night was frequently made hideous by the hooting of owls, the mostpiercing of screams of panthers, the howling of hungry wolves, thebellowing of a score of mad buffalo bulls and the fierce baying of thewatch dog. Amid this confusion sleep was driven from every eye andoften a timid maiden would steal softly from her bed to see if thewindows were securely barred, but the hardships, the trials, theheart-rending sorrows experienced by these dear people who rid thiscounty of ours of the deadly savages, the vicious wild beasts, thepoisonous reptiles and put it in a state of cultivation for us, cannotbe written nor scarcely imagined. Let us hope by the grace of amerciful God through the atoning blood of Him who suffered and died uponthe cross of Calvary that they are now safely in Heaven enjoying thatblissful rest prepared for the children of God. Chapter IV In the years 1788 and 89 the Big Stoner settlement receivedlarge accessions to their number and for the first time there were a fewhouses built on the western bank of Big Stoner. David Brandenburg cameand built a house at the foot of the hill just below the present site ofthe Goshen Church. Mr. Brandenburg was by trade a miller and millwrightand in the course of a few years erected a mill on the site known tomany still living as "Brandenburg's Old Mill". Just when and how theBig Stoner settlement got their first mess of biscuits the writer isunable to state, but it is certain that the first mill erected in theeastern portion of what is now Clark county, was Brandenburg's mill(about the year 1790) in which wheat could be ground into flour. Theflour was bolted by means of a bolting cloth stretched on a frame madein the form of a parallelogram: this was set in a frame and turned byhand with a crank like the old fashion wheat fan and required severalhours to bolt a hundred pounds of flour. Alexander Ramsey came to the settlement in 1788 and settler notfar from Mr. Brandenburg and near the present site of the Sugar RidgeChurch, and by great industry and frugality acquired a large landedestate, so that he was enable after years to settle a large family ofchildren around him in comfortable circumstances. He was thegrandfather, the great, and the great great grandfather of all theRamseys now living in Clark county. There also came from Virginia in company with David Brandenburgand Alexander Ramsey, William Wills, who settled on the west bank of BigStoner and near the original site of Sugar Ridge Church, close to Mr. Brandenburg and Mr. Ramsey, and about one mile west of Charles Tracy.These gentlemen, to-wit, Brandenburg, Ramsey, and Wills, had beensoldiers in the same brigade with Ragland, Tracy, Brown, Hulett, Hainey, and others of the original Big Stoner settlement. Mr. Wills was anindustrious, thorough-going man, possessed of far more than ordinarymental capacity and soon became well-to-do, and one of the leadingcitizens of the settlement. He had seven sons and four daughters, butall of the Wills of Clark county sprang from his three sons, Washington,Isaac, and Thorton, the other four sons having left the county in theirearly manhood. One of the first marriage ceremonies ever solemnized in the Big Stoner settlement was Mr. Wills' daughter, Fannie, to Mr. LukeHood. From this union sprang all the Hoods of Clark county and severalof their children and grandchildren became very distinguished citizensof the county. Two of their sons, Andrew and John, are numbered amongthe most eminent physicians that the county has ever produced. Dr.Andrew Hood's sons, James, was considered not a wit behind his father inmedical skill and two or three other sons were physicians of ability. Dr. Andrew Hood was chosen by the people of Clark county over an eminentlawyer to represent the county in the Constitutional Convention of 1849,and his son, Thomas, one of the brightest and most talented younglawyers of the State, was chosen to the same position by the people ofCarter county, thus it will be seen Mr. Wills had a grandson and a greatgrandson members of the Constitutional Congress of 1849.Dr. John Hood's son, John B. Hood, received a military education at WestPoint and was a Lieutenant-General in the late Confederate Army and wasnumbered among the very hardest fighters in that army, as the historiancan learn by reading of the battles he fought at Atlanta, Georgia, andFranklin, Tennessee. William Wills was a Jeffersonian Democrat, as has been nearlyall of his descendents. His son, William, and his son-in-law, LukeHood, were soldiers in the War of 1812, and narrowly escaped with theirlives from the human butchery of Dudley's Defeat, and but a few men whoever lived in Clark county had as many descendents in the ConfederateArmy as did William Wills. Some time during the year of 1788 the colony of Big Stonerlearned through emigrants just arrived from Virginia that General George Washington was a candidate for the presidency of the then thirteenUnited States. So some time during the fall of that year, RichardHainey and Charles Tracy (who, by the way, were brothers-in-law) leavingtheir families in care of two young men, cousins of theirs, recentlyfrom Virginia, shouldered their trusty rifles and walked back toVirginia for the pleasure of voting for their beloved old commander. Itwill be understood that at this date, Kentucky was still a territory belonging to the State of Virginia, and there was as yet, no arrangementmade for holding an election in the territory of Kentucky, hence thistrip to Virginia. It would be pleasant, indeed, to relate the reception giventhese two pioneers and soldiers by their relatives and friends upontheir arrival at their old homes, the stories of their lives led in the"dark and bloody ground," and of many hair-breadth escapes from bothsavage and beast. Men no doubt listened to them with bated breath, verymuch like the stories of Henry M. Stanley's explorations in the wilds ofAfrica would be listened to in the present day, but unfortunately wehave no account of their arrival and sojourn while there. We only knowthat they returned safely to their families some time during the winterof 1788-9, bringing with them several emigrants and several pack horses,laden with various articles essential to their families in their wildnew homes. Among other articles that Charles Tracy brought home withhim were a couple of pear spouts, which he carefully transplanted on theridge just above his home, near the spot where he intended in the nearfuture to build a better residence than he was then occupying. One ofthese pear trees was blown down by a storm only a few years ago, theother, at more than one hundred years of age, is still standing andbears most delicious fruit every year, except occasionally when nippedby an unseasonable frost. Chapter V By the year 1790 the Big Stoner settlement had increased to severaltimes its original number and had extended over a much larger area ofcountry, though quite a number of its accessions were mere squatters insearch of game and adventure, rather than homes, and as the country opened and the began to disappear they moved on westward, but the bonafide settlers were hard at work building more and better houses,clearing other and larger fields, thereby largely increasing their cropsof corn, tobacco, and flax, and quite a number of patches of wheat werebeing sown for the first time in this settlement. This wheat washarvested with sickles, threshed with flails, and separated from thechaff by pouring it slowly from a height of several feet on a windy day,and the biscuits made of flour from Brandenburg's mill began to be aSunday morning treat. It was in his year (1790) that Edmond Ragland had brought downthe Ohio River to Limestone (now Maysville) and from thence in some way, transported to his home, a small copper still, and in that year erectedthe first distillery ever operated upon the waters of Big Stoner. The immense amount of labor required to put this country in astate of cultivation can scarcely be conceived by one of the presentday. The timber grew thick and large, the undergrowth of cane was largeand tall often fifteen or twenty feet high, and so thick in many places,that it was with great difficulty that a man could penetrate it. All ofthis had to be cleared away, and almost every square foot of the groundhad to be grubbed with mattock before the very imperfect plow was usedat all, but to say nothing of the most formidable undergrowth, thegetting rid of the immense amount of large timber was a Herculean task.The settler with his two, three, or half dozen laborers, as the casemight be, with constant hard chopping of a month or three months, madebut a comparatively small impression upon this immense forest, or to usetheir expression, made but a small sunlight hole in the woods. Thesettler would work hard with all the force he could control during thefall and winter, felling the trees and cutting them in lengths thatcould be handled, and in the spring would invite all of the neighboringsettlers in to his "log rolling". These log rollings were alwaysattended by whole families, and while the stout, stalwart men with handspikes rolled the logs into great heaps, the women and children werepiling and burning cane and brush. These log rollings were alwayslooked forward to by both old and young with the greatest anticipationof enjoyment, fully as much so as our young people of the present daylook forward to an approaching wedding feast or fashionable ball. Someof the girls who were piling brush in the days of which we write, arethe grandmothers and great-grandmothers of some of the wealthiest andmost aristocratic families of today. On these occasions there were manytests of physical strength and the young man who exhibited the greateststrength and skill with the hand spike was the hero of the day, andbecame an unusual favorite with the young ladies, being second only tothe best marksman with rifle, who was always the hero of every pioneersettlement. After a hard day's work these log rollings were alway scelebrated by a feast at night. Buffalo beef, venison and bear meatwere barbecued after the most approved style of the day, hot fish inabundance with plenty of bread, pickles and sassafras tea, finished upwith pumpkin pies, sweet cakes and a drink called metheglin; this wasmade in some way of honey comb and was delightful to the taste. Afterthe feast the older people of the company would gather around largefires built in the yard and while the men told of their exploits assoldiers of the Revolutionary War and of their many adventures andhair-breadth escapes from savage Indians and vicious wild beasts, theolder ladies gathered in groups and talked of the dear fathers, mothers,brothers, sisters and friends left back at the distant old homes inVirginia and Maryland. Th young people cleared the room of tables,benches, and beds, and to the music of fiddle, tripped the lightfantastic toe, and it was not until the wee small hours that theyseparated with friendly heartfelt good-byes, to meet again in a few daysat another neighbor's "log rolling." In after years these log rollingfrolics were changed to the extent of having added to them quiltings,and while the men went to the woods and rolled logs the ladies remainedat the house engaged in quilting. The writer has been unable to ascertain definitely, but it wasprobably about this year, 1790, that Ebenezer Chorn and Septimus Davis,with their families, came from Virginia and joined the Big Stonersettlement. Ebenezer Chorn settled nearly a mile east of Absolom andJohn March, on land now owned by Mr. John T. Prewitt, better known asthe Proctor farm. This is a very fine section of land, and having brought with him quite a number of able bodied slaves, soon had one ofthe very best farms in the settlement. It has often been ascertained by the oldest settlers that thefirst blue grass ever seen in Kentucky was found growing around an olddeer lick about three miles north of Ebenezer Chorn's, in what is nowMontgomery county, near the banks of the creek which derived its namefrom that spot "Grassy Lick". There was not more than an acre or so ofthis grass, but it grew thick and luxuriantly and from this patch ofgrass Mr. Chorn stripped seed with his fingers, and sowed it upon hisfarm. His effort to grow this grass was a success from the start. Manyothers tried it again and again, but without success. So that it becamethe popular opinion of settlers that this much desired grass would notgrow anywhere except upon Ebenezer Chorn's land. People often came fromquite a distance to see this wonderful grass and to learn what theycould about it, and then ride on to the old deer lick to see it in itsoriginal state, and, if possible, procure some of the seed or roots. Sothis is the history of the origin of Kentucky "Blue Grass", as handeddown to the writer. We are aware that there are certain very learnedagricultural writers who would jump astride of this disputed origin witha whip and spurs and quickly ride it out of existence, nevertheless,what we have written is no doubt the true origin of Kentucky blue grass,at least so far as the Big Stoner settlement is concerned, and there weleave it.Septimus Davis settled about a quarter of a mile west of Edmond Ragland, on land now owned by John Sumpter, Alvin Beall, and others. Mr. Daviswas said to have been an educated, polished Virginia gentleman. He tookmore than ordinary pains to educate his children, and two of his sons, James and Herchel, are numbered among the most distinguished teachersthis county has ever produced. Major James Davis later in life became avery able minister in the Christian Church and was still living only ashort since in the State of Mississippi. Mr. Davis' daughters were said to have been beautiful women andwere belles in the settlement. The writer did not know whether Mr.Davis was a Revolutionary soldier or not, but supposes he was from thecompany he stopped in. our fellow citizen, W. B. Kidd and James Septimus Kidd, are his grandsons.It was at this spot, Grassy Lick, that Capt. Sphar and three companions while watching for deer, were ambushed by Indians and Capt. Sphar andtwo of his companions were killed on the spot, the fourth man was badlywounded in the thigh, but in some way managed to effect his escape and\by circuitous route reached the fort at Boonesboro after several daysof great suffering. Friends were sent out to recover the bodies ofCapt. Sphar and his comrades, but they had been devoured by wolves. Hewas the great grandfather of Mr. Asa Sphar, of this county. William Payne settled a half a mile southeast of Ebenezer Chorn,on the site of Mr. Shields Cunningham's present residence. Mr. Paynebrought with him from Virginia quite a number of slaves, horses andcattle and being a man of nice refinements soon became a popular and leading citizen of the settlement. He is the ancestor of the Paynes,now of Fayette and Scot counties, but we shall have more to write of himhereafter. David Petty settled on the spot now occupied by the residence of deafJimmie Ramsey, a quarter of a mile north of the present site of GoshenChurch. William Petty and Peleg Petty settled close by.The country was now being rapidly filled up, but as has already beenstated, many of them were only squatters in search of fame and it isonly of those who became permanent settlers that we wish to write. NOTE.---The above concludes the very interesting account of theearly Big Stoner settlement, so cleverly and capably written by thelate Captain B. A. Tracy, whose untimely death prevented the completionof this very valuable, historical narrative. The names of all thosefine old pioneers are still perpetuated in Clark county's best citizenship and will be referred to from time to time in theseChronicles.The Winchester Sun, April 23, 1923. This transcriber has been pleased to furnish this document to you. Darla J. Abney Woosley Descendent of Asa Tracy son of Charles Tracy March 3, 1999