Henderson County KyArchives History - Books .....Chapter I Early Explorers And Settlers 1887 ************************************************ 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: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com December 22, 2007, 11:55 pm Book Title: History Of Henderson County, KY CHAPTER I. EARLY EXPLORERS AND SETTLERS. MR. COLLINS says the first white person history tells of having discovered the Ohio River as low down as Henderson, was Colonel George Croghan, who, in 1765, passed down the Ohio to the mouth of the Wabash. Captain Harry Gordan, in 1776, surveyed in some crude way the entire length of the Ohio. The land warrants or bounty in lands given to the Virginia soldiers, who had served in the old French War, were to be located on the "Western Waters," hence the military survey so often referred to in title deeds recorded in the Henderson County Clerk's Office. In the summer of 1774 parties of surveyors led by Colonel John Floyd, Hancock Taylor, James Douglas, and two parties of hunters and explorers under Captain James Harrod and Isaac Hite, came into Kentucky. The town of Harrodstown (now Harrodsburg) was laid off, and the settlement of Kentucky began. On Thursday, June 16, 1774, Daniel Boone, himself being present and assisting, four or five log cabins were built, and immediately and permanently occupied. COLONEL RICHARD HENDERSON'S PURCHASE. On March 17, 1775, Colonel Richard Henderson (for whom this county and city were called) and others, purchased from the Cherokee Indians the whole of that territory lying between the Cumberland and Kentucky Rivers, amounting to over 17,000,000 acres of land, upon which it was evidently his purpose to found a little empire of his own; but his object was frustrated by an act of the Virginia Legislature, which made void the purchase, claiming the sole right to purchase land from the Indians within the bounds of the Royal Charter. The great activity displayed by Colonel Henderson and his co-operators in taking possession of the Cherokee Purchase and granting land to new settlers, was—as we shall soon see—all set at naught. Daniel Boone was employed by Colonel Henderson to survey the country and select favorable positions, and early in the spring of 1775 the foundation of Boonesborough was laid under the title name of Henderson. The present State of Kentucky was, prior to December 31,1776, a part of the County of Fincastle, State of Virginia. By an act of the Virginia Legislature, from and after that day Fincastle County was divided into three counties, Kentucky County being one of the three. Kentucky having thus been formed into a separate county, she therefore became entitled to a separate County Court, two Justices of the Peace, a Sheriff, Constable, Coroner and militia officers. Law, with its imposing paraphernalia, for the first time reared its head in the forests of Kentucky. In the spring of 1777 the Court of Quarter Sessions held its first sitting at Harrodsburg, attended by the Sheriff of the county and its clerk, Levi Todd. The first court of Kentucky was composed of John Todd, John Floyd, Benjamin Logan, John Bowman and Richard Calloway. They had hardly adjourned when the infant Republic was rocked to its center by an Indian invasion. The hunters and surveyors were driven in from the woods and compelled to take refuge within the forts. Much injury was done, but the forts withstood their utmost efforts; and, after sweeping through Kentucky like a torrent for several weeks, the savages slowly retreated back to the North, leaving the agitated settlers to repair their loss as best they could. VIRGINIA'S GRANT TO COLONEL HENDERSON. On Wednesday, November 4, 1778, the Virginia House of Delegates— Resolved, "That all purchases of lands made or to be made of the Indians within the chartered bounds of this Commonwealth, as described by the constitution or form of Government, by any private persons not authorized by public authority, are void. Resolved, "That the purchase heretofore made by Colonel Henderson & Co., of the Cherokee Indians is void. "But as said Richard Henderson & Company have been at very great expense in making the said purchase, and in settling the said lands, by which this Commonwealth is likely to receive great advantage by increasing its inhabitants, and establishing a barrier against the Indians, it is just and reasonable to allow the said Richard Henderson & Co. a compensation for their trouble and expense." On Tuesday, November 17th, these resolutions of the House were agreed to by the Senate and a few weeks afterwards— It was enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia, "That all that tract of land situate, lying and being on the waters of the Ohio and Green Rivers, and bounded as follows, to wit: "Beginning at the mouth of Green River, thence running up the same twelve and one-half miles, when reduced to a straight line, thence running at right angles with the said reduced lines, twelve and one half miles each side of the river, thence running lines from the termination of the line extended on each side of Green River, at right angles with the same, till the said lines intersect the Ohio, which said river Ohio shall be the western boundary of the said tract, be, and the same is hereby granted the said Richard Henderson & Co., and their heirs as tenants in common, subject to the payment of the same taxes as other lands in the Commonwealth are, but under such limitations of time as to the settling of the lands as shall hereafter be directed by the General Assembly; but this grant shall, and it is hereby declared, to be in full compensation to the said Richard Henderson & Co., and their heirs for the charge and trouble, and all advantage accruing therefrom to this Commonwealth, and that they are hereby excluded from any further claim to lands on account of any settlement or improvements heretofore made by them, or any of them, on the lands so as aforesaid purchased from the Cherokee Indians." Thus by one sweeping act of the Virginia Legislature the purchase of one million, seven hundred thousand acres of land, from the Cherokee Nation, and the great proprietary Government organized for its better regulation, was declared null and void, the government of Boonesborough wiped out, and the Transylvania landed estate reduced to what was estimated to be two hundred thousand acres. This was called the Henderson & Co. Grant. Subsequently this grant was discovered to contain only one hundred and sixty thousand acres, when in order to gain possession of the full amount, the lines were extended a few poles on the three sides. The whole of this grant of land is included in the present boundary of Henderson County. LAND LAWS OF 1799. The Legislative acts of 1799 were marked by the passage, by the Virginia Legislature, of the celebrated "Land Law of Kentucky," a historical analysis of which would have but little bearing upon the object in view in this publication. It is enough to say it was well intended and the settlement and pre-emption features were just and liberal. The radical and incurable defect of the law, however, was the neglect of Virginia to provide for the general survey of the country at the expense of the Government, and its sub-division into whole, half and quarter sections, as has been done by the United States. Instead of this each possessor of a warrant was allowed to locate the same where he pleased, and was required to survey it at his own cost; but his entry was required to be so specific and precise that each subsequent locator might recognize the land taken up, and make his entry elsewhere, required a precision and accuracy of description, which such men as the surveyors of that day could not be expected to possess, and all vague entries were declared null and void. Unnumbered sorrows, law suits, and heart rending vexations were the consequence of this unhappy law. In the unskillful hand of the hunters and pioneers of Kentucky, entries, surveys and patents were piled upon each other, overlapping and overcropping in endless perplexity. The full fruits of this were not reaped until the country became more thickly settled. The effects of this old law can be seen by reference to old land suits, and accompanying depositions filed away in the Kentucky courts, perhaps as much for relics of primitive days, as for evidences of titles long ago settled and recognized as facts beyond further dispute. The immediate consequence of this law, however, was a flood of immigration. The hunters of the elk and buffalo were now succeeded by the more ravenous hunters of lands, in the pursuit of which they fearlessly braved the hatchet of the Indian and the privations of the forests, The surveyor's chain and compass were seen in the woods as frequently as the rifle, and during the years 1778, '80 and '81, the great and all-absorbing object was to enter, survey and obtain a patent for the richest sections of land. Indian hostilities were rife during this period, but these only formed episodes in the great drama. The year 1780 was distinguished by the vast number of immigrants who crowded to Kentucky for the purpose of locating land warrants. In November, of 1780, the County of Kentucky was divided into THREE COUNTIES, namely: Fayette, Lincoln and Jefferson. They had .now three Quarterly Courts, holding monthly sessions, three Courts of Common Law and Chancery Jurisdiction, setting quarter yearly, and a host of Magistrates and Constables. No court capable for trying for capital offenses existed in the country nearer than Richmond, the capital of Virginia. The Court of Quarter Sessions could take notice only of misdemeanors. The year 1781 was distinguished by a still larger immigration to the new country. Kentucky being now divided into three counties, Fayette, Jefferson and Lincoln, the now County of Henderson formed a part of Lincoln In the year 1789 the people had become anxious to have a separate and independent State Government, so, in the month of May of that year, they elected delegates to the Convention. as prescribed in the third Act of Separation from Virginia, and in July of the same year the delegates met in the town of Danville, now the county seat of Boyle County. Their first act on assembling was to draw up a respectful memorial to the Legislature of Virginia, remonstrating against the new conditions of separation, which was promptly attended to by that State, and the obnoxious conditions repealed by a new act, which necessitated another Convention to assemble in 1790. In the meantime the new National Government had gone into operation, General Washington was elected President, and the Convention was informed by the executive of Virginia that the General Government would lose no time in organizing such a regular force as would effectually protect Kentucky from Indian incursions. This had become a matter of pressing necessity, for Indian murders had become so frequent that no part of the country was safe. In July, 1790, the Eighth Convention assembled and formally accepted the Virginia Act of Separation, which thus became a compact between Kentucky and Virginia. A memorial to the President of the United States and to Congress was adopted, and an address to Virginia* again praying the good offices of the parent State, in procuring their admission into the Union. Provisions were then made for the election of a Ninth Convention to assemble in April, 1791, to form a State Constitution. The Convention then adjourned. In December, 1790, President Washington strongly recommended to Congress the propriety of admitting Kentucky into the Union, and on the 4th day of February, 1791, an act for that purpose passed both houses, and received the signature of the President. Logan County, of which Henderson was a part, was one of the first seven counties organized immediately after the admission of Kentucky into the Federal Union as a State, and in the same year, 1792, was the thirteenth in order of formation, made from a part of Lincoln County, and embraced all of the States lying south of Green River. In the year 1796 Christian County was taken from Logan and made a separate and independent county. It was the twenty-first county established, and comprised all of that territory now claimed by Henderson, Hopkins, Webster, Livingston, Union, Caldwell, Trigg, Hickman, Calloway, Graves, McCracken, Crittenden, Marshall, Ballard, Fulton, Lyon, a part of Todd and Muhlenberg, and the present County of Christian. HENDERSON COUNTY FORMED. Seven years after the admission of Kentucky into the Federal Union, Henderson County was formed of a part of Christian County, and was the thirty-eighth county organized in the State, and named in honor of Colonel Richard Henderson. Henderson County, at the time of its formation, embraced all of that territory now embraced in Henderson, Hopkins, Union and Webster Counties; Hopkins was taken from Henderson in 1806, Union County in 1811, and Webster was formed in 1860, of parts of Henderson, Hopkins and Union. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY, BY EDMUND L. STARLING, COMPRISING HISTORY OF COUNTY AND CITY, PRECINCTS, EDUCATION, CHURCHES, SECRET SOCIETIES, LEADING ENTERPRISES, SKETCHES AND RECOLLECTIONS, AND BIOGRAPHIES OF THE LIVING AND DEAD. ILLUSTRATED. HENDERSON, KY, 1887. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/henderson/history/1887/historyo/chapteri309gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/