Jessamine County KyArchives History - Books .....Creation Of The County Of Jessamine 1898 ************************************************ 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 August 5, 2007, 12:58 am Book Title: A History Of Jessamine County, Kentucky 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 division 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 for 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. Extracts from Acts of the Legislature. CHAPTER CXLIII. An Act for the Division of Fayette County. Approved December 19, 1798. Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, That from and after the first day of February next,, all that part of the county of Fayette, included in the following bounds, to wit: Beginning on the Woodford line, where it strikes the Kentucky river, near Todd's ferry; thence along said line half a mile north of John Allin's military survey; thence to the seven-mile tree, on Curd's road; thence to the eight-mile tree on Tate's creek road; thence along said last mentioned road to the Kentucky river: thence down the Kentucky river to the beginning, shall be one distinct county, and called and known by the name of Jessamine. Sec. 2. A court for the said county shall be held by the Justices thereof, on the fourth Monday in every month (except those in which the court of quarter sessions are hereafter directed to be held) after said division shall take place, in like manner, as is provided by law in respect to other counties, and as shall be by their commissions directed. Sec. 3- The Justices to be named in the commission of the peace for the said county of Jessamine, shall meet at the house of Fisher Rice, in the said county, on the first court day after said division shall take place, and having taken the oaths prescribed by law, and a sheriff being legally qualified to act the justices shall proceed to appoint and qualify a clerk, and shall, together with the Justices of the court of quarter sessions for said county, fix upon a place for holding courts therein; then the courts shall proceed to erect the public buildings in such place; and until such buildings are completed, shall appoint such place for holding courts as they may think proper; provided, always, that the appointment of a place for erecting the public buildings shall not be made unless a majority of the Justices of the said courts concur therein. Sec. 4. It shall be lawful for the sheriff of the county of Fayette to collect and make distress for any public dues or officers' fees, which shall remain unpaid by the inhabitants of the county at the time of such division, and shall be accountable for the same in like manner as if this act had not been made. Sec. 5. The court of Fayette shall have jurisdiction in all actions or suits in law or equity, that shall be depending therein at the time of such division, and shall try and determine the same, issue process, and award execution thereon. Sec. 6. The court of quarter session for the said county of Jessamine, shall be held, annually, on the fourth Monday in January, March, July and October. Sec. 7. The said county of Jessamine shall send one representative to the General Assembly, and the county of Fayette shall retain six representatives. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the passage thereof. From Vol. XL of the Statute Law of Kentucky, printed at Frankfort in 1810. CHAPTER CCIII. An Act to Amend the Act, Entitled "An Act for the Division of Fayette County." Approved December 19, 1799. Whereas, it is represented to this General Assembly, that disputes have arisen between the inhabitants of the counties of Fayette and Jessamine, in ascertaining the true line of division; anil also in the collection and manner of appropriating that part of the levy which was levied by the County Court of Fayette, on the inhabitants now in the county of Jessamine: for remedy whereof— Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the dividing line run by the surveyor of Jessamine county, is hereby ratified and confirmed. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, that the County Courts of Fayette and Jessamine, shall, on their respective parts, in the month of March, next, appoint, each, a commissioner, who are hereby authorized to examine the records of Fayette county, and enquire into the situation of levies and appropriations heretofore made by the County Court of Fayette; and if upon such examination, it shall appear to the said commissioners, that there is, or ought to be, a deposit, amounting to more than the claims given into the said County Court of Fayette, the said court of Fayette is hereby required to pay to the court of Jessamine county, for the use of said county, their proportion of said deposit. This act shall commence and be in force from and after the first day of February next. The establishment of the new county demanded a name. Up to this time the thirty-five counties created had all been named for soldiers, pioneers, or a statesman, with one exception, and that was Ohio county, the thirty-fifth, which was named for the great river which marks the northern boundary of Kentucky for 700 miles and had been called by the Indians, the Ohio, "The Beautiful River." Cumberland was called for Cumberland river, but the river had before been named by Dr. Thos. Walker for the Duke of Cumberland. Such names as Jefferson, Fayette (La Fayette), Lincoln, Nelson, Mercer, Madison, Mason, Woodford, Washington, Scott, Shelby, Logan, Clark, Hardin, Greene, Franklin, Campbell, Bullitt, Christian, Bracken, Warren, Garrard, Fleming, Pulaski, Pendleton, Boone, Henry, Gallatin, and Muhlenberg, represented a full share of the patriotism, glory, bravery, wisdom and exploits of the people of the United States prior to 1798, and, with so many great heroes still unrewarded, it required both determination and courage to break away from the long line of precedents and call the county by the simple and beautiful name of a flower. To Col. John Price was undoubtedly given the privilege of naming the new municipality. Jessamine creek—one hundred years ago a stream of large volume and great beauty—rises near the line of the R. N. L & B. Railroad, close to the station called Nealton and about half a mile from where the Nicholasville & Versailles turnpike crosses, and on the land now owned by Pleasant Cook, Esq. Along its banks grew the jessamine in richest profusion. This flower was found in great abundance in many parts of the territory embraced by the new county. The name had been given to the creek by the pioneers, and the beauty of the plant and the beauty of the name so impressed the early settlers that they called this beautiful stream Jessamine creek. It is about twenty miles long and empties into the Kentucky river. Colonel Price asked that the new county should be called Jessamine. The county, always full of romance, in some way heard the story of Jessamine Douglas, which was to the effect that Jessamine Douglas, the beautiful daughter of a Scotch settler, was one day sitting upon the bank which overhangs the source of this creek, and while, in maidenly contemplation, gazing into the depths of the water, an Indian cautiously and silently stole upon her and sunk his tomahawk into her head and then tore her beautiful auburn locks from her head, with his scalping knife. This story is given the flavor of truth by its insertion in Collins' History of Kentucky. See Vol. 2, page 399. The author goes on to say that the land about the head of the creek was settled by the father of Jessamine Douglas. There is no foundation for that pathetic and dramatic incident. The land at the head of Jessamine creek was not settled by Douglas, but by Michael Cogar, and this historical tradition has not even a shadow of foundation. The letter of Col. John Price, quoted below, written within eight months of the legislative creation of the county, settles, beyond all cavil, that the county was called from Jessamine creek and the flower, and not from Jessamine Douglas. The story of the beautiful Scotch girl and her tragic end, has been told so often and has been so honestly and faithfully believed by the people of the county, and it has in it so much of that tragic and bloody character which marked Kentucky's early history, that it is both ungenerous and unkind to destroy and disrupt the faith which for nearly one hundred years has reposed with unfaltering trust in the pathetic story. As Colonel Meade did not come to Jessamine county until 1796, and as both the East and West Forks of Jessamine creek were known and traveled in 1774 and 1775 and on down to 1790, and lands described and surveyed by the creek, and its course and meanderings laid down on Filson's and other maps and plats long prior to 1790; it is impossible for the creek to have been named for Jessamine Douglas, who, under no circumstances, did she come with Colonel Meade, could have arrived in Kentucky prior to 1796. The Williams deposition, the Watkins journal, and Filson's map show that Jessamine creek was a well known and named stream prior to 1789. The Price Letter about the Formation of the County. Barbour Home, Jessamine county, November 13, 1820. My Esteemed Friend: I have read your favor of October 6th with much pleasure. The county of Jessamine was surveyed by my friend, Maj. Frederick Zimmerman. I think he commenced his work in May, 1796, but the county was not organized as a county until February 14th. In August the next year I was chosen as a member of the General Assembly by the county— without opposition. The name Jessamine was selected from a flower that grows on many creeks in the county. The villainy practiced in the Marble creek neighborhood by the constables and other petty officers of Fayette county, induced me to make an effort to form a new county, as I had known for several years that it was becoming impossible for my neighbors to get along on peaceable terms with officers who took pleasure in arresting and putting in prison men and women for the pitiful sum of $5. The only bed of straw, the only horse, the only cow, or pig of a neighbor, was leveyed on and sold at Lexington by the sheriff, but we now have a new set of officers and they are much better men than the others, who have so long annoyed my neighbors with their villainy. Present my compliments to Mr. Bowman and John Marshall. Your obedient servant, JOHN PRICE. Col. John Price induced many of his Virginia friends to settle in the Marble creek neighborhood. The following letter to Lewis Tapp will be extremely interesting, as he has many descendants in Jessamine county: Lexington, Ky., May 10, 1805. Dear Sir and Friend: I have received yours of April 2d. I take preat [sic] pleasure in informing you that if you have a desire to leave Virginia and settle in Kentucky I would advise you to pay a visit to this portion of Kentucky. Jessamine county was formed eight years ago. I settled in the limits of the county in 1788. The population is 5,400. The surface of the land for the most part gently undulating, rising here and there into hills and moderate elevations. The timber is white ash, hickory, hackberry, elm, white oak, also white and black walnut. Besides this variety of timber in the county, cedar trees, yellow poplar, beech and cherry is scattered over various parts of the county. The principal creeks in the county are Hickman and Jessamine. There are also numerous smaller streams well distributed throughout the county. You can buy good land in this town for $20 per acre and in Elkhorn first-class land is worth from $10 to $12 per acre. As I am just in the act of going to Nashville in Jesse Cogar's flat-boat at Frankfort, I trust you will make us a visit soon. Your old friend, JOHN PRICE. Lewis Tapp, Staunton, Augusta county, Va. In response to this invitation Lewis Tapp came to Kentucky and settled in the Marble creek neighborhood, four miles from the residence of Colonel Price. He raised a large family of great respectability, and died in 1822. Tapp's Branch is named in memory of him. On the 22d day of April, 1799, an order was entered fixing tlie1 seat of justice for Jessamine county at the place now occupied by the town of Nicholasville. The following order, entered by six of the justices of the peace, determined the county seat: At a court began and held for the county of Jessamine at the house of Jonas Davenport in said county, on Monday, the 22d day of April, 1799. Present, ______ Lewis, Thos. Caldwell, Gab'l Mattison, Geo. Walker, Jas. Johnson and _____ Price, gentlemen justices. "Ordered that the seat of justice for Jessamine county be permanently fixed on the lands of Thos. Caldwell and Chefley Gates on the Hickman road." The blank before the name of Lewis should have been filled with William, and the blank before the name of Price should have been filled with the name of William. As there were nine justices, it required five for a majority. The original act creating Jessamine county, directed that the location of the county seat should be determined only by a majority of the justices. William Scott, Hugh Chrisman, and John Freeman were not present at the time of the entering of this order, but Thos. Caldwell, one of the justices who voted, was joint owner with Chesley Gates of the twenty-five acres which had been laid out by Rev. John Metcalf, on the 16th of September, 1798. The county had not been formed at the time of the first survey of Nicholasville, but was only created on the 19th of December, three months afterwards; nor had the town of Nicholasville been officially recognized until the 26th day of August, 1799. On that day, proceeding under the statutes of Kentucky then in force for the establishment of towns, another order was entered, on the motion of Thos. Caldwell and Chesley Gates, which is as follows: At a court begun and held for the county of Jessamine at the court house thereof on Monday the 26th day of August, 1799. Present, Will Lewis, James Johnston, Geo. Walker and John Lewis, gentlemen, justices. On the motion of Thomas Caldwell and Chesley Gates it is ordered that a town be established on their lands lying on the Hickman road, at the place where the seat of justice for said county is established, to be called and known by the name of Nicholasville and bounded as follows to wit: Beginning at a stake in Caldwell's field running W. 12 deg. E. 87 poles to a stake; thence S. 78 deg. E. 36.84 poles to a stake; thence S. 12 deg. W. 42 poles to a stake; thence S. 78 deg. E. 14 poles; thence N. 12 deg. E. 2 poles; thence S. 78 deg. E. 3 poles; thence S. 12 deg. W. 5 poles; thence N. 78 deg. W. 17 poles; thence S. 12 deg. W. 42 poles; thence N. 78 poles W. 36.84 poles to the beginning. And it is further ordered that Joseph Crockett, William Shrieve, Richard Young, James Johnson, Gabrl. Madison, William Robards, Nicholas Lewis, James Davenport, Patrick Gray, Phil. Webber and Chesley Gates be appointed trustees of the said town. These trustees were simply appointed for the benefit of the land owners. It was their duty to make disposition of the lots in the town of Nicholasville, which now for the first time was officially recognized as the name of the county seat; so that in celebrating the centennial of Nicholasville on September 16, 1898, it is a celebration of the centennial of its survey, rather than of its first official existence and recognition. The contest in regard to the location of the seat of justice began even before the creation of the county by legislative authority. The establishment of a new county had been under discussion throughout the territory for quite a while. The petition which had been prepared for the legislature and the agitation of the question concerning the existence of a new county, had been more or less discussed by the people within the limits of the proposed county. It was difficult, of course, to determine exactly where the line would run, but the tremendous bend in the Kentucky river-which forms almost a horse-shoe-rendered the location of the county line very easy, as it was only necessary to run from the Kentucky river on the one side, to the Kentucky river on the other side, in order to cut off a county of reasonable proportions. Additional Comments: Extracted from: A HISTORY OF JESSAMINE COUNTY, KENTUCKY, FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO 1898. By BENNETT H. YOUNG, PRESIDENT POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY; MEMBER FILSON CLUB; MEMBER CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 1890; AUTHOR HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF KENTUCKY, OF "BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS, ETC, ETC. S. M. DUNCAN, ASSOCIATE AUTHOR. Every brave and good life out of the past is a treasure which cannot be measured in money, and should be preserved with faithfullest care. LOUISVILLE, KY.: COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING CO., 1898. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ky/jessamine/history/1898/ahistory/creation249gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/kyfiles/