Nathaniel Hart
Contributed by Wanda Snyder
1. Nathaniel1 Hart, son of Thomas
Hart and Susanna Rice, was born in Hanover County, VA May 8, 1734. Nathaniel died
July 22, 1782 in near Boonesborough, KY, at 48 years of age. His body was
interred in family cemetery near Boonesborough.
He married Sarah Simpson in North
Carolina, December 25, 1760. Sarah was born in Fairfax Co., VA February 24,
1744. Sarah was the daughter of Richard Simpson, Jr. And Mary Kincheloe.
Sarah died March 1785 in Lincoln Co., KY, at 41 years of age. Her body was
interred in family cemetery near Boonesborough.
At 18 years of age Sarah became the
mother of Keziah Hart in Caswell Co., NC, March 18, 1762. At 19 years of age
Sarah became the mother of Susannah Hart in Caswell Co., NC, February 18, 1764. At
24 years of age Sarah became the mother of Simpson Hart in Caswell
Co., NC, April 30, 1768. At 26 years of age Sarah became the mother of
Nathaniel Hart, Jr. In Caswell Co., NC, September 30, 1770. At 27 years of age
Sarah became the mother of John Hart in Caswell Co., NC, February 5, 1772. At 31
years of age Sarah became the mother of Mary Ann Hart April 7, 1775. At 32 years of age
Sarah became the mother of Cumberland Hart July 17, 1776. At 35 years of age Sarah became
the mother of Chinoe Hart in Boonesborough, VA (now
KY), October 25, 1779. At 38 years of age Sarah became the mother of Thomas
Richard Green Hart in Boonesborough, VA (now KY), June 29, 1782.
At 27 years of age Nathaniel became the
father of Keziah Hart in Caswell Co., NC, March 18, 1762. At 29 years of age
Nathaniel became the father of Susannah Hart in Caswell Co., NC, February 18,
1764. At 33 years of age Nathaniel became the father of Simpson Hart in
Caswell Co., NC, April 30, 1768. At 36 years of age Nathaniel became the father
of Nathaniel Hart, Jr. In Caswell Co., NC, September 30, 1770. At 37 years of age
Nathaniel became the father of John Hart in Caswell Co., NC, February 5, 1772. At
40 years of age Nathaniel became the father of Mary Ann Hart April 7, 1775. At 42
years of age Nathaniel became the father of Cumberland Hart July 17, 1776. At 45
years of age Nathaniel became the father of Chinoe Hart in Boonesborough,
VA (now KY), October 25, 1779. At 48 years of age Nathaniel became the father
of Thomas Richard Green Hart in Boonesborough, VA (now KY), June 29, 1782.
Nathaniel Hart was a member of
the Transylvania Company and was one of the purchasers of some 20 million
acres of land in Kentucky and Tennessee from the Indians in 1775. He was one of
the original settlers at Boonesborough in 1775 and helped construct the fort
there. His biography from Dictionary of North Carolina Biography edited by
William S. Powell, Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1988, follows:
Hart, Nathaniel (1734-82), pioneer,
Revolutionary officer, and proprietor in and chief negotiator for the
Transylvania Company of Kentucky, was born in Hanover County, Va., the son of
Thomas and Susannah Rice Hart. His grandfather, Thomas Hart, a merchant,
emigrated from London, England, to Hanover County about 1690 and left an only
son, Thomas (1632-1755), father of Nathanlel. His mother was an aunt of Daniel
Rice, the renowned Presbyterian minister who, before moving to Kentucky in
1781, is said to have taken part in the establishment of one or more early
Presbyterian churches in Orange County (now Caswell County), N.C., among which
Hyco (now Red House) is one of the oldest in central North Carolina.
Shortly after Thomas Hart's death, his
widow and children moved to Orange County and settled on Country Line Creek,
where three of her sons--Thomas, Nathaniel, and David--in the late 1750s and
early 1760s obtained land grants in the area that was cut off from Orange in
1777 to form Caswell County. Nathaniel Hart's estate, known as Red House,
located at Nat's Fork on Country Line Creek, was of considerable
proportions. Referred to as "Captain Hart," he was not only a
polished member of society but also an "accomplished and complete
gentleman." As one of the proprietors of the Transylvania Company,
he was a leading spirit in opening the Kentucky territory and in establishing
the town of Boonesborough.
At the Battle of Alamance, Hart led a
company of infantrymen in Governor Tryon's army; after the battle, he was
highly complimented by the governor and his officers for the gallant and
spirited behavior of the detachment under his command. Following the efforts of
Daniel Boone and his brother, Squire Boone, to settle Kentucky, Richard
Henderson of Granville County in association with Nathaniel Hart, Thomas Hart,
John Williams, William Johnson, and John Lutterell, on 27 Aug. 1774 organized
the Louisa Company for the purpose of purchasing from the Cherokee Nation a
large territory lying on the west side of the mountains on the Mississippi
River. In the autumn of 1774, Nathaniel Hart, the chief negotiator, along with
Richard Henderson, president of the company, visited the territory and
met with the chiefs of the various tribes in the Cherokee country to discuss
their interest in buying the land west of the Cumberland Mountains. Nathaniel
Hart, Jr., wrote that his father returned to his home with six or eight of the
principal men of the Cherokee Nation, who remained with him until the latter
part of the year and assisted in the selection of a large supply of goods to be
used in exchange for the land.
By 1775 the enterprise had outgrown the
Articles of Agreement of the Louisa Company. After a reorganization, a
new company, called the Transylvania Company, was formed and Daniel Boone was
hired to explore the territory. Soon Nathaniel Hart and Richard Henderson
brought vast quantities of goods from Cross Creek (now Fayetteville) to
Sycamore on the Watauga River near what is now Elizabethton, Tenn. The
Watauga meeting, arranged by Hart, lasted twenty days and was attended by 500
to 1,000 Cherokee Indians along with their chiefs. The Transylvania Company was
represented by Hart and his brothers Thomas, Henderson, and John
Williams. Negotiations broke down and the Indians left, but it is said
that Nathaniel Hart overtook them the next day, persuaded them to return, and
an agreement was reached.
On 17 Mar. 1775, the conveyance or treaty was signed, by which the
Transylvania Company acquired all of the
territory from the Kentucky to the Cumberland rivers. Title to the land
was taken in the name of Richard Henderson, Nathaniel Hart, and the other seven
proprietors of the company as tenants in common. This purchase was said to have
been the largest private land deal ever undertaken in North America.
Nathaniel Hart and his associates invested much of their time and private
fortunes in the venture; they succeeded in obtaining for the colonies peaceful
possession of the land from the Indians, thus permitting the opening of the Kentucky
territory for colonization. Nevertheless, they received very little for
their efforts. Because of a proclamation by the royal governors of Virginia
and North Carolina that prohibited treaties or purchases of land from Indians
by individuals, the Crown refused to recognize the transaction and declared it
null and void. The same proclamation, in substance, was reenacted by the Virginia
assembly after the colonies gained independence from Great Britain. As a
consequence, the Transylvania Company retained only that small area of the land
lying on the Green River in Kentucky and that portion lying on the North Carolina
side of the Virginia line, and its plan to establish an original fourteenth
colony in America resulted in failure.
In 1760 Hart married Sarah Simpson,
daughter of Captain Richard Simpson, a large plantation owner who was one of
the earliest settlers in what is now Caswell County. Their daughter,
Susanna, in 1783 married General Isaac Shelby, planner of the Battle of Cowpens
and hero of the Battle of Kings Mountain, who became the first governor of the
state of Kentucky and for whom the towns of Shelby, N.C., Shelbyville, Tenn.,
and Shelby County, Ky., were named. Nathaniel and Sarah Hart's grandson, Thomas
Hart Shelby of Traveler's Rest, Ky., was said to have been the first importer
of thoroughbred livestock, including racehorses, into the state of Kentucky. Hart was
appointed a justice of the peace by the royal governor. He
served as captain of militia before the outbreak of the Revolution and as
captain in the army during the American Revolution. He was killed by
Indians near Logan's Station in Lincoln, Ky., where he left his will. In 1783
his widow and their son Nathaniel, Jr., went to Logan's Station to prove the
will.
SEE: John R. Alden, John Stuart and the
Southern Colonial Frontier (1966); Walter Clark, ed., State Records of North Carolina,
vols. 16, 19, 22, 24 (1899-1905); Lewis Collins, Historical Sketches of
Kentucky (1850); Dartmouth Papers, 5, 127, 1353 (North Carolina State Archives,
Raleigh); Lyman C. Draper Papers (Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison);
Genealogical Narrative, "The Hart Family in the United States" (North
Carolina State Library, Raleigh); Archibald Henderson, The Transylvania Company
and the Founding of Henderson, Kentucky (1929); Land grants of Caswell and
Orange counties (Office of the Secretary of State, Raleigh); William S. Lester,
The Transylvania Colony (1935); George N. MacKenzie, Colonial Families of the
United States, vol. 2 (1966); W. E Palmer, ed., Calendar of Virginia State
Papers, vol. 1 (1875); William L. Saunders, ed., Colonial Records of North
Carolina, vols. 6, 8-10 (1888-90); Tyler's Quarterly 31 (1949), 32 (1950);
Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 7 (1899-1900); Frederick A. Virkus,
The Abridged Compendium of American History, vol. 5 (1933). VANCE E. SWIFT
A web site about the Hart family may be
found at http://www.airtanker.com/mcnally/hart/index.html.
Nathaniel Hart and Sarah Simpson had
the following children:
+ 2 i.
Keziah2 Hart was born March 18, 1762.
+ 3 ii.
Susannah Hart was born February 18, 1764.
4 iii. Simpson Hart was born in Caswell Co., NC April 30, 1768. Simpson
died 1788 in Sumner Co., TN, at 20 years of age. Simpson Hart died unmarried.
+ 5 iv.
Nathaniel Hart, Jr. was born September 30, 1770.
+ 6 v.
John Hart was born February 5, 1772.
7 vi. Mary Ann Hart was born April 7, 1775. She married Richard Dallam.
+ 8 vii.
Cumberland Hart was born July 17, 1776.
+ 9 viii.
Chinoe Hart was born October 25, 1779.
+10 ix.
Thomas Richard Green Hart was born June 29, 1782.
Nathaniel Hart
Nathaniel Hart, fifth son of Thomas Hart and Susannah Rice, was born in Hanover County,
Virginia on May 08, 1734. In 1760, he married Sarah Simpson, daughter of
Colonel Richard Simpson. Together, they had nine children.
On December 10, 1762,
Lord Granville's agent issued a grant of 259 acres of land in Orange County, on
Wat's Fork of County Line Creek to Nathaniel Hart. After Caswell County was cut
out of Orange County in 1777, Nathaniel Hart obtained three grants of land
in Caswell County, as follow: 640 acres on the north side of former
line, 300 acres on the south side of former survey, and 500 acres on both sides
of Herler's Creek, October 1, 1778. Nathaniel Hart built a large and handsome house,
widely known throughout that region as the 'Red House', which served both as
private residence and tavern.
Nathaniel
engaged actively in agricultural pursuits; and also took a part, as
representative citizen, in public affairs. In 1762 he was commissioned a
coroner for Orange County, North Carolina and in 1769 he was added by
the Governor's Council to the commission of peace dedimus. During the War of
the Regulation, a wide spread revolt of the common people against unjust
treatment and exploitation by court officials under the Crown, he and his two
brothers, Thomas and David, served in the field under Governor Tryon. He commanded
a company of the Orange County Regiment of Militia in the campaign against the
insurgents which ended in the defeat of the Regulars and the end of the war, at
the battle of Alamance.
For the
next few years he was engaged in mercantile business at several points in the Chatham-Orange-Caswell County
region. Associated in business with him, under the
firm name of Hart & Luttrell, was John Luttrell, a prominent resident of Chatham County, who
was married to Susanna, daughter of John Hart, Nathaniel's older brother.
"Of
the three Hart Brothers (Thomas, David & Nathaniel) who were copartners in
the Transylvania Company, the pioneer and way-breaker was Captain Nathaniel
Hart. Guided by Daniel Boone, Thomas Price, Henderson and Hart visited the
Cherokee chieftains at the Otari towns. As a result of the consultations, the
old chieftain, Atta-Kulla-Kulla, a young buck, and a squaw, were appointed 'to
attend said Henderson and Hart to North Carolina, and there examine the Goods
and Merchandise which had been by them offered as the Consideration of the
purchase.' In the records, in German, of the Moravians at Salem, North Carolina,
occurs this interesting entry, as translated into English:
'In November 1774 three Cherokee Indians -a Chief, another man, and a woman,
-spent the night in Bethabara, attended the evening meeting, and seemed to desire
our friendship. They were under the guidance of several white gentlemen. The most
pleasant part of it was that it again looks as though there would be peace with the
Indians.'
In the conduct of the Great
Treaty to use the peculiar term the negotiations
leading to the vast purchase at the Sycamore Shoals of the Watauga River, March 15-17, 1775,
Judge Henderson was assiduously and efficiently aided by his partners William,
Thomas and Nathaniel Hart and John Luttrell, experienced business men." (Henderson)
Henderson, assisted by Richard Callaway and Daniel Boone, laid
off 54 lots and the pioneers drew lots for them. Nathaniel took no part in
these matters and in the location of the big fort. "He chose a spot
for settlement a half mile away from the stockade; and he and his brother
David, devoted almost their entire attention to building a cabin, as did also
William Calk and his party, in April, 1775. Later in the year, Nathaniel Hart
was assigned in the books of the Transylvania Company, 640 acres on the creek
know as Hart's Fork in present Madison County.
During the next four years, Nathaniel Hart took the most intense interest in his Kentucky
property and during the seasons for planting, cultivating, and harvesting of
crops, he spent his time on improving the lands which had been allocated to
him. His family continued to reside at the Hart home, the Red House, in Orange [later
Caswell] County. During the period 1775-1780, he travelled back and forth
between Boonesborough and North Carolina or Virginia, fourteen times. Every year, until his death in 1782,
he raised a crop of corn." (Henderson)
It is believed that Nathaniel had sometime occupied cabin No. 14 at the southeast
corner of the stockaded fort; for on Judge Henderson's design for it, cabin No.
14 is labelled, "Cabins for Hart and Williams".
When most of the men at Boonesborough were rescuing the Callaway girls and Daniel
Boones daughter from the Indians, a party of fourteen Cherokees threatened the
fort; but unable to accomplish anything against it, burned the cabin of
Nathaniel and David Hart, located on a hill about a half mile from the fort,
and destroyed some five hundred apple scions which had been brought out from
the settlement. After his cabin was burned, Nathaniel lived with the family of
Richard Callaway until he removed his family to Kentucky in 1780.
"Owing
to the difficulties of cultivating the soil while exposed to the dangers of
Indian attack, it became necessary to organize a little company or corporation
at Boonesborough in the spring of 1779. Eighteen men, with Nathaniel Hart,
George Madden, and Robert Cartwright as trustees, banded together on April 15, 1779, for
the purpose of making a crop of corn. A set of rules, six in number, was drawn
up; and among these rule were the following: that each member shall appear
every morning at the beat of the drum or at other notice; that every morning
two or more men shall reconnoiter the grounds under cultivation which shall
remain constantly under armed guard; and that constant attention to the
cultivation of the crop shall be obligatory.
The concerted action of this company produced beneficent results; for during the
dreadful winter of bitter cold and severe hardship, known as the Hard Winter
(1779-1780), corn was excessively scarce and the price rose to as much as $200
per bushel at Boonesborough." (Henderson)
Following is one of few letters of Nathaniel Hart, written to his wife, who was wintering
at the home of Colonel John Donelson of Beaver Creek.
Boonesborough 30th Decm. 1779
My dear Salley
You will I fear think how that I after all the promises made to return to you
in six weeks, if possible, have already spent ten weeks and cannot possible
leave this place in less than two weeks from this time. And yet my Dear you may
believe me when I assure you that I have done all that was in the power of man
to doe, the six weeks was run out before I could git to this place and when my
horses was so poore and low that I had not one in the world able to travele. I
have now got them in away to thrive a little, and if please God I can git in a
situation to preform the journey, will be with you about the last of January. I
had sot a resolution when Capt. Pain left me to return by the way of
Cumberland, but the extream coldweather, together with nakedness of myself and
people and the poverty of my horses has obliged me to decline that notion and
intrust my affairs to Col. Moore and Col. Henderson who are to go down about
the time I set of Inn...My people tho allmost quight naked has had (I
thank God) but few complaints among them. I have till now been very well myself
and even now have no other complaint that a bad cold -I got no cattle all out
except three, two of which dyed by eating Laurel and the other was lost I know
not how -Altho I expect it will be very difficult wintering of them being
reduced very low by their journey, as for our sheep I think we have but about
one half of them to show and the wolf very severe on them. I expect to save
very few or none of them and as for our horses Wm. Shearing I suppose told how
they were situated when he left me and I expect (though am not sure) that I
have lost my best mare and colt since -My cornfields I found in very bad order
being near or quight half destroyed by the creatures and vermin and what
remains is yet lying in heeps in the field exposed to weather and vermin yit I
think we shall save enough to serve us here and spare some to go round to
Cumberland which I shall indeavour to contrive there by the time we get down -I
shall refer you to Majr. Shelby for the news of this place and I would
recommend it to you to apply to him for his advise and assistance in the
management of your affairs espetially that of procuring provisions which you I
know must have been bad off for. I am in haste & much thronged with Company
this morning which occasions me to cut my letter short, which I beg you'l
excuse and believe me to be yours, Most Sincerely
Natl. Hart
Nathaniel
Hart appeared before the peripatetic land court set up by Virginia and
showed his improvement of land and raising a crop of corn in the year 1775. A
certificate was immediately issued by the court for 1,400 acres. Later, in
1780, another certificate was issued by the court at Harrodsburg for an
additional 1,400 acres. A 1,000 acre tract of land received by Richard
Henderson was subsequently purchased by Nathaniel.
The move from the Red House to French Lick proved to be a wearisome and long-delayed
undertaking. Nathaniel took his men servants, his 75 head of cattle, as many
sheep, and 30 head of horses. Each head of this stock received a bell. He
calculated that every animal that got into the cane without a bell would be
lost. The bill for the bells alone amounted to 30 pounds. It is said that in
passing through Wythe, the number of these bells attracted the attention of the
people, for three miles from the road. A number of negroes and cattle belonging
to brother Thomas were also taken by Nathaniel.
He remained only a few days at French Lick and then pressed on to Williamsburg
to secure at the land office the warrants for his Kentucky
lands. Deterred by the insecurity of the Transylvania Company's claim to the
Cumberland Country and the imminent dangers from hostile Indians were
determined to break up the feeble settlement at the French Lick, he determined
not to settle there and in the autumn of 1780 brought his family to
Boonesborough.
photo taken in 1987
Until burned by vandals in 1989, Harts log home, one mile from Boonesborough, was
still standing but not occupied. It was reputedly the oldest remaining log
house built outside the fort. It was composed of two square log pens separated
by a frame dogtrot, with an ell at the rear. V-notches at the corners connect
the logs beneath the weatherboards. (O'Malley)
"Hart's
Station, at White Oak Spring, located in the Kentucky River bottom about one
mile above Boonesborough, had been settled in 1779 by Nathaniel Hart and
others, and here a small fort was built. The principal persons who lived at
this fort were Nathaniel Hart's family, Lawrence Thompson's family, Henry
Duree, Albert Voris, Daniel Duree, John Banta, Samuel Duree, Frederick
Ripperdan, Peter Cosshort, and Paul Banta. Many of them were killed by Indians
soon after coming to the country. Hart's Station in 1782, with perhaps one
hundred souls in it, was reduced in August to three fighting men. This was the
period when Bryant's Station was also besieged.
Nathaniel
Hart was not to escape the Indian killings. Confirmation of his death, which
actually took place on July 22, 1782, is given Jesse Benton in a letter to Thomas Hart:
Your brother Nat. Hart, our worthy & respected friend; I doubt is cutt off
by the savages, at the time, & in the manner, as first represented, to wit,
that he went out to hunt his horses, in the Month of July or Augt. It is
supposed the Indians in ambuscade, betwixt Boonsbo. & Knockuckle, intended
to take him prison, but killd. His horse & at this same time broke his
thigh, that the savages finding their prisoner with a thigh broken, was under necessity
of puting him to death by shooting him through the heart, at so small a
distance as to powder burn his flesh. He was Tom-Hawked, Scalped & lay two
days before he was found & buried. This account has come by difrent hands,
& confirmed to Col. Henderson by a letter from an intimate friend of his at
Kenruck.
It is believed that the Lisle family graveyard, which lies north of the house and across
the road from the Hart House, contains the burial sites of Nathaniel Hart and his family. (O'Malley)
Of all the proprietors of the Transylvania Company, Nathaniel Hart stands out as a
resolute, determined settler of the wilderness, who each year left his secure
home in Caswell County, NC, to develop his Kentucky lands, to raise a crop of corn, and to take part in
the defense of the wonderful new country." (Henderson)
"Following the acquisition of a
number of settlements and pre-emptions, granted by the Virginia Commissioners
in 1779 and 1780, Daniel Boone was dispatched by a number of Kentuckians to Williamsburg
to pay the fees at the Virginia land office for the warrants."(Henderson)
Fort Boonesborough
Fort Boonesborough - 1778
"Fort Boonesborough is associated
with some of Kentucky's most famous pioneers - Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton,
Richard Callaway, Nathaniel Hart and Richard Henderson. The legendary fort was
the guardian of hundreds of settlers who ventured to the Wester frontier
through the Cumberland Gap on the Wilderness Road. The key fortress
withstood several major Indian sieges, was a bastion of civilization in an
untamed wilderness, and a stronghold of the utmost importance to Kentucky
history. Fort Boonesborough looms large in Kentucky history even though it was
occupied for a period of less than 50 years"(Kentucky State Parks).
While the American Revolution brewed in
the East, the time was right for migration to the West. The Transylvania
Company in was founded in 1775 and soon purchased land from the Cherokees.
"On March 19 Henderson and the chiefs set their signatures to the Treaty
of Sycamore Shoals. By its terms the Indians, in return for trading goods
valued at 10,000 pounds sterling, ceded to the Transylvania Company the
territory between the Kentucky River and the highlands south of the Cumberland
and a strip of land between the Holston River and the Cumberland
Mountains" (Rice).
This purchase extended from the
Ohio-Kentucky on the north to the most southwesterly branch of the Cumberland
River. The American Revolution upset plans for the Transylvania Company and
the purchase was declared void when Virginia established Kentucke County.
"Richard Henderson, head of the
Transylvania Company named Fort Boonesborough in honor of the path-breaker,
Daniel Boone." (Henderson) He sent Boone and several axmen
ahead to begin building the fort. Henderson, Hart and the rest of the party arrived
about three weeks later, on April 20, 1775. That summer, the new fort consisted
of 26, one-story log cabins and four blockhouses, arranged in a hollow square
approximately 260' X 180'.
Plan of Fort Boonesborough
Signature of Richard Henderson in center
From the Original in the handwriting of Richard
Henderson.
1.Henderson's Cabin
2.Stockades
3. Kitchen
4. Luttrell's Cabin
5. Kitchen
9. Gates
14. Hart & William Cabins
Un-numbered spaces - Cabins
The back of the fort, comprised of the
back row of cabins, ran parallel with the Kentucky River. The front faced
the open space in the hollow below the fort where the lick and the two springs
were located. There were two gates, one in the front and the other on the back
wall facing the river (Kentucky State Parks).
The blockhouses, or corner cabins, had
projecting second stories and formed the bastions of the fort. These
blockhouses also served as cabins for Hart, Henderson, Luttrell and Williams.
A plan of government by popular
representation was formed and an election to form a House of Delegates for the
Colony of Transylvania was held under the "Divine Elm Tree". This
monument celebrates this meeting. This location is also where the first church
service in Kentucky took place.
From the very beginning,
Boonesborough was the primary target of Indian hostilities in Kentucky. The
fort was attacked in December 1775, and in April and July 1777 by large war
parties that were more successful than killing a few settlers. The Calloway
girls and Boones' daughter were captured in July 1776. A party of men tracked
down the Indians, surprised them at their campsite, and rescued the girls.
No attack on the fort, though, rivaled
that of the "Great Siege of Boonesborough" in the fall of 1778.
Earlier, in January, 30 men from the fort were led by Daniel Boone to the Lower
Blue Licks to gather salt. Here they were captured by Shawnees, taken to Chillicothe
in Ohio and eventually to Detroit. Boone made himself such an amiable companion
to Chief Blackfish that the Shawnee chief refused to accept the large British
reward for him. He adopted Boone and named him "Sheltowee" or Big
Turtle.
In June, Boone slipped away and made it
back to Boonesborough. Here, he was met with much suspicion, especially since
his hair had been plucked and he had adopted other Indian customs. The
residents of Boonesborough thought he was the forerunner of a savage attack and
felt he had befriended the Indians. Later Boone was tried for treason but was
acquitted (Kentucky State Parks).
On September 7, 1778,
400 Indians and 12 French companions appeared at the fort. After a couple days of talk, the
attack finally came, and it was furious. The French and Indians attempted to
set fire to the fort by shooting fireballs onto the roofs of the cabins. The
plan failed because the women and children of the fort easily put out the fires
and were aided by heavy rainfall. Next the attackers tried to burrow under the
foundation of the stockade. The pioneers thwarted this scheme and the French
and Indians retreated after a 13 day siege. "..we had two men killed, and
four wounded, besides a number of cattle. We killed of the enemy thirty-seven,
and wounded a great number" (Lofaro).
After the Transylvania Colony ceased to
exist, the pioneers restructured the settlement with the Virginia Legislature's
approval of a town charter in 1779. But the settlement became one ofthe West's
first ghost towns in the early 19th century. The 1810 Federal Census listed
only eight households containing 68 people. The population continued to decline
and by 1830 Boonesborough virtually ceased to exist. The fort's chimneys were
reportedly dismantled by 1850 and the stones used to build a water gap. Several
landowners gained private title to the land and used it for farming until the
early 20th century.
In 1963, 57 acres were deeded to the
Department of Parks expressly for the purchase of establishing Fort Boonesborough
State Park. In 1987, an archaeological dig was begun to locate the physical
remains of the fort and town. The projects goals were fulfilled when the most
likely site of the fort was identified and at least 12 other documented sites
associated with the fort and town were located. In 1996, the original site of Fort
Boonesborough was designated a National Historic Landmark (Kentucky State
Parks).
Fort Boonesborough's First Residents
"The building of Fort Boonesborough
began about the 20th of April, 1775, and on the authority of a letter from
Colonel John Floyd, it is claimed that the fort was completed in the latter
part of July, 1776. Many of the pioneers listed here were at the fort during
the construction. Some came and stayed only a short while and then returned to
their native lands. Others were killed by the Indians or died from illness.
Not all of these pioneers lived
actually within the fort as there were only thirty cabins in the fort proper,
but all lived within the general area of the fort. In 1789, there were 120
houses located in and around the fort." (Tudor)
Transylvania Company
The parent organization formed in 1763
was known as Richard Henderson and Company, employed Daniel Boone, Richard Galloway
and Henry Skaggs to make a reconnaissance of the western lands of North
Carolina (later Tennessee) and the valley of the Cumberland River.
"The Louisa Company was formed in
August of 1774 by essentially the same people: Judge Richardson Henderson,
Nathaniel Hart, Thomas Hart, John Williams and John Luttrell. The purpose was
to acquire title from the Indian claimants to vast tracts of western lands.
This company was re-organized, January 6, 1775, under the name of the
Transylvania Company. There were a total of nine shareholders, adding
David Hart, Leonard Henley Bullock, and two others." (Henderson)
The company journeyed to Cross Creek ( Fayetteville,
NC) with the Cherokee chief Atta-Kulla-Kulla to display goods to be offered,
in part payment, for lands in Tennessee and Kentucky claimed by the Cherokee
tribe. At the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, nearly twelve hundred Indians gathered
in response to the invitation by the Transylvania Company. On March 19, chiefs
of both sides set their signatures. By its terms the Indians, in return for
trading goods valued at 10,000 pounds sterling, ceded to the Transylvania
Company the territory between the Kentucky River and the highlands south of the
Cumberland and a strip of land between the Holston River and the Cumberland
Mountains (20 million acres). At the same time, the Watauga settlers, who had
earlier leased their lands from the Cherokees, converted their lease into a
purchase. At the conclusion of the agreements, Henderson brought out
casks of rum for a celebration seldom equalled on the frontiers.(Rice)
The twenty million acres negotiated for
with the Cherokee Indians includes "nearly all the states of Kentucky and Tennessee". (Lofaro)
"A week before the conclusion of
the treaty, a party of thirty axmen, lead by Boone, set off along the
Transylvania Trail and reached the settlement in Powell's Valley. Shortly
thereafter, news came that five persons had been killed on the road to Kentucky
by Indians. They pushed through Cumberland Gap and by May 18, were near
Twitty's Fort, where Captain Twitty had lost his life when Boone's party was
attacked. When Henderson's party finally arrived at Otter
Creek, they were warmly greeted with a
salute of twenty-five guns. Boone and his axmen had thrown up a small fortification,
which William Calk in his diary refers to as "Boon's Foart"; but as
this was badly placed for defense, Henderson immediately drew up plans for a
large stockaded fort, to be located in a commanding situation some 300 yards
distant from Boone's fortification."(Henderson)
"During the absence from the
Transylvania Fort of most of its defenders, a party of fourteen Cherokees
threatened the fort; but unable to accomplish anything against it, burned the
cabin of Nathaniel and David Hart, located on a hill about half a mile from the
fort, and destroyed some five hundred apple scions which had been brought out
from the settlement." (Henderson)
"Although the danger from Indians
generally increased during the summer of 1776, occupation of Kentucky continued
without serious disruption. William Whitley located on Cedar Creek, about two
miles west of Crab Orchard, and his brother-in-law, George Clark, took up lands
not far away. Joseph, George, Morgan, William, Samuel and James Bryan settled
on the North Fork of the Elkhorn. Others who had established habitations
included Jesse Benton on Silver Creek, John Todd on the West Branch of
Hickman's Creek, John Strode near the headwaters of the South Fork of the
Licking, and James Strode on Howard's Creek." (Rice)
"There were deep-seated antipathy
to Transylvanias claims to ownership of Kentucky, which defense needs helped to
sharpen. Frontiersmen generally rejected the two basic concepts in the Transylvania
scheme - the establishment of a proprietary colony and a feudal land
system."(Henderson)
In November, 1778, the Virginia House
of Delegates declared the Transylvania Company's purchase of the Cherokee claim
to Kentucky void; but granted the company 200,000 acres of land situated
between the Ohio and Green rivers. This would be 1% of the 20 million acres
purchased from the Cherokees.
"By an act of the Virginia
Legislature in 1780, Kentucky was divided into the three counties of Lincoln,
Jefferson and Fayette. Madison County thus became a part of Lincoln County.
Benjamin Logan was the Lieutenant of Lincoln County; and he was assisted by the
following officers: Major George Adams, Captains John Holder and James Estill
and by Captain Nathaniel Hart in the Madison end of Lincoln."(Henderson)
"Of all the Proprietors of the
Transylvania Company, Nathaniel Hart stands out as a resolute, determined
settler of the wilderness, who each year left his secure home in Caswell County,
NC to develop his Kentucky lands, to raise a crop of corn, and to take part in
the defense of the wonderful new country."(Henderson)
Hart vs. Estill Lawsuit
June 18, 1805
Contributed by Rhoda Taylor Fone
Michael L. & Bettie Cummings Cook, Fayette County, Kentucky Records, Vol. I,
(Evansville, IN: Cook Publications, 1985), pp.254-262.
Reprinted with permission of Cook Publications, http://members.evansville.net/bacook/
p.650, June 24, 1805
Heirs of NATHANIEL HART, deceased
v.
SAMUEL ESTILL, et al.
Subpoena to Sheriff of Madison County for SAMUEL
ESTILL, JAMES DINWIDDIE, DANIEL MAUPIN, WILLIAM TERRILL, CHARLES BROWN, WILLIAM
DELANEY, and DANIEL BOONE. Returned by WILLIAM WOODS, Deputy Sheriff, with
notation "served on all excepting Samuel Estill, notice left, and Daniel Boone, no inhabitant."
Petition recites: Nathaniel Hart, LAURENCE THOMPSON and KEZIAH THOMPSON, his wife, ISAAC SHELBY
and SUSANNAH SHELBY, his wife, JOHN SMITH and CHINA SMITH, his wife, JOHN HART,
MARYANN HART, COMBERLAND HART and RICHARD HART, an infant, heirs and legal
representatives of Nathaniel Hart, deceased, and RICHARD LAURENCE THOMPSON,
SARAH FINNEY THOMPSON, NATHANIEL HART THOMPSON, CHINA BARTON THOMPSON and
AZARIAH THOMAS THOMPSON, devisees of SIMPSON HART, another of the heirs of said
Nathaniel Hart, deceased...on December 21, 1779 a certificate to a settlement
and preemption... lying on a branch of Silver Creek, on Boone's old trace,
adjoining SQUIRE BOONE'S stock field tract, in consequence of his improving the
same and raising a crop of corn in the year 1775. That on the 19th day of
February 1780 and the 24th of May 1782, the said Nathaniel Hart made entries
with the surveyor. That on January 12, 1784, a certain Daniel Boone caused said entries to
be surveyed in some manner contrary to locations in order to avoid an
interference with a claim of his own. Said survey was made during their infancy
and after death of their ancestor who departed this life sometime in the year
1782, having previously made his last will and testament leaving your orators
and oratrix his heirs at law. That sometime after the arrival of your orators,
Nathaniel Hart, the eldest living son of the said Nathaniel Hart the elder, and
the only acting executor, to full age, he renounced the survey made by
directions of said Daniel Boone and caused the entries to be surveyed agreeably
to the location and law, and had the platt and certificate returned to the
Register's office according to which grants have been issued as by the said
last mentioned surveys. Further shew said commissioners on November 4, 1779, granted a certificate
to a certain LEWIS CRAIG, assignee of JONATHAN JENNINGS, for settlement of 400
acres and a preemption of 1,000 acres of land adjoining. That on November 5,
1779, said Craig entered his said settlement with the surveyor, and that
he surveyed said settlement, which are inferior in dignity to your orator's and
contrary to law and to location and so as to interfere, and having obtained a
patent older than theirs sold and conveyed that part of his land which
interfers to WILLIAM TERRILL, CHARLES BROWN and WILLIAM DELANEY, On December
20, 1779, said Commissioners granted to JOSEPH HUGHES, who claimed by said
Daniel Boone a preemption for 1,000 acres of land lying on waters of Silver
Creek, adjoining on north side of Nathaniel Hart's land, in consequence of
marking and improving the same in 1776, that said Daniel Boone as assignee of
the said Joseph Hughes on May 31, 1781 entered with surveyor... That said
Daniel Boone afterwards caused said entry to be surveyed contrary to law and to
location and included part of the survey which your orators have aforesaid
right. Said Boone sold 1,000 acres of land...that after passing through several
persons, it was conveyed to SAMUEL ESTILL, and said Samuel Estill has sold a
part of said land to JAMES DINWIDDIE and DANIEL MAUPIN. H. CLAY for
Complainants.
p.654, Exhibit, will of NATHANIEL HART, dated
June 27, 1782, appoints wife SARAH HART, sons SIMPSON HART and NATHANIEL HART,
and two brothers DAVID HART and THOMAS HART as executors. Names nine children:
KEZIAH THOMPSON, SUSANNAH HART, SIMPSON HART, NATHANIEL HART, JOHN HART, MARYANN
HART, CUMBERLAND HART, CHINA HART, and RICHARD HART. Witnesses, WILLIAM CALK,
NICHOLAS GEORGE and NICHOLAS ANDERSON.
p.659, Answer of JAMES
DINWIDDIE. Makes general denial, submits following interrogatories to
plaintiff: Whether he does not know or has heard and believes that RICHARD
HENDERSON and Company in the year 1776 did claim all the land in Kentucky south of the
Kentucky River? Has he not heard that his father Nathaniel Hart, deceased, was a
partner of the firm of Richard Henderson & Company? If he has the books the books of said firm and
if not, where are they? Does he know, or had he heard that Henderson
& Company sold to Joseph Hughes 640 acres of land. Does he know that
survey was made of land for Joseph Hughes in 1776? Has he seen such a
survey or copy of it?
p.662, General denial
from other defendants denying any interference or illegal surverys.
Answer of SAMUEL
ESTILL: claims this land by virtue of certificate granted to JOHN WEBBER...
Answer of defendant
DANIEL MAUPIN: Has understood that said settlement and preemption was
surveyed by a certain THOMAS ALLEN, deputy surveyor who was employed to make
said survey by Mrs. Hart, the widow of Nathaniel Hart, who had the management
of the business respecting his lands, but defendant does not admit that the
said Daniel Boone caused said surveys to be made fraudently in order to avoid
an interference with a claim of his own; claims land by virtue of his purchase
of Samuel Estill.
p.686, Answer of
NATHANIEL HART to interrogatories of JAMES DINWIDDIE. That he believes
Richard Henderson & Company did, in the year 1775, claim all the Kentucky
country by purchase from the Cherokee Indians, but he does not know at what period, afterwards,
they abandoned the idea of obtaining it. He believes his father,
Nathaniel Hart, deceased, was a partner of the firm of Richard Henderson &
Company. That he has no books of Richard Henderson & Company except
their books of accounts in which they furnished powder, ball, etc. To most of
the people then in the country and received in payment hunting and other
services performed by those who dealt with them. That he has never seen
or heard of any other book belonging to the company. Does not know nor
has he ever heard that Richard Henderson & Company sold to Joseph Hughes
640 acres of land, nor does he believe they did, but thinks it probable they
would have done it had they obtained the country agreeable to their
purchase. Heard a survey had been made for Joseph Hughes and can shew the
lines of said survey as he has lately examined same, but, has never seen any
record of the survey.
p.668,Deposition of
JESSE OLDHAM, aged 72 years (taken at an improvement of NATHANIEL HART,
deceased, in Madison County, on March 3, 1802, before ROBERT CALDWELL):
Deponent came to Kentucky from North Carolina in the year 1775 [Note by
Staples: One of five brothers in Battle of Guilford Court House; he was also in
Twitty's fort when Indians attacked same] at which time he passed by the blue
licks and from thence near the improvement to TWITTY's fort and the trace he
traveled was then called and known by the name of Boone's trace. In the
year 1775 he together with Nathaniel Hart and others planted a crop of corn at
Boonesborough. He came out to Kentucky again in the spring of 1779 at which time he
together with Nathaniel Hart and others raised a crop of corn at Boonesborough
and in the same year raised a crop of corn at this improvement and also at the
deponent's improvement which lies near to this place on the creek. He has
never known or heard this improvement called by any other name than Nathaniel
Hart's improvement. Question by complainant: Have you not always understood
that Nathaniel Hart obtained his settlement and improvement by virtue of this
improvement? Answer: Yes I did; I was not here when the Commissioners sat and
never saw the certificate until today. Question by defendant: Did
Nathaniel Hart and you raise the crop of corn in partnership? Answer: No, his
corn for himself and mine for myself. Question by same: Was not there a
contract between you and Nathaniel Hart, that if you never came to the country
he was to claim both claims? Answer: Yes, he was. Question by complainant: Was
not Nathaniel Hart to clear out your claim on the halves and if you never came
to Kentucky he was to have all of it? Answer: He was so. My claim and Nathaniel Hart's claim were two separate
and distinct claims. I did not expect to get more than 400 acres of land and
that for raising corn in 1779. Question by defendant: What do you suppose
is the distance between Nathaniel Hart's improvement and yours? Answer: I
suppose it may be about a mile. Question by same: Was there any
improvements at this place when you first came to Kentucky in 1775? Answer:
Not as I know of. Question by plaintiff: Did not Nathaniel Hart leave his
negroes at Boonesborough in 1775 to make his crop of corn? Answer: I cannot tell.
p.669, Deposition of STEPHEN HANCOCK, aged
58 years (taken at the improvement of Nathaniel Hart in Madison County, on
March 3, 1803, before ROBERT CALDWELL): He came to Kentucky in 1776 at which
time he passed by the blue licks and from that to Twitty's fort and from that
to Boonesborough, and that the trace he travelled was called and known by the
name of Boone's trace. He thinks he passed near this place and be believes to
be the race which he has shewn this day. That the creek which he has this day
shewn was, as early as the year 1778, called and known by the name of Hart's
fork of Silver Creek and that it has been known by that name ever since. That
in the year 1776 Nathaniel Hart raised a crop of corn in Boonesborough and that
he kept hands there for several years afterwards. That in fall of the year 1779
he understood from information that as the people were travelling out to this
country, they got pumpkins from Hart's field upon Boone's trace and carried
them on to the waters of Otter creek where they cooked them and from the seeds
being scattered there they came up and the branch was afterwards called Pumpkin
run and it has gone by that name ever since. In the year after Hart and Jesse
Oldham had planted their corn at Boonesborough, they went out to a place and
planted corn at their improvements and afterwards they returned to
Boonesborough they informed him that they had planted corn at their
improvements. Question by defendants: When you travelled from the blue
lick to Boonesborough the improvement you saw - did you suppose it to be
Hart's? Answer: I saw an improvement as I went to Boonesborough as I think, on
the left hand side of creek, and I suppose it to be his, from my own idea, but
saw no letters as I looked for none.
p.670, Deposition of
SQUIRE BOONE (taken at a sassafras corner of survey made for Daniel Boone,
assignee of Joseph Hughes, on the waters of Silver Creek, Madison County,
October 2, 1802, before HUMPHREY JONES and JOHN KINCAID): In April 1776
he was employed by Joseph Hughes to assist in laying off and surveying a piece
of land for said Hughes which he, said Hughes, had purchased of Colonel RICHARD
HENDERSON and Company, in a State then called Transylvania, and on waters of
Silver creek where he attended as a marker and sometimes carried the chain to
go round said land, and was present when the beginning corner was made, and
this is the beginning corner we marked. [Deposition taking was then removed to
Boone's old trace on a branch of Silver Creek leading by CHARLES BROWN'S
towards TWITTY's fort.] This is the trace he marked on his way from the
old settlements to Boonesborough and was called Boone's trace, marked for
Colonel Richard Henderson. [Deposition taking was then removed to northeast
corner of the stockfield tract of 1,000 acres, marked April 1776, the lines
running to the cardinal point. [Deposition taking then removed to where
JOHN REED, JR. Now lives.] In the year 1775 deponent improved at this spring by
cutting his name on a tree, cutting house logs, and raising part of a cabbin
and marking other marks, by which improvement he obtained a certificate for
settlement and preemption from the commissioners.
p 671, Deposition of
DAVID GASS (taken at a sassafras corner of survey made for Daniel Boone,
assignee of Joseph Hughes, on the waters of Silver creek, Madison County, October 2, 1802, before HUMPHREY JONES
and JOHN KINCAID): About 17 years ago he was brought to this place by
Daniel Boone and SAMUEL GRANT was the surveyor. Daniel Boone said this
sassafras tree was JOSEPH HUGHES' corner. Colonel Boone informed me that
the black oak was corner to Hart's old line. The sassafras was marked for
a corner and appeared old when I came to it.
p.672, Deposition of THOMAS WARREN (taken at a
corner made for Daniel Boone, on waters of Silver creek, Madison County,
October 2, 1802, before HUMPHREY JONES and JOHN KINCAID): About 18 or 19 years
ago he was acquainted with this place when it was all in woods, and saw the
marks on trees for a corner which is now cut down, and a line from that tree to
the west appeared old.
p.672. Deposition of WILLIAM BUSH (taken at a
corner of JENNING's survey on waters of Hart's fork of Silver creek in Madison
County, March 23, 1803, before RICHARD GALLOWAY and JOHN KINCAID): In the
spring of the year 1775 when Capt. NATHANIEL HART and JONATHAN JENNINGS came to
Boonesboro I heard them say that they had both taken their choice of lands as
they came along. They was asked where, and they told us that Captain Hart made
his choice at the mouth of the branch or near that leads up towards Twitty's fort
and that Jennings choice was between him and said fort on the trace and it was
ever known and called their land and that fork called Hart's fork. After the
names was given the water courses and in 1782 I was applied to by BENJAMIN
CRAIG for LEWIS CRAIG to shew Hart's improvement to survey Jennings settlement
and improvement and I came to the camp at Hart's improvement and THOMAS ALLEN
the surveyor. We came to this Elm the beginning corner of Jennings' survey and laid the
survey. Question by plaintiff: Who did they contemplate holding this
choice of land under, was it not the proprietors RICHARD HENDERSON &
Company? Answer: Under the proprietors and a mile square each.
p.673, Deposition of JOHN
HARPER (taken at the house of NICHOLAS ANDERSON in Montgomery County on May 14,
1804, before WILLIAM O'REAR and JEREMIAH DAVIS): Deponent set out from
Boonesboro in the month of June 1779 to go to Virginia and encamped the first
night on the waters of Silver creek in company with a number of others and
Nathaniel Hart, deceased, and JESSE OLDHAM set out at the same time for the
settlement but were obliged to go out of their way for a horse that was bit by
a snake and did not join the company until that evening. That when Hart and
Oldham set out from Boonesborough they appointed to meet the company at
the Jesse Oldham improvement, which is above Nathaniel Hart's improvement on
the creek. They all set out the next morning and passed by the said Nathaniel Hart,
deceased, improvement and the said Nathaniel Hart informed this deponent and
the company that it was his improvement and there was a considerable field of
corn then growing at said improvement. Has not seen said improvement since that
time until the 5th inst., at which time he went to see it, and he is confident
it is the improvement Nathaniel Hart shewed him in 1779. He was present at
Boonesborough when Nathaniel Hart, deceased, laid in his claim before the
Commissioners for his settlement and preemption and said Hart informed the
deponent he had secured his certificate from the commissioners for a settlement
and preemption on the waters of Silver creek and never heard Hart had any other
settlement and preemption in Kentucky but the one on Silver creek.
p.674, Deposition of EDWARD WILLIAMS (taken at
the house of NICHOLAS ANDERSON in Montgomery County on May 14, 1804, before
JEREMIAH DAVIS and WILLIAM O'REAR): He set out from Boonesborough in the month
of June 1779 to go to Virginia and encamped the first night on the waters of
Silver creek in company with a number of others and Nathaniel Hart, deceased,
and Jesse Oldham set out at the same time for the settlement but were obliged
to go out of their way for a horse that was bit by a snake and did not join the
company until that evening. That when the said Hart and Oldham set out from
Boonesborough they appointed to meet the company at the said Jesse Oldham's
improvement which lies above Nathaniel Hart's improvement. That they all set
out together from the said Oldham's improvement the next morning and passed by the said Hart,
deceased, improvement. That the said Hart informed the deponent and company
that it was his improvement and there was a considerable field of corn then
growing at the said improvement. The deponent further said that he had
not seen the said improvement since that time until the 5th inst, at which time
he went to see it, and from the situation of the ground, the improvement, the
water courses and Boone's old trace he is confident that it is the improvement
which Nathaniel Hart, deceased, shewed him in the year 1779, and which this
deponent shewed the surveyor of Madison County on the 5th inst. Deponent was
present at Boonesborough when Nathaniel Hart laid in his claim before the
commissioners for his settlement and preemption and he said Hart obtained his
certificate for the improvement on Silver creek. Deponent never heard or knew
of any other improvement Nathaniel Hart had in Kentucky but the one on Silver creek.
p.675, Deposition of
SQUIRE BOONE (taken at his own house in Shelby County in May 18, 1804, before
WILLIAM McCREERY): That upon Nathaniel Hart, one of the complainant's
aforesaid, informing this deponent that he had given the defendants notice to
take this deponent's deposition at the Court House in the town or Shelbyville
on this day, this deponent says he is principalled against going into the town
of Shelbyville upon any business whatever but is willing to depose to any facts
within his knowledge relative to said suit at his own house and deposes.
That he is well acquainted with the honey locust the beginning corner
called for in GEORGE MERIWETHER's entry of 1,000 acres of land on a preemption
warrant in Madison County, which this deponent
sold to said Meriwether (known by the name of the Stockfield tract). This
deponent says he had a survey made in the year 1776 for 1,000 acres of land
which began at this said honey locust corner, which is the south east corner of
the said Merriwether's preemption as surveyed under the State of Virginia.
This deponent says that when the said survey was made for Meriwether he
went and shewed the beginning corner at the said Honey Locust.
p.676, Deposition of
GREEN CLAY (taken at State House Frankfort, Kentucky, on December 17, 1804
before WILLIAM PAGE and JOHN RUNNILL): That Silver creek and Hart's fork of
silver creek, Boone's old trace, I understand, was the road generally travelled
from the old settlement to the upper settlements in Kentucky. Squire
Boone's stockfield tract and Nathaniel Hart's improvement on Boone's old trace
were places of great notoriety as early as the fall of 1780.
p.676, Deposition of
JESSE OLDHAM (taken at his own house in Madison County on January 7, 1805,
before JOHN WILKERSON, a single magistrate): That Silver creek and Hart's fork
of Silver creek, Boone's old trace, Squire Boone's stockfield tract, and
Nathaniel Hart's improvement on Boone's old trace were places of great
notoriety and well known in Kentucky in the year 1779. That Boone's old
trace was marked out in the year 1775 and was the road leading from
Boonesborough and the upper parts of Kentucky through the Wilderness, which was generally
travelled. That Nathaniel Hart's improvement was within sight of Boone's
old trace and must have been well known to every person travelling or passing
along that trace as there was a considerale quantity of corn made at it in the summer of 1779.
p.677, Deposition of
THOMAS WARREN (taken on October 20, 1803, at a spring on the lands of BENJAMIN
ESTILL, near an improvement made by JAMES ESTILL, deceased, before RICHARD
CALLOWAY and JOHN KINCAID): Question by DANIEL MAUPIN: What do you know
respecting James Estill's preemption of 1,000 acres of land, at this spring
known by the name of the locust thicket? Answer: Early in January 1780 I came
to this spring near to a cabbin which James Estill told me was his improvement
of 1,000 acres which didn't at that time and has ever since, gone by name of
the Locust thicket, which lies on Otter Creek, Muddy creek, and Silver creek.
The cabbin stood about 20 or 30 feet from the spring.
p.677, Deposition of
DAVID LYNCH, taken on October 20, 1803, at a spring on the lands of Benjamin
Estill, in Madison County, near an improvement made by James Estill, deceased,
before RICHARD CALLOWAY and JOHN KINCAID): Early in January 1780 I came to this
spring and there was a cabbin standing about 20 or 30 feet from said spring
which James Estill told me he made for his improvement, by which he obtained
his certificate for a preemption of 1,000 acres of land, known by the name of
Locust Thicket, lying on the waters of Otter Creek, Muddy creek and Silver
creek. The said spring is on the waters of Otter creek and the spring made use
of by the inhabitants which first settled in Estill's old station. The said
spring is about 100 yards from the old station on a north course.
p.678, Deposition of BENJAMIN VANCLEVE (taken on 28th of March at a locust
thicket in Madison county on waters of Silver creek before JOHN HARRIS and JOHN
KINCAID): Sometime during April 1776 deponent came to the corner where we have
met and are taking this deposition, with JOHN KENNEDY, SQUIRE BOONE and others,
and made this corner for the beginning of JOSEPH HUGHES survey...from thence we
proceeded. Question by JAMES DINWIDDIE: What quantity was run in Hughes survey?
Answer: Not less than 640 acres. I am certain that this corner was marked by
John Kennedy in 1776. Question: Was it usual to pay Henderson &
Company the money for entering of land before it was entered? Answer: I can
only answer for myself. I paid to the best of my recollection $2.00.
p.679, Deposition of
THOMAS ALLEN (taken at the Court House in Mercer County on July 28, 1803, before CHARLES HUMPHREY and
JOHN THOMPSON): Some time about the year 1783 or
1784 he was applied to by Mrs. SARAH HART, widow of Nathaniel Hart, deceased,
to survey the settlement and preemption granted by the commissioners to the
said decedant (the deponent being then a deputy surveyor of Lincoln County) and
being at the house of Mrs. Hart at or in the vicinity of Boonesborough, had to
wait for Colonel Daniel Boone, who Mrs. Hart had sent for to shew the said
settlement and preemption and on the arrival of said Boone, he, the deponent
went with him from Mrs. Hart's to the place shewed by said Boone, as the
settlement and preemption of the decedent, Nathaniel Hart, which lies on the
waters of Silver creek and agreeable to the directions of said Boone, the
deponent surveyed and returned platt to principal surveyor. Question by
complainant: Was you not governed in making the said survey wholly by the
direction of Daniel Boone and not by the entries? Answer; It has been so long
since that I cannot now recall but I well know that Daniel Boone was the person
who acted for Mrs. Hart and by whom I was directed and that I was a stranger to
these claims, improvements, branches, etc., in that neighborhood and must
necessarily have been governed by the direction of Boone. Question: Did
not Sarah Hart, deceased, appear to have great confidence in the honesty and
integrity of Daniel Boone in directing the said survey? Answer: From my
recollection which I have now, she did. Question by defendant: Had not
Mrs. Hart the management of the decedent's land business after his death?
Answer: I do not know anything of her authority under decedent will or
otherwise, but she appeared in the case of directing the survey alluded to, to
manage as having a right to do so.
p.683. Survey by JOHN
CROKE, Surveyor, Madison County, shows Daniel Boone's
survey as assignee of Joseph Hughes, Nathaniel Hart's settlement and
preemption. Squire Boone's stockfield tract, Lewis Craig's settlement and
preemption, Hart's improvement shewn by JOHN HARPER and EDWARD WILLIAMS and
proven by JESSE OLDHAM, DAVID GASS and STEPHEN HANCOCK, TWITTY's Fort, Boone's
old trace, JAMES ESTILL's 1,000 acre tract.
It was agreed by the
Attorneys that the surveys of Nathaniel Hart's preemption and settlement were
executed by THOMAS ALLEN on January 12, 1784, were recorded in office of
Surveyor of Lincoln County, returned to Register's office and registered in
said office before the 2nd survey of said settlement and preemption, which were
made June 2, 1798, were executed.
That at the time the
said first survey and until after the last surveys were executed a part of the
heirs of Nathaniel Hart, deceased, were infants under the age of 21 years.
That the preemption of
1,000 acres entered and surveyed in the name of GEORGE MERIWETHER is the preemption granted to SQUIRE BOONE
at the stockfield tract.
That SIMPSON HART, the
eldest son of Nathaniel Hart, deceased, died in 1786, having acquired a lawful age.
That NATHANIEL HART,
JR., the oldest living son of the deceased, arrived at lawful age on September 30, 1791.
Verdict for complainants.
