Counties Of Todd And Christian Kentucky Collections

Traces Of The Earliest Kentucky Inhabitants

IT is an interesting suggestion of the archaeologist, that this land, which on the coming of the whites was too forbidding for the habitation of the Indian, centuries before was the home of a race of beings possessing some approach to civilization. The discovery of footprints upon his deserted island by Robinson Crusoe was not more startling than the discoveries of archaeologists to the followers of Petarius and Usher, who place the operations of creation and the whole evolution of civilization within the narrow limits of a few centuries. But science has multiplied its evidence until there is no room … Read more

Todd County, Kentucky Geological Speculations

No geological survey has been made of Todd County, and the State work is of such a general nature as to forbid the gathering of anything approaching a particular review of the geological features of this county from its pages. A brief general review is all that can be attempted in the time and space assigned to this topic here. The geological formations of Kentucky, in common with those of the other Western States, generally belong to that great system which extends from the Alleghanies on the east across the Mississippi and to the Rocky Mountains on the west. Throughout … Read more

Todd County, Kentucky Courts and Bar

Under the Constitution of 1799, there were three inferior courts, the Circuit Court, the County Court and the single Magistrate. The first was the same as at present, though in the scarcity of lawyers, the fashion was to travel the circuit, the Judge leading and the bar following as escort. Hopkinsville, Elkton, Russellville and Greenville were the principal points to which the practice of the time led the leading lawyers of the Todd County bar. The County Court was the great local arbiter of county interests, and was composed of a “competent number” of justices appointed from the county at … Read more

The Pioneers of Todd County, Kentucky

The early immigration to the State of Kentucky, as has been noted, came to the blue grass region and upper Kentucky Val-ley. A few of the more adventurous spirits pushed out to the southwest in the upper valley of Green River, and of these were the founders of Davis Station in Christian County, and Justinian Cartwright, in Todd County, in 1792. It is to be regretted that the sketches of the Hon. Urban Kennedy, published in a county paper, have not been preserved in-tact. Through the care of W. P. Stephenson, a few fragments have been secured to which the … Read more

The Log-Cabin

The log-cabin was the universal residence for years. But there are distinctions even in this simple class of structures, and the majority of those found here were of the better sort. While the larger number of the first settlers were not wealthy for even that day, there were some that were well-to-do, and there was manifested a disposition to secure all the comforts to be had at the cost of labor simply. The cabins therefore were as neat and comfortable as the rude carpentry and materials at hand would afford. The roof was made of clapboards; boards were supplied by … Read more

The Indians of Todd County, Kentucky

The relation of the Indians to the Mound-Builders has not been satisfactorily determined by scientists. Indian traditions are so vague, and so utterly lacking in the prime essentials for a scientific basis, that few archaeologists have taken them into the account. Some, how-ever, have hazarded an hypothesis in accordance with the traditions mentioned above, while others (among whom the late Mr. Morrison, an account of whose researches in New Mexico have been published by the Smithsonian Institute), have taken the ground that the Indian is a degenerate descend-ant of these ancient people, and that the famed Montezuma, whose halls have … Read more

Social Development of Todd County, Kentucky

THE early society of Todd County was derived from Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The natives of the latter State largely preponderated in the northern part of the county, while the Virginians and North Carolinians were found in about equal proportions in the southern part. The greater part of those who came here early were in limited financial circumstances, though the cheapness of the land and the opportunity of profitable speculation attracted a few who. were remarkably well-to-do for that period. There were few, if any, of outward marks of difference, and neighbors were too highly prized in the sparsely … Read more

Public Buildings of Todd County, Kentucky

The general description of the first court house is contained in the order of the County Court quoted on a preceding page. Maj.. Gray undertook his part promptly, pushing it forward with great vigor. He made the brick on the public square, and completed it early in 1821. The finishing of the inside was delayed some time for lack of funds, and was not finally completed until September, 1822. The first story was devoted to the court, and the upper story to a large room which served the various purposes of jury room, Masonic lodge room, etc. The county officers … Read more

Political Development of Todd County, Kentucky

THE final act of State authority in forming and organizing Todd County was the location of the seat of justice. Several points, New-burg, Old Elkton and the present site were in competition for the location. The competition was not very active, and there was but little difference in the advantages offered. At Newburg, James Kendall had established a hotel, the ” half way house ” between Russellville and Hopkinsville, and proposed this location as the most central point eligible for the county seat. Old Elkton had the merit of a good start on the banks of the river, but the … Read more

Kentucky’s Early Political Development

Kentucky had been erected into a county of that name in 1776. In the spring of 1783 it was made a judicial district, and a court of criminal as well as civil jurisdiction was established, John Floyd, Samuel McDowell and George Muter being appointed Judges; John May, Clerk; and Walker Daniel, Prosecuting Attorney. The first session was held at Harrodsburg the same spring, Floyd and McDowell only being present, Muter not putting in an appearance until two years later. Seventeen cases were presented by the grand jury, nine for keeping tippling houses and eight for fornication, which probably illustrates the … Read more

Indian Demonstrations at Boonesboro, Kentucky

The Indians had not been inattentive to the activity of the whites. They met the very first organized party with slaughter, and up to 1775 had succeeded in disheartening and driving out all who had effected a temporary settlement. The cluster of settlements near and including Boonesboro seems to have impressed the natives with the necessity of better preparations to resist the encroachments of the whites which were growing more formidable in their character. In 1777 the attacks of the Indians, which had hitherto been made with very little concert of action, began to evince evidence of some guiding influence, … Read more

History and Biographies of Todd and Christian Counties, Kentucky

Be it Enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, That from and after the first day of April next, all that part of said counties of Logan and Christian, contained in the following boundary, to wit: Beginning on the Tennessee State line, at the present corner of the counties of Logan and Christian, on said State line; thence on a straight line to the Muhlenberg County line, two miles east of the present corner of said counties of Logan and Christian, on said Muhlenberg County line; then westwardly with said Muhlenberg County line, until a due south … Read more

George Rogers Clarke’s Campaign

It was evident that these attacks were inspired, and munitions supplied, by the British stationed at Kaskaskia and Vincennes. George Rogers Clarke, who had visited Kentucky in 1775, had taken in the situation from a military standpoint, and had conceived a plan by which the infant settlements of Kentucky might be freed from this additional source of danger. He communicated it to Gov. Henry of Virginia, and had no difficulty in impressing him with the advantages of its successful prosecution. But the colony was then in common with the other twelve engaged in the stirring scenes of the Revolution. This … Read more

Geography of Todd County, Kentucky

The county thus organized and named is situated in the southern part of the State, on the Tennessee line, and in the eastern border of that section of Kentucky arbitrarily called the Southwest. It is bounded on the north by Muhlenburg County, east by Logan, south by Montgomery, in State of Tennessee, and west by Christian, and contains about 330 square miles. The county lies partly in the Green River Val- ley, and partly in that of the Cumberland River, and represents the characteristics of both valleys. The dividing line between these valleys passes in a northwesterly direction through Todd … Read more

Early Surveys and Settlements of Kentucky

The first authorized survey made by an official surveyor in this Territory was in the northeast corner of the State, in what is now Lawrence and Greenup Counties. One plat covered the present site of the town of Louisa, and the other eleven miles from the mouth of the Big Sandy, on the river. These were made for John Fry, to whom the lands were conveyed by patents. The corners were marked with the initials ” G. W.,” and it is believed in the locality that the surveys were made by George Washington himself, although no documentary evidence can be … Read more

Early Kentucky Amusements

The early sports were allied to useful occupations. Quiltings, wool-pickings and spinning-bees were made up by the women, when the afternoon was given to work and the night to games, the young men coming in to share the entertainment and escort the girls home. House-raisings, log-rollings and husking-bees were occasions when the men after a hard day’s work would spend, the evening with the young women invited in. As society developed, however, the times showed “smart signs of wickedness ” in place of these earlier amusements. Horse racing, shooting matches, raffling and dancing came in to disturb the staid people … Read more

Early Explorations of Kentucky

Kentucky lies within the region granted by royal charter to the colony of Virginia. For a hundred years it remained unexplored, unnamed and unprovided for, save to be included in the out-lying County of Virginia for judicial purposes. In 1776 it formed a part of the comprehensive County of Fincastle, Va., and on the 31st of December of this year it was erected into a separate county, under the Indian name signifying dark and bloody ground, which it still bears, though somewhat modified in spelling and pronunciation. The vast territory thus erected into a separate county contained at this time … Read more

Early Educational Interests in Todd County, Kentucky

Under the social influence described in these pages it will be easily understood that popular education must be attended by many difficulties. Its value and importance were certainly under-rated by all classes, and it gained a foothold in Kentucky only through the strenuous exertions of a far-sighted few. Education was at first entirely in the hands of the church, which established seminaries at various points, primarily for the preparation of the clergy for ministerial work, but which were at once accepted by the wealthy portion of the church membership as a convenient means to give their children such accomplishments as … Read more

Early Church Influence in Todd County, Kentucky

The people who laid the foundations of society in Todd County were a religious people. The great revival movement which originated in Logan County in 1800, spread over the new settlements of the State like a prairie fire, and set the whole land in a flame of religious ardor. It was a time when pious ardor broke through the restraining forms of the church, and expressed itself in the wildest ecstasy and most extravagant manifestations. There were but few church buildings of any character in this region, and the people came together in large camp-meetings, where the Spirit of the … Read more

Development of the Kentucky Settlements

The present State of Kentucky was visited by various parties at different times from 1747 to 1772. The first of these which gave promise of the return of the parties were those made in 1773 by surveyors sent out by Dunmore and others. An “improver’s cabin,” a square of small logs, but neither roofed nor inhabited, was erected this year in Bracken County, but there were none elsewhere in the country at this time. In May, 1774, Capt. James Harrod settled near Harrodsburg with thirty-one persons, and soon after Isaac Hite with ten men joined them. These men erected their … Read more