depositions

Special Collections: Draper Manuscripts-Copies of Depositions taken
in Land Suites in Kentucky Courts Between 1794 and 1824 gathered by
Richard H. Collins. (DM 15C24-DM 15C25(17))

The following was transcribed from microfilm copies of the original
documents in the Draper Manuscripts Collection of the State Historical
Society of Wisconsin, Madison, WI. by Diana Lehman.

* * * *
RICHARD H. COLLINS & CO.
No. 11 Courier-Journal Building, Louisville, Ky.
PUBLISHERS OF COLLINS' HISTORY OF KENTUCKY
Louisville, April 25, 1883.
Lyman C. Draper, LL.D., Madison, Wisconsin
Dear Sir,
At great inconvenience, but with great pleasure, I have at last completed the copy of
the Depositions, &c called for in your letter several months since. I found it impossible,
from my notes, to give you the references which would enable you to get copies elsewhere;
and so I set myself to work at intervals to copy them. It required much ingenuity and labor
to find some of them, at this late day.
As you offered to pay, & could not get them elsewhere except for full pay, you may
fix the value of the copy.
I have been consulting with Col. R. T. Durrett and Dr. C. Graham about Geo. Rogers
Clarke's amputated leg, &c. I suppose they have given you all the information they have.
Yours truly
Richd. H. Collins

Copies of Depositions taken in Land Suits in Kentucky Courts between
1794 and 1824 - gathered by Richd H. Collins, while writing his "History
of Kentucky"

page 526
also page 50
Peter Sholl, age 63 (son-in -law of Edward Boone) deposed April 17, 1818, deposed
that he was one of the co. that pursued the Indians at the time they killed Edward Boone,
his wife's father, in Oct. 1780. After burying said Boone, we followed the Indians to the
Upper Blue Licks; thence . . . to the North Fork of Licking . . . thence to the waters of
Cabin Creek. There I asked Col. Daniel Boone where he thought the Indians would cross
the Ohio river; he said at the mouth of Cabin Creek.
Along our route were many trees peeled, and on one the picture of a turtle and, I think,
that of a deer. Capt. Charles Gatliff asked Col. D. Boone to send spies forward, to see if the
Indians had crossed the Ohio. The spies on their return ___ ___ 1 1/2 s. of the Ohio, &
reported that the Indians had crossed the Ohio below the mouth of Cabin Creek. We turned
back, then held a council, & changed our route so as to go by the Lower Blue Licks. At
Stove Lick creek we rested an hour, & cracked hickory nuts. Two or three miles s. of the
North Fork, where the land was rich, Col. Boone proposed that he, & I, & his son Israel
and S__el Grant should turn off to the left & hunt. We killed a buffalo, hurried on across
Licking, at Lower Blue Licks, & caught up with our party at Big Flat Creek.
Thence, parting, Gatleff & his co. went to Bryan's Station, & Col Boone, myself, &
others went to Boone's Station. There I found Bartlett Searcy, whom I told of the route we
took. He was well acquainted with it, & believed it the same the Indians were aiming to take
when they captured two of Col. Callaway's & one of Col. Boone's daughters - who were
retaken 2 or 3 miles s. of Upper Blue Licks . . . I came to Ky, in fall of 1774, via the
Wilderness. I was to hunt for 4 families, & they were to raise 4 acres of corn. Bartlett
Searcy hunted with me, chiefly bet. mouth of Cabin Creek (at Ohio r. 6 miles above Maysville)
and the Upper and Lower Blue Licks, in 1780-1-2-3 & 4.

page 94
Simon Kenton deposed, Aug. 24, 1796: In 1775, he built a cabin on what is now known
as Richard Wade's improvement, on waters of Lee's Creek, in now Mason Co. In 1778 he
became acquainted with sd. Wade at Fort Detroit, where he left him in 1779. After his return
to Ky., he (K.) proposed to James Estill that he (K.) would furnish him with a location for sd
Wade, if he (E.) would do the other business necessary to secure it before the C__rs for
granting rights of settlement & preemption in the Dist. of Ky. He did furnish this location,
where he had built a cabin 5 or 6 rounds high, with ribs & ridge poles & joists.

I built 3 cabins on the same branch near that cabin, one above & one below it, and several on
a branch more northwesterly, that empties into the main [North Fork] creek lower down; and
some towards the dividing ridge bet. Lee's creek and Shannon's Run, on the drains of Lee's
creek; and a number on easterly side of Lee's creek, some of which on the branch went below
the Big Spring branch. Thomas Williams was with me when I made the improvements.

page 446-7
Simon Kenton deposed, June 5, 1824: In 1775, 1776, May 1780, & 1784, he was well
acquainted with the mouth of Cabin Creek, the North Fork of Licking, and the Upper Blue
Licks or Springs. By those names, then and ever since, they were well known - except that,
prior to 1780, some called the North Fork the East Fork. Fleming Creek, in 1776 & before,
was called the Dry Fork of Licking. Two roads led from the mouth of Cabin Creek to the
Upper Blue Licks - one called the war road or upper war road, the other called the buffalo
road or trace & sometimes called the lower war road; former was best known. In 1777, a
co. of about 30 men carried a quantity of powder from the Three Islands (9 to 12 mi. above
Maysville) to Harrodsburg. They went down the Ohio to mouth of Cabin Creek, then by my
advice struck across to the buffalo trace leading from Limestone to Lower Blue Licks. I saw
James Gilmore & others travel the upper war road in 1775. Also saw Col. Calmas' co. at
the mouth of Cabin Creek in spring 1775; some of his co. afterwards told me they traveled the
upper war road, via Upper Blue Lick, & made corn on Lulbegrud, the same summer.
Wm. Stewart was killed at battle of Blue Licks, in 1782. From 1777 to 1784, I resided
generally on the south side of Ky. River. In 1778, I crossed Ohio R. at Limestone, on a scout.
In 1783, I landed at Limestone & passed by way of Lower Blue Lick to Danville.
War roads were distinguished by their being leading roads-i.e. leading from one distant point
to another; also, by the marks and blazes upon them. Buffalo roads were found along ridges
& creeks, & were much more worn down or beaten, from their being greatly traveled by
buffalo; they were wider than war roads, & not distinguished by marks.

page 556
Gen. Simon Kenton deposed, May 11, 1821, at the prison of Mason Co. (in Washington):
He was now 66 or 67 years old. In 1780, he undertook to locate 3,000 acres of land warrants
for Edward Byne, his pay to be 1/2 thereof. He located 1,000 acres where the town of
Washington now stands; 1,000 acres at Lewis' Station, formerly called Clark's Station, on north
side of North Fork of Licking river, &c. In the division, he got the 1,000 acres where
Washington now is, and the east half of the 1,000 at Lewis.' He made his own entry of
2,000 acres at the mouth of Well's creek, & afterwards sold it (part of a very large sale of land)
to Wm. Wood & Arthur Fox who well knew of its "interference" with Byne's Station
survey on North Fork.

page 664
Simon Kenton deposed, Aug. 23, 1821: He first became acquainted in 1775, with the
"middle trace" or road from Lower Blue Lick to the head of Lawrence's creek (now
Washington). In 1776, he traveled it with Robert Patterson, Samuel Arrowsmith, Jacob
Drennon, Samuel Percy, & others who then called it the "middle trace." In 1778, he traveled
it again, with Col. Daniel Boone, Alex Barnett, & others, 18 in number. In 1780, he assisted
to make . . . (certain) entries - all intended to lay on or near said trace . . . &c.

page 563
Simon Kenton deposed, Aug. 15, 1814. I knew Lawrence creek (in Mason Co., 3 miles S.
& W. of Maysville) in 1775 and ever since. I was at its mouth in 1775, with John Fitzpatrick
and Thos. Williams. The former told me he was with Thos. Bullitt in 1773; and that this
creek was named Lawrence creek after Lawrence Darnell. I was there in 1778 with old
Daniel Boone and 16 other men; and in 1779, with Capt. Gatliff and Leaper, R. McKinney,
and Marshall. I was on said creek in the fall of 1783; landed at Limestone, with the intention
of settling on the waters of Lawrence creek, about 1 mile n. of Washington; and in company
with Wm Kenton and John Metcalfe, we came out from Limestone to the spring on said
creek, and we called it Lawrence Creek. I settled at said spring in the fall of 1784. In 1776,
I saw Ignatius Mitchell, Daniel Boone, & __ Hunter on said creek; and in same year it was
known by Jacob Drennon, Samuel Arrowsmith, John Mills, and Col. Robert Patterson.

Simon Kenton deposed, Sept. 12, 1797: In summer of 1775, he and Thos. Williams came
here (on Jacob Lockhart's entry in Mason county) and deadened trees; & in 1776 put up a
cabin, and sold the improvement to Scott. He and Scott afterwards "recanted that bargain,"
and Kenton sold to Lockhart.

page 550
Hayden Wells deposed, March 14, 1797, at Gen. Henry Lee's residence (about 1 mile n.
of Washington). In June, 1775, he and Thomas Young and others landed at the mouth of
Limestone creek (now Maysville) for the purpose of improving lands; and after advancing into
the country and making several improvements on the waters of Lawrence creek and of the
North Fork of Licking, they built a cabin for sd. Young here.

page 550
Wm. Triplett deposed, same day & at same time and place: He and nine others built 10
cabins (in now Mason Co.) one each for Samuel Wells, Haydon Wells, Wm. Triplett (himself)
Thomas Tebbs, John Tebbs, Thomas Young, John Rust, Matthew Rust, Richard Master
and John Heggis. John and Thomas Tebbs left their axes in Thomas Tebbs' cabin, where I
got them in 1776. They (__ __) also made some improvements near the Ohio river below the
mouth of Stepstone creek, for Samuel Wells and Thomas Young (in now Bracken Co., below
Augusta). He was in the neighborhood of these improvements in 1775, 1776, 1780, 1783, and
1784, and has lived in Ky. ever since.

page 549
Capt. Thomas Young deposed, Nov. 24, 1804: He descended the Ohio river in company
with several others, in 1773, and encamped several days at mouth of Limestone creek where
town of Maysville now stands. At that time, Capt. John Hedges, one of the co., named it
Limestone creek, by which name it has been notoriously known ever since. So, Lawrence
creek was called after Lawrence Darnell, another of the co., who was there with deponent,
that same year. I was here with the Wells party in 1775, again in 1784, in 1785, and since till
1790 occasionally, and in 1791 removed and have lived here ever since.
I had a cabin on the Ohio below this, but never laid any claim to that after the passage of
the law giving the right of preemption. I was in the Revolutionary War, in Col. Crockett's
regiment called the "Regiment of Guards to the Convention," and stationed at Charlottesville.
The Gov. of Va. Subscribed my commission as Captain. My commanding officer was Col.
James Wood, a "continental" officer, from Jan. 1, 1780 to March 1781. I located my military
land warrants, a part on Green River, part on Russell's creek, and part on Price's Meadow
creek. The surveys are countersigned by Wm. Croghan. I got 4,000 acres, which I believe
was what the captains got.

page 551
John MCausland deposed, Aug. 11, 1798: Early in April, 1776, he and Wm. Biggs,
George Deakins and James Duncan came down the Ohio and landing at Limestone, were
met by a man who called himself Simon Butler (the same man now called Kenton). Kenton,
Biggs, Deakins & myself traveled out from the Ohio, along a war path, for some distance; then
turned off to a camp which Kenton had, on Lawrence creek, & stayed there some time.
Thence Kenton conducted us to a canebrake (now the town of Washington). At different
places we made improvements, built cabins, &c. None of us except Kenton had ever seen Ky.
before. In about ten days, Biggs and I left this neighborhood. I have never been back until
now.

page 550
Wm. Triplett deposed, Aug. 11, 1798: We was in Ky. In 1775, and again in July, 1776,
with Samuel Wells and others. In 1775, he left the "camp" and was out "improving" only
once with the company.

page 234
Daniel Boone deposed, April 24, 1794, at Point Pleasant, Va., that about June 1, 1774,
James Hickman employed him to locate, enter, & direct the surveying of 4,000 acres, as soon
as times would admit of it, & lodged with him Col. Preston's certificate for the survey. On
June 26, 1774, I was employed by Gov. Dunmore to go out to that country and give the
surveyors notice of the out breaking of the Indian's war. I took with me Michael Stoner, and
on the creek that goes by the name of Hickman's creek, about 2 or 3 miles below Col. Levi
Todd's, I cut the first two letters of said Hickman's name on a large water oak, with a large
stone grown past in said tree, in presence of said Stoner. And finding the surveyors (were
alarmed by, or were posted about) the Indians, I returned home, and wrote to Col. Preston
to make the entry for Mr. Hickman at that tree and agreeably to my instructions.
In March, 1775, I went out again, where I met Mr. (James) Douglas,
who surveyed (during) the year before (1774), on Hickman's creek, and applied to him to
make Hickman's survey. He told me he had surveyed that land in 1774, and that I had better
move the entry. Some time that summer, I went over to Col Floyd's on Boone creek . . .
The following is copy of certificate filed with Boone's deposition: "I do hereby certify that
Capt. Daniel Boone attended, assisted and directed me in the surveying of 4,000 acres of land
for Mr. James Hickman. Given "under my hand this 29th May, 1775.
John Floyd, Asst. Surveyor."

page 555
Daniel Boone deposed, Sept. 28, 1795, on the spot, in now Fleming co, Ky., that "on
June 19, 1778, being on ___ from the Indians who had me lately before in captivity, I came
to a large open place of ground at the forks of three branches, a buffalo road, waters of
Johnston's Fork (of Licking), which land I entered for James Peake on Jan. 11, 1780, on
the Commissioner's Books; also, on the same day, entered for David Birney a settlement and
preemption adjoining on the south, which Robert Wallace claims as assignee."

page 559
Daniel Boone deposed, July 3, 1797, in regard to James Peake's settlement on the waters
of Flat Fork on Johnson, that on June 19, 1778, being on my way from the Indians (in
captivity), came to this place, being a large open place of ground at a buffalo road and the forks
of three branches of the waters of Johnston's Fork, which said land he entered, Jan. 11, 1780,
for James Peake. "On the 19th day of June, 1778, I roasted some meat, and got some ___ on
the mouth of three branches." "Peak furnished me the money to clear out the same (his
preemption), and I only sold him my chance without recourse to new." George Stockton,
James Bailey, & Michael Cassidy were present at the taking of the deposition, which was
taken by David Morris and John Porter as J.P.

page 563
Daniel Boone deposed, June 10, 1817, at the dwelling house of John B Callaway in St.
Charles Co., Missouri Territory 00 (and because of some technical oversight, it was taken again
Sept. 22, 1817) that he is about 84 years old. In June or July, 1776, we followed the Indians
almost to the North Fork of Licking, along the upper war road which leads from the Upper
Blue Licks to the mouth of Cabin Creek (on the Ohio river, 6 miles above Maysville); but
never heard either of the roads called the Upper or Lower war roads until Oct. 1780, when we
pursued the Indians past the Upper Blue Licks to the mouth of Cabin Creek, after they had
killed my brother Edward Boone.
On May 15, 1780 the nearest station to the Stone Lick (now Orangeburg, in Mason Co.,
9 miles e.s.e. of Maysville) were Ruddle's and Martin's, about 45 miles distant; Boyan's about
60 miles; Lexington, 64 miles; Boonesborough, 64 miles; and Stroud's, near 42 miles . . . In
Feb. 1778 I was first at Stone Lick. I sent Simon Kenton to the mouth of Cabin Creek to spy,
in Aug. or Sept., 1777. I first heard Stone Lick so called in 1781. Those who had the best
opportunity to know the roads in that region were Simon Kenton, John Martin, John
Haggins, Jared Townsend . . . In Oct., 1780, I knew the Indians had come along this (Upper)
war road; for in muddy places I saw their horse tracks, which enabled us to follow them. The
whole of our co. did not pursue them all the way to the mouth of Cabin Creek. Charles
Gatliff, my son Israel (who went to see it), Jacob Stucker, and 8 or 9 others went with us to
the Ohio River; the balance stopped at the junction of the Stone Lick road . . . I never knew,
but heard, that there was an Indian crossing at the Three Islands. The mouth of Cabin Creek,
the North Fork of Licking, and the Upper Blue Licks were places of general notoriety in the
Spring of 1780, and before. Simon Kenton told me that in 1776 and 1777 he traveled the road
from the mouth of Cabin Creek past the Stone Lick and Lower Blue Licks; and of my own
knowledge, he returned home by the Lower Blue Licks, in those two years, from his Spring
trips, at which time he lived at Boonesborough. The men with me in Oct. 178, pursuing the
Indians, were from Strode's, McGee's, Bryan's, Lexington and Boone's Stations.
War roads in early times, were distinguished from roads made by game, by choppings,
blazings, paintings, &c; otherwise they could not have been distinguished from the small buffalo
roads. The left hand road - after leaving Stone Lick, to Stockton's Spring - in Oct. 1780, was
marked as an ancient Indian road, was pretty well blazed, and had bushes cut, upon both sides
of the road. Our co. gave it the name of the Upper War road . . . In 1777, I traveled and I
have heard both Haggin and Townsend say that they traveled, in 1776 or 1777, out from the
mouth of Cabin Creek, past Stone Lick and May_lick, to the Lower Blue Licks.

page 466
Daniel Boone, on June 2, 1796, -- (at a point on a branch of the North Fork of Licking,
on the path from Keith's Mill to the Salt Works at Salt Lick Creek. [near Vanceburg, in now
Lewis Co.], where were two white oak trees with old blazes and some old pictures on said
blazes) made oath that in 1779 he was at this spot, and that there was an Indian camp there at
the time; and that in 1780 he surveyed and located 3,000 acres land for Nathaniel Hart, to
include the place where he now is, and to have the Indian camp in the center.

page 656
Jesse Coffee deposed, May 15, 1805, that he lived at Boonesborough in 1777; and about
the last of Dec., of that year, or 1st Jan. 1778, he & about 28 others went with Col. Daniel
Boone to the Lower Salt Lick on Main Licking (i.e. Lower Blue Licks), to make salt. We
made a few bushels of salt; and the Indians "tuck" Col. Boone, myself, and the greater part of
his co. prisoners.

page 656 & 664
Stephen Hancock deposed, May 23, 1808, at Madison C. H. (now Richmond), that he
moved his family to Boonesborough in Oct. 1777; and about 1st Feb. 1778, went with Daniel
Boone and about 30 men to the Lower Blue Lick to make salt. Col. Boone and his co. that
staid with him was taken prisoners by the Indians. Boone escaped about August following, &
came home. After Boone's return, he and deponent & Col. John Logan & John Kennedy &
others (about 28 men in all) went over same road to Blue Licks in search of Indians. In fall of
1780, I went from Strode's Station, with Capt. Charles Gatliff and others, about 70 men in
all, to the Upper Blue Lick, & thence down the Licking river to theLower Blue Lick; &
returned home by the Flat Lick and Round Lick, &c.

page 656
Wm. Cradlebaugh deposed, same day and place, that he lived at Boonesborough with Col.
Daniel Boone in 1776 and for several years after. About Feb. 1, 1778, I sent with Boone &
others, about 30 men in all, to Lower Blue Lick. "A few of the men came home, and left Col.
Boone and the rest of the co. at the Blue Licks to make salt; and Col. Boone and his co. was
taken by the Indians." Col. Boone returned home in July or August following. Shortly after,
myself & others, about 20 men in all, went (over this road) to Blue Licks, to hide the kettles.
In the summer of same year, myself and about 20 men in all went to the Lower Blue Locks to
bring home said kettles; and encamped one night at Flat Lick.

page 94
The depositions of Simon Kenton, Thos. Young and Wm. Triplett were taken by Comrs,
Aug. 23, 1796 - from which it appeared that in 1773 John Fitzpatrick was here with Col.
Thomas Bullitt (below Augusta, in now Bracken Co.) and then called this Turtle Creek; that
it was so called by Patrick Doran in 1774; that in 1775, John Hedges, for and by whom the
land was surveyed in 1773, was still on his improvement; and that the creek was called Turtle
Creek until 1782, then changed to Locust Creek. Thomas Young was chain carrier in 1773 for
that and several other surveys in that neighborhood.
(Thomas Young lived in Maysville until his death about 1837 or '38, in the home of Mrs.
Elizabeth B. Langhorn, who died in Louisville in 1878, & whose daughter & son-in-law, Henry
Waller and wife now live on Ashland Avenue in Chicago, aged 72 & 62 respectively. I do not
know that they could tell you anything of value, except of Capt. Young's personal appearance,
habits, &c. I was a boy of 13 or 14, & knew him slightly.) Richd. H. Collins, Nov. 9, 1882.

Henry Hall deposed, March 10, 1804, that in Feb. 1779 he was at the Fall of the Ohio, one
(a private) of Capt. Wm. Harrod's guard who conveyed Gov. Hamilton and party from the
Falls to Harrodsburg, where he staid several days. I learned there that an expedition was on
foot against the Chillicothe towns on the Miami, and agreed to go. We returned to the Falls
and Capt. Harrod raised 50 or 60 men. We proceeded up to the mouth of Licking, where we
were met by the volunteers from Harrodsburg and the other settled places. We proceeded,
and had a fight at the town. On our return, we dispersed at the mouth of Licking; "some went
up the river (?Licking Ohio-LCD), and others came back to this country. I was solicited by
Capt. Isaac Ruddle to come over to the north side of the Ky. River, to settled a station on
the Licking waters, in a fine country unsettled." Col. Bowman commanded the troops after
we met at mouth of Licking. Became acquainted with the west branch of Licking called Mill
creek. I saw a camp on it, called
"Bowman's Camp." Besides this camp, Lee's Lick, McFall's Lick, and Logan's Lick were on
Mill Creek. All four were "notorious places."

page 179
Wm. McGee deposed, March 10, 1804, that in the last of May or June in 1779 (I believe),
myself and "several" others, the number I do not recollect, came from Boonesborough under
Daniel Boone,* on an expedition against the Indians. Thence "we came to the place now called
Lexington, though not called by that name then - where there was but one house." Thence we
went to the mouth of Licking, the point of rendezvous. Capt. John Holder also marched with
a Co. from Boonesborough, in co. with Boone and his command. Holder did not encamp with
his men at Lexington, but went beyond that and encamped. I do not remember to have seen
Col Bowman until after we arrived at the mouth of Licking. We went on to the Indian towns,
and were under his command until our return to the mouth of the Little Miami, where ___ men
dispersed to the different parts of Kentucky and elsewhere. Col. Bowman was County
Lieutenant of Ky., and as such, it appeared to me, he issued the instructions or directions.

(The last two foregoing, & several following, depositions were taken by Commissioners to
perpetuate testimony as to the point where Col. Bowman encamped the second night, when
marching to the Shawnee towns. It was an important point, in numerous land surveys.)

page 179
David Mitchell (aged 67) deposed, May 18, 1804, on Mill Creek, that he was not in
Bowman's Expedition in 1779, but a "residenter in Lexington at the time" (in May). I recollect
of 14 citizens coming over to settle in Lexington about the 14th of April in that year. Robert
Patterson and John Morrison were two of them. I killed meat for the garrison, while the army
was out.

page 180
Josiah Collins (aged 47) deposed, same day and place, that he marched from Lexington in
Holder's Co., in May, 1779. My residence at that time was at Lexington, having moved there
in April from Harrodsburg. While at Harrodsburg, I drew rations; but after I moved to
Lexington, meat was plenty, and I found myself. Holder's, Todd's, & Logan's Cos encamped
on Mill creek. I was a volunteer, & "found myself," in the Expedition. I do not know whether
the others did or not. . . We were discharged on the south side of the Ohio, nearly opposite
the mouth of the Little Miami . . . I don't know that Lexington was a place of note before Col.
Bowman's Expedition was set on foot.
* A mistake. - Boone had not then returned from No Cara to Ky. - LCD

page 425
Benjamin Berry deposed, at same place & date, that he came, the first time he was in
the country, to Logan's Station, April 17, 1779, and to Harrodsburg on April 20, 1779. Shortly
after, Col. Bowman and other officers prepared an expedition against the Shawnee Indians, and
he requested people to plant their corn and be in readiness to rendezvous at Lexington in May.
We accordingly met there the militia from other Stations-from Harrodsburg, Wilson's,
McAfee's, Logan's, Boonesborough, Lexington, and Bryan's. Col. Bowman, County
Lieutenant, then directed our march to the mouth of Licking. On our way, we encamped here
(Mills Creek), the second night from Lexington . . . I heard Col. Bowman give Ruddle orders to
direct the men in his Station to be in readiness when called on . . . After our return to this side
of the Ohio, "and after the sale of the property was over," "every co. took their own course
homeward, as they pleased" . . . The men from the Falls had been directed to meet us at the
mouth of Licking, with boats to enable us to cross . . . I was in Capt. Levi Todd's Co. We
were all volunteers, and found ourselves.

page 425
James Guthrie deposed, May 25, 1804, that "on April 6, 1779, he landed at the Rapids of
the Ohio. Immediately afterwards there was an expedition set on foot against the Indians. A
certain Wm. Harrod who, this deponent conceives, commanded them at the Falls of Ohio,
harangued the people then there - showing the necessity of the expedition, & that the
settlements from the other parts of Ky. Were desirous of having the expedition carried into
effect. In consequence, this deponent on the 13th of May marched from Louisville, with
others to the number of 70, destined for the expedition aforesaid. They ascended the Ohio to
the mouth of Licking, when they joined the volunteers from the different parts of Ky. After
they had thus met, they by an election or joint voice of the respectable characters "choosed" a
gentleman of the name of Bowman to command said expedition, and proceeded accordingly to
the Shawanese town on the Little Miami, where we attached the Chillicothe town; and success
in the attack is well know. The army returned, and recrossed the Ohio at the mouth of the
Little Miami - where the army was discharged. I then repaired to the place where Lexington
now is, and resided there until about the last of March 1780. About 190 men met us at the
mouth of the Licking. I believe it was on the other side of the river that the volunteers were
organized, and formed the line of march."

page 466 & 563
Col. Robert Patterson at his own house, Oct. 19, 1818, deposed that in Nov. 1775 we
reached Salt Lick Creek (where Vanceburg, Lewis Co., on Ohio river, now is) from Fort Pitt,
in company with David Perry, Wm McConnell, and Stephen Lowry. Thence Perry- who had
been on, the Spring before, undertook to pilot us on to Leastown, on the Ky. River. We kept
up Salt Lick creek westwardly; then continued westwardly, crossing Cabin Creek, until we
came to the Stone Lick; then kept going about the same course, until we struck the buffalo
trace, leading from Limestone to the Lower Blue Licks, at Mayslick; crossing that trace, we
came to the middle trace - which we kept to the Lower Blue Licks; thence on to Hinkston,
and to Leestown. Stone Lick was not then called by that name; but it is the same place where
Francis McDermid's settlement and preemption was afterwards laid, and was called Stone Lick
from the time McDermid's was surveyed; it is where Williamsburg (now called Orangeburg) is
placed, or near it . . . We had 9 horses and 14 head of cattle with us, when we went from
Stone Lick to Mays lick, in 1775.

page 466
Maj. George Stockton deposed, Feb. 26, 1805, at Flemingsburg, that early in April, 1776,
for purposes of improving land, he and Samuel Strode, Wm. McClary and John Fleming,
descended the Ohio River and landed at mouth of Salt Lick Creek (Vanceburg); proceeded
into the country towards the Upper Blue Licks, and made improvements on North Fork of
Licking, and on Fleming Creek; then recrossed the North Fork, fell in with John Boggs and
others, and went with them to their camp on Well's Creek, near what is now Bailey's Station
(in Mason County) where we saw Simon Kenton, then called Simon Butler. Three companies
were thus met at Boggs' camp - ours, Boggs, Isaac Pearce, John Virgin, and others, 14 or 15 in
all. I do not know whether Virgin belonged to Boggs' or to a separate co.

page 467
Jacob Sodowsky deposed, April 27, 1818, at his own house in Jessamine Co., that "he
first became acquainted with the mouth of Cabin creek in 1774; a-coming down the Ohio
river." I was in this country in 1776, and there was some powder came down the Ohio with
George Rogers Clark and others, which was deposited at the Three Islands, late in the fall or
early in the winter of 1776. On Jan. 2, 1777, James Harrod raised a co., of which I was one,
to go after the powder. We went by McClelland's fort (now Georgetown), by the Lower Blue
Licks and Mayslick; thence turned to the right a little, and struck the Ohio at or near the mouth
of Cabin creek. There were about 25 or 30 men in the co. They were: James Harrod, who
had the ordering of the co., Joseph Blackford, David Glenn, Benjamin Linn, Silas Harlan,
Henry Higgins, James Elliott, Simon Kenton, Isaac Hite, Elisha Bathi, Samuel Moore,
Leonard ___, Jonathan Ingram, Nathaniel Randolph, two or three of the McConnells and
myself. On returning, we left the mouth of Cabin creek, and went down the Ohio some small
distance, to get a better ___ to go up the hills, and traveled back the same way we came. Two
of our co. went out hunting and got lost, and found their way to the Upper Blue Licks, then
turned & fell in with us north of and near the Lower Blue Licks. At ____the Ohio in 1774,
we were much alarmed by or about the Indians, when a little fellow the ___ (in L____ ), a
small distance above the Three Islands. The number and signs of the Indians was so great that
we supposed that to be a crossing place for them about the mouth of Sycamore creek.

page 467
John Biggs deposed, Oct. 1797, that in May, 1783, he and Jacob Drennon, Thomas
Mills, Lot Mathews, and George M_fford came down the Ohio river to the ___ of Kentucky
in order to locate land, and landed at or near the mouth of what is now called Crooked creek,
and proceeded into the country, to the east and south forks of Cabin Creek, and then along in
Ruggles ___, to the water of the North Fork of Licking. We made some locations-at one place
cutting George M_ff__d's initials on a honey locust on the east fork of Cabin Creek.

page 549
Capt. Thomas Young deposed, August 18, 1810, that in 1773 he came down the Ohio,
with nine others, from Pittsburgh, but some left the co. near the Sandy river. He came again
in 1775, with nine others. (This is all of this deposition which I ___, being all that I had
___ sufficient ___ others of his depositions. (___ ___, ___). In another deposition, in a suit
dated Jan. 1819, he says: "During both trips, ___ ___ the F__ Island (about 10 or 11 miles
above Maysville), which appeared to be a point of considerable ___ ___ ___ ___ ___, of ___
at Pittsburgh. In 177_, opposite the ___ ___ of the T__ Islands, we found William Kennedy
and his ___. We went a__, and ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ what is now (1819) called Salt Lick
___ Big Buffalo Creek, and the Scioto river; where two men came up the Ohio and told us
that Kennedy & Co. were encamped opposite the 3 islands, where we afterward found them.
Of the 3 islands, the upper one is nearrly opposite B___ (then Indian) Creek: it is the final
below Salt Lick creek, and about 12 miles above Limestone creek (now Maysville). The first
bottom below the Three Islands was at Crooked creek, the second at Limestone, the third at
Lawrence Creek. The "Arrows" were then points where the rivers and hills met, or where
the hills jut into the river.

page 555
Capt. John Miller deposed, July 15, 1797, that in July or August, 17__, he assisted Simon
Kenton to form a settlement and build a blockhouse in the spring then called Drannon's Spring,
where Kenton has since lived and which was called Kenton's Station. He had employed me
as surveyor for him.

page 563
Levi Davis, in 1801, deposed that he and Daniel Boone, Robert Forbes, John Gray, and
John Angus McDonald were together, at Maysville and on Johnson's Fork, on our return by
the Lower Blue Licks in 1782.

Daniel Boone deposed March 18, 1799, that he was then "about sixty-six years;" that in
spring of 1782 he located, about six miles S. of Lower Blue Licks, 4,000 acres of land for
Henry Miller, of Augusta; he made no charge for it; did it for friendship; "Henry Miller lived
eight years with me in my father's house."

Septimus Davis deposed, in same suit, that he was chain-carrier for Col. Daniel Boone,
when marking this (Miller) survey.

John Curry deposed, in same suit, that he got information of an ash tree (in this Miller
survey) from Col. Daniel Boone in 1795; he thinks, after Col Boone had arrived back to Ky
from the Big Kanawha.

page 563
Peter Harget deposed, April 30, 1814, that he came to Ky in 177_ and was in the battle of
Blue Licks in 1782. In Oct. or Nov. 178_, I was at Limestone in co. with old Daniel Boone,
Wm. Hays, Flanders Callaway, Wm. Cradlebaugh, and some others. We went westerly ___,
to Lawrence Creek as Boone called it - who was our pilot and was taken sick there. Our co.
lay about two days on said creek, hunting &c. Boone wanted to examine the land about the
mouth of Limestone, and then talked of settling there & did settle there about 1785. When we
left our camp on Lawrence creek, Boone conducted us to a lick on Bracken creek, and showed
us a tree marked with his name and dated about 1776. I was at Limestone about 1786, as a
guard, with others. (Some of Harget's descendants are now living near Minerva, Mason Co,
about 11 miles west of Maysville, and near the land he passed over with Daniel Boone in 1782.
now just a hundred years ago] Richd. H. Collins, __v. 21/82)

page 655
Flanders Callaway, aged 63, at the time (Sept. 22, 1817) and place (the dwelling house of
John B Callaway, in the St. Charles Missouri Territory) where Daniel Boone deposed
(see p. 6 hereof), deposed that he came to Ky. In 1775; settled at Boonesborough, & continued
there about 7 or 8 years; then returned to Virginia; & back again the same Fall. I became
acquainted in 1775 with the Upper Blue Licks, and for 6 or 7 years hunted about there, and
between there and Boonesborough in co. with others . . . Simon Kenton lived most of the time
at Col. Ben. Logan's; and the forepart of 1780 he lived at Martin's and Ruddell's Stations .
I was not a locater of land . . . In 1775, I ___ at Upper Blue Licks with a party of Indians, five
men, five squaws, & some children. I did not know of any road leading from the Upper Blue
Licks to the Ohio river, as early as 1780.

page 664
Jesse Hodges, aged 57, deposed, Nov. 20, 1817, that in 1778 he started from
Boonesborough, to take an Indian town on Paint Creek, in a co. of 18 men, viz. Daniel Boone,
Simon Canton (Kenton), then called Simon Butler, John Cannady (Kennedy), John Logan,
John Holder, Pemberton Rollins, John Callaway, Edmond _ear, Alex. Montgomery, John
Stapleton, and the others not recollected. They passed the Lower Blue Licks, leaving the road
thence to Limestone at a point between Johnson's Fork and Mayslick, and going to the right.
We crossed the Ohio river near the mouth of Cabin Creek. Simon Canton was our best pilot;
the co. depended on him to show the way; he was a good woodsman. He talked of the Upper
Blue Licks then (1778) as if he was well acquainted with them. Strode's Station was 30 or 35
miles from the Blue Licks - 9 or 10 miles nearer than Boonesborough.

page 666
(Returning from Paint Creek expedition) Same, March 4, 1818, deposed . . . that the (above)
expedition was in Aug. 177_; they crossed Cabin Creek, going 3 or 4 miles above its mouth,
and, returning, crossed the Ohio below Limestone, and the Licking below the Lower Blue
Licks-being hard pressed by the pursuing Indians.

page 496
Patrick Henry's deposition, June 4, 1777, here referred to, is ___ in some book in my
library, but I cannot now trace it up. ___ looked for it patiently, but fail to find it.

page 659-60
You ask "Who wrote this account of the battle of the Blue Licks?" I transferred this, bodily,
from my Father's "Historical Sketches of Ky." ___ it was Gen. Robert B McAfee (which,
from some ear-marks, is doubtful, if not improbable), I cannot tell, & no one living can.

Page 663
I cannot now find the letter of Rev. Aaron A Hogue; & returned to him the Central
Watchtower of Feb. 28, 1829. He is still living, at Salvisa, Mercer co., Ky. Address him there.

page 526
Dr. Matthew L Dixon's letter was first published, anonymously, some time in 1835, in the
National Intelligencer, but some circumstances enabled me to locate and identify the author.
He wrote it to some gentleman, who furnished it for publication. 1775 __. "So soon as the
(Watauga) treaty was completed, Col. Boone with a company set out to take possession. They
fixed themselves on Kentucky river, south side, a little below the mouth of Otter Creek . .
Shortly after the founding of Boonesborough, difficulties took place with the Indians, and the
fort became the principal place of security to the inhabitants. Among this little band were Col.
Callaway and his two daughters, Elizabeth and Frances, Boone's daughter Jemima, and a
Mrs. Holder. Samuel Henderson was the lover of Elizabeth Callaway, & had left his
peaceful house in North Carolina on her account. Flanders Callaway was the lover of
Jemima Boone, and John Holder of Frances Callaway.

"In the afternoon of a beautiful Sunday in the month of June, 1776, Elizabeth Callaway
(afterwards, Mrs. Henderson, & mother of my wife), then about sixteen years of age, her
sister Frances, younger, and Jemima Boone about the age of the latter, procured a canoe and
left the fort, paddling to an island in Kentucky river to amuse themselves in gathering blossoms
and wild onions. After they had satisfied themselves on the island, they carelessly paddled the
canoe to the opposite shore of the river, from whence they started and from the fort. They
were not apprehensive of any present danger; but as the canoe drifted opposite to a honey
canebrake, which came down to the water's edge, five Indians rushed furiously there, and soon
made them captives. Elizabeth Callaway, however, raised her voice to the highest pitch and
fought heroically with her paddle, and laid open the integuments of the head of one Indian to
the bone; but all this availed them nothing, and they soon found themselves hurried off, they
knew not where or to what fate. Fortitude and presence of mind never forsook Elizabeth
Callaway. As soon as the Indians commenced their march with their little captives, this
admirable female pioneer bent or broke every twig she passed, if she possibly could. The
Indians discovered the stratagem, and one of them gathered the hair of her head, held it up,
& at the same time brandishing his tomahawk over her or drawing his scalping knife round the
tuft of hair, in indication of what would be her fate if she did not desist. But her daring spirit
was not to be thus subdued, as she then would tear small pieces from the most flimsy part of
her clothing and strew them along the way. The Indians gave them some buffalo meat; this in
part they also crumbled in the path, but birds or something else picked up the pieces, as the
pursuers saw nothing of them.

"Owing to the situation of the canoe, it was late in the evening, after the girls were missed,
before the whites could cross the river. Eighteen at length got over, in time to pursue the trail
five miles that evening. Next day, Monday, they progressed through the cane about thirty miles
and on Tuesday resumed their march, five miles, to a creek, over which on examination no
trail could be discovered. But knowledge of their customs induced the whites to suppose the
Indians had waded up or down the creek, so as to leave no vestige of their footsteps. The
company then divided, nine going up and nine down the creek. The latter had not gone very
far, before they discovered smoke gently ascending. Every precaution was then observed in
order to come as suddenly on the Indians as to prevent them destroying their captives.

Boone, who commanded the lower party, gave orders that not a gun should be fired until
all could be made sure. The whites crept slowly on, until within reasonable shooting distance,
when one of the Indians rose from the ground. The anxiety of one of the men was such, that
he fired on the Indian who showed himself, somewhat contrary to Boone's orders. The savage
bounded, dropped what he held, and made off. The others sprang to their feet, when a volley
from Boone and his companions left not an Indian to be seen. They did not drop dead, but
made off; nor were they pursued, as the great object was accomplished. The fugitive Indians,
one excepted, who alone of the party returned to their towns, must have died of their wounds
or perished with hunger and fatigue.

1776 July - "The pursuers rushed to the spot where they found the prisoners and the baggage
of the Indians, and discovered that they had been cooking a buffalo calf for breakfast, which
they had killed that morning. Now, an occurrence was near taking place which would have
marred all the pleasure of the pursuers. Elizabeth Callaway was dark complexioned, and from
fatigue and exposure very much so in her then situation. She was sitting by the root of a tree,
with a red bandana handkerchief around her, and with the heads of her sister and Jemima
Boone reclining in her lap. One of the men, in a moment of high excitement, as must have
been the case with all, raised the butt of his gun to dispatch her, and it was about to fall on her
defenseless head with a weight aided by all his muscular power, when his arm was fortunately
arrested by one of the others who also supposed her for an Indian. Although no harm was
done, a melancholy sensation was produced from which the part did not soon recover. In fact,
it is enough to make the blood run cold to think of the circumstance even at this time, when
fifty-nine years have gone by, and the generation then in action have nearly all gone to rest.

"Another circumstance also took place on this occasion, which had strongly the appearance
of the interposition of Providence in behalf of the prisoners. Immediately after they stopped
to kindle a fire and cook, one of the Indians who had a gun (they were not all armed with guns)
laid off his pack, took a little path and went away. He was about a few minutes, and returned
without his gun, opened his knapsack and commenced searching for something he appeared to
have forgotten (probably his powder), and while thus engaged, himself and party were
discovered, and as already stated, fired on. This Indian no doubt had been sent out as a
sentinel, and had he remained at his post would have discovered the whites, given the alarm,
and allowed the others time sufficient to murder the prisoners and effect their own escape.

"I neglected to mention in its proper place, that two companies of whites were found at the
fort, one of foot and one of horse - the former conducted by Col. Boone, and the other by Col.
Callaway. The feelings of these two commanders in pursuit of their captured daughters can be
but very faintly conceived, much less described. The horse company, by some tracks they
discovered, took it for granted that Boone's party had succeeded, and returned to the fort
without participating in the recapture.

"The girls, though much exhausted from affright, hunger and fatigue, were safely conveyed
back to the fort. Their captivity, though brief, was painful to them and deeply afflicting to their
parents, other relatives, lovers and friends, on account of their quality, their age, sex and
tenderness. No indignity was suffered to be offered to them. Anything that savored in the
least degree of such impropriety was immediately checked by one who seemed to be a chief.
This individual is elegantly described in a romantic poem entitled "The Mountain Muse" by
Daniel Bryan of Rockingham County, Virginia. This work was published in 1815, and gives a
good outline of the same we are now sketching.

Mrs. Elizabeth Dixon, widow of Dr. Matthew L Dixon, died in Tennessee, in 1872, aged
82. She was a daughter of the Elizabeth Callaway, one of the captives, and her husband
Samuel Henderson, one of the rescuing party.