History of Providence, Ky.
Part 1
by Frances Bassett Price

The glorious bit of terrain which we call Kentucky a little more than a century ago was literally "No Man's Land." From the Big Sandy to the Mississippi, from the Ohio to the Cumberland there were no roads, no homes, no ripening fields.

Many tribes of Indians roamed over it as their hunting ground; none could hold it as a home. On white men's maps it was named Fincastle county, Virginia, then the District of Kentucky; then Kentucky county but neither Shawnee, Cherokee, or Virginian dared to linger there long. From time to time daring hunters or explorers, singly or in groups, had ventured into the unknown forest depths and followed the narrow trails of the buffalo and Indians.

The ones so fortunate as to return told glowing stories to the eager listeners beyond the mountains; stories of danger and of hairbreadth escapes, stories of lofty forests and clear and countless streams, of open meadows, waving with tall cane and luxuriant grass, of salt springs where elk and deer and buffalo thronged to lick the earth.

To all who heard these stories -- section torn -- plains over the mountains. Down the Ohio in flatboats or broad horns, down the Cumberland through the narrow Pine Mountain pass, or throuh the high swung gateway of Cumberland Gap they came, past the mountains, past the Knobs into the rolling upland of central Kentucky one of the garden spots of the world.

When the Revolutionary War closed in 1783 there were approximately 12,000 inhabitants in Kentucky County. When, on June 1, 1792, after many delays and disappointments, Kentucky took her place amount the sisterhood of sovereign states her population was 100,000.

Early Settlers

In the mighty tide of immigration which continued to sweep westward among the early comers to what is now the Providence locality were John and Robert Doris, and William and Eleazar Given from near the Fort Nashboro settlement in Tennessee, and William Jenkins from Virginia. Turning west about 38 miles south of Red Banks (Henderson) as they came up the northwestward extension of the Old Natchez Trail, known to us as U. S. 41, they selected the rich plateau land nearby and homesteaded it. William Given's land was next to the old trail. Eleazar went west and south. The Dorris land lay to the north.

-Torn - to be fact that William Jenkins was the first comer to the locality. He had been in charge of the arsenal at Yorktown, Virginia. No doubt he started soon after the surrender with a military land warrant for his Revolutionary services. Immediately after the Revolutionary War closed the state of Virginia by an act of her General Assembly, set apart all the district of Kentucky lying below Green River and declared the same to be held for bounty lands for her soldiers of the Continental line. The warrant issued Major General Baron Von Steuben in February 1783 for his services states that his survey shall be on the south fork of Tradewater River. Many other warrants state the same. So no doubt Jenkins was seeking the military land on Tradewater river when he came into what is now Webster county. At any rate he located near the hill now known as Old Baptist Hill. Some years later he built a cotton gin which is said to have done a thriving business in the days when most planters raised their own cotton.

Steadily year by year, in groups usually, the tide of immigration flowed in and the population in "The Tradewater Country" increased. The rich river bottom land was admirably suited to the growth of rank dark tobacco. Factories were built on many farms for its housing and curing. The section was known throughout the state for its rich agricultural products.