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Clark County was formed from Bourbon
and Fayette in 1792. The county seat is the city of Winchester.
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Clark Co.
Chronicles (Clark Co. Historical Society) [Excerpts from]
Early Settlements in Clark County History
A Scrap of Clark County History
Submitted by
Susan Kerr
("Editor's
note -- In the early 1920s, The Winchester Sun began publishing a
series of columns on Clark County history prepared by the Historical
Society titled Clark County Chronicles. The Sun is republishing the
series, one a week until the reprinting is complete. The Chronicles have
not been edited to conform to modern newspaper style -- they are being
reprinted in the original form.")
Document located in the
Genealogy Department of the Winchester Library.
Surnames mentioned below:
Allan, Allen, Beall, Bedford, Bogg/Boggs, Boone, Brown, Brandenburg,
Bush, Calmes, Chorn, Clark, Clay, Combs, Cunningham, Davis, Deuet,
Durrett, Eastin, Eubank, Fishback, Gay, Greene, Gist, Hainey, Halley,
Hampton, Hanson, Harrison, Harrod, Hickman, Hinkston, Holder, Hood,
Howard, Hulett, Huston, Jackson, Judy, Kidd, Kinkston, Ladd, Lewis,
Lily, March, McDonald, Nelson, Payne, Petty, Pool, Prewitt, Proctor,
Ragland, Ramsey, Riddle, Rupard, Shipp, Shull, Sphar, Stoner,
Stuart, Sumpter, Swope, Sydner, Thomson, Tracy, Wade, Walker, Wall,
Welch, Wills, Winn]
Chapter II
Apr 5, 1923
Edmond Ragland was several years the oldest man in the colony,
and was also the wealthiest man, that is, he had more negroes, more
horses and more cattle. So far as silver and gold was concerned it was
not worth a baubel for there was nothing to buy. So it was decided by
the colonists that he should build a much larger and much stronger house
than any other in the colony in order that his house might serve as sort
of fort for the colony, in the event of a raid by the Indians, which
they had many reasons for believing might at any time occur. Accordingly
they built a house twenty by thirty feet, two stories high, of very
heavy poplar and white oak logs, and made it in every way very strong,
having a special reference in its building for a defense of the colony
from the outside. This house was divided into four rooms, two below and
two above, by means of a heavy plank partition being sawed with whip
saw, with very large stone chimneys at either end of the house.
....................................................and other places,
not a single Indian was seen or heard of in the vicinity of Big
Stoner Settlement
during the year 1783. It is probably that they had not heard of this
settlement, and accidentally failed in their rambles to stumble upon it.
All possible arrangements had, however, been made by the colonists for
their coming, Mr. Ragland's strong house had been put into the
best possible condition, guns and ammunition were ready at a moment's
warning................................
....................................................................An
agreement had been made with other settlements to warn them by a swift
messenger of the approach of savages. It had been agreed by the
colonists that a certain shrill intonation of the horn, sounded from
house to house should serve as a note of warning, and that each family
should run with all possible haste to Mr. Ragland's strong house.
One of Charles Tracy's daughters, Jahoba (who became the
wife of Edmond Ragland's son Robert) told the writer that
at the time of which we write she was eight or ten years old and how
well she remembered the shrill note of the horn and how at its sounding
(to give her words) all flew to Mr. Ragland's. But these alarms,
to use their expressions were frequently false alarms and it was not
until sugar making time in early spring of 1784, that they actually
received a visit from the Indians. They had been warned by a swift
running messenger from another settlement of their coming. All the
people and valuables had been collected at Mr. Ragland's and
everything made secure for the safety of the women and children, and
then the men sallied forth with guns in hand, eager to meet these
savages of the forest. Traveling northward and keeping near the line of
the big buffalo trace, they had gone scarcely a mile when from the top
of a hill they discovered fifteen or twenty Indians around Mr.
Halley's house trying to effect an entrance, and having failed to
batter the doors
down.............................................................................
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
two other Indians were known to have been killed, and several others
seriously wounded. The Indians retreated.............................
................................................they [the settlers]
hastened to return only to find all quiet in the settlement, and the
women and children greatly rejoiced at their safe return.
...............................
On another occasion not long after this the Indians made their
appearance on Stoner in considerable numbers, but were surprised
by the whites in their camp and quickly repulsed with a loss of several
of their number, retreating in the direction of Strode's Station.
They were overtaken about the spot where the Newport News and
Mis- sissippi Valley depot at Winchester now stands, and a
fight that then ensued an Indian was killed on the spot now occupied by
the residence of Robert Winn.. In this fight the whites suffered
a severe loss by the death of one of their number, a gallant young man
whose name the writer regrets has been lost, but remembers that he was a
cousin to the Sphars......................................................................................
:
.....................................................................................
Mrs. Jahoba Ragland told the writer that after one of these raids
and
Charles Tracy's family and returned to their home from Mr. Ragland's,
they found a favorite cow, "........... Horn" and a faithful watch dog
"Ruler" had been killed by the Indians during their absence and related
how the children and servants of the family wrung their hands and wept
in grief over the death of these favorite animals that had accompanied
them from the banks of the Potomac. Some time after this Ezra
Brown's family had gone to Charles Tracy's to spend a social
day. Mr. Brown being at home all alone and having finished the
job of work on which he had been engaged decided to take his gun and go
into the woods and kill a deer and being desirous of making a still hunt
fastened his dogs, Brylo and Sylo, in a house so they could not follow
him. He was not long in the woods when he was attacked by a pack of half
a dozen wolves; he quickly dispatched one of them with a load in his
gun, the other five made not the slightest halt, but came at him
snarling and snapping. He clubbed his gun and at the first blow killed
another wolf, but still being so hard pressed he sprang into a tree with
the four remaining wolves jumping at his legs as he went up. He climbed
quickly to the top of the tree and began calling lustily for his dogs
Brylo and Sylo, who hearing their master's exciting call after much
scratching and gnawing finally effected their escape from their prison
and went with all speed to their master's rescue. The dogs cleaned up
the wolves and Mr. Brown came down from the tree, and picked up
the fragments of his gun and walked home, fully resolved never to go
into the woods again without his faithful dogs, Brylo and Sylo at his
heels................
The settlement having relapsed into comparative quietude about the year
1785 or 1786, Richard Hainey proceeded to build the first water
mill ever built upon the waters of Big Stoner, the site of this
mill being upon the land now owned by and within a short distance of the
present residence of deaf Jimmie Ramsey, and about a quarter of a
mile, a little east of north of Goshen church. The name of the
millwright who constructed this mill for Mr. Hainey was David
Petty...............................
It must be borne in mind that the "Big Stoner" of which we write,
a hundred years ago, was quite a dif- ferent stream from the Big
Stoner of today. Then it contained within its banks almost as much
water as the Red River of today......... Charles Tracy,
who was probably the most successful fisherman of the colony, did not
think any- thing of going to Stoner with hook and line and
catching forty or fifty pounds of fish in a day, many of his catches
weighing several pounds apiece. The writer remembers forty or fifty
years ago when the
Brandenburg mill (situated a short distance above where the Hainey
mill had once stood) was in operation nearly the entire year, except
in very dry seasons, with two sets of stones and saw mill, being
propelled by a stream that would not now furnish power enough to run the
same machinery thirty days in a year...................... During the
year 1785 the colony received accessions to their number from North
Carolina, from near the former home of the distinguished pioneer,
Daniel Boone. Among them were John Rupard, the grandfather
and great grand- father of all the Rupards now living in Clark
county. He built his house a short distance south of Edmond Ragland,
about a quarter of a mile from the present site of Dodge, or K. U.
Junction. Absalom March and two brothers built their houses
on the northern border of the settlement near
William Halley, William Jackson and Mr. Ladd.....................
........Several other families came with those named from
North Carolina, among them David and John Hampton, who after a
short stop at Big Stoner went on to Strode's Station.
David Hampton was the father of our highly esteemed and venerable fellow
citizen, A. Howard Hampton. After a time the Hamptons left
Strode's Station and settled upon the land that Mr. Howard
Hampton now lives on. And William Hainey and two or three
others being rather afraid to risk their scalps in the unprotected wilds
of Big Stoner, went on with their families to Strode's Station
and Boonesborough. There perhaps never lived in the County of
Clark a man who possessed to a greater extent the love, the esteem,
the perfect confidence of his fellow citizens than Thomas Boone.
His remains now lie in the church yard at Lulbegrud, covered by a
handsome monument erected by his brethren, and not by other people, as
has been falsely written and published. It is true, however, that a few
men, prominent members of other denominations, of the character of
Thomas Boone, came forward and asked to be permitted to contribute
to the monument of this humble servant of
God.................................
April 12, 1923
Early Settlements in Clark County
Chapter IV
In the years 1788 and 89 the Big Stoner settlement received large
accessions to their number and for the first time there were a few
houses built on the western bank of
Big Stoner. David Brandenburg came and built a house at the foot
of the hill just below the present site of the Goshen Church.
Mr. Brandenburg was by trade a miller and a mill-wright and in the
course of a few years erected a mill on the site known to many still
living as "Brandenburg's Old Mill.".........................................................................................................it
is certain that the first mill erected in the eastern portion of what is
now Clark county, was Brandenburg's mill (about the year
1790) in which wheat could be ground into
flour................................................................................................
Alexander Ramsey came to the settlement in 1788 and
settled not far from Mr. Brandenburg and near the present site of
Sugar Ridge Church, and by great industry and frugality acquired a
large landed estate, so that he was enabled in after years to settle a
large family of children around him in comfortable circumstances. He was
the grandfather, the great, and great, great grandfather of all the
Ramseys now living in Clark county.
There came also from Virginia in company with David
Brandenburg and Alexander Ramsey, William Wills (note)
who settled on the west bank of Big Stoner and near the original
site of Sugar Ridge and near the original site of Sugar Ridge
Church, close to Mr. Brandenburg and Mr. Ramsey, and
about one mile west of Charles Tracy. These three gentle- men,
to-wit, Brandenburg, Ramsey and Wills, had been soldiers
throughout the Revolutionary War, serving in the same brigade with
Ragland, Tracy, Brown, Hulett, Hainey
and others of the original Big Stoner Settlement. Mr. Wills
was an industrious, thorough-going man, possessed of far more than
ordinary mental capacity and soon became well-to- do, and one of the
leading citizens of the settlement. He had seven sons and four
daughters, but all of the Wills of Clark
county sprang from his three sons. Washington, Isaac, and Thornton,
the other four sons having left the county in their early manhood. One
of the first marriage ceremonies ever solemnized in Big Stoner
settlement was Mr. Wills' daughter,
Fannie to Mr. Luke Hood. From this union sprang all the
Hoods of Clark county and several of their children and
grandchildren became very distinguished citizens of the county. Two of
their sons, Andrew and John, are numbered among the most eminent
physicians that the county has ever produced. Dr. Andrew Hood's
son, James was considered not a whit behind his father in medical
skill and two or three other sons were physicians of ability.
Dr. Andrew Hood was chosen by the people of Clark
County over an eminent lawyer to represent the county in the
Constitutional Convention of 1849, and his son Thomas, one of the
brightest and most talented young lawyers of the State, was chosen to
the same position by the people of Carter County, thus it will be
seen that Mr. Wills had a grandson and a great grandson members
of the Constitutional Convention of 1849.
Dr. John Hood's son, John B. Hood, received a
military education at West Point and was a Lieutenant- General in
the late Confederate Army and was numbered among the hardest fighters in
that army, as the historian can learn by reading of the battles he
fought at Atlanta, Georgia, and Franklin, Tennessee.
William Wills was a Jeffersonian Democrat, as have
been nearly all his descendants. His son, William, and his
son-in-law, Luke Hood, were soldiers in the War of 1812, and
narrowly escaped with their lives from the human butchery of Dudley's
Defeat, and but few men who ever lived in Clark County had as
many descendants in the Confederate Army as did William Wills.
Sometime during the year of 1788 the colony of Big Stoner
learned through emigrants just arrived from
Virginia that General George Washington was a candidate for the
Presidency of the then thirteen United States. So some time
during the fall of that year, Richard Hainey, and Charles
Tracy, who by the way, were brothers-in-law, leaving their families
in care of two young men, cousins of theirs, recently from Virginia
for the pleasure of voting for their beloved old commander. It will be
understood that at this date, Kentucky was still
territory......................... :
..............We only know that
they returned safely to their families sometime during the winter of
1788-89, bringing with them several emigrants and several pack horses,
laden with various articles essential to their families in their wild
new homes. Among the articles that Charles Tracy brought home
with him were a couple of pear sprouts, which he carefully transplanted
on the ridge just above his home, near the spot where he intended in the
near future to build a better residence that he was then
occupying.......................
It may be stated here that Charles Tracy's next
presidential vote was cast for Thomas Jefferson and his last for
Andrew Jackson, and that he and his descendants have voted the
straight Democratic ticket from Thomas Jefferson to the present
year 1890, and if a single one of his descendants ever scratched a
ticket the writer has not heard of it.................................George
Tracy, a grandson, was constable of Kiddville precinct at the first
election held under this present Constitution of Kentucky and was
reelected at the expiration of his term, which is the only instance of
one of his descendants ever asking office at the hands of the people.
Chapter V
By the year 1790 the Big Stoner settlement had increased to
several times its original number............... It was this year (1790)
that Edmond Ragland had brought down the Ohio River to
Limestone (now Maysville) and from thence in some way
transported to his home, a small copper still, and in that year erected
the first distillery ever operated upon the waters of Big Stoner.
Apr 19, 1923
------------------------
(Note: William Wills mentioned here is recognized by
genealogists as Frederick William Wills who married
Frances Durrett of Virginia. Their descendant Col. O.
T.Wills of Anderson, Indiana, is in the process of compiling
a
Wills family history which already lists ten thousand descendants
of these Clark County pioneers. Kathyrn Owen)
=================================
........................................................................................................................
The writer has been unable to ascertain definitely, but it was probably
about the year 1790, that Ebenezer Chorn and Septimus Davis,
with their families came from Virginia and joined the Big
Stoner settlement. Ebenezer Chorn settled nearly a mile east
of
Absalom and John March, on land now owned by Mr. John T. Prewitt,
better known as the Proctor farm. This was a very fine section of
land, and having brought with him quite a number of able-bodied slaves,
soon had one of the very best farms in the settlement.
It has been ascertained by the oldest settlers that the first blue grass
ever seen in Kentucky was found growing around an old deer lick
about three miles north of Ebenezer Chorn's in what is now
Montgomery County, near the banks of the creek which derived its
name from the spot "Grassy Lick." There was not more than an acre
or so of this grass but it grew thick and luxuriantly and from this
patch of grass Mr. Chorn stripped seed with............
.........the settlers that this much desired grass would not grow
anywhere except upon Ebenezer Chorn's land. People often came
from quite a distance to see the wonderful
grass................................ So this is the history of the
origin of Kentucky "Blue Grass" as handed down to the writer. We are
very aware that there are certain very learned agriculatural writers who
would jump astride of this reputed origin with whip and spurs and
quickly ride it out of existence, nevertheless what we have written is
no doubt the true origin of Kentucky blue grass, at least as far
as the Big Stoner
settlement is concerned, and there we leave it.
Septimus Davis settled about a quarter of a mile west of
Edmond, on land now owned by John Sumpter, Alvin Beall and
others. Mr. Davis was said to have been an educated, polished
Virginia gentleman. He took more than ordinary pains to educate his
children, and two of his sons, James and Herchel, are numbered
among the most distinguished teachers this county has ever pro-duced.
Major James Davis later in life became a very able minister in the
Christian Church and was still living only a short time since in the
state of Mississippi.
Mr. Davis' daughters were said to have been beautiful women and
were belles in the settlement. The writer does not know whether
Mr. Davis was a Revolutionary soldier or not, but supposes he was from
the company he stopped in. Our fellow citizens, W. B. Kidd
and James Septimus Kidd are his grandsons.
It was at this spot, Grassy Lick, that Capt. Sphar and
three companions while watching for deer, were ambushed by Indians and
.....................were killed on the ........... the fourth man was
badly wounded in the thigh, but in some way managed to effect his escape
and by a circuitous route reached the Fort at Boonesborough after
several days of great suffering. Friends were sent out to recover the
bodies of Captain Sphar and his comrades, but they had been
devoured by wolves. He was the great grandfather of Mr. Asa Sphar,
of this county.
William Payne settled a half mile southeast of Ebenezer Chorn,
on the site of Mr. Shields Cunningham's present residence.
Mr. Payne brought with him from Virginia quite a number of
slaves, horses and cattle and being a man of nice refinements soon
became a popular and leading citizen of the settlement. He is the
ancestor of the Paynes now of Fayette and Scott
counties, but we shall have more to write of him hereafter.
David Petty settled in the spot now occupied by the residence of
deaf Jimmie Ramsey, a quarter of a mile north of the present site
of Goshen Church. William Petty and Peleg Petty
settled close by.
The country was now being rapidly filled up, but as has
already......................and it is only those who became permanent
settlers that we wish to write.
NOTE: The above concludes the very interesting account of the
early Big Stoner settlement, so cleverly and capably written by
the late Captain B. A. Tracy, whose untimely death prevented the
completion of this very valuable historical narrative. The names of all
these fine old pioneers are still perpetuated in Clark County's
best citizenship and will be referred to from time to time in these
Chronicles.
April 26, 1923
The Creeks of Clark County and Their Characteristics
The creeks of Clark county, over thirty in number, and their
nomenclature form an interesting unit the county's history and
topography................................................................................................
The principle ferries in the county are Combs' Ferry
formerly
Holder's boatyard, Boonesborough, Jackson's Ferry and the one at
the mouth of the Red River.......................................................................
Large inspection warehouses were located by acts of the legislature at
Holder's boatyard and
Boonesborough.
Red River
................................................................... and
is crossed by ferries at the mouth of the
river.............................. at Vienna and at Lilly's
Ferry or the mouth of the Lulbegrud.............
................Red River became known to Dr. Thomas Walker,
in his expedition to Kentucky in 1750, when, after spending the
summer near Barbourville, he returned home in the fall by way of
the
Warrior's Trail, crossing Red River at the mouth of Lulbegrud
and following the Warrior's Trail to Indian Old Fields and
then by
Blue Licks to Virginia...............................................................................
Boone's Creek
Daniel Boone discovered and named many of the creeks of the
county. He owned a tract of land, including a cave in which he took
refuge from the Indians, and this was situated at or near the mouth of
Boone's creek, which was named for him. Other forks of
Boone's creek are Bogg's Fork, which lies altogether in Fayette,
Middle Fork, Welch's Fork, which is the real line between
Clark and Fayette, from its mouth to its source, and the
Fishback Fork, which lies altogether in Clark County.
Two Mile and Four Mile creekss were so named by Daniel
Boone, because he considered them to be at their mouths, two and
four miles above Boonesborough, respectively. Two Mile creek
has its source just south of Winchester, while one branch of
Four Mile has its source in the south side of the town and another
in the east side, while the east fork of Four Mile has its source
in the Beechwood section of the county, just south of the
Iron Works pike.
The Howard's Creeks
The two Howard's creeks, Upper Howard's and Lower
Howard's Creeks, were so named in honor of Col. John Howard,
a Revolutionary soldier and distinguished pioneer, who owned a thousand
acre tract of land at the mouth of each of these creeks. He was the
father of Benjamin Howard, a very brilliant young man, who was
educated at Eastern colleges and elected to the legislature shortly
after he was eligible. He was then elected to Congress from this
district for three terms, and so attracted the attention of President
Thomas Jefferson that he appointed him Governor of Missouri
Territory, which then embraced all of the Louisiana Purchase
north of
Arkansas and extending with the Mississippi River to the Canada
line
and westward to the Rocky Mountains. Howard County, Missouri
was named for Governor Howard and but for his untimely death he
would doubtless have become one of the country's most distinguished
citizens. Along Lower Howard's Creek the main road from
Boonesborough to Winchester
and Strode's Station extended and there were at least half a
dozen big water mills and several factories along its banks. Practially
all of these old mills have passed away with the exception of the
Bush mill, near the mouth of the creek, which is still standing and
of which two fine oil paintings have been presented to the Clark
County Historical Society by Captain C. E. Bush, a grand- son
of the original builder of the present structure.
.............................................................................................................................
Jewett's Creek
Between the mouth of Boone's Creek and Lower Howard's Creek,
is a small stream now called Jewett's Creek, but originally known
in the early land surveys as Deuet's Creek, and is said to have
been named from an early settler named Henry Deuet, a
Frenchman............................................................
(missing a page or more after this last entry, Henry Deuet)
Quest. 5th by the same will you be gainer or looser if the land Claime'd
by this Entry is saved or lost
Ansr. not a farthing further the Deponent sayth not Daniel Boone
.........................Test Jilson Payne Peter Shull
It is also related on the authority of the members of the party that
Boon himself christened the creek at the conclusion of the young
man's statement saying, "Hereafter this creek shall always be known by
the name of Lulbegrud." At another time Boone camped for
some weeks a short distance above the mouth of this creek, on the
Warrior's Trail that crossed
Red River at this point and led up the creek and along the
Pine Ridge to the Indian town at Indian Old Fields.
Another incident occurring at one of the falls of
Lulbegrud with the Boone party has been given to us by one of our
members, Hon. John W. Swope, and is as follows: He says, "Squire
J. Harvey Boone, a son of Rev. Thomas Boone, a pioneer
preacher of the old hard-shell Baptist faith, a collateral descendant of
Daniel Boone, told me when I was a boy some fifty years ago that
Daniel Boone told his grandfather that on one occasion when he was
going from the fort at Boonesborough to the high mountain known
as Pilot Knob, which Daniel Boone himself had named and
used as a pilot, he and his two companions came to a large creek, which
he had christened as Lulbegrud, and as they traveled up the
stream some distance until they came to a riffle below a high falls in
the creek........discovered large fish.................................
The largest tributary of the main stream is Combs' Creek
which was named after one of the largest pioneer land owners in that
section and empties into the main stream just above the old Stuart
and Halley mill-dam south of Kiddville. This stream and one
of its branches drains a large portion of the
William Rupard place............. .
The famous Oil Springs, known to the Indians for centuries before
the coming of the whites are situated on the banks of Lulbegrud,
at the mouth of what is called the Oil Springs
Branch....................................The Oil Springs
buildings were erected by
Thomas Eastin, who was usually called Lord Eastin, and his
wife was a daughter of General Marquis Calmes and inherited the
property from her father, it being a portion of a three thousand acre
grant which not only embraced the Oil Springs tract, but a large
portion of the Indian Fields................ It may be remarked
here that the Oil Springs tract proper is still in the Calmes
and Eastin family, it being owned by
Squire W. Z. Eubank having been a direct descendant of
General Calmes, who received a grant for the land more than a hundred and
forty-five years ago.
..:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
September 20, 1923
(Notes: In 1964 Richard Clark deed the Oil Springs
tract to the Wilderness Road Girl Scout Council "for the perpetual " use
of the Scouts. The Camp was named "Camp Richard Clark" in honor
of the donor. Kathryn Owen )
CREEKS OF CLARK COUNTY AND THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
Stoner Creek
Stoner Creek was named for Michael Stoner, one of the
earliest pioneers of Kentucky, having been on a hunting
expedition with James Harrod, a companion in 1767, two years
before he returned with Daniel Boone and looked down on the green
fields of "Kentuckee" from Pilot Knob. Again in 1774,
Michael Stoner and Daniel Boone were sent out by Governor Dunmore,
of Virginia, to look out for and give warning of a hostile Indian
incursion to a party of surveyors then operating near the Falls of
the Ohio, now Louisville. On many other occasions Captain
Stoner distinguished himself in many of the stirring
occurrences in pioneer days in
Kentucky. He also owned several tracts of land along the stream which
bears his name. This stream was originally known as Stoner's Fork
of the Licking, but it was not for some years after it was joined
by Hinkston Creek, near Ruddells' Mills in Bourbon
County, that the united streams became known from its confluence
with Hinkston to Falmouth as the South Fork of the
Licking. Hinkston Creek was first known by its present name of Hinkston
Creek. It was so named after John Hinkston, a pioneer settler
on the creek, whose name was also spelled in three different ways as is
the creek............................................
........................The main stream [Stoner] in the pioneer
was so large that it was navigable for flat boats along the creek's
entire length up to the mouth of Strode's Creek and for a short
distance above. In this conjunction it will interesting to note that the
Legislature in 1793 deemed the stream of so much importance in this line
that is passed an act for the improvement of navigation in the stream as
far up as
Strode's Creek, by providing money for the removal of minor
obstructions in stream, such as fallen trees and snags. This act is as
following:
An Act for Opening the Navigation in the South and
Stoner Forks of Licking
Approved December 19, 1793
Whereas, it hath been represented to the general assembly that the
navigation of the South and Stoner's forks of Licking would be
productive of private convenience and public utility:
And whereas individuals would contribute by subscription for the purpose
of raising a fund, to be applied to the purpose of clearing and removing
the natural obstructions in said stream:
Sec. 1.
Be it enacted that Benjamin Harrison, John Wall and
Isaac Riddle, gentlemen, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners
to receive subscriptions in money, labor or property, to raise a
fund for clearing and opening the navigation of the said south
fork, from the mouth thereof to the junction of
Hinkston and Stoner. And the comissioners are hereby
authorised to procure the same by opening subscriptions on the first
of January next, and continue until a sufficient fund be raised, and
the obstructions removed. And from and after the passage of this
act, if any person or persons do make any dam in said stream for any
purpose whatever he, she, or they, so offending shall forfeit and
pay the sum of five hundred pounds, recoverable with costs in any
court of record within the commonwealth, having cognizance of the
same, and the one half to be paid to the informer, and the other
applied to the removing obstructions that may in future arise in
said stream.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, that Samuel Clay,
Benjamin Bedford, John Allen and Laban Shipp, be
and they are hereby appointed commissioners with the like power to
raise a fund by subscription and to apply the same in the manner
herein directed to the purpose of opening the navigation and
removing obstruction in Stoner's fork, as high as the mouth
of Strode's creek, provided that any mill or mill-dams now
erected on the said fork shall not be removed or pulled down; but
the owners of such mills and mill-dams shall within eight years from
the passage hereof, build sufficient locks and slopes for the
passage of all boats that may navigate the said forks.
Sec. 3. And if any person who shall subscribe for the
purposes in this act required, shall fail to pay his subscriptions
in money or property, or contribute the labor subscribed to be done,
it shall be lawful for the commissioners or a majority of them to
recover the same, or the value of the property or labor if under
five pounds, on motion in the court or quarter sessions of the
county, upon giving the party subscribing, ten days previous notice
of such intended motion. -------------
.........................Stoner Creek has many interesting
features along its course, among them what was known for a long time as
the ford of Stoner, situated at the mouth of the long branch
which heads near Union Church and empties into the creek a short
distance below the bridge of the Wade's Mill and North
Middletown pike, just below the residence of the late John
McDonald. Between this residence and the bridge is what is known as
the "cut-off" from the fact that at this point the creek makes a bend of
over a mile through the old Alpheus Lewis mansion and between it
and the Gay residence and the stone house of Rezin Gist
the creek makes another great bend and returns so close to the original
point that the narrow ridge........................................
During this time a sale was advertised to take place at the old Rezin
Gist stone house and after the crowd had assembled for the sale a
messenger came galloping up to the spot and announced that the Devil had
reached North Middletown the night
before........................................................................................
At the west end of the [Devil's] "Backbone" on the Gay
farm begins the great prehistoric burying ground and this extends for
quite a distance in the direction of the great Gay
mound on the northwest and for some distance to the west and southwest
towards and along the Lewis lines.
......................................
There were many noted mills on Stoner in pioneer days, among them
Sydner's Mill, just south of the Bourbon line,
Judy's Mill (now Wade's Mill), Brandenburg's Mill,
Thomson's Mill and many others, nearly all of which are no longer in
existence.
September 27, 1923
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Original grammar and spelling as copied.
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