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From The Kentucky Encyclopedia –
Simon Kenton, pioneer settler, was
born April 3, 1755, in Fauquier County, Virginia, the son of Mark and Mary
(Miller) Kenton. Kenton refused to attend school and remained illiterate all
his life, learning only to sign his name. At age sixteen, he fought with
William Leachman over a girl. He knocked Leachman unconscious and, believing he
had killed him, ran away from home. Kenton assumed the name Simon Butler and
worked his way to Pittsburgh, where he met adventurers who persuaded him to
travel down the Ohio River in search of "cane-lands." After several
attempts, he and Thomas Williams entered Limestone Creek (now the site of Maysville)
in the spring of 1775 and went into the interior. There they found tall cane,
cleared it, made a rough camp, and planted some corn, probably the first
cultivated by white men north of the Kentucky River . Kenton and Williams are
considered the first permanent settlers of Mason County. In the autumn, Kenton
moved to Boonesborough.
For the next few years, Kenton
traveled through Kentucky meeting fellow pioneers, including Daniel Boone , Robert
Patterson, and George Rogers Clark. In 1777 Clark appointed him spy for defense
of the frontier. Kenton is credited with saving the life of Boone during an
Indian attack at Boonesborough. In 1784 he built a station on Lawrence Creek in
Mason County to which he welcomed incoming settlers. His first guests included
the widow Dowden and her four daughters, one of whom, Martha, became his bride
on February 15, 1787. They were the first to be married at his station. Four
children were born prior to December 1796. As Kenton's family grew, he built a
brick house for them near his station. He operated a store in Washington, near Maysville,
and hired Israel Donalson, teacher, to keep his books. The new house caught
fire, and Martha, who was pregnant with their fifth child, was burned and died
of shock. Within fifteen months, Kenton married Elizabeth Jarboe, Martha's
first cousin. They had five children. In 1798 he moved to Ohio, where he spent
his later years, often in poverty but still a traveler. He made four trips to
Missouri, where he bought more land, visited Boone, and considered relocating
in the new state.
Kenton managed his finances poorly,
lost large acreages of land, and while on a visit to Washington, Kentucky, in
1820, was imprisoned for debt. As he was a popular figure, the jailer, Thomas
Williams, allowed him considerable freedom, and the citizenry were incensed by
his incarceration. Kenton was released from prison on December 17, 1821, after
the Kentucky legislature repealed the Debtor's Law. Kenton died on April
29, 1836, near Zanesville, Ohio, and was buried there. In 1865 his remains were
moved to Urbana, Ohio. In 1840 the Kentucky legislature created a new county
out of the western half of Campbell County and named it in Kenton's honor.
JEAN W. CALVERT, Entry Author
Selected Sources from UK Libraries:
Clark, T. (1943). Simon Kenton, Kentucky
scout (SOLINET/ASERL Cooperative Microfilming Project (NEH PS-20317) ; SOL
MN02783.04 KUK). New York ; Toronto: Farrar & Rinehart.
Young
Library Books - 4th Floor F517 .K35
Eckert, A. (2001). The frontiersmen : A
narrative. Ashland, Ky.: Jesse Stuart Foundation.
Special
Collections Research Center Closed Stacks - Ask at desk on 2nd Floor for
assistance copy 1 F517.K383 E25 2001
Jahns, P. (1962). The violent years :
Simon Kenton and the Ohio-Kentucky frontier. New York: Hastings House.
Special
Collections Research Center - Research Room F517 .K367
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