V
THE ERA OF SETTLEMENT 29
S Military Grants: The Caseys and Riddles
1 Much of the land was first taken up under warrants granted
* for military services rendered during the Revolutionary War.
9 These land grants frequently embraced wide acreage-often as
l much as 1,200 acres under a single warrant. In time some of the _
¥ claims were allowed to lapse; others were sold intact or in part
l by the grantees. For instance, the old Hitesville Prebinct, which
[ took in a sizable piece of land, was originally contained in two
· or three separate military surveys. One of them was granted
· by the State of Virginia to a Colonel Grundy for Revolutionary
· War services. An adjoining tract was given to a Captain Thomas
for similar services. The site of Morganfield was once part of a
> 1,500-acre land grant of Gen. Daniel Morgan, a Revolutionary
. officer. It was surveyed by Peter Casey in 1783 or 1785, but was
I never seen by its titleholder, and finally passed into the posses-
sion of Presley O‘Bannon, the husband of General Morgan’s
granddaughter, Matilda Heard. Jeremiah Riddle, the agent of
Mr. O’Bannon, settled on this land around 1802 and, therefore, is
one of the earliest settlers of the county. He came from "an l
ancient family" that had long before migrated from England to ,
Virginia. His mother was born in Ludlow County of that State
in 1765. Jeremiah’s wife was Polly, daughter of Frank Berry
who served as a captain in the Revolutionary War.
One of the most important pioneer families of Union County
was founded by Peter Casey, already mentioned. He was the
son of Nicholas Casey, one of three brothers who came to this
country sometime before the Revolutionary War. As their name
indicates, they were as Irish as the shamrock. After completing
the survey of some lands in this region, Peter Casey returned to
Virginia. On his trip to Kentucky he located his own grant of
land at the mouth of Highland Creek, on Casey Creek and on
both sides of Tradewater River at its mouth-—said to be 15,000
acres in all. From Virginia he soon afterwards returned to
Harrod‘s Station in Kentucky, where he was engaged in fighting
_ the Indians-—-being captain of a company of militia-—-farming.
and operating a mill. Peter Casey continued living in the neigh-
borhood of Harrodsburg until 1810, when with his wife he
. s removed to Union County.
t The Caseys were connected by marriage with a number of dis-
i tinguished families. The wife of Peter Casey was Nancy Wag-
l