xt74j09w142f https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt74j09w142f/data/mets.xml Hale, John P. (John Peter), 1824-1902. 188  books b92-87-27383178 English L. Baker & Co., : Wheeling : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Boone, Daniel, 1734-1820. Kanawha County (W. Va.) History. Daniel Boone  : some facts and incidents not hitherto published / John Peter Hale. text Daniel Boone  : some facts and incidents not hitherto published / John Peter Hale. 188 2002 true xt74j09w142f section xt74j09w142f 




L LLL     L   L L LL               L



  t DANIEL BOONE.




  FACTS AND INCIDENTS

           NOT HITHERTO PUBLISHED.

His Ten or Twelve Years' Residence in Kanawha County,
Near Charleston, W. Va.-Some Errors of His Biog-
  raphers-His Removal to Missouri-His Walking
  Stick-Jesse Boone, Salt Inspector-Albert Gal-
    letin Boone the First White Man where Den-
    ver, Col., now stands.-Kit Carson's Moth-
    er a Boone.-Simon Kenton the First
      White Settler in the Kanawha Valley,
          Remaining Here Over Two
             Years. -Simon Girty.



      BYDR.JOHN P. HALE,
              (CHARLFSION,  A. V\.



LE\wIS BA;FR  Co., Printers, Wheeling.



I
I

 
This page in the original text is blank.


 









DANIEL BOONE.



Some Facts and Incidents not Hitherto
Published.-His Ten or Twelve Years'
Residence in Kanawha County, Near
Charleston, West Virginia.-Some Errors
of His Biographers -His Removal to Mis-
souri.-His Walking Stick.-Jesse Boone,
Salt Inspector.-Albert Galletin Boone,
First White Man Where Denver, Color-
orado, Now Stands.-Kit Carson's Mother
a Boone.-Simon Kenton the First White
Setiler in the Kanawha Valley, Remain-
ing Here Over Two Years.-Simon Girty.
   By DR. JOHN P. HALE, Charleston, W. Va.
   Feeling  satisfied  that any new
facts and incidents illustrating the
life and history of so remarkable
a man as Daniel Boone would be re-
ceived with interest by the public,
I contributed to the Charleston, W.
Va. Courier, two or three years ago,
some facts connected with his resi-
dence in this county, not hitherto in
print, and probably not known out-
side ot this Valley. Since that time
I have received quite a number of
letters from various sources, asking
for further information, if attaina-
ble, about his residence here, and
manifesting the deepest interest in
everything relating to the grand old
frontiersman.
  I now write to add a few more
facts and incidents gathered from re-
cords fast being lost or destroyed,



and traditions fast fading into obliv-
ion; and also to correct some im-
portant errors of his Biographers, as
to dates and facts in his earlier and
after life.
  None of his Biographers whom I
have read, knew the exact place of
his birth or death, nor the time of
his leaving Pennsylvania for North
Carolina, nor the time of his leav-
ing Kentucky or going to Missouri.
  Thes were totally ignorant of the
fact that he ever lived in Kanawha
county, and the ten or twelve years of
comparatively quiet but useful and
honorable life spent here, was, to
theni a total blank.
  They claim that he was born in
Bucks county, Pa., on the Schuyl-
kill, near Philadelphia, about 1734
or '35; that his father removed to
North Carolina about 1748, when he
was 13 or 14yearsold. They think
he left Kentucky about 1790 or '92.
Settled in Western Virginia not far
from the mouth of the Kanawha,
and removed to Missouri about
1795, '96 or '97.
  I shall endeavor to show how in-
accurate all this is, as I proceed.
  A year or two ago Colonel Mar-
shall McCue, of Virginia, visited
Reading, Berks county, Pa., and
whilst there, was driven out by a
friend to the reputed birth place of
Daniel Boone, eight miles distant.



I

 


DANIEL BOONE.



In a puIblished letter of his in the
Reading Times shortly after, this
fact was mentioned, whereupon the
Philadelphia Press took him to task
for his inaccuracy and credulty, and
stated that Boone was not born in
Berks county at all, but in Bucks
county, the precise location not be-
ing known.
  This l)rought to the rescue Colo-
1iel Nicholas .Jones, a native and life-
time resident of Reading, and, I
think, related by marriage to the
Boone family, many of whom still
reside in that region.
  Colonel Jones 'had often pointed
out the traditional birth place of
Boone to curious and interested vis-
itors; but as the accuracy of this
tradition .s to locality was called in
question, he set to work to establish
the facts, if possible, by record evi-
dence.
  He thoroughly succeeded, from
public and family records, in estab-
lishing, not only the place and exact
date of his birth, but many other
interesting facts in connection with
the Boone family. These were given
to the public by Col. Jones in a very
interesting paper published in the
Reading limes, from which I cull,
in short, such facts and dates as serve
my purpose.
  George Boone, the grandfather of
Daniel, caie from Bradenich, Dev-
onshire, England, arriving at Phil-
adelphia October 10, 1717, and in
April, 1718, having acquired 400
acres of land by entry, dated April
4th, 1718, he settled in Oley Town-
ship, Philadelphia county, now Ex-
eter Township, Berks county. Here
he built and occupied a plain log
house. In 1730, having prospered,
he built a more substantial and pre-
tensious house of stone, for his fam-



ily; but, he said, it was too fine for
him; he preferred to, and did re-
main in the log cabin, close by.
  He had known William Penn in
England and was probably induced
by him to come over. He was a
member of the Society of Friends,
and when he died was buried in the
Friends' cemetery in Exeter. He
had deeded this ground to the society
for a cemetery, and had made JSquire
Boone, also a member, one of' the
trustees. All of these records are in
Exeter township, then Philadelphia
now Berks countv.
   Squire Boone, the father of Dan-
iel, married Sarah Morgan on the
23d of .iuly, 1720. In 1730 he
purchased from Ralf Asliton, by
deed dated October 20, 1730, a sep-
erate estate of 1581 acres, lying in
Exeter   township,  Philadelphia
county, eight miles southeast of
Reading, three  miles  from  the
mouth of the Monocacy and one
and a half miles from the 'Philadel-
phia pike; and here Daniel Boone
first saw the light, October 22, 1733.
Upon this tract was a substantial
stone house, thus described by Col-
onel McCue:
  "The historic old mansion is in
good preservation and will stand for
centuries to come. It is built of
dark freestone. The oldest part is
thirty-one feet long by twenty-
eight wide; wralls eighteen to twenty
inches thick, and two and a half
stories high ; the heavy girder sup-
ports the joists in both stories, and
the lower project two feet or more
and are covered with a narrow roof
of shingles. There are two rooms be-
low and three above and the old-fash-
ioned fire place in the west end (the
house stands east and west) has been
covered and made into a cupboard.



2

 



DANIEL BOONE.



Porches have been put to the
north and south sides and are mod-
ern. An addition was built to the
western end, of the same kind of
stone, same width and about six-
teen feet long. A large stone dairy
-or it may have been a kitchen,
was built, as supposed, at the same
time, a few yards to the south-west
of the main building, and in 1792.
The addition to the old house con-
tains the spring in the basement, at
the south-east corner, and the water
issues from under the south-west
corner of the old house. This room
constitutes an elegant dairy, room
for fruit, preserves, etc., and the dis-
play of nice bread' and pies, with
butter and milk, gave a forecast of
what was in store for my friend and
myself, under the kind and not to
be resisted invitation of our hostess
and her daughter that we must take
supper."
  Notwithstanding all that has been
said and written to prove that Boone
was born in Bucks, or Berks county,
he, in fact, was not born in either,
but in Philadelphia county. Colonel
Jones has well established the local-
ity of his birth in Exeter township;
but Exeter township remained a part
of Philadelphia county until 1752,
when Berks county wvas formed from
parts of Lancaster and Philadelphia
counties, and included Exeter town-
ship and the locality of Boone's
birth, but this was two years after
'Squire Boone had sold his farm and
removed, with his family, to North
Carolina.
  Colonel Jones has traced the rec-
ord of conveyances of this farm and
home from Squire Boone, first to
William Mogridge, April 11, 1750,
and from him and others down to



its present owner and occupant, Mr.
Richardson.
  The Boones were a large family;
most or all of them well to do,
thrifty, prosperous people, owning
valuable farms and homes. One of
them, James Boone, a cousin of
Daniel, was a man of much learning
and with a general aptitude for
mathematics. He was widely known
as " Boone, the Mathematician."
He lived for some time in Philadel-
phia, where his friends and associates
were sucn men as Benj. Franklin,
Divid Rittenhouse and others of
that class.
  He taught a select school for the
higher branches for advanced young
men, and s5 great was his reputa-
tion as a teacher, that several gen-
tlemen's sons were sent over from
England to attend his classes.
  He was a great admirer of Sir
Isaac Newton, and it is related that
he went through Sir Isaac's calcu-
lations, and discovered and noted a
number of errors in his published
works-the volumes are still extant
with these notes and criticisms.
  This James Boone was the rec-
ord keeper of the Boone family.
He recorded births, deaths, marri-
ages, removals, etc., to the day, the
hour and the minute. So there
need be no fear of inaccuracies in
dates or facts that come from the
records of James Boone.
  But to return from this digression
to the subject of this'sketch.
  It seems that when a mere lad
young Boone had discovered a taste
for adventure. He had accompan-
ied his cousin, Henry Miller, on
more than one excursion to the
headwaters of the Shenandoah Riv-
er, in Virginia, for the double pur-



3

 


DANIEL BOONE.



pose of hunting and trading with
the Indians.
  This Henry Miller afterwards re-
turned to Virginia, and built on
Mossy Creek, Augusta county, the
first Iron Furnace in the Valley of
Virginia.
  In April, 1750, Squire Boone sold
his homestead in Philadelphia coun-
ty, (now Berks county) to Wm.
Mogridge, as above stated, and on
the first of May removed with his
family-Daniel then being seven-
teen years old-to the banks of the
Yadkin River, North Carolina.
  But little is known of young
Daniel for the next few years, though
it is not to be supposed that he was
idle; his Shenandoah expeditions
with the wild and exciting life he
bad led, bad, no doubt, served to
stimulate his natural taste for adven-
ture, and instead of leading the mo-
notonous life of a farmer, as is sup-
posed, I learn from his grandson,
Colonel Albert Gallhtin Boone, that
he was with Washington on the
northwestern frontier of Virginia;
was with the ill fated Braddock ex-
pedition to Fort Dii Quesne, and
was in camp or garrison with Wash-
ington at son'e of the frontier forts.
When he returned from that region
he brought to the settlements a
small table and desk, which a fellow
soldier, who was an expert carpen-
ter or cabinet maker, had made from
a walnut log near the fort or camp
where they -were stationed, Boone
having purchased the table and
desk from the maker. They have
been preserved through all these
years, and are now owned by Col-
onel A. G. Boone.
  In looking over the history of
this time, I think I can trace the



circumstances which led Boone in
that channel.
  About the close of 1753, North
Carolina sent 450 volunteers,at the
request of Governor Dinwiddie, to
help protect the Northwest Virgin-
ia frontier. Some question having
arisen about the payment of these
troops, they were disbanded at Win-
chester in March, 1754. Immediate-
ly following, a Virginia regiment
was organized, under Colonel Fry
and Lieutenant-Colonel Washing-
ton. It is more than probable that
some of the North Carolina disban-
ded forces, Boone among them, join-
ed this Virginia regiment. They
marched agai nst the French and In-
dians, and were defeated at Great
Meadows. The next year, 1755,
Braddock's regulars and the Vir-
ginia forces marched against Fort
Du Quesne and were defeated. Next
year, 1756, Washington was in com-
mand of the frontier garrisons or
forts at Cumnberland; Frederick,
Great Meadows, etc. And this was
the time, probably, when young
Boone acquired the table and desk,
and from here it was possible to get
them back to the settlements.
  About this time he must have re-
turned to North Carolina, for on
the 1 Ith of August, 1756, he mar
ried Miss Rebecca Bryant, the
daughter of one of his father's neigh-
bors, made a settlement on the Hols-
tein river, in South West Virginia,
and probably devoted himself for a
time to the uncongenial pursuit of
farming.
  In 1760, he hunted into Tenessee,
where, on the Watauga river, he
left cut, in a beech tree, the record of
killing a bear.
  In 1761, it is related that he,with
a party, started to Kentucky, but, at



I



4

 



DANIEL BOONE.



about where Abingdon now stands,
the expedition, for some reason not
now known, was abandoned.
  In 1764 he penetrated Kentucky
as far the as Rock Castle branch of
the Cumberland river, showing that
the leaven of adventure was working
in him.
  In 1769, with Findley, Steward
and others as his companions, he
started out, literally with his life in
his hands, on a career of individual
discovery and conquest, which for
boldness of conception, intrepid
daring and unflinching resolution
against desperate odds in its execu-
tion, for disregard of personal com-
fort and contempt of danger, for
coolness, tact and sound judgment
in all emergencies, and above all,
for broad and far reaching results to
the country and the world at large,
has no parallel in history. But it
is here that his Biographers gener-
ally take him ; for about all they
know of him, and that imperfectly,
is during the time covered by his
wonderful Kentucky experiences
from 1769 to 1784, and I shall leave
him mostly with them for the next
fifteen years. During this period
they have devoted to him, and his
history, several hundred pages of
thrilling interest.
  They endeavor to do him justice
as a mighty hunter, explorer and
Indian fighter, but they have not, I
think, dwelt sufficiently upon his
qualities and experiences as a coun-
selor, commander and legislator, in
which fields, notwithstanding  his
rare modesty and lack of selt-asser-
tion, he was appreciated and put for-
war(l by his cotemporaries.
  Boowe kept no diary or note
book  of the stiring  events in
which he was participating, no writ-



ten record of the history he himself
was making. He had no thought
of fame or the applause of men, and
made no effort to herald his deeds to
the world; he did not himself seem
to appreciate the heroic grandeur of
his acts, or the mighty results which
were to flow from them, but seemed
to be driven on, irresistibly, by that
deep seated instinct of adventure
which nature had implanted in him,
and whose only gratification could
be found among the wilds of the
frontier wilderness and scenes and
deeds of danger and daring which
he so much enjoyed.
  W hen he accepted service from
Col. Henderson, to establish his Col-
ony, he was sent to negotiate a
treaty with the Indians, in council at
Watauga. When the new State of
Transylvania seemed established, he
whis chosen a delegate from one of
the districts to the Legislature at
lioonsborough, where, to show his
thoughtfulness, one of the first bills
he offered was for the protection of
game.
  When the Transylvania bubble
had burst, and Virginia divided
Kentucky into three counties-
l'ayette, Jeflerson and Lincoln-he
wvas ap)ointed Lieutenant-Colonel
of Fayette county, and also elected
to represent the same in the Legisla-
ture at Richmond.
  WVhen Boonshorough was organ-
ized as a town, he was made one of
the trustees. When Lord Dunmore
organized his Shawnee campaign in
1774, he put Boone in command of
three garrisons.  When he came to
Kanawha he was appointed Lieuten-
ant-Colonel, and afterwards elected
to represent the county in the Leg-
islature, and when he went to Mis-
souri he was appointed to the com-



b

 


DANIEL BOONE.



mand of a district by the Spanish
Commander of the territory.
   He seems never to have sought
place or preferment, nor to have
shirked responsibility when thrust
upon him, but he was always equal to
the emergency.
  The autobiography of Boone dic-
tated to John Filson, was dated in
Fayette county, Kentucky, in 1784.
This, so far as I know, is the last
published record of him in Ken-
tucky. After this his Biographers
know but little of him. They think
he remained in Kentucky until
about 1790 to '92, then settled in
Western Virginia unt; 1795, '96 or
'97, when he finally went to Mis-
souri, where he died, somewhere
from l81Ito'20.
  I wi ll try to show that these dates
are as inaccurate as those of his early
life, but more especially try to ac-
count for the ten or twelve vears he
lived here after leaving Kentucky,
and before going to Missouri.
  I have a copy of a letter from
Boone, written in Kentucky, a few
miles from Limestone, now Mays-
ville, dated May 30, 1785, to Cal)-
tain Charles Yancey, in relation to
lands he had been locating and -sur-
veying for him (Yancey). This let-
ter is three and half pages of fools-
cap, too long to publish here, but
the date establishes the fact that lie
was still in Kentucky in May, 1785.
This letter is now in the Public Li-
braryat Richmond, Virginia.
  A deed on record in Fayette
county, Kentucky, conveying land,
was signed and acknowledged by
Daniel Boone and wife at Point
Pleasant, on the Kanawha river,
April 28, 1786. It would seem from
this that hehad moved his family to
this valley as early as this date.



   I have a copy of another letter
written by Boone to John Overton,
of Lincoln county, Kentucky, on
the same subject of locating and
surveying land. This letteris dated
July 20, 1786, and is now in posses-
sion of the Historical Society of
Kentucky.
  I have a copy of another letter to
Captain Charles Yancy, about ac-
counts, settlements, etc., but this
time it is dated from   Hanover
county, Virginia, January 18, 1788,
and in conclusion says: " We are all
well at present," etc., this I think
clearly indicates that he and his
family were, at that date, in Han-
over county, Virginia. This letter,
the copy of which was kindly furn-
ished me by Prof. Pendleton, of
Bet hany, a grandson of Captain
Yancey, being much shorter, I
herewith insert, in full, to show the
simple, direct and courteous style of
the old pioneer, and at the same
time his peculiar Josh Billings style
of orthography, proving that he was
the great original, and Josh the pla-
garist and imitator:
"Capt   Charles  Yancy  Lewesey
  County
     HANOVER COUNTY
            Jan the 16th 1788 f
  "SiR Inclosed you have a few
Lines from Coll Marshall I Showed
him the order your Sun Bobey gave
mne hut he says he thinks he owes
you Nothing and if he Dos his Sun
John will Setel With you Sir Dont
be Oneasey about the Balance Due
me until a Convenent opertunity
Sarves We are all Well at present
My Respects to your famyly I am
Sir Your Omble Sarvent
               D v NIEILL BONE
To Crapt Chares Yancy."
  The Colonel Marshall refered to



6

 


DANIEL BOONE.



in this letter was Colonel Thomas
Marshall, surveyor  of   Fayette
county, Ky., and his son John, re-
fered to, was the afterward Chief
Justice Marshall.
   Shortly after this letter we find
him makinga second and last visit
to his native Berks county, Pa. (He
had been there alone in 178 1.) The
family record there, notes that on
the 12th of February, 1788, Daniel
Boone, Rebecca his wife and son,
Nathan arrived bv horse back on a
visit. They remained overa month
with their relativesand friends, and
then  returned.  Wl here they re-
turned to, is not stated, but it was
probably either to Hanover county,
or direct to this valley. If they
stopped in Hanover they must have
come here not very long after, for,
upon the organization of the first
court held alter the formation of the
county and appointment of officers
of the first military organization,
October 6,1789, Thomas Lewis was
appointed colonel and Daniel Boone
lieutenant-colonel, as shown by the
records.
  It is not probable that he had just
arrived here a week or a month be-
fore, but more likely that his family
had resided in the valley, first at
Point Pleasant and afterward in this
neighborhood, since 1786.
  There is evidence that Boone him-
self was at Limestone, (now Mays-
ville) Ky., in 1788, but this was
probably on a business visit, as he
is known to have been in Kentucky
on business in 1795 and 1798, while
he and his family resided here.
  The new county of Kanawha was
entitled to two representatives in
the Legislature. At the first elec-
tion, in 1790, George Clendenin and
Andrew Donnally were elected; in



1791, George Clendenin and Daniel
Boone were elected.
  The following table, which will
doubtless interest many Kanawhans,
gives a full list of all our delegates,
Boone included, from the formation
of the county in 1789, until the win-
ter of 1847, about which time I cut
the list from the Kanawha Repub-
jeain, a newspaper then published
here:
     KNNAWHA DELEGATES.
  "A friend has furnished us with a
complete list of the delegates from
Kanawha in the General Assembly
from the organization of the county
to the present time. We publish it
as a matter of curious interest to a
large portion of our readers:
  1790-George Clendenin, Andrew
Donnal ly.
  1791-George Clendenin, Daniel
Boone.
  1792-Henry Banks, Wm. Mor-
riss.
  1793-George Clendenin, Wm.
Morriss.
  1794-Wmi. Morriss, George
Clendenin.



  1795-Thos. Lewis; George Clen-
denin.
  1796-Wm.     Clendenin, Wm.
Morriss.
  1797-Edward Graham, Wm.
Morriss.
  1798-Wm. Morriss, Thomas
Lewis.
  1799-Thomas Lewis, David Ruff-
ner.
  1800-Wm. Morriss, Thos. Lewis,
  1801-Wm. Clendenin, David
Ruff ner.
  1802-R. M'Kee, D. Ruffner.
  1803-Wm. Clendenin, And.
Donnally.
  1804--D. Ruffner, Carroll Mor-
riss,



I



-



I



7

 
DANIEL BOONE.



  1805-Nehemiah    Wood, Wm.      1828-Daniel Smith, Matthew
Morriss.                        Dunbar.
  1806-John Reynolds, Wm. Mor-    1829-Daniel Smith, Matthew
riss.                           Dunbar.
  1807-John Reynolds,Wm. Mor-     18:30-George W. Summers.
riss.                             1831-George W. Summers.
  1808-John Reynolds, Edmund      1832-Janies H. Fry.
Morriss.                          18;33-James H. Fry.
  1809-John   Reynolds, David     1 834-George W. Summers.
Cartmill.                         1835-George W. Summers.
  1810-John Reynolds, Claudius    1836-A. Donnally.
Buster.                           1837-Daniel Smith.
  1811-John   Hansford, David     1838-Daniel Smith.
Rnffiner.                         1839-Van B. Reynolds.
  1812-David   Cartmill,  John   1840-Andrew Donnally.
Hansford.                         1841-Daniel Smith.
  18l3-John Wilson, John Hans-    1842-Andrew Parks.
ford.                             1843-John Lewis.
  1814-John Wilson, John Hans-    1844-Daniel Smith.
ford.                             1845-Spicer Patrick.
  1815-John Wilson, John Hans-    1846-Spicer Patrick.
ford.                             1847-Andrew Parks."
  1816-John   Wilson, Thos. S.    In those days, before stage lines
Buster.                         or other vehicular modes of travel
  1817-John   Hansford, Lewis were established, the only method
Summers.                        of communication between this and
  1818-John   Hansford, P. R. the eastern settlements, was by foot
Thompson.                       or on horseback, over bridle paths
  1819-Joseph Lovell, Claudius through the mountains.
Buster.                           Boone, true to his instincts, foot-
  120-Joseph   Lovell, N. W. ed it from here to Richmond and
Thompson.                       back, with his trusty rifle and butch-
  1821-Joseph Lovell, Lewis Ruff- er knife for his companions.
ner.                              As may be supposed, a city life
  1822-Matthew   Dunbar, James and the occupation of making laws
Wilson.                         were anything but congenial to his
  1823-James Wilson, Van B. Rey- tastes and experiences.
nolds.                            He left Richmond early in the
  1824-Joseph    Lovell,  John session and returned to Kanawha as
Welch.                          he went.
  We2b-lch. s Ruffner, Van    B.  Boone located and lived, while
  182R-Lewis Rufiner, Van   B. here, on the south side of the Kana-
Reynolds.                       wha river, four miles Irom here,
  1826-James H. Fry, Lewis Ruff- about half a mile from the original
ner.                            and then noted Salt Spring, and just
  1827-James   C.  MeFarland, opposite the present "Daniel Boone"
Daniel Smith,                   and "Snow Hill" salt furnaces,



8

 


DANEIL BOONE.



   His house was a double log homse
 with passage between, all under one
 roof, with porch in front.
 When I caine to Kanawha, in 1840,
 there were many old persons living
 who had known the Boones well.
 One of them, Mr. Paddy Huddle-
 stone, at whose house I spent sev-
 eral days, about forty years ago, in-
 terested me greatly, by relating the
 incidents of their hutinting, trapping
 and campj)ing together.
   I do not now remember the de-
tails of these incidents with suffici-
ent accuracy to relate them correctly,
but I remember that beaver trappi ng
was a favorite sport with Boone and
that, together, they found more
beaver on Gauley river than anV
other stream in this region.
  Huddlestone had among his few
books, a life of Boone, which I read
and which led to the discussion of
the subject. I remember how sur-
prised I was to learn that I had just
slept under the same roof that had
often sheltered the old hero, and
occupied the same room.
  Jared Huddlestone, son of Paddy,
still living, remembers well to have
often heard. his father tell of his first
acquaintance  with   Boone.    A
stranger with rifle and pack came to
his (Paddys) father's house one even-
ing about dusk, and asked to stay all
night; he seemed tired, did not tell
who he was, had but little to say,
and soon retired to rest. Next
morning, when the family got up for
the  usual early   breakfast, the
stranger, with his rifle, was out and
gone, but his pack remained, indi-
cating that he had not gone far. It
was not long until he came in and
got his breakfast, remarking that as.
he was an early riser he had been
looking around a little to see if there



were any signs of game about, and
told them he had discovered fresh
beaver sign near the house. He
asked if they had any traps, they
told him they had no beaver traps,
but had a steel trap for catching
foxes. Well, said he to Paddy,
"Come young man, get your trap
and go with me, and I will show
vou how to catch beaver." The first
(lay they were out they caught five,
and within a few days exterminated
the colony, about a dozen in all.
The "sign" which Boone had
found, was two saplings cut down
from a triangle of three; and the
third the beavers had commenced
on.  Catching the beavers saved
the third sapling, which, to-day, is
a red oak tree about two feet in
diameter, standing at the upper
end of Long-shoal.
  In 1792, Daniel Boone and Rob-
ert Saflord went on a beaver trap-
ping expedition on Raccoon Creek,
in now Gallia county, Ohio. They
camped first about where the town
of Adamsville now stands, and later
at Beaver Dam, near Vinton.
  They caught over one hundred
Beavers. When the hunt was over
and Boone returned to Kanawha, he
presented to his friend Safford his
tomahawk and best Beaver trap,
which he called "Old Isaac." This
tomahawk and trap have been pre-
served and handed down in the Saf-
lord family, and are now in the pos-
session of Mr. T. C. Saflord, of Gal.!
lipolis, Ohio.
  The Robert Safford above men-
tioned was one of the first three men
who, in 1790, landed on the site of,
and helped to lay out and start, the
town of Gallipolis.
  George H. Warth remembers
hearing his father,; John WartK5



-



9

 


DANIEL BOONE.



tell of a hunting and trapping ex-
pedition which he, Boone and
others made on Mill creek, now
Jackson county, West Virginia, in
the winter of 1793-4.  Boone was
suffering very much with rheniua-
tism at that time, and could not get
about well; so he attended the
beaver traps while the others hnn-
ted for larger game. To prevent
Boone getting his feet wet, WVarth
used to carry him on his back
across the creeks and branches until
they got to the trapding grounds,
and back again at night.
  The winter nights being long,
Boone interested his companions by
relating many of his western ad-
ventures; one to the effect that in
some Indian engagement he had
killed a noted brave named Cat
Fish; afterward, when Boone was
a prisoner, young Cat Fish asked
him if he was not in command when
his father was killed, and taxed him
with the killing; Boone admttted
being present, but evaded the ques-
tion of killing by saying that when
all were firing it was impossible to
tell who did the killing; and that
many things happen in war that
were best forgotten in peace. He
thought that young Cat Fish, hav-
ing him completely in his power,
had determined to avenge his
father's death ; but to his surprise
and relief Cat Fish slapped him on
the shoulder saying: "Brave man!
all right! when we in war you kill
me, I kill you, all right! brave
man !"
  John Wartb the younger, remem-
bers his father telling, that on this
same Mill creek expedition, Boone
had lost or broken the screws in his
gun lock, and had the lock tied to
the stock by sinews of deer, and



that the matter was the subject of
frequent jest and laughter on the
part of the company.
  Colonel Jones, of Reading, Pa.,
remembers to have heard old per-
so8s who were living when Boone
made his last visit io Berks, in 1788,
say that Boone related, among his
Kentucky experiPnces, that when
he and others rescued his daughter
and the Misses Callaway from the
Indians who had captured them,
the attack was made upon the In-
dian camp about daylight, and when
Boone fired, his daughter sprang to
her feet, clapping her hands with
joy and exclaimed: "that's dad!
that's dad !" She recognized the
well known sound of his rifle.
  Mluch of Bootie's time while he
lived here was spent in locating and
surveying lands. He was familiar
with the geography and topography
of the whole country; he had trav-
eled, and hunted, fought and trap-
p)ed, up and down all the streams
and knew where the good lands lay.
It was this valuable knowledge,
doubtless, that brought him employ-
nment here, as it had in Kentucky
for several years before he left
there.
  In the reports of surveys on the
surveyor's books, he is generally re-
corded as "marker ;" he piloted the
party, selected and located the land,
carried his tomahawk and (lid the
marking; Daniel Boone, Jr., and
Mathias VanBibber being chain-
men.
  Among other tracts, he located
over 200,000 acres in two adjoining
surveys beginning where Boone
Court House now stands, and run-
ning across the waters of Guyan-
dotte, Twelve Pole and Big Sandy,
to the Kentucky line. These sur-

 


DANIEL BOONE.R



veys were made in 1795. The sur-
veying party cut their names and the
dates on beech trees at several places
on the route. Mr. T. A. Matthews,
surveyor, who has re-run these lines,
tells me that the names and dates are
still legible. The names are George
Arnold, Daniel Boone, Edmund
Price, Thomas Upton and Andrew
Hatfield. On some of the trees, in-
stead of Boone's full name, only his
initials, "D. B." appear. The last
-survey recorded here in which Boone
took part, was made September 8,
1798.  Boone carried a smaller
hatchet than usual, on his surveys,
and made his lines and corner marks
with great accuracy and uniformity
of stroke, and the Kanawha survev-
ors, to this day, claim that they can
distinguish the cut of his tomakawk
from that of any other of the old
surveyors. There is now on file, i l
the clerk's office here, a block from
one of Boone's old line markings,
held as a witness in a suit pending
in court.
  I have now before me an original
report of a survey made by Daniel
Boone, at Point Pleasant, in 1791.
Of which the following is a copy:
           "JUNK the 14th 1791
  Laide of for Willeam Allin ten
acres of Land Situate on the South
Este Side of Crucked Crick in the
County of Conhawwvay and Boun(ded
as followeth Viz Begining at a rad
oke and Hickury thence North 56
We