Simon Kenton papers
Abstract
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Simon Kenton papers
- Date
- 1783-1812 (inclusive)
- Creator
- Kenton, Simon, 1755-1836
- Extent
- 0.1 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Fugitive slaves -- Kentucky.
- Kentucky -- History -- To 1792.
- Clay, Henry, 1777-1852
- Kenton, Simon, 1755-1836
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged chronologically.
- Preferred Citation
- 2021ms021: [identification of item], Simon Kenton papers, 1783-1812, University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Simon Kenton (1755-1836), of Virginia, left home as a teenager, heading west to Kentucky and serving there as a scout in Dunmore's War (1774), saving Daniel Boone's life in 1777, and joining the American frontier war experience during the Revolution, including some service as a scout with George Rogers Clark. Acquiring land in Mason County, Kentucky, in 1785, he lived there in relative prosperity, with service in the 1793-1794 campaigns of Anthony Wayne, until settling in Ohio in 1799. He served with a Kentucky regiment in the War of 1812, taking part in the battle of the Thames. His later years were spent in poverty, primarily due to defective titles to his land.
- Scope and Content
- The Simon Kenton papers (dated 1783-1812; 0.1 cubic feet; 1 folder) comprise indentures, a receipt, a bond, a petition, and a deposition involving Kenton and document various land deals, disputes, and financial arrangements in Kentucky. The collection includes a deposition Kenton gave in Urbana, Ohio, in 1812, concerning an enslaved woman named Sarah, who escaped from slavery. Kenton swore in the deposition that her enslaver, John Phillips, was searching for her in Mason County, Kentucky, where she was supposedly living with a Native American tribe. Other documents include indentures, a receipt, a promissory note, accounts, a personal bond, and a petition concerning a road through Kenton's property in Mason County from 1789. Additionally there is a note from Kenton to Henry Clay (text and signature in another hand) directing an appeareance to take depositions.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Simon Kenton papers, 1783-1812
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Table of Contents
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If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
Requests
No items have been requested.
You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
