xt7vq814nm5g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7vq814nm5g/data/mets.xml Eubank, Rice S. 1913 books b92-121-28575459 English R.A. Owen Pub. Co., : Dansville, N.Y., Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky History. Story of Kentucky / by R.S. Eubank. text Story of Kentucky / by R.S. Eubank. 1913 2002 true xt7vq814nm5g section xt7vq814nm5g INSTRUCTOR LITERATURE SERIES The Story of Kentucky By N. S. Eulbank, A. 'B. F. A. OWEN PUBLISHING COMPANY, DANSVILLE, N. Y. Copyright 19g3, by F. A. Owen Publishing Co This page in the original text is blank. The Story of Kentucky Geography and First White Visitor Lying west of the Allegheny Mountains and extending westward for some three hundred miles, bounded, for the most part, on the north by the Ohio River and ex- tending to the Mississippi, lies the State of Kentucky. In its eastern portion, constituting nearly one-third of its area, the surface is broken, and so high as to be termed mountainous. A large area occupying the cen- tral third, and in the early day mostly a prairie land, is now known as the famous Blue Grass section. The wes- tern third of the State is practically level, being but a few feet above the sea, and cypress swamps are not infrequent. This section is commonly termed "The Pennyrile. " In the middle of the eighteenth century, Kentucky was a portion of that unexplored western realm belonging by grant to the State of Virginia, and designated as a part of Fincastle County. The eastern portion in the early day abounded in wild game common to the Appalachian forests. The undulating grass lands in the central part of the State provided ample grazing for the herds of buf- falo and deer that were found there at the time of the coming of man. The skeletons that have been exhumed indicate that it was the feeding ground of the giant mas- todon before the discovery of America. About two hundred years after Columbus discovered America, a young man twenty-two years of age came to THE STORY OF KENTUCKY Canada from the Old World. On his arrival he learned from the settlers and Indians the possibilty of a passage to the South Sea, which they then thought the Gulf of Mexico to be. Desirous of making this journey, and lured by the possibility of reaching the Pacific by water, he secured the assistance of Indians and some white hun- ters as guides and set out upon an expedition of explora- tion into the country concerning which he had heard such fascinating stories. Crossing the St. Lawrence and traveling southward, he came to what is now called Allegheny River. Secur- ing birchbark canoes, he and his party descended the Allegheny to its junction with the Monongahela, then turning southwestward on the beautiful stream formed by these two small rivers and now known as the Ohio, he explored the country along the banks of the river to what was called by him the Rapids of the Ohio. Thus, LaSalle was the first to gaze, upon the country from the mouth of the Big Sandy to the present site of Louisville, and to make a record of such discoveries. The Virginians and Daniel Boone Near the middle of the eighteenth century, or about 1750, a party of Virginia hunters, growing weary of the monotony of home life and desiring to find better hunt- ing grounds, penetrated the Appalachian Mountains by way of Powell's Valley and through Cumberland Gap, into the eastern portion of what is now Kentucky, and hence were the first white men to approach the land from the eastern side. In 1767, John Finley and Daniel Boone, hearing of the fine hunting in this section, came to Kentucky from North Carolina and built a cabin on Red River, near where Estill, Powell, and Clark counties are now joined. Two years later, about forty hunters and adventurers came to the territory and made their 4 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY 5 camp at what they then called Price's Meadows, about six miles from the present site of Monticello in Wayne County. This camp, by virtue of its location near the Cumberland River, developed into a distributing point for the country lying along the Cumberland, now in- cluded in Wayne, Green, Barren and Warren counties. Another station was built near Greensburg. These sta- tions or camps seem to have served only the immediate needs of the hunters while they were in the territory. Daniel Boone seems to have been the only one of these hunters to whom the wilderness especially appealed. Consequently, for many years he made frequent trips into the territory, stay- ing as long as two years on one occa- sion, and winning the title of The Long Hunter. Boone was alone on many of these trips, never seeing the face of a white man, but frequently meeting 1)el one roving bands of Indians. From a cave in the side of Pilot Knob in Powell County, he could catch glimpses of the joyous sports of the Shawnee boys at Indian Fields; and from the projecting rocks he feasted his eyes on the herds of buffalo winding across the prairie. No permanent Indian villages were found in Kentucky. It seems to have been a choice bit of hunting ground strongly contested by the tribes of the North and the tribes of the South. The Shawnees had a village at In- dian Fields, in the eastern portion of Clark County, near the beautiful stream called Lulbegrud Creek. Boone seems to have been endowed with the faculty that enabled him to pass, in his first years of wandering, from tribe to tribe; and from these Indians he learned that the common name of the country, known to all, was Kan-tuckee (kane-tooch-ee), so called by the Indians be- THE STORY OF KENTUCKY cause of the abundance of a peculiar reed growing along the river, now known as pipe-stem cane. Boone remained in the wilderness so long that his brother and a searching party came to find him. They found him in good health and spirits, enjoying life, and living in peace with the Indian tribes. The party, with Boone, returned to the valley of the Yadkin, and told such stories of the enchanted land as caused the settlers of the region to listen eagerly, and to feel the stirring of the pioneer spirit. Not caring for the growing crops and with no relish for the monotonous labor, Boone easily persuaded a company of men to come with him to the wilderness and to bring their families. U C ( 'NX boonesboro d 4 64 ; A= A Bone's Tail The journey was tedious. Those on foot went ahead and blazed a trail for the few wagons, pack horses and domestic animals, and killed game to furnish meat when the next camp should be struck at nightfall. It was a courageous, jolly party that thus marched through Cum- berland Gap, and blazed a way which has since been known as Boone's Trail. Hostile Indians had to be 6 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY fought along the way, and several of the party were slain, among them being Boone's son. An Englishman, also, was killed, and his young son was adopted by Boone and thereafter known as his own son. Beginnings of Settlements The party passed the present site of Richmond in Madi- son County, and reached a point on the Kentucky River, in 1775, where Boonesborough was built. The site selected was a broad, level stretch of land, with the river to the north, and high hills to the south. This particular spot was selected because of a fine spring of water, and high hills that could be used for sentinel towers, inclosing fine level4 ground for cultiva- tion. The settlers j cut trees and con- Boone' Fort structed a stockade in the form of a hollow square. It was from this fort that Rebecca Boone and the Calloway girls were stolen by Indians while boating on the Kentucky River. About the same time that Boonesborough was being established, Captain James Harrod with a party of forty men descended the Ohio River, stopped for a time at the mouth of Licking River, and felled some trees on the present site of Cincinnati. Not being satisfied with the location of the settlement, they followed the Ohio to the mouth of the Kentucky River and ascended the Kentucky to a spot now known as Oregon Landing. Being fatigued 7 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY from their long and difficult voyage, they left their boats and took a course from the river and found a big spring at which they built a stockade on the present site of Har- rodsburg. The large flowing spring one mile west of the present town of Stanford, Lincoln County, was made the site of a third settlement. Capt. Benjamin Logan headed this party of pioneers, and the station was, for a time, known as Logan's Fort. Afterward, because of the fact that the fort was made by planting logs on end, it was called Standing Fort, and in later years the town was called Stanford. In the Logan party was a priest who was a musician of rare ability. In his daily walks, he was accustomed to sit, meditating, at the mouth of the cave from which ran the water of this great spring. The rip- ple of the stream flowing from the cavern, over the rocks and through the spearmint, was music to the Father's ear, and to him it seemed the spirit of St. Asaph, the director of King David's choir. He it was who named the spring and the creek which flows from it, St. Asaph's. While the people busied themselves at Harrodsburg, Boonesborough and Logan's Fort, Simon Kenton, disap- pointed in a love affair in Virginia, seeking relief from sorrow by satisfying his hunger for hunting and atthe same time acting in the interest of Lord Dunmore, came to Kentucky. He reached a point near Old Washington in Mason County, where he and his party cleared an acre of land, planted corn and ate the roasting ears the same summer. So far as we know, this was the first agricultural activity in the Commonwealth. In April, 1775, the first battle of the Revolutionary War was fought at Lexington, Mass. At that time a party of hunters was camped at the big spring near the present site of the Fayette County courthouse, in Lexington, Ky. Months later, the news of the American victory reached 8 THE STORY OF. KENTUCKY the settlers, and because of their great joy over the vic- tory gained, they named the camp site Lexington. Limestone (now Maysville), Royal Springs (now George- town) and Martin's Station were also built this year. In 1779, Lexington was first permanently improved and cabins built. From these rude stockade cabins grew the the beautiful city of the Blue Grass, in which town for many years were manufactured practically all the fur hats worn in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys. Being in the center of the hemp-growing sec- tion, practically all the ropes and cables used in boating on the Ohio, Mississippi and Ken- tucky rivers were made in Lexington. These commercial enterprises, together with the ex- ceptional fertility of the stokade and Cabin at Lexington soil, account for the development of the city of Lexington more rapidly than the surrounding forts and stations. Daniel Boone was consulted regarding the advisability of the location of all settlements made during the early days, because he knew the country better than any other one person, and knew the wilderness as few have known it. Hunters and trappers began to traffic along the Ohio River, and supplies for the more northern settlements were shipped on the Ohio and unloaded at Limestone or at The Rapids. At this latter point it was necessary, if supplies were sent farther down the stream, to unload and carry them to a point below the rapids, when the boats would have to be launched again and reloaded. 9 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY This necessitated a delay, especially as the traders soon fell upon the plan of having one line of boats plying above the rapids and another plying between points below the rapids. Men for unloading and loading were kept always on the ground. This little settlement became per- manent, and is now the largest town in the State-Louis- ville. How the Pioneers Lived and Fought After the wives of the settlers in the various forts came to Kentucky, home life took on the appearance of a settled community. Homes were built outside the stock- ades, nearly every man of family had a farm of his own, land was cleared, fruit trees were set out, attention was given to the raisingof hogs, sheep, cattle and horses, and a little Empire of the West began to appear. The women were busy with spin- ning, weaving and general housework. The men clear- ed and fenced their land. The FirstStoekde and Cabins t the Fallsof Ohio now fortifications tuisville. Built by George Rogers Clark in 1776. eeketol By itw Aged it Ad were kept only as a refuge in time of an attack by the Indians-which, however, was not infrequent, because the French in the North coveted the rich lands beyond the Alleghenies, and incited the Indians to warfare against the white people who were settling there. It was the sturdy pioneers of Kentucky, acting in the name of Virginia, who held the f rontier against the encroachments of the French, as the property of the English crown. 10 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY The notorious renegade, Simon Girty, a white man who for certain reasons forsook civilized society and asso- ciated himself with the Indians of Northern Ohio, was willing at all times to harass the settlers on the frontier at the suggestion of the French military commanders. This man cared not for spilling the blood of his own race, and frequently would lead his hostile bands in attacks against the unprotected settlements. His favorite time for attack seemed to be in the spring of the year, when the men were at work in the fields and offered the least resistance by a speedy rally of forces. We have noticed that all these forts were built near a spring of unfailing water. The pioneers seem always to have left the spring outside the inclosure, however, and since this worked a great hardship in time of siege, it seems to have been bad judgment. Girty's Indians at- tacked Logan's Fort. The supply of water inside the fort was exhausted, and the suffering was intense. After this siege, General Logan decided never again to be sub- jected to such an extremity. He could not bring the spring to the fort, and it was also difficult to transplant the fort. So he summoned the settlers and proposed a plan to which they agreed. The hours when they were not working in the fields or building new cabins they spent in digging, until a tunnel was made from the stockade to the spring. In succeeding attacks, the General had his granaries and storehouses well supplied with food and ammunition, and it was an easy matter to send a boy with a bucket through the tunnel to the spring for water. This precaution on the part of the General prevented exhaus- tion during the next attack on Logan's Fort. The Indians, unable to understand how the settlers in the fort could do so long without water, supposed them to be miracu- lously defended by the Great Spirit, and never afterward could Girty lead his band to attack Logan's Fort. 11 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY The settlers at Bryan's Station, a few miles from Lex- ington, did not take a similar precaution. During one of the Indian attacks on them the supply of water in the fort became exhausted, and surrender seemed un- avoidable. The women of the fort volunteered to go for water, and taking buckets marched down to the spring. The Indians were surprised, superstitious, and panic- stricken, and refused to fire on them. The women filled their buckets and returned in safety to the stockade. Notwithstanding the bounteous provision made by Nature to supply the needs of the settler in the way of fruits, wild meats, and skins for clothing, life in the settlements was plain in the extreme. Furniture and household utensils were scant and crude, for the most part being of home construction. Salt was one of the greatest needs of the settlers. At first, they made it from the water of the numerous salt licks, each family making its supply by boiling the water in a kettle until the mois- ture had evaporated, leaving the salt encrusted in the kettle. These kettles were crude, and invariably small. Hence it was more difficult to supply a family with salt than with sugar, which was easily made by boiling down the sap from the maple trees. After awhile, the Virginia authorities sent out a number of large kettles and two expert salt makers, who reported to Captain Boone for service. Boone, with his two experts and thirty other men, left Boonesborough for the Lower Blue Lick Spring, fifty or more miles toward the north. Here they made a camp and set to work to manufacture a stock of salt suf- ficient to supply the needs of all the settlements for a period of twelve months. From time to time a small party was sent back to the different forts with pack- horses laden with salt. On their return, they would bring supplies, parched corn, and perhaps a few of the simple comforts that seemed almost luxuries to the hardy 12 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY backwoodsmen. Meat constituted the chief article of diet for the workers of the salt factory. It required no small amount to satisfy the appetites of thirty vigorous men. Boone, as the most expert hunter among them, undertook to supply the camp with meat. The task was, to him, a thoroughly congenial one, which we cannot imagine the more civilized task of manufacturing salt to have been. It was Boone's custom to go out some miles from camp every morning, returning at the close of the day with as much game as he could carry, and often leaving a quan- tity at a particular spot to be sent for with a packhorse. One afternoon Boone was making his way toward the salt works after a day of successful hunting, when he suddenly found himself surrounded by a company of In- dians. Not having seen a redskin for months, and be- lieving it unlikely that they could be present in large numbers at that time of the year, Boone was not as keenly on the alert as usual. The savages had found Boone's trail while wandering through the woods. He was taken captive, adopted into the tribe, his hair picked out in Indian fashion, and the war paint added. Boone's failure to return led the men in the camp to suspect the presence of Indians, and to guess that Boone had fallen captive. The alarm was quickly sent to the surrounding forts. Maj. Harlan, Col. Trigg, Col. Todd, and Boone's brother led a body of men against the Indians in what proved to be the bloodiest battle recorded in the annals of the territory, and known as the Battle of Blue Licks. In this battle, Boone's eldest son was slain, and it is said the old man never could refer to the battle without shed- ding tears. In the midst of the battle, Boone escaped from his captors and rejoined the settlers. 13 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY George Rogers Clark and the Revolution Among the many men of sterling quality who for vari- ous reasons came out to Kentucky, was one stalwart, well-trained, military genius known in history as General George Rogers Clark. His first trip to Kentucky was semi-official, as a representative of the Virginia Legisla- ture, to visit the various forts and settlements and to report progress to the state government. He found the settlers in dire need of powder. Reporting this to the Virginia authorities, he succeeded in securing for the settlers a quantity, which was yet insufficient to defend them against the Indians. Of Clark's second appearance in Kentucky, General Ray, who was at that time a boy of sixteen, living at Harrodsburg (or Harrod's Station as it X was then called), gives the following account: "I had come down to where George Rogers Clark I now live, about four miles from Har- rodsburg, to turn some horses on the range. I had killed a small blue-winged duck that was feeding in my spring, and had roasted it nicely by a fire on the brow of the hill. While waiting for the duck to cool, I was startled by the sud- den apppearance of a fine, soldierly-looking man. 'How do you do, my little fellow What is your name Aren't you afraid of being in the woods by yourself' Answer- ing his inquiries, I invited him to partake of my duck, which he did, without leaving me a bone to pick, his appetite was so keen. Had I known him then as I did afterwards, he would have been welcome to all the game I could have killed. Having devoured my duck, he asked me questions about the settlers, the Indians and the condition of affairs in the locality." These the boy answered as well as he could, and then ventured to ask 14 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY the name of his guest. "My name is Clark," was the response, "and I have come out here to see how you brave fellows are doing in Kentucky, and to lend you a helping hand, if necessary." With the universal consent of the settlers, Clark nat- urally assumed the military leadership of the territory, visiting all the fortifications, looking after their military stores, drilling the men, and otherwise strengthening the defenses of the pioneers. Clark made other trips to Virginia in behalf of the frontiersmen, but since the re- sources of Virginia were severely taxed by the necessary support given to the other colonies during the Revolu- tionary War, he received little or no encouragement, and practically nothing in the way of military supplies. It is stated that he provided the necessities at his own ex- pense, defraying the cost of transportation and distribu- tion. Later, powder was made by the settlers of Ken- tucky by leaching saltpetre from the soil in various sections and combining it with charcoal and other in- gredients. The English army officers formed alliances with the In- dian tribes living north of the Ohio River in the territory now composing Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and incited them to frequent attacks on the Kentucky settlements, with the hope that they would the sooner capture the State of Virginia by an approach from the west. Clark, as military commander of Kentucky, sent spies into this northern country to determine the location of the for- tresses and the number of English and Indians in each. One of these spies was the celebrated Simon Kenton, who was not content with locating the enemy but at- tempted to recapture a lot of horses stolen from Ken- tucky by the Indians on a former raid. Kenton and his companions were not able to travel fast with the num- ber of horses they had secured, and when they were at- THE STORY OF KENTUCKY tacked by a band of Indians, Kenton's companions were slain and he was captured. The Indians hated him cor- dially and began to beat him unmercifully, calling him the "hoss-steal." They easily could have murdered Kenton on the spot, but since he had proved such a ter- rible foe to them in the past, they preferred to enjoy their capture all the more by torturing him for awhile. He was carried by the Indians to Chillicothe, where he was several times forced to run the gauntlet. Finally, when tied to the stake to be burned, he was recognized by his boyhood friend, Simon Girty, who sent him to Detroit, from which place he made his escape and re- turned to Kentucky, reporting to General Clark the con- ditions as he had found them. Other spies returned, and from the general reports General Clark thought it necessary to make another ap- peal to Virginia for aid. In 1778, Governor Patrick Henry of Virginia gave to Clark a commission as com- manding officer to take such soldiers as he could secure in Virginia, together with his Kentuckians, and go against the British and Indians north of the Ohio River. Leaving Corn Island, now Louisville, he and his brave followers marched northward through swamps and swam streams, capturing every fortification to which they came. Among -these were Kaskaskia and Vincennes. By this heroic deed of Clark's the great territory north of the Ohio River was secured from the British, and be- came a part of Virginia's territory. Clark continued at the head of military affairs in Kentucky, but his greatest work was done before he was thirty years of age. Later Days of Famous Pioneers When peace came, Clark settled about eight miles from Louisville and fell into habits of intemperance which unfitted him for public service. He was given large 1 6 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY land bounties by Virginia, in recognition of services rendered, but conflicting claims prevented him coming into possession of the land for years, thus leaving him helpless and poor in his old age. The Virginia legisla- ture voted him a jeweled sword, which was sent to the old man by a special messenger. When the young man made his speech presenting the sword, Clark replied, "Young man, go tell Virginia, when she needed a sword I found one. Now, I need bread." The worn-out old soldier lived only a little while longer, and in 1818 died and was buried at Locust Grove, Ky. It has been said that a French officer who met Clark at Yorktown, on his return to France, said to the king: "Sire, there are two Washingtons in America." "What do you mean" said the king. "I mean," said the officer, "that there is Washington whom the world knows; and there is George Rogers Clark, the conqueror of the Northwest, as great a man as Washington in his field of action and for his opportunity. " Simon Kenton shared a like fate. Losing his land, acre by acre, this simple-hearted old pioneer found him- self penniless in his old age. He was then allowed by law, to the shame of all civilization, to be cast into prison for debt upon the same spot upon which he had built his first cabin in 1775. In 1799, as a beggar, he moved into Ohio. In 1813, he joined Governor Shelby's troops and was with them in the Battle of the Thames. In 1820, this poor old man moved to a site on Scioto river, where the Indians forty years before had tied him to a stake to be burned. Near the close of his life he was given some mountain lands and a small pension. Daniel Boone lost all his fine lands in Kentucky, also, and came to such poverty as to lead him in one of his petitions to say, "I have not a spot of ground whereon to lay my bones. " He left Kentucky, saying he would 17 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY never return to live in a country so ungrateful. About 1796 he moved to Missouri and settled fifty miles from St. Louis. Spain owned that territory then, and the Spanish government gave him a liberal grant of land. Around him his sons and daughters and their families settled. The broad forests were full of game, and here Boone again indulged his passion for a hunter's life. The old hunter neglected to complete his titles to his new lands, and these he also lost. Congress afterward made him a smaller grant. He died in Missouri in 1820, at the age of eighty-six, and was buried in a coffin which he had made for himself some years before. In 1845, the Legislature of Kentucky had the remains of the pioneer and his wife removed and buried with honor in the cemetery at Frankfort. A suitable monument was erected to mark their resting place. In the early days of the settlement of Kentucky, all men were not engaged in fighting Indians, building forts and clearing ground. On the contrary, the fertility of the soil and the wealth of timber and mineral led men to look to the commercial value of real estate, and conse- quently there was formed a powerful company known as The Transylvania Land Company, which had for its pur- pose the ownership and control of the valuable lands. Judge Richard Henderson, a native of Virginia, was the leader in the formation of this Company. Taking advantage of the unsettled boundaries west of the mountains and knowing that the several states claimed the country by right of grants from the kings of the countries of Europe, the Transylvania Company at- tempted to organize the territory into a separate govern- ment. These men gave the settlers no little worry over the ownership of their lands, and because Virginia was engaged in the War of the Revolution little attention was paid to affairs in Kentucky. Finally, in 1776, the settlers is THE STORY OF KENTUCKY in Kentucky called a meeting at Harrodsburg and sent Gabriel Jones and George Rogers Clark to the Legisla- ture of Virginia with a statement that unless Virginia should protect the settlers against the Transylvania Com- pany and others, the people would organize the territory into a separate government, and take their place among the States. To this statement the Virginia Legislature gave heed, and cut off from Fincastle County, Virginia, all that unsurveyed territory west of the Allegheny Mountains, and organized it into the County of Ken- tucky, as a part of Virginia. This act enabled the set- tlers to have a regular form of county government with a sheriff and other county officials, as well as two repre- sentatives in the Virginia Assembly. Things went well in the new county for awhile. Agri- culture was engaged in more extensively and the good work of developing the country went steadily on, inter- rupted all too frequently by the attacks of the Indians from the north, in very much the same manner as before, though less frequently. People in the eastern colonies heard of the fertility of the soil and of the many attractive features of the coun- try, and as a result large numbers from all the older settlements determined to try their fortunes in the favored land. Population increased to such an extent that it was thought advisable to divide the territory into three counties (Jefferson, Lincoln and Fayette), and courts were established. After the Revolution The treaty of peace which ended the War of the Revo- lution was concluded in November, 1782, but the people of Kentucky did not get the news for nearly four months later. All were rejoiced that the struggle was ended and confidently expected that trouble with the Indians would cease, since there seemed no further reason for inciting 19 THE STORY OF KENTUCKY them to make war on the Kentuckians. The people were doomed to disappointment. The treaty left possessions so poorly defined that not only did the Indians make oc- casional invasions into the territory to plunder, under the direction of the military commanders of the north, but the people were threatened by a still graver danger. The unsettled boundaries and titles of lands along the Mississippi River caused a question of ownership to arise between France, England and Spain. Spain at that time controlled the lower Mississippi River, and men from that country secretly came to Kentucky attempting to arouse the people to the act of establishing a separate nation under the protection of Spain. The loyalty of the good men of Kentucky to the rights of Virginia cannot be too highly praised. There were some persons, though, who for glory and private gain did all in their power to stir up the rebellion and to establish a separate govern- ment. Kentucky was virtually left to her fate beyond the mountains during the trying times following the close of the Revolution. The needs of the territory and the constant menace from these Spanish agents led the better class of men in Kentucky to consider the question of asking Virginia to be allowed the privilege of separation, with the expec- tation of the territory's being formed into a State, equal with others of the Union. This would give a better ad- ministration of affairs and would put an end to the ef- forts of agents from other countries desiring to establish a separate nation. On May 23, 1785, a convention of delegates met at Danville and sent the following resolution to the Virginia Assembly: "Resolved: That it is the duty of the con- vention, as they regard the prosperity and happiness of their constituents, to pray the General Assembly at the ensuing session for an act to separate this district from