



Produced by David Garcia, Ron Stephens and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Kentuckiana Digital Library)









  TO MY CHILDREN

  EWART, LA VERNE, AND LOIS

  WHO HAVE EVER BEEN MY

  INSPIRING AUDIENCE



  [Illustration: KENTUCKY
  FROM ITS SETTLEMENT TO THE CIVIL WAR]



  STORIES OF
  OLD KENTUCKY

  BY
  MARTHA GRASSHAM PURCELL

  AUTHOR OF "SETTLEMENTS AND CESSIONS OF LOUISIANA"

  MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION
  PADUCAH, KENTUCKY

  [Illustration]

  AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY
  NEW YORK   CINCINNATI   CHICAGO



  COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY
  MARTHA GRASSHAM PURCELL.

  COPYRIGHT, 1915, IN GREAT BRITAIN.

  STORIES OF OLD KENTUCKY.
  E.P.




PREFACE


To be easily assimilated, our mental food, like our physical food,
should be carefully chosen and attractively served.

The history of the "Dark and Bloody Ground" teems with adventure and
patriotism. Its pages are filled with the great achievements, the heroic
deeds, and the inspiring examples of the explorers, the settlers, and
the founders of our state. In the belief that a knowledge of their
struggles and conquests is food that is both instructive and inspiring,
and with a knowledge that a text on history does not always attract, the
author sets before the youth of Kentucky these stories of some of her
great men.

This book is intended as both a supplementary reader and a text, for,
though in story form, the chapters are arranged chronologically, and
every fact recorded has been verified.

Thanks are due to the many friends who have granted access to papers of
historical value, to many others who have assisted in making this book a
reality, and especially to my husband, Dr. Clyde Edison Purcell, for his
valuable suggestions, careful criticisms, and untiring cooeperation.

                                              MARTHA GRASSHAM PURCELL.




CONTENTS


                                                    PAGE

    WHEN THE OCEAN COVERED KENTUCKY                    9

    THE ABORIGINES OF KENTUCKY                        10

    SOME PREHISTORIC REMAINS                          16

    THE DISCOVERY OF KENTUCKY                         18

    INDIAN CLAIMS IN KENTUCKY                         22

    SCOUWA                                            23

    THE GRAVEYARD OF THE MAMMOTHS                     27

    THE DRUID OF KENTUCKY                             28

    A PIONEER NOBLEMAN                                33

    EARLY KENTUCKY CUSTOMS                            37

    BOONE'S ILLUSTRIOUS PEER                          41

    BOONE'S TRACE                                     49

    BOONE IN CAPTIVITY                                52

    BOONESBOROUGH'S BRAVE DEFENSE                     56

    THE LOST BABY                                     61

    THE FIRST ROMANCE IN KENTUCKY                     64

    A WEDDING IN THE WILDERNESS                       67

    PIONEER CHILDREN                                  70

    HOW THE PIONEERS MADE CHANGE                      72

    A WOMAN'S WILL                                    73

    WHEN THE WOMEN BROUGHT THE WATER                  76

    THE RESULT OF ONE RASH ACT                        83

    TWO KENTUCKY HEROES                               86

    THE BATTLE OF THE BOARDS                          89

    THE FAITHFUL SLAVE AND HIS REWARD                 91

    THE DOUBLE SHOT                                   94

    A MAN OF STRATEGY AND SAGACITY                    96

    THE KIND-HEARTED INDIAN                          100

    SAVED BY THE HUG OF A BEAR                       101

    A KENTUCKIAN DEFEATED THE BRITISH                105

    A FAMOUS MARCH                                   110

    THE FIRST CHRISTMAS PARTY                        113

    FORT JEFFERSON                                   115

    "THE HARD WINTER"                                118

    WILDCAT MCKINNEY                                 119

    HOW KENTUCKY WAS FORMED                          122

    KENTUCKY IN THE REVOLUTION                       123

    KENTUCKY'S PIONEER HISTORIAN                     125

    SPANISH CONSPIRACY                               128

    A KENTUCKY INVENTOR                              135

    OTHER KENTUCKY INVENTIONS                        138

    THE MAN WHO KNEW ABOUT BIRDS                     140

    A HERO OF HONOR                                  143

    THE "PRIDE OF THE PENNYRILE"                     150

    LUCY JEFFERSON LEWIS                             153

    NATURAL CURIOSITIES IN KENTUCKY                  155

    THE WORLD'S GREATEST NATURAL WONDER              159

    HOW REELFOOT LAKE WAS FORMED                     161

    KENTUCKY VALOR IN 1812-1815                      163

    A TRIUMVIRATE OF ELOQUENCE                       166

    KENTUCKIANS IN TEXAS AND MEXICO                  167

    CLAY, THE GREAT COMMONER                         169

    KENTUCKY IN THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES           171

    WHY SOME CITIES WERE SO NAMED                    175

    KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE                 179

    "BESSEMER STEEL" IN KENTUCKY                     182

    KENTUCKY ARTISTS                                 184

    KENTUCKY IN THE FIELD OF LETTERS                 187

    KENTUCKIANS IN HISTORY                           190




A LIST OF BOOKS ABOUT KENTUCKY


AUDUBON, LUCY: "Life and Journals of John James Audubon." Putnam.

COLLINS, R.H.: "History of Kentucky." Collins & Co.

EGGLESTON, E.: "Stories of American Life and Adventure." "Stories of
Great Americans for Little Americans." American Book Co.

HULBERT, A.B.: "Boone's Wilderness Road." Arthur H. Clark Co.

JOHNSON, E.P.: "History of Kentucky and Kentuckians." Lewis Publishing
Co.

KINKEAD, E.S.: "History