I always basically knew what the Transylvania Company was but I have been reading a lot of old Kentucky history and historical novels and have a little better grasp on what transpired that could have effected the entire destiny of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. There was a Proclamation of 1763 which started everything. The French had been defeated by the British in the French and Indian War which ran 1755-1763. Then came the Treaty of Paris, signed 10 Feb 1963 which ceded the French possessions of Canada and the land east of the Mississippi River (excluding New Orleans) to the British. The Indians had sided with the British all this time and now felt they had been sold out by the British. Seven Indian tribes joined together (possibly more) in 1763 under the leadership of the Ottawa chief Pontiac in an attempt to defend their lands. Under Pontiac, battles were fought against any white man - soldiers, traders and most definitely the new settlers to the area. King George III of England reacted by issuing a proclamation on 7 Oct 1763 with the help of Lord Shelburne, president of the Board of Trade. This proclamation prohibited land grants in the area south of the Hudson's Bay Company, west of the Appalachian Mountains and north of the thirty-first parallel. This included lands beyond the heads of any of the rivers that fell into the Atlantic Ocean from the west and northwest. Any purchase of land from the Indians became illegal and the settlers were ordered to leave immediately. Virginia (which would have included Kentucky at that time) resisted. It stated that the land between the mountains and the Mississippi River had been already given them by the King's predecessors. They also believed that the French had no legal right at all to cede the land to the British in the first place. Virginians firmly believed that Britain would soon become the King's royal dominion and that he was trying to protect the lucrative fur trade. But the settlers came. Enter one Richard Henderson. He was a noted lawyer originally from Virginia, and since he had the finances, organized a land company to settle the area prohibited by the above. He planned to settle the entire area bounded by the Cumberland, Ohio and Kentucky Rivers. He set out, seeking every and all opportunity for land settlements and he surrounded himself with some important people. Daniel Boone, Henry Skaggs and Richard Calloway were noted explorers. He hired them to set out and scout the wilderness that was to become Kentucky. Boone was known as a secret agent as he knew the lands well. Boone had began his scouting for Henderson in 1733 or later. Henderson finished up his term of office as on the North Carolina Supreme Court and devoted all of his time on the acquisition of land. In August of 1774 he, accompanied by Thomas Hart, William Johnston, John Williams, John Luttrell and Nathaniel Hart established the Louisa Company from the former company known as the Henderson and Company. The new company set as its goal the securing of the Cherokee Indian's land titles south of the Ohio and west of the Kanawha River. In the fall of 1744 Henderson and Hart met with the Cherokee and started the negotiations. Even before reaching the agreement, Henderson started advertising in Virginia and North Carolina newspapers to attract settlers to the area. In March of 1775 the company reorganized again and became the Transylvania Company; signing that same month the Treaty at Sycamore Shoals on the Watagua River in now Tennessee with the Cherokee tribe. Cherokee chiefs at the conference included Okonistoto, Attakullakulla and Savonooko. They negotiated the purchase 17-20 million acres lying between the Ohio, Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers in exchange for 10,000 pounds of sterling goods. The treaty was also known as the Treat of Watagua and indirectly influenced the political development of Kentucky. It was the downfall of the Transylvania Company. Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, declared that this had violated Virginia's territorial boundaries. It had breached the Proclamation of 1763 as it related to the expansion of Virginia's western lands. It had violated the Treaty of Fort Stanwix between the British and the Six Nations of Indians which granted land to the King of England; and it had broken the Virginia Statute of 1705 that barred private citizens from buying Indian land. So Virginia consolidated control over the territory by dividing Fincastle County into Kentucky, Montgomery and Washington counties. The Kentucky County representatives were represented in the General Assembly and thus the land was placed under the control of the colonial government. But before the decision of the Governor of Virginia, Henderson had been busy. He sent Boone and about thirty axemen in March of 1775 to open up the Wilderness Road. They established a fort and settlement named Boonesborough. The first Transylvania Convention met in May 1775 and elected representatives from Harrodsburg, Boiling Springs, St Asaph and six from Boonesborough. They formed a system of stockholders, passed nine laws on the behavior of the people, devised punishment for offenses, dealt with Sabbath-breaking, swearing, fees for the officials, improving horse breeding and how to preserve game. James Harrod along with the Governor of North Carolina also opposed the Transylvania Company and the holding of this convention. Harrod and many others had already settled in Kentucky and would be forced to relinquish their land claims and pay monies to Henderson's company. It was through the petitions of George Rogers Clark at the Virginia Convention that truly was the beginning of the end for the Transylvania Company. Clark, representing Harrodsburg asked the legislature to take on the responsibility for the western territory and to make Kentucky a political subdivision of Virginia. With the help of Virginia Governor Patrick Henry, the petition succeeded. On December 17, 1776, the legislature created Kentucky County. It compensated Henderson with 200,000 acres in the region that now lies in Henderson County. But the land would, in 1792, become the Commonwealth of Kentucky. For further information see: Treaty of Sycamore Shoals transcription: http://www.tngenweb.org/cessions/17750317.html Treaties, lands, history: http://www.tngenweb.org/cessions/colonial2.html Biography of Richard Henderson: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ky/county/henderson/RHendersonBio.htm James Harrod - Harrodsburg including the cabins of some of the residents: http://www.state.ky.us/agencies/parks/i75frames/ftharrd2-body.htm A little on the life of George Rogers Clark: http://www.cismall.com/clark.html Six-Nations Tribes: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/3808/people.html Sycamore Shoals: http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/sycamore/history.htm Richard Calloway and Calloway County: http://www.explorekentuckylake.com/calloway/history/murrayhistory.htm Patrick Henry's speech: http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html (c) Copyright 21 Nov 2002, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved, sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Col. Sandi Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/ GORIN worldconnect website: http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/~sgorin SCKY resource links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html