TIP# 107 – TREATIES AND EARLY LAND ACQUISITIONS I thought a brief overview of how Kentucky earned its land might be of interest and help to the researcher trying to place his ancestor in the early days of Kentucky. LOYAL LAND COMPANY: The Loyal Land Company was formed in 1749 by a group of well-known Virginians; John Lewis was named Director. It was to take advantage of Britain's offers of land to settle in the west. The King of England had approved the governor of Virginia to grant the company 800,000 acres in southwest Virginia (now southeast Kentucky) for settlement. It hired Dr. Thomas Walker, famous explorer, to lead an expedition on 6 Mar 1750. He had in his party Anbrose Powell, William Tomlinson, John Hughes, Colby Chew and Henry Lawless. They went through the Cave Cap (Cumberland Gap), crossed the Cumberland River, traveled east to the Big Sandy River. Later Walker was to replace Lewis as head of the group and kept that position until his death in 1794. They did not actually settle any Kentucky lands; its settlements were east of the Alleghenies. Francis Walker, son of Dr Thomas Walker took over and the organization remained active until 1872. TREATY OF PARIS PROCLAMATION OF 1763: Kentucky settlement was threatened in 1763, after the defeat of the French by the British forces during the French and Indian War of 1755-1763. The Treaty of Paris, signed 10 February 1763, ceded all the French possessions of Canada and lands east of the Mississippi River (except New Orleans) to the British. The Indians, supporters of the French, became convinced that they had been betrayed by this act. At least seven Indian tribes banded together in 1763, led by Ottawa chief Pontiac, in order to defend their lands. They attacked soldiers, traders and settlers in the newly settled land west of the Appalachian Mountains. King George III issued a proclamation on 7 Oct 1763 that prohibited land grants in the south of the Hudson Bay Company, west of the Appalachian Mountains. Virginia (and Kentucky which had not yet formed) resisted strongly. These lands had been given to them previously by the King's predecessor. The treaty stood, but it did not stop the wave of immigrations into this area now known as Kentucky. TREATY OF FORT STANWIX: Without this treaty, there most likely wouldn't have been a Kentucky. This treaty was negotiated and concluded in New York on 5 November 1768 and involved the British Government and the Six Tribes of Indians: Mohawk, Tuscarora, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. Also represented were the independent tribes – Shawnee, Delaware and Mingoe. This treaty defined the boundary between the Indian hunting grounds and the lands sold to the British. It deeded to Britain the title to all the lands south of the Ohio River and east of the Tennessee River, going south to the border of North Carolina. The Indians were paid 10,000 pounds sterling. These lands included most of what is now Kentucky. TREATY OF SYCAMORE SHOALS. The Transylvania Company claimed the territory in western Virginia causing the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals which is also known as the Treaty of Watauga. Richard Henderson had formed the Transylvania Company in 1774 and accompanied by members of his land company, he had come west hoping to secure more lands from the Indians. He met with the Cherokee chiefs Okonisoto, Attakullakulla and Savonooka on 17 March 1775 and negotiated with them for the purchase of land in far eastern Tennesssee – 17-20 million acres. These lands lay between the Ohio, Kentucky and Cumberland Rivers. In return he gave them 10,000 pounds sterling. This one transaction caused the demise of the Transylvania Company. As Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, declared that this treaty violated the territorial boundaries of Virginia. He also noted that Henderson had broken the Treaty of 1763 and the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (5 Nov 1768) which was between the British and the Six Nations of Indians. Thus, in December of 1776, Virginia consolidated its control over this territory by dividing Fincastle County in Kentucky, Montgomery and Washington County, Virginia. LORD DUNMORE'S WAR: This twenty-year long war began in 1774 in a struggle between the white man and the Indians for ownership of the Ohio Valley and led to the development of the future state of Kentucky. Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia – the last royal governor, had called out the militia against the Northwestern Indians. The Virginians marched in three separate columns and invated the upper valley of the Ohio. At Point Pleasant (near the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawaha Rivers) on 10 Oct 1774, a war party was lead by the Shawnee Chief Cornstalk who ambushed one of the commands of Gen. Andrew Lewis. The Indians finally abandoned the battle and possibly discouraged further large-scale battles. TREATY OF CAMP CHARLOTTE: This was signed shortly after the conclusion of Lord Dunmore's War battle cited above in which the Indians promised to remain north of the Ohio River. Isaac Shelby, John Floyd, Benjamin Logan, William Christian and James Harrod were the prominent negotiators who later became Kentucky heroes. TELLICO LAND CESSIONS: The Tellico Land Cessions were concluded on 25 Oct 1805 at the Tellico Block House in Tennessee between 33 Indian chiefs of the Cherokee Indian nation and the United States Government. Return J Meigs, who was the federal Cherokee agent and Daniel Smith, treaty commissioner represented the government. The Cherokee nation ceded to the United States 7,032 square miles of land south of the Cumberland River in what later became Bell, Whitley and McCreary Counties in Kentucky. The Cherokees received $14,000 in cash and goods. THE JACKSON PURCHASE One of the most historic events in the state of Kentucky was the Jackson Purchase. This was the culmination of many years of negotiations, proposed treaties and concessions on the part of government. The two main players were the United States Government and the Chicakasaw Indian Nation. On the United States' side we find the most highly respectable Kentuckian of his time – former Governor Isaac Shelby; now an aging man but revered for his role in the Revolutionary War and his two terms as Governor. The Chickasaws were represented by many of their chiefs, "head men", warriors every one. Among the major players was an Indian called Levi, one George Colbert, Chinubby (the Boy King) and Tishomingo. The first meeting which resulted in a treaty was signed on October 19, 1818, which was ratified by the United States Senate on January 7, 1819. President James Monroe confirmed the treaty. The terms were as follows: In return for relinquishing all the lands east of the Mississippi River and north of the Mississippi state line, the Chickasaws received $300,000 at the rate of $20,000 per year for fifteen years. This enlarged the borders of Kentucky by about 2,000 square miles and Tennessee by 6,00 square miles. The Kentucky addition became known as the Jackson Purchase – or the Purchase District. The Jackson Purchase extended Christian County with Old Wadesboro named as its capital and official land office headquarters. Over the years this area was subdivided until eight new counties resulted: Hickman-1821; Calloway-1822; Graves-1823; McCracken-1824; Marshall-1842; Ballard-1842; Fulton-1845 and Carlislie-1886. This area is almost a peninsula which comes north from Tennessee and is bounded by the Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers. It was in this area that the huge earthquakes of 1811-1812 caused the formation of Reelfoot Lake. Prehistoric Indian remains have been found her known as the Wickliffe Mounds, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Fort Jefferson was erected in this same area in 1780; but earlier explorers such as Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquettte, along with Ren Robert LaSalle were here in 1673-1682. © Copyright 9 Dec 1997, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved **************************************************************************** Sandi Gorin - 205 Clements Ave., Glasgow, KY 42141-3409 (502) 651-9114 or sgorin@scrtc.blue.net BARREN CO: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/1798 GORIN GEN PUB: http://members.aol.com/kygen/gorin.htm KYRESEARCH - KYBIOS - SOUTH-CENTRAL-KENTUCKY e-mail lists Send me an e-mail for information! Research tips at: http://www.usroots.com/~jmurphy/lessons/lessons.htm **************************************************************************** * ------------------------------