Following is input from Jack Weiss concerning our discussion as to when the Locust Creek area of Mason Co. KY was first settled (this area became part of Bracken Co. KY in 1797.) He provides other history info as well. Jack is a Bracken County Historical Society research volunteer and is often at the Brooksville Courthouse on Fridays 10:00-4:00. You should check if you're coming a long distance. The County Clerks office is open for research Monday thru Friday 9 to 4, closed Wednesday afternoon, and also open Saturday, 9 to noon. Very pertinent is Jack's info that "there were settlers there (in the Wellsburg area of Locust Creek) as early as 1792 or before." This was prior to a new bridle-path road being cut from a point opposite Cincinnati to Washington, KY as described in the Spencer Records info. For info, the Wellsburg-Rock Springs area is on the Ohio River, just east of the Locust Creek egress, about 5-6 miles west of Augusta. The old Locust Ridge Road used to "drop down" to Wellsburg; however, this road was virtually abandoned several years ago, Locust Ridge Road now "drops down" to the Ohio River at Rock Springs, at least according to my old map. Neil McDonald (see below for comments by Jack Weiss.) Neil: Bracken County was surveyed in 1796 and became a county on June 1 1797. Records in our collection start at that time. We know that there were early parties of surveyors in the area as early as 1772, William Bracken was one of these early surveyors, or Pilots, he liked the area and settled in the area that is now Augusta. He was killed by indians sometime between 1776 and 1792,the whole area along the river had a few settlers, Locust Creek is just west of Wellsburg, and there were settlers there as early as 1792 or before, Mason County records would show that, or Virginia records for Kentucky County, which is what this area was for at time, it was also Woodford County Virginia for a short spell before becoming Kentucky County, at least that is what I was informed by a lady from Virginia, have never been able to check it out. Augusta became a formal settlement in 1803, when Phillip Buckner donated the land for 120 lots, and 2 acres for a city square. Locust creek is mentioned in the early survey done by Simon Kenton and his cohorts. This land was all part of Revolutionary War Land Grants. Bracken county was known to have good roads leading to Falmouth, Cynthiana,Paris and Lexington, as they passed a law, that all the landowners had to build and maintain the road frontage in their grants. That is why Augusta became a large river port, it had roads leading south to Lexington, and the Bluegrass area. The Washington Trace was part of an old Buffalo trail, that led from up in Ohio, someplace around Chillicothe to central Kentucky. There is a man working on all this, he lives in Dayton Ohio, and for some reason I cannot think of his name, he has all the creek and trace info you would want. Will have to search my files and see what I can find. Sorry I can not be of more help at this time, will have to do some research, Jack 30 Thank you, Jack Weiss, for your helpful info. Hopefully someone has, or will find, actual Mason Co. land records which show areas of Locust Creek (or other Bracken Co. areas near the Ohio River) as being transacted prior to 1792. Neil McDonald -----Original Message----- From: macbd1 <macbd1@arthur.k12.il.us> To: KYMASON-L@rootsweb.com <KYMASON-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Thursday, June 17, 1999 10:26 AM Subject: Re: [KYMASON-L] Re: Capt Spencer Records #14 >Hermon Fagley said the following, in part, concerning his posting of >Capt. Spencer's Records #14 -- about a new road being bridle-cut from >a point opposite Cincinnati to Washington, KY in 1792: > > >>This is a repeat of a note posted last night, with additional >thoughts.... >>This 1st paragraph (re: the 1792 bridle-path) refers to what became >>known as the Washington Trace, portions of which are so-called on >modern >>maps. Likely the AA Highway follows it in places. The young man from >>STONER was captured on US RT 68 in n KY. And he was carried thru >Bracken >>Co. The Records were then at MaCHIR'S station ,say 4 miles south of >>Washington,not at his most western of cabins 6 mies west of >Washington. >>Those 2 referances mean,if HOWARD LECKEY was correct with 1789-90 as >the >>time 100 families moved down to [?bracken co?] from 10 mile creek in >>GREENE Co,VERY SW PA, that they settled "not" diectly in BRACKEN CO. >I've >>always thought those 100 families left sw Pa for the Miami's of >Ohio,and >>the defeats of HARMAR'S AND ST CLAIR'S armies halted them in Bracken. > > >I am a new subscriber and am grateful to have seen these Spencer >Records postings. I, too, am interested in learning more about the >early settlement of the Bracken Co. area of then Mason Co. KY. (I >believe Bracken was formed about 1797 from Mason and Campbell.) > >My Valentine McDaniel-McDonald moved his immediate family members, via >flatboat, from the Fayette Co. PA area to Mason Co. KY in mid-late >1790. The Brown Co. Genealogical Society had (in 1984) a microfilm of >Mason Co. KY tax lists (or militia nose-counts) for 1790-1800 -- these >showed Valentine and Joseph McD were present 1791-1795, first with >little chattel, then having land on Locust Creek in 1795. While >previously assuming they lived in the Locust Creek area during all of >these years, I am now wondering whether they settled there in 1795 >from the Maysville-Washington area (based on the Spencer Records >info.) Or, do you suppose this "new" road from a point opposite >Cincinnati to Washington, KY was to be a new "main" road to replace >"crazy-quilt" paths developed previously? > >Locust Creek enters the Ohio River 6-7 miles downstream of Augusta, >KY. Present St. Rt. 1159, in its east-west course just east of >Johnsville, follows a part of Locust Creek (for those who enjoy >map-study.) Locust Creek's headwater is at Locust Ridge, it runs >westerly for 3+/- miles (along "present" Rt. 1159), then turns north >to enter the Ohio River. I say "present" Rt. 1159 since an old >highway map shows Rt. 1159 originally continued northward to intersect >Rt. 8 at the Ohio River, while old Rt. 1951 made the westerly course >to Johnsville. *I suspect* the road from Johnsville to Brooksville >(and on to Germantown) generally follows the original 1792 bridle-path >development described in the Spencer Recordings. > >I just went to the Tiger Maps page and find Locust Creek (and its >"runs") is much longer than shown on my old highway map. Branches >from the southwest are called McCarthy Creek and Poe Creek to name a >couple. The apparent main branch of Locust Creek has its headwaters >much further south and east, in the vicinity of Brooksville. So, >"having land on Locust Creek" only identified a family's general >location. > >For those who may be interested, go to: http://tiger.census.gov/ and >select one of the TMS versions for map-viewing -- or, go to >http://www.uky.edu/KentuckyAtlas/21023.html and enter Locust Creek (or >whatever you want), then select Tiger Maps from the next page. I note >that state highway numbers vary between my old maps, a 1998 Road Atlas >and Tiger -- if we change road identifications (and their routes) so >much today, it's no wonder we have trouble understanding where roads >were located in the 1790's. > >Can anyone find a reference as to when the Locust Creek area was first >settled in a permanent manner? > >Thanks, Hermon, for taking the time to post your interesting info. > >Neil McDonald >PS- My McDonald's apparently left the Locust Creek area after 1795 >since they are not listed thereafter. They moved across the river >into the southern part of present Brown Co. OH about 1796-1798 -- >although I understand it was not uncommon for folks in those days to >move back and forth until the Ohio counties were more developed. (Addendum: Valentine McDaniel-McDonald had land in the Adams Co. area of later Brown Co. OH.) > > > > >==== KYMASON Mailing List ==== >List problems? First, read the Welcome Message that you received >when you subscribed. Feel free to contact Yvonne James-Henderson, >list administrator with questions concerning this list! >mailto:hen1@idt.net >