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MEADE COUNTY. 599

and named after Col. Solomon Brandenburg, the proprietor

,

population in 1870, 427—a falling off since 1860 of 191. BigSpring is situated at the extreme sontiiern border of the county

;

derives its name from a large spring which bursts from tlie earth

near its center, flows off for 200 or 300 yards in a stream large

enough to turn a mill, then sinks beneath the surtiice and alto-

gether disappears; enjoys the rare felicity of embracing within

its small territory the corners of three counties, Hardin, Breckin-

ridge, and Meade. Concordia, on the Ohio, 41 miles belo«

Brandenburg, incorporated March 9, 1869. Grahamton, at the

falls of Otter creek, 5 miles from the Ohio. GarndUville, on the

same creek, 3 miles from the Ohio. Rock Haven, on the Ohio,

5 miles from Brandenburg. Besides these, are Garrett, Little

York, Paynevillc, Stapleton, Boonesport, Meadeville, and Richard-

sons Landing.

Statistics of Meade Cohnty.

When formed See page 26 Corn, wheat, hay, tobacco..pages 266, 266Population, from 1830 to 1870 p. 258

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Horses, mules, cattle, hogs p. 268" whites and colored p. 260 Ta.vable property, 1846 and 1870. ...p. 270" towns p. 262 Land—No. of acres, and value p. 270" white males over 21 p. 266 Latitude and longitude p. 257" children bet. 6 and 20 p. 266 I Distinguished citizens see Index.

Members op the Legislature from Meade County.

5enn(e.—John C. Walker, 1851-53 ; Sylvester Harris, 185.3-67. [See Hardin co.]

House o/ Representatives.—aeoTga Calhoon, 1829, '36, '37; Daniel S. Richardson,1834; Henry G. Davis, 1836; Thos. J. Gough, 1838 ; Jesse D. Perciful, 1839, '40

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Robert D. N. Morgan, 1841, '42; Orla C. Richardson, 1843; Benj. W. Shacklett,

1844 ;Wm. Alexander, 1845, i46, '63-65; Sylvester Harris, 1847; Jas. Stewart, 1848;

Philip B. Shepherd, 1849; Jesse S. Taylor, 1850 ; David Griggs, 1851-53 ; Erasmus0. Brown, 1855-69 ; W. C. Richardson, 1859-61; Thos. W. Owings, 1861-66; Jos.

B. Woolfolk, 1865-67; Samuel M. Wrather, 1867-71 ; Wm. A. Allen, 1871-75. [SeaHardin co.]

Ohiopiomingo was the name of a paper town established in 1795, by anenterprising Englishman, on the Ohio river, near where Kock Haven now is.

The plan of tlie town, which was on a magnificent scale, contained over 1,000houses, 43 streets, "a circus and several capital squares," to be embellishedwith various handsome structures ; a college for the education of the youthof "the tenantry," and also " for such children of the Indians as they maychoose to send thither for instruction in the principles of philanthropy, moralrectitude, and social order, together with such branches of science as maytend to render them useful members of society." The town was named "incompliment to Piomingo, one of the Indian chiefs, a man greatly beloved andrespected not only by the Indian tribes but also by the whites;" and "a pe-

destrian statue of him—habited as an Indian warrior, in the attitude ofdeliver-

ing an oration in favor of Liberty"—was to be erected, of " Coade's artificial

stone," in the circus or some principal part of the town, at an expense of

$750. A gentleman aged 90, with his children and grandchildren, was to

lead the colony of industrious husbandmen from England to this spot. Of" prime land " around, 100,000 acres were secured for this enterprise.*

There are several Caves in Meade county, mostly unexplored. Before 1846,

in some of them human bones of an extraordinary size were discovered ; askull bone, sufficiently large to encase the head of a living man of ordinarysize, was found in a cave on the lands of Capt. Nathan D. Anderson, nearBrandenburg. In 1871, in a newly discovered cave near Peckinpaugh'aLanding, 4 miles above Leavenworth, Indiana, was found—in a large dampchamber, 70 feet below the entrance—a great heap of apparently loose eartli^

* W. Winterbotham's View (4 vols.) of the United States, vol. iii, o. 147-8.

600 MEADE COUNTY.

but only covering a pile of human bones—the smaller of which were easily

crumbled, but the skulls and thigh bones were firm. How came they there,

in such numbers, and of what Indian or pre-historie race, can never beknown.

Enoch Boone, son of Squire Boone (and nephew of Daniel Boone), wasborn " in a canebrake," at Boonesborough, Madison co., Ky., Nov. 16, 1777.

He was among the earlier white children native of Kentucky (probably there

were not more than eight born at a prior date), and many of his friends still

cherish the pleasant but mistaken thought that he was the first. [See page 000.]Inured to the dangers and hardships of a frontier life, he was a soldier before

he was 17, in Wayne's campaign against the Indians, 1794; in 1SU8, and for 8

years, he lived in Grassy Valley, Harrison co., Indiana (then Indiana territory),

and held a captain's commission from Gen. Wni. H. Harrison, then its gover-

nor ; afterwards removed to Meade co., Ky. He was married in Shelby co.,

Ky., Feb. 8, 1798, to Lucy Galman, with whom he lived happily for 62 years.

He died on his wedding anniversary, Feb. 8, 1862, at the residence of his

son-in-law. Judge Collins Fitch, on the Ohio river, near Garnettsville, MeadeCO., Ky., aged 84 years.

There are several " Knobs" and " Groves " in Meade county, which are places

of considerable notoriety, viz :—The Indian Hill, on Otter creek; Jennie's Knob;Bee Knob: Buck Grove; Jackey's Grove; Hill Grove; Indian Grove, andHogback Grove. These places lie very nearly in a range a few miles back oi

south of the Ohio, and stretch from the moulh of Salt river to the mouth of Sink-

ing creek, a distance of forty miles by land and about eighty miles by the river.

These knobs and groves being well known to many individuals before the settle-

ment of the county, especially to the spies, they became points of observation,

with the view of detecting the approach of Indians, and giving the alarm to the

settlements in Hardin county.* The spies sent out from these settlements, weredirected to traverse the country lying between Salt river and Sinking creek, these" knobs " and " groves '" serving as places of observation, and giving direction

to their course ; and thereby tliey were enabled to discover the trails of the Indi-

ans as soon as they crossed the Ohio river, on their route to attack the settlements.

In this way, the Indians were generally discovered and routed, and the settle-

ments protected from their incursions.

The Indians that harassed these settlements were in the habit, uniformly, of

crossing the Ohio river between ihe^oints before named. On one occasion, they

were discovered after they had got some miles into the country, and pursued backto the river at the point where Brandenburg is now situated. They had secreted

their bark canoes at the mouth of a small creek, and when the pursuing whites

reached the river, the Indians were just landing on the opposite shore. OneIndian was seen standing erect in a skiff, having on a red coat, when some one

of the party exclaimed, "down with the red coat." Joe Logston, a noted Indian

fighter at that time, instantly elevated his rifle, and fired at the red Indian. Hefell forward into the river, causing quite a splashing of the water around him,

and as he was not seen to rise again, the inference was irresistible that Joe's bul-

let had proved fatal.

f

This county received its name in honor of Captain James Me.^de, a native of

Woodford county, Kentucky. Captain Meade, when quite a youth, volunteered

his services under the lamented Colonel Joseph H. Daveiss, in the Wabash expe-

dition, and fought side by side with that gallant officer in the battle of Tippeca-

noe. For his bravery on this occasion, combined with his intelligence and mili-

tary qualifications, he was promoted to the rank of captain in the regular service.

In 1813, at the battle of the river Raisin, where so many of the gallant youngmen of Kentucky found a bloody grave, the company of Captain Meade com-

posed a part of the regular force. He occupied a very exposed position, and fell

at the head of his company, while gallantly leading them on, early in the action.

•These selllemenls comprised several stations and manv highly res)ieclable families

them, the Hynes, llie Helms, ihe Rawlings, the Millers, the Ventrees, the Vanmalres. ihe Harls, the

Fairleighs, the Larues. ihe Hodgeiis. tec, &c.. and extended into what is now Larue county.

tTlus individual was no douhl Big Joe Logston. See an account of his rencounter with twoIndians under the head of Greene county.