CHAPTER XXIII
Graham’s station—Brush Creek—A family travelling on a visit—Fine scenery—Massey’s island—Manchester—Brookes’s—Madison—Maysville—Failure of three towns, and an intended glass house.
Graham’s station—Brush Creek—A family travelling on a visit—Fine scenery—Massey’s island—Manchester—Brookes’s—Madison—Maysville—Failure of three towns, and an intended glass house.
At eight o’clock we proceeded to drop down the river. The hills on each side still continued broken, separate, and pointed, and the bottoms narrow. The appearance of the timber since we passed Little Sandy, indicated the soil to be not so rich as above that river, it being of a much smaller growth.
About eight miles from Salt Lick we passed on the left a fine settlement of several large farms and good farmhouses, called Graham’s station on Kennedy’s bottom, and three miles further on the right the new town of Adamsville, with one very good house and three or four small ones, finely situated at {146} the mouth of Brush creek, which is a charming little river about thirty-five yards wide.
From hence we observed several good farm houses in fine situations, on the left, and an extensive bottom, well settled, on the right, the Ohio being about half a mile wide between.
At Sycamore creek, which is very small, on the left, two miles below Brush creek, is a good house, finely situated, with a ferry for the Ohio. Here we spoke a man of the name of May, who with his wife and child, and an aged mother, had been seven weeks descending the Mississippi and ascending the Ohio in a skiff; bound from St. Louis in upper Louisiana, to Pittsburgh, a distance of thirteen hundred miles, on a visit to two of his brothers residing there. They had just landed to cook their dinner. I mention this merely to give some idea how little the inhabitants of this country think of journies which would seem impracticable to the stationary residents of Europe.
Since passing Brush creek, I observed the river hills to be lower, their tops flatter, and the country less broken: the river too had widened to the breadth of three quarters of a mile, and Pennaway’s handsome brick house on a fine farm, separated by Donaldson’s creek from the widow Smith’s farm house, the latter decorated with a balcony and piazza, and beautifully situated, with the wooded hills rising gradually behind, formed altogether imagery worthy a good landscape painter. From hence there is also a charming view down the river, through a vista formed by Massey’s island and the high right bank on which the town of Manchester is placed.
Four miles and a half below Sycamore creek, instead ofgoing through the vista which was open to the eye, we kept over to the left shore in the main channel, to the left of a small island, which is joined at low water by a semicircular sand bar to Massey’s {147} island, a fine harbour being formed by the bar between the islands except in inundations of the river.
Massey’s island is about two miles long, but it is very narrow. It belongs to two owners, it is very fertile and partly cultivated.
At four o’clock we passed the lower end of Massey’s island, rowed over to the right shore, and landed at Manchester, a quarter of a mile lower down.
This town has been settled twelve years, but contains only ten dwelling houses, most delightfully situated on a high plain, commanding charming prospects of the river both above and below. It is a post town, and is only three miles distant from the great state road through the state of Ohio to Lexington in Kentucky; but it is a poor place, and not likely to improve, as its vicinity to Maysville, which is only twelve miles lower where the road crosses the river, prevents its being frequented by travellers.
We delayed but a few minutes at Manchester, and then proceeding, we passed Isaac creek with a wooden bridge over it, on the right, a mile below. A mile lower we saw on the left a very handsome farm house, an orchard and a fine farm; opposite to which on the right, the river hills approach close to the bank.
Two miles further we passed Crooked creek on the left, the hills now approaching on that side, and receding on the right, leaving a fine extensive bottom between them and the river.
Cabin creek on the left is a mile and a half below Crooked creek, and has a good farm and handsome farm house at its mouth.
Three miles lower, on the left, is William Brookes’s creek, below which is a floating mill, and Brookes’s good house and fine farm on a very pleasant point, where a bottom commences, which extends to Limestone, while the same ridge of hills which we passed below Isaac creek, after semicircularly {148} bounding a deep, long and well settled bottom, again approach the right bank of the Ohio opposite Brookes’s.
It may be proper to remark here, that in general, when the river hills approach the river on one side, they recede on the other, so that hills on one side are opposite to bottoms on the other.
From just below Brookes’s, we had a fine view down a reach, about three miles, with Limestone or Maysville in sight at the end of it, and passing the straggling but pleasant village of Madison on the left, Limestone creek, and two gun boats at anchor, we landed there a little before eight o’clock.
We got a good supper and beds at Mr. S. January’s, who keeps an excellent house, and is a polite, well informed and attentive landlord.
Next morning Thursday the 30th July, we walked, accompanied by our host to the scite of a formerly intended glass house, on the bank about three quarters of a mile above the town; which failed of being erected in consequence of the glass blowers who were engaged not having arrived to perform their contract.
During our walk, we were shewn the scites of no less than three projected towns, on the different properties of Messrs. Martin, Brookes, and Coburn, at any of which, the situations were better than at Maysville, both in point of room for building, and communication with the interior of the country. They however all failed, in favour of Maysville;[112]but those attempts to establish towns on their estates, will serve to give some idea of the ambitious and enterprising spirit which actuates the landholders in this country.
Maysville is the greatest shipping port on the Ohio, below Pittsburgh, but it is merely such, not being a place of much business itself, but only serving as the principal port for the north eastern part of the state {149} of Kentucky, as Louisville does for the south western. It has not increased any for several years, and contains only about sixty houses. It is closely hemmed in by the river hills, over which the most direct road from Philadelphia through Pittsburgh and Chilicothe leads to Lexington, and thence through the state of Tennessee to New Orleans.
Several vessels of all sizes from four hundred tons downwards, have been built here, but as none are now going forward, I presume the builders did not find that business answerable to their expectations. It is a post town, the mails from both east and west arriving on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Its situation causing it to be much resorted by travellers, that gives it an appearance of liveliness and bustle, which might induce a stranger to think it a place of more consequence in itself than it really is.
After breakfasting with our host, I delivered a letter of introduction to Mr. George Gallagher, one of the principalmerchants, who received me very politely; then leaving our boat with our landlord to be disposed of, we set out on foot for Lexington, at half past eleven o’clock.
FOOTNOTES:[112]The town on the property of Thomas Brooks—one of the early pioneers who came to Kentucky before 1776—was called “Rittersville;” that of John Coburn was first designated as “Madison,” but later as “Liberty.”Judge John Coburn was a Philadelphian who came to Kentucky (1784) on the advice of Luther Martin, living at Lexington until 1794, when he removed to Mason County, and was made judge of its courts. A prominent Democrat, he declined the position of judge in the territory of Michigan; but later accepted the same for that of Orleans, holding court at St. Louis. Coburn was an ardent friend of Daniel Boone, and the act appropriating land for the latter in his old age was passed at his instance. He also served as commissioner (1796) to run the boundary between Virginia and Kentucky; and after holding many offices of trust, died in 1823.—Ed.
[112]The town on the property of Thomas Brooks—one of the early pioneers who came to Kentucky before 1776—was called “Rittersville;” that of John Coburn was first designated as “Madison,” but later as “Liberty.”Judge John Coburn was a Philadelphian who came to Kentucky (1784) on the advice of Luther Martin, living at Lexington until 1794, when he removed to Mason County, and was made judge of its courts. A prominent Democrat, he declined the position of judge in the territory of Michigan; but later accepted the same for that of Orleans, holding court at St. Louis. Coburn was an ardent friend of Daniel Boone, and the act appropriating land for the latter in his old age was passed at his instance. He also served as commissioner (1796) to run the boundary between Virginia and Kentucky; and after holding many offices of trust, died in 1823.—Ed.
[112]The town on the property of Thomas Brooks—one of the early pioneers who came to Kentucky before 1776—was called “Rittersville;” that of John Coburn was first designated as “Madison,” but later as “Liberty.”
Judge John Coburn was a Philadelphian who came to Kentucky (1784) on the advice of Luther Martin, living at Lexington until 1794, when he removed to Mason County, and was made judge of its courts. A prominent Democrat, he declined the position of judge in the territory of Michigan; but later accepted the same for that of Orleans, holding court at St. Louis. Coburn was an ardent friend of Daniel Boone, and the act appropriating land for the latter in his old age was passed at his instance. He also served as commissioner (1796) to run the boundary between Virginia and Kentucky; and after holding many offices of trust, died in 1823.—Ed.