The owner laid out on his property the first race track in Kentucky, and he called his house Sportsman's Hall. In its walls scores of settlers found refuge in time of danger. Famous men sat with Mr. and Mrs. Whitley at their hospitable table, among these being Daniel Boone, George Rogers Clark, and General Harrison.
Until his death at the battle of the Thames in 1813 Whitley was one of the chief defenders of the settlers against the Indians. On his powder horn he cut the lines:
William Whitley, I am your horne,
The truth I love, a lie I scorne,
Fill me with the best of powder,
I'll make your rifle crack the louder.
See how the dread, terrifick ball
Makes Indians blench at Toreys fall,
You with powder I'll supply
For to defend your liberty.