William H. English spent much money and five years of his life writing a history of the “Conquest of the Northwest Territory,” by George Rogers Clark and his associates. While Mr. English may perhaps be forgotten by future generations as the man who was the running mate of Gen. Winfield S. Hancock on the Democratic presidential ticket of 1880, he will ever be remembered by reason of the publication of this most accurate and valuable history. He, during twenty years, collected while a congressman and at other times, the names of nearly all the soldiers who were with General Clark in his fights with the British and Indians, beginning in 1780, several years before Kentucky was a state. He devotes seven hundred pages to the deeds of Clark and his men, and they deserve all of it. It would take a good deal of space to give the Irish names in this roll of Clark’s soldiers.
With General Clark came to Louisville, in 1778, John Haggin and John Montgomery, and both were captains in his command. They landed at Corn Island, in the Ohio river, at the head of the falls, opposite where Louisville now stands. In 1782 there lived in Louisville, with their families: John MacManus, Hugh Cochran, John Doyle, John Caghey, John Cunningham, Michael Humble, John Handley, Andrew Hines, Thomas McCarty, Thomas Purcell, James Sullivan, James Brown and John McCarland, and most of these came with Clark. That was a pretty good Irish settlement for those days when a man who went out to plough corn was obliged to take his rifle along to defend himself against hostile Indians.
No one will venture to say that Matthew Lyon, born in County Wicklow, in 1746, was a “Scotch-Irishman,” though I have heard lately that some of his descendants are now claiming that rather peculiar distinction. Matthew Lyon brought the first printing office across the mountains to Kentucky, and it did not come in a railroad train either. It was fetched in a jolt wagon and a good deal of the type was “pied” before it ever got here. From this type and press the first newspaper ever printed in Louisville was issued. Matthew Lyon’s father was executed in Ireland for alleged treason in 1765. The boy, aged thirteen years, was bound by himself to the captain of the vessel which brought him across the ocean, to work for twelve months to pay for his passage.
A Connecticut farmer gave the captain two bulls for Matthew Lyon’s services, and he worked out his time faithfully with that farmer. Ever afterward his great oath was “By the bulls that bought me.” Lyon county, Ky., is named for him, and his remains lie buried at Eddyville, which town he founded. Matthew Lyon, though once sold for two bulls, took no mean part in the making of history for his country, not only in Kentucky, but also in Vermont, where he went after working out his time with the Connecticut farmer. He belonged to the Green Mountain Boys, was a colonel in the Revolutionary War, and afterwards a member of congress from the Granite state as well as from Kentucky. In 1798 he was prosecuted under the Alien and Sedition laws and fined one thousand dollars and confined in jail for four months. While in jail he was elected to congress, and by his vote broke the deadlock which elected Jefferson president.
Coming to Kentucky soon afterward, he was a pioneer in the wilderness where Lyon county is now situate, and his neighbors sent him to the legislature at Frankfort. He afterwards served in congress from Kentucky for eight years (1803–’11). He was in 1813 appointed to an Indian agency in Arkansas, and was elected to congress from that state. So Matthew Lyon, a plain Irishman, claiming no Scotch prefix, has the record of being elected to congress from three states. His son, Chittendon Lyon, was a member of congress in 1827, and his descendants still live in the state.
Many of the old families in Louisville are of Irish descent, but it would take too much space to mention even a fair portion of them. In 1784 Patrick Joyes settled in Louisville, and his family grew, leaving many descendants, one of them being the present county attorney of Jefferson county. The original Joyes was a man of education, speaking French, Spanish and other tongues fluently, so that at least one Irishman was of polished intellect in the early settlement of the city.
William H. English, being a millionaire, could afford to spend a great deal of time and money in collecting information about the Northwest territory and Kentucky. On one of his visits to Louisville he told me that had it not been for the Irish in Clark’s command the latter would never have whipped the British and Indians. The Irish, fresh from persecutions in the old country, were very bitter against the English, and were of great help to Clark. Mr. English had a great deal of information on this subject which has never been published. Of course, in his history he makes no reference to nationalities except where it was absolutely necessary, it being his purpose to simply give credit to Clark and his soldiers for their wonderful work.
Dr. Thomas Dunn English, writing of a trip he made through the mountains of Kentucky, on one occasion tells of an incident which shows that many people of Irish descent in this state are ignorant of the fact. He was riding along one day in a wagon when his companion, a lanky native boy of the mountains, saw a rabbit run across the road. “Stop a minute, Dock,” said the boy, “till I heave a dornick at that rabbit.” Dr. English coming to inquire, found that the mountains of Kentucky had been settled long ago by Irish and that “dornick” was one of the many Irish words which survived.
Even before Clark came to Louisville, Simon Kenton records that, in 1775, he located in the Upper and Lower Blue Licks, where there was an abundance of game, and he considered it a paradise. One day, to his great astonishment, there came out of the woods toward his cabin, two men who gave their names as Fitzpatrick and Hendricks. They had been living in the vicinity for sometime. Fitzpatrick said he wanted to return to Virginia, and Kenton escorted him to the Ohio river, bidding him good-by near where the town of Maysville now stands. While Kenton was taking Fitzpatrick to the river, Indians entered the cabin and killed Hendricks. Michael Stoner, another Irishman, who was Boone’s companion in 1774, told Kenton that there were a number of settlers in the interior who were not from Virginia.
In 1775 Hugh Shannon, Patrick Jordan, John Lee and others settled at what is now known as Lexington. It is recorded that Patrick Jordan found a spring down the fork on which they camped. Joseph Lindsey afterward paid Jordan two guineas to allow him to locate near the spring, and the first clearing was made there. This is now the garden spot of the Blue Grass region of Kentucky, where all the fine fast horses and the pretty women and good whiskey come from. In 1775 the first roasting ears were gathered from this clearing. John Haggin located there soon afterward, having come down the Ohio and up the Licking river to the settlement.