Below is a short history of my family coming to Kentucky in the late eighteenth century. I am part of the Knott, Mills and Mattingly families who came as part of the early migration of Catholic settlers from Maryland to Kentucky. Many other Kentucky Catholic families can trace their histories from the migrations from Germany and Ireland in the mid nineteenth century.
Besides having their DNA in my blood, the pastors who preceded me in Calvary and Louisville were among the first missionaries to Kentucky. In fact, the first priest to be ordained in the United States, Father Stephen Theodore Badin, was my predecessor in Louisville. He established the first parish, Saint Louis Church, which morphed into the present day Cathedral of the Assumption parish.
I was pastor of Bishop Martin John Spalding's home parish in Calvary, Kentucky. He was the fourth Bishop of Louisville. I lived in the rectory at the Cathedral of the Assumption on the spot where the former rectory stood that Bishop Flaget lived and died in and the one Bishop Spalding lived in before becoming the Archbishop of Baltimore.
I have owned land with deeds all the way back to Revolutionary War land grants when Kentucky was part of Virginia.
My home parish of Saint Theresa, founded in 1818 by Maryland Catholics, had two log cabin churches (like the picture above) before the present brick structure which was started in 1855.
The Kentucky Migration
The first serious explorations of the Kentucky territory by
English colonists had begun around 1750, and it was found that the area
was not generally inhabited by Indians, but was used primarily as a
hunting ground by Indian tribes living along the tributaries north of the
Ohio River and by the southern Cherokee tribes.
Negotiations with the Indians for white settlement of the
area followed close upon the early explorations, resulting in the 1768 treaty
concluded at Fort Stanwix, NY, with the Mohawk Six Nations, who claimed
rights to the territory by virtue of their conquest of the Shawnees. The
Indian participants at the negotiations agreed to white settlement of the
land south of the Ohio for the consideration of 10,000 pounds sterling. In 1774
an incursion into Virginia by the Shawnee and Miami tribes led to their
defeat, after which they also relinquished their rights to the Kentucky
territory.
A group of negotiators from the Transylvania Company which
included Daniel Boone obtained agreement from the Cherokees along the Tennessee
River in 1775 to allow white settlement of the area. By 1780 a number of
stations had been established by James Harrod, Daniel Boone and others to
facilitate the migration into the territory from the eastern states.
In spite of the treaties, Indians raids on the settlements
were common during the first two decades of the movement into Kentucky.
These were first encouraged by the French and, during and after the
Revolutionary War, by the British from their strongholds in the north.
Indian depredations greatly slowed the rate of settlement of the territory
until the middle 1780's.
Migration from St. Mary's Maryland
The Revolutionary War brought great hardships and even greater
changes to St. Mary's County. British warships roamed the Chesapeake and
tributary rivers at will, impounding supplies and in many instances
looting and sometimes destroying homes, churches and warehouses. A large percentage
of the eligible men fought in the war, either marching with the Continental
Army or guarding the home front in local militias. The regular army
regiments from St. Mary's County fought engagements from New York to South
Carolina and were present at the British surrender at Yorktown. The
pursuit and successful conclusion of the war brought both detrimental and
beneficial effects to St. Mary's Countians.
On the one hand, the great demand on supplies, manpower and
money created by the war, combined with the curtailment of trade with
Britain, led to a profound decline in the economy in the years immediately
following the war. Counterbalancing this was the fact that
the vast expanse of land west of the Appalachians which was gained by Britain's
victory in the French and Indian war but closed to settlement by the
colonial government now became available to citizens brave enough to
relocate there. Some of the land was given out in grants to Revolutionary
War veterans in payment for their services, and more was available for
purchase at low cost. These circumstances resulted in a massive movement
of people to the western lands, particularly Kentucky, in the decades
following the war. Kentucky was populated largely by settlers from
Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
As an example of the extent of the post-war migration, the
population of St. Mary's County decreased from 15,444 to 12,794 between
the years 1790 and 1810. Many of these followed earlier St. Mary's County
pioneers to Kentucky, especially to Nelson and Washington (then including
Marion) counties.
For Marylanders, the usual route to Nelson County started
overland to Pittsburgh, then down the Ohio river to Maysville, followed by
another overland journey to one of the forts, called "stations",
near the area of settlement. Alternate routes5 were down the Ohio to the
Kentucky, inland along the Kentucky, then over the hills into the Salt
River basin; down the Ohio to the Falls of the Ohio, then in to Bullitt's
Lick over buffalo trails; and down the Ohio to the Salt River, then
upstream into Simpson Creek.
Indian attacks were still common, and dependents were usually
left at the nearest station until the settlement area was secured and the land
cleared for farming. Militias companies were formed for defense of the
settlement. Indian incursions into Nelson County continued as late as
1792, when a band of Indians marauding along the Rolling Fork fought with
a group of settlers, resulting in four Indian and three settler casualties.
These raids ended in 1793, and the final defeat and pacification of the
Midwestern tribes came in 1795 with the treaty of Greensville.
When the earliest settlers arrived, Kentucky was still a
territory of Virginia, and Nelson County, formed in 1785, included the
present Washington, Marion, and nine other counties, plus parts of eleven
others. Washington County (including Marion) separated in 1792, and Marion
county was formed in 1834.
The first large Catholic migration into Nelson County was begun
in 1785 by the League of Catholic Families, most of whom were from St. Mary's
County, Maryland. They followed the Maysville route down to Goodwin's
Station (near the present Boston), and from there moved into the
Pottinger's Creek area of Nelson County, near the present location of Gethsemani
Monastery. A list of heads of families, compiled by one of the settlers, was
published in 1884 by B. J. Webb and has been reproduced in various
publications since then. The last name on the list is Francis Peake. Many
surnames familiar to Central Kentuckians, especially Catholics, are on the
list, including Mudd, Mattingly, Cissell (Cecil), Nally, Hagan, French, Edelen,
Norris, Spalding and others.
Other areas heavily settled by St. Mary's Countians include
Hardin Creek (10 Miles east of Pottinger Creek), Cartwright's Creek, Scott
County, Rolling Fork, Cox's Creek, and Breckinridge County. Most of the
settlers, but not all, were Catholic. The Marylanders brought with them
the traditional skills of their region, including tobacco farming, distilling,
and preparation of Southern Maryland stuffed ham.
The first Catholic church, a log building, was built at the
foot of Rohan Knob (now Holy Cross) in 1792. Since Catholic education had been banned
in colonial Maryland, most of the priests sent to Kentucky had been brought
from Europe, particularly from France. The diocese of Bardstown was
created in 1808 with Father Benedict Flaget named as the first Bishop.
Father J. B. M. David was appointed as the second Bishop in 1832, and
Bishop Flaget was reappointed in 1833. With the coming of the priests and the
establishment of orders of nuns, Catholic education became available, beginning
with St. Thomas Seminary in 1811. However, relatively few of the early
settlers received an education, and many were illiterate.
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