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1 August –
1813 – Fort Stephenson, OH. The British and their allies begin shelling the fort.
1826 – Louisville, KY. Locust Grove. William Croghan Jr. writes to Thomas Sidney Jesup: I am sick & tired of farming, incessant toil and anxiety & no profit, if this place were mine I would convert it into a grazeing farm for sheep, the best Merino, have all the clared land converted into meadows and grazing land except about 60 acres, which I would cultivate in oats & corn. Three servants, men or boys would be enough to attend 500 to1000 sheep, the balance I would hire out. I am now firmly resolved so soon as my difficulties will allow to make arrangements for moving to Pittsburgh, unless the ponds between this and the river are drained this place can not be healthy, the water in them now is 6 to 10 feet deep. [Potts, p. 100]
This letter includes the scandal of George Croghan stealing money from the Post Office: He says calculating on remaining as P.M. [Post Master] of New Orleans for many years, he was induced to use some of the money belonging thereto in the payment of his private accounts. Now he wishes that land poor Nicholas left him to be sold to help him out of the scrape. [Potts, p. 103]
Births –
1770 – Caroline County, VA. William Clark born. [EL, p. 199-200]
2 August –
1813 – Fort Stephenson, OH. George Croghan, 21 years old, holds the fort against overwhelming British forces. This will be the last battle of the War of 1812 to be fought in the west.
1849 – Louisville, KY. At the order of St. George Croghan, The Louisville Daily Journal announces: A sale of the personal estate of the late Dr. John Croghan will take place at his farm, 5 miles above the city of Louisville, on Thursday morning next, at 10 o’clock A.M. Every article will be disposed of at auction to the highest bidder. [Potts, p. 111]
1906 – Fremont, OH. The remains of George Croghan are buried at the site of the fort he so brilliantly held 93 years previously. [Potts, p. 119-20]
2001 – Louisville, KY. In The Courier- Journal, Gregory A. Hall reports that a “Replica of Clark cabin [is] going up in Clarksville.” [Potts, p. 200, note 79] There is an urgency to get the circa 1820s cabin reassembled on the site of George Rogers Clark’s home in time for the bicentennial of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.
3 August –
1795 – The Treaty of Greenville [OH] is signed by General Anthony Wayne and Blue Jacket and by Little Turtle, and representatives of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Potawatomi, Wea, Piankashaw, Kickapoo and Kaskaskia nations. American Indians recognized the surrender the southern and eastern portions of Ohio to the United States. This ends Indian occupation of the Ohio River valley, which can be traced back some 12,000 years. The treaty is witnessed by Quartermaster General James O’Hara, General Wayne’s aide-de-camp William Henry Harrison, and interpreter Francis Vigo, all well-known to the Clarks. Kentucky settlers breathe easier as the threat of raids on their settlements is greatly reduced. However, they still lack a way to get their products out to world markets, fueling their anti-federalist fervor. Adroitly unbalancing the Spanish – and putting the Clark family on notice – Anthony Wayne order Lt. William Clark to conduct reconnaissance on the Mississippi River, gathering information pertinent to the defense of the United States. [Potts, p. 74]
1928 – Louisville, KY. The Herald-Post reports that the Blankenbaker house, 4306 Upper River Road, was used by the Rugby University School. [Potts, p. 109]
4 August –
1788 – Louisville, KY. Richard Clough Anderson, Jr. born, in a stone house at the back of Lot 1. [Potts, p. 58]
5 August –
1790 – Louisville, KY. George Rogers Clark found guilty of defaulting payment of 60 pounds to James Bevard. Bevard is also awarded 36.3.2 pounds damages. James Bevard v. George Rogers Clark, Jefferson County VA, Old Circuit Common Law case number 2222. . (See 23 Jan 1790; 8 May 1790) [Potts, p. 196 note 2]
6 August –
1790 – Louisville, KY. William Croghan authorized “to keep a public ferry across the Ohio River from his lands on this side nearly opposite the lower point of the Six Mile Island, to the opposite side of the river.” [Renau, p. 290] (See 18 Mar 1798; 13 Apr 1813) [Potts, p. 69]
1821 – Louisville, KY. George Hancock assures Thomas Sidney Jesup that Ann Croghan is not already engaged to “a college mate” of her brother. Jesup has proposed to Ann this past summer, but when a friend advised her to consult her father, Jesup panicked at the thought that he had lost her before he had won her. [Potts, p. 98]
7 August –
1784 – Clarksville, IN. George Rogers Clark lays out the town. [KE, p. 195-6]
8 August –
9 August –
1849 – Louisville, KY. The contents of Locust Grove are sold at auction. St. George Croghan, who sees no opportunity to successfully farm the homestead, will use the money raised to extensively redecorate and remodel the house. The items had been appraised at $1,315. Total sale was $915. After payment of commissions and debts, St. George received $562 for the residue of his patrimony. [Potts, p. 111-2]
10 August –
11 August –
12 August –
1806 – downstream from mouth of the Yellowstone River. The entire Corps of Discovery meets up and proceeds on. [EL, p. 509-10]
13 August –
1805 – foothills of the Rocky Mountains. The Corps of Discovery at last makes contact with the Shoshoni Indians, from whom they must get horses to cross the mountains. In an almost miraculous stroke of good fortune, the chief of this band, Cameahwait, is the brother of Sacagawea. The explorers get their horses. [EL, p. 509-510]
1849 – Mammoth Cave, KY. An inventory is made to settle the estate of John Croghan. [Potts, p. 205, note 1]
14 August –
1787 – Louisville, KY. Elizabeth Clark and Richard Clough Anderson marry at Mulberry Hill farm. [Potts, p. 58]
1982 – Louisville, KY. Thruston Ballard Morton dies. He is buried in Cave Hill Cemetery. [EL, p. 629]
15 August –
1796 – Louisville, KY. George Rogers Clark executes a power of attorney for his brother William to convey his entire 73,962-acre parcel of land on the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers to Humphrey Marshall, litigious and pugnacious Federalist and brother-in-law of tenacious and crafty Federalist Chief Justice John Marshall. Humphrey Marshall has agreed, in writing, to purchase the entire tract for “half a dollar per acre.” Before William can execute George’s power of attorney, however, Marshall sells the tract, which he does not own, to Robert Morris, prominent Philadelphian who had personally helped to fund the United States’ War for Independence. Morris will speculate voraciously in western lands, until deals as dodgy as this one send him to Philadelphia’s debtor’s prison for three years. (See 16 March 1970; 11 May 1792; 15 September 1795; 5 October 1796; 18 August 1797; 14 December 1797; 28 July 1803; 5 November 1815; 10 July 1826; 4 October 1830; 8 May 1835.) [Potts, p. 93-4]
1804 – Louisville, KY. William Croghan receives deed to Locust Grove. [Renau, p. 72]
1869 – Louisville, KY. Ann Clark Thruston Farrar to Lyman C. Draper: My earliest recollection was going with my dear mother [Fanny Clark Thruston] to see him [George Rogers Clark] at Point of Rock, a lovely bluff opposite Shippingport, and old Uncle Kitt, his devoted body servant in attendance. He had a nice little cottage, and think farmed it on a small scale (for the watermelons were glorious). [Potts, p. 86]
She continued, concerning the amputation of Clark’s leg: He was afterwards brought to my mothers and step father’s, Judge Fitzhugh, in Louisville, where the amputation of his right leg was performed, I think by Drs. Galt, Ferguson, and suppose others, for the house seemed full…a band of music playing all the time. The array of instruments attracted my curiosity, with my mother walking up and down listening at the door in the deepest grief, and often heard her and Pa speak of his fortitude and patience under the operation, never having murmured or groaned but once. [Potts, p. 87]
16 August –
1847 – Louisville, KY. Beginning of a two-day interview by Lyman C. Draper with Eleanor Eltinge Temple. She reminisced that: Genl. Clark amused himself by exhuming the bones & skeletons of rare & extinct races of animals found in great quantities around the Falls. And his collection had curious & rare specimens, some of them were of immense size.
Unfortunately, this collection has never been traced. No one else realized the significance of George Rogers Clark’s “Natural History Cabinet.” [Potts, p. 86]
In an1868 interview, Mrs. Marston (Lucy Green) Clark remembered: General G.R. Clark had a large specimen of the vertebrae of the mammoth, as he called it, petrified – found at low water on the falls – had it before his door and would sometimes use it as a seat; had also petrified terrapins, fish, etc found there; a mammoth tusk from Big Bone Lick. [Potts, p. 86]
17 August –
1765 – Detroit, MI. (Uncle) George Croghan receives a hero’s welcome at Detroit, having forged a treaty among various of the Illinois tribes. [Renau, p. 15] He has already written to Sir William Johnson that the Indians are ready to negotiate “More out of fear than Love.” Three Shawnees were killed during Croghan’s own capture, and the Shawnee, the Iroquois and the Delaware, all of whom have already come to terms with the British, may well start a bloody war all along the frontier. “…there is Nothing those Nations Dread More than a Warr with ye. Six Nations Dallaways & Shannas…they Came in A Body to Me yesterday & begged. In the Most Submissive Maner than I wold give them My Intrest with those Nations to Make up the Affair.” In other words, the Shawnees and the Delawares, who had invaded the southern Ohio country in the 1730s and 1740s, were a real danger to the previously established American Indians than were the British – or the French, or the Americans. The Indians had never given, granted, sold, traded or in any way relinquished ownership of any of their land. These traders could come and go. The Indians liked their trade goods. But the Indians were sole sovereigns of their domains. The white, on the other hand, had divided up the continent amongst themselves at the 10 February 1763 Treaty of Paris. [Cayton, p. 31-32]
1784 – Williamsburg, VA. Governor Benjamin Harrison, satin-clad planter who never lifted a weapon in defense of the United States and is not noted for his knowledge of American Indians, castigates George Rogers Clark: …it is a very fair conclusion to suppose that the Legislature never meant that the Lands should be possessed or entered on till Congress should have obtained them from the Indians either by treaty or purchase.
… The Settlement of our people on the Northwest side of the Ohio before any treaty has been entered into or purchased made of the Lands from the indians, has given those people general discontent and is likely to bring on an immediate indian war; and that the settlement complained of is made under your auspices and directions on the Lands assigned you and your corps by act of Assembly; if my information is true, & I have but too much reason to suppose it so, being further informed that you have laid out & are now building & settling the town of Clarksville, you must excuse me for saying that there is a degree of cruelty in the proceeding to your Country which was never expected of General Clark, as he must well know it would involve us in a most bloody & expensive war which we are at this time not in any degree able to support or are prepared for. [Potts, p. 80]
18 August –
1797 – William Clark writes to brother Edmund Clark: Our Bro: Gs business in this Countrey is in a disagreeable Situation. I have been agreeable to his particular request Surveying his lands and to doing what parts of his business I could, which I found a verry unfinished Situation and Shall proceed to attend to his Suit at Vincennes (which I fear will go against him tho unjustly) after which I shall not [have] Money of my own to attend any longer.” William set out from Mulberry Hill for Vincennes, hoping to resolve the suit. The merchant Brazidone pressed for payment for goods impressed by George Rogers Clark to outfit the post at Vincennes and to persuade his men to remain on duty. James Wilkinson, double-agent in the employ of Spain, denounces George Rogers Clark. The Continental Congress, having recent and tenuous access to the Mississippi River and the port of New Orleans, wishes to appease the Spanish government. They issue a rebuke of George Rogers Clark. George, however, learning that William would be in the Illinois country remarked that he might do “some valuable business” and that he would be seeing “a Cuntrey that it may hereafter be of an advantage to you to be acquainted with.” In 1803, these words would have the ring of prophesy. [Potts, p. 74-5] (See 16 March 1970; 11 May 1792; 15 September 1795; 15 August 1796; 5 October 1796; 14 December 1797; 28 July 1803; 5 November 1815; 10 July 1826; 4 October 1830; 8 May 1835.) [Potts, p. 93-4]
1832 – London, England. John Croghan writes to Ann Croghan Jesup: The first land that we saw was the “Irish coast.” You cannot imagine the sensations I experienced in beholding the native land of my Father: a land so intimately interwoven with all my early associations. [Potts, p. 102]
19 August –
1782 – Blue Licks, KY. Battle of Blue Licks. Among the casualties, John Todd. His daughter Mary Owen becomes one of the wealthiest people in Kentucky. . (See 27 March 1750; 14 May 17771.) [KE, p. 887]
1825 – Louisville, KY. John Croghan writes to Thomas Sidney Jesup: I have not heard from my mother sincer her arrival at Pittsburgh but I presume she must be with you. [Charles was evidently too ill to make the journey.] Inform her that every thing goes on here exceedingly well. The women have rind a great deal of fruit and are at their houses spinning wool or cotton or something of that kind. Old Nanny officiates for me in the cooking department, two churns are going daily. Alfred goes to market almost every day & gives the profits to Lara[?]ly. The out hands are in the fields & Criss engaged in gardening… I got some white Havana sugar & made some peach preserves (about ten pounds I suppose) and with all due defference to my Mothers knowledge on this subject I think they excel that of her make. [Potts, p. 99]
Births –
1907 – Louisville, KY. Thruston Ballard Morton born. [EL, p. 629]
20 August –
1776 – Fort Pitt, PA. A group of explorers, including George Rogers Clark, at last parts company. (See 9 June 1772; 22 July 1772.) [Potts, p. 21]
About this same date, George Rogers Clark writes to the Virginia executive council: If a Cuntrey was not worth protecting it was not worth Claiming. [Potts, p. 25]
1794 – Battle of Fallen Timbers. [Renau, p. 27] William Clark, 24 years old, is a first lieutenant, under General Anthony Wayne. Fifteen hundred mounted Kentucky volunteers lead the United States army, suffering terrible casualties. The battle, however, went to the Americans when the British, in nearby Fort Miami, chose not to aid the American Indians. The United States was neutral in the British war with France. The scheme called the French Allegiance, or the Spanish Conspiracy, of Americans west of the Alleghenies to ally with France in order to gain possession of the Mississippi River, is doomed. [Potts, p. 73]
21 August –
22 August –
1793 – Lexington, KY. The Democratic Society of Kentucky is formed, based on the “Principles, Articles and Regulations” of the Democratic Society in Philadelphia (see 20 May 1793). [Potts, p. 198, note 63]
1822 – Louisville, KY. William Croghan, at Locust Grove, draws up his will. [Renau, p. 117]
23 August –
1776 – Williamsburg, VA. Orders are issued to forward gunpowder to Fort Pitt. [Potts, p. 25]
24 August –
25 August –
26 August –
27 August –
1822 – Louisville, KY. Locust Grove. William Croghan Sr. draws his Last Will and Testament. It will be recorded in Jefferson County Will Book 2, 229. The major dies 21 September 1822. The following is quoted directly from Potts and Thomas: The will bequeathed to his widow “the tract of land I at present live on” including their residence and its furniture and all the livestock and farming implements, which “on the death of my Wife Lucy, devolve and belong to my Son William.” He devised to Lucy and their children tracts of land totaling of 53,860 acres in Kentucky and Indiana, as well as numerous lots in Louisville, and several brick houses at the corner of Fifth and Main streets. In addition to land, John Croghan received a three-story house on Main Street. Nicholas was devised another three-story house on Main Street and 300 acres on the Ohio River adjoining his mother’s homestead. Charles inherited a two-story house on Fifth Street. “It is my will that my negroes continue under the direction of my wife & Executors until my children are of age, are married or may require them, in which case I wish an equal distribution of them to take place.”
Only the Croghans’ youngest son, 16-year-old Edmund, was not mention in his father’s will, perhaps because of his precarious health. His death date is not known but his last extant letter, written to his other 17 July 1823, points to his very limited life expectancy. (See 17 July 1823.)
[Potts, p. 99]
1891 – Wisconsin. Lyman C. Draper dies. He leaves 2,546 volumes of historical material and 478 volumes of manuscripts at the Wisconsin Historical Society. [KE, p. 271]
28 August –
1827 – Louisville, KY. William Croghan Jr. writes to Thomas Sidney Jesup that Lucy Clark Croghan insists that she will never see her son George again. [Potts, p. 103]
1901 – J. Wyatt Jones, son of Frances Matilda Gwathmey and her second husband, Hezekiah Jones, born about 1820, reminisces to Eva Emory Dye about “the many happy hours I have passed at the old homestead.” He remarks of his grandaunt Lucy Clark Croghan: She was not overly handsome and beside had red hair… Mrs. Croghan was a veritable Clark. If you have ever seen a portrait of Genl or Govr Clark, whom she closely resembled, you can form a better conjecture of her appearance than from any sketch I could give of her. She had great family pride, but with it no austerity that would detract from the loveliness of her charac ter. Being the sole surviving sister, she was venerated by her family connection, and for her unostentatious hospitality and generality held in the highest esteem by all who know her. [Potts, p. 105]
29 August –
1793 – Monticello, VA. Ever artful to keep his robes unsullied by direct intervention, Thomas Jefferson writes to Isaac Shelby: Spain [has] complained to the President…that certain persons are taking measures to excite the inhabitants of Kentucky against Spanish Dominions…if you have reason to believe any such enterprise, put them on their guard against the consequences. [Potts, p. 72] Determined to keep the Federal government as circumscribed as possible, and allowing the individual states to do as they pleased in domestic and foreign relations, Jefferson has looked approvingly on the “Louisiana Expedition” [Editor’s note: The Louisiana Expedition has NOTHING to do with the Lewis & Clark Expedition!], sending Andre Michaux to Kentucky with letters of introduction.
30 August –
1808 – Clarksville, IN. George Rogers Clark is having built a chimney in his home, using 1,000 bricks supplied to him by Dennis Fitzhugh. [Potts, p. 83]
1833 – Pittsburgh, PA. A letter in handwriting of William Croghan Jr. is from Mary E. Croghan to Lucy Ann Jesup. Several years from his wife’s death have eased his grief, to say nothing of his financial straits: Next year Papa is to build his cottage [at Pic Nic]. [Potts, p. 101]
31 August –
1782 – Passyunk, PA. (Uncle) George Croghan dies. He estimated his estate in excess of L140,000. He in fact left “an ‘antediluvian’ carriage, but no horse, one old pinchbeck watch, a pair of buckles, ten pewter plates and six silver spoons … two pairs of stockings, five shirts and a pair of breeches … and clothes to be buried in.” (Potts, p. 20) [Renau, p. 20]
1802 – Williamsburg, VA. James Madison’s attorney, Robert Taylor, advises his client to let William Croghan’s title remain with Jefferson County Court, and not acknowledge Croghan’s demand for a deed. [Renau, p. 72]
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