Daniel Lillard, Breckinridge County - 1813

Article / SPRING 1998
By Norman L. Payne, ATHS MEMBER #1447




The First Man Legally Hanged in Breckinridge County - 1813

   The story of the first legal hanging in Breckinridge County, Kentucky has never been told. 
Several written accounts have incorrectly stated the first hangings were three slaves from 
a river boat that had killed their master. Of course, the eighth and last hanging was the well 
published hanging of Sam Jennings in 1932.
   Nicholas Scott, in 1800, was the first person to settle in the area just east of present day 
Harned, Kentucky, and he was joined by his younger brother Henry Scott. They had moved to the 
area from Botetourt County, Virginia.  Another Virginian, Martin Wale, settled east of the Scott 
property and had begun operation of the Prince of Wales stagecoach stop. The Wale house was a 
small log cabin on a ridge just off the old Elizabethtown to Hardinsburg road. (The house's 
corner stone rocks are still in the ground by a big tree near highway US 60, between Harned and 
Garfield. The nearby Wale Cemetery can be seen from the highway.)
   Martin Wale had several slaves who worked the stagecoach stop, tended the animals and farmed the 
land. He also hired other workers to assist with the manual labor. One such common laborer, a 
single white man, was Daniel Lillard.  Henry Scott was murdered at the Wale house by Daniel 
Lillard according to family tradition.  There is no account of how the murder took place or the 
reason. There have been eight legal hangings in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, but little is 
known of the first one. Early Breckinridge County Court did not record testimony of witnesses or 
any details of trials. The judge and the jurors have been long forgotten. Following is the only 
official record of the court proceeding. This was taken from Breckinridge County, Court Book 1, 
pages 383, 406, 416, 418, 419, 420 and 422.

23 April 1812 - Daniel Lillard was indicted for the murder of Henry Scott and returned to jail.

20 October 1812 - Lillard was taken to court, a trial date was set, and he was returned to jail.

24 April 1813 - Lillard was found guilty of murder in the 1st degree, but his attorney asked the 
verdict to be squashed, because one of the jurors had talked to Mr. Lillard before the trial. A 
new trail date was set and he was sent back to jail with orders that he was to be guarded by 
four guards.

(19?) July 1813 - Lillard was taken to court, but there was not enough time for a trial.

21 July 1813 - Lillard was tried by a new jury and found guilty again of murder in the 1st 
degree.

22 July 1813 - Daniel Lillard was sentenced to be hanged until dead, on 21 August 1813, between 
the hours of 12 noon and 1:00 pm with sufficient security to make sure the hanging happened. He 
was to be taken out the Hardford road to the first fork in the road and be hanged in the woods.