Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. Published
by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago.  Reprinted by Southern Historical
Press.  p. 68.  Grayson County.

BENJAMIN SEBASTIAN was appointed a member of the court of appeals
December 28, 1792, but resigned December 6, 1806.  His nativity seems
shrouded in mystery.  He was educated in this country as a Church of
England clergyman and went to England for holy orders.  However, as early
as 1785, he was a citizen of Jefferson county, engaged in the practice of
law, and was a delegate to the conventions held at Danville in August,
1875, in 1787 and in 1788, and also a member of the convention which
framed the first constitution of the state in 1792.
     On the 28th of December, 1792, he was appointed associate justice of
the court of appeals, and held that office until December 6, 1806, when he
resigned.  His life in history is one of the most interesting and unique in
the annals of the state.  He was a prominent, indeed the central figure,
about whom revolved the negotiations with Spain, touching the opening of
the Mississippi to the commerce of the western territory.  The fact that
he was a resident of Louisville may account in a measure for his being
the medium for the interchange of views between the Spanish authorities
and the leading men of the Mississippi Valley in their negotiations.  His
name appears in connection with those of Harry Innes, John Brown and George
Muter signed to a manifesto calling a convention in 1787; and from that
date until his final disappearance from the stage of public life, in 1806,
he was an important factor in the affairs of the country.
     The story of his life is one of the most interesting in the history
of Kentucky.  Since the publication of the first Kentucky history,
written by Humphrey Marshall, he has been denounced as the enemy of his
country and as a conspirator with Spanish officials for the dismemberment
of the Union.  Our space does not permit an extended inquiry or the
production of the documentary evidence on both sides of the question on
his connection with the so called "Spanish Conspiracy;" the main facts
in outline are, that the Mississippi river was the only avenue for the
transportation of the products of the western country and that Spain was
in possession of the river.  The federal government did not afford the
protection that the people desired and expected either in the matter of
the defense against the Indians or of commercial advantages.  They were
practically left to shift for themselves and they sought to make terms
with Spain for the right to trade on the great river of the west and, by
way of its outlet, with the markets of the world.
     Negotiations were carried on mainly through Judge Sebastian, and by
means of the arrangement effected by him Kentucky reaped the reward of
a large trade which brought prosperity to the state and built up her
infant industries.  It was not until 1797, when certain decisions of the
court of appeals touching certain land entries rendered him unpopular,
that an outcry was raised against him, culminating, in 1806, in an
examination by the legislature of his connection with the Spanish
commercial alliance.  In the face of these investigations Judge Sebastian
resigned from the bench.  He retired to his home at "Falls of Rough," in
Grayson county, where he spent the the remainder of his life.
     That eminent lawyer, Ben Hardin, speaking on this subject, said:
     "I am, Mr. President, greatly rejoiced that I have the opportunity
to vindicate the names, characters and memories of the illustrious men
who figured in the days of other years,--days that tried the souls of
men; men who have been slandered by some of the histories of this country,
in which they are branded as traitors and Spanish conspirators; men that
I feel proud of, and so ought my country to be proud of.  Thirty or
forty years ago I knew most of them.  I see in my mind and can recollect
exactly how they looked.  They then had the aged and venerable
appearance of the senators of Rome seated in the senate chamber when the
Gauls took and destroyed the city. * * * Kentucky enjoyed the benefits of
the regulations made by Sebastian until Spain transferred the country to
France and France to the United States, and after enjoying the benefits of
Sebastian's labors for years, when the necessities for those regulations
had passed away, Kentucky for a time forgot his services, and the whole
legislature attacked him in 1806.  Those that sent him, who were
alive--for some were dead--gave him no aid or assistance, and he sank
under the assault and fell a victim to the rancor of popular fury.  I
trust in God that the present generation will do his memory justice for
the consolation of his posterity."

Sebastian Innes Brown Marshall Muter Hardin
=
Jefferson-KY England

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/grayson/sebastian.b.txt