HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS, E. Polk Johnson, three volumes, Lewis
Publishing Co., New York & Chicago, 1912. Common version, Vol. III, pp.
1260-61-62-63. [Lincoln County]

GOVERNOR ISAAC SHELBY--This great Kentuckian, first governor of the state,
has been happily characterized as a "brave and magnanimous soldier, a
sagacious statesman, and a patriot who counted no cost in his devoted
service to the land which gave him birth." Isaac Shelby was born December
11, 1750, in Frederick (now Washington) county, Maryland, near the North
Mountain and in the vicinity of Hagerstown and was a son of Captain Evan
Shelby. Until the age of twenty-one years he was chiefly employed in
farming and herding cattle for his father, but he took the pains to avail
himself of the limited educational advantages which western Maryland then
afforded. Drawing his life-blood from the sturdiest of Welsh and English
ancestors, early disciplined in the woodcraft of the frontier, with his
mind stored and teeming from childhood with the thrilling tales of border
warfare, in which his father had been long and arduously engaged, it is not
surprising that, on reaching man's estate, Isaac Shelby should have
displayed a natural aptitude for war and an exceptional capacity for
leadership. Indeed, it has been truly said of him that he was a born
soldier and a soldier born to command. In 1771 young Isaac removed with the
other members of the Shelby family to the Holston region in southwest
Virginia, where he shared the customary experiences and adventures of a
pioneer and frontiersman. Shortly after this change, Lord Dunmore's war
broke out and he received a lieutenant's commission in a company of
Fincastle troops, of which his father was captain. He fought valiantly at
Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774, in the fierce, all-day, hand-to-hand
encounter with the Indians under Cornstalk. Of this engagement, which has
often been called the "first battle of the American Revolution," Lieutenant
Shelby, in a letter to his uncle, John Shelby, written a few days after the
battle, has left us the best account. He remained as a second in command of
a garrison at the mouth of the Great Kanawha until July, 1775, and for
nearly a year following he explored, located and surveyed lands in
Kentucky. In July, 1776, Isaac Shelby, while in Kentucky, was appointed
captain of a minute company by the Committee of Safety of Virginia. In 1777
he was appointed by Governor Patrick Henry, of Virginia, a commissary of
supplies, for an extensive body of militia guarding the frontier posts. In
1778 he was engaged in the commissary department, providing supplies for
the Continental Army and for an expedition, by way of Pittsburg [sic],
against the Northwestern Indians. He rendered similar service in 1779. In
the spring of that year he was elected a member of the Virginia Legislature
from Washington county and in the fall of the same year was commissioned a
major, by Governor Thomas Jefferson, in the escort of guards to the
commissioners for establishing the boundary line between Virginia and North
Carolina; and shortly afterward he was appointed by Governor Caswell, of
North Carolina, a colonel of the new county of Sullivan. On the 30th of
July, 1780, he captured a formidable Tory stronghold on the Pacolet River.
He was largely responsible for the victory in the battle of Musgrove's Mill
August 18, 1780; was one of those in chief command in the battle of King's
Mountain, October 7, 1780, and contributed most largely to the success
there achieved. A few months later, in command of a troop, he joined
General Frances Marion and served under him until near the end of the war.

In 1781 he was elected a member of the North Carolina legislature; in 1782
moved to Kentucky; was a member of three of the Kentucky conventions, held
in 1787, 1788 and 1789, preparatory to its applying for statehood. In
January, 1791, he was appointed with General Charles Scott, Benjamin Logan
and two others, a member of the local Board of War, created by congress for
the District of Kentucky, with full discretionary power to provide for the
defense of the frontier settlements and the prosecution of the war with the
Indians. He was made high sheriff of Lincoln county, Kentucky, and
continued as such until his election as governor in May, 1792. Was a member
of the convention which framed the first constitution of Kentucky in April,
1792. Governor Shelby was one of the first trustees of Transylvania
Seminary (afterward Transylvania University), having been appointed in
1783. He was
also a member and chairman of the first board of trustees of Centre College
(now Central University), founded in 1819. He took his seat as first
governor of the state June 4, 1792, his term continuing until 1796. The
Constitution making him ineligible to succeed himself, he was not
re-elected. In 1812, however, when war with Great Britain was again
declared, he was promptly summoned by his fellow citizens to serve once
more as governor of Kentucky.

In this, our second War of Independence, Governor Shelby, now a major
general of militia and commander-in-chief, under General Harrison, of an
army of four thousand Kentucky volunteers, demonstrated the vitality of
his rugged manhood and the unfailing strength of his patriotism by winning,
in the forefront of battle, at the head of his courageous comrades-in-arms,
fresh laurels both for himself and for his beloved Kentucky in the notable
battle of the Thames. For his services in this battle, fought on the 5th of
October, 1813, on Canadian soil, and fast upon the heels of Perry's famous
naval victory on Lake Erie, Governor Shelby, a few years later, received a
handsome gold medal and the unanimous thanks of Congress. The grateful
commonwealth, whose destinies were entrusted in his guidance during this
trying period, promptly recorded its appreciation and its gratitude in
resolutions which declared "the high estimation in which they held the
conduct of their venerable chief magistrate, Isaac Shelby, in leading the
Kentucky militia into Upper Canada to victory and to glory." In 1817
Governor Shelby was selected by President Monroe as secretary of war, but
declined the office on the score of age. He was one of the presidential
electors for Kentucky in 1797, in 1801, and in 1805. In 1818 he was
commissioned with General Andrew Jackson to hold a treaty with the
Chickasaw tribe of Indians for the purchase of lands west of the Tennessee
river, which service he performed with entire satisfaction to all parties
concerned. The death of this great American occurred on July 18, 1826, at
his historic home, "Traveller's Rest," Lincoln county, Kentucky, where he
had first permanently settled in 1783. An evidence of his general
popularity as a hero is the fact that counties in nine states have been
named Shelby in his honor. Governor Shelby was married at Boonesboro,
Kentucky, in 1783, to Susannah Hart, daughter of Captain Nathaniel Hart,
one of the proprietors of the Transylvania Company. Of this union were born
eleven children, nearly all of whom grew to maturity and have themselves
married prominently and left numerous descendants. When not serving his
country as a soldier in the field or as a civil officer in legislative
halls or in the executive chair, it was Governor Shelby's delight to occupy
himself with the quiet pursuits of peace and his chief interest lay in the
simple joys of home and country life. His old Kentucky home, Traveller's
Rest, was, until the end of his long life, an unrivaled seat and center of
truly genuine and dignified hospitality. And the traditions of that earlier
day, when every weary, way-worn traveler was welcome, have been handed down
by successive owners of the estate, members of the Shelby family, even to
our own time. Governor Shelby has received high tribute from many
distinguished pens. Says Theodore Roosevelt, in this "Winning of the West,"
referring to the battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774: "One of
Christian's captains was a stout old Marylander of Welsh blood, named Evan
Shelby; and Shelby's son, Isaac, a stalwart, stern-visaged young man, who
afterward played a very prominent part on the border, was a subaltern in
his company, in which Robertson likewise served as a sergeant. Although
without experience of drill, it may be doubted if a braver or physically
fine set of men were ever got together on this
continent . . . All the after-time leaders of the west were engaged in some
way in Lord Dunmore's war. Their fates were various . . . Shelby won
laurels at King's Mountain, became the first governor of Kentucky, and when
an old man revived the memories of his youth by again leading the western
men in battle against the British and Indians." Bancroft in his "History of
the United States," say of Shelby, in the battle King's Mountain, October
7, 1780: "The two center columns, headed by Campbell and Shelby, climbing
the mountain, began the attack. Shelby, a man of the hardiest make, stiff
as iron, among the dauntless singled out for dauntlessness, went right
onward and upward like a man who had but one thing to do and but one
thought to do it." Says Shaler, in Kentucky, A Pioneer Commonwealth," of
the same engagement, "Although Shelby was not in name the chief in this
action, there is no reason to doubt that the conception of the campaign and
the vigor of its execution were his alone. His also was the scheme of
attack which led to the battle of Cowpens." General Shelby's service at the
battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813, also received enthusiastic praise
from his contemporaries. In the official report of General Harrison to
General Armstrong, Secretary of War, the former says: "In communicating to
the President through you, sir, my
opinion of the conduct of the officers who served under my command, I am at
a loss how to mention that of Governor Shelby, being convinced that no
eulogium of mine can reach his merit." In his fifth annual message,
President Madison, always a warm admirer of Governor Shelby, referring to
the war, makes honorable mention of "the chief magistrate of Kentucky,
whose heroism, signalized in the war which established the independence of
his country, sought, at an advanced age, a share in hardships and battles
for maintaining its rights and its safety."

It can not be otherwise than appropriate to conclude this brief review with
an extract from the tribute paid Governor Shelby by Governor James T.
Morehead in his celebrated Address delivered at Boonesboro, Kentucky, May
25, 1840. "The life of Isaac Shelby," said Governor Morehead, "is a signal
example of unblemished personal integrity and enlarged public usefulness,
which may be safety imitated by all those who aspire to become benefactors
of their country. Starting into active life without the aid of large
fortune or a finished education, he pursued the gradations of military rank
from the lieutenancy of a militia company to the command of a regiment; he
rose from the inconspicuous but important station of a surveyor among the
pioneers to the governorship of a great commonwealth, and was distinguished
in all the posts to which he was called. His mind, like his body, was
strong and vigorous; boldness, energy, decision were its leading
characteristics. Capable of thinking for himself, he investigated every
important subject that came within the range of his private or public
duties, with candor and liberation; and having formed his opinions he
followed them with unshaken firmness. He spoke and wrote as he thought,
with great force and vigor, always expressing his opinions with many
frankness and a lofty disdain of personal consequences. His manners were
plain and simple, and commanded, without any affectation or
dignity or superiority, the universal deference of his associates. He was
sincere, but not profuse, in his professions of attachment; faithful and
steadfast to his friends when those attachments were once formed. Elevating
himself in the discharge of his official duties above the influence of
private considerations, he sought and rewarded merit for his country's
sake. Such being his character as a public man, he maintained all the
relations of life with equal credit and success. His death produced a
sensation, which told with great emphasis of the loss of a public benefactor."

Shelby, Hart