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Meade County was established on December 17, 1823 from portions of Hardin and Breckinridge Counties. It was named for Captain James Meade who fought in the battle of Tippecanoe and was killed in the battle of river Raisen. In the 76th county formed in kentucky, Brandenburg is the county seat. Early settlers included Squire Boone and his son, Enoch; In 1780 he claimed 1000 acres at the head of Doe run for Joseph Helm. John Essery and others also claimed land. Wolf Creek was the first permanent settlement.
Meade County, Kentucky
A Pictorial History
On the banks of the Ohio River
On the banks of the Ohio River
With the Ohio River defining the northern border of the county, ferries were once a common means of crossing the water to Indiana. In 1965 the Brandenburg Ferry made it’s last crossing. The ferry boat crossed the river and remained on the Indiana side. The cars returned on the newly completed Matthew Welch Bridge.
Visiting Kentucky was always exciting, and getting to cross the Ohio River on a boat added a new dimension of danger. Irvin A. Whelan gave in to his little girls’ pleas as long as the ferries operated on the river. The summer of 1956 was just one of those crossings.
Heartsong of a nation...
Heartsong of a nation...
This is the story of a valley, a people a spirit. Its beginnings are rooted in the peaceful time when wilderness sounds and rushing creek movements marked the days and nights -- springtime in the canebrake, autumn in the shellbark hickory grove.
The story moves through days of valiant exploration when this was the frontier, and then to settled years of wholesome family hearthsides. It is at once a story of strength and the story of gentleness -- as it were, a story of winds and limestone, of ferns and firesides.
The history of a nation has as its fabric the comings and goings of its people, their interchange of needs and hopes, their blending of common responses. The tale of the people who settled the tight wooded hollows and the wide meadows of Doe Run might be the heartsong of a nation.
The Doe Run Settlements
by Alice Bondurant Scott
Kentucky is from the Iroquois Indian word "Ken-tah-ten," which means "land of tomorrow."
Nomadic tribes wandered widely
Nomadic tribes wandered widely
For over ten thousand years, Native Americans frequented the area of Brandenburg and Meade County. The fact that they lived here at different periods is evidenced by the large amount of artifacts, burial grounds and shell mounds along the river front. This area was desirable because of the river, abundant game, fish nuts, berries and ground for planting corn, and especially, a high quality flint. In terms of our artifacts themselves, it is evident that they are highly desired by international collectors for they are being rapidly sold on the market. This bodes poorly for our honoring this heritage with a museum, though a movement is afoot to accomplish this.
It is debatable regarding the exact tribal lineage, though some are sure that the Native Americans here were closely related to the Cherokee and Shawnee tribes. Given the large number of years (ten to twelve thousand), it is likely that the tribes were mixed across the centuries. We note this grand heritage in order to testify that this area has been a desirable place to live for our predecessors and is now a desirable place to live for the pluralistic society that is emerging here. Strong evidence suggests that originally Native Americans came from Mongolia which means that the first settlers were Asian Americans. European Americans and African Americans came to this area in the late Seventeenth Century, A.D.
http://www.ltadd.org/brandenburg/history.html
(Contributed by F. Morris)
Early settler’s tales recall acts of bravery
Early settler’s tales recall acts of bravery
Many stories have been told of encounters with Indians in the Doe Run and Otter Creek area. A party of surveyors was attacked by Indians on a deer trail between Doe Run and Hill Grove. The buffalo grass was tall since it was summer, and, using this as a cover, the surveying party escaped after firing a few shots.
Two white boys, who were taken prisoner by the Indians, were kept at Indian towns on the other side of the river where they helped the squaws and eventually were allowed to hunt near the camp. After a time they escaped and made their way back across the river at Rock Haven. They headed toward Buck Grove where one of them, who had been named Possum Head by his captors was caught. The other, called Skin Face, escaped. After a whipping by the Indians, Possum Head was released and the boys returned to their people.
A family named Owens, in the area of Ohio County, were attacked by Indians and the only survivors were two girls, ten and twelve years old, who hid under the floor of their cabin. As the Indians started to leave the scene after scalping their victims, a flock of guineas called attention to the girls' hiding place and they were taken prisoners. Traveling by way of Buck Grove to the Ohio River at Rock Haven, the indians took to Owens girls to the Indian towns across the river. After two years, Colonel John Hardin paid a ransom and freed the girls.
An important event in Indian history occurred in 1809, when the great Shawnee chief, Tecumseh, met in conference near the mouth of Otter Creek with the tribes of the North and the tribes of the South in an attempt to form an Indian confederacy to repel the white settlers in the Ohio Valley.
Another chief remembered in history is Piomingo, a chief of the Mingoes. In 1795 enterprising Englishman planned an to be build a city on the Ohio River just downstream from the Rock Haven Landing. He named his dream city Ohiopiomingo 'in compliment to Piomingo, one of the Indian Chiefs, a man greatly beloved and respected not only by Indian tribes but also by the whites.'
Though the Indians did not live in the Doe Run area permanently, they left an important heritage; this included skillfully hewn relics and stonework, their much traveled trails, and a common bond with white settlers in their love of the forests and canebrakes of “Kaintuck.”
The Doe Run Settlements
by Alice Bondurant Scott
Kentucky Courage Wins Time ‘n’ Again
Kentucky Courage Wins Time ‘n’ Again
Third Brandenburg Courthouse. Contract for construction of this building was July 8, 1872. It was destroyed in the April 3, 1974 tornado.
Meade County was established on December 17, 1823 from portions of Hardin and Breckinridge Counties. It was named for Captain James Meade who fought in the battle of Tippecanoe and was killed in the battle of river Raisen. In the 76th county formed in kentucky, Brandenburg is the county seat.
Early settlers included Squire Boone and his son, Enoch; In 1780 he claimed 1000 acres at the head of Doe run for Joseph Helm. John Essery and others also claimed land. Wolf Creek was the first permanent settlement. The first log court house was commissioned in 1825 and completed in 1826. The second courthouse was constructed in brick about 1850. In 1872 the contract for the third courthouse was let and it was completed in 1873. The 1974 tornado this historic building. Dedication of the fourth Meade County Courthouse was held April 3, 1976.
In 1826 the first log jail was completed . It was sold in 1854 for $27. Though no records are found for the second jail, it is concluded that it was completed before the first jail was sold. In April of 1906, "a vote was taken by the Justices of the county to build a new jail at a cost not to exceed $7,947.50." This jail was used until 1976. The fourth and current detention center is considered to be one of the most modern in the country.
In 1836 the legislature provided $1000.00 for the erection of a seminary in Brandenburg for the school age children. Prior to 1792 a grist mill was built on Doe Run Creek by Jonathan Essery. It is said that Abraham Lincoln's father, Tom Lincoln, was either a carpenter or stone mason for its construction. The same mill is currently the famous Doe Run Inn.
The county became known in the middle 1800's for its apple growing and the making of fine apple brandy. In 1837 a textile mill was established in Grahamton. Machinery for the mill was shipped to the mouth of Otter Creek and hauled up the valley by oxen. Gas fields were developed in 1858 but were not commercialized until 1888.
One of the most famous events in the history of Meade County occurred on July 7, 1863. General John Hunt Morgan, with his Confederate regiment of around 2000 men, arrived in Brandenburg. In order to move his command across the Ohio River into Indiana two steamers were captured, the John B. McCombs and the Alice Dean. General Morgan is reputed to have burned the steamers after he made the crossing.
In the year 2001 Meade County has retained a rural flaver and is rich in scenic vistas, in large part due to the land preserved by Fort Knox Preserve and Otter Creek Park.
Meade County, Kentucky
A Pictorial History
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