Simon Kenton
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Simon Kenton (April 3, 1755 - April 29, 1836) was a famous United States frontiersman and friend of the renowned Daniel Boone and the infamous Simon Girty.
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[edit] Family and early life
Simon Kenton was born in the Bull Run Mountains, Fauquier County, Virginia to Mark Kenton, Sr. and Mary Miller Kenton. In 1771, at the age of 16, thinking he had killed a man in a jealous rage, he fled into the wilderness of Kentucky and Ohio, and for years went by the name "Simon Butler." In 1782, when he learned that the victim was still alive, he returned to Virginia and readopted his original name.
[edit] Noted activities
Kenton served as a scout against the Shawnee in 1774 in the conflict between Native Americans and European settlers later labeled Dunmore's War. In 1777, he saved the life of his friend and fellow frontiersman, Daniel Boone, at Boonesborough, Kentucky. The following year, Kenton was in turn rescued from torture and death by Simon Girty.
Kenton served on the famous 1778 George Rogers Clark expedition to capture Fort Sackville and also fought with "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the Ohio Indian Wars in 1793-94. Kenton moved to Urbana, Ohio in 1810, and achieved the rank of brigadier general of the Ohio militia. He served in the War of 1812 as both a scout and as leader of a militia group in the Battle of the Thames in 1813.
Kenton died in New Jerusalem, Ohio (in Logan County) and was first buried there. His body was later moved to Urbana, Ohio.
Kenton, Ohio, seat of Hardin County, in northwest Ohio was named in honor of Simon Kenton. A local school for the developmentally disabled in Hardin County is named Simon Kenton.
Simon Kenton High School is in Independence, Kentucky. Kenton County, Kentucky is also named for Simon Kenton.
The Simon Kenton Council is the name of a geographical division of the Boy Scouts of America, spanning from Central Ohio to northern Kentucky.
The Simon Kenton Pub in Bath County, Virginia is named after this notable frontiersman.
[edit] References
- Eckert, Allan W. The Frontiersmen: A Narrative; Originally published 1967; 2001 paperback reprint edition, Jesse Stuart Foundation; ISBN 0-945084-91-9. Popular history in novelized form; usually considered to be fiction by academic historians.
- Kenton, Edna. Simon Kenton: His Life and Period, 1755-1836. Originally published 1930; reprinted Salem, NH: Ayer, 1993.
- Crain, Ray. Simon Kenton: The Great Frontiersman. Available in either hardback or paper back; Published June 1, 1992; ISBN 0-9641149-5-X
- Clark, Thomas D. Simon Kenton: Kentucky Scout; Originally published 1943; 1971 paperback reprint edition, Jesse Stuart Foundation; ISBN 0-945084-39-9.
[edit] Trivia
- In Eckert's The Frontiersman, there is a story that Kenton and a companion killed four guards and stole a British Cannon during Captain Henry Bird's 1780 Invasion of Kentucky. However this report is Folklore for the following reasons:
- See Bird's Invasion of Kentucky Link to 1951 article: The British had to abandon their 6 lb. and 3 lb. cannon;
- Footnotes in above 1951 account regarding Kenton do not mention capturing any cannon;
- In link to George Rogers Clark on Battle of Piqua, Clark mentioned having captured British cannon from Vincennes capture; likewise Clark's official 1780 report on Battle of Piqua does not mention receiving any cannon from Kenton.
