Carpenter’s Station
Conrad Carpenter, half brother of George, Jr., and full brother of Adam, is a fascinating, shadowy figure cut in the pattern of Daniel Boone, who was undoubtedly an acquaintance of his. Conrad was a surveyor, a rugged outdoorsman, and an early explorer of Kentucky. He was a “long hunter”, a member of a band of about twenty men who went into the Kentucky area in the early fall of 1769 to trap, fish, hunt, and explore. In 1770, several members of the band camped for some time in the area of Green Co. in south central Kentucky. They remained in the wilderness about two or three years. Records indicate that Conrad, with several companions made a second trip into Kentucky in 1776 where they located on the waters of Hanging Fork, built a cabin, cleared fields and raised a crop of corn.
Virginia and North Carolina had set aside land for payment to veterans of the Revolutionary War, the amount depending upon rank and length of service. So, Adam, Conrad, John, George, Sr., and George, Jr. were entitled to their own right to free land. The sons were entitled by inheritance to the rights of their deceased father, George, Sr. (These are my own comments—It is my understanding that only George, Jr. was entitled to inherit from him according to the “rights primogeniture”; the other sons received land grants on the basis of their own military service. I do not think that anyone knew for sure if George, Jr. ever was in KY even though he did own land there—I think.
Since the Carpenters had Conrad as a guide, they knew exactly where they were going to locate. Apparently, they realized that by combining all their land grants adjacent to one another, they could create their own settlement.
The Kentucky land office records that Conrad Carpenter by treasury warrant took up 1755 acres of land in Lincoln Co., and John Carpenter under seven warrants took up about 2870 acres. Adam, George, Sr., and George, Jr. were also entitled to land grants. The Virginia Department of Archives certified that John Carpenter requested delivery of land warrants for military service done by George Carpenter, Sr.
Sometime in late 1778 or early 1779, a group was ready to leave Virginia for the western counties. They traveled south to Cumberland Gap, then north and west along the old Indian trails to the area that Conrad had explored. This route is called The Wilderness Road. Not until nearly 1800 was there a road from Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. Therefore, all the Carpenter equipment had to be transported by pack animals.
The known members of the group were: Conrad, Adam and John Carpenter and his wife Elizabeth Spears Carpenter and John Frye and his wife Catherine and infant daughter, Leah.1
On the tour of the lands around Carpenters Station in 2001, the guide, Allan Leach of Hustonville, took the group to a house that is believed to be built onto the original blockhouse at Carpenters Station. At this point, it should be noted that the lands were gently rolling, near water, and still being cultivated. The lands were encompassed by tall hills from the West to the Northeast. This was very important to the Station for protection from raiding Indians.
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The left section of this house is thought to be |
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Historical Marker near the blockhouse |
1 All of the above was taken from The Carpenters of Carpenters Station, by Virginia T. Carpenter, March 1976