From the book, In the Land of Breathitt
In the late summer or early fall of 1780, when the guns of the Revolution were still sounding along the seaboard and occasionally in the "backwoods," a group of young Virginians left one of the river valleys of the southwestern part of the Old Dominion. There was something of youthful romance and adventure in this party all of them were under twenty years of age, and it is uncertain whether they had been married according to legal formalities. In those days, however, when frontier communities were far removed from the seats of law, plighted love was sufficient to tie the knot of wedlock.
For some time before their departure they had talked of moving west over the lofty cordons that marked the frontier outposts of that day. Earlier, in the autumn of 1779, they had evaded the marauding forces of the British troops then infesting the State by going farther to the west. They spent the spring and summer of the next year on the eastern slopes of the Appalachians.
In this pioneer band were the first settlers of Breathitt County: Nathan Noble and his wife, Virginia (Neace) Noble; William Noble and his wife; Enoch Noble, a brother of Nathan; Austin Neace and his wife, Malinda (Allen) Neace; and Henry Neace. All were bound together by ties of blood or marriage and all shared the same youthful expectations.
Although the narrative of their trek across the mountains varies in detail, and is based entirely on family tradition, it contains the intriguing elements, the romance and the lore of pioneering. According to one version the small colony of home-seeking Nobles and Neaces entered the State through Cumberland Gap in the wintertime. Here they were delayed two weeks by a big snowstorm.
According to another version of their journey into Kentucky, a version which is more detailed but no more probable, they left Virginia in late September and in early October had reached the upper waters of the Licking River. This route, across the mountains in a northwestern direction to the watershed of the Licking River and Quicksand Creek, was a more difficult and a much less traveled one than through berland Gap. When they reached the mouth of Buckhorn and Troublesome (now in Perry County), a camp was established, and William Noble decided to make this the permanent home of his family. The entire party, with the exception of Nathan Noble and wife, Austin Neace and wife, and Enoch, Nathan's unmarried brother, decided to spend the winter with William Noble. Rock houses in the vicinity promised comfortable quarters, and there was plenty of game for food.
Nathan and his party took their leave of this camp early in November and journeyed down Troublesome to the mouth of Beaver Dam. Following the small stream to its head the party crossed over to Troublesome's Caney, and set up camp. Next morning the party turned up Caney to Cockrell's Fork of Lost Creek, another tributary of Troublesome. The journey then continued to a branch of Cockrell's Fork and down the fork to a point near its mouth where camp was set for the night.
It was already past the middle of November, 1780. Nathan's wife was soon to become a mother; and near by was found a rock house large enough to shelter the entire party. These were the urgent circumstances which determined the first settlement in Breathitt County the hardships of winter, the approaching confinement of a young mother, and the availability of food and shelter. The colony prepared for the winter months. Nathan Noble, not being a hunter and not satisfied with the provisions of a cliff, set to work building a log hut for the winter large enough for the entire party. During the day he felled and prepared timber for the house. After his brother, Enoch, and Austin Neace returned from hunting, they helped to place the logs. Comfortable quarters were soon prepared.
A large deer lick was discovered close by. When the weather permitted, ground was cleared and Austin started clearing and fencing land. He cleared a few acres and, by the first of June, they were planted in corn, beans, and in other garden seed which they had brought with them. This was undoubtedly the first garden grown in what is now Breathitt County. The other two men assisted in fencing the cleared ground, using rails split from easily cleaved timbers. It was planted surrounding the log cabin, where the hounds kept wild beasts from disturbing it. Here, late in the summer of 1782, Austin Neace's wife became a mother. Nathan Noble's wife had become a mother shortly after their settlement, but her child had died soon after birth.
After the first crop was planted, Nathan decided to make his permanent home about three miles below on Lost Creek, near its confluence with Leatherwood. At this point he had found the meadows broad and desirable. Nathan, assisted by the other men in the colony, erected his permanent log house here. Enoch, the hunter of this settlement, supplied the meat for his fami1y and that of Nathan, who was the farmer and builder. Enoch spent his days roaming the forested hills, and returning with the choice game of the virgin land. At first he lived with his brother, but as their families increased and an additional room still left them crowded, Nathan built his brother a cabin about a half mile from his own. In the fall of 1782 these early Lost Creek settlers harvested enough corn, beans, pumpkins, and other vegetables to help carry them through the winter months and for planting in the following spring.
The small colony of Nobles and Neaces on Lost Creek
and its tributary streams were an isolated community in
an unmarked wilderness for over a decade. They fed on
the plentiful game of the surrounding country and each
year raised a vegetable garden and a crop of corn. It is
probable during this time that one or more trips were
made to the settlement at Clinch River or to one of the
southwestern communities in Virginia. In the chronicle of
the Nobles' settlement in the Kentucky Mountains there
is mention of stone stew kettles used for making hominy;
of the purchase of a salt kettle, an adz, and an outfit to
make churns, water pails, barrels, and troughs, and a handmill for grinding corn. There is also mention of trips
to Virginia with furs and ginseng, and of returning hunting
parties. After the first settlement had been made,
Jake Neace, a brother of Austin Neace and of Nathan's
wife, and Samuel Allen, a brother of Malinda Allen Neace,
Austin's wife, came into the county.
| advanced |