Early Life of Simon Kenton

[@charityhawks9890]

I'm from Logan County, WV, now in NC. I'd never heard of Simon Kenton until I watched this channel. He really was worthy of more recognition in history books.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Glad you’ve discovered him! He’s a top frontiersmen.

[@alan30189]

Read Allan Eckert’s book, “The Frontiersmen.” I don’t know if it’s still in print, but you can pick up a used copy and I’m sure your local library has it. He has several other books out to about the frontier, as well. Kenton saved Boone’s life at least twice.

[@boklt.pigons9329]

No kidding I'm from Logan too. We are from an area that is so rich in history!

[@MaximusWolfe]

@@alan30189 One of the greatest works of historical fiction ever written. One of my absolute favorite books.

[@justinthomas27]

I’m 29 1/2 years old and I’ve never heard of him until today! It sounds to me like he was a real badass

[@TODD1968ification]

My 4th great grandfather Laban Records was Simon Kenton's top scout in Limestone 1785 to 1795. He was mentioned by Daniel Boone along with my uncle Spencer Records in the book, The Life and Times of Daniel Boone. I love any stories about Kenton in this time period. Kenton and my Records family bought land in Ohio when the Indians were pushed out and later my grandfather would move further west with Boone and others in old age. Sorry for my writing skills.

[@neiluscook2283]

As a buckskinner who's studied Boone for life, I'll tell you how those men could reload running. I learned this from a newspaper reporter who interviewed old Boone, circa 1808 or 10, for a Louisville paper; then I learned how myself! He told her he had the touch hole bored out to self prime the pan when a ball - even a naked ball - was RAMMED down the bore. That's right: self priming ! No fumbling about priming the pan from the horn. Now I have done this myself, with a 44inch barrel even in timed shooting events; always winning by time advantages. So I know that the savvy frontiersman knew how to appear always loaded even under a hot pursuit! There you go: I am almost 70 and want to pass on a Boone period secret. Enjoy this you young hot bloods

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Thank you for sharing! And glad you enjoyed the podcast!

[@davidkeitel5967]

3f.

[@tyarb52]

Thank you ❤

[@johnndavis7647]

The plains indians cut down muskets with very worn touch-holes became "self-priming". This made reloading at a full gallop possible when chasing buffalo.

[@kentuckylongrifle8640]

Great show. I first heard about Kenton back in the mid 80s and have not only Eckertt's book, but Thomas D. Clark and Edna Kenton's book regarding him. Although I've always heard it was Kasper Mansker who ran into Boone near Station Camp creek. I believe the reason Boone is better known than Kenton is due to the first book written specifically about Boone was written in the early 1780's when Boone was in his 50s while the first book on Kenton wasn't published until 1930. So Boone was something of a household name while he was still living.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Glad you enjoyed it! Kenton’s life was amazing!

[@tyarb52]

Love Eckert!

[@MaximusWolfe]

The greatest frontiersman and musket marksman of them all. A peerless warrior who reminds me of the great Albanian warlord Skanderbeg in his focused, fearless sense of duty. Became a devout Christian at the end of his life. His story is well worthy of a feature length film, especially with the awesome plot twist of his believing that he had killed a man as the onus for his exploits and his ability to survive several Indian gauntlets. Unlike most figures of pioneer history, none of these exploits have to be exaggerated by the typically mendacious screenwriters.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

An extraordinary life!

[@geraldrice8137]

Be waiting to hear more on this man..thanks alot guys..

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

You’re welcome, glad you enjoyed it! Simon Kenton was another level kind of frontiersmen.

[@lucaschess7809]

Simon Kenton is buried in my hometown of Urbana, Ohio and I always found him interesting. He was one of the founders of my hometown.

[@1952jodianne]

Simon Kenton's Station is in my hometown of Maysville KY, just up the hill from downtown, off of KY Hwy 9 near the old Kenton Station Road.

[@BenSHammonds]

very informative and enjoyable, my ancestor Philip Hammond (Hamman) was of like nature and known in what is today West Va and early KY

[@paulthomasmiller1842]

Outstanding.

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

I’m originally from Kentucky and had heard of Simon Kenton, but I didn’t know these stories. Thank you!🤗🐝❤️

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@deborahdanhauer8525]

@@KentuckyHistoryChannel 🤗

[@DaleDanErnie]

Being from casey and lincoln county, I’m glad I found this channel. I love hearing about the history of this area, very strange that we don’t teach our kids about this place.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Glad you’re enjoying it! And yes we need more of it in our schools.

[@vada7259]

Thanks for this! I had direct ancestors at Boonesborough, and have been curious about their lives

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! A lot of great stories out there.

[@1952jodianne]

Other than near the Ohio River, Mason County KY is not particularly mountainous, but rather has mostly gently rolling hills. The mountains truly begin in the next county eastward, Lewis County, east of Herron Hill. Interestingly, there is steep terrain in Bracken County just northwest of Mason County. Of course there's a statue of Kenton in Mason County, as well as the Simon Kenton Festival, & Kenton Station Road, & the Kenton Family Reunion. I say "of course" because Kenton is considered the founder of Mason County & one of the founders of Maysville.

[@deborahloveless1034]

Thank you! I could hear this one great.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Awesome! Thank you for listening!

[@alan30189]

Daniel Boone was only 21 years older than Kenton, not 30. One was born in 1734, Kenton in 1755. I read Allan Eckert’s book, “The Frontiersmen ,” back in college in 1979. It’s a great read, as well are his other books.

[@DrewElGringasho]

***1734 ***1755 There. Fixed it. And yes, the frontiersman is great.

[@alan30189]

@@DrewElGringasho Yes, thanks! Brain fart on my part.

[@1952jodianne]

Lawrence Creek flows into the Ohio River just downriver from Maysville Kentucky near Dover. Limestone Creek flows into the Ohio River at downtown Maysville.

[@garenmcvay2695]

They should make a movie, about Simon Kenton, in Honor Of Allen W. Eckart., Kenton, didn’t get the credit that he deserved.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

It would make an amazing movie!

[@TomBTerrific]

Not only similar in skills and character in their love of the wilderness. The also both force by the Indians running gauntlets after being captured and obviously survived. I think Kenton survived 2. This tell you the toughness of these guys.

[@play_schecter420.]

He survived 9 from what I've been able to find....

[@fordsrestorations970]

My people were affiliated with George Washington's Army and then we went throughout the Appalachians with Daniel Boone split off with Squire Boone, hooked up with George Rogers Clark and Simon Kenton . I grew up around Chief tecumseh's territory Clark County all the way up to Urbana Bellefontaine the last I heard they restored Simon kenton's House of Ohio about 25 years ago thereabouts.

[@richardfish8379]

this good reading..

[@garenmcvay2695]

I remember the story, of him running naked, and hiding under a rock ledge, bare naked, covered with leaves. He had been Turkey hunting in the freezing rain, he got a Turkey, went back to his camp, hung his wet clothes up next to the fire, to dry them, when he was attacked by Indians. This is when he had to run naked through the Woods.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

It sounds comical but is truly amazing!

[@awolatlarge]

I read a book about this guy. His life story is absolutely fascinating. He makes Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone look like a couple of little girls.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

He was definitely next level!

[@macfawlty]

@@KentuckyHistoryChannel and that book is Frontiersman by Alan Eckert, the first in a series of 4 books on similar unsung heroes of the frontier areas.

[@TomBTerrific]

@@macfawltypossibly but that book was far more than just about Kenton and Boone but the were significant characters of the book.

[@albertkundrat1734]

Big MAX of "4:55"PTM 01:23 Kenton Kentucky brought ME to THIS! Century IV:55 of Nostradamus as well!

[@macfawlty]

My original immigrant ancestor, like many pioneers in the frontier areas, was from Northern Ireland (Ulster Provinces…another long history). Thomas Feland b. 1720, emigrated 1750 was in Campbell County, VA, South of what became Lynchburg. Around 1787, he moved his family, a wife and over a dozen children, through the Cumberland Gap and the Wilderness Road, to Lincoln County, KY. Migration was a constant among the Scots-Irish, which makes genealogy a bit challenging. You can build your family tree and make associations with other families, some more prominent, many not. Building a narrative around ancestors can be a lifelong effort for those so inclined. The research required is daunting, direct narratives non-existent in most cases. The best effort you can make is to find stories and narratives around some of the locales you know your ancestors were in at certain times in history. I don’t get the sense that the Scots-Irish were very ‘communal’ and can’t even assume they migrated with other unrelated families. The Frontiersman book, however, gives me hope that a narrative could be built to help understand the lives of our pioneer ancestors. Alan Eckert’s books are the gold standard for historical narrative IMO. I’ve read Frontiersman 3 times and the 2 that follow.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

It’s a great book!

[@tyarb52]

The best author!!

[@stanleybrown7844]

Like the content we should all be interested in the past very entertaining thanks

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Agreed! The more history we learn the better. Glad you’re enjoying the content!

[@johnndavis7647]

There were two Simons of note in the early years between the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. Simon Kenton and Simon Girty. Both led lives of adventure and both were captured by indians at one point in their lives. Simon Girty came to prefer life with the natives and was accused of joining war parties against the whites at times. If half of the stories about Girty are true he was sort of the Forest Gump of the period. It seems that he had a knack for being everywhere something of note happened from the ambush at the Mongohelia River crossing too Lexington and Concord.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

We did an episode about him a long time ago but it was a good one. KHP - Ep. 42 Simon Girty: The Sometimes Un-American, American kzbin.info/www/bejne/f33MlaBpopmmkMk

[@woodspirit98]

Simon girty had two brothers. My mom always used to scare us with Simon girty was gonna get ya if we came home after streetlights came on or if we misbehaved. So I always had a slight fear of Simon girty growing up.

[@jimmielawson7937]

Read the book by Alan eckert the frontiersman he has a series on the settlements Kentucky Ohio Pennsylvania

[@kentuckymason1276]

My family is from mason county. Yay

[@fordsrestorations970]

PS what they done in Kentucky also was somewhat mirrored in Ohio because of Chief Tecumseh and Mad Anthony Wayne

[@timothyboone5003]

I’m a descendant of Daniel’s older brother Iseral Boone. I believe both of these men live larger in print than in life. That’s not to dismiss that they were great frontiersmen. But it’s the tendency of authors to take a little liberty in their writing skills to add a little more each time the story is told and retold. A little more emphasis was placed upon marketability than strict factual content. Just being able to survive in the wild untamed Country they traveled, often alone for months at a time is a testament to their character. Not only the physical, but also the mental fortitude that survival required is beyond imagination.

[@1952jodianne]

Apparently, Boone had a better publicist than Kenton, although Kenton is very well-known in Kentucky & Ohio. Also lacking a good publicist was my ancestor, Samuel Strode (Stroud), born 1754, came to Kentucky in early 1776, served as a sergeant in the American Revolution under Gen. George Rogers Clark, founder of Strode's Station in Mason County, Kentucky (not to be confused with Strode's Station in Clark Co., KY - founded by his cousin, John Strode). Strode & Kenton were contemporaries & may have known each other well, & Strode was a cousin of Rebecca Bryan Boone, Daniel's wife. Curiously, both Samuel Strode & Daniel Boone had both been adopted by the Shawnee, although it's believed that Strode remained amongst the Shawnee for a much longer period.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Great connection! I’ve read a lot about Strode Station over the years.

[@DrewElGringasho]

It's excusable that folks from other states don't know jack about Mr. Kenton but for Ohioans its inexcusable. Seeing as the majority of folks watch tik tok and dont have a worldview much more intelligent than a housefly, im not saying I expect more. But for me and my friends growing up, Ohio was a wonderland of ancient Native American mystery, french indian war battle sites, and the stomping grounds of American Heroes on both sides, Blue Jacket and Simon Kenton alike. I have sinced matured a bit But I will never regret those days of summer road trips throughout Ohio, from Ft Ancient, to the ruins of Shawnee Villages, tripping vast quantities of magic mushrooms in those beautiful woods Time traveling back to those days of wild, beautiful Ohio.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

Well said!

[@DrewElGringasho]

@@KentuckyHistoryChannel love the channel amigo, the video was amazing btw. I literally only last night discovered you, but here's a subscribe! I actually left Ohio, and now live in Iquitos, Perú in the smack center of the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Ha! You would think id be content with the nature here, but there is JUST something about it, in my bones, spring summer and fall in those appalachian forests, those rivers and those trees in southern Ohio, WV, and kentucky. I dont miss the U.S. culture one bit but goodness I DO miss our amazing, rich history and nature! Specifically Appalachia! Have a blessed day and thank you for archiving this history.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

@@DrewElGringasho wow! That’s awesome! And thanks for subscribing. The old saying is true, one foot is always pointed back to home.

[@bethbartlett5692]

*Who is telling the Story?* *(BTW: Ya just got yo Love the Irish!)* 💚 🇮🇪 ☘️ The man telling this is obviously most familiar with the subject, the man (Simon Kenton), and the area of h8s escapades. *I wonder, if Sim9n Kenton is the namesake of "Kenton, TN"? Kenton is "Home of the White Squirrel", and they are plentiful, located in NW Tennessee, just about 7 miles North of Davy Crockett 's Cabin, in Rutherford, Tennessee. Kenton is litterslly split by the county line, Nort Kenton is in Obion County, South in Gibson County, as is Rutherford. When I was a child, the First Baptist Church sat on the County line, the Preacher in Obion County and Congregation in Gibson County. I was only 8n there a couple times, we were Methodist and Catholics in my immediate family, save my Dad who was raised Baptist. Th9se folks focus way to much on fear Dogma, scaring ch8ldren si that many won't consider Religion when they become adults. Understandable, I so Appreciate hav8ng been blessed with greater enlightenment through my Asking, and my studies/research, and the abundant value of Quantum Physics Science, which supports Spritual/Nonphysical reality. *Great Subject and Audio, the descriptions of Simon Kenton speak to me of a man most Free in his thinking, Free in his Living, a high spirited, fun loving man, with determination, self disciplinened in his thinking mind, emotional development, and in his physical state.* 🔑 *He had established a well developed Character and fully he had an achieved strength in Fortitude, which comes in far greater degrees though managging our Lower Mind/Ego Mind's Thoughts with the value of our Higher Mind, where Wisdom resides. I so hope to find more of these stories!* Love this guy's storytime and narration.

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

James Pope took the lead on this one. Simon Kenton was an incredible man.

[@jamesjenkins1680]

ulstermen

[@Locksley108]

The only kentons in ireland are those who descend from British Planters Kenton is not an irish name. Kenton was not "irish". Kenton was born in america but he was hardly a native american was he?

[@jillatherton4660]

👍

[@beverlyw400]

He is a big part of Ohio Frontier

[@allenschmitz9644]

So Kenton County in not named after Simon?

[@KentuckyHistoryChannel]

It is named after Simon Kenton.

[@davidgay2792]

The first story you tell of Simon Kenton is wrong. Simon, Yeager, and Strader were camped on the Elk river, Kanawha county Virginia in 1771 when this story took place. I am tired of so called historians putting people in the wrong places. Kenton spent time in Kentucky, Virginia (West Virginia) and Ohio mostly fighting fighting indians over the large triangle of hunting lands, that goes from central Ohio to the Kanawha valley then over to Kentucky. Also you people for get Daniel Boone spent 12 years in the Kanawha Valley before moving to Missouri because Kentucky treated Daniel so bad. Daniel sais he would rather have his head cut off than move back to Kentucky.

[@vepr1332]

You guys are confusing your boy , with Lewis Wetzel. Aka death wind. Who loaded his rifle on a dead run then turned and fired. Maybe you should get your history straight.

[@Dougarrowhead]

Hard to listen to with um huh and yeah after every sentence

[@tomsmith5216]

Would have been much better if he'd just kept quiet...

[@GG-jw8pt]

Kenton is a English name. Not Irish,.

[@MaximusWolfe]

There are Kentons in Ireland and his father immigrated from Ireland.

[@Locksley108]

@@MaximusWolfe The only kentons in ireland are those who descend from British Planters Kenton is not an irish name. Kenton was not "irish". Kenton was born in america but he was hardly a native american was he?

[@jamesjenkins1680]

Simon Kenton ulster scot not irish

[@MaximusWolfe]

His father was a Irish immigrant. His mother was a Scott.

[@Locksley108]

@@MaximusWolfe The only kentons in ireland are those who descend from British Planters Kenton is not an irish name. Kenton was not "irish". Kenton was born in america but he was hardly a native american was he?

[@MaximusWolfe]

@@Locksley108 What does it mean to be Irish? There were people in Ireland even before the Celts arrived on the scene. Many Irish also have Scandinavian roots. You have a narrowly construed understanding of that heritage.

[@Locksley108]

@@MaximusWolfe There's an obvious difference between gaelic irish assimilating norse raiders and protestant anglo-scottish planters sent by the british crown to ethnically cleanse the catholic irish. Kenton was not an irish gael so why are you pretending he is? It's clear you're an american plastic paddy from the way you talk about irish history, it shows you pretty much know nothing about it