Doubts if Boone Lies in Kentucky
Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, November 13, 1911
Great-Grandson of Famous Pioneer Thinks Mistake Was Made
TAKE WRONG BODY?
Mexico, Mo., Nov. 13. - Grave doubt that Kentucky now holds the bodies of Daniel Boone and his wife is expressed by the venerable John Jones, of this city, a great-grandson of Daniel Boone. Mr. Jones, who is now eighty-three, is not sure that the band of enthusiastic Kentuckians that came to Warren county many years ago to get the body of the pioneer to take it back to the scenes where Boone performed such deeds of valor, obtained the right body.
"There is a doubt whether it was Colonel Boone's body; it might have been some one's else;" said Mr. Jones, "I will tell you the story and you may let people judge for themselves.
"Colonel Boone died in St. Charles county, about sixteen miles from Marthasville, where I was born and where his body was buried. Marthasville is in the southeast corner of Warren county. Colonel Boone had long before selected the spot where he wanted to be buried and in accordance with his wishes it was buried on a lot on a farm owned by his brother-in-law, David Bryan. The body of his wife (Rebecca Bryan) also was buried there by his side.
"No stone was erected for many years after the bodies were buried, and finally when John Wyatt, the village blacksmith at Marthaville, hewed a large stone from the bed of the Femme Osage river and cut the initials 'D. B.' on it, he brought the stone to Colonel Bryan's and asked to be shown to the graveyard, where the colonel's body laid.
"Mr. Bryan was ill, in bed and could not go out, so he called his daughter Susan and said, 'Susie will show you where to place the stone.' Here is where the doubt lies.
"The grass and weeds had grown up in the cemetery, and there were many graves there. The girl when young had been to Colonel Boone's grave, but she had not seen it for a long time. Walking out to the spot with Wyatt, she hunted around a while and finally, pointing out two mounds, said: 'I believe these are grandpa's and grandma's graves, but I am not certain.' Wyatt put up the stone at the head of the graves designated by Susan Bryan.
"In 1848 John J. Crittenden and Colonel Beckham, heading a delegation of Kentuckians, came to Missouri to get the bodies of Colonel Boone and his wife and take them back to Kentucky. Our family did not want the bodies taken away, but when Colonel Crittenden made them a masterful address, saying that Kentucky wanted to honor her illustrious dead, they acquisced. A mulatto negro slave was sent out to show the Kentuckians where Colonel Boone and his wife were buried, and with a great deal of ceremony the bodies were exhumed and taken back. Whether Susan Bryan caused the stone to be erected at the head of Colonel Boone's grave or that of some other person, however, is a matter of conjecture."
Mr. Jones is the son of Dr. John Jones and Minerva Callaway. Dr. Jones was Colonel Boone's family physician, and attended the colonel in his fatal illness. Mr. Jones' grandmother was Jemima Boone, who with Susan Callaway and her younger sister, were captured by Indians near Boonesborough. Mr. Jones likes to tell of this incident and comment upon the sagacity and skill of Colonel Boone, who, with a party of followers, tracked the Indians through the forests by the threads of cloth upon the bushes.
TAKE WRONG BODY?
Mexico, Mo., Nov. 13. - Grave doubt that Kentucky now holds the bodies of Daniel Boone and his wife is expressed by the venerable John Jones, of this city, a great-grandson of Daniel Boone. Mr. Jones, who is now eighty-three, is not sure that the band of enthusiastic Kentuckians that came to Warren county many years ago to get the body of the pioneer to take it back to the scenes where Boone performed such deeds of valor, obtained the right body.
"There is a doubt whether it was Colonel Boone's body; it might have been some one's else;" said Mr. Jones, "I will tell you the story and you may let people judge for themselves.
"Colonel Boone died in St. Charles county, about sixteen miles from Marthasville, where I was born and where his body was buried. Marthasville is in the southeast corner of Warren county. Colonel Boone had long before selected the spot where he wanted to be buried and in accordance with his wishes it was buried on a lot on a farm owned by his brother-in-law, David Bryan. The body of his wife (Rebecca Bryan) also was buried there by his side.
"No stone was erected for many years after the bodies were buried, and finally when John Wyatt, the village blacksmith at Marthaville, hewed a large stone from the bed of the Femme Osage river and cut the initials 'D. B.' on it, he brought the stone to Colonel Bryan's and asked to be shown to the graveyard, where the colonel's body laid.
"Mr. Bryan was ill, in bed and could not go out, so he called his daughter Susan and said, 'Susie will show you where to place the stone.' Here is where the doubt lies.
"The grass and weeds had grown up in the cemetery, and there were many graves there. The girl when young had been to Colonel Boone's grave, but she had not seen it for a long time. Walking out to the spot with Wyatt, she hunted around a while and finally, pointing out two mounds, said: 'I believe these are grandpa's and grandma's graves, but I am not certain.' Wyatt put up the stone at the head of the graves designated by Susan Bryan.
"In 1848 John J. Crittenden and Colonel Beckham, heading a delegation of Kentuckians, came to Missouri to get the bodies of Colonel Boone and his wife and take them back to Kentucky. Our family did not want the bodies taken away, but when Colonel Crittenden made them a masterful address, saying that Kentucky wanted to honor her illustrious dead, they acquisced. A mulatto negro slave was sent out to show the Kentuckians where Colonel Boone and his wife were buried, and with a great deal of ceremony the bodies were exhumed and taken back. Whether Susan Bryan caused the stone to be erected at the head of Colonel Boone's grave or that of some other person, however, is a matter of conjecture."
Mr. Jones is the son of Dr. John Jones and Minerva Callaway. Dr. Jones was Colonel Boone's family physician, and attended the colonel in his fatal illness. Mr. Jones' grandmother was Jemima Boone, who with Susan Callaway and her younger sister, were captured by Indians near Boonesborough. Mr. Jones likes to tell of this incident and comment upon the sagacity and skill of Colonel Boone, who, with a party of followers, tracked the Indians through the forests by the threads of cloth upon the bushes.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - Copyright © 2004 Callaway Family Association
posted by DFM | 6/27/2004
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home