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Stephen Trigg

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geographers and explorers

   Stephen Trigg
        Delegate, Virginia House of Burgesses (1775)
   Delegate, Virginia House of Delegates (1778, 1780-81)
     Born    c.1744
             Virginia
     Died    19 August 1782
             Blue Licks, Kentucky
   Residence Trigg's Station, Kentucky
    Spouse   Mary Christian

   Stephen Trigg ( c.1744– August 19, 1782) was an American pioneer and
   soldier from Virginia. Colonel Trigg was killed ten months after the
   surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in one of the last battles of the
   American Revolution while leading the Lincoln County, Virginia militia
   unit at the Battle of Blue Licks in present-day Kentucky.

   Born the son of William and Mary (Johns) Trigg, Trigg mainly worked as
   a public servant and militia officer during the early years of the
   frontier counties in southwest Virginia and those portions that would
   later form Kentucky. He was one of the wealthiest men on the frontier
   at the time. He was a delegate to the first Virginia Revolutionary
   conventions and was a member of the Fincastle Committee of Safety that
   drafted the Fincastle Resolutions, which was the precursor for the
   Declaration of Independence made by the Second Continental Congress on
   July 4, 1776. He was also elected to the Virginia House of Delegates.

   Trigg was appointed to the Virginia Land Court Commission in 1779,
   charged with settling titles to land on the Kentucky frontier. After
   completing his duties on the court, he settled in Kentucky and
   continued his public service. In 1782, when Native American tribes, in
   conjunction with British forces, attacked Bryan Station in Kentucky,
   several Kentucky militia companies converged to go after the attackers.
   Trigg commanded one wing, Daniel Boone another. However, it was part of
   a planned ambush, and Trigg, along with many other men, including
   Boone's son, were killed. After the battle, Trigg's body was found
   quartered. In recognition of his role in the formation of Kentucky,
   Trigg County, Kentucky was named in his honour.

Early life and family

   Trigg was the son of William and Mary (Johns) Trigg of Virginia, whose
   family was prominent on the Virginia frontier. His father served as a
   Judge of the Court of Chancery, an equity court, and the Bedford County
   Court. He had four brothers, William, John, Abram and Daniel, who were
   all involved as soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Two of these
   brothers, John and Abram, later represented Virginia in the U.S.
   Congress. Stephen married Mary Christian, daughter of another Virginia
   pioneer, Israel Christian. Trigg lived the early part of his life in
   southwest Virginia and ran a tavern in Botetourt County.

   Trigg and Mary Christian had the three sons and two daughters. His
   daughter Mary married General David Logan, whose son was Stephen Trigg
   Logan. Logan later served in the Illinois state legislature and was the
   law partner of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois.

Virginia pioneer

   Location of Fincastle, Virginia
   Enlarge
   Location of Fincastle, Virginia

   The western county of Augusta in Virginia could no longer serve the
   needs of the far flung pioneers along the New River, and so in 1769,
   the county of Botetourt was created. Trigg was one of several appointed
   as its first Justices of the Peace, which was a judge presiding over
   misdemeanors and other civil cases. From 1770 to 1771, he served as
   magistrate, Justice of the County Court in Chancery and a Justice of
   Oyer and Terminer, which was a criminal court. When the town of
   Fincastle, Virginia was forming in 1770, Trigg was instrumental in its
   development, helping to sell lots and build the town's prison along
   with a courthouse with his father-in-law, Israel Christian.

   Due to the needs of a growing population, the southwestern half of
   Botetourt County was separated in 1772 and named Fincastle County.
   Trigg was installed as one of its first Justices of the Peace. He was
   also made a Justice of the County Court in Chancery and a Justice of
   Oyer and Terminer in addition to his appointment as Deputy Clerk and
   surveyor of the road from New River to the Sinking Spring. Trigg also
   continued pursuing his livelihood as a merchant at Dunkard Bottom in
   present-day Pulaski County. From 1773 to 1774, he partnered with David
   Ross and operated a community store in New Dublin, with branches
   located in Meadow Creek, Reed Creek, and Reed Island. At this time,
   many indentured servants came to this area of the state. Short of
   money, they sold themselves to the ship owners for passage to America
   for a term of servitude that gained them land and tools upon
   completion. In October, Trigg advertised the sale of 30 white
   indentured servants at his home with a discount for "ready money."
   Trigg also served as a delegate to the last session of the Virginia
   House of Burgesses in 1775, representing Fincastle County, but he
   absented himself to serve as Captain in Dunmore's War.

   Settlers again agitated for another split, and so Fincastle County was
   split into three counties and became defunct in 1776; the new counties
   were Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky. Trigg was again a member of
   the first court of justices held for a new county, this time
   Montgomery. He also served in the Virginia House of Delegates in 1778.

Early Kentucky pioneer

   The new Virginia counties were growing rapidly, and with this growth
   came trouble. Trigg was appointed as one of the judges to the Virginia
   Land Court commission of 1779-80 charged with settling land disputes in
   Kentucky County, Virginia. The Virginia Land Act of 1779 had set up
   this court of four judges in order to examine the numerous land claims
   and to certify valid titles. The four judges arrived at St. Asaph in
   October and triggered emigration to Kentucky as people wished to either
   certify their claims or seek unclaimed land. They closed their court on
   February 26, 1780 and prepared to return home. However, in March they
   were told that they had to reopen the court and stay through April, as
   claimants were delayed due to weather. Trigg and two fellow judges
   reconvened on April 16 and heard another 134 cases. In all, the court
   judged 1328 claims covering over 1 million acres of land. After these
   sessions ended, Trigg stayed and established his home on 1,000 acres of
   land at Trigg's Station about four miles north-west of Harrodsburg in
   Kentucky County, Virginia.

   When Kentucky County, Virginia was split into three counties in 1780,
   Trigg was made Lieutenant-Colonel for the new county of Lincoln. He
   also continued his public service by being one of the first Justices of
   the Peace, was one of the trustees to lay out Louisville, and served in
   the Virginia House of Delegates by representing Kentucky County in the
   1780-1781 session. It was during this session that he, along with his
   fellow delegate John Todd, secured passage of the act that allowed the
   formation of Louisville.

   Stephen continued his service in the militia throughout this period. In
   1781, he was made Colonel of the Lincoln County, Virginia militia. In
   1782, the four delegates to the Virginia General Assembly from Kentucky
   pushed for Trigg's recommendation as one of the Assistant Judges to the
   newly-created Supreme Court for Kentucky, but his early death prevented
   him from taking this position.

     This was the darkest and most critical period in the history of the
     early Kentucky settlements. It must be remembered that the
     settlement of Kentucky was much different from the settlement of
     most of the other places where the new colony joined the older
     settlements. Kentucky, instead of adjoining already settled
     districts, was like an island in the wilderness. There were more
     than two hundred miles of forest between the settlements of Kentucky
     and the settlements of the older states.

     —Virginia Webb Howard, Historian

Revolutionary War

   Meanwhile, events had moved from local agitations against the British
   crown to outright war. Early on, Trigg served in local militias, but he
   also represented Fincastle in the Virginia Conventions. These were five
   political meetings that started after Lord Dunmore, the governor of
   Virginia, had shut down the House of Burgesses after its delegates
   expressed solidarity with Boston, Massachusetts, whose harbour had been
   closed by the British. Trigg was at the first convention in 1774 and
   was elected a delegate to the second convention in 1775, though he did
   not attend. He was elected to the third convention (July-August 1775),
   and did appear. He was also a delegate to the Fourth Convention
   (December 1775-January 1776), but did not attend.

   His other revolutionary activity at the time was as a member of the
   Fincastle County Committee of Safety, an outgrowth of the Virginia
   Committee of Correspondence. Committees of Correspondences had begun as
   ad hoc bodies that responded to specific crises with Britain, but
   events had reached a point where the Virginia House of Burgesses
   decided to form a permanent body in 1773. These committees were
   responsible for disseminating the British actions in the colonies to
   each other and to foreign governments and played an important role
   leading up to the American Revolution. The Virginia Committee of
   Correspondence was formed on March 12, 1773 and requested each county
   to do the same. The British refused to address the issues that were of
   greatest concern to the colonists, and so the freeholders of Fincastle
   County met at the Lead Mines on January 20, 1775, forming a Committee
   of Safety in which Trigg was a member. They were one of the first to
   respond to the request of the Virginia Committee of Correspondence to
   form such a body. Committees of Safety basically served as provisional
   governments for their area. It was also at this meeting that they drew
   up the Fincastle Resolutions, which was the precursor to the
   Declaration of Independence issued by the Second Continental Congress
   on July 4, 1776; Trigg was one of the signatories. This declaration,
   fraught with the spirit of freedom, was the first made in America,
   antedating the famous Mecklenburg, North Carolina declaration. The
   resolutions, addressed to the Virginia members of the Continental
   Congress, contained the boldest assertion of the grievances and rights
   of the American colonies. In February 1775, he wrote to William
   Christian suggesting they call another meeting of the freeholders to
   elect their delegates to the second Virginia Convention. With the
   discovery that William Christian was leaving with the Fincastle militia
   company for Williamsburg to fight, Trigg took over as chairman of the
   Committee of Safety. On October 7, 1775, they met to express their
   appreciation of Trigg:

     together with the most exemplary zeal and attachment to the
     liberties of your country, and your indefatigable industry in the
     service thereof, you merit and deserve our particular thanks.

   The British then engaged the Cherokees to fight on the British side,
   which meant the people living in that part of Virginia were facing
   British-armed Cherokees. The members of the Committee of Safety met at
   Fort Chiswell on June 11, 1776, and drafted a letter to Oconostota and
   Attacullaculla, chiefs of the Cherokee nation, to meet with them and
   come to terms for a peace agreement. The letter mentions the colonists'
   dissatisfaction with Britain:

     It is true that an unhappy Difference hath subsisted between the
     people beyond the great water, and the Americans for som [sic]
     years, which was intirely [sic] Owing to some of the great Kings
     Servants who wanted to take Our money without Our Consent, and
     otherwise to treat us, not like Children, but Slaves, which the
     people of America will not submit to.

   Trigg was one of the signers of this letter. The conflict with the
   Cherokees was called the Christian Campaign (presumably from Col.
   William Christian's last name) and Trigg was the paymaster in
   1776-1777. In 1777, he was tasked with making a list of men who swore
   allegiance to several militia companies. By May of 1778, the
   inhabitants along the New River had either left or were ready to leave
   at a moment's notice, due to increased hostilities with the Shawnee in
   the area. William Preston, an officer in the militia, felt exposed on
   the frontier, but was reluctant to abandon his home "Smithfield," not
   only for the safety of his family, but also for the county records he
   safeguarded. Trigg was then leaving for his term in the General
   Assembly, and Preston urged him and the other delegate for a guard.
   When it was initially presented to the Governor's Council, Preston's
   petition was denied, but Trigg met several times with Governor Patrick
   Henry about Preston's situation and won another hearing with the
   Council. Trigg made three separate appeals in all before carrying his
   point. When the governor agreed to send a guard of twelve men and a
   sergeant, Trigg sent Preston the news and also told him of the Treaty
   of Alliance that was signed in France in February.

Last battle and death

   This headstone at the Blue Licks Battlefield State Park marks the mass
   grave where Trigg and his men were buried.
   Enlarge
   This headstone at the Blue Licks Battlefield State Park marks the mass
   grave where Trigg and his men were buried.

   In 1782, the British staged an invasion of Kentucky with the help of
   their Native American allies, including Wyandots, Ottawas, Ojibwas.
   When Trigg received word of their attack on Bryan Station, he was
   commanding the fort at Harrodsburg. He quickly assembled the local
   militia of 135 men and met up with Colonel Daniel Boone and Major Levi
   Todd and more militia at Bryan Station. When they approached the Blue
   Licks, a salt lick next to the Licking River, officers suspected a trap
   and convened a war council, but unruly troops lost patience and crossed
   the river. The three leaders formed a column each, with Trigg
   commanding the right. When they met with the opposing force, Trigg's
   column was ambushed. Trigg was killed and his men fell back after only
   five minutes of battle. When troops returned to the scene of battle,
   Trigg's body was found quartered.

   Trigg was buried in a mass grave near the battle site, in what is now
   Nicholas County, Kentucky. Kentucky later named Trigg County to honour
   him. There is a historical marker in Cadiz, on the Courthouse lawn, US
   68.

     He was greatly beloved and very popular; and if he had lived, would
     have taken rank among the most distinguished men of his time.

     —Lewis and Richard Collins, "History of Kentucky"

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