The record., 1911-01-26

1890 anu ensuing spilhbi dhu
passed themselves as widows. In |
the summer of I799, Big and Little
Harpe travelled through what is now
Hopkins county, on their way to
Join their wives. The country on
the south side of Green river was a
wilderness, with but few scattered
settlers. iThc word settler has a
technical meaning, in consequence
of the Legislature of Virginia and
Kentucky granting lands to those
who settled and improved the wilder
ness. The Harpcs rode good hors-
es, were we'll dressed in broadcloth
coats, and armed with rifles and
holsters of pistols. The wild, un
inhabited condition of the country
was their apology for such equip
mcnts. They stopped for dinner at
the house of settler, named James
rompkins, who resided near Steu-
bins Lick, now Manitou- named
after Boron Steuben of revolution
ary memory. (Alfred Towns told
me of tradition among the early
settlers, that the old Baron had Wis
tied Kentucky soon after the close
of the war, and had been wounded
by the Indians at this Lick, hence
its name.) While resting themselves
and enjoying the hospitality of Mr..
Tompkins, the Harpes passed them
selves as Methodist preachers, and
one of them said a long grace at
the dinner table. The conversation
related mostly TO the general char
acter of the country and the great
quantity OF game it furnished. One
OF them asked whether he hunted
and killed many deer? Mr.. Tomp-
kins replied, he did when he had
ammunition, but for some time past
he had been without powder; that it
was difficult to obtain supply, and,
consequently he had no venison to
cat. Thereupon the Harpes, with
affected generosity, made a liberal
division of their stock of powder
with Mr.. Tompkins. 1t will be seen
in the sequel that, by most singu-
lar providence, Big Harpe was most
ly wounded by his own powder, thus
given to Tompkins.
"After dinner the Harpes resum-
ed their journey toward the Ohio
river. The first cabin passed was
that Of Moses StigalI, then occupied
A~-----~- ''--e--l--h;ta- -L-s-,4-', L :.
home. Stigall's settlement was we
miles from that of Tompkins. The
next settlement was Peter Ruby's,
eleven miles from Sugall's. My in
formant, John 3. Ruby, was at the
house of Peter Ruby, and saw the
Harpes as they passed. They were
seen no more until after they had
joined their wives and children.
vThere were only two families
living between Peter Ruby and the
residence of the Harpe women, neal
the site of the city of Henderson.
1t may be that the Harpes passed
around these two families so as &c
conceal themselves from observa-
Iion. 1t is supposed they had de-
termined to remove from Kentucky
and locate somewhere in the South.
1t is certain, that on joining theiI
wives, they lost no time in packing
up and leaving. They camped foI
the night few miles from the resi-
) dence of Sligsll, who owed one of
the women dollar. Siigall met th c
party in the flats of Deer creek, as
he was going to the Robinson Lick,
north of the Ohio, for salt, and told
the woman to call on his wife, and
tell her to pay the dollar. He said
his wife did not know where he KEPT
his money, and, accordingly, SEM
{ proper directions, One or all oI
the wives of the Harpes went to the
house of Stigall, and told his wife
what her husband had said. She
found his purse, which contained
about $40 in silver, out of which she
, paid the woman the dollar due her
The wives told their husbands how
much money seemed to be in tn,
pile poured out of the purse, anC
this led to the perpetration, during
: the following night, of one of thC
t most horrible tragedies ever wit
messed on earth.
e "AIrs. Stigall was a young woman
1 with only one child. A man nameC
e Love was staying that night at th'
house. The two Harpes left thei