The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-03-17
The Interior Journal Stanford Kentucky Friday March H.
PIONEER DAYS IN LINCOLN
Some Unrecorded History of Gar
penter's Station" Is Given.

the pioneers of Kentucky, that we,
who have followed in the paths they
marked out with their blood seem a.
familiar with them as though we had
been their contemporaries. But the
subject is by no means exhausted.
The early settlers of Kentucky it is
a fact of history, were men of iron
mold, an indomitable will, and as in
sensible to fear or danger as they
were Indifferent to fine clothes and
the luxuries of civilized society. 1t
is a fact that with corporal frames,
unusually large and muscular, and
constitutions singularly robust and
enduring, they possessed, also, intelli-
gence and mental energies, which,
considering what might be naturally
expected of men of their condition
in life, and their situation in wild
erness, affording none of the ordinary
means of intellectual culture, were
equally remarkable. The people Of
no section of the country nor of the
world possess larger share of native
intelligence than the descendants of
the pioneers of Kentucky, nor of cou-
rage, heroic daring and endurance
The following incident in the early
history of this state has escaped the
notice of the local chroniclers: A sta
ton was located and block house
built in what is now the county of
Lincoln, that has little mention in
history. 1t was called carpenters
Station" from its having been set
tied by three brothers, John, Adam
and Conrad Carpenter. They came
from Rockingham county, Va, in the
year 1879, and Immediately located
this station, built block house or
fort, and prepared for permanent
settlement. Soon after their location
they were joined by the Spears and
Barnetts and two or three other fam
lilies, which strengthened them in
numbers and enabled them to pre-
sent a strong front to their natural
enemies,.the savages. They were not
long left "to rust unburnished, nor
to shine in use," but were soon at
tackled by the Indians. For nearly 20
years they were an object of jeal-
ousy to the savage tribes who claim
ed Kentucky as a hunting ground,
and repeated efforts were being made
to destroy the little station. But
with Spartan valor the inmates OF
Carpenters Fort stood to their arms
and repealed every attack made upon
them.
Carpenters Station was about
three miles from where Hustonville
now stands, in a westward direction,
and on the present road now leading
to Lebanon. The last incursion of
the Indians into this part of the
State was in 1873, 10 years after the
settlement of Carpenters Station.
While they did not boldly attack
Carpenters Station at this time,
they did not neglect to pay the set
Element a visit. The fort had long
been abandoned and the people for
merly residing within its protecting
walls had gone forth like the dove
from the ark, to form homes of their
own. Margaret Carpenter, the
daughter of one of the brothers who
had settled the station, and only 16
years old, was sitting in her fathers
wood yard in the lap of Negro wo-
man one day, when they were sud-
denly fired on by the Indians. The
Negro woman was shot dead, but the
girl was uninjured-a close call, but
used to, and whether man or woman,
what the pioneers of Kentucky were
boy or girl, they faced danger with
out f1inching. Margaret Carpenter,
16-year-old girl though she was,
did not scream nor faint, but ran into
the house, seized her fathers gun
and stood ready to defend the house
against the savages. The latter know
ing that the report of the gun just
fired would soon bring their white
foes around them as thick as hornets,
did not follow up their attack on the
girl, but beat hasty retreat. AS
the savages had anticipated, the
whites were alarmed by the report
of the gun and large force was
soon assembled. Pursuit was insti-
tuted, but the savages had gotten too
great a start and succeeded in MAX
ing good their escape.
An incident of this station will
very aptly illustrate the privations of
the pioneers, as well as the dangers
to which they were exposed. During
the winter of 1890, several times
alluded to in history as one of un-
usual severity and one of great hard
ship to the few people then in Ken
lucky, one of the Carpenters from
their newly settled station, made a
trin throuuh the wilderness and alone