Name: Samuel CURTWRIGHT
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Misc. Notes
Samuel Curtwright's Station [1]

Samuel Curtwright (also spelled Cartwright or Cutwright) reportedly settled on the Clintonville Road near the Clark County line (Ardery 1939:14). A precise location was not determined for this site although it is mentioned in several primary sources. George Yocum (Draper mss. 12CC147-151) reported to John Dabney Shane that the "Cutwrights" had a station on Stoner Creek, near where Hornback's Mill was. George Trumbo, another pioneer interviewed by Shane, lived at the station and offered more specific information concerning it (Draper mss. 12CC113-116). He came to Kentucky in 1787 from the South Branch of the Potomac River area. After a brief return east, he settled permanently in Kentucky in 1788 at "Cutwright's" Station. Samuel Curtwright, also from the South Branch area, purchased 1000 acres which accounts for his absence in the Virginia land grant index. The earliest deed recorded for Samuel Curtwright in Bourbon County was for 623-1/2 acres, part of a 4000-acre Virginia patent, held by Charles and Patty Smith (Bourbon County Deed Book E, p. 439). This patent is listed in the Virginia Grants on Johnson Creek under the names of Charles Smith and Zachariah Burney or Burnley (Brookes-Smith 1976:196; Virginia Survey Book 3, pp. 235-236). A plat returned in the case between Thomas Walker and Charles Smith (Staples 1933:310-313) presents the dimensions and shape of Smith's and Burnley's tract (Figure IV-10). Curtwright's portion adjoined Richard Curtwright and Van Swearingen. The Curtwrights preceded Trumbo by a year. Six or seven houses were built in the spring of 1788 near the head of Green Creek and six miles from Strode's Creek.

Trumbo placed the site three-quarters of a mile from Clintonville on the Holder Road (now Clintonville Road). At the time of the interview, Elizabeth Curtwright (wife of Henry, the youngest son) lived about 100 yards from the station site. Other families associated with the station were those of Thomas Longworth, Abraham Coffman, Samuel Hornbeck, Peter and Richard Curtwright and George Trumbo's father. Simon Hornbeck also settled a station one-half mile to the southwest on Johnson's Fork about the same time and later built a mill on the same tributary. It is unlikely that either of these stations were fortified. Trumbo mentioned that they were never troubled by Indians. Shane (Draper mss. 13CC7) also interviewed a Mrs. Pierce who came to the station at age five with her father, John Reide (probably in the 1790s). Her father built a log mill which burned at the site of later Thatcher's Mill. The family stayed at Curtwright's until the following spring when they moved to their mill site.

No survey was undertaken for this site; therefore, its eligibility cannot be determined at present.


Spouses
Children: Henry


Sources
1. Nancy O’Malley, Stockading Up, Kentucky Heritage Council, Frankfort Kentucky, revised edition, 1994, p. 56.

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Last Modified: December 30, 2000
Created: August 15, 2002