Sugar Grove, Boone County, Kentucky

 

Not a single landscape in Kentucky contains a variety in historical attractions more interesting than is found in the vicinity of “Sugar Grove,” once the home of Gen. Zebulon Pike, and now owned by his great-grandson, Leslie Harrison, who is also a great-grandson of President William H. Harrison.

I was entertained in true Kentucky hospitality by Mr. Leslie Harrison and wife, who was a grand daughter of Major Moore, whose homestead lies a short distance south of “Sugar Grove.” I was greatly interested in the quaint old mansion, with its broad veranda, wide hall, high ceilings, and large windows, commanding a grand view of the swiftly flowing water of the Ohio River in the distance; while near by could be heard the low murmur of the lapping waves at the foot of the lawn.

In one of the halls hangs a life-size portrait, in oil, of Gen. Z. Pike, which is greatly prized by his great grandson.

About one hundred yards distant from the house is the family burying ground, enclosed with a handsome iron fence, and at each grave are placed monuments and tombstones, as fine as are seen in any of our public cemeteries. Here lie the bodies of Gen. Pike’s widow; John Cleves Symmes Harrison; his wife, Clarissa, who was a daughter of Gen. Pike, and Mrs. William H. Harrison, mother of Leslie Harrison, the present occupant of the place.

It was certainly strangely remarkable to read the inscriptions on the tombstones of people so noted in history, lying in the out-of-the-way, almost unknown little burying ground.

(The only one thing that will open up this beautiful, fertile valley, a perfect garden spot, on the banks of the Ohio—and bring these hidden historical places into prominence, will be—the trolley cars, or inter-urban traction cars.)

The farm contains a great many acres, extending back to the hills, and during Mrs. Pike’s life time, deer and other game roamed at large through the forest. Standing upon a grassy knoll, a panorama of surpassing loveliness radiates in every direction; hill and dale, woodland and meadow, while nearby a rill of the clearest water gurgles over rocks and disappears under a moss-grown log. Far up the hillside can be discerned a winding path, now hidden from view by the overhanging brushwood; again visible near the edge of a cliff on the top of the hill.

The natural beauty of the scenery in this vicinity should be seen to be appreciated.

 

by Katharine A. Meyers, Covington Courier, June 5, 1903