Asa Farrer

Born in Vermont.  Left 4 [illeg] of Burlington, Vt., 8th of October, 1788, and arrived at Lexington, Ky, 19th Dec. 1788.  My wife came in May, and I in December.

When we got to Maysville, we found a cabin say 12 feet square, having the 3rd log sawed out. ‘Twas up on the bank.  I crept into it. 

While we were in Maysville, a boat came down the river and landed say an hour by sun in the evening.  The boat had a dead woman, two wounded children, and a dead horse on board.  The persons on board didn’t know the woman was dead.  One of the children was sucking at her breast.  The boat had been attacked by Indians at the Three Islands.  This was about 20 days before we got to Lexington.  They put that dead woman into that cabin that night, threw out the dead horse into the river, and next morning put the woman back and went on down.

This was the only cabin in Maysville.  There was no furniture in it.  We were 2 days getting up the hill; taking a little of the plunder at a time.  There was at this time no road leading from Maysville to Lexington, till after you left the Blue Licks.  We found a horse-mill, and tavern, and some cabins, at Washington.

One house at Blue Licks

Some cabins at Paris

Asa Farrer, in the Draper Papers, 12CC2