"The first white settlers
of [what became] Harlan Co. were the family of Samuel Howard
(then spelled Hoard). When they first set foot on Harlan soil,
in 1796, they found an almost impenetrable forest, interspersed
so thickly with cane breaks that in many places they had to cut
their way through. This adventuresome and aggressive family migrated
from a well developed section of Virginia, to establish a settlement
in an unknown land, filled with hardships and dangers. What brought
this family at this time to this wild region now known as Harlan
and what attractions there were to induce them to settle amidst
such adversities, is yet a matter of conjecture. At that time
the fame of the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky, its fertile soils,
the accessibility of its lands, and its beauty, had already spread
throughout Virginia. There at other attractive farming regions
the Indians, with their treacherous dangers, had already been
driven out, while in the densely forested section of Harlan,
roving Indians still lurked, passing North and South through
the Appalachian Mountains, reluctant to relinquish their last
claim upon the 'dark and bloody hunting ground'. Upon several
occasions the members of this first family of Harlan County had
narrow escapes from straggling Indians. One morning when Hannah
Howard had almost reached the milk gap, near the present site
of Ivy Street, in Harlan, two of the cows started fighting. As
they fought they knocked down the rail fence, and a large Indian
who had been hiding in the fence corner, with tomahawk in readiness
for the much coveted scalp, jumped up to avoid being trampled
upon, and fled into the forest. Hannah Howard said the cows saved
her life.
"This first family pitched
camp for a temporary home under a cliff near the railroad 'Y,'
now in the City of Harlan. There, under the cliff, the first
white child was born in Harlan County, Wix Howard, who was the
grandfather of our present (1932) County Judge, Hamp H. Howard.
Six sons and four daughters were born to Samuel Howard, of whom
John N. Howard moved to Missouri, Dred Howard settled in Breathitt
County, and Samuel, Adrian, Wix and Andrew established homes
in Harlan County. Two of the girls married Hensleys and the other
two married Napiers.
"Life was hard for them at
first. During the first two summers the frost killed out the
corn and prevented it from ripening. The cane and undergrowth
was so thick along the bottoms, upon which the City of Harlan
was built later, it was a trying task to clear fields for cultivation.
Before the first winter was over their supplies were exhausted,
and they were compelled to live through most of the winter on
practically nothing except wild meats. But fortunately for them,
game was plentiful and easily taken. One morning Samuel Howard
went bear hunting on Beech Fork Creek, and, before breakfast,
killed seven large fat bears, using only seven shots from his
hog rifle . . . The Howards, Turners and Middletons were among
the first five families to settle in Harlan County. Other early
families were the Hensleys, Napiers, Smiths, Cawoods, Kellys,
Sargents, Brittains, Cornetts, Creeches, Gilberts, Joneses, Wynns,
and Saylors. These and a few other families who settled here
before 1850 intermarried so that about all of the natives can
trace their ancestors back to Revolutionary War soldiers."
The next year Samuel Howard went
back and brought his sister Rebecca Howard and her husband Jesse
Brock to live nearby, per descendant Sherry Asher Black, Feb
2002.
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