Richard Callaway
Richard Callaway or Richard Calloway (June 14, 1717 – March 8, 1780) was a longhunter and early settler of Kentucky. Born in Caroline County, Virginia, Callaway joined Daniel Boone in 1775 in marking the Wilderness Road into central Kentucky, becoming one of the founders of Boonesborough, Kentucky.[1] He took part in organizing the short-lived colony of Transylvania.
Richard Callaway | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 14, 1717 |
| Died | March 8, 1780 (aged 62) |
| Cause of death | killed in ambush by Native Americans |
| Other names | Richard Calloway |
| Occupation | frontiersman, soldier, state militia officer, politician, justice of the peace, hunter |
| Known for | Being one of the frontiersman co-founders, along with Daniel Boone, of the frontier settlement of Transylvania and Boonesborough, Kentucky County, Virginia, a defender of Fort Boonesborough, during the 1778 siege, by Native Americans, and an early Kentucky soldier and politician. |
| Spouse(s) | Elizabeth Hoy, Frances Walton |
| Children | John Calloway, Keziah Callaway, George Callaway, Zachariah Callaway, Mildred Noel, and 9 other children |
| Parent(s) | Joseph Callaway, Jr. and Catherine Callaway |
In 1776, two of Callaway's daughters, along with Daniel Boone's Jemima, were kidnapped outside Boonesborough by Native Americans. Callaway led one of parties in the rescue of the girls. His nephew Flanders Callaway later married Jemima Boone. In April 1777, Callaway and John Todd were elected to the Virginia legislature as burgesses from Kentucky County, Virginia. In June 1778, he was appointed a justice of the peace and made colonel of the county's militia.
Callaway was a defender during the 1778 siege of Boonesborough. He disagreed with some of Boone's actions and resented the younger man's popularity with the settlers, and later brought court martial charges against Boone. Callaway was angry when the court acquitted and then promoted him.
On March 8, 1780, Colonel Richard Callaway was ambushed about a mile outside of Boonesborough by a Shawnee war party. He was killed and scalped, and his body was mutilated.
Calloway County, Kentucky, was named after Callaway.[2]
References
- Kleber, John E., ed. (2015). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 152. ISBN 0813159016. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
- Collins, Lewis (1877). History of Kentucky. p. 108.
- Draper, Lyman Copeland. The Life of Daniel Boone. Written in the 19th century but unpublished; edited by Ted Franklin Belue and published in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1998. ISBN 0-8117-0979-5.