Simon Kenton (aka "Simon Butler") (April 3, 1755 – April 29, 1836) was an American frontiersman, soldier, and pioneer who played a significant role in the settlement of Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. He was a contemporary and friend of notable figures such as Daniel Boone, Isaac Shelby, and Thomas Hinde. Kenton served the United States in the American Revolutionary War, the Northwest Indian War, and the War of 1812.

He was captured by the Shawnee people in 1778, when they were allied with the British. He survived multiple gauntlets and ritual torture applied to war captives, and was said to be rescued by Simon Girty. He was later adopted by a Shawnee widow to replace her son and became a member of the tribe. His first son was born before any marriage; Kenton later married twice, and had a total of ten more children.

Family and early life

Simon Kenton was born at the headwaters of Mill Run in the Bull Run Mountains on April 3, 1755, in Prince William County, Virginia, to Mark Kenton Sr., an immigrant from County Down, Ireland, and Mary (Miller) Kenton, who was of Scottish and Welsh ancestry.

In 1771, at the age of 16, thinking he had killed William Leachman in a jealous rage (the fight began over the love of a girl named Ellen Cummins), Kenton fled into the wilderness of what are now West Virginia, Kentucky, and Ohio. For years on the frontier, he went by the name "Simon Butler". After learning that his victim had lived, Kenton took back his original surname.

Noted activities

thumb|right|250px|Site of the village of [[Chalahgawtha|Chillicothe, where Kenton ran the gauntlet]]

In 1774, in a conflict later labeled Lord Dunmore's War, Kenton served as a scout for the European settlers against the Shawnee Indians in what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. In 1777, he saved the life of his friend and fellow frontiersman, Daniel Boone, at Boonesborough, Kentucky.

In 1779, 24-year-old Kenton was rescued from the Shawnee in Ohio by his former friend and scout Simon Girty. They had served together during Lord Dunmore's War. Girty, wanted for treason and declared an enemy of the state by rebel forces since June 1778, was living among the Shawnee tribe along with his brother James Girty.

According to historical accounts, saving Kenton was Simon Girty's only known time to save a white-man.

Years later, during a reinterment of Kenton's remains at Oak Dale Cemetery in Urbana, Ohio, William T. Coggeshall said about Kenton in 1779:

<blockquote>“But so black had the Indians painted their prisoner, that it was not until Kenton told Girty it was his once friend, that the renegade white recognized him. Girty threw himself into Kenton’s arms, and promised to do everything in his power to save his life.”</blockquote>

Girty called a new council of the Indians, and he persuaded them to release Kenton. Girty suggested the Shawnee take Kenton to a trading post at Upper Sandusky, where the British paid off their Indian allies. This gave them incentive to spare Kenton. <blockquote>He made a speech to the Indians - He could speak the Indian tongue, and knew how to speak - and told them, if they meant to do him a favor, they must do it now, and save my life. Girty afterward, when we were together, cried to me like a child often, and told me he was sorry for the part he had taken against his countryman; that he was too hasty. But he was good to me; and it was no wonder. When we see our fellow-creatures every day, we don’t care for them; but it is different when you meet a man all alone in the woods - the wild, lonely woods. </blockquote>There, he was saved by Pierre Drouillard, an interpreter for the British Indian department and father of explorer George Drouillard. The Shawnee respected Kenton for his endurance; they named him Cut-ta-ho-tha (the condemned man). He was "adopted into the tribe by a motherly woman whose own son had been slain."

In 1810, Kenton moved to Urbana, Ohio. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general of the state militia. He served in the War of 1812 as both a scout and as leader of a militia group in the Battle of the Thames in 1813.

The Shawnee chief Tecumseh was killed in this battle . Kenton was chosen to identify Tecumseh's body. But, recognizing both Tecumseh and another fallen warrior named Roundhead, and wanting to spare the respected chief from being cut up by soldiers for souvenirs, Kenton reportedly instead identified Roundhead as the chief.

Marriage and family

Simon fathered a son (whom he acknowledged as Simon Ruth Kenton) with Christina Ruth in 1773. The couple never married.

Kenton married Martha Dowden and they had four children together.

Kenton County, Kentucky, is named for him,

Simon Kenton Road is a residential street at the base of Bull Run Mountain in Prince William County, Virginia.

Schools

Simon Kenton High School in Independence, the county seat is named for him. Simon Kenton Elementary schools were named in Xenia and Springfield, Ohio.

Other representation

A statue honoring him was erected in Covington, Kentucky's Riverside Drive Historic District, overlooking the Ohio River.

Singer/songwriter Tyler Childers wrote the song "Middle Ground" in reference to Kenton and his expeditions.

Organizations

Simon Kenton Post #20 in Elsmere, Kentucky, of the Kentucky Department of the American Legion, is named in his honor.

Scouting America has the Simon Kenton Council, a division covering central Ohio to northern Kentucky. The Simon Kenton Chapter is part of the Frontiersman Camping Fellowship of the Royal Rangers, Indiana.

Businesses

The Simon Kenton Pub is a small bar located in the Water Wheel Restaurant at The Inn at Gristmill Square in Warm Springs, Virginia.

The Simon Kenton Inn is an 1828 historic house and restaurant located near Springfield, Ohio. It is purportedly on land deeded to Simon Kenton by the U.S. Government circa 1800.

References

  • Clark, Thomas D. Simon Kenton: Kentucky Scout; Originally published 1943; 1971 paperback reprint edition, Jesse Stuart Foundation; .
  • Crain, Ray. Simon Kenton: The Great Frontiersman. Available in either hardback or paper back; Published June 1, 1992;
  • Eckert, Allan W. The Frontiersmen: A Narrative; originally published 1967; 2001 paperback reprint edition, Jesse Stuart Foundation; . Popular history in narrative form.
  • Kenton, Edna. Simon Kenton: His Life and Period, 1755-1836. Originally published 1930; reprinted Salem, NH: Ayer, 1993.
  • The Official Simon Kenton page
  • Simon Kenton at Ohio History Central.