Category:Isaac Ruddell's Station

Isaac Ruddell's Station (1775-?) - This station had a short but colorful history. John Hinkston first established a settlement here in 1775 with fifteen cabins but Indians caused its abandonment fifteen months later (1). John Townsend on Townsend Creek and John Cooper on Cooper's Run reportedly raised corn to supply the station's seed for the 1776 crop. Some other early inhabitants included William Kennedy and Thomas Dunn (2). Simon Kenton and Thomas William spent the winter of 1776-1777 and helped to build a blockhouse here (3).

The site was enlarged and fortified by Isaac Ruddell in April, 1779 and became known as Ruddell's Station. A great many people lived here and at Martin's Station in 1780 when both sites were captured by the British and Indians under Captain Byrd. Drake (4) lists the following settlers who were among the residents at the time of the attack:

To this list can be added John Conovery (possibly Conway) and Capt. John Smith (Staples 1934:1-22, 265), both of whom were captured. William McCune deposed that the station had 30-40 men, women and children in 1780 (Staples 1934:156-158), meaning probably 30-40 families. A large number of settlers were taken prisoner and marched to Detroit. Lafferty (1957:13) indicates that twenty were killed on the spot. These victims were later buried in a mass grave by piling stones over their bodies. Matthias Lair and his brother, John, settled on the property after the Revolutionary War. In 1845, a Lair descendant gathered the bones of the massacre victims and placed them in the Lair family crypt where they remain today.

Location:

The location of the station site is well established as it was used as a landmark on many surveys and other maps for years after its abandonment. It was located on the east bank of the South Fork of the Licking River along the buffalo road from McClelland's Station to Lower Blue Licks. It was also very near the Lair's house called "The Cedars" which still stands, although now in partial ruins. See map above.

Sources:

• Nancy O'Malley, Stockading Up, pages 241-244

References:

1. Ardery, Julia Spencer. Bourbon Circuit Court Records. Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 1939:11; Lafferty, 1957:13; Perrin, William Henry. History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky. O.L. Baskin & Company, Chicago. 1882
2. Staples 1934
3. Kenton, Edna. Simon Kenton, His Life and Period. Doubleday, Doran and Co. Garden City, N.Y. 1930:76
4. Drake 1942:2115-216