The seventy-sixth county in order of formation, Meade County is located in the northwestern section of Kentucky along the Ohio River. Bordered by Breckinridge and Hardin counties, from which it was formed on December 17, 1823, it has an area of 305 square miles. The county was named in honor of Capt. James Meade of Woodford County, who fought in the Battle of Tippecanoe and was killed at the Battle of the River Raisin in 1813. The county seat is Brandenburg.
Before settlement, herds of wild game, such as buffalo, deer, and elk, abounded in the area, which attracted pioneers who were seeking homes in the Kentucky wilderness as well as Indian tribes who hunted there. Among the early settlers were Squire Boone and his son Enoch. In 1780 Boone claimed 1,000 acres at the head of Doe Run for Joseph Helm. That same year, John Essery and others claimed land in Buck Grove. Boone claimed 6,000 acres below Doe Run for himself in 1783. Wolf Creek was the first permanent settlement in the county. Periodically, the Indians from across the Ohio River would raid the Meade County area. Lookouts were placed on the hills above the river to detect the approach of hostile Indians.
The county owes much of its early development to churches. Local historian George Ridenour placed the first Baptist church gathering between the forts of Thomas Helm, Andrew Hynes, and Samuel Haycraft in Severn’s Valley on June 18, 1781. Four churches met on October 29, 1785, to form what later became the Salem Association of Baptists.
During the early years of the nineteenth century, John James Audubon came through Meade County making sketches of the birds for which later he became famous. During the Civil War, Meade County was the site of a daring raid by Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan’s troops on July 7, 1863. The Confederates captured two steamboats, the John T. Combs and the Alice Dean, and Morgan stopped briefly in Brandenburg before invading Indiana and Ohio. During the war, Confederate guerrilla Marcellus Jerome Clarke (“Sue Mundy”) was captured near the community of Guston.
The Fort Knox Military Reservation, established in 1918, occupies 15,000 acres in Meade County. The Meade County economy is aided by the proximity of the fort, which employs 21 percent of the county’s work force.
What’s New
New Meade County Kentucky Genealogy
Salem Association of Baptists
A history of the Salem Association of Baptists really begins in the fall of 1779, or in the winter of 1780. At this time Captain Thomas Helm, Colonel Andrew Hynes and Samuel Haycraft built three rude stockades forming “a triangle, equidistant a mile apart,” in the dense unexplored forest of Severn’s Valley. Somewhere near this triangle of stockades on June 18, 1781, under a large sugar tree eighteen converted souls gathered the First Baptist Church in Kentucky. Here came John Gerrard, not unlike Melchizedek, priest of Salem. He was the first pastor of Severn’s Valley Church. About eleven months after…
Indian Battles in Meade County, Kentucky
No Indians permanently resided in Meade County. Crossing the Ohio River at the mouth of Salt River, Rock Haven, Flippeii’s Run, Buck Creek and near the mouth of Wolf Creek they often came to hunt game. Many weapons and perfect specimens of small pottery of exquisite Indian workmanship have been unearthed at many places in the county. Perhaps the oldest Indian graveyard in Meade County was on the site of the lithographic works above Brandenburg. J. L. Logsden and others excavated this site. Mr. Logsden states that he had scruples about disturbing the resting place of even a savage. Below…
Otter Creek Association of Regular Baptists, Mead County, Kentucky
Benjamin Keith began his work a little later than his brother. His ministerial life extended over half a century. He was identified with “Otter Creek Association of Regular Baptists” organized at the Otter Creek meetinghouse, October 25, 1839. This association was composed of the anti-missionary factions of the churches of Salem Association. Benjamin Keith was a remarkable preacher and did much good in all this section. The original minute book of the Otter Creek Baptist Church was in his possession. Unfortunately the records of the church and of the Otter Creek Association are now lost. Benjamin Keith, while visiting relatives…
Phillips Memorial Baptist Church, Meade County, Kentucky
The present Phillips Memorial Baptist Church was gathered, Wednesday, February 11, 1829. The name given the organization was Mount Pleasant. It is within the degree of probability that the church was gathered in the house of Henry Yeakey on the hill that is occupied by the present meetinghouse. No one knows now as all the records were burned in the house of John K. Ditto, for many years the efficient church clerk. Simeon Buchanan was the first pastor. Brandenburg was a busy river town of over 300 inhabitants. From the town and country twenty-six members were reported to the association…
When the Pioneers Came to Meade County, Kentucky
In 1778 Squire Boone passing through this way in company with a certain John McKinney discovered at the head of Doe Run a spring which he frequented sundry times. In 1780 Squire Boone entered for Joseph Helm at this place 1,000 acres of land. August 20, 1786, Patrick Henry, Esquire, governor of the commonwealth of Virginia, signed the patent for this land which ad-joined 5,000 acres entered by James Larue. The land at the head of Doe Run was covered with large sugar trees. In November or December 1780 John Essery was with Samuel Wells, Senior, and others in the…
Pioneers of Meade County, Kentucky
About the same time the Richardsons came to Meade County from White Hall, New York. They landed at Richardson’s Landing on the Ohio River and settled at Payneville, Kentucky-. David Richardson and Lydia Ackley were married at White Hall, New York, August 11, 1790. Their son Daniel S. Richardson married Polly Hurd, April 11, 1818. Polly Hurd Richardson was the first person buried in the Richardson graveyard on the Richardson place between Midway and Payneville. One of the first doctors in Meade County was Doctor John Haynes of Virginia. He was a man of good education and received his medical…
Looking for the Parents of Edward Alexander Stewart b:1803 in Maryland d:21 Apr 1881 in Concordia, Meade, Kentucky. I am hoping that someone can check and see if his parents names are on his Death Certificate and or get me a copy of his death certificate. Any leads would help at this point. Have been looking for his parents and or siblings for many years now with no luck. I will gladly pay for the copy of the Certificate and the postage. You can contact me by email at: myheritage3452@gmail.com or by phone at 217-855-6129 I am willing to take any and all help or leads at this point. Thank you for your time.
I am looking for the source of Audubon from Coleman and Brown, page 108, HISTORY OF MEADE COUNTY.
Looking for Hannah Ausborn/Osborn/Ozborn/Osborne- born about 1844 – Matilida Cunningham was her mother.