Simon Kenton

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Simon Kenton

Statue at Simon Kenton's grave in Urbana, Ohio

Simon Kenton (April 3, 1755 - April 29, 1836) was a famous United States frontiersman and friend of Daniel Boone.

Contents

1 Family and early life
2 Noted activities
3 References
4 External links

Family and early life

Simon Kenton was born in the Bull Run Mountains, Fauquier County, Virginia to Mark Kenton, Sr. and Mary Miller Kenton. In 1771, at the age of 16, thinking he had killed a man in a jealous rage, he fled into the wilderness of Kentucky and Ohio, and for years went by the name "Simon Butler." In 1782 when he learned that the victim was still alive, he returned to Virginia and readopted his original name.

Noted activities

Kenton served as a scout against the Shawnee in 1774 in the conflict between Native Americans and European settlers later labeled Dunmore's War. In 1777, he saved the life of his friend and fellow frontiersman, Daniel Boone, at Boonesborough, Kentucky.

Kenton served on the famous 1778 George Rogers Clark expedition to capture Fort Sackville and also fought with "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the Ohio Indian Wars in 1793-94. Kenton moved to Urbana, Ohio in 1810, and achieved the rank of brigadier general of the Ohio 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.

Kenton died in New Jerusalem, Ohio (in Logan County) and was first buried there. His body was later moved to Urbana, Ohio.

Kenton, Ohio, seat of Hardin County, in northwest Ohio was named in honor of Simon Kenton. A local school for the developmentally disabled in Hardin County is named Simon Kenton.

Simon Kenton High School is in Independence, Kentucky. Kenton County, Kentucky is also named for Simon Kenton.

The Simon Kenton Council is the name of a geographical division of the Boy Scouts of America, spanning from Central Ohio to northern Kentucky.

References

Eckert, Allan W. The Frontiersmen: A Narrative; Originally published 1967; 2001 paperback reprint edition, Jesse Stuart Foundation; ISBN 0945084919. Popular history in novelized form; usually considered to be fiction by academic historians.
Kenton, Edna. Simon Kenton: His Life and Period, 1755-1836. Originally published 1930; reprinted Salem, NH: Ayer, 1993.
Crain, Ray. Simon Kenton: The Great Frontiersman. Available in either hardback or paper back; Published June 1, 1992; ISBN 096411495X

External links

[The Official Simon Kenton page]

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