Isaac Shelby
About 1,100 British
troops led by Major Patrick Ferguson were camped atop the mountain, and
the commander declared that " even the almighty can not drive me from
it. "
So it was on October 7, 1780 when Isaac Shelby helped lead
buckskin-clad American sharpshooters to victory, driving the British
from Kings Mountain, which paved the way for the defeat of the British
troops under Lord Cornwallis. This was his most noteworthy wartime
accomplishment.
Born on December 11,1750, Isaac Shelby seemed destined to become a
soldier. His father served with distinction in the French and Indian
War. In 1774 Isaac served as lieutenant in his fathers company at the
battle of Point Pleasant.
Moving to Travelers Rest, Shelby completed his stone
house in 1786. In 1783 he was appointed a trustee of Transylvania
Seminary. He also worked as a surveyor and was High Sheriff of Lincoln
County. He belonged to the war board appointed by Congress to provide
defense of the frontier,and participated actively in the ten
conventions that led to Kentucky's statehood in 1792.
After his victory at King's Mountain, Shelby
returned to Kentucky and married his childhood sweetheart Susannah Hart
on April 19,1783. On his wedding day a historian described Shelby as "
a heavy rugged fellow, with a ruddy face, firm lips, and a resolute
eye.
Isaac Shelby was equally at home on the fields of
battle or in the halls of government. Shelby was known for his common
sense, diplomacy, and self-control, making him a likely choice to lead
the transformation of Kentucky from primitive wilderness into American
statehood.
A member of the 1792 convention that drew up Kentucky's first
constitution, Shelby was elected governor and took office on June 4th.
During this term he pushed for improvement of the Wilderness Road
making it safer and more navigable. After serving four years he
declined re-election and retired to his Lincoln County farm, known as
Traveler's Rest, to farm and raise cattle.
For sixteen years Shelby prospered from the sale of
horses and mules to southern cotton planters. When the war of 1812
broke out, Kentucky called on its 61 year old hero to serve a second
term as governor. Shelby responded by organizing and leading an army of
Kentuckians that defeated the British at Thames, Canada in 1813.
His efforts earned him a resolution of thanks and a gold medal from the
United States Congress. He refused because of age, an offer from
President James Monroe in 1817, to serve as Secretary of War. His last
public service came in 1818 when he joined Andrew Jackson to draw up a
treaty with the Chicksaw Indians for 4,600 square miles of land in
western Kentucky and Tenessee, known as the Jackson Purchase.
After his second term as governor, Shelby returned
to his beloved Travelers Rest to farm, and his home was open to any
soldier who passed by it. He died of Apoplexy on July 18,1826, while
sitting with his wife on his front porch and was buried at Travelers
Rest on a spot he marked for his grave.
We do not know by whom or when our township received
its name of Shelby. There are no fewer then nine counties in the
country named after Shelby.
Isaac Shelby's actions in 1813 at the battle of Thames occurred at a
time when the nation was in a crisis. The whole western frontier was
menaced by a savage foe, aided and supported by British intrigue, our
first army captured, and the Michigan territory in possession of the
enemy.
He became the rallying point of patriotism. It was
his unauthorized though judicious step which he assumed upon his own
responsibility, of calling out mounted volunteers that produced the
memorable victory on the Thames.
Its assumed that in 1818 Isaac Shelby and his
accomplishments were known throughout the Michigan Territory and to
those persons surveying the township now known as " Shelby."
JOHN T. SKINNER