Research notes: Hartford and Fort Hartford

Founding

• Part of Gabriel Madison’s 4,000-acre Virginia grant; surveyed 1782; evidence of a 1782 settlement, first fortified place in the lower Green River Valley. Sources: M1195 Wiki
• William Smeathers’ account of building “a fort at Hartford on Rough Creek” in 1782–83; stockade believed to stand on the bluff now used by the water plant. Sources: Wiki
• Barnett’s Station raid, April 1790: two children killed, Hannah Barnett (10) held captive six months. Sources: M1463

County seat

• Ohio County formed December 1798 from Hardin County, named for the Ohio River; first county court 1799. Sources: M1144 Wiki
• Madison’s land grant for the town; seat chosen the year after the county’s formation. Sources: Wiki M1829
• Log courthouse and jail 1799–1800; collapsed 1813; salvaged timber burned to celebrate Perry’s Lake Erie victory. Sources: M1196
• Post office Hartford Court House 1801; town incorporated 1808. Sources: Wiki

Name

• Marker: name from the river ford where animals crossed; Wikipedia: origin uncertain, ford or a ferry-keeping settler. Sources: M1195 Wiki
• First covered bridge over the Rough River here, 1823; earlier crossings by ford or ferry. Sources: M1259

Cut

• Which nation’s warriors raided Hartford and Barnett’s Station: not stated in the sources, so not named.

Timeline

1. 1782 Madison grant surveyed; first settlement and fort. Sources: M1195
2. 1798 Ohio County created. Sources: M1144
3. 1799 First county court; Madison gives land for the town. Sources: M1144 M1829
4. 1801 Hartford Court House post office. Sources: Wiki
5. 1808 Town incorporated. Sources: Wiki
6. 1813 Log courthouse collapses. Sources: M1196

People

• Gabriel Madison Virginia grantee, gave land for the town
• William Smeathers Frontiersman, helped build the fort
• Hannah Barnett Captured at Barnett’s Station, 1790

Open questions

• A primary record for the exact date the first fort was built.
• The true origin of the name Hartford.

Sources

Primary sources

• KHS Historical Marker #1195, “Site of Fort Hartford.” (opens in a new tab)
• KHS Historical Marker #1144, “County Named, 1798.” (opens in a new tab)
• KHS Historical Marker #1196, “First Public Building.” (opens in a new tab)
• KHS Historical Marker #1259, “First Bridge.” (opens in a new tab)
• KHS Historical Marker #1463, “Barnett’s Station.” (opens in a new tab)
• KHS Historical Marker #1829, “John C. Thomas House.” (opens in a new tab)

Secondary sources

• “Hartford, Kentucky,” Wikipedia (citing the Kentucky Encyclopedia and the 1988 NRHP form for the Downtown Hartford Historic District). (opens in a new tab)