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Diamond Island is an island in the Ohio River ten miles west of
Diamond Island is an island in the Ohio River ten miles west of Henderson Henderson may refer to:
People
*Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname
*Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan
Places Argentina
*Henderson, Buenos Aires
Australia
*Henderson, Western Australia
Canada
* H ...
in Henderson County, Kentucky
Henderson County is a county in the U.S. state of Kentucky. The county is located in western Kentucky on the Ohio River across from Evansville, Indiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,793. Its county seat is Henderson.
The coun ...
, United States. It has an area of about half a square mile. The island is currently uninhabited.
History
River piracy
In the late eighteenth century, it was a hideout forriver pirates
A river pirate is a pirate who operates along a river. The term has been used to describe many different kinds of pirate groups who carry out riverine attacks in Asia, Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. They are usually prosecuted ...
, most notably Samuel Mason
Samuel Ross Mason, also spelled Meason (November 8, 1739 – 1803), was a Virginia militia captain, on the American western frontier, during the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he became the leader of the Mason Gang, a criminal gang o ...
and his gang in 1797 and the serial killers
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
, the Harpe Brothers
Micajah "Big" Harpe, born Joshua Harper (before 1768 – August 24, 1799), and Wiley "Little" Harpe, born William Harper (before 1770 – February 8, 1804), were murderers, highwaymen and river pirates who operated in Tennessee, Kentucky, Illi ...
.
Diamond Island Massacre
In 1803, the Barnard family was emigrating from Virginia when one son, James, shot a deer on the bank. The family landed the boat to retrieve the deer and were ambushed by ten Native Americans, who were hiding in thecanebrake
A canebrake or canebreak is a thicket of any of a variety of ''Arundinaria'' grasses: '' A. gigantea'', '' A. tecta'' and '' A. appalachiana''. As a bamboo, these giant grasses grow in thickets up to 24 ft tall. ''A. gigantea'' is generally ...
. The first to board the boat was killed by Mrs. Barnard with an axe. Mr. Barnard shot and killed two before he was killed. The son, James, ran away with a corn knife, pursued by two. When one fell behind, James turned to fight and the last pursuer fled.
When James returned to the boat, his mother and father lay dead, and his two younger brothers and one sister were missing. What became of the three children was never known.
References
*Rothert, Otto A. ''The Outlaws of Cave-In-Rock''. Cleveland, 1924; rpt. 1996 *''Columbia-Lippincott Gazetteer'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 1952) p. 512 River islands of Kentucky Islands of the Ohio River Landforms of Henderson County, Kentucky {{HendersonCountyKY-geo-stub