Richard Callaway (June 14, 1717 – November 8, 1780) was an American frontiersman, military officer, politician, and hunter who was one of the first white settlers in modern-day

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

. Born in

Essex County, Virginia Essex County is a county located in the Middle Peninsula in the U.S. state of Virginia; the peninsula is bordered by the Rappahannock River on the north and King and Queen County on the south. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,599. ...

, Callaway joined

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyond the we ...

in 1775 in marking the

Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other (m ...

into central Kentucky, becoming one of the founders of

Boonesborough, Kentucky Boonesborough is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Kentucky, United States. Founded by famed frontiersman Daniel Boone in 1778 as one of the first English-speaking settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains, Boonesborough lies in ...

. He took part in organizing the short-lived

Transylvania Colony The Transylvania Colony, also referred to as the Transylvania Purchase, was a short-lived, extra-legal colony founded in early 1775 by North Carolina land speculator Richard Henderson, who formed and controlled the Transylvania Company. Henders ...

. In 1776, two of Callaway's daughters, along with Daniel Boone's Jemima, were abducted outside Boonesborough by

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...

and

Shawnee The Shawnee are an Algonquian-speaking indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands. In the 17th century they lived in Pennsylvania, and in the 18th century they were in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, with some bands in Kentucky a ...

raiding party. Callaway led one of a group of settlers in the successful rescue of the girls. His nephew Flanders Callaway later married Jemima Boone. In April 1777, Callaway and

John Todd John Todd or Tod may refer to: Clergy *John Todd (abolitionist) (1818–1894), preacher and 'conductor' on the Underground Railroad * John Todd (author) (1800–1873), American minister and author * John Todd (bishop), Anglican bishop in the early ...

were elected to the Virginia legislature as burgesses from

Kentucky County, Virginia Kentucky County (then alternately spelled Kentucke County) was formed by the Commonwealth of Virginia from the western portion (beyond the Cumberland Mountains) of Fincastle County effective December 31, 1776. The name of the county was take ...

. In June 1778, he was appointed a justice of the peace and made colonel of the county's militia. Callaway was a defender during the 1778

siege of Boonesborough } The siege of Boonesborough was a military engagement which took place in September 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. On September 7, Shawnee chief Blackfish, who was allied to the British, led an attack on the Kentucky settlement of ...

. He disagreed with some of Boone's actions and resented the younger man's popularity with the settlers, and later brought court martial charges against Boone. Callaway was angry when the court acquitted and then promoted him. On November 8, 1780, Colonel Richard Callaway was ambushed about a mile outside of Boonesborough by a Shawnee war party. He was killed and scalped, and his body was mutilated.

Calloway County, Kentucky Calloway County is a county located in the southwest part of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,103. Its county seat is Murray. The county was founded in November 1822 and named for Colonel Richar ...

, was named after Callaway. Draper, Lyman Copeland. ''The Life of Daniel Boone''. Written in the 19th century but unpublished; edited by Ted Franklin Belue and published in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1998. .

References

External links

* 1724 births 1780 deaths 18th-century American politicians House of Burgesses members Kentucky militiamen in the American Revolution Kentucky pioneers People from Essex County, Virginia People of Kentucky in the American Revolution People of Virginia in the American Revolution United States military personnel killed in the American Revolutionary War {{Kentucky-politician-stub