'General' Elijah Combs (April 17, 1770 in Frederick County, Virginia – September 12, 1855 in Hazard, Perry County, Kentucky), is the son of John Combs and his wife, Nancy Harding. He migrated to Kentucky from North Carolina in 1792 bringing with him his wife and several slaves (called: 'Anne', 'Nance' and 'Jake'). He is listed as deeding roughly 10 acres for what became the Town of Hazard to the town in 1826. Elijah was the Founder of

Hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm. Substances, events, or circumstances can constitute hazards when their nature would potentially allow them to cause damage to health, life, property, or any other interest of value. The probability of that ...

Perry County Perry County may refer to: United States *Perry County, Alabama *Perry County, Arkansas *Perry County, Illinois *Perry County, Indiana *Perry County, Kentucky *Perry County, Mississippi *Perry County, Missouri *Perry County, Ohio * Perry Cou ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

on November 2, 1820, which he named after General

Oliver Hazard Perry Oliver Hazard Perry (August 23, 1785 – August 23, 1819) was a United States Navy officer from South Kingstown, Rhode Island. A prominent member of the Perry family naval dynasty, he was the son of Sarah Wallace Alexander and Captain Christo ...

, a hero of the War of 1812. Perry County was formed by the Kentucky General Assembly from portions of

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and Floyd Counties in Kentucky. In addition to founding Hazard, Elijah was a Whig politician. In 1832 he was listed as the Jailer for Perry County. In 1833 he was listed as its Magistrate. In 1836 and 1837 he was listed as the Sheriff. In 1840 he served in the Kentucky State House. Elijah went by the title 'General' and was known to dress up as a 'general' in his regimental uniform as the 'General of the local militia' for Hazard and Perry County. Although no evidence of an actual command as a General has been found, he is listed as making a materials request after the War of 1812 (for the State of Kentucky). During the 1840 Presidential Election, Elijah was running for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives which he won. He gave speeches on behalf of the Whig candidate for president,

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was the ninth president of the United States, serving from March 4 to April 4, 1841, the shortest presidency in U.S. history. He was also the first U.S. president to die in office, causin ...

. Elijah married Sarah 'Sally' Roark, the daughter of patriot US Revolutionary militia war spy, Michael Roark. Elijah Combs marker

His father-in-law, Michael Roark was paid by the US government to spy on the Creek and Cherokee Indians.fold3 memorial page: https://www.fold3.com/page/642689168_michael_roark_us_militia_spy Some historians think that Elijah also participated in the War of 1812 in either the Creek War in the Southern States or on the Canadian frontier. Since he named the town and County after Oliver Hazard Perry, a leader in battles at the Canada–US border, questions surround the connection. Elijah and Sally had 6 known children: *Jesse Combs (1798–1874) Clerk of the Perry County Court until his death *Mary "Polly" Combs *Lucinda "Cindy" Combs *Jackson G. Combs (1816–1857) *Elijah Combs Jr. (1819–1866) *Jade Miller (1815–unknown)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Combs, Elijah Whig Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Kentucky Whigs American militia generals People from Kentucky in the War of 1812 1770 births 1855 deaths People from Hazard, Kentucky Kentucky sheriffs 19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly

See also

References