John Filson (c. 1747 – October 1788) was an American author, historian of

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 ...

, pioneer,

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

and one of the founders of

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Early life

John Filson was born in

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially referred to as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in ...

, around 1747. He was the son of Davison Filson, also of Chester County. He attended the West Nottingham Academy in Colora, Maryland, and studied with the Reverend

Samuel Finley Samuel Finley (July 2, 1715 – July 17, 1766) was an Irish-born Presbyterian minister and academic. He founded the West Nottingham Academy and was the fifth president and an original trustee of the College of New Jersey (later renamed as ...

, afterwards president of the College of New Jersey (later Princeton). Heitman's Historical Register of Colonial Officers reports a John Filson served as an Ensign in Montgomery's Pennsylvania Battalion of the Flying Camp and was taken prisoner at Fort Washington on 16 November 1776, during the Battle of New York.

Career

Writing

He worked as a schoolteacher and surveyor in Pennsylvania until 1782 or 1783, when he acquired over 13,000 acres (53 km²) of western lands and moved to Kentucky. He settled in Lexington, taught school, surveyed land claims, and travelled the region interviewing the settlers and leading citizens. He wrote '' The Discovery, Settlement and Present State of Kentucke'' during this period, and travelled to

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

, to have it published in the summer of 1784. He also had a "Map of Kentucke" engraved and printed in Philadelphia. The edition, including both book and map, consisted of 1,500 copies and was priced at $1.50. The map was reprinted several times before 1793. Filson's plan for a second edition, to be endorsed by

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

, fell through. The book was almost immediately translated into French and re-published in Paris (1785) and somewhat later a German edition appeared (Leipzig, 1790). The appendix relating the adventures of

Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 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 beyo ...

was extremely popular, and was referenced by (among others)

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

in ''

Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. The original version of the story of Don Juan appears in the 1630 play (''The Trickster of Seville and t ...

''.

Gilbert Imlay Gilbert Imlay (February 9, 1754 – November 20, 1828) was an American businessman, author, and diplomat. He served in the U.S. embassy to France and became one of the earliest American writers, producing two books, the influential ''A Topographi ...

reprinted Filson's entire work, along with other material, in ''A Topographical Description of the Western Territory of North America'' (volume II, published in London and New York in 1793). Filson left in manuscript ''A Diary of a Journey from Philadelphia to Vincennes, Indiana, in 1785''; ''An Account of a Trip by Land from Vincennes, hid., to Louisville, Kentucky, in 1785''; ''A Journal of Two Voyages by Water from Vincennes to Louisville'', and an account of an attempted voyage in 1786.

Founding of Cincinnati

After spending several years in Kentucky teaching school, surveying, trying (unsuccessfully) to start a seminary, and becoming embroiled in numerous lawsuits and financial difficulties, he purchased from Mathias Denman a one third interest in an 800-acre (3.2 km²) tract at the junction of the

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and Licking rivers, the future site of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, which he called Losantiville, a name formed by Filson from the Latin "os" (mouth), the Greek "anti" (opposite), and the French "ville" (city), from its position opposite the mouth of the Licking River. Filson's survey and plan of the town survives in the layout of modern downtown Cincinnati. In 1790, General Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

, changed the name of Losantiville to Cincinnati in honor of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

, an organization of Revolutionary War officers founded by George Washington.

Disappearance

While on a surveying and colonizing expedition near the

Great Miami River The Great Miami River (also called the Miami River) (Shawnee language, Shawnee: ''Msimiyamithiipi'') is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe Nat ...

, he disappeared, October 1, 1788, when the party was attacked by territorial Shawnees, and his body was never found. The Shawnee tribe was upset by his claims that they never resided where he "disappeared," as published in his aforementioned work. Ironically, the Shawnee tribe that he claimed had no ties to Kentucky were the ones to end his life. After his disappearance his partners, Denman and Patterson, transferred his interest in the site of Cincinnati to Israel Ludlow, and his heirs never reaped any benefit from the subsequent increase in the value of the land. He never married and left no direct descendants.

Legacy

The Filson Historical Society of

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

is named for him.

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Filson, John 1740s births 1788 deaths American surveyors American pioneers Writers from Cincinnati History of Kentucky 18th-century American explorers People from Chester County, Pennsylvania West Nottingham Academy alumni People from Lexington, Kentucky