{"product_id":"12294","title":"1811 Kentucky Sheriff’s Revenue Bond, Connecting Hardin County's Most Prominent Settlers and the Personal Stakes of Early Administrative Processes","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn offer is an original 1811 manuscript documenting the financial machinery of government in early Kentucky, and the involvement of some of the state’s most prominent pioneers. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt the center of the document is\u003cstrong\u003e William Withers\u003c\/strong\u003e, an early settler of strategically situated West Point and Hardin County sheriff from 1811 to 1812, entrusted with collecting and remitting the county’s public revenues to the Commonwealth. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe document records the $10,000 state-revenue bond required of Withers upon becoming sheriff of Hardin County in 1811. Acknowledged in court on January 14, 1811, Withers and his seven sureties, all exceptionally prominent early settlers, jointly guaranteed that he or his deputy would properly collect, account for and remit every tax, interest payment and other sum owed to the Commonwealth during the year.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBefore professional bonding companies and centralized tax departments, Kentucky’s county sheriffs personally collected the taxes and other public money owed to the Commonwealth. To protect the state against loss, a sheriff was required to enter into a substantial bond supported by financially responsible local sureties. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe sureties form a remarkable cross-section of early Kentucky’s frontier governing class. They include:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBenjamin Helm\u003c\/strong\u003e, former sheriff and county clerk \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames Crutcher\u003c\/strong\u003e, Merchant, judge and legislator \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSamuel Stevenson\u003c\/strong\u003e, Legislator \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Miller and Adam Miller\u003c\/strong\u003e, brothers from a prominent pioneer family with Christopher a noted frontier scout who later served as magistrate, legislator and sheriff\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDaniel Waide\u003c\/strong\u003e, Elizabethtown innkeeper, postmaster, academy trustee and future state senator \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Bush\u003c\/strong\u003e, father of Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln [Note: At the date of the bond, Sarah was still married to Daniel Johnston; eight years later, she married Thomas Lincoln and became Abraham Lincoln’s stepmother.]\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBiographical sketches of the sureties plus William Withers himself can be found at the conclusion of the listing.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe document captures state administrative processes and the personal stakes of accepting prominent roles and responsibility in early 19th century America. These men were not merely endorsing Withers’s appointment but pledging their own estates to secure his handling of Kentucky’s public money. An excerpt from the document reads:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003e“We bind our selves our heirs Executors and administrators Jointly \u0026amp; Severally firmly by these presents.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe recto is a contemporary clerk’s manuscript copy of the bond, including six of the subscription names and written indications\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e “(Seal),”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e rather than six individual autograph signatures. The verso, however, bears the names  Christopher Miller and Daniel Waide. The hands seem different than that of the recto, so it is possible that the names on the verso are signatures of Miller and Waide, though this is unconfirmed. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe docket reads:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eWilliam Withers\u003cbr\u003eTo } Shffs Bond\u003cbr\u003eCommonwealth\u003cbr\u003e1811 January Court\u003cbr\u003eackd\u003cbr\u003eCopied\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe docket records the bond’s acknowledgment in the January 1811 court and its entry into the official county records. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRather than an isolated financial instrument, the manuscript preserves both the administrative process and the personal network through which public revenue was secured in frontier Kentucky.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Notes of Men Named in the Bond\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWilliam Withers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWilliam Withers was Hardin County sheriff from 1811 through 1812 and was responsible for collecting and remitting the county’s public revenues. He belonged to the early West Point settlement at the confluence of the Ohio and Salt rivers. By 1800, two of his daughters had married Robert Bleakley and William Montgomery, Irish-born merchants who opened an Elizabethtown dry-goods store. Withers was thus connected by family to the commercial community whose members helped guarantee his bond.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBenjamin Helm\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBenjamin Helm was one of early Elizabethtown’s principal administrators. He qualified as Hardin County’s first surveyor in 1793, became an original town trustee, served as sheriff in 1807 and was county clerk from about 1800 until 1817. He erected Elizabethtown’s first brick house, riding ninety miles to Lexington for its wrought nails, and later became the first president of the town’s independent bank. His clerk’s office recorded this bond, although a deputy may have prepared the copy.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eJames Crutcher\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eJames Crutcher was a prominent merchant, cattle dealer, tavern proprietor, judge and legislator. Appointed one of Elizabethtown’s original trustees in 1796, he built a tavern beside the public square in 1798 and marked it with a sign bearing a lion rampant—the establishment later operated by Daniel Waide. Crutcher also served with Helm and Waide as a Hardin Academy trustee. Six weeks after this bond, Daniel and Sarah Bush Johnston conveyed a 730-acre tract to him.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSamuel Stevenson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSamuel Stevenson—also recorded as Stephenson—became the first teacher of Hardin Academy when its schoolhouse opened in 1806. The academy served an Elizabethtown community of only about 300 people, emphasizing how prominent its teacher would have been locally. Stevenson subsequently became a tavernkeeper, merchant and Kentucky legislator. In 1812 he again acted as a financial guarantor, joining John Canady as surety on William Vittitow’s $1,000 constable’s bond.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Bush\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eChristopher Bush belonged to the Bush family identified among the early settlers of Severns Valley by 1782. A landowner and Hardin County constable, he was remembered by Haycraft as an industrious man with a large family. His daughter Sarah Bush Johnston was then married to Daniel Johnston; in 1819 she married Thomas Lincoln and became Abraham Lincoln’s stepmother. Her February 1811 land transaction with James Crutcher directly connects the Bush family with another surety named in the bond.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAdam Miller\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAdam Miller belonged to a pioneer family recorded among the Severns Valley settlers by 1782. He was a son of German-born settler Ernest Miller and a brother of Nicholas and fellow obligor Christopher Miller. According to Haycraft, Adam was captured in his youth and remained within an Indigenous community for approximately fourteen years. Unlike his politically prominent brothers, he apparently held no major public office and was remembered instead as a quiet, respected man and church member.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eChristopher Miller\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCaptured by Shawnees as a youth, Christopher Miller lived among them for years and became fluent in their languages and customs. His knowledge later made him valuable to General Anthony Wayne as a messenger and scout, and in 1796 he accompanied a delegation of Indigenous leaders to Philadelphia. In 1819 the Kentucky legislature petitioned Congress to compensate Miller for this service, noting that he was then poor and supporting a large family. He later became a legislator, magistrate and Hardin County sheriff.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDaniel Waide\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDaniel Waide was an Elizabethtown innkeeper, Hardin Academy trustee and postmaster. He operated the “Sign of the Lion” tavern built by James Crutcher in 1798 and helped develop the property into the later Eagle House. He served on the academy board with Crutcher and Benjamin Helm, while postal records identify him as Elizabethtown postmaster beginning January 1, 1811, thirteen days before this bond. Waide later entered the Kentucky Senate; tax rolls also record him as an enslaver.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSources\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBrown, Stephen A. “A Conversation with Abraham Lincoln.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKentucky Humanities\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, Fall 2013, pp. 6–9.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHardin County Court. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOrder Book C\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, 1812, p. 2. Transcribed by Patricia O’Connor for Kentucky GenWeb.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHardin County Sheriff’s Office. “History of the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office.” Accessed August 2, 2026.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Hardin County, Kentucky.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAmerican History and Genealogy Project\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Accessed August 2, 2026.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Hardin County Kentucky Timeline of Events.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGenealogy Trails History Group\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Accessed August 2, 2026.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHaycraft, Samuel Jr. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eA History of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and Its Surroundings\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Written 1869. Elizabethtown, Kentucky: Woman’s Club of Elizabethtown, 1921.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHutton, Paul Andrew. “William Wells: Frontier Scout and Indian Agent.” \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIndiana Magazine of History\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e 74, no. 3 (September 1978): 183–222.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eKentucky: Counties \u0026amp; Towns: Elizabethtown—Haycraft’s History\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection, undated.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNational Park Service. “Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln.” U.S. Department of the Interior. Accessed August 2, 2026.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSweeney, Mary Angela. “Postal Communication in the South-West, 1789–1813.” Master’s thesis, University of Louisville, 1928.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWarren, Louis A. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLincoln’s Youth: Indiana Years, Seven to Twenty-One, 1816–1830\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1959.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWinstead, Mrs. Thomas Durham, comp. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eChronicles of Hardin County, Kentucky, 1766–1974\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. 1974. “Hardin County Kentucky Timeline of Events,” transcribed by the Genealogy Trails Transcription Team.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Katz Fine Manuscripts","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51535172010290,"sku":"12294","price":745.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0617\/8612\/8618\/files\/1_99730b29-5ff0-4a96-9847-6415d37cfe7f.jpg?v=1785706346","url":"https:\/\/katzfinemanuscripts.com\/products\/12294","provider":"Katz Fine Manuscripts","version":"1.0","type":"link"}