John Coburn (Kentucky judge)

Her mother, twice widowed, had married Joseph Royall Farrar of Bryan Station several years after the infamous siege on the fort by the Wyandot, Shawnee, and Lenape warriors led by the British Captain William Caldwell and Simon Girty.

[15][16] In August 1798, in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, Coburn was appointed to a committee requesting the governor of Kentucky call for an early convening of the legislature.

The ensuing meetings of the Legislature resulted in the passing of the famous Kentucky Resolutions which were influential in undoing the Federalist Party and bringing about the election of Thomas Jefferson in 1800.

[17] In 1802 Coburn penned a letter to Thomas Jefferson expressing his many years of regret for the situation of the enslaved in the U.S. and a desire that some solution be created for the abolition of slavery.

He shares his own ideas for a solution, mainly providing free land in the "unappropriated tract of country" northwest of the Ohio, as well as instruction, supervision, and proper schools.

In closing, he states if his appeal fails that his letter stands as a record of his warning to fellow citizens of the impending dangers that will arise with inattention to the subject of slavery.

[19][1] During the War of 1812, Coburn was appointed military aide to Governor Isaac Shelby and Revenue Collector for the 4th District of Kentucky by President James Madison, and continued in that office for seven years.

[1][5] About 1805, Coburn unsuccessfully attempted to start a town he called Liberty (later changed to Madison) on 275 acres of land he purchased on the Ohio River about one mile east of Limestone (Maysville).

In December, when the commission formally announced their ruling against Boone's claim, Judge Coburn had already drawn up a petition and presented it to his friends in Washington.

In Coburn's appeal to Congress he expressed sentiments that Daniel had spent his life exploring the wilderness and settling the western country at his own risk, opening the road to civilization in the new territories.

[5]  Mary was also the aunt of Brigadier General Bernard Gaines Ferrar and Elizabeth Moss, the second wife of John J. Crittenden, the 17th Governor of Kentucky.