John Logan (pioneer)
John Logan (1747 – July 1807) was a military officer, farmer and politician from Virginia who became a pioneer in and helped found the state of Kentucky.
Logan took part in several expeditions against the Shawnee, including some led by Daniel Boone, John Bowman, and George Rogers Clark.
[2] His unit arrived too late to participate in the Battle of Point Pleasant, but were able to accompany Lord Dunmore during his invasion of the Shawnee lands beyond the Ohio River.
[5] In July, he led troops which safely conveyed gunpowder and ammunition from Boonesborough to the fort at St. Asaph's (near the present-day city of Stanford, Kentucky).
[9] Benjamin Logan and James Harrod received commissions as lieutenant colonel and major, respectively, but both declined because they thought they deserved a higher rank.
[9] Logan briefly led George Rogers Clark's militiamen who were building a fleet of armed boats and fortifications and Louisville later that year.
At Lexington, Logan met his brother Benjamin and the remnants of an advance party led by Stephen Trigg and Fayette County Lieutenant John Todd.
In November, John Logan participated in George Rogers Clark's retaliatory mission that destroyed the native settlements at McKee's Town, Willstown, and Standing Stone.
[13] Nonetheless, he helped defeat a resolution calling for the repeal of laws that conflicted with the Treaty of Paris and voted with the majority to restrict the ports that could be used by foreign vessels.
[14] In October 1785, Logan and twenty-two militiamen recovered property and prisoners from an Indian raiding party that had attacked several families camped along the Wilderness Road.
[1][18] He and his men attacked the group of Cherokees – killing seven of them – and recovered horses, pelts, and other items believed to belong to settlers in the area.
[26] In 1790, he helped author a bill providing funds to clear obstacles from the Wilderness Road; he was named as one of the supervisors of the work, along with Henry Innes, Isaac Shelby, Samuel McDowell, and John Miller.
[27] As treasurer, Logan had the difficult task of financing the state using a combination of currencies from the Netherlands, France, Austria, Prussia, Portugal, Italy, and elsewhere.
[28] The situation was complicated when the federal government refused to redeem the paper money issued by the states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina to finance the Revolutionary War, rendering these notes worthless.
[29] With near-total autonomy over the state's finances, Logan created the county offices of justice of the peace, sheriff, auditor, and surveyor and set their salaries.
[29] While the state treasurer, Logan also became one of the trustees for the city of Frankfort in December 1794, and also served on a five-man commission to oversee the construction of the jail there.
[31] Logan became a trustee of the Kentucky Seminary in 1800, and was appointed the first circuit judge of Franklin County, presiding over the court's first session on April 18, 1803.
