Stephen Trigg

A son of William and Mary (Johns) Trigg, he mainly worked as a public servant and militia officer during the early years of the frontier counties of southwest Virginia, which then included Kentucky.

Short of money, they sold themselves to the ship owners for passage to America for a term of servitude that gained them land and tools upon completion.

[17] The four judges arrived at St. Asaph in October and triggered emigration to Kentucky as people wished to either certify their claims or seek unclaimed land.

[22] He continued his public service by being one of the first justices of the peace, was one of the trustees to lay out Louisville, and served in the Virginia House of Delegates by representing Kentucky County in the 1780–1781 session.

Historian Virginia Webb Howard wrote of this era: This was the darkest and most critical period in the history of the early Kentucky settlements.

These were five political meetings that started after Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, had dissolved the House of Burgesses after its delegates expressed solidarity with Boston, Massachusetts, where the harbor had been closed by the British.

The British refused to address the issues that were of greatest concern to the colonists, and so the freeholders of Fincastle County met at the Lead Mines on January 20, 1775, forming a Committee of Safety in which Trigg was a member.

[30] It was at this meeting that they drew up the Fincastle Resolutions, which was a precursor to the Declaration of Independence issued by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776; Trigg was one of the signatories.

[14] The resolutions, addressed to the Virginia members of the Continental Congress, contained the boldest assertion of the grievances and rights of the American colonies.

[31] In February 1775, he wrote to his brother-in-law William Christian, suggesting they call another meeting of the freeholders to elect their delegates to the second Virginia Convention.

[32] With the news that William Christian was leaving with the Fincastle militia company to Williamsburg to fight, Trigg took over as chairman of the Committee of Safety.

[32] On October 7, 1775, they met to express their appreciation of Trigg, writing that "together with the most exemplary zeal and attachment to the liberties of your country, and your indefatigable industry in the service thereof, you merit and deserve our particular thanks.

The members of the Committee of Safety met at Fort Chiswell on June 11, 1776, and drafted a letter to Oconostota and Attacullaculla, chiefs of the Cherokee nation, to meet with them and come to terms for a peace agreement.

The letter mentions the colonists' dissatisfaction with Britain: It is true that an unhappy Difference hath subsisted between the people beyond the great water, and the Americans for som [sic] years, which was intirely [sic] Owing to some of the great Kings Servants who wanted to take Our money without Our Consent, and otherwise to treat us, not like Children, but Slaves, which the people of America will not submit to.

By May 1778, the inhabitants along the New River had either left or were ready to leave at a moment's notice, due to increased hostilities with the Shawnee in the area.

[37] William Preston, an officer in the militia, felt exposed on the frontier, but was reluctant to abandon his home "Smithfield", not only for the safety of his family, but also for the county records he safeguarded.

[39] When the governor agreed to send a guard of twelve men and a sergeant, Trigg sent Preston the news and also told him of the Treaty of Alliance that was signed in France in February.

[38] In 1782, the British launched an invasion of Kentucky with the assistance of their Native American allies, including the Wyandot, Odawa and Ojibwe.

He quickly assembled 135 local militiamen and met up with Colonel Daniel Boone and Major Levi Todd and more militia at Bryan Station.

Historians Lewis and Richard Collins wrote of Trigg, "He was greatly beloved and very popular; and if he had lived, would have taken rank among the most distinguished men of his time.