Isaac Shelby

1750-1826

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

1. Isaac Shelby Marker

Fifth governor of Kentucky 1812-1816

One of Shelby’s first acts as Governor was to call for and help design the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The figures of a pioneer and statesman in this statue represent a later version of that seal.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Government & Politics.
 
Location. 37° 38.718′ N, 84° 46.235′ W. Marker is in Danville, Kentucky, in Boyle County. Marker can be reached from South 2nd Street. Marker and monument are located in Constitution Square. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Danville KY 40422, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. First USCT Recruits at Camp Nelson (a few steps from this marker); Post Office (within shouting distance of this marker); First Post Office (within shouting distance of this marker); African American Business District - Doric Lodge No. 18 (F. & A.M.-P.H.A.) (within shouting distance of this marker); Meeting House (within shouting distance of this marker); Jail (within shouting distance of this marker); John Gill Weisiger Memorial Park (within shouting distance of this marker); Walker Daniel (within shouting distance of this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Danville.

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Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

2. Isaac Shelby Political Leader

Shelby was elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 1779 and served in the North Carolina Assembly in 1781-82. He was appointed a commissioner to settle land claims allotted to North Carolina soldiers for their service in the Revolution. He was a member of the conventions held at Danville in 1784, 1787, 1788, 1789 to seek a separation from Virginia and statehood for Kentucky. As a delegate to the 1792 convention here, he helped frame Kentucky’s first Constitution.

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

3. Isaac Shelby Marker

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

4. Isaac Shelby Marker

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

5. Isaac Shelby Marker

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

6. Isaac Shelby Soldier

During Lord Dunmore’s War, Shelby served as a Lieutenant under the command of his father, Evan Shelby. They engaged in a fierce battle with Indians at Point Pleasant at the mouth of the Kanawha river (an area that is now part of West Virginia) on October 10, 1774. Together the Shelby’s executed a desperate flanking move that forced the Indians to retreat and temporarily kept them from uniting with the British. The battle marked the beginning of the Revolutionary War on the Western Frontier.

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

7. Isaac Shelby Pioneer

Shelby was born in what is now Washington County, Maryland, in 1750, and moved to southwestern Virginia in 1773. He first moved to Kentucky in 1775 and spent the following year surveying land for the Transylvania Company in the wilderness around Boonesborough. After living for a time in Virginia and North Carolina, he moved to Kentucky permanently in 1783 to occupy the land pre-emption he had received as one of the first temporary settlers. He married Susanna Hart at Boonesborough in 1783.

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

8. Isaac Shelby Statesman

Shelby was offered the post of Secretary of War by James Monroe in 1812, but declined the appointment. In 1818 Monroe appointed him to serve with Andrew Jackson in working out a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians. The treaty resulted in the Jackson Purchase, through which Kentucky and Tennessee received the lands between the Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers. Shelby died at his home, “Travelers’ Rest”, in Lincoln County, 5 miles south of Danville, in 1826 at the age of 76.

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

9. Isaac Shelby Patriot

In his second term as governor, Shelby personally led nearly 4,000 Kentucky volunteers to the shores of Lake Erie to assist General William Henry Harrison in a crucial campaign in the northwest during the War of 1812. Their help made possible the decisive victory in the Battle of the Thames October 5, 1813. Congress awarded Shelby a Gold Medal of Honor for his services and cited him as “a patriot without reproach and a soldier without ambition.”

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

10. Isaac Shelby Governor

As Kentucky’s first Governor, Shelby completed the organization of the state’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches as provided in the Constitution and initiated legislation to be acted upon by the state’s first General Assembly. He was responsible for defending the state against Indian incursions in a continuing border war and supported an offensive against Indians in the Northwest. He also helped assure that the Mississippi River was kept open for Kentucky’s trade.

Photographed By Tom Bosse, July 4, 2018

11. Isaac Shelby Military Leader

Appointed a Captain of the Virginia Militia in 1776, Shelby in 1777 became the Commissary Officer both for the militia protecting settlers against the Indians and for the Continental Army. Promoted to Major and then to Colonel, he led battles against the British at the Pacolet and Enoree Rivers to protect North Carolina. He conceived the successful strategy for the Battle of King’s Mountain, North Carolina, on October 7, 1780, and led the east wing in the battle. The victory there was a turning point in the Revolutionary War.