‘A Gathering of Descendants’ June 13 – 14 is a family reunion Fort Boonesborough style

Calling all Boones … and other descendants of Daniel Boone and settlers who lived at Fort Boonesborough in the late 1700s.

Fort Boonesborough State Park will host “A Gathering of Descendants” June 13-14 and will have historical organizations on hand to help guests with genealogical research to see if they had family members at the fort. While Boone is the most famous fort resident, the event is open to the public and any other descendants of families who were there.

“Actual descendants, along with those who think they may be descendants, are invited to visit this weekend and find out more about their families who were at Fort Boonesborough,” said Parks Commissioner Elaine Walker. “This should be a fascinating weekend for anyone interested in Kentucky history.”

The park will also have information about some of its earliest residents, contacts for early Kentucky cemetery locations and property records, museum exhibits of artifacts from the original fort site, authors on hand to sign books about the early days of the fort, and historical interpretation of the daily lives, chores, skills and trades of those who came to Fort Boonesborough.

Hands-on activities are also planned, including splitting wood, making candles, starting a fire with flint and steel, throwing a tomahawk and surveying land.

“I think this is a huge don’t-miss event,” said Steven Caudill, a re-enactor from Winchester who portrays Daniel Boone and is a descendant of Squire Boone, Daniel Boone’s brother. “Anyone interested in frontier history would want their family there.”

“Your family could have an oral tradition of a family connection to Fort Boonesborough,” added Bill Farmer, fort manager. “This could be a place where you could confirm this.”

Donna Jones of Lexington plans to attend. She’s related to 14 families who were at the fort, including a brother of Daniel Boone.

“Those people who established and lived in that fort did a lot to make my life what it has been, and I owe all of them a huge debt of gratitude and a lot of respect,” Jones said.

The event is free with paid admission to the fort.

Fort Boonesborough was established in 1775 along the Kentucky River by Daniel Boone and other settlers. The fort became a center of pioneer life and survived attacks by Native Americans during the Revolutionary War. It continued as a community for a few decades after the war but eventually disappeared. The land where the fort was built became a state park in 1963. A new fort, built on higher land, was opened in 1974.

In addition to the reconstructed fort, the park also has a campground, hiking trails, the Kentucky River Museum, minigolf, picnic shelters and a gift shop. Fort Boonesborough is located near Richmond. From Interstate 75, take Exit 95 to KY 627. On I-64, exit at Winchester to KY 627. For more information, call 859-527-3131.

Slider image: George Caleb Bingham’s “Daniel Boone Escorting Settlers through the Cumberland Gap” (1851–52), from Wikimedia Commons.

From Kentucky State Parks