Person:John Filson (1)

JOHN FILSON was an American author and historian whose work mostly revolved around the settlement of Kentucky. Filson was born and raised in Pennsylvania, attended West Nottingham Academy in Maryland, and taught school in Kentucky. He interviewed settlers and pioneers across the state while he himself surveyed and settled land, compiling his findings into several different memoirs and accounts. Years later, after multiple lawsuits and financial troubles, Filson purchased the land that would later become Cincinnati, Ohio. He is believed to have died during a Shawnee Indian attack in 1788, though his body was never recovered.

Research Notes

• Never married. No known issue.
• publications listed in references
• The Filson Historical Society (aka The Filson Club) of Louisville, Kentucky is named for him - see The Filson Historical Society.

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} Recorded, in Smith, Zachariah Frederick. The History of Kentucky: from its earliest discovery and settlement, to the present date ... its military events and achievements, and biographic mention of its historic characters. (Kentucky: Courier-journal job printing Company, 1892)
   viii.
2.   Filson, John, 1784.
3.   Filson, John. The Discovery, Settlement, and present State of Kentucke: and an essay toward the topography and natural history of that important country ; to which is added an appendix containing, first, the adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon, one of the first settlers, comprehending every important occurrence in the political history of that province ; second, the minutes of the Piankashaw council, held at Post Saint Vincent's, April 15, 1784 ; third, an account of the Indian nations inhabiting within the limits of the thirteen United States, their manners and customs, and reflections on their origin ; fourth, the stages and distances between Philadelphia and the Falls of the Ohio, from Pittsburgh to Pensacola, and several other places - the whole illustrated by a new and accurate map of Kentucke and the country adjoining, drawn from actual surveys. (Wilmington: James Adams, 1784).
4.   Filson, John. This map of Kentucke (sic) : drawn from actual observations ... (s.n., ?).
5.   Filson, John; United States Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission; and United States. Geological Survey. Virginia (western part, i.e. Kentucky) at the time of the ratification of the Constitution from 1784 and 1789 maps in the Library of Congress at Washington. (Washington [District of Columbia]: U.S. Constitution Sesquicentennial Commission, 19--?).
6.   John Filson, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
   John Filson