Richard Chenoweth was b. near Gunpowder Creek, Baltimore County, Maryland in 1735 and died in Jefferson County, Kentucky in 1802.
His parents were John Chenoweth Jr. and Mary Smith, who emigrated from St. Martin Island off the Cornwall coast shortly before 1735.
The family moved to Frederick County, Virginia before 1746, where Richard m. Margaret McCarty.
Richard and family went with George Rogers Clark to Kentucky in 1778, where he helped establish a base on Corn Island, and fort-on-shore the following year.
Richard was elected on of 7 trustees of Louisville in 1779; he was a militia captain and commanded an artillery company in Clark's expeditions in 1780 and 782 against Ohio Indian towns; and was Justice of the Peace for Jefferson County between 1783-1785.
He moved with his family to establish Chenowith Station near what is now Middletown in 1784. Because of the exposed condition, it was attacked at least three times, including the Chenoweth Massacre of 1789, when he, his wife and one son were wounded and three children were killed. (This was the last major Indian raid in Jefferson County.)
In 1781 Richard contracted with the state of Virginia to build Fort Nelson in Louisville, which he completed by March 1781. He paid most of the expenses out of his own pocket. The State of Virginia failed to honor it's contract and Chenoweth was forced to sell considerable land holdings and died insolvent.
See: Blaine Guthrie, Jr., "Captain Richard Chenoweth: A founding Father of Louisville," Filson Club Quarterly 46 (April 1972) pp. 147-160.
