Notes for Jesse McPherson, Sr.: Jesse McPherson, son of Stephen and Mary Pyle McPherson, was born on February 15, 1765 in Virginia and died on May 14, 1849 in Muhlenburg Co., Kentucky. His wife, Nancy Ash McPherson, was born on February 16, 1772 and died August 25, 1822. They married in Frederick Co. Virginia on September 4, 1788 and both are buried near their Rosewood, Kentucky home.
Jesse was among the first to settle in the southeastern part of Muhlenburg Co. According to one tradition, he arrived before either Pond or Caney Stations were started. It is said that around 1790 he left his family in Virginia and came looking for a place to settle. He decided to locate three miles from what would later become the town or Cisney or Rosewood, Kentucky. During the winter and spring he cleared two fields, one near the foot of a cliff facing a valley leading to Clifty Creek, and another on the top of the same cliff.
During this time, he lived in a cave hut near his bottom field. This improvised house was made by erecting two short walls of logs in front of a small cove at the foot of the cliff, and placed in such a way that the top of the concave opening in the cliff served as a roof and the cliff's rock wall and the two log walls served as walls for the hut.
The following summer, after having planted corn in each of his fields, he returned to Virginia for his family. Upon their return to Kentucky, they lived in the cave hut until a log cabin on the bluff was finished. A few years later, about 1800, he began building a spacious home known as the Jesse McPherson house. In 1913, when "A History of Muhlenburg County" was written, William J. and Mary Beatrice McPherson Pearson resided in the house. Mary Beatrice, who died on August 3, 1943, was a great grand-daughter of Jesse and Nancy. Her parents were John A. and Elizabeth McPherson, and her grandparents were Alexander and Tryphania McPherson.
Jesse was one of Muhlenburg's best known pioneers. When the county was organized he was appointed a Justice of the Peace. He ran a tan yard, horse mill, and distillery for many years. Tradition says that he feared nothing. On one occasion his neighbor Billings was attacked by a bear whose cub he had taken. McPherson, hearing the cry for help, rushed to the rescue and killed the animal with a hickory club. A few years later McPherson took a trip to Arkansas and, upon his return, showed Billings some hickory nuts he had brought from that state. Billings suggested that they plant one of the nuts where McPherson had saved his life from the bear. This was done, and a large hickory tree near the "Cave Hut Cliff" marked the spot where, as one local resident put it, "Billings came near getting the stuffings squeezed out of him."
More About Jesse McPherson, Sr.: Comment 1: Among the first in SE Muhlenberg Co.; left. Comment 2: family in VA; cleared land in winter and. Comment 3: spring while living in a cave hut; planted. Comment 4: corn then returned to VA for family.. Occupation: Ran tanyard, horse mill, distillery; JP. Residence: 3 miles from Rosewood, KY.
More About Jesse McPherson, Sr. and Nancy Ann Ash: Marriage: September 4, 1788, Frederick Co., VA (by Christian Streit).21
More About Jesse McPherson, Sr. and Sarah Ash: Marriage: January 20, 1824, Muhlenburg Co., KY.
Children of Jesse McPherson, Sr. and Nancy Ann Ash are:
+William McPherson, b. August 10, 1789, VA (Loudon or Frederick Co.), d. September 1, 1863, Alsey, Scott Co., IL.