Boonsborough on the 20th of April. Mr. N. Hart fixes the 1st of April, which is still posterior to the settlement at Harrodsburg. Gen. Ray states that when he arrived on the 8th Sept. 1775, there were only four old soldiers in the cabins. Well, these were enough to keep a garrison, while others were hunting and improving their lands on Salt river, or returned after their families to the settlements on Clinch river, and in Powell's valley. Indeed, Boon himself was gone after his wife and family, and returned in company with McGary, Hogan, and Denton, and their wives, who very probably arrived at Harrodstown as soon as Boon could get to Boonsborough; and it is certain that Mrs. McGary, Hogan, and Denton all reached Harrodstown, on the 8th day of September. It is also true that upwards of forty men were at that place and in its vicinity from the middle of March before; and the next fall afterwards (1776) Col. Powell and his family, McDonald and his wife, (afterwards Mrs. Harrod,) and a Mr. Wilson and his wife, with several others not named, arrived at Harrodsburg or town, and soon after Col. Ben. Logan and his wife, as Logan had been out the fall of 1775.

But let us examine the case of Col. Boon candidly. On the 17th of March, 1775, he was at the treaty of Henderson with the Cherokees, by which he purchased the land south of the Kentucky river. This treaty was held at Watauga; and in order to enable Boon to reach Boonsborough on the 1st of April, with twenty men, and re-mark and cut out the marked way, Mr. Hart starts Boon from the treaty ground. Others who have narrated this matter say, with much more reason, that he had to return home, (which, it is true, was not much out of the way,) and collect his men. This would take several days, and the progress of Boon and his company would be necessarily slow. According to the most reasonable calculation, it would be some time in April before he could reach Boonsborough, even without molestation. But Mr. Hart here introduces a letter from Col. Boon to Col. Henderson, dated the 1st of April, who, he says, was only fifteen miles from Boonsborough. This letter is either erroneous in its date, or there could not have been two attacks on Boon and his road-cutters, with the loss of several men each time, without retarding his progress greatly. But the truth is, that the years 1773 and 1775 were years of peace with the Indians of the north and south. We have proved this by the progress of the surveyors and the several companies through the country. The year 1774 was a year of war, after the first of July. The battle of Gen. Lewis at the point was fought on the 10th October, 1774, and soon after the Shawnees and Delawares made peace, and no new disturbances took place until the fall of the year 1775.Henderson had just concluded a treaty with the Cherokees, and of course there were no Indians in a state of war at this time. This was the reason why so many adventurers came to Kentucky in 1775; and it will be seen that nearly all the settlements and pre-emptions were granted for improvements made in 1775, or early in 1776.

But there are other facts connected with this matter. Mr. Hart gives a letter, dated the 21st of April, near Cumberland Gap, from Col. Floyd to Col. Preston, taken on by James McAfee. This is correct, and proves that Col. Harrod and his company arrived at Harrodstown bofore the McAfee company left that place on the 10th of April. But, three days before the date of this letter, the McAfees met Henderson at a creck called Scag's creek, a branch of Rockcastle; and Henderson persuaded Robert, Samuel, and Wm. McAfee to go with him to Boonsborough and enter land, and they went with him, and Robert McAfee was the sergeant-at-arms of this celebrated convention on the 23d of May, 1775. There was no attack of Indians spoken of; and when Henderson reached Boon, he had but two cabins up and covered. But, even supposing this letter to be correct as to date, it proves that Boon, on the 1st of April and while fifteen miles from the Kentucky river, where Boonsborough was established, had heard of the previous arrival of Harrod and the McAfee company at Henderson, and on Salt river; because he says: "I have sent a man down to all the lower companies, in order to gather them at the mouth of Otter creek." This creek empties into the Ken

tucky river nearly opposite Boonsborough. Thus Boon himself is a conclusive witness in favor of the priority of the occupation of Harrodstown; and when Henderson and the McAfees arrived, they could give him full information upon the subject. Thus I have given a succinct account of the first settlement of Harrodstown or Harrodsburg. In the month of September and October, McAfee's, McGary's, Hogan's, Boiling Springs, and St. Asaph's were all occasionally occupied and the former was, the whole winter and until June, 1776, by five men, with forty head of cattle, when the Indians again began to annoy the settlers openly.

There is another material error Mr. Hart has fallen into, viz: that Boon, immediately after his arrival, built a fort and stockaded it in. This is a mistake, not only as to Boonsborough, but as to Harrodsburg also. Neither of these places had a regular stockade fort until February or March, 1776, because there were but few acts of hostility (except stealing horses) perpetrated in the year 1775 by the Indians. This fact, as to Boonsborough, is proved by Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, (a daughter of Col. Payne, and the widow of Capt. Jno. Thomas, the first surveyor of Mercer county,) who is yet alive and in the enjoyment of all her mental energies. She came with her father and Col. Calloway, the last of September, 1775, and well recollects the situation of Boonsborough at that time. There were not more than four or five houses built contiguous to each other, and Mr. N. Hart had built his house some considerable distance from the others; and in this condition was Boonsborough when she left, in February, 1776. And such also was the condition of Harrodsburg when she arrived there.-When McGary and the families who came with him arrived at Harrodstown, he selected a hill, on the west border of the town of 1774, (where the old square was laid off on account of a spring which ran out immediately below a rocky bluff bank,) for a fort. Here he built his house, and also one for Denton. Col. Harrod also built one, and three others; but one family lived in one of the cabins built in 1774, about three hundred yards east of McGary's and Harrod's estab lishments. In this condition Mrs. Thomas found the place in February, 1776; but it was stockaded shortly afterwards, as Gen. James Ray, on the fifth of March afterwards, was driven from Shawnec springs by the Indians, who killed his brother and took another man- -prisoner. The men worked nearly all that night, putting up pickets, and on the next day the Indians attacked the town, barely giving time to a man by the name of Hugh Wilson to escape to the fort. They soon after set fire and burnt the cabins built in 1774. The Indians were repulsed, after hovering round for two days.

Mrs. Thomas also affirms that the first child born in Kentucky was born at Harrodsburg, and was called Harrod Wilson. Thus I have given a detailed account of the settlements at Harrodsburg and in its vicinity, which, with Boon's own letter as introduced by Mr. Hart, shows that Harrodsburg is entitled to the honor of priority of settlement. Although it is conceded that Mrs. Boon and her daughters were the first white females who stood upon the banks of Kentucky, and Mrs. McGary, Denton, and Hogan the first white women on Salt river, what gave Boonsborough notoriety was the fame of Col. Boon, and Henderson's making it his head-quarters in 1775. Yet soon after, in the spring of 1776, we find the latter at Harrodsburg with his landoffice, as shown by Mr. Hart himself; and after the siege of Boonsborough, in 1778, you scarcely hear much more of that place, as it sank into obscurity, being inconvenient in location and out of the way for general resort. The commissioners who granted settlement and pre-emption claims met in October, 1779, at Harrodsburg, which was for many years afterwards a place of general rendezvous.

But there is another consideration which has given to many an idea that Boonsborough was the first settled place, which is, that everything connected with Boon and Henderson has been long since published by historical writers, while the scenes around Harrodsburg have been permitted to live and die with the early adventurers, except so far as I have preserved them from the mouth of James McAfee, General Ray, Capt. Chapline, and Capt. David Williams, with whose

brother I had a long and expensive lawsuit which made it necessary for me to inquire into the dates of all the early settlements at and near Harrodsburg. The many depositions taken during the progress of this suit, aside from the notes of historical events of those days which I could give, prove nearly every thing I have stated on oath. I shall probably extend the sketches of events, in another number, to a few years later, but enough is now given to settle the question of priority of the settlement in the interior.

Louisville may set up some claims, as Captain Bullitt was there in 1773, say June 12th, and it became a principal point of landing; but I do not believe that any house was built or permanent settlement made there until after, or late in the year of 1775, on account of its contiguity to the Indian country. But of this I will not speak, as my inquiries have not extended to that place. It, however, became a place of great resort soon after 1775.

As some curiosity has been excited as to the time Col. Ben. Logan came to Kentucky, I have made some inquiry; and my information, is that he came out in company with others, late in the fall of 1775, and marked and improved a place called St. Asaph's, near Stanford; that he returned to Holstin, or Clinch, and married, and moved to Kentucky in the spring of 1776, stopping a short time at St. Asaph's, but soon after moved his wife to Harrodsburg, where they remained that year, and then went back to St. Asaph's the fall of 1776, or spring of 1777. But of this I cannot speak as I can of my own family and relations.

With high respect, I am your obedient servant,

ROB'T. B. MCAFEE.

P. S. It may be necessary to notice the dispersion of Harrod's company in July, 1774, after Jared Cowans was killed at Fontaine Bleu, in order to account for Jacob Sandusky's descending down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans. When Cowan was fired on, he was drying some papers in the sun. He had Sandusky and three others in company with him. Cowan was killed on the spot. Sandusky and two of the men escaped, and took the woods for Louisville, not knowing but all the others had been killed. The other man fled to Harrodsburg, and gave the alarm.Col. Harrod, Capt. Chapline, and a large party went down to see what had been done, and found Cowan, and buried him. His papers had been scattered about. They then returned to Harrodsburg, and collected their company together, as some were out hunting and making improvements, and then returned to their homes by the Cumberland gap, while Sandusky and his companions made the best of their way

to New Orleans.

R. B. M.

Credit and Resources of New York. We think it important to keep the facts and figures upon this subject before the people, so that they may understand their true position. We are indebted to the Albany Argus

for a condensed statement of our financial condition for a series of years, which shows how little we have to encourage us to proceed swelling our State debt to forty or fifty millions, with a hope of paying the interest by any other means than direct taxation.

In the following statement all the ordinary receipts and expenditures on account of all the finished canals, as well as the receipts and payments for the support of the government, are brought together, and the surplus remaining after paying all demanda, is shown in a separate column. This table exhibits at one view the total amount of all the receipts and expenditures of the State Treasury:

In 1840, instead of a surplus, there is a deficit of $42,483. And this statement does not include $54,000 borrowed to repair the Chemung Canal.

It will be seen by the foregoing statement, that while the revenues have increased from $1,665,000 in 1833, to $2,063,000 in 1840, the expenditures have increased from $1,155,000 in 1833 to $2,105,667 in 1840. And consequently the surplus, which in 1833 was more than half a million, has been entirely used up in 1840 by the increased expenditures.—[N. Y. Sun.

Prophecy Fulfilled.

We stated in our paper yesterday that Professor Espy promised us a small shower in the afternoon. Our readers are aware that his prediction was fulfilled to the letter, and the shower was not very small either. When we wrote down his prediction, which we did immediately after he told it to us, the sky was cloudless, and there was no appearance of rain, but in two hours afterwards, it poured down in torrents. We have not seen such a deluge of rain fall in the same space of time for many years. It was accompanied with vivid lightning and heavy thunder. We learn from the Courier that the Unitarian meeting-house in Medford was struck by the lightning and slightly damaged. About six o'clock there was a violent hail storm, which lasted, however, but a few minutes, but the hail stones were by far the largest we ever saw. We measured one which fell in front of our office, and found it two inches and a quarter in length and one inch and a quarter in diameter. Fortunately it was calm at the time, otherwise much damage would have been done.

During the shower a fish, called a squid, fell from the clouds on the Tremont road, about a quarter of a mile beyond the railroad crossing. Mr. Seaver, who does business in Hanover street was riding out of town in a chaise at the same time, saw it fall, stopped and picked it up. It was then alive. It measures nine inches in length. It is at Carter & Wilson's apothecaries' store, corner of Hanover and Portland streets, where we saw it this morning.

At Salem, as we learn from the Register, the storm was very severe.

Á gentleman from Wenham informs us, says the Register, that the storm was very severe in that quarter, and that great damage was done to vegetation. A great quantity of hail fell, which lay in drifts after the storm was over. Some of the hail stones were an inch and a half in diameter. The down-our informant heard of ten, before he left. Large wind was extremely violent, and many barns were blown trees of all descriptions were torn up by the roots; and the storm is represented as the most destructive that has been experienced in that quarter for many years. In the house occupied by our informant, 225 panes of glass were broken

and in 5 of his windows not a pane was left. Many other houses in Wenham and vicinity have suffered in the same Boston Transcript July 1.

manner.

406,571

Officers of the United States.

Messrs Editors:-I have taken the liberty to hand you the following list of principal officers of the Government of the United States, from its commencement under the Constitution, until the present time, which as a document for reference may be found useful. J. H. R.

Presidents.

1789-George Washington, of Virginia.
1797-John Adams, of Massachusetts.
1801-Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia.
1809-James Madison, of Virginia.
1817-James Monroe, of Virginia.

1825-John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts.
1829-Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee.
1837-Martin Van Buren, of New York.
1841-William Henry Harrison, of Ohio.
1841-John Tyler, of Virginia.

Vice Presidents.

1789-John Adams, of Massachusetts. 1797-Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia. 1801-Aaron Burr, of New York. 1805-George Clinton, of New York. 1813-Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts. 1817-D. D. Tompkins, of New York. 1825-John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina. 1833-Martin Van Buren, of New York. 1837-Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky. 1841-John Tyler, of Virginia. 1841-Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey, President of the Senate and acting Vice President.

Secretaries of State.

1789-Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia.

1794-Edmund Randolph, of Virginia.

1795-Timothy Pickering, of Massachusetts.

1800-John Marshall, of Virginia. 1801-James Madison, of Virginia. 1809--Robert Smith, of Maryland. 1811-James Monroe, of Virginia.

1817-John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts. 1825--Henry Clay, of Kentucky. 1829-Martin Van Buren, of New York. 1831-Edward Livingston, of Louisiana. 1833-Louis McLane, of Delaware. 1835-John Forsyth, of Georgia.

1841-Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts.

Secretaries of the Treasury. 1789-Alexander Hamilton, of New York. 1795-Oliver Wolcott, of Connecticut. 1801-Samuel Dexter, of Massachusetts. 1802-Albert Gallatin, of New York. 1814-George W. Campbell, of Tennessee. 1814-Alexander J. Dallas, of Pennsylvania. 1817-William H. Crawford, of Georgia. 1825-Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania. 1829-Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania. 1831-Louis McLane, of Delaware. 1833-William J. Duane, of Pennsylvania. 1833-Roger B. Taney, of Maryland. 1834-Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire. 1841-Thomas Ewing of Ohio.

1825-James Barbour, of Virginia. 1828-Peter B. Porter, of New York. 1829-John H. Eaton, of Tennessee 1831-Lewis Cass, of Ohio. 1837-Joel R. Poinsett, of South Carolina. 1841-John Bell, of Tennessee.

Secretaries of the Navy.

1789 George Cabot, of Massachusetts. 1798-Benjamin Stoddart, of Maryland. 1802-Robert Smith, of Maryland.

1805-Jacob Crowninshield, of Massachusetts. 1809-Paul Hamilton, of South Carolina. 1813-William Jones, of Pennsylvania. 1814-Benjamin W. Crowninshield, of Massachusetts. 1818-Smith Thompson, of New York. 1823-Samuel L. Southard, of New Jersey. 1829-Jno. Branch of North Carolina. 1831-Levi Woodbury, of New Hampshire. 1834-Mahlon Dickerson, of New Jersey. 1838-J. K. Paulding, of New York. 1841-George E. Badger, of North Carolina. Post Masters General.

1789-Samuel Osgood, of Massachusetts. 1794-Timothy Pickering, of Massachusetts. 1795-Joseph Habersham, of Georgia.

1802-Gideon Granger, of Connecticut.

1814-Return J. Meigs, jr. of Ohio.
1823-John McLean, of Ohio.
1829-William T. Barry, of Kentucky.
1835-Amos Kendall, of Kentucky.
1840-John M. Niles, of Connecticut.
1841-Francis Granger, of New York.

Chief Justices of the Supreme Court.
1789-John Jay, of New York.
1796-William Cushing, of Massachusetts.
1796-Oliver Elsworth, of Connecticut.
1800-John Jay, of New York.
1801-John Marshall, of Virginia.

1833-Roger B. Taney, of Maryland.

Attorney Generals.

1789-Edmund Randolph, of Virginia. 1794-William Bradford, of Pennsylvania. 1795-Charles Lee, of Virginia.

1801-Levi Lincoln, of Massachusetts. 1805-Robert Smith, of Maryland.

1806-John Breckenridge, of Kentucky.

1807-Cæsar A. Rodney, of Delaware. 1811-William Pinckney, of Maryland. 1814-Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania.

1817-William Wirt, of Virginia.

1829-John McPherson Berrien, of Georgia. 1831-Roger B. Taney, of Maryland. 1834-B. F. Butler, of New York. 1838-Felix Grundy, of Tennessee. 1839-H. D. Gilpin, of Pennsylvania. 1841--John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky.

[Baltimore Sun.