BRIEF HISTORY OF SPENCER COUNTY, KENTUCKY

A quaint bedroom community in the Louisville area with loads of history! Spencer County, Kentucky, is named for the founder, and commander of the famous Yellow Jackets, that famous militia unit from Tecumseh’s War, and the War of 1812. Its county seat is named after an early explorer, Revolutionary War veteran, and the father of a United States president. It’s the home of a Civil War spy, that may have saved the Union. They captured the commander of Quantrill’s Raiders here. It is also, the home of a revolutionary inventor of products for the blind, and so much more. 

Spencer County was formed, in 1824, from parts of Shelby, Nelson, and Bullitt Counties, and was named for Captain Spier Spencer. Spencer was born around 1770, in Virginia, but moved to then Nelson County, Kentucky with his parents at a young age. Spencer married in Bardstown, in 1893, to Elizabeth Polk, who was the daughter of a well-known Indian fighter, Captain Charles Polk. Spencer and his wife eventually moved to Vincennes, Indiana. In 1809 Governor William Henry Harrison appointed Spencer, Sheriff of Harrison County, Indiana. Spencer and his wife, ran the Greenleaf Tavern, which was frequented by politicians, even after his death, and during the 1816 Indiana Constitutional Convention. 

In the first few years of the 1800s, the Shawnee Chief Tecumseh had been building his alliance of native tribes, with the goal to overthrow the white civilizations in the area, and drive them back across the Allegheny Mountains. Governor William Henry Harrison raised a large group of militia men to challenge Tecumseh, and squash the uprising. Captain Spier Spencer formed a company of 60 Indiana Mounted Militiamen, called the “Yellow Jackets”, that got its name from the coats they wore, with cuffs and fringes died bright yellow. Spencer commanded his unit at the Battle of Tippecanoe, on November 7, 1811. He was shot in the head, and through both thighs, but still encouraged his men to fight bravely. He was carried off the battlefield, but was shot again, and died instantly. Word of his bravery was well-known, and his local Kentucky roots was the reason why the newly formed county chose to honor him, by giving it his name, in 1824. 

Spencer County has a rich history and has amazing people associated with it. The county seat is Taylorsville, which was laid out, in 1799, when the area was still part of Shelby County. Taylorsville was named after Lieutenant Colonel Richard Taylor, who donated 60 acres of land for a town, at the confluence of Brashears Creek, and Salt River. Taylor also operated a grist mill nearby. Richard Taylor was a graduate of the College of William and Mary, and in 1769, he took a trip with his brother Hancock, from Pittsburgh, all the way down the Ohio River, then down the Mississippi River, all the way down to New Orleans. Their group is said to have been the first white men to do so. During the Revolutionary War, Richard began as a Second Lieutenant, but by the time his service had ended, he had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He served in the battles of White Plains, Trenton, Brandywine, and Monmouth. Additionally, he was involved in the Valley Forge Campaign, by commandeering supplies for General Washington’s Army. 

Richard Taylor was given and acquired about 8,000 acres in Kentucky, and he moved his family to the area, in 1785. In 1792, he built his first brick home on land that he bought from Kentucky’s first governor, Governor Isaac Shelby. That same year, he served with the Kentucky Militia, in a campaign against the Shawnee, under Major John Adair. He was wounded in battle near Fort St. Clair, in Ohio. In the late 1790s, Richard built his home that he named, Springfield. Springfield is in the eastern end of the modern Louisville Metro Area. This is also about the time that he donated land for the town here the bears his name, Taylorsville. Richard died, in 1829, and is buried in the family cemetery that became, The Zachary Taylor National Cemetery. That cemetery is named for his son, President and Major General Zachary Taylor, the “Hero of the Mexican War”, “Old Rough and Ready”. 

Another interesting thing that happened in Spencer County was in January of 1865. It was at this time that the Spencer County Courthouse was burned down by Confederate guerrillas, led by Captains Henry McGruder, Bill Marion, and Jim Davis. The guerrillas interrupted the services at the Presbyterian Church, to tell the County Clerk, that if he wanted to get anything out of the courthouse, they better do it now, because they were getting ready to burn it down. The clerk was able to rescue his Masonic regalia, and the county court books, but the courthouse was burned, and was a total loss. A new courthouse was built between, 1868-1869. That courthouse was destroyed in fire that ravaged the town, in 1913. After the fire, the present courthouse was built in the same location.

The county is also home to the Spencer House, in Taylorsville. The Spencer House was a famous hotel, and tavern, that was built in 1838. It has been used as a funeral home for almost 100 years now. Another thing that Spencer County is known for, is that it is the home of Felix Grundy Stidger, “The Spy That Saved the Union”. Stidger infiltrated, the Knights of the Golden Circle, and he became one of their most trusted members. His information led to the destruction of plans that may have changed the tide of the war for the Confederacy. A bit south of Taylorsville, the infamous Captain William Quantrill, the leader of Quantrill’s Raiders, was mortally wounded and captured. He died a few weeks later in the Louisville prison hospital.

Another person of note from the county is James Morrison Heady, who struggled with blindness, and deafness, but that didn’t stop him from becoming an author, poet, and a revolutionary inventor of many things for the blind community. Finally, the county is the location of the beautiful, historic home, called Vaucluse, which is also known as the Jacob Yoder House. Jacob Yoder built the house, in 1804, and originally named it “Beechland”. Yoder also, invented the flat boat, and in 1782, he became the first man to take a flat boat from Pittsburgh, down the Ohio River, down the Mississippi River, all the way to New Orleans, and sell his goods for a profit. 

In this article we have just scratched the surface of this beautiful, and wonderful community of Spencer County, Kentucky. It’s amazing that such a lightly populated area has so many major historical events happen within its borders. Be sure to reach out to their historical, and tourism departments to learn more, and don’t forget to check out the video below filmed on location. 

– Col. Russ Carson, Jr., Founder, Family Tree Nuts