Lot 344: BOONE, Daniel (1734-1820), frontiersman. Autograph document signed ("Daniel Boone") and

BOONE, Daniel (1734-1820), frontiersman. Autograph document signed ("Daniel Boone") and with his name in the text in three additional places, n.p. [Kentucky], 3 May 1786. 1 page, folio, minor fraying to top margin and one lower corner, neatly mended, docketed on verso "Boone's bond to Hone."

DANIEL BOONE'S BOND: TO BE CANCELLED FOR 300 ACRES OF FRONTIER LAND. A transaction which is typical of the active speculation in land which took place in frontier Kentucky. Boone had settled at Maysville, near Limestone on the Ohio River, in 1783, where he kept a tavern and was active as a surveyor. Here, he writes: "...I Daniel Boone of the County of fayette and state of virginia am held and firmly bound to James hone of North Carolina...for [150] pounds lawfull money of Virginia..." Below, Boone adds: "The condition of the above obligation is such that if...Daniel Boone" furnishes to Hone "a good and lawfull Deed" to 300 acres of land "out of a Survay [sic] of 4000 acres made for said Daniel Boone between the North fork of Licking and flemings Crick within 12 or 14 Miles of Limestone," the obligation is to be voided." Two men, William Hayes and Septimus Davis, sign as witnesses.

Boone (1734-1820) had settled in the future Kentucky wilderness as early as 1769 and led a considerable number of settlers into the area. When the territory was organized in 1776 he was appointed a captain of militia and was eventually promoted to major. After the war, Boone was named lieutenant-colonel of Fayette County, served as a delegate to the legislature, and, in 1782, was chosen sheriff and deputy surveyor. Just two years earlier, John Filson had published The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon, which did much to crystallize Boone's stature as an authentic folk here.