BIO: WILLIAM CORNETT – Leslie County
Leslie County, Kentucky
From: D. M. Parsons <dyyanne@yahoo.com>
Date: Sat. June 23, 2001
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Dr. John J. Dickey Diary, Fleming County, Ky. Recorded in the 1870’s and beyond.
Reprinted in Kentucky Explorer, Volume 12, No 4 September, 1997, p. 88.
By permission. Leslie County.
WILLIAM CORNETT (Coon Creek, Leslie County, Kentucky, January 17, 1898.) I was born
in Perry County, Kentucky, February 3, 1814, on Leatherwood Creek. My father’s name was
Arcibald Cornett. He was born in East Tennessee on either Little or Big Moccasin. His
father’s name was James Cornett who came to Perry County, Kentucky, when my father was a
boy 7 to 10 years old. My father was 84 years old when he died in 1873. This would make the
coming of the Cornetts to Kentucky from 1796 to 1799. My grandfather was married twice,
once to a Gilliam, once an Everedge. He had children as follows: Nathaniel, Samuel, Roger,
Archibald, William, John, Robert, Lucy (Woolery Eversole), Elizabeth (Campbell),
and Nancy (Samuel Combs). I have been married three times; first, Nancy Mainyard; second,
Rebecca Morgan; third, Malinda Garrison. Most of these families were large. There were eight
in my father’s family and they all lived to have grandchildren. I was the oldest and only
one living.
Bear Hunting. I believe I have killed 30 bears in my life and from 500 to 1,000 deer. I
killed 21 in one season at a lick and never missed a shot. My father-in-law said he killed
705 in five yers. He kept a tally on his gunstock. He sold the hams and the hides and said
he made more money than at anything else he ever did. Wild turkeys were abundant. There
are a good man in this country yet.
School Teachers. Old Frederic, Lewis was the first teacher I ever went to school to.
Brashears – Old David Fee is the best teacher I ever went to. Brashears was next.
Preachers. Old Robert Hicks was the first preacher I remember. He was a Baptist. My father
and mother were members of the Baptist church. My grandfather, Lewis (Gillam?) [sic], was
not a member of the church but his wife was.
Mills. We had hand mills when I was a boy, also pound mills run by a sweep and later pound
mills run by water power. Stories are told of mice, rats, and many things getting pounded
up with the meal. One story is told of a cow who learned to take out a mouthful while the
pretle was lifted. We used graters when corn was soft.
Revolutionary Soldiers. My great-grandfather was a Revolutionary soldier. I do not know
whether he was a private or an officer or what regiment he was in.
War of 1812. My grandfather was in the War of 1812. He was in the Horse Shoe Battle and in
the Battle of New Orleans. Robert Cornett married Charlotte Callahan. Roger married
Zilpah Callahan. Robert lived in Benge. His son, Isaac, moved to Madison county.