Henry
Harrison Combs
Kentucky Settler
From an email sent to Kentucky Combs List From Carter Combs:
Found an article in the Nov 2005, Kentucky Explorer about the settlers of
Breathitt Co. Tucked in the back of the article was Henry Harrison Combs and
his sons Matthew and Henry, Jr. I will post just the part relating to Henry
Harrison, Sr and his sons.
In the year 1795,
Harrison Combs and ten year old son, Matthew of Russell Co VA, went on a
hunting and exploring trip into the wilds of the Kentucky River. Hunting,
wandering, exploring and spying out the land, they discovered what is known as
Big Bottom; one-half mile above the present day city of Hazard.
The intentions of Harrison Combs to move to the North Fork of the Kentucky was
evidenced by the seed and tools he brought. He and his young son built a
lean-to and went to work clearing the land around it. When two acres were free
of trees and brush they planted it with corn, beans and peach tree seed.
Catching a young bear, they kept it in the cabin. It became a great pet. The
day came when the corn and beans were weeded, and they made preparations to
return to Russell Co for the other members of the family. What to do with the
young bear was a problem.
They couldn't take it with them, neither could they pen it up for it would
starve. A suggestion from Matthew that it be turned loose was vetoed at once.
The animal would hang around the cabin and eat the beans and corn. They killed
and ate the bear as the final solution.
When Harrison and his son arrived back in Russell Co quick preparation was
made to move to their new home. All of their household goods they brought to
Kentucky were packed on two horses. The family walked driving two cows, the
first ones to be brought to the area.
The peach seed planted by Harrison and Matthew grew to large trees in a few
years and yielded bountiful harvests. Finding that the household utilization
of peaches would not consume even an approximation of the crops, Harrison
decided to make peach brandy.
He did not have a still to make brandy, so he sent his sons Matthew and Henry,
Jr, east to Washington Co VA, to procure one. They hauled it westward until
they were at the eastern slope of Black Mountain.
Since it could not be transported any further by this means, they cut a long
pole, tied the still to it with hickory switches, and carried it over Black
Mountain and down to Big Bottom. It did service for the family for years, and
the sums realized from the sale of brandy were a welcome addition to the
family income. Years after its use was discontinued it was kept as a reminder
of the family's pioneering days.
In a few years Harrison Combs sold the Big Bottom farm to his son, Matthew,
and moved to Troublesome Creek in present-day Breathitt Co. Here he built
flatboats and took his produce to New Orleans.
It was Henry Combs, son of Harrison, who realized the immense potential for
wealth that lay abundant in the mountains of Breathitt Co. He acquired a vast
acreage of land and timber, planted an apple orchard of 1,000 trees and a
peach orchard of ten acres.
He grew cotton and hemp, with which to make clothes. He tanned leather and
made shoes for the settlers. He burned brick and built the first real
fireplace in the county.
Faced with the knowledge that unless he provided a means to educate his
children they would go without schooling, he built a schoolhouse and hired a
teacher for his own and neighbors' children.
In the years ahead Henry Combs grew wealthy in timber and land, and his
descendents became prominent and prosperous. Henry Combs was a sturdy and
hard-striving son of a pioneer family, but so were all of these settlers of
Breathitt Co: the Neaces, Nobles, Allens, Haddixes, and others. They had to be
sturdy and strong if they were to survive.
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