September birthdays

Andrew Jackson Smith, 
born September 3, 1843

Andrew Jackson Smith was born into slavery in Lyon County, Kentucky, the son of Susan, a slave, and Elijah Smith, who owned her.  As a boy, he was called "Andy." When he was ten years old, Elijah assigned him to run a ferry transporting people and supplies across the Cumberland River. Andy continued this work for the next eight years. He was 18 years old when the Civil War began.

John Gregg Fee, 
born September 9, 1816

John Gregg Fee was born in Bracken County, Kentucky on September 9, 1816, the first child of John Fee, Jr. and Sarah Gregg Free. The community was founded with the help of his grandfather, John Fee, Sr., a native of Maryland, who moved to Kentucky in 1791. His mother and her brother, John Gregg, came from an antislavery Quaker family.  As a boy, he was known as Gregg. He was 44 years old when the Civil War began.

William Martin Dickson, 
born September 19, 1827
William Martin Dickson was born in Lexington, Indiana.  He lost his father, a farmer, at the age of 8. He was 33 years old when the Civil War began.

William "Bull" Nelson, born September 27, 1824
William Nelson was the third son of Dr. Thomas W. Nelson (1796–1849) and Frances Doniphan (1795–1845) of Maysville, Kentucky.  Thomas Nelson was well connected within the region, serving in the state legislature and on the Board of Trustees of Transylvania University.  William Nelson as 36 years old when the Civil War began.