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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspecitve. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, Ky. • 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

Meet Monk Estill, one of the most interesting characters in frontier Kentucky. Monk was a slave. He came to Kentucky during the 1770s with his owner, Captain James Estill. In 1779, he planted and maintained a nursery of apple trees in Boonesborough. In 1780, Monk moved to Estill’s Station, approximately four miles from present-day Richmond. He first distinguished himself by manufacturing gunpowder for Boonesborough and Estill’s Station by mining saltpeter (potassium nitrate crystals) in Peyton Cave in Madison County.

On March 20, 1782, Wyandot Indians ambushed and killed fourteen-year-old Jennie Gass and captured Monk. Monk Estill played an integral role in the survival of the inhabitants of Estill’s Station by exaggerating the strength of the garrison and convincing the Indians to postpone their planned assault. Two days after the initial assault, James Estill and twenty-five of his men attacked the Wyandot at Little Mountain, now known as Mt. Sterling. As the battle raged on, Monk was able to escape from his Indian captives and carried one of the wounded men, James Berry, nearly twenty-five miles back to Estill’s Station. James Estill’s son Wallace granted Monk his freedom, making Estill the first free African American in Kentucky.

Gather around as Monk tells his rich story, full of excitement, tragedy, and above all, perseverance.

Playwright - Karen Edwards-HunterKaren is an artist, educator, arts administrator, and creative writer. She is founder and director of the Jewish African American Christian Kentucky Youth Teen Royale Theatre Company, a 2000-2003 artist-in-resident at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and is the founder and director of the Advanced Stage Theatre Company. She currently serves as the education director for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival.

Monk Estill – Robert O’Bryan GreenRobert is a native of Laurens, South Carolina, and recently received his MFA in theatre performance from the University of Louisville. He earned his BA in drama education at South Carolina State University. Robert portrayed boxing legend Muhammad Ali in Fighting for a Principle for KHS and has appeared in many University of Louisville theatrical productions as well.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than 40 original productions often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collection. Each play is presented within KHS exhibit spaces, and designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds, and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibits to learn more. Audience members often find they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Photo credits: (cover image) “Free” courtesy of Library of Congress; (inside, left) illustration of Monk from Z.F. Smith’s, History of Kentucky; (above, from left) first survey plat of Boonesborough, Ky., 1775; frontier artifacts from the Calk Family Collection, KHS Special Collections; illustration, “Death of James Brady,” 1883, from The Back-Woodsmen or Tales of the Borders, KHS Rare Books Collection.Special Thanks: Gordon Thomas - script development, James Moore and Ashlie Woods - KHS Museum Educators/Research Assistance, Bill Farmer and Phil Gray – Fort Boonesboro State Historic Fort, Andy Stupperich – KHS Curator, Jules Foster – KHS Registrar

To learn more about Kentucky’s frontier era, see the following:Belue, Ted Franklin. • The Hunters of Kentucky: A Narrative History of America’s First Far West, 1750-1792. Mechanicsburg, 2003.Dunnigan, Alice. • The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians: Their Heritage and Tradition. Washington, 1982.Eslinger, Ellen. • Running Mad For Kentucky: Frontier Travel Accounts. Lexington 2004.Friend, Craig T., ed. • The Buzzel about Kentuck: Settling the Promised Land. Lexington 1998.Cotterill, Robert S., • History of Pioneer Kentucky. Cincinnati, 1917.

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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

Meet Monk Estill, one of the most interesting characters in frontier Kentucky. Monk was a slave. He came to Kentucky during the 1770s with his owner, Captain James Estill. In 1779, he planted and maintained a nursery of apple trees in Boonesborough. In 1780, Monk moved to Estill’s Station, approximately four miles from present-day Richmond. He first distinguished himself by manufacturing gunpowder for Boonesborough and Estill’s Station by mining saltpeter (potassium nitrate crystals) in Peyton Cave in Madison County.

On March 20, 1782, Wyandot Indians ambushed and killed fourteen-year-old Jennie Gass and captured Monk. Monk Estill played an integral role in the survival of the inhabitants of Estill’s Station by exaggerating the strength of the garrison and convincing the Indians to postpone their planned assault. Two days after the initial assault, James Estill and twenty-five of his men attacked the Wyandot at Little Mountain, now known as Mt. Sterling. As the battle raged on, Monk was able to escape from his Indian captives and carried one of the wounded men, James Berry, nearly twenty-five miles back to Estill’s Station. James Estill’s son Wallace granted Monk his freedom, making Estill the first free African American in Kentucky.

Gather around as Monk tells his rich story, full of excitement, tragedy, and above all, perseverance.

Playwright - Karen Edwards-HunterKaren is an artist, educator, arts administrator, and creative writer. She is founder and director of the Jewish African American Christian Kentucky Youth Teen Royale Theatre Company, a 2000-2003 artist-in-resident at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, and is the founder and director of the Advanced Stage Theatre Company. She currently serves as the education director for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival.

Monk Estill – Robert O’Bryan GreenRobert is a native of Laurens, South Carolina, and recently received his MFA in theatre performance from the University of Louisville. He earned his BA in drama education at South Carolina State University. Robert portrayed boxing legend Muhammad Ali in Fighting for a Principle for KHS and has appeared in many University of Louisville theatrical productions as well.

KHS Museum TheatreSince 1998, the Museum Theatre program has staged more than 40 original productions often inspired by the rich resources in the Kentucky Historical Society collection. Each play is presented within KHS exhibit spaces, and designed to connect audiences with the sights, sounds, and stories of the past. These professional productions provide museum visitors with a personal perspective of historical characters and encourage them to explore the exhibits to learn more. Audience members often find they relate to the story itself. What’s your story?

Photo credits: (cover image) “Free” courtesy of Library of Congress; (inside, left) illustration of Monk from Z.F. Smith’s, History of Kentucky; (above, from left) first survey plat of Boonesborough, Ky., 1775; frontier artifacts from the Calk Family Collection, KHS Special Collections; illustration, “Death of James Brady,” 1883, from The Back-Woodsmen or Tales of the Borders, KHS Rare Books Collection.Special Thanks: Gordon Thomas - script development, James Moore and Ashlie Woods - KHS Museum Educators/Research Assistance, Bill Farmer and Phil Gray – Fort Boonesboro State Historic Fort, Andy Stupperich – KHS Curator, Jules Foster – KHS Registrar

To learn more about Kentucky’s frontier era, see the following:Belue, Ted Franklin. • The Hunters of Kentucky: A Narrative History of America’s First Far West, 1750-1792. Mechanicsburg, 2003.Dunnigan, Alice. • The Fascinating Story of Black Kentuckians: Their Heritage and Tradition. Washington, 1982.Eslinger, Ellen. • Running Mad For Kentucky: Frontier Travel Accounts. Lexington 2004.Friend, Craig T., ed. • The Buzzel about Kentuck: Settling the Promised Land. Lexington 1998.Cotterill, Robert S., • History of Pioneer Kentucky. Cincinnati, 1917.

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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

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FREEDOMThe Story of Frontier Slave Monk Estill

www.history.ky.gov

Connections. Perspecitve. Inspiration.

100 West Broadway • Frankfort, Ky. • 40601 • 502.564.1792 • www.history.ky.gov

The Kentucky Historical Society is an agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.