This year marks the “Quasquibicentennial” of Boone County, also known as our 225th anniversary. The process of defining our territory began in 1798, when the wheels were set in motion for Boone County’s separation from Campbell County. Law and order came first, with the appointment of five men to serve as Justices of the Peace, made official by Governor James Garrard on December 23, 1798. The first meeting of the county court was held on June 17, 1799 at the home of William Cave. One of the five justices, John Conner, administered the oath of office to fellow appointee, John Hall. Hall then gave the oath to Conner and three others: John Brown, Archibald Huston and Archibald Reed. Other officials followed and Boone County was off and running.


Earliest official county document signed by Gov. James Garrard, December 23, 1798.

Revolutionary War veteran Cave Johnson was the first County Clerk. Johnson settled on the Ohio River in 1796, pre-dating the formation of the county. His taxable property on the 1799 tax list included 1600 acres in Boone County, much of it “first rate land.” Additionally, he was taxed for ten horses and fifteen enslaved people, who worked at clearing and farming the land, building and maintaining the home and outbuildings and tending to animals and people alike. Among these was a woman called “Pigeon,” who, according to descendants, was born in Africa.

Her nickname was likely a reference to Pidgin, a commerce language used in the slave trade that combined English and the languages of several West African countries. According to family, she was called “Lahomena,” then “Linny” by her enslaver, John Craig, who gave her as a gift to his son-in-law Cave Johnson in 1790. After their arrival, the Johnson family, “Pigeon” and 14 other enslaved people were among Boone County’s pioneers. No manumission papers for Pigeon have been found, but she appeared in the 1850 census living in the home of a free Black couple, John and Judy Coleman. Only a handful of years separated Pigeon and Cave Johnson and both lived to advanced ages. Cave Johnson died in 1850, Pigeon in 1851. Both are buried at Sand Run Baptist Church Cemetery.