Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
In 1754 at the age of 24, John Cole signed a lease with Hancock Lee for 150 acres of land on the north side of Horsepen Run. The land adjoined the plantation of John Herndon in King George County, Virginia.
In 1775 and 1776, Lee’s son Willis Lee entered Virginia’s District of Kentucky and encamped at the spring named Lee’s Big Spring, midway between today’s Frankfort and Lexington. Willis Lee, his cousin Hancock Taylor, Isaac Hite, James Douglas, and John Floyd surveyed the area, for the Ohio Company. They filed 18 surveys, totaling 7,200 acres. Taylor built a log cabin but then was killed by an Indian war party. In April of 1776, Willis Lee also was killed.
Capt. John Lee, son of Hancock Lee of Virginia, entered Kentucky and made a brick addition to Taylor’s log cabin. He occupied the structure and began a tavern business. The Kentucky Gazette advertised Lee’s Blackhorse Inn.
John Cole died three years after executing his lease. His funeral expenses were paid with a case of whisky. In 1782, John’s youngest son, Richard James Cole, joined John Lee in Kentucky, building a residence on Cole’s Road, connecting Lexington to Frankfort. With Humphrey Marshall, Cole surveyed Frankfort for a new state capitol. He soon acquired slaves. On Cole’s Road, Richard James Cole established and operated Cole’s Tavern. The notoriety of the place nicknamed the business as Cole’s Bad Tavern.
In 1802 John Cole died. His ordinary, not too distant from Cole’s Bad Tavern, was sold to the mulatto William Dailey and his partner John Kennedy. Fortesqieu Cummings wrote his stays at the Blackhorse Inn and Cole’s Bad Tavern.
“Any traveler who has once contrasted the rough vulgarity and the badness of his table and accommodations, with the taste, order, plenty and good attendance of his (Cole’s) mulatto competitor will never trouble Mr. Cole a second time.”
In 1811, Cole’s Bad Tavern burned. In December of 1812, Richard James Cole acquired the nearby Blackhorse Inn from Dailey & Kennedy. Richard James Cole Jr. became its operator. Richard Sr. died three years later. His great-granddaughter Zerelda Elizabeth Cole was born in the Inn on January 29, 1825. Zerelda’s sons are Frank & Jesse James.
RELATED: More about Cole’s Bad Tavern
More about the Blackhorse Tavern
FREE DOWNLOAD: The Descendants of John Cole Sr. – the Immigrant
Stray Leaves Daily
Daily updates from the family of Frank & Jesse James with stories, photos, & two searchable genealog
Stray Leaves Diary of John James of Alvarado, TX
Stray Leaves Diary of John James of Alvarado, TX
ericjames.org
This website takes its name of Stray Leaves from the diary of John James of Alvarado, Texas. John began his diary “Stray Leaves” on March 8, 1903. But he
LISTEN TO The Stray Leaves Diary of John James "of Alvarado" Texas, NOW AUDIO ENHANCED . . .When you listen to this post, instead of reading it, a whole new dimension appears to the persona and story of John James "of Alvarado."
Not only does John James come to life in this audio, but the progression of his story also grows more personal and intimate.
As John relates the events of his life that were important to him, he personally communicates to you what impact those events had, and how he was affected by them.
Stray Leaves Diary of John James of Alvarado, TX
ericjames.org
This website takes its name of Stray Leaves from the diary of John James of Alvarado, Texas. John began his diary “Stray Leaves” on March 8, 1903. But heCharlie Chaplin’s film THE GREAT DICTATOR, co-written by Daniel Lewis James Jr. of our family, was screened this June in front of a crowd of 6,000 people at the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna, Italy. The film opened the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival. The festival program also included a 100th-anniversary screening of Chaplin’s final two-reeler, PAY DAY.
A NEW POST ON STRAY LEAVES . . . The grandfather of Frank & Jesse James, John M. James, aligned himself with the Baptist dissenters. They bartered their role as "fighting Baptists" in the American Revolution for the separation of Church and State.
ericjames.org/wordpress/2022/07/20/baptist-dissenters-separate-church-from-state/
Baptist Dissenters Separate Church from State
ericjames.org
Since 1698, the Church of England was the established church in the Virginia Colony. The rights to baptize, consecrate marriage, teach school, and The grandfather of Frank & Jesse James, John M. James…
AUDIO COMING TO STRAY LEAVES . . . Stray Leaves currently working on an audio transcription of the Diary of John James "of Alvarado." Our website takes its name from this diary.
We hope this recording will be the first of an entire archive of podcast recordings of original documents pertaining to our James family.
Hearing these records, instead of reading them, actually produces focus and emphasis on content that might be too easily overlooked when the document is read. For instance, in this document of the Diary of John James "of Alvarado," John emphasizes his discovery of his power to cure people as a faith healer.
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it’s usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it’s been deleted.That’s my great-great grandfather.