Christopher Riffe accompanied Col. William Casey (great-grandfather of Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...

) to Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

 in 1784. Riffe lived at Bryan's Station, Boonesborough

Boonesborough, Kentucky

Boonesborough is an unincorporated community in Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It lies in the central part of the state along the Kentucky River. Boonesborough is part of the Richmond–Berea Micropolitan Statistical Area....

, Logan's Station and Carpenter's Station. He bought 800 acres (3.2 km²) of land from the grandfather of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

. Riffe became the first white settler of Casey County

Casey County, Kentucky

Casey County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. It was formed in 1807. As of 2010, the population was 15,955. Its county seat is Liberty, Kentucky. The county is named for Colonel William Casey. It is the only Kentucky county entirely in Knobs region. Casey County is home to...

 in 1793. He was the first State Representative

Kentucky House of Representatives

The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve...

 from Casey County, served seven terms. He fought in the Battle of the Thames

Battle of the Thames

The Battle of the Thames, also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was a decisive American victory in the War of 1812. It took place on October 5, 1813, near present-day Chatham, Ontario in Upper Canada...

 (in which Tecumseh

Tecumseh

Tecumseh was a Native American leader of the Shawnee and a large tribal confederacy which opposed the United States during Tecumseh's War and the War of 1812...

was killed) in the Kentucky Sixth Regiment. He was Lieutenant-General of the Kentucky State Militia.

Sources

• Kentucky Historical Marker No. 250 located at Middleburg Cemetery, Lynn St., Middleburg, Ky