New Understanding (Facts are not Just History)
According to our research and new understanding today, the first Kentucky Colonel was actually commissioned by Commonwealth Governor Patrick Henry, Jr. In December 1776, John Bowman from Transylvania was commissioned colonel in-charge of Kentucky, to form a company of 100 men and set up a government in Kentucky County, Colony of Virginia. The term Commonwealth of Kentucky has its roots in the Commonwealth of Virginia and Pennsylvania, their colonists and the ideas of Transylvania Colonels from Boonesborough and Harrodsburg who wrote the "Kentucke Magna Charta." Colonel was highest responsible delegated authority in the Commonwealth Colony of Virginia under Governor Henry and the Territorial Major, Brigadier General (Colonel) George Rogers Clark in 1776. The colonels under the new governor and major, divided Kentucky County into three counties by 1780, then four, then five, seven, then nine counties by 1788.
General Clark and Gov. Patrick Henry had the authority to issue colonelcies across the entire modern states of West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan and portions of and Western Pennsylvania were all created from the territory encompassed, or claimed by, the Colony of Virginia (Commonwealth of Virginia) at the time of further American independence in July 1776. Why Commonwealth Colonels?
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. The term literally meant "common well-being". In the 17th century, the definition of "commonwealth" expanded from its original sense of "common good" or "commonweal" to mean "a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people; a republic or democratic state". The term commonwealth also has affinity to the ideal of "common law".By 1792 when Colonel Isaac Shelby became the First Governor there were as many as 100-250, perhaps more Kentucky District Colonels in the newly formed Commonwealth of Kentucky. Isaac Shelby himself was a North Carolina Colonel from Sullivan County, which later became part of the State of Franklin and then Tennessee. Col. Shelby moved to Kentucky in 1783, to land that he received as a bounty surveying for the Transylvania Colony in 1775. By this time most large landholders that immigrated to the Kentucky District which received a warrant deed as an American Revolutionary War Veteran were also called colonels honorarily based on land holdings and age. Many of these colonels and their colonists (settlers) became the legislators, sheriffs, and justices of the peace after Kentucky became a state. Colonels were also responsible for polling votes from the colonists in these early years. Prior to the establishment of the State Legislature and the formation of the State the "colonels" were the highest acting officials.
Colonels continued under common law to issue commissions over landholdings, issue deeds now under the new government and all things that could be managed as the highest county officials until the Second Constitution in 1799 which did not provide powers to designate colonels or acknowledge their powers, nor did it prohibit the continuing emergence of new colonels as a customary title, but it did for justice of the peace, judges and other positions. By this time 9 counties became 30, subdivided by mostly colonels, there were hundreds of colonels. Daniel Boone, Isaac Shelby, John Bowman and of course, often called "General" or "Colonel George Rogers Clark" were all also land surveyors and governmental authorities; well-respected in their time. Col. Leonard Helm, Col. Benjamin Logan and Col. Daniel Boone were the among the highest authorities in Kentucke. The history does not end here, this is just a brief overview.
Colonels continued greatly in their prominence, until 1802 under an Act of Congress the Military Peace Establishment Act authorized the duties of the rank of "colonel" in the U.S. Army using the language "one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, four majors, one adjutant, and twenty companies..." In Kentucky and Tennessee the traditions adopted of conferring colonelcy as a rite of passage, customarily, among one another under common law was dying out. As we understand, more than ever now, there are many more high and low points for Kentucky's Honorary Colonelcy in 1775, 1776, 1780, 1784, 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1799, 1804, 1813, 1815, 1861, 1865, 1890, 1892, 1895, 1898, 1906, 1920, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1939, 1941, 1947, 1957, 1992, 2007. 2016, 2020 and other dates. Together have resulted in the ideals of the Kentucky Colonel becoming more and more commonplace as an honorary commission. Since 2007 more than 150,000 commissions have been issued in less that 15 years, a number that can sharply rise in 2020, considering basically anyone can now nominate a colonel which started on February 19, 2020.
