The day Cherokee warriors attacked settlers in the fledgling frontier community of Lexington
Editor's Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city's history - some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
March 1, 1781: Lexington was little more than a blockhouse fort during its early days, and its residents risked their lives to settle it.
One man, a German immigrant, lost his life after coming here to be a part of the frontier.
This story comes from Brad Canon, a retired University of Kentucky political science professor and a member of the Lexington Historical Society. He said one of his ancestors is the only member of the original settlement to die at the hands of the Cherokee.
In 1779, Johan Wimmer immigrated to the Lexington township from Germany by way of South Carolina. Wimmer and his family lived in one of the original 26 cabins located inside the blockhouse that made up the Lexington township at the time.
On March 1, 1781, Wimmer and another settler left the blockhouse to gather wood. The blockhouse at that time was located where the Radisson Hotel is now, and the trees and bushes around it had been cleared for about 100 yards on all sides.
The two men were tasked with chopping down trees to shore up the fence, as well as to build more cabins. As they were setting about their task, Wimmer's companion saw some Cherokee Indians, Canon said.
The two men started running, but Wimmer, who was 50 at the time, was slower than his companion and captured by the Indians. The Cherokee killed Wimmer about where the old courthouse stands now, Canon said, and started to remove his scalp.
Wimmer's companion had reached the blockhouse gate and turned around. Seeing what was happening, he shot the Indian, killing him and scaring off the rest of the band that had set upon Wimmer.
In turn, the settlers dragged Wimmer and the dead Cherokee into the blockhouse and hung him from the blockhouse tower to ward off future attacks.
Canon said his ancestor was the only settler killed by the Cherokees in Lexington. Other who had started farms outside of the blockhouse area were killed by Indians during the 1780s, but Wimmer was the only one from inside the blockhouse area.
Wimmer's son, Martin, was seven when his father died, anglicized his surname to Wymore and lived in Fayette County until his death in 1857.
His children moved to Wisconsin, and it is there at the Wisconsin Historical Society in Madison that Martin's memories as an early settler to Kentucky became part of the Draper manuscripts.
Canon said Martin was buried in the Wymore-Downing cemetery on his farm on the east side of Nicholasville Road. In 1972, a shopping center was built there, and the cemetery's remains were reburied in the Lexington Cemetery, Canon said.
Have a question or story idea related to Lexington's 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.
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