Lexington Chapter

LEXINGTON

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CHAPTER ORGANIZED OCTOBER 12, 1891

The Lexington Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, was organized by Miss Izzy Desha and her cousin, Miss Mary Desha, a Lexington woman who had lived in Washington D.C., and had become one of the organizers of the National Society in 1890.

The chapter was named for the city in which it was founded. The city received its name when a runner came panting up to settlers camped in the area, bringing news of the Battle of Lexington, Massachusetts, and the colonists who had defied the British by firing those memorable shots. The campers said, "Let us name this settlement "Lexington.""

In an amazingly short time, Lexington became a small metropolis, out in the wilderness, five hundred miles from everywhere.

At that time the area was still overrun by Indian tribes, and 1500 white inhabitants were slain in the Kentucky County between 1775 and 1788. John Brandford's Kentucky Gazette, as late as 1790, related hair raising stories of the depredations and slaughter by the Indians; however, Lexington continued the march of civilization with the building of homes, and the opening of stores with rare merchandise for the backwoods residents.

The town of 1,800 inhabitants boasted two elementary schools and one university before 1790, and before statehood was granted on June 1, 1792.

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