Born in Chester County in 1747, John Filson went on to become one of the most accomplished men in pre-statehood Kentucky, and was responsible for the founding of Cincinnati, writes Steve Preston for the Northern Kentucky Tribune.

At the end of the American Revolution, Filson started buying land warrants from war veterans for land in Kentucky.

He arrived in Kentucky in 1783, and began interviewing settlers to see if he could profitably sell his land. He also started teaching and surveying, while interviewing the inhabitants, one of which was famed frontiersman Daniel Boone.

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Filson recognized the importance of Boone’s stories and wrote extensively about them. When he was finished, he had drawn the first accurate map of Kentucky.

Later in life, Filson purchased one-third of a land venture on the northern side of the Ohio River, and was tasked with laying out the town site that he named Losantiville, which eventually became Cincinnati.

Filson disappeared on a surveying expedition when his party was attacked by hostile Shawnees. His body was never found.

Read more about John Filson in the Northern Kentucky Tribune here.

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