Transylvania Company

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Historical Marker #66 in Henderson commemorates the Transylvania Company.

Formed by Richard Henderson, the Transylvania Company was created to settle the area around the Kentucky, Ohio, and Cumberland rivers. The Company is also credited for establishing Henderson County.

In 1774, Richard Henderson and some associates established the Louisa Company, which began negotiations with the Cherokee Indians to purchase land south of the Ohio and west of the Kanawha rivers. The company was reorganized at the start of 1775 as the Transylvania Company. On March 17, 1775, the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals was signed by the Transylvania Company and the Cherokee, which gave a large area of land to the Transylvania Company.

The colony of Transylvania was established in 1775, but was short-lived as the Continental Congress in Virginia nullified the Transylvania Company's treaty with the Cherokee. However, Virginia compensated them with 200,000 acres along the Ohio River.

It was out of that land grant that Henderson's Transylvania Company would survey the boundaries for Henderson County. Henderson County has been home several notable Kentuckians through the years, including famed artist/ornithologist John James Audubon, several Kentucky governors, many state and national legislators, and Mary Towles Sasseen, who is credited with being the first to celebrate Mother's Day.