Marker #897 Patriot-Pioneer

Historical Marker # 897, “Site of Home and Grave of Major George M. Bedinger,” was erected to memorialize Michael George Michael Bedinger, who was born to German parents in York County, Pennsylvania, on December 10, 1756. Bedinger was a Revolutionary War veteran who also served in the Kentucky General Assembly and the U.S. Congress.

Bedinger volunteered for service during the Revolution, enlisting around 1776. He was involved in several minor skirmishes that were, in his terms, small tours of duty – three to six months at a time. In 1779, as a major, he became adjutant to Colonel John Bowman. Because the British were using Native Americans to attack colonists, Bedinger fought against the Chillicothe, a band of the Shawnee. In 1781, he served in a Virginian regiment at the siege of Yorktown. According to Bedinger, “We were the first to approach the enemy at York.”

At various times, Bedinger was in Kentucky, often settling at Fort Boonesboro. He served on hunting parties, lookouts, and was even their commissary, which included rationing salt from North Carolina.

A trusted leader, Bedinger was elected to represent Kentucky in the U.S. Congress from 1803 to 1807 as a Jeffersonian-Republican. He was noted to have similar views on slavery as George Washington, a man he admired greatly. He wanted to free his slaves as soon as possible, but only wanted to do so while the law could grant them freedom. While in Congress, he helped pass a bill to prevent the transportation of new slaves into the United States.

Bedinger married twice, first to Nancy Keene in 1786, who died young from illness. They had one child together. In 1793, he married Henrietta Clay, with home he had nine children. Bedinger settled down as a farmer in Kentucky and died on December 7, 1843. He was buried in his family cemetery in the Lower Blue Lick Springs.