Marker #974 Fort William

Historical Marker #974, “Fort William,” commemorates Colonel William Christian (1743-1786), a Revolutionary War veteran from Virginia who was granted three-thousand acres in Kentucky for his service. Christian brought his family to the Beargrass region of Louisville in 1785.

According to family genealogy, before Christian turned twenty years old he served in the French and Indian War as a captain in the Second Virginia Infantry. For his service he claimed three thousand acres of land in Bullitt’s Lick, located west of Shepherdsville. Christian was later a colonel in the Fincastle Regiment during Lord Dunmore’s War, where he fought against the French.

According to Historical Register of Virginians in the Revolution, Christian also served as a first lieutenant in the Continental Line in 1776. He was promoted to colonel, but he declined and resigned. On August 1, 1776, he was appointed colonel and commander in chief of all Virginian forces on westward expeditions against the Cherokee on August 1, 1776.

Christian was the brother-in-law of Colonel Patrick Henry, commander of the First Virginia Regiment. Christian married Henry’s sister, Ann.

Christian commanded two expeditions against the Cherokee nation and later led a committee to create a treaty between the Cherokee and the United States. Christian brought his family to Kentucky in 1785, and he later served as a trustee of the Transylvania Seminary, which is now Transylvania University in Lexington.

On April 9, 1786, Christian was killed while leading a battle against a group of Native Americans who supposedly crossed the Ohio River at Six Mile Island to steal horses. During the battle, four men were killed: Christian, two of the Native Americans, and a “man named Kelly,” who heard the skirmish and ran into the fight.

Christian died from his wounds at his home and was buried in front of his house, in the Oxmoor Cemetery, off the Beargrass Creek in Jefferson County.