(March 2005)

The following article was found in the

MARCH 1914 -- LEXINGTON UNIT-JOURNAL SOUVENIR EDITION

(By A. V. Pierson)

        One the night of April 18 and the morning of April 19, 1775, the minute men of Lexington, Mass., and surrounding country were summoned to arms by a messenger mounted on a black horse, who rode through the hamlets and towns of Middlesex notifying the sleeping inhabitants that the British were marching on Lexington and Concord. The response to the summons was immediate and unanimous and the minute men, armed and equipped for battle, hurried to Lexington to meet the foe. Among the hurrying patriots was Captain Gridley and his company of minute men, who for valiant service on that day on which the shot was fired that was heard around the world, and for deeds of valor on other battlefields during the war for independence, Gridley rose to rank of colonel in the artillery of the American army.

        The scene shifts to almost 1,000 miles from the historic town of Massachusetts to a little cluster of log cabins in the valley of the of the Elkhorn in the land of the "Dark and Bloody Ground." It was an evening in June, 1775. The inhabitants of the little settlement were gathered along the great buffalo trace that was to become the main street of the beautiful city that was to be, discussing what name to give this little hamlet in the wilderness, when there suddenly appeared two men with a pack train. They were at once given a most hospitable reception. Here was news from the world east of the mountains. The horses were at once unloaded, hobbled and turned loose to graze and the physical needs of the two men were attended to. That evening the wondering settlers of this little hamlet in the Kentucky wilderness heard the story of the revolt of the colonies from the mother country and of the battle of Lexington. With unanimous consent the name of Lexington was given to this little collection of log houses in the valley of the Elkhorn.

        About the time Kentucky became a state a family by the name of Brown settled near Lexington, Kentucky, and there raised a family. To them a son was born named James Preston Brown. About the time of the birth of this young Kentuckian there was born to Colonel Gridley, of Revolutionary fame, a grandson, named Ashael Gridley. A desire to see the wondrous prairies of Illinois and to better their worldly conditions was probably the directing Providence that brought these young men to Bloomington, Ill., there to form each other’s acquaintance and as partners lay out this new town on the Mackinaw. As they were casting about in their minds for a name to give this new town of their creation the name of Lexington suggested itself to both of them, and Lexington it was. That is how our beautiful little city received its historic name.