Jemima Boone

A daughter of the frontier

Jemima Boone Callaway was born October 4, 1762, the fourth child of Daniel Boone and Rebecca Bryan Boone. Her childhood unfolded wherever her family’s search for new land carried them. Before she reached adulthood, she had already crossed mountains, lived inside an isolated frontier settlement and witnessed the danger and possibility that shaped early Kentucky.

Kentucky Humanities describes Jemima as a pioneer of two frontiers: Kentucky and Missouri. She later married Flanders Callaway and raised a family while continuing west with the Boone family. Her story broadens frontier history beyond famous explorers by showing the endurance, labor and adaptability of women who built households and communities far from established towns.

Three days that became Kentucky legend

On July 14, 1776, Jemima Boone and sisters Betsey and Fanny Callaway were taken while canoeing on the Kentucky River near Fort Boonesborough. Daniel Boone and a rescue party followed their trail and recovered the girls three days later. The Kentucky Historical Society commemorates the episode with a state historical marker near the traditional site.

The story became one of the best-known episodes in Boone family history and helped inspire frontier literature. A Chautauqua performance restores Jemima’s own point of view .... not simply “Daniel Boone’s daughter,” but a young woman experiencing a dangerous and rapidly changing world.

Betsy B. Smith as Jemima Boone

Kentucky Chautauqua performer Betsy B. Smith brings Jemima’s memories, personality and frontier world into the room. The first-person presentation is followed by audience questions, giving visitors a chance to ask about daily life, family, Fort Boonesborough and the choices that carried the Boones westward.

The perfect first chapter for a series presented only a few miles from Fort Boonesborough.

Explore further: Kentucky Humanities Chautauqua · Kentucky Historical Society marker