Across the mountains
Spencer dates Tribble’s move to Kentucky to 1783. He first settled on the Dix River, then moved into the area that became Clark County. Kentucky was still part of Virginia, and migration routes crossed difficult country into settlements where churches, courts and communities were only beginning to take lasting form.
The Tates Creek congregation
In January 1786, Tribble joined Howard Creek Church, later known as Providence, where Robert Elkin served as pastor. During the same year, Tribble gathered the Tates Creek congregation and became its pastor. He continued serving there until age and illness forced his retirement.
The early meetinghouse tradition is associated with the Stone Meeting House on Tates Creek. The congregation became one of the enduring institutional links between Tribble’s ministry and Madison County.
Conflict, division and congregational authority
Tribble’s ministry was productive, but not free from disagreement. A personal conflict between Tribble and Elkin nearly divided Howard Creek in half. Neighboring churches helped negotiate a settlement. Elkin’s party retained the old constitution and church property under the name Providence; Tribble’s party formed a new church called Unity.
Tribble became Unity’s pastor. Later, a lawsuit involving a member named Haggard ended after Tribble made acknowledgments that the church accepted. Spencer believed the episode severed his pastoral relationship with Unity. The record is revealing: even an influential frontier minister answered to congregations that expected accountability.
A ministry beyond one pulpit
Historic church records connect Tribble with Viney Fork Baptist Church, organized in 1797, and White Oak Pond, organized in 1801. His son Peter estimated that Tribble baptized approximately 2,000 people in Kentucky. The exact number cannot be independently counted, but it conveys the scale remembered by his family.
Other pioneer preachers connected with early Madison County included George Boone, Thomas Jarman, David Chenault and Richard Morton. Tribble’s story belongs to this wider network of ministers who traveled, organized congregations, performed marriages and helped create community institutions.