William Whitley

William Whitley (August 4, 1749 – October 5, 1813), was an American pioneer in what became Kentucky, in the colonial and early Federal period. Born in Virginia, he was the son of Scottish Presbyterian immigrants from northern Ireland, then the Ulster Plantation. He was important to the early settlement of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky, where he moved with his family from Virginia. He served with the Kentucky militia during the Northwest Indian War.

He was married and his eleven children lived to adulthood, settling as far West as Oregon. At the age of 64, Whitley signed up to serve in the War of 1812. He was killed in Canada at the Battle of the Thames; some accounts credit him with killing Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader allied with the British.

Early life and family William Whitley was the son of Solomon Whitley and Elizabeth Barnett, Presbyterian Scottish or Scots-Irish immigrants from Carrickfergus, Ireland (in what is today Northern Ireland and was then the Ulster Plantation) who settled in Augusta County, Virginia. He was the oldest of four sons and is thought to have had five sisters as well.

About 1771 or as late as 1775, Whitley married Esther Fullen, also from Virginia. When she approved, he organized an expedition with his brother-in-law, George Clark. The pair met another party of seven pioneers; the two parties combined and continued with their expedition. There was continued warfare with Cherokee in the region during the revolution.

Military career After the Revolutionary War, Whitley volunteered for service in George Rogers Clark's expedition against Indians in the Northwest Territory.

Political career In 1797, Whitley served a single term in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Representation in other media Since 2006, Whitley has been portrayed by Matt Bryant of Mount Vernon, Kentucky at the William Whitley House State Historic Park and elsewhere. Bryant also played the role of Whitley in the film William Whitley: Guardian of the Kentucky Road. It was which was produced by That's Just Muggs Productions.