Squire Boone, II

1744 - 1815  (70 years)

• Name	Squire Boone  [1]
  Suffix	II
  Birth	5 Oct 1744	Exeter Twp, Berks Co, Pennsylvania   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	Aug 1815
  Burial	Squire Boone Caverns, Mauckport, Harrison Co, Indiana
  	He is buried inside the cave that bears his name.
  Notes	Younger brother of Daniel Boone. He and his older brother, Daniel, found a cave in southern Indiana one time in 1787. One day three years later while Squire was running from Indians, he jumped for a vine and landed in the opening of the secret cave that the Indians did not know about. Since they did not find Squire, he believed the cave was holy and expressed his wish to be buried in the cave one day. Daniel and Squire were the frontiersmen who opened up what is now known as Kentucky. Of the first eight white men who dared to enter "the dark and bloody ground," as Kentucky was known in the early 1770s, only two returned alive: Daniel and Squire Boone. After his close encounter with the Indians in 1790, Squire would often return to the cave to pray, meditate and carve designs and verses of gratitude. In 1804, Squire moved his wife, Jane Van Cleve, and his daughter and four sons to the area and built a village and a gristmill. Squire spent the last 11 years of his life there - the longest he had stayed in one place. As his death neared - Squire suffered from heart failure - he built his own coffin from walnut trees growing near the cave. On his deathbed, he asked his sons to bury him in the cave where his life had been spared. On Aug. 15, 1815, Squire's four sons fulfilled their father's request. Squire was buried in his beloved cave, and a boulder sealed the entrance. More than 150 years passed while the walnut coffin decomposed in a hidden section of the cave. Squire's bones rested on the cave's floor and were gradually covered by silt. The exact whereabouts of his remains would not be known until 1973 when two guides of the cave decided to dig out the section of the cave that was filled with silt and debris and find the carvings. Instead, they found Squire himself. A new walnut coffin was crafted, and a Boone descendant knitted a shroud for the bones. Squire Boone's remains were placed in the coffin, the lid was sealed with wax and the casket was carried deep into Squire Boone Caverns. Today, the casket is on view at the end of the tour through the Squire Boone Caverns in Mauckport, Indiana and a headstone has been erected at the foot of the casket inside the cave at the end of the tour given by the cave guides. (findagrave http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=18853)
  Person ID	I10696	Roots
  Last Modified	28 Dec 2011

  
  

  Father	Squire Boone, I,   b. 25 Nov 1696, Bradnich, Devonshire, England d. 2 Jan 1765, Mocksville, Rowan Co, North Carolina (Age 68 years)
  Mother	Sarah Morgan,   b. 1700, Philadelphia Co, Pennsylvania d. 1777, Mocksville, Rowan Co, North Carolina (Age 77 years)
  Marriage	23 Jul 1720	Philadelphia Co, Pennsylvania   [1]
  Documents		Life and Times of William Young - Tennessee Frontiersman, Utah Pioneer written by Gary Dean Young, ggg-grandson This history is copyrighted and is offered for personal use and research only. It is not to be reprinted or used for commercial purposes without written permission. Copyright ©2002 by Gary Dean Young Washington County Biographies Index Washington County Utah Genealogy and History Page
  Family ID	F4116	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Jane "Big Granny" Van Cleve,   b. 16 Oct 1749   d. 10 Mar 1829 (Age 79 years)
  Marriage	8 Aug 1765
  Children	1. Jonathan Boone,   b. 30 Aug 1766, Yadkin River, Rowan Co, North Carolina d. 9 Mar 1837 (Age 70 years) + 2. Moses "Judge" Boone,   b. 23 Feb 1769, Yadkin River, Rowan Co, North Carolina d. 8 Mar 1852, Putnam Co, Indiana (Age 83 years)   3. Isaiah Boone,   b. 13 Mar 1772, Yadkin River, Rowan Co, North Carolina d. Aft 1773 (Age > 2 years)   4. Sarah Boone,   b. 26 Sep 1774, Yadkin River, Rowan Co, North Carolina d. 1847 (Age 72 years) + 5. Enoch Morgan Boone,   b. 16 Oct 1777, Yadkin River, Rowan Co, North Carolina d. 8 Mar 1862 (Age 84 years)
  Family ID	F4059	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 Feb 2011

  
  

• Sources

  [S550] WFT Vol 2, #0586.