Hodgensville, Ky., May 18, 1899.
Mr. Howard Cessna, Bedford, Pa.
Dear Sir:
After a delay which could not possibly have been averted, I avail myself of the first opportunity in the pleasure of replying to your esteemed letter of former date relating to the history of the Cessna family. As I believe I have prior to this time given you some statistics regarding the family in Kentucky, I will on this occasion give you the facts as briefly as possible to be correct. While history loves to linger on the many noble deeds of bravery and romance that stand prominently in the early settlement of our Old Kentucky Home, there is no name more honorably interwoven in her settlement and history of a sister State than the name Cessna. In falling the timbers of the forest and causing the roses to bloom in their stead, in driving back the savage Indians and in planting the school house and church where riot and bloodshed ruled supreme, in substituting civilization for heathenism no name is more prominently associated than the name Cessna. In the lawmaking, Judiciary and executive functions of Kentucky none have contributed more honorably.
Somewhere about 1775 Jonathan Cessna, who was formerly married to Mary Friend of Friend's Cove, Pa., emigrated from there to Kentucky, where Louisville now stands on the banks of the Ohio River, cleared two acres of land, the first land cleared within the limits of the metropolis. Soon after, he was killed by the Indians leaving one son, William, aged three years, who remembered the last time he saw his father by the following incident: The whites having made preparations to go out on an Indian raid, had collected on the banks of the Ohio River, at what is now Louisville, to execute their intention. Jonathan took his son, William, in his arms, kissed him good-bye and told him to be a good boy and obey his mother. He never returned to his pleasant cabin home or his beloved family, but was numbered with the slain after the bloody war was over.
During William's boyhood, he and his mother emigrated south about 65 miles, near the present town of Hodgensville, the county seat of LaRue County, (terminus of the Illinois Central Railroad) and took up a large tract of land, some of which is still in the possession of the Cessna family. William was successful in his day as a farmer and financier, having amassed a considerable fortune. He was married to Sally Wallace, who was born in Edinburg, Scotland, and came to this country and to Kentucky when twelve years old with her parents. Her father by birth was a descendant of the distinquished Knight of Scotland, Sir William Wallace. William was elected by the Democratic party in the year ____ being the first representative LaRue County had in the General Assembly of Kentucky. He was re-elected and served the second term.
Source: House of Cessna, volume 1, pages 105-107.