Transylvania (colony)
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Transylvania was an attempt in the
1770s by the Transylvania Company to found a new
American colony by buying land from
Native Americans. Their first settlement was Boonesboro in
1775. It was named after
Daniel Boone, who had built a small fort there under orders from the Transylvania Company. The colony's borders ran between the
Tennessee River and the
Ohio River. Transylvania had its own governor and legislature until
1776 when
Virginia declared the region the County of
Kentucky. Since Boonseboro was within the
Virginia wilderness claim, the
United States Congress refused to grant Transylvania separate status. Virginia compensated the speculators with a gift of 200,000 acres.