Early Life in Virginia
Christopher Greenup was most likely born in Fairfax County, Virginia around 1750. His parents were John and Elizabeth (Witten) Greenup. His early education was attained at the local schools of the area. He learned surveying and studied law under Colonel Charles Binns at Charles City County, Virginia. During the Revolutionary War, he first served as a lieutenant on the Continental Line and later attained the rank of colonel in the Virginia militia.
In 1781, Greenup helped settle the area now known as Lincoln County, Kentucky where he spent time as a surveyor and a land speculator. He was admitted to practice law in the county court in 1782. Following Virginia's creation of Kentucky County in 1783, he was admitted to the bar of the district court of Harrodsburg and served as clerk from 1785 to 1792. In 1783, he became one of the original trustees of Transylvania Seminary (later to become Transylvania University.) He purchased two lots of land in Lexington and served as the clerk of the town's trustees.
In 1785, Greenup was elected to represent Fayette County for a single term in the Virginia House of Delegates. During his service, he was appointed to a committee with Benjamin Logan and James Garrard to make recommendations on ways to further divide the area that would become Kentucky. The committee was also responsible for revising acts and surveys related to land and water surveys in the area. The committee ultimately recommended the creation of three new counties – Bourbon, Madison, and Mercer. When Mercer County was created later that year, Greenup was appointed a justice there.
During this time, Greenup continued to practice law in Fayette County and pursued various other interests. He was a founding member of the Danville Political Club and in 1787, he joined the Kentucky Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge. Future Kentucky Governors Isaac Shelby and James Garrard, as well as future Supreme Court justice Thomas Todd were also members of the Society. In 1789, he helped organize the Kentucky Manufacturing Society. Later, he was appointed to the Kentucky River Company, a group dedicated to improving infrastructure on the Kentucky River.
On July 9, 1787, during a brief return to Virginia, Greenup married Mary Catherine ("Cathy") Pope of Hanover County, Virginia; the couple had two children – Nancy and William.
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