Bracken County was formed in 1796 from parts of Campbell and Mason. It was named for William Bracken, a hunter, fisherman, and Indian fighter who came here in 1773. It was the birthplace of John Gregg Fee, founder of Berea College in 1855, and the birthplace and home of Dr. Joshua Taylor Bradford, 1819-71, a world famous surgeon. It was also the site of Augusta College, the first Methodist college in the world, in 1822, and the place where the first White Burley tobacco was produced in 1867 from Bracken seed.