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Post by ClayLive on May 21, 2012 8:13:04 GMT -5
Tales from the past...
Why did William Crook of Clay County join the Union army during the Civil War?
Posted By Wayne on May 21, 2012
August 19, 1861 was an exciting day on the farm of William H Crook of Clay County Kentucky. Hundreds of people had gathered to hear the pontificatin’ and chest thumpin’. At that point everyone knew that Theophilus Garrard was raising a regiment to help preserve the Union and this rally would result in the enrollment of about 3 companies of recruits. James H Hensley was there most probably with his family. He was married two years prior and now had a young daughter. The reason Mr. Hensley enlisted will probably never be known for certain but he did enroll in what would eventually come to be known as the 7th Kentucky Volunteers, Company B. According to Private Hensley, his wife accompanied him and the Regiment from December of 61 until the Regiment boarded the Steamer Dic Vernon at Memphis on December 21, 1862. It was at this point that point Private Hensley’s story became most interesting. It seems that women, laundresses, and all “other attached others” would not be allowed on board the Dic Vernon and Mrs. Hensley was escorted off the boat. She was “an utter stranger” in Memphis and Lt. Colonel Ridgell told Private Hensley to go into town and “procure a place for his wife to stay for a while”. The good Private, and loving husband, did just that. What was Lt. Col. Ridgell thinking? The following is from an affidavit filed in Private Hensley’s record..... Read the entire blog at: waynefielder.com/2012/05/tales-from-the-ranks
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Post by ClayLive on Oct 18, 2012 19:01:59 GMT -5
rappnews.com
150 Years Ago This Week: Civil War reaches Manchester
By Arthur Candenquist
October 1862
In Washington, President Lincoln ordered the removal of army bakeries from the basement of the U.S. Capitol building. In Mississippi, Confederate Maj. Gen. John C. Pemberton was promoted to lieutenant general and assumed command of the Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. There was fighting on this day at Hazel Bottom, Mo., Trenton, Ark. and in Kentucky at Manchester and Lancaster, as Gen. Braxton Bragg’s Confederates continued their retreat south after their advance in Kentucky towards Ohio had been stopped at Perryville on Oct. 8. In Kentucky on Thursday, Oct. 16, Gen. Bragg’s Confederates moved towards Cumberland Gap without major interference from Union troops. Military draft for militia units began on the same day in Pennsylvania and other portions of the North. The Federal Department of the Tennessee was established under command of Maj. Gen. Ulysses Grant. The next day, Oct. 17, there was resistance to the ineffective Federal militia draft in several Pennsylvania counties, and local troops were called out to quell the opposition and rioting. Skirmishing between Union and Confederate troops took place the same day in Lexington, Ky., where Maj. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and his Confederate cavalry were making a raid. Fighting occurred at Mountain Home and Sugar Creek, Ark.; Valley Woods and Rock Hill, Ky.; and at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi River in Tennessee. Read the entire article at: www.rappnews.com/2012/10/18/150-years-ago-this-week-fighting-on-all-fronts/99228
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Post by ClayLive on Oct 22, 2012 16:02:00 GMT -5
Photo from Goose Creek Salt Works Village:
www.welovemanchester.com/Salt_Works_village.html
Thursday, 23 October 1862
Goose Creek Salt Works destroyed by Union Army
There is a skirmish today at Clarkston, MO; Richland Creek and Waverly, TN and the Goose Creek Salt Works near Manchester, KY were destroyed by the Federals. Confederate Major General Braxton Bragg’s Army is now back in Tennessee having passed through Cumberland Gap following their successful campaign in Kentucky. President Jefferson Davis wrote today about his concern regarding the pro-Union sentiments prevalent in East Tennessee. CSS Alabama captured and burned American bark LaFayette south of Halifax, Nova Scotia as it continues to prowl the seas raiding Federal shipping. starsandbarsblog.org/sesquicentennial-news-thursday-23-october-1862
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Post by Local News on Nov 17, 2012 11:30:08 GMT -5
Book Review From Library Journal
The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia [/b] This well-written, convincing historical examination of persistently poor rural communities continues the ground-breaking work done by James Brown in his Beech Creek studies. Using a longitudinal case study, Billings and Blee (Women of the Klan) examine the historic sociology of Clay County, KY, its pattern of economic crisis and migration, and poverty's racial and spatial dimensions. They argue that government programs like Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty failed because they targeted poverty's symptoms (like low income) and not its systemic roots. Along the way, they discuss the impact of political factionalism, the breakdown of the extended family, economic exploitation, slavery, the transition to waged work, and elitism while discounting generally accepted culture-of-poverty and dependence theories. Recommended for both academic and larger public libraries.ANorman B. Hutcherson, Beale Memorial Lib., Bakersfield, CA www.openbdb.com/e/0521652294.html
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Post by Local News on Dec 11, 2012 11:16:20 GMT -5
Molinda Goforth News
Want To Stop In For a Visit?
It’s Christmas Season! I am filled with memories of Christmas past. Turn on your imagination and let’s visit my Great Grandmothers, Aunt Josie ‘s house in the woods in Clay County, Kentucky. Here we go:
wash on Monday
iron on Tuesday
mend on Wednesday
churn on Thursday
clean on Friday
bake on Saturday
rest on Sunday
list from Little House in the Big Woods, a children’s classic story that began in 1871. It so reminds me of Aunt Josie’s home and her era. Of course, there is home made jelly on the ledge of the wood stove in the kitchen! Yummy memories! Thanks for joining me. What are your memories of Christmas past? Read and respond to this blog at: molindagoforth.com/want-to-stop-in-for-a-visit
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Post by Local News on Dec 11, 2012 11:17:19 GMT -5
Phipps Genealogy
Another Clay County, Kentucky Family
Since the last post concerned Samuel Phipps who had lived in Clay County, Kentucky, it’s interesting to note that another Phipps was associated with Clay County: Isaac Phipps. Isaac Phipps was born about 1823 in Tennessee according to the 1850 Census. Marriage records are included in the Civil War pension application file of his widow. On 24 Nov 1845 in Clay County, Kentucky, a marriage license was issued for the marriage of Isaac Phipps to Elender Teague (who elsewhere appears in the record as Elander rather than Elender). They were married on 27 Nov 1845 by T.T. Garrard, who was a Justice of the Peace, although she later cited Theophilus Jarrett and said that he was a minister and that they married on 18 Nov 1844. Read the entire blog at: phippsgenealogy.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/another-clay-county-kentucky-family
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Post by Local News on Dec 26, 2012 9:46:07 GMT -5
starsandbarsblog.org
Civil War in Clay County: Friday December 26, 1862
For the Federals, Brevet Major General Samuel Perry “Powhatan” Carter’s small force of cavalry left Manchester, KY for the upper Tennessee Valley, destroying railroad bridges and fighting skirmishes, in particular one at Perkins’ Mill or Elk Fort on 28 December. This raid will last until 5 January. The Federals attacked a guerrilla camp in Powell County, KY. Read the entire blog at: starsandbarsblog.org/swsquicentennial-news-friday-26-december-1862
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Post by Local News on Jan 6, 2013 14:33:17 GMT -5
The Civil War in Manchester
by Frank Moore
The British iron steamer Antona, laden with Enfield rifles, a battery of brass fieldpieces, powder, medicines, boots, tea, etc., from Liverpool vid Havana, was captured off Mobile, by the United States steamer Pocahontas, while attempting to run the blockade. —General Rosecrans, from his headquarters at Murfreesboro, Tenn., issued a general order, announcing to the commissioned officers of the rebel army, taken prisoners by the forces under his command, “That, owing to the barbarous measures announced by President Davis, in his recent Proclamation, denying parole to our officers, he will be obliged to treat them in like manner.” —The expedition under the command of General Samuel P. Carter, reached Manchester, Ky., on its return from East-Tennessee. —A meeting was held at Beaufort, N. C, at which resolutions were adopted, denouncing the course of Governor Stanly, in his administration in that State. dotcw.com/a-diary-of-american-events-549
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Post by In The News on Jan 17, 2013 20:50:45 GMT -5
Book Review
Days of Darkness: The Feuds of Eastern Kentucky [/b] "If you are pursuing interesting stories of Kentucky's past; if you are seeking an entertaining mythology; if you find the evolution of oral history fascinating or are just curious about feuds in Eastern Kentucky, then read John Ed Pearce's Days of Darkness." -- Lexington Herald-Leader "Taken as a chronicle of several different feuds, the book succeeds admirably." -- Lexington Herald-Leader "A study of the feuds of Eastern Kentucky -- six in all -- and how the violence and brutality they were known for influenced the perception of the Appalachian region of Kentucky." -- Chevy Chaser Magazine "Recounting shatters old myths -- feuds did not result from insignificant squabbles, and many feuders were not ignorant 'hillbillies,' but rather prominent businessmen and college graduates." -- Kentucky Monthly "Pearce untangles the loose threads of conflicting testimony to present the reader with the real truth on six of the bloodiest and longest-running feuds in the history of Kentucky." -- Lone Star Book Review About the Author John Ed Pearce worked on the staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal for forty years and was a widely published columnist. He was co-recipient of a Pulitzer Prize in 1967. www.openbdb.com/e/0813126576.html
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Post by Local News on Feb 3, 2013 17:32:40 GMT -5
"Big" Jim Howard
Bulletine Press Association
HOWARD BEGINS SENTENCE: Life Imprisonment for the Murder of William Goebel.
The Daily Northwestern (Oshkosh, Wisconsin) [/i] Frankfort, Ky., Feb. 2, 1906 — James Howard, convicted of the murder of William Goebel, arrived at the Frankfort penitentiary today to spend the rest of his life there, unless some unexpected turn of fortune liberates him. He is one of the most interesting characters that ever crossed the threshold of the penitentiary and his arrival caused considerable stir among the people of this city in general and the prison officials in particular. After spending nearly six years in jail, standing three trials and fighting his case through the supreme court, Howard was defeated in his struggle for liberty and the supreme court confirmed the judgement of the Kentucky courts. Howard never lost his nerve for a single moment. He was as cheerful on his way to the penitentiary and upon his arrival as he was on the first day of his arrest and said he was confident that he would eventually be vindicated and liberated. In many ways Howard is the most picturesque figure of the Goebel murder cases. The commonwealth represented him as the typical mountain feud fighter and dead shot who went to Frankfort to kill Goebel in return for a pardon for having killed George Baker in a feud. Personally Howard does not fill the idea of such a person at all. He would never have been taken for a desperate man from the mountains. He is handsome and of distinguished appearance, of fine physique and unusually graceful, with easy manners. He looks like a man of fine intellect and a student. Indeed, he has been a student for five years, as during his imprisonment he has devoted his time to perfecting himself in the law. Howard was born in Clay county forty years ago. His father was a school teacher. Howard lived in the mountains all his life and early became an expert shot, like all Kentucky mountaineers. He was first a deputy sheriff of Clay county, then school teacher, lawyer, general storekeeper in the government revenue service and finally assessor of Clay county, which he held when he became involved in the Goebel trouble. Howard is a victim of a Kentucky feud, whatever were the circumstances of the killing of Goebel. He was in Frankfort the day Goebel was shot, trying to procure a pardon for killing George Baker from W.S. Taylor, then governor of Kentucky. The prosecution maintained that he was to get the pardon for killing Goebel. Howard has maintained that in this seeming connection he was a victim of circumstances. The Baker-Howard feud broke out in 1897. The Bakers one day ambushed Jim Howard’s father and two brothers, killing the brothers and desperately wounding the father. Jim Howard, as soon as he heard of it, mounted his horse and rode to the scene. He claims the Bakers tried to ambush him and that he escaped by using his horse as a shield. In the encounter he shot George Baker to death. Howard was indicted for the murder of Goebel in April, 1900. He was then in Clay county, where he might have remained indefinitely, as the mountaineers are Republicans and would have afforded him protection against an army. But in the month of May Howard went to Frankfort and surrendered. His first trial resulted in a sentence of death, his second of life imprisonment, both being reversed. The third verdict was life imprisonment and was sustained by the supreme court. yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2009/07/20/baker-howard-feud
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Post by Local News on Feb 12, 2013 22:18:12 GMT -5
ultrathon.wordpress.com
Another fiddle tune: “Old Joe Clark”
“Old Joe Clark” is an old mountain ballad from Kentucky and is one of the more popular traditional old time fiddle songs. There actually was a real-life individual named Joseph Clark. According to a biography by Lisa Clark, Joe Clark was born in Clay County, Kentucky on September 18, 1839. He married Elizabeth (Betty) Sandlin when he was 17 and she was 15. When the Civil War began, Joe was 22 years old and enlisted but became ill during the winter months and was discharged in 1862. After the war, he resumed farming and lived in the log house on Sextons Creek that had been built by his family. He also operated a country store and ran a moonshine still, under license from the state. He sold his whiskey from an ox cart as well as at his store. Joe earned a notorious reputation in the local area, his wife left him around 1864. There are several stories surrounding his murder around 1885/1886. He is buried in the family cemetery on Sextons Creek. Around that time there was popular tune which did not have lyrics, so some started making up rhymes to be sung with the tune. Others claim that the ballad came first and the melody later. There are estimated to now be about 90 stanzas in various versions of the song. Read the entire blog and see the video at: ultrathon.wordpress.com/2013/02/10/ole-joe-clark
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Post by Kentucky News on Mar 25, 2013 16:33:04 GMT -5
Cemetery Preservation Workshop to be held April 20
Commonwealth News Center press release
This spring and summer, the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) Cemetery Preservation Program will host a series of 10 workshops throughout southern and eastern Kentucky to help Kentuckians preserve their local cemeteries. The workshop for Leslie, Clay, Harlan, Letcher, Perry, Knott and Breathitt counties will be held Saturday, April 20, at 10:30 a.m. at the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Cumberland. Each cemetery preservation workshop will include discussions on Kentucky cemetery laws; access to family cemeteries; attorney general’s opinions relating to descendants’ access rights; deed information and how it relates to the inclusion or exclusion of cemeteries; preservation efforts, including cleaning, repairing and mapping a cemetery; registration of a cemetery with the Kentucky Historical Society’s Cemetery Preservation Database; and the introduction of two new programs, the Kentucky Historical Society’s Pioneer Cemetery program and the Kentucky Historical Society’s Adopt-a-Cemetery program. These workshops are made possible with support from the Steele-Reese Foundation and the KHS Foundation. “Grant funds from the Steele-Reese Foundation have enabled KHS to develop this array of workshops and programs to help Kentuckians preserve their cemeteries. The Adopt-A-Cemetery Program and Pioneer Cemetery Program could not have been successfully designed and implemented without their support, said Stuart Sanders, KHS professional services administrator. “Much work is left to be done, but with their continued support and cooperation, combined with the financial support of the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation, many more people will be made aware of the need to protect and preserve Kentucky’s historical cemeteries.” Each workshop is free, but preregistration is required. Contact Ann G. Jonson at 502-564-1792, ext. 4404 or anng.johnson@ky.gov by the Monday prior to each workshop to register. For more about KHS, its collections and programs, visit: www.history.ky.govAn agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Kentucky Historical Society, established in 1836, is committed to helping people understand, cherish and share Kentucky's history by providing connections to the past, perspective on the present and inspiration for the future. The KHS history campus includes the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, the Old State Capitol and the Kentucky Military History Museum at the State Arsenal. For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs: www.history.ky.gov
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Post by Local News on Apr 4, 2013 16:59:57 GMT -5
"Bad" Tom Baker, just moments before he was gunned down near the steps of the Clay County courthouse.
So Far Appalachia
Clay County: The Beginnings
by Brad King
Start your story where the action takes place. That’s how I tell stories, and so as I’ve told stories about Clay County throughout the years, they have oftentimes been about the infamous feud. Everyone, after all, enjoys a good feud story. But stories never begin in the middle of the action. They begin somewhere else, in quiet spaces where nobody quiet expects action to take place. And so it was with the story of Clay County Kentucky, which begins on April 13, 1807 with two Bakers at the center. The gathering for this event took place in the home of Robert Baker, then one of the landowners meant to lay official claim to this area, and the proceedings were taken by another Baker, Abner. Looking back upon these events through the lens of history, it’s surprising that the Baker boys were held in such high regard. After all, they are sometimes the villains of The Clay County War and always feudists even when they are in the right. Working backwards through time, they would not be the people you might expect to be at the very beginning.
Read the entire blog at:sofarappalachia.com/2013/04/03/clay-county-the-beginnings/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=clay-county-the-beginnings
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Post by Kentucky News on Nov 5, 2013 13:36:13 GMT -5
Charles House of Manchester wins Kentucky Historical Society Award of Distinction
Commonwealth News Center press release
The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) has released the names of the 2013 winners of its Kentucky History Awards. Winners will receive their awards at a special ceremony at the Old State Capitol in Frankfort on Friday, Nov. 8, during the KHS Annual Meeting and Kentucky History Awards Celebration. The Kentucky History Awards recognize outstanding achievements by historians, public history professionals, civic leaders, communities and local history organizations across the commonwealth. Stuart Sanders, KHS professional services administrator, added that award winners have shown a consistent effort to promote the preservation and appreciation of state and local history. Along with the Kentucky History Awards, Preserve America 2013 Kentucky History Teacher of the Year Award winner Christina Cornelius, of the James E. Farmer Elementary School in Jefferson County, and Dr. Aaron Astor, who earned the 2013 Richard H. Collins Award, also will be recognized during the event. This year’s Kentucky History Awards winners include: EDUCATION Program/Event “Northern Kentucky Regional History Day” Northern Kentucky/Highland Heights “Civil War Days” Bluegrass Heritage Museum, Winchester Documentary film “Farming in the Black Patch” Smith Farms, Murray “Anne Braden: Southern Patriot” Appalshop Inc., Whitesburg Exhibit “My Brother, My Enemy” Frazier History Museum, Louisville PUBLICATIONS “Archives for the Lay Person: A Guide to Managing Cultural Collections” Lois Hamill “Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society” Jackson Purchase Historical Society "War of 1812 Bicentennial Publications" Fredonia Valley Heritage Society “The Beverly Hills Supper Club” Robert D. Webster “75 Years of Service” Inter-County Energy Cooperative “The Kentucky Derby” James C. Nicholson “Chronicles of Boone County QR Code Project” Kaitlin Barber, Boone County Public Library
SERVICE AND SPECIAL AWARDS
Award of Distinction
Charles House, Manchester
Volunteer Group of the Year Fredonia Valley Heritage Society, Caldwell County Brig. Gen. William R. Buster Award Major General (Ret.) Verna Fairchild, Frankfort Thomas D. Clark Award of Excellence Bluegrass Heritage Museum, Winchester Lifetime Dedication to Kentucky History Carolyn Murray Wooley, Lexington Frank R. Levstik Award Dr. John E. Kleber, Louisville An agency of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, the Kentucky Historical Society, established in 1836, is committed to helping people understand, cherish and share Kentucky's history by providing connections to the past, perspective on the present and inspiration for the future. The KHS history campus includes the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, the Old State Capitol and the Kentucky Military History Museum at the State Arsenal. For more information about the Kentucky Historical Society and its programs, visit www.history.ky.gov.
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