Repton's Old Baptist church

The little railroad community of Repton in Sept. 1894 was getting ready for the dedication of their new church.

From the files of The Crittenden Press, Sept. 13, 1894.  Sunday was the day for the dedication of the new Baptist Church at Repton.

Long before the hour for services the people began to arrive from the surrounding country, many coming

from a long distance to hear the sermon and to take part in the services.

There were enough people present to fill the beautiful building two or three times.

After the morning sermon a bountiful dinner was spread on the ground and the multitude fed to repletion.

In the afternoon another service was held, and it was decided to continue the meeting indefinitely, and at the regular hours all his week services will be held.

Rev. Spurlin, of Sturgis, preached the dedicatory sermon.
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This old church served the community until 1957, when the members voted to buy land at Mattoon from Fredrick Brown and construct a new building.

The old building was getting in need of updating and they decided to build the new one in a more centralized location, and just off of Hwy. 60 N.   The last event in this church was the wedding of Percy Summers to Willie Jewell Hendrix in July of 1954.

This old wooden frame structure church was located about a half mile off of Hwy. 60 on the Repton-Fishtrap Road.  There isn't anything left of the old church and the location is now part of a farming field. 

This is a picture of the Repton Baptist Church today.

The Singing Sheriff

Several years ago in the 1950's Marion had several musical bands that played at different functions and everyone enjoys these events.  All the members of the group were local folks which made it even better.

One of the well-known groups was The Kentucky Wonders, it was formed by Ray Wlson.  Ray was our

county sheriff from 1950-1954, so he became known as "The Singing Sheriff."

His band consisted of Leman Little, Guitar; Bernal "Little Jack" Little, Fiddle; J. D. Orr, Steel guitar; and Sparky Winders, Base fiddle, Bill Marvel also played guitar for the group.

The Kentucky Wonders was a popular band and played many functions around the area, at local meetings, on the court house lawn on week-ends for everyone to enjoy.  They also taped several songs at Mr. Wilson's house to be played on a Princeton Radio Station.  The Kentucky Wonders also appeared on a Henderson T. V. Station.

The Kentucky Wonders also cut a few records, some of the titles were "Waiting with Tears in My Eyes, What  Have You Done With My Heart, Plain American Boy and Heart Stealer.

When Mr. Wilson took a job as U. S. Marshall in Owensboro the band broke up and he had to move to where his job was located. 

  But Mr. Wilson was always known and remembered as our "Singing Sheriff."  He came back often to Marion and played for special functions that were being held.

Marion and Crittenden County Should Be Proud

An interesting article appeared in The Crittenden Press on Nov. 11, 1909.  It was titled "Things That Marion and Crittenden County Should Be Proud."  A nice way to help preserve our past history.

• Home of Thomas J. Nunn now serving with distinction as Chief Justice of Kentucky.
• Home of William J. Deboe who served six years in the United States Senate.
• Home of Hon. Ollie M. James, now serving his fourth term in our National Congress and who is one among the most highly recognized Statesmen of the United States.
• Marion is one of the twenty-three towns of Kentucky with a second class post office.
• The Wilbur Haynes Post Card business pays enough postage in a single month to pay the post office expenses here for a whole year, paying in every month for postage, from $2,400 to $3,400 or about $36,000 a year.
• Marion is the home of one of the best and most reliable Marble Works in Kentucky and truly the only producers of a high grade granite and marble for the rough stone in all Western Kentucky owned by Henry & Henry.  (still doing business today)
• The home of the Marion Milling Company, the recognized producers of the most popular brand of flour on the market.
• The home of the Fluor Spar Co.  This is the greatest mining district in the world today and will be proven so in less than two years.  Statistics show this to be true now and very soon the whole United Sates will be coming here for spar.  
• The home of the Heath Manufacturing Company, makers of Heath's hand made mission furniture.
• The home of the Record-Press, now in its thirty-first years and with the largest circulation of any county newspaper in the State.
• Marion has two tobacco factories that handles the tobacco from 2,800 acres, at an average of eight hundred pounds per acres. 
• Crittenden produces fine corn, wheat, hay, sheep, hogs, cattle, horses and mules.
• Marion boasts two of the finest hardware stores in Western Kentucky, a number of large dry goods and clothing houses, a number of large groceries and meat markets; an ice plant, electric light plant, a splendid graded school building, two beautiful drug stores, two banks, a number of fine churches, - no saloons and an empty jail.

New Salem School

The New Salem School was located nine miles west of Marion on the south side of  Hwy. 60 not far from the community of Midway.  It was part of the farm that was owned by the Lan Waddell family, the home place of th elate Dr. Roy Waddell of Salem.

There were two school buildings.  The first was a wood frame building and was destroyed by fire in 1944.  It was replaced by a concrete block building and so remained as a schoolhouse until the consolidation of  many of the little one and two room rural schools.

In July of 1958, the Crittenden County Board of Education announced that four more small schools would be closed, and New Salem was one of the school that was closed and the students bused to Marion.  

When the New Salem school building and lot were sold the next month, the residents of New Salem school district were sad to realize their school had been closed and the building sold.  They had hoped that the building which the people of their community worked so hard to build would still be used for the community. 

Today there is nothing to show where this school once stood.

New Salem School 1931

1st row bottom, L-R:  Lon Ainsworth, Jim Ainsworth, Helen Wring, Horsmelva Howard, Billie Nell Tyner, Alois Wring, Billie Jean LaRue, Wayne Maxfield, Tincey LaRue, Bennie Lee Maxfield

2nd row: Helen Harpending, Clara May James, Adeline Wring, Louis (Tad) Childers, Teacher Daisey Dean Hill, J. D. Bradford, Edwin Bradford, William Tyner

3rd row: Lois McCune, Fanny May Merdith, Melva LaRue, Edward Wring, Lowery Vaughn, Bradley Noward, Dorothy Tyner, Marion Harpending

4th row: Sherman Kirk, James LaRue, Howard Hayes, Bryce Vaughn