This wonderful and historical information about Crittenden County was written by Dr.
James O. Nall, physician and
author of "Night Riders of Kentucky and Tennessee," in
September 2, 1954.
Crittenden
Sorghum Honored in D. C.
It
is said that Senator Ollie M. James, Marion's most popular personage,
introduced Crittenden County's sorghum to Washington, D.C.
Sorghum
molasses, according to the story, was a regular item on the James'
table, as in most other Kentucky homes, during Ollie's childhood, and
he developed a liking for it that stayed with him during his entire
life.
Not only that, he praised its delectable qualities to his
congressional friends, both in the House and Senate. Many of them,
accustomed to sorghum in their own states, refused to believe that
Kentucky sorghum was any different than that made elsewhere, but
there was one famous gentleman, who, on Ollie's word, decided that it
was worth a trial – the Honorable Champ Clark, Speaker of the
National House of Representatives, from Missouri. That was when the
slogan, "I'm from Missouri, you'll have to show me," was in
vogue, and, perhaps, that was Speaker Clark's attitude.
So Ollie
visited his good friend, Sion Hunt, known to everyone as one of the
best sorghum makers in Crittenden County, and asked him for a gallon
of the best molasses he had in the house.
"I've
got just exactly what you want, Ollie," he said. I've never had
a better crop. The weather was right, and I cut it and made it up
just at the right time."
Mr.
Hunt took his pocketknife and pried the lid off a gallon bucketful.
The bouquet was delightful. The molasses looked like liquid gold, and
it tasted like heavenly honey. "You're right, Sion," Ollie
agreed. "If Champ doesn't like that, he's lost his sense of
taste."
So,
taking a fresh, unopened bucketful, Ollie carried it home and set it
in the corner of his room where it could not be bothered by anyone.
Then, when he returned to Washington, he carried it in one hand, his
bag in the other. It is said that he never let the bucket out of his
sight unless it was under lock and key.
In
changing trains, he let the porter carry his bag, but not the bucket.
In going to the diner, he carried
the bucket with him, not to eat from it, but to be sure it would not
be stolen and the contents
eaten by someone else.
At
the Washington railroad station, he let the redcap carry his bag, but
not the bucket. And he treated
the taxicab driver the same way. He would not trust his gift to the
hands of anyone but the
recipient. And, finally, his friendly chore ended, he delivered it to
Speaker Clark at his Washington
home.
Ollie
admonished him that sorghum should be eaten only with hot-buttered
biscuits, that it was sacrilege
to eat it any other way. And so Mrs. James came into the picture, for
she was a biscuit maker
of excellence. Her biscuits, so I am told, were of silver dollar
size, just big enough to split in
half and make four good bites. And, covered with sorghum molasses,
what bites!
Let
us suffice to say that Speaker Clark loved Crittenden County sorghum,
that Mrs. James taught
Mrs. Clark how to make Kentucky biscuits, and that the Speaker laid
in an annual supply of
Hunt-made molasses from then on. But he never told his and Ollie's
dubious congressional friends.
He insisted on reserving that delectable secret – and shall we say
dish, jug or bucket, for himself
and family.
"Ollie,"
Champ said one Sunday morning, after they had eaten breakfast
together. "I'm sure the gods never had such ambrosia on Mount Olympus."
"You're
right, Champ," Ollie replied. "By Jove! You're right, by
Jove!"
Now,
that they are both residing on Olympus, let's hope they still agree.
So,
Trigg County many have its ham, McCracken may have it's strawberries,
and Graves County
may have it's cream but there was a time when Crittenden County had
sorghum molasses
– the
best in all Kentucky.
I think it should be revived. Yes, and hot
biscuits, too!
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