Happy Halloween Memories

How about some Halloween fun from over a hundred years ago. Marion in the early 1900’s was a festive place, and it seems Halloween was a favorite time for having fun parties

The young people knew how to throw an entertaining party, with good food, exciting imaginary games, and good friends. Their parties seemed to not get started until very late in the evenings and would continue until the morning hours.

  Delightful Halloween Reception. (October 31, 1904)

Mesdames J. W. Blue and J. H. Orme gave the first of the season Halloween entertainments at the residence of Mayor J. W. Blue, on the corner of College St., and Wilson Avenue.

Among those who attended were noted the following: Mesdames Ollie M. James, Henry H. Sayre, C. Maxwell, Thomas H. Cochran, Sidney M. Jenkins, Wm. J. Deboe, I. H. Clement, Chas. Evans, Avery H. Reed, George M. Crider, John J. Clark, Harry A. Haynes, Robert F. Haynes, Frank Walker, Thos. Clifton, E. J. Hayward, George C. Gray, Perry D. Maxwell, Henry K. Woods, Clem S. Nunn and James R. McFee.

Guests were first ushered into the reception hall and then all invited to the Halloween room where beautiful decorations of pumpkin vines, apples and oranges; sketches of witches riding broom sticks, skulls and cross bones, bats and skeletons were galore. Candies of different kinds and colors gave a soft glow to the jack- o’-lanterns.

Several contests were indulged in such as bean and candle, guessing the number of candies, witches, etc. After this a “nose contest” which was the most enjoyable of all.

Guests were then invited into the dining room where they feasted on cider, pumpkin pie, ginger bread and other good things of the Halloween season.

Souvenirs were presented to each guest and a most enjoyable time was had, and the season’s reception was opened auspiciously. 

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Another party going in town that same night was being hosted by Mrs. Jim Henry, assisted by Mrs. Charley Moore. They very delightfully entertained a crowd of young people in her home on West Belleville Street. Games and contests were engaged in.

Henry Haynes won the prizes given for the “Advertisement Contest.” Miss Daisy Towery, also, won a prize. It being Halloween, of course, fortune telling was popular, each one drawing his or her fate from a pumpkin.

At another popular household in town a Phantom Party was being held. As the young people arrived, the young ladies were ushered into one room and the young gentlemen into another, there each guest was robed in white from head to foot, all the robes being precisely alike.

All then assembled and for more than an hour these grave specters wandered about and it was impossible to recognize any one.

At nine o’clock the phantoms paired off and then each mask was lowered and instead of the death like countenance of the ghost was seen the happy face of some young lady or gentleman.

Refreshments were served and at 11 o’clock the young people dispersed, all agreeing they had a delightful time.

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I remember the Halloween parties that we would have when I was growing up in the 1950's.  It would usually be in someone's basement.  It would be decorated with simple home make decorations of cardboard witches and bats, and also the streamers of creme paper, which would be black and orange braided together to make chains that would be drapes around everything. Some of the "refreshments" would be given out with everyone's blindfolded, as to imagine that grapes were eye-balls, spaghetti as brains, and what ever the host family could dream up that would be scary feeling.   The real refreshments were usually home-made popcorn balls, caramel apples and home-made fudge.  What fun and care-free times.

John A. Myers

The Crittenden Press, Sept. 13, 1917.  Another Monument At Cooksyville.

A beautiful memorial has just been placed at the grave for John A. Myers in the Cooksyville Cemetery.

This is the first monument to be erected in this cemetery for several years.  It was made by Henry & Henry at Marion, Ky.

*****

The old Cooksyville Cemetery is known today as the Sulphur Springs Cemetery.  It is located in the SE section of the county on the Sulphur Springs Rd.  off of Hwy. 641.

John A. Myers was the son of William and Sarah Elizabeth Tabor Myers.  He was married to Sarah G. Pollard

Going Spring School

Going Spring School was located in a wooded area in the vicinity of Winlow Park near U. S. 60 north about 3 miles from Marion.  Land for the school came from property deeded by J. G. Flanary and wife to M. W. Terry and wife in February 1871.  In later years the farm was owned by A. M. Going.  That is how the school became known as Going Spring School. 

In the 1920's when young people wanted to become teachers they could receive that training at Going Springs Normal School.  An alternative to college Going Springs gave people without a high school degree the opportunity to receive a teaching certificate.

Throughout the school session students were taught many different subjects.  W. K. Powell, a well known eight grade teacher at that time, was asked to each the school in the summer of 1926.  His primary purpose was to prepare the students for the state teacher's examination.  Two students were there that year who were preparing to enter High School at Marion.

The students that attended Going Spring School in the summer of 1926.  Front row Clara Etta Stone, Hazel Farley.  Back row: Mamie Murray, Mattie Lee Conger, Pauline Clark, Grace Lemon and in the back, Mr. W. K. Powell, Teacher.

Joseph Fowler Cemetery

Several years ago as I was working on gathering information for the Crittenden County Cemetery Books,  I would hear that there was a Fowler Cemetery out somewhere off the old Fords Ferry Road, the only thing I could find about it was that at one time the Pilot Knob Cemetery was known as the Fowler Cemetery.  And this was true as the land that the Pilot Knob Cemetery was located on was once the farm land owned by pioneer settler, Stephenson Fowler.  So I let it rest.

BUT, some years later more information came into view from the descendants of the Joseph S. Fowler descendants.

 Yes, there was a Joseph Fowler Family Cemetery, which is located on the Carl Fowler Rd. off of Fords Ferry Rd. about 3-4 miles from Marion on the original Fowler homestead land. 

In the picture above, you can see some of the stones that had been removed, but will soon be replaced, and in the back ground the newly placed flags to mark the old grave sites.

Carl and Tom Fowler worked in concrete and stone work, and Tom removed the old stones from the cemetery, took them to his workshop, not too far from the cemetery, and his plans were to re-carve the names and dates on the stones and do some repair on them, then re-place them on their location in the cemetery.  He died before getting this done and the stones lay around the shop and piled against a tree for many years.

Recently, brothers, Rudy (on left) and Lanny Fowler have become interested in re-locating the cemetery plot, and getting the stones reset, and also designating the original area once again as a cemetery.

With the help of grave dowsing rods we have located the grave sites in the old cemetery and they have marked them with flags, this way the area of the original cemetery can be marked.  There are not stones for all the located grave sites, but at least they know where the were once.  Lanny said he was going to reset the stones as best he could as to where they set originally.  There are several bases, he hopes to fit the stones to these bases.

Joseph S. Fowler was the oldest stone in the cemetery.  He died Jan. 17, 1840, age 63 years, so he would have been born 1797.  On his stone is the Weeping Willow, the symbol of sorrow and human sadness.

Preserving and caring for these old family cemeteries is wonderful.  So many have been destroyed and lost forever.  I'm grateful to Rudy and Lanny for their wanting to preserve their family heritage for future generations.

Goodbye to the old Dunn Springs Church

The small one-room white frame church buildings that once were a familiar sight scattered about our county have all but disappeared.  Gone are the days of these small communities houses of worship that served so many our farm families of years ago.  Either they have closed completely, or they are struggling to keep going by the few members that attend regularly.  Such is the case of the Dunn Springs Baptist Church. 

The old one-room church had stood on it's holy ground by the side of the Dam 50 (Ky. 387), since 1881.  

The first church was made of logs in 1844, near the spring for which the church was named.  During one of the Ohio River floods the river back up in Crooked Creek and washed this building away.  The second church built in 1881 was built farther up on the hill from the creek.

The church building went through some renovations during it's life and the picture above was made in May 1956 after the new entrance and concrete steps were added.

During the last several years, the old building was beginning to get in bad condition as the church foundation, which was build on a pier foundation, which meant that it was raised off the ground and sat on a foundation of large flat stones, had become unsafe.  

The picture above was made in June 2012 as they were getting ready to tear the old church down.  It was buried at the very location on which it sat.

The present day members, which only average around 12-14 people, could not afford to have the church restored.  They have a small metal building just to the right of the old location that they hold  Sunday services in.

Forgotten Business of Years Past

Marion used to be such a busy growing town, I can truthfully say there was a gas station on about ever corner in Marion.  We now have three that serve the community.  

There is Ideal on the North side of town, Five Star in the center of town and Liberty Fuels on the South side of town. 

The Sinclair station building, now not a gas station, but is still being used today, it is the home of the Myers NAPA store.

This picture of the station was made in 1969.

South Side Gulf was across the street from Sinclair.  Later Randell and Glenda Chandler ran this station for many years.  

They had to close the station when they were going to have to replace the old gas tanks. The building is still there, but it is empty now.
Picture made in 1969

This funny looking little building was Runyan's Chevrolet office before their new modern car dealership building was built just a short distance from this one.  This picture was made in 1955.  It was located where the 5-Star Mini Mart is located today on North Main Street.  

The new display and office building was where Johnson's Furniture Store is today.  They still use the building as their floor display and office.