Marion and Crittenden County in 1977

While rummaging around in my collection of everything you can imagine about Crittenden County, I came across a wonderful and colorful large brochure that was created by the Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce, in 1977. It was produced by the Regional Services Office of Murray State University. What a wonderful way to share and preserve the history of our county and town. It's a shame one of these couldn't have been printed every year, or at least every five years. I hope you enjoy recalling some of the information I have abstracted from the brochure.

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The County

Kentucky's ninety-first count, Crittenden, was formed from Livingston County in 1842.

Located in the Pennyrile Region of western Kentucky, Crittenden County is names in honor of John J. Crittenden, a former Kentucky governor, U. S. senator, and U. S. attorney general.

 

The county covers a land area of 365 square miles and has a population of approximately 9,0000. The tradewater River flows along the northeastern border, while the northwestern boundary is formed by the Ohio River.

 

Crittenden County's transportation link across the Ohio is completed by a ferry which connects Kentucky 91 and Illinois 1 at Cave-in-Rock, Illinois, a historical town which once harbored outlaws and river pirates. The cove hideout now is marked by a state park.

 

The twenty-four hour, year-round ferry across the Ohio is operated by the tugs Candy H and Becky D, both out of the Port of Louisville. The 3,000-foot trip across the Ohio takes seven minutes to complete.

 

Ohio River traffic is served by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers' Dam 50 operation, which is located twelve miles from Marion, the county seat. Opened in 1927, the one-lock day handles eighteen to twenty tows daily. Three to four million tons of cargo pass through the locks each month.

 

In addition to the lock, the dam complex includes seven houses, a powerhouse, water system, and a park area with picnic tables. Dam 50 will be closed in 1980 with the completion of a two-lock operation downstream at Smithland. Under a present proposal, the Dam 50 complex will be transferred to Crittenden County for development as a recreational facility.

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Marion

The major community, within Crittenden County, Marion, has a population of approximately 3,000. The city was named an All-Kentucky City in 1969, 1970, and 1971. Marion, a city which reflects traditional southern hospitality, is one of the thirteen original members of the hall of fame of the Kentucky Chambers of Commerce.

 

The city government of Marion is composed of a mayor (four-year-term) and six councilmen (two-year-terms). City service departments include the Marion Police, the Marion Volunteer Fire Department, and the Marion Water and Sewer Department.

 

Utility companies which serve the city and parts of the county are the West Kentucky Gas Company and Kentucky Utilities Company. Crittenden County also is serve by the Henderson-Union Rural Electric Cooperative.

 

U. S. 60 and U. S. 641, Kentucky 91, and Kentucky 120 are the highways through Marion. Communication service operations within the county include South Central Bell Telephone, the U. S. Postal Service, the weekly Crittenden Press, and WMJL-AM.

 

The Marion Airport board is in the process of developing a 2,800-foot turf runway on a site located 1 12/ miles west of Marion with city, county and state funds. Future plans call for the construction of a 5,00-foot pvaed runway.

 

Lodging facilities for travelers to the county include: the Tudor Inn of Marion, the Gilmore Inn and Motel in downtown Marion, and the Tourtotel Motel, U. S. 60 Marion. In addition, Maple Sink, a small fishing resort within the county, has sites available for camping.

 

Restaurants within Marion are the Marion Cafe, the Coffee Shop, the Ranch House, the Marion Country Club, the 88 Dip, Damron's Pit Barbecue, Marion Pit Barbecue and Cruce's Coachman.

 

Points of Interest include: Crittenden County Museum, opened in 1967 by the Historical Society, James Terry's cut glass shop, featuring a beautiful cut glass collection in his shop on the court square, Wheeler's antiques, also located in Marion, Ben E. Clement's Fluorspar collection location in his home, just outside of Marion, and the Crittenden County Public Library.

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The Schools

The Crittenden County School District operates seven schools. Total school enrollment in 1977 equaled 1,721 students; five elementary school with a total enrollment of 833; the middle school, 301; and the high school, 587. Two of the elementary schools are located within Marion; Fohs Hall for grades one through three and Marion Elementary School for grades four through six. The other three schools in the county, for grades one through six, are Tolu, Frances and Mattoon.

 

Construction of the new Crittenden Count High School in Marion was completed in 1975. The old high school was converted to the middle school for grades seven and eight.

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Industry

Eleven manufacturing firms operate plants within Marion and Crittenden County. The companies ad their products are:

* Circle-O Farm Center, liquid fertilizer;

* Conyer Hardwood Lumber Company, lumber;

* Crittenden Press, newspaper, letterpress and offset printing;

* Frontier Spar, a subsidiary of Marathon Oil, miner and miller of fluorspar;

* Kentucky Stone Company, agricultural lime;

* Marion Machine Works, machine shop;

* Moore Business Forms, Incorporated, a major county firm, this Canadian-based company employs approximately 250 and produces specialized business forms.

* Ohio River Concrete Corporation, ready-mix-concrete;

* Potter and Brumfield, a division of American Machine Foundries of White Plains, New York, this major county firm employs approximately 600 workers and produces electromagnetic relays;

* Turner and Conyer Lumber Company, Incorporated, lumber, clay pipe spacers, pallets, and boxes;

* Kentucky Stump Company, home furniture made from tree trunks.

 

Rail shipping service to Marion is offered by Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, headquartered in Chicago.

 

A northbound and a southbound train pass through the county each day. The railroad maintains switching facilities, team track for eight cars, and siding space for fifteen cars.

 

Agricultural production plays an important role in the economy of Crittenden County. The major crops of the county are corn, soybeans and wheat. Livestock includes cattle and hogs.

 

The residents of Crittenden County entrust their financial matters to the Farmers Bank and Trust Company, the People Bank Bank and the Hopkins County First Federal Savings and Loan Association, all in Marion.

 

Business and civic organizations within the county include the Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce, the Rotary Club, and the Lions Club. Additional organizations include: Masonic Lodge, American Legion, Woodmen of the World, Oddfellows, Eagles, Federation of Women's Club, Eastern Star, American Legion Auxiliary, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, Little League baseball, Peewee League, Pony League, Little League football, Town and Country Riding Club, Gun Club and the Crittenden County Historical Society.

 

Recreation

Recreational facilities within Marion include two parks, two playgrounds, two tennis courts, two baseball diamonds, two football fields, and a horse riding ring.

 

Facilities of the Marion Country club are a nine-hole golf course, swimming pool and a clubhouse with dining room. The country club, which opened in 1961, is located on approximately eighty acres of land.

 

Present plans call for the development of 100 acres of land at the Ohio River Dam 50 site with the opening of a new dam downstream at Smithland in 1980. A new five-mile access road to the proposed county recreational facility already has been completed.

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This is an informative overview of our life in the county in 1977. A lot of changes, not all good, have taken place in the past 47 years.  It's hard to digest all the business that we have lost through the years. (Posted Dec. 2024)

Moore & Paris Lumber Co - 1904

 

January 1, 1904 - Moore & Paris Lumber Company building. 

 

It was owned by R. L. Moore and O. H. Paris, with James T. Hickman as district manager. 

 Robert L. Moore, the President was a well-known business man in the vicinity.

Obadiah H. Paris, the secretary-treasurer and manager, had 15 years experience in the business.

 Just a few months after this picture and advertisement was made, in May 1904, Mr. J. N. Boston purchased the Moore & Paris Lumber Co., and  incorporated the inventory into his Boston Lumber & Planing Mills, located on East Depot Street.   This would make him in control of the lumber market in Marion. 

The location of the Moore & Paris building later would be the home of the Ford dealership in Marion, then Tucker Furniture Store and Funeral Home, and today the home of Gilbert's Funeral Home.  

This building was one of the few in Marion that never was damaged in Marion's past fires.  The buildings next to it all the way to Main Street were damaged badly in the 1912 fire on that street.

John Bell and Bell Mines

Who was John Bell creator of our Bell Mines and Community

 

In 1836 John Bell, a politician from Nashville, Tennessee, came to Crittenden County in hopes of establishing a new coal mining industry. He purchased thirty-one acres of land from John Lamb and John Rourk. The land being located in northern Crittenden County, next to the Tradewater River. This was the beginning of the coal mining town that would be named Bells Mines, after the man that started the mines.

 

John Bell was rarely present at his Kentucky mine projects, he relied on paid managers. After five or six years of work on the Kentucky mine project, John Bell left and returned to national political arena and the U. S. Senate as a Senator from the state of Tennessee. In 1847, Bell put his coal holdings in trust and his agents continued to run the Bell mines. 

 

 W. C. Carvell, who had as interest in the mines and who was manager for Bell while he was away, eventually purchased Bell's interest in the mines.

 Although John Bell died in 1867 in Tennessee, Carvell kept the mine going for several years, but John Bell's legacy of the beginning of Bells Mines continued to be carried on today.

 

Bell, John Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Bell entered the U.S. House of Representatives in 1827 and served there as a Democrat until 1841. He broke with Pres. Andrew Jackson in 1834 and supported Hugh Lawson White for president in 1836.

 

After White’s defeat Bell became a Whig and, in March 1841, as a reward for party services, was made secretary of war in Pres. William Henry Harrison’s Cabinet. A few months later, after the death of President Harrison, he resigned in opposition to Pres. John Tyler’s break with the Whigs.

 

After six years’ retirement from political life, Bell was elected as a U.S. senator for Tennessee in 1847, serving in the Senate until 1859. Although a large slaveholder, Bell opposed efforts to expand slavery to the U.S. territories. He vigorously opposed Pres. James Knox Polk’s Mexican War policy and voted against the Compromise of 1850, the Kansas–Nebraska bill (1854), and the attempt to admit Kansas as a slave state. 

 

Bell’s temperate support of slavery combined with his vigorous defense of the Union brought him the presidential nomination on the Constitutional Union ticket in 1860, but he carried only Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee. He initially opposed secession; however, following Pres. Abraham Lincoln’s call for troops, he openly advocated resistance and henceforth classed himself a rebel. Bell spent the war years in retirement in Georgia and Alabama returning to Tennessee in 1865. 

 

 This marker is located in Sturgis, KY, Union County, close to the town's 4-way stop.  I always wondered why it was placed here instead of at the Bells Mines Road on SR 365.  Perhaps it is safer located there.

Firing of the Last Shot in WWI (Part II)

 

On May 19, 2020 I did a post on Herbert F. Phillips and his part in the "Firing of the Last Shot in WWI."  Since that post I have acquired some more interesting information on this story about a Crittenden County boy.

Although Herbert F. Phillips moved away from Crittenden County, he is still considered a Crittenden Countian as he was born and lived his early days here.

This is from the  Journal and Courier of Lafayette, Indiana, May 30, 1960.

Last Shot Fired After War Ended

Officially, World War I ended with an armistice at 11 a.m. on Nov. 11, 1918, but the last artillery round of that war - fired by a West Lafayette man who died last week - reportedly was fired five minutes later.

Herbert F. Phillips, an Army veteran of 34 years and two World Wars, was buried with military honors last Wednesday in Tippecanoe Memory Gardens.  

From personal correspondence of Phillips, most of it in the early 1930's when an effort was made to locate the gun and display it at West Point, along with the one which had fired the first charge of World War I, the following story of the events of that historic hour developed:

Phillips, then a first lieutenant, was executive officer of Battery E of the 11th Field artillery.  His battery was in position on a small ridge, near Evansville, France, and had been firing steady all day the armistice was signed.  The battery's target was a German "77" battery.

When orders came to cease fire at 11 a.m., Lt. Phillips planned to fire at 10:59 a.m. one last round at the enemy battery which had "given us quite a bit of trouble all morning."  according to Phillips' papers.

As it turned out, the last round actually went off at 11:05 a.m.,"either by accident or by design," according to a letter by Phillips to Maj. Raymond Marsh, of the Office of Chief of Ordnance, dated May 1, 1934.  He added he did not remember why the shot was fired after 11 a.m.

Phillips in his letters, said that a historic picture of "Calamity Jane," the artillery piece that fired the last shot, and of him and a corporal, was taken "several days later."  Other sources fix the date at Nov. 16.  The picture now is displayed in the Library of Congress.

Lafayette Leader Newspaper, Lafeyette, Ind. May 26, 1960

Herbert Francis Phillips, 70, West Lafayette, Indiana, who fired the last artillery charge in World War I, died at 4:05 PM Monday, May 23, 1960, in St. Elizabeth Hospital where he had been a patient two hours.  He had been in failing health the past year.  Born in Marion, KY, he was a veteran of both World Wars with 34 years of service with the armed forces.

During World War I he served overseas in the field artillery with the rank of Captain; from 1920-35 he did ROTC work at Purdue University, retiring in 1935.  He was called to active service with the Air Corps during World War II from 1942-46. The picture of the last artillery piece fired in World War I, and Mr. Phillips; picture hang in the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.  The artillery piece is called the 'Calamity Jane'.

Mr. Phillips had lived in this community for 28 years and was a member of Central Presbyterian Church and Eagles Lodge 347.  In 1924 he married Betty Davis.  Surviving are his widow; a daughter, Betty (Mrs. Robert) Weddle; a son, Robert, both of Lafayette; two brothers, Fulton of Henrietta, TX, and Isom of Villa Ridge, IL; and two sisters, Mrs. Maude Lewis of Marion, KY and Mrs. Walter Benedict of Winston-Salem, NC.

An Army escort from Fort Harrison attended the funeral service, which was held at Soller-Baker funeral home, May 25, with Dr. J. Dayton McCormick officiating.  Internment at Tippecanoe Memory Gardens,; the firing squad fired three volleys at the grave site in honor of the distinguished soldier.

   Herbert Phillips, solider standing next to the wheel of Calamity Jane.

If Herbert's niece, Marguerite Lewis Campbell, hadn't share this with me back in 2012, I would never have know about this piece of history.  I'll always be grateful to her.

One of Crittenden County's Barite Mills

 

Mico Mining & Milling Announces Operation

A group of St. Louis investors headed by Mr. Albert Balenson have started a new mining and milling operation just south of the state highway 91, one and one-half miles from Cave-In-Rock ferry landing.

To date they have completed an 8000 feet 6 inch water supply line from the Ohio River, a 16,000 gallon storage reservoir, and a barite concentration mill, consisting of a washing plant and a jig mill to process alluvial barite deposits located near the mill site. 

According to Mr. Ralph Pringle, the local superintendent, they are employing ten men at the present time and will probably double this number in the future.

The mill has been in operation for about two weeks and has reached an output of about 100 tons per day of high grade barite ore.

The company is incorporated as the Mico Mining and Milling Company and expects to make its first shipment of 1000 tons by river within the next week.

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A part of our forgotten past is a barite mill that was located a short distance off Hwy. 91 North at the end of Easley Rd.

From the April 24, 1958 Crittenden Press. 

A top view of the Mico Mining & Milling Co. barite mill just off Ky. 91 near Cave-In-Rock Ferry.  Taken from the ramp leading to the washing mill, the picture shows the conveyor belt at left which carries washed ore into the jig mill.  The conveyor on the other side of the building to the right carries processed barite, 95 percent pure, to the pile, where trucks pick it up for transportation to river barge loading facilities on the Ohio river.

A bulldozer at work in the alluvial barite deposit on the V. E. Cook property near the mill.   

Barite, or barium sulfate is sometimes called heavy spar, has a specific gravity of about 4.5 is used in drilling oil wells and for other industrial uses.

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I have no knowledge of how long this operation was in use, but it must have not been very long.

Hurricane Island Farmers - June 1973

 

 The large island, known as Hurricane Island, located in the Ohio River a short distance from the Tolu shore line has fascinated me for many years.  An interesting article from the Crittenden Press of June 14, 1973, by John Lucas tells some later day history of the island.  I believe the island is still used for farming.

Farming is by its nature hard work and one of the world's biggest gambles, no matter where one tries it.  But three Crittenden County farmers like to take those conditions and make things even a little more difficult.

They farm an island - the five mile long, approximately 1,000 acre Hurricane Island is the in the middle of the Ohio river below Tolu.

The three farmers are Douglas "Gene" Brazell, James Champion and Donald Champion.   While Brazell's upland ground is adjacent to the island, the Champion brothers must bring equipment from their farms which are several miles from Hurricane, this is an added problem for them.

The other islands in the county - McKinley and Cave-In-Rock - are farmable, but Hurricane is the largest operation.

Brazell farms about 200 acres on the island and the Champions 550.  They grow corn, soybeans and grain sorghum.

Timing is of the utmost importance in farming the island.  A week in the spring can mean the difference between gain or loss in the fall, according to Brazell.

Everything must be ferried to the island, and both Brazell and the Champions have their own barge and ferry tug.

Here Gene  Brazell, and his 11-year-old son, David, move equipment off Hurricane Island, part of which they crop.  

Loyd Brazell, Gene's father, keeps a watchful eye from the pilot house of their ferry, he was once a riverboat pilot.

 Brazell says he usually tries to put a tractor and fuel supply on the island in the spring before the water goes completely off the island and while he can still land at the top of the bank.

The island normally stands about 20 feet above the level of the river, and once the water goes down, it is nearly impossible to get a tractor up the steep landing cut until it is cleared of sediment.  This is the purpose of the tractor placed on the island early - to help clear the landing and assist getting the first of the other equipment ashore.

In the almost 25 years that Brazell has been farming the island, he says that he can recall only one year that water did not completely cover it during the winter.  By the time the river reaches a stage of 34-38 feet, it usually covers a large portion of the island.  

It is covering the island during the winter and spring rises that the Ohio acts as the farmer's friend.  The deposits that the river leaves are so rich that nitrogen is really the only fertilizer requirement, although starter fertilizer is usually used.  

The ability to get the crop off the island is also a limited factor when it comes to cropping Hurricane.  It isn't feasible to take each wagon or truck load of grain to storage bins immediately after it is harvested as one would do on upland ground.  Brazell says, too, that neither is it possible to store grain on the island the year round.  

The introduction of the sheller combine changed all that.  Today he said that he simply harvests all day, filling all his trucks and wagons and then moves them across the mainland at the end of the day.

In farming the island today, the practice is to alternate between the upland ground and the island, working them as the ground drys.

It hasn't always been such Brazell recalls when it was the practice to move over to the island in the spring, taking family chickens and cows, and stay until the crop was planted.  The target date, he said then was to have the crop planted and be moved back across by July 4.  This was continued until as late as 1938.   

At that time all the farming was done with a team or by hand.  Fifty acres were about all that a man and a team of mules coup crop during a growing season. And with the first tractors, 100 acres were enough for one man.

(I don't know who owns the Hurricane Island today and if it is still farmed or not.  With that rich soil, I'd say it is still farmed today.)

1918 Influenze Epidemic in Crittenden County

Recalling the 1918 Influenza Epidemic In Crittenden County

The history breaking event was getting worse in the late summer of 1918, hitting military installations first with epidemic influenza. As soldiers traveled home, they unknowingly carried the flu across the U. S. 

 

 In September in Louisville, nearby Camp Zachary Taylor (WW I's largest army training camp, with its 45,000 men, reported over 2,000 cases. There were several of Crittenden County Soldiers that died with the disease.

 

Most agree the disease affected over half the world's population as the most devastating epidemic in world history. Consider the thought that more died in 1918 of what was called the "Spanish Flu" than in four years of the Bubonic Plague (1347-1351). 

 

Kentuckians became aware of the deadly flu toward the end of September 1918 when troops from Texas debarked from an L&N train to check out Bowling Green. The soldiers unintentionally infected townspeople before returning to their coach.

 

This flu spared no one it could struck the weakest of the young to the stronger and most vigorous of the population. In October 1918 Kentucky Board of Health closed all Kentucky schools, saloons, and soda fountain stores. Mines closed due to the virus spreading in close quarters. Those not ill were kept busy digging graves until late at night. Deaths often occurred within hours or a few days. Undertakers ran out of boxes, even quickly constructed ones of rough lumber. Those in rural areas sometimes buried their children under a tree of in a field after constructing their own boxes. 

 

In January 1919, 2,143 had died. By April, death dropped to 509. Many deaths were not reported as flu, but as pneumonia which resulted from the flu or to other similar symptoms. 

 

If you are a genealogist, you probably have found that multiply family members died in 1918 and early 1919. Many children's deaths would only be days apart. As you walk through the cemeteries you'll notice the dates 1918 and 1920 appear on many older stones.  These two children's stones, sisters, are in the Crayne Cemetery.

 

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We are very limited on the history of events that affected Crittenden County during this devasting time period. The local paper at the time was The Crittenden Record Press and there are no issues available and none mirco-filmed from September 1918 (when the Flu epidemic was at it's worse) through (Crittenden Press) August 1919. The events and obituaries for that devastating time in our history are lost. 

 

From the State Board of Health Report for Crittenden County for the year 1918. The following information was found. This information would be from death certificates that the Drs. filled out and reported. There were probably several deaths that were not accounted for due to improper reporting of the information. 

 

Estimated population was 13,296. Total deaths - 171; Infants under 1 year - 27; Children age 1-4 years, 15; Aged 65 and over - 43; 5- 56 years old - 86. 

 

Preventable Diseases: Tuberculosis/Consumption - 14; Other tuberculosis - 3; Typhoid - 1; Diphtheria/Croup -1; Scarlet Fever - 1; Measles - 1; Whooping Cough -5; Pneumonia/bronchial - 18;

(sometime Pneumonia was named as death cause but was flu related) Influneza - 39; Meningitis - 3; Diarrhea disease- 6;

Other: Cancer - 7, Stillborns - 14; Other deaths due to old age, accidents and  murders - 58.

 

As far as I can find out, none of the Doctors that signed the death certificates caught the flu or died from it. It must have been a trying time. Some of the Drs. in the Marion area were, Dr. Frazer, County Heath Supervisor, Dr. J. R. Perry, Dr. C. G. Moreland, Dr. John L. Reynolds, Shady Grove had Dr. Jeff McConnell, Dycusburg, Dr. J. M. Graves, Tolu area Dr. Wm C. Davis.

Alfred Moore, Mattoon's First permanent Settler

The remains of the first log home before in was remodeled. 

The first permanent settler of the area of old Mattoon was the Alfred Moore family, who built a large, L-shaped 1 ½ story, hewn-log dwelling, on the west side of the Flynn's Ferry Road on the crest of the first small ridge or hill that marked the southern limit of the Mattoon flats or "skillet," about one mile south of the present highway junction.

 

Alfred Moore was commissioned Captain and Drillmaster of the 24th Regiment of Kentucky Militia in 1819. Captain Moore turned his large rolling field, directly in front of his home across the Flynn's Ferry Road, which was called Calvert Field, into a muster and drill field of the 24th Livingston County Regiment of state militia. Calvert Field was, from 1820 until 1842, one of the two foremost Militia muster places in west Kentucky. 

 

Part of the Alfred Moore's home is still there today. Jim Fornear purchased this property and restored the cabin. In 2006, his daughter, Becky Fornear, owned the property and had more rooms built onto the cabin and has changed the appearance of the old log home.

 

Calvert Field, which is directly across the road from the home's front yard, when it is in pasture, as it usually is now, must look very similar to it's appearance a century and a half ago. As the field's original size and shape have changed but little, if at all, over the years, it therefore takes only a little imagination to see row after row of men in predominately brown and buff homespun semblance of uniforms, strutting jauntily in their groups, and their wide-brim slouch hats giving them a certain sense of military bearing.

 

Alfred Moore’s son, Robertus Love "Bart" Moore, took advantage of the much used Flynn’s Ferry road and built a general store at the Mattoon cross roads. Moore’s store handled dry goods and hardware as well as the usual stock of food stuffs, and farm implement that was much in demand. 

 

Alfred Moore was born Feb. 19, 1790 and died Feb. 17, 1870 and is buried in the Mt. Zion Cemetery.  His wife, Jane Love Moore, is also buried there.

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Arthur Love, Silent Story Teller

 Cemeteries, silent story tellers lie in our many cemeteries.  This story is from the Hurricane Cemetery, located a short distance off S. R. 135 in western part of Crittenden County.  It is about Arthur Love, and more about  his father, Col. Andrew Love, who has a tragic ending to his life and has not a stone to mark his burial place. 

 

This picture made in Nov. of 2014.  The stone had just been recently cleaned by a local boy scout as project for his Eagle Scout badge. It included cleaning and resetting fallen stones.

 

 

Arthur Love, born Jan. 15, 1785, died Feb. 19, 1853. He was the son of Andrew and Anne Latimore Love. He was born in South Carolina. His parents were early pioneers of then Livingston County.

 Arthur owned a farm in the Hurricane area. In 1842 he one one of the men appointed commissioner to view out and mark the best way for a road from the Hurricane area to Tolu. 

 Most remembered for being a neighbor and family friend of the Ford family and was in charge of the funeral services for James Ford. He gathered together a crew of slaves and had the grave dug in the Ford family graveyard and was a member of the funeral procession escorting Ford to be buried.  When the slaves got scared and tried to run away during a fierce thunderstorm, Mr. Love demanded they come back and reset the casket into the grave.

***

Arthur's father was Col. Andrew Love, born Sept. 12, 1747, in Pennsylvania, who migrated on to South Carolina, and then later came to Livingston County in the early 1800's around 1805, as some of his children had previously moved here.   The Love's family plantation was located somewhere in the same area as James Ford's near present day Tolu. (also known as the Hurricane area)

Andrew Love was a solider in the Revolutionary War and fought in South Carolina.  He served with General Sumter, and rose to the rank of Colonel, and was wounded at the battle of "King's Mountain"  He was, in common with the rest of the Americans of Scotch-Irish ancestry, particularly severe on those who remained loyal to the British Crown, and were termed by their neighbors, 'Tories.'

For many years after removing to Kentucky, he was actively engaged in farming, on March 26, 1821, he went out to work on his farm, not returning when he was expected, search was made for him, and he was found in one of his fields, dead. On this day, the day before the trail where he would be a witness for the Plaintiff, in a case against James Ford, he was found in a field on his farm, dead, and bearing marks of violence.  Nothing to prove the deed, but some thought he was killed to be kept from testifying again Ford.

He was buried on his farm, about fourteen miles from Marion.  (How I wonder where this area was, also for his wife Anna Latimore Love who died May 18, 1814, did they once have sand stones for markers? or they still there covered by years of dirt,  have they been moved or destroyed?  my mind wonders?)

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Hopefully in the near future, Col. Andrew Love, with nine other local Revolutionary Veterans, will be remembered by a special Memorial Marker that is being worked on to be ready by the year 2026, for American's 250 Anniversary.  God be with us through these trying times. 

Marion's Fires of 1912 and 1913

 

During the history of Marion's existence it seems to have had it's fair share of devastating fires. The people have always worked together and built their town back.

Let's travel back to the years of 1912 and 1913 and read about some of these fires. From these articles we can learn of the people and their businesses that were a vital part of our town during that time. From the archives of The Crittenden Press comes the history.

November 28, 1912 – Big Fire Sweeps Several Buildings.

Last Friday night, Nov. 22^nd, just before midnight, the fire alarm whistle called the fire fighters from the downy beds of ease, to fight a stubborn blaze, which had broken out in the Pierce produce brick building on North Main Street.

The building was occupied by C. R. Newcom, Grocery and Produce dealer on the ground floor and Valentine Threlkeld's colored barbershop up stairs, also the colored Lodge and sleeping rooms.

Opinions differ as to where the fire started; some say it originated up stairs, others downstairs.

The produce building was soon a mass of flames and quickly gutted and the flames leaped to the large frame stable owned by Pierce & Son and occupied by Eskew Bros. and extended the entire length of the block on the south and to John B. Grissom's residence on the north, both of which were quickly devoured.

The fire then seized for its prey McConnell's frame building on the south and Seldon Hughes' house on the north occupied by S. S. Woodson and both were soon reduced to ashes.

The grocery stock of C. R. Newcom and in fact all the contents of the brick produce house were lost, but all the live stock and harness, and most of the feed and vehicles in the stable were saved.

The people turned out well and helped the poor suffers save their household goods, and but little furniture was lost.

A telephone pole which burned down came near striking City Marshal Loyd and had it done so he would have been instantly killed. He dodged sufficiently to miss the pole but the cross arm hit his leg, almost breaking the bone and he was scratched considerably by the wires. He was assisted to any empty buggy standing near and two townsmen grasped the shafts and drew him to hi home where he has since been confined to his bed and where his physicians say he must remain for ten days longer.

Thomas McConnell, the merchant, received a severe cut over his eye and there were several others who narrowly escaped injury. Fred Hughes, colored, came near being roasted alive in his bed.

Before the carnival of the fire was checked the money loss was heavy; Pierce & Son, stable, J. P. Pierce, produce house, J. B. Grissom, residence, Seldon Hughes, residence, W. T. McConnell store room, C. R. Newcom, loss of stock and fixtures.  (on East Bellville St.,  where Wheeler's parking lot is now)

The Marion Electric Light & Ice Co., suffered the loss of much service wire, several poles and other items. As soon as the wires burned into, the plant was closed down until the section involved could be cut out, after which service was resumed in all other parts of the city. Repairs were rushed and completed in 12 hours from the time the first fire alarm sounded. Thus restoring service for the section damaged in time for lights that afternoon.

The Marion Home Telephone Exchange suffered a much more severe loss from the fires. Nearly 200 feet of cable through which the subscribers in the northwest part of town are served, burned down. When the messenger wire carrying the cable, burned in two, it fell for several hundred yards, carrying several poles with it.

The total cost to the company will be nearly $300.00 and had not Supt. Obenchain taken matters in charge so promptly and managed them so systematically, the delay would have been much longer and inconvenience to patrons much greater.  (not sure the location of all these buildings in this fire)

On March 26, 1913 Marion was again visited by fire. The buildings of the New Marion Hotel and the Farmers Bank being the seat of the conflagration. The fire originated for some unknown cause in a rear room of the upper story of the hotel, which was unoccupied, having been vacated a few days before.

The fire alarm was given at 11:45 p.m. and every possible effort was made to stop the flames, but the "tin bucket brigade" were unable to control the flames and the building was burned to the ground.

Beside the hotel and the bank, the building contained the office of Dr. A. J. Driskill, who had two rooms on the first floor; the office of C. V. Oakley, insurance, on second floor; the office of Dr. O. S. Young, dentist, on the second floor.

R. F. Door, owner of the New Marion Hotel, estimates his loss at $3,500.

Farmers Bank, unofficial estimate of loss, $3,000, covered by insurance. The money, books, etc., deposited in the bank's vault was found after the fire to be undamaged. They set up immediately temporary headquarters at the office of James & James, where E. J. Hayward, O.S. Denny and W. E. Carnahan are transacting business in the same satisfactory way.

By a coincidence the fire of Wednesday night occurred on the eighth anniversary of the great fire which visited the city on March 28, 1905.

It was by only the hardest work that the buildings across the street were kept from igniting and a repetition of the disastrous conflagration of eight years ago prevented.

The plate-glass fronts of the stores of Yandell-Gugenheim Co., T. H. Cochran & Co., Yates Bros,. and J. H. Orme were broken by the heat. (just across the street from Farmer's Bank;, Frazer's law office, Botanicals, and Roy and Tim's Barber shop)

As soon as plans and contracts can be had, the burned out businesses expect to rebuilt on the same site, and will erect a more commodious building than the old ones.

Stills and White Lightening

In the early and mid 1920's many of the top headline stories in the local paper were about the illegal making of moonshine or the selling of "white mule."

Our hills and hollows of Crittenden County must have had their share of hidden stills and the dark of night making and selling of white lightening.

Moon shinning has deep roots in American history. It was a way of life to support their families; it was their drink, medicine and currency.

Did you ever think where it got the name moonshine; it was because the men did most of the work at night, by the light of the moon. The white lightening was well liked for it's high alcohol content and tax-free prices. As early as 1894 Congress had increased the whiskey tax to $1.10 per gallon, a stiff tax. While the increase was intended to up the government's take in revenue, it ended up creating a boom in untaxed liquor. Whether or not this had any effect on Crittenden County's moonshine business, or it was just made for the pure excitement of making the white lightening, it is still interesting to read about this time in our history.

From the archives of The Crittenden Press we can read of this illegal activity that took place in our area, it's a colorful part of our past history that many of us might not really know about, and there are probably some that might remember the time when this activity of just a part of life.

In 1921 Kentucky Gov. Edwin P. Morrow addressed the Association of Circuit Judges and Commonwealth Attorneys, stating that moonshining and bootlegging were rampant in Kentucky, and the violations of the liquor laws were such as to challenge all the forces of law and order.

Illicit manufacture and sale of liquor has grown to an appalling extent, he said, and the use of liquor, is increasing alarmingly.

There is today, a challenge being thrown out to the forces of law and order in Kentucky. I ask the Circuit Judges of Kentucky to meet this challenge and I will help in as much as I can. He ask the judges and commonwealth attorneys, "Which shall be supreme in this state the law or the blind tiger?" So Crittenden was hard pressed to fight the blind tigers.

                            ***

Here are some of the interesting articles that were in The Crittenden Press about stills found in all areas of our county.

In early 1921 the press reports that Crittenden County has acquired the distinction of having a "real" moonshine still.

Some of the boys of Tolu were hunting a few days ago and found a fully equipped still in the woods on the farm of Mr. John L. Franklin. Some one had taken, without Mr. Franklin's knowledge or consent, a tank belonging to him and used it in building the still, which has a sixteen-gallon capacity.

Mr. Franklin immediately notified the United States revenue authorities of his find, and to preserve the still moved it into his cellar, where it will be safely kept until an investigation has been made.  The tank was about one-half full of meal, which evidenced the fact that it had been tested and used.

In November of 1922 on suspicion derived from previous information Sheriff J. T. Wright, Deputy P. R. Taylor and former County Attorney John A. Moore went Saturday to a home located two miles from Piney Fork Church, with a warrant to search the premises. Upon arriving there the man of the house readily gave his permission to have his premises searched.

In a barn near the house the officers discovered a still covered with sorghum fodder, which they took possession of and brought to the courthouse in Marion.

The owner of the farm denied all knowledge of the still being on his premises. He said that it was evidently brought there by some one unknown to him on the night before while he was away from home fox hunting.

The still is of about 15-gallon capacity, is in good condition and seems to have been recently used. It is of copper throughout. The still is now at the courthouse and many visitors have called to see it.

Another still found by J. U. G. Claghorn. While he was out squirrel hunting Monday, he stopped at a supposedly unoccupied cabin on the John Nation farm, near Fords Ferry. Looking thru a window he discovered a family in the cabin and a man working around a still.

Returning to town he reported what he saw to the authorities, and with a warrant Deputy Sheriff P. R. Taylor went to the cabin, took charge of the still and arrested the man under a warrant charging him with having in his possession an illicit still.

The man gave his name and stated that he came from Illinois. He will be placed in jail to await the action of the grand jury at the next term of Circuit Court. The captured still is of copper and of about ten gallons capacity.

In November 1923 officials captured a moonshine still near Mexico. A big haul was made Friday morning when Deputy Sheriff P. E. Taylor, Jailer J. C. Spees and County Judge E. Jeffrey Travis, with a search warrant, went to a home a few miles southeast of Mexico, this county, and after searching the premises, located a moonshine still in a back room of the residence.

Besides the still, which was of about 40-gallon capacity and the best equipped yet found in this county, the officials also found in the room seven barrels of mash and eight gallons of white mule whisky, all of which they confiscated except a small amount of the whisky which, together with the still, they brought here and turned it over to the authorities.

Out in the Bells Mines area Constable Bob Adams captured a large moonshine still, together with two gallons of "white mule" which was brought to Marion and delivered to the County authorities.

The parties who were operating the still were unknown and escaped after a running fight in which several shorts were exchanged, one of which passed through the Constable's hat.

The still was located in what is known as Heath's Hollow, near Bells Mines and Constable Adamson was assisted in its capture by his deputy, Charlie Bob Sanders.

The constable and deputy went near where the still was located before daylight in order that they might find out who was operating it and at the break of day a sentinel on the opposite hill saw them and fired two shorts, then it was the constable and his assistant made a dash for the still and the operators of the still opened fire as they ran off. There were about fifteen or twenty shorts exchanged between the officers and distillers as they ran away.

When Adamson and his assistant arrived the still was in full operation. They found three gallons of moonshine and brought two gallons to town as stated, the other gallon container was broken and the contents lost. The still is said to have been well equipped for the business.

W. H. Hardesty, justice of the peace in the Tolu district, raided and found on a farm near Tolu a still that had been in recent operation. The still was of forty gallon capacity and with it was found 350 gallons of mash.

In the Cookseyville area, Sheriff Taylor raided the King farm and discovered on gallon of whiskey and one hundred gallons of mash. The discovery was made in the woods on the back of the farm and the mash and whiskey was covered with a quantity of cedar brush. No arrests were made because it wasn't known who had made the still at the time.

Most times the stills were sit up on someone else's property other than the one that actually made the whiskey. Easier not to be associated with the crime when the stills were located.

The Press Scribe Visits the river towns of Tolu, and Weston

 

As the Press correspondent traveled the county getting ads and subscriptions for the paper he would share some of his journey’s adventures with the paper. They are interesting and fun to read, plus saving some of our past history along the way.

 

 

Crittenden Press, Feb. 23, 1881

Visit to Weston

I took the road, if road it can be called, for there is no rougher one in the county, to Weston in company with Cal Elder, who was visiting tobacco growers in the interest of his firm. I saw a five-mule team badly stuck in the mud and only one hhd of tobacco and assisted the teamster to unload and get out of that snap and the need of good roads again impressed me. 

 

Next we came to M. G. Gilbert's the boss tobacco farmer. Uncle Mike is getting old but he is a determined farmer and was busy at work. Then on to John Gilbert's another one of our good farmers, who raises tobacco with the many other crops, such as grasses, corn and wheat.

 

We soon arrived at the town of Weston, we were the guests of the Weston Hotel, kept by J. L. Hughes, and no one knows better how to care for the wants of the weary and hungry, his table is supplied with the very best of eatables, his rooms comfortable and neat, and beds with snowy linen and elder down. You at once feel that you are at home. Connected with this well kept Hotel is a good table, a grocery store where staple and fancy groceries, as well as the choicest wines and liquors, cigars and tobacco are kept.

 

Weston is a very unpretending little place, but is surprising at the amount of goods sold there, all lines of goods are very well represented and no complaint of dullness in trade, all the merchants assuring us that trade was very good. Our young friends the Haynes Bros. are going to increase their business by adding groceries to their neat drug store.

 

Otho Nunn and Son intend building a storehouse soon to accommodate their growing trade. They carry an assorted stock of general merchandise. Lambeth Bros. are doing a thriving business. Billy is going to Cincinnati soon and if you will read the Press when he gets back you will see what he has for sale.

 

John Nunn and Co., has a nice lot of hardware, saddlery, furniture, plow, and field seed for sale. They keep the best line of cooking stoves I have ever seen in the county, and they sell for prices to suit the times. The store is presided over by the junior member, Bob, that enterprising, modest and gentlemanly young man, will charm you and you will be pleased and sure to go again.

Crittenden Press, Oct. 29, 1903

Tolu  by the Press Scribe.

Tolu is a much larger and prettier town than I expected to see, and viewed from the hilltop approaching it presents a picturesque and very beautiful appearance. There are a number of handsome residences and some really pretentious cottages – Mr. Ed. Dowell’s and the one adjoining it for instance.

 

The town has a fine flouring mill, which manufactures the best grades of flour; there are several general merchandise stores and a number of other business houses, two hotels – the Minner House and the Weldon Hotel.

 

Judge Gordon and Mr. Grayot dined at the Weldon, and your correspondent did the same, and was a guest of the house until Friday morning.

 

While there I was treated most royally, both by landlord Weldon and wife, and their handsome and accomplished daughter, Miss Mima. Every attention is paid to the comfort of the guest’s at this hotel and I will wager any amount that in a cooking contest Mrs. Weldon will win the prize every time.

 

I thought we had a beverage called milk here in Marion, but the golden nectar they gave me at the Weldon dispelled that illusion. Any traveler wishing the real comforts of a home will surely find them at the Weldon Hotel, with a grand landlord thrown in for good measure.

 

About half-past 7 o’clock Friday morning Old Eagle and I took the back trail for Marion. The sun shone brightly, the air was sharp and frosty, and as Eagle hit the road with that long, heavy swing of his which whizzed the buggy along like a young tornado we soon rattled off the miles between Tolu and Marion.

***

Assessor's Report for Crittenden County in March 1911

 

March 1911 - What the Assessor's Book Shows About Crittenden

Thanks to the old assessor's reports, we have historical information from Dogs to Diamonds that were in Crittenden County. 

 

One would expect the books to show the largest increase in dogs, that is, if one may believe all the evidence that his ears hear, and his eyes behold. But the increase is only 208, and there are there are now but 1278 dogs in the county. Since the tax is moderate, and the signs of increase many, we may expect the books to show it next year.

 

We have 4863 sheep, an increase of 45 over last year. These are valued at $2.50 per head. But for the work of some of the dogs listed, or not listed, the number of sheep would have been swelled to 4943, as their were damage claims filed for exactly 80 sheep killed and crippled during the year. It is not surprising to see that the sheep killed, were in every case, the best of the flock, and that the average claim per head was $5.00. The Crittenden county dog certainly knows a good sheep when he see it.

 

It is not so easy to account for the loss of 5665 acres of land, and 26 town lots. It may be that the surveyors have abandoned the old time way of calculating and measure from hilltop to hilltop. Certain it is, the assessors books show that we now have that number less of acres and town lots than we had one year ago. The total acreage is now 213,989, but the average value has increased 30 cents and it is now valued at $7.90 per acre.

 

There are 34,456 acres of woodland and the woodland taken in connection with the land in cultivation shows that there are 126,243 acres, more than half the land in the county, cleared, but idle and unproductive. Some can find encouragement to the fact that the 34,456 acres of woodland is an increase of 2876 over the year before. It is doubtful if a clearer example of re-forestization exists any where.

 

We raised 38,826 bushels of wheat on 2871 acres of land, and the year before raised 13,507 bushels on 967 acres; an average yield of each year of 14 bushels per acre.

 

From the hand bills posted at cross roads and other public places, one would believe the county to be the veritable home of thoroughbred stallions, yet there are only three, with a value of but $500.00.

 

There are only two diamonds in the county, as against eight the year before, but the size and quality has vastly improved. The eight were worth $955. while the two still in the county, are worth nearly as much, to be exact, $740.

 

In jewelry there are manifest signs of economy. Last year there was $1,110. worth of jewelry, while now there is only $140. worth, and we know the man that owns it all. In gold, silver and plated ware, economy and retrenchment too is shown. Last year there was $190 worth of such ware, while now the stock is reduced to $105.

 

It is good to note an increase of 300 in children of school age over last year and the number now stands at 3,769. As compared to ten years ago, we now have 360 fewer children.

 

The adult males in the county number 3,083 a slight increase over last year, but a decrease in the last ten years of 140. Children may come but they certainly go from us as soon as the age of discretion permits.

***

This very impressive and detailed report of the county was taken by Robert Thomas who was the County Assessor in the year 1911.

Frontier Setting was early Marion

 

 In the 1840's and 50's Marion had no direct state connection with the older communities of east and central Kentucky and Tennessee.  The new town like the trans-Mississippi West cow-towns, had to  build itself independently like most Western frontier towns. 

The town of Marion during her first two decades must have closely resembled the typical movie set of an old frontier town with weatherboard log and frame two-storied buildings surrounding a public square.

As noted before Marion, like the towns of the Old West, was not intended to be a residential center but a business centralization point of the surrounding territory, so there were only a dozen or so substantial residences within the boundaries of Marion before the Civil War.

Marion had only two or three sawmills and a couple of grist mills, all water or horse-powered, situated near the bank of Crooked Creek just to the north and west of the present Northwest corner of Marion.  

One of the original by-laws provided that with the exception of citizens of Crittenden County that all "peddlers and transient persons" should pay a license before doing business in Marion.

Apparently this first attempt at an "occupation license tax" was successful, for the town's industrial and mercantile growth in the 19th century was truly phenomenal.

In 1850 R. E. Haynes was appointed the first Marion City Attorney, and the Trustees ordered that each proprietor build a substantial brick or stone pavement in front of his property on each side of Main Street.

Bill Monroe At Fohs Hall in February 1954

Bill Monroe at Fohs Hall

Feb. 19, 1954. Direct from the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tenn, Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys will appear in person at Fohs Hall, on the night of February 24^th. The show will be sponsored by the Marion Kiwanis Club, for the underprivileged children and needy persons of Marion and Crittenden County.

 

Bill Monroe is regarded by experts in the field of American Folk Music as one of the truly representative singers in this field. He expresses the feeling of the countryside to a marked degree. His handling of heart songs is in a class by itself. Tis said in the singing of folk songs that the words are secondary and the feeling is primary. Bill has been with WSM since October 1939 and he brought his Blue Grass Boys with him.

 

Since then he has written several outstanding song hits – "Kentucky Waltz," "Uncle Pen," and Poison Love" which are riding high in the list of popularity charts. He comes by these writings honest, being born and raised in the hills of old Kentucky, taking the themes from actual characters and situations.  His latest hits can be heard on the Decca label and music stops cannot keep up with the demand for his recordings. 

Bill Monroe is still one of the most consistent box office attractions for the Grand Ole Opry and is known as "America’s Number One singer of American Folk Music."

Trying to Save old Marion High School - 2001& 2003

 Just for history's sake, I thought it would be good to record here a couple of efforts to save the old PWA built Marion High School.  Will anyone in the future regret that this beautiful landmark building in Marion was destroyed?  I doubt it.

The Crittenden Press, October 18, 2001.

Plan would revive old school as new location for city hall.  One of Marion's oldest and prized landmarks may again have a chance at new life if local officials follow through on a plan to save the historic building.

On Monday  night, Marion's city council gave Mayor Mick Alexander the authority to enter into an option agreement with Tommy W right for the city of Marion to purchase the old Marion High School on South College Street.

If feasible, the city could soon call the deteriorating building home, converting the former school into Marion City Hall.

Last year, attempts by local officials to purchase the school and its surrounding property for use as a joint city-county justice center were hampered by real estate acquisition discussions involving the parking lot.   (The Marion United Methodist church has previously purchased the lot behind the school for their parking lot)

The mayor said the city has enough money in reserve to get the building stabilized, repairing the roof and other structural problems that have arisen in nearly 20 years without regular maintenance.  Several exterior problems are obvious - broken windows, crumbling woodwork an unattached gutters, but extensive water damage exists inside on either end of the building covered by a flat roof.

Alexander said any use of the property by the city would maintain the  historical integrity and outward appearance of the structure. 

This most recent effort to save the historic schoolhouse marks the third time in four years the property has been considered for development by local officials.  Prior to lat year's justice center plan, a 1998 study looked at converting the structure to a center for higher education.

The Crittenden Press, April 24, 2003 - Old School Plans too High

No one from the county showed up to hear a presentation for renovating the old Marion High School for use as a city/county building during Monday's night's Marion city council meeting.

It may have been just as well, as the cost for the project came close to $9 million.

The resulting monthly cost of more than $37,000 for 20 years came out to payments of $22,379 for the county and $15,035 for the city.

All efforts failed as board members on both city and county didn't think it was worth spending that much money on it.

Now will be only a memory in our forgotten passages of time.