Christmas Greetings From The Past

A visit to Christmas past through the beauty of vintage Christmas Postcards.

All from the early 1900's.  Very different from what we have now.  All beautiful and unique.
                                                                   

Tolu's Touchstone

This past history happened in July 1983.

According to legend around Tolu, if you touch or step on a certain rock - no one seems to know for sure just where or which stone it is - that you will always come back to the small Ohio River town.

But in July 1983 some regularly attending members of the yearly Tolu School Reunion got together and had Henry and Henry Monuments create a real Tolu Touchstone.  

At this time there was a large number of the past school students and teachers who would attend these yearly gatherings at Tolu.  

The simple inscription engraved in the face of the rock, "Welcome Home," meant a lot to some of the Tolu graduates that would come from many places to visit their former friends and classmates from Tolu School.

The stone sits on a masonry foundation built by Darrell Sherer in front of the steps to the former Tolu Methodist Church site across from the old Tolu Bank building on the corner of First Street and Orchard Avenue.

The crowd this day in July 1983 gathered around the stone, some placed pennies on the stone for good luck and in hopes they would be able to return the next years for the reunion. 

When one bystander was asked if he had anything to say, he quietly answered, "Just being here is enough."  

The group slowly  made its way back up toward the school building and everyone stopped and placed their hands on the Touchstone.

Now the legend of Tolu will last as long as the stone itself.

These were wonderful times, all of these early reunion attendees are gone now, and the wonderful rural school closed its doors in 1998 to the so-called sound of progress and the students were then bused to the Elementary and Middle school at Marion. 

The Tolu community still has the annual school reunion in the summertime, I wonder now if any of these later graduates of the school know the history of the "Tolu Touchstone."

Owen School

1st row: Rodney Brown, Rawles Hodge, Eugene Guess, Bruce Hodge, Doyle Polk, Shelly Asbridge, Chastine Maxfield.

2nd row: Mildred Riley, Dorothy Brown, Mary Brown, Teacher- Mr. E. Jeffrey Travis, Billie Polk, Evalee Myers

3rd row: Mildred Hodge, Elma Brown, Georgia Polk, Nina Brown, Anna Simpkins, Margaret Polk, Fannie Simpkins, Kelly Asbridge.

4th row: Donald Kirk, Vernon Maxfield, Leroy Brasher, J. E. Asbridge, Harold Hodge, Raymond Riley.

Owen school was located on S. R. 855 N. from the community of Frances.  It was located on the same place that the Owen Cemetery is now located.

The school's time period in history was the 1800's until 1953 when many of the little one room county schools were closed and consolidated with one larger school, when it closed what few students were left were bused to the Frances Elementary  School. 

Here is parts of an essay written in 1937 by one of the students.  It was shared by Doyle Polk and was written by one of his older sisters that attended school there.

The school house is surrounded by a natural forest on all but one side.  During the hot summer days at the beginning of the school term we have shade on all sides and it is usually pleasant in the school ho use until in the late afternoon.  The noon day sun shines in the front door, and we have a mark on the floor to tell us when it is time to eat.

We are not blessed with drinking water like some schools, but have to carry our water from a spring far down in the field.  But it is fun to go after a bucket of water.

In the winter when it is cold we can run and skate on our slide as we have a pond right in the corner of our school yard.  Sometime we fall while skating, but this in only fun after it quits hurting.

There has been a school here longer than the oldest people can remember.  First it was a log house with puncheon floor, and split log seats, then a boxed house.  Then when Mr. Asel Hodge and Alvery Elder were boys, just big enough to use a hammer and saw, they built a new house, framed, with two windows to a side.  One door in the front and one window in the rear where we watched the squirrels play.  

While our school house is old and small, the water far removed, the desks worn and too few, it is still the dearest place on earth to me.  I may live long and travel far from here, my duties in the future require that I live in other communities, yet the loving friendships formed, the pleasant associations formed, the many truths taught by my teachers, all go to make "Old Owen School" a place I will always remember.

A Crittenden County Tree in Frankfort?

Crittenden Record Press, Sept. 12, 1912.
Every county is to have a different kind of tree set on Capital Square, Nov. 13, Planting Day.

H. S. Hillenmyer and Prof. Harris Garman of Lexington have reported the selection and allotment of trees to be planted on the State Capital grounds by the different counties of Kentucky.  If each county should agree, Kentucky will have a complete arboretum as a beautiful background for the new Capital.

Crittenden's tree is a Sycamore, Caldwell a Sugar Maple, Livingston a White Ash, Lyon's a Cottonwood, Webster a Shell Bark Hickory and Union County a Persimmon.

Nov. 21, 1912 - Crittenden County was well represented at the State arboretum and tree planting at the Capitol Grounds last week, by three trees of the variety chosen, Sycamore.  

Judge Blue, who was present to see the job well done, and reports that all three were planted.

As previously noted in these columns, the trees were donated by John W. Wilson, and were selected and the shipping supervised by J. F. Dodge, who is not a novice in the culture of trees and flowers.

William H. Wallace lent his friendly aid also in helping to dig the trees.

These gentlemen did what they did gratuitously and the trees should be named John, Will and Frank in their honor to ensure them living and doing well.

Communities Of Crittenden County

In September 1961, Crittenden County had a three day Frontier Festival.  It celebrated our county and town.  For this special occasion a little booklet was put together with all kinds of history information about the county, the people and other items of interest.  The following was taken from this booklet.

Communities of Crittenden County

• Mexico.  Mexico was originally called "Annora," but the name was changed to Mexico when the post office was established on January 13, 1906, with John A. Myers as the Postmaster.
• Crayne. Crayne was once called "Crayneville".  The first Postmaster was Lee Cruce, and he was appointed on January 12, 1886.  Dow Husbands settled his hardy band of pioneers near Crayne over 200 years ago.
• Sheridan.  The Post Office at Sheridan was first established on April 13, 1880, and called "Amplias."  The first Postmaster was William E. Weldon.
• Tolu.  The whole section of the county around Tolu was known as Hurricane in the beginning.  The post office was located at the mouth of Hurricane Creek on the Ohio.  When the post office washed down the river in the flood of 1884, the government set up a new post office in the little settlement about one-half mile from the river, where there was located a general stone.  The general store was selling a very popular patent medicine made from the South American Tolu tree.  This medicine was good for man and beast alike.  Especially for man as a whiskey base it was very pleasing to man's taste.  It was suggested the new post office be named Tolu, so it was.
• Frances.  Frances, lies about ten miles South of Marion.  In its early days it was known as "Needmore," starting up at a crossroad with a general store and a Post Office.  Early settlers laughingly thought this a good name because it needed more of everything.  Around 1886 Marion, a young lad, suggested naming the village after President Grover Cleveland's wife, Frances.
• Dycusburg.  In about the year of 1835 a Mr. Shelby opened the first ferry here on the Cumberland River.  Then came Mr. Berry Dycus who built a warehouse.  From then on Dycusburg was the shipping point for the towns for miles around.   The first fluorspar that was ever shipped in Crittenden  County was put in barrels and shipped by river from Dycusburg.
• Shady Grove.  Shady Grove is located in the Eastern part of Crittenden County and bordered by Webster and Caldwell County lines.  It was founded in the early 1800's and incorporated in 1904 with Dennie Hubbard as City Judge and John A. Moore as Attorney.
• Marion.  Marion, the county seat of Crittenden County, was named for General Francis Marion of Revolutionary fame.  It was incorporated in 1844, and is located in a valley near the center of the county.  It is bounded on three sides by rivers, on the northwest by the great Ohio, on the southwest by the Cumberland, and on the northeast by the Tradewater. 

Marion Businesses Grow After The Civil War

After the cooling down of the hostile passions brought on by the unnatural war between brothers, like most of its Kentucky neighbors, Marion suffered a term of reconstruction as harsh as most Southern States. It was difficult to get the town re-organized and everyone working together again so their town could grow and prosper once again as it was beginning to do before the war.

 

Although the State remained in the Union during the war, Western Kentucky was considered as rebellious territory by the U. S. Government. Even though this period of control was closely followed by the lean economic times of the 1870's, Marion “beat the odds” by laying the basic foundation of her presently very healthy industrial and mercantile situation.

The Civil War left only a burned court house and a military grave marker to remind Marion that hostilities had occurred, yet the young town actually suffered much more from the war than did the battleground areas. For Western Kentucky was a sort of “No man's land” - distrusted by the North as rebellious territory, and yet considered “Yankee” by the ex-Confederates.

Together with the bitterness that prevailed, local affairs among the yet divided citizenry of Marion for several years after the end of the shooting, and the economic recession which followed the wartime inflation in the 1870's, made the necessary industrial development of Marion difficult.

When the regular city government assumed control of Marion in 1867, Aaron S. Threlkeld and John W. Blue were elected to fill the vacancies on the Board of Trustees and E. H. Perkins was appointed City Marshall.

In the April 1870 election, Jorden G. Hoover was elected police judge; T. L. K. Dickerson, marshal; James E. Black, assessor; David Woods, Clerk and John W. Blue, John Cameron, John N. Woods, Aaron S. Threlkeld and Berry S. Young as Trustees. 

On July 28, 1870, a preamble and resolution was adopted setting forth that the peace and good order of the town on Monday, the day of the election, depended on the sobriety of the citizens, and therefore the saloon and hotel keepers and druggists are requested to suspend the sale of liquor on that day.

In 1868 the Marion School Association was formed and the City trustees leveled an advalorem 1% tax and allowed David Woods $85.00 for what is now East Carlisle Street, in preparation to build a new school. 

Always interested in the education of her children and young people the citizens of Marion soon started work on getting an Academy. On February 19, 1869, the Marion Association was granted a State charter and built a $1,700 brick and frame, two story building on what is now the old Marion Jr. High School campus, and officially began the Marion Male and Female Academy.

In January 1869, James W. Bigham, a noted Methodist preacher, was appointed town attorney. W. S. Carnahan was appointed town marshal. At the same meeting Wm. Hughes was allowed the price of his tavern license for filling a large mud hole in the center of town. This license carried with it the privilege of selling ardent spirits by the drink.

Because of the fear of the Confederate raids during the war and of outlaw robbery after it, stagecoach connections were not established with Marion until 1870. Nathaniel B. Douglas ran the first stage coach tavern, called White Tavern, until it was destroyed by fire in 1876. (It was located where the Marion Fire Station is today). Nathaniel Douglas died in 1877 and is buried in the Old Marion Cemetery.

The first real industrial concern in town was the Marion Tannery, a white oak bark-cold water manufacturer of leather and leather products. It was commenced by Wm. D. Haynes and Company in1869 on a ten acre tract which now includes the site of Conrad's parking lot and store building. There was a large spring located near by that was needed to run the tannery.

Also there were no banks established in Marion at this time, but there were several merchants doing business. Alonzo C. Gilbert had a saddlery and harness establishment, D. N. Stinson ran a mercantile store in the Masonic building, A. S. Hodge has a grocery store, Meyer and Ullman ran a grocery in the old long brick building that stood on the present site of the people bank. Mr. Perkins, ran a book store. These merchants carried general stocks, groceries and a few handled liquors. There was also the Marion Hotel called the Brick Tavern and the White Tavern. J. W. Adams conducted the only blacksmith shop in town, it was located on W. Bellville Street. 

In 1897 Marion adopted its present form of city government. Dr. Robert Love Moore was the first Mayor.

***

Many of these pioneer citizens and business men spoken of in this article, are buried in the old Marion Cemetery.

Mapleview Cemetery, once know as the John Lamb Cemetery

The land was first owned by John Lamb.  He had it platted for graveyard purposes and recorded the plat on April 1, 1893, in Deed Book 1, page 279 in the Crittenden County Court House.  

J. B. Kevil suppose to have prepared the plat for Lamb and was involved in a change of its ownership.

On August 23, 1893, a deed was recorded, whereby John Lamb and his wife, A. A. Lamb, conveyed the cemetery to R. W. Wilson and J. B. Kevil with the exception of certain specified lots; these evidently had already been sold or committeed to various individuals.  John Lamb was to be responsibile for laying out th ecemetery and for building and maintaining its road.  He was permitted to make use of the undeveloped acreage but not for the purpose of grazing livestock. 

John Lamb died almost a year later on Sept. 1894 and was buried in his plot in the new cemetery.

His obituary from the Crittenden Press. Sept. 13, 1894.  John Lamb died at his residence in Marion, Friday, Sept. 7, 1894, after several months illness of consumption.

He was born in the Bells Mines neighborhood, June 18, 1829.  His father was David Lamb, who was born in North Carolina in 1801, and his mother was Mary Ann Price Lamb. 

 In 1807 the family came west, crossing the Ohio at the falls; then a settlement was made in Indiana.  In 1820 David Lamb left this settlement and traveled on to Kentucky and settled, in what later be Crittenden County.

He was married to Miss Almedia A. Phillips.  As a fruit of this marriage, four children was born, one of whom died in early childhood; and three were at his bedside when he died.  They are Rev. J. Reed Lamb of California, Pa., A. U. Lamb, of this place and Mrs Mollie Travis of Princeton, Ky.