1971 Articles

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1971 Articles

Description

Madison’s Heritage articles from 1971 cover many different, people, events, and buildings in our county’s history. Foundational businesses in the county including the Zaring Mill, Churchill Weavers, and Bybee Pottery are covered. There are several articles on education in the county and some articles on the important newspaper man and historian, French Tipton. In “The Sale of Vagrants,” Dr. Grise describes this interesting practice of our county’s past. In “Madison-Model, 1943-47” Dr. Engle recalls his high school sports reporting days, detailing baseball and basketball teams of the past.

Contributor

Kathryn Engle

Collection Items

Putting Our Best Foot Forward
A small, 28- page brochure entitled "Madison County Ky., Its Possessions and Opportunities" was printed in 1928 by business leaders in an attempt to get Madison County its share of the growing U.S. economy of the 1920's. Although there is no way to…

Andrew Jackson Mershon
I am indebted to Mrs. Mary Mershon Kern of Cincinnati for information in this article about her grandfather, Andrew Jackson Mershon. Mershon was born in 1824 in Mt. Sterling and died in Richmond in 1889. He served in the Mexican War and returned to…

The Cholera in Richmond
Twice in Richmond's history, in 1833 and 1849, the much-dreaded disease cholera reached epidemic proportions. The people's fears were well-founded for the disease was highly contagious and spread quickly. It caused acute suffering and in many cases,…

Madison National Bank
The Madison National Bank was organized January 24, 1870 under the National Bank Act of 1864. It issued its own currency during the latter part of the 19th Century and anyone having any of its notes has a collectors' item. The first directors were…

Chancellors and Presidents of Central University
Although Rev. Stuart Robinson was the first Chancellor of Central University, most references skip over him, since he never actually went beyond the planning stage for the school and never served the school after its opening. Mention should also be…

Madison's Heritage (Ice Co.)
Before the invention of the electric refrigerator the people of Richmond and Madison County were able to have ice for summer use only through a rather difficult process.

In the coldest part of winter when the ice would form in a thick layer on…

Sale of Vagrants
A strange practice in Kentucky in the latter part of the 19th Century was the sale of vagrants as indentured servants. Rather than to fine them when they had no money or to place them in jail at public expense, vagrants could be sold in servitude for…

The Famous Crooke Compass
On display at the Eastern Kentucky University museum is the famous Crooke compass used to survey the Boone's Trace portion of the Wilderness Road. The instrument was originally used by Major John Crooke, Madison County surveyor from 1795 to 1847.…

Updating the Fire Department
Our Richmond fire department with its several modern trucks and full-time firemen who have been trained in firefighting came from modest beginnings and has gone through several stages of reorganization.

One such occasion of reorganization was in…

The Black Mansion
In the 1940's, I used to visit the Blacks in their big old mansion on North Second Street. They were distant cousins of mine and were always glad to see me.

There were three of them living there at that time-Tom, Belle and Nettie. Every once in a…

A Tragic Argument
Eighty-four years ago one of the more unfortunate entanglements of human affairs in Richmond ended in the death of a young man from a prominent family at the hand of his new brother-in-law.

After the death of a Richmond physician, Dr. John M.…

The Oldest Local Houses
The oldest house in Richmond (1795) was torn down a few years ago. It stood on West Main Street (second toward town from Norwood-7th Street north side). It was occupied by Mrs. Nancy Yates and was formerly owned by David Irvine and was known as…

The Rev. H. Dunson
In the little cemetery at Goodloe's Chapel, a Baptist Church in the Southeastern section of Madison County, there stands a seven foot-high marble monument erected in 1895 at the grave of a beloved Negro preacher of the 19th Century. This tombstone,…

History of Irvineton
The present home of the City-County Library was built in the early 1820’s by Dr. Anthony Wayne Rollins. He sold it in 1829 to David Irvine, who gave it to his daughter, Elizabeth Susan, soon after her marriage in 1846 to her cousin William…

Big Hill and Mallory Springs
The Big Hill area is located in the far southern part of Madison County, to the east of Berea and at the foot of that huge hill at the Rockcastle County line. It is situated along an early pioneer trail used not only by settlers coming into the…

Wilderness Trail Marked
In the Madison Courthouse square is a marker for the old Wilderness Trail through Madison County. It is one of many placed along the trail in 1937.

On March 10, 1775, Daniel Boone led a group of 30 wood-choppers and began to cut the trail from a…

The Story of Bobtown
In the 19th Century there was a good bit more community spirit in the numerous little settlements spread out over Madison County than that which we now find. One reason perhaps is that it was so much more difficult to travel by horse over the…

The Zaring Mill
I looked in the telephone directory and found only two persons listed under the letter Z. A few years ago we could have at least doubled this by finding the listing of the Zaring family and the Zaring Mill.

The mill, which stood on the site of the…

The Auto-Mobile Truck
About noontime on Wednesday, April 21, 1920, a crowd of men and boys gathered along Main Street and around the courthouse square waiting for an unusual "parade" to arrive in Richmond. The Central Kentucky Truck Dealers Association had organized a…

The Grant House
A few miles beyond the village of Big Hill in Madison County stands the famous Grant House. It is the property of Berea College and houses a museum. It may be visited almost any day.

It secured its name in the following manner. In the early part…

Student Organizations at CU
Much information which gives us insight into the students' activities is found in the annual of Central University, "Cream and Crimson." This yearbook was published during the years from 1893 through 1901. There were a number of serious, academic…

Old County Church Buildings
There are many old church buildings in Madison County. Probably the oldest is Cane Springs Church which was built in 1803 and is Primitive Baptist. The Flatwoods Christian church near Waco was built in 1843. Near Speedwell is the Viney Fork Baptist…

Dedication of Caldwell High
At 10 o'clock on the frosty morning of February 11, 1895, a crowd of several hundred persons gathered for the dedication ceremony for the new Richmond graded school building at the corner of Second Street and Moberly Ave.

The building was named…

Old Mills of Madison
The recent burning of the old Weddle Mill in the Doylesville area put me in mind of an article which I had read in an 1937 edition of the Daily Register. The article was written by J.L. Sowers and I quote:

"Progress of the years has relegated to…

The Central University students of nearly a century ago had a number of opportunities to participate in physical activities. In addition to the military drill which was mandatory, there was a bicycle club which took afternoon trips to places such as…

Churchill Weavers
One of the graduates of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1899 was Davie Carroll Churchill. His goal in life was two-fold: to make fine handwoven fabrics and to help others.

Hand-weaving was still done in India and young Mr. Churchill left…

Early Automobile Days
Although we can’t be absolutely sure, the first horseless carriage that appeared in Richmond in all probability was a sort of motorized buggy driven into town in the year 1900 by a Lexington traveling salesman for Dr. Pierce’s patent medicines.…

Madison's Oldest Industry is Pottery
The oldest known industry in Madison County is the making of pottery.

J. P. Grinstead, who learned the potter's trade in Virginia moved to Waco around 1840 and continued the trade. It is believed that Green Clay Smith, later a general in the Civil…

Early Auto Dealers in Richmond
Advertisements of the Richmond automobile dealers in the Richmond Daily Register half a century ago revealed the community's considerable interest in automobiles and also something of the competition among the dealers in that rapidly developing…

The Normal School
In 1906 and the end of a push to establish normal schools to train teachers in Kentucky came about with the passage of a bill creating two State Normal Schools, one in the Eastern part of the state (1), and one in the Western part of the state (2).…

Predicting the Automobile
A far-sighted prediction by a leading Madison County businessman some 75 years ago startled a good many local citizens and started no telling how many arguments. Way back in 1897, two or three years before the first automobile was ever seen of the…

Richmond in Year 1906
What was Richmond like in 1906? One description can be garnered from the Richmond Climax of the day. Possibly it is a little blown up, since its purpose was to lure the new state normal school. Even so, it succeeded and Eastern State Normal School…

City Manager Issue was Defeated Here in 1933
Those persons who have been following closely the recent changes which have occurred in Richmond's city government can see that many of those developments have come as a result of the change to the city manager type of administration. However, only a…

Some Women's Groups
The oldest of the women's groups in Madison County is the Cecilian Music Club. This organization, originally called the Richmond Music Club, was begun in 1886 at the home of Mrs. Jason Walker. The name change took place in 1898 and the locals…

The Blue Eagle Parade
In the early days of his administration in 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt instituted a number of programs to stimulate the economy of the country which had come close to a standstill. In this depression which lasted most of the 1930's, many banks…

Fraternal Organizations
Many fraternal organizations have existed in Madison County over the years, but I am writing about only four--Masonic, Elks, Odd Fellows, and Red Men.

In 1800, there were five Masonic Lodges operating in central Kentucky under the Grand Lodge of…

The Berea Post Office
When the Berea College and community leaders returned from exile after the civil war, postal service was reestablished with Schyler Johnson as postmaster. People got their mail out of the "pigeon holes" in a roll-top desk at Johnson's blacksmith shop…

The Bennett Home
With the opening of White Hall to the public, more and more people will be drawn to this section of the county.

Many of them may chose to drive along U.S. 25 (Lexington Pike) rather than to mix in with the heavy traffic on I-75. Those who choose…

Hot Summer of 1901
In some periods of time there are not many events which we would call outstanding, but our understanding of life in those periods can be increased by looking a number of happenings which gave us a "slice of life." Such a time was the Summer of 1901…

The Background of Rosedale
Several thousand people live in the Richmond suburb of Rosedale. Many drive through this area daily. Some may wonder where it received its name and what the large house located in the midst of many small ones is.

Rosedale was the estate (60 acres)…

William O. Chenault Attorney and Historian
A frequently overlooked local historian of the 19th Century was William O. Chenault, son of Joseph P. and Narcissus Oldham Chenault. He was born in a pioneer home near Boonesborough in 1835, and was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1856. Following…

Ghosts Along the Kentucky
I own a book called Ghosts Along The Mississippi. It is about the old mansions which once lined that mighty river. My ghost mansions are more inland from the Kentucky River, but they are a colorful chapter in the history of Madison County. Three of…

Death of French Tipton
French Tipton was a tall, thin Richmond man who had a stormy career as a sometime attorney, newspaper editor and distiller gauger. He is best known to local historians for his loose collection of notes and scrapbooks which he intended to use in…

Two Famous Madison Horses
Madison County is not famous for its production of thoroughbred racing horses like its neighboring Fayette County. A number of excellent show horses have originated here though. The Madison County Horse Show is indicative of our interest in horse…

French Tipton and His Papers
A lot of Madison County persons have heard of the "French Tipton Papers," but only a few seem to know who French Tipton was, or what his papers were.

Born near Boonesborough in the 1850's, French Tipton was the son of Darius B. Tipton, and the…

Madison-Model, 1943-47
Way back in 1943 when Coach Bob Ackman held his first practice session for the Madison-Model Royal Purples, no one knew that it was the beginning of a fantastic era of basketball for the Richmond school. In the next four years the Purples took three…

Where Bandstand Stood
At the northwest corner of the courthouse square at the intersection of Main and Second is a large concrete paved area about, 25 feet square. If you think it looks as if something used to be there, you're right. It’s the site of the old bandstand.…

South Third Street
I grew up on South Third Street in Richmond in the 1930's and 1940's. My father's house, No. 222, was one of the first houses on the street. In many ways South Third is a typical example of Richmond of those days. It was close to town, an easy walk…

Early Days of Cemetery
Ordinarily, we would think of running a cemetery as a sort of dead subject, but we do find some interesting things in the minutes book of the board of directors of Richmond Cemetery. Entries during the last half of the 19th Century show the early…

Some Local Civic Clubs
The year 1922 seems to have been a big year for organizing civic clubs in Madison County. On March 14, 1922, 18 men became charter members of Richmond Rotary International. Dr. H.W. Carpenter was elected as first president. Other first officers were…
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