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- Collection: 1992 Articles
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Retired Doctor Missed by Many
When Thomas S. Moberly, M.D. died December 14, 1884, he was so highly thought of in Madi-son and surrounding counties that there were many expressions of grief and praise in the news-papers. A great host of friends and acquaintances attended the…
Boone's Capture, Escape had Influence on Revolutionary War
In January of 1778 Daniel Boone and more than 30 other men left Fort Boonesborough for Lower Blue Licks, in northern Kentucky. As mentioned in last week's column, Blue Licks was the major salt-making place for the settlers.
After boiling water for…
Boonesborough was First in Many Ways
Boonesborough was the first fortified station in Kentucky. Built in 1775, it survived Indian attacks in 1777 and 1778. At Boonesborough was convened the first legislature west of the Al-legheny mountains. At this first session, Daniel Boone…
Daniel Boone's Early Days
Daniel Boone was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania on October 22, 1734 (Julian calendar) or November 2, 1734 (Gregorian calendar). The calendar was changed in 1752, so most authorities give the November date. Boone died on September 26, 1820 at the…
Madison High has Long History
A brand new 12-grade building, an addition to an existing high school building, lots of new school equipment: the Richmond Board of Education certainly was busy in the year 1922.
Madison High School, the brand-new $110,000 two-story brick building…
Three Weekly Papers Combined for Daily
Three weekly Richmond newspapers were bought in 1917 by Shelton Saufley Sr. and combined into the first and only daily newspaper this county seat town ever had, The Richmond Daily Register.
Circulation at that time was about 1,400, but the local…
City Firehouse Once Served as Car Dealership
Several significant building projects took place in downtown Richmond in 1919. One was the construction of the Richmond Motor Co. building on West Main, now the home of Richmond Fire Department's Station No. 1.
The Richmond Motor Co. was formed in…
No Controversey in Boone Bicentennial
The 1934 Kentucky General Assembly created a Daniel Boone Bicentennial Commission to arrange a suitable and proper celebration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of Daniel Boone. The resolution went on to say that the exploration, settlement and…
Daniel Boone's Life as a Land Surveyor Seldom Examined
Much has been written about Daniel Boone the explorer, but not much about Boone the Surveyor. Back in 1954, Williard Rouse Jillson, Vice President of the Kentucky Historical Society, published a small volume on this phase of Boone's life, entitled…
Former Gov. Morrow had Madison Co. Roots
A few weeks ago at the Richmond Mall, the Kentucky Chautauqua gave a performance on the life of Edwin P. Morrow, Republican Governor of Kentucky from 1919 until 1923. It was an excellent one-man portrayal.
Isaac Bradley, the great-grandfather of…
Steep Grades Helped Cause End of Railroad
The last two Saturday Madison's Heritage columns dealt with the L&N's abandonment in 1932 of the old RNIB Railroad line which ran through Madison County. Reasons given were that the timber in Estill County and the coal around Beattyville were…
Rail Line Closed by L&N in 1932
In 1932, at the request of the owner, the L&N Railroad, the Interstate Commerce Commission in Washington examined the conditions of the 77-mile rail line that ran through Madison County via Valley View, Richmond and Brassfleld, and allowed it to…
77-Mile Railway Once Served Madison
A headline in the October 3, 1992 issue of the Richmond Daily Register announced "Railway Line is Abandoned," something the people of Madison County already knew. The 77-mile rail-road that started at Cliffside in Franklin County and ran through…
1939 Reflected in the Paper
Here are three interesting news stories from May of 1939 as reported in the Richmond Daily Register.
On Monday, May 8, 1939, Richmond attorney C.C. Wallace, spoke to the Richmond Exchange Club at their weekly meeting at the Colyer's Tea Room on…
Remembering My Father's Friends
The recent death of Mrs. Ed Wayman brought back a lot of memories of people of Richmond in the 1930s and 1940's. People who were mainly my Father's friends, but who also became mine.
Mr. and Mrs. Wayman came to Richmond about the same time as my…
Prehistoric Mound-Builders Probably 'Mississippians'
The Mound Builders of Madison County have been written up a number of times in this column. Details have been given about the Bogie mounds, the Moberly mound, and the one at Round Hill. In the foreword to the book, People of the River, by Michael and…
Budget Demonstrates How County Schools Once Operated
The superintendent's annual budget report to the Madison County Board of Education for the 1932-33 fiscal year might seem a bit dull reading for many folks. However, that old document shows a lot about our county schools and how they were operated 60…
Kidnapping and Robery in 1933
Trio Commits Kidnapping and Robbery" proclaimed a big banner headline across the front page of the Richmond Daily Register on July 28, 1933. A Madison County farmer was seized from his automobile and taken to a lonely road in the middle of the night…
City Struggled with Depression in 1933
Like the economic depression we are in today, the depression of the early 1930's caused many persons to be unemployed, and the real estate market to be poor. The 1930's depression also showed up in the way property taxes were assessed and collected…
The Battle of Richmond Continues
We told the story in last week's column of the invasion of Kentucky by the Confederate armies of Gen. Braxton Bragg and Major General E. Kirby Smith. Smith's troops took Barbourville, London and Mount Vernon, before moving on to Big Hill where they…
Smith Invaded Ky. 130 Years Ago
In August of this year, Madison County will celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Battle of Richmond. An enactment will take place at White Hall Historic Site.
In 1862, Major General Edmund Kirby Smith met with General Braxton Bragg. The two men…
Disbanded Baptist Churches Remembered
There are two other Baptist churches mentioned in S.J. Conkwright's book, History of the Churches of Boone's Creek Baptist Association of Kentucky (1923), besides those already written up in this column. They are Hind's Creek and Fairview.
Hind's…
Beginnings of Stateland Farm at EKU
Eastern Kentucky University has operated a college farm which specializes in registered , Holstein cattle since 1912, although few institutions of higher education have ever had such an enterprise.
Established in 1906 as a normal school, Eastern…
Easten Dormitory Life in 1936
Back in March 1931, Richmond's institution of higher education, Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College, put out a small pamphlet for prospective students listing the expenses and dormitory regulations for a student who attended there some 60 years…
1930 Eastern Progress Reveals Formal Opening of Auditorium
A friend of ours recently gave us a copy of the February 25, 1930 issue of The Eastern Progress, the student newspaper of Eastern Kentucky State Teachers College. The news of 62 years ago was interesting enough that we thought we would share some of…
Campbellism at Union City
Alexander Campbell was a Scots Presbyterian, who became a Baptist, and then formed his own church, known today as the Disciples of Christ (Christian Church). Some of his followers use the name Church of Christ. Other denominations called them…
School Nicknames, Colors
The recent furor over the school colors at Madison Middle brought to mind the various colors and nicknames of our local schools in my lifetime.
My high school and college days were all color oriented. Model students played ball at Madison, using the…
People Coped Well After '74 Tornado
How did Madison County people cope at the time of the terrible tornado of April 3, 1974?
Actually, there was not much panic, and there were lots of examples of unselfish hard work.
At the Telford Community Center, for example, some 50 volunteers…
Tornado Damaged White Hall Elementary
The tornado that swept across Cottonburg and Tates Creek around 7 p.m. on April 3, 1974, struck next on U.S. 25, just north of the 1-75 exit.
In addition to the Fitzpatrick service station and houses destroyed, it was particularly destructive at…
April 3 Tornado Claimed Many Lives
This unsettled April weather reminds nearly anybody who lived here 20 years ago of the terrible tornado of April, 1974. Seven persons were killed here and millions of dollars of damage was done in Madison County in just a few minutes.
It was during…
Drowning Creek Baptist History Traced to 1817
S. J. Conkwright published his History of the Churches of Boone's Creek Baptist Association of Kentucky in 1923. While most of the churches were in Clark County, some were in Madison. Here is what Conkwright had to say about the Drowning Creek…
Early Madison County Pharmacists
Mrs. Mary Lilyan Hinkle was the first woman to become a registered pharmacist in Madison County. She and her husband, Woodrow Hinkle, were registered in 1942. J. T. Hinkle, Woodrow's brother, began in 1944. Iris Stratton Willis was licensed in 1949.…
The Ferry at Poosey Ridge
I knew about a lot of the ferries on the Kentucky River as it circles Madison County, but did not remember there being one at the end of Poosey Ridge. The road deadends at the river bank. However, I am now told that there used to be a ferry…
New School's Dedication Brings Memories of 1919
The upcoming dedication of the new Madison Middle School, the completely renovated old Madison High School building, begins another chapter in the long history of education on that hilltop overlooking downtown Richmond. This occasion brings to mind…
National Defense Day Drew Big Crowds
All morning long on Sept 12, 1924, automobile loads of people from Berea and all sections of Madison County came into Richmond. Large crowds gathered expectantly on Lancaster Avenue, Main Street, First Street and in front of the courthouse. What was…
1924: Richmond at Odds with Fire Insurance Firm
Two-thirds of a century ago, back in 1924, the City of Richmond had a running fuss with an insurance company regarding fire insurance rates for, of all things, the fire department itself.
In December 1917, the city had obtained a $2,500 five-year…
Bethlehem Baptist Recorded in History
S.J. Conkwright published his History of the Churches of Boone's Creek Baptist Association of Kentucky in 1923. Most of the churches are in Clark County, although members also came from Beattyville, Booneville, Irvine, and Nicholasville. A number of…
What Happened 30 Years Ago?
Back in 1961 the Richmond Daily Register staff was made up of the following: Keen Johnson, president and publisher; T.B. Challinor, vice-president and general manager; Shelton Saufley, secretary-treasurer and editor; Randall Fields, city editor;…
Rio Burke of Richmond Lived in '20s Chicago
In the book Chicago Originals by Kenan Heise and Ed Baumann there is a section on Rio Burke. To quote a paragraph in this section "Rio Burke, nee Ray Rucker of Richmond, Ky., was married to dapper Dominick Roberto, alias Dan Roberts, a Capone…
1921 Clerks Busy Issuing Licenses
On the last three days of the year 1921, crowds of persons continually jammed the Madison County Clerks office all day long, keeping the clerks busy throughout their working hours. What was happening?
Back in the 1920's, state law had all the…
Business Tour Here in 1924
At six o'clock on the evening of Thursday, May 22, 1924, a special L&N train pulled into the Richmond depot. From the ten Pullman cars poured out some 150 CEO's and business managers from Louisville. They were on a tour of Kentucky cities and…
Phone Rates Actually Fell in 1919
A front page headline in the Register of October 4, 1919, stated "Phones Must Go Back to Old Rate." This surprising development was caused by an unusual set of circumstances.
In the early 1900's, the Cumberland Telephone Co. of Nashville, Tenn., a…
A Thumbnail History of Madison County
For those readers who are new in our community here is a thumbnail history.
Madison County was formed in 1785 out of Lincoln County and was number seven in line. It was a big county and gave up part of its territory to form Garrard, Estill,…
Historian Details County Firsts
I recently ran up on some interesting facts about Madison County in an article by Dr. Jonathan T. Dorris, onetime professor of history at Eastern, founder of Eastern's museum and early author of Madison County history. Here are some of them.
The…
Who were Local Officials in '81?
Who were local officials, back in 1981? Well, James Todd was the mayor and James Worley was the city manager. Commissioners were Mike Brewer, Mrs. Constance Lawson, Monty Joe Lovell, and William Strong. Russell Lane was chief of police and William…