USA > Kentucky > Jessamine County > A history of Jessamine County, Kentucky, from its earliest settlement to 1898 > Part 13
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Public Well.
The Public Well on the corner of Main and Maincross streets in Nicholasville is one of the most remarkable in Ken- tucky. Twice during the Civil War and in very dry seasons it had its capacity tested to the fullest extent. The Ninth Army Corps, commanded by General Burnside, encamped for three weeks around the town and the entire division used the water from this well night and day. Several thousand of General Bragg's army also encamped near Nicholasville and used water from the well in September, 1862, and even these were unable to reduce the strength and power of its flow. This well is 180 feet
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deep and was bored by John W. Charlotter, a blind man. The well was put down in the year 1846, and after blasting down to the unusual depth of 180 feet a stream of water was struck. It gushed up ten feet high and from that time to this has furnished all who demanded of it, clear, cool, refreshing drink. No drouth and no call upon its resources has ever lessened its flow, and after more than half a century of usefulness it is yet the pride and comfort of the citizens of the town.
Bethel Academy.
The Legislature of Virginia in 1780 set apart 8,000 acres of land for the establishment of schools in Kentucky. The Ken- tucky Methodists early took measures to secure part of the land appropriated to this purpose. Bishops Coke and Asbury attend- ed a conference held at McKnight's, on the Yadkin river, North Carolina, in 1789. Here the Kentucky Methodists, by letter and messenger, requested direction. The response to this petition was that during the next year Bishop Asbury would visit Ken- tucky, and if the petitioners could secure a grant of 5,000 acres of land from the state or individuals, a college should be completed within ten years. Early the next spring Bishop Asbury, accom- panied by his friend, Richard Whatcoat, who was himself after- wards made a Bishop, came through from Virginia on horseback to Kentucky. They stopped on their way in Southwestern Vir- ginia, and there waited for an escort from the friends in Ken- tucky. The Kentucky guards did not appear as soon as had been expected, but on a certain Monday morning Bishop Asbury re- lated to Mr. Whatcoat that the night before in a dream he had seen the friends for whom they had been waiting. After break- fast they retired to the banks of a small stream nearby for prayer and meditation. While engaged in these services he saw ap- proaching over the hills two men. He felt at once that these were the Kentuckians coming for him. This proved to be the fact. These men were Peter Massie, afterwards known in Kentucky as the "Weeping Prophet," and John Clark. They delivered the Bishops their credentials and told them that they had left a guard of eight men in the valley below, ready to start for Kentucky, as
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soon as was his pleasure to begin the journey. The following is the entry that Bishop Asbury made in his journal :
"After reading the letters and asking counsel of God, I con- cluded to go with them."
They left Southwestern Virginia early in May, 1790, with six- teen men and thirteen guns. They were to make a journey of more than 200 miles through a wilderness constantly waylaid with savages. Three times a day they halted to feed and refresh themselves, and each time they sought God's protection and guid- ance in prayer. The first day they rode 35 miles, the second 45 and the third 50. This rapid travel proved a little inconvenient to the Bishop, who complained that he could neither sleep nor eat. He says : "While in camp some were on guard, while others rested." They frequently passed the graves of those who had been slain by the savages. In one camp he saw 24 graves.
They arrived in Lexington on the 12th of May. On that day the Bishop preached and then held a conference in the house of Richard Masterson. Constant services were held ; ministers were ordained. Francis Poythress, the Bishop declared, was much alive to God, and they arranged for a school to be known as Bethel Academy.
They rode to the land of Thomas Lewis, at the bend of the Kentucky river, near High Bridge, and Mr. Lewis there offered the Bishop a hundred acres of land as a site for Bethel Academy. The Bishop remained in the vicinity nearly two weeks, preaching every day, making acquaintances and many friends for the pro- jected scheme.
His principal asistants in establishing Bethel Academy were Rev. Francis Poythress and Rev. John Metcalf. A brief sketch of Mr. Poythress will not be out of place.
He belonged to an old and distinguished family of Virginia. He sought the instructions of a minister of the church of Eng. land. and in 1773 he was led to the Saviour and connected him- self with the Methodist church.
In North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia he did splendid work for the church to which he had made his allegiance. Whenever there was danger he was always ready to go where duty called. Whenever there was a difficult commission he would say: "Here am I. send me." He traveled over a large
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part of these states, preaching under the trees and in cabins, en- during all the hardships of the settlers in their wilderness homes. A man of some scholarship, he was easily enlisted in the work of building Bethel Academy, in which he was not altogether suc- cessful and was unjustly censured. His health failed and his mind gave way. He removed from Kentucky afterwards to North Carolina. He never entirely recovered either his spirits or his health or his energy. He returned to Kentucky in 1801, but no work was assigned to him. He made his home in Nich- olasville. In 1810 Bishop Asbury saw him and was deeply dis- tressed at his condition.
In 1792 Bishop Asbury made his second visit to Kentucky and he entered in his journal: "I wrote an address on behalf of Bethel School," and later on he says, "I find it necessary to change the plan of the house to make it more comfortable for the scholars." Rev. Thomas Hinde, a contemporary of Bishop As- bury, makes this entry: "Bethel Academy. Our conference for 1797 was held at Bethel School, a large three-story building erected by Mr. Poythress on the bank of the Kentucky river, in Jessamine county."
The work of building had progressed so that in the year 1794 a school was opened. The following letter from Rev. Jno. Met- calf, will be interesting :
Nicholasville, Jessamine Co., Ky. June 13, 1794.
Hon. George Nicholas:
I have lately received from you two of your kind letters and would have answered them before now, but I have taken charge of Bethel Academy and I have been so confined for the last two weeks in fitting up suitable places of abode for some of my pupils that I have greatly neglected my private affairs, especially that portion of it which you are attending to in Lexington.
Your friend,
JOHN METCALF.
The Kentucky conference of the Methodist church in 1797 met in Bethel Academy. The Rev. Mr. Metcalf was principal until 1803. For a while Bethel School was a competitor of
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Transylvania Academy, at Lexington, then under control of Pres- byterians. The original site of Bethel Academy was chosen for its wonderful beauty and for its adaptability for a village. The lines of travel and lines of settlement could not then be deter- mined. It ought naturally to have been the county seat of the county.
In 1799 Rev. Valentine Cook took charge of the literary de- partment with Rev. Francis Poythress as assistant. Mr. Cook was a man of scholarly attainments and was a distinguished grad- uate of Cokesburg College, at Abbington, Md. He remained with the school one year. His anti-slavery views induced his re- moval.
In 1803 Rev. John Metcalf moved to Nicholasville and open- ed in his own house a school which he called Bethel Academy, Mr. Harris maintaining Bethel School on the Kentucky river as a neighborhood school until 1805. In 1798 Mr. Metcalf pur- chased several lots in the village of Nicholasville and erected a good log house, which still stands and is the property of his grandson, John Metcalf. At this house Bethel Academy was continued until 1820, when a new brick building was built and the school was continued in it under the name of Bethel Academy.
About this time Mr. Metcalf died, in the sixty-third year of his age.
In 1798 the Legislature of Kentucky passed an act incorporat- ing Bethel Academy. The first section of the act is as follows :
CHAP. XXXI.
An Act Establishing Bethel Academy, and Incorporating the Trustees Thereof.
Approved Feb. 10, 1798.
I. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Rever- end Francis Poythress, John Knobler, Nathaniel Harris, John Metcalf, Barnabas McHenry, James Crutcher, James Hord and Richard Masterson, shall be, and they are hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known by the name of trustees of Bethel Academy, and by that name shall have perpetual suc- cession, and a common seal, with power to change the same at
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pleasure ; and as such shall be authorized to execute all powers and privileges that are enjoyed by trustees, governors or visitors of any college or university within this state, not herein limited or otherwise directed.
Section 6 provides as follows :
"The President of said academy shall be a man of most ap- proved ability in literature."
For five years from 1841 Professor A. R. Northup, A. M., a graduate of the Wesleyan University, was at its head. He was succeeded by Charles F. Smith. In the early part of the century a grant of 6,000 acres of land was made by the state of Kentucky to Bethel Academy. In 1876 Professor A. M. Gordon was elected principal. He was the ablest teacher ever in charge of the school. In 1877 the property of the academy was leased to Professor Gordon for ten years, Professor Gordon introducing the condition that five indigent, sprightly boys should attend the academy each year free of charge for tuition.
Under the direction of Professor Gordon Bethel Academy attained high rank as a school. The buildings as modernized are in the middle of five acres of ground, and they are large and elegant, and were erected in 1878 at a cost of $7,000. After the abandonment of the site on the Kentucky river the one hundred acres of land given by Mr. Lewis reverted to his estate, but por- tions of the material of the building were taken to Nicholasville and used in erecting a school building there. At the end of 105 years Bethel Academy has been turned over to Nicholasville, and is now a graded school. It is used for the public benefit. It has lost its denominational control, and is part of the great system of the general education of the masses in the State of Kentucky.
The first site of Bethel Academy is still easily found. On the splendid eminence overlooking the mighty banks of the Ken- tucky, one can stand on the ruins of the ancient building, in which was begun the life of this school, and for miles around can see what a hundred years of cultivation and growth have wrought. The school is gone. The structure, then palatial as an educa- tional home, has crumbled and decayed, but as the eye takes in the picturesque and charming landscape, covering parts of Gar- rard, Jessamine, Woodford and Mercer counties, with fertile farms, happy homes, large families, loyal and true citizens, all
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contented in their abiding places and all busy and satisfied with their places in life, the saddening memories of the old school, are hushed by admiration for the prosperity, peace and industry which rise up to tell that the work of a century is not lost, but that the grandsons and great-grandsons of these educational pio- neers are not unworthy of the founders of this ancient school, in which were centered the hopes and aims of the brave and liberal men who gave it a name and being in the wilds of a wilderness.
Jessamine Female Institute.
One of the most important and successful of all the enterprises in the county has been Jessamine Female Institute. In 1854 an act of the Legislature was passed allowing the organization of a company for the purpose of conducting a female school of a high character ; such as would attract patronage from abroad, as well as give the highest facility for education in the town. The capital stock was fixed at $2,500 in shares of $100 each. The articles of incorporation under this act were signed by Alexander Lyle, Thos. E. West, L. H. Chrisman, J. D. Hill, R. E. Woodson, Her- vey Scott. Robt. Young, D. B. Price, J. A. Scrogin, J. P. Letcher, W. C. Letcher, M. T. Lowry, G. M. Barkley, Isaac Barkley, J. F. Barkley, C. F. Smith, A. L. McAfee, M. T. Young, Samuel McDowell, Wm. McDowell, Jas. H. McCampbell.
After this, in 1855, the school was reorganized, and Rev. M. Branch Price, a Presbyterian minister, was elected principal. After some years of successful administration he was removed by death, and was succeeded by Mrs. Jacob Price, wife of the Rev. Jacob Price, a Presbyterian minister. In 1857 she was succeeded by Rev. Mr. Frazee, a Presbyterian divine, and he in turn, by Mrs. Browning, who presided one year.
In 1860 Rev. Joseph McDowell Matthews, of Hillsboro, Ohio, rented the ground and building and conducted the school under the name of the Jessamine Female College. The incorporators of this collge were J. C. Wilmore, Henry M. Chrisman, J. B. Cook, T. J. Cassell, Moreau Brown, S. S. Mizner, J. S. Bronaugh, J. W. Olds, R. M. Messick, John McMurtry, P. H. Smith, W. R. Welch, Wm. Brown, Thos. B. Crutcher and J. S. Mitchell.
At the end of the term of 1862 Dr. Matthews returned to Ohio.
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In 1863-64 Rev. J. E. Spilman, then pastor of the Presbyterian church, conducted the school for several years.
In February, 1866, the Legislature of Kentucky granted a charter for the Jessamine County Female Institute, with the fol- lowing incorporators : Robert Young, George Brown, Dr. Joseph P. Letcher, T. B. Crutcher and J. S. Bronaugh. Under this charter the school was to be non-sectarian. In 1881 the school was closed for want of patronage and in September of that year Miss M. F. Hewitt took charge of it as principal. Under her management it was highly successful for twelve years. In the very beginning of her administration the number of pupils was largely increased, and it became necessary to erect new and more commodious buildings.
In 1881 the Board of Trustees determined to erect the present building, at a cost of $20,000. This money was almost altogether subscribed by the citizens of the town and county.
There have been a large number of graduates from the school ; several hundred, all of whom occupy either as teachers or in so- ciety, most prominent and distinguished positions.
Miss Hewitt was compelled to resign her position as principal by reason of declining health, and in 1893 Mrs. B. W. Vineyard, the present principal, assumed control of the institution. Under her conduct the reputation of the school has not declined and the condition of the buildings has been greatly improved. It now stands as one of the leading institutions in the state, has a large patronage from all parts of Kentucky and the South. The curri- culum is wide enough and broad enough for all purposes and the patronage has met the expectations of all connected with the management and control of the institution.
Newspapers.
There are two newspapers published in Jessamine county; the Jessamine Journal and the Nicholasville Democrat. The Jessamine Journal was founded by J. M. Parish, who came from Mt. Sterling in 1872, and was its editor and owner. For several years it was printed on a Washington hand-press and had a hard struggle for its existence. It changed owners seven or eight times, and the office was destroyed by fire in 1886. At the time of
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this fire it was well equipped with a large power press and a first - class outfit of type. J. M. Kerr, who purchased the plant from C. W. Metcalf after the fire, ran it on a small scale for a short time and in 1887 sold it to Col. H. M. Mccarty, who was one of the most successful and distinguished journalists in Kentucky. He was secretary of state under Governor Knott, and held other
1.00IS PILCHER
positions of distinction. Harry Mccarty, one of the editors, was the junior member of the company.
At this time its editorials were quoted very largely throughout the state. At the death of Col. Mccarty in tot his interest was sold to T. H. Morris, who was connected with the paper until ISof, when he disposed of his interest to J. B. Stears.
The paper is now edited by Mr. Harry Mccarty and Mr. Stears. It has a wide circulation, democratic in its politics.
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The Nicholasville Democrat, an eight column folio, was estab- lished in June, 1888. At that time it was the property of Louis Pilcher, the present editor and proprietor, and his brother Thomas Fielding Pilcher. After a short time a job printing plant was established. For eight years its office was in the old historic building erected by Judge Wake.
Thomas F. Pilcher and his brother, Louis Pilcher, assumed the management of the paper. The former assisted in establish- ing the Lexington Argonaut. He did his first newspaper work on the Lyceum Debater, afterward on the Central Courier, and was for five years the correspondent of the Cincinnati and Louis- ville dailies. He was one of the promoters of the Lexington Advertiser. Later he edited the Nicholasville Star. In 1895 he established "The Coming Nation," which absorbed the Illustrated Kentuckian, and these two were merged into the Argonaut. He afterward founded the Blue Grass World and then returned to his present position as editor and proprietor of the Nicholasville Democrat.
Mr. Pilcher has had a wide experience as a newspaper man .. In the Cleveland campaign, he did work on the Louisville Courier- Journal, paragraphing and producing comic articles with Donald Padman. He was born in Nicholasville, July 11, 1855, opposite where the newspaper office now stands.
The first paper published in Nicholasville of political char- acter was the Nicholasville Democrat, in 1857 to 1860. It was strongly anti-slavery, and the office was raided and the type pied and dumped in the streets. Samuel Leffingwell and the late Dr. Jno. C. Welch were its editors. For a while, from 1871 to 1875. Nicholasville was without a paper. The Central Courier was established by Samuel Owens in 1875 and subsequently con- solidated with the Jessamine Journal, and was known as the Journal-Courier. In 1875 the late L. D. Baldwin purchased a plant in Frankfort and edited a paper for one week. He sold it to W. T. Jones, who never printed an issue. At this time Col. McCarty came to Nicholasville and secured the necessary means to establish the Jessamine Journal.
In 1895 the third paper was started, with M. E. Wilhoit as editor. It was printed in Lexington. This paper passed into the hands of J. T. Farrow and shortly afterward suspended. The
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HARRY MCCARTY.
J. B. STEARS.
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Nicholasville News was published in 1878 by A. W. Huggins for a brief period. The first paper ever published in Nicholas- ville was a religious publication under Presbyterian auspices and was founded in early years, it is said. Others deny the whole story.
Sulphur Well.
Sulphur Well, about five miles from Nicholasville in the south- eastern part of the county, was for many years a prosperous vil- lage. The discovery of a well of sulphur water gave this town its name. For a long time many persons frequented the place to have the benefit of the waters, which were supposed to have medicinal value. It is on the main road from Nicholasville to Hickman creek. The first settler in the village was John Walters, a Baptist minister, and he succeeded in having a Baptist church built there in 1813. Mr. Walters and Robert Ashurst preached to the church for several years.
Of late years, the village has had its name changed to Ani- brose. It is improved very much, and the buildings in the village are neat and tasteful, and the people kind and hospitable.
Wilmore.
The following history of the ambitious and thriving city of Wilmore was prepared by Wm. G. Wilhite, and it is inserted as written by him:
The village of Wilmore, the second in population in Jessa- mine county, is situated on the Cincinnati Southern railway, five miles southwest of Nicholasville and about the same distance north of the celebrated High Bridge, where the railway crosses the Kentucky river, 276 feet above the water. Although but eight years old, it contains a population of about 600, and is prob- ably growing more rapidly than any little town in Central Ken- tucky. A steady and constant increase, without any inflation or boom methods, has made a stable population of healthy growth. There is not a vacant house in the town today, and as fast as built a house is occupied. Its existence practically began with the foundation of Asbury College, which started September 2, 1890,
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History of Jessamine County, Kentucky.
in four rooms, with two teachers and eleven pupils. Its growth has been, to a large extent, coexistent with the growth of this col- lege, both in building and increase of faculty and students.
In the first year there were enrolled 70 pupils. In the second year, 120. The highest number enrolled in any year was 160. In the eight years of its existence there have been over 1,000 students enrolled and 25 graduates. Sixty ministers of the gos- pel have also been sent out from this school to various parts of the country in this time. Students from 20 states and from Can- ada, England, Japan and Persia have attended here, and its in- fluence has been widespread and is growing.
Organized just 100 years after the founding of Bethel Acad- emy, the second chartered institution of American Methodism, and within four miles of the original site; it has renewed the work of its venerable predecessor with vigor and grown into a power.
There are now six buildings, with the president's house, and a large chapel, on six acres of campus. The college has a capac- ity for teaching 300 students and boarding 100, with a faculty of eight teachers.
This remarkable growth is due in a large measure to the en- ergy, ability, and foresight of Rev. J. W. Hughes, the founder and president since its organization, whose constant labors have made Asbury College a strong and worthy monument to him- self, and a power for good in the community and abroad.
BUSINESS.
Its nine business houses, carrying almost everything in stock that is needed or used, draw a trade far beyond its limits, and from three counties. Two drug stores and three doctors, insure the continuance of a healthy community; three blacksmith and car- riage repair shops, find profitable employment ; one leather and harness shop is kept busy supplying everything in its line, from a buckle to a buggy top; two butcher shops, and three large stores of clothing, dry goods, general merchandise and hardware supply the general needs of the outer and inner man.
The Glass Milling Company was established here on July 1, 1891. Its mill, which ground 60,000 bushels of wheat last year, with a capacity of sixty barrels of flour per day, is one mile from the railway station. Its offices and warehouses, in Wilmore,
HENRY GLASS.
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were built February, 1897, and since then all its business has been transacted from this point. This company also deals in coal and lumber, and since its establishment, in the town, has handled over 2,000 tons of coal.
The Saegerser Mill Company has a grist mill in the town, run by a gasoline engine, and does general grinding, and deals in meal, feed-stuffs, etc.
A good livery stable, well-patronized, is one of the conveni- ences.
Wilmore is an important shipping point on the railway, as evidenced by the amount of freight received and forwarded. The receipts to the railway companies amount to about $25,000 per annum for freight and about $3,000 for passengers. Large amounts of grain, cattle, hogs, produce, etc., are both shipped from and received here, in addition to merchandise, coal, lumber and articles of domestic consumption.
It is essentially a moral and religious community, and the in- fluence of its churches and missionary work is felt widely beyond the limits of Jessamine county.
The Presbyterian church, with a handsome place of worship, and a membership of 150, presided over by Rev. Dr. E. O. Guer- rant, himself a noted preacher and evangelist, in addition to hand- . somely supporting itself and him, keeps at its own expense, five missionary ministers in the mountains of Kentucky, a record not equalled by any church in Central Kentucky. In addition it has educated two young men for the ministry, keeps up a perma- nent contribution to an orphan asylum in South Carolina, and giv 's largely to charity and foreign and home missions. Its record for liberality and quick response to worthy appeals is noted in its presbytery. Its pastor is a man celebrated throughout the South and East as a powerful and successful evangelist, both in the large cities and in the most remote mountains.
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