Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 101

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I > Part 101

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Oct. 8, 1872, Anchor Encampment, No. 54, at Flemingsburg, was institu- ted-making 44 then in active working order, with 2,325 contributing mem- bers,$10,693 annual revenue, and over $3,500 expended for benevolent and charitable purposes, 429 Past Chief Patriarchs and 324 Past High Priests.

At the close of the Lodge year, in Oct., 1873, there were 187 Lodges in Kentucky, an increase of 22 within the year; initiations, 1,031, and admis- sions by card, etc., during the year, 328; total membership 9,125; total revenues or annual receipts $67,777; number of brothers relieved 862, to extent of $20,234; widows' families relieved 262, to amount of $8,866; orphans relieved 595, and for the education of a portion of whom $618 was paid; for burying the dead, $5,791 was expended ; total expended for bene- volence and charity during the year $35,511. Two Lodge rooms, at Lan- caster and Pleasureville, were destroyed by fire. $2,620 was contributed by the several Lodges in aid of the sufferers by yellow fever at Memphis, Tenn., and Shreveport, La.

A member of a Lodge in Louisville was expelled, for "publicly denying the existence of a Supreme Intelligent Being as the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, and asserting that electricity is the only Creator and Ruler of mankind." On appeal, the Grand Lodge of Kentucky sustained this action, on the ground that " one of the fundamental principles of the Order estab- lished the recognition of the existence of a Supreme Intelligent Being, the Creator and Ruler of the Universe, as an absolute pre-requisite to member- ship."

The members of the Order in Louisville have taken steps towards the erection in that city of a Grand Odd-Fellows' Tabernacle-designed to be the most magnificent building erected by the Order in the United States.

A complete history of the Order in the United States and in the world, since its organization, was ordered by the Grand Lodge of the United States, at its session in 1873, to be prepared under the supervision of one of its most distinguished officers, James L. Ridgely, as historiographer. It would not probably be published before 1876 or 1877.

The statistics of the Order in the United States show, on Jan. 1, 1873, a total membership of 385,097, in 5,045 Lodges; with 59,250 initiations during the year just closed ; and a total revenue, during that year, of $4,291,071- of which $1,503,471 was expended for relief. The gains as compared with the year preceding-or annual growth of the Order-was most remarkable, . viz .: increase of Lodges 753, of initiations 9,993, of total membership 57,220, of revenue $981,061 (nearly 30 per cent.), and of amount expended in re- lief $411,375 (over 37 per cent.)

Dle

E.R.R

COLLI

WIL

EDWARD. O HOBBS. L.

GOV. JOHN L. HELM. L.& N. R R.

.R.8

N.R.R.

ZACHARY F.SMITH

JAMES WEIR,

KENTUCKY GANG RONO PRESIDENTO.

GEN, RICHARD

JAM A.DUDE

dach

.H.O. NENCOME

HISTORICAL SKETCH

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS IN KENTUCKY.

AN act of Virginia in 1748 required all roads to or from the court house of each county, and all public mills and ferries, to be, kept well cleared from woods, bushes, and other obstructions, and all roots to be well grubbed np for 30 feet wide.

An act of Virginia in 1785-which was still in force when Kentucky county became a state in 1792, and was re-enacted by the legislature of Kentucky, Feb. 25, 1797-provided for the opening of new roads and the alteration of former roads under surveyors appointed by courts. All male laboring persons, 16 years old or more, were required to work the roads, ex- cept those who were masters of two or more male slaves over said age ; or else pay a fine of 7s. 6d. ($1.25) for each day's absence or neglect thus to work. In the absence of bridges, mill-dams were required to be built at least 12 feet wide for the passage of public roads, with bridges over the pier- head and flood-gates. The surveyors were authorized to impress wagons, and to take timber, stone, or earth for building roads; and a mode of paying for same out of the county levy was provided.

The first road act of the legislature of Kentucky, of date Dec. 14, 1793, appointed Bennett Pemberton, Nathaniel Sanders, and Daniel Weisiger "commissioners to receive subscriptions in money, labor, or property, to raise a fund for clearing a wagon road from Frankfort to Cincinnati "-such road being deemed "productive of private convenience and public utility, and the route lying through an unsettled country which can not be cleared in the usual manner by order of the county courts."

The next road act, Dec. 12, 1794, appointed commissioners to raise a fund for clearing a road from Madison court house [then Milford, about 4 miles s. w. of Richmond, the present county seat] to the Hazelpatch, on the road leading from the Crab Orchard to Powell's Valley. This road had not been opened on Dec. 19, 1795, when another act provided for a wagon road "to commence in the neighborhood of the Crab Orchard and to terminate on the top of Cumberland mountain, in the gap through which the present road to Virginia passes." This latter road was to be paid for out of the state treas- ury, and was opened in the summer of 1796. The road from Milford to the Crab Orchard remaining unopened, the state appropriated money and the road was made in the summer of 1797.

The origin of turnpikes in Kentucky was as follows : A turnpike road, or road on which turnpikes (i.e. toll-gates) are established by law, and which are made and kept in repair by the toll collected from travelers who use the road- the road itself being formed by throwing the earth from the sides to the center, . in a rounded form-is usually confounded with the modern MeAdamized (invented by McAdam) or artificial road of broken stone. No such road as the latter was made in Kentucky until 1829. By act of March 1, 1797, Joseph Crockett was appointed to erect a turnpike at some convenient place, . and purchase as much land as may be necessary for that purpose, not exceed- ing two acres, on the road leading from the Crab Orchard to Cumberland Gap, beyond where the road from Madison court house intersects said road. The turnpike (toll-gate) was to be far! ed out to the highest bidder, who should give bond and security payable o the governor of the state for the faithful payment of his bid. He shoul "have the right and privilege to re- ceive the following tolls: for every rson (except post riders, expresses, women, and children under the age of en years) nine pence (12} cents) ; for every horse, mare, or mule, 9d .; two-wheel carriage, 3s. ; four-wheel carriage, 6s. ($1) ; and for every head of neat cattle going to the eastward, 3d. (4} cents). The surplus tolls, after paying for repairing the road, were to belong to the

(537)

538

SKETCH OF

keeper of the turnpike (toll-gate). Thus turnpike originally meant toll- gate ; but now generally means the road itself on which the turnpike or toll- gate is established. Robert Craig was the successful bidder and first keeper of the turnpike.

By act of Dec. 11, 1801, all public roads between county seats, or to any salt works, or the seat of government, were required to be kept at least 30 feet wide; but county courts might extend their width to 40 feet.

The act of Dec. 13, 1802, provided for the opening of a road from Mount Sterling or Paris to Big Sandy river, in a good direction to communicate with the Greenbrier road in Virginia which strikes the Kanawha river at Wm. Morris' "-because said road " would save a considerable distance in traveling from this country into the eastern states." The road was built by subscrip- tion.

The First Appropriation of a specific sum by the state, for road purposes, was of $1,000, Dec. 21, 1821, to improve the state road leading from Lexing- ton to Nashville, Tenn., from where the said road crosses the Rolling Fork of Salt river to and over the summit of Muldrow's Hill. This was "owing to the thinness of the population in the neighborhood, and to the quantity of labor requisite to put in repair that part of the great highway leading from the northwest of the Ohio and upper settlements of this state, to the states of Tennessee and Alabama, and the Orleans country."

The Purchase of Tools for repairing roads was first authorized by the state, by act of Dec. 11, 1822, which directed the county courts of Boone, Camp- bell, Mason, and Garrard to levy sufficient for that purpose-the last-named, for keeping in good order the road up the cliff of Kentucky river opposite to the mouth of Hickman.

McAdamized Roads .- A new impulse to the building of artificial roads of stone, as the only kind which can be permanent upon Kentucky soil, was given in the winter of 1826-7. Gov. Jos: Desha, in his annual message to the legislature, Dec. 4, 1826, took strong ground in favor of a turnpike road from Maysville to Louisville, through the most important towns (Paris, Lex- ington, and Frankfort) ; adding, " Or, if it be desired to have a road as direct as possible, from an eligible landing place on the Ohio river above to Louis- ville below, it might commence at Augusta, run through Cynthiana, George- town, and Frankfort, and so on to Louisville." He suggested other important connecting roads, and closed the subject as follows :

" The subjects of common schools and internal improvements may be made auxiliary - to each other. Let the school fund now in the Bank of the Commonwealth ($140,917), the proceeds of the sale of vacant lands, the stock in the two banks belonging to the state ($781,238), and all other funds which can be raised by other means than taxes on the people, be vested in the turnpike roads ; and the net profits arising from tolls on those roads be forever sacredly devoted to the interests of education."

On Jan. 22, 1827, the Maysville and Lexington turnpike road company was incorporated anew, with $320,000 capital stock-of which, at any time within three years after complete organization, the United States government was authorized to subscribe $100,000 and the state of Kentucky the like sum. , Gen. (afterward governor) Thomas Metcalfe, then a representative in con- gress from the Maysville district, brought before congress the subject of an appropriation for the proposed turnpike, but too late in the session for im- mediate success. He induced the secretary of war to order a survey for the location of a great leading mail road from Zanesville, in Ohio, through Mays- ville and Lexington, in Kentucky, and Nashville, Tennessee, to Florence, Alabama, en route to New Orleans. On May 12, ensuing, Col. Long and Lieut. Trimble, of the U. S. engineer department, began the survey at Maysville.

It may be interesting to record that, at this time, March, 1827, the legisla- ture of Maryland chartered the first railroad in the United States, the Balti- more and Ohio; it was not completed through to the Ohio river until March, 1853, twenty-six years.

Henceforward, for many years, roads were built under the direction of the county courts under the general law for working the roads ; rarely by the aid of the state ..

The Second Turnpike gate authorized by the state was erected in July, 1810,

539

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

upon the road leading from the mouth of Triplett's creek, on Licking river, to the mouth of Big Sandy, and the rate of toll fixed at about one-half of that charged at the first toll-gate.

The First Lottery for road purposes authorized by the state was that of Jan. 31, 1811-to improve the Limestone road from Maysville to the south end of Washington, in Mason county. Francis Taylor, Adam Beatty, John Cham- bers, Jas. Chambers, Jas. Morris, Vincent Cleneav, and John Brown, were empowered to raise by lottery, in one or more classes, $5,000; one-half of the profits of said lottery to be applied to the improvement of the road be- tween Maysville and the top of Limestone hill.

The First Turnpike Road Companies incorporated were those from Lexing- ton to Louisville, and from Lexington to Maysville-by the same act, Feb. 4, 1817, " for the purpose of forming artificial roads." Frankfort was made a point in the former, and Washington, Mayslick, Millersburg, and Paris points in the latter; the capital stock of each was fixed at $350,000, in shares of $100; five hundred shares ($50,000) in each company were reserved for the use of, and on behalf of the state, to be subscribed and paid for in such man- ner as the legislature should direct; the elevation of the road not to exceed

five degrees. Within a year, the first-named charter was virtually repealed, and three new charters granted to cover the same distance, from Lexington via Versailles to Frankfort, from Frankfort to Shelbyville, and from Shelby- ville to Louisville. Charters were also granted for turnpike roads (or artifi- cial roads of stone) from Louisville to Portland and Shippingport, Lexington towards Boonesborough, Lexington to Georgetown, and Georgetown to Frank- fort ; and, Feb. 8, 1819, from Georgetown to Cincinnati.

The legislature of Kentucky, by resolution, Feb. 13, 1828, recommended congress to extend a branch of the national road from Zanesville, Ohio, to Maysville, Ky, and thence through the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Ala- bama, and Mississippi, to New Orleans; and instructed her senators in con- gress and requested her representatives to use their utmost exertion to effect this object. A bill with an appropriation for this very purpose passed the. U. S. house of representatives, but its effect was defeated in the U. S. senate by the vote of one of the senators from Kentucky, John Rowan! Its pas- sage, then, in the spring of 1828, when President John Quincy Adams was ready to approve the bill, would have secured the prompt completion of the road by national and state aid.

While action "along the line " was thus delayed, the little town of Mays- ville-with the gamest and truest population in the world, of less than 2,000- determined that something should be done. So, calling upon the friends of home improvement at Washington, and procuring from the legislature, Jan. 29, 1829, a charter for the Maysville and Washington turnpike road com- pany, four miles long, the $20,000 of stock was subscribed in April, 1829, the first spade of earth dug, amid great rejoicing, on the 4th of July ensuing, and the short road steadily pushed to its completion, Nov. 7, 1830. It was by far the most difficult and steep of the whole road as afterwards extended to Lexington-the grade of the Maysville hill being 4} degrees, while none of that south of Washington exceeded 2 degrees.

But while this beginning of great things in the future was thus inaugurated, the cause of internal improvements was being pressed before congress. In that body, a bill passed the house of representatives, April 29, 1830, by yeas 102 to 84 nays, "authorizing and directing the secretary of the treasury to subscribe, in the name and for the use of the United States, for 1,500 shares [$150,000] of the capital stock of the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington turnpike road company "-to be paid for in the same installments as by the stockholders generally, except that not more than one-third should be demanded during the year 1830. It passed the U. S. senate, May 15, by 24 to 18-Geo. M. Bibb, of Ky., voting against it, and his colleague, John Rowan, of Ky., voting for it " under instructions." Daniel Webster, of Mass., and Judge Josiah Stoddard Johnston, of La. (formerly of Wash- ington, Ky.) both spoke and voted for it, while Judge Felix Grundy, of Tenn., (whom Kentucky had delighted to honor, up to 1827, as long as he

540

SKETCH OF

remained one of her citizens) voted against it-as did every senator from the southern states, except John Mckinley, of Ala. In the house of rep- resentatives, of the 12 Kentucky members, Dr. Nathan Gaither alone voted against it ; the others for it, viz. : Thomas Chilton, James Clark, Nicholas D. Coleman (still living in La., Oct., 1873), Harry Daniel (died Oct. 5, 1873, aged nearly 91), Richard M. Johnson, John Kincaid (died, 1872, in Tenn.), Joseph Lecompte, Robert P. Letcher, Chittenden Lyon, Charles A. Wick- life (died Nov. 1, 1869), and Joel Yancey.

Gen. Jackson's Veto .- But President Andrew Jackson dashed . forever the hopes of national aid to works of internal improvement in Kentucky, by vetoing the bill, 12 days after its passage, May 27, 1830. This extraordi- nary, measure gave to the road a fame broad as the Union, but of no avail towards its completion-unless it may have stimulated somewhat or aroused afresh the enthusiasm excited, the year before, by the spirited and inde- pendent course of the brave little city, Maysville (by whose name the road has always been best known), and by the additional fact that, on Jan. 29, 1830, the legislature of Kentucky had made it lawful for the governor to subscribe for not over $25,000 in the stock of the company-none of which, however, to be paid until three times the amount required of the state had been paid, by the stockholders, in gold or silver, or its equivalent. During the month of April, 1830, $30,500 were subscribed at Paris, $13,000 at Lex- ington, $5,200 at Millersburg, $8,000 in Nicholas county, and $10,300 at Maysville, in addition to what the latter town had already done in building the road as far as Washington. Other efforts, soon after, increased the sub- scription, and 31 miles of the road were promptly put under contract. The legislature, Jan. 15, 1831, subscribed $50,000, and other sums during the next five years, until the whole amount of state aid and stock to this road was $213,200-just one-half of the entire cost of the road.

Thus, on Jan. 29, 1830, the state made its first appropriation-and that conditioned upon three times the amount having been subscribed and paid by other stockholders-to an artificial or McAdamized road; and on Jan. 15, 1831, its first unconditional subscription-both in aid of the same enterprise. Appropriations, at the outset, were made in moderate sums and slowly ; but the system of building such roads by state aid was fairly inaugurated, and steadily grew in importance until it embraced all the great thoroughfares and some side roads, and the state had permanently invested in them at least the sum of $2,539,473.

By Nov., 1837, the subscriptions of individual stockholders in incorporated road companies amounted to nearly or quite $2,000,000. Of McAdam road 343 miles had been finished, and 236 miles more were under contract; , in addition to this, 30 miles of McAdam road were finished (10 miles from Louisville towards Bardstown, and 20 miles from Louisville towards Shelby ville), in which the state had taken no stock.

In the subjoined table, we have indicated-

1. The name of, or localities connected by, turnpikes in which the state is a

. stockholder.

2. The length of each road in miles.

3. The number of miles being worked upon, or finished, when state aid ceased. All the receipts from tolls, upon certain roads, were allowed to be used in extending or completing them.

4. The sum actually paid to each road, up to Nov. 20, 1837.

5. The total paid by the state, to each road, before state aid ceased.

6. The total dividends received by the state from each road, up to Oct. 10, 1867-(later data not being accessible, when needed).

7. The number of yearly dividends paid over to the state.

8. The annual average of dividends received, or per cent. upon sum subscribed, reckoning from about the date of original payment or investment by the state.

--------

541

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Name or Locality of Turnpike.

Length in Miles.

£ ( Milos aided by State

Paid by State, to

Nov. 20, 1837.

Total paid by

Total Dividends

up to Oct., 1867.

No. of Dividends.

Average per cent.

Maysville and Lexington.

$213,200

$131,024 26

2.00

Lexington, Danville, and Lancaster.

42 42

99,100

151,382

154.255 28

3.44

/ Lexington, Harrodsburg, and Perryville ...

42 35

19,800

109,646

19,881

8|0.65

Lexington and Winchester ..

18 18

29,100

45,100

19,565

1.55

Lexington and Richmond ..

25 25

43,147

75,383

65,455 23 3.10

Lexington, Versailles, and Frankfort

27 27

78,028

78,122

49,909|24 1.93

Frankfort to Shelbyville.

32 32

65,000

57,016 26

2.66

[ Frankfort to Hardinsville ..

12,614

Hardinsville to Crab Orchard.

106,799

183,113

75,258|30

1.32

Frankfort to Georgetown

49,326

58,725

16,588|24

0.90

Lexington to Georgetown

12 12

27,255

30,270

33,825

3.49

Georgetown to Williamstown

83,223

3,310 3

0.16

Williamstown to Covington

26,000

86,913

90,868 18

4.02

Maysville and Bracken.

25,948

4,545

9 0.70

Maysville and Mount Sterling.

7,400

88,072

9,584

5 0.43

Bardstown to Springfield

18 18

49,135

65,190

3,378|

3. 0.16

Louisville to Bardstown

39|29

96,000

100,000

90,526 21 2.74

Bardstown to Glasgow

69|54

289,825

Glasgow to Tennessee Line.

110,385

Louisville, via Mouth of Salt River, to Elizabethtown.

43 41

35,801

140,721

5,690

4 0.16

Elizabethtown to Bell's Tavern

49 28

118,778

101

2 0.09

Bell's Tavern to Bowling Green

24 24

85,489

9,503|11|

0.48

Bowling Green to Tennessee Line.

87,194

2,114 4

0.15

Logan, Todd, and Christian.

149.429

New Market, Lebanon, and Washington

2,656

956

0.56

Muldrow's Hill and Bridge ...

22,167

55,145

4,640 13| 0.27

Versailles to Kentucky River.

1 7,530

20,000

The cost to the state-not reckoning the additional outlay by private and corporation stockholders-of the great thoroughfares, was as follows :

1. Maysville to Lexington,

64 miles,

$213,200.

Lexington to Frankfort,

27 91 miles, 78,122-$291,322

Frankfort to Louisville,

- 143 65,000- 356,322

2. Covington to Lexington,

200,406

3. Louisville, via Frankfort, to Crab Orchard, 123

260,727

4. Louisville, via Bardstown and Glasgow, to Tennessee Line, 144 miles .....

500,210

5. Louisville, via Mouth of Salt River, Elizabethtown, Munfordville, Bell's

Tavern, Bowling Green, and Franklin, to Tennessee Line, 14533 miles. 432,182

These roads were all built upon the general McAdam plan-the stone broken, usually, so as not to exceed six ounces in weight; and laid upon the road, according to probable wear, 9 to 10 inches deep, and 1 to 3 inches deeper in the center. The roadway was graded from 30 to 50 feet wide, and the stone laid from 16? to 20 feet wide. The total cost per mile varied from $5,046 to $7,359, including bridges. The bridges over the rivers cost from $36,217 to $60,000, with spans of from 176 to 240 feet; while those over the creeks and small streams ranged from $500 to $8,000, with spans from 20 to 100 feet.

The total cost of the road from Louisville, via Bardstown, Glasgow, and Scottville, to the Tennessee Line, including bridges, was about $970,000.

The cost of the Maysville and Lexington turnpike, 64 miles, was $426,400, including 13 toll-houses and 6 covered bridges-an average of $6,662} per mile.

Many " State Roads" were, before 1835, ordered by the state to be re- viewed or surveyed, and opened-usually at the cost of the county's levy, or by private subscription. Of the following, built entirely at state cost, that marked No. 2, and probably also No. 3, were known as dirt turnpikes-being well graded, and with toll-gates established upon them:

State.

received.

Dividends.

542

SKETCH OF

1. Crab Orchard and Cumberland Gap. $ 6,655

2. Owingsville and Big Sandy 168,783

3. Mountsterling and Virginia Line 23,243

4. Pikeville and Sounding Gap 6,324

5. Mouth of Troublesome and Sounding Gap .. 1,180

The First Public Ferries established by special law, in Kentucky, were the following-all established by the legislature of Virginia:

1. At the town of Boonesborough, in the county of Kentucky, across Ken- tucky river, in Oct., 1779-the keeping of which and emoluments therefrom were granted to Col. Richard Callaway, his heirs or assigns, so long as they should well and faithfully keep the same.

2. In 1785, across the Kentucky river, at the mouth of Hickman's creek- James Hogan's.

3. Across the same, at the mouth of Jack's creek-David Crews'-in 1785.

4. Across the same, at Stone Lick-from the land of Wm. Steele, in Fayette county, to that of John Craig, in Lincoln county-in 1785.

5. Two ferries across the Ohio river, from the lands of Col. John Campbell, in Jefferson county-one to the mouth of Silver creek, and the other to the mouth of Mill run-in 1735.

6. In 1786, across the Kentucky river, from the lands of Gen. James Wilkin- son, in the town of Frankfort.

7. In 1786, across the same, on the lands of John Curd, at the mouth of Dick's river ; a town was established, called New-Market.

8. In 1791, across Cumberland river, from the land of Joseph Martin to that of Wm. Hord.

9. By the legislature of Kentucky, on Dec. 22, 1798, across the Kentucky river, at the rope-walks, one mile above Frankfort-from the lands of Elijah Craig, and called East Frankfort.

RIVER NAVIGATION.

The first act passed by the Kentucky legislature in reference to water- courses was that of Dec. 15, 1792, making a penalty of $2 for each 24 hours any obstruction was continued to the passage of fish or boats in any navigable stream-except said obstruction were a dam for the purpose of working a water grist-mill or other water-works of public utility, in conformity with the old law of Virginia.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. I, Part 101

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1452

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1452