USA > Kentucky > Trigg County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 14
USA > Kentucky > Christian County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 14
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
130
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
circuitous route through Princeton " gave the distance as forty-eight and a half miles, and was estimated to cost $338,000, but this they thought to be an exaggeration both as to cost and distance. They thought the distance could be reduced to thirty-five miles, and the aggregate cost to $280,000. The following unique, if not original and novel method of raising the necessary means, was suggested : "The people to subscribe $75,000 or $100,000 to the building of the road, which subscription shall be well secured by stock. Of this sum, $50,000 or $60,000 to be vested, as fast as paid in, in the purchase of 100 young, able-bodied negro men, who, if well provided and judiciously directed, would grade the road to any one of the points suggested in the course of twelve or eighteen months, or at the longest time two years. These 100 laborers could then be hired or pledged for the iron, and so soon as the work should be com- pleted they could be readily cashed for the benefit of the railroad com- pany." A summary of the probable business of the road when com- pleted is then given :
Five thousand hogsheads of tobacco at $1 $ 5,000
Grain of all kinds.
1,000
Pork and beef. 2,000
Coal and lumber,
1,500
Goods, groceries, etc.
2,500
1,500
Passengers
2,000
$15,500
This estimate was believed to be quite reasonable, and would yield a dividend of at least six per centum, allowing for contingencies. At the same meeting a report was read from the people of Eddyville and vicinity setting forth the advantages of that place as an objective point, and giv- ing assurance that a liberal subscription could be had in the event of its selection. "F. G. Montgomery, L. L. Leavell, W. R. Payne, F. C. Sharp and James Ware were then appointed a 'central committee,' and the first Saturday in October selected as the time for the next meeting." What further was subsequently done does not appear, and at last and finally the project fades entirely out of view.
The Henderson & Nashville Road .- In 1839 a charter was granted by the Legislature to build a road from Henderson to Nashville. In 1850-51 it was amended, with Joel Lambert and James Albes of Hen- derson, Powhattan Robertson and A. G. Gordon of Hopkins, and John P. Campbell of Christian, as Directors. These gentlemen called a meet- ing of the stockholders at Madisonville on the 1st of June, 1852, and finding the necessary stock subscribed, proceeded to organize with Hon. Archibald Dixon of Henderson as President of the company. Mr. Dixon resigning in the spring of 1853 was succeeded by Edmund Hopkins of
131
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Henderson. At the annual meeting of the stockholders for this year, the Board of Directors elected were : E. G. Sebree, R. T. Torian, W. E. Price, John P. Campbell, Jr., P. M. Robertson, Joel Lambert, John Woolfork, R. G. Beverly and M. S. Hancock, of whom John P. Camp- bell, Jr., was elected President. Under contract with Messrs. Van Bergen, Ward & Co., of Ohio, ground was broken and the work pushed forward as rapidly as the collection of stock would permit. Efforts were made to secure subscriptions by the several counties in their corporate capacities, but upon submission to the people the measure was defeated. The war came on, the contractors suspended work, and finally abandoned the enterprise.
After the close of the war, in 1865, a meeting of the stockholders was called at Madisonville, and the company was re-organized with John P. Campbell, Jr., President. Proceedings were immediately taken by the Board of Directors to ascertain and liquidate all claims against the road. Suit was instituted for the foreclosure and sale of the road-bed, sale was made, and H. D. Hanson of New York became the purchaser. A new charter was then granted by the Legislature to the company. under the title of the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville Railroad Company, with Gen. Jerry T. Boyle President, and E. G. Sebree, John P. Camp- bell, Jr., D. M. Day and R. T. Durrett, Directors. To the stock of this new organization the city of Henderson subscribed $300,000, the county of Hopkins $150,000, and Christian County $200,000, all of which was secured and paid for by the issuance and delivery of their bonds at par. The contract was then made with Day & Hanson for the building and completion of the road, but the amount of stock taken being insufficient for the purpose, it was afterward re-let to J. Edgar Thompson of Phila- delphia and others, under a lease of the road for five years after its com- pletion.
During the term of this lease the contractors sold out their interest to Winslow & Wilson. The panic of 1873 embarrassed Messrs. Winslow & Wilson. They failed to pay the interest on the bonds and the road passed into the hands of a receiver. Subsequently the bondholders fore- closed the mortgage on the road, and, at its sale, the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad Company became the purchasers, thereby entailing a total loss of stock to both counties and to individual stockholders. Since coming into their hands the road has been extended to St. Louis, by the purchase of the St. Louis & Southeastern Railroad. At present the transfer of freights and passengers between Henderson and Evansville is effected by boats. A bridge, however, is now being constructed across the Ohio River at Henderson, and. when complete a road will be built along the northern bank of the river to connect at Evansville.
8
132
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
With the simple mention of the fact, that a road has been projected and is now in process of construction between Clarksville and Princeton, the sketch of Internal Improvements of Christian County must close. The history of that enterprise, if ever completed, is referred to the pen of the future historian.
Agriculture .- This science is the great source of our prosperity, and is a subject in which we are all interested. It is the parent of all other industries, and as such claims precedence. From it have gone forth the brawn and brain that have subdued the earth, built cities, chained the light- ning, linked the continents, and made all mankind akin. All thriving inter- ests, all prosperous industries, and all trades and professions, receive their means of support either directly or indirectly from agriculture. It is there- fore by right of primogeniture and paramount importance the most indis- pensable of all other industries. Its progress in Christian County since the beginning of the present century is not the least interesting nor the least im- portant part of her history. The pioneers who commenced tilling the soil here with a few rude implements of husbandry, laid the foundation of the more perfect and more comprehensive system of agriculture of the present. They were mostly poor, and compelled to labor for a support, and it re- quired brave hearts, strong arms and willing hands-just such as they pos- sessed-to conquer the difficulties with which they had to contend. These difficulties were not often, if ever, aggravated as elsewhere by the stealthy raids of the red men, the sharp crack of their unerring rifles from secret coverts, or the fiendish yell of their onrush, as with flaming torches they surrounded the lonely cabin of their victims. In many sections of the State it often occurred that, while one-half of the male members were at work clearing the land or tending their small crops, the other half, with guns in hand, were standing guard to protect the laborers from the savages. Here the few Indians adjacent to the early settlements were mostly friendly to the whites, and rarely did any harm, other than a little petty th eving.
The tools and implements with which the pioneer farmer had to work were few in number and of a poor kind. The plow was the old " bar- share," some with and some without coulters ; all had the wooden mold- board and long beam and handles. Generally they were of a size between the one and two-horse plows, for they had to be used in both capacities. The hoes and axes were clumsy implements, and were forged and finished by the ordinary blacksmith. The hoes had no steel in them, and there was but little in the axes, and that little often of an inferior quality. If any of these were broken beyond the ability of the smith at the station to repair, a new supply had to be procured from the older settlements of the East. There was some compensation, however, for all these disadvantages
133
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
under which the pioneer labored. The virgin soil of the hillsides along the wooded sections in the northern part of the county, or of the barren plains of the more southerly or eastern parts, was so fruitful and generous that it yielded bountiful crops, even under poor preparation and cultiva- tion. The first little crop consisted of a "patch " of corn, potatoes, beans, pumpkins, and in some cases a few other " eatables." A small crop of tobacco was considered almost indispensable, and, if possible, a " patch " of flax was grown, from the lint of which the family clothing for summer wear was manufactured. This brought into use the spinning- wheel and the loom, implements that had come with the early settlers, and which constituted the most important articles of housekeeping, as all the females of the family could spin and weave. In the early history of the county it appears the first influx of settlers came principally from North and South Carolina, a few from Virginia, and settled by preference in the northern portion of the county. This preference grew out of the fact that there only were to be had both timber and water in rich abund- ance. The " barren " or " prairie " part of the county, which afforded fine pasturage for their stock, and which really was much the better soil, was not settled until a much later period, and then by a class of better-to- do farmers from Virginia.
The first efforts of the new-comer in the wooded districts was to clear up his little " patch," build him a rude cabin and other necessary and ruder out-buildings. These consisted of a stable for the accommodation of his stock, and a crib or barn for the reception of such little crops as he might be able to raise on his "patch." Step by step the hardy pioneers made encroachments upon the heavy forests with their axes, enlarging their farms and increasing their crops, their flocks and their herds, till in the course of time they had a surplus beyond their own wants and those of their own families. This directed attention to the question of markets, which hitherto had been found only in the Eastern cities, only accessible by overland transportation. But now the navigation of the Cumberland, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers was looked to as a means of obviating these difficulties. The surplus produce of the country was hauled to the Cum - berland, where boats were loaded by enterprising men with bacon, grain, whisky and tobacco, and then floated out to the Ohio, and thence down the Mississippi to New Orleans. Here their cargoes were readily dis- posed of, sometimes for cash and sometimes exchanged for sugar, coffee and molasses, which were brought back with considerable labor and ex pense. As before intimated the later comers from Virginia and else- where were of a wealthier class of farmers, and with them came their one or more families of negro slaves, who had been purchased by their money or had descended to them by inheritance.
134
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Negro Slavery .- As the subject of negro slavery is largely identified with the agriculture of the county, it is, perhaps, deserving of some no- tice in this connection. And as pertinent to the subject, the following ex- tracts from a well-known writer are given :
" Without the labor of the negro, this Western country would have made much slower progress in its settlement, and the character of its popula- tion would probably have been very different. To negro slavery we are doubtless largely indebted for the chivalric character and open-handed hospitality of our fathers. * While the negro, as a slave, had some weaknesses, such as a lack of proper respect for the truth, a pro- pensity to petty pilfering, and a great fondness for alcoholic drinks, yet the masses were faithful to their owners, industrious and economical, and had at heart their welfare, prosperity and good name. They were good operatives on the farm, and, as a rule, were intrusted with the execution of the work to be done in the absence of the proprietor, taking great pride in accomplishing more and better work than was expected of them ; the wife and children of the master were always safe under their protec- tion. Where a man's circumstances compelled him to labor, he would make a 'hand ' with the negroes, requiring no more work of them than he performed himself.
" The negro had his house to himself and family, all of whom were well fed, well clothed in domestic cloth, attended to in sickness by the family physician, and as carefully nursed as any other member of the family. Their supply of fuel for winter use was unlimited, and during cold weather they kept up rousing fires both day and night. Nearly all of them had their ' truck patches' of from a half to an acre of ground, and could raise such produce as suited their taste-sweet potatoes, tobacco and melons being their favorite crops. Saturday afternoon was usually given them to work their 'patches,' and at night the more thrifty would cobble shoes, make brooms, bottom chairs, cut cord-wood and do other odd jobs to make money, which, unfortunately, was too frequently spent_for whisky. Flagrant violations of domestic law were occasionally visited with stripes ; this punishment, however, was rarely resorted to except here and there by a fiend in human shape, who had no fear of God nor respect for the opinions of men. This class were few in number, and were frowned upon by the more respectable class of society. Persons who had not known anything practically of slavery until they came to the country, so soon as their circumstances would permit became the owners of slaves, and almost invariably proved to be the hardest task- masters.
" The slaves, with no cares pressing upon them, were the happiest peo- ple to be found in any community. A failure of the crops, loss of stock,
135
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
or pecuniary troubles, while sympathized in by them, caused none of that anxiety which the owner experienced. They were all men and women raised to habits of industry. They are now all freemen, and the older ones, educated and accustomed to work, are rapidly passing away, while a new generation is coming on ; reared with no restraints, they look upon work as one of the relics of slavery, and prefer anything almost to honest labor. Under this state of things, their future is not very bright nor flat- tering. Many of the slaves belonging to the more conscientious citizens were sufficiently educated to enable them to read the Bible, but the mass received no scholastic training. Their religious instruction, however, was not neglected. At family worship they were brought into the house, the Scriptures read and explained to them, and encouragement to attend church given them. Many of them united with the various churches, whose records will show a considerable number of the colored population among the early membership, a majority of whom were noted for their strong abiding faith and strict moral deportment.
"There were cases in which servants proved incorrigible, and sooner or later this class found their way to the cotton fields of the far South. Negroes were rarely ever reared here as an article of merchandise, but generally for the use of their owner, and if true and trusty were very seldom parted with. Men were encouraged to take their wives at home, if a suitable woman was in the family. If not, they generally found one in the immediate vicinity, when they were allowed to go to see her every night in the week, and as a general thing they were more steadfast to their families than they are now. Husband and wife were always kept together when possible, and often at great sacrifice. When the owner of either husband or wife was about removing to a distant place, some trade would be made, either by purchase or exchange, to prevent their separa- tion. In such cases a man or woman would often be parted with by the owner that otherwise money could not have bought."
This lengthy extract is given, not as an apology or defense of slavery, now no longer cursing the South, thank God; but as a graphic, and, in the main, true and faithful pen-picture of the institution as it then actu- ally existed in Kentucky.
Corn was par excellence the most important crop grown by the early settler. It was in the highest sense the staff of life, for at first it con- stituted the only material for bread. The preparations for the crop were of the simplest kind. The coulter plow was brought into requisition, and the surface of the ground scratched over, but in the absence of this the hoe only sufficed. When the crop attained maturity, the blades were stripped off from the ear downward, and bound into sheaves; then that part of the stalk above cut off and set up into shocks, or, as in some cases,
136
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
used in lieu of clapboards to roof in their cribs. When gathered, the ears were thrown on the ground near the crib in a pile, and all the neighbors summoned to the husking. The " cornshucking " was quite an institution of the period. On many occasions the presiding genius was John Barley- corn, and then they were made the occasion of trials of strength, displays of agility and sometimes the settlement of feuds and difficulties by per- sonal combats. The husking done, the men repaired to the farmer's rude habitation, and then, after a generous repast of venison, " bar meat " and the inevitable ash or johnny-cake, the younger gallants betook themselves to the giddy mazes of the dance, and tripped the light fantastic toe till the wee small hours of the morn.
And now, the corn husked and gathered into the barn, the next diffi- culty in the way was a mill, or rather the lack of one. After the corn had been raised and harvested, there were no mills to grind it into meal. At first and for a time this problem was solved by pounding it in a mor- tar with the butt end of a wedge by way of pestle, or, if the family had one, by grinding it in a coffee mill. By this process a very coarse meal was made, which, being sifted, the finer particles were used as meal, and the coarser as " grits " or hominy, after the husks had been floated off. It was not long, however, until some enterprising individual, actuated by necessity-necessity, they say, is the mother of invention-procured a couple of limestone rocks and improvised a pair of small buhrs, and then constructed a hand-mill, which was permanently placed by the side of the house. When meal was required, two persons would set themselves at the mill: one, taking hold of the shaft, would put the upper stone in motion, while the other would feed the mill with three or four grains of corn at a time, until enough was ground for present use. Of course this had to be repeated at each recurring meal, but, often as otherwise, prob- ably, the meat was eaten without any bread.
This primitive hand-mill was, in the course of time, superseded by the horse or tread-mill, and its advent among the pioneers was, to them, what the steam merchant mill is now to us. It is impossible to tell where the first one was erected or by whom, but its introduction marked the be- ginning of a new era in farming operations. About the beginning of the year 1800, or perhaps sooner, David Youngs brought from Pennsylvania a pair of mill-stones, which were long afterward used in his mill on the East Fork of Little River, near the present Russellville road. About the same time, it is not known whether before or after, the same enterprising miller built another grist-mill on the present site of the well-known Edwards' Mill. It was afterward owned and run for many years by James Bro- naugh.
The first mill-sites condemned by writ of ad quod damnum of the
137
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
court were the following, viz .: One on Big Eddy, by James Shaw, March 21, 1797; one on the Barren Fork of Little River, by Robert Cravens, same date. At the next court in July, 1797, two more were condemned, one by Jacob Doom, Jr., at the Big Barren Spring on Liv- ingston Creek, the other by John Cordery, on Raines' Creek. That on the Sinking Fork of Little River was granted William Dryden, May 15, 1798.
Wheat, though one of the early productions, was not grown to any great extent till after the larger tracts of the "barrens " came into cul- tivation. After the timbered districts had come under more general cul- tivation, however, and the facilities for making flour had increased, the crop became more general in the northern portions of the county. In harvesting the wheat crop, the sickle or reap-hook was used, each operator cutting about four feet. When a "swath " or "through " was cut he would throw the sickle across his shoulder and bind the cut grain back to the beginning. An ordinary hand would cut from one to one and a half acres per day, the wages for which would average from 50 to 75 cents. There were two methods of threshing-one was with the hand-flail'; the other by tramping it out with horses. The cleaning was done by " wind- ing" it with a sheet, viz. : tossing up on a sheet or blanket of a windy day so that the wind would blow the chaff away, or on a calm day, creating a breeze by artificial means. At the first it was ground into flour at the ordinary corn grist-mills, and was afterward " bolted " by hand. The first merchant flouring mill was built by Capt. Cox on Little River about ten or twelve miles from Hopkinsville in 1820. It was rebuilt about twenty years after by James Brewer. The first threshing machine ever used in the county was built by James Bronaugh and his brother-in-law, James Hart, in the year 1834. It was on the same principle as the old " ground-hog," and was the invention of the latter gentleman. The cast- ings were molded for them by Mr. Samuel Stackers at his furnace near Clarksville, Tenn., and the wood-work afterward finished at Mr. Bro- naugh's. They built a second one for John P. Campbell, Sr., in 1838. These machines would thresh out under favorable circumstances as much as 200 bushels a day. The first " ground-hog" machines were brought to the county about 1841 or 1842, by an agent from Cincinnati, Ohio. Next came the horse-power thresher and separator, and now the steam traction engine, with vibrator and separator, bids fair to supersede all others. With these improvements in threshing processes, the mills have kept pace, and we now have such merchant mills as those of Rabbeth & Brownell (Crescent Mills) and F. L. Ellis & Co. (Hopkinsville Mills). These mills when run to their full capacity turn out from 150 to 200 barrels each twenty-four hours. The yield of wheat in the county, for
138
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
the year 1878, was 377,870 bushels, and doubtless much larger since then.
Tobacco .- This is by far the most important crop raised in Christian County. The soil seems peculiarly adapted to the growth of that variety known to the trade as "Hopkinsville Shippers," or " Clarksville Ship- pers " a class grown almost exclusively on the cavernous limestone soils of Southern Kentucky and North Tennessee. "This is the heaviest, richest, most gummy, and fullest of nicotine of any tobacco known." The best family of the weed for this class is the blue and yellow Pryor. The " Big Frederick " and " Morrow " grow larger than the Pryor, but are not so rich and waxy. The white Burley has not as yet been thor- oughly tested by the growers of tobacco here, though some seem to think, under favorable circumstances, it can be grown to profit. One of the most important desiderata in the culture of this variety is the " can- vassing" of the beds so as to insure well-grown plants for the early " wet" seasons. These conditions have not as yet been fairly met, and the test in consequence is not considered conclusive. The crop of all varieties grown in the county in the year 1880, was 12,577,574 pounds. The same year Lancaster County, Penn., with an area of 490,922 acres, grew 23,946,326 pounds, and Pittsylvania County, Va., with an area of 205,465 acres, grew 12,271,533 pounds of tobacco. The area of farm- ing lands in Christian County being 209,339 acres, makes her the "ban- ner" county of the United States, if not of the world.
The honor of having grown and shipped from the county the first hogshead of tobacco is claimed for several persons. Some claim that William Fagin and Abraham Shelton shipped the first hogshead from Eddyville on the Cumberland River to New Orleans. It was rigged up like an exaggerated sod roller, and drawn by a pair of oxen or stout horses, all the way to the river. Others claim the honor for Richard Gaines, a brother-in-law of the famous pioneer Methodist preacher, Peter Cartwright, and the tradition runs that the experiment cost him " more than it come to," or in other words that he lost money on it.
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.