USA > Kentucky > Trigg County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 27
USA > Kentucky > Christian County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 27
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The colored people of the city of Hopkinsville have by assistance of the whites erected a commodious and very good and substantial building, costing, including furniture, grounds, etc., between $2,500 and $3,000, and, with a Principal and a competent corps of teachers, maintain one of the best schools in the State, during eight to ten months in the year.
The colored people manifest as much if not more interest in common schools than the white people of the county, and everything considered they have made remarkable improvement. They certainly deserve much credit for what they have done in this way. It is now conceded by all that the colored people ought to be educated in order that they may un- derstand our laws, and thus become better citizens.
South Kentucky College .- The accompanying sketch of South Ken- tucky College is compiled from its catalogue of 1882-83, which con- tains the history of the college from its organization up to that time. In
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HOPKINSVILLE CITY AND PRECINCT.
February, 1849, the General Assembly of Kentucky passed an act au- thorizing John M. Barnes, Henry J. Stites, Benjamin S. Campbell, John B. Knight, W. F. Bernard, Robert L. Waddill, Jacob Torian, Isaac H. Caldwell and W. A. Edmonds to establish in Hopkinsville, Ky., an in- stitution for the higher education of women, and to "make all such laws, rules and ordinances necessary for the government of said institution as shall not be repugnant to the Constitution and laws of the United States and of this State." In accordance with the provisions of this act, South Kentucky College was opened for the reception of pupils in the autumn of the same year, its first President being John M. Barnes. President Barnes filled the position until his death in 1850, and was succeeded by Enos Campbell, under whose administration the institution grew to such proportions that it became necessary to erect new buildings for the ac- commodation of pupils. Agents were employed by the Board of Trustees to solicit donations for this purpose. Their appeals met with a liberal response from the friends of the college ; the necessary money was soon obtained, and the buildings were erected in 1858, at a total cost-of grounds and buildings-of about $30,000.
The institution continued in successful operation until the spring of 1862, when it was suspended for a time on account of the occupation of Hopkinsville by the military. It was re-opened in the following Sep- tember, and, since the war, under the successful administrations of Presi- dents J. W. Goss, T. A. Crenshaw and R. C. Cave, it has been steadily regaining its former prosperity. During the last six years nine States of the Union and Mexico have been represented among its matriculates. Its managers can point with pride and pleasure to the many young ladies who have been educated within its halls, and are now adorning society and filling honorable stations in life. But the Board of Trustees, satisfied that the institution while conducted on the plan originally adopted, could not meet the wants of the Christian Brotherhood in south Kentucky, and recognizing the demand for an institution of higher grade, in which par- ents may educate their sons as well as their daughters, decided, in a meeting held November 24, 1879, to make a change. They determined to enlarge the faculty, extend the course of study, raise the standard of scholarship, place the institution on a level with the best colleges for young men, and offer its educational advantages to both sexes. In order to effect this change it was necessary to secure an amendment to the char- ter, which was accordingly done.
Subsequent to the amendment of the charter, at a meeting held on the ,7th of February, 1881, it was determined to add to the regular college course of study several departments designed to prepare students for special vocations. In accordance with this determination, the normal
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
and the commercial courses were arranged, and efficient instructors se- cured for them. On the first Monday in September, 1881, the institu- tion was opened under the amended charter, and extended its educational privileges to both sexes. The opening exceeded in point of numbers the expectations of many friends of the institution. The faculty under this arrangement were : R. C. Cave, President, and Professor of English Literature, Philosophy and Logic; S. R. Crumbaugh, Professor of Mathe- matics, Mechanics and Astronomy ; M. L. Lipscomb, Professor of Nat- ural Science; B. C. Deweese, Professor of Ancient Languages ; Addis Albro, Professor of Normal and Commercial Departments ; James A. Young, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and Physiology ; Hon. John W. McPherson, Professor of International, Constitutional and Commercial Law ; Miss C. V. Samuel, Professor of Music ; G. Rossington, Pro- fessor of Music; Miss Susie Edmonds, Principal Preparatory' Depart- ment, Drawing and Painting; and Miss Lizzie Gish, Instructor in Prepar- atory Department.
On the 24th of February, 1884, the college buildings were burned, with a loss of about $13,000, upon which was $9,000 insurance. The destruction of the college was considered a public calamity, but the ener- gy of its managers and friends was evinced in the determination to at once rebuild the institution, and at the present writing (April, 1884) the work is being rapidly pushed forward under its efficient President, Maj. S. R. Crumbaugh, and it is designed to have it ready for the opening of the fall term. It had been leased at the beginning of this year by Maj. Crumbaugh, who had been chosen President of the faculty, and a number of needed improvements made by him, when its destruction by fire put an end for a time to its usefulness.
Samuel R. Crumbaugh .- The present President of the South Ken- tucky College, Maj. Samuel R. Crumbaugh, was born in Logan County, Ky., May 1, 1845, and is a son of John B. and Nancy (Bailey) Crum- baugh, the former of German descent, and the latter descended from English and Irish ancestry ; they were for many years honored citizens of Logan County, but are now deceased. Maj. Crumbaugh was brought up on his father's farm until seventeen. In 1864 he entered the United States Naval Academy, from which he graduated in 1868, receiving the degree conferred by that institution. He stood among the first of his graduating class, consisting of ninety-five members, and was especially noted for his standing in mathematics, mechanics, astronomy and engin- eering. In the list of his classmates appear the, names of Lieut. Charles W. Chipp of New York, Alfred Toree, John G. Talbott, Hugh H. Mc- Gee and others whose names have become famous. From the time of his graduation, in 1868, until January, 1870, Maj. Crumbaugh held the com-
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mission of Adjutant in the Second Regiment in the Regular army, but resigned the position, and entered the Law Department of the Kentucky University, at Lexington, graduating from that institution with the high- est honors. In the following year he accepted the position in Warren College as Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, where he remained three years. Severing his connection with the college, he went to Lon- don, England, where he spent two years attending scientific lectures in the Royal Institution, the Royal School of Mines, and the Institution of En- gineering, and while there received several post-graduate degrees. Upon his return from Europe he accepted the Professorship of Physics and As- tronomy in the University of the South, at Senawee, Tenn., and later, that of Civil and Mechanical Engineering in the Lehigh University.
Maj. Crumbaugh came to Hopkinsville in 1880, as Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in South Kentucky College, and in June, 1882, received the appointment of Collector of Internal Revenue for the Second District of Kentucky, serving until January 1, 1884. His effi- cient services as an educator while first connected with South Kentucky College were duly acknowledged by his election, on the 1st of January, 1884, to the responsible position of President of that institution for a term of ten years.
Maj. Crumbaugh was married at Elkton, Todd County, in 1876, to Miss Ida, daughter of Dixon Black, Esq. They have three children : Pauline, Germania and Arthur Crumbaugh.
Bethel Female College .*- The Hopkinsville Baptist Church has been marked for its devotion to the cause of education. Under its fostering care various private schools were conducted for years prior to the existence of the institution whose history I am requested to prepare. Many now living remember Dr. Ring, Elder W. C. Vanmeter, and Miss Leach as Baptist teachers.
This desire upon the part of the Baptists to educate culminated in 1851 by securing a charter for the Baptist Female Institute, and in 1854 steps were taken to erect the present buildings. Donations were made by the brethren and friends about Hopkinsville and throughout the Bethel Association. The amount of money expended in the grounds and build- ings was about $30,000. John P. Campbell, Thomas M. Buck, John Buckner, Hiram A. Phelps, Joseph M. Cheany, Dr. A. Webber, A. G. Slaughter, R. Dillard and E. B. Richardson were the Trustees under the first charter. In 1858 the institution was re-chartered as Bethel Female High School or College, with all the privileges usual in the best colleges in the State. This charter, at the instance of the Bethel Association, placed the management of the college in the hands of the Green River
* By J. W. Rust, LL. D., President of the College.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Educational Convention for a time, but the act of 1858 was repealed in 1865, and since that time the institution has been working under its original charter.
The building commenced in 1854 was not ready for occupancy till 1856. The line of its Presidents, in the order of their service, is as fol- lows : Dr. W. F. Hill was elected in 1856 and resigned in 1857; Prof. J. W. Rust was elected in 1857 and retired in 1864 ; next came Rev. T. G. Keen, who served until 1866, and was followed by Rev. M. G. Alex- ander, who retired in 1867, when Rev. John F. Dagg was elected, and presided over the institution until 1874. Prof. J. W. Rust was then for the second time called to the Presidency, and has occupied the position ever since.
Bethel Female College is located in the western suburbs of the city. The main building is of brick, three stories high, with basement. The chapel is 30x60 feet, the recitation rooms and family apartments well ventilated, the grounds beautifully shaded, and the whole place is home- like and attractive. The lot contains about six acres. The patronage of the college has been exclusively young ladies, representing the best fam- ilies in the State and surrounding country of the Southwest. The annual attendance has perhaps averaged 100 pupils, about thirty-five of whom have been boarders. The entire boarding capacity, with the President's family, is about sixty. Since 1874 sixty-eight young ladies have grad- uated, and many have taken certificates of proficiency.
The course of instruction, the discipline and the thoroughness of the teaching done in this institution have been the subject of frequent com- mendation, and something of its extent may be inferred from the follow- ing outline of its curriculum : 1, School of Languages, Ancient and Modern ; 2, School of Mathematics, pure and mixed ; 3, School of Eng- lish, embracing Mental and Moral Science and belles-lettres; 4, School of Natural Science ; 5, School of Fine Arts.
Faculty-In 1884 the faculty consists of the following : J. W. Rust, LL. D., President ; Miss Cynta Wesfall, Presiding Teacher ; Mrs. Rust, J. O. Rust, Miss Cora Anderson, Teachers ; Mrs. John F. Dagg, Music and Art; Miss Carrie Breathitt and Miss Nannie Rust, Assistants ; Trust- ees-Rev. J. M. Peay, Chairman ; Judge R. T. Petree, W. W. Ware, J. N. Mills, S. G. Buckner, Hon. J. P. Campbell, Dr. James Rodman, S. E. Trice, J. C. Latham, H. A. Phelps ; the latter gentleman is Secretary.
Benevolent Institutions .- The moral and benevolent institutions wield as great influence in their way as the Christian churches themselves. Of all the charitable and benevolent organizations Freemasonry is the most ancient and honorable. Not the least wonderful feature in Free- masonry is its perpetual youth. All other orders have their time to die.
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HOPKINSVILLE CITY AND PRECINCT.
Human governments flourish and then disappear, leaving only desolation in the places where their glory used to shine. But Freemasonry, origi- nating so long ago that no history tells of its beginning, has survived the decay of dynasties and the revolutions of races, and kept pace with the marvelous march of civilization and Christianity.
Freemasonry was introduced into Hopkinsville in an early day. A lodge was chartered in 1816, of which Charles Caldwell was the first Master. It became. dormant during the Morgan excitement, and the charter was surrendered in 1834. Among the members of that early period were found the names of many of Hopkinsville's noted and business men : James Moore, James Ducker, Thomas and Robert Moore, Francis Wheatley, Gideon Overshiner, Samuel Shryock, James P. Caldwell, Nathan S. Dallam, Archibald Gant, Francis R. Dallam, Rezin Davidge, James H. McLaughlan, Robert P. Henry, Alexander Campbell, John Buckner, John P. Campbell, Samuel Finley, etc., etc.
Hopkinsville Lodge, No. 37, was revived under dispensation February 22, 1840, with Dexter Harding as the first Master. It was chartered in September following. Another lodge, No. 225, was established in Hopkins- ville in 1850, which was, December 22, 1857, incorporated with the old one, under the title of Hopkinsville Lodge, No. 37. This was by joint request of the two lodges. The present officers of the lodge are: W. W. Clark, Master ; Thomas Rodman, Senior Warden; H. H. Abernathy, Junior Warden ; R. M. Fairleigh, Treasurer; R. W. Norwood, Secre- tary ; Bryan Hopper, Senior Deacon ; F. L. Waller, Junior Deacon; W. B. Lander, Tiler.
There is also a Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and a Commandery of Knights Templar in Hopkinsville, and there was a Council of Royal and Select Masters when that branch of the order was in the zenith of its glory. The present officers of Oriental Chapter, No. 14, are as follows : M. . E ... J. I. Landes, High Priest ; E ... J. W. Pritchett, King; E ... R. M. Fairleigh, Scribe; Comp. Thomas Rodman, Captain of the Host; Comp. B. W. Stone, Principal Sojourner; Comp. Frank Waller, Royal Arch Captain ; William Skerritt, Ratcliffe Sutcliff and R. M. Anderson, Grand Masters of the Vails ; Comp. G. W. Lander, Treasurer ; Comp. C. H. Dietrich, Secretary ; Comp. W. B. Lander, Guard. Moore Com- mandery, No. 6, Knights Templar, is officered as follows: Eminent Sir B. W. Stone, Commander; Sir George Poindexter, Generalissimo ; Sir Hunter Wood, Captain-General ; Rev. Sir T. G. Keen, Prelate; Sir S. L. Salter, Senior Warden; Sir R. M. Fairleigh, Junior Warden ; Sir J. W. Pritchett, Treasurer ; Sir Nat. Gaither, Recorder ; Sir William Sker- ritt, Standard Bearer; Sir F. J. Brownell, Sword Bearer ; Sir H. B. Garner, Warder; Sir W. B. Lander, Captain of the Guard.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Hopkinsville has furnished the State a Grand Master of Masons and a Grand Commander of Knights Templar in the person of Dr. R. M. Fairleigh. He served in the former position several years ago, and is at present filling the high and honorable position of Grand Commander of the State. Among the old members who served Masonry long and faithfully are James Moore, George Poindexter and Kirtley Twyman, the latter two still living, but the former has been called to the Grand Lodge on high. Many other faithful members of the fraternity might be mentioned, but the three referred to deserve special notice for their long labors in the lodge here below.
Odd-fellowship, the twin sister of Freemasonry in charity and benev- olence, is represented in Hopkinsville by Green River Lodge No. 54, and Mercy Encampment No. 31. The following are the officers of Green River Lodge No. 54, I. O. O. F .: U. H. Moore, N. G .; W. C. Wright, V. G .; W. T. Bonte, Secretary ; D. R. Beard, Treasurer. Mercy En- campment No. 31, has the following officers : W. C. Wright, P. C. P .; U. H. Moore, C. P .; H. F. McCaney, H. P .; W. D. Ennis, S. W .; W. T. Bonte, J. W .; J. B. Cheaney, Secretary, and D. R. Beard, Treasurer.
Evergreen Lodge No. 38, K. of P., was organized March 26, 1876, with nineteen charter members. The first officers were W. C. McPher- son, P. C .; G. B. Underwood, C. C .; Joe McCarroll, V. C .; J. S. Chas- tain, Prelate; William L. Twyman, M. of E .; F. L. Waller, M. of F .; G. H. Speak, K. of R. and S .; James J. Bumpus, M. at A .; F. A. C. Myrick, I. G .; John B. Cheaney, O. G. The present officers are : J. W. Cross, P. C .; Ben Thompson, C. C .; R. M. Anderson, V. C .; R. W. Henry, Prelate ; J. S. Forrey, M. of E .; W. C. Wright, M. of F .; An- drew Seargent, K. of R. and S .; M. L. Elb, M. of A .; T. B. Burbridge, I. G .; C. W. Ducker, O. G. The lodge has ninety-four members.
There are a great many other orders and fraternities represented in the city, such as the Royal Arcanum, Knights of Honor, Golden Cross, United Workmen, Chosen Friends, Endowment Rank of K. of P. and a number of others, but our space will not admit of further notice.
The Hopkinsville Horticultural Gardens were once a beautiful place of resort, and occupied the ground where the amphitheater of the Agricul- tural Association now stands. The prime movers in them were Dr. Montgomery and Dr. David Glass, who established them in 1836. They were handsomely laid out and beautifully shaded with trees and ornament- ed with shrubbery and flowers. They displayed considerable refinement and taste, and it is to be regretted that they were allowed to pass out of existence. That they did pass away, is perhaps attributable to the fact that nearly every family has its own flower gardens and greenhouses.
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HOPKINSVILLE CITY AND PRECINCT.
Hopkinsville is justly noted for the taste of its citizens in this regard-a taste that is commendable in any people.
Holland's Opera House is an ornament to Hopkinsville. It is one of the finest theaters in the State outside of Louisville, and was opened in September, 1882. It is a three story brick building, has a frontage of 80 feet, a depth of 125 feet and a seating capacity of 700. In its construc- tion, every precaution has been taken to guard against fire, and it is said that it can be easily cleared of a 600-audience in from three to four min- utes. Much credit is due to the projectors of the building, and the people of the city should be proud of their opera house. We are not of those who believe that the theater is the by-way to perdition. Young people must have some place of amusement, and there are many worse places than a well-conducted theater .- Perrin.
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CASKY, PEMBROKE AND LONGVIEW PRECINCTS.
CHAPTER XI.
CASKY, PEMBROKE AND LONGVIEW PRECINCTS-GENERAL DESCRIPTION- EARLY SETTLEMENTS-SOME NORTH CAROLINA TORIES-BLOCK-HOUSES IN THE OLD DAVIS SETTLEMENT-GOING TO RUSSELLVILLE TO MILL- RUMSEY'S AND COLEMAN'S MILLS-OTHER SETTLERS-MORALIZING ON THE NEGRO'S FUTURE-EDUCATIONAL-EARLY SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS -RELIGIOUS-OLD BETHEL CHURCH-OTHER CONGREGATIONS-VIL- LAGES-THE BUSINESS OF PEMBROKE-SUMMARY-THE CASKY GRANGE, ETC., ETC.
H TE who attempts to present with unvarying accuracy the annals of a county or even a precinct, whose history reaches back through the long stretch of a century of years, imposes upon himself a task beset with many difficulties. These difficulties, manifold and perplexing in them- selves, are often augmented by conflicting statements and varying data furnished by well-meaning descendants of early settlers, as material from which to compile a true and faithful record of past events. To give facts and facts only should be the aim and ambition of him who professes to deal with the past, and in the pages which follow the writer inclines to those statements supported by the greater weight of testimony, and the more reasonable air of probability.
Little over a century ago this part of "the far West " was a vast wilderness, undisturbed by the aggressive presence of the white man. Its history begins with the initial settlement, in 1782-85, of the present Barker's Mill Precinct, of Longview Magisterial District, by Davis and his cotemporaries. This settlement was the nucleus around which the immediately succeeding after-comers grouped themselves, and for this reason more especially, the Precincts of Casky, Pembroke and Longview are taken together in this sketch. They comprehend within their several boundaries all that portion of southeastern Christian first settled by the whites, at least the major portion of it, and their present populations are the common out-growth of that settlement. Many of the time-honored names of the early settlers worn by their lineal descendants are still to be found in each of these precincts, while yet again the names of many others who were cotemporaries, but have left no representatives, are lost to all save the faint traditions of the past. Immediately succeeding the Davises came the Galbraith brothers-John, Angus, Duncan and Daniel, who settled in the vicinity. They were "canny Scots," and came here from
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
North Carolina, where, during the struggle between England and her rebellious colonies, they had played the unpopular rôle of Tories. But if North Carolina was made uncomfortably hot as a place of residence for them by the returning heroes of that war after peace was declared, Ken- tucky they found no less uncongenial. As soon as they were recognized as ex-Tories, and it became known to their neighbors, they were not only completely tabooed socially by their families, but in many instances their unfriendliness, we are told, took the form of positive aggression. Like the uncomfortable chestnuts of fabled notoriety, by coming to Kentucky they had jumped from the heated oven sheer into the fire. Another family of the same ilk, who had come about the same time and from the same State, were the Blues, consisting of Neil, Sandy and John and their families. They also were Scotch, but not of the "kirk " as one would naturally suppose, but as tradition has it, good old Iron Jacket or Hard-shell Bap- tists. But Iron Jackets or Hard-shells though they might be, their encasements were not proof against the hot vials of wrath poured out upon them. With their belongings, they soon betook themselves to the farther wilds of Missouri, and there unrecognized and unknown they found sur- cease from further persecution and trouble. Another family who came about the same time or soon after from the State of North Carolina, but whose politics are not certainly known, was that of the McFaddens. There were two brothers of them, John and Jacob, and they pitched their tents, metaphorically, upon the land now owned by the Duerson brothers. John kept a race-horse and ran a still, or kept a still and ran a race- horse, and was altogether a fast " old boy " of those young days of the Commonwealth. But little is known of Jacob, but it is to be hoped he was less rapid than he of the race horse and still. John lived to be cotemporary with many of the present day, and Curtis Wood says he remembers him well. He was a large, rawboned man, and used to boast he never had dared hit a man with his fists as hard as he could, for fear of killing him : he always slapped his antagonists over with his open palms. When sober, he was as sober as a judge, drunk or sober; and when drunk was as drunk as a drunken fiddler, sober or drunk. But drunk or sober he was a hard case, and by parity of reasoning, a Hard-shell sala- mander if not a Hard-shell Baptist.
These were some among the earliest settlers that came to the county. They found the whole southeastern part of the country a " barren " or prairie as we have before said, and though there was an abundance of game and water, there was great scarcity of fuel and building material. For the former they were limited to the roots that could be " grubbed " out of the ground, sometimes as large round as a man's thigh and some- times larger. These were generally indicated by a shoot or switch, the
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CASKY, PEMBROKE AND LONGVIEW PRECINCTS.
growth of a season, and were dug out with a mattock with great labor and effort. An expert hand could " grub " out one of these tap-roots, gen- erally hickory, in about half an hour. For building material they were compelled to resort to distant groves on the outskirts of the " barrens," though now and then small clumps of trees were to be found about par- ticular springs and basins. There were only friendly Indians in the immediate neighborhood, yet occasional incursions were made by small marauding parties of Creeks and Shawanese from the territory farther on toward the Ohio River, and from these and any other dangers that might arise the pioneers resorted to the protection of forts or block-houses. On the old Fortson's place there long stood a block-house, with loop-holes cut in the sides and a thick slab door made out of walnut. An anecdote in connection with this primitive structure is related of an old German who had just moved in. With his mind full of apprehension as to dangers from the Indians, he one day saw a party of five or six men in the dis- tance, and magnifying them into a whole tribe of hostiles, started on a dead run for the fort some eight miles distant. The inmates at once prepared for defense, but in a short time were re-assured by the appear- ance of the hostiles themselves, who turned out to be a small party of hunters from an adjoining settlement.
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