USA > Kentucky > Trigg County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 28
USA > Kentucky > Christian County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 28
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
At first breadstuffs were very scarce, and the settlers had to go to Russellville, in Logan County, or over into the State of Tennessee for their milling. After a while, however, Dr. Edward Rumsey, brother of the famous inventor of the steamboat, and father to the Hon. Edward Rumsey, moved into the neighborhood from Botetourt, Va., and being himself of an inventive turn of mind, erected a mill on the West Fork of Red River,'to which they resorted. But as breadstuffs and other neces- saries and conveniences of living began to increase, game, such as deer, bears, turkeys, etc., began to decrease, and the more nomadic elements of society, such as the professional hunters and trappers, began to seek for localities where they were more plenty. But as these folded their tents and, like the Arab, "stole silently away," others came in to take their place and fill up the vacancy. Among these were the Moores, Gordons, Joneses, all related ; the Gilmores, who settled the place afterward owned by David Parish, the father-in-law of James A. Mckenzie, present Secretary of State. Many excellent families from Virginia and elsewhere, who had settled along the Tennessee line when the line was run, found themselves much to their dissatisfaction included within the boundaries of that State. It is said that Joshua Cates, who owned land thus " counted out," though he did not live on it, offered $1,000 to have the line so run as to include it within the boundaries of Kentucky, alleging as his reason for the preference that, "new countries were always unhealthy."
264
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
The next influx of settlers came about the beginning of the century, and were, many of them, cultivated people for that day, and possessed of large estates of land and negroes. Among them was Dr. Rumsey, who has been mentioned, and Dr. John F. Bell, who, though he came some time later, afterward bought the James Davis farm, the first land acquired and settled upon in the county. " The Drs. Rumsey and Bell, especially the latter, were esteemed for their professional skill and great urbanity, and were for a long time the only physicians in a radius of many miles around. Bell first settled at Trenton, but afterward removed to his farm. Benja- min, Joseph and Thomas Kelly, brothers, came from Maryland in 1804 and settled on a place in the neighborhood of Dr. Rumsey ; farmers, good, reputable citizens, and left large families. Ben's sons were Roger F., Ben, William, James and Horace, and several daughters. Joseph's sons were R. H. and Edwin, and several daughters. Thomas had two children -Dr. Duke Kelly, of Nashville, and Mrs. David S. Patton. Dr. Bell lived to a good old age, and died but a year or two ago; sons-John, Darwin, Cincinnatus, and five daughters. Robert Coleman, who came about this time from Culpeper County, Va., was a rare specimen of the genus homo. He was a lawyer by profession, and attended the courts at Hopkinsville, Russellville, Nashville and some say at Salem, in Caldwell County, then county seat of Livingston. It is related of him, by those who remember him as a practitioner at the Hopkinsville bar, that he al- ways brought food for himself and horse in a large cotton wallet, and would never go to a house of " entertainment" for his meals. On one occasion, while in the midst of an impassioned address to the jury on be- half of his client, he happened to look out of the door toward his horse, and seeing an old sow with his wallet under her feet in the mud, he ex- cused himself to the Judge, ran out and recovered the sack, if not its contents, and returning took. up the thread of his argument where he had left off, and finished as though nothing had ever happened to disturb his equanimity. He settled on the farm now owned by William Perkins, on the West Fork of Red River, three miles southeast of Pembroke. He was also a speculator in lands and negroes, and in time acquired a large estate of both. He afterward built a "grist-mill" on the West Fork near his residence, which was perhaps, next to Rumsey's, the first in that portion of the county. His residence was a large two-story brick, the first in the county, and being conveniently situated, he opened it to the general pub- lic as a house of entertainment. In front was a large post, surmounted by a flaming sign on which was painted a lion rampant, and the comfort- ing assurance to the weary traveler that here was to be had " entertain- ment for both man and beast." This old Coleman residence, elegant in its day, stood till only a few years ago-1879, when it was torn down by
265
CASKY, PEMBROKE AND LONGVIEW PRECINCTS.
the present owner, Isaac Garnett, and remodeled into a one-story cottage. John D. Jameson, of Hopkinsville, about 1820 married one of Coleman's daughters, and removed to the neighborhood.
Early in the century several German families moved into the same neighborhood, but from what point of the compass, unless directly from Germany, cannot now be ascertained. Among them were the Kenners, Bollingers, Massies, etc., who are all supposed to have been related. Jo- seph Kenner, the founder of the Kenner family, was a raw Dutchman, and he, or one of his sons, is the man that ran away from the supposed Indians. About 1830 he got into dispute with a neighbor, one Ballard, over a calf. Both claimed it, and both brought forward voluminous testi- mony to prove their claims. But Kenner had it in possession, and " per- sesshun bein' nine pints in the law," he of course refused to give it up. Finally, after many hot words between them, through the kind offices of mutual friends, it was agreed to arbitrate the matter. The arbitrators were selected and the day agreed on, but before its arrival Kenner either to settle the matter in his own favor beyond peradventure or fearing the result of investigation killed it, and under cover of night carried the skin to a distant tanner. This transpiring on the day of arbitration, Ballard brought suit against Kenner before Squire Bradshaw for its price-$10. On the day of trial, Ballard's witnesses swore they had seen it while in Kenner's possession, and were satisfied it was Ballard's calf. They rec- ognized it by certain spots on its body, and the horns which were of un- equal length. In rebuttal to this, however, others of Kenner's neighbors swore as point blank the other way. They had known the calf quite as intimately, and were ready to swear it had always been on Kenner's place, from the time of its birth till killed. Thus matters stood at even poise between them, inclining, if anything, in favor of the old Teuton, when one of his daughters was put on the stand. She was equally positive as to the identity of the calf; indeed, too much so, for on being asked the question if one of the calf's horns was not somewhat shorter than the other promptly replied : "Nein ! nein ! dot ish a lie. It vas not shorter as de oder, but longer." Ballard's lawyer, in making his closing argu- ment, insisted that the only statute covering the case was to be found in the Levitical code, and required that the trespasser should be made to repay its value four-fold. Squire Bradshaw, though giving judgment in his client's favor, declined going so far back for either law or precedent. He adjudged the damages at $10, the supposed value of the calf. A reli- able negro man of Kenner's long afterward told Squire Hord, now of Trenton, Todd County, that the calf was certainly Kenner's, and had been born and reared on the place, and that the old gentleman only in- tended to end all complications, as he thought, by killing and skinning it.
266
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Edwin Hall was another early settler and located on a farm adjoining the McFadden place. He was a good citizen and worthy man, but beyond this little else is known. The Hall place is now the property of Joseph Waddill. Azariah Davis was Hall's nearest neighbor and built a saw-mill on his place. He was a regular land shark and gave the neighbors much trouble by picking flaws in their titles. Many of the original surveys on account of the high prairie or barrens grass were made on horseback, and subsequently were found to overrun the measure largely. Davis, ascertaining the fact, in many cases gave his neighbors great trouble. Squire Hord's father, Thomas Hord, who settled on the farm now owned by Stephen Hanna near Salubria, at one time paid him several hundred dollars to get rid of him and avoid a lawsuit. Some have thought him to be a son or relative of James Davis, but the probabilities are he was neither. Edward Bradshaw was a native of Virginia, and when only a child removed with his parents to Jessamine County, Ky., and in 1803 to Christian County, and located on the farm now owned by Thomas Greene near Casky Station. His brothers, Benjamin and William Bradshaw, came to the county a few years later, and settled in Casky.
Daniel Benham came to the county at a very early day, and settled on the place now owned by Edward Welch, colored, one and a half miles northeast of Pembroke. He built a " still " on his place, and besides tanned leather in a small way. He afterward removed with his family to Texas. Robert Harrison was another " old timer," and located on the place now belonging to W. H. Fortson. Before his death he had a fine grove of red oaks blown down by a May cyclone, and utilized the timber by hav- ing it sawed up into lumber. This was a great convenience to the people who in those days had to go a long way off to get building material. Joshua Brockman came with his sister, Mrs. Mason, from Virginia and built on the farm now owned by John Lackey. His was a peculiar case. Though an invalid and confined to his bed for many years, such was his administrative ability he managed to carry on his farm with negroes, and attended successfully to many other affairs at the same time. He died a bachelor possessed of much land and many negroes, and was buried at the Bethel Cemetery. James Walsh, another early settler, was a carpen- ter and settled on the present Payne farm. He built a house for Maj. Isaac H. Evans once, over' which he and the Major had a disagreement. In the course of their altercation Walsh said to Evans : "Maj. Evans, I have a contemptible opinion of any one that would act as you have done in this mat- ter." "Sir," said the Major in reply, " I never knew you to have an opin- ion that wasn't contemptible." Should any reader by accident stumble upon this original anecdote in an old school reader or elsewhere, and find it attributed to somebody else, we hope he will give Walsh the benefit of the
267
CASKY, PEMBROKE AND LONGVIEW PRECINCTS.
doubt, even though it should rob the Major of the honor of so neat a retort. Walsh was a good carpenter, and an estimable citizen every way, and left sev - eral worthy sons behind him, and it is to be hoped he never was really so colloquially worsted. A more authentic anecdote perhaps is told of one James Sanders, a Virginian from along the North Carolina border, and a neighbor of Walsh's. Sanders during his first wife's life-time had been a very profane man, but after his second marriage through his wife's influ- ence had become religious and joined the Baptist Church at Bethel. During the war a Federal soldier rode up to his front porch, and against his earnest protest, took a nicely tanned sheep-skin. In telling a friend of the occurrence afterward he said : "I'll tell you what, Davy ! I'll be d-d (as I used to say) if I wasn't mad enough to have cussed him right then and there." The reformed swearer often has to correct him- self with an "as I used to say." The farm settled by James Sanders is now the property of Messrs. Garnett, Dudley and Williams.
James Harlan, from Mercer County and a relative of Hon. John M. Harlan, one of the present Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, came to the county at an early day, and settled on the farm now owned by W. D. Garnett. Little else is known of him than the fact that he was a good farmer and a worthy citizen. Another family, since dis- tinguished by one of its representatives, was that of Samuel Davis, father of Jeff Davis, President of the late Southern Confederacy. For many years Mr. Davis lived in Fairview just over the Pembroke line in the house where his distinguished son was born. He was a County Surveyor, and highly respected by all who knew him. From some cause or other later on he became unfortunate in business, broke up and moved to Mis- sissippi. A few years ago, when Mr. Davis came back to his native county to make an address, his friends drove him over to Fairview to see the old place. Among other early settlers were Austin Cason, a Virgin- ian and a soldier of 1812, a very tall man. James Bowles came from North Carolina at a very early day, it is supposed about the time Barthol- omew Wood came to the county. He settled near Casky in what was long known as the Bowles neighborhood. He left four or five sons : James, Austin, David and Gus and perhaps George, all of whom or a majority of them settled around him. Gus afterward married a grand-daughter of Bat Wood. Thomas Hord, a very large man who weighed about 280 pounds, and Owen Smith, another soldier of 1812, and father of Capt. Thomas Smith, now of Florida. were other settlers. Smith was a man of fine humor, and very companionable, and what is unusual in such cases died possessed of a fine estate.
James Garnett came shortly after Thomas Hord from Virginia, and though poor at first, by provident living and good management soon ac-
268
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
quired a comfortable property. He was the father of Ben, Eldred, and James Garnett, the latter of whom married the daughter of James Davis, the first settler, or Azariah Davis, of whom we have spoken. James died a few months ago near Pembroke, lamented by his many friends. John Rawlins came from Maryland and brought with him a dried frog which he used in some way to cure horses for the big-head and other kindred dis- eases. He was a stanch Episcopalian, lived a long and useful life, and finally died at his old homestead. Joseph Casky, who is men- tioned elsewhere, settled in Casky in the Bradshaw neighborhood and afterward removed to Casky Station. He reared a large family of sons- Robert, John, Joseph, James, Charles and William-and several daughters. Mr. Casky after the Revolutionary war, in which he served, lived with the father of Henry Clay and married a young lady who was either a relative or a ward of the family. Casky Station is named for the Cas- ky family. James Hall came at an early day from Caroline County, Va., and settled one-half mile west from Pembroke, on the Garnett place. Hall was much opposed to railroads and said to Squire Hord when the present road was under contemplation, " Davy, it's bad enough to have the railroad run right through my place and cut it up, but I understand they are going to make a 'deposit ' on it, and blamed if I stand that." These are only a few of the earlier settlers, selected here and there from about over the three precincts, but they will serve as ensamples of the rest. They were much above the average " early settler " in point of intelli- gence, cultivation and wealth, and have left a healthy, brawny progeny behind them. Generally they were possessed of large numbers of negroes, who were made very serviceable in cultivating their large and productive farms, and when the war came on Christian County was one of the larg- est slave-holding counties in the State. The slaves were in the main well cared for, having comfortable houses, good and sufficient clothing and plenty of food. And as an evidence of this good treatment they were the happiest, best contented and most docile race to be found on the globe. There were exceptional cases of abuse and ill-treatment, it is true, but in such cases the hard task-master was universally held up to public oppro- brium. The brutal master was classed among the petty tyrants of a com- munity, and held in as little esteem as a brutal father, a wife-beater et id genus omne. There can be no question of these facts, and the candid historian must give them recognition. As to the questions of public pol- icy and expediency involved in the sudden and wholesale liberation of the negroes among their former owners, only the future can determine. It is an open, unsolved problem as yet, and it remains to be seen what the so- lution shall be. That the whites have been materially advantaged by the change is generally conceded, but, on the other hand, there are grave
269
CASKY, PEMBROKE AND LONGVIEW PRECINCTS.
doubts in the minds of many eminent publicists and humanitarians as to the betterment of the negroes themselves.
As a political factor the negro has proved himself highly super-serv- iceable to the place-hunter and demagogue, thereby contributing much to the corruption of local and general politics, while as a social factor he has proved himself in every sense a pronounced and hopeless failure. So far the best efforts in his behalf by those who would elevate his con- dition morally as well as intellectually, have met with but poor encour- agement. Left to himself and his own unbridled inclinations, he is peopling the land with a nation of bastards, wrapping himself in the loathsomeness of disease, and spreading foulness and contagion broadcast among his own kith and kindred. And the question is, a most startling question, how far shall his example influence and corrupt those who were his whilom masters, and are his present employers ? The only possible solution of the whole question lies in his future mental, moral, if not social elevation, and it is the duty of every good citizen to heartily co- operate with well-directed effort to this end. With better methods backed by such co-operation, much may yet be done for the betterment of this helpless infant ward of the nation. Being almost universally slave-holders, and per consequence Southern in sentiment, when the war came the people in this portion of the county, as was natural, poured out their treasures most lavishly in defense of the Southern cause. Many of their best and bravest went out at the first sound of the tocsin of war, while others equally brave stayed behind to defend their homes and hearthstones. A few gallant spirits, it is true, went the other way, but the great bulk of her chivalry went into the Southern army. And what of the horrors, and sufferings, and sacrifices of those four years of bitter, deadly strife ? Was it all in vain ? No. Amid the wreck and waste of homes and fortunes they carved out for themselves a monument of most endur- ing fame. Though they did not conquer a peace they conquered the hearts of their enemies, and to-day they live embalmed in their love, admiration and esteem. Though at a fearful cost the lesson has been mutually salutary in this regard. With the return of peace came altered fortunes and relations to all. The negro dazed with the splendor of his new fortunes refused to work, while his former master stunned with the magnitude of his calamities sat down to mourn. No amount of persua- sion or intimidation could get Sambo back to his hoe and plow, as no amount of convincing could rob him of his illusory hope of a mule and a hundred acres of land. Only the logic of hunger and pinching want was finally equal to the task of disillusion and persuasion. At first he worked by chores and jobs, and only as the real truth began to dawn on his mind, did he set about in earnest to try to earn " in the sweat of his brow,"
1
270
HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
a daily subsistence for himself and family. The twenty years that have passed since then have served to convince both master and man of this one fact, at least, that they are mutually dependent upon each other, and what affects the one necessarily in a greater or less degree affects the other.
But to recur to the early organization of society in this part of the county. At first there were but few schools taught in any of the rural districts, and in these only the rudimentary elements of an education were taught. Reading, writing and arithmetic, and seldom grammar or the higher branches were embraced in their curriculum. The term generally extended to the period of ten or eleven months, and in a majority of cases was all the schooling one received. The first school we have any account of was in the neighborhood of the first settlement on the place of Squire Hewlands. It was a common log-pen chinked and daubed, and stood in the woods on a hill on the old Nashville road. The door was of clap- boards, the benches, slabs or puncheons with wooden legs, while the only light that ever smiled in upon the master and his pupils, was either through the wide open door, or a long narrow opening in the side of the pen made by cutting out a section of one or more of the logs. Here for four mortal hours at a stretch, with dangling feet and bowing backs day after day, the future Solons of the State drank in the wisdom of their well-thumbed books. One of the first teachers in this old uncomfortable structure was a man by the name of Brown. D. Brown, perhaps for "Done-Brown." That he was a good teacher and a rigid disciplinarian is about all that can be recalled of him. He taught somewhere about the years 1825-28, but as the building was even then somewhat ancient and dilapidated, it is but presumable that others had long before taught in it. The next one to preside over its fortunes and guide and train its callow minds, was one Isaac H. Evans. As early as 1830-33, one Tompkins, a Virginian, taught on David Kenner's place, and after him, one Hammond, about whose antecedents nothing is now known. This school was afterward moved to Madison Coleman's place on Montgomery Creek, where in 1835- 36 it was taught by Isaac Clark, then by Joseph Bell, and then again by Hammond. Another school was taught about the same time, 1835-40, by Ned Rudder, a Virginian, on the Finch farm, three or four miles east of Pembroke. At quite an early day W. H. Tandy, an amiable man and a good teacher, taught at Salubria in the old Finley Schoolhouse, which was also at the same time used as a preaching point by Cumberland Pres- byterians, Baptists and Methodists. He was an excellent pedagogue, and taught for many years with great acceptability. He was succeeded, about 1841, by William Casky, now a distinguished minister in the Cumber- land Presbyterian Church, then by William Rayne, still of Salubria, James Weaver, Mrs. Harriet Noll, Albert Lindsey, and last, but not least,
271
CASKY, PEMBROKE AND LONGVIEW PRECINCTS.
Prof. Hendrick, a noted educator. These are some among the earlier schools, and the highest evidence of their efficiency is to be found in the character and the intelligence of the few who remain who were taught by them. At present the number of good schools taught in these precincts has largely increased, and there is scarcely a neighborhood that cannot boast one or more.
Among the early adventurers into the wilds of south Christian, doubt- less, came many who were professed followers of the meek and lowly Nazarene, and who, before leaving their homes in Virginia, North and South Carolina, and elsewhere, had attached themselves to one or other of the Evangelical churches. It is impossible now to tell which came first, or which at first preponderated, but probably the Baptists were first-that is, the Hard-shells, as there is a tradition of a church of that sect near James Davis' very early, which is noticed in a preceding chapter. One of the earlier organizations of the later Baptists of which we have any account is that at Pembroke, a sketch of which is appended, and the facts of which are furnished us by Mr. E. J. Murphy.
Bethel Baptist Church .- This church was organized January 22, 1814, at Salubria Springs, with the following-named members: Benja- min Bradley, James Davis, James Hughes, William Tandy, Mills Tandy, John Pendleton, Vincent Snelling, John Jackson, Mary Bradley, Hannah Davis, Sarah Hughes, Elizabeth Tandy, Frances Pendleton, Amelia Tandy and Mary Jackson. At first it was but an arm of the West Fork Church, but on the 22d of March, 1816, it was constituted by Elders Leonard Page, Reuben Ross, Jesse Brooks and several lay brethren an independent church. The present church edifice, built and dedicated in 1823, stands on a lot of nine and a half acres of ground near the village of Pembroke. Though a large, commodious and comfortable house, the present membership has it in contemplation to build a more modern and tasty structure in the town near by, and will doubtless soon have it un- der way. The church also owns in Pembroke a comfortable parsonage with some three or four acres of ground attached. Among the pastors who have served this church are to be found the names of some eminently pious and good men, as will be seen from the following list: Elders William Tandy, J. M. Pendleton, Reuben Ross, J. M. Bennett, R. W. Morehead, George Hunt, T. G. Keen, E. N. Dickens and J. M. Peay. The church is still in a very flourishing condition and has a large mem- bership.
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.