USA > Kentucky > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Kentucky, together with sketches of its cities, villages, and townships, educational religious, civil military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, biographies of representative citizens, and an outline history of Kentucky > Part 27
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1855.
January .- 1, river in fair order, but fell toward middle ot the month. Lovely weather about the 16th, but the month generally was cold; 23, snow three inches deep; 30-31, ice four inches thick. February .- Cold; river full of ice.
March .- 1, beautiful; 15, river high. First half of the month, over six inches of rain.
April .- 14, trees budding finely; river in fine order; 25, ther- mometer reached 90°.
June .- River in fine order; a fine crop of wheat; 18, a hurri- cane.
July .- River well up Garden vegetables abundant and good 16, high wind and rain, prostrating much of the corn.
September .- 1-4, very wet weather. Most of the month hot.
October .- 7, frost and ice; 12, frost; 14-15, lovely weather; 18, dusty; 25, heavy frost and ice; 29-31, warm and delightful. A wet month.
November .- 15, 74°, warmest day of the month; 22-24, chilly.
December .- 27, ice four inches thick. Some warm weather and lovely days this month.
1856.
January .- 4, 3 ºbelow zero; ice seven and a half inches thick; 5 and 8, 7º below zero; 9, 16° below; 10, 12° below; 17, snow melted off; 26, wind, snow and hail; 31, snow four inches deep. River full of ice and no navigation this month.
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February .- 1, snowy and sleighing; 3, 16° below zero out of doors; 4, 23° below zero; skating on the river; 5, 14° below; 9, thaw; 11, sloppy; 19, thawing, and snow nearly all gone; 20, more snow; 23, snow gone; 25-29, river full of ice, but navigation com- mences. Roads muddy.
March .-- 1, rain, sleet and snow; 2, snow all gone and river clear of ice; 4, roads drying out; blustering; 10, thermometer 12º; 1- 20, river falling; 27, snowy, chilly day; 31, no signs of spring. Farmers complaining of want of rain, and tobacco too dry to strip.
April .- 5, spring-like day. Dry month. River in good order. May .- River at good stage all the month; 30-31, slight frost.
June .- Dry, river low, and latter part of the month hot.
July .- 15, very hot-94°; 16, 96°; 17, 99°; whole month dry and crops burning up.
Angust .- Hot, and a moderate quantity of rain.
September .- 1-17, hot days and nights; 19, river very low; 22, light frost; 24 and 25, heavy frost, injuring the tobacco crop very much; 25, river lower than ever.
October .- 1, heavy frost; 1-12, very dry and dusty; 13, rain; 17, Indian summer.
November .- Dry. Woods on fire. River low.
December .--- Nothing remarkable.
1857.
January .- 8, ice four to six inches thick; 19, 12º below zero- coldest day known up to this time; 22, 8° below zero; 26, snow melting away; 28-30, skating on the river.
February .-- 3, ice broke; 8, river rising fast; 10, coldest day of this month: river high and full of ice, in small pieces; 13, river clear of ice; and 18, falling fast.
March .- 9, coldest day of this month; 19, river becoming very low; no packet running; 30, dry weather; 31, shower.
April .- Remarkable weather; 1-21, fires necessary; 2, 9, 10, 20, frost and ice; 17, snow; fruits and young tobacco generally killed. The last few days it warmed up some and vegetation started.
May .- 7, frost; 15-20, cold enough to have fires all day; tobacco set out again the latter part of this month.
July .- 3, fire necessary again, in the morning; 11, 17, 18, 19, 25, hot.
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August .- 2, 8, 11,16, 24, thermometer 90° to 95°. River in good order the first part of the month, then went down the re- mainder of the month.
September .- 13 and 14, hot and sultry; 24, light frost. River low, and first half of the month dry and dusty.
October .- 11, 80°; 17, frost and ice; 20, heavy frost. Dry un- til the last week of the month.
November .- Rather cool.
December .- Very little winter weather. Some rain.
1858.
January .- A very open winter. Corn crop turns out poorly, on account of the freeze in November. Weather has been so wet that many farmers are not half done gathering their corn. Tobacco crop very large.
February .- A disagreeable month; 1, snow three inches deep; a chilling, disagreeable atmosphere; 2, snow nearly all melted off; 10, thermometer 30° in the hall,-coldest day of the winter so far; 11, ice not over an inch thick; 21, one of the dreariest of days; 23, ice three inches thick; 27, snow almost gone; 28, sleet, snow, etc.
March .- 6, ground covered with ice; 8, river in good order; 14, summer-like day; 16, everybody gardening; 29, frost.
April .- 7, trees putting out leaves; 26, chilly; 27, frost and ice endangering fruit.
May .- 11, very wet and disagreeably cold; 12, frost; 20, fire necessary. Farmers complained of too much rain the first part of the month. River very high.
June .- 27, thermometer 98°; river falling fast. A wet month, and oats for the first time in this region ruined by rust, and wheat badly damaged by it.
August. - A hot month until the 26th; after this time chills were prevalent. Wheat small and shriveled. Not enough oats in the country for seed. Corn and tobacco look well. River low October .- 8, 9, frost and ice.
November .- 1, raining. During the month were several drizzly dismal days.
December .- Average for the season.
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HISTORY OF DAVIESS COUNTY.
1859.
January .- Extremes; coldest day, 22d, when the thermometer indicated 4° during the night; warmest day, 20th, -thermometer 55° at 3, P. M.
February .- Temperature 12° to 72°; some rain; 23, river higher than since 1854.
March .- 32° to 75°; 31, heavy frost. Average amount of rain and snow during the month.
April .- 4 and 5, frost and ice; 15, extraordinarily windy; 18 and 24, heavy frost. A very wet montlı.
May .- Thermometer 53º to 89º; 10, roses in bloom. River fell to a low stage.
June .- Last week of the month very hot. Good wheat harvest. Dusty about the 9th.
July .- 13, heat 101°; 14, 992°; 18, 100°; 19, 99°. Roads dusty about the 12th, but some rain during the month. River get- ting low.
August .- Usual weather for the month.
September .- 2, aurora borealis very brilliant; 21, fire neces - sary.
October .- 6, 7, 10, 19, 28, 30 and 31, frost; 25 and 26, warm.
November .- 3, beautiful Indian summer; 12, temperature fell 38° in twelve hours.
December .- 7, 3º; 8, 6° below zero, and ice three inches thick; 9, ice four to five inches thick; 20, snow seven and a half inches deep;} 23, 11º below zero, ice [in river; 31, 5° by ther- mometer.
1860.
January .- 1, zero; 2, 1º below, rest of the month moderate; 10, roads muddy; 18, river very high.
February .- 1, zero; rest of month moderate. Some snowy, rainy or drizzly and disagreeable days.
March. - Very early spring; 26, peaches mostly killed.
April .- 25, frost, and a cold day.
May .- 21, storm, especially up the river.
June .- 26 and 30, hottest days of the month-95°.
July .- 10, heat 1022°, hottest day evernoticed since 1843, and perhaps much earlier; 22, 102°. Month averaged very hot and dry.
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August .- 3 and 4, heat 100°. Hot month, and a little rain. Extremely dusty about the middle of the month.
September .- 4 and 7, heat 95° .. Some rain during the month. October .- 12-15, frosty mornings. A month of good October weather.
November .- 1, first snow; 9 and 20, chilly and dismal; 26, rained uninterruptedly all day; otherwise the month was average.
December .- 30, 31, coldest days of the month-12° and 22°. A little snow and rain occasionally during the month.
1861.
January .- 1, clear, calm and lovely.
February .- A month of moderate temperature and considerable rain; several days were lovely.
March .- 24, peach-trees blooming.
April .- 20, frost.
May .- Good month for crops. Hail on the night of the 12th.
June .- Good month for crops.
July .- Warm as usual.
August .- Hot and sultry.
September .- Warm.
October .- 23, frost; 28, first biting frost.
November .- 12, thermometer reached 80°; 29, snow covered the ground.
1862.
January .- A steady, cool month, without much freezing, but with considerable fog, mist and drizzling. On the 13th there were two inches of snow.
February .- Open. Winter passed, and no ice put up.
March .- 1, disagreeable; 2, rainy; 6, snow an inch and a half deep; 7, snow nearly gone; 11, fine day and roads drying up fast; 17, heavy frost. River high. Spring late.
April .- 6, heavy frost. A wet, backward spring.
May .- Dry and dusty until about the 20th.
June .- 12, roads dusty; 28, farmers complaining that it is too wet.
July .- Good weather for the crops.
August .- Becoming dry, and the river low.
September .- Pleasant weather, but dry and the river low. Roads exceedingly dusty.
19
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October .- A little rain; 12, light frost; 20-23, heavy frosts; 21, Indian summer; 25, snowed all afternoon, over two inches deep.
November .- A rather cool and cloudy month; 14, river has risen about two feet.
December .- Some rain and disagreeable weather; 31, beautiful day.
1863.
January .- 15, snow twelve inches deep; 16, thirteen inches fall, deepest ever known here; eighteen inches deep in some parts of the county; 18-21, snow mostly melted away; 17, river rising rapidly.
February .- 4, ice two to two and a half inches thick.
March .- 1-13, wet and cool; 14-23, nice spring weather; 26, ice; 29, cold day; 13, river nearly over Indiana; 31, rain, wind, sleet, snow and sunshine.
April .- 1-3, cold and blustering; 4, frost; rest of the month, fine for gardening.
May .- Dry and warm; rains on the 29th and 30th.
June .- 16, river only three and a half feet on the bars.
July .- Characteristic.
August .- 30, frost, ruining a great deal of the tobacco.
September .- 19-20, frost, but tobacco not injured much; 29, 30, river very low.
October .- 6, heavy frost, 6-13, dismal; 24-26, frosts; 29, river rising.
December .- 6-13, dismal; 16, severe thunder, lightning hail and an earthquake; 25, river in good order; 31, stormy night.
1864.
January .- 1, 6° below zero; 2, 1° below; 4, mnch ice in the river; 5, ice six inches thick in the ponds; 9, 6º below zero again; 28, boats running, the first since the 4th. A cold month.
February .-- Cold and disagreeable,.
March .- 1, snow about one and a half inches deep; rest of the month nothing noteworthy.
April .- 19 and 20, frost and ice.
May .- 3 and 12, frost.
Jnne .- Hot; dry the latter part of the month; crops suffering; tobacco crop cut down apparently one half. Cut-worms bad.
July .- 9, river quite low; a dry month.
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August .- Rain, increasing during the month. Good navigation by the last week.
September .- 19, first frost, light.
October .- 9, frost and icc.
December .- 9, snow, two or three inches deep; 12, ice three inches thick; 18, heavy fog all day; packets laid up at Owensboro; 30, snow three inches deep.
1865.
January .- Some snow. A steady, cool, but not very cold month; 26-31, river too full of ice for boats to run.
February .- Weather not remarkable.
March .- River very high, -over into Indiana. A wet and back- ward spring; 30, peach and plum trees in bloom.
April .- 11, a great deal of rain; farmers worried; 14, frost; 20- 30, river falling.
May .- 12, heavy frost and river very high; 14, over into In- diana; 19, falling.
June .- 1-3, dry and dusty; showers during the rest of the month.
July .- 22, river rising fast; 25, crops injured by hard rains.
August .- 30, river only three feet on the bars.
September .- 15, oppressively warm weather; 19, chilly.
October .- Nothing remarkable.
November .- 3, first biting frost, but not severe; 5, first ice.
December .- 15, coldest day of the month, 9º in hall, and ice over two and a half inches thick; last week, river high and rising.
TEMPERATURE.
The annual mean of temperature for May, June, July, August and September together, as observed at Louisville 1841 to 1871, was 56°.
The highest temperature in Owensboro in 1881, was 103}°, and the lowest, 15° below zero, during the following winter.
In the early settlement of the valley of the Ohio the weather in April and May was usually mild and fine, so that corn-planting was generally finished during the first week of April. Of later years the temperature of these months has changed, so that severe frosts in May are not uncommon. May 13 to 18, 1834, there were hard frosts every morning.
May 5, 1803, a snow fell in Kentucky about four inches deep, followed by hard frosts for two or three nights; the fruits were all killed.
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OHIO FLOODS.
The first " flood " in the Ohio River of which we have an authen- tic account since the valley was settled by the whites, was in March, 1774, when it rose abont sixty feet above low-water mark. The second was in the winter of 1789-'90, when the settlement at Columbia, Ohio, was overflown to such a height that only one house remained out of water. The third flood was in 1808. The fourth occurred in February, 1832, and was the most disastrous ever wit- nessed by white men. From the seventh to the nineteenth of February the water continued to rise until, at Covington, it reached the height of sixty-three feet above low-water mark. Much damage was done to property. The fifth great freshet in the Ohio River occurred in December, 1847, and at Louisville it reached a point only nine inches below that of 1832, and at Maysville only six inches below. A great deal of property was washed away, thou- sands of hogs were drowned in their pens. and a number of persons lost their lives.
THE FLOOD OF 1883.
The following account we quote from the Saturday Post:
"The present generation has the honor to see the mighty Ohio at the height of its majesty. Even the oldest inhabitant remem- bers not the time when the waters came down from the head of La Belle Riviere in snch mighty volume as during the past week. One by one the records of all previous floods have been marked out by the great rise of 1883, and in succession the notches reached by the flood-waves of 1867, 1853, 1847, 1832 and 1808 have receded from view. This is the record of the waters above and may be taken as a safe criterion of the extent of the flood at this point. Though it might seem an easy undertaking, yet it is a matter of difficulty to ascertain the exact figures concerning the previous high-water marks at Owensboro. In recent years the entire river front has been changed. Even in the memory of the present gen- eration the time was when all of Front street, now washed in places to a width of only a few feet, was a broad campus, fringed with trees. Where the levee now is was once circus grounds, affording room to pitch the largest canvas. The levee front has been changed from time to time, and thus old marks wiped away, or their reli- ability destroyed. After diligent inquiry among many of Owens- boro's oldest residents, our reporter feels authorized in the statement that the recent stage of the Ohio at this point was the
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highest within the memory of any living being, save, perhaps, that of one, who thinks it was exceeded by the flood of 1808. Of the latter statement, though, there are no present marks to verify its anthenticity. The flood of '32, just fifty-one years ago, has been heretofore quoted as the heaviest within the memory of any living person, but from the evidence of those who should know here, and the reports from Rockport, where the marks are recorded on the bluffs, there is reason to pass over the horns to 1883.
"All during the week the river banks have been lined with spec- tators, viewing the mighty expanse of seething waters into which the Ohio had merged itself. In fact, river topics have been the universal theme of conversation. The moisture that permeated the seeping banks seemed to communicate itself to everybody and everything. It checked business, commerce and traffic. Men, women, and children seemed drawn by an irresistible curiosity toward the river, and when they returned to the streets, would retrace their steps and again take their stand among the idle spec- tators. Many a child was led down to the water's edge by its nurse, so that in after years it can point back through memory's haze to the great flood of '83.
" Deep as was the tale of woe which the great roll of waters told, yet the crowds that assembled on the banks were not without their ludicrous incidents. If there is anything that can move a man to the borders of the miraculous it is a flood. It was edifying to hear the words of wisdom which flowed from the mouths of the multitudes, on matters heretofore within the peculiar province of history. Men whose fathers' fathers were not here in 1808, quoted the family records to prove the exact height of the flood in that mem- orable year. The water-marks of 1847 were freely disputed by scores of eye-witnesses who were not then born. 1852 and its great rise were quickly disposed of and laid away labeled " settled." The rise of '67 was familiar to everybody who got started in the debate at all; and doubtless a score of private marks were exhibited by persons who made them themselves, at the moment the tide reached its highest flood that year. Everybody will make his pri- vate bench-mark, noting the height of the present flood, and doubt- less a stranger who visits the levee when the waters subside will have a good reason to conclude from the countless hieroglyphs that it was constructed from the remnants of an Egyptian obelisk."
It is a coincidence worthy of mention that the days on which the river reached its highest in 1832 and 1883 were Feb. 17 in both years.
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Last week in February, 1882, the Ohio abont as high as in 1867 .. Seven persons drowned at Green River Island.
Nov. 8, 1832, snow fell eight or nine inches, and the Ohio River was closed by Dec. 1.
Nov. 15, 1833, snow fell to the depth of six inches, and the weather was incessantly cold for several weeks.
Nov. 15, 1835, snow was fifteen inches deep, and lasted until the middle of Jannary.
MISCELLANEOUS.
In February, 1836, snow measured eighteen inches deep. In November, 1835, a snow seventeen inches deep accumulated, which did not altogether melt away until about the first of April.
In the early part of 1834 there was a hurricane near Whitesville that did considerable damage. In 1844 a hurricane swept from the vicinity of Rockport down through the northeast corner of this county. But no lives were lost in either of the foregoing.
The first week of January, 1879, was the coldest it had been for twenty-two years. On the 3d it was 10° below zero. It was near zero for several days. The first week of September, that year, was characterized by very heavy rains. Crops throughout the county enffered immense damage,-probably cut down to about one half.
The heaviest rainfall ever known in Northern Kentucky, in so short a time, occurred Dec. 9 and 10, 1847. The creeks and smaller streams rose so rapidly as, in some cases, to drive people in their night-clothes to the second story of their houses for safety.
The annual average of rainfall in Kentucky from 1840 to 1870, inclusive, was 50.3 inches. The greatest fall in any one year was in 1865, being 60.69 inches, and the least was in 1856, which was 30 inches. The greatest amount of water falling inside of four con- secutive hours occurred May 8, 1843, reaching, 4.37 inches in three and a half hours.
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CHAPTER XIV. MISCELLANEOUS.
COURT-HOUSE.
The first court was held in a log building, -probably a dwelling. The first regular court-house was a brick structure, erected about 1819-'20. By the year 1855 the county had so grown that a new building was needed; and accordingly a contract was let for erect- ing a new court-house, the work to be finished by Oct. 1, 1857; but it was not completed until 1858 or '9. It was partly occupied, however, in the winter preceding. Its size was 60 x 80 feet, and two stories high above the basement. This building was burned Jan. 6, 1865,"as described in Chapter VI., the "Civil War."
Present Court-House .- This was built 1866-'8, on the old foun- dation, and of the same dimensions as the previous structure, only somewhat higher and differently ornamented. The original con- tract, with B. Tribble and W. McLoyd, was for $55,000; but the building, with all the finishings and heavy furniture, including bell and clock, actually did cost about $63,000. The new build- ing was occupied July 6, 1868. In October and November fol- lowing the clock was built, by a man from Boston, Mass., and the bell, weighing 1,100 pounds, was put up Nov. 27, the same fall. The iron fence around the public square was completed June 26, 1869, and the court-house, in all its furnishings and surroundings, was finished in the fall of 1869.
JAIL.
The first jail was a log building, spiked and finished in the usual way, erected about 1819-'20. Its location was on the corner of the public square near the present jail.
The second jail was built of brick, by Mr. Feldpausch, con- tractor, and was located within twenty feet of the south line of the present conrt-house.
The third and present jail building was commenced early in 1861. The contract was let the previous year; in 1861 the first story was put up, and the next year the second story was built, (295)
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and the whole structure finished. The jailer's house was built during the war.
PUBLIC SQUARE.
This was laid out in the original survey of the town, and was deeded by Robert Triplett to the county for court-house purposes only. In the original deed is also the condition that the trustees of the town have a certain number of feet on the northeast corner of the square for a market-house. Since that time there have been three market-houses there, but they were all more or less eye- sores, and the last one was removed years ago. Forty feet have been cut off the south side for market grounds, and is partially devoted to that purpose now, the city scales being placed there since 1867. For a long time it was debated whether to build the city hall upon this ground.
POOR-HOUSE.
About 1845 Geo. W. Triplett was appointed by the County Court to purchase a piece of land for a poor farm. Accordingly he bought 170 acres about five miles southeast of Owensboro, on the Miller's Mill Road. He employed John Locke as the first man to take charge of the place. There was a two-story hewed- log house and a cabin or two on the premises. All went down during the war.
In 1868 a frame house, with four rooms and a kitchen, for the family, and two other frame houses, with two rooms each, were built for paupers. One of these is situate on the southwest, and one on the southeast, of the main building, Stables, barns and other improvements were also made. This is about the extent of the improvements there at present.
The annual average of panpers is about eight to ten. Colored paupers are kept by private individuals. All paupers are let on special contracts, rates being fixed for each individual case.
LOST RECORDS.
The volumes in the county clerk's office, containing copies of wills prior to 1867, were lost or destroyed; and the originals of many were afterward brought forward and recorded. Since that date the record is complete.
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THE FIRST WILL.
" In the name of God, amen!
"This 26th day of August, one thousand eight hundred and fifteen, I, John McFarland, of the County of Daviess, and State of Kentucky, being sick and weak in body, but of sound mind and memory, do make, constitute, ordain and appoint this my last will and testament, in the following manner and form; and-
" First, I order that all my just debts shall be punctually paid by my executors hereafter named.
"Item, I order and devise that my well-beloved wife, Frances McFarland, shall have my negro man Sam, now in possession of Abner Lea, and my negro girl by the name of Tilly, one feather- bed and furniture, one horse and saddle, and my riding-chair, and two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, to her and her heirs forever; and I further order that my negro woman Tabb, and my negro boy Johnston be the property of my said wife during her life. and at her death be equally divided amongst her children.
" Item, I order and devise that my negroes, Toby, Lucy and child, now in possession of Lewis Odom, shall remain in his pos- session until his daughter, Rachel Odom, is eighteen years old; and then I order and devise that my said negro Toby shall be equally divided between Eldred Odom, Patsey Odom and Demoy Odom, to them and their;heirs forever.
"Item, I order and devise, when my granddaughter, Rachel Odom, comes to be eighteen years old, she shall then have my ne- gro woman Lucy and child (now in possession of Lewis Odom) to her and her heirs forever,
" Item, I order and devise that my well-beloved daughter, Mar- garet Odom, have twenty dollars of my estate to her and her hairs forever.
"Item, I order and devise that the County Court of Daviess shall appoint five disinterested persons, any three of them to act, to divide all the residue of my negroes into five equal shares, giv- ing one share to each of my five children, to wit: William McFar- land, Leah Glenn, Rachel McFarland, James McFarland and John S. McFarland, putting the negroes that are now in possession of my son William McFarland and son-in-law William Glenn, upon lots by themselves, and add or diminish from the rest to make them equal; and it is my will that my son William and William Glenn have their choice to keep the lot that has the negroes on it that is
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