USA > Kentucky > Henderson County > History of Henderson County, Kentucky > Part 16
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COUNTY OFFICIALS QUALIFIED.
At the January term of the County Court, the old Magistrates and other officers retired, and at a special session for the purpose of qualifying all officers elected, under the new constitution and laws,
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
William Rankin, County Judge ; William D. Allison, County and Cir- cuit Clerk ; J. M. Stone, Sheriff ; James Rouse, Coroner ; D. N. Wal- den, Surveyor ; Thomas J. Lockett, Assessor, and L. W. Brown, Jailer, took the oaths required and were qualified. There were six districts in the county, and elections for magistrates and constables having been held, the following appeared and were qualified :
MAGISTRATES .- Robert Dixon, John T. Moore, James H. King, James Thomas, Joel E. Gibson, Russell K. Thornberry, Ben. Tal- bott, John F. Grider, William E. Bennett, Isom Johnson, H. L. Chea. ney, William S. Hicks, L. Weaver and Isaac M. Freels-two justices to each district,
CONSTABLES .- District No. 1, B. F. Martin ; No. 2, Harbert A. Powell ; No, 3, George A. Long ; No. 4, Achilles H. Norment ; No. 5, Hansford E. Rouse ; No. 6, Joseph Priest. A few weeks after Mr. Priest resigned, and Edward T. Hazelwood was appointed in his stead.
Election districts and voting places were established as follows : District No. 1, Gibson's ; No. 2, Corydon ; No. 3, Randolph Ors- burn's ; No. 4, Achilles Norment's ; No. 5, Henderson ; No. 6, Ed. D. Bennett's.
Under the old constitution the Magistrates received no pay. Un- der the new, they were allowed two dollars per day, and since 1850, the pay has been increased to three dollars per day for every day they are called to meet.
FRUIT KILLED.
The spring of 1851 was the coldest and most severe known since 1834. On the first day of May, there was a heavy black frost, destroy- ing all kinds of fruit and many tender trees. Fires and overcoats were indispensible, while the thermometer registered 20° above zero.
POWELL AND DIXON.
In this year the Democratic party, for the first time in many years, succeeded in electing their candidate for Governor. This gentleman was a distinguished son of Henderson County, Lazarus W. Powell. The defeated Whig candidate was also a distinguished resident of Henderson, Archibald Dixon. The excitement in the county was in- tense, of course, but no matter which of the two, the county felt itself honored in his election.
March, 1851, the voting place in District No. 6, was changed from E. D. Bennett's to Hebardsville. . An act was approved, dividing the
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
State into four Appellate Districts, for election of judges of the Court of Appeals. HENDERSON, with Fulton, Hickman, Ballard, Mc- Cracken, Graves, Calloway, Marshall, Livingston, Crittenden, Union, Hopkins, Caldwell, Trigg, Todd, Logan, Simpson, Warren, Allen, Christian Muhlenburg, Daviess, Ohio, Butler, Edmondson, Hancock, Grayson and Breckenridge, became the Fourth District. An act was approved, creating twelve Judicial Circuits, and HENDERSON, with Caldwell, Trigg, Christian, Todd, Hopkins and Union, became the Second District.
1852.
Three thousand eight hundred an twelve tithables were reported this year, and one dollar and fifty cents fixed as the county levy. Of this number, sixteen hundred and eighty-four were whites, and twen- ty-one hundred and twenty-eight were blacks.
A COLD WINTER.
The winter of 1851-52 was a severe cold one. On the night of January 19, the heaviest snow known for years covered the earth. The Ohio River closed that night, for the second time during the sea- son, the first instance of the kind within civilized memory. The ther- mometer was below zero all day, and at midnight was reported at 30 degrees below.
LOUIS KOSSUTH,
the great Hungarian patriot, and his party, passed down the Ohio this year, and hundreds of people of all ages visited the river to get a glimpse of him.
UNCEREMONIOUS BAPTIZING.
On a Sunday afternoon, during the spring of this year, Old Willis Walker, as he was called, a noted colored Baptist divine, held a bap- tizing at the foot of First Street. The bank, for some distance from the bluff, inclined but little, in fact, seemed almost on a level with the water. On this sandy plane was congregated a vast concourse of peo- ple, anxious to witness the ordinance performed. While the multitude gathered at the water's edge, and were engaged in singing, the great steamboat, " Eclipse," came up the river, running, perhaps, not ex- ceeding two hundred feet from the shore, and as she passed by, the water was drawn from its rightful line at least ten feet. To this great power of the wonderful steamer, the excited, singing multitide ap- peared oblivious, but followed the water-line, when as quick as thought, the water returned with a great swell, and quicker than thought, an hundred or more were freely baptized up to and above their knees. From this unceremonious ducking, and ruining of their starched Sun-
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
day clothes, it is unnecessary to say the unfortunate, and those more fortunate, scampered as fast as their pedal extremities would permit.
During 1852 the Owensboro Road crossed Canoe Creek, about one hundred yards on a direct line below where the present bridge is located, and ran from thence over the ground where the railroad round- house is situated, thence in the rear of James P. Breckenridge's resi- dence, and thence to Center Street, on the ground now occupied by the residences of L. F. Clore and Thomas Gilligan.
At that time Center Street was not opened beyond Adams Street. but all that territory, now so handsomely improved, was a woodland, owned by James Alves, and inclosed by a running plank fence. At Adams Street was a gate, which opened to a roadway leading to his residence on the hill, now owned and occupied by Hon. Jno. Young Brown and Major John J. Reeve. Upon petition of Mr. Alves, and others, an order was passed by the County Court changing this road to the road coming in Third Street, and then the old road was closed up. In 1852 Samuel Caruthers built the present covered bridge over Canoe Creek, and, at the October Court of Claims, moved the court to allow him his contract price, to-wit, sixteen hundred dollars, and here the first objection to the change of road was suggested. The motion of Caruthers was overruled, it being claimed that the bridge was not built at the place lawfully designated and fixed by authority of the court, and that Caruthers knew it. At the same court James Alves and Joel Lambert presented a claim for three hundred and sixty dollars, for abutments, which was also rejected. This unaccountable behavior on the part of the court continued until the April court, 1854, when the claims were allowed, and a committee appointed to sell the bridge to the Plank Road Company, for the best price they could get, in money or Plank Road stock.
At the August court, 1853, Joseph Borum, John G. Holloway, A. 1 B. Barrett, John Funk, and James D. Hatchett, who had united as a company, for the purpose of building a plank road, five miles in length, filed an agreement and subscription in open court, whereupon, Henry J. Eastin, Willie Sugg, and Edmond Robertson, were appointed to view a route ; the committee did so, and their report was received, and the road located. Failing to sell the bridge to the Plank Road Com- pany in 1859, the following order was passed :
" For sufficient reasons appearing to the Court, the County releases and transfers to the Plank Road Company, all the interest and claim of the County in and to the bridge over the town fork of Canoe Creek, on condition that. the said company keep the said bridge in good repair at its own expense. "
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
1853. .
Three thousand eight hundred and twenty tithables were reported this year, and one dollar and fifty cents was fixed as the county levy. Of this number, sixteen hundred and seventy-eight were whites, and twenty-one hundred and forty two were blacks.
This year Fernwood Cemetery was established. The cholera again visited Henderson, and in some localities was distressingly fatal, particularly was this the case along First Street, where the land was low and marshy.
1854.
Three thousand nine hundred and forty-eight tithables were re- ported this year, and one dollar and fifty cents was fixed as the county levy. Of this number, seventeen hundred and twenty-seven were whites, and twenty-two hundred and twenty-one were blacks.
March 10 an act was approved incorporating the Paducah & Hen- derson Railroad, with L. W. Powell, Grant Green, Joel Lambert, Al- exander B. Barrett, F. H. Dallam, and C. W. Hutchen, incorporators. It is to be regretted that this road was never " begun, completed, and ended." It did end in nothing being done.
The Know Nothing Party had come into existence, and Hender- son County was claimed by that party.
The Ohio River was lower in September of this year, than at any time since October, 1838, at which time it was lower than ever before known to the white man.
.
A filibustering expedition against Nicaragua was quietly organized in Kentucky this year, and Henderson furnished her quota of impetuous, misguided youths. Robert Burbank, a brilliant young man, enlisted and died while in that service.
COUNTY POOR HOUSE.
Up to this time the county paupers were leased out by the year, but in 1853 the County Court became convinced that it was best to purchase and maintain a county poor-house, and in accordance with that conviction,
" Ordered that Jas. M. Stone. Geo. M. Priest, D. N. Walden, and Joel Lambert, be appointed commissioners to select, and report the most suitable tract of land. and eligible location in the county for a poor house, the said tract to contain not less than one hundred acres, and not exceeding two hun- dred acres."
The court not approving of the report of this committee, William S. Hicks, Isom Johnson, and R. K. Thornberry, were appointed to
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
select a site. In December, 1854, the committee reported, and Charies Elliott's land, containing one hundred and eight acres, lying on the Madisonville Road, eight and a half miles from the city of Henderson, was purchased for the sum of two thousand dollars. In the year 1872, it was deemed advisable to sell the Poor House farm, purchased in 1854, and Ben F. Gibson and C. S. Royster were ap- pointed to report upon the propriety of selling, and also to select and report a suitable site, contract for a building of ample size to accom- modate the demand made upon the county, but not to exceed the sum of three thousand dollars.
The committee reported a sale of the old farm to John M. Whitledge, for the sum of two thousand three hundred and four dollars and forty cents, and the purchase of B. P. Green, on the road leading from Corydon to Cairo, of eleven acres and ten perches, for three thousand dollars. May 12 the report was adopted, and since that time the county Poor House has remained where then located, upon one of the prettiest and most cheerful sites of the county.
1855.
Three thousand eight hundred and thirty tithables were reported this year, and the county levy fixed at one dollar and fifty cents. Of this number, fifteen hundred and fifty-eight were whites, and twenty- two hundred and seventy-two were blacks.
CITY AND COUNTY COMPROMISE.
Before the levy was made by the Court 'of Claims, the Mayor of the City of Henderson, Martin S. Hancock, appeared before the court according to law, and satisfied that body, that the city was amply able to care for her own streets and paupers, whereupon, an order was entered of record, releasing the city from the county levy of one dollar and fifty cents, deducting from the list of tithables reported, two hun- dred and ninety-four whites, and two hundred and twenty-six blacks, the estimated number living within the city limits.
From this, it will be seen, that the assessed tithable population of the City of Henderson, in 1855, was five hundred and twenty.
On the third day of February, the river was closed by ice, and remained closed for eleven days.
Political excitement ran high this year, and was intensified by the terrible riot, on August 6, in the city of Louisville, commonly known as " Bloody Monday."
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
1856.
Three thousand two hundred and thirty tithables were reported this year, and the county levy fixed at one dollar.
On the fifteenth day of February, an act was approved, appor- tioning the State into thirteen Judicial Districts. HENDERSON, with Hopkins, Caldwell, Trigg, Christian, Todd and Muhlenburg, composed the Second District.
On the twenty-seventh day of February, the closure of the Ohio River by ice, for the surprising period of fifty-three days, ceased, and the river broke up.
Paraffine oil, of great illuminating power, extracted from the can- nel coal found near Cloverport, Breckenridge County, was first intro- duced this year, and aided, as it was, by the ingenious lamp, soon superseded the old tallow candle.
March 10, an act was approved, directing the Quarterly Courts of Henderson County to be held on the first Monday in January, April, July and October.
MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY.
On the same day, an act was approved, incorporating the Ken- tucky and Henderson Mutual Insurance Company, John G. Holloway, P. H. Hillyer, George M. Priest, Joel Lambert, A. J. Anderson, Peter Semonin, M. S. Hancock and Samuel P. Spalding, incorporators, for the purpose of insuring their respective dwelling houses, stores, shops, other buildings and household furniture, against loss by fire. The company was authorized to insure similar property in other parts of the State. So far as has been ascertained, this company was organ- ized, but never carried the object of the charter of incorporation into effect.
During this year steamboats ran only two months, owing to ex- treme low water and ice.
January 31, the river closed by ice, and remained closed until Feb- ruary 28, when the first steamboat passed down. 1
Governor L. W. Powell was elected President of the Henderson & Nashville Railroad. This was a year of
" ASTRONOMICAL WONDERS."
There was a total eclipse of the sun, April 5, and an annual eclipse, September 28. On the twenty-eighth of April and thirteenth of October, there was a partial eclipse of the moon.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
April 5, the Henderson, Hopkins & Union Agricultural and Me- chanical Association, having organized a few weeks before, purchased of Nestler & Beverly the beautiful grounds yet owned by the
" HENDERSON FAIR COMPANY."
At this time A. B. Barrett was President, and Cuthbert Powell, Secretary.
On the twenty-seventh day of July, a new church at Pleasant Hill, on the Madisonville Road, eight or nine miles from the city, was ded- icated.
October 21, the first Fair was held. The amphitheater was only half completed, but the display and attendance was truly gratifying to the directory.
The crop of this year was the best, perhaps, ever known in the county. There was more wheat sown and corn planted, and a larger yield than looked for. The Mt. Vernon, Indiana, " Advocate," speak- ing of this crop, said :
" We observe that some of our cotemporaries are boasting of the height of corn in their respective localities. There is a field of some one hundred acres lying in Henderson County, just opposite this place, that we will pit against any in the country of a similar extent It contains many stalks over sixteen feet in height, and the general average in the entire field is from fourteen to fifteen feet."
1857.
Three thousand five hundred and sixty-seven tithables were re- ported this year, and the county levy fixed at one dollar. A disease, called the " farcy," was quite prevalent among the horses and mules this year, and many of them died. Money matters were tight, yet the annual exhibition of the "Kentucky
STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY,"
Held on the grounds of the Henderson Fair Company, commencing October 13, was largely attended and proved a brilliant success. The " Reporter" of the twenty-second, said :
"The Fair was attended by a large number of people hailing from all parts of Kentucky, and even from neighboring and distant States. Every- thing in the power of the managers and citizens generally, was done to render the stay of the immense crowd in the city and at the Fair Grounds, comforta- ble and pleasant.
" At the grounds the display was fine in every department, and from the first day to the last, nothing of importance occurred to mar the good will among competitors and the people. The display in the implement hall was very fine The floral hall, for which the ladies deserve all the credit, was not only pleasant to the eye, but astonishing to the mind."
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
Governor Powell delivered a well prepared address. After a full settlement of all indebtedness, the State Board had to their credit, in cash, two thousand four hundred 'and eighty-eight dollars and eighty cents.
On the twenty-fourth day of September, the great editor and poet, George D. Prentice, delivered his lecture to an immense audi- ence, at the Presbyterian Church.
The river closed again on January 19, and overflowed its banks in the fall.
1858.
Three thousand six hundred and thirty-eight tithables were re- ported this year, and the county levy fixed at one dollar and fifty cents.
This was a year of Fridays. The year began and ended on Fri- day ; January and October began and ended on Friday ; April and December ended on Friday, and there were fifty-three Fridays in the year.
The month of January was an unheard of wet month; corn in river pens suffered almost total ruin, in many cases the cob wholly, and the grain partially rotting, rendering the grain unfit for the com- monest uses. Too much heat and water rendered this year more un- seasonable than any since 1834 :
January 18, a Henderson letter appeared in the Louisville Courier, from which the following is taken.
" Our city is rapidly gaining accessions to its population. Houses, both for dwelling and business, are scarce, not enough to supply the demand. In view of this fact, several of our capitalists have projected, and will build quite . a number of stores and 'residences next spring and summer. Land is high, and the tendency is to still higher prices ; fifty dollars per acre is asked for land lying three, five, and even eight miles from the city. The fact that a large amount of the Henderson & Nashville Railroad bonds were recently sold in the city of New York for cash, caused a happy feeling here, and will tend to keep up the present high price of land."
The railroad excitement, as is well known, did more than inspire the tenacious land-holder with renewed hope, it ruined the prospects of the town, in the opinion of non-residents. A large majority of the land owners were rejoiced at the increase in the price of their terri- tory per acre, but determined not to risk one cent in the building of the road, therefore Henderson stood still for many years. The great comét, Charles V, was visible in this county during the fall of this . year.
September 30, the first daily mail Henderson had enjoyed, was established, an overland route to and from Evansville.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
In the early fall of this year, Nathaniel D. Terry cabled the Ohio at Evansville, and established and operated the Old Telegraph line successfully. Prior to that time the wire had crossed on high poles, above Evansville, but was so interfered with by steamboat chimneys, during high water, that the plan was abandoned, and the line sold.
October 14, the temperance prodigy, Josephus Cheaney, a native of Henderson, and yet very young, lectured in Henderson. This natural orator, by no means handsome or beautiful, traveled in Europe and over the greater part of the United States, laboring from the rostrum, in the good cause of temperance, and yet, it was said, in his young days, that he possessed a keen relish for liquor straight, and could track a mint julep across the river.
Prior to the fall of this year, fashion had induced all of the gentle . sex to deform themselves in matter of dress. Hoops were fashionable, and the more enormous the hoops, the more fashionable the wearer. The nearer the model of a five gallon demijohn a lady could approach, the nearer she succeeded in reaching the climax of disfigurement and the demands of fashion.
In those days there was but one hack in Henderson County, so in times of parties and swell occasions, young men, who doubted the policy of having their sweethearts foot it, frequently called into requi- sition the family buggy. Although such a vehicle, in these days, would be amply convenient for three persons, yet, in 1858, when the lady of hoops had seated herself, there was really no room for the gentleman, and he was therefore compelled to submit to circumscribed space, ride the horse, or else content himself with the footman's seat behind. A full dress lady of 1858, seated in one of the Delker Phaeton Company's modern make of buggies, would be a sight suf- ficient to frighten a whole army of timid men. It was a horrid fashion, and thank heavens the French connosseurs, in the fall of that year, gave 'to the female world a dress more modest and becoming. Since that time, with the exception of what is called trails, female dress has been confined within the bounds of good taste. About that time, the gentlemen wore large-legged pants, so large, that, I venture, if a pair of them were suddenly to make their appearance on the streets, the wearer would be followed by the boys, as though he were a curiosity indeed.
In February, an act of the Legislature was approved, extending the term of the Henderson Circuit Court, from twenty-four to thirty-six judicial days.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
1859.
Three thousand seven hundred and seventy-three tithables were reported this year, and the county levy fixed at one dollar and fifty cents.
At the August County Court, Judge Grant Green on the bench, Isham Cottingham, William E. Bennett, Y. E. Allison, Harbert A. Powell, Hugh Moss, William S. Hicks, and E. T. Hazlewood, justices, answered to their names. Col. John W. Crockett, representing the Mayor and Council of the City of Henderson, moved the court to surrender up to the city a certain lot of ground, which was then under fence, and unlawfully claimed by the county, whereupon the following order was entered :
" It is ordered that the Jailer of Henderson County surrender up to the City of Henderson, all that ground now enclosed as a public square, not em- braced in the deed from Samuel Hopkins for Richard Henderson & Company, dated April 1, 1800, to the county, Book A, page 135, the true boundary to be ascertained by D. N. Walden, and he is directed to return a plat of said sur- vey to this court for record, and to plant stones at the corners."
The city agreed to build a good fence, as also to pay for a fill made by James Manion, to be measured and ascertained by Walden. At the October Court Walden reported the fill worth one hundred and twenty-six dollars and fifty-five cents, which the court accepted.
W. E. Lambert, a member of the Common Council, then on be- half of the city, presented two accounts against the county, amount- ing to nine hundred and thirty-two dollars, for grading, paving, and graveling in front and opposite the Court House lot, these accounts the court rejected, and refused to levy for their payment. This in- agined bad faith on the part of the city, in asking no more than she was justly entitled to, incensed the high Court of Justices, and the next day the following order, in substance, was adopted :
"Ordered, that the order accepting the report of D. N. Walden be set aside, and that the order surrendering a part of the Public Square to the city, be rescinded, and the Jailer directed to hold on to every inch of ground inclosed around Court House Square, from Main to Elm Streets, and he is author- ized to employ counsel, and take all lawful steps and means to retain and de- fend the possession of every part of said inclosed ground."
To this sweeping order, Colonel Crockett, on behalf of the city, objected, but this objection was fruitless. This, then of course, was the beginning of a great law suit, which the city gained. The lot of
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
ground in dispute is now owned and controlled by the city, and is the lot upon which the market house and City Hall stands-a full descrip- tion of the title to this ground will be found in the history of Hen derson.
In August, 1859, Professors Marlow, Tremelier and Artis, adver- tised their Female Academy. Political excitement this year, as for many years anterior, ran high. Samuel O. Peyton, Democrat, de- feated General James Jackson, opposition ; as an evidence of the great excitement the newspapers published at that time, the Reporter and Commercial, paid no attention whatever to local news matter. It is a fact that they denied space to important news, for the purpose of pub- lishing long-winded political editorials, personal compliments, and scathing articles against the opposing candidates. This was the year of the great can vass between Josh Bell and Beriah Magoffin. Magoffin was elected, but Henderson voted for Bell.
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