USA > Kentucky > Henderson County > History of Henderson County, Kentucky > Part 26
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At a meeting of the Trustees held June 4, we find another ditch and pond order : "Nathaniel F. Ruggles and Wiatt H. Ingram, who were appointed commissioners to view and examine the ditch by the Market House and report how it might be drained, having performed that duty, Report, That the best practicable mode of draining the same is to cut a ditch down Main Street, about twelve feet from the line of the lots on the west side of said street, from the Market House to the lower end of the town, which being approved, it is or- dered that a ditch be opened accordingly."
For that purpose, therefore, the order required Mrs. Shackelford and John Spidel, who were most deeply interested in the pond near the Court House, to furnish one hand each for the space of two months, and Mr. Ruggles appointed to purchase, in the name of the Trustees, six spades. This ditch accounts for the great ravines along the river front. If it be doubted, however, the following order is re- produced to show the origin of the ravine on fourth lower cross street.
1828.
March 8: "Whereas, a subscription has been raised for the purpose of draining the pond near the Court House by opening the ditch from the Market House down Main Street. It is ordered that John Green be and he is appointed a commissioner to superintend the opening of said ditch, and he is authorized and directed to cut
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
the said ditch at right angles, from the main street to the river, along fourth cross street, below the Public Square, fifteen feet from the line of lots on the north side of said cross street."
After having paid out hundreds of dollars of public and private funds in ditching and draining ponds and bridging ditches, the Trus- tees fixed the salary of the Town Assessor at eight dollars for the year. The Spidel House, on the corner of Main and First Streets- now the Barret House-which had been begun in 1827, was com- pleted this year and thrown open to the local and traveling public. It was originally only two stories, with the front of the second story one room, used for a dining-room and public hall. The frame ell was built a short time after the completion of the brick.
In 1855 and 1856 Martin S. Hancock, who had become the owner, unroofed the old Spidel-then known as the Taylor-House and reconstructed it by adding a third story and brick ell. Nimrod Grisby, a contracting carpenter, then living in Henderson, built the frame addition, and one of his most expert manipulators of the old- fashioned whip-saw, was our now much-beloved fellow-citizen, Judge Philo H. Hillyer. Aside from the hewed timbers in this building, the studding, weather-boarding and flooring were sawed by hand with the whip-saw.
It is said General Zachariah Taylor spent a great part of this year in the town and clerked for one of the firms doing business on Main Street at that time.
'The farming interest had grown to greater importance, and for those times a considerable amount of country produce found its way to market. Wiatt H. Ingram, then one of the most progressive mer- chants of the town, became a heavy purchaser and shipper, and boats being scarce he would go with a company of men and whip- saws to Green River, and there get out lumber and build him boats of sufficient capacity to hold his purchases. When completed he would float down to Henderson, load with produce and then go to New Or- leans, where he would sell both produce and boats.
The law firm of Morris & Dixon was the only one advertised this year. Drs. Glass and Gaither and W. H. Allen, practicing physi cians, and J. B. Pollitt & Co., James Gobin, merchants, advertised extensively. Orrin Fay was the largest advertiser, and had, perhaps, the most complete and extensive stock of any merchant in the town. He was a liberal trader and proposed to sell his goods either for cash or feathers.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COTNTY, KY. .
Fellows & Ruggles were also large merchants.
On the first day of January of this year, fifty letters were adver- tised as remaining in the Postoffice uncalled for. The following no- tice to steamboat pílots was published :
" Notice .- A series of piles, occupying an extent of about 400 yards, has been firmly set in the bed of the river at Henderson Isl- and as indicated by several poles rising eight feet from the tops of the piles. Boats may pass them in safety by running within 300 yards of the island near its lower extremity.
"S. W. LONG."
This was government work and done to deepen the channel of the river, which at that point was almost impassible during low water.
1829.
It was determined this year to build a permanent wharf, and for that purpose an act of the Legislature of 1828-29 was passed, vesting full and ample powers in the Trustees to raise a loan within the limits of $2,000, for the purpose of grading and paving Steam Mill Land- ing, to be redeemed out of the taxes by annual installments. George Atkinson and Nathaniel F. Ruggles were appointed commissioners for the purpose of taking subscriptions for stock, founded on the pledge of the taxes annually for its redemption, bearing interest at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, and said commissioners were au- thorized to cause the said landing to be graded and paved in a sub- stantial manner and to report when completed. On the fourteenth day of September, 1831, the Commissioners reported, and laid before the Board a statement of account of the amount expended, and the same was approved. The first paid wharf was then received, and the Treasurer authorized and directed to issue scrip to the several parties entitled thereto for the sums subscribed.
An order was passed at the June meeting, making it a penalty for any slave to offer for sale any article whatever, without the con- sent of his or her master or mistress.
1831.
Only one meeting of the Board of Trustees was held this year. During the year the old market house fell down and the Collector was directed to sell the roof and brick, and pay over the proceeds to the Treasurer.
1832.
December 15, Edmund H. Hopkins and Will D. Allison were ap- pointed a committee to examine all of the laws in relation to the town, and report. Only two meetings of the Board were held this year.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
1833.
It was ordered that the pond near the jail and Court House, which had been an interminable source of annoyance and expense, be drained by digging a ditch in First Street to Main, down Main to First Street below the Square, and with that street to the head of the ravine, which at that time was making up into the street. This was done, and many citizens of the town now living remember the result of that foolish order.
1834.
James Rouse, Town Assessor, returned his book May 3 and the same was approved, and thereupon the following rate and amount of tax to be collected was fixed by the Board : "It is ordained by the Board that the Collector for the year 1834 collect from each person subject to pay taxes, the sum of twenty five cents on every one hun- dred dollars valuation of property, and one dollar from each and every free male inhabitant over the age of twenty years."
A wharfage fee of fifty cents per day was ordered to be collected from each trading boat landing at the public landings.
Great complaint was made by the merchants of the town at the order of the Board fixing the rate and amount of taxation. whereupon the following order was passed at the October meeting : "It ap- pearing to the satisfaction of the Board that a tax of twenty five cents on each one hundred dollars value of merchandise, is unequal and oppressive upon the merchants, it is therefore ordained, that all merchandise and groceries in the town be taxed in the following manner, to-wit : Hugh Kerr & Co. and George Atkinson & Co. each pay a tax of ten dollars annually, and that Samuel Stites, Wiatt H. Ingram, Marshall & Rankin, Dixon & Smith, Bayless Chamblin and Mr. Halstead pay each a tax of seven dollars and fifty cents, that is to say seven dollars and fifty cents for each house; and that Thomp- son & Johnson, William Hart, Holmes & Beall, Joshua Mullin, Robert G. & Paschal Rouse and Fountain Cunningham, each pay a tax of five dollars annually, and that David H. Hillyer & Bro: pay a tax of three dollars annually on merchandise."
At the same meeting an order was passed appointing John D. Anderson, Joseph Cowan, John Green and Edmund H. Hopkins a committee to contract for filling up, stopping and securing the ravine making from the river to the Public Square on first cross street below the Square. One hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated for the purpose, and every dollar of it spent, but how, no one now knows.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
1835.
The first case of small-pox of which anything is known made its appearance in Joshua Mullin's tavern in February. If the citizens were frightened, or the least uneasy about it, that fact was not inani- fested in the special meeting of the Board, held February 27. The town had no hospital for the sick, but its Trustees had an abundance of fellow-feeling, as will be seen from the following order: " It is ordered that Joshua Mullin be authorized to employ nurses and phys- icians for the sick man, at his, the sick man's expense, if able to pay, if not, at the expense of the Trustees. It having been further repre- sented to the Trustees that said Mullin intends, or threatens exposing said man to the inclemency of the weather, by turning him out of doors, the Trustees respcetfully advise said Mullin to abandon all such intentions, as they are of opinion that his, said Mullin's, person and property would be in imminent danger from such a proceeding so abhorent to the feelings of humanity."
In addition to the amount set apart to be expended in stopping the ravine on Lower First Street, the County Court appropriated two hundred dollars to be expended by E. L. Starling and Thomas Towles, Magistrates, in the same direction. These gentlemen caused a fill to be made across the ravine twenty feet wide, not only stop- ping the ravages of high water, but furnishing ample passage way for vehicles and footmen passing up and down Main Street. This fill re- mained intact until the ravine was filled to the line of Main Street in 1855 and 1856.
John Spidel died this year, and his tavern was sold to Cornelius Fellows, of Louisville, for three thousand six hundred and one dol- lars. In 1838 Fellows sold the same to Livingston Taylor for five thousand one hundred and thirty-one dollars. On the twelfth of March, 1846, Taylor sold to Martin S. Hancock for eight thousand dollars cash.
The town tax for 1835 was fixed at twenty-five cents on each one hundred dollars valuation, and a head tax of one dollar upon each male citizen residing in the town over the age of twenty-one years. In lieu of all other taxes on merchandise a graded specific tax rang- ing from five to ten dollars was levied.
The new Steam Mill wharf needed repairs, and for that purpose the Town Treasurer was directed to issue and sell $500 worth of scrip, redeemable one year after date. The ravine in the Public Square, from hard rains, continued to wash and cave.
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
1836.
James E. Rankin and James Alves were requested to solicit sub- scriptions for the purpose of arresting the caving of the ravine. The first order looking to a permanent improvement was made at the Au- gust meeting this year. It was ordained that Main or Market Street, as then known, from First to Third Street and Mill or Second Street, . from Water to Elm Street be paved with brick or stone eight feet wide, to be completed by September 1, 1837, and to be done at the expense of persons owning the lots fronting on the streets. It was further ordained that anyone owning a workshop, found guilty of throwing shavings into the streets, should be fined.
1837.
The total debt of the town at the beginning of this year was five hundred and thirty-three dollars and eighty-one cents for bor- rowed money, officers' fees, etc. Upon an investigation it was found that the Collectors had not settled for the past three or four years, and stringent orders were issued to bring them to time.
1838.
The Board of Trustees elected for this year were evidently de- termined to keep step with the progress of the times. New officers were elected and positive orders passed looking to a speedy settlement of delinquent taxes and with delinquent Collectors. The Treasurer was ordered to effect a settlement at all hazzards, with all persons indebted to the town. After having given attention to all matters financial, they then turned their attention to the pond and ravine difficulties. A committee was appointed to report the best and most practicable method of draining the pond at the corner of First and Elm Streets, and of securing the ravines from further washing. No source of annoyance has ever so successfully baffled the skill of early time in- tellects as the ponds and general drainage of the little town of Hen- derson.
This was a year of compliments and none was more highly ap- preciated than that paid Thomas Towles, Jr., Town Assessor, for the year. On the twenty second day of May Mr. Towles was appointed Assessor, and on the fourteenth day of July returned his book, which was received and highly approved by resolution. In consideration of his most excellent work he was allowed twenty dollars, ten dollars more than had ever been allowed before.
At the same meeting William D. Allison, Clerk of the Board, whose work amounted to as much as that of clerks who are now
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
paid handsome salaries, was paid fifteen dollars for one year's ser- vices.
At the August meeting an ordinance was passed fixing the license upon all public exhibitions for which money was demanded, the sum of three dollars for the first day and two dollars for each day subse- quent.
For some reason, which the records of 1838 failed to explain, the Trustees became alarmed concerning the carrying or concealing of unlawful weapons by the colored population. They, therefore, at their October meeting, ordered " That James Rouse, W. P. Smith, Fountain Cunningham, William R. Abbott, James W. Clay, Henry L. Taylor, James Williams, William F. Quinn, James H. Green, William H. Cunningham, Robert J. Rouse, Thomas Towles, Jr., Joseph D. Gobin be appointed to search all suspected negro premises for unlaw- ful weapons or stolen property, and that they have power to enter and search all suspected places, that they arrest and bring before the Board all negroes having unlawful weapons, and that they seize the weapons, etc."
For clerical reasons it was ordered that Rev. Thomas Evens be released from the future payment of town tax. There were two wharf- boats lying at Henderson this year upon which a specific tax of five dollars each was assessed.
1840.
For many years prior to 1840, indeed from the earliest recollec- tion of Henderson, several of the streets and roads of the town were used for horse racing. It was the custom in early times, during the three days' elections, for sporting men of the county (and there were many of them) to meet in the town and test the speed of their horses, and then by appointment to test the superiority of their own pugilistic quali- ties. Horse racing and ring-fighting were attractions calculated to draw great crowds, and great crowds did attend.
One of the favorite tracks for racing was on Elm Street from Upper Fifth to the foot of the hill, near the present residence of Hon. P. B. Matthews. This source of masculine and animal punishment, as well as amusement, had become notorious. It was degrading, cer- tainly demoralizing, and as a general thing the chief actors were ig- norant men whose sole ambition was to be regarded as the " best man " or the owner of the best "nag." The best people became disgusted and tired of it, and at the July meeting it was ordained by the Trustees, " That any person or persons guilty of running or rac-
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
ing any horse or horses or of causing the same to be done by any other person or persons, the party thus offending should be punished by a fine of three dollars."
The course on the part of the Trustees, very properly had, to a great extent, the desired effect.
The Trustees directed the Collector to collect this year, in addi- tion to the tax levied upon each and every white male over the age of twenty-one years, one dollar from each and every free colored male over the age of sixteen years as a poll-tax. A specific tax was also levied upon the owners and proprietors of grocery stores, farmers' produce and boat stores, varying from $5 to $15.
Owing to the growth of the town and the multiplied duties of offi- cials most of the salaries were raised. The clerk was raised from fifteen to forty dollars, the Assessor from fifteen to thirty, and so on.
Owing to the increase of grog shops and the manifest determi- nation of that class of dealers to reap a monied harvest, even though contrary to law and good morals, and also the trouble and annoyance experienced by the owners of slaves on that account, at the Decem- ber meeting the Board of Trustees unanimously passed the following ordinance offered by Lazarus W. Powell :
" Be it Ordained by the Trustees of the Town of Henderson:
"That it shall be, and is hereby made, the duty of the Town Sergeant, or either of his assistants, to punish, with any number of lashes not exceeding ten, all or any negro slave or slaves who may be found in any grog shop, gro- cery, or other place where spirituous liquors are retailed in said town, or who may be found on the streets of said town after ten o'clock at night, unless it shall appear to the said Town Sergeant, or assistant, that said negro slave or slaves, are acting under the orders of his, her, or their master or mistress ; and it shall further be the duty of the Town Sergeant, or either of his assist- ants, to enter into any grog shop, grocery, or other place where spirituous liquors are retailed, in said town, whenever he shall be informed that any such negro slave or slaves are collected therein. Provided, said Town Sergeant, or assistant, can enter the same peaceably and without force."
1841.
At the June meeting it was ordered that Mill, or Second Street, between Main and Elm, be graded, and that the depth of grade be fixed by the Commissioners appointed for that purpose, It was also ordered that Main, between First and Third, be graded in the same way. It was also ordered that sidewalks, ten feet in width, be laid down.
From the records it appears that the Trustees of the town ex- perienced equally as much trouble in controlling the hogs as has been
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
by the Council the past ten years. The town pump stood in the in- tersection of Main and Second, or Mill Street, and its frequent use kept the ground wet and sloppy. For this reason, then, the hogs congregated at that spot, and several times came near rooting the pump out of its position. To prevent this, a special meeting of the Board was called, and a committee appointed to go and examine the public well, and character of hogs thereat, and report, instanter, the best plan of preventing the nuisance or the destruction of the pump. It was agreed to fill around with broken brick, and in front of the spout to place a large flat rock, at a cost of several dollars, and to let the hogs continue to run and root.
M'KENZIE AND JEFFERSON
Delighted the town with the first theatrical troupe ever seen in the place. This troupe played in the second story of the Court House, a medium sized room seated with ordinary plank benches, without backs, and capable of holding from one hundred and fifty to two hundred persons. The troupe was largely patronized and played for a week or more, at the urgent solicitation of the people. As usual, the manager complained of the town tax assessed upon them, and petitioned the Trustees for a reduction, and, as an evidence of how delighted the people were, the Trustees, after consideration of the petition, passed the following order :
" It is ordered that the said petitioners be and they are hereby exempted and exonerated from paying any town tax for the time they have performed and so long as they may remain at this time."
There were in Henderson this year four tobacco stemmeries- George Atkinson, A. B. Barrett, David R. Burbank and Hugh Kerr. A motion was made for the first time to tax the stemmeries, and a vote being taken upon the propriety of such tax being assessed, it was decided in the affirmative and the Collector directed to collect with other specific taxes, ten dollars from each of the stemmeries named.
From the following order, passed August 14, 1841, it is inferred that the Trustees of the town were of a liberal turn of mind. The Public Square needed ornamentation, and as it had been donated to public uses, the Trustees determined that it should be. It was there- fore "Ordered that four HORSE RACKS be erected at such places on the Public Square as a committee appointed for that purpose may di- rect ; each rack must be twenty feet long, and supported by three posts well set in the ground, and of good, sound, lasting wood ; there
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
must also be ten pins to each rack." This was done and the bill, twenty-five dollars, paid out of the public funds.
George Chapman, father of the renowned Chapman Sisters, prayed the Trustees to exhibit his theatrical performances free of tax. This was refused, but a very liberal reduction was made him. Isaac Gayle, a slave of George Gayle, was the leading town contractor at this time. His work in repairing the wharf and grading Main street was received and pronounced well done.
Edmund H. Hopkins, President of the Board of Trustees, at the December meeting presented his letter of resignation. It is a very lengthy paper, gracefully written, and full of that fine sense for which this great chancery lawyer was so noted. He presented a full review of the town's troubles, and suggested many ideas of value, which were afterwards adopted and resulted to the great benefit of the struggling town.
1842.
On January 1, the Treasurer's report showed credit $2,478.86 ; amount of debts, $2,453.12; balance, cash in the Treasurey, $25.74. A general system of ordinances had been adopted, covering every im- portant point, and the clerk directed to record them in a well bound book, and to have three hundred copies of the general ordinances printed in pamphlet form. The charter had been amended, so as to . confer upon the Board all needful authority. The town was now out of debt, and nothing was necessary but for the Trustees to exercise good judgment, and a liberal spirit of progress. The Trustees at this time were progressive men, but a majority of the people were still plodding along in the old fogy rut in which they had floundered for years. A memorial was sent to the Senators and Representatives at Frankfort, praying an alteration or amendment of the charter. The amendment as sent up was passed, and approved by the Governor February 24. The first order of a sanitary nature by the Board of Trustees since Henderson was established as a Town, was passed on motion of Alexander D. Barrett, a member of the Board at their meet- ing June 25. It was as follows: "Ordered, that for the better preservation of the health of the town, the lot owners and tenants of lots be required to cut down all noxious weeds within their lots or in- closures, and also in and to the middle of the street, and in case of failure to do so within the next ten days, all persons so defaulting shall be subject to a fine of ten dollars."
At the July meeting, the Trustees in levying the amount of tax to be collected for the year, reduced the ad valorem tax to eighteen and
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HISTORY OF HENDERSON COUNTY, KY.
three-fourth cents on the one hundred dollars, and fixed the poll tax at the same it had been for several years previous.
The following specific taxes were levied :
TOBACCO STEMMERIES.
George Atkinson, $10.00; Alexander B. Barrett, $10.00; David R. Burbank, $10.00; Hugh Kerr & Co., $10.00,
TAVERNS.
Livingston G.Taylor, $15.00 ; Jacob Held, $15.00 ; William Quinn, $12.50 ; Joshua Mullin, $12.00.
GROCERY STORES.
Stephen Medd, $7.50 ; Robert Clark, $10.00 ; William N. Thomp- son, $10.00 ; Joseph Adams, $15.00.
BOAT STORES AND DOGGERIES.
Joanna Holmes, $15.00; Lewis Ritchie, $5.00; John B. Burke, $6.00; Joseph Bunce, $12.50.
COMMISSION STORES.
James Rouse, $5.00. At a special meeting called August 25, for the purpose of considering a supposed case of small-pox, all of the physicians of the town, to-wit : Drs. Glass, Maddox, Allen, Newland, Read and Thornton, were notified and requested to visit the said case instanta, and report to the Board, whether the case was really small- pox. The physicians attended in a body, and returned the gratifying report that it was not small-pox,
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