USA > Kentucky > Franklin County > The history of Franklin County, Ky. > Part 15
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
were arrested and tried. McDaniel was convicted, the others were acquitted.
The bonded debt of the county in 1870 was $3,993; the floating debt was $75,500. The bonded debt of Frankfort was $123,000, the Hoating debt was $85,000. The amount of taxes collected for State purposes was $15,192; for county purposes was $20,000. The amount raised for city purposes was $23,000, exclusive of water and gas tax.
In that year the county took stock in the Kentucky River Navigation Company and issued bonds therefor. It also is- sued bonds to the amount of $10,000 for bridge purposes.
The number of white paupers supported by the county during that year was nineteen, and the number of colored paupers was sixteen. The cost of supporting them amounted to $1,750.00. At that time there were three Methodist Churches in the county with church property valued at $16,000; two Presbyterian Churches which were valued at $22,500; two Episcopal Churches which were valued at $42,000; one Catholic Church valued at $20,000; five Christian Churches which were valued at $17,000, and ten Baptist Churches which were valued at $39,500. Frankfort had five steam saw mills, two shingle factories, five large distilleries, one large cotton mill, a chair factory, tobacco factory and furniture factory. At that time Franklin County had 62,205 acres of improved land and 32,176 acres of woodland and 1,395 acres of unimproved land. The value of farm lands was placed at $2,651.192.
The amount of wages paid per year, $74,404. The amount of farm products, $633,214; orchard products. $4,047; forest products, $14,941; the home manufactures, $1,376; animals slaughtered were valued at $160,160; the live stock was valued at $450,251. The number of horses, 2,651; the number of mules and asses, 478; the number of milch cows, 1.642; work- ing oxen, 242; other cattle, 2,146; sheep, 4,170; swine, 11.583. The number of bushels of wheat, 28,981; rye, 19,337 bushels; oats, 53,638 bushels; barley, 18 bushels.
The number of pounds of tobacco raised, 123,250; wool, 16,336 pounds; irish potatoes, 16,472 bushels; sweet potatoes, 1,407 bushels. The amount of wine made was 572 gallons;
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butter, 82,429 pounds; the amount of milk sold. 20,000 gal- lons; the amount of hay raised was 1,430 tons; grass seed, 110 bushels; hemp, 238 tons; flax, 75 pounds; the amount of maple sugar made was 530 pounds; the sorghum molasses amounted to 18,452 gallons; wax, 180 pounds, and honey, 2,- 460 pounds.
At the city election in 1871 there was a small riot which came near being a race war. The trouble commenced at the court house. Mr. William Newman, a grocer on Market street, was killed; Capt. W. G. Thompson was wounded in the arm; James Winter and Winston Coleman, of color, were seriously wounded, and several other parties, both white and colored, were slightly wounded.
It was during this year that P. and D. Swigert had im- ported to them from the Isle of Jersey twenty-one head of Jersey cattle, all of which arrived in fine condition. They were exhibited in the State House yard. The Swigerts, at that time, had the largest herd of Jersey cattle in the United States. On January 14th Thompson Scroggans and a colored man by the name of Strother Trumbo had a difficulty near the south end of the tunnel and as a result Scroggans killed him. At that time the United States district court had jurisdiction to try the case where a negro was killed by a white man. Scrog- gans was arrested and committed to jail without bail. On the 27th of the following February the jail was broken open by an armed band, estimated at a hundred and fifty men. Seroggans was taken from jail and released. He had been a rebel soldier and it was supposed that they had something to do with his release. Seroggans remained out of the county for several years and in the meantime he became an officeholder in another county. After an absence of about forty years he visited Frankfort and he was requested to tell about his release. He said: "It was about twelve o'clock at night when someone took me roughly by the arm and said, 'get up from there we want you.' Some fifteen or twenty men were in the jail, they did not permit me to put my clothes on and I was hurried away without any clothes except my night shirt. I thought at that time it meant death at the end of the rope. I was carried across
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the St. Clair street bridge and down near the city school where a large number of men were congregated. They gave me a new suit of clothes, a hundred dollars in money, a good horse, saddle and bridle and some good advice, all of which I appre- ciated. It took me a very short time to get out of the county."
A "birds-eye view" of Frankfort was made by Prof. Ruger in 1871. The view is from a point above the city and presents the entire town ard suburbs in picturesque style; the work was exceedingly well done; the map makes a handsome ornamen! for the library or 'office. Several of them have survived the ravages of forty years' time, perhaps a dozen of them are still extant.
At the August election there was another negro riot in Frankfort at which two white men were killed and several wounded. Capt. William Gilmore and Silas N. Bishop were killed, Policeman Jerry Lee and Dick Leonard were wounded, and several other citizens were injured by stones which were thrown by the negroes. Henry Washington was the only negro who was wounded during the fight. The Mayor, Col. E. II. Taylor, Jr., called out the militia and quelled the disturbance. The trouble at this time occurred on Broadway near the market house. When the polls were closed the negroes were on the north side of the railroad track and the whites were on the south side. Immediately after the train from Louisville passed them the firing commenced. This disturbance greatly in- creased the bitter feeling which had existed between the white and colored people for some time and a race war in Frankfort had seemed probable for several months. A few days prior to this trouble a negro named Harrison Johnson was charged with criminally assaulting a white woman of good character. Hle had been arrested and lodged in jail. The night of the riot Henry Washington, though wounded. had also been placed in jail charged with having killed Capt. Gilmore. Within a few hours after that a mob took both negroes from the jail, carried them across the river and hung them to a tree near the city school building. Following the hanging of the negroes James Alley, Richard Crittenden and D. Howard Smith, Jr., son of the State Auditor, were arrested charged with being implicated
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
in the hanging. They were taken to Louisville and tried before the United States Commissioner and held, bail being denied them. All of them were finally released. The veterans of 1812 who were living in Franklin County in 1871, were John B. Bibb, Major of 4th brigade; Thomas Theobald, Captain in Moders' company of mounted riffemen, Moses Hawkins, Alexander Crockett, William Nelson, John Cardwell, Joseph Clark and A. H. Rennick.
A. H. Rennick died at the residence of his son-in-law, James M. Todd, on the 18th of December at 80 years of age. He had been a resident of Frankfort for seventy-eight years. He was Clerk of the Franklin County Court for sixty-one years, forty-six of which he was chief Clerk. He was with Captain Pascal Hickman at the battle of the River Raisen but was one of the few who escaped.
On December the 31st Philip Swigert, another one of Franklin County's distinguished citizens, died at the age of seventy-four years. He was born of poor but respectable par- ents in Fayette County in 1798. He came to Franklin County when he was twenty-four years of age. In 1830 he was ap- pointed Circuit Court Clerk, and was elected to that office in 1850. He was a prominent Mason and he was a large im- porter and breeder of fine cattle. He left a handsome estate.
The east wing of the old capitol was built in 1871 at a cost of $155,000. It was occupied in the following year but the building has never been completed. The idea at that time was to complete the cast wing in which was to be located the House of Representatives and a west wing was to be constructed on the same plan, and in which was to be located the Senate chamber.
In the year 1800 the population of Franklin County was 5,978; in 1810 it was 8,013; 1820, 10,950; 1830, 9,254; in 1840 it was 9,420; in 1850, 12,460; in 1870, 15,300.
On February 19th, 1872, Daniel Clark, the faithful old colored porter of the Governor's office. died. He was a native of Africa. . He and his brother were stolen while playing on the beach, they were brought to Charleston and sold. Daniel afterwards became the servant of Governor Clark and came
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with him to Frankfort in 1836 and was employed as porter in the executive office, He remained in that capacity until the administration of Governor Leslie. During all of these years he sustained an unblemished reputation for honesty and faith- fulness. When he grew too old and feeble for further labor the Legislature of Kentucky passed an act giving him a pen- sion of $12.00 per month for the rest of his life. When Clark died the Governor caused that fact to be recorded upon the executive journal, with an appropriate tribute to his fidelity and long service. He was the only negro who was ever honored to that extent in Kentucky.
Jeremiah Tracy died at his home in the county on March 12. 1872. Hle was born in Culpepper County, Va., in 1774. He moved to this county in his early manhood and became one of the most sterling and substantial citizens of the county. Hle raised a family of ten children. At the time of his death he left surviving him nine of his children ; more than one hun- dred of his descendants were living at the time of his death. He was the forbear of the numerous branches of the Tracy family in Franklin County and other sections of Kentucky.
The Christian Church, located on Ann street, was built during this year, through the munificence of Mrs. Emily Tub- man, a sister of Mr. Landon A. Thomas. Mrs. Tubman was a devout member of that church. She had been born and raised in Frankfort and she desired to show the Frankfort people, in some substantial way, her appreciation of them. The building cost $26,000. It was dedicated on August 11. Mrs. Tubman endowed a chair in Betheny College. She materially assisted the Kentucky University and the orphan school at Midway and did many other charitable acts which endeared her to the people of this county.
The penitentiary was considerably improved during the year. The arched gate was raised five feet. The prison grounds were enlarged by inclosing within the walls one acre im- mediately north of the cell house, this was designed for women. There were several brick buildings erected within the walls which have been used for kitchen, dining room, cells, hospital, etc.
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
There was a jail delivery on December 30. The jail had been newly constructed and it was thought to be secure. Six negroes made their escape, all of whom were charged with grand larceny. Only two of them were ever recaptured.
More than a quarter of a million dollars was spent in buildings during the year. Some of the improvements were as follows :
The Christian Church, $26,000: the Swigert block on St. Clair opposite Odd Fellows building at a cost of $25,000; im- proving the malt house on Mero street, $20,000; improvements on cotton factory, $28,000; improvement on the Valley Mer- chant Flouring Mill, $6,000; a wholesale liquor house on Ann street at a cost of $8,000; the Capital Livery Stable on Ann street, Church Bros., $8,000; Alley & Mahoney Stable in front of Capital Hotel, $3,000; B. B. Sayre residence on hill, $15,000; II. HI. Johnston cottage, corner Second and Main, South Frank- fore, $3.000; R. H. Lawler cottage near State prison; $3,000; Col. Orlando Brown house on Owenton road, $6,000; Sanford
Coins, near Capitol square, $4,000; Frank Short, on Upper Main street, $2,500; Con Newman cottage near cemetery gate, $3,000; J. W. Gault residence on Steel street, $2,000; Landon A. Thomas, improvement on his residence, $10,000; William Saffell, near depot, $5,000; Mrs. William A. Sneed, near Mr. Saffell, $4,000; Warden South, a brick stable near prison, $2,500. Improvements in Bellepoint amounted to more than $15,000. Col. E. IL. Taylor, at O. F. C. distillery, $9,000, and a great many smaller improvements amounting in the ag- gregate to more than $30,000. A new fire bell was purchased in 1873 to take the place of the old cracked bell. The new oue weighed 830 pounds and it cost the city $365.
In the year 1873 W. J. Chinn was elected Sheriff; in 1875 11. 1. Morris was elected ; in 1877 M. H. P. Williams was elected and in 1879 he was re-elected Sheriff of the county.
In the year 1874 the county officers elected were as fol- lows: R. A. Thompson, Judge; James G. Crockett, Clerk ; Thomas B. Ford, County Attorney; Robert W. Lawler, Jailer : John M. Quarles, Assessor ; John R. Graham, Coroner; Richard Crittenden, Surveyor; Pat McDonald, Magistrate in the city
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precinct, and Robert R. Parsons was elected Police Judge of the city of Frankfort.
Mardi Gras was celebrated in Frankfort on the 17th of . February. The procession through the streets in the afternoon was of great interest to the thousands of people from Franklin and surrounding counties. The streets of the city were densely lined with spectators during the passage of the masqueraders. It was estimated that ten thousand people witnessed the parade. The celebration of the carnival was concluded by a grand masquerade ball at the Capital Hotel, which was largely at- tended.
The Grangers became very prominent in Franklin County during the year 1874. This was a farmer organization which had in view the betterment of the farming interest of the county. There were several Granges organized in different sec- tions of the county and doubtless they would have been pro- ductive of great good to the farmers had not a few designing politicians become leaders of the organization with the idea of advancing their political interests and in that way demoralized the organization and in the course of time destroyed it.
The Pigeon Tournament was held in Frankfort on Feb- ruary the 7th and 8th. A number of the most famous "shots" of America were present. Capt. A. H. Bogardus, the champion of America, and L. C. South, of Franklin County, scored the same number during the meeting and they agreed to divide the prize between them. but in order to gratify their friends they decided the championship by another contest which resulted in the defeat of South by one point in thirty-three. South killing thirty-two of his and Bogardus all of the thirty-three birds.
The Baptist Association of Kentucky held its thirty-eighth annual session at Frankfort. It was the largest and the ablest representative body of that church which had ever been held in the State. The lay delegates as well as the ministers were representative Kentuckians of the highest and most intellectual class.
A blacksmith by the name of George W. Hitzelberger was murdered on June 13th. Jim and Dave Kelley and John
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
Graham went to his home and called him out. While John Graham and Dave Kelley held him, Jim Kelley inflicted five or six wounds with a knife from the effects of which he died. John Graham had stolen Jim Kelley's saddle and charged the theft to Hitzelberger, the outcome of which was the killing. John Graham and Dave Kelley were arrested but Jim Kelley made his escape and has never since been heard from.
Mrs. Mary Freese, who died in Frankfort on August 23, 1874, was a very eccentric person. She was a native of Ireland who became a resident of Frankfort about thirty years prior to her death. For several years after she moved to Frankfort she was regarded as an object of charity. After she had lived in Frankfort for about ten years she spent a whole summer and winter in a stable without lights or fire. At the time she was receiving $75 per year from the Ladies' Aid Society of the Presbyterian Church, she was erecting a comfortable dwelling house of six rooms. When she completed the house she moved in the small rear room and rented out the rest of the house. She subsequently purchased a considerable quantity of land near the penitentiary upon which she built a number of tene- ment houses. Since which time that section of the city has been known as "Freesetown." Her annual rental for several years prior to her death was supposed to be about three thous- and dollars. She was buried in the Frankfort cemetery, where a handsome marble monument marks her last resting place.
The 15th of September, 1874, was the day set apart by Governor Leslie for the re-interment of the remains of Governor Greenup, Governor Madison, Adjt. George N. Cardwell, Hon. John C. Mason. Gen. Carey, H. Fry and Col. Theodore O.'Hara. The remains of Governor Christopher Greenup and Governor George Madison were originally buried on the hill north of Frankfort in the old burying ground which was used until about 1843, when the Frankfort Cemetery Company was organized and a burying ground east of Frankfort was pur- chased, a part of which was set aside by the State for her illus- trious dead. On the morning above referred to, at an early hour, the streets of Frankfort were crowded with people from all sections of the State who were drawn to the Capital City by
.
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
a patriotic desire to honor the memory of Kentucky's noble dead. The business houses of the city and all the public offices of the State, county and city were closed in order that all might unite in a fitting testimonial to the great men whose bones were brought from other states to find a final resting place in their own mother soil.
Three companies of the State guard and a large number of Mexican soldiers came from Louisville and other parts of the State were well represented. Gen. Thomas Taylor, of Louis- ville, acted as Chief Marshal. There were several thousand people in the procession which included nearly all of the prom- inent men of the State.
Hon. R. J. Jacob and Gen. William Preston were the speakers of the occasion. Governor Christopher Greenup was born in 1750 in the colony of Virginia. He was a Revolution- ary soldier and gained distinction as such. He came to Ken- tucky in March 1783. In 1792 he removed from Danville to Frankfort and was elected that year to Congress and was twice re-elected. He was one of the three chief judges under the new Constitution. Ile was elected Governor in 1804 and dis- charged the duties with high honor and credit as well to the State as to himself. During his term as Governor he also served as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the town of Frankfort. After his term as Governor he made the race to represent Franklin County in the Kentucky Legislature, but he was de- feated by Humphrey Marshall. Sr .. the historian. In 1812 Governor Greenup was appointed justice of the peace for Frank- lin County. He owned a large amount of property both in the city and in adjacent sections of the county.
Governor George Madison was born in Virginia in 1763. Before he was grown he distinguished himself in the Revolu- tionary war. He was wounded at St. Clair's defeat in 1791, and was again wounded by the Indians in 1792. He became State Auditor in 1792. and held that position for twenty years. He was a major in Col. John Allen's regiment in the war of 1812, and he was largely instrumental in saving the remnant of the American forces from massacre after the fatal battle of the River Raisen. He was elected Governor in 1816, but died in a short
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
time after he was inaugurated. He was at one time Clerk of the city of Frankfort and at another time Treasurer. He lived at the Heffner property near the southwest corner of the old State house square. Theodore O'Hara studied law in the office of Gov. Owsley and was a fellow student of John C. Brecken- ridge.
In the year 1875 the Frankfort and Benson Turnpike Company was organized and the road was built in a short time thereafter.
On June the 7th John W. Jackson, B. F. Head, G. C. Hughes, F. Satterwhite, Milton Wiggington, Jas. Harrod, Wil- liam A. Smoot, G. W. Gwinn and Pat McDonald qualified as Magistrates. The county court subscribed $5,000 to the Glenn's Creek turnpike and $3,000 to the Lewis Ferry turnpike at their first meeting after they took the oath of office.
The Kentucky Mineral Paint Company was organized by James L. Sneed and John E. Kirtley, of Frankfort, and they procured a patent for manufacturing mineral paint out of a soft grayish stone, to be found in certain portions of Franklin county, and especially in the Bridgeport section. 11 com- pany was chartered under the Kentucky Statutes for manufacturing this paint at Frankfort. At that time the paint industry promised to be a very lucrative one, the mineral rights on thousands of acres were leased for a period of twenty years. From analysis of the rocks made by Prof. Shaler and Prof. Peter, it was thought.that the cheapest and best paint ever made in the United States could be made of this material. It has never been fully explained just why this industry was not a financial success. The people of Bridgeport were satisfied that the precious metals existed in several localities in that sec- tion of the county. A man by the name of William Fields came from Wisconsin and leased several tracts of land; from one of these farms he took a thousand pounds of rock which he sent to New York for a test. The ore was reduced and it yielded at the rate of $12.60 in gold and $10.12 in silver or $22.72 per ton. It was thought at that time that the ore could be worked for five dollars per ton, making a clear profit of over $17 per
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ton. No one has explained why this venture was not a financial success.
Judge G. W. Craddock was elected to represent the county in 1875 and Judge W. L. Jett was elected Police Judge of the city of Frankfort.
Joseph Clark died at his residence near the city ou No- vember 10th in his 83rd year. He was one of the most substan- tial citizens of the county. He was a member of Pascal Hick- man's company in the war of 1912, and was wounded at the battle of River Raisen. Hle was one of the thirteen members of that noted company who returned to Frankfort after that defeat and slaughter by the Indians.
The law establishing a workhouse went into effect in 1876: for a few weeks there were fifteen or twenty and some- times as many as twenty-five inmates, but after it got into good working order the number was reduced to five or six. Prior to the institution of the workhouse system the prisoners were sent to jail without labor where they had plenty to eat at the expense of the county and a white man to wait on them.
On the 25th of June Gen. Custer with sixteen officers and three hundred enlisted men were massacred by the Indians. AAmong the officers was Lieut. John J. Crittenden, of Frank- fort, who was on the staff of Gen. Custer. He was twenty-two years of age at the time of his death. He was buried in the Frankfort cemetery.
During this year Capt. Thomas J. South became the cham- pion bird shooter of the world by defeating the champion, Bogardus, first at a tournament near Philadelphia and later at a tournament near St. Louis. By these two victories he won an international reputation.
Judge Franklin Chinn died at his home near the Forks of Elkhorn on August the 10th. in his seventy-sixth year. In 1827 he removed to Henry County and during the ten years he lived there he represented that county twice in the Kentucky Legislature. He was for many years a magistrate of Franklin County and in 1861 he was elected County Judge of the county. He was universally esteemed and honored by the people of Franklin County.
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During the year 1876 the Franklin County Court issued bonds to the amount of $35,000, the proceeds of which were used in paying off the outstanding floating debts of the county; $15,000 of which was for building a new jail and $20,000 was for turnpike purposes.
Col. R. T. P. Allen was a graduate of West Point and for many years was superintendent of the Kentucky Military In- stitute, which was located on the Lawrenceburg road about six miles from Frankfort. He was a man of great intellectual en -. dowment. When quite a young man he built the first concrete house ever built in Franklin County. This house is located on the south side of the Kentucky river about three miles above the city of Frankfort, and it is in as good condition as it was when first constructed over sixty years ago and it looks like it' might stand for a thousand years without any detcoriation in the foundation or walls. Col. Allen also invented a type-writ- ing machine which was a fore-runner of the type-writing ma- chine industry, but he received neither credit nor money from the invention. IIe also invented a steam wagon which origi- nated the idea of the automobile of later date. He drove his machine from the Kentucky Military Institute to Louisville, but on his return he ran it into a stone fence and made a com- plete wreck of it. At a later date, about the year 1876, he in- vented the type distributing machine which has since become almost indispensible to the large printing houses of the country. He claimed that this machine could distribute accurately, as many as twenty thousand type in one hour. The Kentucky Military Institute was established by Col. R. T. P. Allen and it was run on the same plan as West Point.
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