USA > Kentucky > Franklin County > The history of Franklin County, Ky. > Part 8
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7th. It shall be deemed a breach of good order for any member of the court to pronounce an opinion in his place or to hold any communication with parties in court, other than through the President, or leave their seats without his permis- sion.
8th. The Clerk shall record the proceedings of the court as directed by the President and shall make no entry unless directed by him.
The period from 1830 to 1840 was productive of more in- ternal improvements for the County of Franklin than was any other decade during that century. It was an era of McAAdam roads, railroads and slack water navigation. On April 8th.
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
1834, several gentlemen were elected and constituted a board of internal improvements for the County of Franklin, consisting of Jeptha Dudley, E. P. Johnson, Chas. S. Morehead, Jamerson Samuel and Philip Swigert.
In 1831, Massie Franklin was appointed a Captain of Pa- trols in the town of Frankfort, and Joseph Clark, who was a son of Matthew Clark, was appointed Sheriff of the county, in the place of his father, who died before his term of office ex- pired; he came into court on several occasions and offered to qualify, and each time was refused. He appealed to the courts and in 1834 the Court of Appeals affirmed his appointment. In the meantime Lewis R. Major was appointed and acted Sheriff of the county. In this year Alexander W. Macklin was a constable of the county and John J. Marshall kept a tavern.
On December the 19th of this year, John H. Hanna, J. Dudley and J. J. Marshall conveyed to the county of Franklin, a lot on St. Clair street, known as the J. Dudley Plank lot; this is the lot upon which the present court house was erected in 1835.
In June, 1832, it was ordered that the plan submitted by Gideon Shryock for a new court house be adopted. Gideon Shryock was also the architect who drew the plans and was the general superintendent of the old Capitol building which was completed in 1829.
It was ordered that James Shannon, Chas. S. Morehead and Henry Wingate be appointed commissioners to superintend the erection of the court house. The building was completed in 1835, but the county did not pay for it, in full, until 1840. The structure was of stone, two stories high, with four stone columns in front. The court room, the Justices' office and Sheriff's office were on the first floor, the jury rooms were on the second floor. There have been only a few changes in it since that time, until 1909. A few years prior to 1909 there was a movement inaugurated to erect a new building, but the county had reached the limit of indebtedness as prescribed by the Con- stitution of the State. The Court of Appeals rendered an opin- ion on March 25th, 1909, which declared that the County Court could not issue bonds for that purpose, unless authorized
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
by a majority of the votes in the county. After this decision the County Court undertook to repair the old building, at an ex- penditure of about $40,000. The back end of the old building was torn away and the side walls extended back thirty feet, and the offices for county officials are located on the first floor; the back rooms were constructed of concrete and these fire proof rooms used for the County and Circuit Clerks' offices. The top was taken off and the walls extended up about three feet and the court room located on the second floor, the court room is about the same size of the old room, but it is well ventilated with plenty of light. The plan of architecture is very old, but the building is comfortable and convenient and it is quite a hand- some structure.
In 1831, there was an act of the Legislature to incorporate the trustees of Mount Pleasant schoolhouse in Franklin County : Scott Brown, Thomas Parker, Benedict Carlisle and John B. Crockett were the incorporators. At the same session there was an act to incorporate the Frankfort and Lexington Turn- pike Road Company; John J. Crittenden, Samuel P. Weiseger, Churchill Samuels and Ambrose W. Dudley were some of the incorporators.
The turnpike company for the Georgetown and Frankfort road and for the Frankfort, Lexington and Versailles road were also incorporated at that session of the Legislature. The Legislature appropriated $25,000 with which to help build the Frankfort, Lexington and Versailles road.
In 1832, there was a ferry established by Swigert, Milan and Humphries across from the South end of Washington street, to what is now the city school property. In 1833. Rev. P. S. Fall was principal of the "Female Eclectic Institute" near Frankfort. Lewis R. Major owned a farm of 375 acres on the Lexington road, three and one-half miles from Frankfort, on which he had a horse mill and a distillery, at which he made one barrel of whiskey per day; this is the farm on which Col. Chas. E. Hoge resides.
The Lexington and Ohio Railroad which is now the Louis- ville and Nashville, was surveyed in 1830, the survey of the route showed the altitude of Lexington to be four hundred
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
and thirty feet above that of Frankfort. On Oct. 22nd, 1831, the first sill for the laying of rails for this road was placed, in the presence of a large concourse of citizens and strangers. The road was built in 1832-3-4. It was completed to the top of the hill known at that time as the incline plane, which was about one mile from the city (it is now within the city limits) in 1834.
The road was opened for travel from Lexington to Frank- fort about the first of January, 1835. Horse power was first used.
The Commonwealth, dated January 2nd. says, "On Tues- day last, the railroad was opened from the City of Lexington to the head of the incline plane which is about one mile dis- tant from town. Two cars filled with gay and delighted pas- sengers traversed the whole line with great ease and celerity. On the arrival of the cars at the head of the plane a salute was fired by the citizens in honor of the event. The first cars were drawn by horse power. The locomotive engine designed for this road was brought to Frankfort by the boat "The Argo," in a short time after the road was opened for transportation. On January the 31st, the Commonwealth stated that the loco- motive arrived at the head of the plane on Tuesday morning, January 25, having performed the trip from Lexington ia two hours and twenty-nine minutes. It was now permanently placed on the road. In a few days Frankfort and Lexington will be only one hour a part. Frequent accidents occurred on the road, caused, largely by the insecure method of tieing the rails, which consisted of a thin piece of iron about three inches wide and about one-half of an inch thick, spiked to large stones laid lengthwise, sometimes one of these iron bars would become detached at one end and would run through the floor of the car, and sometimes on through the top of the car. On March 23rd, 1836, a very serious accident occurred about two miles east of Frankfort, the locomotive with the tender was thro.vn off the track and precipitated over the embankment which was about thirty feet high, and carrying with it the passenger car. A Mr. Tinder, of Woodford, and Mr. Willson, of Madi- son, Ind., were instantly killed and a child of Mr. Tutt died
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
a short time after the accident. Nearly all of the passengers were injured, four of whom were dangerously so. The cause of the accident was attributed to the great speed at which the train was going, all the passengers united in the statement that the car was moving with very rapid velocity varying in their estimates at from twelve to fifteen miles per hour.
The contractors while constructing this road worked about seven hundred men, with the necessary teams, carts and ma- chinery ; some sections of it have been preserved in the Ken- tucky State Historical rooms. The construction and operation of it was the beginning of a new era in the County of Franklin and the City of Frankfort. The company had a great deal of trouble in securing their right of way and. it was only secured after many months of costly litigation.
The running of steam cars was of great interest to the peo- ple of Franklin county, they would go for miles to see one pass. After the line was completed from Louisville to Frankfort, one of the first passenger cars came up on Sunday morning, it passed the North Benson Baptist church while the Rev. Frank Hodges was preaching, when his congregation got up to see it, lie announced that the congregation was dismissed for a few moments and he went out with his auditors to see the train: after it had passed, they all went back and the preacher finished his discourse.
Steamboats did a flourishing business on the Kentucky river during this period. The Argo was designed and built for the Kentucky river trade and it made regular trips between Frankfort and Louisville. It was in commission from about 1832 to 1840. The new light draught upper cabin steamboat, Plough Boy, was placed in the Kentucky river trade in 1834. with J. C. Harris as captain. The Clinton was placed in the same trade about the same time. The Eagle was placed in the Frankfort and Louisville trade in 1837. The John Armstrong and The Frankfort, both of them new boats, which were built especially for the Kentucky river trade, were placed in the Frankfort and Louisville trade in 1839. The lock and dam in the Kentucky river, known as lock No. 4, was built by the Commonwealth of Kentucky during this decade. It is locatel
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
a few hundred yards below the city limits. The lock walls measure two hundred feet in length and thirty feet perpen- dicular. They were finished in the very best style, the material is of gray limestone, quarried in the immediate vicinity. The lock with the dam cost the State $120,000. The dam affords slack water navigation for steam boats of 200 tons, for fifteen miles above Frankfort. The lockage was completed and naviga- tion opened February 18, 1840. By act approved March 22, 1880, Kentucky granted to the United States government all rights to control the navigation and improvement of the Ken- tucky river.
During this period of her history Frankfort was known as a manufacturing center. Almost everything was manufac- tured by her enterprising citizens. Some of the things made at that time are as follows :
Glass, shoe brushes, counter brushes, hacklers, files, log chains, harrow teeth, ox rings, staples, pot hooks, drawing chains, axes, sixth chains, streaches, hoes, plough shares, irons, grid irons, scrubbing brushes, plough clevices, whitewash brushes, whet stones, copper hooped cans, wash coolers, still- yards, cut nails, brads, boxes, boxes for sardines, tomb tops, monuments, bagging, rope, jeans, linsey, iron and castings, flour, meal, pork, all kinds of lumber of every description, pork barrels, lard kegs, wagons, carts, steamboats, etc. A. W. Dud- ley manufactured carpet filling and chain, spun cotton, candle- wicks, bats, twisted thread, etc. In 1833 Thomas MeGain manufactured stoves, stove pipes and tallow candles. In 1836 John D. McGee and John C. Melcher put a sheet iron manufac- tory in operation. They manufactured stoves and all kinds of tin ware. Their establishment was on St. Clair street, two doors north of Main street.
During the same year the Franklin Paper Mill, three miles from Frankfort, on main Elkhorn, was placed in opera- tion. This mill was run by E. H. and S. Steadman. They manufactured every description of paper of the best quality. They shipped the manufactured products from this mill to all sections of the country. They paid good prices for clean cot- ton and linen rags.
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In 1837, Mr. David McChesney established a coach manu- factory in Frankfort, which proved to be a very successful busi- ness for many years. There was also a chain factory in opera- tion in 1838. It was located on Montgomery (Main) street, nearly opposite the Weiseger House. It was run by Ambrose C. George.
Cholera made its appearance in Frankfort on June 26, 1833. The first person to die in the city was a negro, the prop- erty of Mr. Philip Swigert, but there had been several deaths in the county prior to that time. Within three weeks after that seventeen persons died in Frankfort of that dread disease; three white and seven colored died in North Frankfort, and four white and three colored in South Frankfort. During this epidemie there were about one hundred and fifty deaths in the county.
Margaret Arnold Cardwell, the youngest daughter of James Arnold, and the wife of John Cardwell, died of cholera at her home opposite the mouth of Glenn's Creek in August, 1833. Tradition of the family says that she was a very hand- some woman, and that she was stronger than any ordinary man. She could stand with both feet in a half bushel measure and shoulder a sack with two bushels of wheat in it.
In 1833 there was an act providing for the election of a State Librarian and prescribing his duties, and appropriating $500 per year, for a period of five years, with which to pur- chase books, the purchase to be made by the Librarian under the directions of the Court of Appeals.
In the year 1834 an arsenal was built on the northeast cor- ner of the public square. James Davidson, Thos. S. Page and Edmond H. Taylor were the commissioners who constructed it. A gun house, situated on the public square, was pulled down and the material used in constructing the arsenal. The cost of the erection was two thousand dollars.
The 4th of July. 1834, was a great day for Frankfort. The celebration was had at Cove Spring. Four thousand people were present. Four fat beeves were barbecued, and one hun- dred and forty lambs and shoats. There were bacon and hams without number, and all other articles needful for a sumptuous
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feast. John J. Crittenden read the Declaration of Independ- ence, and Chas. S. Morehead was toastmaster. There were peo- ple present from forty-two different counties in the State, be- sides many people from other states. Feasting and speech- making continued throughout the day. A New Englander, styling himself "a Yankee," said in a letter dated July 3, 1834: "I rode from Lexington to this place today and have been gratified for the first time since I left my native land with a view of New England scenery, its rocky hills, its lofty precipices, its deep luxuriant valleys, and its winding streams. Frankfort is fairly wedged in among the hills, except on one side, where the river meanders. But the town makes up for the oddness of its locality by its pleasant scenery and pleasant society. Tomorrow there is to be a great public festivity in this place called a barbecue. I anticipate great pleasure in be- ing present. As you are not acquainted with anything of this kind I shall favor you with a description. This species of festivity had its origin in this State from circumstances con- nected with the history of the first settlement. The sparseness of the inhabitants, and at the same time their social disposition, led to neighborhood meetings, for the purpose of pleasure or of discussing local politics. The houses being too small to ac- commodate a large company, the only alternative was to seek a pleasant grove in the vicinity of a cool spring. Here rude tables were covered with the rich viands of the county, and after the repast was ended the young joined in a dance, while the old became spectators of the lively scene."
On Friday evening, July the 4th, he said: "I have just returned from the barbecue, much amused and much fatigued with the day's excursion. It is raining in torrents. You may just fancy yourself in my company and we will take the trip over again. Without wading a mile through mud and water, I will place' you at once upon the ground. You wonder at the multitude of people. I suppose there are three or four thous- and. You notice that inclosure with a crowd of anxious looking men around it-that is the bar, and within are several hogs- heads of that famous beverage called mint-julip. This is made by mixing in proper proportions sugar. water, ice, mint and
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old whiskey, but I will not go into further particulars on the subjeet.
"A call is made for a speech. As might be expected, this call is for John J. Crittenden. He is a favorite, and he well de- serves to be a favorite son of Kentucky. Ilis personal appear- ance is good, his countenance, though dignified: is always lighted with a smile, and he possesses that peculiar power in oratory which can charm the learned and ignorant at the same time. His voice, though commanding, is rich and. mellow in its tones, and a multitude would stand by the hour gazing on his glowing countenance and hanging with breathless silence on his words as they leap apparently unbidden from his lips."
On February 25th, 1834, Hon. John Breathitt, Governor of Kentucky. died in the city of Frankfort, of pulmonary con- sumption. By his request his remains were buried in Logan County. The procession was formed at an early hour, and moved from the capital to the Governor's mansion, where it was joined by the military. The religious ceremonies were per- formed by Dr. Noel and the Rev. Thornton Mills, after which the procession moved in the following order: 1st. The military. 2d. The joint committee on arrangements. 3d. The acting Governor and Secretary of State. 4th. The physicians. 5th. The Rev. Clergy. 6th. The pall-bearers, consisting of four members of the State Senate and eight members of the House, with the corpse. 7th. The relations of the deceased. 8th. The Senate, preceded by its Speaker and Clerk. 9th. The House of Represenatives, preceded by its Speaker and Clerks. 10th. The government officials. 11th. Citizens and strangers. The procession was the largest which had ever been seen in Frank- fort. All the business houses were closed and great sorrow pre- vailed. After arriving at the farthest limit of South Frankfort the procession returned. The corpse was attended by citizens on horseback until it arrived at the county line, where a num- ber of citizens of Anderson county received it and accompanied it to the Mercer county line.
In 1834 The Frankfort Lyceum was organized, with Charles G. Wintersmith as secretary. In 1835 John J. Critten- den resigned the office of magistrate. David Waits was ap-
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pointed Sheriff, and John Buford was elected Jailer. In 1837 John D. Woods was appointed police judge of Frankfort. There was a never failing stream of water on the corner of Ann and Broadway streets, near where the Kendall property now stands.
In 1838 Edward S. Coleman was appointed Sheriff and Morgan B. Chinn became Jailer. In 1839 John C. Herndon became the County Attorney, and in 1840 John Watson became the Sheriff.
In 1837 small pox became prevalent in Frankfort, and in some sections of the county during that summer deaths oc- curred from its ravage. On Sunday morning, July 23, 1834, the middle arch of the St. Clair street bridge, which was then in the course of construction, gave way and all that part of the structure was precipitated into the river. The damage was so great that the company had to construct entirely a new bridge. On December the 26th, 1835, the middle span of the bridge fell a second time, the structure had been completed and had been in use just eight days when it fell, two wagons with their drivers and teams and six colored men were on the bridge at the time it fell. The wagons and teams were lost and two colored men were killed. One of the negroes belonged to Mr. Williams and was instantly killed. The other, the property of William S. Waller, died in a short time after the accident. In 1835 there were three newspapers published in Frankfort, to-wit: The Commonwealth, The Frankfort Argus, and The Cross. In 1837 there was a weekly paper edited and published by F. D. Pettit and J. H. Mayhall, which they called the Frankfort Farmer.
There was an act of the Legislature approved February 28th, 1835, which incorporated the town of Frankfort. This act defined the powers and duties of the officers of Frankfort. and granted many powers to the chairman and board of trus- tees. Prior to this date the town had been governed by the laws enacted by the Virginia Legislature, and under which the town of Frankfort was established.
In February, 1835, Samuel Q. Richardson, a prominent. lawyer of Frankfort, was shot and killed by John U. Waring on the steps leading to the second floor of the Mansion
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House. The Legislature was in session at that time, and the killing of such a prominent man as Mr. Richardson created the wildest excitement. Samuel Q. Richardson had defended J. O. Beauchamp for killing Col. Solomon P. Sharp in 1825, at which time he severely criticised the conduct of John U. War- ing, in reference to that assassination, and after the trial was over Waring threatened to kill Richardson, but he did not carry out the threat until ten years later. Waring waived his examining trial, but he made a long speech before the examin- ing court justifying the killing on the ground that Richard- son had made threats. Waring was committed without bail. He spent three years in jail and was tried three times. The first and second trials resulted in a hung jury each time. On the last trial he was acquitted. Richardson was not armel at the time he was killed. IFis remains were buziel at Lexing- ton, Ky.
The name of John U. Waring appears for the first time on the criminal records of the county in 1818. At every term of the court after that for a quarter of a century he appeared as a defendant. He was before the court on peace warrants, almost without number. John U. Waring was a lawyer of some ability. For many years he owned a farm, which was after- wards known as that of R. K. Woodson, located on the Ken- tucky river across from the Big Eddy, he had a fine vineyard on it; he owned property in Frankfort and Versailles. He was prosecuted for the crime by Mason Brown and Lewis Sanders, Jr. He was defended by Frank Johnson, John J. Crittenden and Thos. F. Marshall.
On Saturday, the 7th day of March, 1845, John U. War- ing was killed in Versailles, Ky. The Frankfort Common- wealth said of him: "Mr. Waring was himself a man of des- peration and violence. He it was who slew the late Samuel Q. Richardson and he had been engaged in many a bloody en- counter; indeed we can scarce remember when he was not notoriously at deadly feud with reputable citizens and he was commonly regarded as an enemy of mankind, having made few friends and many bitter foes."
A postmortem examination disclosed the fact that the
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THE HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY.
bullet had passed through his head, down his throat and had lodged in his lungs. It also disclosed a further fact long sus- pected, that he wore a strong coat of mail made of steel; he was shot from the garret of Shelton's tavern, a rifle was found there bearing marks of recent use. It was thought by some, that the son of the Jailer of Woodford County killed him, as that young man left in a short time after the killing. It seems that no special effort was made to locate the assassin, as it was generally considered that the country was well rid of such a bad char- acter.
The attorneys at law living in Frankfort and practicing their profession in 1835, were: Thos. B. Monroe, John J. Mar- shall, Victor Monroe, Chas. S. Morehead, James T. Morehead, Mason Brown, Samuel Todd, Benj. F. Hickman, John L. Blaine, John C. Crittenden, Wm. II. Todd, Humphrey Mar- shall, Jr., Thomas N. Lindsey, William G. Talbott, William Owsley, Uriel B. Chambers, Austin P. Cox, O. G. Cates, John J. Crittenden, J. Swigert, James G. Dana, Benjamin G. Burks, Richard F. Richmond, Chilton Allen and Landon Thomas.
At an election of Trustees for the town of Frankfort in 1836, Philip Swigert was elected chairman, J. J. Vest, A. G. Hodges, G. E. Russell, Joseph W. Allen, James Shannon and Austin P. Cox were elected trustees and John C. Herndon was elected clerk.
In 1836, the high school which had been taught by the Rev. Wm. Purvance and the one taught by L. B. Nash were merged into one, which was called the Frankfort Academy. Mr. B. B. Sayre was one of the teachers in this academy; he afterwards became one of the most celebrated teachers in Ken- tucky. His influence has been felt, perhaps, more than any other one man who has lived in the State. He came from Vir- ginia about 1835. He taught for many years. Pupils from all sections of the country came to him. For some years he taught where the Episcopal church now stands. From about 1842 to 1848, he taught in the building now known as the Lindsey law office on the corner of Main and St. Clair streets. Ile afterwards taught where Mr. J. A. Scott resides. He went to the Kentucky Military Institute in 1863, but taught there only
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