Georgetown, Kentucky - The B.O. Gaines History of Scott County (part 1 of 3)

The B.O. Gaines History of Scott County

/"|| HE BIG SPRING was given to the town by JoSiah Pitts. He V£r reserved the part on the Keene Richards side for his stock water. The town was a great manufacturing place at this time. Lewis Rucker made lasts to make shoes. The Court House stood on the corner of Mrs. Jas. E. Cantrili'syard on Main street. It was on old one-story frame building, with very small windows, and had been painted red. Mr. Charley Cullen used the building as a cooper shop, and also manufactured oil. Where the Wellington now stands, Mr. Richardson manufactured tobacco and cigars. Oliver Gaines and John Ford were contractors and carpenters. Mr. George Allgaire made all the tinware'and sold groceries.

Jack Thompson and Jesse Cannon made all the boots and shoes for the Southern people and negroes. Michael White and John Applegate were the tailors. William Nash and Job Stevenson were the saddlers. John Adams and Billy Brown made all the hats. Lewis Bittner was the wheelwright. Lynn West was the gunsmith. John Boston made furniture. Mr. Douglas was the undertaker and used a one-horse hearse. Jas. Deering was the blacksmith. Jas. Crawford kept the jail. Mr. Steadman manufactured linsy and ran a grist mill. George Prentice had a paper mill on the Big Spring Branch, and furnished Cincinnati with paper. Dr. Satterwhite was the first physician, then Dr. Bower and Dr. Ferris. A free negro made all the ginger cakes and rusks; his name was Ned Black. John Whitney was the grocery keeper. He was a devout member of Barton Stone's church. Every person he spoke to was his brother or sister. Whether black or white, he called them "brother" or "sister." It made no difference how busy he was, if there was preaching at his church, he would close his grocery and attend church.

When he died he wanted to be buried under the church. His request was granted, as the floor was taken up and he was buried under it. John McMeekin was the confectioner. Old Mr. John Herring was the market master. Nick Falkner was the tavern keeper. He was the father of Andy Falkner, who composed the song "Arkansas Traveler."

There was a carding factory, a nail factory, a tan yard and a rope walk on the East side of North Broadway, between Amanda Redd's house and Thurman's grocery. This was first the Main street of Georgetown. After the name was changed to Main Cross it was called "Rat Row," and is now Broadway.

Barton Stone was the teacher of a school then known as the Ritten House Academy on Science Hill, where the old college now stands. The graveyard was East of where the monument

B. W. Stone was the founder of the Christian church; gave the ground to the church where the Christian church now stands. Jimmie Black preached for the Baptists, down by the Big Spring Branch. The Christian church at that time was called Stone's church.

John T. Johnson was Circuit Clerk; Ben Ford, County Clerk; Judge Warren was Judge; Samuel Shepard was a lawyer; Thomas Theobald was Sheriff. Nimrod Finnell edited the Georgetown Sentinel. The first time the Clerk's office was burned, it was set on fire the night of an election, to destroy the poll books. Learned to Parse in "Paradise Lost."

The children read in "The Pleasing Companion," a book that was endorsed by Thomas Jefferson; used the blue-back spelling book; learned to parse in "Paradise Lost."

Such a thing as a drug store was not known. There were a few patent medicines kept in the grocery stores. Mrs. Doctor | Feris owned the first cooking stove. All the neighbors sent theirj cake to be baked in her stove. Mrs. Emily Hewitt taught thei girls to draw and paint, also to make wax fruit and flowers. Mr. Roland Hanna and Mr. Phil Price were the leading merchants.

Blackberries and tomatoes were considered very poisonous. The tomatoes grew wild, and were not larger than bird's eggs. There were no cultivated tomatoes until '41.

One Hundred Years Ago

are persons now living who have been eye witnesses of the changes indicated in the following table of things man could do one hundred years ago:

He never had a bank to go to deposit his money or to make a note. So from 1816 to the present day Georgetown has pushed forward and the majority of the things that a man never seen then can be seen now within the town limits. Men do not go securities on notes as banks have been started and such business is transacted in them. Below will be found a notice on a note.

"CAUTION - In the latter part of the winter of 1817. I gave a note to Jacob Lyebrook for $14 The note has been paid, hut Mr. Lyebrook refuses to return the note. All persons arc autioned against taking an assignment on said note, as I am determined not tooav it the second time.

An editor of a Southern paper makes this notice of ten dollar bills being counterfeited. The date or the name could not be found on the clipping.

In this county a large business is doing in the way of counterfeiting money, both in gold and paper. The counterfeits on the Planter's Bank of Tennessee are so well executed that they have been put on the best judges of money. The ten dollar bills may be known, however, by a large X on the top corner of the left hand end of the bill - I mean the tens. It is believed from the discoveries now made that this company of counterfeiters extends through Greene and Washington counties. They will yet be ferreted out. Let all honest men be on the watch. There is no such plate as the one on the Planter's Bank with the X at the top corner. Let this not be forgotten, because the signatures on the counterfeit bills are as perfect as the originals.

The First Bank Established

For weeks efforts were made to secure some information concerning the bank established in George Town in 1818. Nearly every aged citizen in the county was called upon - from Mr. Samuel Keene to Mr. Garrett Powell - but none could give any information at all. The old check which appears on page 260 is so worn with age that when placed under a magnifying glass the names of the President and Cashier cannot be read.

In what portion of the town th s bank was located is a question yet to be solved. From hear-say some of the old citizens say that they have heard their parents speak of a bank being located in a small room that stood on the ground where K. Stone owns' now and conducts a grocery.

After a search of several days through old papers and records success crowned our efforts, as we found an order made at a session of the Scott County Court in March, 1818, appointing tiie following Commissioners:

"The General Assembly of Kentucky having provided an act for forty-six independent banks to he chartered, among them being the Bank of George Town, it is ordered that James Johnson, Job Stevenson, Samuel Theobald, Philimon D. Price and Wm. B. Keene be and are hereby appointed Commissioners to solicit 2,000 shares at $io,o per share. Capital stock, #200,000."

The Farmers' Bank of Kentucky was the second one established in Georgetown. It was a branch bank of the Farmers' Bank of Frankfort, established in 1850, and the house now owned by Mr. Geo. Fitzgerald and occupied as a residence on Hamilton street was its first location, and where it was successfully conducted for nine years. The large, heavy doors and big windows of the house are curiosities. A likeness of the house appears on page 292. In 1859 the bank erected a large two-story brick building on the corner of Main and Hamilton streets, in which this institution conducted its business for thirty-five years. A likeness of this building will be found below:

The Old Building

This building was erected in 1859 at a cost of $12,500, and torn down in 1895 and the Wellington Hotel erected in its place. It looked like too good a building to be torn down, but it had served its purpose.

The Money Question

What to use for money was a vexing question. Tf e old En glish money was the first used, but the scarcity of coin in 177^ compelled the printing of 20-shilling bills, a likeness (actual size of which appears below.

For a number of years in olden times, a man owing money had to pay or he was sent to jail and kept, even if his family suffered. Kobt. Morris, a member of Congress, and one who signed the Declaration of Independence, saved lives as well as country. In the Revolution would have come to a standstill if £50,000 in gold had not been raised for the starving soldiers. Morris raised the amount on his own personal security, and secured other amounts. The War might have been different, had it not, been for him. Years after when this grand man had become old and poverty stricken, he was arrested and put in prison for debt, he could not pay. A few days before he died he wrote to a friend that he did not have money to buy bread for his family.

The Trials, Troubles And Tribulations Of Money

Since our last report, on this subject, there have been some changes worthy of notice; for the ingenuity of man never had greater scope than that which has been afforded by the situation of our "money affairs," during a year or two past.

Specie has become more plenty than formerly, but a great part, of it, comes in such a "questionable shape," that, we are puzzled to ascertain its value, without the use of scales and weights. We can make every fraction of a dollar, from the fragments into which round coin has been mangled. Of all instruments for making money, a strong pair of shears is most convenient; and some unknown gentlemen, to replenish their own pockets, and to wear out those of their neighbors, have rerorted to a practice at once mean and dishonest. A dollar, under their operations, is increased in value one-eighth, and sometimes one-fourth. A t wenty cent piece, quartered, becomes the value of a quarter dollar, and with a little hammering can be clipped so as to pass for thirty-one cents; and so of other silver pieces.

Buttons - To increase the quantity of specie, pewter but tons have been put in circulation, and sometimes serve very well, among other t. umpery, to make change.

Tickets - The "two penny tickets" of individuals, which were scattered in profusion among us sometime ago, have become scarce. Thousands of them, however, will never be redeemed, as it, was intended t hey never should be when they were put afloat. All respectable banks are collecting their small notes as fast as possible.

In January, 1818, forty-six independent banks were chartered, among which was the Bank of George Town, with a capital stock of §200,000. The likeness of a note on this bank for ten dollars, dated May 4, 1S1S, payable to W. T. Smith

The original was sent to Mr. J. R. Downing, cashier of the present Bank of Georgetown, by a banker in Amesbury, Mass , who secured it from a customer who found it in demolishing an old building in Acton, Me. The President of this bank was William Ward and the Cashier was Tilford Offutt, as may be seen by a .close study of the half-tone. The bank had a capital stock of §200,000, but went out of business before the oldest inhabitant's .memory begins.

The Present Bank Of Georgetown 261

The capital stock is $25,000, and in the seven and one-half years of its existence has accumulated a surplus fund of $15,000 and an undivided profit account of several thousand dollars, besides paying a dividend of six per cent every year since its organization.

Interior Of Bank Cashiers And Bookkeeper

The present directors and officers of the bank are A. L. Ferguson, President; M. H. Haggard, Vice President; T. K. Shuff, J. P. Jackson, W. T. Davis, Dr. R. L. Garrick and John R. Downing, Directors; J. R. Downing, Cashier; G. T. Hambrick, Assistant Cashier, and J. W. Thomason, Jr., Bookkeeper.

The deposits of this bank have increased from $46,000 in 1900 to more than $200,000 in 1905 and bid fair to continue to grow still more. Such an institution as the Bank of Georgetown, with a Board of Directors composed of such business men as it does, could not be successful. It is, nevertheless, a fact that a bank with such gentlemen as Mr. John R. Downing as its Cashier, Mr. George Hambrick, Assistant Cashier, and Willie Thomason as Bookkeeper, is sufficient evidence that the deposits of this bank will continue to increase. The hank is located at the corner of Main ;ind Hamilton streets in the building owned by Mrs. Nannie Craig.

HE Bank of Georgetown was organized in / J I August, 1897, by the late S. S. Wells, who was the first Cashier. It began business September 20th, 1897, with the following Board of Directors: C. L. Garth, President; A. L. Ferguson. Vice President; Dr. F. F. Bryan, Dan McMillan, Rev. F. J. Donnelly, Thos. L. Carrick, Wm. Kenney.

Those In The Picture

Reading from bottom to top appear likenesses of Chas. Davenport, Bookkeeper; A. H. Sinclair. Cashier; Reed Nutter, E. P. Ewing, Bookkeepers, and Frank Howard.

The bank building is situated on North Main street about midway of the block, bounded on east and west respectively by Hamilton and Court streets, of which a likeness appears elsewhere.

HE Farmers' Bank was established in 1850 as a branch of the Farmers* Bank of Franhfort. The Farmers* Bank of Kentucky went into liquidation in 1900, the Legislature having taken' away its charter. On May 1st, 1900, the new bank was organized under the.name of The Farmers' Bank of Georgetown, with a capital stock of $60,000. Its capital stock had been $800,000. The bank is located on the corner of Main and Hamilton streets, in the Wellington Hotel building. The Directors

HE Deposit Bank of Georgetown was chartered on ill February 13th. 1867. Its first meeting of stockholders was on April 1st, 1867, those present being Richard West, the noted trotting horse breeder, since dead, B. F. Elliott, Geo. E. Prewitt. 0. B. Moore, J- D. Grissim, S. R. Thomson. A-S. Bradley, 0,0. Kenney and James Y. Kelly. The officers elected at that meeting were L. L. Herndon, President: James Y. Kelly, Cashier, and C. 0, Moore. Clerk. The Board of Directors elected at the same meeting were L. L. Herndon. B. F. Elliott, J, I>. Grissim, A, S. Bradley and George E. Prewitt, All of these gentlemen held their positions in the bank until removed either by death or on account of having been called to more lucrative positions.

are H. S. Anderson, Buford Hal], J. A. Bell, John W. Hall, W. O. Carrick, Geo. V. Payne, Henry Craig, R. B. Thomas. Mr. E. Yates is the Cashier and the present Bookkeepers are Messrs. John S. Gaines, Robt Q. Ward and Willie Hall.

The First National Bank

HIS bank was organized in March, .1 883, and ill commenced business the following May. Its Vbt first Board of Directors was made up of such men as Hon. A. P. Grover, JudgeH. S. Rhoton, Dr. R. M. Dudley, Joseph Finley, W. N. Offutt, Warren Graves and H. P. Montgomery. H. P. Montgomery has been its President since its organization, until his death in 1905 and until the 1st of January, 1890, Capt. Noah Spears, now Vice-President of the Banker's & Merchant's National Bank, of Dallas, Texas, was its Cashier. The Dallas Bank was not a success and the Captain returned to Georgetown and engaged in the insurance and real estate business until his death. The First National Bank quickly took root in Scott County, and atthe presenttime its stock can not be bought at 100 per cent, premium. Almost all its stock is owned in Scott County, and is consequently very closely identified with the business interests of this city. Mr. W. G. Abbott has been its Cashier since the 1st of January, 1890, and under his

Control the bank continues to enjoy its wonted prosperity. The bookkeepers .are Mr. Asa Brown and Mr. R. A. Hamilton. Its present board of directors are made up of the following gentlemen : J. D.

Present Building The Market House 265

fN speaking of anything that is of a historical nature about Georgetown to an old resident of the place, the first thing he will mention is the old Market House. The Market House stood in the center of the street east of the Court House and is now called City Hall Square. The house was built in 1804 and was a frame structure. At this time the ground was leased by the county in connection with the town. At theexpiration of the lease, the town refused to continue the same and erected a large brick building. From the best information that could be gained was erected in 1810 and stood there until 1846 or 1847. The ground on which the house stood belonged to the county and in 1846 the Gentlemen Justices gave notice to the Trustees for its removal. The Justices did not give their reasons as to why they wanted the house removed, but it is supposed that they wanted possession of their property. The notice which was served is as follows :

"Ordered that the leave given hy the order of this Court to I tlie inhabitants of Georgetown to erect a Market House on j the southeast end of the public ground in said town be, and | and the same is, hereby rescinded, and that the Chairman and i Board of Trustees of said town be required to remove said ( Market House within twelve months from the time notice of this order is served upon them. Bal T. Thompson and Daniel Bradford, Esq., ars appointed a committee on behalf of this Court to give the notice herein provided for by delivering to the Chairman of said Board of Trustees a copy thereof.

A Display Of The Market In One Of The Stalls In The Early Morn

anything in Georgetown appreciated like the Market House. If there ever was a place that needed a Market House it is Georgetown. The citizens of the town petitioned the County Court to rescind the order, but the Justices refused. The petition was circulated and received avast number of signatures, and read as follows:

"Your petitioners would respectfully represent that by the location of the new Market House on one side of the town, remote from the business part thereof, is in every way inconvenient to a large majority of the citizens and that this was brought about in opposition to the expressed wish of a majority of the voters of said town, who petitioned the Board of Trustees for leave to say where said Market House should be1 located, which petition was rejected. For remedy whereof yoiir petitioners would respectfully ask your honorable body to rescind the order requiring the Board of Trustees to move the old Market House, and grant the next Board to alter and repair the same for the use and convenience of the citizens."

The Justices refused to rescind their order and the Trustees in 1847 moved tire Market House to the Big Spring and it stood where the old frame ice plant building stood until 1871. It was an out of the way place and the Market House soon became a thing of the past- The following laws governed the house :

There shall be a Market Master elected by the Board, whose duty it shall be to discharge all the duties required of .him by the ordinances of said Board. The stated market ijdays shall he Wednesday and Saturday in each week.

The Market Master shall have the Market House swept S every Tuesday and Friday and open the doors of the Market at three hours by sun on Tuesday and Friday evenings

Iand keep them open until sundown. He shall also open them by daybreak on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and shall keep ..them open until the sun shall be one hour high.

It shall be the duty of the Market Master to attend to the [measuring and weighing of all articles sold in said market, if [required by the purchaser or seller, and any person refusing to give full weight or measure according to the standard of 'this Commonwealth shall forfeit the article and the Market f Master shall sell the same at public sale for the benefit of the [Treasury of Georgetown.

Any person selling or buying, or trying to sell or buy, any article of provision in the Market House, or adjacent thereto, from the time of opening the gates in the evening preceding the market days until the market is regularly opened by the Market Master, shall forfeit and pay one dollar for each offense ; provided, that from the 1st day of September until the 1st day of May butchers and others may sell fresh meat on the evenings preceding market days.

That the regular market hours shall be from the time when the sun is three hours high on Tuesday and Friday until sundown, and from daybreak until the sun shall be one hour high on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, during which time all articles of marketing shall be sold at the Market House, and nowhere else in town, under the penalty of one dollar for each offense.

That no person shall buy in the Market House, during market hours, any article of provision in order to sell again at a higher price, during the same market, under a penalty of ten dollars for each offense-

That no person shall retail any beer, cider or spirituous liquors in the market house, or in any of the streets, alleys or public grounds under a penalty of five dollars.

' That the Market Master shall seize all provisions offered for sale at the Market House which are unwholesome or nqt fit for the market, and summon the citizens to inspect the same; and if by them decided to be unfit for market, the Market Master shall destroy the same at the expense of the owner.

!, That the Market Master shall examine butter and other ! articles offered for sale in proportions alleged to be of any I particular weight, and if found to be light he shall seize the [same and sell it to the highest bidder, and Ipay over the proiceeds to the Town Treasurer; and he shall also require the |i butchers and others to weigh their meat with scales instead of { steelyards.

It shall be the duty of the Market Master to take care of the scales, weights and measures placed in his care, and deliver them over to his isuccessor, or any such other person as the Board may direct.

The Market Master shall lay before the Board, yearly, an account of all monies collected by him for forfeitures or otherwise, and paid to the Treasurer; and also all notes taken for stall rent, and shall give notice to the Marshal of such persons as may remove any property from the Market House.

Market Master

That any person found guilty of feeding or hitching horses, oxen or any other animals in or about t he Market House, or on tlH pavement thereof, sTi all he fined one dollar for each offense. .

That any person who shaltbe guilty of any disorderly behavior in the Market House, or interrupts the Market Master in the discharge of his deities, shall forfeit and pay five dollars'.

It shall beithe duty of the Market Master upon application of any one wanting to rent a stall in the Market House to rent the same at not less than eiget dollars per year, to take bond with good security, payable to the Chairman and Board of Trustees, said bond to be placed in the hands of the Treasurer when executed.

That any person not a renter of a stall who shall sell beef or pork in any quantity more than fifty pounds shall pay at the rate of twelve and a half cents per hundred pounds. Any such persons selling sausage in any quantity more than twenty pounds shall pay a tax of one-fourth of a cent on eac-li pound of such excess.

That any person taking away from the Market House any of the weights or measures belonging to the said Market House shall for each offense, forfeit and pay one dollar, to be collected and accounted for as in section nine.

That the Market Master shall inform the Marshal of all persons offending against any section of this ordinance, and that all fines may be collected by warrant with costs of suit.

The Pioneer'S Staple Diet The Year Round

The staple diet consisted principally of beef, salted fish, pork, hominy and potatoes the whole year round. More fruit was eaten in those days by the pioneers than is used today.

The country was full of fruit and as fast as ground was cleared up orchards were made and great care was given to the trees. Some of the finest orchards in the State were to be found in Georgetown.

Tomatoes were first used in this country as an edible in the year 18111, by the late lion. Bailey Bartlett, of Havervill, but they did not come into general use in Kentucky until more than twenty years subsequent to that date. In a letter to Joseph Harrod, Esq., of Portland Me., Sheriff Bartlett said; "Cut up and dressed as you would a cucumber, the tomato makes very good salad."

There was all kinds of game in Scott county, the squirrels being as thick aw fleas on a dog's back. Mr. Sam Keene, the oldest native citizen of Georgetown, says that lie has seen his father kill a mess of squirrels on Main street of Georgetown before breakfast.

Early Settler Of Georgetown

I as well as promising, citizens. Although the death occurred JL when the subject of this notice was but three years of age. he had attained a position in the community to which but i few of that age and experience can ever hope to aspire. The subject of this sketch is no other than Pete, the famous talking crow. ; Pete was the property of Mr. Dave Adams, grandfather of Mrs. f Mr. and Mrs. John Herring and Mr. A. B. Barkley, of George-

Itown, and Messrs. John and George Barkley, of Lexington. Pete never had his tongue split, nor were any other measures taken by which nature should be assisted in giving him the power for | talking or other vocal accomplishments. He obtained his educa- I tion at Mr. Adams' hat factory, which was where Pieri now owns_ ' True Kentuckian that he was, Pete was not long in learning Jtliat one of the first duties of a gentleman was to attend the races. A 'Bus Load Out to the Track.

i AT first he was taken along to the West track, now called "Gano track." but after seeing one or two races he never missed a meeting. In the excitement of a start he cried out in a loud

He would sit and give the word to the horses as they passed ghim. Although Pete was able to give the word with all the dis- Stinctness and vim of a regular starter, he sometimes lacked ^judgment.

HE sent them many bad starts. He is quoted as the origin of the use of the bell, his words being mistaken for those of the jstarter and the horses sent away when the starter had no inten- |ition of doing so.

;1 Fishing likewise was one of Pete's weaknesses - he was fond jfof minnows. His first fishing expedition was to Bourbon bridge. eAn attempt to pull off a fishing expedition without the aid and - consent of Pete was considered by him as a gross insult. Pete (-always laid claim to the first fish caught, big or little, and were {She refused, scolded or driven off with a switch, he would fly ? (straight home to his master, where he wassure of better treatment.

( "As far back as I can remember there was a brick Market (House on the east of Court Square, extending from Main to (Court streets, in which country people had to sell their produce (and in which town people had to buy. The country people and (the butchers generally got in before daylight and the town people about daylight or soon after. I will relate an incident, which J think is not in history, connected with the old Market House, nd was related to me by William Adams, uncle of Dave Adams, s being true, about Pete, the talking crow. Pete was xceedingly fond of horse racing and always attended the aces on the track on Cincinnati turnpike, and is said to be the -aus.e [of the change from using the word 'Go' by the starter, to he bell as the crow would light on the stand and give the word Go' at the wrong time and make a false start. Col. Benj. 'ord, father-in-law of Mrs. Reuben F. Ford, was County Clerk, nd lived where W. H. Barbee now lives on Bourbon street. Ir. Wm. Adams told one, that he heard Col. Ford say, he was oing to market one morning with a large basket on his arm, nd when opposite the hatter's shop he heard some one say. Good Morning,' he looked around and it was the crow, and he idded, 'They haven't got as much as I could eat.' Adams says the crow attended the market regularly and sometimes the maret was very poor, this was several years before my recollection." A full and complete history of Pete written by Gen. T. C. lournoy is as follows :

Pete, The Talking Crow

Nearly forty-five years ago the late General T. C Flournoy, known prominently for his zeal in the temperance cause, wrote for the Georgetown paper an account of the wonderful crow Pete, whose history was still then only preserved by tradition. Every year or two since it has gone the rounds of the papers, and has again started afresh by the Turf, Field and Farm. Written so long ago it has many personal allusions which, though perfectly plain to the generation of that day, have become somewhat obscured by time. To make this intelligible to our modern readers, at our request a cotemporary of the learned Peter, who now resides in our midst, an honored citizen of venerable age, though still vigorous in mind and body, has prepared an introduction, which his modesty has caused him to frame as if written by us, to which our friend Stanton, the poet, has prefixed a prologue in verse.

Pete, The Wonderful Georgetown Crow

Our readers will enjoy the treat we furnish them to-day, in the following "history of Pete," by the late Gen. Thos. C. Flournoy, of Georgetown. It is a perfect gem of its kind, and, aside from the literary merit of the production, its special value consists in the strict truth of the incidents and facts narrated, notwithstanding the vein of inimitable humor which runs through it, and which might, upon a casual reading, be mistaken for exaggeration. Pete was no myth. He was a living, flying, talking reality - the wonder of his age. In the extent of his vocabulary and in clearness and distinctness of utterance, he was never even approached by any parrot that ever lived. Pete, it is true, flourished before our day, but we have derived our information from one of his contemporareis, an old Georgetown friend, who we have the highest authority for saying, was a pretty good fiddler in 1806. He knew all the persons mentioned in the history. All of them have followed Pete and his biographer to the grave, and none, with the exception perhaps of "Uncle Ned" Blackburn, Captain Burbridge and Mr. Benjamin Smith, are now remembered outside of Scott county; but each had his peculiar characteristics that gave him local fame.

John Felty, for example, was one of the journeymen of Mr. Adams, the owner of Pete, and was distinguished for his devotion to fishing, races and musters, and the recreations which then they were, and still are, incidental to these sports. On all such occasions Pete and Felty Were as inseparable friends as Barnaby Rudge and his raven. George Sawyer was also a journeyman in the same shop, and it was to his fidelity as an instructor that Pete was indebted for many of his accomplishments.

By Gen. Thos. C. Flournoy

Georgetown, Ky., is certainly the most remarkable place in the world for birds. Who has not heard of Pete, the illustrious crow, which was raised and owned by Mr. John Adams, of this town Pete - that everybody admired? This crow - without having had anything done to his tongue, and with no other advantage than that of being brought up in a hatter's shop among the boys and journeymen - could undoubtedly talk better than any parrot in the world ever talked.

But to begin with the history - Pete, "in his youth," was once taken to Bourbon bridge on a fishing party, where he got some very good minnows to eat, and always afterward, to the day of his death, he was a devoted fisherman. The moment Pete saw the fishing poles brought out he was as keen as a briar to go; and go he would, and he would help himself, too, to the very first fish that was caught, big or little. If you scolded at him or took up a switch and threatened to whip him he was off. He would fly straight to his master's house in Georgetown, where he knew he had friends, and where he was sure to be fed like a gentleman. Mr. Adams has feelingly told me "that if he had but one piece of bread in the world he would have shared it with Pete."

Among the earliest buddings of Pete's genious was his fondness for racing. He was taken to one or two races, in the first place; but after that he was sure to attend as a volunteer; until, at length, becoming very much excited on the field, he mounted the stand, and in a fit of inspiration he gave the word "Go," to the horses." And this was the first word ever spoken by Pete. The speech met with the most unbounded applause. The beating of Henry by Eclipse was a fool to it. From that moment Pete was a "made man." He was everywhere acknowledged as principal manager of the turf Pete knew everybody and everybody knew Pete. He was constantly seen in the thickest of the crowd "chief cook and bottle washer." He did not always know when to give the word "go," but he knew how to do it as well as Uncle Ned or Capt. Burbridge himself.

It should be remembered, to the credit of Pete, that he was then the staunch advocate of temperance. Many a bottle of new whisky has Pete broken and many a quarrel has he had with Fetlty for doing it. And here it is proper to notice a charge which had been brought ,against Pete. It has been said that Pete was in the habit of drinking the whisky and breaking the bottle, by way of concealing the theft. Upon the principle that a house has often been burned down after it was robbed, in order to prevent discovery, but I do not believe a word of it.

1 consider the whole story, whether written or spoken, as base slander upon Pete's reputation. What, Pete drink whisky? Good, new whisky? The thing is impossible. Pete was possessed of too much intelligence and two much self respect. He was always sober as a Judge. And besides I do not believe that the sillest crow that ever croaked would be stupid enough to taste one drop of whisky, although it might roll in oceans at his feet. Had Pete been called on to drink he would have risen on tiptoe, and with his accustomed eloquence, lie would have replied, "No, gentlemen, no. Not one drop of whiskey will I drink. It is whisky and that alone which fills the poor house and the penitentiary, throughout Christendom, and from one extremity of the earth to the other. We are informed by Mr. Adams and two other gentlemen, that upon one occasion a stupid Wagoner who had about a quart of new whisky in him at the time, and whose name happened to be Bill, was terribly frightened by Pete. The fellow it seems, was driving his team through the streets of Georgetown, when Pete took a seat upon the top of his wagon and began to call out, "Bill, oh, Bill! oh, Bill!" The fellow looked up, and without waiting rolled off in the mud, flat on his back, and was very near run over by his own wagon.

The hero of our story had a perfect contempt for his wild brethren. He evidently avoided them, and upon one occasion, having been thrown into company with some of them, at a hog killing which he was very fond of attending, Pete actually retired to the inside of Mr. Barrack Offutt's porch to avoid what he considered company; they could not talk they were no company for Pete.

I have just been told that Pete is charged with | being a mongrel. Now 1 take upon myself as an ornithologist, and as the biographer of Pete, to say that the thing is false out and out. That Pete was as genuine a crow as ever was seen. That he had not 1 one drop of parrot blood in him ; that he was as much J superios to the parrot as a mocking bird is to a spar- $ row, "as Hyperion to a satyr."

As a distinguishing trait in the character of Pete, 1 it deserves to be mentioned that he had not the ; slightest aversion to gunpowder. On the contrary | he was particularly fond of military tactics; and j made it a point to attend all the musters in the neighborhood of Georgetown. Musters and races | were his favorite pastimes.

It has been long doubted whether Mr. Burke was fj greatest as a speaker or writer. But there is no | such doubt in relation to Pete. Oratory was unquestionably his strong suit; touch him on that and he j] was always at home. He could say "good morning" | with perfect distinctness, and this was his favorite | salutation; he would use it forty times a day, and at I all hours of the day. Mr. Ford informs me that he | met with Pete one morning at market, and that he | heard him say "a cold, frosty morning," as plain as I he ever heard him say anything in his life. But his 1. longest and best speech is, "Oh, Bill! oh, Bill, tell | George Sawyer to come here." This speech, long as | it is, was pronounced with the utmost distinctness, | twenty times a day, upon an average, and has been | witnessed by hundreds, and perhaps by thousands, j:j with the highest admiration. Gentlemen have been if known to visit Georgetown from a hundred miles, j expressly to witness the power of Pete's eloquence. | Pete's Morality Questioned. j<

As the writer of history, bound by all the sane- jj tion of the truth, I am compelled to say that Pete's jj morality was somewhat questionable. He had been | heard to swear repeatedly ; and, upon one occasion j; doubtless without reflection, he went so far as to j abuse a lady in her own house. Pete, it seems, was | on a vif-itand, in the course of the evening, he had jj amused himself by pulling out the feathers of a hat J which lay upon the bed in one of the chambers. Pete j| was at length detected in the very act; or, as a law- IS yer would say, "he taken with the mainor." The ] lady informed him she considered him an intruder, ; and that she would have him put out of her house. Pete's Irish was instantly up, and he told the lady to her fade, "Course your soul, I'll tell George Sawyer." Cursed a Lady.

The lady, of course, retired ; she could not possibly : stand such language as this, and Pete lorded it through the house for some time, and did exactly what he pleased. Now, this I admit, was all wrong and perfectly inexcusable; hut I would like to know what crow in creation or man either is without fault? And, besides it should be known to posterity that Pete's general character was good, and in so complete an assemblage of perfections it will not be matter of wonder if some alloy of frailty was found intermingled. My deliberate opinion is that the darkest shade in Pete's character was a tendency to

Pete lived to the age of about three years, and was clearly progressive up to the moment of his death, in his knowledge and accomplishments as a scholar and a gentleman. His lamented death took place in the ever memorable year 1832. That year so fatal to genius, the same year in w'hich more great souls de- E parted than in any other two years in all the annals f of history : Macintosh, Culver, Goethe, Crabbe,

The distinguished subject of our history was un- \ fortunately shot by a nephew of Mr. Ben. Smith, of ; Edge Hill, a stranger, who knew nothing of the | character and standing of Pete. He fell in the su- | burbs of Georgetown, Ky., on the branch of the Roy- | al Spring, near Mr. Crawford's house. Upon the I melancholy news of Pete's death, it was at once de-

II termined to bury him with the highest respect. His | remains were accordingly placed in a very handsome | coffin and interred on the classic ground, near the I college edifice. The funeral was attended by a large | procession of boys. The bell was regularly tolled.

Many a wet cheek was seen at the burial; and we are l told that the children of Mr. Adams were not the only ones that shed tears. How early might the life : of Pete have been saved if only moderate caution had | been observed by the citizens of Georgetown. Still j it was not the want of regard, but the excess of it | that was fatal in this instance. Nobody ever dream- | ed that Pete could be shot through mistake. Never | did the advantage of stars and garters and ribbons I and decorations strike me so forcibly before. For the want of some such badge of distinction, a crow I of genius lost his life.

The author of this story never saw Pete but once he was then on the top of Mr. George Brown's house, in Georgetown. The street below was full of gentlemen on horseback, and, Pete supposing it to be a race, was engaged in giving the word "go." It was Court Day, but it seems that nobody had informed Pete of the fact; so that he was evidently acting under a mistake at the time.

Of one thing the public may be assured that no fact stated has been exaggerated in the slightest degree; that in the whole of this memoir no single incident is given but upon the highest authority. The truth is that most of the facts contained in this history have been actually sworn to. Mike Algiare,upon telling the story in New Orleans, and finding that he was not believed, went before a Justice of the Peace and solemnly swore to every word he had stated. Af- | ter all the pains I have taken, there is very little doubt that the fate of Homer has been that of Pete, and that many of his best speeches have been lost to the world forever. T. C. F.

Moore Criticises Flournoy

Old General Flournoy wore a gold medal all his life, that good old Father Mathew, the great Irish Catholic temperance apostle, gave him. The General died a bachelor. He had a love affair in his young days, and wore green clothes all his life, winter and summer. Green means "forsaken." He died at a green old age, leaving more drunkards around him than he started with. He was the first crank that ever lived in Dog Fennell, and was the only member of the order here whose memory I feel constrained to doff my cap, as to a superior officer. He was the same kind of a man they used to burn for heretics.

Mr. (Jhtis. C. Moore died in 1906 at his home Quaker Acre, Fayette county. He was a grand-son of Rev. Rarton Stone. He was a scholar and had traveled a great deal. He entered in the vocation of life as a book-keeper in a bank, then he studied for the ministery and became a noted minister of the Christian Church. He gave up the minsitery and becamean infidel and published the Blue Grass Blade. He was a brilliant man, but was ecentric, but back to early history in 1817.

At a term of the County Court held in 1817, the followidg order was made: "On motion of Ben Taylor, Joe Taylor, James Wood, Thomas C. Leach, John C. Buckner, Cary L. Clark and Mathew Beatty that Elijah Craig, Abraham Stites and Samuel Shephard therein be appointed Commissioners pursuant to an act of many cases made and provided to convey to them certain lots of Georgetown agreeable to their certain bonds, given to them by Richard Gano, deceased." Order Book B, page 58.

N July 11th 1818 in Collin's Annals is found the following account of the Grand Metoric Explosion which caused considerable fear among the people at that time :

"Grand metoric explosion at 2:45 P. M. Seen and heard at Georgetown, Owingsville, Mayslick, and between Paris and Lexngton; "described as a great white ball, whiter than snow, very bright nearly as big as the sun, flying almost as swiftly as lightning, from where the sun was shining brightly towards the east, the noise was terrible, like a heavy cannon at a great distance."

Owned By Georgetown People

S early as 1823 a company composed of citizens , of Georgetown was organized for the purpose of building and operating a steamboat between New Orleans and Louisville. This company failed in its undertaking and a second company was organized of which Collins History gave this account.

A company was organized in Georgetown in 1826 and had a steamboat built, which was christened by the name of ''Lexington." She plied between Louisville and New Orleans and rode the waves then equally to a man o' war in midocean. On June 9th, 1827, she came from New Orleans to Louisville in eight days and twenty-one hours, the third quickest time made up to that date. The celebration in Georgetown over the record has never been equalled.

Whilst it is a great degree of pride to know the skill of the pioneers of Scott county in early days, but don't let it be forgotten that the first steamboat ever launched in the world was the work ot a Kentuckian - John Fitch.

Kentucky made the war of 1812, and did more than her share of the fighting of it. Scott county furnished her Jas. Johnson and last, but not least, that fearless Richard John son, who brought that war to a close by the slaying of the great I ndian Chief, Teeumseh.

John A. Baird, correspondent of the Post, gave the following pen picture of the late Major B. F. Bradley, as a member of the Stat Senate in 1889 :

"Senator B. F. Bradley, of Scott, links the past with the present. He was a member of the Confederate Congress, and his name will pass into history it may be a fancy, but there is something about him that is suggestive of those by-gone days of stirring events. He appears to belong to a period that is past and to have survived his time, but one has only to listen to one of the Senator's short but incisive arguments to appreciate the fact that his days of usefullness are not over. He hasn't remained still during the years that have intervened since he labored for "The Lost Cause," and is well abreast of the times. He has a clear head, a sound judgment, and whenever he speaks commands the attention of the Senate. Although doubtless the oldest man in the Senate, few have been more regular in their attendance. As Chairman of the Railroad Committee he has had a great deal of work to do, but has attended to it promptly and conscientiously. He is a courteous and approachable gentlemen, particulary fond of young people, but his chief companion is Senator Robt. J. Breckenridge, who is, perhaps ten years his junior. They are bound by old memories and associations, having served together in the Confederate Congress. It is a little remarkable they , should meet after so long an interim under circumstances so apt to recall their former contemporaneous labors. Senator Bradley is a lawyer and has been in active practice in Scott county since the war.

The people of Scott county appreciated the soldiers who served in three wars. The old county of Scott sent forth to battle her greatest sons. There was no separating or grading by the people, but these gentlemen went into war on their merits and distinguished themselves on the field of battleand not on paper as was the case in a number of engagements of the recent Spanish-American war. To the honor of these sons a barbecue was given at White Sulphur in 1847 as the following notice taken from a copy of the Georgetown Herald published at that time shows:

The undersigned, the executive committee, would respectfully invite all surviving soldiers of the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the present war, that can make it convenient to honor the occasion with their presence, the committee tal> es this method of inviting all as being the only means within their power of giving a general invitation. All persons having subscription papers are requested to report on Saturday, October 2nd, to Colonel Forbes by mail or otherwise. It is earnestly requested that all the provisions be delivered early on Monday, October 4tb, to Hiram Johnson at the While Sulphur Springs.

John Wt. Forbes

While Scott county is proud of her heroes of war, her distinguished statesmen, beautiful daughters, her tine whisky, editors and poets, Georgetown is equally as proud of her composers of song, in both the past and the present. Georgetown can point with great pride as the home of "Sandy" Faulkner the composer of the famous and popular song, "The Arkansaw Traveler." Andy or Sandy Faulkner was horned in Georgetown and his father, Nicholas Faulkner, kept tavern at Great Crossing for a number of years. At a session of the County Court in 1817 the following order was made:

''On motion of Nicholas Faulkner he is allowed to keep Tavern at his house in Great Crossings, whereupon he entered into bond with security agreeable to law."

Composer Of Song Georgetown, The Home

GEORGETOWN has the distinction of being the home of many distinguished statesmen, fearless soldiers, able lawyers, ministers, poets, poetesses, fast horses and beautiful women, and where the sample of "Pure Old Bourbon was first made, but very few citizens now living can recall the fact that it was also the home of Sandy Falkner, the composer of the famous song, ''The Arkansas Traveler.'1 His father for many years conducted a tavern at Great Crossings. The Little Rock (Ark.) News, in 1874, said of him:

"That famous traveler in the wilds of Arkansas, known as 'the Arkansas Traveler," is no myth. He lives in Little Rock, in that State, and his name is Col. 'Sandy' Falkner. He is an aged and respected citizen of Little Rock, and he may be seen every day about the streets of the town, indulging his excellent taste for music and story telling. Colonel Falkner was born in Scott county, Ky., in the year 1804, In 1831 he went to Arkansas, and in 1832 he became acquainted with Waller Wright, the original squatter in the song and story known as 'The Arkansas Traveler.' Wright sang a jumbled sort of song, which attracted Falkner's attention - a song and tune he had heard in various settlements. These words, together with the air, Falkner made into the celebrated song. Col. Falkner is universally known by the name of 'The Arkansas Traveler.' "

The Song

S. - I am very dry ; do you keep any spirits in your house ? O. M. - Do you think my house is haunted They say there's plenty down in the graveyard. (Plays.)

O. M. - If you're a better player than I am vou can play it yourself. I'll bring the fiddle out to you, I don't want you in here. (Stranger plays the second part of the tune.)

0. M. - Git over the fence and come in and sit down : 1 didn't know you could play. You can hoard here if you want to. Kick that dog off that stool and set down and play it over; I want to hear it again. (Stranger plays second part again.)

S. - If you please. 0. M. - What'll you take, tea or coffee? S. - A cup of tea, if you please. O. M - Sail, git the grubbin' hoe and go dig some sassafras, quick ! (Old man plays the first part.)

Boy. - We hain't got no knives and forks, sir. - Then give me a spoon. B. - We hain't got no spoons, neither. S. - Well, then, how do you do? B. - ' Tolerable, thank you; how do you do, sir?

(The stranger, finding smell poor accommodations and thinking his condition could be bettered by leaving, soon left and finally succeeded in finding a tavern with better fare. He has never had the courage to visit Arkansas since )

Masonic Order

In 1776 there was sitting at the table of the commandant of Metz, in Germany, a distinguished scion of an ancient noble French family. During the conversation at the table, the Duke of Gloucester, brother to the King of England, spoke of the Declaration qf Independence. He rose from the table to return to Paris, and revealed liis high resolve to his equally enthusiastic young wife. lie came to America, sought the acquaintance of the Commander-in-Chief of the American Army. Washington felt the electric shock from this benevolent heart, and took Lafayette to his bosom; nor was the bond severed till death gave the stroke of mortal separation.

After the close of the war the young nobleman returned to Paris, and. in glowing eloquence, rehearsed the noble virtues of the great American leader to his young and charming wife. She, like every true woman, was always deeply interested in everything that engaged the attention of her husband. She soon came to reverence Washington with a feeling closely allied to devotion. She corresponded with him, and received from him cordial invitations to the simple delights of rural life at Mount Vernon.

In 1784 Lafayette determined to visit Washington in hisritirement Madame Lafayette earnestly desired to present some visible testimony of her regard to the great patriot, liesides the bond of personal friendship there was a bond of union between Washington and Lafayette of a different character. They were members of the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons, and both loved the 'mystic brotherhood '' Madame Lafayette took advantage of this charm to add interest-to her testimonial of esteem. She prepared w ith her own hands an apron of white satin, upon which she wrought in needlework all the various emblems of the Masonic Order. This she sent with her husband tube presented to her ideal of true greatness at Mount Vernon. It was kept by Washington as a cherished memorial of a noble woman duringhis life. It now occupies a conspicuous place on the walls of the Grand Master's room in Masonic Hall. Philadelphia,

Old Mt. Vernon Lodge No. 14 Of Georgtown, Chartered In 1807

In 1807, a Masonic Lodge of A. Y. Masons was chartered and established in Georgetown. The following were among the earliest members: Cary L. Clarke; Samuel Shepard, Robt. Hunter. R. E. Gano, Dr. John Sites, Dr. Wm. H. Richardson, Col. R. M Johnson, Joseph Dean, Wm. Warren, John Holroyd. John D. Craig, James Grant, Thomas W Hawking, Josiah Pitts, Wm. Sutton, Abraham S, Van DeGraff and others, many of whom were initiated previous to the war of 1812. This was the beginning of old Mt. Vernon No. 14.

IT is to be regretted that the old Masonic Hall on North Broadway was ever sold, but for lack /ill" of interest on the part ol the members, and the

H was there on that lot that the meetings were held long before 1S13. Page 101, book B., Rev. Elijah Craig made application to the Court to straighten the old road (Cincinnati pike) shows statement to he a fact. New life has been thrown into the lodge and it now has seventy-five active members. The present officers are: H. T. Warren, W. M.; J. S. Montgomery, S. W.; R, H. Anderson. J. W.; P. W. Prewitt, Secretary; R. Q. Ward, Treasurer. The lodge rents a hall on Main street and meets the first and third Monday nights in each month.

One of the happiest moments of the writer's life was the evening when the degree - that of a Master Mason - was conferred upon him. T he tribute paid to his grandfather as a Royal Arch Mason by that dear old brother who recently passed away - Wm. Warren - was one that will alwaysbe remembered and cherished. That tribute was so touching and the de^p feeling he showed in it , no response was expected and the lodge was closed.

The Georgetown Chapter No. 13 277

Vernon Lodge. Old Mt. Vernon has stood the test of time and has no doubt been the making of men who served a useful life and prepared them to answer the roll call and reap the rich rewards of the great beyond. Next year Mt. Vernon Lodge will be 100 years old and every Mason who has been a member and out on a demit as well as every active member should go to work and prepare the manner and date of next year for a grand celebration of her One Hundreth Anniversity, An Old Bible.

The Herald or some other newspaper published herein early times, had this to say of an old bible in the Masonic lodge: "The Masonic lodge of this city is in possession of a very old bible. It was translated from the original Hebrew and was printed by Isaiah Thomas, at Worcester, Mass., in 1793- It has been in the possession of the Masonic order 103 years, and was presented by John Hawkins, Sr., whose name is written on the fly leaf.

The George Town Chapter, No. 13 of Royal Masons was granted Dec. 1, 1823. The Charier Members were: W. D. Hubbell, W. Eckle, Levi Lusk, W Johnson, Stephen G. Marshall. Thomas Hord Bradford, George Douglas, Robert J. Webb, Hugh Offutt, Henry Johnson and Jas. Long.

The following is taken from a copy of the By-Laws adopted in open Chapter, Sept. 23rd, 1841, Y. D. 2375, A. L. 5841, of Royal Arch Masons. These by-laws were printed by L. L. Finnell. It is as neat a piece of printing as could be done Georgetown to-day, a copy of which was given us by J. F. Gasner. The list of members as they appear on the old copy is as follows:

There have been many deaths in the past sixty-five years The members of the Royai Arch Masons of Georgetown Chapter No. 13, who adopted the by-laws of this Grand Order in 1841, sixty-five years ago, have long ago gone to their last resting place. They weie men of brains and of wealth; they were the highest type of citizens of Georgetown in their day. They were valued citizens, because it is due to them more than others for what Georgetown is to-day. Some of them were distinguished statesmen, others were merchants, farmers, etc. They have long ago past to their last resting place and many, if not all of them, reaped their reward. They have been long ago forgotten by people, and only their memory is cherished by their offspring. It is gratifjing to know that the footprints left by them are being followed by their sons and grandsons, as the names of the members and officers of the Georgetown Chapter No. 13, Royal Arch Masons, will show, and under whose guidance the old lodge, with its many ups and downs and its trials, troubles and tribulations, has been made to flourish like a green bay tree. The present officers are: J. D. Daviess, IT. P.; Addison Smith, K.;Jas. M.Craigmyle, S.; Jos. E. Warren, C. of H.; J. P. Jackson. P. S.; .1. C. Cantrill. R. A. C.; Wm. Flaig, M. of 3rd; R, H. Wolfe, M. of 2nd; Benj. Stone. M. of 1st; S. Gody, Sentinel; B. M. Herndon, Secretary; J. F. Gasner, Treasurer.

Bradford Commandery Chartered May 12, 1855

Bradford Commandery was Chartered May 1st, 1855. The Charter Members were: Sir Stephen F. Gano, Gen. Commander, Sir Joel P. Salle, Generalissimo, Sir James F. Beatty, Captain General. At that time 1855, the charter was granted the Commandery flourished like a green-bay-tree. The membership in all probability reached 100 or more and it stood secoud to none in the State of Kentucky. There was not a commandery of Knight Templars in the State that had as large a membership and could put in line as many handsome men as Bradfords. On Wednesday, May 10th, 1876 this Commandery at its own expense entertained the Commandries of the State. Such an event as this, has never been equalled before or since. The beautiful woodlaiyl owned by Col. Pres Thompson was used for the occasion and the spread of that day cost thousands of dollars. Not only the wives, sons and daughters of the Sir Knights were there, but every, thing in Georgetown from the baby to its mother, father and relatives and from the little pickaninny to Elly's Mule and Cart.

One of the most interesting sights of the occasion was Henry Hopkins traction engine. It was the first engine of this kind seen in this portion of the country and of course attracted a great deal of attention. It was a day and an oceassion that will never be forgotten by those who attended. The invitations issued was as follow :

On May 24th, 1876, the Bradford Commandery, of Georgetown' entertained the Knight Templars of Frankfort, and the Yeoman had this to say of the occasion:

"The plaesure of the gala-days at Georgetown last week, will linger long in the memory of the Knights Templar of Frankfort and other visitors who enjoyed the hospitality of the people of that goodly town. Never were efforts to make every one happy more general or more successful. Not only the Knights of Bradford Commandery, but every person in the town and county, seemed to have organized into a committee of one to contribute to the pleasure of their guests, and resulted in such a display of generous hospitality as is rarely witnessed. The Knights were lavish in their entertainments of ball and banquet, the ladies were unsurpassed in their loveliness, and their zeal to promote the pleasure of their plumed beaux, and the citizens generally left nothing undone to make the event a notable one. High as the people of Scott have always stood for their refined courtesy to strangers, they have added another wreath to their brow by this magnificent display of their liberality and generous hospitality. - Frankfort Yeoman."

Report And Plat Of Committee

HILE Georgetown had been the County Seat in 1792 it was not for fifty-four years thereafter heiore it had many streets. It shows that the pioneers had labored so hard and stood the hardships that no other persons will ever have to stand, that they had decided to take things easy in their closing days of life and little effort was made to make Georgetown only what Georgetown really was, and is - " The Best Peace on Earth."

There was no scrambling or scrapingovera foot of ground, nor did they practice then that which the majority of the people do' now - "Do others before they no me." Life was too dear, the pioneers too honest; they were too broadminded to let such rot enter their heads. The report of the committee appointed to survey the streets of Georgetown is very interesting and was as follows :

That public convenience and the interests of Georgetown require that the streets named in the order of survey, or others equivalent, should be opened. The present streets of the town are entirely inadequate for the purposes of convenient intercommunication between the different parts of the town and of egress therefrom.

end of Main street and wishing to pass to .lackson street, or go towards Lemon's Mill, must first come down into town westward, then southward and then eastward, before he can commence his journey. Almost the same may be said of those residing in the northern part of the town, and who may wish to go towards Paris and Cynthiana.

Besides, the growth and prosperity of the town is retarded for want of streets and avenues giving access to tlie various building lots and places where improvements would be made. In locating and opening streets a very common error must be guarded against -that of making them too narrow. Take, as an example, Mulberry street near the Methodist church. Here is no room for sidewalks and scarcely room for two wagons or carriages to pass.

Your committee unanimously recommends that the street be opened of not less than thirty feet wide, exclusive of sidewalks, adding seven and a half feet on each side for footways, will make the street fortyfive feet wide; also that the street from Main to South street on the east side to Mr. Cannon be HO feet.

The opening of the street from Main to the Lemon Mill road will he productive of inconvenience to no one, but will be of great public and private advantage. The same may be said of the extension of South street to intersect it, as well as the street from Main to South on the east side of Mr. Cannon's. There being no Houses or structures of any kind in the way, their opening will he of advantage to the lots on which they hound.

The extension of Washington street east involves the difficulty of passing directly over the Willow Spring, bub this might he obviated by arching it over like a public cistern and putting a pump on the sidewalk within a table leading into it.

If tH is street should he opened to the eastern town limits a county road should be extended from that point to connect it wit h the Paris road south of Mr. Betts. A street between Mr. Garth's and Miss Bryce's lots, to connect Main and Washington, involves the removal of Mr. Garth's stable and the separating of Miss Bryce's lot into two parts and putting her house on one side of the street and her spring on the other. In various places in the town individuals are compelled to keep open private alleys for their own convenience. The opening of the proposed streets would in a great measure do away With the necessity of such alleys and also much promote the public convenience. By order of tlm committee. E. N". Elliott, Chairman.

The Merchants Of Georgetown In 1846

The accompanying is a likeness of Thos. S. Barkley, one of the most prominent business men in Georgetown in 1846. He was a fine druggist and was engaged in the drug business for many years. He was the father of Mr. Thos. S. Barkley, of Los Angeles, Cal. It was in his store that Dr. Geo. Fitzgerald, the present druggist, prepared his first prescriptions.

Thos. S. Barkley

ILED in the County Clerk's office are two copies of the Georgetown Herald of May 27. 1846, and June 10, 1846. The Herald was published by Wise & French, and appeared every Tuesday. The newspapers of those days compare favorably with the papers of today in typographical appearance, and, no doubt, but what they were more ably edited. The merchants of Georgetown then were more progressive business men than the merchants of the present day. A comparison of the advertising columns of the Georgetown papers then to the papers now bears us out in this statement. There are proofs of the fact that the older folks did just as much, if not more, scrapping in those days than the present generation does now.

L. B. Dickerson was the Democratic nominee for Representative. He was supported in his race by the Herald. A card in the Herald and signed "Voters," demands Dickerson to declare if he is in favor of a Constitutional Amendment. The Herald says it was worse than treason to raise this issue at that time to defeat the will of Democracy, as expressed in the convention. Dickerson refused to commit himself, and with the intense opposition and a split in the party, he won his race. He offered for re-election and was defeated by Win. P. Duvall. Mr. Dickerson was a hot-headed fellow, but he took the advice of Col. Richard Johnson and won one of (lie most heated contests that had been held in Scott county up to that time.

Trie Herald, the Lexington Observer and the Cincinnati Philanthropist were in a discussion over Gen. Cassius Clay's cruelty to a slave. The Observer published Clay's card of denial, and adds: "Mr. Barnet, Clay's overseer, published a certificate, which proved that the negro was a notorious scoundrel and was not treated with undue harshness, and he was only too much induced.

John C. Breckenridge has a card in the paper stating tnat he has moved his office to Lexington, but would be in Georgetown every County Court day.

The First Druggist The Merchants Of 1846

The scare of smallpox fifty-eight years ago in Georgetown was as great, if not greater, than it is now. The Frankfort Yeoman reported that all the stores of Georgetown were closed on account of the prevailing dreadful disease. The Herald denies this, but admits that the majority of the women and children had removed from town. It says that little business was done, as the country people were afraid to come to town. The first case was discovered at the Female Seminary, and only one case resulted in death, and that was Mr. Johnson's little daughter, who was always a delicate child. The Herald said that the families took fright at the scare and left town; that some of the people walked on the pavements and others in the middle of the road - and that's what the Herald calls

The scare became so great that the Trustees requested the physicians to meet and to make a report as to the number of cases. The physicians met Tuesday, J tine - , 184(5, and made the following report :

At the recommendation of the Board of Trustees of Georgetown and in order to gratify public anxiety upon the subject of the disease now affleting our town, the undersigned, a committee of physicians, would report:

That there have been up to the present time twenty cases in all. Nine of those were unequivocal smallpox, having the tever and eruptions of that disease well marked ; the subjects of these cases had not been previously vaccinated. Of these nine eases one has died, one is still quite ill, and the others are convalescent, or doing well. The other eleven cases have been variously modified varioloid, a number ol them hardly requiring medical treatment. All of them had been previously vaccinated. The first case, as we learn, occurred about the ist of May. among the pupils of the Female Collegiate Institute of this place; the last on the 9th of .1 line.

The Board of Trustees for Georgetown met on Tuesday, the 2nd of June, aud passed all suitable ordinances for the protection of the community against the extension of the disease, as will appear by a reference to their acts, published in the Georgetown Herald of the 3rd inst. We have some reason to hope that their efforts may be effectual.

We cannot close this report without a reference to the unwearied attention of the principal and assistants of the Institute to the welfare of the sick. The measures suggested for the prot-c ion of the community against the ravages of the disorder were at once adopted by the principal, although involving a heavy pecuniary sacrifice to him ; and throughout its progress in his family every effort which humanity could suggest has been made to render the situation of the afflicted as comfortable as possible. WM. L. SUTTON. M. D. S. F. GANG, M. I).

This dreadful disease again broke out in Georgetown in 1873 and caused more deaths than than at any other time before or since. The disease was said to have been brought to Georgetown through a stock of dry goods purchased in New York by Robt. Soper, a merchant of Georgetown. Some twenty odd deaths were caused by it in the county, as well as in the town. Mr. M. W. Holtzclaw, who is now among the oldest citizens of the town, suffered the loss of his wife by it.

The Smallpox

Mr. Holtzclaw is among the oldest native born citizens of Georgetown. He was born in Georgetown March 2nd, 1839, and has lived here ever since. He has been married three times. His first wife was Miss Mollie Robinson, of Stamping Ground. One child was born, which died very young, the mother and child both dying on the same day and were buried in the same coffin. His second wife was Miss Lizzie Hammond, of Midway. One child was born to them, Craig B., who is now a painter. She died with smallpox in 1873 - (the disease in this year caused more deaths than at any time prior to or after this year; some fifty odd deaths were reported. It is claimed that the germs of this disease were -brought here in a stock of dry goods purchased by Robt. Soper in New York, Soper having been a dry goods merchant in Georgetown for years.) Mr. Holtzclaw's thiid wife was Miss Georgia Hammond, sister of his second wife. This marriage occurred in 1875. and live children were born to them, but only two are living - Maggie, the wife of Mr. Fred S. Ciumbaugh, a farmer, and John Pell, who is the agent for the Q. & C. road at Wilmore. Mr. Holtzclaw is a printer, but has not worked at his trade for several years. He has always -been a Democrat and never voted in any other precinct except the Court House. He remembers most of the old woolen mills, hat factories and the rope walk of our grandfather, and other enterprises established in Georgetown years ago. He takes great interest in the town and owns a nice home on North Broadway. He has given us a great deal of information of the old stage coaches and their drivers and of the newspapers, etc.

EYV citizens are now living who remember the sensational trial of LaFavette Shelby for the killing of Young Horine in Lexington in 184(). The trial J udge-Buckner was severely criticised all over the State at the small amount at which bond was fixed. The trial began on July 8th 1840 and the jury could not agree. Collin's history gives the following account of the affair :

"Trial of LaFayette Shelby for the killing of Young Horine, at Lexington, concluded by the non-agreeing and the discharge of the iury, who stood 4 for con viction and 8 for acquittal; next day he is admitted to bail by Judge Buckner in #10,000 and released from iail. A public meeting is held strongly condematory of the course and result of the trial; the Judge and 8 Jurors hung in effigy, not only in Lexington, but in Richmond, Nicholasville, Georgetown and other places. So great is the popular excitement and outbreak that a majority of the Fayette and Scott county bar deem it proper to address a communication to the public in defense of the Judge, expressing high confidence in the correctness of his Judicial opinion, his impartiality, unblemished integrity and personal honor."

Newspapers were just as hard to keep going then as they are now. The Herald editors made a strong appeal to the people of the county for their hearty support. The Herald said: "Several papers have heretofore been published in Georgetown, all of which have failed - not, however, for the want of patronage, hut because of some misfortune or alTliction on the part of the publishers. If we are blessed with continuous health and your patronage the Herald shall succeed.

The Georgetown Herald was not only one of the best looking papers published in the State at that time, so far as typographical appearance, but it was filled with crispy news and strong and forcible editorials, some of which were as follows :

WE have frequently been asked what is a "Printer's Devil ?" We give the following as a very satisfactory reply - it shows of what stuff Printer's Devils are composed:

Dr. Stephen Gano, of this county, has been called on to become a candidate for the office of Senator, at the ensuing A ugust election: the call will be found in another part of our paper-

We observe in the last Lexington Observer & Reporter, a call, (purporting to come from Scott county,) upon B. .1. Clay, Esq., of Bourbon, to become a candidate for the office of Senator from this district.

Col. Richard M. Johnson in replying to an invitation to attend the Oregon and Texas ball, at New York, speaks in bold and patriotic language with regard to our claims to Oregon. We should like to copy the whole letter hut our limits forbid.

The subscriber having removed to Lexington, takes this method of informing his friends that he will regularly attend the Scott Circuit Court, and will also be in Georgetown every County Court day, when those of his friends who desire to entrust him with businss, can do so. He continues to practise law in Lexington, in connection with R. S. Bullock, and those having business in Fayette, may have it promptly attended to by forwarding it to Bullock & B. eckinridge, at Lexington.

The Rev. Evan Stevenson, editor of the Christian Intelligencer, has volunteered to go to Texas in the cavalry company raised by Captain Gano. May the Lord "Teach his hands to war and his fingers to fight."

The Mount Vernon (Masonic) Lodge of Georgetown proposes having a celebration on the 24th of the ensuing month, in which the brethren ot the neighboring lodges are invited to participate.

Mount Vernon Lodge No. 14 of Free and Accepted Masons will celebrate the approaching anniversary of St. John the Baptist, June 24th, by a procession, oration, etc. Brethren from the neighboring lodges and all others in good standing are earnestly requested to participate in the festivities of the occasion. Ample provision will be made for their accommodation. By order of the Lodge. C. FRITZ, Secretary.

We have been favored by Maj. Thurston, with a copy of the bill, before the Legislature, abolishing ourpresent Circuit Courts and establishing District Courts. It confers the same powers upon the District Courts, as are now possessed by our Circuit Courts. It divides the State into thirteen districts and requires but two terms to be held in each county in a year. It is to take effect on the 1st of J une next and to continue in force for the term of seven years,

The State Donation Beginning Of Georgetown College

FROM its beginning Georgetown lias been in a certain sense an educational center. The early love of learning, or rather the desire of those in authority to inculcate that spirit, is shown in the advertisement published by Elijah Craig before 1790, setting forth the advantages and the charges of the school that had been established at Georgetown. From that' day unto this there never has been a time when the youth of Scott county could not obtain in their own baliwick as good instruction as that in any other part of the State. There were, of course, the same early difficulties in the way of the advance of education met here as elsewhere, but through the trials of war and pestilence the schools have stood. The people who settled the county were of the blue blood of old Virginia, and they knew what advantages their children should have and saw that they got them.

In 1799 James Garrard, then Governor of the State, conveyed to the Craigs and other citizens a grant of land consisting of 5,900 acres in Christian and Cumberland counties, as an endowment for Rittenhouse Academy, of which these gentlemen were trustees. The building located on what is now the main part of the campus of Georgetown College, was first a frame structure and afterwards built of brick.

The Commissioners appointed sold the frame portion of the old Court House to the Trustees of Rittenhouse Academy for $155, with Wm. H- Henry as surety- The frame portion was moved to the College campus and used . as the building for the institute above mentioned. The same land that is now the College campus was then called "Science Hill." The institute was first called "The Science Hill Academy," later the Rittenhouse Academy, and lastly nicknamed by the boys as the "Old Kitchen.

Toliver Craig was nearly seventy years of age when the church of which he was a member and his oldest son the pastor, left Virginia for Fincascle county, now Kentucky. He, like his children, had been led to the Savior through the instrumentality of David Thomas and Colonel Harris. His three sons, Lewis, Elijah and Joseph, were preachers. Two of his daughters had husbands who w'ere Baptist preachers. The two younger sons, Benjamin and Toliver, were also members of the traveling church. Leaving his home in Culpepper he passed the Blue Ridge and journeyed with his children and grandchildren to the far off land, still sustaining by his faith and courage, as he had in the days of persecution, his noble sons in their undertaking. The patriarch of Kentucky Baptists, the father of the Craigs, the Jacob of the tribes, will not be forgotten by Kentucky Baptists.

As early as 1809 Mrs. De Charmes, an English woman, settled in Georgetown and established a school for young ladies in which the usual branches, together with music, drawing and other accomplishments, were taught. So can be seen the early trend of the people of Scott county toward an education for their children. Scholars for Mrs. De Charmes* school came from Lexington, Louisville and Frankfort, and competent and refined ladies were engaged as teachers. After the war of 1813, however, Mrs. De Charmes' daughter, Sarah, was married to an English officer, and the entire family returned to their native land.

This was the beginning, although it is impossible to tell what was really the first school in the town, hut it can be seen that the educational facilities of the town were put on a substantial footing early in its existence.

The Grounds And Buildings

For the first ten years there were no buildings save the old Rittenhouse Acadamey, which occupied the site of the present Academy building and which with the western half of 1 the campus seems to have come into the possession of the College partly by a sort of consolidation with the old Rittenhouse Academy, apd partly by donations of a site bv the citizens of the town to secure the location of the College.

! In 1810 the present Recitation Hall was commenced, the | first building ever erected by the College. Paulding Hall, that is, the old part of it which constitutes the rear of the present edifice, was erected very early, but I have been unable to discover the date. It was mentioned in the first cata- ' logue - 1645-46 - and may possibly have been built before the death of Issachar Paulding, which occurred, according to "Spencer's History of Kentucky Baptists," in 1832. In 1839 the eastern half of the campus, nearly ten acres, was sold to the College by Alexander Offutt for $100 per acre, i In 1852 the College bought the building near the campus, ! now occupied and owned by Rev, T. J, Stevenson, and turned I it into a dormitory, called Judson Hall. This building, however, seemed to be ill adapted to the purpose, and in 1859 the property was sold to Professor Rucker. This building was not converted into its present use until 1895- In 1869 the j grounds to the south of the campus and the building now owned by Mrs. Dudley was purchased for a President's resi- I dence, and the present residence of the President was erected ; on a part of these grounds in 1889-

The present Academy building was built about 1861. In 1879 the new front was built to Paulding Hall. The large Chapel building was built in 1894, and the beautiful Rucker Hall, across the street, in 1895.

' There was a contest over the location of the College between Georgetown and Versailles, and the former secured the prize by a gift of $6,000. This, together with the generous i donation of $20,000 made by Isaacbar Paulding, seems to 1 have constituted the entire property of the institution during the first decade of its existence.

For a part of the time the College was run as a private 1 enterprise. In 1838 Rockwood Giddings, a young pastor of Shelbyville, whose administration of the College lasted one year - he, together whith Isaacliar Paulding, were really the founders of Georgetown College as far as that honor can be awarded to any two men. Doctor Giddings turned his atten- : tion to the further needs of the institution and saw he could not make a College without endowment and buildings. He 1 began the great task of raising an endowment and asked the Baptists of Kentucky, 40,000 in number, for $100,000. Such was his enthusiasm, his almost hypnotic power over the hearts and pockets of his brethren that in eight months he had gathered together in good notes nearly $80,000 - a truly wonderful achievement, considering the time at which it was accomplished. As far as l have been able to ascertain, it was to Doctor Giddings also that we are indebted for the general plan of the old College building, now called

Together with Dr. J. E. Farnam, his classmate at Waterville, Maine, whom he induced to come with him from Shelbyvilie to Georgetown in 1838, he drew the plans for this noble old edifice - so simple and sincere in its architecture, so pure and classical in its outline - that it stands now, and I hope will stand for another hundred years, a beautiful monument to his memory. This is not the place for suggestions, but I will venture to remark that I hope some day to see built on the south end of Recitation Hall an Ionic portico like the one at the north end, and then the old building rededicated and renamed ''Giddings Hall," in honor of the first really effective President of the College,

The Early Schools

In October, 1839, the President fell in the pulpit while preaching and was carried back to his old home in Shelbyvi lie, dying in a few days. The one year of Dr. Giddings' administration had transformed the College. 'When his successor came to Georgetown he found an institution with a harmonious Board- This successor was Dr- Howard Malcom, who made an ideal College President. Dr. Malcom was a distinguished and eloquent man.

After a brief interval under Dr. J. L. Reynolds, the College entered upon an epoch of great prosperity and expansion under the leadership of Duncan R. Campbell, who came to Georgetown in June, 1852, from Covington, Ky-, where he had been a professor in the Western Baptist Theological Institute. In 1855 the patronage of the College had far outgrown its facilities, and Dr- Campbell threw' his mighty resources into an effort to increase the endowment. In about ten years' time he had secured about §106,000. Dr. Campbell lived only long enough to carry the College through the trying ordeal of the Civil War, dying suddenly in 1865-

Following Dr. Campbell's death, and the war, the College entered upon a period of quiet and painful readjustment to a changed environment. For fifteen years this process went on. The patronage fell off. During this period two very distinguished and scholarly men served successively as President of the College - Dr. N. M. Crawford, 1865-1871, and Dr. Basil Manly, 1871-1879.

. About 1870 the movement to bring the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to Kentucky from South Carolina was inaugurated. This involved the raising of §300,000 by Kentucky Baptists.

The College began to emerge from this period of comparative quiet and depression in 1870, when Dr. Richard M. Dudley was placed in charge of the institution. Dr. Dudley's administration covered a period of thirteen years - from 1879 to his untimely death in January, 1893, a most notable and evenful period in the history of Georgetown College. The new President's house, the new Chapel and Gymnasium building and Rucker Hall Were the fruits of his labors ; for while they were not all built during his life, the funds that made them possible were provided, and the conditions of patronage and prospects that made them necessary, were ci-eated by him. Thus about §99,000 worth of buildings were added to the plant of the institution. The growth of the endowment, during Dr. Dudley's term of office was more than §150,000, This, of course, includes the buildings above mentioned.

The first President of the Board was Silas M. Noel. The second President was Rev. Thomas P. Dudley, who afterwards became the great exponent of our brethren of the Hardshell branch of our denomination. Then came Roger Quarles, Gov- J- F, Robinson, David Chenault, W. M Pratt, and lastly the present incumbent. Dr- Jno. A. Lewis.

The first Treasurer was Major M. C. McCalla, who was Treasurer from about 1840 to 1X06. The other great Treasurer is the present holder of the office, Judge George V- Payne, whose term of service began in 1873.

Lastly, let us note how the life of the College, like the life of an individual, ebbs and flows. There have been periods of great prosperity, of progress and expansion, and then there have been new seasons of quiet readjustment, of settling down aiid pulling together.

The three great tides of advancement have come under Geddings, Campbell and Dudley; partly, perhaps, because of the condition of the time, and partly because of the great qualities of these able men. The College has survived the frightful dissensions which resulted from the work of Alexan der Cam p b e 1 1 ,

It is today the strongest institution of learning of the Baptist people west of the Alleghany mountains and south of the Ohio river. Let us all thank God for the noble past, and rise and go forward.

College Building

The tuition fees produce a sum of between $7,000 and $10,000, which makes the total annual revenue of the institution in excess of $20,000 a year. On the forty-acre campus are located the various College buildings. There are now three dormitory buildings, the gymnasium and chapel building, the preparatory building, the President's house and the recitation hall. The preparatory building is one of the very old buildings on the grounds and is located on the site of the old Rittenhouse Academy. Recitation Hall, the main building of the College, is by this time nearly sixty years old.

In 1894 the gymnasium and chapel building was erected at a cost of between $40,000 and $45,000. The building is a handsome brick structure of three stories. The lower floor of the building is taken up with a large library room, the gymnanasium and chapel. The library contains some 14,000 volumes. There is n special endowment for the library of about $7,000, with the revenue of which the running expenses are met. The chapel is a large room capable of seating over 350 people. It is divided from the gymnasium by a movable partition, and during commencement exercises both rooms are thrown into one. The gymnasium is a room forty by seventy feet, in which are placed modern apparatus for the development of muscle indoors. Around the walls there is suspended an indoor track, twenty-seven laps to the mile. In the basement is a large swimming pool and the bathrooms. The second floor is given up to the museum and the third to rooms for the two literary societies, the Tau Theta Kappa and the Ciceeronian- These societies are well equipped, each having a library of some 2,000 volumes. The rooms are well furnished and carpeted, with lace curtains at the windows and other evidences that the members are noton the most distant terms with their fair colleagues of Rucker Hall, as the girls' dormitory is called.

Rucker Hall is one of the new buildings of the College. It was erected in 1895 at a cost of about $35,000- The building, is of pressed brick and elegantly equipped with steam heat, electric lights, etc- It was built to accommodate 100 girls.

Joseph Judson Taylor, M. A., I). D-. President; James Jefferson Rucker, A. M., LL. D-, McCalla Galloway Professor of Mathematics ; Arthur Yager, Ph. D., Students Association Professor of History, Economy and Political Science ; Henry Asa Vanlandingham, A. Professor of the English Language and Literature ; David Edward Fogle, A. Professor of Modern Languages; Glanville Terrell, A. M-, Ph. D., Professor of Ancient Languages ; Garnett Ryland, M. A., Ph. D-, Maria Atherton-Farnam Professor of Chemistry and Physics; Edward Bagby Pollard, M- A., Ph. I)., Professor of Psychology and Bible; Joseph Judson Taylor, M. A., D. D., R. M. Dudley Professor of Philosophy; Stonewall Jackson Pulliam

The Present Officers

A. M., Assistant Professor of Ancient Languages and Principal of the Academy: Wilson Lewis Kline, B- S., Instructor in Biology and Director of Athletics: Edgar Hinton Taylor, A. M , Assistant in Mathematics and English : Eugenia Pulliam, Assistant in the Academy: Elizabeth Broderick Armstrong, Elocution and Physical Culture; Robert C. Young, Instructorin Pianoforte: Lillian Stetson, Instructor in Pianoforte; Miss Sneed, Instructor in Voice: S. Gay Stuart, Instructor in Harmony; Sidney Scott Lewis, Instructor in Art.

The President, Superintendent of College Property ; D, E. Fogle, Secretary of Kaculty: E-. A Taylor, Registrar; G. Hyland, Librarian : Mary Dudley. Assistant Librarian.