Muhlenberg County, Kentucky - The whole text, 1913 (part 10 of 13)

Captain Washington Columbus Shannon was born in Wilson County, Tennessee, October 4, 1838, and moved to Muhlenlierg in 1854. On October 1, 1861, he enlisted at Calhoun as a private in Company K, Eleventh Kentucky Infantry (Federal), and after the battle of Shiloh became first sergt'nnt of his company, which place he held until July, 1863, when he was commissioned first lieutenant and served in that capacity until December, when upon the death of Captain C. II. Martin he siicceedetl to the captaincy. On December 16, 1864, his term of enlistment having expired, he was mustered out at Bowling Green, lie immediately riH-ntcred the army and was commissioned captain of Company K, Seventeenth Kentucky Cavalry, and served until the close of the war,sinee which time he has lived in the Pond River country. Captain Shannon shannon, ibs4

Lieutenant Kuclid K. C. Shull was l)orn at Paradise, October 29, 1842. lie is a son of Peter Shull, jr., and a grandson of jiioneer Peter Shull. On September 1, 1861, he enlisted in Company B, Twenty-sixth Kentucky U. S. V. 1. He filled a number of regimental positions. On Fi'bruary 26, 1865, he became first lieutenant of Company G, U. S. Cavalry. He was mustered out of service September 28, 1865, since which time he has conducted the hotel in Paradise. During his more active years he was extensively engaged in farming. Few persons have visited Paradise within the pa.st forty-five years without having had the pleasure B. E. o. SHULL, 1862 meeting Mr, and Mrs. Shull.

Wiujam H. Smith, 1862

William II. Smith was born near Paradise, Septemlier 30, 1841. He is a son of Leonard Smith and a grandson of pioneer Aaron Smith. He was a member of Company I, Eleventh Kentucky Infantry (Federal).

His farm on Green River below Airdrie is one of the best preserved of the old farms in the county. Few men living along Green River are better known than "Billy" Smith, as he is called by his many friends. One of his nearest neighbors was General Buell, under whom he had fought during the first part of the Civil War and after whom his youngest son, Don Carlos R., is named. Mrs. Mary E. Humphrey, one of the most progressive women in the town of Paradise, is one of his daughters.

John L. G. Thompson was born in Clermont County, Ohio, August 15, 1836, and removed to Muhlenberg in IH.'iS. While visiting in Illinois he enlisted in Company G, Second Illinois Cavalry (Federal). After the close of the Civil War he returned to his farm in Muhlenberg, and has ever since ranked among the best farmers in the county. His wife was Anna Woodburn, daughter of J. T. Woodlmrn, sr.

1876. He was a son of Jared and Polly (Uearing) Wallace. His grandfathers, Coulston Wallace and Baylcss Hearing, came to Muhlenberg about 1808. He was a Confederate soldier - a member of Company C, Ninth Kentucky Infantry. Although a cripple, he took jmrt in a number of batth>s. He had a store in Paradise, and at the time of his death was one of the leading merchants in the town.

Wallace and wife were the parents of Mrs. Gertrude W. (J. B.) Hocker of Owensboro, and R. E., J. E., and 11. A. Wallace, well-known .Muhlenberg merchants.

Lieutenant Joseph Davis Yonts was born near Paradise, October 25, 1841, and died in Greenville June 9, 1896. When the Eleventh Kentucky Infantry (Federal) was organizing he enlisted as a private in Company II, and after the battle of Shiloh became first lieutenant. Although he was wounded a numlier of times, he remained with his company until the close of the war. Immediately after the war he removed to Greenville, and for more than thirty years took an active interest in the busim>ss affairs of the town.

In 1865 ho became a eb*rk in the store of Edward R. Weir, sr., and continued in that work until the Greenville Grange Store was organized. lie and Jo.soph G. Ellison managed this cooperative store during the few years of its e.\istence. In the latter part of the seventies he and his brother, Edward L. Yonts, began rehandling tobacco in Greenville, and continued in that business until 1880, when they opened a drug store on the northeast corner of Main and Main Cross streets. A few years later he Ixmght his brother's interest in this store, and remained in the drug hiisine.ss until the time of his death. Joseph I). Yonts was . a son of Philip Yonts and his wife Adaline Davis Yonts. In 1872 he married Delia L. Kingsley, daughter of Edward Kingsley of Rochester and his wife Mary Susan Myers, daughter of David Myers of -Myers' Chapel. Their only son is .Morton K. Yonts, now of the Loui.sville bar.

Slavery Days

AFKW slaves were probably brought by the first of the early settlers into what later became Jlublcnberg County. Tradition has it that Colonel William Campbell, the founder of Caney Station and Greenville, brought slaves with him. A number of the other first-comers evidently brought slaves with them. There were very few, however, in what wa.s called the "Dutch Settlement."

In 1800 there were 1,313 white inhabitants, five free negroes, and 125 slaves in Muhlenberg. Hy 1810 the white population had increased to 3,698 and there were 480 slaves. From that date to 1850 there was an increase in the proportion of slaves. In 18(i0 the population of the county wa.s 9,101 white, 40 free colored, and 1,584 slaves. In 1910 the white po]uilation wa.s 25,687 and the colored 2,911.'

In slavery days many persons who did not want to own negroes, or who did not approve of slavery, found themselves slaveholders. The slaves wt;re acquired by inheritanee or in the course of some business transaction as a necessity. It was not easy to tiispo.se of a slave once owned, except by selling him as one would a horse or a cow.

Many stories might be told of the affectionate relations and jiersonal devotion that sprang up between master and family and slave. It was not uncommon for masters who "hired out" slaves by the year, or were compelled to sell them, to eousult the slave's choice of employer or newmaster. Tile "hiring out" and sale of slaves generally ttaik place at New Year at Greenville, where there was a general a.s.sembling of those wanting to hire or huy, and a regular market opened. Administrators of estates would sometimes sell from one to a whole family of negroes to the highest bidder, at the eourtluiu.se dcHir. Selling prices would range from .t2(MI to itd.-oOd. Hiring prices were from to il!2()0, according to the slave's worth. Uiehard T. Martin says; "In ea.se of sale, as well as of hire, mothers would often be s.-'parated from their children. Most of the slaves .seemed to be submi.ssive to their fate and apparently enjoyed life as well as they do now with liberty. They were of course ignorant, without any training in self-reliance or .si-lf-protection. They did not then have much on their minds, only to do as they were told."

'The slave population In Muhlenberg was never proportionately large, ranging from one In five to one In seven of the whole population. The proportion In the State was about one slave to every five of population. The negro population of Muhlenberg and of Kentucky at present comprises about one eighth of the whole. In 1860 Muhlenberg's proportion was at the rate of one slave to every seven of population. See table of population of the county in chapter "Collins on Muhlenberg, Quoted and Extended," page <22.

The consideration tiiat masters would show trusted slaves, and tlic affectionate fcelinps existing, have hccn verified from the recollections of a number of old former slaves still living in the county. All of them .say they had a longing to remain in their first home or in tin* neighhorhood where they had spent most of their lives. Ijoeal traditions contain many instances of the slave's love for his old home. An incident in the life of John Oates, one of the "old-time" negroes, will serve as an example.

"I'nele John," as he is called, still livt>s near the Wyatt Oates Old Place in the Pond River country, where he was horn almut 184."> and where, as he cxpres.sed it, he hopes to die "among his white folks." John's father belonged to pioneer Jesse Oates, and John in turn belonged to Wyatt Oate.s, one of the sons of Jesse. During the autumn of 18t>2 John, then a hoy of about eightwn, while working near his master's blacksmith shop, was kidnaped by a haml of guerrillas, who at the same time stole two horses belonging to Wyatt Oates. The young negro traveled with his captors through Hopkins, Christian, and 'Fodd eountie.s, and although not treated as a prisoner he was anxious to return home, and therefore took advantage of the first gootl chance that presented itself and made his escape. He left the guerrilla eamp, then near Elkton, and although he avoided the public roads, succeeded in finding his way through the woods and over fields to what is now Cary's Bridge, where he entered .Muhlenberg County. There he began traveling on the main road, for he was known in that neighhorhood and felt safe from pursuers. He had not proceeded far when he arrived at the farm of a man who was well acquainted with his master. The owner of the place seemed glad to see him, and urged him to eat supper and stay all night. He accepted the invitation, and his friendly host informed him that Wyatt Oates was offering fifteen dollars reward for the return of his "lost, strayed or stolen John." The farmer propo.sed to lo<lge John that night and to return him to his master the next morning, receive the reward. and pay the slave five dollars of the proceeds. To this the slave replied that he thought his involuntary ahseiiee was in itself a loss to his master, and that under the cireumstanees no one was entitled to a reward. After he had been assigned a bed, and after all others had retired for the night, John quietly resumed his walk home, where upon his arrival hi' was received like a lonn-lost son by his master, who not only paid him the fifteen dollars reward but granted him two weeks' "lay-off" after hearing his story.

Notwithstanding the kindne.s.s shown, the slave.s, after all, were held in ownership much as highly prized domestic animals are, and were treated in everything, e.xeept as regarded their work, as children requiring strict discipline and sometimes sharp punishment. They had no civil or educational rights or privileges. Slave-owners generally frowned upon the few who permitted slaves to he taught reading and writing, as the awakening of higher intelligence tended to arou.sc the slave's discontent with his condition and to give him longings for freedom. There was little or no attempt made to educate or Christiania! the slave. He was left to his own devices, and even his morals - e.xeept as to personal honesty and conduct toward the whites - were disregarded. Slaves could not marry according to law. They cohabited by eomsent of their owners or according to their own choice, though many slave unions were as sacredly maintained as those of the white people.

Religion among them was a rude imitation of the worship of the whites. They were permitted to hold church meetings in schoolhou.ses and in white churches temporarily unoccupied. "Copper John," as he was called, who belonged to Edward R. Weir, Sam Elliott, owned hy Edward Elliott. Peter McCormick, and Wil.son W'eir were the leading slave preachers for many years. They were men of some intelligence, and would preach in various parts of the eount.v.

Slaves were IiousihI usually in log cabins erected near the owner's residence. Etlward R. Weir, sr., jirovided good brick, one-story houses for those he owned. The last of these brick slave cabins has disappeared, and only a few of the log huts are left standing in the eount.v.

No slave could give testimony in court against a white man, and he was therefore without defense against brutal treatment of any kind unless it oceurn-d in the pri'seiiee of whit.- witnes.ses. Any slave convicted of murder, attempt to murder, or of a.ssaiilt on a white woman was after trial in the circuit court .senteneisl to di-ath, and a valuation placed on him by tho.se before whom he was trieil. Tin* owner of the slave, uimjii presentation of the sheriff's certificate showing the date of execution and the appraised value, received from the .State Treasurer the amount specified. The first legal hanging in the eount.v was of a slave named Isaac, who was eonvieti-d of an attempt to murder Aylette 11. Buckner, and. as related in the chaiiter on the "Story of the Stack," was valued at ifl.ttOO and hanged Jul.v fi, 183K. The .second legal execution was that of a .slave known as .Mitchell .Martin, or Bogges, who was hangeil .April 20. Ifi.oO, and valued at .t7(M). The thinl was a slave called Edmond Reno, or Edmonil Elliott, who was hanged June 17, IH.si, and his master, Je.s.sc II. Reno, received iJiSIK) as eomi>en.satioii. .\ll of these but Isaac were convicted of criminal assault.

Out of the slave's helple.ssiiess Ix'fore the law there sprang up among many of them a unity of feeling almost .Masonic, against cruel and harsh masters. Such mastm's were feared and hated, and among slave cnbias, and even in the kileheii of the "big house." as tin owner's residence was fallfd, slave and white ehildren alike were held in discipline and fear hy stories of "(ihost haiintings" of eriiel slaveholders. The feeling extended to white men who were merely rigid disciplinarians, not sparing of the lash when they thought its use neei's.sary. The ghost-stories were of course pure imaginings. One .story that has long been heard of a haunted house near an old muster field evidently grew out of a substitution of identities, since the owner of the house was a liberal and kind-hearted man who, I found after careful investigation, always treated his slaves well. Nevertheless the story is told that he had caused two of his slaves to he buried near the milk-hou.se in order to keep other slaves from entering and helping theni-selves to its contents. This tale is as improhahle as the one that relates how, on a certain occasion, the same owner, wishing to punish a slave, took a barrel, drove two-inch nails from the outside through the oneinch staves, ])laced the negro in this barrel, and rolled it down the hill to the spring near the milk-hou.se. The story is that the negro died from the etfects of the treatment, and of coui'se the place has been "ha'nted" ever since.

About twenty years before the beginning of the Civil War the miitterings of the movement for national emancipation of slaves began and rapidly grew louder. The idea had many followers in Muhlenberg and other parts of Kentucky. In 1845 Cassius M. Clay established an anti.slavery paper at Lexington, and hy his fiery personality, elo<iuenee, and fearles.sness made many converts and induced many who already believed in emancipation by some {gradual and businesslike method to take a l)old stand publicly. By 1850 antislavery opinion bad spread widely in the State and was openly di.seus.sed in Mublenherx. In his diary, under date of June, 1849, the Reverend Isaac Bard records that at Colonel Wilson's home, near South Carrollton, "we debated emancipation. My great surprise is how any true Whig or true Democrat can oppose it. . . . They say if Kentucky should emancipate her .slaves we would he ruined. Boh Wickliffe said, 'The darkies are the best shade 1 have ever seen.' . . . But I think some more sunshine would he l>etter for health and a cure for empty corn-cribs and barns as well as a good cure for ignorant, idle and dissipated youth.'' Mr. Bard was traveling much of the time and was in close touch with public subjects.^

In Muhlenl>erg among prominent men who advocated emancipation were Edward R. Weir, sr., William L. Green, Edward Elliott, and Thomas Salsbury. ^ The latter died in 1848, and his will, dated May .30, 1844. provided for the immediate liberation, after the death of his wife, of all his slaves who had then reached the age of twenty-five, and for the later

'Robert WlcklUfe, here referred to by Mr. Bard, was a son of pioneer Robert Wickliffe. and like his father was a slaveholder. He, like a number of slaveholders In the county, became an abolitionist about ten years before the Civil War.

Robert Wlckllffe's will (that part dealing with his slaves) Is here quoted as throwing light on the slavery question at the time. It was written In 1850 and recorded In 1855, In Will Book 3. page 163:

"Section Two: I will and direct, that after the death of my wife that all of my property (Negroes excepted) be sold, Inclndlng my land, the proceeds to be applied as hereinafter directed.

"Section Three: I wish to provide for the comfort and happiness of my slaves, and wish the money arising from the sale of my other property as mentioned In section two applied for their benefit. I wish to colonize them, should the newly established Republic of Liberia continue to flourish. I desire that they may be removed to that country and the money raised from sale of property as before directed applied to their outfit and settlement In that country. 1 hereby will and direct that at the death of myself and wife all the slaves now owned by me and their Increase shall be free and enjoy all the rights and privileges of free persons, but believing that they can do this but Imperfectly in Kentucky I wish them removed to some country where they will be more advantageously situated, and for the purpose of providing for this and for their comfortable establishment do will and bequeath to them the proceeds of all my other property remaining after the death of myself and wife for the purposes aforesaid.

"Section Four: As It Is likely that some Important changes will be made In the organic law of our State by which negroes can not be emancipated and remain In the State, 1 hereby Invest my executors with full and complete power to make such arrangements in regard to the future location of my slaves as may to them seem best, all circumstances considered, vesting them with power to send them to Liberia or colonize them in some other State as may be deemed most for their Interest, retaining such control over said slaves as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section."

His wife, Aggy Wickliffe, In September. 1882, made her will bequeathing all her property "to and for the use of the slaves emancipated by the will of my deceased husband." Her will Is recorded June 13. 1867, Book 3, page 230.

> Mrs. Salsbury ( who was a daughter of John Dennis) died January 16. 1860. and the Salsbury' tract of land, three miles southeast of Greenville, was divided among the freed' negroes and the to-be-freed slaves. In 1910 only one family of Salsbury negroes lived In the "Salsbury Free Negro Settlement." The others, one after another, sold their farms to white men. and few. if any. ever owned a farm afterward. It may be well to add that Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Salsbury had no children, nor did Mr. and Mrs. Robert Wickliffe.

liberation of the others when they too had reached that affc. Weir, Green, and Elliott wore so eonvineed of their duty that they lilx'rated all their slaves that were willing to accept freedom. They sent a few of them to the new Republic of Liberia in Africa, defraying their expenses, and then Green and Elliott removed to "free" States.

As early as about 1850 tliere began to arise fears of a "negro rising" or "slave insurrection" in many parts of the country, even in Muhlenberg. These rumors .served to alarm many (juiet persons and to frighten children, but there was never any "rising." Close watch was maintained and slaves were kept within rigid Iwunds. Runaway slavm would come into Muhlenberg from the South and from other counties in the State, but they were soon captured or driven from the county. In Greenville and all the towns in the county "patrollers" were paid to watch the conduct of slaves. Negroes were not allowed to stir out after nine o'clock at night. If caught abroad after that hour without pa.s.ses from tluur owners they were .severely whipped and driven in. The negroes living in the country did not go out much after nightfall except for "possum" and "coon" hunting, with the knowledge of their owners.

About this time a sort of temperance "order" had be<'n established among the negroes. It had its start in Greenville. There were two iMjilies, apparently rival organizations. One was known as the " Wa.shingtonians," headed by "Copper John" Weir; the other, known as the "Soeodonians," was led by Sam Elliott. These orders ai>peared throughout the county. Members of l>oth would meet at Greenville on Sundays and march, making considerable display. When the "aljolition" movement had grown acute, however, the whites put a stop to the marchings, and the "orders" vanished. It was feared that they covered some secret understanding concerning freedom.

Suspicion and distrust between ma.ster and slave grew greater as a general proposition, although that fact did not disturb the confidence l>etween .some slaves and their masters. The Civil War put an end to all doubts and to the institution of slavery. There were many negroes in Muhlenberg who did not welcome freedom, and who were unea.sy after it was conferred upon them. They had suffered like children, but they had had no sense of responsibility for their own maintenance. Some of the more intelligent had Iwlieved that some day they would be liberated, but they were not prepared when liberation came. A great many of the slaves never had to be punished while in slavery, but were obedient and kindhearted and were treated well by their owners, some of whom often trusted particular slav<*s with important affairs.

It is paradoxical perhaps to .say that many persons, former slaves as well as slave-owners, regretted the )>nssing of the old days. As they got further and further away from slavery only its be.st and mo.st sentimental sides were remembered. In the old da}'s slaves were generally allowed a few holidays during Christmas week and at election days, which came on the first Jlonday in August in each year. Election days were always a feast for white boys and negroes. Slave-owners would allow their negroes, if they desired, to make cider and bake "ginger-cakes" on Saturday or

Sunday liefore the election on Monday, from the sale of which they would make a little pocket-money. Greenville would be full of boys and negroes, ginger-cakes and cider; fiddling and dancing on the .streets would lie an attraction of the occasion. Negroes were not allowed to drink or quarrel or to fight; if they did they were .severely whipped. Negroes on election day kept more civil and sober than some of their masters. Sometimes a sober slave would have to care for his drunken master and take him home. These conditions and others connected with the intimate home relations Iwtwecn nia.ster and slave before the Civil War were of course entirely changeil by the emancipation of the negroes. I

Local Writers And The Local Press

IT is likely tliat some of Muhlenberg's first-comers, and certainly some of the generation that followed them, occasionally wrote sketches; perhaps some expressed themsidves in poetry - or, at least, in the form of verse. As far as I am aware, le.ss than a half-dozen unpublished manuscripts and pulilished pamphlets and sketches written by Muhlen IxTg men previous to IrtoO have licen preserved. Very little of what appeared in print between 1850 and 1870 can now he found. Up to 1870 no newspapers were ]>rinted in tlic count.v, and therefore comparatively few of the citizens who may have written pro.se or poetry previous to that time had opportunity to publish it. The fib's of the various local newspapers issued from 1870 to 189!) have been destroyed, and with them all the local literature they contained.

Pioneer Jami's Weir was not only the first Muhlenlierg man to write versc.s, hut he also .stands as the first and only local pioneer by whom .sketches were written that are still preserved. His account of his trip, written shortly after his return from New Orleans in 1803, is given in full in Appendix 1$. His two sous - Kdward II. Weir, sr., the author of a number of sketches puhli.slied about the year 1840, and James Weir, who in 1850 published ''Ijoiiz Powers" - were men of literary ability. Their hooks and magazine stories are now out of eircidation, and an* reviewed or referred to elsewhere in this volume. Max Wi*ir, a grandson of pioneer James Weir, was the author of ''From the Father's Country," a pamphlet of a religious nature, published in 1!)04 and still pre.served by many of his friends. Another grandson. Doctor James Weir, of Owensboro, has written several hooks of curious interest to medical and other professional students.

Stemhridge's "The Western Speller" appeared in 1854. This hook was compiled by John A. Stemhridge, who was horn in Muldenlicrg in 1813 and died in Greenville in 1872. He was the only son of AVilliam Stembridge. His wife was a daughter of Liirkin N. Akers. Their son, William junior, died in early manhood. Their two daughters removed to Evans ville, Indiana, about 1875, and were connected with the ])uhlie schools of that city for more than thirty years. John A. Stemhridge, like his father, was a schoolteacher.

"The Western Speller" was written in Greenville in 1852 and published in 1854 by J. W. Hoswell, of Hehardsville, Henderson County. The printing was done by Hull & Hrothers and the binding by Hull Hrothers & Card, of Louisville. Tlie "Preface" and " lleeommendations" arc here ipioted in full:

We live in nn age of improvement, and a.s there have been improveinent-s made on almost all theories, the author of this work thought that there could be an improvement made on the Spelling Books that are publi.shed by various authors. He had two reasons for writing this Book. The first reason, he saw some defects in all the various spellers. The most important rea.son was his ill health - not being able, for the last three years and a half, to labor. He came to tbe conclusion to write a Spelling Book on a new plan, which he has done, hoping that a generous public would examine it, and give his book the preference, as he knows of no other tribunal that would judge more correctly. With these remarks he submits it to the same.

We have examined the spelling book compiled by Mr. John A. Stembridge, and consider it a valuable book. It contains a great variety of the most useful words, disposed in such order as will much facilitate the learner's progress in spelling and pronunciation. A large number of proper and Geographical names are appended. We think it an elementary book worthy of the attention of iiarents and Teachers.

All admit that Noah Webster has had to do with the foundation and elementary principles of the English J.ianguage, by his famed Spelling Book. And as improvements have been made on the theories of Newton, Galileo, Franklin, and Sir Humphry Davy, it is no disparagement to Dr. Webster, to say, we think nn improvement has been made on his Book, hy an humble but intelligent citizen of Muhlenlierg County, Ky. The main important trait that distinguishes the work, as it aiipears to us, is its ela.ssifieation of words. Proper Names in Scripture, Geogrniihical Names, and lastly a happy combination of words of our language, all so neatly and pers'picuously'arrnnged ns to facilitate the young learner. Well done for Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

This speller is a neatly bound book of 154 pages and contains about fifteen thousand words, classified in a convenient and original manner. Common words are arranged according to the number of syllables and the place of the accented syllable. Names of rivers, towns, mountains, etc., are given by continents or States, and are so placed that they, in a way, ser\'e as lessons in geography. For example, under the three columns headed "States," "Capitals," and "People" are "Tennessee, Nashville, Tennesseeans," "Peru, Lima, Peruvians." Among the various other divisions appear many Biblical names, the names of the Presidents up to that date, and an "Alphabetical Vocabulary" in which he defines about one thousand words.

Although "The Western Speller" was regarded as "superior to any other now in u.se," as stated on the title-page, it was never widely known. It was used more or less exten.sively in Muhlenberg and adjoining counties from the time it was publi.shed up to about I860, when its u.se was abandoned and Webster's American Spelling Book, better known as the "Old Blue-backed Speller," was again adopted in all the local schools. But two copies of Stembridge's book arc now extant, so far as I have been able to ascertain.

It is probable that during the third quarter of the last century Buxton Harris wrote more for publication than any other one man in the county. He came to Muhlenberg in 1848. It is said that he was a good public speaker, that many of his poems and stories were printed in .some of the then widely known newspapers and magazines, and that copies of his published works were preserved by him; all of them were destmyed thirteen years after his death, when his residence was burned to the ground. And now, after a lap.se of less than fifty years, no one can recall the titles of more than two of his stories - "The Buried Trunk," and "Emma Legure, or the Lost Child."

Buxton Harris was born in Virginia in 1807, and at the age of fortyone he and his family moved from Tennes.st* to Muhlenberg County. He bought the Luckett farm (now the town of Powderly) and continued to live on it up to the time of his death, December 2!1, 1874. Before the emancipation of his .slavt* he was considered one of the wealthie.st men in the county. Of his twelve children Bennett Harris, of Central City, and N. .1. Harris, of Wichita, Kansas, are the only two now living.

In 1898 Profes.sor William J. .Johnson, then residing at Wells, published his "History of Hazel Creek Baptist Church," a pamphlet of 70 pages. It is the only history of a .MuhlenbiTg ehureh ever printed, and furthermore is the only pamphlet ever written that beaia din>ctly on the history of the county.

Profes.sor Buric Nevel Roark, .son of Cajitain M. .1. Roark, wrote three books on pedagogy - "P.syehology in Education," ".Method in Education," and "Economy in Education." Thi'se liooks were publi.shed in 1903, 1904, and 1905 by the American Book Company, and are considered standard works, not only in Kentucky but in other States and in some foreign countries.

of tile educational journals, and had a national reputation as a lecturer on educational subjects. He started the movement that re.sulted in the organizing of the Southern Educational Association. E. Polk Johnson, in his "History of Kentucky and Kentuckians," says: "Dr. Ruric N. Roark, the first president of the Ea.stern Kentucky State Normal School and a

Profe.ssor Roark was horn in Greenville, .May 19, 18.M), and after finishing a course of stud.v in the Greenville Academy attended the National Normal I'niversity in Ohio, from which in.stitution he was graduated in 1881. He was prcsiilcnt of the Glasgow Normal School for three years, and from 1889 to 1904 served as dean of the department of pcd.sgogy in the Kentucky State College. He was president of the Eastern Kentucky .State Normal .School at Richmond when, on ,\pril 14, 1909, he diet! after an illness of only a few weeks. He is Ouried at Richmond.

.Among other pami>hlets by Muhlenberg citizens are "Doctrines of the Cumlierland Presbyterian Church," by Reverend J. E. .Martin (son of David 11. Martin) (1882); "A Treatise on Monometallism and Bimetallism," by Nicholas Roy.ster (18981; "The World Lies Before I's," "The World Lies Behind Hs," and "Down on Devil's Creek," by Tlusalore W. Whitmer (1899) ; "Sundry .Sketches and Paragraphs," by J. R. Parker( 18!l!l) ; "'riie New Birth," by ,J. W. York (1902) ; "Outline of I'nited States History," by Profes.sor C. C. Hayden (1910) ; "lyost and Koiind, and tlthcr Sketches," by Elsie J. Janii>s (1912). To this list may be added Edwartl Rumscy's speech on the invention of the steamboat, delivered before Congress in 18.3il and published shortly afterward in pamphlet form, and also a number of liooklets on medical subjects written during the past fiftis-n years by Doctor James Oslwriie DeCourcy, of St. lyouis, who until a few years ago lived near Rosewood, where he was born.

In 1912 "Nisi Priu.s," an admirable collection of connected sketches, was published by J. Caldwell Browder, of Russellville. This book, although not by a Muhlenberg man, is here referred to beeau.se the seem*s in the story are laid in Greenville and other parts of .Muhlenberg County, or, as the author designates them, "Greenwood" and "Mecklenburg County." It is a story ba.sed on the happenings in a term of circuit court at Greenville in what the lawyers call "proceedings at nisi jirius," hence the title.

All the poems by local writers that have been published and are still preserved were written within the past twenty-five years. Most of them were written .since 1900. "Thou and I," by General Buell, appears in the chapter on the "Paradise Country and Old Airdrie"; "The Old Soldiers," by Judpe Love, is piven in the chapter on "Some of Muhlenberg's Civil War Soldiers," "God's Plow of Sorrow" appears in the chapter on Charles Eaves, and "The Cypn*s8 Trees" by Harry M. Dean is reprinted in "Collins Quoted and E.xtended." Mrs. Ijou J. Mitchell and Clarence B. Hayes are each represented in Muhlenberg's published literature by a pamphlet of poems. These two writers were well known locally. Neither was horn in the county, hut both of them lived and died in Muhlenberg.

Mrs. Lou J. Mitchell was liorn in Logan County, June 24, 1852, and died near Friendship on April 24, 1910. Before her marriage to John W. Mitchell, of Muhlenberg, she taught school near Russellville. Shortly after she was married she lu'eame totally blind. About twenty years ago Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell moved to a farm in the Friendship neighborhood. After Mrs. Mitchell lost her eyesight she occupied much of her time writing verses. In 1892 twenty-four of these were published in a pamphlet entitled, "A Selection of Poems from the works of Mrs. Lou J. Mitchell, the Blind Poetess." Some of her vei'ses describe the consolation she found in religion; others are optimistic reflections of one dwelling "in shadow-land."

Clarence B. Hayes - better known as "Peek" Hayes - was born in Hodgenville, Kentucky, July 23, 1878. In 1894 he moved to Muhlenberg with his father, J. II. Hayes. While .serving as chief bugler under General F. D. Grant in the Spanish-American War he contracted tuberculosis, of which he died at his home in Greenville on February 10, 1908. He was a promising young man and a good musician. He wrote the words and music of a niimlier of songs, among them ".Mammy's Lullaby," which he dedicated to .lohn G. Barkley, sr., and published in 190fi. In .March. 1908, Orien L. Roark, of the (ireeiiviile Record, issued "Some Verses by Clarence B.

Among Muhlenbergei-s who have in recent years contributed more or less to the local papers are Miss Amy M. Longest, of Powderly; Richard T. Martin and Harry .M. Dean, of Greenville; .lohn B. Kittinger, of Central City, and William II. Hoskinson, of Cu.s. .Much of that which .Mr. .Martin has written is rei>rinted in this volume. .Miss Longest is a student of good literature and local history, and is deeply interested in improving educational conditions in the county. She has published only a few poems and sketches in the local and metropolitan pai>ers, but these few foretell a brilliant literary career. Harry M. Dean, although still a young man, is the most versatile writer Muhlenberg has ever iiroducisl. A number of his poems, stories, and sketches have appean'd in some of the liestknown papers in the country. Since the death of Clarence B. Ilaycs, Mr. Dean has bi>en looked upon as the |ioet-laurcate of Muhlenberg.

A "la.st week's paper," like a ''la.st year's almanac," having served its purpose, is init to other uses or relegated to the waste-basket and .soon di.sappears. Occasionally a copy is laid away with gn'at care by a reader who for the sake of some speeilic article it contains, fully intends to pre- serve it. It is a well-known fact, however, that viwy few of such copies are preserved longer than a year or two. The same may also be said of clippings from papers. Although clippings arc usually preserved longer than the entire ropy of a paper, they are as a rule not marked to show when and where they were published, and as a eonse<|Uenec the information they contain does not fully serve its purpose. Cnfortunately, like many of the old books and pamphlets that should have been i»reserved, many of the newspapers and clippings now being "prescrx'cd" seem destined to di.sappt'ar sooner or later.

twenty difl'erent newspapers have been printed in the county since 1870. Most of them lived only a few years. The Greenville Record, now in its tifteeiith year, has existed longer by far than any other paper previously printed in Muhlenberg. Central City's Twice-a-Week Argus, formerly the Muhlenberg Argus, dates back seven years. Notwithstanding there were probably as many as .several million copies of these various local papi'rs printed and reml. it is doubtful whether a hundred copies of the discontinued ]>ublieations could now be found. Nevertheless each newspaper, in its day, had its intluenee on the people of the county. All of the Muhlenberg papers, regardless of their time or extent of circulation, are stilt remembereil - some by one man, some by another.

The Kentucky Republican was the first pai»er published in the county. It was a weekly, established by NV. D. Anthony and printed in Greenville. The first copy was issued .March Iti, 1870. .\nthony was succeeded by

M. U. Ilay, who printed a paper which, although styled "The Independent," was a Democratic sheet. The Independent was succeeded by the Gazette, a Democratic weekly conducted by John O'Flaherty. The Muhlenberg Echo was founded about 1876, and up to October, 1881, was edited by Urey Woodson, now editor of the Owensboro Messenger, and who is one of the best-known politicians in the country. Woodson was followed by C. W. Short, and he in turn by William II. Eaves, R. Y. Thomas, jr., Hayden C. Snoddy, and Orien L. ,

The Muhlenberger was follow('d by another Democratic weekly, the Greenville Hanner, under W. L. Phillips. In 1809 the Greenville Record, an independent paper, was started by Orien L. Roark, who is still at the head of the puhlieation. Mr. Roark has servi'd as an editor longer than any other man in the eounfy. During file earlier days of the Greenville Record.

William Sweeney published an independent paper called theTrihune, and D. J. Fleming another, also indeiiendent. known as the Muhlenberg Herald. 'I'he last pa|ier foundisl in Greenville was the Muhlenberg Sentinel, a Republican organ, established by R.

In proscntlpg to the |HiUic Utaa, tho first iimibt'r 'of the'Rtpi'nLiCAji, ami linking our destiny in newspnperdom with our brethren of the press, we conform to the old established, timehonored ciistoin of introducing ourself eilitorially tn'onr readers.

same year T. Coleman diiPont liought this plant and established the Central City Republican, which continued until 1909. Its last three editors were John Lawton, Z. 0. Kinf;, and E. E. Reno. In 1889 the Central City Herald was established hy R. Y. Thomas, jr., and after changing hands a number of times was discontinued aliout 1894. Iluring 1895 E. E. Reno and W. R. Harrett published the Central City Sun. In 1900 E. E. Reno and Doctor M. P. Creel began the Muhlenberg News, which paper was published until 1905, when the Central City Republican was reestablished and bought their plant. The Muhlenberg Argus was launched September 20, 190b, with Leo Fentress as editor, who served in that capacity for a few years. In November, 1912, this weekly was changed to the Twice-a-Week Argus. This, the only paper now published in Central City, is owned and edited by C. E. Gregory.

The Farmers and Miners' Advocate, publi.shed in Central City by James D. WoihI for several years, was discontinuisl in 1908, and the Muhlenberg Baptist, edited by Reverend F. M. Jones, also printed in Central City, appeared from 190b to 1908. A paper called the Dunmor News was lirinted at Dunmor for a few months in 1888. During the year 1890 O. F. Swint published the South Carrollton Times, a local weekly.

It is probable that during the first third of this century as many Isioks and pamphlets will be published by Muhlenberg writers as were produced during the first hundred .yi-ars of the county's e.\istence. And it is also probable that these publications by local writers will not only be preserveil in the homes of a number of Muhlcnbergers, but also in some of the public libraries througboiit the country where hooks are not exposed to d<>struetion b.v fire or ruin through improper exposure. If the county and circuit clerks were required by law to file copies of the local newspapers and to preserve them with the same care they do the official records of the county, much local history and interesting literature would be preserved for the present us well as for future generation.s.

In Eighteen-Seventy

The j'ear 1870 marks the beginning of the end of tlie prolonged and trying times that followed the Civil War. The political manifestations of 1870 are typical of the period that extended from about 1865 to about 1875. It was in 1870 that the first railroad in the county was building. Shortly afterward began the long, costly, and trouble.some wrangle on the validity of the railroad bonds. The building of the railroad was the beginning of the development of many of the county's resources. The local history of that year is summed up by Richard T. Martin, who in March, 1910, publi.shed in the Greenville Record a .sketch entitled "Forty Years Ago." This article is so fidl of interest that I ipiote it almost entire, as revi.sed. It must be borne in mind that under the good-humor with which the author de.seribes the exciting political conditions of that year there is presented a graphic view of a condition of public alarm that was then of very serious moment.

"Many changes have taken place both in Greenville and Muhlenberg County since 1870. People have been born and have died, some have become rich and some jioor, many have rejoiced and many have suffered, but the world has kejit revolving in the .same old way,

"In 1870 U. S. Grant was Pri'sident of the United States; Thomas .McCreary and Garrett Davis were the United States Senators from Kentucky; William N. Sweeny, of Owensboro, was our C'ongre.s.sman : John W. Stevenson was Governor of the State; Finis M. Allison, of Gn-enville, was our Stat(" Senator; Doctor .lohn H. Hays w.as the representative of our county. In 1868 K. T. Petree, of Hopkinsville, the Civil War judge, was succeeded by George C. Rogers, of Howling Green, who died iluring the summer of 1870 and whose uuexpirisl term was filled by R. C. Howling, of Ru.s.sellville. Charles K. Milliken was Commonwealth's attorney; N. J. Harris was the circuit court clerk. All of the.se have since passed into the Great Heyond.

"The magisterial board consisted of Joseph Adcock, J. II. Morton, A. J. Lyon, David Roll, J. P. Hendricks, and J. Hunt, all of whom are nowdead. The Greenville bar was composed of J. 11. Reno, J. C. Thompson,

Samuel E. Smith,' M. J. Roark, Mortimer D. Hay, J. W. McCall, B. E. Pittman, S. F. Love, Finis M. Allison, Charles Eaves, Joseph Ricketts, and W. II. Yost, all of whom have been called by the Supreme Judge except W. H. Yost, of Madisonville, who was coasiderahly younger than his early contemporaries in law, and who stands to-day as the only living representative of the Greenville legal fraternity of 1870.

Yast, sr., Robert C. Frazier, R. M. Crittenden, John W. Morehead, Alexander McCown,' J. W. Church (dentist), T. J. Slaton, and Samuel II. Dempsey. Doctor T. J. Slaton is the only sun'ivor. Peter II. Baker and David II. Myers were the druggists of Greenville.

"On the eccle.sia.stieal board were R. Y. Thomas, sr., W. L. Ciusky, W. D. Morton, J. F. Austin, and John 1). Manner, wlio have since gone to their eternal home.

' At the election held In 1866 Samuel E. Smith was a candidate on the Republican ticket for Congress. The Democratic candidate was John Young Brown, then of Henderson and later Governor of the State. The election was contested, and after a wrangle extending over a period of more than a year was finally decided against Smith.

' Doctor Alexander McCown. one of the seven sons of pioneer Joseph McCown. was born In Muhlenberg County August 24. 1819. In 1840 he began preaching In the Methodist Church, and in 1860. after graduating from the Kentucky School of Medicine. IxMilsville. devoted his time to medicine, preaching, and farming. He died near (ireenville January 24. 18;t4. In 18.'>6 he married Mary Webster. Their only child. Archibald Webster .McCown. is one of the most progressive farmers In .Muhlenberg. Pioneer Jo.seph .McCown. who settled a few miles east of Greenville about 1812. and pioneer I..ewls McCown. who settled near what became South Carrollton, were brothers - sons of Alexander McCown. of Bardslown.

" J. L. Boark anil L. C. Chatham were the undertakers. Samuel Arnold and George Geibel were the millers. The tobacconists were II. N. Martin, J. C. Cary & Co., E. Rice, and R. T. & C. E. Martin. The saddlers were J. V. Ragon and John Meintire. E. R. Hancock was the broker and John Landnim the tailor. S. D.

"In 1870 Frank B. Hancock succeeded G. B. Eadcs as postmaster of Greenville. Most of the mail then came by way of Rus.scllville and Owensboro. Each sent three mails a week to Greenville, and received the .same number.

"New business hou.ses, new church buildings, new law offices, new doctors' offices, new printing offices, and a new courthou.se stand upon the sites of the old buildings that were used in 1870. The new housi's are occupied by a new generation, and they, perhap.s, will not be doing business here forty years hence.

"On a recent county court day I walked along the streets of Greenville. I looked at the new Y. JI. C. A. building and the many other new houses facing the courthouse. ® I surveyed the large crowd that was there gathered. 1 saw very few who, as middle-aged men, mingled together upon the streets in 1870. 1 noticed the eommi.ssioner standing high up on the large and beautiful steps of the new courthouse, and men standing around bidding at his .sales; but they were not tho.se who stood around and bid to the cry of the commissioner.

>The Greenville Young Men's Christian Association was organized June 26, 1886. Charles M. Howard was the first president and Max Weir the first secretary. In 1900 the Muhlenberg County Y. M. C. A. was formed at Greenville, and continued (with branches at Central City, Bremen, and Drakesboro) until 1904, or shortly after the death of Max Weir. On September 8. 1904, the Greenville Y. M. C. A. was Incorporated. The local Association received $7,500 from the estate of Max Weir and with this erected the present building, which was formally opened .May 17. 1910.

"In 1870 there oeeurred one of the greatest, most alarming, ami perple.\ing i>olitieal panics and ei>idemies that has ever lK*en experienced in the history of our nation. It was known ns the negro 'social etpiality I>anic.' This plague was prevalent south of the Mason and Dixon line, and .symptons of it were felt in .some of the Northern States. The 'negro eriuality' panic began in 1865, soon after the negroes were .set free. It gradually grew and gained strength. In 1868, when the negroes were made citizens and clothed with the .same civil rights as other citizens of the United Statc.s, fury was added to the Hame already started, and it spread and became more fearful and distressing. People of a certain temperament and disposition, living in the State of Kentucky and the other Southern States, began to be most .seriously affected by this epidemic. In 1870, .shortly after the negnws were made voters, it reacheii its climax and highest degree of political force and alarm anti became a monstnius and perplexing proposition.

"This panic was aggravated and agitated by speakers and office-seekers, who would present to the people dark forebodings of a fearful future by telling them that if the Hepubliean party shoidd be allowed to continue governing the country, negro c(pialit.v would certainly follow. Uninformed and ineonsiilerate people began to shudder at the thought of having to come to negro equalit.v. . . .

"'I'his state of iiolitieal atfairs was very acute in Muhhmberg, as elsewhere. All who were subject to the e]»ideinie in the eount.v and State docked that year into the Democratic or 'white man's party.' until it was swelled to an enormous majority. In 1871 Preston II. Lesli(% Democratic camlidate for Governor, defeated -lohn M. Harlan, Uepiddican candi<late, by a majority of over fort.y thousand votes. .Muhlenberg C<ainty gave a Democratic majorit.v of between six and seven hundred.

"In 1870 the county clt'ction took place in .Midilenberg on the lii-st -Mondii.v in August. There were full .sets of Democratic and Hepublicau candidati-s running for the various county offices, all g(M«l men. 'Negro e(piality' was the Democratic battle-cry used during the campaign. The general canvass commenced about the last of -lime. Lists were sent out showing where and when tlie various speakings would be held. The candidates on l>oth sides met these appointments and addre.ssed the large crowds that gathered. .Most meetings were like picnics, and many ended in barn dances. There was plenty to eat ; drink was always on hand.

"Usually S. P. liove, the Democratic candidate for county judge, and Wiley S. Hay, the Hepubliean candidate, would furnish the oratory and eloquence. W. H. Yost, then almiit twenty-one years old, was the Di-mo cratic candidate for county attorney, and Clark Moore, some years older, was an independent candidate for the .same office. They wouhl occasionally take a tilt at each other. The remainder of the candidates, as a rule, would simply announce themselves for certain l-ounty offices and ask the pi'ople for support.

-'Wlien a Dvinorratic i-andidate addressed the crowd tliat year he usually beffan by saying: 'Ladies and gentlemen, I am a Democratic candidate (which generally called for some applause). I have always lieen a Democrat. My father wa.s a Democrat. (Applause.) I expect to live a D("mocrat and to die a Democrat and he buried in a Demoeratic eoffin. (Great applause.) And if you elect me to serve you, I shall advo-

THE OU> CUMBER1.AND PBESBTTEBIAN CHUKOH. OHEBBY STREET, OBEENVIELE Built In 1B48. U b«re shown as It appeared about 1870. It stood until 1902, when the congregation's present building was erected on the site of the old one cate and jiracticc Democratic principles. (Applause.) I want it distinctly understood that I am opposed to "negro equality" in any shape, form, or fasliion whatever. (Great applause.) I am a candidate on the "White .Man's Ticket." and I do not want any negro votc-s. ' (Applaii.se.)

"As already stated. Love and llay did the principal speaking. Love had the advantage over Hay in several particulars. He could speak two words to Hay's one; he bail a iiiueh louder voice, strongi-r lungs, and more wit, sareasm, and ridicule than Hay. Having the pulilie .sentiment largely in his favor, he attempted to browbeat, and as the saj'ing is 'to peek Hay's head,' all over the county.

''As a gfiu'ral tiling; wht'ii l^ove spoke he aeeiised Hay and 'the Kadieal party,' as he called the Republican, of being in favor of negro e<piality. He would ask; 'Do you parents want to sec young black, kinkyheaded negroes paying their respects to your daughters and marrying them? Do you want to see your sons making love to negro wenches and taking them for wives? Do you want negro daughters-in-law and negro sons-inlaw?' A volley of 'Xo's!' would sound out from the crowd, and Love wmdd eontinue: 'If you do, then vote for the "Piebald Buck''-*: if you don't, then vote the Democratic ticket and you will save the countr.v from negro efiuality, and if 1 am elected judge. 1 will not permit an.v of it in the eount.v, nor will I allow any negro to te.stif.v in my court!'

"One could see the animosit.v sparkling in the ey'es of the parents, whose ])erturlHsl souls were deejily affected by the |)anie. They would ea.st a look of scorn at Ha.v, who sat (piictly and ealnily by, waiting his turn to speak. Oenerally when laive concluded his speech he would step off and all those who were enraged would follow, leaving Hay with only a small crowd of those conservative and immune to the panic.

"I remember on one occasion, after Love hail finished speaking and the people commenced going awa.v, a lad.v and two daughters, who had rosy cheeks and looked ns sweet as angels, came running past where I stood, and a gentleman with whom 1 was talking asked the mother, 'Cousin Snll.v, why don't you sta.v and hear .Mr. Hay speak?' She answered, '1 do not want to hear an.vlwdy speak that wants negro equality. 1 am going up to the dance with tin* girls!' And off she went.

"When Ha.v met his old as.sociates and friends he would simply say to them, 'I am a candidate for the office of eount.v judge, and if elected T will run the office for its fees. 1 shall ask no .salar.v. 1 would like to have your support.' | It was eustomar.v for the li.scal court to allow the eount.v judge five hundred dollars salar.v.)

''Man.v of the men who were under the influence of the panic would remark to him, 'Mr. Ha.v, we have known you for a long lime and have nlwa.vs found .von to be a perfect gentleman in all .vour dealings and have alwa.vs known you to Im' a good eitizeii, but we can not support you and are sorr.v to tell .vou .so. We would as s(K)Ii vote against a father or brother.' Some would say, 'We have alway.s believed in the principles of the Republican party, but since they have made the nefrro a voter and made it a negro party, we have joined the Democratic or "white man's party.'' We can not stand negro eipiality and expect to vote against it as long as we live.' Mr. Ilay would repeatedly tell them that he was not for ni-gro eipiality, but was as much opposed to it as any living mortal. Their u.sual reply was, 'But your party is, and you belong to the negro party, and a vote for you would bo a vote for negro equality. We do not want to disgrace ourselves and our families by voting for negro equality.'

Teabs Befobe Its Bemoval

This sort of consolation would throw a cloud of disaiipointment over the old .sage, for he realized that he was the victim of political ignorance and prejudice and of deception carried on by |ier.sons who did not have aspirations as high as he had.

"Wiley S. Ilay was one of the best men in tbe county. He was a pioneer of Muhlenberg, born in th" first years of the Nineteenth Century, and was about sixty-eight years old during this campaign. His history was untainted. He was a man of broad mind and noble .sentiment, an example of the highest type of American manhood. He represented the county in the l>egislature in 184.')-4(! and was afterward a State Senator, but during this panic hi> was made a subject of ridicule and censure on account of his polities. No truer man ever lived in Muhlenberg County, and none who tried to do more for the betterment of his country. He had the nerve and the manhood to stand up and advocate his political principles and sentiments before an antagonistic majority of people who were greatly affected with the negro eipmlity plague, and to dereiid that which he believed to be right.

"liny wan almiit six fin-t two inches tall. He was not an orator or trained speaker. He was well informed for his day; his speeches were logical and forcible, and when aroused he would .straighten up and talk like a stati-snian. He was one of the lending Union men of the county during the war and a leading advisory Hepuhlienn afterward. He was a .slave-owner and well-to-do farmer. He ro.se from the vale of poverty: his parents wt-re poor, his father, Kinnnrd Hay, having been a sehoolteaeher. W. S. Hay's oldest son, M. 1). Hay, was a bright young lawyer of distinction. He was strong in .sympathy with the South, and an ardent advocate of Secession. He heeame the mouthpiece and speaker for the Se<'c.ssion ('lenient of the county during the war. After the war he was a leader in the Democratic party. He died in 1W7."), about fort.V years of age. .Mr. Hay's second son, .M. ('. Ha.v, joined the Soutlu-rn army, was wounded at Shiloh, taken prisoner, and returned home at the close of the war. Hay's third .son, David, diisl ill the Southern army. Thus father and sons were at variance in polities.

"This negro eipiality panic or epidemic continued to vex and worry .some of the people for twenty years. Most of those who were seriou.sly affected died. Many of those who in the meantime grew up to manhood heeame immune to the epidemic, and thi' panic finally siihsided..

"While tlu' pi'ople of .Muhh'uherg were laboring under the fear of negro eipiality they were also under the jire.ssure of another ordeal- - the panic of railroad bonded indebtedness. This panic also ran twenty years, parallel, for a time, with the negro eipiality |ianie. Four judges and magistratis, all of whom were considered astute, worried with the two panics, hut failed to bring about any relief. It was not until after the lapse of tweiit.v .veal's that both epidemics were subdued. Muhlenberg emerged from its former torpor and has since been traveling on the road of peace and prosperit.v, and the county is to-day worth at least threefold what it was during the years of the two great panics.''

The eareeis of all tht' men referred to by Mr. Martin in his .ski'tch are woven into Muhlenberg's history of their time. None of these citizens «as better known ami more highi.v esteemed, and none was more closely eonneeted with the local history of their da.v, than Finis McLean Allison, of (ireeiiville, who in 1K70 was a member of the State Senate. He wa.s a grandson of pioneer .Samuel Alli.son. who was among the first to settle near where later Friendshii) ('hureh wa.s built. A few years hefoiv the death of Finis .M. Allison the following .sketch was published in "The Biographical Kiieyelopedia of Kentuckians'' ;

Wiley S. Hay, About 1850 In Eioiiteen-Seventv

-'Finis IFeLean Allison, lawyer, was liorn .March 4, 1823, in .Muhlenhcrjf County, Kentucky. His father, John Adair Allison, was a native of the same county; was of Scoteh-Irish descent, and followetl agricultural pursuits throughout his life, llis mother's maiden name was Frances Watkins, and she was a native of Washington County, Kentuckj'. Jlr. Allison was reared on a farm and received a common English education. At the age of fifteen he became deputy clerk in Muhlenberg county and circuit courts, holding the position until 1849. In the meantime, having studied law, he was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1850. and entered upon the |>ractice of his profe.ssion. In 1852 he went to California and engaged for some time in gold-mining, hut in 18,54 returned and resumed the practice of his profession at Morgantown. In 1856 he was electeil elcrk of the county and circuit courts of Butler County, continuing in that position until 1865, when he again resumed the practice of law.

In 18(i7 he was elected to the State Senate from the counties of .Muhlenherg and Christian, serving until 1871. In that .year he was appointed by Governor Ixsslie as inspector of tobacco at Ijouisville, but soon afterward resuim-d his profc.ssional hvtsiness at Greenville, Ketitucky. In iiolitics he is a Democrat, and has taken an active interest in the affaii's of his party. Mr. Allison was married August 1, 1849, to Julia Burks, and has six living children. His son Finis II. Alli.son is a physician in McLean County, and his .son John -Allison is a j)raeticing lawyer at Greenville."

In 1874 Mr. Allison was appointed I'nited States Commissioner for the Ui.strict of Kentucky, and in 1882 was elected police judge of Greenville, which office he held until his death, April 12, 188(i. The Muhlenberg Echo, published during the week of his death, after giving him his just praise as a citizen, lawyer, and judge, .says: ''Judge Allison's place in Greenville and the county will be hard to fill. His humble grave may never be marked by a lofty and costl.v monument, but his memory will live green and fresh in the hearts of this people long after many of us now living will have been forgotten."^

The lynehing of the negro, referred to by Mr. Martin, was an act for which the county's entire population was censured, although not more than one hundred men look part in the affair. Tho.se who attempt to give the

'Finis McLean Allison was the father of Mrs. Lucy (Joseph) Frazer, Mrs. Alice (Joseph) Stokes, Mrs. Naonit (Eugene) Lovell, Finis H., John, and Janies Allison.

details of this han^in^ usually wander far from the facts and invariably exaggerate the conduct of the lynching party. A clipping from a local newspaper, printed at the time, giving an account of this grue.some tragedy, has been preserved by Walter W. laingley. This I quote in full, in order to check the distorted tales now extant by giving the actual facts in the case. The Kentucky Republican of .May 18, 1870, says:

It becomes our painful duty as a public journalist to give to the readers of the Republican, this morning, the particulars of a most horrible tragedy enacted in Muhlenberg County. A most diabolical outrage and murder has been committed, the details of which will blanch the check and sicken the heart of every reader. Our blood curdles at the recital of the fiendish atrocity developed by the investigation. We shall endeavor to record the facts !is we have gathered them from various sources, without coloring, and shall feel it our bounden duty as an humble exponent and defender of the principles of morality, law and good order, to ileprecate and severely censure such riotous and violent proceedings as occurred on our streets last Saturda.v, These are the facts:

On Wednesday last, Ma.v lltb, .Mrs. Klixabeth Newman, wife of .Mr. Charles Newman, living about four miles south of Greenville, left her home, on foot in the morning, accompanied by her little boy aged four years, to spend the day with the family of Mr. John Gray, jr., but not finding them at home, .she started to go toward the house of Mr. A. Newman, and here we lost* trace of her. This was between seven and nine o'clock on Wednesday morning. At night, the husband and father, coming home from a log-rolling in the iieighliorliood, is surprised to find that his wife has not yet returned, and hastens to impiire after her of tin- neighbors, but fails to discover her whereabouts; and, thinking she must be safe at some one of In-r relatives' houses, he seeks his own couch for the night. The next morning the dead bod.v of a woman, identified as that of Mrs. Newman, together with the child of Mrs. Newman, terribly mutilated, but still alive, are found in a little skirt of woods between .Mr. A. Newman's and Mr. John Gra.v's. A coroin-r was summoned and an impiest held over the dead Iwd.v. eliciting the following facts:

That .Mrs. Klizabeth Newman came to her death from murderous blows, inflicted upon the head with rocks and sticks, and from a jiistol-shot wound in the neck. In the opinion of several physicians, either wound would have i-aused instant death. Murderer unknown. Her sktill was crushed in two places. The child was found about ten feet from the mother, with its skull broken and face much disfigured. It was still alive but in a stupor.

The woman was lying upon her face, her hair disheveled and matted with blood. The ground for seventy yards around bore marks of a ilesperate struggle. Drs. Yost, Crittenden and Frazier found unmi.stakalile proof of violence to the person of the woman. At one place her breastpin was found, and tlie ground indicated a scufllc. At .some distance farther on her sunlionnet and knitting work were found, and the disturbed condition of the dead leave.s and ground, which bore evidence of a violent struggle, indicated that here the damning deed was committed. Here her crie.s for help were stopped by the hellish demon with a liandful of leaves, fragments of which were on the spot. His fiendish purpo.se having been accomplished, the woman .seems to have succeeded in escaping from the scoundrel and run on to about seventy yards from the point at which the first signs of a scuflle were seen. Here lier body was found in the condition we have described. About a pint of seed corn was found seattereil about upon the ground at the place, where tlie woman seems to iiave been down the second time. The meeting, by Dr. A. McCown, and tbe suspicious conduct of a negro boy, Hob, living at Jolin Gray's, in the woods, not a hundred yards from the scene of the outrage and murder at about the time Mrs. Newman must have pa.ssed tliat way, together witli tlie fact that he was set to planting corn that morning in the field near John Gray's lioii.se, in full view of the road that Mrs. Newman took in going to and from the house, and the fact that the boy had no busiue.ss in the wood at that time in the morning, seemed to point to him (the negro Iwy, Hob) as the author of the horrible murder, ami on the evening of the same day he was arrc.sted and placed in the county jail.

Great indignation was felt by the friemls and relatives of the murdercii woman, who was a daughter of Mr. Josiah Reid, living in this county, an estimable lady, a loving wife and fond mother. She was not yet thirty years of age: had been married to Mr. Newman about five years, and had but one child living, a bright, iiromising boy, who, as we have seen, escaped .so narrowly with his life. .Much exeitenient prevailed in the neighborhood of the murder, and a large number of persons visited the scene of the terrible tragedy. .Strong additional ])roofs, fi.xing the negro lioy's guilt beyond a doubt, having been found on Thursday, intimations were rife that a number of citizens of the county, together with the friends of the decea.sed, eontem|ilated taking the prisoner by night from the custody of the jailer, and e.xeeuting summary vengeance upon him. Hut an unwillingness to punish a pri.soner in the hands of the law, until found guilty by an impartial trial, dictated moderation and the jail wa.s not molested.

Saturday morning. May 14th, the time set for the investigating trial, the streets of our town were alive with an eager but quiet crowd of citizens of the county. Just before the hour of the trial, .Mr. Josiah Reid spoke to the people from the courthouse steps, exhorting and cautioning them to use no violence upon the lu'isoner, as he was being brougbt from the jail to the court room; that he was interested far more than they were in the matter, as the niuniered woman was his daughter, and if he could keep his hands off the pri.soner, they certainly ought to. The court room was jammed to its fulh'st capacity, and the prisoner wa.s brought before the court. Justices Adcock and Roll presiding. The prisoner. Hob Gray, had formerly belongisl to .Mr. John Gray, and was still living with his old master. He was alanit five feet five inches in height, of a dark coi>per color, and of strong muscular power. When asked in court if he hail anything to say for himself, he stated that he was not guilty. Dr. Crittenden and Jlr. Samuel K. Smith were sworn, and made in substance tbe following statement: They both visited the jail, in company, on the morning of the trial, and had a convei"sation with the prisoner, for the jiurpose of eliciting any confession lie might choose to make. They stated that lu* at first denied the wliole thing; then eonfes.sed that he killed the woman, hut denied the rape, and stated that he attempted to take the life of the child and then murdered the mother; and then that he kilhsl the mother and afterwards left the child for dead, so that it would not tell who di<l it. He eipiivoeated and contradicted himself in every instance. When asked why he committed the murder, he said he had always wanted to kill some white woman.

Sullieient proof of the guilt of the prisoner having la*en adduced, hy the investigation, to send him on for furtlier trial, he was remanded hack to .iail. lint hefore delivering him over to the .jailer, the county attorney, H. E. Pittman, Esq., .Judge Uieketts, and lion. Samuel E. Smith addres.sed the crowd, in earnest language, in behalf of law and order, eantiouing ami entreating them to do nothing violent, hut exhorting all to retire to their homes and leave the prisoner in the hands of the law; telling them that there was .sufficient proof of his guilt to send him hack to .jail, and if convicted he would suffer the extreme penalty of the law. The muttering storm of a people's indignation at the enormity of the crime had heeii brewing all the morning, and rumors were afloat that five hundre<l determined men of the county, satisfied of the guilt of the prisoner, would never suffer him to go hack to jail, hut intended to take- the law into their own hands and lynch the prisoner. Mr. Heid again made a noble appeal to the crowd, in which he sjiid: "It was my daughter that was murdered. It is I that am interested more than any of you in this matter; and if I can hear it. surely you should. Harm him not. The law will deal with him as he dc-serves. ''

As the jailer and guard conducted the prisoner from the court room, the cry of him!" was heard on all .sides, and as the |)risoner, in charge of the officers of the law, issued from the courthouse, they were met hy a crowd of from fifl.v to one hundred men, with pistols in hand, who tlemanded and dragged the prisoner from the officers and guard. The seem- that followed beggars description. All was excittmient and turmoil. It seemed to h<! the intention of the parties to hang the negro in the eourthou.si- yard, and it is probably due to the earnestness and hold speaking of .Jmlge Love, who mounte(l the fence and succeeded in arresting the attention of the leaders for a moment, that they desisted from this course. They, however, dragged him to the woods, distant half a ndle from the eourthousi", and there hanged him hy the neck until he was dead.

After the bod.v of the negro had liung suspended hy a rope to the limb of a tree for an hour or more it was taken down, the head severed from the trunk, and the former, all gory and mangled, .stuck on the end of a long pole, hrmighl hack to town and placed conspicuously in the courthouse yard, from whence- it was removeil soon after hy .Justice Adcock, placed with the body and deeentl.v hurieel.

Thus is moh-law satisfied. Thus is the death hy violence of a noble, riiristian woman avenged in the seditious, barbarous and disgraceful .scenes we have ha.stily described. Thus has Muhlenlwrg County shown to the world her red-handed chivalry, iti heroically cutting off the head of a dead negro, hanged hy mob violence, and parading the blot)dy trophy hefore her halls of justice! I-lven if we sought to palliate (which we do not) the action of the mob in lynching the pri.soncr while in the hands of the law, this last tiagrant off<'iise against decency, civilization and Christianity merits denunciation in thunder toni-s hy an indignant and outraged community. We blush to rccoril the shame that now stains the hitherto fair

The year 1870 may l>e regarded as the beginning of banking in Muhlenberg. Shortly after the close of the Civil War most of the cheeks and drafts cashed in the county were handled in Greenville by F. B. Hancock, who about the year 1870 established "The Banking House of F. B. Hancock." Hancock conducted his banking business in connection with his other busi- ness until 1879. In the beginning lie siniiily cashed checks. Aliout 1870 he began to issue drafts, easb notes, and liorrow and lend money and transact siieb other business as is done in a bank.

In the early days pioneer dailies Weir cashed practically all the drafts received by people in the eounty. In his Greenville store he kept a wooden chest heavily cleafed with nails which, up to about 1840, served the pur po.se of a .safe and vault. After his day his son Kdward U. Weir, sr., and other lending merchants incidentally cashed checks for their eiistoniers. From 1865 to 1879, as already stated, F. B. Hancock made it a busine.ss to look after such matters. Hancock was succeeded by M. ('. Hay. who

-Two men have been hanged by mobs In the county. The second was Dudley White, a negro, arrused of killing Jonathan Gossett. He was taken from the jail on January 9. 1874. and hanged to a tree about three hundred yards cast of the courthouse.

acted as tinancial agent for a few years. In 1882 M. C. Hay and Lewis Reno organized a bank in the "Old Briek Bank Building," whicli had been built in 1819 on the northwest corner of the courthouse square. This bank, started in 1882, was the first bank e.stablished in the county. In 1890 it became the First National Bank of Greenville, whieh is the oldest of the eight hanks now in .Muhlenberg.

Toono Ken'S Obristian Association Buildino. Oreenyilee

dispose of part of their public ground," enabled tbe court, in accordance therewith, to sell the northwest corner of the courthouse lot to the "Bank of Greenville" for the purpose of erecting a bank building on it. Subscriptions for the sale of stock were "under the direction of James Weir, Alney McLean, William (,'amjtbell, sr., Charles F. Wing, Robert McLean and John S. Eaves." They erected a two-story brick house in 1819. Although their brick bank building was "condemned" immediately after it was finished, time showed that it was an exceptionally well-made house, for it was not torn down until seventy-five years later, and then only to make room for the more modern structure whieh now occupies that corner. In 1818 about fifty independent banks were incorporated tbroughout the State, among them the "Bank of Greenville." However, in 1820 - shortly after the brick bank building was finished - the charters of thi*se independent banks were repealed, and the organizers of the "Bank of Green-

Among those wlio in ls7U had an office in this old briek hou.se was Doctor J. W. Church. In 1894 the famous "Old Brick Bank Building'' was torn down and the building now standing on that corner was erected by the First National Bank of Greenville, by which corporation it was occupied until 19(17, when the bank .sold the bou.se to the Greenville Coal Company and moved into the larger (piarters across the street.

The building now occupied by the First National Bank stands on a corner which in 1870 was occupied by an old frame and log house that was torn down in the early seventies. It is said the old landmark that stood on that corner was removed by a wealtby widower, who erected in its place the present threestory (recently stuccoed) briek building - the second three-story brick house built in the county. When the widower began this new building - .so runs the .story, which although frequently told may nevertheless not be strictly true - he also began paying his attentions to a hand.some young widow, who like hiinsidf then lived in the county. After he had finished the basement he proposed to his ladylove, but was coldly refu.sed by her. He erected the first story, and in the meantime pressed his courtship. After the first story was finished he again proposed and was again refused. but not quite so emphatically as before. He then erected the second story, and carried on his courtship with more persistency. After the completion of the second story he again proposed and was once more refused, but tins time with an lu'sitation that gave him hope. The widower then made up his mind to keej) on building story after story until accepted by the widow. He added the third story, which made what was then considered a very tall and imposing building. After drawing bis plans for the fourth story he again proposed to the widow. She now feared that if she continued to decline, the building would become too fall and unsafe, and she therefore accepted his offer. While the carpenters were finishing the roof the marriage ceremony took place, and the in'wly married couple lived happily ever after. Both have since died, but the story of their romantic courtship is still told, and will in all probability often be retold as one of the most interesting incidents connected with the houses built about the y(-ar 1870.

The Railroad Bonds

For nearly forty years - to be exact, from 1868 to 1906 - Muhlenberp staKKereil under a financial and political burden that greatly depreciated values, delayed industrial development, and harassed officials and taxpayers with most distressing legal uncertainties. The troidde arose out of the issuance by the county of $400,000 of 7 petcent twenty-year bonds in return for an equal amount of stock in the then projected Elizaladhtown & Paducah Railroad, which was to be constructed through the counties intervening between Hardin and McCracken. Few questions of local importance have been more completely forgotten in detail than this of the railroad bonds, altbough it weighed more heavily on the generation that had to deal with it than perhaps any other episode in the county's hi.story.

Muhlenberg was not alone in this matter. Other counties suffered in greater or less degree, but none suffereil more severely than Muhlenberg; few suffered ns much. It was the era of railroad building in Kentucky and in the entire! West. The "flush days'' after the war, that were hurrying on to the "blow-up'' in the great panic of 187:1, were in full swing in 1868-69. Counties all over the State were being persuaded to lend their credit by exchanging bonds for stock in order to help on these various railway projeet.s. Many miles of what now are parts of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad system were financed in this wa.v. *

The proposition to .Middenberg a.sking for .$40n,(MM) of liond .suliseription was first advanced in 1867. That a railroad would be of great a<lvantage to the county was not to be denied. Opponents of the measure were not wanting, but the railroad promoters imule a vigorous hou.se-tohou.se canvass and a county campaign. The (piestion was formally submitted to the voters of the county at an election held May 30, 1868, re- in 771 voles for the issue and TmO against it. There were times when memories of that campaign were often bitter, but with the pas.sago of years even those who had suffered most began to see the humor of it. This situation is best de.scribi'd by Riebard T. Martin, who was a close observer of the campaign for the bonds and who, writing of it forty-two years later, thus tells what went on in the public eye and mind in 1868:-

' The county was In nowise Involved In the construction of any of the railroads that were built In .Muhlcnbers except the Rllzals'thtown & Paducah. This road has changed hands a number of times. For a while It was known as the Chesapeake. Ohio & Southwestern, and later as the Newport News & .Mississippi Valley. SInee 1897 It has been known as the Illinois Central.

"On« S. H. Thomas, of Elizahothtown, president of the railroad eoiiipany, first presented such a proposition to the eitizeiis of Muhlenherg County. He had an appointment to sjieak at Greenville about the neeessity of the railroad, and an unusual erowd Hs.seml>led there to hear him. Thomas was an orator of .some di.stinetion and ability. He made the promotion of the railroad his business. His speeeh was eloipient and persuasive. He was apparently ver.v mueh interested in the welfare of MuhlenherK. He pietured a (treat future for the people of the eoiinty. He pointed to the advantages, faeilities, and eomfort that would he realized and en,joyed hy the eitizens from hnvinit a railroad runniii); throu(;h the coiint.v, and showed that it would (live streiifjth and tone to all loeal industries and put the peojile on the way to sueeess and wealth. Aeeording to Thomas' deseription and pre.sentation of the scene, the hills and hollows of Muhlenberg County would he crowded with gilded homes of glittering wealth .soon after the eonstriietion of the railroad.

"The thoughts and aspirations of his hearers were caught up and wafted on the wings of his magic eloepienee to the highest realm of hope, 'riie people gave Thomas their elo.se and undivided attention, taking in his fast-flowing logic and eloipienee as a sweet morsel.

"At that time all the i)roduets and goods were shipped and received by the way of Grei-n Kiver, and hauled to and from the various landings on the river to the different points in the county in wagons, which was a very slow, burdensome, inconvenient and undrairable system. Business im-n were eager for a better wa.v. Thomas told them that if Muhlenberg wouhl vote the Iwnd issue they would get a pa.ving roatl through the eount.v, which would be made to run within a mile of the eoiirthou.se: that the road, when built, would eiihauee the value of the property of the eount.v more than double the cost of the siibseription. He e.Npbiined that the stock taken would soon doul>l(' in value, and that the receipts for the interest paid on the coupons of the bonds would be as certificates of the stock taken and could he sold above par aft<>r the railroad was completed. It would be a payintr investment for the pre.scnt generation, their children, and their children's posterity. lie emphasized that the building of the road depended upon the peoi)le of the various counties along the line, and declared that all the other counties through which the road would run were to vote to take stock and i.ssiie bonds to cover the amount of stock taken. He also promised that when the bonds were issued, the people woidd only have to l)ay the interest and lay up a sinking fund to li(piidate the lioniLs when due; and that the whole amount could soon be paid off with the proceeds of |)oultry, l>otatoes, butter, eggs and hlaekberries.

"When Thomas mentioned blackberries, it did the people good, for they believed that they were .solid on blac-klu'rries. It was then only a few years after the war. During the war the |>eople did not know but what they would he killed, and were therefore careless almut keeping up their farms. In all the fence eorni'rs and along the branches there had grown up an ahumlnnee of blackberry briars. Nearly every farmer had a large blackberry orehanl, and was therefore confident that he could furni.sh a goo<i many hlaekberries. So the outlook was very encouraging along that line. At that time there was also an abundance of greenbacks in cireulation, and everybody had a imekelful of -shin-plasters.' as they were called. Tobacco was sellini; at from twelve to fifteen dollars per hundred, and the people felt a good deal of independence and believed that they could buy or build a railroad, and could easily invest the sum of !l!400,000 and never miss it. Besides, they considered it the mo.st convenient way to make a stock investment, for there were few banks, insurance or other stock companies handy, and as they preferred making an inve.stment in their own county they could now venture !|!40(),(K)() as a .sort of feeler in speculation. At that time a great many of the citizens of Muhlenberg County had never seen a railroad, and knew alwiit railroads only from hearsay.

"After Thomas had exhausted his fountain of prophecy on the people, he organiz('d many of the prominent men of Oreenville and other parts of the county as a company of agents to work up railroad interest. Among his Oreenville lioosters were J. Short, Joseph Kicketts, Jesse II. and J. Edmonds Reno, O. B. Eades, F. H. Hancock and Dr. W. II. Yo.st. The other speakers lived out in the county. Among these boo.sters there was an understanding that a general canva.ss of the county should be made and that an election .should be called and a vote taken as soon as possible, for the road had already been <-bartered by the Ijegislature.

"Many of them started out at once and stumped the county. When some of tho.se old orators were in high spirits they could make rattling speeches on railroad necessity. Their line of argument usually followed that of Thomas. They stirred up the people to a .sen.se of their duty with respect to jirosperity. There were some who opposed the measure of voting such a large bonded debt on the property of the county, and these were denounced as being 'contrary,' 'old fogies' and dogmatical drones opposed to the welfare of the community.''

Jlany were the stories that grew out of the railroad campaign. .some pathetic, many humorous, and all characteristic of the time and the peojile.

One is told of a certain Greenville man who, while eleetioneering in the county, ealhsi on a country friend known to be one of the few "anti-levys" in the latter's neighborhood. The two men met at the farmer's pa.sture fence. After the usual salutations they climbed, each from his own side, to the toji of the rail fence, sat down, and began to argue tile railroad (piestion pro and con. Pbysieally Imtb were "on the fence,'' but not mentally, for each was firm in his own conviction regarding the railroad.

The town man deplored tin- neglect of the wonderful resources in the immediate vicinity - the forests, the coal, and the iron - none of which, he argued, could be developed until a railroad was built. Dike nearly all other citizens of the county he felt convinced, and therefore arfriied, that the railroHil debt could he met without a very noticeable inereas*? in taxation. But the farmer insisted that as long as he could not see how or when the railroail tax could he paid, he was in favor of leaving the harvo-sting of the resources alone and thus rather "bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of."

The railroad <'uthusiast, after having priwented all his arguments, noticed a white heifer and a spotted calf that chanced to he grazing in his friend's pasture. The idea suddenly occurred to him that he might offer to pay all the farmer's railroad tax in exchange for the.se two youngr cattle. So he ma<le a proposition to that effect, and it was accepted. Both men were eipially .satisfied with the agreement, although both still held decidedly opposite views on the railroad ipiestion. The white heifer and spotted calf were brought to (Jreenville. The fatted calf was killed; the h("ifer, as years rolled on, grew old. and finally was sold and shipped away on the railroad to a eit.v market. The town man, true to his word, not only ]uiid the farmer's railroad tax in the beginning hut kept on paying every a.ssessment ; and, it is said, he is doing so "even unto this day.''

Another story is that a certain farmer, prompted by fear and pessimism, offered to give a thousand dollars to any one who would agree to pay all the railroad tax on his farm, which he then valued at a thousand dollars. Immediately after he had made this offer puhli(' a number of men showed their active anxiety to close such an agreement with him. The farmer then rwonsidered the suhj<-et, and after a little more "figuring" and a little le.ss "fearing" withdrew his proposition, for he eame to the conclusion that he might gain more by holding his farm than by giving it away. He held on for a number of years, paid his taxes, and shortly after the bonds were eompromisisl sold his place for ^jCi.OOO.

The (smnty's subseription to the railroad having been approved by the voters, the bonds were issueil in .March, IHtifl, didivered to the railroad company and sold. All of them read alike, differing onl.v in denomination - $1(K), ^lioOO, and ;fl.()()0. As a .souvenir of the exciting period that produced them and the gloomy times that followed, a verbatim cop.v of one of the lionds and a ivduced facsimile of the same (fnmi which ten coupons have been detached) is here presented:

Muhlenberg. No. l!ll. For the Kliziibethtown & Paducah Itailroad. Twent.v years after date the ('onnt.v of Muhlenberg, in the State of Kentuck.v, promises to jia.v to Bearer the sum of Five Hundred Dollars, with interc.st thereon at the rate of Seven per Cent per annum, payabh- semiannuall.v upon pre.sentation of the proper eoupon hereto attached. The principal and interest being payable at the Bank of America in the City of New York, and to secure the payment of which the I'ropcrt.v and Credit of the ('onnt.v are i>ledged.

I.\' TESTIMONY WHKKKOF. the Judge of said County of Muhlenberg has here unto .set his hand and aflixed the Corporate Seal of the said ( 'onnt.v, this the first da.v of March, IH(i!l, and caused the same to la> attested by the signature liercto of the (.'ount.v Clerk, who has also signed the Coupons hereto attached.

Construetioii of Ihe railroad was lH't;un at once, and the payment of interest on the hoiid'. amoiintiii); to !ii2tl,lK)0 a year, was also lH>gnn. It was a heavy Imrileii on the sparsidy iMipulatiMl eonnty. Interest was paid for several years, ami the eonipleted portion of the road was hegiiming to he used, when the company failed, the uneoinpleted road was sold, and the eomi>lieations began. The portion eonipleted, beginning nowhere and ending nowhere, was not taking in enough money to pay operating expenses, and the people of the county were thrown into a panic by the discovery that by the sale of the railroad under bankruptcy the ii;400,0(X) of stock to which the county was entitled in exchange for the bonds had been entirely wiped out, and even if completed the county would have no property interest whatever in the railroad it had paid so much to construct. A popular reaction at once set in, ba.sed on the Ixdief that the county had been swindled. Talk of repudiating the bonds arose. This threw into a panic those in the county who had invested in the bonds, and alarmed outside holders also.

The original company had not gone through the form of i.s.suing the county the !i!400,000 of stock due under the agreement, and thence grew an idea - encouraged by .some lawyers - that the failure to turn over the liriutcd certificates annulled the whole contract. Having nothing whatever to show for their bond subscription, property-owners began to refuse to pay their taxes, and the troubles broke in all their acuteness. Suits were brought to enforce the collection of the tax, the payment of the interest, and the formation of the sinking fund necessary to redeem the bonds at maturity. Litigation once begun was continued through all the courts; the county took the position that the bonds were illegal and invalid, but the courts neces.sarily held that they were legal, although the .stock hail never been i.ssuetl.

Repudiation was actually if not legally accomplished. No interc.st was paid. An organization called the "Independent Order of Taxpayers" was formed in 1874, and many of the best citizens of the count.v joined it. for the purpo.se of resi.sting payment of the bonds and the collection of the tax by every means in th(*ir power. That year Judge S. I'. Love was succeeded as county judge by Judge J. 0. Thomiison, and the people had the active sympathy of the court in fighting what was univer.sally believed to be "the railroad swindle."

On .March 18, 1878, the Legislature passed a special act known as the "Pbinding Act," giving to the county the power to compromi.se these lx>nds and to levy and collect a tax to pay the debt. Under this act a "Funding Hoard" was created. After the memhers had been duly elected the l>oard met and proceeded to compromise, and did compromi.se, at the rate of fifty cents on the dollar, principal and interest. It had i.ssued new l>onds to the amount of alxiut $!t3,()()() when it was enjoined from further proceedings. The new lionds were then also resisted and litigated through all the courts; in the end they were held to he valid, as were the original bonds.

In 188(1 Q. H. Coleman succeeded J. 11. Morton as county judge. He was elei'ted for the express purpose of defeating any attempt to enforce the collection of railroad taxes. Hondholders had court decisions and orders behind them, and were proceeding in form to compel Judge Coleman to act, when he cut the (iordian knot of the law by suddenly leaving the county for parts unknown. The higher courts held that "the county court shall have power to enforce the collection of said railroad tax." Tlie county judge having left, and all the magi.strates having resigned, there was no county court to make a levy and to "enforce the collection of said railroad tax." licgal proceedings had to wait until this complication could be cleared up. Mr. Martin .says:"