Muhlenberg County, Kentucky - The whole text, 1913 (part 11 of 13)

"All business enterprise became more or less j)arnlyzed and the energj' of the people drooped and became languid; the coal mines that had been opened up along the railroad line were abandoned on account of no trade; the people of the county began to realize that to pay off the debt, as stipulated, would require almost a million dollars. So there was a very dark future presented for consideration. The jiropcrty of the county decrca.sed in valuation until the whole assessed value was only about two milliou dollars. A great many of the yeomanry wanted to sell out and save themselves by flight.

"When visitors came into the county they would remark: 'We understand that you people have an enormous railroad debt upon your shoulders. What a pity ! We sympathize with you very much, but what on earth were you folks thinking about in Muhhmberg County - and not a very wealthy county at that - by voting such a debt upon your pro|>erty? It is a shame that sueh a large debt should be saddled upon you good people. You who are now of middle age, perhaps, never shall see the eml of the debt,' etc.

"Trials and investigations took jilace in all the courts, from the county court to the Siiprcrie Court of the United States, and every court decided that the bonds wer » legal and should be paid, but that the levying of the

B«u and Bob WIckllfle (ibown hero » they appeared about 1890) were aona of pioneer Moeea WtcUiSe. They were bom in Muhlenberg Oountj In 1824. and died at their home, near Berier. in 1893. Thejr were twine, bacbelore, well-known charactera and inseparable companiona. They went to Oalifornla in 1849. but retarned a few years later. To them every anestlon had its humorous side. The railroad bond situation was a rich field for their wit.

tax for the ]>ayment of the interest on the Ijoncls lielonped exclusively to the jurisdiction of the eoiinly court. Such decisions gave the county some advantage in the emergency. The county judge hid in the woods and could not he found to make the levy. The magistrates were then held to constitute the county court ; in turn they were persuaded to resign their ofRees, which all of them <lid. The sheriff also resigned, and was appointed as State tax collector. This condition of affairs continued for a time, and blocked the honilholders to some extent. Attorneys on both sides and judges of ability handled the suits and kept them in the legal sieve. All those who favored high compromise were denounced as being enemies of the county.

"Some of the moneyed men of Muhlenberg pureha.sed bonds sufficient to cover their property, and some few bought at low rate with a view to speculation, if ])ossible. One man, especially, bought bonds at a very low rate and bcs-ame very troublesome to the 'Non-Tax-Payers'; he was instrumental in having a number of suits brought against the county. He got a judgment against the eount.v and succeeded in forcing a collection of ten thousand dollars by hiring a number of men and having the United States Marshal appoint them as deiuities. lie armed them with guns and regular camp eipiipment and brought them into the county. This terrified many, especiall.v the women and children, and a general mas.s-me<-ting was held in Greenville. A number of legal lights were in attendance, and they advised the jieople to |)ay off the judgment of ten thousand dollars anti by that proceduri" save a great deal of cost. This advice was taken; iitsiple pourtsl into Greenville from all parts, paying their pro rata in the ease. The sheriff had to employ a number of deimties to take and receipt for the money. This ten thou.sand dollars was paid off and the deputy marshals left the county, the eount.v pa.ving their expenses and also bii.ving the guns and cami) e(pii|iment, which after being turned over to the county were .sold at a discount.

"These proeei'dings were known as the lamee Capps Haid. Lance Caiips was at that time a citizen of .Muhlenberg, but he soon afterward left. The man who forced the collection also moved out of the county and died about the time a general settlement of the debt was effected.''

In 18S!t I). .1. Fleming was eleet("d county judge. In his campaign hideclared that he could defeat the piiyment of the bonds. He made many .strong efforts to do so. During his two terms of office lawsuits were pending in the State and Federal courts, every one of uhieh was finally lost by the county.

In lKi(8 T. J. .Sparks became county judge. He wa.s elected on a platform declaring for the settlement of the entire Ismded debt of the county, if it could be done at a rea.sonable figure. Immediately after his election steps were taken to bring about a .settlement. The debt at that time amounted to about a million dollars. During .Judge Sfiarks' administration the old lionds were settled at twenty cents on the dollar, principal and interest, and the new bonds, or the bonds issued by the "Funding Board,'' were [laid dollar for dollar. ^

'Judge Thomas JetTcrson Sparks was born November 4. 1868, near Earles. He Is the son of C. M. and Sallie (Miller) Sparks. Judge Sparks' father has

The Railroad Bond.S.

1905 and 1910 were met promptly at maturit.v. The interest of 5 per cent is now being paid and a .sufficient sinking fund is being levied and aeenmulated for the redemption of the remaining Ixinds at maturity.

While all this me.ss and mass of litigation was in progress, property constantly depreciated in value and ea]iital seeking investment drifted elsewhere. When the debt had inerea.sed to one million dollai-s the assessed property valuation of the eounty was two million dollars. The lioudholders therefore had a lien on the iiroperty of the eount.v for 50 per cent of its as.se.s.sed value. W'hen Judge Sparks' second term expired, January 1, 1901), the county's lionded indebtedness had decreased to .$190,(MM), the a.s.ses.sed proi)crty valuation had inerea.sisl to al)out four million dollars, and the bondholders' lien had been reduced to a little less than 5 per cent. As soon as the refunding eompromise was effected, Muhlenberg and Greenville began to feel the good results of the railroad .settlement. Mr. Martin thus summarizes ; always been one of the leading citizens in bis section of Muhlenberg. C. M. Sparks was a member of the Independent Order of Taxpayers, and took an active part In the light of the people against the collection of the railroad debt. He was a member of the bond funding board, and served In that capacity as long as the board was in existence.

Judge Sparks went to the country school near his home, and later attended the Greenville schools and the State University. He taught in the public schools of Muhlenberg County for five years, in 1894 he married Miss Monte Oates, daughter of Hdward and Nannie (Hridges) Oates, both of Muhlenberg County. In 1896 he was elected magistrate from the Fifth Magisterial District. Before his term expired he was made the nominee of his party for the oflice of county Judge, to which position he was elected in 1897 and again In 1901. It was during his administration and principally through bis efforts that a settlement of the railroad debt was made. Judge Sparks was Republican elector from the Stateat-large In the presidential campaign of 1908, and In 1909 was appointed by Governor Willson as Commonwealth's attorney to fill out the unexpired term of Honorable R. Y. Thomas, who was that year elected to Congress. In 1900 he was admitted to the bar, and Immediately after the expiration of his term as county Judge formed a partnership with Mr. Newton Belcher for the practice of law. The firm of Belcher & Sparks is one of the strongest In Western Kentucky.

' Some of the fields that are now gully-washed and covered with scrub cedars were originally neglected and finally "thrown out" owing to the uncertainty of

"Peace was declared, and that mighty spectral monster disappeared. Although Muhlenberg had lost twenty-five years of its growth, yet the .songs of indu.stry were renewed and prosperity resumed its march; immigrants ru.shed in; the valuation of the property of the county rose at a rapid rate from two million dollars to aliout five millions. The railroad running through the county had been pureha.sed, improved and extended by others; coal mines were opened up all along the line; potatoes, chickens, eggs and blackberries found a way to market. A large new courthouse was built; evcryho<ly was satisfied. However, only a few of those who voted the railroad Iwnds on the county lived to see the last act of this prolonged drama. Jlost of the men who had been vexed with and worried over the debt for years died in distres.s, not knowing that many of the promoters' promises and pictures would .some day he realities.

"To-day the whole transaction appears as only a dream of the pa.st, and those who have since come into active life and business can not realize the deep anxiety and perplexity that their fathers endured under the pressure of the 'Railroad Bonds.'

"It must be .said in honor of the 'Non-Tax-Payers.' most all of the lenders of whom are to-day beneath the .sod, that they .stmxl in time of trouble as the eternal rocks against the lashing waves of a fearful storm and as an impenetrable wall in the dark hours of the panic, warding off and cutting down the enormous debt hanging over the county. lla<l it not been for their energies and devotion to the welfare of the county it might have had the entire debt to pay. It was undoubtedly their firmm*s.s that forced a .satisfactory compromise of the debt, saving to the county .tl)0<V**h). Although they were denounced by some, yet they were honest in their convictions of the right and felt that they had been betrayed and imposed on by designing peissons." " the outcome of the railroad bond question. The few that have not been redeemed are survivors of "old battlefields" In this "Forty Years' War."

The Raii-Road Bonds

It will not lu> forijotton that ono of the stipulations in the afrreement with the railroad builders was that the track should be laid so as to come "within one mile of the courthouse." In order to comply with this agreement the surveyors were obliged to turn somewhat from a more direct course. The track was built "within a mile," with only .some eighty feet to spare. An item published in the Greenville Record on October 6, 1910, illustrates the grim humor that grew out of this situation :

"La.st week a traveling man made Greenville for the first time, and after some inquiries found the railroad was located almost a mile from the eourthou.se, and, of course, from the largest part of the business .section. The traveler immediately .sought Mr. \V. G. Crawford, the courteous local agent of the Illinois Central Railroad, and asked, 'Why do you not have the station located tip town!' Right off the reel the inquirer was given the response, 'Well, we find it more convenient to have the depot located near the railroad!' "

As has been said, JIuhlenberg was not the only county that suffered from the era of railroad expansion. The State Auditor's report is-sued in 1871 shows that at that time thirty-five counties and fifteen cities in Kentucky were carrying similar railroad debts, amounting to till 3,000,000. Along the Elizabethtown & Paducah Railroad were the counties of Grayson, $200,000; Muhlenberg, $-I00,0lXl; Caldwell, $.398,000; Lyon, $200,000; McCracken, $5(X),000, and the city of Loui.sville, $1,000,000, making a total of .$2,698,000. The counties adjoining Muhlenherg that were then carrj'ing railroad lionds were Logan, $736,0(K); Todd, $4,000; Christian, $200,(M)0; city of Hopkinsville, .$25,000; Hopkins, $165,000; city of Madisonville, .$25,000, and two precincts in .Mcls'an County, .$6.5,000. '' Many of these bond issues became the subject of long litigation. Most of them were not jtaid until after a compromise had been effected. The railroad Itonds of Green and Taylor counties date back to 1869, and are among the few that are still in litigation.

Tobacco

THK first tolmcco cultivatod in Muhlenberg, as far as is now known, was raised aliout the year 1802. Comparatively few large crops were produced in the county until atmiit a cpiarter of a century after the i)lant had been introduced. Since the year IH.'IO tobacco has been one of the county's principal products. Muhlenberg's leaf and stri])s and its niatiufactured tobacco are now well known by the tobaeeo merchants and by the consumers of the weed. Over two and a half million pounds were raised annually as early as 1870, and since that time the county's yield has fluctuated between three million and five million pounds a year.

William Martin, who came to Muhlenla'rg in 1805, is the pioneer of the plug-tobacco business in the county. In the '30s of the la.st century he laid the foundations of an industry that after his time developed and gave to (Ireeuville and Muhlenberg a wide reputation as a tobacco raising, rehandling, and manufacturing place. In the course of time William -Martin was followed by three of his sons, and they in turn by some of their .sons, and so on down through four generations. In fact most of the tobacco rehandling and manufacturing in Muhlenberg has been <lone by .some of his descendants.

It was in 1835, in the Old Libert.v neighlmrhood, that William Martin first manufactured plug tobacco. The tobacco raised in those days was about the same kind of Yellow I'rior and shoestring still grown in .some parts of the county. Ilis son Dabney A. .Martin later went to Virginia and there studied the culture of tobacco and introduced some other varieties equall.v well adapted to the soil in this section of the dark-tobacco district. William Martin .selected the best leaf for his {ilug, using not only his own crop but also purcha.sing the crops of his neighbors. Most of the tobacco be handled was manufactured into plug each year during the course of a few months. Ilis trash, lugs, and inferior leaf he prized into hogsheads and shipped to New Orleans via Kineheloe's Bluff. R. 'f. Martin, speaking of the poor transportation facilities the shippers of tobacco had during the early diiys, says: "They packed and prized the tobacco into hogsheads around a long pole which i)as.sed through the center. To the ends of the protruding j)ole they fastened two ]>oles, to which horses were hitched, and in that way pulled and rolled the hogsheads to the Bluff. This 'carr.ving' was done when the roads were dry; neverthele.ss, mud holes were sometimes encountt'red and the tobacco would become more or less damaged." dried the leaf and then packed it into crude forms or moulds, to which he applied pressure by pulliiif; down on one end of a twenty-foot beam, the other end of which was tenoned in a mortise cut for that purpose in one of the heavy timbers of his barn. After the beam or lever had been pulled down by all the available human muscle it was held in position by means of a swordlike hickory pe^ stuck into one of a series of auger-holes in the wall. The pri*ssure thus produced and held was so great that, according to local tradition, "it not only made the juice fly, but turned the tobacco info solid cakes as black as the niggers who done the .s(|uec/.ing." These plugs of "Hat chewing'' u.sually weighed about eight ounces, and were packed into boxes holding from one hundred to one hun<lred and fifty pounds. William .Martin followed only a few years the manufacturing busine.ss he had started. However, before he (juit, one of his sons, William t'amphell Martin, took up the same work and continued in it until about 1840.

In 1840, Dabney A. and Ellington W. Martin, two of the younger sons of William Martin, e.stablished a plant on North Main Street in Ureenville, and there began the making of the brand known as "(ireenville Tobacco." This famous brand was manufactured in (Ireenville for more tban half a century. From a good trade in the South it gradually spread to many other parts of the Union. Dabney A. and Ellington W.

JIartin were the first local men to use screws, and also the first to introduce flavoring and sweetening in plug tobacco. They loaded their manufactureil product on six-mule wagons, each holding about four tbousand pounds, and started them on long trips through the South.

These large wagons were usually accompanied by one or two smaller ones, for the purpo.se of making side-trips from the main road and the moving source of supply. The.v delivered their goods on consignment ; that is. to la* paid for when sold, or to be returned when called for by the manufacturer. The (pialit.v of and the demand for their "Greenville Tobacco" was such that they seldom were obliged to relieve any one of un.sold .stock. There was no internal revenue tax on manufactured tobacco in those da.vs, and their plug tobacco usually .sold for "two bits," or twent.v-five cents, a pound.

Dabney A. and Ellington W. Martin were the first men in Muhlenberg County to export strips or .stemmed tobacco. As early as 184.) they added a stiunmery to their factory. The plug and the strip business were both suceessful, and resulted in the aeeumulation of a large fortune. Most of their plug-tobacco trade, as already stated, was in the South. After the Civil War began they were unable to collect any bills. Furthermore, much of their tobacco was confiscated, and all their slaves were set free. The combined effect of these reverses was very disastrous. However, they continued in the business until shortly after the close of the war. In 1869 they sold their plant to Hugh N. Martin, who manufactured in the .same building for a few years and then transferred the machinery to Chestnut Street, where in 187;') he added a steinmery and began putting up strips for the English market. Tn 1899 he removed to Louisville and there continued the leaf-and-.strip business.

In the meantime other men went into the tobacco business in Greenville. Among those who began in the early days of this indu.stry was George \V. Short, who aliout 18-13 began to manufacture plug tobacco. lie operated until 18fi0. Shortly after his death his plant was converted into a rehandling house, and remained as such until its destruction by fire. A few .vears after the elase of the war Hugh X. Martin, as already stated, began to make plug tolmceo. Alsuit the year 1874 Ezekiel Kiee, a grandnephew of the original William Martin, started the nianufaeturing of plug tobacco. He also handled leaf and put up a few .strips. In 1899 Ezekiel Hire moved to Louisville and one year later sold out to the American Tobacco Company. Heginning about the year 187') Charles E. .Martin and Williani Irvin, and also D. A. Martin and T. M. Morgan, began manufacturing tobacco, but continued in that line only a short time. During the latter part of the '70s Richard T. .Martin began the iilug-tobacco busim-ss. In 1902 he sold his maehinei-y and brands to a company in Hopkinsville, to which cit.v the plant was then moved. Charles Y. Martin nuule plug and twisi from 1880 to 189;); among his brands was the famous "XL Greenville." C. Y. Martin & Company now rehandle and export leaf tobacco and .strips. In 1885 T. JI. Green was among the manufacturers. A. J. -Martin and Azel M. Terry made plug tobacco during the latter part of the '80s. In 1902 the S. E. Rice Tobacco Company began the manufacture of plug and pipe tobaccos, and in 1902 Huren .Martin started in the plug business. The ,S. E. Rice Tobacco Company and Muren Martin & Company, of Gis-cnville, are now the only tobacco manufacturers in the count.v.

The tobacco manufacturing business was at it.s height in Muhlcnlmrg from about 1892 to 1898, when the four or five factories ])rodueed a total of alM)ut one million pounds a year.

Such, as I have given it, is a brief sketch of the first tobacco factory in the count.v ami a glimpse of the more prominent establishments that followed. Hut all the men who handled tobacco in Muhlenla'rg did not drift into the |)lug-manufacturing business. Pioneer .lames Weir Iwugbt tobacco in Greenville during the earliest y»*ars of the county's histor.v, shipping it in hogsheads to New Orleans. Edward R. Weir, sr., prized and shipped during 1840 and the years following. Thomas C. Summers, the father-in-law of Rufus Martin, l)ought leaf from 1850 up to the time of his death in Jlarch, 1886. Summers was one of the leading rehandlers of his day, and ran large houses at Earles and Hrcmen. .lohn C. Cari'.v, Charles W. Short, .losepb D. Yont-s, and Charles H. Wickliffe were among the Greenville men who handled leaf in the '70s. Among the outsiders who put up leaf and strips about that time were Fattman & Company, of New York, who bought tobacco in Muhlenberg from 1865 to 1870, and Aekenberger & Company, who were represented hy John Edmunds Reno about 1870 and after. Edward L. Yonts prized leaf from 1873 to 1890. Felix J. Martin handled tobacco from 1880 to 1885. George W. Eaves lanight tobacco during the early '80s. Rufus Martin, a son of Felix J. Martin, began the leaf and strip business about the year 1880, and was eondiieting a large establishment in Greenville when he died on November 3, 1902. As early as 1825 tobacco buyers were established at Paradise and a few other places in the county. II. D. Rothrock was one of the first buyers in South Carrollton. G. W. Hriggs handled tobacco at Dunmor and Penrod for a number of years. William Shackleton was among the later buyers at Paradi.se.

For many years, up to about 1890, some of the farmers who raised tobacco occasionally bought the crops of their neighlmrs and prized them into hogsheads, which were shipped to lamisville and sold on the "breaks." Among such buyers and shii)pers were Thomas L. Martin,* William Y. Newman. Alney E. Newman, William Hell, Thomas H. Johnson, J. Lyles, Albert Miles, C. Cisney, and Daniel J. Gish.

' Thomas L. .Martin was horn In Woodford County May 4, 1801, came to Muhlenberg with his widowed mother In 1805. and died December 20. 1874. He lived near Old Liberty, where he raised many large crops of tobaeeo and was also engaged In rehandling tobacco. He was a successful farmer and did much toward the uplift of the county In general and the Old Liberty neighborhood In particular. He married .Mahala Bell, daughter of pioneer William Bell. They were the parents of eight children: William, Dabney L., David H., Richard T., Charles Ellington, Thomas A., Mrs. Martha Jane (D. H.) Myers, and Mary Ann.

the open floor" or "pooled" and then sold to local or outside buyers, who ship the weed to Ijouisvillc and other tohaceo-inanufacturiniif cities. Since 1006 a control of the annual yield has been attempted by an organized l)ody of men, who limit the size of their crops by following an agreement sroverning each farmer's acreage. During the past few years "pool.s" have been formed in which certain farmers coiiperate to disj)ose of their combined crops to one buyer, to whom they .sell at contract [)riees and who pays them their specifiisl |irices according to grades determined by the .judges who grade it. The old way - the more independent way - of selling a erop is known as the "open floor." In this case the farmer raises as much tobacco as ho cares to and .sells it to any one who, in his judgment, makes the bi'st offer.

While the rehandlers and manufacturers are engaged in disi)osiiig of the tobacco that is rai.sed yi-ar after year, and while the consumers of the weed an- enjoying a smoki- or a chew or a dip of snuff, many of the farmers of Muhlenberg are busy looking after another crop. The growing of good tobacco meant hard labor in the olden times, and it means hard labor now. Xo crop recpiires more care or greater patience than tobacco. From the sowing of the seed to the hauling of the product to market, every stage requires its own particular kind of weather. Should one of these ungovernable conditions fail to prevail at the right time, the (pmntity and tpiality of the tobacco are seriously affected. In fact, the uncertainty of the outcome has made it .somewhat of a "gambling game." A croi> of tobacco is the source of much worry, watching, and waiting. It usually repres("nts a tenant's toil, for as a rule it is a "cropper's erop."

A tobacco crop now, as in the past, is worked along with other crops, and d<-mands con.stant attention for "thirteen months of the year." The outdoor work begins with the clearing, burning, sowing, and canvasing of the plant bed, anil continues down through the breaking of the ground, making of hills, setting and .sometimes re- .setting of the plants; then follows the hoeing and plowing, the ]>riming, topping, suckering, worming, cutting, and housing. After it is hung in the tobacco barn it is cured by either air-drying or by firing. ,\fter it has been cured and has "come in order" then the stripping, sorting, tying, and bulking take place. The nc.\t important event is to load the tobacco on a wagon and "carry" it to town and deliver it to the buyer.

southern half fire it. The curing of tobacco by firing \va.s probably introduced into JIuhlenberg by the raisers of the first crops. However, it was not extensively practiced until about 1825, after which time until about 1850 all of the local product was fired. Since the Civil War the air-drying proce.ss has lH"cn resumed to some extent in the lower part of the county.

Although firing is the most disagreeable and hazardous part of the management of the crop, it, like all other barn work, nevertheless results usually in a plea.sant time for those who participate. On this occasion card-playing, potato-roasting, story-telling, and the playing of pranks take place around the slowly burning logs until long after the midnight hour. In fact, a jovial spirit generally prevails during all the indoor work, especially at the stripping. Old traditions are then recalled, the latest happenings discussed, new stories introduced, and many of the old jokes and tales retold. Among the latter are a number that have the reputation of being "as old as the hills." One is to the effect that Grandfather Somebody had a calf trained .so that when he turned it into his tobacco of all the plants, thus sparing the farmer the trouble of topping. Another is that Uncle So-and-so had tobacco worms as large as the largest watermeloas, and that he (!Ould not get rid of them in any other way than by shooting them. At one time, so the tale is told, worms wore so bad that the children could not go to school, not because they might be nei'ded at home to jiick the pests or kill the "green hail," but because the worms might attack and possibly

The stripping is the first step toward tlie "winding up" of the croii, and every man who lias worked on it is more or less interested in its weight and worth. Practically every one concerned either makes a gue.ss or hets on the number of pounds, the proportion of leaf, lugs, and trash, and the price it will bring. Some not only gue.ss or bet on the tobacco on which they have spent so many days of hard work, but often wager on other crops in the neighborhood.

The average crop raised in Muhlenberg consists of aliout three and one half acres, on each of which are planted al>out thirty-five hundred plants.

Kvery acre produces from six hiindred to a thousand pounds; in .some instances the yield has reached eighteen hnndred pound.s. The average is abonl nine hundri'd pounds.- The weight is governetl by the eharaeter of the sea.son and the soil, ami the worth by the (|iiality and the sup|ily and demand. Notwithstanding this complicated state of alTairs, opinions regarding the pounds in the crop and the prii'c it will bring vary only a little.

The history of every crop is a eombinalion of Iragcsly, romance, and comedy. In spite of the constant work, unavoidable worry, and freipient di.sa|ipointments, the raising and handling of tobacco now has and alwa.vs has had many phsisant features, in the field as well as in the barn. Not the least among these features is watching the green leaves turn into greenbacks.

'Jacob Inibler. who lived west of Greenville, frequently raised over two thousand pounds of tobacco to the acre. It Is said that about the year 1850 he offered to bet three thousand dollars that he could raise three thousand pounds of tobacco, regardless of the weather, on any acre of ground he might select on his farm or In his neighborhood. Ills plan was to do all the work by hand, spade the ground deep, and give each plant the very best of care. The people were so well convinced he could succeed that the wager was never accepted.

Coal Mines And Iron Ore

MUIILENHP]R(i'S coal mines have a bearing on her past ami present, ami will iimhiubtedly form a prime factor in the county's future history. Iron ore has, so far, played a comparatively small part in Muhlenberg's bygone days; time alone can tell how great an effect the development of iron will have on the county's future history.

.Much of the information gathered relative to tlu locating and developing of coal I found in geological reports. Local tradition has comparatively little to say on the subject. No written history of any of the local mines has ever been attempted. Incidents that have taken place around mines are .soon forgotten, for current events usually form more interesting topics for di.seus.sion among miners than do matters pertaining to bygone days, and as a result niueh of the |>ast is lost, as it were, in the dust and darkness of a de.serted "entry" or an abandoned "room."

Fatalities occur in all coal-mining districts, and the cause and result of such accidents are among the things that are well remeinbereil by sympathizing miners. In three of the disasters that have taken [ilaee in the county a distressingly large number of lives have been lost. Each of these three disa.sters was the re.sult of an explosion. In the .Moody .Mine at South (.'arrollton two white men and eight negroes were killed on Eebruary 10, 1!I08; in the Mn>wder Mine liftemi white men and nineteen negroes were killed on February 1, 1910; in the Central Coal and Iron Company .Mine four white men and one negro were killed on January 17, 1912. .\ few accidents have occurred in each of which one man was killed; one or two resulted in the death of two men.

One of the few old .stories oeeasionally told around the mines is of what is known as the "Dovey Robbery. " One day during the summer of 1881 a stranger came to the Dove.v mines at Mercer, then operated by John Dovey and bis sons William aud Oimrge 15. Dovey. He asked for employment, and was fold that he could go to work in a few days. In the conversation that followed he impiired in a casual way as to when the railroad pay-train would be due, aud was informed that it had pa.ssed through the morning before. John Dovey incidentally remarked that the following day was pay-day for their miners, and that William Dovey had gone for the money and would return some time during the night. The next morning, after all the miners had gone to work, three strangers entered the Dovey store. 'I'wo of them immediately ste|iped in front of the building and guarded the place, while the third remained in the store ami with cocked pistol in hand demanded the contents of the safe, (jeorge 15. Dovey unliesitatingly opened tlie safe and proceeded to hand out all it contained - about thirteen dollars in cash and a gold watch with his father's name engraved on it. William Dovey, expected home the night before, had been delayeti and had not yet arrived with the jiay-roll money, which would have been in the safe had he come back at the time he originally intended to return. In the meantime two men and a woman, living near the mines, eame to the store to make purchases. They entered the building, little suspecting that the two strangers in front were guarding the place. Immediately after they had .stepped in, one of the strangers followed and with drawn pistol politely recpiested them to sit down and keep quiet while "yoving .Mr. Dovey was transacting business with his friend." (Ueorge 15. Itovey was then nineteen years of age.) After the robbers were .sati.stied that they had gotten all the cash and the only watch in the store, they quietly walked out of the building. By the time the thri*e customers and George H. Dovey had recovered sufficiently from the shock to step to the front door the three strangers wen- nowhere to be seen. However, an inve.stigation made shortly after s1iow<kI that the robbers bad gone toward Pond Creek, then to Rosewood, and across the clilTs into l/tgan County. It was not known until about a year later that Jes.se James was the man who had robbed the store, and that he hud come to Mercer for the purpose of robbing the imy-train. In April, 1882, when Jes.se James was killed, the John Dovey watch was among the things found in his po.sse.s.sion, and his administrator, seeing the name engrave<l on it, lo<-ated the Doveys and returned the .stolen property. *

In a .sketch on ''Powderly, Past and Pre.sent," published in the Greenville Record, .March, 1!H1, Miss Amy M. Ia)iigest touches on the history of the mine in that town :

"The real birthday of Powderly was .March 17, 1887. The place was so named in honor of T. V. Powderly, who was before the public at that time as a leader in the great labor movement. In the spring of 1887 a band of men Imught .some land near the railroad, two miles north of Greenville, and commenced the opening of a coal mine. This enterprise was a novel one : each shareholder in the Cooperative Coal Company put in twenty-five dollars or gave its equivalent in work. John D. Longest was the first president of the company.

' No Muhlenbergpr - native born or adopted son - was better known In professional atbleticB than George B. Uovey. After he became manager of the Boelon National League Baseball Club he. In 1907 and In 1908, brought his "nine" to Central City and gave his "friends and fellow-citizens" an exhibition game of professional baseball.

world was shocked on Saturday, June 19, to learn of the sudden death of President George B. Dovey, of the Boston National League Club, on a Pennsylvania Railroad train while traveling In Ohio in search of players to strengthen his team. Mr. Dovey was forty-seven years old and a native of Philadelphia, whence he removed in early life to Central City, where his father owned coal property. Between times George played short field under the name of Colby on Barney Dreyfus' Paducah team, while a brother played second base under the name of Dayton. The Dovey boys, after giving up the mining business, turned their attention to other lines, and George B. became a railway man in Cleveland, Detroit, and St. Louis. . . . When, In the fall of 1906, he purchased the Boston Club, he resigned his position with the St. Louis Car Co. and removed

"Cottages were built by the miners, most of whom came from different localities and brought their families to live with them in the new town. All the members of this colony soon became acquainted and lived a quiet, congenial life. . . . But as a mine the enterprise, for lack of capital, was a failure. With the purchase of the Powderly Mine, in 1890, by the Greenville Coal Company, there began a change. All the stockholders sold their interest in the mine and many of them disposed of their houses and moved away. The vacated cottages were soon filled with other people and more new houses were built. The mine was better eipiipped . . .

It is probable that .some of the outcroppings of coal in Muhlenberg were observed by a number of the first-comers in the county, hut the real nature and future value of the coal was not recognized by them. Timber was abundant, and the pioneers were more interested in the finding of good sandstone for chimneys and foundations than they were in the question of fuel.

Tradition has it that Alney McLean or his sou, William D. McLean, accidentally discovered that the "black rock'' found on the JIcLean farm, near Green River, would burn. About the year 1820 William I). JIcLean oi>ened up what was known as the .\lcljcan drift bank below Paradise. lie was one of the first men to report the e.'cistence of coal in Western Kentucky, and also one of the first to recognize Muhlenberg's coal ns a desirable fuel. However, w<«)d being plentiful and more convenient, his di.seovery was at that time regarded ns a matter of little consequence.

About the year 1830 a few barges of coal were mined at the McLean bank and sent down Green River to Kvansville and Owenslioro. At about that time coal was also taken from near Ennis and the .Mud River Mine and hauled to Russellville in ox wagons, a distance of about thirty miles. In the meantime a few men living near Pond River, among whom was William .McXnry, experimented on the coal that cropped out in that part of tlie county. In the central and .southern sections a number of small drift banks were opened as early as about 1832, for the purpose of supplying the roadside blacksmiths. The early blacksmiths called this fuel "rock coal,'' thus di.stinguishing it from charcoal, which for many years was the only coal burned in their forges.

In 1838 and during a few years following Huekiier and Churchill used charcoal in their furnace and also a little of the lower coal (|)robably Xo. 4), which they mined near The Stack. In 18il4 Ale.xander reopened one of the .McLean mines at .Virdrie that had been worked more or le.ss since about 1820, and also sank two shafts.

to ItoBlon and assumed the duties o[ president and treasurer of the club. Mr. Dovey, albeit a shrewd business man, was thoroughly familiar with baseball and an ardent lover of the game. Personally he was most affable and companionable. a good talker and 'mixer,' and a man who made friends readily, and having made them held them; In short, he was Just such a man as was needed to regain a National League following lu Boston, and would have, without doubt, ultimately succeeded in giving Boston a winning National League team had his life been spared. He la survived by two brothers - John S., the secretary and treasurer of the Boston National League Club, and James, who lives at Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and by his mother. Mrs, Catherine .1. Dovey, aged cighty-six. who lives In Brooklyn. .Mr. Dovey was burled at Mount Moriah Cemetery. Philadelphia."

The coal alonp Green River received more attention in the early days than any found elsewhere in the county, Iweause its location offered better transportation facilities. The McLean Hank, the Williams Shaft, the Vanlandinithani Ledge, Pain's Mine, Kineheloe's Hluff Hank, the Rothrock Mine, and the Throckmorton Mine, all on or near Green River, and the Mud River Mine on Mud River, were among Muhlenberg's first eominercial mines.

In 1847 Lewis Collins, in the short chapter on Muhlenberg County published in his first "History of Kentucky,'' says "the county abounds in coal and iron ore.'' Hut the great extent and probable value of the deposits of either the coal or the iron ore was given very little thought by local peoi»le before David Dale Owen, in 1854, publi.shed the First Report of the Geological Survey in Kentucky. In this report (pages 135 to 149) Doctor Owen calls attention to the existence of coal in about twenty-fis'e different places in the eount.v. Among other things he states (page 140) that the coal measures of .Muhlenberg County are "rich in coal and inm ore.'' In the official publications that follow he and his sueecssoi-s report many other localities where thick veins of coal exist in the county. Doctor Owen observed that coals Xo. 12, No. 11, and No. 9, anil all the lower numbers, are found throughout the northern half of Muhlenberg and in most of that part of the county that lies along Green River, and also that in the southern half of the county the lower numbers, down to the subcarboniferous, crop out in rotation and beyond the limits of the county run out entirely. Tinmany observations made since bis day have merely verified his statements.

Regardless of the comparative value of the.se veins, the interesting fact in Muhlenberg's history is that these great deposits were studied and officially reported as carl.v as 18.54 by Doctor David Dale Owen. America's greatest geologist. Doctor Owen foresaw that the ipiality and abundance of this mineral was such that .Muhlenberg would .some day Im- a great coalproducer. Developments since his time, and especially in recent years, have undoubtedly gone far beyond any i>rophccy he then felt justified in making.

In the early '70s of the la.st century, after the completion of the Klizabethtown & Paducah Railroad through the eount.v, and later after the construction of the Owensboro & Russellville Railroad from Owcnslwro to Owensboro Junction (now Central City), a number of mines were opened along these two lines. In 1875 no le.ss than twelve mines were in operation on or near what is now the Illinois Central Railroad: Paine's Mine and the Collier and Woodcock Mine, near Green River; the Richmond Mine, near what is now Martwiek; the Ijouisville and Stroud Cit.v Mine, the Galena, the Ross Mine, and the Finch Shaft, all four in the immediate vicinity of Central City; the Coppage Drift Mine; the Men-er Mine; the Muhlenberg Mine, and near Gordon .Station (Depoy) the Gordon Mine, the Quinn Mine, and Arbuekle's Mine.

While these mines were being worked, land in the immediate vicinity of the railroad slowly advanced in price, but not until about 1880 did mine operators begin to appreciate the value of tlu-se deposits. In the meantime the county's railroad indebtedness became such that few capitalists cared to venture into the field. However, in the course of ii few years more small mine.s were opened and also a few larite ones. Mines are now operated aloni; all four of the railroads in the county. Besides a numher of "country banks," there are at present twenty-si.K eommereial mines in Muhlenberg, whose total output has placed her at the head of the eoal-produeing counties in Kentucky.

Coal-mining methods have undergone many changes in n-eent years. All the eommereial mines in .Muhlenberg use modern machinery. Many of them are equipped with the latest electric applianee.s. The Midland >[inc has a steel tipple. One modern imiirovement follows another .so rapidly that the methods of a few years previous are soon regarded as out of date. During thesi- rapid ehangi-s the I'arly methods - the methods in vogue forty or more years ago - are almost lost sight of, for like the traditions bearing on the first mines in the county they are seldom or never referred to, and are as it were buried in the old dum|is.

Among the very few men in the county who have made a study of early mining methods is William II. lloskinson, who lives near Mud Kiver Mine, and to whom I am indebted for data on the early history of this old mine.

Mud River Mine, although never a large one, wils in the early days the largest in Muhlenberg, and is now considered "the oldest in the county." Its early history, vague as it is, is worth preserving, if for no other reason than the fact that it is the only one of the early mines regarding which any facts have been preserved by tradition.

The land known as the Mud River Mine property was originally a small tract. Adjoining surveys were purchased at various times, and the whole is now a body of about four thou.sand acres. During the pa.st eighty years the place has been opened and closed a number of times, notwitlcstanding the fact that its coal has always been considered of a superior (piality. It is said that every time the mine was shut down it was because the operator had failed to introduce modern methods.

In the early days tlie Mud River Mine was confined to the openings on the "river side" - the side of the hill that faces Mud River. The openings on the opposite side of the same long hill were made in comparatively recent times, and are on what is known as the "railroad side." It is .so called bccau.se it is on the .same side as the Louisville & Na.shville Railroad and because a railroad track had been built from Penrod to the mine and used for a number of years.

Four entries, at different times, were driven into the hill at places on the river side. Regarding the oldest of these there is no reliable tradition as to when it was opened or abandoneil. 1 infer, however, that it was opened as early as 1830. The second was probalily opened shortly after, and was used until about 1858, when what is now called the old Hall & Payne entry was made anil worked until about 18(14. The Old Shop entry, the fourth and last on the river side, was opened in 18(14, and for about twenty years jiroduced all the coal mined at Mud River.

Although there wen* four mines on the river side, only two tipples had been built on the river bank. This verities the tradition that all the coal produced from the two other entries was taken away in wagons. It was bought by a number of black.sniiths in Huth*r, Logan, and .MuhlenlaTg counties, .some of whom were obliged to haul it a great distance. The principal market, however, was at Ru.ssellville, about thirty miles away. What is still called the "Olil Coal Road" begun at the river side and ended in Rus-sellville. It was at one time one of the best-known thoroughfari's in the county.

Some of the people who burned this coal sent their own wagons after it, but generally it was hauled by men who lived near the mine ami who math* a business of di*livering it. The.se wagoners, as a rule, drove a yoke of o.xen, and often three or four yoke, to a load. It usually reiptired about three days to make the tri|> to Ru.ssellville and return. The drivers always carried neee.ssary supplies with them, and were prc[)ared to eamji any place where night might overtake them.

About the year 1850 Doctor Roberts appeared on the scene. He built a few substantial log cabins for his employes, and erected for his own use a hou.se on the hill that divides the two sides. His residence is still standing. Doctor Roberts owned a nundier of slaves, among whom was one named Carter, who in ail prolmhility was as black as coal, for even to this day the e.xpre.ssion "black as Carter" is used by many of the people living near .Mud River .Mine, few of whom know the origin of the phra.se or give it any more thought than they ilo the wherealKuits of that Carter who .seems to have had an ahundance of oats. Up to the arrival of Doctor Roberts all the coal that had been mined was taken away in wagons. He was the first to ship it in barges down Mud River. Shortly after 1850 the hauling of coal over the Old Coal Road liegan to fade into insignificance compared to the coat traffic on the river. The coal barges were taken up and down the river by men known as "river runners.'' Sometimes the boats were cordelled - that is, pulled by a rop(> that had been fastened to the Imjw and taken as far ahead as the length of the lino or crookedness of the channel would allow. Most of them, however, were pushed along by means of set-poles manipulated by the erew. The men and tioys .seem to have enjoyed their work on the river as much as the ilrivers did theirs on the Old Coal Road.

The Doctor Roberts Rouse, Mud River Mine

They were faiiiiliar with all the ineaiiderings and landmarks along the stri-ain, and although never measured, the distance from one point to anothi'1- was well understood. It wjis considered two miles from the tipple to the mouth of Clift.v or Rocky Creek, two more to Hiizzanls' Roost, and two more to the Old .Mill Seat or the Half-Way. From there it was two miles farther to Conley's Lake, two more to Fleming's Landing, and two more down to the mouth - in nil twelve miles to Rochester. Most of the barges, after they reached (Ireen River, were sent farther on by means of tow-boats. Many of them were taken as far as Howling (Jreen.

Doctor H. W. Hall and M'illiam Pa.vne operated tlie mine for a few years preceding the Civil War. They are now not as well remembered on account of their connection with the mine as they are because they introduced into the neighborh<K>d a bri'ed of hogs known as "mule-footed hogs.'' These hogs, in general appearance, were not unlike what their name implied. This breed gradually became mi.xed with other hogs around the mine and finall.v all trace of it disappeared. Up to a few years ago one could oeeasionall.v see a hog with some of its hoofs "mule-footed'' and the others "split."

In 1870 Doetor H. W. Hall returned and hroucht with him Captain James H. Ryan, of Nashville, 'I'ennessee. These two men did more toward developint; the tiiine on the river side than any of their pretleeessors. After Doetor Hall withdrew, Captain Ryan opened the first mine on the railroad side of the hill and had a railroad traek hiiilt to it from Penrod. Since his da.v the eoal has been worked in a limited wa.v. It is said that the present owners of the .Mud River .Mine are making' a careful stud.v of the

"Those who are familiar with none hut the present methods of mining; coal can not easily realize on how diminutive a scale the old Mud River Mine - or ati.v other old eoal mine - was worked. In 1871-72, when my father, Jackson Hoskinson. oj)erated this mine under a eontra<d with Hall A: R.van, he juit out more eoal than had ever before Iwen produced at this place in the same length of time. Hut there are mines in Muhlenberg Count.v now that produce more eoal in one week than did old .Mud River during the entire two .years of m.v father's eontraet.

".Modern methods, as we know them to-da.v, were never in use at Mud River. In fact, the methods employed at an.v given time were never modern even at the time used. Jlueh eoal has heen produced here by the light of candles and the old 'Dutch lamps,' hut these were displaced long ago by the more convenient <levices from which have evolved the present oil and carbide lamps. The drill, needle, and scraper were never .seen here until about 18(19. Hefore that time all eoal was wedged down. A g(K)d steel sledge and five or .si.x steel wedges were among the e.sseiitials of a collier's kit; he also hail a heav.v iron rake, with which he separated his coal, being careful to load nothing that would pa.ss through the rake. His ear was suppixsed to hold ten bushels. When it was filled a homemade wis>den ticket was attnclusi to it and a 'pusher' pushed it out of the nsmi into the 'liewa.v,' where it was coupled on to one or two other ears and pulled by a mule to the tipple. Dnly one mule was us<"d in the mine, and he never went an.v farther than the 'lie-wa.v. ' In fact, small as he was, it was nccessar.v in many places to remove some of the roof or Isittom to make it possible for him to reach the 'lie-wa.v.' The track throughout the mine was of wood. For a long time car wheels without flanges wen' used - the flange, or guard rail, being part of the wooden track. In the course of time these smoothfaced old wheels and the wooden tracks were superseded by flanged wheels and iron rail.s.

"Hlasfing iwwder, it is said, was first used here alsjut 1869, by August Haker. This was the beginning of a new epoeh at Mud River, for the churndrill, needle, and scraper .s(m)ii Is-gan to take the ]daee of the .sUsige and we<lges. All the coal was mined 'on the clear' and four or five inches of powder was considered a good shot. The little squib now so common was then unknown. In its stead the miners used a joint of wheat-straw filled with gunpowder, which was set off by means of an oiled paper placed under the straw and attached to the coal by a small lump of clay. When I was a boy I made many of these squibs, leaving the joint in one end of the straw and stopping the other end with soap to keep the powder from running out.

"The airing of the mine received very little consideration while the plaee was small, but as the entries inereased in length this problem became greater. The general principle was the same then as now, except that fans were unknown. If any accident occurred around old Mud Kiver in the early days worse than the scraping of a pusher's back on a bump in the roof, 1 never heard of it.

"There never were more than eight dwellings, a few barns and cribs, and a blacksmith shop in the town. As far as I am aware, the mine employes paid no rent, but they took good care of the houses assigned them. There was a small room in one end of the shop where a few groceries were kept for the accommodation of such families as might need them before they had an opportunity to have .some brought up from Rochester. As a rule the miners sent to Rochester for enough supplies at one time to do them for a month or two. These purcha.ses were brouglit to the mines by the 'river runners' on their return trips. .Such small quantities as are now bought by many of the miuer.s - a pound of coffee, a quarter's worth of sugar - were unheard of then. Nor were they guilty of such sinful and semseless extravagance as is now so often seen among miners. Milk, butter, eggs, and vegetables were seldom if ever bought, for each family produced its own. Many of the miners raised their own corn and meat ; those who did not usually bought them from the farmers at the proper season and in sufficient quantities to run them for a year.''

The oldest of the large mines in Muhlenberg now in operation is the Central Mine at Central City. Biederman duPont, the father of the present great mining industry in Muhlenberg, established the Central Coal & Iron Company, and in 1872, he being then a man of about thirty-five years, began developing (among that company's other holdings in Western Kentucky) two mines in the immediate vicinity of what later became Central City. The first of these was the Galena, west of town, and the other the Stroud Mine, both working the No. 11 vein. The .shaft of what is now the Central Mine wa-s .sunk alongside the Stroud shaft in the fall of 1883. Coal

No. 9 was readied tlie day before Tlianksgiving. This day is fixed in the minds of those who lielped sink the shaft, for T. (Joleman duPont, son of B. duPont, .sent every one of them some of the eoal from the new opening, and with it llieir Thanksgiving turkey was cooked. Tlie Galena was in its day the largest mine in the eounty. The Central Mine, its successor, held the .same position from the time it was opened down to twenty years after.^ The largest eoal-produeer in the county is the Graham-Skilio mine. This mine was opened in lOOd by the W. G. Duncan Coal Coinjiany of Greenville, who in 1 !)()() opened the Luzerne .Mine. No. 9 eoal is worked at both of these mines. The Graham-Skiho tipi>le is a douhic one, serving the

'Among the well-known men who were Identified with the Central Mine and with Central City were William 1). .MctOlhinny, who was vice-president and treasurer of the Central Coal & Iron Company from 1899 to 1911; Hywel Davies, now of Louisville, who was general manager from 1894 to 1900 and from 1909 to 1912, and who is serving as the first president of the Mine Owners Association of Kentucky: John S. Hobson, who until 1911 was sales agent, and the late Esquire E. Howey, who for many years was purchasing agent. The oflicers of the Central Coal & Iron Company are: T. Coleman duPont, president (who lived In Central City for a number of years, did much toward the upbuilding of the town, and who now lives In Wilmington, Delaware): John B. .McElhinny, secretary (who has been Identifled with the mine since 1899): Samuel A. Yorks, vice-president, treasurer, and general manager (who although a newcomer Is one of the best known and moat influential young men In Central City).

Urahain entry from one side and tlie Skibo from the other. Hoth divisions are equipped with the latest electric hauling and mining machinery. The tipple, like all other parts of this mine, is u|) to date in every respect and is kept always in neat condition. The town of Graham is one of the neatest and most orderly mining towns in the county.^

The output in Muhlenberg in 1911 was a little less than two and a quarter million tons, whieh at the rate of forty tons to the ear made about 55.000 carloads of eoal for that year.

The official report for 1911 shows that the average number of persons emplo.yed at and in these mines during the current year (excepting those in stores, offices, and similar positions! was 3,504, of whom 3,067 worked underground and 437 on the surface.

ofllccrs of the tV. G. Duncan Coal Company are William G. Duncan, president. Charles W. Taylor, vice-president and manager, and Andrew W. Duncan, secretary and treasurer. William G. Duncan, Is the mining engineer. A. W. and W. G. Duncan, Jr., are sons of William G. Duncan. The four men here referred to live In Greenville and in many ways have done much toward the advancement of the interests of both the county and the town.

The production of coal in Muhlenberg County for the years 1890 to 1911 inclusive, as shown by the records in the office of C. J. Norwood, Chief State Inspector of Mines, is as follows;

Muhlenberg County has an area of aliout four hundred square miles, all of which is underlaid with coal. However, only about two thirds of this .TTTTr, or 270 .siiuarc rnili*s, is, it is said, underlaid with coal No. 9 and No. 11, which arc the largest veins and practically the oidy ones now being worked. Each foot of thiekne.ss of a vein of this coal is estimated to produce 1,000 tons to the acre, and since No. 9 and No. 1 1 have a combined average thickness of from ten to eleven feet, these two \'eins will run, aeconling to this estimate, about 10,tH10 tons to the acre, or (1,400,000 tons to the square mile, and 1, 728,000, 0(K) tons to the 270 square miles. Thus, a.ssuming that the coal is uniform and estimating the output at three million tons per year, these two veins alone could be worked, aeconling to these figure.s, for alwiit six centuries, or until about the year 2300 A. 1).

The mining of coal has passed the experimental stage and is now a welle.stablishcd industry. The histor.v of the two attempts to develop the iron ore is given in "The Story of The Stuck" and "Paradise (knintry and Old Airdrie." As already .stated, the ibickner Furnace was in operation about the year 1840 and the Airdrie furnace about tlie year 18,33. Although the failure of both furnaces was due to eau.ses other than the quality or quantity of the ore, no further attempt has b('cn made to develop the.se extensive deim.sits.

In the ease of inm ore, os in the ease of coal, the first official record dates back to 18.34, when Doctor Owen's report on these resources was published in the First (ieologieal Survey of Kentucky. On page 59 he calls attention to the fact that "the lower coal mea.sures in Muhlenberg and Hopkins counties include important beds of iron ore." In this same volume, pages 343 to 3;39, are published the results of chemical analysi>s made by Doctor Robert Peter of nine iron ores found near (Jrcen River and in the .southern part of the county. They show that the.se ores contain from 31.17 [ler cent to 43..3t> per cent of iron. The existence and char aeter of these ores is not only discussed by Doctor Owen in the three succc('ding rcimrts eomi)iled under his supervision, but the .subject is abso dwelt on by some of his suecessoi's. In Vol. I, New Series, Kentucky

Geological Survey, page 278, Doctor Robert Peter, having further investigated the iron ores of Muhlenberg, shows that they arc composed of from 32.81 per cent to 48.82 per cent of iron. In Vol. II, New Series, jiages 433 to 437, Profe.s.sor N. S. Shaler, in 1876, writes:

"The mast extensive and best developed ore region of Western Kentucky is called the Cumberland River iron region. . . . This region is capable of, and destined to, a much greater development than it has yet attained. . . . Already measures are in progress for the erection of

Tipple And Power Rouse, Black Diamond Mine, Dbakesbobo

Railroad, which will doubtless prove but the first stej) in the .suecc.ssful development of a different form and more extensive iron industry than any yet established in Western Kentucky. ... It is one of the most richly endowed undeveloped iron regions in the State. ... In many other localities in the western coal-field iron ores have been found, but they have not been thoroughly iirospected and little is known of their extent. One of the best-known localities of this sort is in Muhlenberg County. In this county are found, at Airdrie Furnace, on Green River, and at Buekii(>r Furnace, near Greenville, dejiosits of so-called blackband iron ore, a ferruginous liituininous shale, yielding about thirty jier cent of iron."

Such is in brief tbe history of the discovery of iron ore in Muhlenberg. Altbough two attempts to work this iron ore have been made, it has not yet been successfully accomplished. Many of the be.st mining experts and practical cluonists of to-day declare that the local iron ore is not workable, and furtbermore that the local coal can not be coked for tbe purpose of a flux. On the other hand a number of Muhlenberg men and some outsiders have prophesied that the development of this ore, like the coal, will

"After the year 1800 the iron business in Kentucky made rapid progress, and from 1825 to 1860 it was a flourishing industry. The State is still dotted with the ruins of furnaces, for there is ore in various parts of Kentucky, hut little of it being mined. There is ore both in the ea.stern and western coal fields and outside of them.

to the discovery of the greater ore fields in the Northwc.st and elsewliert' anil also to the changed methods of mining, manufacturing, and distribution that have come about with the development of the country. Before the days of railroads Kentucky had many furnaces in successful operation. The ore wa-s not exhausted and it is still here in great quantities. Will the industry ever 'come hack?' Possibly not, and if it should it would be on a very different basis from what it was in the days of the old charcoal furnaces as they existed in Bath and Estill, in Nelson and Bullitt, in Lyon and Trigg and in other counties of Kentucky and in the counties of Southern Ohio. Nevertheless it is scarcely to he believed that these stores of iron will remain locked up forevennore. Next to coal Kentucky is more abundantly supplied with iron than with any other mineral. The country is using and exporting more iron every year. Whether or not there should be a resumption of furnace operations it is certain that .some day this vast underground wealth will be in demand. While capital is so a.ssiduously engaged in buying up Kentucky coal lands might it not he worth while to devote some attention to our latent iron deposits, which have been known to some extent to the outside world since the days of the Revolution 1 It is a queer phase of the mineral development of this country that a State which was the cradle of Bessemer steel and which once was dotted with furnaces from the Big Sandy to the CumlK-rland River should have ceased to figure seriously as a proilucer of iron."

The mining of coal in Muhlenberg is an e.stablished industry, and since the supply is practically inexhaustible, its future record will undoubtedly form much of the county's local history. Capital, labor, and skill are the forces now successfully developing the wealth in the coal. But the development of the iron was for many years an unfortunate victim of operative blunders and bad transportation facilities, and is still a victim of doubt and neglect. King Coal will reign for many years, but I dare say the Iron Master will some day help rule. Then Doctor Owen's observation, made in 1854, that the coal measures of Muhlenberg are "rich in coal and iron," and Collins' statement, pulilished in 1847, that "the county abounds in coal and iron ore" will be more fully appreciated, and the records of science and history, long ignored, will receive the credit due them.

William G. Duncan, the Coal King of Muhlenberg County, was born in Scotland September 4, 1851. In 1855 his parents moved to Penasylvania and the .same year came to Airdrie, to which place his father, Andrew Duncan, a practical miner, had been invited by Alexander. After the Airdrie Furnace was abandoned Andrew Duncan operated coal mines near Paradise and Airdrie, where William G. Duncan spent his youth. After operating a number of mines in Ohio County and other places, William G. Duncan returned to Muhlenberg in 1900 and opened the Luzerne Mine. In 1903 he opened the Graham-Skibo Mine, which is the largest and best-equiiiped mine in WT?stern Kentucky. These mines are owned by the W. G. Duncan Coal Company, of which corporation he is president. Mr. Duncan lives in Greenville in a house that is regarded as one of the most beautifully finished and furnished homes in the Green River country.

No man has done more toward the development of Muhlenberg's coal industry, and no citizen is more liberal or has the interests of the county more at heart, than William G. Duncan.

William O. Duncan, 1912

Jamos Wilson Lain was born in Mnhicniicrir County June 2J, 1851. His father, Elijah Lam, was born in Tenne.s.see in 1822, and his mother, Martha Cates, was born in North Carolina in 1818. Ilis parents were married in Tennessee in 1842, removeil to MuhlenberR in 1850, and settled on a farm near Hillside. J. \V, l,am is one of their six ehildren. In 1874 Mr. Lam married Naney Kach-s. daufrhter of .Nathaniel and Elizabeth Eades. Their two ehildren are Mrs. Eula Marffaret (Charles W.) Koark and -Mrs. Mayme Elizabeth (Hubert) -Merislith. Mr. Lam was in the mereantile business until 1891, when he entered the eoal-miniii); business and opened Hillside Mine. In 1895 h(' opened Oakland Mine, within two hundred yards of the plaee of his birth. He has operated these two mines eontinuously from the time they were opened, and has mined eoal from under the t;roiind on whieh stood the house in whieh lie was born. He has been iilelllilied with various eoal-mininf; interests in the eount.v, and is at pre.sent eliKaKi'il in operating Hillside, Oakland, .Morpin, and Dovey mines. He moved to (iri-enville in 188.5. In 1901 he helped organize the MuhlenberK Comity .SaviiifPi Hank, (Jreenville, and has served as its presiilent sinee 190J. He has been for more than twenty-five years one of the most publie-spirited citizens of the eounty. Cnlike many self-made men, he is very liberal. Throutth his personal efforts and his linaneial eontributions be has dom* miieh towaril the material improvement and the moral uplift of .Muhlenberf; County in peneral and of fireenville in particular. Ho has erected more modern Imsine.ss houses there than any other eitizeii. He began bis first term as mayor of the town in 1905, and is now serving his second term.

William A. WieklilTe is a son of William H. Wiekliffe and a grand .son of pioneer .-Vringfon WieklilTe. He was born in South Carrollton February Hi, 18110. In 1879 he began reading law under Judge W. W. Sweeney, of Owensboro. In 1880 be graduati-d from the Law l)e|>artment of the Cniversity of Louisville and the same year located in (ireenville, where he began the practice of law, which he is .still following. He served as eounty attorney from 1882 to 188(i, was .superintendent of county schools from 1888 to 1890, ma.ster commi.ssioner of the Muhlenberg Circuit Court from 1889 to 1897, and mayor of the city of Greenville from 1893 to 1897. In 1901 he was elected president of the First

National Bank, Greenville, which office he still holds. In 1903 he organized the W. A. Wickliffe Coal Company, which operated at Browder. A few years later he sold his interests in that corporation, and having pureha.sed a large interest in the Greenville Coal Company at Powderly, he with his a.s.sociat(*s, in 1910, bought large tracts of coal lands from the Central Coal & Iron Company and in the fall of 1911 opened the mine known as Martwick - a name derived from Martin and Wickliffe. Judge Wickliffe has made a succe.ss of mining, hanking, and law, and is widely known in all three circles. In IHS.'t he married Midlie Keynolds, daughter of John T. Keynolds, sr., and a granddaughter of pioneer Jo.seph C. Keynolds. Their home in Greenville is one of the largest and handsomest rt*sidences in the county. .Mr. and Mrs. Wickliffe are the parents of four .sons and one daughter. Their two eldest SOILS, Paul K. and Matthew B., are wiluam a, wiokuffe. 19j2

Company, and, like Judge Wickliffe, are interested in promoting the commercial welfare of .Muhlenhei'g. Their other children are Mi.ss Margaret Bouise and Ma.sters William B. and J. Edwin Wickliffe.

Collins On Muhlenberg, Quoted And Extended

COLLINS' "History of Kentucky'' is the only l)ook in which an attempt has heretofore been made to record a history of Muhlenberg County. In 1784 John Filson published a history of "Kentueke,'' the first history of the Commonwealth ever ))rinted. Among other early histories of the State are "The History of Kentucky'' by Humphrey Jlarshall, in 1812 and 1824, and "The History of the Commonwealth of Kentucky'' by Mann Butler, in 1834 and 1836. In 1847 Lewis Collins published tlie first edition of his "Historical Sketches of Kentucky,'' and in 1874 Richard H. Collins greatly enlarged and extendtsl his father's work. Some of the other histories that followed are, "Kentucky, a Pioneer Commonwealth,'' by Nathaniel S. Shaler, in 1885; "The History of Kentucky,'' by Zaeliariah P. Smitli, in 1886, 1892, and 1895, and "Kentucky in the Nation's History,'' by Robert McNutt .McRlroy, in 1909. All these histories are State histories. However, Lewis Collins includes in his work a brief history of each county, and the same plan is followed in the work of his son, Richard IT. Collins. Kentuckians will owe an everincreasing debt of gratitude to the two Collins for the patient labor ami patriotic devotion that animated them in preparing their histories. The.se books are a mine of personal, political, and general facts concerning the early history of the coiintira of the State, much of which would have perishe<I but for them. Lewis Collins is the Kentucky Herodotus, in point of material at lea.st, and his collection and that of his son must ever remain the starting-point of the future histories of t'very county in the State.

The "Biographical Kncyclopedia of Kentuckian.s,'' published in 1878, contains biographies of eight Muhlenberg men, and "Kentucky, a Hi.story of the State,'' by J. II. Battle, i)ublished in 1885 by the F. A. Battey Publishing Company, contains biographies of ninety-two local citizens. These sketches, with a few exceptions, contain merely short .statements regarding the ancestry and life of the subject. Nevertheless, all seiwe the pur|)ose for which they were intended and are well worth preserving. The one on Rumsey touches on the invention of the steamboat, and is (pioted in full in the chapter on Kdward Rums<"y. 'I'lie one of (.'harles Kaves is, from a literary standpoint, by far the best of these biographies, and a portion of it is quoted in the chapter devoted to the career of Judge Eaves.

The "Biographical Enoyclope<lia of Kentttekians'' (1878) contains biographies of the following Muhlenberg men ; Finis McLean Allison, Colonel S. P. Love, Judge Alncy McLean, Honorable Edward Rumsey, James Weir, sr., James VV'eir, jr., Colonel E. R. Weir, and Charles Fox Wing.

Th(! first half of Battle's "Kentueky, a History of the State" (1885), is devoted to a history of the Commonwealth; the last half of the edition prepared for the western part of the State contains hiopraphies of a mimher of men living in the counties of Butler, Caldwell, Crittenden, Hancock, Hopkins, Livingston, I,ogan, Lyon, McLean, Muhlenberg, Ohio, Union, and Webster. The following appear under the head of Muhlenberg County :

Collins' "History of Ki-ntuoky," as stated, is the only book in which is preserved a history of Muhlenberg County. Collin.s' first history was published in 1847, by LewLs Collins, and reprinted in 1850. In 1874 Richard II. Collins revi.sed his father's work, enlarged it to a two-volume edition, and brought it down to date. A third edition appeared in 1877, a fourth in 1882, and a fiftli in 1910. The last three editions are printed from the same plates, and do not include any hi.story later than 1877. In all four of these editions by Richard II. Collins the first half of the work (Volume 1) is devoted to a hi.story of the State, wliile tlie second half (Volume If) deals with tlie hi.stories of the counties, which are arranged in alphabetical order. The .short sketch [lublished of Muhlenberg in 1847 and the one published in 1874 are here reprinted. Although they are not much more than an outline of the county's history, and notwithstanding the fact that both contain a few errors, they will in all probability always be of great inten-st to readers of .Muhlenberg's history.

In the preface to the 1847 edition Jjewis Collins acknowledges his indebtedness to "Charh-s F. Wing. Ksip'., of Muhlenburg," for information regarding the eount.v. With the exception of a few lines giving a biography' of General Muhlenberg, 1 here (piote in full the first data ever published on the history of the county.

Mfiil-ENiirRu county was formed in 1798, and named in honor of Gen. Peter Mi'iu.enki'RU, of the revolutionary army'. It is situateil in the south-we.stern middle part of the State, and lies on the waters of Greene river: Bounded on the north and north-ea.st by Greene river, which separates it from Davie.ss and Ohio; east by Butler; south by' Todd and Ia)gan; and we.st by' Hopkins. In the southern portion of the TOiinty the surface is hroken, and the lands comparatively poor; while the middle anil northern divisions are undulating, and the soil productive. Corn, pork, and tobacco, are the staples. The eoiinty' abounds in coal and iron ore. The "Henry Clay Iron Works,'' four miles from Greeiieville is snpplieil with ore of a superior ipiality from the contiguous high grounils, which, as the i|uantity is inexhaustible, has obtained the name of the "Iron Monnidin." There are several mineral springs in Muhlenburg; and salt, in small quantities, was at one time iminufaetured in the county.

Nundier of acres of land in .Muhlenburg, 274,809 ; average value of lands per acre, .'fil.O.'l; valuation of taxable property' in 1846, :fl,298,019 ; number of white males over twenty-one yeai-s old. 1,:166; number of children between five and sixteen years old, 1,744; population in 1840, 6,964.

'In this (the 1S47 edition) Collins spells the name of the county, that of the county sent, and that of the river, "MiihlenhurK," and "Greene River." In the 1874 edition the spelling Is "General Muhlenberg" and "Muhlenburg county." General .Muhlenberg never spelled his name other than with the terminal "berg." It Is frequently, but erroneously, printed "burg," not only on the early maps of the State but also In many other early publications. The name Is rarely misspelled In the early county records, and never In those of a later date.

Oreeneviu.e, the seat of justice, is one hutulreil and twenty miles from Frankfort. It contains, besides the usual pidilic buildings, one Presbyterian and one .Methodist ehureli, si.\ lawyers, three physicians, one seminary, six stores, one grocery, two taverns, one wool carding factory, two tobacco factories, and eight ineehauies' shops. Population, 400. Kstablished in 1812, and named after the distinguished revolutionary general, Greene.

Lni'inhiirj/ is a small village, situated on Greene river, nine miles from Greeneville, containing two ston's, one warehouse, and about .'>0 souls.

Kiniisfi) lies on Greene river, at lock and dam Xo. 2, about twenty-five miles north of Greeneville - contains one I'nion chureh, one lawyer, two physicians, two taverns, five stores, two groceries, one school, two saw-mills, two grist-mills, one carding factory, and six meehanies' shops. Population, 30<). Named after James Humsey, for whom the honor is claimed of having built the first .steamboat in the I'nited State.s.

Soiilli Can-ollloii, situated on Greene river, two miles below Lewisburg - has two stores, three warehouses, one Cumberlaml Presbyterian church, one physician, one tavern, and four meehanies' shops. Population, 75.

Skilesvillc is situated on Greene river, at lock and dam No. J, fourteen miles east of Greeneville, and contains one j)hysieian, two .stores, and about 13 souls. Named after James K. Skih's, who introduced the first steaml)oat upon Greene river, and who spent a fortune in promoting the navigation of the river.

Lewisburg, or Kineheloe's Ifluff, on (ireen Hiver (one of the five towns referred to by Lewis ('ollins), was a landing-iilnee before 17!)8, and accord- in(? to one tradition was declared "a port of entry" about 1800. James Weir, and practically all the otlier pioneer merchants in the county, received their mere)iandi.so from llie East at the "HlutT," and also shipped their pmduee, hides, and pork south from there. It was from tliis point that i)ioneer James Weir eiuharked for New Orleans in 1803, his account of which trip is given in Appendix H. The place was so called in honor of iiioneer Is'wis Kinclieloe. Althougli the town had been laid out and a plat of it had been recorded in January, 1817 (Order Hook No. 4, p. 118), the place was not established by an act of the Eegislaturc until January 12, 1825. There is a vague tradition to the effect that some time during the early ]uirt of last century Lewishnrg maile an effort to become the county .seat. After South Carrollton was started, about 1838, Lewishnrg gradually lost its husine.ss and finally became little more than a ferry ero.ssing. An old brick residence, a frame house, and a small ahamloned drift coal mine and tipple are all that is now standing on the site that in early days seemed destined to become one of the largest towns in the county. A short tlistanec liclow the old "Hluff" landing, which is still u.sed by a ferry-boat and .some of the steamboats, is the pumping station of Central City's waterworks.

Rumsey, another of the towns referred to, is in that section of McLean County which u|> to 1854 was a part of .Muhlenberg. Its population to-day is only about thirty p<T cent larger than it was in 1847, or at the time refernsl to by Collins. When, in 18.34, work was begun on lawk and Dam No. 2, the small .settlement that lay near by, on the left bank of Green River, began to develo]) into a village. Heforc 1837, when the gates of the lock were opened, the place bad assumed the proportions of a town, and was called Rumsey. It was incorporated Eebruary 11, 183!>. It lies opposite Calhoun - the Rhoadsville or Fort Vienna of the olden days. From 1840 to alvout 1855 Rumsey was larger than Calhoun, but to-day it has a population of only 413, while (hilhoun has 742. One of the first steamboats ever built on Green River was built at Kiim.sey in 184ti b.v James and Philip Jones and named for a Gn'cnville girl, "Lucy Wing."

A number of well-known Muhlenbcrgers were identified with the early history of Rumsey. Some of them lived and died in or near the town. Tho.se who left the place and establislu'd themselves elsewhen' always rt'- ganlcd Rum.sey as their ''old home." Many of the sons and daughters of its earliest citizens are still living, ami point with pride to the fact that they at one time lived in ''old Rumsey."

Doctor John M. Johnson, the father-in-law of Colonel K<1 R. Weir, was a eitizen of Rumsey. He represented .Muhlenberg in the Legislature in 1837. About the year 1855 he moved to Paducah, ami from 1859 to 18fi2 repre.sented McCracken County in the Legislature, from which (according to Collins) he wiLS expelled February 15, 18li2, for ''leaving his seat and taking position in the Rebel army." During the Civil War he settled in Atlanta, where he died in 1881!. Ills second wife was a sister of General Howell Cobb, of the Confederate army. General Richard W. Johason, the distinguished Federal soldier, was a brother of Doctor Johnson. General Johnson spent the greater part of his youth in Rumsey with Doctor John- son, and was living in the town when, in 1845, lie entered West Point as a cadet, from which military academy he was graduated in 1849. Another brother was James L. Johnson, who moved to Owensboro. There he studied law and was elected to Congress for the term 1849-1851. On the resignation of Honorable Martin II. Cofer, Jlr. Johnson was appointed circuit judge by the Governor. He married Jliss Harriet Triplett, daughter of Honorable Philip Triplett, a distinguished lawyer and former Congrc.s.sman.

Doctor John M. Johnson's co-worker was Doctor Rufus Linthicura, the father of Doctors William A., Rufus, Edward, and Daniel A. Linthicum. Doctor Daniel A. Liiithicuiii practiced medicine at Helena. Arkansas, and during the Civil War ranked among the best-known surgeons in tbe Southern army. Edward is now a prominent physician at Evansville, Indiana.

Dillis Dyer laid out the town of Rum.sey, and continued to live there for a numlMT of years; he freipiently served as guide to pilots. He practiced law at Hartford for some years. He was st'cretary of the State Hoard of Commissioners under whose siiperintendenee the locks and dams were built. He repre.sented Ohio County in the Legislature from 184(1 to 1846. His only son. Honorable Azro Dyer, of Evansville, is a distingui.shed member of tbe Indiana bar, and was elected and served as judge of the Superior Court in that city.

Alonzo Livermore, Russell Mct.'reary, and Ezekiel Fleming were among the civil engineers who had charge of the lock and dam during their construction. Rus.sell McCreary continued to live in Ruimsey a few years after the work was finished. In 1843 and 1844 he represented the county in the Legislature, an<l a few years later returned to his former home in Frankfort. His .son, Ru.ssell McCreary, is a well-known and prominent citizen of Frankfort.

Livermore, in MclAUin County, was so called in honor of Alonzo Livermore, who planned and superintended the construction of the lock and dam at Riimsey. In his day he was one of the best-known eivil engineers in the country. He came from Pennsylvania in 1835, where he had served as chief engineer of the Pennsylvania canal. He left Rumsey in 1855, did engineering work in Arkan.sas and other States, and died in Mendota, Illinois, in 1888, aged eighty-seven. One of his sons, Alonzo Skiles Livermort', in 1880 established the Livermore Foundry & Machine (lompany, of Memphis, Tenne.ssee. .\nother son was Doctor II. H. Livermore, who for many years lived at .Macomb, Illinois. Robert S. Howard, one of Rumsey's most highly accomplished citizens, married Fidelia Livermore, a daughter of Alonzo Livermore. Robert S. Howard and William T. Short kept a general store in Rumsey for a number of years. Short remained in the county, but Howard moved to Xew Orleans, became a well-known wholesale merchant, and later engagisl in business in Portland, Oregon.

Elisha Haker and Samuel M. Wing conducted a large store in Rumsey for some time; the former tlum returned to Greenville, and the latter was long in business in Owenslwro, where he spent the remainder of his days.

wagons were liand-inndp, and lind the reputation of being the ta'st ever sold in Muhlenberg. He was a Whig as long as that party was in existence. The opposition to the ('ou.stitution of 1850 eaine mostly from the Whig party; nevertlieless, he voted for the new eon.stitution. lie removed to Calhoun (then in Daviess County) in 1851, and was there elected instice of the peace. When MeLean County was eut off from Daviess in 1854, he was again elected a justice. At the eleetion in 1858 he was chosen county judge, and reelected in 1862. In 1874, after an intermission of two terms, he was eleeted to the same offlee for tlic tliird time, and was serving at the time of his death, which occurred at Calhoun in .\pril. 1877.

Dougla.ss Dittle was the father of Judge Lucius P. Little, of Owciushoro, who served as circuit judge from 1880 to 1803 in the Fourth District, and who has for many years been one of the prominent lawyers of Western Kentucky and who has long been regarded as one of the liigliest authorities on tlic State's history. He is the author of "Ben Hardin, llis Times and Contemporaries," and hits in preparation ''Old Stories of tln-en River and Its People."

John G. Gooeli was one of Kumsey's most interesting charaetcr.s. He was a saddler by trade, and up to 1850, when he represeiiteil thi' county in the Legislature, spent much of his time in his .shop, working at his trade and studying good Itooks. He was one of the best-read men in the county, and was a devout and active churchman. Wlien occasion arose where an orator was required to repre.sent the citiztma of this section of the Green River country, they invariably chose John G. Gooch. After he became a member of the State Legislature he began the stinly of law, and a few years later moved to Palestine, Texas, where he la'eame a prominent lawyer.

John Vickers, who repre.sented MuhlenlaTg in the Legislature in 1848. lived three miles south of Rumsey, near Sacramento, now in MeLean County. Although Sacramento was not incorporated and ollieially named until March 1, 1860, a store, it is said, had been opened there before 1835. One version has it that .lohn Vickers, a "Forty-niner," returned from California about 1850, and was the first to propose the name Sacramento for the .settlement at the cross-roads. In 1870 Sacramento's popidntion was alanit 2(H), and in 1012 alamt 450.

John Bender, a German by birth and also a " Forty-niniT," lived at Sacramento in 1850 and later died there. He was a very intelligent and sidistantial citizen. He was a son-in-law of John Vickers. Honorable William B. Noe, the banker, who has as a lawyer long been at the hea<l of the Calhoun bar, married the daughter of Mr. Bender.

Among the old citizens of Rumsey in the '40s were Charles M. Balwr, hotel-keeper and magistrate; William A. Haves and Leander Mitchell, superintendents of the lock and dam; Woodford IMitehell and Henry Williams, merchants; John Robbins, wool manufacturer; .lohn A. Murray, grwer, and Kphraim Baker, a justice.

Rii-hard II. Collins, in his "History of Kentucky" published in 1874, and in the reprints that follow, acknowledges his indebtedni»a.s for information regarding Muhlenberg County to "Joseph Ricketts and J. II. Pearson (who made a most beautiful map), of Muhlenburg county,"

In 1874 Joseph Rieketts was fifty-six years of age and had lived in Greenville for more than a quarter of a century. lie was one of the bestknown lawyers in the Green River country. Collins' acknowledgment to "J. II. Pearson," and his reference to "a most beautiful map," is in all probability a mi.stake, and was intended to apply to some other county in Kentucky. At any rate, of the many persons I consulted in JIuhlenberg - the Pearsons and others - none recall a man named J. II. Pearson, nor do any recall seeing a map that might have been made by either Pearson or Ricketts. Furthermore, in a .search among the maps once owned by Collins, I faihsl to find one of Jluhlenberg County. A map of the county, made years ago and showing some of the geographical details, even if somewliat inaccurate, would be worth preserving. As far ns I have been able to ascertain, no such map, either in the form of a printed sheet or a pen-and-ink sketch, exists. -

During the course of what follows in this ehn|)ter I <|uote all that Collins published under the head of Muhlenberg Count.v in the edition printed in 1874, except the brief sketches of Generals Muhlenberg and Huell. To his statements I atld a number of my own, and thus, in a way, extend his history down to our times.

Quoted And Extended

Muhlenhurg county - the J4th in order of formation - was e.stahlished in 171)8, out of jiarts of Logan and Christian, and named in honor of General Peter Muhlenberg. Its original territory is still intact, except the small northern portion taken in IH.H to help form McLean county. It is situated in the southwe.stern middle portion of the state, and is bounded N. and N. E. by McLean and Ohio counties, from which it is eount.v is generally rolling, part of it broken ; the northern portion is good farming land, and all the county is fine grass land, and well tindiered. The principal products are tobacco, corn, hay, and wool. Cattle and hogs are .sold in large numbers to drovers. Hut the great wealth of the county is coal and iron.

'Joseph Ricketts lived In Greenville for a period of about thirty years, and during that time was one of the most highly esteemed men In the county. He was a son of Thomas Ricketts, and was born In Warren County July 4. 1818. He attended Center College. Danville, and later taught school at Morgantown, where In 1845 he began the practice of law. In 1847 he moved to Greenville, and shortly after became one of the best-known lawyers In his section of the State. He represented .Muhlenberg In the Legislature in 1855-57. In 1861 he was elected on the Union ticket and again represented the county for two years. In 1875 ho and his family moved to Texas. At the time of his death (In Sherman, Texas, October 20, 1895) he was United States Commissioner. In 1846 he married Lucy James, daughter of Foster James, of Morgantown. Among their twelve children are Mrs. Charles T. Carlton, Mrs. R. F. .Martin, Miss Julia Ricketts, and Eugene Ricketts.

mucli tiinhiT is still standing. Very large trees are now rare, and the few giants that still survive will in all probability soon be cut down and worked into lumber. However, much uncleared "cut-over" land, with its secondary timber and "second growth," is still to be found in the county. Reforestation and forest planting have not yet been attempted.

The table of statistics of Kentucky, compiled by Collins from official reports, shows that during the year 1870 Muhlenberg produced 2,594,0110 pounds of tobacco, 2,095 tons of hay, 484,580 bushels of corn, and 32,670 bushels of wheat. In 1870 there were 8,254 hogs (over six months old), 3,162 horses, 1,041 mules, and 5,166 cattle in the county. The valuation of taxable property w as then it'2, 462,757 ; in 1846 it was .lil, 298,019, and in 1912 it was .$4,365,446. The number of acres of land in 1870 is given by Collins as 253,543.

Practically every farmer in the county raises tobacco. The annual yield since 1870 has always exceeded two and a half million pounds. Farmers now jiay more attention to the raising of hay than heretofore. The corn crop is usually sufficient for the local demand. Muhlenberg has never produced enough wheat to siipjily the local demand for Hour. Hogs and cattle are still extensively raised, but the number has not incnuised in proportion to the number of farims.

The Klizabethtown & Paducah Railroad, now known as the Illinois Central Railroa<l. was finished in 1871, and therefore had been in operation only a few years when Collins published his sketch. A time-table, publisheii in 1873, shows the following stations along this line in the county: (Ireen River, Nelson Creek, Owensboro Junction, Greenville, and Gordon Station (l)cpoy). The Owenslxiro & Ru.s.sellville Railroad, now a branch of the Louisville & Nashville, was built from Owensboro to Central City in 1872, and ten years later was extended to Ru.s.sellville. Tbe Madisonville, Hartford & Eastern Railroad was finished in 1910. The Kentucky Midland was begun in 1910. It is built as far as the new town of Miilland, and will, it is said, soon connect Central City with Madisonville.

('ollins iniblishes data relative to seven of the towns that were in the county in 1874 - Greenville, South Carrollton, Skilesville, Stroud City, liremen, Paradis(>, and Airdrie: ftrceinillr, the county .seat, on the ElizalH-thtown and Paducah railroad, 135 miles from Ixmisville, 120 from Frankfort, and 35 from Hopkinsville, contains, besides the usual public buildings, 5 churches (Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian (Southern), Cumberland Presbyterian, and African), and 6 ministers, 12 lawyers, 4 physicians, 3 ac.ademies, 13 stores, 13 mechanics' .shops, 3 hotels, 1 mill, 4 tobacco factories, 1 tannery; population in 1870, 557, and in 1873 estimated at 1,(XH); establisdied in 1812, and named after Gen. Nathanael Greene.