Muhlenberg County, Kentucky - The whole text, 1913 (part 3 of 13)

He was a member of Alney McLean's company and, as already stated, took part in the battle of New Orleans. One story is to the effect that after the victory all the men in .McLean 's company rode back to Kentucky except Mike, and that although he walked he reached Greenville a few days before any of the others. One of the local traditions has it that he killed General Pakenham in the battle of New Orleans. Whether he is entitled to this distinction can probably never be determined. At any rate he was highly esteeme<l, especially by the local men who took part in the War of 1812. Every time he came to Greenville such men as Alney JIcLcan and Charles Fox Wing prevailed on him to be their guest while in town. Although clad

- Mr. and Mrs. Joseph C. Reynolds were the parents of Richard D.. Thomas H.. John T., sr.. Benjamin F., Mrs. Nancy Y. (C. C.) Martin, and Mrs. Susan E. (J. A.) Stokes.

Kb. And Mbs. Joseph 0. Beynoujs, 1867

in buckskin breeches and hunting-shirt, and often without shoes, he was always placed at the head of the table and given the best room in the house, regardless of other guests.

The progress of the world and the making of money had no attractions for him. He was always interested in his immediate surroundings, and whatever he undertook he did with great enthusiasm. After the death of his second wife, which occurred many years before his own, he lived in a log cabin, but spent most of his days tramping around and hunting. When night overtook him, or when he eared to stop, he went to the most convenient house, walked in without knocking, presented his game, made himself at home, and remained until he was ready to start on another liunt. He was gladly received by every one who knew him. Every man considered it an honor to have Jlike Severs enter his smoke-house or corn-crib and help himself. This he often did, for he realized that he was more than welcome to anything he wished to take. He made quantities of maple sugar every year, and distributed his entire "bilin' " among those who cared for "tree sugar."

Severs was evidently a most interesting and unusual charaeter. Very little regarding the story of his life is now remembered by those who heard of him in their youth. The bones of this old hunter rest in the Duke and Wliitehouse burying-ground near Bevier, and his contented soul, in all probability, is now wandering around in the happy hunting-grounds of another world.

Many years after his death some of the people in the Bevier neighborhood purposed to erect a shaft over his grave, but unfortunately their plans were never earried out. Severs Hill, overlooking lower Pond Creek, and the nearby Severs Ford, crossing the same stream, now perpetuate the name of Mike Severs, the old soldier and old-time backwoodsman.

Michael Severs was the father of nine children, among whom were MichaeU William, and Gabriel Severs, Mrs. Nancy Jones, Mrs. Lucinda Underwood, and Mrs. Archa M. Bibb.

Charles Fox Wing

NO JIAN in llulilenberg ever came in closer touch with a larger number of the citizens of the county than Charles Fox Wing. No man living in the county was more highly e.steemed by his contemporaries. From 1798, when he first came to Muhlenberg, to 1861, when he died in Greenville, he had the respect and confidence of every man with whom he came in contact.

He was the youngest son of Barnabas Wing, who was for many years one of the wealthiest and most prominent men in New Bedford, Massachusetts, wht're he was extensively engaged in .shipbuilding and various other enterprises. During the Revolution Barnabas Wing loaned money to tlic colony of Massachusetts Bay with which to carry on the War of Independence. During this struggle his home and all bis other property was confiscated by the English, and at the close of the war he was a penniless man. It was during these trying times that Charles Fox Wing was Iwrn. About the year 1790 Barnabas Wing moved to Central Kentucky, and there, at the age of about fifty-seven, he began life anew, lie and his wife had no de.sire to try to regain their lost fortune, but worked as best they could for the education of their younger children. They undoubtedly irnpre.sst'd upon their youngest son the sacredness and the cost of independence, for no imin venerated the flag and its makers more than did Charles Fox Wing during all of his long life. Barnabas Wing moved to Greenville about 1809, and died there at the home of his son, October 4, 1815.

Charles Fox Wing was born in Massachusetts, according to one record, on January 25, 1779, and according to another, on January 15, 1780, In either case he was less than twenty-one years of age when, on May 28, 1799, he was appointed county clerk. He had previous to this time served in the office of Thomas Allen, of Mercer County, and Thomas Todd, Clerk of the House of Representatives. The experience gained under these two men undoubtedly made him far more competent to fill the position of county clerk than many men who had reached the age required by law. lie served as clerk of the court of quarter ses-sions, and in March, 180:{, when the circuit court was established, he became its clerk. He continued as clerk of the circuit and county courts until the adoption of the Third Constitution in 1850. He was then more than .seventy years of age, and had devoted more than a half century to the writing and preserving of official records. When the Constitution of 1850 was adopted the office of circuit clerk and all county offices became elective. Caj)taiu Wing, at the urgent solicitation of the citi- zens of the county, became the candidate for clerk of the circuit court, and was elected without opposition ; his son, William II. C. Wing, who had assisted his father for many years, was elected county clerk.

When, in 1812, war was declared against England, no Muhlenberg man responded to the call to arms with greater enthusiasm or with more patriotic feeling than did Charles Fox Wing. He and Captain Lewis Kineheloe organized a company and awaited orders from the (Governor. In the early part of September, 1813, their company marched to Newport, and on October 5th of the same year took part in the battle of the Thames. Wing was the lieutenant of this company, hut on Captain Kineheloe 's death, which occurred before the battle, he was placed in command.

The details of Captain Wing's action in this short hut decisive battle are, unfortunately, among the many other things that have passed away with the men and women who were familiar with them. The story of his connection with this battle has dwindled down to the statement that he was "a hero at Thames, and saw Tecumseh after he was slain." This brief statement is probably founded on some act of heroism, for tradition says that all the veterans of 1812 not only referred to him as "a hero at Thames" but always gave him the seat of honor at their soldiers' reunions. Those who knew him best declare that his recollections of the part he took in the second war with England were among the many things that, in old age, gave him the satisfaction of feeling that he at least had tried to do his duty toward his county and his country. No man in the county or State was more devoted to the American flag or regarded it with more sacred feeling. Every year, on the Fourth of July, from 1799 to 1861, lie hoisted Old Glory on a pole in front of the courthouse and also in front of his own home. This fact is referred to by James Weir in his ri-colleetions of Greenville as published in "Lonz Powers" and quoted in this volume. The Louisville Daily Journal, shortly after Captain Wing's death, commenting on his devotion to the flag, says:

His love for the American flag has been a marked feature of his whole life. His devotion to the Star-spangle<l Danner was proverbial in all this region. It amounted to a passion. It was the one form in which, througliout his declining years, the rich and intense loyalty of Ills nature sought full expression. Every Fourth of July for the last quarter of a century and upwards, as regularly as the glorious anniversary dawned, he had raisetl the Stars and .Stripes in his humble dooryard, and had kept them flying proudly until the close of day. The sight of the starry banner of the Uepublic, though rendered dim by the cloud of age, was to him a solace and an inspiration, bringing tears of mingled pride and joy to his failing eyes and smiles of hope to his sunken lips and his withered checks. He had been born under the American flag; he had lived under it and fought under it ; and, now that he was dying under it, he asked, as his last request on earth, that ere he should bo consigned to the grave he might be wrapped in the folds of that worshipped banner - that it might be his shroud in death as it had been his canopy through life. He died with this prayer on his lips.

This request was granted. His Iwdy was not only wrapped in the American flag, but in the very flag he had hoisted in front of the courthouse during the last ten or fifteen years of his life, and thus lowered into the grave. General Buckner and his army pa.sse<l through Greenville September 26, 1861, the day after Captain Wing died. The General viewed the remains of his old and fatherly friend, commented on the befitting manner in which his body was wTapped in the Stars and Stripes, and then returned to the troops under his cotutuand. Such are the facts regarding this incident. I have verified this version by many men and women, among them General Buckner himself, who in August, 1912, fifty-one years after the incident occurred, still remembered all the circunistanctis connected with his call at the Wing home.

One of the other versions has it that General Buckner offered to bury Captain Wing with military honors, his offer being declined; another has it that General Buckner, finding the body of Captain Wing wrapped in the Stars and Stripes, insisted on removing the Federal flag and burying the old patriot in the Confederate flag. A variety of other groundless statements can be traced to tliese two often heard but false stories.*

It was his rare merit to be all that he seemed to be, a distinction seldom attained by those who have figured on the public stage of life or have received its highest honors. lie was the chief supporter of the little Presbyterian Church of his preference, and with unfailing constancy his venerable form was seen and his earnest voice heard whenever two or three were convened to worship God. For thirty j'ears, with untiring patience, he presided over and sustained the Sunday-school. His departure makes a great void. Who can fill it? A life of great beauty and excellence was clo.sed by a most triumphant faith in the joys beyond the grave.

In 1806 Charles Fox Wing married Anna S., or "Nancy," Campbell, daughter of Colonel William Campbell and Tabitha A. (Russell) Campbell. Mrs. Wing was Iwrn March 13, 1788, came to Muhlenberg about eight years later, and died January 17, 1863. She was buried in Caney Station buryingground by the side of her husband. Captain Wing died in Greenville September 25, 1861, aged about eighty-one. The inscription on his tombstone, "Died September 15, 1861," is incorrect, and has been so recognized since the stone was erected in 1862.^

' Charles Fox Wing, in ali probability, was named in honor of Charles James Fox. the great Knglish orator, who entered Parliament In 1768 at the age of nineteen and at once took rank as the most brilliant speaker and statesman after Pitt. He was a friend of the American colonies. Some of his great speeches were in opposition to George the Third's war on the colonies. Fox thought the Americans ought to have home rule or Independence. By the time Charles Fox Wing was born the fame of Fox had become w'orldwide, and was at its height when he (Fox) died in 1S06, aged fifty-seven.

The name "Charles Fox" indicates the patriotism of the parents of Charles Fox Wing. It is more than probable that both father and mother often told their son Charles of the sufferings and losses endured during the Revolution, and thus impressed upon him the cost of .American liberty and the meaning of the American flag.

-Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fox Wing were the parents of eight children: (1) William H. C. Wing, a bachelor. (2) Jane M., who married Edward Rumsey. (3) Lucy, who married Jonathan Short, to whom were horn: Mrs. Mary (Lewis) Reno. Charles W. Short, Mrs. Lucy (Samuel) l>andes, Mrs. Minnie (J. J.) Kahn, and Miss Anna Short. After the death of her first husband, Jonathan Short (who was born May 24. 1822, and died August 27, 1882), Mrs. Lucy Wing Short, in 1888, became the third wife of Doctor William H. Yost. She was born in Greenville June 16, 1822, and is now the oldest living citizen in the town. (4) Lucilia, who married Professor James K. Patterson, to whom was born an only child, William A. Pat-

The log residence built by Captain Wing shortly after he was married stood on the southeast corner of Main Cross and Cherry streets, Greenville. The building was later enlarged and covered with weatherboards The Wing house was, for more than fifty years, Muhlenherg's center of hospitality and refinement. This famous old landmark was torn down in 1905 and a few years later a modern residence was erected on the site by J. L. Rogers.

The Oharlxs Fox Wino House. Oreenvilee. In 1891

THE OHARLXS FOX WINO HOUSE. OREENVILEE. IN 1891 Taken thirty years after the death of Captain Wing and about fifteen yeare before the building waa torn down

Captain Wing's long service as clerk of county and circuit courts. hi.s un.selfish intiTcst in the community and his usefulness as a citizen, are referred to in other chapters. He was in every respect an upright, intelligent, useful, and charitable man. lie was worthy of the great respect he commanded, and his name is well deserving of the great esteem in which it is now held.

terson. (5) Samuel M. Wing, who married Kmlly Weir, to whom were born seven rhildren: E. Rumsey, Theodore W.. Samuel 0., Mrs. Emma (W.) Yerkes, William, Charles F., and Albert, (fi) Caroline, (7) Anna, and (8) Matilda Wing; the last three never married.

E. Rumsey Wing, son of Samuel M. Wing, was appointed Minister Resident of the I'nlted States to Ecuador, November 16, 1869, and died at his post October 6, 1874. His widow, about twenty-flve years later, became the third wife of Colonel W. C. P. Breckinridge.

Edward Rumsey

Four Muhlenberg men wliile citi?.ens of the county became members of Congress - Alney McLean, Kdward Rumscy, Doctor A. D. James, and R. Y. Thomas. Kdn-ard Rumsey, the second to attain this distinction, came to Muhlenberg in his youth, shortly after the close of the second war with England, and made Greenville his home during the rest of his life - a period of fifty years. Citizens now living who knew Edward Rumsey in their younger days usually begin and end their talks regarding him, whether short or long, with a sentiment that is best e.xpressed in a paraphrase of the familiar quotation;

Some have it that the town of Rumsey, in McLean County, was named after him. Others a.ssert that the place was so called after his uncle, "James Rumsey, who built the first steamboat." However, the version generally accepted is that when, in 1839, the people proposed naming the new town after Edward Rumsey, he modestly declined the honor, and his friends then compromised with him and called the place Rumsey in memory of his uncle. Thus, although the town may have been named after James Rumsey, it was really so called after Edward Rumsey.

The death of his two children, aged three and six, in the spring of 1838, was soon followed by the loss of all ambition on his part to climb the ladder of fame. His friends vainly urged him not to cast aside his many bright prospects of a public career. Although his interest in public affairs practically ceased when he was forty, no man in Muhlenberg was better known and more admired during his entire life than Edward Rumscy. He was a gentleman of the "old school." During the Civil War the Southern sympathizers looked upon him as their adviser. He married Jane M. Wing, daughter of Charles Fox Wing. She died October 15, 1868.

Much could be written about Edward Rumsey based on the verbal reports of to-day, but such a chapter would probably be more of a eulogy than a biographical sketch. Ten years after his death an article on his life and character was printed in "The Biographieal Enc.vclopedia of Kentuckians of the Nineteenth Century," which I here quote in full:

Hon. Edward Rum.sey, lawyer, was horn in Botetourt count.v, Virginia, in 1800, and removed with his father. Dr. Edward Rumsey, to Christian county, Kentucky, when quite a boy.

His nncle, James Rumsey, is claimed to be the first who applied .steam to navigation in America, if not in England. It was also elaimisl that the evi- dence submitted before the National House of Representatives, in 1839, is conclusive as to his priority over John Fitch. A letter written by George Washington, in 1787, mentions that James Rum.sey had communicated his steamboat invention to him in 1784, and that sulwequently John Pitch had laid his claim to the invention before him, asking his assistance, he declining to give it, stating that James Rumsey had previously introduced the same idea to him.

It is certain that James Rumsey propelled a steamboat on the Potomac River, against the stream, at tile rate of four miles an hour in 1784. He afterward went to England and procured patents for steam navigation from the British Government in 1788; constructed a boat of one hundred tons burden, with improved applications, covered by his patents, which were in advance of those of James Watt. He was on the eve of complete success when his sudden death from apople.xy, while discussing the jirinciples of his invenlion before the Royal Society, terminated his career, llis boat and machinery went to satisfy his crulitors; and Robert Fulton, then in Loudon, profited by his intimacy with the inventor.

Edwabo Rumsey, About 1845

Edward Rumsey was educated in Hopkinsville by Daniel Barry, one of the famous cla.ssici.sts of Kentucky. He studied law with John J. Crittenden, who became his lifelong friend. He settled in Greenville and practiced in Muhlenberg and adjoining counties. His reputation for candor and thorough honesty, coupled with his clear sense of justice and wonderful faculty of expres-sion, soon placed him at the head of the bar. With all his natural qualifications to shine in public life he was remarkably timid and mode.st, his diffidence at times becoming almost morbid. Owing to this fact, no doubt to a great extent, may be attribute<l the loss from public affairs of one of the moat refined and brilliant men of the times.

At the urgent solicitation of his county, he consented, in 1822, to represent its interests in the Legislature, where he immediately took rank as a leader, making a great impres.sion by his earnestness, modesty and uncom- mon ability. In 1837 he was nominated for Congress, and was elected by an almost unanimous vote of his district. While in Congress he made the famous speech on the resolution recognizing his uncle's claim to the invention of the steamboat and bestowing on that uncle's blind and only surviving son a gold medal as a mark of such recognition.'

While serving in Congress his two children died of scarlet fever. After that no argument of his friends or constituents could ever induce him again to enter public life. He strove to drown his sorrow in mental and physical toil ; living in the future and the past. He never entirely recovered his elasticity and soon became prematurely old.

The outbreak of the Civil War brought with it new calamities. He loved his country ne.xt to his children. He believed that the General Government had no right to coerce a State. Although he survived the war, grief and apprehension aided greatly to break the thread of life. He died in Greenville. April 6, 1868.

On February 9, 1839, Edward Rumsey delivered his famous speech before the House of Representatives of the United States. In this speech he reviewed the history of the invention of the devices for propelling boats by steam, showed that his uncle, James Rumsey, was entitled to the distinction of being the first inventor, and asked that Congress present to James Rumsey, jr., the only surviving child of James Rumsey, a suitable gold medal, commemorative of his father's services in giving to the world his discovery of using steam for the propulsion of boats and watercraft. The resolution awanling such a medal pa.sse<l the House by a unanimous vote, but for no reason given was rejected by the Senate. It is probable that the Senate recognized Fulton as the first man to put steam to practical use in connection with navigation, and therefore ignored the fact that Rumsey was the real inventor. At any rate, there was no gold medal nor reward for the Rumseys, notwithstanding reports to the contrary.

The Rumsey claim had its advocates many years before Edward Rumsey delivered this speech. It has them now, more and more every year, and will in all probability continue to have them in increasing numbers until Rumsey is universally recognized as the original inventor. No man in recent years gathered more evidence in defen.se of James Rumsey's claim than did John Sloray, of Berkeley .Springs, W»«t Virginia, whose manuscript on the subject was almost finished when he died. January 15, 1912.

No stone marks the grave of .James Rum.sey; no monument has been erected to his memory. He was buried in London, in that part of St, Margaret's churchyard which has since been converted into a thoroughfare. The fact that .James Rumsey was the real inventor of the application of steam for the propulsion of boats will in all probability be some day recognized by the world. Edward Rumsey's speech will then he more fully appreciated, and Muhlenbergers will refer with even greater pride to the fact that he was a citizen of Greenville.

'James Ramsey's only son, James (who was deaf and dumb as well as blind), and his brother. Doctor Edward Rumsey (the father of Honorable Edward Rumsey), lived and died in Christian County.

The Pond River Country

The Pond Kiver country of Muhlenberg is a section of the county that offers the areha?ologist, geologist, botanist, and local historian a very interesting field of research. Murphy's Lake and all the other so-called lakes of the Pond River country are now, as in days gone by, frequented by many fishermen. Few localities are better known to local Nimrods than the Pond River bottoms and the Pond River hills. In olden times deer and turkeys were more numerous in this part of the county than in any other. The la.st deer was shot al>out the year 1890.1 No wild turkeys have been seen during the past few years. None of the old pigeon-roosts have been visited by wild pigeons since about the year 18(!0. The 'coon, 'possum, and fo.x hunters or tho.se looking for .stpiirrels or birds still find this a good field for game. It is also a good field for those who are interested in local traditions. Some of the county's most prominent pioneers settled near Murphy's Lake and in other parts of the Pond River country, and many of them are still represented there by descendants.

Murphy's Lake is twelve miles southwest of Greenville. There are many interesting places between the courthouse and the lake. The first of these along the road from Greenville is Fair View Farm, where, beginning in 1885 and continuing for about eight years, the JIuhlenlH-rg County Fair was held. A few miU*s farther on is Sharon Haptist Church, and near it, under a concave bluff of sandstone, is the well-known Rock Spring. AVhere the Murphy's Lake road turns off from the Ia>wer Hopkinsville road is Mount Pisgah Church, built in 1851 and abandoned a few years ago. Less than a half mile from Mount Pisgah are the ruins of Old Liberty, and beyond this famous landmark - in what, years ago. was .sometimes called "The Hoe-Cake Country'' - are Olive Hraneh and Green's chapels. Of these five churches Old Liberty is by far the oldest and most historic.

Old Idl)erty is now a ruin - four tottering log walls, each about twentyfive feet long, enclosing a stinken floor and a caved-in roof, mingled with broken benches and a weatherbeaten pulpit. The hewed logs, partly shaded by a large white oak, show that they at one time were well chinked with wood and pointed with sand and lime. Its four window- and two door-

'Up to the year 1867 deer were plentiful In the Pond River country. The high water of that year forced them to the hills, where a great number were slaughtered. la 1884 they were again driven to the hills by high water and practically all of them were shot.

frames will soon collapse; with them will fall the walls, and so, bye-and-bye, no part of this old landmark will be left to mark the site of the once famous church. Near the ruins is the Old Liberty burying-ground. In it are the myrtle-covered and stone-marked graves of many a Martin, Lovell, Eades, Shelton, Allison, Brothers, Luckett, and Jameson, all of whom were among the old families of this community.

More people have ancestors buried at Old Liberty than in any other country graveyard in the county. Tradition says the original church was built about 1816, and was then vailed New Liberty. In the course of time

MIOHAEI. LOVELL'S OLD PLACE. NEAR OLD LIBERTY, IN 1900 A few yean after It had been abandoned by the Lovells and much of the original building had been removed the first log house was replaced by a second, which was abandoned alxmt 1851. Some years later the third or last house was erectetl. and was u.sed until aliout 1890.-

Among the well-known first-comers who lived in the Old Liberty neighborhood and the Murphy's Lake country were; Samuel Allison and his son, John Adair; John S. Alkisou, sr., John Boue, Divinity (irace, N. Green, William and Jacob Imbler, pioneer Jarroll or Joiles (perhaps Jerrold), Jesse Kirby, Michael Lovell, the Martins, Jesse Murphy, Jacob Oglesby, John and Edmund Owen, George 0. Prowse, Miles Putnam, Joseph C. and Richard D. Reynolds, William Rice. John Richard.son, Newton B. Riddick, Richard Thompson, and Reverend Samuel M. Wilkins. One of the earliest

Most of the other pioneers of the Old Liberty neighborhood were Carolinians and Virginians. Among the North Carolinians were pioneer Samuel Allison and his wife Margaret Dickson, both of whom were born in the province of Ulster, Ireland. They came to Ixigan County about 1796. and a few years later settled in what became known as the Friendship neighliorhood. Samuel Allison was famous for his wit and as being the best rifle-shot in his end of the county. He was bom about 1767 and (lied January 20, 1827. His wife was born about 1773 and died December 24, 1834. Both are buried near Friendship Church. Mr. and Mrs. Allison were well educated, and so were their eliildrcn. Their daughter, Nancy U., married Samuel Jackson. Their sons were Charles McLean. William Dickson, Young Ewing, John Adair, and Samuel Henley.

Charles McLean Allison, who was among the first to enlist in Alney McLean's company, died in cam]) at New Orleans of swamp fever, three weeks after the battle was fought in 1815.

John Adair Alli.son was the only one of the five sons who lived and died in Muhlenberg. He was lairn February 3, 1803, and during his day was one

*John Bone was a Kevolutionary soldier, one of the early settlers near what Is now the Webster McCown farm (south of Bancroft), and who died there about 1841. He was the father of Mark, Thomas, John, Mrs. Louisa (Peter) Duvall, Mrs. James Green, Mrs. Wyatt Collins, and Mrs. George Barnett.

Nathaniel Green came to Muhlenberg in 1816, where he died about 1850. He was the only son of Joseph Green and his wife, who was a Miss Eaves. He was born in %'irginia, where he married Lucy Richardson, daughter of Thomas Richardson, and in 1815 came to Kentucky. They were the parents of James, William Joseph, Thomas M.. Samuel, Miss Polly, and Mrs. Martha (Doctor) I,owe, all of whom, like their parents, were well-known Pond River people.

Michael Lovell's first wife was Mary Ingram. To them were born Joseph. John, Sarah Ann, and Mrs. Mary E. (William K.) Morgan. His second wife was Rachel Eades. To them were bom Charles W., Sam B., T,ewls H., Miss Frankie. Leander Michael, Jr., and Thomas J. His third wife was a daughter of John Reno. To them was born one child, James Lovell. Michael Ixivell died near Old Liberty on February 26. 1874, aged about one hundred years.

William Rice, a Revolutionary soldier and army blacksmith, settled In Muhlenberg about 1800 and died near Bancroft March 16, 1824. Among his fourteen sons and four daughters were William, Jr., Jesse, Larkin. Matthew, Clabora, T. Jefferson, James Benjamin, and Ezekiel Rice. Ezekiel Rice was born in 1774, married Ann Watkins, daughter of pioneer James Watkins, and died in 1847. Among Ezekiel Rice's children was Moses M. Rice (bom 1817, died 1894), who married Sarah Amandavllle Drake, and among whose children is Judge James J. Rice.

of the most prominent citizens in the Pond River country. lie died near Old Liberty, April 2, 1875. He and his wife, Frances Watkins, were the parents of five children, among whom was Finis McLean Allison, who, as stated in the chapter entitled "In 1870," was a State Senator and one of the best-known men in tbe county.^

The other three sons of Samuel Allison removed to Henderson County in early manhood. William Dickson Allison was deputy clerk of Muhlenberg under diaries Fox Wing. He went to Henderson in 1822 to liecome deputy clerk there. In 1824 Judge Alney Mcl^ean appointed him clerk, and he held that office without interruption until his death in 1860. Young Fwing .\llisoii went to Ilender-son in 1824 to bwoine his brother's deputy, became presiding justice and afterward eounty judge, succeedeil his brother as clerk, and was in office fifty yeaT-s. Samuel Henley Alli.son was sheriff of llendereon County for one term - the three brothers holding office at the same time.

As Charles Fox Wing in Muhlenberg trained and equipped young men for public service, so the Allisons did in Henderson, and a large number of successful men of affairs were started from the Henderson courthouse under them. The Allisons were all men of strong personality, and their wit and humorous exploits were quoted widely. In James Weir's "Ixinz Powers"

< John Adair Allison was the father of James Watkins. Finis McLean. Samuel Heniey, and Wiliiam Young Allison, and Mrs. Ann I.uro (W. Britton) Davis.

Semuel Allison and three of his sons are sketched under the disguise of "Allston and the Allston boys." But they were also men of great usefulness and influence.

Among those who during the first years of the Eighteenth Century settled in the neighborhood of Old Liberty was Mrs. Susannah Walker Martin, widow of Thomas Martin of Virginia, who was a Revolutionary soldier. She moved to Muhlenberg in 1805. Her three daughters, Betsy, Mary, and Nancy, remained only a short time. Her son, Dabney Amos, who had located in Georgia in 1800, later moved to Alabama, where he died in 1850. Of her six children two settlcil in the county - William Martin and Hutson Martin. These two are the forefathers of all the Martins in Muhlenlierg except the few who are descendants of Jefferson Martin and another William Marlin, who were brothers of Hugh Martin. William Martin, son of Thomas, was the pioneer of the plug-tobacco manufacturing bu.siness in Muhlenberg. Hutson Martin was a successful farmer near Old Liberty, and one of the foremost men in the county. Ilis wife, Anna Ixickridge Martin, treated many of the sick in the neighborhood with her own preparations, made of native herbii, and up to the time of her death, which occurred in her eighty-second year, was known as ''Mother .Martin.""'

" William Martin was born in Virginia December 23, 1776. and died In Muhlenberg County November 5. 1851. His wife, Jane (Campbell) Martin, was born In Virginia October 22, 1776, and died near Old Liberty in August, 1851. Mr. and Mrs. Martin were the parents of eight children: (1) Thomas Lawrence, among whose eight children (as stated In the chapter on Tobacco) is Richard T. Martin; (2) William Campbell, who married America NIblack, their two sons being Hugh Niblack and Thomas Hutson Martin; (3) Mrs. Eliza Ann (Reverend Samuel M.) Wilkins; (4) Mrs. Susannah W. (James) Hancock; (5) Dabney A., who married Lizzie Britt, their only child, Jennie, marrying Hanson Browder, of Clinton, Kentucky; (6) Charles C., who married Nancy Y. Reynolds; (7) David; (8) Ellington Walker, who married Emily Elliott, daughter of Richard Elliott.

Hutson Martin was born in Virginia May 27, 1781, and died in Muhlenberg July 7, 1838. His wife died January 29, 1869, aged elghty-one years. Mr. and Mrs. Hutson Martin were the parents of twelve children; (1) Andrew L., who married Fannie Rice; (2) Mrs. Mary (George) Ingram: (3) Mrs. Jane (Jackson) Rice; (4) Lucrecia; (5) William W., who married Mary Ann Lovelace; (6) Mrs. Susan (James) Rice; (7) John; (8) Mrs. Ellen (John) Grigsby; (9) James, who married Elizabeth Bell; (10) Felix J., who married Caroline Eaves; (11) Mrs. Laura Ann (James W.) Allison, who Is the mother of Mrs. Anna Allison Holmes and Professor B. Frank Allison and who. after the death of her first husband, married Azel M. Terry; (12) Miss Luro Martin.

The Pond Rivek Country Hutson Bcartin Old Place

Among the well-known first-comers who settled in the Pond River country above Old Liberty and Murphy's Lake was Micajah Wells, who came from North Carolina before the county was organized, settling in the lower Long Creek country, where he and his three brothers did much toward opening up that section. He became a candidate for the liegislature in 1810, and remained one for sixteen successive years, when, in 1826, he was finally chosen. Although he wanted the office "just once for the tun of it," as he expressed it, he nevertheless did much, tradition say.s,

"for the good of the county his whole life long." lie served as a justice of the peace for many years, and also filled various other county offices.®

One of Micajah Well's neighbors was Strother Jones, who lived near Ijong Creek, in the southern part of what is known as tlie Lead Hill country. Strother Jones was in his day one of the most polished citizens in the southwestern part of the county. He was born September 20, 1781, came to Muhlenberg in 1822, and died on his farm Febriiar.v 17, 1859. His eldest son and only child by his first wife was Judge William fl. Jones, who served as county judge from 1854 to 1862. Judge Jones was born June 4, 1813, and died August 6, 1891. Strother Jones' second wife was Flizabeth Ann Hancock. Three children were born of this second marriage: Thomas J. Jones, who was county clerk during the Civil War, and who at the time of his

- Micajah Wells was born January 1, 1772, and died October 19, 1851. He and his brothers John, Frank, and Wyatt Wells were among the pioneers In the upper Pond River and Long Creek country, Micajah Wells was the father of six children: (!) Mosley P,; (2) Mrs. Lourana S, (Mosley Collins) Drake; (3) Mrs, Sally Grissom; (4) Mrs, Patsy (Reverend Silas) Drake; (5) Mrs. Anna (Edmond) Drake; (6) Joseph J., who was drowned In Pond River February 12. 1832. His sons-in-Iaw Mosley Collins, Reverend Silas, and Edmond Drake, were sons of pioneer Albritton Drake.

running a store he had establislied in iJreenville about fifty years before; John M. Jones, a Confederate soldier, and James M. Jones. The two last were ' ' Forty-niners. ' '

A stor.v Strother Jones heard relative to a small band of Indians which, a number of years before his arrival in the county, had passed through the neighborhood in which he settled, is still told by a few of his descendants, and runs as follows:

One day at noon a man named Walker returned to his cabin from his work in the field. He sent one of his children, a girl nine years of age, to a spring some two hundred yards away to get some fresh water. While the girl was at the .spring she heard screaming at the house, and a moment later saw some Indians set the place on fire. Heing frightened, she concealed herself in some bushes. After the house had burned almost to the ground, there being nothing to indicate that the Indians were still about, she walked to the ruins and discovered that her parents and the five other children had been murdered and their Imdies thrown in a pile near the burning house. She immediately notifietl the nearest neighbor. A pursuing party was at once organized. They trailed the Indians to the Pond Uiver bottoms, but there all trace of the murderers was lost. Fpon their return the pursuers buried the Walkers near the ruins of the cabin, which .stood within two hundred yards of the .spot where Sti-other Jones' hou.se was later erected.

The Clarks, who were among the pionwrs livini; below Murph.v's Cake, are no longer represented in the count.v, but their name is perpetuatisl in the name of Clark's Ferr.v Hridge. built aero.ss Pond River where, for many years, the Clarks ran a ferry ami grist mill. For a while the place was

.\lfred Johnson alauit 1858. In December, 1861. this bridge was burned by Confederates under Forrest. In 1802 the ferry was rei-.stablished and operated until 1890, when the New Clark's b'erry Hridge was erected on the old but solid stone abutments. In this same neighborhood stood the wellknown David Clark sugar camp. About the year 1880 Fobcl & Krauth, of Louisville, attempted to establish a small colony of Germans and German-Americans on the site that had been abandoned by the Clarks and their associates. Although the few Gerinan-Amerieans who moved there remained but a short time, since then this region has been known as the "Dutch Farm.'' bottom," which extends far beyond the river bottoms and is semieircled by Harpe's Hill and other hiprh and picturesque hills. Crops never fail in this fertile area of well-<lrained farms. In biblical days people used to go down into Egypt to buy corn. Ilarpe's Hill valley is, therefore, frequently referred to as "Egypt." When their own crops fall short many of the farmers of Muhlenberg and Hopkins counties go to this never-failing region, where they can be supplied with com and other agricultural products that are not only as good as the best, but usually "a little bit better." Near the foot of one of the hills overlooking the level and slightly rolling floor of this gigantic amphitheater is the home of William A. Armstrong, a mathematician and student of the clas.sics, who before his retirement was one of the best-known surveyors in the county.

Major Jesse Oates was the first of the prominent pioneers who s<'ftled in the Harpe's Hill country. He was a Revolutionary soldier, having fought under Francis Marion in South Carolina. He came to Muhlenl>erg about 179:") or sliortly thereafter. He opened up what was for many years considered one of the best farms in the Pond River countr.v. Hi' owned thirty or more slaves, all of whom wen' employed on his plantation. Although he never held any of the h i g !i count.v offices, few men of his time did more to promote public interests than -Major Oates, lie <lii'd August 10, 18:11, at the age of .seventy-five years.

Major Jesse Oates was l)orn in North Carolina about the year 17;)(1. He was a .son of Jesse Oates, sr., who although not a .soldier in thi' Revolution did much toward promoting the war. Jesse Oates, jr., however, much to the satisfaction of his father, took an active part in the struggle. After the Revolution Jesse Oates, sr., gave his son Jesse practically all his estate, to the exclusion of his .son-in-law Coghill, who it is .said was either not in .symi)athy with the American colonies or was an outright Tor.v. Having received none of the cxpe<'ted fortune, Coghill 's feeling toward his hrother-in-law was anything but friendly.

In those days every man was obliged to attend the militia musters, which took place once a month. Coghill and Oates were memhers of the same company, and on nearly every drilling day a fight would take place Wtween the two. Coghill was large and strong, Oat(>s was small ; the conseipienee was that Oates got the worst of the fight every time. Matters went on in this way for several years, when one day Oates notified his brother-in-law that if he attacked him at the next muster he would kill him. The day arrived and Coghill, according to his custom, gave Oates his usual whipping. Oates had liis fliiitlo(>k with him and tlireatened to aiioot, and would have done so had Coghill not begged him to give him a chance for his life. Oates agreed to let Coghill go home - a distance of two miles - to get the gun he said he preferred to use in this duel instead of the one he had with him. The two men and some of their friends then mounted their horses and started for Coghill's farm. When the crowd arrived at the end of the short lane leading up to the house, Coghill put spurs to his horse and told Oates to shoot. Coghill e^^dently felt confident that Oates would miss him, and that his gun being loaded he could kill Oates before Oates could reload. Oates fired and killed Coghill instantly.

Oates rode home, procured some money and a pocket compass, bade his family good-bye, mounted his horse, and with his flintlock lying across his startetl west. He rode througli Tennessee into Mississippi. W'hile at Natehci!, stopping at a tavern, he picked up a newspaper and there read an advertisement giving a full description of him and also offering a reward for his capture. That same day he started for Kentucky and shortly afterward landed in the Pond River country, procured some land, notified his family of his whereabouts, and had his oldest son, William Oates - who was then a young man - move the family, slaves, and personal property to the new home he had provided for them. Ilis friends in North Carolina advised him not to return, for although he would not be prosecuted he would in all probability be killed by some of Coghill's friends. During the course of a number of years advice was frequently sent him to be on his guard, for some of the friends of Coghill were coming to kill him. Although he for a while feared lie would be shot fixim ambush, no attempt to kill or arrest him was ever made.

Major .Ies.se Oates and his family lived happily and prospered in their new home. After the death of his first wife, who was the mother of his five oldest children, he married again and became the father of twelve more. All of bis eliildren except one, .Mrs. Campbell, settled in Muhlenberg, where most of them are now represented by many do.secndants.'^ His oldest son, William, married Elizabeth Earle, who was a daughter of pioneer Bayless Earle, a Revolutionary soldier. Her husband was a soldier in the War of 1812. Her brother, Richard Baylcss Earle, was a Mexican War soldier. She was the grandmother of four Federal soldiers, William Oates Randolph, I.ieutenant Ed M. Randolph, George Oates, and Wallace W. Oates, and of one Confederate soldier (who fought on the side with which she sympathize<l), Charles R. Oates. Her eldest son. Bayless Earle Oates, was the father of J. Wallace Oates, who was one of the most progressive farmers and stock-men in the county. .Mrs. Elizabeth Earle Oates was one of the

' The first wife of Major Jesse Oates was, according to a vague family tradition, a Miss Caraway, sister of a Captain John Caraway. His second wife was Zllpah Mason, to whom he was married April 13. 1798, and who died October 1, 1849. .Major Jesse Oates was the father of (1) William; (2) Jethro; (3) Mrs. Nancy (Charles) Campbell; (4) David; (5) Hryant; (6) .Tohn Mason; (7) Mrs. Betsy (V. L.) Dillingham; (8) Jesse; (9) Richard M.; (10) Rachael (Mrs. Lemuel Hoggess. later Mrs. WicklKTe); (11) Mariah; (12) Mrs. Zllpah (Edmond) Dunn; (13) Matthew Mason; (14) Harriet (Mrs. Gough, Mrs. Robert Wlckllffe, jr.. Mrs. Williams); (15) Oliver Hayes (bachelor); (16) Wyatt; (17) Charles Campbell Oates.

Another well-known woman in the Harpe's Hill country was Mrs. Clara Garris Stanley. She was probably the la.st of the pioneers to pass away who had seen the headle.ss twdy of Big Harpe lying near Ilarpe's Hill. ® John S. Eaves, in 1805, settled In the valley near the foot of Harpe's Hill, not far from the Jesse Oates plantation. He became one of the most influential men in Muhlenberg, representing the county in the Legislature in 1834. He died in Greenville in 1867. He was the father of seven children, all of whom were wellknown people. No man ever born in Muhlenberg County was more highly esteemed than his youngest son.

Charles Eaves, who long before 1857, when at the age of thirty-two he was elected to the Legislature, had won the love of his fellow-citizens. John S. Eaves' fourth son, John S. Eaves, jr., was for many years a merchant and farmer near Clark's Ferry. John S., jr., was in turn succeeded in his business by his son George W. Eaves, jr., who until his removal to Greenville was identified with the development of the Harpe's Hill eountry.

Members of the Legislature are, as a rule, among the b«».st-known citizens in their eountie.s. and In'cause of this their lives are di.seus.sed by a greater numl)er of people and for a longer time than are tho.se of other citizens, who arc seldom heard of in tradition outside their own neighborhood, regardless of the good they may have done in their vicinity. The lives of the members of the Legislature who lived in the Pond River country are therefore, as a rule, more widely discussed in the oral historj' of the earlier days than are the lives of some of its other one-time prominent men.

' William Oates and his wife Elizabeth Earl Oates were the parents of nine children: Rayless Earle, Mrs. Geraldine M. (Ashford D.) Randolph, Thomas, Charles, Jethro, William W., Martha, Jesse, and James Wilson Oates.

- Mrs. Clara Garris Stanley, wife of James Stanley, was In her day one of the most accomplished women in Western Muhlenberg. It Is said she was one of the best-informed women on the early history of the Pond River country. She lived near Harpe's Hill when Big Harpe was killed, and continued to make that locality her home until shortly before her death In 1864. She had read Judge Hall's story of the Harpes and also T. Marshall Smith's version, and often remarked that both were In the main correct. Mr. and Mrs. James Stanley were the parents of Russell, Alfred, Wlckliffe, David, and Gilbert Stanley and Mrs. Elizabeth (William) Dlllinder and Mrs. Matilda (Henry) Thomas.

Mss. Euzabeth Eable Oates

The first man living in the Pond River country to represent Muhlenberg County in the Legislature was John Morgan. Micajah Wells, as already stated, was a member of the Ijegislature in 1826. In 1828, and during the eight years following, Muhlenberg was represented in the Legislature by men who lived in the lower Pond River country. Most of the members who served from 1838 to 1853 came from the Pond River country, and many of those who were elected during a later period were born and reared in that same section of the county. Among the well-known first-comers who settled in the Pond River country below Harpe's Hill were the McNarys, Shorts, and Morgans.

The MeXarys lived alwut si.x miles below Harpe's Hill near the edge of Pond River bottom, on the lower Orcenville and Madisonville Road. William McNary was the forefather of this well-known family. He was born in

Scotland, and shortly after his arrival in America settled near Lexington, where he lived for more than twenty years, doing much toward promoting the interests of the Presbyterian church. In 1812 he settled on what has ever since been called the MeXary place, or Ellwood. MeXary Station, although some distance from the old home, was so called in honor of his son, Hugh W. William Mc- -N'ary was the father of three sons, Hugh W., William C., and Doctor Thomas L. ; the latter lived and died near Princeton.

William C. lived near the place first settled by his father, where he died in 1871 at the age of seventyfour. He represented the county in the Legislature five times between the years 1830 and 1853. He was a member of the State Senate from 1846 to 1850. Xone of his four children made Muhlenberg their home.

Hugh W. .MeXary was horn in Fayette County, Kentucky, Xovember 25, 1790, and came to .Muhlenherg at the age of twenty-two. In 1816 he went to Soutli Carolina, where for ten years he dealt in groceries and speculated in cotton. In 1822 he married Miss Sarah A. Scott, one of the most highly accomplished young ladies of Columbia, South Carolina. In 1826 he returned to Muhlenlierg with his wife, reinvested the money he had made in the South, and soon accumulated a fortune. He was at one time one of the wealthiest men in Muhlenlicrg County. He owned a number of slaves, ran a largo farm. Imught and sold livestock, operated a large still, and found a market not only for his own products but for those of most of the people living in the lower Pond River country. Xone of his local contemporaries were more generous, hotter read, or more refined than he. In 1850 he erected a frame residence which, up to 1879 (when the MeXary family moved to Greenville) , was considered one of the best built and most artistically furnished homes in the county. The mantels and many of the doorand window-frames were hand carved. The front porch was tom away a few years ago, and owing to its removal and to a laek of paint and repairs the building has lost much of its former beauty ; nevertheless, the most casual observer can not fail to sec that it must have teen an exceptionally beautiful residence in its day. It was in this house that Hugh W. McNary died, October 7, 1872, at the age of eighty-two.i®

David Short came to Muhlenberg County from Virginia some time during the first ton years of the Eighteenth Century and settled on a tract of land terdering on Pond River, about a mile above what is now the McLean County line. The house he erected - "The David Short Old Hrick," as it is called - was when it was first built, and is now, one of the largest and most substantial brick residences in Muhlenberg. An inscription painted in the arch of the door-frame reads, "D. 1821 S." This, although it has evidently been repainted since first recorded there, undoubtedly indicates the year the hoiKse was built. David Short devoted most of his time to the cultivation of his large farms and to the promotion of better laws. Ilis well-built bouse proclaims tbe fact that he was a man of means. He was a memter of the

'"Hugh W. McNary and hts wife Sarah A. McNary (who was born December 16, 3806. and died October 15, 1868) were the parents of six children: W. Scott. Samuel F., John A., Miss Anna, Mrs. Sally (George W., jr.) Eaves, and Miss Mattie Mc- Nary, who Is and long has been one of the most highly esteemed women In the county.

Legislature in 1828, 1829, and 1832. His son William T. Short filled the same office in 1847, and his son George W. Short filled it in 1849. David Short was bom January 19, 1 779, and died December 30, 1845. He was the father of ten children, all of whom were influential citizens.

Among others who settled in Muhlenberg about the same time as David Short were Jacob Short and Jacob Jagoe, whose wife, Susan (Short) Jagoe, was a sister of David Short. Samuel Short, another brother, after living in this neighborhood awhile moved to Illinois and later returned to Sacramento, where he died. The family name, it is said, was originally spelled

Schartz. One tradition has it that the Shorts were born in Germany and came to Virginia in their youth, while according to another they were born in Virginia.'*

John .Morgan, who represented the county in the State Legislature in 1806, was one of the early settlers in the Pond River country. None of the pioneers took more inten'st in saddle-horses or owned better ones than he. Every winter, for more than fift.v years, he wore a cap made from the fur of white fo.xes he occasionally caught in the hills near his home. He and his brothers Willis and Charles Jlorgan, who were also well-known early settlers, ran a grist mill at old Millport for many years. John Morgan was a dignified and scholarly man, a wealthy and was also one of the most liberal in March 17, 1779, and died at his

*' David Short and his wife Jane Scott Short, of Virginia, were the parents of: (1) Mrs. Sarah (David) Evans, who iater married A. M. Spurlin; (2) George Washington Short; (3) Joseph Poague Short; (4) David T. Short, who first married Martha Henry, next Elizabeth Arnold; (6) Mrs. Jane P. (Sanders) Eaves; (6) William T., who married Elizabeth Greu; (7) Miss Elizabeth; (8) Jacob L., who married Emma Mitchell and who later moved to Texas; (9) Jonathan Short, who married Lucy Wing; (10) Mrs. Susan Ann (William) Harbin.

Jacob Short was born August 20. 1772, and died October 26. 1858. His wife, Isabelle Scott Short, was born August 18, 1787, and died October 19. 1860. They were the parents of: (1) Mrs. Mary (or Polly) (Samuel) Whltmer; (2) Mrs. Eva (I>ouis) Phillips; (3) Jacob (bachelor); (4) Samuel, who married Sarah Garst; (5) William, who married Nancy Miller, daughter of Captain Isaac Miller. Jacob Short's children lived in the lower part of Muhlenberg and in southern McLean County, where all of them were well-known people.

Jacob Jagoe was the father of three sons, Abraham G., llenjamln, and William Jagoe. These three brothers in their day were among the best-known farmers in the lower Pond River country.

A few years ago David W. Whitmer, while cutting down a beech tree on his farm on the edge of Pond River bottoms, near old Millport, unearthed a slah of sandstone on which was carved "Daniel Boone, May 22, 1772." This rock w'as covered with a few inches of soil, and one end of it was partly overgrown by a large root. Conditions indicated that it had lain there about fifty years. The fact that Daniel Boone's name and an old date appear on it caused many to declare tliat tile earring was done by no other than Daniel Boone.

Although Boone made his first trip to Kentucky in 1769, and may have been in the State in 1772, he evidently did not cut his name on this rock. The lettering is like that found on many of the old grave-.stones in the southern part of the county, and it is therefore quite likely that this slab was taken to Millport many years ago by .some experienced stone-cutter to serve as a sample of his work. 'Phe fact that pioneer John Morgan had a son named Daniel Boone Morgan, who lived in this locality for many years and was a well-known physician, may have influenced the stone-cutter to select the name of the great scout on which to show his skill. This stone weighs eighteen pounds, is three inches thick, and its face measures about nine by twelve inches.

Murphy's Lake,''* as stated in the beginning of this chapter, is in the Pond River country, about twelve miles .southwest of Greenville. This socalled lake is aiwut three miles long, but its width is by no means in proportion to its length, for it is only from forty to fifty feet wide. It is part of the old Pond River bed and meanders for some three miles in Pond River bottom, at a distance of about half a mile from the river itself. The lake proper consi.sts of two long, deep bends of the old river, connected by a number of smaller and .shallower crooks. In places almve and below these two lagoons the old bed is nothing more than a filled-up or marshy slough, 'riie upper of these two bodies of water is known as Fisherman's Bend or Big

John Morgan and his wife Jane Irvin Morgan were the parents of eight children, Charles, John, Doctor Daniel Boone, Doctor James Robert. William K., Mrs. Susan Lovin, Mrs. Margaret Lovin, and Mrs. Jane (William) Eades.

William K. Morgan and his wife. Mary E. Ia>vell Morgan, were among the bestknown people in the Pond River country, where they lived on a farm and where they reared eight sons and four daughters, most of whom live in the county and are among Muhlenberg's most progressive citizens.

Murphy's I.ake was so called after Jesse Murphy, who was born in 1781, settled near the banks of the lake about the year 1805, and who lived there until his death in 1846. Jesse Murphy was the father of Thomas Murphy, who was born in 1825 and died in 1862. Thomas Murphy was the father of James R., W. Jesse, and Samuel W. Murphy and Mrs. Mary (Julian) Wicks.

The So-Calj,Ed Daniel Boone Book

Bend, and the lower is called Green's Bend. The Murphy's Lake bridge crosses one of the shallow links that help unite the two bends. During the dry season practically all the water disappears from these shallow intervening crooks, and at such times they show that they are nothing more than a chain of brush-grown sloughs, more or less filled with logs and snags. These various sloughs are by no means picturesque. However, Murphy's Lake proper offers many attractive views. Varieties of aquatic plants flourish in the lake and on its banks. Among such vegetation are great clusters of a species of lily known as Bonnets or Spatterdock. In many places the two large bends are gracefully lined down to the very water's edge with small willows and other shrublike growths. On the shore stand majestic old oaks, beech and gum, shading here and there a growth of short cane. Some of these trees, draped with wild grapevine, bend over the banks of the lake and in many places form unbroken arches with those leaning from the other side.

The territory lying Iwtween tlie present bed of I'ond Uiver and Murphy's Lake, with its inlet, sloughs, outlet, and "scatters," comprises some three thousand acres, all of which with the exception of about two hundred acres is rich bottom land. In fact, the richest soil in tlie county is found in the Pond River bottoms. Most of it, however, is subji-ct to floods, and therefore comparatively little of it is as yet under cultivation. Much of it probably never will be redeemed until certain parts of the river's channel are straightened out and the many sloughs properly drained.

Isaac Bard recognized the superior quality of this soil, and in 1853 made an attempt to give the three thoiusand acres around Murphy's Lake better drainage. He dug a straight ditch from the head of the "scatters" of Murphy's Lake to Martin's Creek. He abandoned the ditch, however - not because his work was ridiculed by many of the people, but because bis time was taken up with other affairs. No attempt has since l>een made to restore Bard'.s Ditch, and the land in that vicinity is still awaiting better drainage.

Lakes of this character, originating from disappearing streams, are found in a number of places in the Pond River Iwttoms. Alsive Murphy's Lake is Atkinson's Little Lake, or as it is frequently calletl, "The Idttle Lake at Fish Pond Hill." This lake is about three hundred yards long. Old laike, a <piarter of a mile below Clark's Ferry Bridge, is a crescent-shaped lagoon with its two points coming up to Pond River. Boat Yard Creek or White Ash Pond, near llarpe's Hill, is another lake of this character, but receives most of its water from the small streams that drain the valley near it. All these lakes, including Murphy's Lake, have an inlet and an outlet, which are ns a rule simply long, narrow, winding swag.s. In these places, where the outlets are very shallow, occur the so-called "scatters," w'hich during an overflow permit the water to run in any and every direction until it finds its way to the main channel of the river.

The lagoon known as Boat Yard Creek is so called from the fact that in the earl.v days, and down to as late as I860, flat-boats were built on its banks. Richard Ayeock was one of the tiest-known Isint-builders at this place. Some of the flat-lwats made here were loaded with hoop-poles cut in the Pond River country and sbippeil to Xew Orleans, while others were sent down to Green River and there sold to men who used them for various pur- poses. John S. Kaves sent tobacco, pork, and lard from this neighborhood to New Orleans as early as 1818. William Oates built a number of flat-boats here and shipped many loads of hides and produce to the South.

One of these is welt remembered locally because it terminated in the drowning of J. Lindsey Spurlin and Ellington Eades. This tragedy occurred on the 5tli of July, 1866. J. IJndsey Spurlin was a man of alxnit forty-four years and Ellington Eades was a l)oy of nineteen, a son of K. W. Eades and a grandson of pioneer Barnett Eaties. Besides tile two who were drowned the

" Bridge Lake, near the mouth of Mud River, may at one time have been a channel of Green River or Mud River. It Is now more of a bayou or back-water slough than a lagoon of the character of those In the Pond River bottoms. During high water Bridge I.,ake becomes a channel and flows Into Green River below the mouth of Mud River. Abram, Campfleld, Horseshoe, and other small lakes above It on the .Muhlenberg side are probably old channels of Mud River.

Black Lake, located In the extreme northern part of the county, is a long, narrow lagoon, the origin and nature of which Is a matter of speculation. An arm of Green River may have run, ages ago, from the mouth of Thoroughfare branch to the region of Black Lake and then continued down Cypress Creek, or down some other course, back Into Green River.

Near Pond Creek occur a few small, narrow ponds known as "old sloughs." Above the old Jack Ford, near the Greenville and Elkton Road, is one which, previous to about 1860, formed part of the Pond Creek main channel.

party consisted of Theodore Spurlin (son of J. Lindsey Spurlin), K. L. Terry, John Luekett, and Alfred Luckett. Their nets having become entangled, Kllington Kades waded into the water to straighten them out. While thus engaged a cramp eau.sed him to lose all control of himself. J. Lindsey Spurlin jumpetl into the lake to help his sinking friend, but in his attempt both sank to the bottom.*'*

About twenty years before J. Lindsey Spurlin was drowned he had participated in a hunt that took place in this same ]>art of the Pond River country. Wild turkeys and squirrels were in such abundance in the olden times that com was more or less subject to destruction by these "pests" from the time it was planted to the day it was gathered. In 1845 the people living near Old Liberty and Murphy's Lake de<4ared war on the wihl turkeys and squirrels, for during that year they had become unusually troublesome. Thomas Muiq)hy and Joseph C. Reynolds were selected as captains to fight a pn)longed battle against these foes of the farmer. Each leader chose an equal numher of men and l)oys for his company. It was agreed that after si.xty days of bombardment the two captains and their hunters were to return to a designated camp between Murphy's Lake and Old Liberty. The company bringing the smaller number of scalps (that is, tails) was to prepare a barbecue for the entire neighls)rhood. When the fight began, those who could procure no shotguns or rifles marched along depending on sticks and .stones for their atiimunition. For two months the old muzzle-loaders -scattered lead in every direction, and everything small that could be picked up and thrown was "fired" at the corn-field enemy. Reports differ as to how many squirrels and turkeys were slaughtered in this great battle. One enthusiastic fisherman, whose grandfather was then a mere Iwy, declares that "(irandpa kept a horse and landslide busy every day and mo.st every night for two months carrying tails to Murphy's hcadquarter.s, and the Lord only knows how many others were kept busy on the same job." Facts usually undergo .some changes in the hands of tradition, and it has therefore been suppo.sisl by some that the lails refernHl to by this grandson were in reality tahs, or daily reports carried to Tom Murphy's camp to keep that captain informed in regard to the movements of his own and his rival's progress. At any rate, all versions agree that "there was a terrible sight of fur and feather tails" displayed at the barheeue, and that Tom .Murphy and his crowd, having brought in the larger nund>er of "scalps," were that day crowned the kings of the killing. The next year, so the story runs, and for many years after, every farmer in the neighborhood raiswl more corn than Carter had oats - "except when the i"rows were bad."

Tradition takes us furthiT back than the "Tale of the Tails." for in the legend of Lew Allen Hill we are carried to the days of the roving Indians.

J. Lindsey Spurtin was a son of John Spurlin. an Rngllsliman who settled in Christian County about 1800. where he married Hebecca N. Ctley. The Reverend .Tames Utley Spurlin. who died In 1909 aged eighty-two and wlio for more than fifty years preached In Muhleiiherg and some of the adjoining counties, was also a son of John Spurlin. J. Lindsey Spurlin came to .Muhlenberg about 184.5. When he was drowned he left a widow with eight small children, all of whom have since become well-known citizens: Theodore. Miss Hebecca, Mrs. Mary (Jacob) Colley. Mrs. Elizabeth F. (Hiram W.) Lee, Mrs. Prince (llouglass) l-aswell. Miss Luro, James T., and J. Lindsey Spurlin, Jr.

The much-talked-of Lew Allen (or Lewellyn) Hill is located in Pond River bottom, about two miles south of Murphy's Lake. The size of this hill is not at all in proportion to its fame. It is an elevation of only about twenty feet, and has the general form of a broad low cone with a more or less ovalshaped base. It is surrounded in every direction by the level Iwttom land of Pond River for a distance of half a mile or more. Its area, including its sloping sides, is about one acre. It is covered with beech and sugar trees of

The legend of Lew Allen Hill is an old and likewise vague tale. In fact, there are two versions of it. One is to the effeet that shortly after the Revolution a Captain Knight and his associates settled somewhere on Pond River between what later became the site of the .Tes.sc H. Reno mill (whieh was built in the earl.v 'nOs and stood near Prowse's TTridge) and Graee's Fish Trap Ford, farther down the river and opposite the picturesque Grace's Bluff. There, it is said, these pioneers huilt a strong block cabin and fort. Captain Knight was a trapper and Indian fighter and seemingly the Daniel Boone of the upper Pond River countr.v. Tradition does not tell how many men were connected with his little station. The probabilities, however, are that there were onl.v a few. Among the Captain's companions was one Lew Allen, or Lewellyn. who - so the stor.v runs - while out looking after some bear traps wandered from the camp to this little hill, a distance of about two miles. He was standing on the moundlike elevation, trying to locate a favorable spot for another trap, when suddenly he was attacked and killed hy a number of Indians. Knowing that his friends would be likely to search the woods for him, the red men dug a hole on top of the hill, threw the corpse in, and then made an effort to conceal the hiding-place. The following morning, after a diligent hunt. Captain Knight's men discovered Lew Allen's body, and reburied it in its original Indian-made grave. The few small pieces of sand rock now scattered over this knoll are said to have served at one time as the murdered man's tombstone.

According to tbe other version. Lew Allen and another prospector came to this neighborhood from what is now Hartford, in Ohio County, which was then one of the few settlements in Western Kentucky. These two men, having been caught in a heavy rain near Pond Kiver, built a tire and put up a wigwam of brush on the top of the hillock, for this purpo.se more suitable than the wet bottom land surrounding it. They removed all their drenched clothes e.xcept their buckskin hunting-sbirts. While engaged in drying their wearing apparel and preparing a meal the.v found themselves, without a moment's warning, attacked by three or four Indians. Some say the Indians rushed upon the two white men simply for the fun of scaring them. .\t any rate, a few shots were e.xchangcd and Lew Allen was killed. His frightened companion, however, made his e.seape through the woods and found his way back to Hartford, where he arrived clad in nothing hut his badl.v tattered hunting-shirt.

The hunting-shirt of the early pioneer, it might be well to add. was a long buckskin garment that served the double purpose of a coat and a shirt. It encircled the body down to about eight inches aliove the knees, and could be worn either with the lower part hanging loose over the breeehes or stuffed in them, as desired. In pattern it somewhat resembled the modern woolen military coat-shirt.

Such are the two versions of the legend of Lew Allen Hill. Each has its enthusiastic upholders and its equally enthusiastic deniers. The same may also be said concerning the two theories regarding the origin of the hill. On one hand are those who have come to the conclusion that it is nothing more or less than a natural hill like many of the other hills, large and small, scattered over Pond River bottom ; on the other hand are those who believe that it is artificial, the work of the .Mound Huildcrs, evidence of whose former e.vistenee can stilt be found in the Pond River country and other parts of Muhlenberg.

Jlounds and other signs of the prehistoric men of the Pond River country are rapidly disappearing, and the same may also be said of the few remaining landmarks erected by its pioneers. The i>rimeval forests have long since given way to new farms, and many of the long-abandoned fields are now being redeemed. Modern buildings are taking the places of old-time houses. After better roads shall have been built. Pond River straightened out. and the bottoms properly drained, the Pond River country will rank - as it did in the olden day.s- - second to none in .Muhlenherg.

'- A superflcial investigation with a pick and shovel strengthened niy opinion that ]-ew Allen Hill is not the work of man. To me it looked like an accumulation deposited by some of the sediment-laden currents in the big floods that prevailed during some of the great overflows in prehistoric times, when the hills of this section were formed by the intervening valleys being washed out. If Lew Allen Hill showed a formation consisting of stratified rocks, such as occur in the hills bordering upon Pond River bottom, then we could conclude that it is the remains of one of the many hills that once existed here, but which were eroded and removed when Pond River was making its wide bottom.

I presume the isolation of Lew Allen Hill and Its shape, combined with the fact that a number of prehistoric mounds exist throughout this and other parts of the upper Pond River country, suggested the possibility of its being an artificial mound. The fact that a number of arrow-heads and stone axes have been found not only on this small elevation but also on the nearby Reynold's Turkey Hill and Owen's Island, is considered by some as further evidence that Lew Allen Hill is an artificial mound. Such relics Indicate nothing more than the presence at some time of prehistoric men.

SOME time ago I visited the ruins of Old Liberty, six and a half miles west of (ireenville. It stands on a spot where the pioneers built a church that flourished for many years. My companion and I sat down by the old forsaken ami forgotten log house and then wandoled around in the graveyard. Old Liberty, as we saw it, probably presented to my companion a scene showing nothing more than the ravages of time and neglect. I saw not only the view that lay before us. but I also could see in my mind's eye the many changes that had taken place, year after year, since the days when 1 was a boy.

Liberty was built by the pioneers in the early history of the county - in 1816. A short time after Liberty was huilt Reverend James Johnston organi/.e<l a Cumberland Presbyterian congregation there, it being one of the first CuTiiberland Presbyterian congregations organized in the county. The Presbyterians held their regular meetings of worship at Libert.v until 1851, when tbe.v erected a new church house on the lower Hopkinsville Road and called it Mount Pisgah. Liberty Church was built as a union church house, free to all denominations. The Methodists used IJberty as a place of worship until about 1880, when the.v abandoned it.

Liberty Church had a noted recorrl of religious worship and revivals. When this church was built, houses of worship were scarce in the western as well ns in the other parts of Muhlenberg. No other place in the county was more noted for religious revivals than TJhert.v. During the summer and fall of every year protracted meetings were held, and people and preachers of all denominations gathered and remained for weeks. Large arlx>rs were made for outdoor service. Basket meetings were frequent, and <-ooking was .sometimes done on the church ground. No such revival services take place now-a-days. The earnest appeals of the preachers, the zealous songs, long prayers, and loud shouts of joy that were heard and realized at Liberty long ago arc seldom heard in the worship of to-da.v. I can rememher the old pioneers as they would .shake hands with each other with smiles of hope and joy.

Liberty was called "the mother of preachers." Many of the young men of this and adjoining neighl>orhoods became ministers of the Gospel under the influence of the revivals that took place at Libert.v. Among them were Thomas and Mark Bone, sons of John Bone; Oi'orge and Thomas Re.vnolds, sons of Richard 1). Reynolds, who was the grandfather of John T. Rey-

' This entire chapter is by .Mr. Richarrt T. Martin. It Is a dellKhtful mInKling of history and personal reminiscences, by one who knows his subject well. The sketch was originally printed In the Greenville Record, April 25, 1912.

Old Liberty Church

nolds, sr. ; Charles and Kincheon Hay, sons of Kinnard Hay, a schoolteacher, and brothers of Wiley S. Hay, who represented the county in the Legislature in 1845 and 1846, and who later became a State Senator ; Henry and Felix Black, sons of Henry Black and brothers of Judge Nathan Black, who later became a noted lawyer in AVestern Kentucky ; Duran Alcock, Stephen Goodnight, Charles Campbell, Adlai Boyd, and Samuel Wilkins. through the influence of Old laberty, also became preachers.

Liberty was sometimes used as a place for political gatherings and barbecues. It was also used as a schoolhouse until 1855, when a school was built a mile east of the church. W. A. Armstrong taught the la.st district school at Liberty, in the fall of 1855. In the early times the county was not divided into school districts, and the children of a!)out fifteen families came from a radius of two miles to attend school at Liberty. The first school that 1 attended was at Liberty. It was then (in 1846) taught for two sessions by James P. Messic, a young Presbyterian preacher. He was bom in 1819 and died at Dixon, Webster County, in 1885. His students ranged from five to twenty in years and from thirty to forty in number. Liberty was then standing in the midst of a beautiful forest surrounded by clustered oaks proudly waving their long arms of green foliage to the summer winds and forming a delightful shade. A beautiful and ample playground extended all around the house.

In my memory I can plainly see, as if it were but a few years ago, the children that attended the school taught by Messic coming up to Liberty along the different roads and paths in the early morning hours with their baskets, buckets, and books. They were neatly dressed in homespun apparel and came with merry hearts and rosy cheeks, greeting each other with a smile. It was an ambition among the l)03's and girts to be first at school and to get there before "book time," which gave them a chance for pla.v. The old blue-backed spelling-book was used, and it took two copies to last some pupils through the school. The old-time readers were, also used. We all admired the poem about the sailor boy whose name was Patrick Green, who "Would you know my stor.v? I have IsM-n across the ocean blue and .seen it in its glory." Most of the boys and girls used thumb-papers to protect their books. In the early schools the children were allowed to read and spell out and sometimes the schoolhou.se would appear like a beehive with a general hum of variegated voices. AVe tried to see which could spell

Messic was king, and waved the scepter o'er Liberty's domain. What he said was law and gospel. He would read his rules every Monday morning, commencing first, second, and so on to the tenth rule. He backed up his rules with two keen switches, a large and a small one, which he placed in a rack over the door.

Old Liberty Church. In 1000

The greatest attraction at school was reee.ss and playtime. At twelve o'clock Messic would say. "I'ut by books for dinner." Then a general hustling commenced and continued until "Imoks" was again called. After dinner was over, play eommeneed. The games were "Bull-pen." "Prisoner's Base," "Catball," "Andy Over," and marbles. The recess would last an hour. James F'. Shelton, now in his seventy-seventh year, was the "fox" of the school. A number of Iwys would act as "hounds." and many a time they chased Shelton around through the woods, but never caught him.

Messic had a sweetheart, who lived about a half mile from Liberty, and sometimes after dinner he would make a call, and then our playtime would he extended. We were all glad to see Messic step off down the road, for we felt that we could do as we plea.sed during his absence.

How well I rememlier the old well that stood west of the house and near the road ! It was nicely curbed up with stone. AVe used a pole and a sweep to draw water from its depths. There we often stood to drink of the fresh water from "the old oaken bucket, the iron-hound bucket, the moss-covered bucket that hung in the well." But now neither vestige nor sign of this old well can be seen.

On one occasion a man named Loving came to the Messic school. I remember him as well as if it had been yesterday. lie was a middle-aged man with light hair and blue eyes; his face was considerably marked with smallpox. Messic called the school to order and Loving took out his watch and commenced his examination with the smallest pupil. He a,sked this small boy, "If you had this watch and should break it, to whom would you take it to get it fixed?" This he asked of some others. Most of them said that they did not know. Some answered tliat they would take it to the blacksmith ; others said to the gunsmith or to the carpenter. Finally Ix>ving came to a boy who had been listening and watching very earnestly. He asked the Iwy, "Son, if you had this watch and should break it, where would you take it to get it fixed?" The boy looked wise and smacked his mouth and said, "Well, sir, I would take it to God." "Oh, no," replied Ixiving, "you could not do that." This lad was the well-known C. Y. Shelton, who in 1864 moved to Arizona and who died at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1887, and was buried at Old Liberty.

On another occasion during Messic 's school, John Campbell, a mathematical genius of the country, came to Liberty, as we supposed, to test Messic's mathematical ability. Campbell state<l several problems and asked

Messic to solve them. One ot them was: "How large is that piece of land or section of country which, if fenced, the number of acres enclosed would be equal to the number of rails around it, the rails being ten feet long and laid ten rails high, and so placed that every two lengths of rails formed a pole of the boundary!" Mcssic said he did not think the problem could be solved. Campbell then figured it out and showed in what size tract it was that, under the specified conditions, the number of acres and the number of rails wa.s just the same. Messic and all of us then saw that it could be done, and 1, for one, have not forgotten it.

A novel event during Mosaic's time was the geography singing-school. A man named Burr came into tlie Liberty neighborhood and made up a class of about twenty scholars. It was a singing-school of geographical names. Burr had these names so classilietl and arranged that by giving them the proper accent and singing them to some familiar tune they would make int(>resting mu.sie as well as impress geographical names on the memory. Burr had a large chart which he used, and the pupils all had maps. In those days maps and geographies were printed in separate books. During the process of singing .some of the mi.schievous girls, in calling out the names of some of the lakes, would substitute the name of Messic. For instance, instead of Lake Michigan they would sing "Lake Mr. Messic." This singing-school was taught Saturdays and Sundays. Messic was not a member of the singing cla.s.s, but would attend as a spectator.

The young men of the neighborhood occasionally met to discuss different questions. However, Liberty was more freipiently u.scd as a meeting-place for singing cLts-scs. Such singing cbis.ses met during the summer season and sang according to the old four-note system called the fa, sol. la, me. These classes were kept up for many years. The songs were called "Montgomerj-." "Mt. Zion," "Edom," "Ocean," "Huntington," "Delight." and "Easter Anthem," and they were fine music. James \V. Rice was the leader for many years. The books used were called the "Mis.souri" and "Bouthern Harmony." Sometimes the singers would bring their dinners and spend the day at Liberty. Uncle John Allison (who would rather sing bass than eat) was one of our best singers. Allison, Morton, and Buchannon gave us music equal to a bra.ss band.

Many of the l»ys and girls with whom 1 went to school at Liberty have passed away. Some of them are scattered in other States ; only a few are now living in the county, and they have reached their threescore years and ten. Soon after Liberty was built a graveyard was started near the church. This burv'ing-ground has .slowly increased, and now a number of the people of the neighborhood, including some of those who attended Liberty school and church during, before, or after my youth sleep within its confines.

My companion and I walked around in this graveyard and read the inscriptions on the tombstones. .\s we passed along I pointed out the unmarked grave of the Reverend .\dlai Boyd, once a noted pioneer Cumberland Presbyterian preacher, lie was born in the first years of the Nineteenth Century and spent fifty-odd years of his life in earnest devotion to the cause of the Christian religion. Boyd was an eloquent and impressive speaker and one of the ablest preachers that ever lived in the county. He was pastor of Liberty Church for some years. JIany a time his clear and distinct voice rang out within and about Liberty Churcli, interesting and instructing many of those that are now slumbering with him in the dust of death. He lived northeast of Greenville, and was a man of some means. He owned a good farm of five hundred acr(>s of land, underlaid with coal, which is now included in tlie Hillside coal holdings. He owned a house and lot in Greenville. His first wife was Joanna Cesna. They raised a good-sized family, consisting of four Isiys and three girls, llis first wife, died alwiit 1864 and was Imried in Liberty graveyard. Some years afterward Mr. Iloyd married again and removed to Henderson. In the spring of 1882 he came to Greenville on a visit, took sick and died, and was buried at Liberty by the side of his first wife. He devoted his life to the betterment of his race, in persuading men and women to become allied to the Christian religion.

In 1902. when the Cnmlierland Presbyterians of Greenville tore down the old building that had been erected in 1848. they placed in their new building four memorial windows, one of which is "Sacred to the Memory of Adlai Boyd. First Pastor. Matthew 28:19." Few who now read his name in that window know that he was one of the most infinential preachers of his day and that he is buried at Old Liberty. -

' The four memorial windows In the Cumberland Presb.vlerlan Church of Greenville are In memory of - Adlal Boyd. (Irsl pastor: Mrs. Anna Allison Holmes, first organist; J. C. Howard, for twenty-one years superintendent of the Sabbath-school, and A. J. Martin, ruling elder.

Life In The Olden Days

WHK.V tlie fii"st settlers came to look for homes in that portion of the State which is now Muhlenberg County they found the hills and valleys covered with one continuous forest. Gigantic oak, poplar, hickory, walnut, beech and many other species of hardwood trees flourished in great numbers, csj)ecially in the bottoms and valleys and on the north hillsides; tall pines .sf(»d on the cliffs overlooking Clifty Creek, and large cypres.ses shaded the bank.s of Hlack Lake. Little or no underbrush grew in this virgin forest. Men and women experienced no trouble m riding or walking under the trees. Wagons encountered few obstacles other than deep streams or steep hills.

The pioneers believed that the best land on which to settle was where good springs ami running streams existed and where good timber for houses, fences, and fuel was plentiful. Wood and water they found here to their satisfaction, and in a territory they judged sufficiently large to provide them and their succe.s.sors with "new ground" for many centuries. The supply of standing timber then seemed ns inexhaustible as the w'ater in the everlasting springs and ever-running streams. They did not imagine that the conservation of forests and the reileeming of the .so-called "worn-out land" would, in less than a century, be among the problems of the day. Nor did they realize that they were treading on ground under which lay great deposits of coal, and that this coal would some day be developed and rank as the county's greatest natural resource.

The Indians had, for more than a century, given up this s(s;tion of the State as a place of residence, hut had not abandoned it as a hunting-ground until a .short time before the fii"st white men began making their settlements. The few red men who were seen by JIuhlenherg's pioneers were in all probability rovers, Iwlonging to no tribe at all. In the olden days deer, bear, turkeys, and other game were plentiful; wolves were numerous, and panthers, although comparatively few, were likely to be encountered at any time.

Such, in brief, was the wilderness into which the first-comers penetrated to open up a new country and to establish homes and fortunes for themselves and for their children. In this vast forest the pioneers made their clearings, erected their houses, raised their crops, out their roads, built their churches, put up their courthouse, reared their families, and blazed the way for posterity.

'The providing of food and shelter occupied the greater part of the time of the first-comers. Self-reliance became of necessity a strong characteristic.

Every family was tlirown absolutely on its own resources, except in cases where two or more families came in a liody and settled in the same place for mutual protection and assistance. Help of any and every kind was cheerfully given to neighbors; but neighbors were as a rule few, and in most cases the nearest lived several miles away. The men cultivated the crops, shot game for meat, and attended to what marketing there was of their scanty products. In the meantime the women not only performed the regular household duties, but also spun the yarn and flax and wove the cloth for most of the clothes then worn.

White Oak Yellow Poplar

Tre«f llk« these two (oak six foot, poplar four foot lu dlanoter) were namorous In tbo olden days. They are among the few giants still standing in the Upper Pond Creek country

As the number of newcomers increased, the exchange of labor and products became more freipient and more practical, and pleasure as well as profit brought almut a more fre<iucnt commingling of the people. Business and social, religious, and educational intercourse not only led to an exchange of views but also to the broadening of ideas. Nearly every farm became not only a place for work but also a social center. Those who lacked an interest in social, religious, or educational affairs and avoided these gatherings soon deteriorated, no matter how great their aeeomplishments or how high their social standing might have been.

Neighbors intermarried, and ns every neighborhood was in social touch with those surrounding it, all neightsirlioods, in time, were linked together. The German-Americans in the northern and ea.stern part of the county, the Virginians in the middle .section, extending from Green River to Pond River, and the Carolinians in the southern part, soon became more or less united into one settlement, with Greenville ns its center. More than half of the citizens now living in Muhlenberg, who trace their ance.stry to the pioneers of the county, are related, althougb in many cases this kinship has

The early .settlers in the county were of various extraction. Most of them were German, English, Scotch, or Irish descent. But since environment plays a more important part in the development of a people than the nationality of their ancestors, and since in the early days all were under the influence of the same surroundings, conditions, and laws, the pioneers soon drifted more or less into the .same way of living and into the use of the same language and the same local forms of e.xpression. A few of the pioneers were Germans, and a number were German-Pennsylvanians and German- Virginians; hut all traces of the old Vaterland customs and speech disappeared from Muhlenberg three or four generations ago. This change extended even to the spelling of the German names, most of them having been long since Americanized.

The Virginians and Carolinians of English, Scotch, and Irish extraction were more numerous than any other cla.ss of settlers, and their life, language, and laws prevailed to such an e.xtent that their characteristics soon influenced the manners and customs of the entire population of the county. As time rolled on and new conditions presenteil themselves new customs slowly developed, and us the customs of colonial Virginia and the Carolinas that had long prevailed in Muhlenberg passed into the days gone by, there gradually developed another American people - Muhlenbcrgcrs - who were not only among the earliest of typical Kentuckians, hut whose descendants, changing with the times, are typical Kentuckians of to-day.

A large portion of Virginia's military grants lay in Kentucky south of Green River. A number of the first-cornel's and other pioneers, consequently, were people who came to take posse.s.sion of the military lands granted to them or to their fathers. Others traveled into this wilderness to buy offered tracts or to claim tracts they had Iwiight. Some wandered here to settle on unclaimed public lands, or to "squat" on wild lands with a view of later obtaining a patent for their newly acquireil farms. .Some, stirred by the "call of the wild." came to hunt and fi.sh. Others, drifting on the tide of adventure, inditferent aliout land or game, had - as a local expression puts it - "come to he a-coming. "