MEDAL OF HONOR, CONGRESSIONAL
in Covington via the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Bridge (1888), most cattle were shipped directly into Ohio; cattle destined for Covington packers were offloaded at the Covington rail yards. When refrigeration became available, the major packers moved on to Chicago. Over time, several stockyards did business in Covington along the railroad into the city. Many were situated on Russell St., near 16th St., and replaced the Central Covington yards farther south. The newer ones, north of the Kenton Junction railroad intersection, allowed for the easy loading of cattle cars from the east off the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad after 1888, in addition to the Louisville and Nashville (formerly the Kentucky Central and the Covington and Lexington) Railroad. Other stockyards in Covington included the Jennings and Wilkerson facility that opened for business in 1875; that same year, the Nagel Slaughter House was operating in Lewisburg, and the Benzinger Slaughter House on Burnet St. in Austinburg burned. Fire was a common problem for meatpacking companies. The foremost packer in Covington’s history operated for only a decade. The firm of Milward and Oldershaw was situated along the banks of the Licking River and flourished during the 1850s. Its specialty was singed pork for the English market. The firm was the largest pork processor in the United States in 1850, with the capacity to prepare as many as 1,000 hogs per day. During the 1849– 1850 season, Milward and Oldershaw packed 25,000 hogs. Its plant burned to the ground in 1859. That same year saw Daniel Ruttle begin his meatpacking firm, and in 1862 that company became the Ruttle-Schlickman Company. Its plant was on W. 12th St., and it gained a national reputation for its quality pork products. In 1885 Ruttle’s retail operation at Seventh and Madison Ave. burned, and by 1902 both Ruttle and Schlickman were dead. In 1904 the company went bankrupt, and the business was assigned to John Osterholt by the Kenton Co. Fiscal Court. Ruttle’s descendants became well-known Covington florists. In 1928 Covington experienced a cattle stampede, when a herd being driven from the Russell St. pens to the C. Rice plant on the east side became unruly and got out of hand at 16th and Madison Ave. Traffic was stopped for an hour before the herd could be regrouped. At one time, Augusta, Falmouth, and Williamstown had stockyards where the buying, selling, and trading of livestock took place on specified days each month. Maysville still has a small stockyard facility. That city lost two stockyards to fires: in 1940 the old Carlisle Stockyard burned, and in January 1994 its replacement, Maysville Stockyards, burned. In the 19th century, there were slaughterhouses in Finchtown, just south of Newport along the Short Line (Louisville, Cincinnati, and Lexington Railroad) to Louisville. Today, Bobby Mackey’s nightclub on the Wilder Pk. just outside Newport sits on land where a slaughterhouse once operated. Meatpacking now takes place in southern Campbell Co. in Claryville, at the Kahn’s plant, owned by the Sara Lee Corpo-
ration; Kahn’s used to be located along Spring Grove Ave. in Cincinnati, near that city’s former stockyards. Smaller Northern Kentucky packers have included C. Rice Packing (Direct Meats), once at Patton St. and Eastern Ave., and another Rice family operation, Bluegrass Meats in Crescent Springs. Long gone are the days when local butcher shops, such as Ebert’s Meats in Newport, led live animals into their basements, where the animals were killed and processed on the spot. “Cattle in Stampede,” KP, September 18, 1928, 1. “Council to Close Street for New Plant,” KP, October 21, 1913, 2. “New Stockyards,” CE, April 9, 1899, 3. “Plant,” KP, April 4, 1904, 1. Pork Packers Association of Chicago. Packing of the West. Chicago: Pork Packers Association, 1876. Tenkotte, Paul A. “Rival Cities to Suburbs: Covington and Newport, Kentucky, 1790–1890,” PhD diss., Univ. of Cincinnati, 1989. “Will Wreck Landmark,” KP, October 26, 1917, 1.
Michael R. Sweeney
MEDAL OF HONOR, CONGRESSIONAL. Through 2008, 56 Medals of Honor have been awarded to Kentuckians, 16 of whom had Northern Kentucky connections. During the Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington began the practice of awarding medals to soldiers for individual acts of heroism. Those early awards were called Badges of Military Merit. Awards were also made during the Mexican War (1846–1847) but were called Certificates of Merit. On July 25, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Medal of Honor. Congress changed the name to the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1918. The purpose of the medal was to honor members of the armed forces who displayed acts of heroism beyond the call of duty. Initially, the medal was given only for heroism in armed conflict, but later it was also awarded for noncombat heroism. Each branch of ser vice designed its own version of the medal. The Congressional Medal of Honor is the only medal issued by the armed ser vices that is worn on a ribbon around the neck. The medal is usually presented in person by the president of the United States. More than 3,400 individuals have received the honor, more than half of them posthumously. Recipients of the award have come from all 50 states. Twenty individuals have been awarded the medal twice. The only woman to receive the Medal of Honor was Dr. Mary Edwards Walker (1832–1919). Some of the famous people honored in this way are Buffalo Bill Cody, Adm. Richard Byrd, Jimmy Doolittle, Eddie Rickenbacker, Douglas MacArthur, Theodore Roosevelt, and Charles Lindberg. Two recipients of the medal have had movies made about the military actions that led to the award: World War I hero Alvin C. York (1887–1964) and the most decorated World War II veteran, Audie Leon Murphy (1924–1971). A Veteran’s Convention is held each year, at which living Medal of Honor recipients are recognized and their exploits recounted. The first Northern Kentuckian to receive the Medal of Honor was Sgt. John S. Darrough (1841–
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1920), who was born at Maysville, in Mason Co. He received his medal for saving the life of a captain at Eastport, Miss., on October 10, 1864. Darrough was buried in the Grand Army of the Republic Cemetery, Watseka, Ill. Carroll Co. native Pvt. John Davis (1838–1901) received his medal for capturing the Confederate flag of the Worrill Grays in February 1865 at Cullodon, Ga. He was buried in the Fort Logan National Cemetery in Sheriden, Colo. Sgt. Francis M. McMillen (1832–1913), who was born and raised in Bracken Co., received his medal for capturing the Confederate flag at Petersburg, Va., on April 2, 1865. He was buried in the Washington Cemetery at Washington Court House, Ohio. Civil War drummer William H. Horsfall (1847–1922), was born and raised in Newport. At the age of 14, he was one of the youngest ever to receive the medal. He was credited with rescuing a wounded officer who was trapped between battle lines at Corinth, Miss. He was buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Southgate. Pvt. William Steinmetz (1847–1903), also born and raised in Newport, was awarded the medal for gallantry during a charge by his volunteer storming force at Vicksburg, Miss. He was buried in the Wesleyan Cemetery in Cincinnati. Pvt. Charles Wesley Rundle (1842–1924) grew up in Covington. He received his medal for gallantry with the same volunteer storming force. He is buried in the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Sgt. Cavalry M. Young (1840– 1909) was awarded his medal for capturing Confederate Gen. William Cabell in Osage, Kans. He was buried in Highland Cemetery, Fort Mitchell. Covington-born Sgt. Thomas Shaw (1846– 1895) was a member of the African American cavalry regiment known as the Buffalo Soldiers. He won his medal for stubbornly holding his ground, in an extremely exposed position, against a superior force of Indians at Carrizo Canyon, N. Mex., on August, 12, 1881. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Pvt. Thomas Sullivan (1859– 1940), also born in Covington, was awarded the medal for gallantry in action against Indians on December 29, 1890, in the Chiricahua Mountains of Arizona. He was buried in the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange, N.J. German-born Sgt. Louis (Lehman) Hineman (1839–1920) received his medal in August 1875 for gallantry against the Apache Indians during the winter of 1872–1873. He died at his home in Newport and was buried in St. Stephen Cemetery, Fort Thomas. Minnesotaborn Col. Harry Leroy Hawthorne (1859–1948) was stationed for a time at the Newport Barracks, and his parents lived nearby in the city of Newport. As a 2nd lieutenant with a U.S. Army artillery unit, he won his medal for distinguished conduct in battle at Wounded Knee, S.D., during the Indian Wars on October 11, 1892. He was a career officer who later served in World War I, where he was awarded a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Seaman Edward W. Boers (1884–1929) was born in Cincinnati but later moved to Bellevue, Ky. He won his medal in peacetime by displaying extraordinary heroism in helping injured sailors