Chapter Z of the Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky

Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky in partnership with NKY.com Introduction | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z | Index

Z

AP Photo/File

ZIEGLER, RON. Born May 12th, 1939 in

Covington, Ronald Lewis Ziegler was the son of Louis Daniel and Ruby Parsons Ziegler... (cont’d on pg. 985)

The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky Contents Introduction, Foreword, Acknowledgments and Guide for Readers Chapters: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, Y, Z Index, Bibliography, Illustration Credits

Edited by Paul A. Tenkotte and James C. Claypool THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY Republished for the World Wide Web by NKY.com and Enquirer Media

A Project of the Thomas D. Clark Foundation, Inc. Mark A. Neikirk, President Sherry Jelsma, Vice President

Dave Adkisson, Treasurer Melanie J. Kilpatrick, Secretary

Thomas R. Brumley, Immediate Past President Michael J. Hammons, Past President

Dave Adkisson, Frankfort Jane Beshear, Frankfort Thomas R. Brumley, Lexington John S. Carroll, Lexington Sara W. Combs, Stanton

Board of Directors Michael J. Hammons, Park Hills Sherry Jelsma, Shelbyville Martha C. Johnson, Melbourne Mark A. Neikirk, Highland Heights Alice Stevens Sparks, Crescent Springs

Robert Ted Steinbock, Louisville Mrya Leigh Tobin, New York City James M. Wiseman, Erlanger

Editorial Staff Editors in Chief: Paul A. Tenkotte and James C. Claypool Associate Editors: David Hatter, John Schlipp, David E. Schroeder, Robert Stevie, Michael R. Sweeney, John W. Thieret (deceased), Thomas S. Ward, Jack Wessling Topical Editors: Agriculture: Lynn David & James Wallace; Art: Rebecca Bilbo; Biography: Michael R. Sweeney; Business & Commerce: John Boh; Counties & Towns: David E. Schroeder; Ethnology: Theodore H. H. Harris; Government, Law, & Politics: John Schlipp; Literature: Danny Miller (Deceased); Medicine: Dennis B. Worthen; Military: James A. Ramage; Music, Media, & Entertainment: John Schlipp; Religion: Thomas S. Ward & Alex Hyrcza; Sports & Recreation: James C. Claypool; Transportation Joseph F. Gastright (Deceased); Women: Karen Mcdaniel.

Maps: Jeff Levy at the Gyula Pauer Center for Cartography & GIS, University of Kentucky.

Copyright © 2009 by The University Press of Kentucky, 663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, KY 40508-4008 www.kentuckypress.com.

Print editions: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The Encyclopedia of northern Kentucky / edited by Paul A. Tenkotte and James C. Claypool. p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-8131-2565-7 (hardcover : acid-free paper) ISBN 978-0-8131-2585-5 (limited leather edition) 1. Kentucky, Northern— Encyclopedias. 2. Kentucky— Encyclopedias. I. Tenkotte, Paul A. II. Claypool, James C. F451.E55 2009 976.9'3003—dc22 2009027969

ZEITZ, GRAY (b. August, 1949, Mobile, Ala.). A publisher of collectible books and an author, Gray Zeitz is one of two sons of Joseph and Kay Zeitz. He moved to Kentucky as a child, relocating several times in the early years because of his father’s military career. He received an associate degree from the Elizabethtown Community College in Elizabethtown, Ky. In the late 1960s, he moved to Lexington, where he attended the University of Kentucky (UK), taking courses in English and history.

His passion for printing emerged during his days at UK, where he apprenticed at the King Library Press. He learned fine handwork skills and typographic design working with Carolyn Hammer, who founded the press while also serving as curator of rare books.

In 1974 Zeitz moved to his current residence of 30 years, Monterey, in Owen Co. That same year, his love of print and of contemporary writers came together as he created Larkspur Press, one of the nation’s model small presses. Zeitz began Larkspur on his land outside of Monterey, with a small supply of Emerson metal type and some used equipment.

In 1975 Larkspur Press published its first work, Bluegrass, a collection of poems by Richard Taylor.

With its appealing presentation in a beautifully finished style, Bluegrass set the standard for Larkspur publications. Zeitz prefers a handset type because it allows precise spacing and beautiful typefaces not found on computers. He also enjoys setting type by hand. He uses a process of printing that contains remnants of the methods invented by the German Johann Gutenberg, the 15th-century father of modern printing. The process involves printing by movable letters. Zeitz’s process is not simple. He manually typesets the books by loading letters and other characters into viselike boxes called “sticks.” The entire process takes a couple of years, so he can print only up to three books per year. In the process, Zeitz must choose the font and paper type for each book. If the paper is to be handmade, the time required can be multiplied by as much as a factor of 10. Paper or cloth must be chosen for each cover, and the covers are usually printed by hand. If color or illustrations are present, the sheets may have to be run through the press as many as six times. After printing, the regular editions are “jobbed out” to a small bindery. The special editions are hand sewn, hand bound, and decorated. The covers of the special editions are decorated with unique papers (marbled, pasted, or stamped).

Larkspur’s publications include short fiction, collections of poems, short poems, and broadsides (single works printed on one side of a sheet of paper). Zeitz collaborates predominately with Kentuckians. Some of the authors whose books have been published by Larkspur are Wendell Berry,

Guy Davenport, Jonathan Greene, James Baker Hall, J. Hill Hamon, Bobbie Ann Mason, Ed McClanahan, Gurney Norman, Steve Sanfield, Fred Smock, and Richard Taylor. Zeitz also has published his own poetry.

Gray Zeitz has played a major role in the lives of Kentucky writers. His work is a model of printing craftsmanship. In addition to his printing activities, he is a volunteer firefighter and Monterey city clerk. His wife, Jean, is a preschool teacher in Owen Co. They have a son and a daughter.

Grolier Club. “The Work of Victor and Carolyn Hammer.” www.grolierclub.org/ExHammer.htm (accessed February 17, 2007).

Jones, Elizabeth. “Putting the Fine in Fine Press: UK Celebrates Twenty-Five Years of Gray Zeitz’s Larkspur Press,” Ace Weekly, www.aceweekly.com/ acemag/backissues/981028/art _981028.html (accessed February 17, 2007).

King Library Press. “Larkspur Twenty-Five: Celebrating a Quarter Century of Gray Zeitz and Larkspur Press.” www.uky.edu/Libraries/KLP/seminars/1998f .html (accessed February 17, 2007).

“Timeless Type of Work,” Lexington Herald Leader, July 20, 1997, J1.

Young, Dianne, and Steve Millburg. “Printers in the Old Style,” Southern Living 29, no. 12 (December 1994): 102–4.

Zeitz, Gray. Telephone interview by Sharon McGee, August 9, 2004.

Sharon McGee

ZIEGLER, RON (b. May 12, 1939, Covington, Ky.; d. February 10, 2003, Coronado, Calif.). Ronald Louis Ziegler was the son of Louis Daniel and Ruby Parsons Ziegler. He grew up at 1074 Altavia Ave. in Park Hills, a neighbor of longtime Cincinnati Reds public address announcer Paul Sommerkamp. Ziegler attended Dixie Heights High School in Edgewood, where he earned all-state honors in football. He began college at Xavier University in Cincinnati in fall 1957 with an athletic scholarship but gave up football and transferred to the University of Southern California (USC) in 1958. He graduated from USC in 1961. While an undergraduate student there, Ziegler became active in Republican politics; he was a member of the Young Republicans. In 1961 he served as a press officer of the California Republican State Committee, where he assisted in Richard Nixon’s failed attempt to become governor of California in 1962. Public relations and marketing were Ziegler’s real fortes, as evidenced by the successful work he did in these fields for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency in California.

When Ziegler’s friend H. R. “Bob” Haldeman became chief of staff for the newly elected President Nixon (1969–1974), Ziegler, at age 29, was appointed White House press secretary, the youngest ever. He coined two phrases that will live in American history: he is the person who called the Watergate incident the result of a “third-rate burglary,” and he often responded to the White House news correspondences by calling things “inoperative.”

In 2003 Ziegler died at his California home and was cremated. His wife Nancy and two daughters survived him.

Hicks, Jack. “Former Nixon Press Aide Visits Home of His Youth,” KE, July 11, 1983, C1.

“Ron Ziegler, Nixon Aide, Dies—He Was Born in Covington,” KP, February 11, 2003, A6.

ZION BAPTIST CHURCH. Zion Baptist Church of Walton in Boone Co. was formed in 1872 to serve that area’s African American community. Tradition has it that the church was organized by Timothy Smith, when he began to organize prayer meetings in his home. The earliest founders were George Chatman, Rev. and Mrs. John Greene, Courtney Watkins, Solomon Watkins, Daniel Williams, and John Williams. This first church was officially organized on September 20, 1872; Rev. Solomon Watkins was called as its pastor. The first house of worship was located on High St. and had a dual purpose: it served as a school as well as a church. In November 1877, Watkins held a baptism at Uncle Jack Arnold’s pond; there were 10 converts in the procession, and many spectators lined the banks.

The church on High St. was abandoned and in 1884 a new building, which also functioned as a school and a church, was constructed on a hill overlooking the current church. It is believed that the Odd Fellows held their meetings there. After this building was demolished, its site became the burial place of Watkins.

Rev. J. S. Boles spearheaded the building of the present church. Male members of the congregation demolished the old building and built a new one at 35 Church St., which was dedicated on May 28, 1922. An all-day meeting and a basket dinner on the grounds accompanied the celebration.

On June 18, 1972, the Zion Baptist Church held its centennial celebration. Zion Baptist has gone through several phases of additions, rebuilding, and remodeling. In September 1994, Rev. O. B. Ford was called and continues to serve Zion Baptist Church.

“Church Notes,” DC, November 7, 1877, 2.

Historical notes on fi le at Zion Baptist Church, Walton, Ky. Paul, Smita Madan. “Neighborhood Contributed,” KE, July 6, 1993, D1–D2.

Reis, Jim. “Black Churches Offered Stability in Troubled Times,” KP, January 20, 1997, 4K.

Theodore H. H. Harris

ZION STATION. An unnamed settlement along Ten Mile Creek in northwestern Grant Co., part of a large land grant held by John H. Craig, was given the name Zion Station in 1869 when the Louisville, Cincinnati, and Lexington Railroad, the “Short Line” between Louisville and Cincinnati, was completed. Zion Station served as the railroad connection for the town of Mount Zion, just a few miles to the east.

A post office opened at Zion Station in 1871.

The earliest schoolhouse was established about 1884 in a building that remained in use until 1914.

A new frame structure then replaced the original one and served as the Zion School until 1933. Pleasant View Baptist Church was organized at Zion Station in 1867 in a log building that was replaced

986 ZOLLER, KATE with a frame structure in 1907. In 1876 the Kentucky State Gazetteer indicated that Zion Station had two general stores, two physicians, two blacksmiths, a Baptist minister, and a flourmill.

On February 23, 1872, a fast train from Louisville collapsed the bridge near Zion Station, killing 2 people and injuring about 50. It was the third bridge collapse in the rail line’s short history. In recent years, the county has had to repair the 100-year-old automobile bridge over the Ten Mile Creek connecting Zion Station with Napoleon.

Without use of the bridge, important emergency vehicles in that part of Grant Co. can supply only limited ser vice.

Conrad, John B., ed. History of Grant County. Williamstown, Ky.: Grant Co. Historical Society, 1992.

“Frightful Railroad Accident,” CJ, February 24, 1882, 2.

Tortora, Andrea. “Grant Patching Wooden Bridge, Crossing Fingers on New Span,” KE, August 22, 1996, B1A.

John B. Conrad

ZOLLER, KATE (b. July 12, 1853, Memphis, Tenn.; d. September 21, 1932, Mount Olivet, Ky.).

Katherine Elinor Grace Farris, who became a school superintendent, was the daughter of William and Emmalene De Grasse Farris of Memphis, Tenn. She attended the Memphis schools and graduated from the Young Ladies Institute. She became a schoolteacher in the Cincinnati Public School system but later moved to Mount Olivet, Ky., at the advice of her physician, in order to improve her health. Soon she began teaching in pri-

vate schools; she also taught music part-time in Robertson Co. On June 8, 1880, she married John W. Zoller, the owner and editor of the Robertson County Tribune. Kate was often seen helping out at the newspaper; she was a first-class writer who could produce copy quickly. Around 1910 she became the first woman superintendent of schools in Robertson Co. and always was known for her support of high educational standards. Kate Zoller died in 1932 at Mount Olivet and was buried at the Mount Olivet Cemetery.

Kentucky Death Certificate No. 22373, for the year 1932.

Moore, T. Ross, ed. Echoes from the Century, 1867– 1967. Mount Olivet, Ky.: Robertson Co. Historical Society, 2000.