Meade County History

The Meade County

Meade County History Magazine

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How Meade County Began.......................................6 Meade County Jail....................................................9 The tragedy of Lucy Hamilton...............................13 Who was Robert Buckner?.....................................15 Suicide at Brandenburg Station............................18 Prince Madoc and the Brandenburg Stone ...........20 Modern History of the Brandenburg Stone..........23 Ice Gorge of 1918....................................................24 Meade County Moonshine......................................29 The Great Flood of 1937..........................................34 Agriculture: the bedrock of Meade County’s birth...39 Five Star Farm........................................................43 Ditto Grocery..........................................................49 History of Doe Valley.............................................51 Tornado of 1974.....................................................55 A peek behind the Badge.........................................59

Meade County History Magazine

Table of Contents

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Introduction The Meade County Messenger would like to welcome you to the very first edition of the Meade County History Magazine!

Our area is rich in history and stories that need to be told so that our future generations can know the legacy of where they come from. Often, the past surrounds us in everyday life through old buildings, relics and other things of that nature, but because we do not know their stories, we are incapable of truly appreciating them. We hope you thoroughly enjoy the articles inside these pages. If you do, please consider donating to our local history museum. You can visit anytime they are open and just might be amazed by what all is held within its walls.

Please support the Meade County History Museum The purpose of the Meade County History Museum is to preserve our history and educate our community. We want to make artifacts and historic items available for the public to see.

The museum has exhibits that show items from prehistoric times up through recent time. You can see what has happened in the history of the area, and learn how people lived in the past.

MCHAPS is an independent association of archaeologists, historians and genealogists that are dedicated to preserving the history of Meade county and sharing it with others. MCHAPS meets the second Monday of each month. All MCHAPS meetings are free and open to the public. Donations to the museum upkeep are always welcomed.

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Sponsors Index Meade County Extension Office..........................40

24 HR Plumber......................................................12

Meade County Messenger......................................3

Allen Blanc Roofing..............................................22

Meade County Tourism........................................23

Allen’s S&T Hardware.........................................57

Meade Family Eye................................................16

Barr Automotive....................................................53

Medley’s HVAC.....................................................8

Barr Realty............................................................38

Miguel’s...............................................................28

Bluegrass Animal.................................................X

Momma Rob’s Bakery.........................................41

Brandenburg Telephone/BBTel...........................45

Nucor...................................................................32

Bim’s Ready Mix & Trucking.................................19

Paul Smith............................................................27

Book Nook............................................................17

Pike Electric.........................................................50

Bud’s Pfeiffer Jewelers...........................................44

Pike Lawn & Garden...........................................48

Corvin’s In Town Moving......................................17

Pike Rentals.........................................................50

Doe Run Federal Credit Union..............................7

Ray’s Ford............................................................31

Doe Valley Association.........................................54

Robert’s Family Farm..........................................41

Exit Realty............................................................25

Shelter Insurance................................................22

Fashion Floors......................................................30

Tailgate Handyman Services...............................47

Hager Funeral Home............................................11

The Cecilian Bank....................inside front cover

Judge Leslie Stith................................................61

Tony Brown Chevrolet........................back cover

Kentucky Land.......................................................8

United Real Estate of Louisville............................33

Meade County Bank..................inside back cover

Meade County History Magazine

Webb’s Butcher Block..........................................10

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Meade County How It All Began

Early History

Historical restored photo of downtown Brandenburg.

Over 10,000 years ago, before Meade County was even thought of, Native Americans lived and settled Meade County Established in the area. There is evidence of this throughout Meade County. There have been excavations of many Meade County was the 76th county to be estabartifacts, burial grounds, and shell mounds along the lished in Kentucky. It was established on December Ohio River front.

17, 1823, from parts of Hardin and Breckinridge Many settled here because of the resources the river Counties by Kentucky Governor, John Adair. It was provided and plentiful grazing land for animals. named in honor of Woodford County War of 1812 The area has vast game, fish, nuts, berries, and hero Captain James M. Meade, who was killed at fertile soil for corn and high quality flint. Evidence the Battle of River Raisin, near present day Monroe, shows that the first settlers of Meade County were Michigan.

Asian American because most Native Americans came Other towns inside of Meade County superseded from Mongolia. Many believe that the Cherokee and the founding of the county itself. Big Bend was estabShawnee tribes were the main Native American tribes lished 45 years before Meade County was founded to live in Meade County but are still unsure. European in 1787. Big Spring was another early settlement in Americans could have been in the area as early as 560 the county. Located in the southern end of the counA.D. The Brandenburg Stone, located in the Meade ty, it was named for a very large spring flowing with County History Museum, was discovered in Battleenough power to turn a mill. It was unusual, as it town in 1912. flowed then disappeared once again into the ground.

Meade County History Magazine MeadeCountyKY.com 6

This would not be the last celebrity Meade County would host though. During the early years of the nineteenth century, artist John James Audubon visited the county to make sketches of the local birds here. Eventually Audubon became famous for his bird paintings which were later published with his other Early Meade County works in 1839, titled Birds of America, and A SynopPioneers were attracted to Meade County in the late sis of the Birds of North America, which served as an index for the illustrations.

1700s because of the abundance of wild game in the area.

Two of the more famous settlers were Daniel Boone and his son, Enoch. However, others did follow and as more settlers cleared land and planted crops, grinding mills began to spring up on local creeks.

The first to be built was Doe Run. Originally built between 1788 and 1790 by Jonathon Essery, called Steven’s Mill. It was made of local limestone and timbers that were hand-hewn.

An addition was constructed in 1800. A local stone mason, Thomas Lincoln, father of future President Abraham Lincoln, did much of the stone work.

Historical photo of Steven’s Mill circa 1934.

The mill was later named Doe Run Mill after the creek that powered its water wheel.

Other villages included: Concordia, incorporated in 1869; Grahamton, at the falls of Otter Creek; Garnettsville, Payneville, Garrett, Boonesport, Meadeville, and Richardson’s Landing.

Call or TEXT 740 High Street, Brandenburg, KY 40108

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Brandenburg Established Brandenburg was initially built on a 3,000-acre tract of land called Falling Springs. Purchased in 1804

by Solomon Brandenburg, he opened a tavern there and eventually the community grew around it. In 1825, the community became the seat of Meade County but it was not formally incorporated by the state assembly until March 28, 1872.

In July 1863, Civil War Confederate General John Hunt Morgan crossed the river from Brandenburg to start his raid into Indiana. It became the “Battle of Brandenburg Crossing”, at which two men on the Indiana side of the river were killed by cannon fire from Brandenburg. A Union gunship was deployed to block the crossing, but it ran out of ammunition and Morgan and his men were able to pass into Indiana.

Furthermore, the park is the site for a biennial Civil War reenactment of the Great Raid of 1863.

Due to Brandenburg’s Civil War history, and close proximity to Louisville, Kentucky, the riverfront park was chosen to become the new home to the Confed-

erate Monument formerly located on the University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus.

The monument stands 70-feet-tall and is the second largest in the state of Kentucky and one of the most ornate. The monument was previously located at the intersection of 2nd and 3rd Streets of Louisville, immediately south of West Brandeis Avenue.

It is built of granite, constructed by the Muldoon Monument Company and includes three bronze Confederate soldiers designed by the sculptor Ferdinand von Miller II of Munich, Germany.

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The monument placed in downtown Brandenburg.

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The Meade County Jail

Meade County Jailhouse circa. 1907.

by ______________________ GER ALD W. FISCHER

would be stocks that would hold and display a lawbreaker so the town’s people could publicly ridicule the scofflaw. On December 17, 1823, Meade County was formed from a part of Hardin and Breckinridge Counties. Court was held on East Hill in the Before Meade County was founded, it was fortwo-story log tavern owned by Solomon Brandenmerly part of Hardin and Breckinridge Counties, and prior to that time, the closest seat of justice was burg. While it can’t be stated with certainty, prisonHardinsburg, Kentucky. Near the courthouse, usu- ers so dangerous they needed to be jailed likely were ally convened in the largest building in town, often lodged in the Hardinsburg or Elizabethtown jails times a tavern, a strong-secure storeroom or near- until 1825 when the Meade County Jail was built.

The Meade County jail was a two-story log strucby cabin was designated a jail. Penalties in those ture with secure cells where prisoners awaiting days included corporal punishment, like flogging, trial were held. It was ordered by the county court and even branding. In the town it was common for there to be a whipping post sunk in the ground on October 4th, 1825, to be built on a lot owned by and purchased from William Fairleigh. The jail with an iron ring affixed to it where a miscreant was completed in April of 1826 and located a short was tied and whipped. A whipping was not a little thing. Near Irvington, a Negro woman was severe- distance south of the log tavern on East Hill. In the jail, there were quarters for the jailer and his family. ly whipped, causing her death. Occasionally, there Meade County History Magazine

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The inside of the Meade County Jailhouse as it is preserved today. Photo from Jailhouse Pizza’s website.

Meals had to be prepared daily and the prisoners fed and watered. The disposition of their cases might result in a fine, corporal punishment (whipping), sentence to time in jail, or worse.

There is no doubt that whipping was administered for crimes that today don’t seem that important, but in those days were egregious. Whippings, like hangings, were carried out publicly. The administration of justice was done publicly for all to see. It was believed to be a deterrent to those witnessing.

The last flogging at Brandenburg’s whipping post was publicly administered to three men, one black and two white, for the crime of stealing chickens.

People in those days depended on their chickens for food, and to barter for other goods since money was always in short supply. Stealing chickens was very nearly like robbery or burglary. G. L. Ridenour writes, “After the sentence of the court was carried out, hen roosts were undisturbed except by their true and lawful owners.” No one wanted to be whipped. The embarrassment and humiliation of public flogging was often times as severe as the pain. Occasionally, the miscreant had a choice of taking the sentence of the court, such as Daniel Boone meted out as a magistrate, or being held in jail until the court met again usually a month or more later where the sentence could conceivably be worse. Typically, ten to fifteen lashes would be administered. Boone would frequently listen to the evidence in an outdoor court, and rule, “Ten and Meade County History Magazine

done, or bound over for appeal.” Sometimes prisoners would choose the whipping post instead of being held over and be unable to work their farm or ply their trade. This second jail sometime later had a fenced animal pen associated with it for stray animals. It did double service as a dog pound. Before August of 1854, a new jail was built. Anecdotal

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The exterior of the old Meade County Jail today as it serves as Jailhouse Pizza.

Photo from Jailhouse Pizza’s website.

evidence states it was started in 1852. It was a brick rant named “Jail House Pizza.” structure, and in August of 1854, the court ordered After the tornado of 1974 that destroyed the the old log jail, lot, and stray pen be sold. It brought courthouse and caused it to be rebuilt on Hill Crest $27.00 to the county treasury. Little is known about Avenue, a fourth jail, known as the Meade County this second jail other than in 1858 there was an armed attack on it by Indiana men bent on freeing three Hoosiers held without bail or court dates for 14 months. Horace Bell and his brother John, after arming themselves, rowed a boat across the river to Brandenburg and attacked the jail. The Jailer was in Garnettsville, as well as half the population of Brandenburg, attending a barbecue. They freed John and Horace’s father and brother and held off an armed party of men with gunfire while they made their escape to Indiana. It also held a famous Confederate guerrilla captured in March of 1865, Marcellous Jerome Clark alias Sue Mundy. Another Confederate soldier was lodged in the jail with him by the name of Henry Medkiff. This jail was the scene of the second legal hanging in Meade County on February 8, 1889, when an axe murderer named John Ross was executed on a scaffold specially built by the sheriff. The second jail was in use until 1906 when the third Jail was authorized to be built at a cost of $7,947.50. This jail was located behind the courthouse and was in use until 1976. It was sold in 1990 and is now the location of a fine Italian restauMeade County History Magazine

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Detention Center, was built adjacent to the new courthouse. When it opened, it had fourteen cells that could house 25 prisoners. It also contained an apartment for the jailer. An indoor and outdoor recreation area was provided for the detainees.

Some things never change. All of these jails were located close to the courthouse for convenience of conveying the prisoners to and from court. Facilities for the jailer were provided, so that 24 hours a day, meals, sanitation, and health care could be provided to the prisoners as well as security. Although the third and fourth jails do not have a stray animal pen, the animal control officer is located within a county complex that holds the courthouse, sheriff’s office, and county road department. Historically speaking, the Meade County Jails and Courthouses have maintained a close proximity to each other.

Geographically speaking, these newer facilities are a little more than a minute’s drive, from the site of the In April of 1906, it was decided that a new jail was needoriginal jail. When it’s not broken, why fix it differ- ed for Meade County. A budget of $7,947.50 was set, and ently? the new jail was completed in October of 1906.

Gerald W. Fischer is the President of MCHAPS (Meade County Historical and Archaeological Preservation Society). He graduated from the University of Louisville in 1981 with a BLS in History and Anthropology and later obtained a Masters degree in Education. He is a former teacher of the Archdiocese of Louisville and a substitute teacher for the Meade County School District and also writes for the Meade County Messenger & MCKY News. Fischer is the author of two published titles: Battletown Witch and Guerilla Warfare in Civil War Kentucky. He lives in Meade County and is constantly fascinated by the rich history of the Bluegrass State. You can reach him at: fischer@bbtel.com.

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The tragedy of

Lucy Hamilton by ______________________ GER ALD W. FISCHER In 1848, a slave girl Lucy Hamilton was hanged for killing the son of her owner. She was pregnant when she killed the man, and because of the resignations of the judge and foreman of the jury, she lived long enough to deliver the baby before she hanged. Recent articles

by Gary Kempf, Sherrill Williams, and this writer led to an Ohio researcher uncovering information showing Lucy’s trial impacted the Hamilton family for a decade. On the heels of this discovery, Tim Watts—a researcher and writer from Nashville, Tennessee—provided additional information gleaned from abstracts written by Carolyn Wimp from the Ancestral Trails Historical Society. While Lucy Hamilton’s story may never be completely told, a clearer picture emerges as this newly discovered material is examined.

It’s been discovered that the baby Lucy carried to Meade County History Magazine

her execution, fathered by William Hamilton, was not her first child. Recently discovered court suits and the 1850s Federal Slave Schedule show she had another child, perhaps fathered by someone other than William Hamilton, although William could have been the father of both. In any event, Lucy Hamilton, pregnant with William’s child, killed William with a knife and was sentenced to death by hanging. Town sentiment favored Lucy, but local politics and social conditions conspired against her. In my view, Lucy was not given a fair trial.

The Meade County jury foreman, Henry P. Byrum, may have been the same Henry Byrum, who settled in Meade after moving here from his home in New York.

If so, he probably held a different view of slavery, since many northern church conventions were determining slavery to be a sin, and it was prohibited in that state in 1846, the time of Hamilton’s murder. Eleven years later, the Dred Scott Decision would allow slavery in every state, although on a more limited basis in those

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abolishing the practice. Byrum was the jury foreman over ten jurors, six of whom were farmers, five owning slaves.

The slave owners were Buckner J. Stith who owned six slaves in 1850, John Vanmeter who owned eight, Henry B. Truman who owned 15, Pendleton Chase Moorman who owned 13, and Archibald Johnson who owned one. There were two John Frymires in Breckinridge County, neither who owned slaves. One was born in 1785 and the other in 1814. Though not owning slaves, they were likely relatives of George Frymire who owned one slave. A John Frymire was on the jury and may have been sympathetic toward Lewis Hamilton, father of the slain William.

Aguiller D. Reid; Moses Nelson, a laborer; and Noah Nelson, a miller, owned no slaves, but Moses was a next door neighbor to Juror Henry Truman in 1850, and his brother Noah lived near Henry Truman in 1840. Farmer William McGlothlan completed the jury panel. It is possible and perhaps probable, 8 out of the 11 jurors were biased toward the prosecution.

Tuesday November 3, 1846, Lucy and Peter of color, the property of Lewis Hamilton, were indicted for murder. The next day, the indictment on Peter was discharged. Thursday November 5, 1846, the jury was empaneled, and after hearing the evidence, Henry P. Byrum, a juror, withdrew and the jury was discharged. What happened next is not known, but for some reason, perhaps adverse public pressure, Henry P. Byrum left Meade County and removed himself to Jefferson County and Louisville.

Lucy’s baby, born in jail in 1847, is listed as unnamed, but she previously had daughters Sally and Emily. May 4, 1847, Lucy was found guilty of murder by the jury.

On Friday of that term of court, at Lucy’s suggestion, all further proceedings were suspended. It is my speculation that at that time Lucy had not yet delivered her child. At the August term of court, further proceedings on this case were postponed due to the tender age of the child. Later in 1847, sometime between August and December 31, Judge Churchill resigned rather than pass sentence on Lucy.

Governor Owsley appointed Samuel Carpenter in his stead, and Lucy’s sentence was rendered on May 1, 1848. On June 1, Lucy Hamilton was taken in an Meade County History Magazine

oxcart from the jail on a twenty-minute ride to a grove of Black Jack Oaks at a place now across the street from the high school and hanged. Before dying, she carried her baby and handed it to the sheriff’s wife. The child was later given over to the Hamilton family. “Ref. page 116, 17th of May, 1856, in Meade County Chancery Court, Lloyd F. Hamilton (gdn) vs Lewis Hamilton and Co., a man named Isaac Overton was appointed commissioner “to expose to sale the two negro children of the negro Lucy and to the estate of James Hamilton (dec’d…).”

A suit filed in Meade County by Lloyd F. Hamilton (guardian), vs Lewis Hamilton and Co., resulted in Sheriff Isaac Overton being appointed in 1856 to sell two negro children, Sally and Emily, of the negro Lucy.

Hamilton family members filed numerous suits in the 1850’s. Sally and Emily, indivisible, were sold at the Meade County Courthouse door in 1856. Lucy died June 1st, 1848, at the age of 18. She may have delivered her first child at the age of 13 or 14.

In the 1850 Federal Slave Schedule, Lewis Hamilton owned ten slaves, including a black female age 3, and a mixed race female aged 1, likely Lucy’s daughters, the latter the daughter of William. Lucy had two children, the older named Sally and the younger girl fathered by William and carried by Lucy, sitting on her coffin the day she hanged, named Emily.

Somehow, it saddens me that Lucy and William’s child was not retained by the family, but then consider Catty Rhodes of Payneville, who was fathered by the teenaged son of U. S. Postmaster Edward Rhodes.

She was allowed to live in the big house and taken to church but lived a life between two worlds. With both parents violently slain, was Catty’s life any better than Sally or Emily’s? Maybe, maybe not.

Lucy Hamilton is one of only two known legal executions reported in Meade County.

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Gerald W. Fischer is the President of MCHAPS (Meade County Historical and Archaeological Preservation Society). He graduated from the University of Louisville in 1981 with a BLS in History and Anthropology and later obtained a Masters degree in Education. Fischer is the author of two published titles: Battletown Witch and Guerilla Warfare in Civil War Kentucky.

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Just Who Was Robert B. Buckner?

An old picture of the Buckner House and Morgan Tree from the Meade County Public Library’s Genealogy Room.

by ______________________ DR. MARSHALL MYERS The bronze historical marker near the Ohio River in Brandenburg says that Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his men crossed there. Some 2,000 Confederate soldiers flagged down the riverboat Alice Dean and made use of the John T. McCombs, to ferry Morgan’s men to “Yankee Land” as a part of Morgan’s Great Raid of July 7-8, 1863, the deepest penetration of the Confederacy into what up to then was a peaceful life in the North, even as the Civil War raged.

His troops and Morgan made it as far as eastern Ohio, near West Point, where he and the rest of his men, tired and weary, were finally captured.

This “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy,” as Morgan was called, was the pride of the South, a cavalier par excellence. In fact, one biographer says he was the rock star of his age, admirers even stealing hairs Meade County History Magazine

The bronze historical marker by the Ohio River.

from his horse’s tail. The marching of Morgan’s men down the hill in Brandenburg, indeed, was a dramatic display of Confederate military power. With sources putting the number at 2000 soldiers, one source described the town’s citizens, as “apathetic” when they witnessed the troops’ passing.

While his men occupied themselves with the little town of Brandenburg and plundered what they

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of 1812, Buckner was not listed in the Adjunct General listing as a participant in the War with Mexico, but John Hunt Morgan was. However, he certainly was supportive of the war. Morgan was treated to dinner with all the southern fineries as an honored guest whose mission was to invade the North, and that was certainly endorsed by the colonel. All said, Morgan’s stay was a joyous occasion.

But just who was Colonel Robert Buckner?

While the facts about his life are somewhat difficult to verify, Colonel Robert Burton Buckner came into this world on March 15, 1795, the son of “blue bloods” Thomas and Hannah Burton Buckner of Virginia (other sources say he was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky). In September of 1813, Buckner joined the army as a private in Captain Samuel Kelly’s Kentucky Mounted Volunteer Militia and transferred then to the Missouri Mounted Militia as a corporal in Dodge’s Regiment, reaching the rank of lieutenant. The Adjutant General at the National Archives says from 1840 forward, he was referred to as Colonel Robert Buckner. When he was promoted is not known.

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An old photo from the parlor of the Buckner House, featuring a portrait painting of Colonel Buckner himself.

could find, Morgan headquartered in the home of Col. Robert B. Buckner, whose home featured a clear view of the river, allowing Morgan to witness the ferrying of his own men across. Now it is the home of Sim and current Meade County P.V.A. Rebecca Richardson. In fact, the Buckner home was the long-time residence of the late former County Attorney James and his late wife Marjorie Watts. The structure was reputedly built in 1832 (another source says 1851, probably referring to a room addition). Col. Robert Buckner was the owner of the home when Morgan visited there.

An old friend of Morgan and a veteran of the War Meade County History Magazine

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At 24, according to a family bible, he married Judith Merriwether Booker on April 22, 1819 in Shelby County, Kentucky. She died on August 16, 1829. The union produced ten children. At 34, Buckner married on March 11, 1830 to Mildred Ann Merriwether, possibly a sister or cousin to Judy. Robert and Mildred list as many as seven children until her death in May of 1835.

Robert then married for the last time to Elizabeth (Eliza) on November 16, 1843. Sources indicate two children came from this marriage. Elizabeth lived until after Robert’s death. She died in 1880.

Buckner’s papers are filled with many receipts from various smaller grocers in the area, but he admits that his illness (we don’t know what illness it was) prevented him from responding to some of his creditors, a possible reason he was so diligent in keeping the countless receipts (“I have been affected … for some time … I could do very little.”). He also admits that he has great affection for his brother and says that his brother is “high-minded and a Christian gentleman.” But as an astute businessman, the Buckner’s papers also reveal that he is not above

scorching letters to those who owed him money.

Then the colonel accumulated his considerable wealth mostly as a very busy grocer who supplied many other smaller groceries in the area, frequenting Louisville where he spent the bulk of his time.

He, however, lists Brandenburg as home in the 1860 census. He died at 68 on October 18, 1863, just over three months after Morgan’s fateful visit. Buckner is buried in Cap Anderson Cemetery in a grave marked with “no stone.”

The Buckner family is related directly or indirectly to the Stith, Hardaway, and Moorman (spelled variously) Meade County families, but the name Buckner seems to have died out in the county. Colonel Robert B. Buckner is known in Civil War history for playing host one July evening to one of the South’s most mythical soldiers. *Dr. Myers papers are available by appointment in “Special Collections” at the Margaret King Library at the University of Kentucky. Thanks to Sarah Coblentz for her help.

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Dr. Marshall Myers was reared in rural Meade County, near Battletown.

After graduating from Meade County High School, he pursued his higher education and eventually obtained his Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Composition in 1994. Myers has taught in middle schools, high schools and colleges as well as publishing over 200 articles, poems, academic pieces, short stories, and three books: On the Inside, Real Toads and Barefoot.

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1138 Broadway St. Suite A Brandenburg, KY 40108 MeadeCountyKY.com

Suicide at Brandenburg Station A restored photo of Brandenburg Station.

by ____________________________ SETH DUKES

Jailer, moved to Brandenburg. Buckner set his sights on the river town.

After arriving in Brandenburg, Robert’s widow informs Buckner that his brother died four years ago. Not only Eliphalet Frazer Buckner is 22 years old in 1832. That that, the widow cannot offer Buckner a place to stay year, he would leave his 16-sibling family in Louisville because the house is full of boarders. Buckner heads for and travel to Mississippi, where he was married in 1833. Doe Run where his brother’s married daughter Malinda He and his wife Jane had two children, Thomas Lark lives. Unfortunately for Buckner, her house is also full.

Buckner and Elizabeth “Betty” Buckner, but Jane died He heads to Doe Run Creek and finally finds a place to in 1848. By 1860, Buckner found himself in Castroville, stay with Nathan Shrewsbury near what is now BrandenTex., working as a district judge. burg Station.

The death of his wife would not be the only misfortune Buckner stayed there for several months with nothing that would come Buckner’s way. As the Civil War raged but free time to think about his misfortune on his hand. on, Buckner, who was a staunch confederate supporter, He is alone, penniless and hopeless. The Louisville Daily lost all his property and assets. At rock bottom, Buckner Courier described a despondent man. decided to return to Louisville in an attempt to reunite “His health and spirits, instead of improving, seemed to with his family. However, he learns that he has only two get gradually worse. His body and mind became morbidly married sisters left in Louisville and that his brother, sensitive, and his unhappy moods became frequent and Robert Buckner, who was the former Jefferson County long-continued.”

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On Oct. 7, 1867 at about 8 a.m., Buckner took Nathan’s shotgun into the woods, fixed the gun in some bushes, and with a string attached to the trigger, shot himself in the head. In Buckner’s truck, a lengthy suicide letter was found. It read as follows: “LOOK AT THIS! AND PAUSE BEFORE YOU CONDEMN ME

It is not known where Buckner is buried. In 2009, his descendant traveled from Texas to Brandenburg in an attempt to find his burial site. Because suicide was a taboo in the 1800s, and due to the lack of remaining family Buckner had, his grave likely wasn’t marked and he may not have been buried in the nearby Shrewsbury Cemetery near the Doe Valley market on 1638.

A special thanks to Sherril Williams for supply information in this article.

I have no country, no family, no home, no money, no hope, no health. I am old and (sic), almost a stranger Seth Dukes is the Newsroom Coordito my kindred. If I had the physical strength requisite nator for the Meade County Messenger to maintain myself, I might desire to live; but my spirand MCKY News. He graduated from its have been so broken down that I could do nothing Western Kentucky University in 2015 mental. I should, if I lived longer, be a burden up on my with a BA in English. He has been a journalist in five counties in westfriends and relatives. My vital powers are completely sapped. This has been becoming more evident every year ern Kentucky and covered everything ranging from feature stories to breaksince the agonizing strain upon my constitution, caused ing news. A native of Muhlenberg Co., by the death of my dear little wife Jane – and afterward Seth now resides in Brandenburg. He may be reached at by the loss of the liberties of my country. mcmeditor@meadecountyky.com I see nothing in the Book of God which forbids us from putting an end to our lives when we can no longer Bim’s Trucking do good; but, if we live, we must inevitably become Crushed Stone and Sand for Residential hurtful to others. I have most earnestly prayed my God and Farm uses and Driveways and more to take me away; or, if it was not His good pleasure to do so, as I had the physical power to do so, to give me the right in my will and action in this matter – that I might do nothing inconsistent with His holy will. And, an irresistible impulse to quite this lonely scene of sorrow and suffering, and join my dear little wife and all my departed friends and relatives in the spirit land.

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Prince Madoc and the Brandenburg Stone

The Brandenburg Stone is pictured above.

Photo from www.WeirdMeadeCounty.com.

by ____________________________ BRENNA COOPER

to go with Madoc back to the country he had found.

According to the stories, they sailed out with 700 ships and settled in the land of ‘Kentucke’ where they lived. Many of the Native Americans have stories of According to legends, songs, and myths, Prince the White Tribes, who were purportedly nearly wiped Madoc was the brother of the man who inspired the out in a terrible battle at the Falls of the Ohio. SetKing Arthur legends. Madoc was supposed to be an tlers in the 1800s told stories of natives who spoke admiral for King Arthur when a large catastrophe fluently in Welsh and were able to converse with the (some scholars think a large comet) hit the British newcomers, and who had pale skin, blond hair, and Isles, razing the country and killing most of the popu- blue eyes. The natives also spoke of how their anceslation. Madoc and his ships were blown off course tors had come in large ships from a cold land long by the catastrophe and did not return for ten years. ago. The Brandenburg Stone is largely considered to When Madoc did come back, he brought stories of be a confirmation of the legend of Prince Madoc.

America, telling his brother that the land was rich The Brandenburg Stone is a fragmented limestone and green. After several years, King Arthur agreed slap measuring 29 inches wide, 16 inches tall, and Meade County History Magazine

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An illustration of the fabled Prince Madoc alongside a Plaque at Fort Morgan, Alabama, showing where the Daughters of the American Revolution supposed that Madoc had landed in the Americans in 1170 A.D..

Photo from Anthropologist and Author Robert Sepehr’s YouTube Channel.

1-3 inches thick. The Stone was discovered in 1912

by C. Crecelius in his farm field near Battletown, Kentucky. The Stone’s face features a line of ancient Welsh script that researchers think dates back to 600 CE (the same time that the comet is considered to have hit the British Isles) or 1100 CE. British scholars A. Wilson and A. T. Blackett (who have been surrounded by controversy in their careers) examined the Stone in 1990 and recognized the letters as part of an ancient Welsh script called Coelbren and translated it as “Towards strength (to promote unity) divide the land we are spread over purely (justly) between offspring in wisdom”. This has been understood to be a last will of a father dividing his land equally between his sons, a tradition of the Welsh.

For 50 years, Crecelius displayed the stone at local fairs across the area, trying to find someone who could tell him more about it, with no luck. John Whitfield took ownership of the stone and it was Meade County History Magazine

displayed at the Meade County Public Library until 1995 when it was moved to the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center in Clarksville, Indiana. In 2000, due to questions about the Stone’s authenticity, the Stone was moved to the Charleston, Indiana Public Library, and in 2012 it was returned to the Meade County Public Library where it was displayed in the

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Newspaper article from the June 23, 1999 edition of the Bowling Green Daily News.

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Genealogy Room. In 2018 it was moved to the Meade County History Museum, where it is on display today.

Many people consider the Brandenburg Stone to be a convincing hoax, and the doubtful credibility of Wilson and Bracket have helped with this belief. The dates and accuracy of the stone remain uncertain, but many scholars believe it is proof of Welsh discovery of the North American continent prior to Columbus’ journey in 1492, especially when considered with other Welsh artifacts discovered in the Louisville area. To learn more about the Brandenburg Stone, Prince Madoc, and Welsh in the Americas, visit the Meade County Public Library’s Genealogy Room.

Brenna Cooper is a certified librarian at the Meade County Public Library in Brandenburg, Kentucky, where she works in marketing and helping patrons with research, finding new titles to enjoy, and tech assistance. When she is not at the Library she can be found at home spoiling a chubby cat named June.

Pictured above are A. Wilson with the Arthur II stone, and A. T. Blackett with the Arthur I stone. This photo was taken Calmgrove’s website from a post of a review of Wilson and Blackett’s book, The Holy Kingdom, in the 1998 issue of the Journal of the Pendragon Society.

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Modern history of the Brandenburg Stone by ____________________________ WEIRD MEADE COUNTY

2000 – The stone was moved to the Charlestown Library in Charlestown, Indiana and is on display in the Indiana Room. It is on loan from the Meade County Library in Brandenburg, Kentucky.

1912 – Craig Crecelius found the stone while farming a field in Paradise Bottom in Brandenburg, January 2012 – Stone was returned to Meade Meade County, Kentucky near the Ohio River. This County. is 40 miles west of the Falls of the Ohio. He took the stone around to local fairs for 53 years. It was in this There have been 55 stones with similar markings time that it was broken into three pieces. on them found in numerous states.

1965 – Jon Whitfield (a former trustee at Meade County Library) took possession of the stone.

You can find more interesting facts at: www.weirdmeadecounty.com

1973 – The stone was put into storage at the Brandenburg Library after some archaeologists examined it and said the marks were natural scratches.

1995 – The stone was moved to the Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center in Clarksville, Indiana where it was put into storage.

1998 – New studies were preformed on the stone. Alan Wilson and Bram Blackett, who are professional historians with the Arthurian Research Foundation in Cardiff, Wales, translated the writing from the Welsh language of Coelbren. According to them the stone reads: “Toward strength (to promote unity), divide the land we are spread over, purely (or justly) between offspring in wisdom.”

1999 – The Falls of the Ohio Interpretive Center decided to put the Brandenburg Stone on display as part of their Myths and Legends exhibit.

Meade County History Magazine

From cave giants to viking stones and Leah Smock Meade County has a history spanning from the things are about ice age to get weird to today

With a history that long things were bound to get a little...

WEIRD Join us as we take you on a journey into the fantastic

Weird Meade County is a susidary of Meade County Tourism Find us online at www.WeirdMeadeCounty.com

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1918 Ice Gorge The ice gorge where the Ohio River meets the riverfront of Brandenburg off of Main Street.

by ______________________ CRYSTAL LEO The winter of December 1917 to January 1918 was brutal across the United States.

For some states and families, the heartache was because their husbands, fathers or sons were still in Europe fighting in World War I. For other families, it was due to the national coal shortage they needed to heat their homes. A coal shortage of any sort in Kentucky must have seemed unreal to Kentuckians because of their rich coal resources, and being known for providing both the country, and the military, coal for their fuel needs.

Kentucky produced 20.3 million tons of coal in 1914 alone. However, for both Kentucky and the nation, Meade County History Magazine

it was not just production of coal that would cause a shortage. Between the needs of our military, and mother nature frigidly stopping transportation of fuel with snow and ice, drastic measures had to be taken.

Washington had decreed that they needed the coal for their warships, troop supply ships and to supply fuel for military operations in Europe. In response, Congress passed the Food and Fuel Control Act in August of 1917, which appointed a national fuel administrator, as well as state and county administrators to control the production, distribution and prices of fuel.

Summer rolled into winter, and then the fuel shortage situation became worse for both Kentuckians and the rest of the country.

Temperatures were reported to be 10 degrees below zero and inches of snowfall. By December 8, 2017, the Ohio River above Cincinnati was completely blocked 24

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by ice. On December 9, what was termed to be a “ferocious blizzard” struck Louisville and its surrounding areas, to include Meade County. This blizzard would drop 16 inches of snow in less than 15 hours.

Come December 15, the Ohio River was “chock full of ice” and navigation was suspended.

Waterways Journal explained in one article, “Unlike the Upper Mississippi River, where, due to special harbors, coves and other places of safety, mariners in those frigid climates take adverse conditions in stride, the Ohio River has never been well equipped to handle it; this was especially true in the days of the steamboats. According to records, one of the most severe ice blockages on the Ohio occurred in the mid1850s, when the river solidly froze and halted traffic for 57 days. As most river historians concur, the worst ice situation of all time happened in the early winter of 1918. At that time, wood was still the dominant material used in hull construction. The razor-sharp ice literally sawed off hulls at the waterline; it then piled up on the main deck, either sinking the boat from the excessive weight and/or crushing the upper works.”

A graph from the National Weather Service (NWS) website comparing snowfall in the month of December in 1917 to regular measured snowfall rates all the way up to the year 2010.

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This would end up being a record-breaking winter, and it could not have come at a worse time. The third week of December saw river navigation still shut down because of ice gorges. The Ohio river was frozen bank to bank in several places, and Brandenburg was one of them. By the second week of January 1918, more than 200 miles of the Ohio River were blocked by ice gorges.

In some areas, such as Brandenburg, the river was frozen so hard that Meade Countians went out and walked on the frozen river all the way over to the Indiana side and back.

Humanity always seems to find a way to find the light in the dark though, and some Meade Countians

An example of how boats used to get stuck in the ice gorges of the Ohio River from 1910.

A coal barge passing through the ice gorges outside of Leavenworth, Indiana in 1918.

made the most of the frozen river. Reports of groups of boys or young men walking across the frozen river to scuffle with their rival Harrison Countians began to surface, and vice versa. Afterall, a good ole’ country boy would never let anything like a little ice and snow stop them from whoopin’ an adversary.

By the end of January, the ice gorges on the river finally started to break up. Mid-February saw movement of some boats on the river again, which was good for supply transportation such as coal. Come the middle of March the weather and the fuel shortage were now only a moderate problem, and the entire country could look forward to what they hoped would Meade County History Magazine

be better days ahead.

The ability to walk on frozen Ohio River water may have only lasted for a month or less, but to those brave Meade Countians who traversed that ice… those memories would last forever.

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Crystal Leo is the General Manager of the Meade County Messenger and MCKY News. She moved to Meade County over ten years ago after living in numerous states on the east coast and now considers Kentucky home. Leo is also the author of over twenty published f iction titles under a pen name. You can reach her at: mcmsales2@meadecountyky.com.

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People walking and skating on the frozen Ohio River by Brandenburg in a different year than the Ice Gorge of 1918.

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Paul and Nicki Smith greeting Paul’s Dad, Dale Smith, upon returning from his Honor Flight. USAF Korean War.

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Meade County Moonshine A confiscated moonshine still in front of the old courthouse.

Sheriff Sam Bunger, Federal Agent, Jailer Alec Medley and Deputy Sheriff Ned Brown.

by ______________________ LUCINDA BROWN HENNING Please note that this article was initially published in the May 30, 2019 edition of the Meade County Messenger.

Kentucky is currently experiencing huge economic growth from its expanding alcohol distilling industry.

Long-time “dry” counties have voted to go “wet.” Alcoholic beverages have become a genteel legal “drug” of choice, a pleasant complement to a meal, and a fun opportunity to challenge your taste buds as you tour the numerous distilleries. Since 2010, the production of “moonshine” has also been legalized.

Our government began taxing distilled spirits the Meade County History Magazine

year before Kentucky became the fifteenth state in 1792. At that time farmers distilled extra crops for use as currency, as well as medicine. The resulting Whiskey Rebellion led Congress to decide not to tax whiskey, but they added tariffs onto rum because money from rum, which was made with imported molasses, might end up getting into the hands of the British. Settlers in Kentucky found “blue” limestone waters and fertile soil for growing grains and fruits that created great whiskey flavors. Distilling continued with little regulation or taxation except to fund America’s wars.

The Civil War upheaval changed that “hands-off” policy.

An article in the Meade County Messenger from December 21, 1904, stated, “Internal revenue officers destroyed a moonshine still in LaRue County. Sixteen hundred gallons of beer and 800 gallons of mash were 29

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confiscated.”

In a February 15, 1905, Messenger, the Brandenburg Distillery Company manager, Thomas J. Greenwell, defrauded the government by rebottling apple brandy to avoid container taxes. Other 1905 issues of the Messenger described problems for Greenwell’s partner, Charles M. Smith, who had not paid taxes on peach brandy made at his fruit distillery #432 in Andyville. A July 5, 1905, Messenger carried a story from the Louisville Herald stating that Greenwell and Smith had paid a considerable sum to reopen their businesses. Meade County apple brandy was popular worldwide, but an apple tree blight followed by prohibition soon ended its production.

The dark side of over-imbibing led to the emergence of the “Temperance Movement,” which sparked the 18th Amendment that called for the banning of the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages. Kentucky was the fourth state to ratify the amendment on January 14, 1918, but another year passed before the majority of states agreed. Prohibition took effect on January 17, 1920.

The “Roaring Twenties” soon proved that propriety cannot be legislated. Many people defied the alcohol ban, indulged in new styles of dancing and dressing, and rejected many traditional moral standards.

A humorous item in the February 23, 1921, Meade County Messenger read “According to the bible, it took Joshua to make the sun stand still, but almost anybody can make a moonshine still.” The local newspaper described various enterprising efforts during that era.

An eye-opening headline in the December 22, 1920 edition of the local paper stated: “Moonshine Still Found at Camp Henry Knox” (now Fort Knox). A military kitchen inspection uncovered an “odd piece of apparatus that didn’t appear to be a regulation coffee grinder or an O. D. flour bin.” The cooks, James A. Dyer, and Dewey R. Chaney were operating a still.

The mess sergeant, John L. Bridge, joined them in the guard house and all three were facing court-martial.

The November 9, 1921 issue of the local Messenger revealed: “First Moonshine Still Captured in Meade.”

The story states that Deputy Sheriff Harry Lusk went to the home of Mrs. Effie Amons, Flaherty section, with a warrant to arrest her for stealing five turkeys Meade County History Magazine

from Tom Hobbs. While looking for her, the sheriff found a still with four gallons of mash, one gallon of yeast, some sprouted corn, and malt, but Mrs. Amons managed to escape to Louisville where she was later arrested and brought to the Meade County jail. She claimed to know nothing about the still but would be appearing for the turkey theft before Squire C. W. Craycroft at Flaherty on Wednesday. The article stated, “The still is said to be a beauty and made of pure copper. Jailer Will Brown has it locked up in the “death cell” at the jail.”

Breckinridge County also made the Meade County news. In a story from the June 4, 1922, Messenger article, Sheriff W. C. Pate and Deputy Jas. B. Hottell made a raid last Tuesday night near Big Spring and destroyed a still and a quality of mash. The story went on to say that the fire still burning under the furnace showed it had been operating just before the officers arrived. No arrests were made.

On October 31, 1923, the Messenger reported that four Meade Countians ended up in “Hotel Prather” when Sheriff H. H. Lusk, Deputy Allie Burch, Jailer

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Amos Prather, and Mort Brown arrested “Stant” Ellis, Jim Phillips and E. P. Chamberlain after capturing them running a moonshine still on Doe Run. The article describes “only three gallons of “shine” were captured as “the run had just started,” but the still was “said to be the best yet captured.”

All three pled guilty with $100 fines and 30 days in jail each. The rest of the story states that “Mrs. W. S. Board, of Guston, is the first woman in Meade County to be arrested for selling moonshine. She pled guilty and was fined $100 with the usual 30 days vacation at the “Hotel Prather.”

The previous week’s Messenger had an article describing the same crackerjack team of lawmen arresting “Lee Sutton Wednesday near Vine Grove bridge on the Fannie Lewis farm in Meade County.

They captured a complete still of about 15-gallon capacity; two gallons of moonshine and destroyed about 50 gallons of mash. Sutton will have his trial today (Wednesday) before Judge Baskett.”

While these arrests seem more like Andy Griffith TV episodes, the Middlesboro story in the December 20, 1922 issue of the Messenger told of a deadly

shoot-out when the Harlan, Ky chief of police, I. C. Pope, went alone to see a father and his son, Lloyd and Sidney Ball, about an illegal still. All three died in a “three-cornered gun battle.”

Franklin Roosevelt’s presidential election in March 1933, fulfilled his promise to repeal the 18th Amendment. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was enacted as an admission of the terrible failure of prohibition, which led to people disrespecting the law and criminals to do well selling illegal alcohol to those that wanted it. Repealing the 18th Amendment didn’t make alcohol completely legal through the entire country, but all alcoholic beverages must be regulated and taxed. Currently, Meade and Breckinridge counties are entirely wet.

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Lucinda Brown Henning is a multi-generational Meade Countian who lives within a block of her Brandenburg birthplace. Her ancestors owned land here when it was still part of Breckinridge and Hardin Counties, so her roots grow deep, and her family tree is broad. She is a retired Meade County teacher who now works part time in the Meade County Public Library.

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The Great Flood of 1937 Meade Countians check out the level of the river down on Main Street during the flood.

by ______________________ CRYSTAL LEO

known as The Great Flood of 1937.

The beginning of the month did not experience particularly heavy precipitation, and the Ohio River at Cincinnati was only slightly elevated with a stage And in this moment, like a swift intake of breath, of 36.6’ as of January 10. However, from January 13 to January 24 the record number of rainfall octhe rain came. - Truman Capote curred, pushing the Ohio River into a flood stage the likes it had never seen before. On January 18, the January of 1937 might have looked like the second coming of Noah and his Ark. For the exception river surpassed its 52’ flood stage. At 11:29 a.m. on Thursday, January 21, station WHAS in Louisville, of eight days reported in Louisville, Kentucky, it broadcast its first flood warning. rained every day that month, which was four times

By January 24, the Ohio River surpassed the the normal precipitation for the area. This uncanny previous record set in February of 1884 of 71.1’ by weather would eventually drop anywhere from 18” to 20” of rainfall in our area. In all, there was record reaching an unbelievable 73.4’. Before it was over, flooding from Point Pleasant, West Virginia down to the river would reach a deadly crest of 80’ that was the Ohio’s confluence with the Mississippi at Cairo, the highest known from Point Pleasant all the way Illinois. The Ohio River was already swollen, so these to the Ohio’s confluence with the Mississippi near Cairo. heavy rains caused a rapid rise in the river’s level, Without the protection of levees or floodwalls, ultimately culminating into what would become Meade County History Magazine

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Meade Countians used boats to go to each building to check for damage and rescue the stranded.

over 150 cities along the Ohio River were overwhelmed by river water. Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes.

Radio was a fledgling source in those days. It mainly ran on shows such as Amos ‘n’ Andy, one of the first radio comedy series, and originated from station WMAQ in Chicago, as well as daytime soap operas and dance music. However, the coverage of the Ohio River Flood would become one of the first major events covered in radio. One Ohio broadcaster, Ruth Lyons, stated in 1957 that at the time of the 1937 flood, “We thought it was the end of the world.”

Reports such as the one from Cincinnati’s WLW over the NBC network would start to shed light on the dire situation: “The Ohio River continues to rise at approximately 3/10 of a foot per hour…rains up and down the river from Pittsburgh to Louisville are continuing….The fires which threatened the entire western section of Cincinnati this morning are reported under control at this hour, although reports are reaching us constantly of huge gasoline tanks being torn from their foundations in various parts of the community and Meade County History Magazine

spewing their highly inflammable contents over the floodwaters to be spread over large areas….Traffic across the suspension bridge connecting Covington, Kentucky with Cincinnati has for the time being been suspended….The floodwaters have been closing the approaches on both sides of the river….There’s a most urgent need for food, clothing, and shelter.

Medical supplies are also needed.”

By this broadcast flood damage had shut off most of the electricity in Louisville and rendered the police radio there inoperable. This led to WHAS station executives making an unprecedented decision to abandon all commercial programs and broadcast only emergency announcements for the duration of the disaster.

The knowledge that they would lose thousands of dollars in revenue was pushed aside as they began fielding thousands of distress messages that arrived by telegraph, telephone, ham radio and even word of mouth. These messages would be typed and edited in an oil lit, incredibly cold room, then raced to announcers in another room who were waiting before a microphone, broadcasting by nothing more than a

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flickering gaslight.

One such broadcast that was documented was, “Fire patrol boats operating south of Broadway are ordered immediately to Third and Breckinridge! All available boats are needed there at once!…Milk is needed for nine babies at missing persons bureau at 1010 South Third Street…power boat, please deliver…Urgent! Fifty refugees must be moved immediately by boat from 1023 West Madison Street! This is imperative!”

For a reported 187 and a half hours, WHAS reports such as, “Seven people marooned on house top on Lower River Road…can’t hold out much longer!…

City Hall calling. 50 children marooned at church.

Get them out immediately!”

WHAS later estimated that 115,000 separate flood bulletins had been broadcast into remote areas via loudspeakers on trucks, airplanes, and rebroadcast on other stations around the country and even on the BBC in England.

One could say the beginning of all emergency weather news broadcasts was born from this incident as Louisville’s Foster Brooks became nationally WHAS’ Foster Brooks climbs a telephone famous for both his reports and the picture of him pole to report on the flood in Louisville. grasping a phone pole with one hand and a microphone with the other, with water raging below him, would not be discovered by the rest of the nation for quite some time. to report on the flood.

Along the entire length of the Ohio River, it is The scope of the devastating effects of the flood estimated that one million people were left homeless in the aftermath of this flood. By the close of this disaster, a total of 385 were killed from Pittsburgh to Paducah. The U.S. Weather Bureau reported that total flood damage for the entire state of Kentucky was $250 million. According to an article in the Courier Journal in February 12, 2019, “From Pittsburgh to Cairo, Illinois, the damage amounted to $8.7 billion in today’s money. Louisville was the hardest hit, with more than half the population of 308,245 evacuated.

Nearly 50,000 homes were flooded, as were 250 of the city’s 350 churches. In today’s money, the damage total was $1.7 billion.”

Individuals took small boats and canoes and went from building to building rescuing stranded people The flood levels start to recede and residents, including and taking them to safety. Help poured from all over one black dog pictured at the bottom right, go down to the US. Even donations from the United Kingdom check out the progress and evaluate further damage.

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were received to try and help the many trapped or displaced families.

Humans were not the only victims of the flood.

One deceased horse was found still hanging high in a tree after the waters receded. A sight that, even after viewing all of the incredible damage done to homes and businesses, surely no one expected to see.

Photo from the National Weather Service (NWS) website.

Flood waters cover much of Main Street, including the Meade County Messenger building, during the flood.

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Photos of Main Street in Brandenburg during the flood show water all the way up to the original Meade County Messenger building, which is still located halfway up the steep hill that goes from the Ohio River to the top of Main Street itself. Other restored photos shown in this article show different days of the flood where some of the Main Street shops are almost halfway under water with men sitting and standing in canoes outside of these businesses.

To this day, January 1937 remains the wettest month on record in Cincinnati, and aerial photos of Louisville, Kentucky are comparable to the aftermath left by hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Louisiana.

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Crystal Leo is the General Manager of the Meade County Messenger and MCKY News. She moved to Meade County over ten years ago after living in numerous states on the east coast and now considers Kentucky home. Leo is also the author of over twenty published f iction titles. You can reach her at: mcmsales2@meadecountyky.com.

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Louisville, Kentucky 1937

New Orleans, Louisiana 2005

An aerial comparison of Louisville, Kentucky on January 27, 1937 during the Great Flood vs. New Orleans, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina on August 30, 2005.

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Agriculture: the bedrock of Meade County’s

BIRTH

Mitchell Singleton, of Wolf Creek, in a tobacco field in approximately 1940s.

by ____________________________ CHAD HOBBS Agriculture came to the fertile lands of Meade County long before the county or its name did. When early pioneers like Daniel Boone began making permanent camps here, crops such as corn quickly followed the settlers as they cleared the land and made this their home. Corn, flour and grist mills began popping up along Doe Run and Otter Creeks as early as 1792.

From those early pioneer days, agriculture continued to expand from the sandy shores of Big Bend in the far northern end of the county down across the barrens and groves to the clay soils of Flaherty and Big Spring at the far southern end of the county.

Meade County History Magazine

While today, corn, soybean, and hay fields along with cattle pastures claim the lion’s share of Meade County agriculture land, that was not always the case.

In the early days, wild game served as the main staple of meat. In fact, in ‘The Hunters’ Paradise, Meade County, Kentucky’, Dennis Partridge writes about General Benjamin Shacklett, an early settler in the Hill Grove area, claiming, “As to deer we thought no more of going out to kill one, when wanting one, than we did of going out to wring the neck off a chicken.”

He goes on to write that Hoard Withers was fond of describing the abundance of game, especially deer, by remarking, “No one planted more than three acres of ground because we didn’t need any more.”

Those early pioneer days would eventually pass by, and as they did, agricultural practices would constantly change and adapt over the years.

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was told, “by sailors and world travelers that “Meade County Apple Brandy” could be purchased by name in all the great cities of the world.” Then came prohibition, and with it, the death of large-scale orchards across Meade County.

Sheep production, for many years, was huge, not only in Meade County, but this whole region of Kentucky. It is why the barbecue scene in Owensboro has always had mutton as one of its traditional meat staples. As clothing and textiles moved away from wool, however, sheep herds dwindled. Now, large scale sheep production is all but extinct in Meade County.

First tractor in Cedar Flat, 1947. Frances Chism, Hogs have suffered a similar fate, though for differBuck Crawford, Don Crawford and Louis Crawford. ent reasons. Small scale pork production goes back to Photo can be found in the Meade County Library’s the earliest days of our colonial past in this country.

Genealogy Room and was submitted by Irene Crawford.

Hogs were for many years raised for home butchering and consumption. As the decades passed, that began William Miller Boling wrote that from about 1874 to shift to the point that by the 1970s hog production to 1904, Meade County began “to draw attention as had been commercialized to the extent the animals the home of high-grade apple brandy and in a few were at least partially if not completely confined inyears this product was in demand throughout the doors. By the late 1990s, factory farm hog production world. At that time the apple orchards of the county had pushed most farmers out of the pork producing were many and large and many “know how” distillindustry much in the same way industrialized poultry ers were producing this type of brandy.” He said he

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1041 Old Ekron Rd Brandenburg, KY 40108 (270) 422-4958 meade.EXT@uky.edu MeadeCountyKY.com

Woolfolk Turkey Farm 1942.

Above: Demonstration of a wheat binder in the early 1900s in Ekron, KY.

Below: Bud Roberts making Soghurm in 1964.

125 Kennedy Rd, Guston, KY 40142 (270) 422-2361 www.robertsfamilyfarmky.com Meade County History Magazine

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Steam engine and thrasher circa. 1930 on Allan Richardson’s Farm.

Photo can be found in the Meade County Library’s Genealogy Room and was submitted by Ann Cox Wallace.

had done years before. Though hogs and poultry on farms became all but extinct on Meade County farms, farm to table programs, farmers markets and the recent pandemic onset have all helped breathe life back into small scale farm production of these animals, putting an emphasis back on quality versus large scale quantity.

It’s hard to miss the impact agriculture plays in investing in our future. It is also ingrained in the very fabric of every community across Meade County just as it was before there was ever a county named after Captain James M. Meade. Agriculture has always been the bedrock of this county, whether it was picking roasting ears by hand, a horse drawn picker or a three quarter of a million dollar combine. It is also that industry that has made Meade County notorious for long expanses of roadways with some of the most Meade County History Magazine

beautiful scenic driving experiences a person could ever find.

If you are interested in seeing photos like the ones in this article you can visit the Meade County Public Library’s Genealogy Room at: 996 Old Ekron Rd., Brandenburg, KY 40108

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Chad Hobbs is a Reporter for the Meade County Messenger and MCKY News.

A Meade County native, he graduated from Meade County High School in 1997. Originally an English major at Bridgewater State University where he played football, he eventually transferred back to Kentucky and obtained a degree in Nursing. Hobbs resides in Flaherty with his son, Cole. He may be reached at: mcmreporter2@meadecountyky.com.

MeadeCountyKY.com

Five Star Barn

Five patriotic stars for the five brave men in the Prather family who served their country well in WWII.

by ______________________ GER ALD W. FISCHER There is a largely unknown story about two Meade County, families, the land, patriotism, heroism, and heritage, memorialized for all to see if only we knew where to look and with whom to speak. In a rolling area of Meade, a mile or so west of Buck Grove Baptist Church, stands a red barn whose age is unknown but was considered to be old in the 1920s. It has been re-sided, painted red and trimmed in white, and looks decades younger.

When I pulled up to the farm gate leading to the barn and the log cabin to the southwest, even before I climbed out of my truck, I was struck by the adornment between the eve of the barn roof and the hayloft door where five penMeade County History Magazine

tagonal stars were affixed in a horizontal line centered on the barn. Each star was painted red, white, and blue. The blue appeared on the left half of the stars and the red on the right. They were further decorated with white stars on the blue field. The patriotic symbolism could not be missed.

Each star was not only itself a national symbol, but symbolic of our great American flag.

I wondered about the stars and the story behind them.

I had come there to meet my friend “Tony” Prather and learn. As he began relating the story of the stars and why they are on the barn, I became enthralled. In my view, it is a remarkable tale.

Over the years, the Prather family farm, beginning with Ida and Will, lay a half mile or so east and across the road from the Bennett family farm. Will died in 1960 and Ida in 1966. Shortly after Ida’s passing, neighbor Ray Ben-

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nett purchased the farm. Karen Bennett and Tony Prather attended Buck Grove Baptist Church as children, each a member of one of the two families. They attended school together and, soon after, fell in love, married, and raised a family. The land where the barn stands remained with the Prather farm, but after Will’s death, the adjoining acreage was parceled to the Bennetts. The two families, already friends, later became related by marriage. What about the stars?

The story of the stars begins approximately ten years or more before Tony and Karen were born with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The 7th U.S. Naval Fleet was attacked without warning, and a week or so later, Germany, which was allied with the Japanese, declared War on the United States. We were unprepared.

The sailors in training at Great Lakes Training Station numbered less than 5,500. Volunteers signed up in droves to risk their lives in order to defend their country and families. By May, the training quota was almost 70,000 and

by September it was over 100,000 men and continued to grow. Eventually it exceeded 192,000. Among the defenders were members of both families, and everyone in that

war was a hero. Soon, five members of the Prather and Bennett family were defending their country.

Larry Prather, Will and Ida’s second son, enlisted July 17, 1941, before we were officially at war, but while the clouds of war were on the horizon, the sound of its drums were not yet a Dewey Reynold Prather whisper. War would not be long in coming. Larry deployed to India in December of 1943, a member of the 94th Station Hospital. He helped establish and open a 100-bed hospital and served in an administrative capacity. While there, he met his future wife, a nurse from Valley Falls, Kansas.

On May 15, 1942, Will and Ida’s third son Dewey left for duty. Dewey’s training was cut short when it was found he could type. He was soon assigned duties as a company clerk. Sometime in mid-July, he joined 16 train loads of GIs that left Camp Claibourne, Louisiana, for parts unknown. He saw duty in North Africa where he was

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assigned to an engineering company.

Early in the war, Germany had low oil reserves and attacked North Africa to establish a new supply line.

Dewey was stationed in Algiers when General Eisenhower landed an allied force on the coast to counteract the German advances of German General Irwin Hayes Leroy Prather Rommel. Rommel was charged with securing the oil fields Germany needed.

Eisenhower’s invasion force included American Generals George S. Patton, Omar Bradley, and England’s General “Monty” Montgomery. Dewey wrote letters home and told of seeing our ships gliding through the water, blackened at night, silhouetted against the horizon. His letters were V-mails and censored.

A wonderful thing occurred in Algiers. While in route to

India, Larry had a layover in Algiers, where the two brothers shared a memorable meeting. Larry’s discharge came on August 2, 1945 after Germany had fallen and four days before the Atomic Bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. A second bomb on Nagasaki effectively ended the war with Japan.

On November 11, 1942 President Roosevelt signed a draft bill for the first peace time conscription in the history of the United States. It also allowed high school seniors, if 18 years-old and would graduate after January 1st, to receive their diplomas early and enlist or be draft eligible.

Will and Ida were afraid for Hayes and sought a deferment for him. They were successful, but Hayes had other plans and signed up to do his part. In September of 1943, he found himself in training at Camp Blanding, Florida, and shipped out with 5,500 troops when he was nineteen. He spent 33 days at sea before reaching Bombay, India, where Hayes served with the 33rd Quartermaster Pack Troop, Company A. In 1943, his company began opening a road that had been closed by the Japanese when Burma fell. This entailed a trek of 650 miles on foot from India to Burma.

Hayes survived bouts with Malaria and Typhus. He was

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then assigned to the 3,000 strong elite unit of “Merrill’s Marauders” of 1962 movie fame.

The Mars Task Force succeeded the Marauders, and Hayes and some other Merrill’s men joined the MTF. These two groups were the only United States Forces to serve in WWII on the Mainland of Asia. He received two Bronze Stars, a Victory Medal, and an honorable discharge in February 1946.

On March 26, Russell, the oldest of the Prather boys received his draft notice and left his wife and two young daughters for Training at Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago Illinois. After his training, he was assigned to the 926th Naval Supply Depot sailing on his 30th birthday, July 6, 1945, one month before the Enola Gay dropped the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima. Russell was stationed on Guam, a peanut shaped Island, home of an airfield, Japanese P.O.W. camp, port, and refueling/supply center.

Russell was honorably discharged by the Asiatic-Pacific Victory Medal point system on February 27, 1946.

Clarence Ray Bennett, son of Wordie and Mary Ruth Johnston Bennett, was born August 14th, 1925. He reg-

istered for the draft in Louisville, Kentucky, on or about his 18th birthday. When he was 20 years-old, he joined the Merchant Marine in the waning year of WWII, where he served for three years until 1948. He completed eleven tours across the Atlantic Ocean and two across the Pacific from March of 1945 until August 1948.

The Merchant Marine delivered personnel and materials in time of war in coordination with the United States Coast Guard and Navy. The ships were variously armed with 20 mm guns and were frequently attacked by enemy submarines, especially in the North Atlantic where Ray primarily served.

Proudly, Marian Bennett, mother of Karen, resides in Brandenburg, and 94 year-old Hayes Prather resides in the Carl Brashear’s Veterans Center in Radcliff, Kentucky.

Oh, the stories Marian can tell of her times in the Shumate School, and Hayes could tell of his adventures with “Merrill’s Marauders” in Burma. I can’t wait to hear them.

There is an underlying theme running through this story of two families united in marriage and the land, once separated and now rejoined, reflecting both families’ friendship, patriotism, heroism, and soon to be combined with a century of heritage and farm ownership. Five members of these two families are commemorated for their defense of our country and this land by the five patriotic stars.

After hearing this story so meaningfully relayed to me, I gazed once again at the stars on the barn. They appeared to me a bit differently than when I first saw them. They seemed to shine more brightly. Maybe it was the way the sun was hitting them, the pride reflected on Tony’s face, or just the knowledge these five men served their country well and are not, nor will they ever be, forgotten.

Gerald W. Fischer is the President of MCHAPS (Meade County Historical and Archaeological Preservation Society). He graduated from the University of Louisville in 1981 with a BLS in History and Anthropology and later obtained a Masters degree in Education. He is a former teacher of the Archdiocese of Louisville and a substitute teacher for the Meade County School District and also writes for the Meade County Messenger & MCKY News. Fischer is the author of two published titles: Battletown Witch and Guerilla Warfare in Civil War Kentucky. He lives in Meade County and is constantly fascinated by the rich history of the Bluegrass State. You can reach him at: f ischer@bbtel.com.

Leonard Russell Prather

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Ditto Grocery

David Lee and Fannie Mae Ditto inside of their store.

by ____________________________ EDWIN ALLAN HART, JR.

office, gift shop, upstairs was Dr. Richardson’s dentist office, which I dreaded, and the apartment where my grandparents lived. The store was full of bins of crackers, coffee beans, potatoes, apples and David Lee and Fannie Mae Ditto ran a grocery the best part was the huge candy case. They carried store in downtown Brandenburg, Kentucky for a more sweets than any store in Meade County. When number of years. My earliest memory of them is liv- I stayed with them, I got to choose some candy each ing over the store when I was 3 years old. My mother day. I was about 10 years old, and I could sneak extra Frances Ditto Hart was brushing my great-grandwhen they were busy with customers. The store had mother’s hair. She was Mattie Hale Coleman and a backroom where they kept the meat and supplies. was in her 90s.

They cut all the meat with a butcher knife. GrandLee Ditto’s grandfather owned the Ditto Plantadaddy was not too good to sneak a nip with some of tion where the chemical plant is now. He worked as his friends in the backroom, which did not set well a retail clerk at various stores before he opened his with ‘Grandmama’. own store. He also raised prize winning rabbits and There was a large red coffee grinder and I would chickens. get to push the switch to start the grinder, which Fannie Mae was the daughter of Emmett A. Cole- made me feel very grown up. There were two scales: man and Mattie Hale Coleman. Emmett was a black- one out front to weigh coffee, meat and small items smith in Meade County for many years. and a large platform scale to weigh large items in the The store was located in a building with the post backroom.

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The store was next to the Ace Theater, across the Ms. Fannie Mae. She still had lots of penny candy street was Grinnell’s drug store, Tobin’s Dry Goods that was delivered by the Hardesty Candy Co. I used to spend a week with her every year, and store, and the pool hall. Behind the store was a set of steps that went all the way to the top of the hill and these are just a few memories 50 to 75 years ago. ended on Lawrence Street.

After my great grandmother passed, Grandmama and Granddaddy moved into the Coleman house on the corner of Broadway and Bland Streets at the top of the hill. They would walk up and down the hill to the store each day. After Lee Ditto passed, Fannie Mae ran the store on her own for many years.

My father, Edwin A. Hart, would take me hunting in ‘Lapland’ in the Battletown area, and we would David Lee and Fannie Mae Ditto later on in life. stop at the store on the way home. He would go in the backroom, get the big roll of baloney, and slice Edwin Allan Hart, Jr. was born June 29, thick pieces for us. I would go to the cracker barrel 1935 to Edwin A. and Frances (Ditto) for a few crackers. That was good eating, and I reHart in West Point. He is the grandson of member it to this day.

Lee and Fannie Mae (Coleman) Ditto of Brandenburg, and John and Eula ( Jones) Fannie Mae closed the downtown store when it Hart of West Point. He has one sister, became too hard to traipse up and down that hill Roszelle Moore. He married Dotty Lou and moved it to the Coleman house, which was next Bartley from Muldraugh. They had one to the Meade County school and ball field. The kids son, Edwin Allan Hart, III. loved being able to buy candy and soft drinks from HOUSES • APARTMENTS • MOBILE HOMES & LOTS

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The history of Doe Valley

An aerial view of what would become the lake in Doe Valley in the 1950s.

Photos submitted by Doe Valley Association.

by ____________________________ AUTHOR UNKNOWN

settlers.

Banks and Claiborne were Englishmen survey-HISTORY OF THE LANDSors and began to ‘sell-off’ parcels from the original 113,482 acres which ran from Otter Creek to Wolf The lands purchased to create the Community of Creek - and to 12 miles south of the Ohio River.

Doe Valley were part of the original ‘land grants or (Banks and Claiborne honored the claim of Pierre patents’ granted by Patrick Henry, the Governor of Louis Phillipe Gallet de Lormeric of Philadelphia Virginia. (formerly of Paris) for 5,277 acres of the original As part of the original land patent of 113,482 acres tract. Claiborne had sold Gallet an interest in his granted by Patrick Henry on August 9, 1783, to share.)

Henry Banks and Richard Claiborne, the lands along Two other tracts (3,000 and 4,000 acres) adjoinDoe Run became the center of activities by the early ing the Banks and Claiborne Tract were ‘patented’ Meade County History Magazine

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to Phillip C. J. Barbour. It was these two tracts that Barbour deeded to Patrick Henry Darby on April 6, 1825, for 200 Pounds and ‘other services’.

John Chapman and Gerald Alexander sold ‘Darby’ 1,000 acres on October 2, 1828, also part of the Phillip Barbour Tract all being a part of the original 113,482 acre tract.

Patrick Henry Darby died in 1829 and his Administrator, John Southard, sold-off his lands in 1831.

(Darby’s portrait hangs in the Speed Museum of Louisville and his biography denotes “he was a lawyer of considerable ability, a fluent speaker, but did not sustain himself as to character’’. A native of Ireland, Darby settled in Kentucky, then moved to Tennessee in 1814…returning to Kentucky for the latter part of his career and died here in Meade County. His portrait was painted by Richard Jouett Menefee.)

The lands along Doe Run, now a part of Doe Valley, and the lands of Brandenburg were all part of the lands owned by Phillip Barbour and Patrick H. Darby. Upon Darby’s death, the lands were ‘parceled’ and sold.

John Johnson purchased 1,600 acres plus a 100 acre mill tract of land along Doe Run. He is buried in the old Johnson Cemetery on the old Gus Benham-Alfred Powell-Bondurant lands.

Johnson had daughters who inherited his lands: Catherine (Nathan Board); Nancy (Thomas Dowell); Frances; Elizabeth (John Webb); and a son Edward M. Johnson.

John Johnson purchased the 100 acre mill tract with the ‘factory’ mill which was built by Daniel Lewis - paying $400 for the land plus $300 for the mill.

In 1962, Doe Valley Estates was developed, and the first houses constructed. The house now owned

An aerial view of the splendor that is Doe Valley today.

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A snippet from the Doe Valley Association’s newsletter in July of 1974.

by the Richard Decatur’s was the first home; followed by the home of the Ken Curry’s. Other early homes constructed are now owned by the Frank Everding’s, Jo Ross and Percy Armes.

Doe Valley was the first lakeside community in Kentuckiana that planned from the beginning to have city water and sewers with the first treatment plants being constructed in 1962.

The streets in Doe Valley Estates were the first soil-cement base streets constructed in as a ‘test’ which proved to be successful.

In 1970, Ken Helmly and Growth Capital sold their financial interests in Doe Valley to American Lakes and Land Co of Memphis, which was owned

by Continental Investors, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts. It was then that a Master Plan for the Doe Valley Community was developed… and the first of 10 subdivision sections began with Hickory Hills, Greenbriar and Havenwood Sections.

Ken Helmly was retained by the new owners as Project Director remaining in that position through subsequent ownerships until he first retired in August 1982.

In 1972, American Lakes and Land was reorganized, and an enlarged Master Plan became a reality locating the golf course and the Main Entrance at their present sites. The golf course construction began, as well as the Golf Club House.

The Swim & Tennis Club complex was started in 1973 and open for business in May 1974. During the meantime, other residential sections in Doe Valley Meade County History Magazine

were constructed, including Glenoaks, Doe Valley Greens and Pine Point Sections.

In January 1974, Spencer Development Co. was employed by Continental Mortgage Investors (CMI) (successors to American Lake and Land Co_ to continue the development of Doe Valley. CMI sold their interest in Doe Valley in 1976 to an investor-firm owned by several banks and Merrill Lynch & Co.

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Merrill Lynch Realty Management Co. was then formed to manage Doe Valley… until 1980 when it sold Doe Valley to Sam and Tom Nevis of California.

The Nevis’ mortgaged their interest in Doe Valley to a Savings & Loan of Lubbock, Texas and defaulted on this loan in 1984 resulting in a foreclosure sale to the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation.

In October 1985, the property of Doe Valley was placed in ‘Receivership’ under Brandenburg attorney, James Watts and Ken Helmly who re-organized the holdings of the four corporations holding interest in Doe Valley in 1986.

Doe Valley, Inc. was placed in Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code by Tom Nevis which resulted in a Trustee in Bankruptcy being appointed. Ken Helmly was retained by the Trustee to re-organize and manage Doe Valley.

The Doe Valley (Property Owners) Association, Inc. began to operate the facilities which were to be deeded and owned by the Property Owners including the Swim & Tennis Club Complex, Marina, Camp-

Doe Valley’s Swim and Tennis Club after opening in May of 1974.

grounds, Parks and Security.

Today the Community of Doe Valley is operated by the Property Owners Association and the Community 1s a thriving and populated section of Meade County.

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1st GM Ken Helmly

Doe Valley Pool (1980’s)

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Tornado 1974

The tornado as it travelled over Cap Anderson Cemetery.

The tornado that would eventually ravage Brandenburg touched down in Breckinridge County just by before 3:30 p.m. It moved across Hardinsburg, in____________________________ flicting F3-level damage in the area, and grew stronSETH DUKES ger as it approached Meade County. As it traveled and grew, the tornado would literally strip grass up On April 3, 1974, the region was hit with a super from its path. tornado outbreak. Statewide, it claimed the lives of Just 15 minutes after the National Weather Ser77 people. Meade County was hit the hardest, losvice issued a Tornado Warning for the area around 4 ing 31 people to a 2,400-foot-wide F5 tornado. The p.m., 128 homes and at least 30 businesses had been tornado that hit Brandenburg is the only tornado to destroyed. The twister was on the ground in Branproduce F5-level damage in state history. denburg for less than five minutes.

In total, 148 tornadoes swept across the Midwest, More than half the deaths from the tornado came claiming more than 300 lives and causing injuries to from a single block on West Hill in Brandenburg. thousands. It is the second largest tornado outbreak The Meade County Courthouse, which had stood at on record for a single 24-hour period. Kentucky suf- its location on Main Street in Brandenburg for more fered more than $100 million in damages. than 120 years, was destroyed.

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The injured were carried on doors and boards found in the rubble to medical attention. The clinic just up the road on Main Street served as a temporary morgue, but the dead would later be moved to the local school’s gym to be identified.

“The first reaction to the tornado was shock,” the Meade County Messenger wrote in its April 11, 1974, edition. “Never in Brandenburg’s history has a twister hit the town with so much force. Everyone was surprised at the fact that buildings were actually destroyed. After the shock came the grief. It wasn’t just buildings that were lost, but friends and relatives. In some instances whole families were killed.”

A list of names of those that were lost to the tornado is part of a monument that sits outside the Courthouse.

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The original Meade County Messenger building in downtown Brandenburg after the tornado.

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The monument that sits outside the Meade County Courthouse, honoring those lost to the tornado.

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An aerial shot of downtown Brandenburg and the surrounding area after the tornado

Seth Dukes is the Newsroom Coordinator for the Meade County Messenger and MCKY News. He graduated from Western Kentucky University in 2015 with a BA in English. He has been a journalist in five counties in western Kentucky and covered everything ranging from feature stories to breaking news. A native of Muhlenberg Co., Seth now resides in Brandenburg. He may be reached at: mcmeditor@meadecountyky.com Meade County History Magazine

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A peek at history from behind the badge

Sheriff David C. Ridenour.

by ______________________ DANA RIDENOUR

the pressure, the Sheriff’s Office trained a number of special deputies. These special deputies were volunteers who served papers and assisted during disasters. They never worked any criminal investigaI recently had the opportunity to talk with my tions but were an enormous help with the daily leg father about his days serving as the sheriff of Mework. During his four-year term, the Sheriff’s Office ade County, Kentucky. David C. Ridenour held the was granted approval to hire a much needed second office of sheriff from 1974-1978. In those days, a sheriff could not succeed himself, so he knew enter- deputy.

I was curious to know what it was like to be a law ing the position he only had four years to lead and mold the department. My father spoke fondly of his enforcement officer in the 1970s, long before the days in office, recalling the beauty of Meade County, routine use of computers and the existence of databases. My father told me it was critical to build reladescribing the county as lush rolling lands covered tionships with other agencies and with the citizens with gorgeous trees. of the community. Using mainly the telephone, he When my father was elected as sheriff in 1974, worked with local, state, and federal agencies from the Meade County Sheriff’s Office had one sheriff all over the country to solve a wide range of cases. and one deputy. Deputy Joe Greer served by my He prided himself on putting together an airtight father’s side during his term. It was a monumental case. He achieved this by taking his time with each task, given that the Sheriff’s Office had over 300 case, following up on all the evidence, and making miles of road to patrol. To help alleviate some of Meade County History Magazine

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sure there were no ‘loopholes’. He challenged defense attorneys to find weaknesses in his cases and learned from his mistakes. This strategy worked.

During his last two years in office, every criminal defendant he arrested pled guilty.

I inquired about the biggest crime problem that plagued the county during his time as sheriff. The answer: narcotics trafficking. The Sheriff’s Office concentrated their efforts on hard drugs, mainly LSD and Heroin. There was also some bootlegging going on in Meade County at the time, but he laughed and said most of the moonshine made in the county was for family members and close friends and not for resell.

From his first day in office, my dad wanted the local businesses to trust the Sheriff’s Office. He personally visited the county bars and saloons, asking for help from the business owners. He wanted the owners to feel comfortable calling the Sheriff’s Office at the first sign of trouble, assuring the owners that the law-abiding patrons in the establishments would not be harassed in any way. The bar owners cooperated and found that removing rowdy customers from the premises prevented injuries and property damage from brawls.

When asked about his achievements during his term, my father said that he created the first 24-hour dispatch where citizens could call a local number and reach the Sheriff’s Office. Funded with a grant from the Governor’s office, the 24-hour dispatch is still in effect. However, he was most proud of the crime statistics during his tenure. According to FBI statistics, the crime in Meade County was 48% lower than most places in the United States. He attributed this result to good community policing and to the relationships he and his employees established with other law enforcement agencies.

My dad smiled as he discussed solving a string of cold case burglaries. When he took office, he noticed there were numerous unsolved burglaries throughout the county. He pulled the files of all the similar cases and found a common denominator: the homeowners used the same pest control company, and there was one employee who had been in all of the burglarized homes. He found and arrested the Meade County History Magazine

suspect and even located some of the stolen items, including many guns. Even after the passage of three years, the Sheriff’s Office was able to return the stolen guns to the proper owners, despite being sold several times after they were stolen.

I asked him about the most difficult part of his time in office. On April 3, 1974 the lives of the citizens of Meade County were changed forever when an F5 tornado, the strongest category on the Fujita scale, roared through Brandenburg, taking the lives of thirty-one people. A mere three months after being sworn in as sheriff, my father faced the biggest challenge of his lifetime.

My father was on patrol when the tornado struck, nearly losing his own life in the storm. He lost all communications with his office when the ravaging storm actually sucked the police radios out of the windows of the Sheriff’s Office. As he navigated the rubble, trying to get to his office, a woman in distress flagged him down in front of a house that was only partially standing. She said her child was somewhere in the ruins of the house, and she couldn’t find him.

My father dug through the wreckage, located the child, and returned him safe and sound to his mother.

The county was in ruins, and my father knew the body count was going to be considerable. Bodies were brought to the makeshift morgue set up in the Meade County High School. My dad stared at his hands, and his shoulders drooped as he discussed the bodies laid out for identification. He told me he wept as he fingerprinted the bodies of the children killed by the tornado.

Within 10-12 hours following the tornado, looters arrived. Dad explained that he set up a perimeter around the devastated town of Brandenburg to prevent the looters from entering. Local and state police from all over arrived to help. Being the Sheriff made him the chief law enforcement officer, giving him authority over the scene and everyone working the scene. His first order to the law enforcement officers was to arrest any looters and to use any necessary force to do so. He had sworn an oath to protect and serve the citizens of Meade County, and he wasn’t going to allow them to be further victimized.

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Dad did have one amusing story that occurred during this horrible time. During the long dark days following the tornado, he drove by the wreckage of what used to be the Long Branch Saloon. He recognized a man he knew as the town drunk wandering around the area, so he stopped to make sure the man was okay. He asked the fellow what he was doing, and the man replied, “Sheriff, the tornado blowed me down here, and this is where I landed.” The man wasn’t causing any problems and appeared to be uninjured, so Dad left to attend to more pressing matters. After the tornado, my father drove by many times and saw this same individual digging in the area of the saloon. The man stayed busy for many days. It turned out the man was digging up bottles of liquor from the saloon debris and squirreling the bottles away in his newly dug holes. My father said the man stayed happy for the next year, occasionally digging up a bottle from one of his holes. Dad left him alone since he wasn’t bothering anyone and was staying out of trouble.

In the days after the tornado, the county government converted the Fairgrounds into an area for

work and for people to pick up food and supplies.

My father told me that for four days, he never went home, never took a shower, and hardly rested. He was at the Fairgrounds one day when a little boy came up to him and tugged on his pant leg. He looked down at the little boy who then asked, “Do you know who I am?” He said no. The little boy smiled and said, “Well, you saved my life. You and God saved my life.” He was the little boy that my father had found and rescued from the wreckage of the collapsed house on the day the tornado struck.

Dana Ridenour is a retired FBI agent and the author of three FBI undercover novels: Behind The Mask, Beyond The Cabin, and Below The Radar. Dana graduated from Meade County High School in 1984, then attended the University of Kentucky. After two years at the University of Kentucky, she changed her major to Police Administration and transferred to Eastern Kentucky University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science in 1989. She earned her Juris Doctor in 1992 from Chase College of Law.

From the early 1800’s, generation to generation, Meade County history is in our blood!

Leslie Stith

Meade County Judge Executive Meade County Fiscal Court 516 Hillcrest Dr. Suite 12 Brandenburg, KY, 40108 Phone : 270-422-3967 judgeexecutive@meadeky.gov Meade County History Magazine

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