A Look At Webster County

The Evansville (Indiana) Courier and Journal periodically published articles about nearby counties. On Sunday, 27 April 1930, an article on Webster County, Kentucky appeared. The following information has been abstracted from that article, which was written by Mrs. R.L. Rice.

Webster County was named for Daniel Webster, lawyer and statesman. It is well watered by the following creeks: Deer, Pitman, Clear, Highland, Crab Orchard, Caney Fork, Slover and Graves Creek.

Going south on U.S. Hwy. 60, one enters Webster County from Henderson County at the place formerly called "Sixteen Mile House," being 16 miles from Red Banks, now Henderson. The name of "Sixteen Mile House" is today Poole, named in honor of the first settlers, the Poole family.

Five miles south of Poole is a marker of brown sandstone inscribed H.H. This marks the site of a great oak tree which was for many years the corner tree of the three counties, Union, Henderson and Hopkins. In 1799, the head of "Big Harp," a fiendish bandit who had terrorized the pioneers in many parts of the state, was hung from this tree where it remained by many years.

There the highway winds its way over Hunters Hill, so-called because of the game once abounding there. Here the Madisonville-Morganfield road known as the Shawnee Trail, crosses U.S. 41, known as the Dixie Bee line.

Dixon, the county seat of Webster, lies 21 miles south of Henderson. An ancient Indian trail from Nashville, Tenn. to St. Louis, Mo. passed directly through what is now the center of town. Col. Meriwether Lewis traveled this trail on his last ill-fated trip between those two cities.

Eleven miles south of Dixon is Providence, one of the oldest towns in western Kentucky, much of the territory surrounding the city having been settled previous to 1800. About 1820, Richard Savage, from Winchester, Va., son of Dr. Joseph Savage, surgeon in the Second Virginia regiment in the Revolutionary War, cleared the deep forest where the citadel of Providence is now located, at the intersection of Main and Broadway streets. There he built a store of hand-riven lumber. This building stood until 1878, when it was torn down and soon afterward the brick structure now standing there was erected to T.B. Payne. About 1830 another store was built on an opposite corner by Wiley Ledbetter. Daniel and William Head each built a store a little later. The town was incorporated February 18, 1840.

About 1860, Rev. Nicholas Lacy came to the town from Christian County as pastor of the Sharon Baptist Church, now the First Baptist. He also conducted a private school.

Other towns in the county are Clay, named for Henry Clay, eight miles from Providence; Slaughters, named for G.G. Slaughter, pioneer settler; Vandersburg, four miles southeast of Dixon, and Sebree, 10 miles northeast of Dixon, named for Col. Sebree.

Published 23 May 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - Joseph and Lucinda Watts

 

One of the most impressive tombstones in Smithland Cemetery in Livingston County, Kentucky is that of Joseph and Lucinda Watts. Close to the road that winds up the hill in the middle of the cemetery, it commands a view over the midsection of the cemetery. The tombstone was photographed 24 November 2011.

 

 

In Memory of

Joseph Watts

Born

near Hillsboro, N.C.

Oct. 15, 1794

Died

At his home in

Westwood

Apr. 5, 1869

He lived a long active and useful life

True to those principles most noble in the Sight of man,

Most worthy in the sight of God

 

 

Westwood was a town established in 1811 on The Point, the piece of land directly across the Cumberland River from Smithland. The town no longer exists.

 

 

Lucinda

Wife of

Joseph Watts

Born

Feb. 17, 1812

Died

July 30, 1892

Pure in Heart

 

Joseph Watts and Lucinda D. Haynes were married 11 July 1827 in Livingston County. They were the parents of William Courtney Watts, author of Chronicles of a Kentucky Settlement.

 

Published 21 May 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

 

 



 



Writ of Ad Quod Damnum 1856

Merriam-Webster.com defines ad quod damnum as a writ issued to assess damages for land seized for public use. In the case below, the land was to be used for a grist and saw mill and involved constructing a dam across a creek. There is a bonus to this document, however, in that it names the heirs of the former owner. This document was located in loose county court papers in the Crittenden County Clerk's Office, Marion, Kentucky.

Uriah S. Burklow, Plaintiff, against Elizabeth Swansey, John Swansey, Wm. Flanary & Eliza Flanary, Saml. Ashley & Mary A. Ashley, John Ashley & Rebecca Ashley, Sephen Rutherford & Amanda Rutherford, Wm. C.L. Moore & Jane Moore, William Grigston, Mary E. Grigston, Wm. Swansey, Eli Swansey & Nancy Swansey, Defendants}  Petition for Writ of Ad quod damnum.

Uriah S. Burklow states that he is the owner of a tract of land lying in Crittenden County Ky & on a water course known as Crooked Creek & the bed of which creek belongs to him or the Commonwealth & he desires to build on said land a grist & saw mill useful to the public & he needs a dam across said creek in order to do so; that the only land which will be affected by the building of such dam is land formerly owned by John Swansey now deceased. Said land descended to his heirs at law; that Elizabeth Swansey is his widow; John Swansey his son; Eliza Flanary, who is now the wife of Wm. Flanary, was his daughter; Mary Ashley, now the wife of Samuel Ashley was his daughter; Rebecca Ashley, now the wife of John Ashley, was his daughter; Amanda Rutherford, now the wife of Stephen Rutherford, was his daughter; Jane Moore, now the wife of W.C.L. Moore, was his daughter; that the mother of Mary E. Grigston now deceased who was the wife of Wm. Grigston, was also a daughter of John Swansey deceased; that William Swansey, Eli Swansey & Nancy Swansey are also children & heirs of John Swansey deceased; that Lucinda Swansey married to Henry Vaughn & was a daughter of John Swansey deceased, but Lucinda & her husband have conveyed their interest in said land to W.C.L. Moore; that the aforesaid persons are the only persons whose right will be affected by the proposed taking or overflow of land. All of said persons are of full age except Wm., Eli and Nancy Swansey and Mary E. Grigston and that Samuel Ashley is guardian for Wm. Swansey; John Swansey is the guardian for Nancy Swansey and D.W. Carter is guardian for Mary E. Grigston.

The petitioner Uriah S. Burklow prays for a Writ of ad quod damnum and that said mill site may be condemned for such purpose and that one acre of land belonging to the Swansey heirs be condemned for the use of such site and for all other purposes. 

Uriah Burklow says that he believes the statements of the foregoing Petition are true.   2 October 1856.

Published 16 May 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - Josiah and Peter Wood

 

 

Josiah D.

Wood

Born

Feb. 6, 1797

Died

July 2, 1865

 

 

Peter H.

Wood

Born

Mar. 20, 1832

Died

Nov. 8, 1865

 

 

Josiah D. and Peter H. Wood, father and son, are buried at Mt. Zion Cemetery, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Their tombstones were photographed 24 October 2012.

 

The 1860 Crittenden County census shows that Josiah Wood was age 62 and born Virginia. Also in his household were Eliza Wood, age 54 and born Virginia; Peter H. Wood, age 27 and born Tennessee and Louisa B. Wood, age 17 and born Tennessee. The family can be found in Smith County, Tennessee in 1850.

Published 14 May 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/
 

 



Remarkably Ugly and Ill-Natured ...

Jesse Daugherty and Mary Dodd, both of the county, married 26 December 1816 in Livingston County, Kentucky. I believe this falls into the category of an unhappy marriage.  It first appeared in the Kentucky Reporter and later appeared in The Literary Panorama and National Register of 1819. It was accessed through Google Books in 2012.

"Take Notice,

And beware of the swindler Jesse Dogherty, who married me in November last, and some time after marriage informed me that he had another wife alive, and before recovered, the villain left me, and took one of my best horses - one of my neighbours was so good as to follow him and take the horse from him, and bring him back. The said Dogherty is about forty years of age, five feet ten inches high, round shouldered, thick lips, complexion and hair dark, grey eyes, remarkably ugly, and ill-natured, and very fond of ardent spirits, and by profession a notorious liar. This is therefore to warn all widows to beware of the swindler, as all he wants is their property, and they may go to the devil for him after he gets that. -- The said Dogherty has a number of wives living, perhaps eight or ten (the number not positively known,) and will, no doubt, if he can get them, have eight or ten more. I believe that is the way he makes his living. -- Mary Dodd, Livingston County, Ky., Sept. 5, 1817."

Published 9 May 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - James W. and Helen Cade

James W. Cade

Born

Jan. 18, 1820

Died

Nov. 17, 1904

At Rest

 

 

Helen M.

Wife of James W. Cade

And Daughter of

Richard & Kitty Miles

Born Oct. 26, 1825

Died July 14, 1886

 

 

Both are buried in Smithland Cemetery, Smithland, Kentucky. Tombstones photographed 27 September 2010.

 

James W. Cade and Helen M. Miles were married 29 April 1846 Livingston County, Kentucky. James W. Cade served as Livingston County Court Clerk 1855 - 1866.

 

Published 7 May 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

 

 

 





St. Vincent's Academy

 

 

St. Vincent's Academy was founded in 1820 and was in operation until 1967. Many young ladies of western Kentucky and elsewhere attended this fine boarding school.

 

The above advertisement appeared in the Henderson Daily Journal, Monday, 3 August 1914.

Published 2 May 2013, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/