Gore Cemetery - Caldwell County, Kentucky

Recently I came across this cemetery recording given to me by my friend, Scarlett McDonald, before her death in 1994. She noted that the cemetery is located in the middle of a field on Dry Fork Creek, across the creek from the Holland Cemetery, near Eddy Creek Baptist Church in Caldwell County, Kentucky. The cemetery is fenced. The cemetery was recorded in the spring of 1990 and the information is from the stones still standing and other sources. There are several unmarked graves. The recording is presented exactly as Scarlett sent it. It appears the added info is in parenthesis.

Lucy (Gore) Shaw

b. 1884   d. 1961

Thomas S. Gore

b. 11-7-1840 (or 1848)  d. 4-12-1900

Mary Agnes (Bishop) Gore  [wife]

b. 1848   d. 1917

John B. Gore

b. 4-13-1828   d. 1-20-1872

Nancy (Bishop) Gore  [wife]

b. 12-18-1829    d. 12-21-1872

James H. Pollard

b. 1833   d. 1924

Lucy A. (Baker) Pollard

b. 1840   d. 1868

Wm. B. Pollard

b. 1866   d. 1963

Harriott "Hattie" Elizabeth (Gore) Pollard

b. 1870   d. 1951

Pollard Triplets (children of Hattie)

Willie, Alton, & Alice

b. & d, 1906

Lena Pollard

b. 1898   d. 1898   (no dates on marker)

Hattie Laverne Pollard

b. 8-13-1919    d. 2-22-1927

Clarence E. Gore

b. 1873   d. 1939

Thomas Givens Gore

Son of T.S. & M.A. Gore

b. 8-9-1879   d. 7-8-1901

Ron B. Pollard

b. 12-9-1903   d. 12-10-1918

Myrtle Pollard

b. 1901   d. 1905   (no dates on marker)

Published 30 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - Isabelle E. Hodge

Isabelle E.

Hodge

1842 - 1924

Mother We Miss You

Hodge

Buried Chapel Hill Cemetery, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 25 March 2015.

According to Kentucky death certificate #8605, Isabelle E. Hodge was born 12 April 1842 and died 28 February 1924. The informant was J.J. Hodge.

Isabelle E. Hodge's obituary appeared in the Crittenden Press 7 March 1924. It stated she was better known as "Aunt Ibby" and was born in Jackson County, Tennessee. She was the second daughter of M.A. and Betsy Long. Her first marriage was to Isaac Sisco in 1858 and they had one child, W. Sisco. Her husband died after contracting pneumonia during the Civil War. Aunt Ibby then married William J. Massey in 1864 and he also contracted the illness in camp and caused his early death. They had two children, J.C. and Luella Massey.  Aunt Ibbey with her children came to an uncle, George Long, in the Chapel Hill neighborhood in Crittenden County in 1869. She married John A. Hodge in 1878 and had two children, Jewell Jackson and Dona Francis Hodge. She was again left a widow 5 December 1899. She made her home with her son, Jackson Hodge. She had pneumonia and the flu in March 1922 and never regained perfect health and was practically an invalid for the balance of her life. She left four children to mourn their loss: Will Sisco, J.C. Massey, Jewell Jackson [sic], Mrs. Hiram Kirk and Jackson Hodge. Luella Massey died when young. 

Published 28 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

In the News ...

Some of my greatest genealogical finds have been in old newspapers.  News items put flesh on the bone of our ancestors and fill in the gaps in our history. Small town newspapers are preferred as they never seem to lack for space in reporting the ordinary as well as the extraordinary. Here are some of the items I've found recently.

"Mr. Peter H. Conant, of Smithland, Ky., is now in his eighty-second year, and is well-preserved and as hale and hearty as if only in the fifties. He built and owned several steamers before the war, and is well known to the Cumberland river fraternity."[1]

Another Smithland citizen was mentioned here: "Capt. James W. Drury, aged about 75, died at Smithland last Monday, after a few days' illness of pneumonia. It was said that he was the first male born in that ancient city. He commenced his steamboat career as carpenter and was on many of the boats in the early times that ran up the Cumberland. He rose to be a pilot, mate and captain, and was with Capt. Josh V. Throop on several of his boats as mate and pilot. Among them were the Magyar, Countess and Helen Marr. The last boat Capt. Drury had charge of was the I.L. Hyatt, during the war. His wife, two daughters and a son survive him."[2]

From Crittenden County, we find this: "Martin Gahagan, of Weston, is one of the interesting characters of the county. He was a pleasant caller at the Press office Monday and informed us that he was in his eighty-third year and enjoying fine health. He came from Pennsylvania to this county sixty years ago, and is of Dutch extraction. He lost his wife several years ago, and lives alone on a fine farm near the Ohio River, and does his own housework and cooking. He seems as bright and happy as a boy and looks twenty-five years younger than he is. He has taken the Press over a quarter of a century."[3]

Flooding is not new to western Kentucky. "Smithland in Ruins. Our news yesterday from Smithland, Ky., is of the most distressing character. Almost the entire town is inundated, and up the main street the current is said to run so swift that it is impossible to row a canoe against it. Some of the houses are already washed away, and many more, it is expected, will fall or be washed away soon. The people are doing the best they can in the way of providing homes for themselves. The court-house is full of families driven from their homes and taking refuge wherever they can find it. This is sad news from our neighbors of Smithland."[4]

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[1] "Port Items," Evansville Courier, 2 December 1889.

[2] Evansville Journal, 27 April 1889.

[3] Crittenden Press, 29 June 1905.  

[4] "Kentucky News," Cairo Democrat, 16 March 1867.

Published 23 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - W.B. Franks

W.B. 

Franks

1868 - 1897

Buried Mapleview Cemetery, Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 21 October 2014.

W.B. Franks is found in the household of J.M. and N.T. Franks on the 1870 Crittenden County census. W.B. Franks had been doorkeeper of the state penitentiary at Eddyville in Lyon County, Kentucky. According to his obituary in the 9 December 1897 issue of the Crittenden Press, he was born and reared in Crittenden County. He had been ill for five days before his death.

Published 21 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Carrsville Masonic Lodge, No. 387 - Livingston County

Carrsville Masonic Lodge, No. 387, met at Carrsville, Livingston County, Kentucky on the Thursday after the full moon in each month. The following listing comes from Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky, 1867 as accessed on Google Books.

OFFICERS

Joseph C. Tolley, Master

David W. Owen, Senior Warden

Webb Owen, Junior Warden

Rich L. Threlkeld, Treasurer

Jas. Newton Clemens, Secretary

S. Paris Weldon, Senior Deacon

Jas. H. Terry, Junior Deacon

David J. Ellington, Steward and Tyler

PAST MASTERS - James Cox Barnett, William H. Crawford, Joseph C. Tolley

MASTER MASONS - George W. Adams, Joseph H. Ainsworth, Francis U. Clemens, Jas. T. Davis, James M. Griffith, Thos. E. Griffith, James W. Kidd, Leroy Morris, Robt. H. May, James S. McMurray, Nathan A. Ray, Jas. R. Stallions, H.C. Sherman, Rev. C.W. Threlkeld, Wm. Thompson, Geo. M. Tolley, Wm. T. Terry, James H. Terry, Isaac Trimble, Foster Calvin, Harvey Briggs, Rev. Wm. S. Davis, A.D. Vick

FELLOW CRAFTS - Walter Pinkney Clemens, Henry Ramage

ENTERED APPRENTICES - Rufus Baynes, Rev. J.T. Crouts, T.A. Hammond, John Ray, Oscar Given Evertson

Published 16 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - Arris K. and Adiline Love

Love

Arris K.

1849 - 1925

Adiline L.

1846 - 1901

Buried Hurricane Cemetery, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 7 November 2014.

According to Kentucky death certificate #3233 (1925), Arris Knight Love was born 3 May 1849 and died 1 February 1925. He was the son of William and Rebecca Love.  A.K. Love married Adaline [sic] Lucas, daughter of Ingram C. Lucas and Mary Ann Hill, 4 March 1874. An account of the sudden death of Mrs. Adline [sic] Love appeared in the 12 September 1901 issue of the Crittenden Press. She was sitting on the porch pealing peaches, became dizzy and died shortly thereafter.

Published 14 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Don't Skip the Remarks!

When Kentucky county assessors were given instructions on recording births under the Sutton Act of 1852, no one told them to add extra information. To be honest, most assessors did only what was required, if that, but now and then one would add a note that makes a genealogist send a prayer upwards for the thoughtfulness of that long-deceased assessor.

If you read the vital statistics on Ancestry.com, do not be satisfied with just reading their index as they have neglected to record the information listed in that category called "Remarks." If you are reading the vital statistics on microfilm, you will need to scroll over to the far right side. It is there that you find the good stuff - the tidbits of information the assessor didn't have to add, but he did. The following examples come from Henderson Vital Statistics of the 1850s.

That extra information may be something as simple as identifying a man as the "Slave of E.G. Sugg of Arkansas." Pretty simple, isn't it? But if you didn't know E.G. Sugg lived in Arkansas, it becomes pretty important.

Or how about this one for Minerva, who was born alive on 7 Aug 1852 and was probably a slave of F.H. Dallam: "Born on the Ohio River in a skiff while moving from Livingston County to Henderson, Ky." I knew F.H. Dallam had moved his family from Livingston County between 1850 and 1855, but this gives me a better date for his removal to Henderson.

Here's another one: John, a black child owned by William S. Holloway, was born 12 Dec 1856 with "Six fingers on each hand."  You won't find that on any census.

The one that tickles me most is the record of the birth of a son born 22 June 1858 to John Southerland and Lucy Lane. Under "Remarks," it simply states: "Weighed 40 pounds."  Whew! I have no other comment except to suggest that you read that column called "Remarks."

 Published 10 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Drumming Up Some Business

Many of you have heard of the Rev. James F. Price, the Presbyterian minister who performed marriages in Crittenden County, Kentucky during the mid-1900s.  One of those marriages was that of my parents, John Joyce and Lavern Croft on 25 July 1937. They were married in the Price home with my dad's brother, Hebbert Joyce, and Mother's cousin and soon-to-be sister-in-law, Lena (Bebout) Hughes, as their attendants.

In an effort to drum up more business, the Rev. Price sent out little notes suggesting that people send prospective marrying couples to him. Below is the note he sent my parents just eight days after their marriage. They were living in Hardin County, Illinois. This note was pasted in an old scrapbook page found among my mother's possessions after her death. If living, my mother would be 96 years old today and my father would be 102.

Published 7 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Celebrating the 4th of July in 1905

Can you see a difference in the 4th of July celebration of 110 years ago and that of today?

"No 4th of July in the memory of the oldest inhabitants was ever celebrated in Marion as universally as was done last Tuesday. Every business house in Marion was closed by common consent, and many of the business men and their families went to the Crittenden Springs for the day, and remained over to see the fireworks and to witness the ball.  The streets were deserted throughout the day and an air of quiet and rest was abroad in the city." [1]

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[1] "Marion Holiday," Crittenden Press, 6 July 1905, http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/, page 1, accessed 1 May 2015.

Published 5 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Happy Independence Day!

Celebrate!

Independence Day, also called the 4th of July, commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Today we mark the event with concerts, picnics and reunions, but as we celebrate, please take a moment to remember the reason we celebrate. Without the courage and audacity of our forefathers in rebelling against control by another nation, we might be saluting the Union Jack and bowing to a monarch. Thank God our ancestors were brave and fearless enough to take a stand for what they believed!

Published 4 July 2015, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog,  http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Clipart courtesy of  webweaver at http://www.webweaver.nu/clipart/usa-patriotic.shtml