Livingston County, Kentucky Lunacy Record 1875

The following lunacy record was found in Livingston County Loose County Clerk's papers, Box 19 - July term 1875, Livingston County Clerk's Office, Smithland, Kentucky.
"State of Kentucky, Livingston County} To the Town Marshal of Smithland, Sheriff or Jailor of Livingston County: Whereas Charles S. Lyon has been brought before me on a charge of Lunacy you will summon Twelve discreet house Keepers to attend at the Court House instanter for the purpose of inquiring into the condition of the mind of sd. Lyon and you will make due return of this writ. Given under my hand this 1st day of July 1875. J.K. Huey, Judge L. County.
The Commonwealth of Kentucky, Livingston County Court Special Term July 1st 1875. Hon. J.K. Huey, County Judge Presiding. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Plaintiff Against Charles S. Lyon, Defendant} Charge of Lunacy. The Defendant Charles S. Lyon being in open Court, and N.H. Bigham Esq. County Attorney being present - ordered that John W. Bush Esq., a practising attorney of this Court be and he is hereby appointed to represent the Defendant.
And therefore the following Jurors, viz, J.W. Drewry, T.C. Leech, J.T. Cochran, J.V. Scyster, E. Brandstetter, A.J. Ramage, A.D. Dougherty, J.M. Clark, J.H. Dean, E.G. Clark, James Stroud and R.A. Clopton, appeared and were duly sworn as the law directs, and after hearing the evidence and examining the accused, returned the following verdict, Viz: "We the Jury find that Charles S. Lyon, the person whom we have in Charge is of unsound mind, that he is a Lunatic, that he has lost his mind since his birth, that he has not been destitute of mind from infancy, but lost his mind about the 13th day of May 1875, that the probable causes from the evidence, was Spiritualism, Religion and Love. He was born in Livingston County Kentucky and has been a resident of sd. county up to sd. date, that he was not brought here to become a charge upon the Commonwealth and that he has Real Estate and personalty amounting to about six Hundred Dollars as follows - 2 Houses and Lots in Smithland worth $500, Set Blacksmith Tools $15, Set Chest Tools $15, Wardrobe $10, Trunk $5, Bedstead & Mattress $7 and about Two Hundred and Fifty seven worth other articles, One sealed Package in safe of C.B. Davis - contents unknown - Both his parents are dead and he is not capable of performing Labor to support himself."
And therefore it is adjudged by the Court that Charles S. Lyon is a Lunatic and E.G. Leeper is hereby appointed a Committee to sd. Lunatic, and E.G. Leeper appeared in Court, and he together with C.B. Davis his surety executed bond and acknowledged covenant to and with the Commonwealth and approved by the Court. Sd. Committee is further directed to immediately convey sd. Lunatic to the second Lunatic Asylum at Hopkinsville Ky without waiting to send to the Keeper thereof. It is further ordered that sd. committee be allowed a guard to assist him in conveying sd. Lunatic to the aslum."

Published 12 Nov 2008, Western Kentucky Genealogy Blog, http://wkygenealogy.blogspot.com/

Tombstone Tuesday - Benjamin Barner

Benjamin Barner was born in 1790 and died in 1865 Livingston County. He is buried in Smithland Cemetery near his nieces, Pattie and Mary Barner, daughters of his brother, Sterling M. Barner. Benjamin and Sterling M. Barner were early commission merchants in Smithland. Their home, also called the Massey House, still stands on East Charlotte Street, but is in disrepair (see blog of 21 August 2008). This photograph is from July 2008.

My Favorite Veterans

In honor of Veterans' Day, I am posting a picture of my favorite veterans - my nephews, Jeff and Mark Joyce, and their father, my brother, Col. John P. Joyce (1938 - 2001). The photo was taken at Mark's army commissioning ceremony (Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army Reserves) in California in 1985. I am very proud of each of them.

Edwin Hodge

Edwin Hodge, at present general manager of the Imperial Tobacco Company’s business in Kentucky, is probably one of the best known tobacconists in the state. He has been closely identified with the industry for practically half a century, and his influence has been steadily directed along constructive lines for this benefit and welfare of all engaged in any branch of the tobacco business.

Mr. Hodge, whose home for many years has been at Henderson, was born at Marion in Crittenden County, Kentucky, July 2, 1854. He is descended from Henry Hodge, who was one of three brothers to come from England in Colonial days and settle in North Carolina. His son, Robert Hodge, was born in North Carolina, and came to Kentucky at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Edwin Hodge, grandfather of the Henderson tobacco man, represented the third generation of the family in America. He was born in Livingston County, Kentucky, in 1805, spent his life was a farmer, and died in 1837. He married Nancy S. Hughes in 1828, and after his death she became the wife of Dr. J.S. Gillium. Her father, Joseph Hughes, was a native of North Carolina and an early settler in Livingston County, Kentucky, and was the son of a Revolutionary soldier. Joseph Hughes served at one time as a member of the Kentucky Legislature.

The only son of Edwin and Nancy Hodge was the late Dr. Joseph A. Hodge, who was born February 2, 1829, in that portion of Livingston County subsequently Crittenden County. He grew up in the home of his stepfather, Doctor Gillium, whose example and influence were the chief factors in directing him to the study of medicine. After completing his common school education he began the study of medicine under Doctor Gillium at Marion, and in 1850, at the age of twenty-one, graduated from Louisville University.

From 1850 for thirteen years he practiced in Crittenden County, and on April 28, 1863, moved to Henderson, where for many years he was one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Western Kentucky. He was honored with the office of president of the Kentucky State Medical Society in 1875. He was also a member of the oldest medical organization in the state, the McDowell Medical Society, and was a member of the Henderson County and American Medical associations, and for a number of years was on the Board of Examiners of the Third Judicial District in Kentucky. He was reared a whig in politics but after the war voted as a democrat, and was a member of the Presbyterian Church. This highly honored physician and surgeon and citizen of Henderson died August 30, 1908, when nearly eighty years of age.

On December 4, 1851, Doctor Hodge married Susan A. Linthicum, who died May 1, 1891. Her father was Doctor Rufus Linthicum. She became the mother of nine children: Rufus L., Edwin, Mary L., Eliza A., Emma, Antonia M., William A., Susan and Nellie H. Rufus and Susan died in fancy, while the others reached maturity and all but one married. Edwin Hodge was nine years of age when his parents moved to Henderson. He grew up in that city, attended private and public schools, and at the age of eighteen became a bookkeeper for a Henderson tobacco firm. In 1877 he began his independent career as a tobacconist, and exporter. He was in business under his own name until 1891, and for four years following was associated with Arthur B. Jarvis under the firm name of Hodge & Jarvis. Then from 1895 until 1902 he was again in business and in 1903 became general manager of the western business of the Imperial Tobacco Company of Great Britain and Ireland. This great corporation was organized in 1902, with a capital stock of $75,000,000. Mr. Hodge has the general management of the company’s business in Kentucky, with headquarters at Henderson. For many years he has kept in close touch with thousands of tobacco growers and dealers, and has always maintained the highest reputation for fairness and justness in all his dealings. His business interests have required a great deal of travel, and for many years he was a regular visitor to England in the interest of his business.

Mr. Hodge became one of the original directors of the Ohio Valley Bank & Trust Company of Henderson. He has been active as a member and official of the Presbyterian Church, and is one of the liberal and public spirited citizens of Henderson. In 1883 Mr. Hodge married Miss Frances Alexander Ditto, of Meade County, Kentucky, daughter of Thomas H. Ditto. They have two sons, Thomas Ditto Hodge and Edwin Hodge Jr.

Source: Connelley, William Elsey, and E.M. Coulter. History of Kentucky. Volume IV. Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, 1922

Tombstone Tuesday - Adaline Gill

Adaline
Wife of
Francis Gill
Born
Aug. 25, 1818
Died
Sept. 15, 1894

Buried at Crooked Creek Cemetery, about 1 1/2 miles from Marion, Crittenden County, Kentucky. Tombstone photographed 1991.

McCracken County, Kentucky Helpful Sites

There are two websites you might want to add to your list of genealogy favorites. Both are for McCracken County, Kentucky information, but, we all know that it was not unusual for people from Livingston, Caldwell, Lyon and even Crittenden Counties to move to Paducah or go there to marry.

Oak Grove Cemetery
Scroll down to Cemetery Burial Records.

McCracken County Marriage Index
Click on Records Search.

Crittenden County Lunacy Record 1862

Deb Atchley has been running Lyon County, Kentucky lunacy records on her blog, Genealogy, Middle Age & Life . These records provide some great information and are worthy of inclusion in our research plans at the courthouse. Lyon County’s lunacy records begin in the late 1880s while those in Crittenden County were not recorded in a separate book until 1906. Prior to that year, a citizen of Crittenden County thought to be a mentally unsound appeared before a jury of twelve people given the task of determining the state of the person’s mind. Those records are found in the county court records. Be sure to note the possible causes of David Bourland's illness. It does make one wonder what criteria was used to determine the illness.

The following record was found among the loose county court papers in Crittenden County clerk’s office, Marion, Kentucky.

The Commonwealth of Kentucky}
To the Sheriff or any Constable of Crittenden County Whereas it has been suggested to the Judge of our Crittenden County Court by the attorney for said county that David Bourland of said county is of unsound mind and having petitioned said court for an inquisition as to the condition of the mind Estate &c of David Bourland you are hereby commanded to Summon a Jury of Twelve fit and proper persons to appear in our Court instanter[?] on the first day of our present Term to inquire into the State of the Mind of David Bourland and whether he hath any Estate and if any the nature and Extent thereof and such other Matters and things as may then and there be given them in charge concerning the condition of the person and Estate of David Bourland .... Witness Berry S. Young Clerk of our said Court this 20th day of Nov 1862.

Commonwealth of Kentucky County of Crittenden}
We G.W. Elder, M.G. Gilbert, Isaac L. Wheeler, B.B. Crow, John Gilbert, Henry Howerton, J.W. Hill, L.C. Travis, C.S. Cain, H. Davis, H.C. Gilbert, E.M. Lemon, jurors empanneled before J.C. Elder judge of the Crittenden County Court on the 20th day of November 1862 at Marion to inquire into the facts as to whether David Bourland is a lunatic or idiot find and return the following verdict: “We find the said David Bourland is a lunatic and has been a lunactic for Five Months and previous to that time he had been of entirely sound mind from infancy. No other cause than the financial and political troubles of the Country has been developed by the evidence. He was born and raised in Hopkins County, Kentucky, has resided in Crittenden County for the last Fifteen or Seventeen years. Said Bourland owns Real Estate in Crittenden of the value of about Four Thousand Dollars and personal estate about or nearly equal to his liabilities. Bourlands Mother is supposed to be living and in very moderate circumstances. She lives in Illinois. David Bourland is capable of very little or no labor at this time. Bourland is about Forty Three years old, is married and has several Children, is farming, has been a saddler & has lately been merchandizing.”