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At the same term there was also pending a case against S. P. Love, charged with killing Wesley M. Little at South Carrollton on August 16, 1857. The circumstances of the killing were that Love and Little, both residing in South Carrollton, became embroiled in a personal difficulty growing out of polities. Little kept a hotel in the town and was an active local politician. In a public speech he had denounced a statement made by Love as untrue. Early one Sunday morning, shortly afterward, Little, while standing alone in front of his hotel, was instantly killed by a shot in the back, fired by some one in concealment in the second story of a house across the street. Love was arrested and indicted for murder. At the autumn term of 1859 the case was tried, but the jury failed to agree. It was afterward continued from term to term until the outbreak of the Civil War. Love, meantime, joined the Federal army and during the war underwent final trial, which resulted in his acquittal.
Over half a century has gone by since the term of court herein referred to. More pages have been written in American history in that interval than in all the preceding years since Columbus first laid longing eyes on the palm trees of the West Indian island. In very truth old times have passed away, and behold all things are become new.
To one who saw Greenville and its people then, there are many things he would miss if he looked for them now. The portly and dignified landlord of Russell's Tavern has long slept in the silent grave. The small, old-fashioned courthouse has been supplanted by a stately edifice, the architectural graces of which entitle it to be called the Temple of Justice. The gentle Dabney has long since ceased to preside there, but has without fear answered the call of another Judge. Campbell, the prosecutor, is no longer a terror to evildoers, but has received the reward due a just man, and has claimed his right to be heard by that merciful Advocate who pleads for us all. Charles Eaves, when he left this world, took from it a store of legal knowledge possessed but rarely by any lawyer of his day and generation. The amiable, kind-hearted Guffy went through life doing his duty, dispensing good cheer among his friends, and finally meekly bowed his head to the fate that awaits us all. Owen, after marrying the pretty girl who had laughed so merrily at him in his contest with the "racer," rounded out an honorable career, and at its end he and she sleep well the last long sleep. Indeed, all the names here mentioned have long been numbered with the silent hosts who now rest in eternal peace.
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Members of the State Senate from Muhlenberg County are given by Collins as follows: "Wm. Worthington, 1814-26; Wm. C. McNary, 1846-50; Wiley S. Hay, 1853-57; Finis M. Allison, 1867-71. From Muhlenburg, Butler, and Ohio counties--Robert S. Russell, 1850." Colonel William Campbell was a member of the State Senate in 1800, representing what was then "Livingston, Henderson, Muhlenburg, and Ohio counties."
The following Muhlenbergers have served as State Senators since the foregoing list was compiled: Louis Jones, December, 1887, to December, 1889; Doctor A. D. James, January, 1896, to March 11, 1896, when his seat was declared vacant by the Senate; Doctor T. G. Turner, January, 1898, to January, 1900; J. W. Wright, January, 1908, to January, 1912.
Relative to the county's coal and iron ore Collins, in 1874, says:
Coal.--At McNary's coal bank, on the E. side of Pond river, in the W. line of Muhlenburg county, is the singular phenomenon of two thick beds or veins of coal within 3 1/2 feet of each other--the upper of 4 1/4 and the lower of 6 1/4 feet. The latter has a thin clay parting about the middle. They crop out at an elevation of 70 feet above high water in the river. Three miles S. E. of this, the Marcus coal occurs, 6 or 7 feet thick, a few feet above the bed of a branch. Three miles N. W. of Greenville, three beds of coal, 8 feet in all, occur in 110 feet of a section. A "general section" of Muhlenburg county (Kentucky Geol. Survey, iv, 399) shows some 26 feet of coal, in 9 different seams, within 440 feet--the seams varying from 10 inches to 5 1/2 feet in thickness, except one thin seam; of these 5 seams are of workable thickness, 3 feet or over.
The completion of the railroads through this county is fast opening the way for large exports of coal to the Ohio river, Owensboro and Louisville. At Stroud City, the first bed of coal, 5 1/2 feet thick, is reached at 14 feet from the surface, and the second bed, of superior quality, at only 20 feet. Many thousands of millions of bushels of coal can be taken from beneath the surface in Muhlenburg county, without injuring the surface in its farming value.
Black Band Iron Ore, a stratum 10 inches thick, ferruginous chocolatecolored, peculiar in its nature, color, composition, and paleontology, is found at Airdrie and elsewhere. It has been discovered, in one place at a depth of 25 feet, as thick as 19 inches, and yielding 36.8 per cent. of metallic iron.Doctor Addison D. James, 1905
Iron ore from the Jenkins ore bank, 2 1/2 to 3 feet in thickness, yielded 43.56 per cent. of metallic iron; and that from the Hoskins ore bank, on Muddy river, 47.159 per cent. of iron.
The "Jenkins ore bank" referred to is about seven miles south of Greenville; the "Hoskins ore bank" is near the Mud River Mine, and was opened by Jackson Hoskinson. The history of the development of Muhlenberg's mineral resources is given in "The Story of The Stack," "Paradise Country and Old Airdrie," and "Coal Mines and Iron Ore."
Antiquities.--On a rock bank of Pond creek, four miles from Greenville, tracks of mules and horses are Indian Relics from the Author's Collection Made in Muhlenberg County plainly to be seen in the solid sandstone. Some have been removed, and taken, it is said, to the St. Louis museum. On Muddy river is a sandstone rock with flat surface, 30 or 40 feet square, on which are carved hieroglyphics as yet undeciphered; the full form of an Indian, surrounded by different animals; the sun, moon, stars, and other symbolic signs.
Mounds.--One mile N. of Greenville, near the old Caney station--which was the first settlement in the county--are several mounds. From the largest, about 75 feet in diameter, have been dug portions of human skeletons. Trees of considerable size are now growing on the mounds.
Such "tracks" of mules and horses as are here referred to by Collins can be found in various parts of the county. They are, in my opinion, no more than evidence of the existence of a fossil shell that had been imbedded in a rock while the rock was being formed, and ages later, when the surface of the fossil-bearing strata was exposed, the fossil, being of softer material, was washed out, leaving a cavity the size and shape of the original fossil, which cavity resembles the track of a mule or horse.
The undeciphered hieroglyphics reported to have been seen on the rock on Mud River will probably always remain undeciphered. The place referred to by Collins is known as Indian Rock. It is one mile from Mud River Mine, near Cave Spring, on the Old Coal Road. If any Indian hieroglyphics were ever discovered there, the rocks on which they were carved have since eroded to such an extent that none of the marks are now visible. A number of "carvings," however, can still he seen on Indian Rock. One is a rough outline of the head and shoulders of a man, life size, above which is carved "H. H." another is the erude outline of a man, about two feet high, wearing a "derby" hat. These and the few other carvings I saw on Indian Rock are such that I infer they have been made in comparatively recent years and were possibly cut with a hammer and nail by some men then connected with the old Mud River Mine.
In many parts of the county there can still be found mounds and other evidences of the Indians and Moundbuilders who lived in what is now Muhlenberg. But the old mounds, like the stone implements left by the aborigines, are rapidly disappearing. Stone implements, such as arrow-points, spear-heads, and axes were picked up by the first settlers and are still occasionally found by plowmen and others. Practically none of these relics was preserved by the pioneers, and the same may be said of many of those that are found to-day. Even those that had been picked up and laid aside have, in most cases, disappeared--like old books, fire-arms, or farming tools. Many stone axes have served as nut-crackers, and in consequence are badly damaged, and thousands of large and perfect flints have been ruined by unappreciative people who broke them "just to see how hard they were." It is said that a woman who lived in the Pond River country picked up "wagon-loads of flints" during the course of her long life, pulverized them, and fed the "flint feed" to her chickens for grit. Although the stone relics of prehistoric men in Muhlenberg are far older than any of the wooden or iron implements made and left by the pioneers, many a stone are and spear-point will be seen in the county long after the last old spinning-wheel or flintlock gun has disappeared.
Mounds, or traces of mounds, can still be found in many parts of the county, especially on hills near streams. Most of the mounds, having been plowed over during the course of years for the purpose of cultivating the fields in which they were located, are now almost leveled to the surrounding surface. A few years ago one in the upper Long Creek country was rooted up by hogs and the bones destroyed by them. The mounds near Caney Station, referred to by Collins, have worn away, and now nothing save a peculiarly rich soil marks their site.Prehistoric Mound near Buckner's Stack
Every one of the twenty-five mounds I have seen in Muhlenberg has apparently been opened one or more times. One in a wood near the Buckner Stack, although three partial excavations have been made therein, is the best preserved artificial earthwork of its kind in the county. It is now about five feet high and one hundred feet in circumference at the base. It was opened in 1870 and again in 1908 by boys who were looking for "gold," but not finding any, reinterred the bones they had exhumed In 1910 I opened this mound and procured three somewhat mutilated skulls and a few other bones. These and other fragments of bones indicate that at least a dozen bodies of various sizes had been deposited in it. No stone or other Indian relics were found by me or by those who had "investigated" before me.
In this mound, as in most other mounds in Muhlenberg and in other parts of the Ohio Valley, all the bodies had apparently been deposited at one time, on the original surface of the hill, in a stone-walled sepulcher that was covered with flags of stone about four inches thick, and over all of which a circular mound of earth had been thrown. The fact that these mounds contain a number of skeletons apparently placed there at one time causes many to conclude that a battle must have been fought, and that all or some of the dead were buried in one place. From Professor F. W. Putnam, of the Peabody Museum of Arch‘ology and Ethnology, I quote: "We know not if these burials indicate famine, pestilence, war, or unholy sacrifice. We can only conjecture that they were not the graves of persons who had died a natural death."
It is quite likely that many of the prehistoric men who lived in Muhlenberg were buried in individual graves. Many of their sepulchers, in all probability, were covered with small mounds that have since disappeared, leaving nothing to indicate or mark the place of such burials. A number of individual stone-lined graves have been discovered in the Long Creek country and a few other places in the southern part of the county by plowmen. Traces of three or four such stone graves, that were opened about 1870, can still be seen on Harpe's Hill, about one hundred feet from a mound that according to local tradition "has been dug into a dozen times or more."
All the mounds in the county, and probably all traces of them, will disappear long before the close of the present century, just as did the last of the earth rings, or house-site rings, about a quarter of a century ago. A few of these rings, it is said, were noticed on one of the hills overlooking the Murphy's Lake flats, and two were traced as late as about 1885 by W. S. Johnson, on his farm five miles south of Greenville, on the level surface of a hill overlooking Pond Creek. These circles were ridges of earth then a few inches high, a foot or two wide, and from fifteen to thirty feet in diameter. These more or less well-defined rings are, according to arch‘ologists, the remains of circular huts, the ridges having been formed by the decay of the stick-and-pole walls and by the refuse that had accumulated against the walls when the huts were occupied. In the center of these circles charcoal and burnt clay were found, indicating that fires had been built therein.
A Sink, of the general appearance of similar sinks elsewhere in Kentucky, but comparatively bottomless, is in the barrens 6 miles E. of Munfordsville. It is funnel-shaped, tapering from about 70 feet diameter at top, to 10 feet, at the depth of 30 feet. Its depth has not been explored, but stones cast into it are not heard to strike bottom.
This description of a sink, although printed by Collins under the head of Muhlenberg County, was evidently intended to appear in his sketch of Hart County.
A Cave in the S. part of the county, 10 miles from Greenville, is worth attention. In Oct., 1872, an exploration for half a mile "reported" the discovery of two petrified figures, man and woman, dressed in the old Roman costume, and each holding in the arms a child--the man one of 10 years, and the woman a babe of 1 to 2 years. It was first discovered in the winter of 1852-3 by a person who tracked raccoons into it. In Aug., 1853, G. P. McLean, of Mississippi, and others explored it for about 2 miles--to a pit beyond which they could not pass over for want of a ladder. Eight or ten branches led off in different directions, some of them apparently larger than the direct avenue. A petrified monkey, as perfect in shape as if alive, was found in the cave, a few weeks previous.
This cave is known as Lovell's Cave or Shutt's Cave, and is located south of Long Creek. Local tradition says it was first discovered in 1839 by Archibald Duvall, whose dog "treed" a "coon" in it. The opening was then a very small one, and "digging out the coon" resulted in the discovery of the cave. The "main hall" leads off from the entrance, and is about one hundred and twenty-five feet long and twenty-five feet wide. A much narrower hall, a passage three or four feet wide and about twenty-five feet high, leads to the left from the "main hall," winds in various directions, and finally comes back into the wider passage a short distance from where it started. A number of short branches turn off from the narrow hall, one of which goes to two "bottomless pits," that are about three feet wide and twelve feet deep. Recently a measurement was made with a string (but no compass) of the heretofore explored portions of the cave, which shows that the two halls have a combined length of about three hundred yards. It is probable that other halls exist, and that their discovery may show that this cave is (as is popularly reported) "a couple of miles long." Old citizens who are familiar with the history of the cave declare that no petrified figures were ever found in it, and that no signs indicating that the place was once occupied by prehistoric men have ever been observed.Site of A Prehistoric Mound, Judge Godman Farm, Near Moorman, 1912
Other small caves have been discovered in the Long Creek country within the past fifty years. The best known and most interesting of these is the John Jenkins Cave, three miles east of Lovell's Cave and near the Green F. Walker farm. The passages in this cave are walled with vertically fluted columns, while in Lovell's Cave the evidences of erosion are in the form of a series of small horizontal benches of rock projecting from the high walls. South of the John Jenkins Cave and within a mile of it are two caves, one on the farm of Charles Butler and the other on that of Riley Gates. These caves are in a rock which is more of a sandstone than a limestone. I found no stalactites, stalagmites, or gypsum in any of them. However, I noticed in places an incrustation resembling miniature stalactites.
There are a number of picturesque bluffs in the southern part of the county. Three miles south of Mud River Mine and near New Hebron Church is a small cavern, known by some as "Eternal Hole" and by others as "Internal Hole," which is said to have been occupied by Indians, although no evidences of such use are now visible. On Long Creek, on the Old Jones Peach Orchard Hill, two miles above Lead Hill Church, is a concave bluff known as "Saltpeter Cave." On one of the forks of Clifty Creek, between Dunmor and Cisney, is a high bluff and an old spring called "Sulphur Springs." Many of the bluffs in Muhlenberg along Clifty Creek and its branches are very picturesque, one of which is the Jesse McPherson "Cave Hut Cliff." The cliffs of Clifty increase in height and beauty as one goes up the creek into Todd County, and are there seen at their best as "Buzzards' Bald Yard," and "Wildcat Hollow."
There are many beautiful scenes and historic spots along the Muhlenberg bank of Green River. Pond River and Pond Creek are picturesque at all times, even during the driest seasons, when both streams become little more than broken chains of short and long ponds. Hence the names of the two streams.
Gen. Baron Steuben, the distinguished Prussian general of our Revolutionary war, located his Virginia military warrants, granted him for services in the war, in what is now Muhlenburg county. It was all lost (some 4,000 or more acres) to his estate, under the occupying claimant limitation law.
The land here referred to lies in the vicinity of South Carrollton.
In the War of 1812, the late Judge Alney McLean ... commanded a company at the battle of New Orleans, Jan. 8, 1815. His lieutenant, E. M. Brank (still living, 1871), while the battle was raging hottest, mounted the breastworks to repel the British. The late L. N. Akers was taken prisoner at the battle of the River Raisin, and compelled to run the gauntlet; he drew a pension on account of wounds received.
Biographies of these three soldiers appear in the chapter on "Muhlenberg Men in the War of 1812."
During the War of the Rebellion, Greenville was for some time an outpost of both armies, or rather neutral ground between them. It was taken by Gen. Buckner in Feb., 1862, and some time after by John Morgan, and was once or twice partially sacked by guerrillas. Muhlenburg county sent 836 men to the Federal army.
This statement is quoted in the chapter on "Muhlenberg in the Civil War," where attention is called to the errors that occur in it, among them being the date on which Greenville was "taken" by General Buckner.
Edward Rumsey was a prominent man of Muhlenburg county and of S. W. Kentucky, for more than forty-five years; represented the county in the state legislature, in 1822, and the district in congress, 1837-39; was an eloquent speaker, and a man of decided ability. Only his remarkable modesty and timidity prevented his taking a more leading part in the polities of the state and nation. 9R. Y. Thomas, 1912
Charles F. Wing was a captain at the battle of the Thames, and saw Tecumseh after he was slain. He was clerk of the Muhlenburg courts from the organization of the county in 1798 to 1856-58 years; a longer period than any other man ever held a clerkship in Kentucky.
Among the first chapters in this history is one on Edward Rumsey and another on Charles Fox Wing. Collins ends his notes on the history of Muhlenberg County with brief biographies of Generals Buell and Muhlenberg. Sketches of the lives of these two distinguished generals appear elsewhere in this volume.
Appendix
A, Judge Hall's Story of the Harpes
About a year after Muhlenberg County was formed, Big Harpe, one of the most brutal outlaws in the West, was killed. The following is a copy of the first written account of this affair. It was published in 1828 by Judge James Hall, of Cincinnati, in his "Letters from the West." At least four versions of the story of the Harpes have been printed since Judge Hall's was published. I reprint his account because it is the oldest, and as his books are rare it has become the least accessible version. Collins, in his "History of Kentucky," under the head of Hopkins County, gives two versions; Allen's "History of Kentucky" has one; T. Marshall Smith, in his "Legends of the War of Independence and of the Earlier Settlements in the West," published in 1855, gives another. Judge Hall's being the oldest, as already stated, is probably the truest. T. Marshall Smith's is by far the longest and most interesting. None of these, nor do any of the oral versions, agree on the details of any important point. Nevertheless all are, in a general way, the same.
Judge Hall's statement that the two wives of Big Harpe remained in Muhlenberg does not agree with local traditions nor with any of the other printed versions. T. Marshall Smith gives the names of the two Harpes as Bill and Joshua and shows that they came originally from North Carolina, were cousins, Tories and sons of Tories, and that neither had more than one wife. Writing about the unfortunate women who became the involuntary wives of the heartless Harpes, he says: "Susan Woods (wife of Bill Harpe) told them (deputy sheriff of Logan county and others) in the most humble and suppliant terms her own sad story and cruel sufferings. Maria Davidson (wife of Joshua Harpe) confirmed her statement, and related her own intolerable sufferings. ... They both lived in the county of Logan many years after, where they were often seen, known and conversed with by the author of this narrative, and who received from the lips of Susan Woods herself most of the facts narrated in the foregoing pages, in reference to herself, Maria Davidson and the two Harpes, from the time they became so unhappily connected with them. ..."
Edmund L. Starling, in his "History of Henderson County," published in 1887, says that on September 4, 1799, a court of quarter sessions was called for the examination of the three Harpe women, then committed in the Henderson jail as parties to the murder (on August 20, 1799) of Mrs. Moses Stigall, her infant son, and William Love, a school-teacher, and that the three prisoners were found guilty and remanded to jail, but were subsequently taken, under order of court, to Russellville, there to await the action of the grand jury, where they were tried and acquitted.
Joseph R. Underwood, in his account compiled in 1871, based on information supplied in 1838 by John B. Ruby, of Hopkins County, and published in Collins' history, writes: "The pursuers, armed with rifles, got on the trail of the Harpes and overtook them at their camp, upon the waters of Pond river; but whether in the present boundary of Hopkins or Muhlenburg county I have not satisfactorily ascertained."
Local tradition says Big Harpe crossed Pond River at Free Henry Ford and was killed in Muhlenberg County, near what has since been known as Harpe's Hill. An oak tree four feet in diameter, which until 1910 stood on the bank of Boat Yard Creek near the Slab Road leading from Harpe's Hill to Free Henry Ford, has always been pointed out as the tree under which John Leeper or Lieper, Moses Stigall or Stegal, and the other members of the pursuing party, killed Big Harpe, and under which the headless corpse of Big Harpe lay until it was devoured by wild animals. Clara Garris, who became the wife of James Stanley, and who during her long life lived near Harpe's Hill, frequently pointed out this spot, declaring that Big Harpe was killed near this tree and that when a child of about ten years she saw his headless body lying there.
The Harpes.
Many years ago, two men, named Harpe, appeared in Kentucky, spreading death and terror wherever they went. Little else was known of them but that they passed for brothers, and came from the borders of Virginia, They had three women with them, who were treated as their wives, and several children, with whom they traversed the mountainous and thinly settled parts of Virginia into Kentucky, marking their course with blood. Their history is wonderful, as well from the number and variety, as the incredible atrocity of their adventures; and as it has never yet appeared in print, I shall compress within this letter a few of its most prominent facts.
In the autumn of the year 1799, a young gentleman, named Langford, of a respectable family in Mecklenburgh county, Virginia, set out from this state for Kentucky, with the intention of passing through the Wilderness, as it was then called, by the route generally known as Boon's Trace. On reaching the vicinity of the Wilderness, a mountainous and uninhabited tract which at that time separated the settled parts of Kentucky from those of Virginia, he stopped to breakfast at a public house near Big Rockcastle river. Travellers of this description--any other indeed than hardy woodsmen--were unwilling to pass singly through this lonely region; and they generally waited on its confines for others, and travelled through in parties. Mr. Langford, either not dreading danger, or not choosing to delay, determined to proceed alone. While breakfast was preparing, the Harpes and their women came up. Their appearance denoted poverty, with but little regard to cleanliness; two very indifferent horses, with some bags swung across them, and a rifle gun or two, composed nearly their whole equipage. Squalid and miserable, they seemed objects of pity, rather than of fear, and their ferocious glances were attributed more to hunger than to guilty passion. They were entire strangers in that neighborhood, and, like Mr. Langford, were about to cross the Wilderness. When breakfast was served up, the landlord, as was customary at such places, in those times, invited all the persons who were assembled in the commons, perhaps the only room of his little inn, to sit down; but the Harpes declined, alleging their want of money as the reason. Langford, who was of a lively, generous disposition, on hearing this, invited them to partake of the meal at his expense; they accepted the invitation, and ate voraciously. When they had thus refreshed themselves, and were about to renew their journey, Mr. Langford called for the bill, and in the act of discharging it imprudently displayed a handful of silver. They then set out together.
A few days after, some men who were conducting a drove of cattle to Virginia, by the same road which had been travelled by Mr. Langford and the Harpes, had arrived within a few miles of Big Rock-castle River, when their cattle took fright, and, quitting the road, rushed down a hill into the woods. In collecting them, the drovers discovered the dead body of a man concealed behind a log, and covered with brush and leaves. It was now evident that the cattle had been alarmed by the smell of blood in the road, and as the body exhibited marks of violence, it was at once suspected that a murder had been perpetrated but recently. The corpse was taken to the same house where the Harpes had breakfasted, and recognized to be that of Mr. Langford, whose name was marked upon several parts of his dress. Suspicion fell upon the Harpes, who were pursued and apprehended near the Crab Orchard. They were taken to Stanford, the seat of justice for Lincoln county, where they were examined and committed by an inquiring court, sent to Danville for safe keeping, and probably for trial, as the system of district courts was then in operation in Kentucky. Previous to the time of trial, they made their escape, and proceeded to Henderson county, which at that time was just beginning to be settled.
Here they soon acquired a dreadful celebrity. Neither avarice, want, nor any of the usual inducements to the commission of crime, seemed to govern their conduct. A savage thirst for blood--a deep-rooted malignity against human nature, could alone be discovered in their actions. They murdered every defenceless being who fell in their way, without distinction of age, sex, or colour. In the night they stole secretly to the cabin, slaughtered its inhabitants, and burned their dwelling--while the farmer who left his house by day, returned to witness the dying agonies of his wife and children, and the conflagration of his possessions. Plunder was not their object: travellers they robbed and murdered, but from the inhabitants they took only what would have been freely given to them; and no more than was immediately necessary to supply the wants of nature; they destroyed without having suffered injury, and without the prospect of gain. A negro boy, riding to a mill, with a bag of corn, was seized by them, and his brains dashed out against a tree; but the horse which he rode and the grain were left unmolested. Females, children, and servants, no longer dared to stir abroad; unarmed men feared to encounter a Harpe; and the solitary hunter, as he trod the forest, looked around him with a watchful eye, and when he saw a stranger, picked his flint and stood on the defensive.
It seems incredible that such atrocities could have been often repeated in a country famed for the hardihood and gallantry of its people; in Kentucky, the cradle of courage, and the nurse of warriors. But that part of Kentucky which was the scene of these barbarities was then almost a wilderness, and the vigilance of the Harpes for a time ensured impunity. The spoils of their dreadful warfare furnished them with the means of violence and of escape. Mounted on fine horses, they plunged into the forest, eluded pursuit by frequently changing their course, and appeared, unexpectedly, to perpetrate new enormities, at points distant from those where they were supposed to lurk. On these occasions, they often left their wives and children behind them; and it is a fact, honourable to the community, that vengeance for these bloody deeds was not wreaked on the helpless, but in some degree guilty, companions of the perpetrators. Justice, however, was not long delayed.
A frontier is often the retreat of loose individuals, who, if not familiar with crime, have very blunt perceptions of virtue. The genuine woodsmen, the real pioneers, are independent, brave, and upright; but as the jackal pursues the lion to devour his leavings, the footsteps of the sturdy hunter are closely pursued by miscreants destitute of his noble qualities. These are the poorest and the idlest of the human race--averse to labour, and impatient of the restraints of law and the courtesies of civilized society. Without the ardour, the activity, the love of sport, and patience of fatigue, which distinguish the bold backwoodsman, these are doomed to the forest by sheer laziness, and hunt for a bare subsistence; they are the "cankers of a calm world and a long peace," the helpless nobodies, who, in a country where none starve and few beg, sleep until hunger pinches, then stroll into the woods for a meal, and return to their slumber. Frequently they are as harmless as the wart upon a man's nose, and as unsightly; but they are sometimes mere wax in the hands of the designing, and become the accessories of that guilt which they have not the courage or the industry to perpetrate. With such men the Harpes are supposed to have sometimes lurked. None are known to have participated in their deeds of blood, nor suspected of sharing their counsels; but they sometimes crept to the miserable cabins of those who feared or were not inclined to betray them.
Two travelers came one night to the house of a man named Stegal, and, for want of better lodgings, claimed under his little roof that hospitality which in a new country is found at every habitation. Shortly after, the Harpes arrived. It was not, it seems, their first visit; for Mrs. Stegal had received instructions from them, which she dared not disohey, never to address them by their real names in the presence of third persons. On this occasion they contrived to inform her that they intended to personate Methodist preachers, and ordered her to arrange matters so that one of them should sleep with each of the strangers, whom they intended to murder. Stegal was absent, and the woman was obliged to obey. The strangers were completely deceived as to the character of the newly arrived guests; and when it was announced that the house contained but two beds, they cheerfully assented to the proposed arrangement: one crept into a bed on the lower floor with one ruffian, while the other retired to the loft with another. Both the strangers became their victims; but these bloody ruffians, who seemed neither to feel shame, nor dread punishment, determined to leave behind them no evidence of their crime, and consummated the foul tragedy by murdering their hostess and setting fire to the dwelling.
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Ancestry.com. A History of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001. Original data: Rothert, Otto A. A History of Muhlenberg County. Louisville, KY, USA: 1913.

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Compiled by Otto A. Rothert, this book details some general information about the county, including information on the local facilities. Family historians will find the wealth of information on the first settlers of the county, and their decendents, most...
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From this scene of arson, robbery, and murder, the perpetrators fled precipitately, favoured by a heavy fall of rain, which, as they believed, effaced their footsteps. They did not cease their flight until late the ensuing day, when they halted at a spot which they supposed to be far from any human habitation. Here they kindled a fire, and were drying their clothes, when an emigrant, who had pitched his tent hard by, strolled towards their camp. He was in search of his horses, which had strayed, and civilly asked if they had seen them. This unsuspecting woodsman they slew, and continued their retreat.
In the meanwhile, the outrages of these murderers had not escaped notice, nor were they tamely submitted to. The Governor of Kentucky had offered a reward for their heads, and parties of volunteers had pursued them; they had been so fortunate as to escape punishment by their cunning, but had not the prudence to desist, or to fly the country.
A man, named Leiper, in revenge for the murder of Mrs. Stegal, raised a party, pursued, and discovered the assassins, on the day succeeding that atrocious deed. They came so suddenly upon the Harpes that they had only time to fly in different directions. Accident aided the pursuers. One of the Harpes was a large, and the other a small man; the first usually rode a strong, powerful horse, the other a fleet, but much smaller animal, and in the hurry of flight they had exchanged horses. The chase was long and hot: the smaller Harpe escaped unnoticed, but the other, who was kept in view, spurred on the noble animal which he rode, and which, already jaded, began to fail at the end of five or six miles. Still the miscreant pressed forward; for, although none of his pursuers were near but Leiper, who had outridden his companions, he was not willing to risk a combat with a man as strong and perhaps bolder than himself, who was animated with a noble spirit of indignation against a shocking and unmanly outrage. Leiper was mounted on a horse of celebrated powers, which he had borrowed from a neighbor for this occasion. At the beginning of the chase, he had pressed his charger to the height of his speed, carefully keeping on the track of Harpe, of whom he sometimes caught a glimpse as he ascended the hills, and again lost sight in the valleys and the brush. But as he gained on the foe, and became sure of his victim, he slackened his pace, cocked his rifle, and deliberately pursued, sometimes calling upon the outlaw to surrender. At length, in leaping a ravine, Harpe's horse sprained a limb, and Leiper overtook him. Both were armed with rifles. Leiper fired, and wounded Harpe through the body; the latter turning in his seat, levelled his piece, which missed fire, and he dashed it to the ground, swearing it was the first time it had ever deceived him. He then drew a tomahawk, and waited the approach of Leiper, who, nothing daunted, unsheathed his long hunting-knife and rushed upon his desperate foe, grappled with him, hurled him to the ground, and wrested his only remaining weapon from his grasp. The prostrate wretch--exhausted with the loss of blood, conquered, but unsubdued in spirit--now lay passive at the feet of his adversary. Expecting every moment the arrival of the rest of his pursuers, he inquired if Stegal was of the party, and being answered in the affirmative, he exclaimed, "Then I am a dead man!"
"That would make no difference," replied Leiper, calmly. "You must die at any rate. I do not wish to kill you myself, but if nobody else will do it, I must." Leiper was a humane man, easy, slow-spoken, and not quickly excited, but a thorough soldier when roused. Without insulting the expiring criminal, he questioned him as to the motives of his late atrocities. The murderer attempted not to palliate or deny them, and confessed that he had been actuated by no inducement but a settled hatred of his species, whom he had sworn to destroy without distinction, in retaliation for some fancied injury. He expressed no regret for any of his bloody deeds, except that which he confessed he had perpetrated upon one of his own children. "It cried," said he, "and I killed it: I had always told the women, I would have no crying about me." He acknowledged that he had amassed large sums of money, and described the places of concealment; but as none was ever discovered, it is presumed he did not declare the truth. Leiper had fired several times at Harpe during the chase, and wounded him; and when the latter was asked why, when he found Leiper pursuing him alone, he did not dismount and take to a tree, from behind which he could inevitably have shot him as he approached, he replied that he had supposed there was not a horse in the country equal to the one which he rode, and that he was confident of making his escape. He thought also that the pursuit would be less eager, so long as he abstained from shedding the blood of any of his pursuers. On the arrival of the rest of the party, the wretch was dispatched, and he died as he had lived, in remorseless guilt. It is said, however, that he was about to make some disclosure, and had commenced in a tone of more sincerity than he had before evinced, when Stegal advanced and severed his head from his body. This bloody trophy they carried to the nearest magistrate, a Mr. Newman, before whom it was proved to be the head of Micajah Harpe, they then placed it in the fork of a tree, where it long remained a revolting object of horror. The spot, which is near the Highland Lick, in Union (then Henderson) County, is still called Harpe's Head, and a public road which passes it, is called the Harpe's Head Road.
The other Harpe made his way to the neighborhood of Natchez, where he joined a gang of robbers, headed by a man named Meason, whose villanies were so notorious that a reward was offered for his head. At that period, vast regions along the shores of the Ohio and Mississippi were still unsettled, through which boats navigating those rivers must necessarily pass; and the traders who, after selling their cargoes at New Orleans, attempted to return by land, had to cross immense wildernesses, totally destitute of inhabitants. Meason, who was a man rather above the ordinary stamp, infested these deserts, seldom committing murder, but robbing all who fell in his way. Sometimes he plundered the descending boats; but more frequently he allowed these to pass, preferring to rob their owners of their money as they returned, pleasantly observing, that "those people were taking their produce to market for him." Harpe took an opportunity, when the rest of his companions were absent, to slay Meason, and putting his head in a bag, carried it to Natchez, and claimed the reward. The claim was admitted; the head of Meason was recognized but so also was the face of Harpe, who was arrested, condemned, and executed.
In collecting oral testimony of events long past, a considerable variety will often be found in the statements of the persons conversant with the circumstances. In this case, I have found none, except as to the fact of the two Harpes having exchanged horses. A day or two before the fatal catastrophe which ended their career in Kentucky, they had murdered a gentleman named Love, and had taken his horse, a remarkably fine animal, which Big Harpe undoubtedly rode when he was overtaken. It is said that Little Harpe escaped on foot, and not on his brother's horse. Many of these facts were disclosed by the latter, while under sentence of death.
After Harpe's death the women came in and claimed protection. Two of them were the wives of the larger Harpe, the other one of his brother. The latter was a decent female, of delicate, prepossessing appearance, who stated that she had married her husband without any knowledge of his real character, shortly before they set out for the west; that she was so much shocked at the first murder which they committed, that she attempted to escape from them, but was prevented, and that she had since made similar attempts. She immediately wrote to her father in Virginia, who came for her, and took her home. The other women were in no way remarkable. They remained in Muhlenburgh county.
These horrid events will sound like fiction to your ears, when told as having happened in any part of the United States, so foreign are they from the generosity of the American character, the happy security of our institutions, and the moral habits of our people. But it is to be recollected that they happened twenty-seven years ago, in frontier settlements, far distant from the civilized parts of our country. The principal seene of Harpe's atrocities, and of his death, was in that part of Kentucky which lies south of Green river, a vast wilderness, then known by the general name of the Green river country, and containing a few small and thinly scattered settlements--the more dense population of that state being at that time confined to its northern and eastern parts. The Indians still possessed the country to the south and west. That enormities should sometimes have been practiced at these distant spots, cannot be matter of surprise; the only wonder is that they were so few. The first settlers were a hardy and an honest people; but they were too few in number, and too widely spread, to be able to create or enforce wholesale civil restraints. Desperadoes, flying from justice, or seeking a secure theatre for the perpetration of crime, might frequently escape discovery, and as often elude or openly defy the arm of justice.
B, Weir's Trip to New Orleans in 1803
Pioneer James Weir, of Greenville, made a number of trips from Lewisburg, or Kincheloe's Bluff, to New Orleans in the early days. The date of the first was about six years after he settled in Muhlenberg, when he was about twenty-seven years old, and as far as known it is the only one of which he ever wrote a description. The original manuseript is still in existence, and for a copy of it I am indebted to Judge Lucius P. Little, of Owensboro, who will publish the story in his forthcoming book on "Old Stories of Green River and Its People."
Journal, by James Weir, 1803.
I arrived at Natchez on the 9th March. It is a beautiful little town situated on a high bluff rising from the river by a gradual ascent, & a fertile & level country seems to make off from the town. From the eligibility of this place I think it is found to be the center of trade for the Western Country. There are about 500 dwellings in this place. They are mostly Americans from South Carolina & Georgia. There is a number of large stores there. Goods are sold about the same price with Nashville. I suppose from what I have seen that Natchez is, or the inhabitants of the town are, as much given to luxury & dissipation as any place in America. There is great abundance of cotton in the vicinity of Natchez. That is their staple commodity. There were 5 sea-vessels (schooners or brigs) lying there waiting for loading. It is thought that in time shipping will come there in great numbers as it will not take them more than 5-6 days, if so long, to come up from Orleans if the wind is moderately in their favour. I left the Natchez on the 12th for the New Orleans and on the morning of the 13th I arrived at Loftier Heights just as the soldiers were firing the morning gun. Loftier Heights is a place of defense occupied by the troops of the United States under the command of Gen. Wilkinson. The garrison is in good order and the troops look well. This place is 45 miles below Natchez on the line between the Spaniards & Americans. The river is from there to the Orleans very good and we sailed night and day. From the Heights to the Atchafalaya is 15 miles. This is a place that boatmen dread as it has been said that boats were sucked out there and were not able to return but were taken into lakes that empty into the sea, though I found no difficulty in it, nor do I believe that it is so dangerous as has been represented. From this to Point Copee is 25 miles.
At Point Copee the French are settled on both sides in one continuous village which yields a beautiful prospect. From Point Copee to Baton Rouge is 35 miles. Here is the principal Spanish garrison that is kept on the river & here did I experience some of their tyranical laws.
I arrived there in the evening and went to the Commandant & got my passport signed. He sent down to my boat & bought a ham of bacon. I thought from this example I might sell on without hesitation. I continued to sell till the next day at 12 o'clock when I was taken by a guard of Spanish Regulars who told me that I must go into confinement together with all my crew, save one to take care of the boat for selling without permission. I desired to see the Commandant for I hated the thought of going into a calaboose, but all in vain.
We were hurried into a nasty prison amongst a number of Spanish transgressors who were almost naked. I then began to think of Baron Trenk in the jail of Magdaburg & that it might perhaps be my lot to be there without cause, possibly for months or years as our liberation or confinement depended wholy on the will of a capricious tyrant. I walked through this nasty prison very uneasy still looking through the iron grates and ruminating on my sad misfortune. I sat down at length on the straw & began to console myself that I was not the first that had been in confinement unjustly & that I was not alone as I had one of my company with me, a Mr. Hobbs who was merely a passenger in my boat. After we had been there about half an hour the interpreter came & told us we must come out & go before the Commandant. We went out cheerfully expecting to be liberated knowing ourselves to be innocent.
We were brought before the Commandant who sat in his judgment hall. He demanded of me why I had sold bacon &c without permission from him. I told him that I did not know that it was necessary, and if I had transgressed against his laws it was through ignorance I being a stranger in their land & also that he was the first to purchase from me himself and that he did not tell me that it was necessary to have a permit & therefore I thought it ungenerous of him to put me into confinement. He took offense at this mode of expression and ordered us both back to confinement. The interpreter began to intercede for us but all in vain. Then Mr. Hobbs, who was with me, began to plead that he was only a passenger & that he ought to be set at liberty. The commandant agreed he should be liberated but I was sent back to confinement. I directed Hobbs to stay by my boat & not to leave the place till he saw the result. He said he would stay by me if it was for 6 months & use every exertion to get me out. He went to the boat & I to my prison with a heavy heart.
The poor dejected Spaniards that were my companions in this solitary place began to eye me with attention & one of them got up and made signs for me to sit down on his blankets. I sat down and mused to myself. I had no company for I could not understand them. While I sat thus in dejection & had no hopes of coming out shortly there came a messenger to the door & asked me what I had to advance in my behalf respecting the affair for which I was confined. I told him I had nothing more to say than what I had already told the Commandant, his master, & that he might tell him that if he did confine me here without a cause I would see the Governor at the New Orleans who would certainly see justice done & perhaps by his removal from office. In about 10 minutes the messenger returned & told me I was to be set at liberty. The iron bolts were again turned & I was once more set at liberty.
When I returned to the boat the crew was overjoyed to see me once more. We then pushed off our boat & set out for the Orleans, resolving to stay at that unfortunate place no longer. From Baton Rouge to Orleans, 180 miles, nothing more particular occurred on our voyage. We sailed night & day as in this part of the river there are no sawyers. When we came within 100 miles of Orleans the river is levied on both sides to keep the water from over flowing the settlements. Here you are presented with beautiful prospects on the levy on both sides of which are houses, large & beautiful farms, orange groves, sugar cane & sugar houses all the way to the New Orleans. When we came in sight the masts of the vessels that lay in harbour appeared like a forest of old trees. We got in amongst them with some difficulty and landed just above the Gate.
I arrived at the New Orleans on the 23d of March 1803 a handsome city much larger & better situated than I did expect. There is a number of wealthy American merchants residing there & they carry on business largely; houses that may be relied upon either to deposit property with or to do business by consignment. Orleans is not a place of defence. Their garrisons and forts are out of repair. They have about 400 Spanish Regulars. They are a poor looking starved like crew. I am persuaded that 100 Kentucky men could take the place if it was the will of Government for I suppose that one third of the inhabitants of the Orleans are Americans in possession of the place.
New Orleans is situated low. The country falls off from it. About 3 miles back it is so swampy that no person can settle on it. It is a fine place for fish & oysters in the lake that lies about 3 miles back from the city. New Orleans is a very rich place and a great place for doing business & would be a great acquisition to the United States if they were in possession of it. The French & Spaniards living there are for the most part very much of gentlemen & more to be relied on than many of our American citizens that are settled there. Some of them that I became acquainted with treated me with the greatest civility & freindship. 1
I set out from the Orleans for Philadelphia on the 6th of April on board the schooner Roby, Capt. Martain, Master (a very worthy and respectable man, a Quaker. We had a fair wind down the river to the mouth viz 105 miles. Just before we came to the Balize or mouth of the river we struck a sander & stuck fast for 3 days. On the evening of the 4th we carried out our anchor & used every exertion by all hands & draw her off, yet nevertheless, I felt not satisfied, for I thought it was ominous of bad success. We had to wait till the next morning for a pilot to take us out the mouth of the river as the channel is very narrow and often changes so that it is impossible for any person to come out or in without a pilot who examines the channel every day & sets up stakes on each side next morning early.
The pilot came to us & the winds blew fair & we went out (together with seven other vessels) into the main ocean. Then it was that I began to feel sea sick in good earnest. The waves rolled high and the water looked green & loathsome as the hated Styx, (spoken of by the heathen poets.) We had 14 passengers on board. They were all sick save one. There was nothing to be heard but vomiting and cries of the sick. I bore it patiently knowing the sickness was not unto death & hoping that in a few days the worst would be over, but I continued sick almost throughout my whole journey. I had no appetite to eat & all kinds of victuals to me were loathsome till I arrived in the Delaware. We had a fair wind for 4 days after we left the Balize which blew us on rapidly. We sailed a south course till we came in sight of the Havannah. We then changed our course to E. N. E. The winds were contrary almost continually. We made no progress but were rather beaten back. Thus we were beat about in most horrid tempests, sometimes in sight of the Florida shore & sometimes in sight of the Land of Cuba & it was with difficulty that we could keep off the rocks & sands. The crew was in the utmost consternation & wished themselves on shore in any part. The Captain nevertheless preserved a calm and unshaken mind, bid us be of good cheer, that when adverse fortune had spent herself, we would have better winds & that he hoped to land us all safe at Philadelphia yet.
On the evening of the 4th of May one of the passengers a young man from Monongehala of the name of William Kelly jumped over board and drowned himself without any known cause (except the apparent danger of our voyage & seasickness of which he had greatly suffered.) He was noticed to sit pensive all that day till evening when he pulled off his shirt & immediately jumped overboard. We called to him and threw him a rope but he would not receive it, but swam immediately from the vessel. We turned the vessel about in order to take him up but it was impracticable as the wind blew very high. We could see him swimming for the space of 20 minutes, when he jumped up almost out of the water and cryed out twice very loud & sunk down & we saw him no more.
Great was the solemnity that pervaded through the whole crew. All seemed to regret the loss by so sudden death of so fine a young man who had so lately been our most jovial companion. We also seemed to conjecture that it did presage the destruction of all the crew & vessel. I went to bed but slept very little. I still fancied I could see poor Kelly jump out of the water & cry out for help.
The next morning there blew up a mighty storm with much thunder and dreadful flashes of lightning that rolled along the skies. The waves became most dreadful such as we had never seen before. They often ran over our vessel and came into the cabin windows till it was knee deep on the floor. Then it was that I began to think that we must certainly perish. However, through the skill of our captain & sailors & the mercy of God we were preserved to encounter a more eminent danger. Cruel & adverse fortune seemed never too weary to persecute us. The winds subsided & the clouds blew away & bright Phebus began to emerge from the deep & seemed to promise us a pleasant day. But how short was this interval of pleasant calm. It was like the prosperity of the wicked but of short duration.
We were calmly reclining ourselves on our beds talking over the dangers we had so recently escaped when it was cried out on deck "a waterspout! a waterspout! & it is coming towards us." We all ran up on deck when we perceived it not far distant from us & progressing on towards us. (Now a waterspout is a thing much feared by sea men. It is a body of water drawn up out of the sea into the clouds and then falls down with wonderful velocity and if it strikes a vessel it commonly sinks it.) I found our captain (who had hitherto appeared unmoved in all danger) began to appear much alarmed and the form of his visage was changed and all the sailors began to be in utmost confusion. The captain ordered all the passengers below. They mostly went down, but I resolved to stay on deck & see the event. The captain tried to make sail to get out of the way of it but it was all in vain. For then it seemed as though it would go before us. Then we struck sail thinking to fall back & let it pass on before us yet all our exertions seemed in vain. For though our vessel occupied but a small part of the wide extended ocean & this unhappy phenomenon was I suppose 2 miles off when we saw it first yet it came directly and immediately to us as though directed by a supernatural power for our certain destruction.
Now this horrid scene begins to approach, the air is darkened, it roars like one continual peal of thunder. The captain cried out, "It is done! we are all lost!" The stoniest hearted sailors began to cry out "death, certain death! Lord have mercy on us!" The passengers began to flock up from below. Horror & paleness overspread each countenance & all crying out for mercy. I stood near to the cabin door & held by a rope expecting every moment to launch into the unknown regions of eternity. It came up & struck the stern of our vessel with a dreadful shock. She wheeled round with a great force & sunk down into the sea till the water came up to our shoulders on the mail deck when I never expected to see her rise again. It tore away our main sail & our top sail & our flying jib & the greater part of our rigging & drew them up into the air as in a whirlwind so that we saw them no more. It took the hat off the mate's head together with a number of other articles off the deck. After having shattered us most intolerably it passed by our vessel which rose out of the water. We tried the pump & found that the hull of our vessel was yet sound to the inexpressable joy of the captain and all the crew. It was some time before we recovered from the shock we received. When it struck the vessel it was like the shock of thunder when near, or electrel fire. Indeed it was 3 days before some of the crew was well. Now all hands are employed in clearing away the shattered rigging & in trying to erect a small sail for we had no canvas on board & we had to sew together the ruins of the old in the evening. We raised two small sails tho of little consequence & tried to stand our course. Tho' the winds were yet contrary we kept in the Gulf Stream which beat us on to the North.
On the 26th & 27th the winds blew fair. On the 28th the wind shifted to the North & beat us back 2 degrees. We are now in the latitude of Charlestown & in sight of the Capes. The passengers prayed the captain to land them there for they began to despair of ever getting round to Philadelphia but he refused. So we beat on in great distress & confusion as our water was nearly exhausted & our ship in miserable repair, however the wind changed more favorably & on the 8th day of May we arrived in the Cape of Philadelphia & on the 9th we got a pilot & proceeded up the Delaware river (viz 120 miles to Philadelphia). We had a fair wind up the river & sailed up very pleasantly. A more beautiful prospect I never saw than in passing up the river. On either side is one continuous village with the most beautiful houses, meadows & orchards that yielded a most delightful prospect & a sweet & salutary perfume as the orchards & flowers were now in their bloom. I forgot all my difficulties, my seasickness left me and I felt uninterrupted felicity from the charming prospects. Vessels continually passing & repassing us with the same winds and towns arising on every side & ships coming in from all parts of the world. We spoke vessels in the river, some from the East & West Indies, from England, France & Spain & from all parts of the United States. On the 12th we arrived in Philadelphia, truly a large and elegant city most pleasantly situated. The people are remarkably plain & very civil. A great many of the inhabitants of this city are Quakers, mostly merchants and very attentive to business.
On the 23d I set out from Philadelphia for Pittsburg. On the 24th I arrived at Lancaster a beautiful inland town, I suppose superior to any in the United States. I stayed there 3 days, then set out for Pittsburg. On my way I passed through several handsome little towns. The country is well settled by industrious citizens. They have fine orchards meadows & barns, & houses tho they charge travelers very high. On the 13th of June I arrived at Pittsburg a handsome little town in the forks of the Monongahala & Allegheny rivers. It is the place where most of the Western merchants embark with their merchandise to come down the river which causes money to be very plenty there. I stayed there 4 days to wait till the wagons came in with my goods. I purchased a boat, put in my goods & set off down the river. We passed by some handsome little towns on the way. I think it will be one day a continuous village on the banks of the Ohio from Pittsburg to the New Orleans. The river was very low. I floated night & day yet I was 4 weeks & 4 days from Pittsburg to the Redbanks, where I arrived on the 4th day of July, being one day more than 5 months from the time I set out from Lewisburg to the New Orleans.
C, Two Local Stories by Edward R. Weir, Sr.
Edward R. Weir, sr., of Greenville, son of pioneer James Weir, was the author of a number of short stories. Only two are still preserved, and they are here briefly outlined.
"A Visit to the Faith Doctor" was published in the November, 1836, issue of The Western Magazine of Cincinnati. When it first appeared in print it was the subject of much lively discussion in the Green River country, and especially in Muhlenberg County. Although the story caused Mr. Weir to lose a few votes, he nevertheless gained many others, when in 1841 he ran for the Legislature, to which he was elected by a large majority. The first half of the tale is a somewhat one-sided discussion of faith cures, in which the author quotes from the old Greek scribes and many of the writers of his own day. The last half is the account of an experience he had in visiting a "faith doctor" near "a little town on Green River," all of which is followed by a short argument on faith cures in general. The whole subject is treated ironically and by no means seriously. Nevertheless it was evidently written with a view of trying to prove what he considered "the absurdity of belief in faith doctors."
"A Deer Hunt" was published in the Knickerbocker Magazine of March, 1839, under the heading of "Random Sketches by a Kentuckian--E. R. W." In the same number of the magazine appears an article by Washington Irving and a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Mr. Weir begins his story with a few remarks on the great forests around Greenville, which I have omitted.
A Visit to the Faith Doctor.
Many of the ancient writers held the belief of supernatural power being given to man, and that there were some who could cure as well as give diseases by prayer, exorcisms, laying on of hands, etc. ...
Steele says in the Tatler, "It is not to be imagined how far the violence of our own desires will carry us toward our own deceit in the pursuit of what we wish for." Imagination is a powerful emotion, and it has been satisfactorily proven that it will not only effect cures of "ineurable diseases," but will frequently produce death. Witness the case of the Jew in France, who on a very dark night passed safely over a bridge which consisted of a single log, whilst below him was an abyss of several hundred feet. On the next morning he was shown the fearful danger he had escaped, and so great was his emotion that he fell dead. Another is a case of a person whose fear of the plague was so great that when he entered a room where a plague-striken man was, he instantly expired. Again, where a criminal was bled to death without bleeding a drop of blood.
[Mr. Weir then proceeds to tell about a visit made by two ladies and himself to the Faith Doctor's farm. One of the ladies was afflicted with an inflamed eye, and had decided, as a last resort, to call on this wonderful man. Their party of three left Greenville "one warm day in August," and after an interesting ride, during which they paused long enough to partake of an excellent dinner, they arrived at the "Doctor's domicile." Tradition says this house was in Ohio County, near Livermore.]
It was a one-story log house with two rooms, and did not differ in any respect from those that we had passed during the day, save that a number of benches were ranged in front of the door. ...
We dismounted and walked in. There was no person in the room, and we had time to look around the place into which we had thus introduced ourselves. But there was nothing to mark that we were in the dwellingplace of the wonderful man. I looked around for the books, the musty records of ancient knowledge, over which he might have pored and from which he might have gathered the power he was reputed to possess. But in vain we looked for these. No huge ironbound tome met our gaze. Everything was most provokingly plain, nothing mysterious, nothing which we might not find in any common farmer's cabin.
The neat little bed which stood in one corner of the room was like all other beds. The old-fashioned clock, enclosed in a still more antiquated case, ticked on like any other clock. From a furtive glance which I cast into a cupboard I found that the Doctor and his family did eat, for it was well stored with cold meats and cold pies.
Before I had time to extend my discoveries any farther his daughter came into the room. She was quite a pretty girl, but unfortunately for the poetry of the thing, she forgot to slip on her stockings. Shoes without stockings, you know, do not look well. We enquired for the Doctor. He was "in the meadow at work." We looked in that direction and beheld him astride of a haystack, which he appeared to be "topping off." A messenger was dispatched for him, and we prepared for the interesting interview.
From the house we had a full view of the meadow, and before it was possible for the little boy, whom we had sent, to reach him where he was, we saw him slide from the stack, snatch up his hat and start for the house at about half mast. Then thought I, "he has an intuitive sense that he is wanted," but the next moment "the woeful want of dignity" struck me more forcibly. The cause of his haste was soon explained: there was a rush among the green corn; then a bark, and a squeal, and forth rushed a gang of hogs, closely followed by Towser and Ponto, while just behind came the Doctor, encouraging his dogs by name, who soon succeeded in clearing the field from intruders.
His first salutation, when he saw me, was, "These nasty critters--people will leave the gate open, and they destroy all my truck!"
[The callers apologized for their negligence, after which the consultation began.]
Five minutes sufficed. He merely asked her name, which eye was affected, and how long it had been so. He took down her answers in writing and told her that the optic nerve, which we all knew before, was affected. I was very anxious to close the scene. So, hurrying the lady to her horse, I returned to bid the Doctor farewell. ... We were told he accepts no compensation for his service--that he asks no pay; but he is not averse to his family receiving presents. Nevertheless I asked him if he would make any charge for what he had promised to try to do, to which he answered: "Yes, I charge you this: next time you come, shut the gate."
[Upon her return home the patient was confined to her room with a fever and headache. However, she rapidly recovered, and regained the full use of her eye, and the faith doctor had in her another enthusiastic convert.]
From the slight conversation I had with the Doctor, and from what he has said to others, I gather that his plan of operation is by prayer, and that his creed is founded upon that passage of Scripture, "Verily, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed," etc. By his neighbors he is said to be a truly pious and estimable man, and that he possesses some intelligence. From this I would humbly beg leave to differ: I think him a very ignorant man, who may probably have succeeded in forcing upon himself the belief that his prayers "avail much."
[The article concludes with the argument that if prayers and petitions can result in such wonders through this Faith Doctor, whom he declares "arrogant and impudent," how much more effective would be the result, and reverential the act, if the afflicted, instead of "laying his case before this pretender," would "pray to God and not to man."]
A Deer Hunt.
A bright, frosty morning in November, 1838, tempted me to visit this forest hunting-ground. ... On this occasion I was followed by a fine-looking hound, which had been presented to me, a few days before, by a fellow-sportsman. I was anxious to test his qualities, and knowing that a mean dog will often hunt well with a good one, I tied up my eager and well-trained Bravo and was attended by the stranger dog alone.
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Ancestry.com. A History of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001. Original data: Rothert, Otto A. A History of Muhlenberg County. Louisville, KY, USA: 1913.

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Compiled by Otto A. Rothert, this book details some general information about the county, including information on the local facilities. Family historians will find the wealth of information on the first settlers of the county, and their decendents, most...
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[After a brisk canter of half an hour (which is very interestingly described) the sportsman sighted a deer, the object of his hunt. One version of the tradition has it that Mr. Weir first saw this stag on the hill three miles east of Greenville, which since the publication of this story has been called "Buck Knob."]
On the very summit of the ridge, full one hundred and fifty yards distant, every limb standing out in bold relief against the clear blue sky, the stag paused and looked proudly down upon us. After a moment of indecision I raised my rifle and sent the whizzing lead upon its errand. A single bound and the antlered monarch was hidden from my view.
[The chase continued for several hours, and led the hunter many miles from the starting-point, until finally he had a second shot at the animal.]
Again I poured forth the "leaden messenger of death," and meteorlike he flashed by us. One bound and the noble animal lay prostrate within fifty feet of where I stood. Leaping from my horse and placing one knee upon the stag's shoulder and a hand upon his antlers, I drew my hunting knife. But scarcely had the keen point touched his neck, when with a sudden bound he threw me from his body, and my knife was hurled from my hand. In hunter's parlance, I had "only creased him." I at once saw my danger; but it was too late. With one bound he was upon me, wounding and almost disabling me with his sharp feet and horns. I seized him by his widespread antlers and sought to regain possession of my knife, but in vain; each new struggle drew me farther from it. Cherokee (my horse). frightened at this unusual scene, had madly fled to the top of the ridge, where he stood looking down upon the combat, trembling and quivering in every limb.
The ridge road I had taken had placed us far in advance of the hound whose bay I could now hear. The struggles of the furious animal had become dreadful, and every moment I could feel his sharp hoofs cutting deep into my flesh; and yet I relinquished not my hold. The struggle had brought us near a deep ditch, washed by the heavy fall rains, and into this I endeavored to force my adversary; but my strength was unequal to the effort. When we approached the very brink he leaped over the drain; I relinquished my hold and rolled in, hoping thus to escape him. But he returned to the attack, and throwing himself upon me, inflicted numerous severe cuts upon my face and breast before I could again seize him. Locking my arms around his antlers, I drew his head close to my breast, and was thus, by a great effort, enabled to prevent his doing me any serious injury. But I felt that this could not last long; every muscle and fibre of my frame was called into action and human nature could not long bear up under such exertion. Faltering a silent prayer to Heaven, I prepared to meet my fate.
At the moment of despair I heard the faint bayings of the hound. The stag, too, heard the sound, and springing from the ditch, drew me with him. His efforts were now redoubled and I could scarcely cling to him. Yet that blessed sound came nearer and nearer! O how wildly beat my heart, as I saw the hound emerge from the ravine and spring forward, with short quick bark, as his eyes rested on his game. I released my hold of the stag, who turned upon this new enemy. Exhausted and unable to rise, I still cheered the dog, that dastard-like fled before the infuriated animal, who, seemingly despising such an enemy, again threw himself upon me. Again did I succeed in throwing my arms around his antlers, but not until he had inflicted several deep and dangerous wounds upon my head and face, cutting to the very bone.
Blinded by the flowing blood, exhausted and despairing, I cursed the coward dog, who stood near, baying furiously, yet refusing to seize his game. O how I prayed for Bravo! The thoughts of death were bitter. To die thus, in the wild forest, alone, with none to help! Thoughts of home and friends coursed like lightning through my brain. That moment of desperation, when hope itself had fled, deep and clear, over the neighboring hill, came the bay of my gallant Bravo! I should have known his voice among a thousand! I pealed forth, in one faint shout, "On, Bravo! on!" The next moment, with tigerlike bounds, the noble dog came leaping down the declivity, scattering the dried autumnal leaves like a whirlwind in its path. "No pause he knew," but fixing his fangs in the stag's throat, at once commenced the struggle.
I fell back completely exhausted. Blinded with blood, I only knew that a terrific struggle was going on. In a few moments all was still, and I felt the warm breath of my faithful dog as he licked my wounds. Clearing my eyes from gore, I saw my late adversary dead at my feet; and Bravo, "my own Bravo," as the heroine of a modern novel would say, standing over me. He yet bore around his neck a fragment of the rope with which I had tied him. He had gnawed it in two, and following his master through all his wanderings, arrived in time to rescue him from a horrible death.
D, Duvall's Discovery of "Silver Ore"
By Richard T. Martin. 1
During the spring of 1851 an excitement was started in the western part of Muhlenberg County which continued for more than two years. Mark Duvall claimed he had found silver ore in the hills of his neighborhood. Mark Duvall was a son of Benjamin Duvall, an old settler who lived about six miles west of Greenville. Benjamin Duvall was the father of Howard, Mark, and Benjamin Duvall, jr., or "Darky," as he was commonly called.
Mark Duvall when a young man learned the tanner's trade under John Campbell of Greenville, who conducted a tannery near where the Greenville Milling Company's planing mill is now located. Mark had also devoted some time to the study of chemistry and mineralogy, and had become a good tanner. After remaining with Campbell for a few years he married and located near his father's farm, on which was a good running spring. There Mark established a tanyard of his own, which was well patronized. Mark was a quiet, sober, and well-liked man, and had the full confidence of all who knew him. In fact, the Duvall family stood high in the community.
There were about four hundred acres of hilly land lying east of Jarrell's Creek, all of which was owned by Benjamin Duvall and his neighbors. In the spring of 1851 Mark Duvall reported that he had discovered the existence of silver ore in this hilly section. He would not point out any particular spot where silver could be found, but declared that rich veins of it occurred throughout these hills. The proclamation of this news was very encouraging to those who owned the hills. Steps were at once taken and prospecting commenced, and soon the digging of holes and pits was carried on in earnest. As the news of the great silver discovery spread, prospecting extended until everybody in the western part of the county was on the lookout for ore, and in a short time the whole county was more or less interested.
This was only a few years after the excitement of the Buckner and Churchill Iron Works had subsided. Some people seemed to take a great interest in the matter, while others scouted the idea. Secret investigations were conducted in different parts of the county, but the investigations made among the hills were boldly carried on with greater assurance. Several of the moneyed men of Greenville became interested in the silver project, and made arrangements to become partners with those owning the hills and to furnish means for a thorough investigation of the matter.
When Mark Duvall had declared that there was silver in the hills. he backed up his statement by melting "silver" out of the rock that had been mined by the landowners. Different kinds of rock had been dug up; some limestone, some iron ore, and a blue sandstone which sparkled with particles of mica, and was considered the richest and most plentiful of the "silver" ore.
Duvall had a novel way of extracting silver from this blue sandstone. He used a deep iron bowl with a long handle attached. It was simply a large ladle. Nearly every family owned a similar small ladle, which they used in those days for melting lead to make bullets for hunting purposes.
During the first year of the silver excitement Duvall would have the different parties who were digging beat up some of their ore, and he would take his big ladle, go to their houses, and make a "run" for them. These "runs" were usually made at night. After a hot wood fire was started Duvall would fill his big ladle with the powdered ore and place it on the fire. He would then put a flux of soap and borax in the ladle to "increase the heat" and "help extract the metal." As a general thing there would be a gathering of neighbors to witness the "run." After the ore had become red-hot, Duvall would add some "nitric and sulphuric acid," which would soon disappear, and Duvall would say, "She has done her do!" He would next carry the ladle out doors, to cool off, and after it had cooled sufficiently a search would be made for silver. Small shots of metal would be found and selected out of the ore that had been heated, and much rejoicing would take place.
The next day digging would be resumed with more earnestness. After a while the natives tried to extract the silver from the ore themselves.
The line that, before the formation of Muhlenberg, separated Logan from Christian and lay within the bounds of what became Muhlenberg, is described in the act creating Christian County as follows: "Beginning on Green river, eight miles below the mouth of Muddy river 1; thence a straight line to one mile west of Benjamin Hardin's." In other words, this former dividing line ran in a southwesterly direction from a point on Green River eight miles below the mouth of Mud River to a point in the neighborhood of what later became the northwest corner of Todd County. That being the fact, about three fourths of the original area of Muhlenberg County, or about two thirds of the present area, was taken from Christian, and the remainder--the southeastern part of Muhlenberg--was taken from Logan County.Map of Muhienberg County compiled from six atlas sheets issued by the United States Geological Survey (1907-1912)
I judge that after the southern line had been surveyed it was discovered that certain lands originally intended to fall within the bounds of Muhlenberg were, according to the "calls for running the county line," not included in the new county. At any rate, on December 4, 1800, the Legislature passed "An act to amend and explain an act, entitled 'an act for the division of Christian county,' " which I here quote in full: take a forked stick or small rod, like those used by "water witches," and "locate" veins of silver as easily as a "water witch" could locate a vein of water.
I recall a man named Culbertson, who wore trousers that did not reach his shoetops, and were therefore called "highwater pants." He carried a small, greasy bag, filled with various kinds of ores. He used a short hickory stick, split at one end. In order to find a vein of any particular metal he would place a piece of that kind of ore in the split end of the stick. With this loaded "metal-rod" he would walk over the hills and shake it around at arm's length and in every direction. If the ore that existed in the ground was the same as the ore in his split rod, then, he claimed, the attraction became so great that it jerked his arm like a fish.
John Vickers, who lived between Sacramento and Rumsey, was one of the great water and metal "witches" of his day. He was elected to the Legislature in 1848, went to California in 1849 when the gold fever broke out there, but returned to Muhlenberg in the fall of 1851 in time to assist Duvall in trying to convince the people that silver existed in the region of Jarrell's Creek. He claimed that he had found many silver veins with the assistance of his rod. He told the people that one day, while sitting in his house in Sacramento, he located, with his hickory rod, a rich gold vein in California, and that he had written to some of his relatives in that State to take possession of it until he could get there. He said that an abundance of silver undoubtedly existed in the Muhlenberg hills. His statements added luster and vigor to the project.
The various "water witches" became expert "silver witches," and "located" many rich veins throughout the neighborhood. There were several old women who followed telling fortunes with coffee-grounds. They also tried their skill on the silver question by "turning the cup," as they called it. They put some coffee-grounds into a cup with a little coffee and turned the cup around very rapidly, shook it, and then turned the cup upside down in the saucer. They would let the inverted cup remain in that position a few minutes, and then pick it up and examine the position of the grounds that still adhered to the sides. From the arrangement of the grounds they could tell whether the prospects were "clear" or "cloudy." If there was a clear space down the side of the cup it indicated "good luck" and "go ahead." If the side of the cup was clouded with grounds it foretold "bad luck" and "look out."
The rod was considered the most reliable way of determining the presence of silver ore. The "silver witch" in using the rod could answer questions with a "yes" or "no." The nodding up and down of the rod was for "yes" and the horizontal movement for "no." There was great confidence placed in these indications made by the rod.
As a general thing the people in the county had but little knowledge of mineralogy, metallurgy, or chemistry. Doctor W. H. Yost was considered the most competent man in Muhlenberg to make a test of the metal. After an examination he pronounced it tin. Howard Duvall, a brother of Mark, melted a silver dime and took it to Doctor Yost for analysis, who declared that it also was tin. The result was that the prospectors lost faith in Doctor Yost's knowledge of metals.
After Doctor Yost had made his tests it was thought best by the leaders of the silver enthusiasts to have the ore and metal analyzed by experienced chemists and mineralogists, for no one except Mark Duvall had succeeded in getting any metal from the blue sandstone which had been dug out of Silver Hills. A meeting was held by parties interested in the project. George W. Short, of Greenville, together with Duvall, was delegated to take some of the ore and metal that Duvall claimed to have extracted by the use of his iron ladle and a wood fire, and go to Cincinnati to an experienced assayer and have both rock and metal tested. This they did. The chemist stated that the so-called "silver" was a mixture of metals, and declared that it could not possibly have come out of the sand rock, for the rock contained no metal of any kind. Duvall argued that it did. So Short and Duvall left Cincinnati without any encouragement. Soon after this, Short lost all confidence in the silver business and withdrew his support and influence.
In spite of this set-back, much interest was still manifested by many of the owners of the so-called Silver Hills. Dabney A. Martin, a merchant and tobacconist of Greenville, wanted another test made. So when he went to Philadelphia after goods he took with him some of the blue sandstone and the metal that Duvall claimed to have "run" from the rock, and had them tested by chemists there. They also told him that the "silver" was a mixture of metals, and that it had not come out of the rock. In the fall of 1852, when Dabney A. Martin went to Europe on tobacco business, he took some of the ore and metal to England and had them analyzed in London. The chemists there likewise reported that the metal was a mixture and that it had not come out of the sand rock. This was another damper on the silver excitement. Martin, like Short, lost confidence in the silver situation.
However, Duvall kept "running" out the metal with his crucibles and iron ladle. On one occasion Duvall made a big "run" in an iron kettle over a wood fire. He extracted about five pounds of "silver." Nevertheless, doubt and distrust increased about Duvall's sincerity. He was accused of being a fakir and a fraud. After Duvall had made his five-pound "run," Vickers, who frequently prospected in Silver Hills, took Duvall's five-pound "run" and some of the blue sandstone silver ore, saying he would take them to New York and have them assayed there. Vickers left, but returned in about a month. He reported that the New York chemist, like all the other professional chemists, pronounced the "silver" a mixture of metals, and said that it had not come out of the sand rock. He explained that they rolled the metal into sheets for him. These he exhibited, and gave to all those who were interested in the silver question a small sheet of what looked very much like tinfoil, which it probably was. Vickers left Silver Hills and was never seen in that neighborhood again. It was afterward claimed that he did not take the metal and ore any farther than his home in McLean County.
Duvall proposed to the people that if they would construct a furnace he would show them that he was no fakir. So the neighbors joined in and built a small furnace near his tanyard. It was only nine feet high, and therefore a great deal smaller than Buckner's iron furnace on Pond Creek. When the silver furnace was finished and ready for action the neighbors gathered to see the silver "run." Duvall was watched very closely. After the smelter had been in operation two days and very little metal had been obtained, Duvall declared the furnace had not been properly constructed. Men who had lost confidence in his work did not hesitate to tell him so to his face. This resulted in a fight at the furnace, and the place was abandoned. The stone oven stood for several years, and was always known as Duvall's Silver Stack.
About the time the furnace was abandoned, Duvall claimed he had received letters telling him that unless he left the county he would be killed. Duvall decided it would not be safe for him to remain in the county, and therefore left. However, he always insisted that the hills he had explored were full of silver and would be opened up some day. Just before he moved to Ohio County, he requested three men of the neighborhood to meet him at a certain place in Silver Hills. After they met, he led them to the head of a deep hollow and there dug up several pieces of metal, which he carried back home with him. No questions were asked by any one of these men, but their eyes were opened; the tale was told, and the silver excitement was soon over.
The secret of all this silver excitement, which lasted for about two years, was well planned and manipulated by Mark Duvall, for what purpose no one can tell, unless it was to sell his father's land at a high price.
In the early history of the county, pewter utensils were used for domestic purposes. Pewter bowls, plates, pans, etc., of the early days had gone out of use at this period. The best quality of pewter--called also "white metal" --was made of tin hardened with copper. The cheap grade was made of lead, alloyed with antimony and bismuth. Duvall had secured some of these old pewter vessels, cut them up, and hidden them away for use in working the silver trick. Duvall was aware of the fact that his neighbors knew nothing about ores of any kind. He made his "silver runs" in his iron ladle on a wood fire, which in itself was absurd. He made these "silver runs" by dissolving a piece of pewter in acid. He would pour this solution on the hot crushed rock in the ladle. The acid would soon be consumed and the metal would remain in the ladle with the crushed rock, and when cooled off the metal would be formed into small shot and could be picked out. This would occur no matter what kind of rock might be used.
Mark Duvall moved to Ohio County, where he studied medicine and lived to a good old age, but as far as is known he never "discovered" any silver in that county.
E, "Riding the Circuit" By Lucies P. Little.
Noman in Western Kentucky stands higher as a citizen, lawyer, or student of literature and history than does Judge Lucius P. Little. In "Ben Hardin, His Times and Contemporaries," published in 1887, he wrote one of the best contributions ever printed bearing on the history of Kentucky from 1784 to 1852. He now has in course of preparation "Old Stories of Green River and Its People," which will appear during 1914. I have read the manuscript, and am confident that this book will take rank as one of the best written and most valuable histories of any of those concerning any section of the State. Judge Little was born in Calhoun February 15, 1838. He was graduated from the Law Department of Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1857, and in 1868 moved to Owensboro, where he has since resided and where he has long stood at the head of his fellow lawyers. From 1880 to 1893 he served as circuit judge. He is a member of the Investigators' Club (Owensboro's literary and historical club) and the Kentucky State Historical Society. The following sketch was written by Judge Little in 1912, especially for this history.
"Riding the Circuit."
The custom of the old-time lawyers in Kentucky of "riding the circuit" was almost coeval with the admission of the State into the Federal Union, and continued to the end of the fifties. After the Civil War ended, the increase of the local bar in numbers and in reputation as practitioners caused the custom gradually to decline.
While the custom was in vogue, on the Sunday before the beginning of a term of court the presiding judge, usually accompanied by the prosecuting attorney and a retinue of lawyers more or less numerous, mounted on horseback, might be seen entering the county town, destined for the principal tavern, not unlike an unarmed troop of cavalry. This might fitly be termed the "grand entry," and following it there quickly gathered about the inn a respectable number of the principal citizens, to greet the distinguished guests. After the first arrivals others followed, in parties of twos or threes or one by one. By nightfall the leading tavern was taxed to its utmost capacity.
The following morning, the first day of the term, the courthouse bell was rung vigorously at eight o'clock, and shortly thereafter the high sheriff proclaimed at the front door to the listening world the thrilling shibboleth, usual on such occasions: "O yez! O yez! The Circuit Court for Muhlenberg County is now in session! Let all persons having business therein draw near and be heard! God save the Commonwealth and this Honorable Court!" (This old preliminary formula has fallen into disuse, and unfortunately a neglected Deity has not always saved the Common wealth from the enemies of law and order or protected the eminent judges who have presided over its courts.)
On entering the court room, all seats inside the bar are largely found already occupied by the unprivileged classes. The sheriff, however, gives the peremptory order that all persons not lawyers and officers of court are requested to retire from the bar, which mandate is quickly obeyed. Persons summoned as jurors and others (ready to be summoned) seek seats in easy earshot of any call of their names. Parties, witnesses, and mere lookers-on soon fill all remaining seats.
The judge has already taken what in legal parlance is "the bench," but which in reality is an easy chair behind a desk, which to the unsophistieated is strikingly like a pulpit. The clerk, sheriff, and jailer betake themseives to their respective posts and to the discharge of their several functions. At last the honorable court is opened in due form, and those having business therein draw near and (as opportunity offers) proceed to make themselves heard.
The particular term of court now to be mentioned occurred in the year 1859, when Honorable Thomas C. Dabney was judge of the district and Ed Campbell prosecuting attorney. The resident attorneys at that time were Charles Eaves, Jonathan Short, Joseph Ricketts, John Chapeze, B. E. Pittman, Edward R. Weir, sr., and Mortimer D. Hay. At the head of this roll, by extent of practice, long experience, and profound learning, easily stood Charles Eaves, then in the full vigor of manhood. The youngest member, familiarly called "Mort" Hay, was tall and slender, with a quick and bright mind, already giving assurance of the talents and ability for which he was subsequently distinguished in a career terminated by an untimely death. The visiting lawyers that term were Honorable B. L. D. Guffy, of Morgantown, who was later to occupy a seat on the Court of Appeals bench; Washington Ewing, of Russellville, sprung of a family distinguished for its talents; H. G. Petree, Samuel Kennedy, and Francis Bristow, from Elkton--and sometimes came also the latter's son Benjamin, physically strong and burly and of striking appearance, but not so widely distinguished then as to cause the subsequent inquiry, "Is there not good presidential timber produced in Elkton?" From the Daviess County bar answered John H. McHenry, sr., and William Anthony, both names very familiar in the region at that day. McLean County was also represented by two young lawyers who, having some business in court that term, were in attendance. One of these was the late William T. Owen, afterward for two terms circuit judge of his district. Each of these had secured two of Culver's best rigs for the trip--not, as it may be well to explain, that they necessarily required two separate conveyances for the thirty miles from Calhoun to Greenville, but because each had had the good fortune to secure as comrade for the journey two of the prettiest girls of that town. It is recalled that, on the bright day they fared forth, the two young gentlemen were arrayed in the height of the fashion of that time, but so clad that they would be a sight to the beholders in these later days. Picture them! Long hair, silk hats, swallow-tail coats, low-cut vests, close-fitting trousers, and low-quarter shoes, with white hose! Neither in that day nor at any time since, in Kentucky, has there ever been any discount on a pretty girl because of her raiment, but on this day these were charmingly gowned.
The weather was faultless, and the long, hot lanes were fewer than now. For the most part the road on either side was bordered by woodland, the scenery and fragrance of which would beggar the language that might attempt to describe it. It is better to forget the exquisite pleasure of such bright days in the dim light of the somberer and quieter ones that came later. The road, at one point, wound by a clearing where the timber had been cut away and the brush placed in piles for burning later. There an incident occurred worthy of note. A blacksnake, technically known as a "racer," six to seven feet in length, was discovered in the road by Owen, who was in advance. His fair companion expressed some girlish alarm, whereupon with becoming gallantry he leaped from the buggy and with whip in hand lashed the "racer" as he fled out through the clearing. After a chase of seventy-five yards the snake hid himself in a brush-pile, and Owen, exhilarated by the exercise, started to return. The snake, encouraged by the retreat of his pursuer, came forth, and with head erect nearly two feet made a good second on the return, although the young man did his best. Turning on the snake again and hitting him whenever in reach, the race out through the clearing was repeated, and the snake again sought refuge and again chased his pursuer. This performance was kept up without variation until four or five heats had been run. Meantime his traveling companion--secure from danger in the buggy--and the occupants of the other vehicle, had laughed and wept and laughed again. But Owen got excessively warm and was fairly outwinded, while the "racer" showed a discouraging degree of "bottom." By finally crawling into his buggy backwards, meanwhile demonstrating with his whip, he managed to terminate the unequal contest. Docet hic fabula if a beau wishes to show his mettle before the fair, he should beware of contests with "racers."
In the soft twilight of the day the journey ended. Having left their traveling companions with expectant friends, the attorneys found lodging at Captain Bob Russell's somewhat overcrowded hotel. The landlord was a large, portly man of fine presence, quite as dignified as any of his distinguished guests, with all of whom he maintained an easy familiarity. He carried a stout walking-cane as he mingled with his lodgers, discharging the duties of hospitality. His colloquial abilities were above the common, and he was not at loss whatever the topie. His stores of incident and anecdote were inexhaustible, and he gave his friends little opportunity for considering whether the accommodations of the house might not be amended in certain directions. He had honorably served his country in war and in peace in former years, and was still a valuable man in that quarter to the political party with which he affiliated.
The hotel building stood near the courthouse. It was a low, two-storied affair, with a few bed-chambers and these in the second story, but each large enough for three or four beds, and each bed was designed to accommodate two persons. The writer recalls that when he awoke at about four o'clock the first morning of his stay in Greenville, he beheld a large, fleshy, elderly man engaged in shaving a large area of fleshy face as with closed eyes he sat ponderously in a chair. (This was before the era of safety razors.)
"Mr. McHenry, how can you shave without a mirror?" inquired the freshly awakened young lawyer.
"I am not in the habit of using a mirror, and can shave just as readily without one," was the answer.
It was fortunate in his case, as our room in this respect was unfurnished, and the single candle in the bedroom shedding a radiance somewhat uncertain. It was also a provident arrangement of nature that morning that all the occupants of our chamber did not care to arise and dress at the same time; that operation was performed in detachments. The limited floor space forbade any other course. There was no ceiling or plaster beneath, and because of this the landlord was enabled with his cane to knock on our floor from time to time, as a warning that breakfast was about ready. All embarrassments were happily overcome, the morning meal dispatched, and the gentlemen of the bar were ready in due time for the opening of court.
One of the important cases to be tried was that of Arch Rutherford, charged with the murder of a man named Stark, in Todd County. After being indicted in Todd the defendant had procured a change of venue to Muhlenberg. The evidence in the case was circumstantial, and while the circumstances had been comparatively few they had been sufficient to lead to the conclusion on the part of the public generally-that the accused was the guilty man, and that his motive had been robbery. A twenty-dollar bill which had been paid to Stark the day before the murder (which had occurred at night) was marked. It was found in possession of Rutherford and identified by the man who had paid it to Stark. The accused owned and was accustomed to ride a horse which, in motion, made a peculiar noise known as "rattling of the sheath." It was in proof at the trial that a horse making this peculiar noise was heard, on the night of the murder, to pass through the town of Elkton from Rutherford's residence, going in the direction of the place where Stark resided, and also that a short time afterward the horse was heard returning going toward defendant's residence. It was also made to appear that, in passing and repassing through town, the horse had been ridden in a gallop, and that next day he showed signs of having been recently hard ridden.
Honorable Francis Bristow was chief counsel for the accused. Mr. Campbell conducted the prosecution. The jury that tried the case returned a verdict of guilty, and sentence of death was pronounced. An appeal was prosecuted, and the judgment was reversed in the Court of Appeals and the case remanded for a new trial. While awaiting another trial the prisoner escaped from jail and was never afterward apprehended. Tradition has it that he fled to Texas, and during a long residence in that State accumulated considerable property and that he died there, but the date of his death is unknown.
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Refine your search of the A History of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky


Source Information:
Ancestry.com. A History of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2001. Original data: Rothert, Otto A. A History of Muhlenberg County. Louisville, KY, USA: 1913.

Description:
Compiled by Otto A. Rothert, this book details some general information about the county, including information on the local facilities. Family historians will find the wealth of information on the first settlers of the county, and their decendents, most...
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