Jackson Purchase Historical Society

Dr. Marvin Downing will be addressing the society at the quarterly meeting. In anticipation of the upcoming talk, we talked with him about his 34-year career as a professor of history at UT Martin, his civic activities he performs and his research and knowledge of Christmasville. It was the town that time forgot, nestled away in the Tennessee woods. It would fail to take advantage of technology in railroads and slowly die down to nothing but a post office until 1903 and then nothing after that.

Join us as we take a look at a now forgotten part of the Jackson Purchase.

Henry County was created in 1821 and named for Revolutionary War statesman, Patrick Henry.   Paris, west Tennessee’s oldest incorporated municipality, has been its county seat since its creation.

Henry County is bounded on the north by Graves and Calloway Counties in Kentucky, on the east by Stewart and Benton Counties in Tennessee, on the south by Carroll and Benton Counties and on the west by Weakley County.

Henry County produced three (3) Tennessee governors: Isham Green Harris, Tennessee’s only Confederate Governor, elected in 1859; James Davis Porter, elected in 1874 (served two terms); and Thomas Clarke Rye, elected 1915. In addition, John Wesley Crockett, Davy’s eldest son, was elected to Congress in 1837, filling his father’s former seat.

Sulphur Well was the county’s first tourist attraction. Many people came to drink the waters believing it had curative powers including relief during the 1837 Yellow Fever epidemic. The well was struck by accident in 1821 while searching for a large salt bed on a former Chickasaw reservation. The well was covered by TVA’s Kentucky Lake in 1944.

(This posting created from the online Tennessee Encyclopedia and the Jackson Purchase Historical Society Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)

Weakley County was created October 23, 1823 and named for Robert Weakley III, 1764-1845) Speaker of the Tennessee Senate. It is located in west Tennessee bounded on the north by Fulton and Graves counties in Kentucky, on the east by Henry County, on the south by Carroll and Gibson counties, and on the west by Obion County.

The act which created the county specified that the judicial courts were to be held in the home of John Terrell, an early settler, until a court house could be built. The courts were held in Terrell’s house and that of Benjamin Bondurant until April 1828.

Dresden, incorporated in 1827, is the county seat. Martin, the county’s largest city, was incorporated in 1874 and is the home of the University of Tennessee at Martin.

Among its famous citizens are former Tennessee Governor Ned Ray McWherter and Mike Snider, county humorist, singer, Grand Old Opry member and star of the television series, Hee Haw.

(This posting created from the online Tennessee Encyclopedia and the Jackson Purchase Historical Society Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)

Created in 1823, Graves County was named for Benjamin Franklin Graves. Born in Virginia in 1771, Graves is presumed to have died in Indian captivity as he was wounded and captured during the Battle of the River Raisin in the War of 1812. Formed out of Hickman County, Graves is the second largest county (in land mass) in Kentucky. Its county seat is Mayfield.

A perhaps forgotten citizen of Mayfield is George Bingham. Although born near Cadiz in Trigg County Kentucky, his family moved to Mayfield when George was 11 (1891). George was a journalist and humorist who created the imaginary hamlet of Hogwallow, Kentucky, populated with Kentuckians we would all recognize as they were drawn from citizens of Mayfield and Graves County. Through his syndicated column, he recorded daily the events in Hogwallow entertaining readers in the United States and Canada during the 1920-30s. He also published his Hogwallow stories in a weekly publication called the Hogwallow Kentuckian. Each issue of the Kentuckian contained a hand drawn map of Hogwallow so readers could follow exactly where “things” were happening. Mr. Bingham was co-owner of the Mayfield Messenger in the late 1920s contributing an “Around Town” column while contributing Hogwallow “paragraphs” to the Louisville Times. Mr. Bingham later published a weekly newspaper in Mayfield. He was also at one time associated with the Mayfield Daily Times. He died in 1938, leaving his wife, the former Ellie Gregory, a son, and two daughters.

It is not known if any issues of the Hogwallow Kentuckian still exist. But if the following sample is any indication, they would be good to read today:

“The curtain at the Tickville Opera House is worn out, and until a new one can be bought, the audience will have to keep its eyes shut between acts.”

(This posting created from an article in the Jackson Purchase Sesquicentennial Publication, 1969)

Created in 1824 and named in honor of Capt. Virgil McCracken, it was the 78th formed in the state. It is bounded on the north by the Ohio River, N.E. by the Tennessee River, south east by Marshall County, south by Graves County and west by Ballard County. First county seat was established in 1827 at Wilmington (about 8 miles west of Paducah and 3 miles south of the Ohio River). The county seat was moved to Paducah in 1832 because of flooding; the records were moved in skiff.

The county was named for Captain Virgil McCracken, a native of Woodford County Kentucky. McCracken was killed at the Battle of the River Raisin near Detroit during the War of 1812.

Besides being the home of Vice President Alben Barkley, Paducah was home to one of the most famous humorists, Irvin S. Cobb. Cobb was a newspaper reporter, war correspondent, author, and movie star. He is buried in Oak Grove Cemetery in Paducah.

American Red Cross organizer Clara Barton visited Paducah in 1884 via steamboat to help direct relief work during the Ohio River flood. Relief boats traveled from Pittsburgh to Cairo in the first flood relief operation of the American Red Cross.

(This posting created from articles printed in the Jackson Purchase Historical Society 1969 Sesquicentennial publication)

We recently had a chance to talk with Constance Alexander, oral historian and lady of letters in advance of her presentation to the Society at the Spring Meeting this coming Saturday. She recounted her youth growing up in New Jersey, her time gathering and recording the history of the Jackson Purchase and the joys and difficulties of conducting oral history interviews. Constance has her own website at www.constancealexander.com. You can email her at constancealexander@newwavecomm.net.

The Spring meeting is this Saturday, April 17 at 10:30am at the Wrather Auditorium on the campus of Murray State University. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity to hear Constance talk about our history.

This episode is available on iTunes or you can listen to the podcast here.

Mausoleum of Thelma and Leslie Murdock, founders of Paradise Friendly Home, Highway 97, Bell City, KY (south Graves County)

We had the extreme pleasure of talking with Teresa Ray of the Paradise Friendly Home an orphans’ home located in Farmington, KY. She recounted her time there as an orphan as well as Paradise Friendly Home’s place in the history of Western Kentucky. She will be the guest speaker at the quarterly meeting of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society on January 16. Now available through iTunes or you can listen to it here.

We recently sat down to talk to Dr. Kit Wesler, the upcoming speaker at the Fall 2009 Quarterly meeting. To listen to our conversation, click on the podcast link below.

JPHS Podcast – A Link To The Past with Dr. Kit Wesler

Pictured are past presidents of the JPHS at the 50th Anniversary Meeting.  Seated, left to right: Melissa Earnest, Harvey Elder, Corinne Whitehead; Standing, left to right: Bill Wells, Sarah Strange (current President), Charles Blair, Greg Miller, Walter Haden, John Robertson, Lonnie Maness

Held at Kenlake State Resort Park in Aurora, Kentucky – The 50th Anniversary of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society was celebrated with several past presidents of the Society in attendance. Dr. Harvey Elder, president from 1968-1969, spoke about wonderful memories of the early formative years of the Society. Several other long-time members recalled special events and people throughout the 50-year history of JPHS. All those attending received a special commemorative program, a notepad with the JPHS 50th Anniversary logo imprinted on it in gold, a gold pencil with “JPHS 50th Anniversary!” on it, and two specially marked 50th Anniversary Hershey’s ™ almond kisses wrapped in gold foil. Each past president in attendance received lovely engraved paperweights marking the year(s) of their service to the Society. Past issues of the JPHS Journal were also available for guests to take to distribute or keep as desired. A vote to begin the incorporation process was passed and wishes were expressed for the future of the Society with hopes that the next 50 years will be as successful as the past 50!

Held at Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park in Gilbertsville, Kentucky – Lanette Thurman introduced the program on Luther Draffen, presented by JPHS member Bobbie Foust, a long time journalist in the Jackson Purchase area. Luther Draffen was a visionary who worked tirelessly to locate Kentucky Dam where he thought it would benefit the most people, business and industry. Mrs. Foust talked about the early years of Luther Draffen’s life which formed his character that later served him well as he shared his vision with others. After the disastrous 1937 flood, Mr. Draffen was finally able to see the Kentucky Dam project begin in 1938. On October 10, 1945, President Harry S. Truman addressed a crowd of people gathered below the dam on the Tennessee River dedicating Kentucky Dam. Other dignitaries on the platform included Senator Alben Barkley of Kentucky (who later became Vice President Alben Barkley) and Luther Draffen, President of the Lower Tennessee Valley Authority. JPHS was pleased to have as guests members of Luther Draffen’s family in attendance at this meeting.