Jackson Purchase Historical Society

McCracken County Public Library’s next Evenings Upstairs program is on March 21st at 7 p.m. The program is titled “Explore Kentucky’s Diverse Fiddling Traditions.” John Harrod has been performing over forty years as he brings old music to new generations. Because of its location between major routes of western migration, Western Kentucky became a melting pot of culture in the 18th and 19th centuries. Harrod explores the region’s musical roots and gives a preview on this weeks WKMS Sounds Good radio program.

All shows are open to the public. For more information contact Bobbie Wrinkle at bwrinkle@mclib.net.

An Evening Upstairs at the McCracken County Library will present Reverend Newton Bush: Freedom at a Terrible Price at 7:00 p.m. on February 28th in the Second Floor Meeting Room.

January 1, 1863 was an historic day in United States history. President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation took effect, freeing most slaves in the United States. But for enslaved men living in Kentucky and other border states, it was a bittersweet occasion. Lincoln desperately wanted to keep Kentucky loyal to the Union. It was not until 1864, when Kentucky became the last state allowing their enlistment that slaves could join the Union Army. Like many Kentucky-owned slaves, Newton Bush risked his life to escape from his owner and travel to Camp Nelson and enlist in Company E of the 5th Regiment United States Colored Cavalry.

Fighting for their freedom and a better life for the people they loved, Bush was one of 24,000 men of color from Kentucky who joined the Colored Cavalry. It didn’t take long for them to discover that joining the Army didn’t result in being treated with respect and dignity or that more value was placed on a horse than a colored solder. But their loyalty to the Union and bravery in battle eventually earned the respect of the white soldiers.

For Bush and the troops in the Colored Cavalry, the fighting didn’t end when the Civil War was over. They had endured slavery and risked their lives to preserve the Union, yet they spent the rest of their days in fear of being harassed and killed while fighting for freedom and equal citizenship.

Co-sponsored by the Kentucky Humanities Council & The Friends of the Library.

Jackson Purchase Historical Society Minutes, January 26 2013, at Wrather West Kentucky Musueum

President Dr. Bob Lochte called the meeting to order. The minutes were presented and Charles Bobbit moved we accept the minutes and it was seconded and approved.

Marvin Dowling presented the financial report. It was moved that we accept the report by Charles Bobbit and it was seconded and approved. Membership costs were discussed: $15 for individual membership and $20 for a family membership to the Jackson Purchase Historical Society.

The spring meeting will be held at Wickliffe on Saturday, April 27 in the meeting room of the Wickliffe City Hall. Dr. Kit Wesler will present the program.

Wickliffe Mounds is now part of the State Park System and Carla Hildebrand will conduct a tour for anyone and it will be at a discounted rate of $3.00 instead of $5.00.

Currently the summer meeting plans are in the process of being organized. Many have expressed an interest in a tour of an historic church.

The meeting portion was adjourned and the group welcomed the speaker, Dwain McIntosh. He was later offered a complimentary annual membership to the Jackson Purchase Historical Society. The program was titled “High School Basketball in the early 1950’s.” Basketball was “King” in the Jackson Purchase at that time for many area basketball teams, such as Cuba, Brewers, North Marshall and Augusta Tilghman High School. The program was very informative and well received by the audience.

Jackson Purchase Historical Society Minutes for November 3, 2012, at Martin, Tennnessee.


President Dr. Bob Lochte called the meeting to order. The minutes were presented and approved.

This was a joint meeting with the West Tennessee Historical Society was held at The Weldon Public Library in Martin, Tennessee.

Dr. Bob noted he will talk to Chris Wooldridge about submitting a short article on his presentation which he did July 28 in Mayfield.

It was also suggested we need to get our e-mail list updated.
Marvin noted that the treasury fund is always lower at this time when we pay for the journal printing. The Journals are for sale for $6.36. Talk to Marvin if you wish to purchase a journal.

Balance as of August 1, 2012 is $2755.51. Cost of printing the journal $709.90. It does not include the dues paid after July 28th meeting or the sales of several back issues of the Journal. The updated balance as of October 31, 2012 was $3125.51. It was moved by Dieter Ulrich and seconded by Kate Reeves that we accept the Treasurer’s Report.

Linda Higgins and Ed Frank were guests from the West Tennessee Historical Society

Old Business- Dwain McIntosh will present the program January 26 at Wrather West Kentucky Museum, Murray, Kentucky on High School Basketball in the Jackson Purchase during the early 1950’s. Basketball was “King” in the Jackson Purchase at that time for many local communities.

There are no firm plans for spring, but the floor was opened for suggestions. A visit to the Archeological Site at Wickliffe Mounds for March of next year was discussed. It was noted there is no large meeting space at Wickliffe Mounds and that we would need to meet at a public facility nearby. Other sites of interest were suggested: Fulton Railroad Museum, Milan Agricultural Museum, Delta Heritage Center, Tina Turner’s first school and the museum at Palmersville.

The goal for 2013 is to increase membership and the meeting was adjourned.

The program was “Demographics and the Census in West Tennessee” by Richard Saunders.

Kentucky and Tennessee: The Best of Neighbors

On December 6th at 7:00 p.m. Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Bill Cunningham will discuss aspects of the shared history and other commonalities of Kentucky and Tennessee dating back to the creation of the two states. The program is free and will be held in the 2nd Floor Meeting Room of the McCracken County Public Library.

Cunningham is the author of seval books on regional history, including On Bended Knees, Castle, Children of Promise and Flames in the Wind. He was named the Robert Penn Warren Western Kentucky Writer of the Decade in 2011.

For more information about the program please contact Bobbie Wrinkle at 270-442-2510 ext. 119 or bwrinkle@mclib.net

The Cane Creek Cemetery in Ballard County will have an “Open Cemetery” event on Sunday, October 28 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours will begin at 2:15.

The cemetery is located on Slater Road (Hwy 1290) behind Cane Creek Church north of Wickliffe. The event will inform visitors on what can be done to care for neglected and forgotten cemeteries. Presentations will be made by Circuit Judge Timothy A. Langford and Judge Executive Vickie Viniard starting at 3:45.

George Bell, of John W. Bell Monument Works in Cairo, Illinois, will display tools that he uses to hand carve monuments. He will also recite the history of the Kurzcorder Company of Cairo which carved many of the historic monuments in the region during 1800’s.

On display will be photos of the cemetery’s cleanup efforts and demonstrations on how to safely clean old tombstones. Rubbing do’s and don’ts will be shared along with informative brochures from the Kentucky Historical Society on historic cemeteries in the Commonwealth.

Please check the Ballard County Cemetery Board Facebook page for updated information regarding the event. Remember to wear comfortable shoes and bring a lawn chair if you difficulty standing for long periods of time.

The Fall Meeting of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society will be held in Martin, Tennesse on November 3rd at the Weldon Public Library, 100 Main Street, at 10 a.m. The program will begin at 10:30 a.m.

The featured speaker will be Richard Saunders, Interim Director of Library Services at the University of Tennesse at Martin. His presentation is titled “Race and Population Shifts in the Jackson Purchase and West Tennessee.” He is the author of Never Been Rich the Life and Work of a Southern Ruralist Writer, Harry Harrison Kroll and numerous articles on racial demographics, civil rights movements and the history of Mormonism in Utah.

For more information or directions please contact Marvin Downing at mdowning37@charter.net.

Bestselling author Jonathan Sarna will discuss his provocative new book When General Grant Expelled the Jews at the McCraken County Public Library on November 15, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

The book examines the profound and still relevant questions regarding the document known as General Orders Number 11, a footnote to Civil War history.

Dr. Sarna is the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University and Chief Historian of the new National Museum of American Jewish History.

Dubbed by the Forward newspaper in 2004 as one of America’s fifty most influential American Jews, he was Chief Historian for the 350th commemoration of the American Jewish community, and is recognized as a leading commentator on American Jewish history, religion and life. In 2009, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Dr. Sarna has written, edited, or co-edited more than twenty books, including the new Jews and the Civil War: A Reader and A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew. He is best known for the acclaimed American Judaism: A History. Winner of the Jewish Book Council’s “Jewish Book of the Year Award” in 2004, it has been praised as being “the single best description of American Judaism during its 350 years on American soil.”

For more information contact Bobbie Wrinkle at 270-442-2510 ext. 119 or bwrinkle@mclib.net.

Jackson Purchase Historical Society Minutes, July 28, 2012. Mayfield, Kentucky.

President Gilbert Mathis called the meeting to order. The minutes were presented and Bob Lochte moved we accept the minutes.

A report from The Trustees was given.

A $75 donation was earmarked for a Marshall County Roadside Marker.

The Feliciana 94 Marker is missing and William Wells will look into this.

An election of Officers for the coming year was held and Board approved:
President – Bob Lochte
Vice-President – Charles Bobbitt
Secretary – Kate Reeves
Treasurer – Marvin Dowling
Journal Editor – Sarah Strange
Member- at- large – Marion Claybrook, member- at- large.

Melissa Earnest moved we accept the slate of officers and it was “a done deal.”
The meeting was adjourned.

A program was given by Chris Wooldridge, on the Wooldridge Monuments in Mayfield. The group then went out to tour the Wooldridge Monuments.

Chris Wooldridge was also given a complimentary membership to the Society.

The November meeting will be held on the first Saturday in that month and will be at the Weldon Public Library, 100 Main Street, Martin, Tennessee. The program will be titled, “Demographics and the Census in that part of West Tennessee.”

Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site will host a ceremony Thursday, August 23, to acknowledge the reburial of excavated remains and restoration of the burial mound. The 10 a.m. program will include officials from the Chickasaw Nation and the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet.

Wickliffe Mounds is an archaeological site of a Native American village of the Mississippian culture. The site was first excavated in the 1930s by a private owner, revealing numerous burials that were placed on public view.

Murray State University took over the site in 1983 and sponsored archaeological field schools and scientific research under the direction of a professional archaeologist, Dr. Kit Wesler.

In 1991, after the passage of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, the remains were taken from public view and the cemetery exhibit was updated with new interpretive information, including replicas of a few burials. Forensic studies of the remains were performed and consultations with Native Americans began.

In 2004, the site was transferred to the Kentucky Department of Parks and became a state historic site. The remains were kept in a secure area until consultations with Native American tribes, archaeologists and further documentation could be completed.

The Chickasaw Nation has been working with Wickliffe Mounds representatives, Kentucky State Parks, other Native American tribes, archaeologists from Murray State University and the Kentucky Heritage Council for some time on an agreement for a reburial of the remains.

“It is gratifying to reach this agreement, because we have a solemn responsibility to see that our ancestors are treated with the respect they deserve,” said Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby.

The cemetery mound project included a reburial of the Native American remains and reconstruction of the original burial mound. The Chickasaw Nation, a federally recognized tribe that has taken the leading role in consultations with Wickliffe Mounds and Kentucky State Parks, oversaw the reburial in June 2011. Wesler, of the Department of Geosciences, Murray State University, provided the archaeological support.

The park continues to develop new interpretive information to tell the story of the Mississippian people who occupied the site at Wickliffe Mounds nearly a thousand years ago, creating an educational park for all visitors to experience today.

The public is invited to attend the ceremony, which will include the Chickasaw Nation Dance Troupe. Marcheta Sparrow, secretary of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet; Elaine Walker, commissioner of the Department of Parks; and Jefferson Keel, Lt. Governor of the Chickasaw Nation, are scheduled to attend, along with the staff and volunteers of Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site.

The August 23 ceremony and museum admission are free of charge.

Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site has a museum, welcome center, gift shop, picnic area and walking trail and is located at 94 Green St. in Wickliffe, on the Mississippi River’s Great River Road National Scenic Byway. The park is open Wednesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, call 270-335-3681 or email wickliffemounds@ky.gov. Please visit their website at www.parks.ky.gov .