Newsletter
Executive Committee:
President, Gilbert Mathis, gmathis@murraystate.ed
Vice President, Robert Lochte, blochte@murraystate.edu
Secretary, Kate Reeves, kreeves@murraystate.edu
Treasurer, Marvin Downing, mdowning37@charter.net
Member-at-Large, Melissa Earnest, Melissa.earnest@yahoo.com
Past President, Marion Claybrook
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Newsletter for Summer 2012
Fall Meeting
Saturday, November 3 at 10 a.m.
Location: Weldon Library, 100 Main St., Martin TN
Program: Race and Population Shifts in the Jackson Purchase and West Tennessee
Featured Speaker: Richard Saunders, Interim Director, UTM
Here’s how Richard describes his presentation:
A couple of years ago I did an article on population shifts in the region based on census data. It focused on racial percentages, but a number of interesting other things showed up. Tobacco and cotton were both heavily manual labor, but only cotton was raised by slaves. Though slavery had been a power source for early tobacco farming, by the time the Jackson Purchase was populated, it had become a poor-white farming industry.
Looking at the racial percentages in a population help us see the past a little differently. Populations are an effect rather than a cause of social economies. I am doing a similar study involving crop succession and it is even more interesting.
Looking ahead to programs for 2013 High School Basketball in the Jackson Purchase of the 1940’s and 1950’s, when our teams played for the state championship every year. This meeting will be held in January at Wrather West Kentucky Museum and presented by Dwain McIntosh.
Sarah Strange is the new editor of the journal and submissions may be sent to her at her email address
strangex@mail.com
She would like everyone to know she is anxiously awaiting some articles.
The 2012-2013 dues are now being collected by Marvin at the meetings.
An election of officers was held at the July 28, 2012 meeting. President Dr. Bob Lochte, Vice-President Charles Bobbitt, Secretary Kate Reeves, Treasurer Marvin Dowling, Journal Editor Sarah Strange and Marion Claybrook, member-at-large.
Bill Wells reports that He “has checked on the Feliciana marker and it is now in place on Ky 94 a few miles east of Water Valley. No details on its recent history.”
Newsletter for Spring 2012
Here’s a rundown of the next three programs at the quarterly JPHS meetings. All events begin at 10 AM for coffee and snacks, followed by the business meeting and program at 10:30.
The Spring Meeting will be held Saturday, April 28 at WPSD in Paducah
Saturday, April 28
Location: WPSD, Channel 6, 100 Television Lane, Paducah KY
Program: The Fight for Paducah’s Channel 6
Featured Speaker: Bill Evans, Vice-President of News and Operations, WPSD
Here’s how Bill describes his presentation:
The Paxton family of Western Kentucky dominated the newspaper business for almost six decades and owned two radio stations when they battled two other families for the new television license the federal government would award to Paducah, Kentucky. In preparing this historical presentation I had rare access to Federal Communication Commission testimony from the 1950’s, original Associated Press dispatches to the Paducah Sun-Democrat, and WPSD television’s historical archives. Family patriarch and former WPSD-TV President & General Manager Fred Paxton also granted me face-to-face interviews before his death in 2006. I also interviewed two of the 20 original employees of WPSD-TV. Other information came from a review of the archives of the Paducah Sun, the McCracken County Genealogical-Historical Society, and other published works. Bill will illustrate his talk with many archival photographs and documents. There will be a brief tour of the TV station after the meeting for anyone who is interested.
Saturday, July 28
Location: Mayfield, TBC
Program: Restoration of the Wooldridge Monuments, Maplewood Cemetery
Featured Speaker: Chris Wooldridge, descendant of Col. Henry Wooldridge
Program Description:
The Wooldridge Monuments, on the National Register of Historic Places, are a series of historical monuments located in Maplewood Cemetery of Mayfield, Kentucky. They were built for Colonel Henry G. Wooldridge, to commemorate family members and other loved ones of his life, from 1892 until Wooldridge’s death on May 30, 1899. The most prominent is a life-size likeness of Wooldridge himself, a 6-foot-tall marble statue in the center of the site, made in Italy Fourteen other monuments surrounding Wooldridge are made of limestone by local sculptors. The largest of these represent Wooldridge on his horse, named “Fop”. The other limestone statues are 5 feet tall on 3-foot-tall bases, and represent family members. Behind these are replicas of a fox, a deer, and two hounds chasing them; the dogs are unidentified on the statue but represent Wooldridge’s dogs “Towhead” and “Bob.” The monuments were severely damaged in the ice storm of January 2009, and were completely restored in the spring and summer of 2010. A tour of the monument follows the presentation.
Saturday, November 3
Location: Weldon Library, 100 Main St., Martin TN
Program: Race and Population Shifts in the Jackson Purchase and West Tennessee
Featured Speaker: Richard Saunders, Reference Librarian, UTM
Here’s how Richard describes his presentation:
A couple of years ago I did an article on population shifts in the region based on census data. It focused on racial percentages, but a number of interesting other things showed up. Tobacco and cotton were both heavily manual labor, but only cotton was raised by slaves. Though slavery had been a power source for early tobacco farming, by the time the Jackson Purchase was populated, it had become a poor-white farming industry.
Looking at the racial percentages in a population help us see at the past a little differently. Populations are an effect rather than a cause of social economies. I am doing a similar study involving crop succession and it is even more interesting.
Looking ahead to 2013: High School Basketball in the Jackson Purchase of the 1940’s and 1950’s-when our teams played for the state championship every year.
A planned visit to Ft. Donelson to tour the National Monument and finds out more about a decisive battle in the western theatre of the Civil War.
A planned visit to Wickliffe Mounds to tour the National Historic Site and learn about the Native American culture of the Mississippian era 1000-1300 AD.
Membership News:
The WTHS held a joint meeting with the West Tennessee Museum Association on Saturday at the Parker’s Crossroads Visitors Center on Saturday, March 3, 2012. From 10am to 11am. museum matters were discussed. From 11am to 12 noon Dr. Lonnie Maness, retired UT Martin Professor Emeritus, spoke on General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s First West Tennessee Campaign–December 1862 and its overall importance to the Civil War in the Western Theater. Following Dr. Maness, Representative Steve McDaniel gave a power point presentation on the acquisition and establishment of the Parker’s Crossroads National Battlefield Park. This event was well attended.
Marvin Downing has been invited to write the introduction to Larry Holder’s “His Kingdom First,” a pictorial account of the history leading to the 2012 Martin First Baptist Church auditorium.
JPHS Contact Information:
Jackson Purchase Historical Society
P.O. Box 223
Mayfield, KY 42066
Email Address: www.info@jacksonpurchasehistory.org.
Website: http://www.jacksonpurchasehistory.org.
