Jackson Purchase Historical Society

May 18 – Martin, Tennessee – Genealogy Room, Martin Public Library

Renee LaFleur, “Women’s Suffrage in Tennessee.”

June 22 – Murray, Kentucky– Calloway County Public Library

Stuart Sanders, “Anatomy of a Duel: Secession, Civil War, and the Evolution of Kentucky Violence.” Book Signing to follow.

July 18 – Paducah, Kentucky– Inland Waterways Museum

Bob Jost, “The Trail of Tears: The Water Route.”

August 17 – Paducah, Kentucky – Temple Israel

Roy Hensel, “US Grant and the Expulsion of the Jews from Paducah.”

September TO BE ANNOUNCED

October 12 – Mayfield, Kentucky – Venue to be determined.

Bruce Dobyns, “The Campbell Stone Movement in Western Kentucky.”

November 2 – Venue to be determined.

Erik Nordberg, “Early Aviation History in West Tennessee.”

Meetings start at 10:30 am – except May 18, which will start at 9:30 — and are usually available by ZOOM.

All meetings are free and open to the public.

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from April 25, 1874

• No issue was published for April 18, 1874.
• A major flood struck the region late last week with a severity had “not been witnessed in the memory of the oldest inhabitant.” The Mississippi River was reported to have risen two inches in the past 24 hours. The West Hickman levee was submerged and in great danger of being washed away. Some eight or ten families were reported to have been driven from their homes from the rising river. “There will certainly be more water, but how much depends altogether upon the Missouri and Mississippi rises which at present is somewhat alarming,” reported the Hickman Courier.
• The publisher of the Hickman Courier apologized for the delay in distributing the latest issue due to the “breakage in the railroad, mails, and other inconveniences.” He also reported that “loafers” were stealing newspapers from some of the local businesses.
• The steamship Lone Star, a reputed “bawdy dance” boat, was anchored across from Hickman on the Missouri shore and some residents of the city wished to “cut the thing loose” and put the crew adrift.
• A man by the name of W. S. Martin was arrested for stealing the watch and other items from John Hines of Hickman. Martin awaits trial in the city jail.
• Dan Rice’s Circus was scheduled to be in Hickman on April 16^th but failed to appear. The sheriff in at Memphis closed the show down due to some business “attachments.”
• The young members of the Hickman Odd Fellows announced a grand ball to celebrate the anniversary of the order’s establishment.
• The Board of Directors of the Fulton Agricultural Society organized a committee to obtain additional stock to finance the Fulton County Annual Fair.
• Several businesses were expected to open in Hickman by the fall season.
• William Frenz’s Circulating Library on Clinton Street announced they would be open every day except Sundays. The library contained nearly 400 volumes, and more were being added. Memberships were $3.00 a year.
• Religious services were to be held at the Hickman Episcopal Church on April 26^th at 10:30 a.m.
• The lecture by Reverend Edward F. Berkley held at the new Episcopal Church in Hickman on April 20^th was “slimly attended” but “highly entertaining.”
• Mayor William M. Hubbard of Columbus, after serving the city for a year, resigned.
• Thomas Allen, President of the Iron Mountain Railroad, stated that he considered the best crossing of the Mississippi River to be at Columbus and he would do his best to bring another railroad to the city.
• Some farmers in Fulton were receiving circulars from a fraudulent business titled C. O. D. Supply Company which proposed to “sell everything and any kind of merchandise at 25 and 50 percent lower than home dealers.” The company required farmers to send $20 in cash with the promise to send the articles ordered.
• A destructive fire occurred at Union City, Tennessee on the night of April 22nd. Several businesses were affected, and the losses were expected to exceed $15,000.
• Martin Green was shot and dangerously wounded at Newbern, Tennessee.
• The farmers in the vicinity of Dyer Station prepared to plant more corn and less cotton in the upcoming season.
• The Cairo Gazette reported the two girls, age 12 and 14, from Tennessee were molested by J. E. Parks and Tom Black near the Little Kentuckian Saloon on April 21st. The two men were captured at New Madrid, Missouri and returned to Cairo, Illinois on April 25^th.

Join Alex Waldrop as he discusses his time working in the horse racing industry at the next meeting of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 27, at the Calloway County Public Library at 710 Main St, Murray, Kentucky. The presentation is free to attend and centers around the history, tradition and the unique spectacle of the Kentucky Derby. Waldrop’s presentation will enlighten the audience concerning the many reasons why the “Run for the Roses” has grown into America’s most prestigious annual horse racing event and what Forbes Magazine has described as one of the “Greatest Bucket-list Sporting Events” in America.

Alex Waldrop is the former President and CEO of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association where for 15 years he led the Thoroughbred industry’s national office with responsibilities for federal legislative advocacy, racing safety and integrity, and management of issues of national significance to Thoroughbred racing.
Mr. Waldrop spent 13 years with Churchill Downs, Inc., as President and General Manager of Churchill Downs Racetrack (1999-2002); General Counsel (1992-1998), and Senior Vice President, Public Affairs (2003 – 2004). He is also a former equity partner at the law firm of Wyatt Tarrant & Combs.

Currently, Mr. Waldrop chairs the board of directors of the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium, a unique horseracing research, education and advocacy organization with representatives from all aspects and all breeds of horseracing. He also consults on state regulatory matters with both the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) and the Horseracing Integrity and Welfare Unit (HIWU).

Mr. Waldrop is a native of Mayfield Kentucky and a graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law. Recently, after 45 years living and working outside of Western Kentucky, he and his wife moved back to the region where they are now living on Lake Barkley in Canton, Kentucky overlooking the Land Between the Lakes National Recreational Area.

To join us via Zoom please register your attendance by going to the URL listed below.

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwkce-orDoiGNxe6RsMx0rJntvTEr_BaEAB

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from April 11, 1874

• A snowstorm on April 9^th reportedly “caused a heavy demand for coal, overcoats, and overshoes” in Hickman. The freeze of that night “finished the fruit crop of this section.” Farmers were “getting dispirited” that the wet weather halted progress with the planting season.
• The Mississippi River was reported rising and that with the melting snow overflow was “inevitable” at Hickman.
• Due to bad weather of April 9^th, the “letting of the bridge across Puncheon Creek” was postponed until April 17^th.
• The new St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Hickman was to be “opened for divine service” at 10 o’clock on April 19^th.
• The Hickman Order of Odd Fellows planned to celebrate the anniversary of their Order on April 27^th with a “grand ball and supper.”
• The Hickman Building Association was being organized and proposes to invest in building houses in the city.
• There were a dozen houses being built in Hickman and a new grocery store constructed by William Desilebreck in East Hickman. In old Hickman, Hertweck, Baltzer and Knoerr were building an addition to their wagon factory.
• The debate for and against prohibition of alcohol in Fulton County was highlighted in the Hickman Courier, along with a “plea for Temperance Societies” and a call that the election was “too hasty” and should be postponed.
• It was reported that the Fulton County assessment by the State of Kentucky may lead to “considerable reduction in the rate of taxation.”
• W. Robertson, W. G. Bullett, F. M. Ray, and J. M. Bigger announced their candidacies for Circuit Court Judge of the First Judicial District.
• Bernard A. Neale, N. P. Moss, and A. R. Stubblefied announced their candidacies for Commonwealth Attorney of the First Judicial District.
• John W. Wingate, H. C. Bailey, Jonah Montgomery, and Joseph Roulac announced their candidacies for Fulton County Judge.
• John W. Mays, William D. Taylor, J. T. Branham, and George W. Stubblefied announced their candidacies for Fulton County Jailer.
• John F. Tyler announced his candidacy for Fulton County Sheriff, J. F. Bynum announced his candidacy for Circuit Court Clerk, John N. Wilson announced his candidacy for Fulton County Clerk, Peter McConnell announced his candidacy for Fulton County Surveyor, and B. F. Hubert, M. G. Gaskins, and John R. Fields declared their candidacies for Fulton County Assessor.
• Caswell Bennett and Oscar Turner, candidates for Congress in the First District, addressed a crowd of people at Eddyville on April 6^th. Both men declared that “there was no difference between them in regard to politics, each being a Democrat.” They addressed the “inequities of the Federal system of taxation” and “protective tariffs.”
• P. Caldwell of Weakley County, Tennessee was candidate for 9^th Congressional District of Tennessee.
• The Dresden Democrat reported that Vincent Brann of Weakley County, Tennessee was accidently killed in a hunting accident on April 9^th. John McDaniel, also of Weakley County, while shouldering his rifle “bashed against a limb” which discharged the gun beneath the shoulder blade of Brann. Brann left a wife and two children.
• The Dresden Democrat also reported on April 3^rd that the son of A. Brasfield was bit by a mad dog and that Hardin Maddox of Hickman traveled to Dresden with a “mad-stone” to cure the boy. He applied the stone for four hours and that no symptoms of hydrophobia were noticed, and the son was “supposed to be in no great danger.” Maddox stated that the stone was given to him by his grandfather and “originally came from some wonderful island.”
• The first annual ball and supper of the Clipper Baseball Club of New Madrid, Missouri was to be held on April 14^th.

Stories of Interest from the Hickman Courier from April 4, 1874

• The Mississippi River was reported receding and that farmers in the lowlands could “now consider themselves pretty safe, but not altogether so.”
• A heavy frost on the morning of April 2^nd damaged many fruit trees in the region.
• A man and his wife were knocked unconscious in their home on Pine Steet in Hickman, when the man used a gun that had not been fired for over eight years from his window. He and his wife were propelled into the hearth of the fireplace where he suffered a dislocated shoulder and his wife’s “teeth were imbedded in his scalp.” Both were reported to have recovered from the incident.
• The Hickman City Council met on March 30^th to settle accounts submitted by the Finance and Street Committees. A coffee house license was granted to H. F. Cheatham and John C. Heinze for six months. The City Marshal was directed to notify property owners to repair sidewalks before their residencies within ten days. A lengthy petition was presented by the ladies of Hickman not to issue liquor licenses to saloon keepers until a vote on the temperance law was to be held next month. The Council decided not to “anticipate the adoption of the new law and ordered licenses to be issued.”
• The “whiskey war” in Hickman was all the excitement as intoxicated men stayed indoors or were “guarded by the police for protection.” The May election on Temperance was the big question on the minds of many residents of the city. Editorials in the Hickman Courier strongly oppose the proposed law as being too radical.
• Judge A. D. Kingman addressed the black Methodist Church in Hickman on April 1^st. Elder Warren Thompson pledged to organize a Colored Temperance Society at the meeting. Several names were presented for membership.
• The Hickman String Band planned to have a ball at the City Hall on April 6^th.
• The Hickman Juvenile Dancing Club scheduled a ball at the City Hall for the evening of April 10^th.
• McCracken County Sheriff, Thomas D. Grundy, instituted a lawsuit against the Louisville Commercial claiming $25,000 in damages for reporting Grundy as being intoxicated while taking prisoners to the penitentiary.
• Appellate Judge William Lindsay, of Clinton, announced his candidacy for Governor of Kentucky.
• Caswell Bennet, of Livingston County, announced himself a candidate for Congress in the First District. Rumors stated that Thomas Moss, of McCracken County, and W. C. Machen, of Lyon County, planned to declare their candidacies soon.
• A secret society called the Knights of Honor began organizing lodges in the region.

The Mayfield Democrat announced the marriage of James Leggett of Buckskull, Missouri and Sallie Drinkard of Bucksnort, Tennessee.