JPHS Vice President Richard Parker was the featured speaker at the March 10th meeting of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society at the Benton Branch of the Marshall County Public Library. JPHS President Bill Mulligan called a short business meeting to order where the following topics were discussed: electronic/digital edition of the Journal, membership, articles needed for the Journal, esssay contest, encyclopedia of the Jackson Purchase, 501(c)3 status, and a change in the upcoming schedule. Mulligan also made available stickers for those who wanted one to place in their copy of the Journal, which was presented a Kentucky Historical Society award during the last round of recognition.
Introducing the guest speaker, Mulligan noted Parker was the author of The Wild World of the Jackson Purchase, and was a past student of Mulligan’s at Murray State University. Parker was born in Murray, Kentucky, but grew up in Paris, Tennessee. He had a Boy Scout background and spent many years exploring the area known as the Jackson Purchase. It was when he was student teaching in Louisville that he realized the Jackson Purchase was not well known across the rest of the state of Kentucky. And so he began researching and writing about the interesting characters of the area. Parker now works as a teacher for the Forest Service at the Golconda Job Corps in Golconda, Illinois, and he and his family reside in Paducah.
Parker’s talk focused on the Kentucky counties of the Jackson Purchase, telling stories about some of the characters found in the pages of his book. Many of the illustrations in the book were drawn by Parker and he has begun putting some of those on t-shirts which are available for purchase, as is the book, The Wild World of the Jackson Purchase.
The persons covered during Parker’s program and their county connection were:
- Calloway – Dr. Theodore Roosevelt Mason Howard (medicine)
- Carlisle – Martha Stewart (actress; singer)
- Marshall – Dr. Robert Grubbs (chemistry)
- Fulton – Casey Jones (railroad)
- Graves – Ellis Wilson (artist)
- Hickman – Col. E. H. Taylor, Jr. (bourbon)
- Ballard – Kenny Rollins (basketball)
- Graves – Lyons Quintuplets (Oscar & Elizabeth, parents)
- Fulton – Darnell(Darnall)-Lane(Watson) Feud (written about by Mark Twain)
- McCracken – Buckskin Bill’s Wild West Show (second in popularity to Buffalo Bill’s)
A brief question and answer session was held immediately following Parker’s program. It was obvious that all in attendance were very interested in Parker’s book and presentation by the caliber of questions and comments made.
The next meeting will be held Saturday, April 28 at 10:30 am in the Wrather Museum Auditorium on the campus of Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky. The guest speaker will be Matthew Meyer on the topic, “Sophronia: A New Castle Pioneer Woman.” The general public is always welcome to attend and to become a member of the JPHS.
