Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Newspaper ad on Bell Grove Springs dtd 05/14/1868


This property in my Hinton Family line in the 1820's -1840's became after the Civil War, a vacation resort.

"BREA" a Lovely campus




"Berea College, founded by ardent abolitionists and radical reformers, continues today as an educational institution still firmly rooted in its historic purpose "to promote the cause of Christ." Adherence to the College's scriptural foundation, "God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth," shapes the College's culture and programs so that students and staff alike can work toward both personal goals and a vision of a world shaped by Christian values, such as the power of love over hate, human dignity and equality, and peace with justice"

From their website.  

     We were taken on a tour of the campus.  Cory is in his second year and showed us the sights.

     The campus holds many different activities year round. It is a free education for those selected. No matter their religious backgrounds, creed, race and color....


    Traveling throughout the South, one is reminded just how devote the people were with their religious and spiritual beliefs. Sunday church is a common occurrence. In many places it is a  "dry "county.  This means that you can not buy hard liquor on Sunday's. Beer is the only thing you may be able to find.
       The famous Southern hospitality is alive and well.

Flemingsburg, Plummers Landing on to:
GODDARD, Kentucky

     Traveling through the countryside, I envisioned my 3X great Grandmother Sarah playing with her many siblings, riding in a wagon to go to church, or down by the lake.

My Great Grandparents Hezekiah and Mary  had at least 10 children.
The Property they owned was known as Bell Grove ( Springs).
    When we got to Goddard, I found a covered bridge across from the pioneer Methodist church.
Cousin Elaine who's Great GF was a brother to Sarah, (Sally) William "Doc" Hinton was very well known in these parts.  Our 4x GR GM, their mother was "Mary" nicknamed "Polly"
     Sarah had married John Anthony Davis and they had left the state. Civil War broke out. Her family was on the Confederate Side. Some of the Hinton's though were split down the middle. Some for the Confederates, while some were for the Union.  We found out that Sally's husband had chosen to fight for the Union.  I wondered if following this, there was a break in the family, or they may have rejected Sarah and her family? It appears the Hinton's in KY knew of Sarah, but she was the only one ( and her descendants) they could not account for?
     For over one hundred years, our family line was lost to our cousins in KY. Through my research we found one another. Sarah ( Sally) had Molly, who married Charles Smith. They had Abner Smith, who had my maternal Grandmother Mary. Ironically, I once held the last name "Davis," and am now married to a "Smith."

   The Goddard Bridge is  the last example of a Ithiel town lattice design. The timbers were joined by wooden pegs.

Pictures of Tour of Brea College and on to Goddard, KY


Brea college was started for those children of the Appalachian mountains who would otherwise not have a chance for higher learning. It was free then as it is now, with students working and earning their way, by assignments on campus. We drove around the campus and then my son's Ken and Justin and I took a "walking" road trip throughout the expansive College Campus. I just LOVED the Brick buildings that are bountiful back East!!


100 years of Brea College


                                                   2012
Brea College added this tower after the retirement of their last President recently

 The Famous KY Goddard "White" Bridge


Ancestral 327 acres including 22 acre lake and most recent a B&B

Where Hezekiah's and Mary(Polly's) Kids played after 1820
Has been out of the Hinton family for abt 150 years.  It is now for sell, for almost 1 Million
Has hot springs somewhere on the property.

Kentucky Sunrise- July 2012 Pictures Group 1





21 July 2012


We Are On the Road again day after Flight Arrival

                                                                                                                                            
Flemingsburg Cemetary in Flemingsburg KY
Myself, with two of my five, Ken E. and Justin C.
I am behind the Final resting place of my maternal 4X Great
Grandparents Hezikiah and Mary ( Polly Bennett Tatum) HINTON
To right of Justin is Memorial only of my 5th Gr GF Vachel Hinton
Hezikiah's dad.
Organizations of "Sons and Daughters of The American Revolution" placed
the Tombstone "Memorial" next to Vachel's son and Daughter -in-law
since his final resting place is at the bottom of the hill under the two lane highway between
Maysville, KY and Flemingsburg. In 1930's they paved over the Pioneer Cemetery.



LTC Daniel Boone Fought this last Revolutionary Battle.  Many from Canada came to
fight for the British. They brought with them Canadian Indians, and also had Native American
Indians from many tribes fighting along with.


This  Major Bedinger, who was in the Rev War, served in the US Congress for four years. He opposed slavery and
Freed his slaves when they turned 30 years old

Thursday, August 16, 2012

American Revolution and Daniel Boone

23 July, 2012 ( Monday)

   One of the places we stayed at was a Best Western in Maysville, KY. What many people do not know, is that Rosemary Clooney the actress had her big start here, She was born 23 May 1928 in Maysville, Kentucky. She performed at the now famous Russell Theatre, which is under renovation. Her "nephew," George Clooney is rumored to be her son, not her nephew. He was born in Lexington, KY. Ken had I had the ability to go there. Also, right behind the theatre, is the Ohio River. The flood walls extend along the length of the river, between the two bridges. Beautiful wall murial's, many showing the history of KY, have been painted there.
     Traveling along the small highways, and country roads, were signs warning of horse and buggies.  Amish live all through this area. Many have moved down from Pennsylvania, were they can find farming more profitable. At night, if you are out and about, you can tell those homes that are "English," which is how we are sometimes referred, to those that are Amish.  They do not use electricity. You can see the kerosene lamps in the windows and in their living/kitchen areas, if their curtains are pulled open. They have no light poles around their barns or outside areas, as many of the "English" farmers and ranchers do.
    Women are seen in their white caps and long floor length dresses, out mowing with the old fashioned lawnmowers our Grandfathers use to push.  I found myself feeling sorry for them.

    JC and I had done a recon, and found outside Maysville, a sign that said "Blue Licks Battlefield." I had never heard of it. We told the boys to load up, we were going on an adventure.  It is off the highway, US 68 in Robertson County between Paris and Maysville. This park is less then 15 miles down the road from Maysville, heading east. It is in Northeastern Kentucky.
     We found ourselves, in a state park.
There was a memorial to the American Revolution. It appeared that right here on that very spot, the Last Battle of the American Revolution had been fought. Again, the woods were thick and dense foliage abounded. Song birds were singing, our arrival. The mood was somber. This was were our people, proud Kentuckians had stood their ground against the British and British/Canadians and Indians for our right to be free!
     The memorial stated that the battle took place on August 19, 1782.
     It appears that some Native Americans and the British allies, first  defeated the group of American colonists. Looking up at the memorial, I saw the name of Daniel Boone. He was a Lieutenant Colonel, ( LTC) at the time. He lost his son in the battle. The man who would be the Grandfather to Abe Lincoln's wife Mary Todd, by the name of Levi Todd, was also in this battle.    
     Captain Caldwell had concealed his British and Indian army along the ravines from the hilltop to the Licking river. The pioneers were outnumbered,  walked into the ambush and were forced to flee across the river.
The battle was most difficult for all, mostly because of the terrain.  Some pioneers escaped and some escaped only to be re captured, and many were killed.
     The area has since 2008, been  undergoing archaeological digs. It is known as the " Archaeological Survey of Blue Licks," with the hopes of finding American Revolutionary archaeological finds, like buttons and musket balls and other things.

Daniel Boone was a LTC and survived this Last American Revolutionary Battle of "BLUE LICKS"


Daniel Boone's son was killed.


The Kentucky Heroes found themselves surrounded, but fought valiantly
    

LOUISVILLE, HINDERSON, & St. Louis Bridge

23 July 2012 ( late afternoon)


 JC pulled over and it was my turn to drive. The weather was hot and humid.  Suddenly, as I pulled over to get my bearings, I was transported back to my days in South Carolina.  I was that 18 year old girl again, plucked up from her home and transported from a well known environment to a strange and alien country.  The culture shock was one thing, but the heat and humidity was another. I hated it.  Now, I knew why I had never really sought out living this far East and South.
Beautiful country, but if I had not acclimated after three months back in 1974,  and then living three months in Texas, in corpsman school, I knew I never really would.
  Years ago, I had spent a week in the month of June, locked up with two of my kids, in their Great Grandmothers home in  Pampa, Texas.  Lightening storms with bolts of electricity pounding the front lawn and across the street. The boom, Boom...was deafening, drowning out my terrified, screaming babies.
      Not safe to go outside; can't turn on the TV or talk on the phone.  Heat and humidity was enough to drive me up the wall.  Here I was trapped, with their Great Grandmother chain smoking, Two half smoke cigarettes smoldering in an ashtray, one still burning in the bathroom, and I can't even escape with my two babes, ( Ken was a young infant) to the kitchen where another was lighting up. The humidity was stifling. 
     Kentucky this time of year was no different. I did not remember, and neither did Ken, being this bad in 2009 when we were last here.
     As we resumed driving, I was  on the alert for tornado's.....Yes, I was worried. This is the time they are present in the South and Midwest.
     Give me earthquakes over lightening, or tornado's....
    
     We arrived at some railroad tracks. "Lets see where it takes us," I encouraged my bored 19 year old JD. The 23 year old Ken,  just shrugged, hoping to get into the mood, to please me. Mom is the English and History buff. He was sure, I would find a one room schoolhouse, all decked out in the original furnishings, and I would be posing them for pictures. (My husband, and the rest of the family, had coined me the 'shutterbug.')
I was reminded Not to do so, if there was a "Dunce" cap in the corner, like their Grandfathers old school, now turned museum in Columbia State Park, near Angels Camp, California. They weren't little kids anymore, and
would dig their heels to resist certain pictures, they assured me. I smiled at their protest, knowing they were serious. Icecream would no longer work.
         The railroad tracks had been " built in 1893 as the "Texas Route," to connect Louisville and St. Louis. A few years later it had been renamed the Louisville Henderson & St. Lewis Railway."

     As we explored further, we found that we were at a previous Civil War fort.  Fort Duffield had in 2011, celebrated its 150th Anniversary -  1861-2011!   We were greeted by a  "Welcome" sign that informed us that this was "Kentucky's Largest and Best Preserved Earthen Civil War Fort."    We would have to walk 1/4 mile up hill all the way.
     I was getting excited, and all worked up!   Someday, if I ever got my degree, and teaching credentials, I could trade my stethoscope for seeing the looks on students who may love history the way I do.
    If not, I would certainly try to inspire them, the way I wish someone had opened those doors of  History and reading and writing for me, way back when!
    JC could not walk due to his recent surgeries, and he was content to stay with the car.  Ken, Justin and I took off.
    At the Fork in the road, one sign said  "Fort Duffield," and the other pointed to the cemetery, which was at a smaller incline. Due to my recent knee surgeries, I asked the boys to take one camera and head to the Fort. "Take Lots of Pictures guys!" I had the other digital. Boy, was I glad I had brought both!  I prayed they would get good pictures, not knowing what they would find.
     I headed the other way. I loved, Loved, LOVED exploring by myself, sometimes. This was One of those times.  I knew I could not climb the steeper hill, besides, I felt that going to this sacred place, was where I, a soldier myself, belonged.
         The Fort had been built in 1861 as a Homestead area. It was high about the farm lands, and was a perfect vantage point, and perfect security.  If the enemy came from down below, they would be seen easily.  It was mostly built by  9th   Michigan soldiers. Many who died from 1861-1862. They have there, modern VA type
tombstones, but no one is buried beneath them. It is written that perhaps the soldiers appeared to be actually buried, in unmarked graves,  about 100 feet from these tombstones, and from the Flag Pole.

       They are unmarked, except for flat stones that had been placed there, to mark their graves.. Someone, in Our century had taken button snaps like from an old tent flap, and placed them on each stone, that they  thought is marking a soldier. The stones are like walking path cobblestones, and certainly had been dug a long time ago, out of  this terrain. They were old and cracked and had seen over a hundred years of wear.
     Looking down into the valley floor, I saw in my mind, the South and the North, locked in battle.  Brothers and Fathers and relations, fighting for causes they themselves would question later.

     While building Fort Duffield, many had died of various diseases.
     Here I found a name,  "Jessie  L. Benson," he was a private with Co B.  9TH Mich Infantry. He had died Nov 29, 1861.
Benson was the maiden name of my maternal Great Grandmother who died during the 1918 Spanish Flu in Tacoma Washington. She had relations that had come from Michigan.
    Could he have been a distant relation, before she was born?  "Reuben C. Smith," a private in Company K also of the Michigan Infantry. They knew he had died Nov 30, 1861. "Patrick O'Brien." was a private with Co H of the Michigan Infantry. He had died March 29, 1862. These were just a few of 36 known names.
  I began to feel sorrow, that 100 feet away from these engraved tombstones, somewhere under those flat rocks covered in grass and moss... may .lay some of  these 36  men, in unmarked graves.......It is not really clear. But a historian Richard Briggs who is a West Point, Kentucky historian, says that many of the "Flat stones....were still in neat rows as recent as 1970."  Where the exact location of some or all of the remains is not important, only that they are never forgotten.
A marker engraved, says    Fort Duffield, 1861 - 1865  "In Memory of our Civil War dead."
    It appears that some may have been taken back to Michigan for reburial. Some were taken to the National Cemetery in New Albany, Indiana. But the US Army and the Veterans administration, can find no record of them being moved to another site.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

The South is FULL Of History

July 23, 2012 ( Monday)


Cousin Elaine said she would meet us in Flemingsburg for lunch. Then we would show my youngest and my spouse, some of the sights that Ken and I had visited a few years back with Elaine and her sister.  After Lunch at the Bowling lane, we drove up to the cemetery. Elaine had my two boys in her car. She had forgotten just where the memorial to Vachel ( Rev War)  was located. Finally we found it!  HE is not buried there, but just a couple miles down the road on the two lane "Highway," between Maysville and Flemingsburg. It seems that in the 1930's they decided to connect the two towns, which are about 20 miles apart. They just Paved Right Over Vachel's final resting place. We suspect his first wife was also there. His second wife, Nancy Roy ( my Five times Great Grandmother ) had been taken by her sons from a previous marriage and buried out of state. Here in Flemingsburg Pioneer Cemetery, the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, had erected a monument in his honor. Next to Vachel's monument was his and Nancy's son, and daughter in -law. This was Elaine's and my four times Great Grandfather Hezekiah and our Grandmother Mary, (Polly) Bennett Tatum.
     Then on the Road Again!   We drove to the old covered bridge, crossing it, and out towards the Old Warm Springs.
Our Great Grandparents Hezekiah and Mary, had owned some land between the 1830's and 1840's. Now it was a former Bed and Breakfast on the spot. Ken and I had visited it before with Elaine and her sister. This day found us standing outside an empty house, up for sale, along with 327 acres including the 22 acre lake out front. Only for almost 0ne million dollars!
Two bad, that after almost two hundred years, we could not bring it back into the family!
      We said goodbye to our wonderful cousin, and we headed out exploring.......our rental car was taking good care of us!