11/22/1917

OLIVE HILL   William Gearhart, Representative in the state Legislature from 
the one hundredth district, comprising Carter and Elliot Counties, was 
instantly killed by a falling beam at a barn raising near his home. 
Gearhart was a farmer and a Republican. A special election will be held to 
select his successor.


5/22/1917

GRAYSON   Lafayette Kitchen, a farmer age 21, was shot in the back and 
instantly killed while on his way home from church Sunday night. Two men 
stopped him and his little nephew, when he was near the Deer Creek 
schoolhouse. After a few words with the men Kitchen started toward home and 
three shots were fired, one striking him in the back causing instant death.
Jason Leadingham, Asa Leadingham, Morton Leadingham, John Pennington, 
Jessee Pennington, Charles Dorner and Samuel Justice today were arrested 
and placed in jail here charged with complicity in the killing.
Kitchen was the son of Riley Kitchen and a brother of Charles Kitchen of 
Ashland, Ky. He is survived by a wife.


11/16/1950

GRAYSON   Miles Monroe Stewart who with his brother may have been the 
oldest twins in the nation died to day at 97.
He is survived by his twin George W. Stewart of Ashland, Ky. Stewart 
leaves, besides his brother, 5 daughters, 2 sons, 44 grandchildren, 102 
great-grandchildren and 13 great-great grandchildren.


7/27/1953

UPPER SANDUSKY, OHIO    Funeral services were held for James Kelly, 76 
here. A retired farmer he had resided here for 11 years. Born in Pactolus, 
Ky. Jan. 5, 1877 to Mr. and Mrs. John Kelly he was united in marriage with 
Rachel Patton, October 5, 1906 in Greenup, Ky.


1/09/1909

A peculiar freak of nature has shown up in Kentucky. Wells that have been 
dry for weeks, springs that have long ceased to flow, have burst forth says 
the Grayson, Ky. Bugle Herald, and some of the small creeks that were dry 
as a powder keg are now having running streams -all this without rain.


8/10/1895

PORTSMOUTH OHIO Miss Lizzie Stamper was arrested in this city by United 
States Marshall Pritchard of Grayson, Ky. She was taken across the river 
without requisition papers and will be tried for selling moonshine whisky 
in Lewis County. She carried a trunk full of quart bottles and sold large 
quantities of fairly good whiskey at forty cents a quart, traveling 
regularly here on a branch of the C & O railroad. Her source of supply has 
not been discovered. 



3/5/1918

Mrs. Ida Kyle of near Adkins, Ky. true to the traditions of the Kentucky 
Mountains is running the farm while her husband is away at some productive 
department to help Uncle Sam. She bought from Jacobs Bros. last Saturday 
$50 worth of grass seed to be sown on the farm this spring. The thing was 
to surprise Mr. Jacobs, as he had not been used to seeing the women folks 
purchase the grass seed.


3/24/1944

GRAYSON   Judge George McClave yesterday levied $10 fines and costs, 
against six parents in Carter County Court on charges of failing to have 
their children attend school. Those fined were Dan Hall, Rube Wilburn, Sam 
Kiser, and Lon Sturgill all of Grahn and Daniel Duncan of Olive Hill.


2/23/1926

GRAYSON   Harry Stedman, 72 year old farmer was formerly charged with the 
death of his 61 year old wife, Nancy, a bride of four months, who was 
clubbed to death at their home a mile from here.
The warrant for Stedman's arrest was sworn out by the son's of Mrs. 
Stedman. From his cell, the aged farmer reiterated his story that Mrs. 
Stedman received her fatal injuries resulting from robbers. The same men, 
he said, tied him up before attacking Mrs. Stedman.

Authorities claim they have found several discrepancies in Stedmans 
story.  Bloodhounds brought to the scene they said, refused to leave the 
farm and continually circled around the farmer.  Trousers worn by Stedman 
were splattered with blood, but Stedman told the authorities the stains 
were made when he went to his wifes side after he had loosed the ropes 
with which he had been tied. He exhibited several scratches on the back of 
his hand, which he said was inflected when his hands were being tied.


8/10/1943

MANSFIELD OHIO   Ernest Mauk sought the help of police today in locating 
two companions who robbed him of $150 and his shoes following a round of 
north end taverns last night. Mauk, who said he came two days ago from 
Olive Hill, Ky. to get a war job, told officers he met two young men 
early last night and had some drinks with them at two or three taverns 
on North Main street.  When he revived several hours later he was in 
the back of a truck in an isolated lot off North Main Street and his 
money and a new pair of shoes was missing.


12/8/1938

OLIVE HILL   Attracted by screams, family members rescued Mrs. Rufus Stegal 
[Steagall, Stigall ?] from a 30 foot well yesterday. Mrs. Stegal said she 
fell into the well while drawing water and was able to stand in the five 
feet of water until help arrived. 


11/30/1932

OLIVE HILL    Rev. McCager S. Gee, 88, who died here Tuesday, is to be 
buried in a casket which he made for himself 10 years ago. The casket is 
the second made by the minister, the first being too small.


5/03/1906

FARMER, KY   The boiler in the sawmill of Thomas Razor, three miles from 
here blew up this morning. Walter Scott was instantly killed and Robert 
Jones was seriously injured. A shortage of water is the supposed cause. 
The mill is a total wreck.


7/29/1958

A masked bandit robber Carrol's service station of at least $150, took 
about $3 each from two service attendants then forced them to drive 
them to Olive Hill.

When they arrived he paid them for their15 mile trip. Russell Lucas 25, and 
Phillip Holbrook, 17, said the bandit gave them back their personal funds 
and said, "here's two dollars for your gasoline."


8/2/1917

The store of Jesse Hunter of Willard was destroyed by fire Monday morning 
at 2 O'clock as was a barn in the rear of the store. In the barn were two 
mules and a horse, which were burned to death. The loss is estimated at $16,000.


7/14/1943

OLIVE HILL    Nine persons charged with banding to destroy public property 
during the Olive Hill riot early Sunday morning are under $500 bond today, 
awaiting the August term of the Carter County grand jury.

Commonwealth attorney John De Hart identified the nine as; Ray Waggonner, 
Charles Stevens, L.H. Mills, John Ison, Ray Ellis, Alfred Ellis, Eugene 
Haney, Henry Tomlin and Paul Henderson.

Charges against 18 juveniles were dismissed and that all were placed under 
$100 bond to appear as witnesses before the grand jury. Charges against the 
one female arrested, Enid Stafford were also dismissed.

Police Chief Luther LeMaster testified that the trouble began when he and 
another officer attempted to quiet a crowd who was setting off a barrage of 
firecrackers. He said that the group refused to break up and that Mills and 
Waggonner bared the way when he attempted to enter the theatre from which 
he believed the firecrackers were being thrown.

After that he said the crowd grew and became more disorderly until about 
1:00 Sunday morning a mob of more than 100 rushed the city building, broke 
windows, smashed furniture, and burned police records and mattresses from 
the jail in a huge bonfire before the building and the shot out street lights.

Police say authorities attribute the outbreak to resentment over measures 
to curb juvenile delinquency. 


7/14/1930

Clay Perry, 37, of Grayson, Ky. was killed and his grandmother, Mary Rice 
81, of Huntington was injured when a truck load of furniture overturned 
here today. The furniture, owned by Perry's sister-in-law Mrs. Elizabeth 
Peyton, was being moved to Huntington.


10/3/1951

UPPER SANDUSKY OHIO   Chette E. Rhoden passed away Monday at 2:PM at his 
home after a years illness. Mr. Rhodes was born April 21, 1891 in Grayson, 
Ky. the son of James and Minnie Stamper Rhoden. His wife, the former Minnie 
Alice Sizemore, to whom he was married Nov. 2, 1918 in Grayson, survives 
with three children, Edgar, Ollie and Elwood, all of this area. The 
following brothers and sisters also survive; Mrs. Ollie Pitt of Amelia, Oh., 
Mrs. Mary Travis of Credo, W.Va., Mrs. Martin Oney of Upper Sandusky, Oh., 
Mrs. Katherine Hamm of Worthington, O and Hager, Stephen and Ernest Rhoden 
of Upper Sandusky.


8/3/1895

LEON    Thursday night at Vincent schoolhouse during a revival, John 
Parsons and Frank McGuire had some words over a trifling affair. Parsons, 
in drawing his pistol, discharged it accidentally, the ball taking effect 
in the fleshy part of the leg below the knee.

The meeting was not disturbed but proceeded with several conversations.


6/23/1893

ENTERPRISE   Floyd Fox, a working man at the Tackett Brothers saw mill, 
fell against a saw and was horribly mangled. He died a few hours 
afterward.


10/24/1892

A strange home of a strange man has been discovered over on the headwaters 
of the Kinniconick, near the Carter-Lewis County border. The house is a 
cave and the carpet, bed coverings and many other articles are made from 
the skins of rattlesnakes of which the region abounds. The eccentric 
mountaineer gives his name as Smith and says he has worn rattlesnake 
clothing for ten years. His only companions are his rifle and his dogs.
    

5/20/1938

GRAYSON    Fifteen year old Nadine Mullins, daughter of Jailer William 
Mullins, drowned while wading in Little Sandy River yesterday. Junior 
Barton 15, saved her sister Sherline but was unable to reach Nadine.


01/09/1884

A  train was thrown from the track today at Olive Hill. H.M. Cunningham was 
killed and Charles Backman was seriously injured.


3/5/1900

BEECH GROVE    At the home of Grant Mullins, a coal miner, a serious 
accident occurred Saturday. Mullins had filled a coffee boiler with powder 
and placed it near the door preparatory to going to the mine. A 2 year old 
child took up the powder pouring some on the hearth near the fire. A flash 
followed and the husband, wife and three children were badly burned. Mrs. 
Mullins is dead and it is thought the baby will die. Mullins and the other 
2 children will recover.


2/24/1938

"Exposure" was the explanation of Coroner Clarence Henderson, for the death 
of 75 year old Mary Kiser, wealthy widow whose body was found under a tree 
12 miles from Grayson yesterday, six days after she set out for her 
daughter's home in Grayson on one of her frequent walking tours to visit 
relatives in Carter County. Henderson said she had been dead about four days.


6/8/1946

OLIVE HILL    A week before the eastern Kentucky conference staged its 
first baseball tournament, Olive Hill high school organized a team with 18 
year old Harold Tackett as the pitcher. Tackett pitched three games in two 
days, batted .460 and hit a four-run homer to win the tourney. In the 
district event, Tackett pitched two games in one day, made six hits and 
batted in the winning run in the title game. His streak was finally stopped 
in the regional tourney, although he pitched four hit ball and fanned 11, 
when Ashland's Chuck Dickerson tossed a no-hitter at him and won 2-1.



1/22/1927

GRAYSON   Mrs. Mary Wilburn age 37, widow was shot and killed in the 
railroad station at Hitchins, five miles south of here, while a group of 
the residents of the town, at the station to take the morning train to 
Ashland, scurried to places of safety.

Shortly after the shooting, Mrs. Will James, 40, mother of two children, 
was arrested and charged with the slaying. She was placed under guard at 
her home in Hitchins and will be brought here, it is said.

Jealousy was the motive for the shooting, according to residents of the 
town. In supporting this they cited the fact that a few months ago Mrs. 
James charged her husband with non-support and, during the investigation of 
the case, declared he and Mrs. Wilburn were intimate.

Witnesses of the shooting said Mrs. Wilburn who was going to Ashland for 
the day, was seated in the railway station, when Mrs. James accompanied by 
her young son, walked in.

Mrs. James drew a pistol from her pocket and fired once. Mrs. Wilburn 
leaped from her seat and grappled with the woman, struggling to escape 
through the station door. She was shot as she swung the door open and 
toppled outside the station door.

Mrs. James was arrested shortly afterward and taken to her home, where she 
was guarded. No charges have been placed against her as of yet.

Mrs. Wilburn is survived by one child.


7/21/1902

At 1:30 this morning fire broke out in an ice cream parlor at Olive Hill 
and spread rapidly. Eight buildings were burned including the post office, 
long distance telephone exchange and several stores. Had it not been for 
the rain the whole town would have burned.


6/24/1941

HATTIESBURG, MS      Both shot through the left hand by a single bullet 
from a rifle, two Olive Hill, Ky. soldiers were undergoing treatment today 
at Camp Shelby base hospital.

They were Privates Wade McDowell and Leonard Romines, 14th Infantry, 38th 
Div. Captain Kehoe, regimental adjutant, said it appears both men had their 
left hands over the end of the gun barrel when the weapon discharged.



4/21/1953
GRAYSON    The family of a Kentucky soldier gave quiet thanks here today 
for his return to the American lines in a POW exchange at Panmunjorn.

The returned soldier is PFC John L. Robinson of Willard, Ky. His aunt D.V. 
Kibbe of Grayson said he was captured in 1950.

When informed of her nephew's return last night Mrs. Kibbe said, I'm going 
to call all of the boy's Carter County relatives and tell them the good 
news. Robinson's father, Buell Robinson, a former resident of Willard, is 
now working in Ohio, she said.

An uncle, George L. Robinson, is president of the Grayson First National 
Bank.


7/23/1950

About 16 years this side of 1800, a man was found dead on a lonely country 
road near the old court house in Russell County, Va. He had been shot to 
death.

The finger of suspicion pointed straight to his neighbor, John Elliott with 
whom the deceased had been having trouble for years. Nevertheless, Elliott 
was, according to tradition and records preserved, a public-spirited 
citizen who had a hand of every progressive movement of the community.

This very habit of progressiveness gained for him the enmity of many of his 
neighbors and even the bespoken wrath of Judge Peter Johnston who had 
accused Elliott of meddling in some cases of his court.

To the secret satisfaction of a number of citizens, he was arrested, 
charged, indicted for murder and brought to trial. Only one hanging had 
occurred in Russell County, and folks were expecting another.

The wonder is why Elliott's counsel did not seek a change of venue, 
considering the enmity of Judge Johnston.

But the trial got under way after considerable difficulty in impaneling a 
jury. Witnesses were paraded to the stand, all agreeing of the hard 
feelings between the defendant and the deceased. Dispute between the two, 
long forgotten, were resurrected, recalled and pictured word for word and 
many a gesture for the jury's effect.

The commonwealth rested with nothing more than a strong chain of 
circumstantial evidence.

Elliott had no witnesses but himself and those faithful friends who 
recounted his many good deeds of the past. Elliott took the stand and 
declared the dead man was a victim of a grudge held against both the victim 
and himself and swore he was home with his family when the man was killed.

The death penalty was asked for.

Eleven men were of a mind to return a verdict of death by hanging for the 
accused. The 12th juryman disagreed - old Abner Vance.

Vance was a mighty hunter and Baptist preacher from far up the Clinch 
river. He was unconvinced Elliott had shot his neighbor down in cold blood 
as the Commonwealth contended.

Maybe he was; maybe he was not, Vance reasoned. Anyway, he could not, he 
told the others, lie down with a peaceful sleep with a verdict gnawing at 
his soul.

A verdict of guilty with nine years in the penitentiary was agreed upon, 
and that was the verdict returned.

Judge Johnston was shocked when the clerk of courts read the outcome of the 
deliberation of the jury. The records show he was so incensed that he wrote 
that "half of this time shall be served in solitary confinement and on a 
diet of bread and water."

John Elliott served his time but whether half of it in the torture 
prescribed by the presiding judge is not known. When he again was a free 
man he sold out his lands and property in Russell County and moved to 
Carter County, Ky.

In Kentucky, it seems, he picked up a new life from the interruption in 
Russell County, Va. He had been there only a few years when he was elected 
to the state legislature and served several terms.

During his office, he succeeded in having the county divided and a new 
county formed. The new subdivision was named Elliott County in his honor.

So, a man but for the unyielding doubt of Elder Abner Vance, might have 
swung by his neck in Virginia, became so prominent and beloved for his good 
deeds in his adopted home that he became elected to an important office of 
trust and honor and to have a county named for him.

[G. Haney postscript: Most sources credit the son of the foregoing John 
Elliott, whose name was John Milton Elliott as being the namesake of 
Elliott County. After the civil war there was strong sentiment to slice 
away from Republican controlled Carter County, a county that was pro 
democrat. Elliott County is what we regard today as a "spinoff".

By the way,a Google search for Judge Peter Johnson and Abner Vance reveals 
that those two men also led eventful lives.]  


10/27/1910

GRAYSON, COURT CASES    Frank Dannery, a local N. & W. bridge carpenter, 
was awarded a $2000. Judgment Wednesday against Foster & Frazier public 
works contractors of Carter City. Dannery had brought suit for that 
amount for injuries sustained in falling 
over a 57 foot cliff while quarrying stone for the above firm a year ago. 
Both of his arms and one leg were fractured.
The suit of Mrs. J.S. Jarvis against the C & O railway for damages for the 
killing of her husband was also called up for trial Wednesday. She asks 
$20,000. Jarvis, it will be recalled, was run down by a train while taking 
some photographic views along the road at Carter City a year ago.
The case of J. F. Fultz for $1,000 damages against the C.& O., growing out 
of a big fill constructed at Olive Hill, resulted in a mistrial, but is 
expected to be tried again along with similar cases that have been 
continued to the February term of court.


12/23/1911

Thomas J. Saulsberry, who was killed in a poker game near Vanceburg, 
Tuesday night, was a resident of Carter County. He was the son of William 
Saulsberry and was born at Aden, Ky.


7/24/1896

PORTSMOUTH OHIO
MARRIAGE LICENSE   Thomas Carver, age 21, Carter City, Ky., Mina 
Richardson, Age 18, Carter City, Ky.


5/2/1949

HUNTINGTON      A 13-year old Carter County, Ky., girl won the Huntington 
Herald-Dispatch first annual spelling bee over 18 other finalists.
Jennie Adams, of nearby Hitchins, Ky. won by spelling the word assuage. 
Shell represent the immediate tri-state area at the National spelling 
bee in Washington, Champions from cities and towns in 12 West Virginia, 
Kentucky and Ohio were competing in the finals.


12/2/1937

GRAYSON   Funeral services for John J. Phillips who died Tuesday morning 
were held in the residence at 2:PM Wednesday with Rev. Arthur Jarvis 
officiating. Burial followed in the family cemetery.
Mr. Phillips was born in Luray Va. in 1849, and was engaged in the 
blacksmith business there for several years. In 1878 he located in Grayson 
were he conducted a mercantile business until five years ago when poor 
health forced in to retire. He is survived by his wife Rebecca, three sons, 
J.L. Phillips, New Boston, Ohio. J.S. and W.S. Phillips of Grayson, and 
five grandchildren, Ralph Lewis Phillips of Ohio University, George 
Nethercutt Phillips, Billy Watts Phillips, Edna Catherine Phillips and 
Jimmy Phillips all of Grayson.


8/28/1874

BOONE FURNACE    Since my last writing a serious accident has occurred in 
this vicinity. A young lady named Haney was shot through the head and 
killed. A man named Rice, who had just married a young wife and taken her 
to Haney's residence to pass their honeymoon, was repairing a revolver 
which was loaded, and accidentally discharged it, the ball passing through 
the lady's head, killing her instantly. She was a young lady of good 
character and was highly esteemed by all who knew her.

The times still continue hard here; the people are living on green corn and 
potatoes, as all the bacon that the farmers had to sell in this vicinity 
has been bought and eaten up and the supply exhausted.

We looked for the contractors who are building the railroad last Sunday but 
they did not come. There were two Germans who become alarmed and thought 
that they would never receive anything for their work so they gave a boy 
$20 on the company, for a skiff,

Went into the store at Boone Landing and got 8 pairs of buckskin gloves, 80 
boxes of paper collars, 1 dozen men's caps and 50 pounds of smoking 
tobacco, and left for Cincinnati. They had been gone only about one hour 
when a very hard rain came on, and it rained in torrents for about one hour 
on the poor fellows who were out on the River in an open skiff with caps, 
smoking tobacco, gloves and paper collars, with no shelter over them save 
the broad canopy of heaven. I believe that Findlayson & Childs would pay 
the men who have worked so faithfully for them if they had the means to pay 
with  but it seems that Mr. Hazard was to furnish the money to build the 
railroad and he has failed to come up to his promise. The people who are 
here are still looking for work elsewhere but the farmers seem to have a 
supply of hands and it is very difficult to get employment. Some of the men 
have succeeded in getting work such as wood chopping and ore digging while 
others have gone home without getting anything to do. I am told that Iron 
Hill furnace will soon change hands and that will probably start up 
sometime this fall. I hope she will as it will be a great help to the 
laboring class of this neighborhood. If men can get something to eat and 
wear for themselves and families for their labor, it is all they ask.


5/23/1894

At Olive Hill James Scott shot and instantly killed his father Calvin Scott 
at 9 oclock Tuesday morning. It seems that Mr. Scott was drinking, and 
after a few words drew his gun and fired at his son whereupon the son shot 
with the above results.


8/18/1914

Elmer Adkins of Carter City was run down by a C& O train a half mile east 
of Fullerton Tuesday afternoon. 


4/30/1941

The largest moonshine still ever discovered in Carter County was found last 
night in the basement of the home of Ora Kelley, 30, sheriffs deputies Jess 
Fultz, Ben Burton and John Dickerson reported today.

The officers seized the 300 gallon still and 100 gallons of whiskey and 
arrested Kelly on a distilling charge. His home is located on Griffey 
Branch, a mile from Olive Hill.


2/9/1907

PORTSMOUTH OHIO   To be pronounced dead by the attending physician, have 
his casket brought by an undertaker, the time fixed for burial and all the 
sorrowing scenes enacted by the bereaved relatives and friends, and then to 
suddenly come to life is the lot that befell Jas. K. Hayes who was supposed 
to have died Sunday afternoon at Aden, a small hamlet near Grayson, of consumption.

Hayes has been suffering from the great white plague for some time. He was 
employed at the Selby shoe factory and on the advice of the attending 
physician, was ordered to seek a different climate. He went to Aden Ky., 
where he has relatives, but the change seemed to work no good in his case.

Sunday he apparently died and a telegram was received from his mother who 
was with him notifying an undertaker at Portsmouth of her son's death. The 
undertaker left Monday morning with a casket, but on arrival at Aden was 
informed that the young man had come to life and his services would not be 
needed. The casket was stored in the depot awaiting the "second death" of 
Hayes who is not expected to survive much longer. The undertaker took the 
first train for Portsmouth but was loath to talk. He said however, that the 
young man apparently died on Sunday, his body becoming rigid and cold.

Word from Aden is to the effect that Hayes has shown great improvement 
since he awoke from the death-like trance and the devoted mother his quite 
hopeful of her son's ultimate recovery.

According to word received young Hayes was conscious a part of the time he 
was in a trance and knew what was going on around him but was unable to 
move or speak. He suffered untold agony through fear of being buried alive 
and his true condition not being discovered.



3/9/1907

PORTSMOUTH OHIO   James K. Hayes will be brought to this city by his 
brother Albert, Friday, from Aden, Ky.  He will not come in a casket that 
was ordered for him several weeks ago, but will ride in the coach the same 
as any ordinary mortal.

It will be remembered that Hayes is the young man who was pronounced dead 
by a physician and his funeral arrangements all made. He remained "dead" 
for 28 hours, when he suddenly came to life and has been growing better 
ever since, and stands a chance to again take his place at the Selby Shoe 
factory.

In a letter received by his brother, Monday, Hayes joked about his supposed 
death. He claims he overheard all the funeral arrangements, heard the 
weeping of relatives, but was powerless to utter a word or move a muscle. 
He also says the horror of being buried alive was awful to contemplate, 
and when he "came to life" as he explains, he was so overjoyed that he 
determined to get well at all hazards.   


August 17, 1934

THE PORTSMOUTH TIMES, CONTRIBUTED BY A. P. HAIGHT   The cloudburst of 
Friday Aug, 10, which hit a portion of eastern Kentucky and seemed to 
center about Olive Hill, Carter City, touching Lewis, Carter, Rowan and 
part of Elliot counties, when viewed after the water has gone seems to have 
been one of worst calamities to have befallen that part of the country 
within the memory of it's oldest citizens. In fact, no one seems to recall 
such a time at yet, it is rather unusual, that so far as can be learned 
only two lives were lost. Two small children, living in a cottage 
between 

Grayson and Carter City, about three miles west of Grayson, children of 
Mr. and Mrs. Everett Damron, were drowned. They awakened about five a.m. and 
Mr. Damron went out to release some hogs from their pen so they might 
escape the water.

When he returned to the house he aroused the wife and before they could get 
the two children awake and escape, the house left its foundation and 
carried the family down stream. Nearly a quarter of a mile away the parents 
escaped, but the two children were lost. One of the bodies was found soon 
but the other has not been located.

Farther up Everman Creek all movable material near the stream was carried 
away. The Breckenridge school building was torn from its foundation and 
lodged against a barn. Roads were torn up and filled with drift, making 
them all but impassable. The ravines were dug deeper. Huge stones were torn 
from their bed, where they had been resting for hundreds of years, and were 
rolled to new locations.

Logs, trees, and refuse of various kinds changed its place. Tobacco and 
corn in the bottoms was laid flat and covered with mud. Hill land that was 
being cultivated suffered much from the water and wind. The highway at Iron 
Hill was so torn up that mail had to be transferred from that point on 
horseback.

Wednesday saw the first car make the trip after the flood. From Grayson to 
Carter City is a scene of destruction. In Carter most of the business 
houses and homes that were near Smith Branch were washed away or moved from 
their foundation. The school and some of the homes on higher ground were 
not reached by water. It was reported that after danger had passed and the 
inventory taken but three sacks of flour cold be found in Carter City, this 
making up the total supply of food for the population. The Red Cross 
however was soon on the job and food was supplied.

At Gesling, where Virgil Ramey operated a store and post office, the 
junction of Buffalo and Moore's branch was a sorry sight. Mr. Ramey and 
Earn Haney were in the store trying to arrange the stock so the water 
would not damage it, when they heard cries of Mr. Ramey's wife. About the 
same time they felt the current of water move the building and they were 
trapped. A mile or more down the stream they escaped the store and managed 
to save themselves.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ramey, who lived across the road from the store and 
Virgil Ramey's wife and children, were rescued through the roof of their 
homes. Virtually all crops in the Buffalo bottoms were entirely wiped out.

The Cooper store between Gesling and Carter was washed away. George Hike 
and his family were asleep in an upper room of the home and felt the 
building wobble and move away. It lodged against a tree not far away.

The entire Buffalo creek valley seems to have been stripped of all crops 
and gardens and all buildings washed away damaged. At Olive Hill mud 
covered homes and places of business. Store stocks were ruined. The entire 
business section was under water. Food, clothing and all sorts of 
merchandise was soaked and much of it ruined.

The state guard company, which was in training at Camp Knox found all its 
dress uniforms soaked with water and mud. The militiamen also lost 2500 
rounds of ammunition. The brick plant had a number of kilns in operation. 
Water rushing into them caused an explosion which resulted in much loss.

It is a distressing sight to see folks drying out furniture, scrubbing the 
silt from floors and walls, splendid gardens and crops wiped out.

The road up cave branch leading to the old Carter Caves has been in 
splendid condition but the deluge cut part of it away, making it rough and 
narrow in many places. It is passable up to the caves however.

No estimate can be placed on the loss that would be anything like accurate. 
In dollars and cents it will run high and has been placed anywhere from one 
to five million covering the entire stricken district. Perhaps even half of 
that would cover the actual market value of the crops, livestock but there 
are so many homes, so much of the land, so much that would not rank high in 
the market that was invaluable to those who owned them. And the soil that 
has washed from the hills and little bottoms cannot be replaced.

It would be impossible to present the picture in detail and to estimate 
with any degree of accuracy the loss, and it is hard to understand the 
extent of the destruction even after visiting the territory and looking 
over the ground.

Everman's creek, which suffered heavily, was hit by a hail storm in July of 
last year when the crops were looking very promising and corn and tobacco 
crops in many places were completely lost. Added to the destruction of this 
year, it makes the farmer in that area rather disconsolate.



Photos courtesy of George Wollford's book, CARTER COUNTY, a pictorial 
history.

("Earn, short for Earnest, was my grandfather's brother. At the time he lived a 
mile or so from the Gesling store." - Glen)


8/22/1934
GRAYSON    Drowned during the morning of August 10th when the waters of 
Everman Creek near here washed away his home, the body of Harold Dameron, 
8, son of Mr. and Mrs. Everett Dameron was found Tuesday by Leonard Grammel 
near the residence of Andrew Womack.

The body was buried partly in a sandbank near the creek, Grammel said.

He was attracted to the scene by dogs who made the discovery and were 
digging sand around the body.

The Dameron family was asleep on the morning of August 10 when the 
cloudburst first struck. First warning of the flood's danger was when their 
barn was washed with a crash into their house knocking it from it's 
foundation. Mr. and Mrs. Dameron and their three children attempted to 
escape but Harold and his brother Marvin Lafayette, 4, were drowned. The 
body of the younger child was found some 300 feet away from the home after 
the flood waters subsided the next day.


12/10/1953
OAKLAND CA TRIBUNE     A man sought 18 years for the murder of a Kentucky 
constable was picked up today in a San Francisco hotel.

Asked if he knew why he was wanted, Virgil Mauck, 52, a logger, told 
homicide Inspectors, "Yes, I killed a constable back in Kentucky."

For the last 12 years he has lived in California, the major portion of the 
time in Sacramento under the name Fred Rose.

His apprehension today stemmed from an arrest November 16 for drunk driving 
in Sonora. Next day he was freed after he paid $350 fine. But Sonora Police 
Chief Randolph Campbell sent his finger prints to the FBI who notified him 
the man was wanted for shooting Constable J. F. parsons in [Grahn] Kentucky 
in 1935.

Campbell notified San Francisco that Mauck has a girl friend living on 
Third Street. Yesterday they traced her to a hotel at 176 Third Street. 
Today they picked Mauck up there.

He told officers he was with a companion carrying a bottle of illegal 
whisky when the constable approached them. His companion fled but he shot 
the constable twice, according to the officers.

He is a two time loser serving a federal sentence for postal robbery in 
1926 and a year later for car theft in 1934.

He said he remained in the Midwest until 1940 or 1941, when he went to 
Californias High Sierra and worked as a logger under the name of Fred Rose 
from February to October each year and came down to Sonora, Sacramento and 
San Francisco in the winters.

Mauck said he was arrested once in Wisconsin and even visited friends in 
Kentucky in 1942. "The first two years was the hardest. After that I got 
more confidence," the fugitive was quoted.

[G.H. Postscript: Mauck, real name Mauk, received a 10 year prison 
sentence.]



A List Carter County Officials in 1912

County Judge, R.A. Carpenter of Limestone

Clerk of Court, J. E. McDavid of Grayson

County Clerk, Jesse Reynolds  of Counts X Roads

Justices of the Peace:

A.J. Womack of Grayson

Jesse E. Kelly of Rooney

Frank Tyree of Olive Hill

Thomas Cline of Lawton

P.S. Sammons of Counts X Roads

W.T. Mobley of Bruin

Ross Jones of Denton

Frank Carr of Charlotte County Commissioners:

A.J. Womack

W.R. Burchett

C.W. Armstrong


8/31/1907

Reports that young Cecil Worthington had shot and killed a playmate named 
Guy Gilkerson at Carter City were confirmed by the former's father, John 
Worthington.

The two boys were playing robbers in the store conducted by the victim's 
father, John Gilkerson. Several Hamilton 22-calibre rifles were standing in 
a rack and these were to be used as weapons. Guy was to enact the role of 
robber and then was to be shot down in his tracks by the other. Guy, as he 
entered snapped the rifle in Cecil's face then turned as if to tap the cash 
register, when Cecil pulled the trigger. Guy fell with a cry of pain and 
investigation revealed showed he had been shot through the bowels. The 
accident occurred on Thursday evening and the injured lad lived until 
Saturday night. Just before he expired he asked his parents not to blame 
Cecil as he was himself at fault for proposing the game.

The victim was 12 years old while his slayer is one year older.  Young 
Gilkerson was accidentally shot through the foot while out hunting a year 
ago and the Worthington boy carried him on his back for a mile. Since then 
the two boys were inseparable companions.


3/18/1949

GRAYSON   Virgil Johnson and his wife and 10 children were made homeless 
yesterday by a fire which destroyed their four room house on the Sandy Hook 
road. No one was injured.


12/20/1943

Matt Isaacs 8, of Hitchins, died yesterday of a skull fracture suffered 
when he was struck Saturday by a truck near his home.



4/30/1890

Yesterday at New Foundland, in Carter County, [actually Elliot County G.H.] 
Cecil Fanning, aged 4, while in is father's barn, accidentally fired the 
building and perished in the flames. A little playmate of his named Barcom 
Ward, who is missing, is supposed to have been incinerated with him.


3/25/1912

The new $10,000 jail at Grayson erected in place of the dilapidated affair
which was destroyed by fire last year, has been completed, and was occupied 
Thursday for the first time.

The new jail is one of the most substantial in this part of the state.


3/7/1896

PORTSMOUTH OHIO   Among the visitors in the city Wednesday was Frank 
McGlone of Grayson who came here with Mrs. W.P. McGlone. Mr. McGlone was on 
his way to Western Texas where he was going in search of his brother Silas 
McGlone. With Mr. McGlone's trip quite a story is connected. It seems that 
Silas McGlone went to Texas about 10 years ago and obtained work as a 
herder on a big cattle ranch. His wife and two children remained at 
Grayson, and from time to time McGlone returned to visit them. About five 
years ago when he made one of his periodical trips home he found that 
things had gone wrong in his absence. His wife had contracted a friendship 
for a neighbor named Flynn Jordan and gave McGlone a very cool reception. 
The latter, who was said to have about $1,500 with him, hung around some 
time and then suddenly disappeared and nothing has been heard of him until 
lately. Jordan and Mrs. McGlone continued their relationship openly.

A short time ago, however, the remains of a human body were found under a 
brush heap, near Mrs. McGlones' residence, and in some way the impression 
got out that it was the body of Silas McGlone and that Mrs. McGlone and 
Jordan were the murderers. They were arrested and are now confined in the 
Grayson jail awaiting trial.

They stoutly maintain their innocence, however. A few weeks ago a letter 
was received by the Grayson authorities purporting to be from Silas 
McGlone. He said he was alive and working on a cattle ranch in western 
Texas.  There is some doubt as to the genuineness of the letter, and Frank 
McGlone is is being sent to Texas to interview the writer and see if it 
really is his brother.

Circumstantial evidence points strongly to Jordan and the McGlone woman as 
being guilty, if murder was committed. A little daughter of the McGlone's 
testified that the last time she saw her father, her mother and Jordan 
chased him out of the house, Jordan having an axe, and that she heard them 
fighting in the yard. The result of Frank McGlone's mission will be awaited 
with interest.


3/14/1896

PORTSMOUTH TIMES The following special in Sundays [Cincinnati] 
Commerical-Gazatte furnishes the sequel to a story published in the Times 
last week. The Times stated however, that McGlone was on his way south to 
look up his brother when he evidently was on his way home. The story goes 
to show how little dependence can be placed on circumstantial evidence. Had 
it not been for the accidental discovery of Silas McGlone his wife and 
neighbor would undoubtedly have been found guilty and sentenced to long 
terms of imprisonment:

"Silas McGlone was not murdered. Five years ago he disappeared from his 
home on Buffalo Creek, Carter County. His wife said he returned to his work 
in Alabama. Some bones, supposed to be those of a human being, were found 
in the neighborhood in January last, and were supposed to be those of 
McGlone. His wife, Fleming Jordan and others were arrested and had an 
examining trial at Grayson, but were released for want of proof. Jordan and 
Mrs. McGlone were rearrested a few weeks ago on new evidence. Frank McGlone 
was sent by the commonwealth to Alabama to look up Silas. He returned today 
and reported to the court that he had found Silas in a small town in 
Lawrence County, Alabama; that he had remarried. The prisoners were 
thereupon released."


8/1/1906

OLIVE HILL    Monday night burglars entered the store of A.J. Stamper here. 
Robert Blankenship one of the partners in business together with his 
brother, were sleeping in the store. Evidently the burglars saw them, but 
undeterred, they proceeded to fill up some large bags with choice 
groceries, shoes and dry goods.

The two brothers awakened while the burglars were yet in the store and 
immediately opened fire on them and they returned shot after shot. A 
regular fusillade was the result as the robbers as the robbers retreated 
towards the rear of the building, where they had affected an entrance, 
leaving their well filled bags of merchandise behind them.

Robert Blankenship received a bullet through the thigh passing close to the 
artery. One or more of the robbers were struck, as a well defined trail of 
blood bears ample evidence.

In answer to a telegraphic request from A.J. Stamper, policeman Woods and 
Savage, of Ashland arrived here Tuesday with bloodhounds, and the trail was 
immediately taken up leading in the direction of Elliott County and the 
posse with the hounds are traveling rapidly in that direction.

In the meantime another telegram was sent to Mr. Vincent on Little Sandy to 
come with his famous bloodhound which has made a fine record of tracking 
criminals in the past. He has just arrived with his hound and another posse 
is starting to join those at the front.

Excitement is rife and it looks at this hour as if the burglars cannot escape.
As evidence of the fierceness of the battle in the store, the furniture and 
some of the merchandise is riddled with bullets.    



8/23/1937

GRAYSON   An argument, Police Chief Clyde Womack described as a "drunken 
row", resulted in the death of Cecil Rupert, 38, from ax wounds and arrest 
of his tenant Ed Wilburn 32, on a murder charge.

The killing occurred at Wilburn's, the chief said. Apparently there were no 
witnesses.

Coroner Clarence Henderson said Rupert virtually was decapitated from 
"seven or eight" blows on the head.

Chief Womack quoted Wilburn as saying he struck Rupert in self-defense 
after he threatened him and grabbed him around the legs Wilburn said 
Rupert came to his house about 1 a.m. and ordered him to leave.

Both men had been drinking the police chief and were seen together Saturday 
evening.

The coroner said after the fatal controversy, Wilburn went to the home of 
Ed Brammel, a neighbor, and told him about the incident and expressed fear 
that he had hit Rupert too hard.

Two small children of Rupert found their father lying in Wilburn's yard and 
brought him to the hospital but he was dead upon admittance.

Brammel was quoted as saying he declined to sell Wilburn some shotgun 
shells Saturday afternoon after Wilburn threatened to get even with Rupert 
before night.

Chief Womack said that when he arrested Wilburn at his home, the latter 
declared he was "ready to go".

Rupert is survived by his widow and six children.



12/16/1912

HITCHINS   A whistle blew in the East Kentucky hills where it never blew 
before, inaugurating, it is said, the largest and most modern fire brick 
plant in the world.

For sixteen months 200 men have been at work erecting buildings, 
constructing a railroad and opening up the company's property. The plant is 
located 25 miles from Ashland, where the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad 
crosses the Eastern Kentucky railroad, heretofore known as E.K. Junction, 
but which is know called Hitchins.

It receives its name from Colonel E.S. Hitchins, the general manager of the 
company, recent candidate for congress on the Bull Moose ticket. The 
Colonel took down his telephone receiver at his office at Olive Hill, 15 
miles away, where he lives and listened to the whistle as it reverberated 
through the Carter county hills.

The capacity of the plant is 100,000 fire brick per day; it will be run day 
and night, 200 men being employed under the direction of Clayton S. 
Hitchins superintendent. Electricity, supplied by the company's own plant 
will furnish the power for every machine, the only one so supplied in the 
entire country. It covers 75,000 square feet of floor space and consumed 
5000 barrels of cement and 2,000,000 pounds of steel in construction work.       



["My dad told me that when he and his folks moved Smiths Creek to the 
Portsmouth vicinity around 1930, they walked, milk cow and all, the entire 
distance, roughly twenty five miles. Looks like these boys went a might further":]

Glen


8/8/1931

STEVENS POINT  WI.  . M. Manning and Albert Tate and his son passed through 
Waupaca going by mule team from Globe, Ky. to White Lake, Wis., where they 
had purchased land and were going to settle.


5/17/1894

While passing through the cave at Carter City one day last week Mr. James 
Brown captured a large rattlesnake. He succeeded in bring it about 20 
miles, to a blacksmith shop and there, with the help of some gentlemen, he 
extracted his teeth (the snakes teeth we mean). James says he is a fine pet.


5/12/1902

Bob Hicks, aged 35 and Bill Smith, aged 38, both married, went to the 
residence of Thomas Packett, near Olive Hill and called Packett to the 
doorway. When Packett put in his appearance the two men grabbed him and 
dragged him to the roadway. They were armed with knives and began to make 
use of them on the defenseless man in true butcher fashion, when Packetts 
son alarmed  by his parent's cry ran to his assistance.

William Packett, the son, took in the situation at a glance, and then fired 
one shot at Hicks with a Winchester rifle. Hicks fell dead, his heart 
perforated by a bullet from the heroic lad's weapon. In the meantime the 
elder Packett was grappling with Smith for possession of the knife with 
which the unarmed man had already been slashed a number of times about the 
face and neck.

William Packett fired one shot at Smith as he was clinching with his 
father, and the bullet hit Smith in the forehead. Smith continued to stab 
Thomas Packett despite his wound and in the fear of slaying his father in 
the darkness the son cast his Winchester aside and pitched into the fray 
with a knife, which he used with a most telling effect. Smith soon loosened 
his hold on the elder Packett and stumbled away weak from the loss of blood 
and tired by the struggle in which at first the odds were all on his side. 
Aside from the numerous stab wounds inflicted on him by young Packett, 
Smith suffered the bullet wound in the forehead. The ball evidently only 
caused a scalp wound, as the man continued to fight desperately after the 
shot was fired.

Despite the fact that his son came to the rescue within less than a minute 
after the two men landed on his father, the elder Packett is horribly 
injured.  He substained 15 stab wounds in all some of them measuring a foot 
in length. One of his arms is all but severed from his body. Most of his 
wounds are on the back, shoulders and neck, and, while the blades in some 
instances penetrated deeply, it is not believed that the father is fatally 
injured.

He had a close call for life, as he lost a great deal of blood before a 
physician could be summoned. Packett the son, was cut in a number of places 
and sustained dangerous injuries but it is believed he will recover. Smith 
has not been captured although officers are on his trail. It is believed 
that he is so badly cut that he cannot long elude capture.

The differences between the men that resulted in the tragedy had their 
origin some time ago. Hicks and Smith were visitors at the Packett 
residence, and were picking the banjo when they got into an altercation 
with William Packett and James Spurlock. Hicks and Smith both used knives 
on that occasion, it is said, and the Packetts were witnesses against them 
at their trial. Their testimony is said to have been so damaging that both 
men that both men swore to have their revenge, and it is said they sought 
that when they called Thomas Packett to his door and began to slash him. 
Packett enjoying the reputation of a law abiding citizen and peaceable man, 
while Hicks and Smith, it is alleged, have figured in affrays that have 
caused them to be feared by many.


April 7, 1881

In Deer Creek Precinct, Carter County on the day of presidential election, 
Reese D. Horton, a democrat, and J.S. Jones, Greenback Elector for that 
district, were terribly beaten, and only saved from death by Horton 
shooting one of the assailants. Thomas Horton and George W. Simonds, a 
Democratic stump-speaker were threatened with hanging. About two weeks ago 
Jones was attacked by a mob but drove them off. On March 28, a meeting of 
several citizens of Deer Creek Precinct occurred at Kitchen's store, on 
Cracker-neck in Elliott County. The party becoming intoxicated, the quarrel 
broke out afresh, and developed into a fight in which the weapons used were 
rocks and hunting knives. Three men were slightly hurt. A hearing of the 
affray was had on Saturday and Horton was the only one against whom 
sufficient evidence was adduced to hold. He was bound over, and the rest 
were discharged. After the trial all bands left the magistrate's house and 
rode down Bruin's creek together. When near the house of Dick Farley the 
quarrel was renewed and a terrible fight with pistols and knives ensued, 
lasting half an hour. Dave Williams had his skull above the right eye split 
open by a sharp rock or knife and was stabbed twice. Dick Williams, his 
brother, was shot in the thigh and right hand and stabbed in the right arm. 
Last night these wounded men were alive but were expected to die in a few 
hours. The affray inflames our already excited community and leads to grave 
apprehensions of bloodshed on a large scale.


Nov. 4, 1912

OLIVE HILL    The body of Francis Tierney, 25 years old, single, was found 
in a pool of water here Sunday afternoon. It is not known how he met 
his death.


June 29, 1921

On Friday, June 24, the Eastern Kentucky Railway, leading out from 
Riverton, had been in operation for fifty years. We happened upon a crowd 
of the older citizens of the town the other day who were deep in the 
discussion of what at that time was an epoch making event for Greenup 
County. R. W. Robb, W. M. Stevens and R. W. Womack and others, young in 
business and in years at that time, enjoyed the first train ride into the 
new country embracing the first twenty-three miles of new steel and rustic 
beauty between Riverton and Grayson and incidentally enjoyed the thrills of 
riding them or clambering over its several hand-made tunnels.

At that time the C. & O. had only reached the blue print stage and freight 
and passenger traffic came into our little county seat only by such large 
side-wheel steamers as the Bostonia, Fleetwood, Victory No. 3 and others, 
or by overland wagons.

Mr. Womack, at that time a boy of 17 years, with his other brothers was 
extensively engaged in farming at Oldtown. W. M. Stevens was a member of 
the firm of Pratt, Stevens and Co., in Greenup and Mr. Robb was deputy 
postmaster in the county seat.  These men, now mellowed with the passage of 
years look back at the yesteryears of their lives with many pleasant 
thoughts of the crudeness of things in that day and of the hardships 
encountered, while we of this generation can draw only from fancy a mind of 
it all in that day.


Nov 11, 1923

Over in Carter City last night, Kid Lewis knocked out George Lorin in the 
second round of a scheduled six-round bout, Lewis winning all the way.
Shifty Dando was to have fought Red Haney of Olive Hill on the card 
scheduled for Grayson, but refused to fight because no purse was guaranteed.
Joe Everett of Olive Hill fought Kid Neff of Grayson to a draw.
Kid Colling of Smith Creek won the decision over Kid Ramey of Three Forks.
John McGlone of Ashland knocked out Young Blankenship of Ironton in three 
rounds.


11/3/1898

PORTSMOUTH OHIO The body of Jacob Walker, who dropped dead last night, will 
be taken to Mt. Savage, Ky., tomorrow noon on the C. & O. train for interment.


6/26/1897

Nowadays it is almost impossible for one to pick up a weekly or monthly 
Journal without having attention drawn to the alluring advertisement of 
this or that whisky cure.

There areas many systems used in the reclamation of drunken men as there 
are drinks employed for intoxicating purposes. It was not so once. Fifteen 
or twenty years ago the only known method of making a man quit drinking was 
to lure, him  to a church temperance lecture and there put him under the 
faucet and-let people weep upon him and crave him to sign the pledge. The 
old-time temperance lecture was highly successful in the lesser towns where 
little came in the form of entertainment, and it did a great deal of good, too.

For instance, in Reedville, Ky., the people had bothered for several months 
because they did not know just whom to tar and feather for the offense of 
burning William Ruggles' barn. But when the temperance lecturer came to 
town and William Ruggles rose and declared that be wasn't going to drink 
any more, and that it was he himself who had set fire to the stable, why, 
it was perfectly easy. They took Ruggles out and tarred him with glad 
hearts and a particularly sticky kind of tar.


8/12/1911

Rufus Adkin, a farmer at Globe, Ky., brought his ten year old son, William, 
into Squire Brickey this morning to show the Squire the welts alleged to 
have been raised on the youngsters' back by the school teacher, Miss Emma 
Harwood, and to press charges against her.

The youngster had seven welts across his back, which he claims were 
inflicted by the young lady teacher when he spit on the floor. The boy says 
that she dismissed the other pupils and gave him a good thrashing for his 
disobedience.

Squire Brickley told Mr. Adkins to report the matter to the superintendent 
of schools.


6/21/1936

OLIVE HILL    Boss Dyre, [sic] 68, is expected to die, his son, Ern Dyre, 
30 is wounded critically, Ellis Lawson, 52 is wounded slightly and two men 
are facing serious charges as a result of a spectacular knife and gun 
battle on the streets of Olive Hill this afternoon.

The elder Dyre, shot four times in the stomach, once in the arm and his 
skull crushed by a rock, was too critical to move to a hospital.

The younger Dyre, was shot once in the head and his head laid open from the 
eye to the base of the skull by a knife. Lawson has a knife wound in the 
back. Young Dyre was taken to Grayson to hospital.

Charges of shooting with intent to kill have been placed against Matt 
Wilson, 30, and Buck Lawson, 27, Ellis Lawson's son, the only two 
combatants not hurt. Lawson furnished bond of  $500 for his release and 
Wilson is in jail here.

The trouble began this morning at a store owned by Lawson when Ern Dyre was 
cut during an altercation. He returned with his father and Wilson this 
afternoon and a general fight involving the five men followed.

[G. Haney note: spelling of last name should be  Dyer.]

 Back to Your Carter County Newspaper Page

 Back to Your Carter County Main Menu