Newspaper Transcriptions
Below are some transcriptions from Newspapers in Kenton County.
Please feel free to submit any portion of a Newspaper, just
be sure to include the Newspaper name, date of article, page
and column.
-
Cruise Creek Church Is Subject of Article
Quaint Old Edifice Lies Hidden in Wilderness of Undergrowth in Kenton-co.
(The following is an article written for The Kentucky Post by Ivanora Hume, Walton, Ky.)In the southern part of Kenton county, on the Green road (once known as the Cruise Creek road) in a place appearing to be only a wilderness of undergrowth and vines, is the site of the old Cruise Creek Church.
By forcing a way through this jungle you can find a few old mossy headstones with their weeping willow trees and roses carved above the names, and the dim legends below telling the virtues of the dear departed. Some of the stones elaborately carved on yellow sandstone show home workmanship.
No Record of Founding
No record has been found of when the church was organized. There is mention of services being held there in 1820. The original building must have been of logs. The last one was brick. The plot of ground was perhaps purchased from Col. Ben Northcutt who owned a large tract of land adjoining.
It was a cool, pleasant place in summer, shaded by ancient oaks and evergreens with the soft scented breeze coming in through the windows, so pleasant that it lulled some of the men to sleep during the long-drawn-out sermons while the women perhaps were kept wide awake with thinking about how many they would have to ask to go home with them to dinner.
Rules Were Strict
For some years there was a large attendance, many coming from quite a distance for those days of horse-drawn vehicles and horse-back-riders, so the "brothers" and "sisters" living nearest the church usually had capacity crowds to entertain over the week-end. These being the Humes, Stephens, Northcutts, Swetmans, Glenns and others. William Hume, living near, was pastor there for a number of years until his death in 1849.
The rules of the church was very strict, one of them being that the members must not join any secret organization. Javan Swetman got "churched" for joining the Grange, an agricultural association. He was finally reinstated by promising to have nothing more to do with such things. Hymns were "lined" and sung but no musical instruments
were allowed in the church. The members were called "Old School Baptists."Other churches on this circuit were Gunpowder, Salem, Four Mile and Dry Creek. Among the ministers who served them were William Hume, Lewis, Conner, James Finnell, Buford Rice and Ben Lampton. The last ones to hold meetings at Cruise Creek were "Uncle Ed Stephens" and Sam Williams in 1885(6?)
Stone Dated 1834
The earliest date of burial that was found on the headstones in the church was 1834, the latest was 1886. Though there were quite a number of people buried there, most of the stones have fallen and are covered with the decayed vegetation of years and overgrown with myrtle. If we knew all the history of this old church and the people who gathered together there how interesting it would be.
We try to conjure pictures of it but the only thing left is the names on a few crumbling old grave stones. The only legible ones are:
Mary Trues died 1834
Columbus J. Babby, died 1840
Marya Agness, wife of Joel Moffet, died 1856
Nancy Glenn, died 1847
James K. Glenn, died 1854
Louise Glenn, died 1855
Elizabeth, wife of Watson Setphens(sic), died 1851
Benjamin Northcutt, died 1855
Elizabeth, wife of Robert Holiday, died 1872
James Henry, infant son of Susan and William
Stephens, died 1841
Rebecca McCarty, died 1859
Sara McCarty, died 1869
Daniel McCarty, died 1886.
Transcribed by Frank Gruber
Friday, March 1, 1940