The value of the minutiae in a community’s history perhaps has no better example than “A History of Christian County, Kentucky: From Oxcart to Airplane” by Charles Mayfield Meacham.
Here are a few examples of the details Meacham, a Hopkinsville journalist and mayor, wove into the history he published in 1930:
Carnegie Library
The Carnegie Library, begun in December 1913, was completed in July 1914. It was designed by John T. Waller, architect, and cost $16,500.
An early photographer
E.L. Foulks, the oldest man in Hopkinsville, died Feb. 26, 1917. He was born on Jan. 12, 1823, at Belleville, Ill., and came to Hopkinsville as a photographer in 1858.
No more city cows
By a vote of four to three, the City Council of Hopkinsville passed an ordinance prohibiting livestock from running at large in 1906. The ordinance was resisted in the courts by owners of cows, but eventually, the law was upheld and on May 31, there was a rush to take down yard fences, greatly changing the appearance of the city.
Big snow
Dec. 11, 1917, the coldest day in sixteen years in Hopkinsville. The thermometer registered thirteen degrees below zero, and snow was fourteen inches deep.
Married in a stable
Accepting a proposition made in the papers of Hopkinsville to the first Leap Year bride who would be married as the result of her own proposal, a young couple from Crofton appeared, Feb. 14, 1916, and, making the required affidavit, were married in the offices of Richard Leaveil’s sales stables. Their names were Sallie Eldora Brown and James Herbert Tweddell. They received the following bridal presents: L. J. Harris, license; Judge J. W. Knight, ceremony; W. T. Cooper, $100 worth of premium store tickets; Wall & McGowan, $200 worth of premium store tickets; George’s Bakery, a cake; T. L. Metcalf e, a bouquet; J. L. Freedman, a beef roast; McClaid & Armstrong, a tombstone; Mrs. P. L. Mitchell to make the bride a dress; Keach & Fears, a $5 rocker; George McCord, groceries; H. L. Lebkuecker, box cigars; G. W. Southall, side of meat; Blakey, Bass & Barnett, wedding ring; Hopkinsville Bottling Works, 24 bottles Coca-Cola; Hopkinsville Auto Company, gallon gasoline; Dixie Cafe, supper; Ben Winfree, fire insurance on all awards; J. R. Renshaw, setting Rhode Island Red eggs; W. R. Bowles, life size picture; Mrs. D. E. Foster, setting Plymouth Rock eggs; Ellis Ice Company, 1,000 pounds of ice; Anderson & Fowler, 12 bottles of Castoria; J. H. Reese, setting White Leghorn eggs; and last but most valuable of all, a $150 mule by Richard Leavell. The bride was a pretty brunette, a daughter of James H. Brown. A large crowd attended the wedding at Mr. Leavell’s stable, and a picture was taken. The young couple returned home, taking most of the presents with them. The rest were sent later.
Meacham’s book can be searched online, so go find more details here.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
