Idlewild, Historic Home Near Trenton, KY

The Colonel E. G. Sebree house

"Do you know anything about that big old house along Highway 41, east of Trenton?" a blog reader asked one day. I had to say "No," because honestly, I couldn't think what house she was talking about. Then one day, as I passed the home in the photo below, I realized that of course she was talking about this big old house.

The Colonel E. G. Sebree house near Trenton, Kentucky

This large antebellum brick mansion is near the highway, but in the summer, it's almost completely hidden by foliage and deep shade. In the fall and winter, a passing motorist can catch a glimpse of it, facing southwest behind the trees. Last week, I paused on the highway to take these photos, with one eye on the camera viewfinder and the other eye on the rear-view mirror.

This house was built about 1830, and its official name is Idlewild. One of its owners was Colonel Elijah Garth Sebree,  a prominent landowner, tobacco and cotton trader, coal mine owner, and railroad builder. Col. Sebree purchased Idlewild in the 1840s, around the time of his marriage. He and his wife lived at Idlewild for the rest of their lives, and when they died,  their daughter Georgia Sebree Banks inherited the home. It remained with the Banks family until 1983, when it was purchased by Dr. Robert Haley of Nashville and his wife Joy, a Todd County native. I don't know who owns the home currently.

Idlewild was nominated for the National Historic Register by Miss Dolly Banks in 1980. Some architectural features mentioned in the application can be seen in the photo at right -- Corinthian columns (added sometime around 1900), stone lintels above all openings in the house, stone sills at the windows, and flush chimneys at the ends of the house.

The original kitchen was a separate brick room connected to the house by a "dogtrot" (breezeway.) When the Haleys purchased the home, they enclosed a back porch and made it into a kitchen, installed some indoor bathrooms and modernized the electrical wiring.

Read more at these links:

• The Sebree family in Todd County, KY, Family History
• Nomination of Idlewild to the National Historical Register
• Kentucky New Era article about Idlewild, published in 1991 (second part of the article)
• Slave deaths on the Sebree farm

Five-year-old Fruit Cake and Other Delicacies

Dinner Party Menu, 1892

On January 4, 1892, Mr. and Mrs. Sam E. Stegar of Trenton, Kentucky, had a Leap Year dinner party, Fifteen unmarried couples and a few extra guys attended the event. The party was such a social success that it even made the news in Hopkinsville, a few train stops west of Trenton.

The entire four-course menu of the Stegar's party was included in the article that appeared in the Hopkinsville Kentuckian. It was interesting. I've presented it below with some links to recipes and other background information from the period.

First Course

Florida Oranges
Bananas
Figs
Pears
Malaga, Concord, and Catawba Grapes

Second Course

Turkey and Ham
Sauce
Roast Mallard Ducks
Oyster, Egg and Chicken Salad
Oysters
Salmon
Sardines

A careless typesetter may have changed "Oyster, Egg and Chicken Salads" to "Oyster, Egg and Chicken Salad." The salmon, sardines, and oysters could have been fresh, brought by refrigerated railroad car to Trenton.

Celery (a palate cleanser after the meat course)


Third Course

Cream
Vanilla Sherbert
Lemon Pudding
Bisque
Fruit Cake, 5 years old and layered  with lemon icing. One layer was citron with vanilla, another layer was chocolate. (This fruit cake was the most interesting thing in the entire menu!)

Fourth Course

Cheese
Doughnuts
Pretzelettes Chocolata (Menier and Van Houten's Cocoa)
Coffee

After this feast, the guests "engaged in original wit and humor and all the latest games of fascination, until the late hour of 1 o'clock, when the weather becoming very inclement, the party adjourned." Since it was a Leap Year party, the young ladies escorted the young gentlemen safely to their homes, before heading for home themselves.

Source: Hopkinsville Kentuckian, January 1, 1892, page 2.

New Order Amish Tractor and Wagon

Family transportation

I suppose I've posted a dozen photographs of Mennonite buggies on this blog, but this is my very first photo of a New Order Amish tractor and wagon. We see these rigs around Guthrie and Crofton, Kentucky, where we have thriving New Order Amish communities.

I saw the tractor and wagon above at a restaurant in Hopkinsville. The owners probably drove in from Crofton to pick up farm supplies and to shop at WalMart (which is just a short distance from this restaurant.)

The man of the family drives the tractor, and the passengers ride in the wagon along with any freight. The wagon is always made from the back-end of an old pickup truck.

Around Guthrie and Elkton in Todd County, I've occasionally seen tractors with a man and woman riding together in the cab. I've even seen a woman driving a tractor down the road, with a couple of small children in the cab. However, I've never seen a woman driving a tractor that was pulling a wagon.

The use of the tractor, the use of normal tires on the tractor, and the use of the tractor on the road are some of the practices that distinguish New Order Amish from other Amish groups. The New Order Amish around this area have gone a step farther in permitting the use of the tractor to make short trips.

The basis for the various restrictions on tractor use is explained by Donald Kraybill and Marc Alan Olshan in The Amish Struggle with Modernity.  In The Riddle of Amish Culture, Donald Kraybill relates the history of the New Order split from the Old Order. Tractor use is just one of many differences between the major Amish groups, but with the New Order Amish, it's one of the most visible differences.

Related:
Cultural Change and Survival in Amish Society, a paper by Brian Lande for his class, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology.

Pilot Rock

Seen from Todd County

Pilot Rock is one of our local landmarks, and I've photographed it from just about every road around here, I think. Coming back from Rattlesnake Road, I stopped along Pilot Rock Road (Highway 508), just east of Pilot Rock in Todd County, to take this photo.  As you may know, Pilot Rock sits on the county line between Christian and Todd Counties.

Pilot Rock looks like a hill in this photo. And it is a hill, but it's also the highest point of both Todd and Christian Counties. It's a knob on an escarpment -- or to describe it as I see it, it's a big rock that juts out of the top of a steep ridge. When I pulled over to take the photo, I was already halfway up the ridge.

Rattlesnake Road

A back-road in rural Todd County, Kentucky

Rattlesnake Road, at
its intersection with
Allegre Road (Hwy. 171)

Last winter, I posted a photo I had taken of a creek ford on a rural road in northwestern Todd County, Kentucky. A visitor to the blog asked if the ford was on Rattlesnake Road. It wasn't -- it was on Flat Rock Road -- but the question planted a seed of curiosity in the wanderlust corner of my heart.

I decided that I would like to travel Rattlesnake Road when the weather dried up, and I said as much to the visitor. He (or she) replied:

Oh...then just trust me, Rattlesnake Road looks just about like your Flat Rock Road. I mean, you don't have to GO THERE...Rattlesnakes...and all...

My only trip there was in the summer years ago, the creek was incredibly high and there was no safe way to have crossed it. There was a roadway to the water's edge (and through it I presume) and a roadway came out the other side.

You could not have paid me any amount of money to get out of my car. Just the thought of it even today gives me the heebie jeebies!

Those words convinced me that I had to visit Rattlesnake Road and see its creek ford with my own eyes.

A Creek Not Forded

Time to turn around

I took a backroad in northwestern Todd County today, and came upon the creek in the photograph above. I've crossed it before in the summer when the weather was hot and dry, and the water was only a few inches deep.

Today, I didn't have the nerve to ford it. The water was nearly still, but the creek was much wider than usual,and I was afraid it was deeper, too.

If my low-sitting little car stalled in the water -- well, I could imagine some unpleasant scenarios. I would probably get wet, muddy, and cold. I would have to climb all the way out of the ravine before my cell phone might work, and if I had to walk back to the nearest house, it would be a couple of miles.

I cautiously backed my car uphill to a slightly wider place in the road and turned around. It took several maneuvers because I was afraid to get the wheels into the muddy ditches. Finally, I was headed in the opposite direction, and before long, I was back to the same highway I had left 20 minutes before.

No progress toward my destination was made on that sidetrip, but I learned a little lesson about creek fords in winter.

One Room School

Old-fashioned education

While wandering the roads of southern Todd County (KY) a few days ago, I drove through an Amish community. I think there are probably several little schools like this in the general area. The area served by the school is limited by the distance the students can travel on bicycles, and also by the size of the building.

A schoolbell tops the building. Playground equipment, including a slide, provides recess entertainment.  The little square building in the corner of the playground is probably the outhouse. A woodshed may be somewhere out of view. I don't see a chimney on the building, but it looks like there is a stovepipe coming out of the wall beside the porch. There is no electricity.

One teacher teaches all eight grades in little schools like these. In many ways, it's very similar to the one-room school I attended in Nebraska as a child, except that we had a telephone, fuel oil heat, and electrical power.

Related posts:
Lunch Hour at a One-Room School
Three Old Schools in Christian County, Kentucky
St. Elmo School Revisited
Some Memories of Duff, Nebraska
Duff Valley
Teaching in a One-Room School

Dr. Jesse Beck of Woodville, KY

A scrap of Western Kentucky history

Tonight at work, an elderly gentleman told me about an old book he owns. It's an antique paperback -- I think he said it has 60 pages -- and it's deteriorating. He wants his son, a chiropractor, to scan it and preserve it digitally.

The book describes the life and medical practice of Dr. Jesse Beck, a physician of the Civil War era in Woodville, KY. It was written by Beck's grandson.

My customer told me a little about the doctor as described in the book. Dr. Beck was a holistic physician; he believed that the health of body, mind, and spirit are interdependent.

Dr. Beck was also an herbalist who concocted many of his own medicines. Every year, he traveled to a distant city herbal market and bought back herbs from all over the world. One of his most popular and effective remedies was an herbal emetic; patients took the medicine and vomited out any poisons threatening their health.

After I got home tonight, I looked for information about Dr. Jesse Beck on the internet. I found him mentioned twice in History and Families, McCracken County, Kentucky, 1824-1989. The book's section on Woodville history says that Dr. Beck came to Woodville, KY, in 1852 from Todd County, KY.

The McCracken County history book mentions Dr. Beck again in the life history of Walter Elmo Jenkins. (Jenkins's wife, Alma, was Dr. Beck's niece.) Dr. Beck is described as a "botanic doctor" who was living near Woodville in December,1852, in a cabin with a split log floor and a few basic pieces of furniture.

For lack of a better image and more information, I'll imagine Dr. Beck as "The Country Doctor", in the old print that we, the people of the United States, keep at the Library of Congress.

Helen's Place at Kirkmansville, KY

A visit to a unique country store and restaurant

A few weeks ago, I was invited to lunch at Helen's Place, to help celebrate the 82nd birthday of my neighbor. Miss Margie.

I was a little surprised when I learned that this restaurant is located in Kirkmansville, KY. Kirkmansville is a tiny village in the extreme northwestern corner of Todd County. It sets at the intersection of Highways 171 and 107, which are not major highways. (Nor are they wide or straight highways!)

Miss Ardell, Margie's friend since childhood and the inspiration behind this expedition, drove us over to Kirkmansville in her Buick. Margie's daughter Sandra and I rode in the back seat.

We took Pilot Rock Road (Highway 507) to Allegre and turned north on 171. The roads wound around the hills, through the trees, and over the creeks. Usually, I would have enjoyed the scenery, but I felt a little carsick. I'm not used to the back seat.

We pulled into the parking lot at Helen's Place a few minutes before noon, entered the little building, and looked for a place to sit. The main room was full of tables and chairs, but Helen invited us to sit in the back room.

A waitress brought our iced tea, and we went through the line to get our food. The meal was served as a buffet, and the food was very good. I can honestly say it was home-style cooking. I don't remember the entire menu, but I filled my plate with:

BBQ ribs
Chicken and dumplings
Creamed potatoes
White beans
Macaroni salad
Homemade rolls
Johnnycake

My companions decided to have dessert. While they were getting their pie, I took some pictures of the back room and enjoyed the exhibit of old-time photos from Kirkmansville's past. (The white bands across the photos below are the unavoidable reflections of the overhead florescent lights.)

The back room has tables on one side of the aisle and chairs on the other side. On Friday nights, local musicians meet here to jam and to entertain. At the front of the room, a microphone and speakers stand ready. Plaques over the mantle honor two beloved musicians who performed regularly in the past: Frank Phipps and Donnie McGehee.

(To place this music-making in its proper perspective, one must know that thumbpicking originated in this precise area of Kentucky. Merle Travis is from Muhlenberg County, just a few miles north, as is Eddie Pennington. Odell Martin, also a thumbpicker, was from the little town of Allegre, six miles south of Helen's Place. The Everly Brothers learned thumbpicking from their father, a Muhlenberg County native and an accomplished musician.)

But back to Helen's Place and our visit there. While we were enjoying our meal and conversation, the tables in the other room had filled with diners. Many of the customers were men who had come in from the fields. I suppose they find it easier (and more fun!) to come to Helen's for a hot meal than to pack a lunch.

Helen came back to talk to us again before we left. She said that she was honored that we'd come there for a birthday celebration. We complimented her on the delicious meal, and she insisted that it was "just plain country cookin'."

Miss Ardell asked how many people were employed there. Helen explained that she has a staff of five, counting herself. They work together preparing the food, without any firm rules about who's going to make what. Usually, they fix two main dishes as well as a variety of side dishes.

When we went to the front room of the store to pay, I spotted a box of college-rule spiral-bound notebooks on the shelves. I bought a few for Isaac; I had tried unsuccessfully to find them at WalMart the night before. My meal was surprisingly inexpensive. As I recall, it was less than $7.00, including the tea.

Someone at Kirkmansville paints rocks and sells them at Helen's Place. Sandra bought one for Margie that had a fawn painted on it. When we started home a few minutes later, we saw a doe and a little spotted fawn along the road, just outside of Kirkmansville.

After we went around the first few curves, Sandra suggested that we stay on Highway 171 at Allegre and go home by Butler Road, instead of turning onto Pilot Rock Road. It was still a winding road back to Allegre, but after that, the road was somewhat less crooked. I was glad.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Related:
"Seen at Kirkmansville, KY" -- Prairie Bluestem
"Great Road Name Lost" -- Prairie Bluestem
History of Kirkmansville -- Todd County, KY, Family History

Seen at Kirkmansville, KY

A light unto the Gentiles

Driving home from Greenville a few weeks ago, I paused in Kirkmansville and photographed the United Methodist Church, It is a simple structure with little adornment. Its fanciest parts are its arched windows and its steeple. The steeple (or bell tower) reminds me a little of a sturdy lighthouse.

The church sits along Highway 171, and as you can see from the shadows on the building, it is well-shaded in the late afternoon.

I read that the Methodist-Episcopal Church in Kirkmansville was established in 1876. Its 29 charter members were probably the forefathers of the Methodist congregation in Kirkmansville today.

Todd County Courthouse in Elkton, KY

A handsome 1830s building

The historic Todd County Courthouse sets on the town square in Elkton, Kentucky. It was built in 1835-1836 to replace a smaller courthouse, built in 1821.

This structure served as the seat of county government for the next 140 years, until a new, one-story courthouse was built in 1975-1976.

Near the end of the Civil War (1865), the Todd County Courthouse was occupied by Union forces. They left the building in a damaged state, and a major renovation was carried out in 1871. The cupola was added at that time.

Ironically, the occupation of the courthouse probably saved it from being burned. Confederate General Hylan B. Lyon torched 7 courthouses in Western Kentucky to prevent them from falling into Union hands, including the courthouses of Christian, Trigg, and Caldwell counties, just west of Todd County.

The Wikipedia entry for the old Todd County Courthouse says that the cupola was originally painted orange, olive green, and beige. Wow.

The old courthouse was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. Many other fine old buildings surround the courthouse square. They were added to the National Register in 1989 as the "Elkton Commercial Historic District."

Photos of the interior of the old courthouse appear at the Old Courthouse Preservation Project webpage. The October, 2006, minutes of the Elkton City Council state that a museum is planned for the second floor of the building, and a Welcome Center is planned for the first floor.

I admire Elkton and Todd County for choosing to preserve their old buildings rather than demolish them. Downtown Elkton has its own unique atmosphere, and the old Todd County Courthouse is its jewel.

Most of the historic information in this post comes from two great books about Kentucky:

• John W. Carpenter's Kentucky Courthouses by John W. Carpenter & William B. Scott, Jr. (Copyright 1988 by John W. Carpenter and William B. Scott, Jr. and published by John W. Carpenter, London KY.)
• The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by John E. Kleeber. (Copyright 1992 by the University Press of Kentucky, Lexington.)

Christmas Inflatables

Decking the halls outside

Decorated for the season in Elkton, KY.

This house and yard is decorated with exuberance, to say the least. I can imagine how fascinating the big inflatable Christmas figures are to young passersby.

Thrilling the children is one of the main reasons for Christmas decorations, both inside and outside. Sometimes the thrilled children are the adults who put up the decorations!

Compared to this house and many others, our exterior decorations are bland. We don't do much since there isn't much traffic on our road.

I hang a big lighted star in the second floor window of our shed. It's on a dusk to daylight timer. I always enjoy seeing it when I drive in at night. I hope our Mennonite neighbors who share the road enjoy it also.

I also hang a few lights in our living room windows. The Mennonite lady who lives on the other side of us told me once that she enjoyed seeing the lights, so I put them up each year for her. She would never put up Christmas lights for herself, but her inner child is still happy to see them.

An Evening at the Kentuckiana Digital Library

Historical documents, images, and more

A few minutes ago, I had to pull myself away from the Kentuckiana Digital Library (KDL) so I can write in my blog and go to bed!

The KDL is just one section of The Kentucky Virtual Library, an immense resource for research in and about Kentucky. I don't pretend to know everything that can be found in and through the Kentucky Virtual Library. I do know that you can search, get the name of a book and its library, and have your local library arrange an interlibrary-loan.

The KDL has a lot of old photographs, books, and newspapers online. For example, I found a little book from 1915 that gives a proud overview of Christian County, Kentucky (where I live.) The entire text of William Henry Perrin's histories of Christian and Trigg Counties is also available there.

I learned a bit about the WPA work done around here in the Depression from some of the images of Christian County. Besides building roads and bridges, they operated a stone quarry that provided the materials. The images also include views of the coal mines in the northern part of the county in the early years of the century, a few farming photos from that era, and a number of photos of the long-gone Bethel College in Hopkinsville.

Since we live on the east side of Christian County with the Jefferson Davis Monument in the greater circles of our neighborhood, I was interested in the 1929 images of the newly completed monument. The one that shows a vintage automobile approaching Fairview is my favorite.

The Todd County photos (next county to the east) raised a question in my mind that will now have to be answered. What has become of the Gray and Blue State Park that appears in over a dozen photographs?

A hotel, lodge, traveler's rest hall, and more are shown in the photos of the Gray and Blue State Park. The park was transferred in 1936 to the National Park Service according to one of the captions. The only modern-day evidence I can find of the park's existence is the address of a church: "2273 Blue and Gray Park Road." I'm planning a drive down that road to see what I can see.

If you appreciate old-time photographs, newspapers, books, etc., there are wonders to behold at this website. I hope you'll pay a visit.

Guthrie, KY: A Railroad Town

How trains have shaped the history of Guthrie, KY

Freshly painted locomotives in Guthrie, KY

Railroads made Guthrie, Kentucky. Several major rail lines intersected in southern Todd County, on the Kentucky and Tennessee state line, and the city of Guthrie grew around the tracks.

The beginning of the railroad era

The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture gives the following information about railways that ran through Guthrie, even before the Civil War.

Nashville gained rail access to the North through Kentucky. Louisville city subscriptions and Tennessee state aid financed the Louisville and Nashville (L&N), incorporated in Kentucky in 1850... Completed in 1859, it hosted an excursion intended to preserve the Union... The Edgefield and Kentucky (E&K), completed in 1860, ran from the Nashville suburb of Edgefield to Guthrie on the Kentucky boundary.

Memphis also established railroad access to Louisville: the Memphis and Ohio (M&O) ran from Memphis to Paris; the Memphis, Clarksville, and Louisville ran from Paris to Guthrie; and the L&N constructed a branch from Bowling Green to Guthrie."

Quoted from The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture

Shortly after the L&N completed its line to Nashville in 1859, the Civil War disrupted the region. During the war, the Union controlled the area in which the L&N operated, and the railroad made a lot of money transporting U.S. troops and supplies.

Guthrie becomes a railroad boomtown

Opera House, Guthrie KY

When the war ended and reconstruction began, the L&N Railroad had plenty of cash on hand to expand dramatically throughout the South. The surge of investment in infrastructure paid off in an immense increase in traffic on its lines, bringing many trains through Guthrie at all hours of the day and night. Businessmen recognized the opportunity to provide goods and services to travelers and shippers, and Guthrie became a railroad boomtown.

In 1879, the city of Guthrie was chartered. It was named for John James Guthrie, the L&N Railroad President. The railroads prospered for many years, and Guthrie also prospered. Fine homes were built, and the business district was lined with stores, saloons, a hotel, and even an opera house.

Five railroad lines that met in Guthrie were:

- the L&N St. Louis-Evansville-Nashville line
- the L&N Louisville-Memphis line
- the L&N Guthrie-Bowling Green branch
- the Edgefield and Kentucky Railroad
- the Guthrie-Elkton (KY) spur (chartered in 1883)

Hard times for the railroads

Rail travel and shipping declined during the mid-1900s. The rail companies labored under out-of-date FCC regulations, a loss of travel and shipping to the new Interstate highway system, an increase in air travel, and the loss of railway post offices. These problems led to major restructuring and consolidation. Many railroad lines closed in the 1960s. 1970s and 1980s.

Congress could not agree whether to subsidize, nationalize, or deregulate the remaining passenger lines, so nothing was done. Finally, in 1970, Amtrak was formed and most of America's railroads turned their passenger service over to it. In 1980, an important railroad bill, the Staggers Rail Act, was passed, and with deregulation, freight lines were able to operate at a profit again.

R.J. Corman locomotive
in Guthrie KY

The Elkton-Guthrie line closed in 1957. The L&N was merged into the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad in the early 1970s and eliminated its few remaining passenger lines in 1979. After another merger, the CSX railroad company assumed control of the former L&N rail system. The City of Guthrie's website states that the population of Guthrie dropped by 50% in a single year, sometime (no year given) during all this restructuring.

Railroads in Guthrie today

I've become quite curious about Guthrie lately, and this has led to my research of its history. We bought a used car for Keely in Guthrie, so we've made several trips there in the last month. I've had a chance to loiter about the town, admire the old houses and buildings, and note the presence of the train industry to this day.

Front end of an
R.J. Corman locomotive

The R.J. Corman Railroad Company has a shop in Guthrie. They usually have a freshly painted locomotive on the tracks in front of it. R.J. Corman operates a short-line railroad from Bowling Green, KY, to Zinc, TN, that passes through Guthrie.

The CSX Railroad Company, heir to the L&N railroad, has an office and shop in Guthrie also. Trains still rumble through the town regularly.

L&N Caboose in Guthrie, KY

The L&N Railroad's role in Guthrie history is honored in a little downtown park where a cheery red L&N caboose is displayed. The depot was torn down long ago.

I'll write more later about some of the efforts Guthrie is making to revitalize itself after enduring the changes in the railroad industry.

Related:
"Southbound in the Snow" -- train pictures taken near Guthrie
Songs by Mickey Newbury that mention Guthrie
More train pictures from Guthrie
Many L&N Railroad photos

Technorati tags:L&N Railroad, R.J. Corman Railroad, R. J. Corman, CSX Railroad, Guthrie Kentucky, Guthrie KY, railroad history, trains

Pilot Rock Revisited

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

The folks on the Hoptown Hall Forum have been discussing Pilot Rock lately, and that reminded me that I have a photo of the Rock (above) that I should post. I took it at the end of March, just before the late freeze zapped all the leaves you see on the trees. I like this photo because it suggests how rough the terrain is around Pilot Rock.

Like the images (here and here) that I posted in January, this photo was taken from a gravel road to the northwest of Pilot Rock.

Through the Hoptown Hall discussion of Pilot Rock, I've learned of another treasure legend associated with this landmark. It is similar, but not quite the same as the story I've heard.

I am more inclined to believe the written version (which probably was researched to some extent) than the word-of-mouth version (which was told to me by people who heard it from somebody who heard it from somebody, etc.)

The photo at left was taken about six years ago with a zoom lens from the field just north of our little acreage. This view is from the southwest and I think it was taken in July. That's corn in the background, and I believe it's soybeans in the foreground.

You may wonder why I don't post any photos of the view from Pilot Rock. That's because I've never climbed it! I've never had a desire to stand up there and look off the edge of that rock. I think it would give me the heebie-jeebies.

Our 80-year-old neighbor lady, Miss M., told us about climbing Pilot Rock one Sunday with a group of people when she was a little child. She was wearing shoes with hard, slick leather soles, and she got too close to the edge and began to slip. An adult snatched her back by her skirt-tail just in the nick of time. The Good Lord had other plans for her, Miss M. told us.

Related posts:

• January Scenes from Christian County, KY
• Pilot Rock
• Treasure at Pilot Rock or Apex in Christian County
• Uniting Organizations to Save Vultures

Technorati tags: landmark, Pilot Rock, Todd County KY, Christian County KY

Mennonites and Amish in Christian County, Kentucky

Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

I posted a photo of a Mennonite buggy a couple of days ago and Erik asked in a comment, "Any idea how large the Mennonite community is around you? Any Amish as well?"

I sat down and tried to answer that question accurately, and I wrote so much that I decided it should probably be a separate post. And then I wrote some more. It turned out that I had quite a bit to say.

Mennonite and Amish influx to Christian and Todd Counties

Christian County and Todd County (KY) have seen a lot of Mennonite and Amish immigration over the last few decades. I think it really began during the late 1970's which was a rough time for U.S. farmers. Interest rates were unbelievably high and many areas suffered severe drought. Farm bankruptcies rose across the nation and continued throughout the 1980's.

As nice farms in Christian and Todd Counties came on the market, Mennonite and Amish families (especially from Pennsylvania) began moving into the area. They were able to sell their farmland back east at a good price for development and industry, and they got a lot more land for their money when they reinvested it here.

When we first moved here almost 16 years ago, some local residents seemed to be very hostile about the influx of Mennonite and Amish families. There was a lot of resentment about local farmers going broke and losing their land, only to see it sold to Mennonites and Amish. The Kentucky New Era, our local newspaper, wrote several articles about vandalism and hate pamphlets.

I believe that the Mennonites and Amish are better accepted now that people have grown accustomed to them and perhaps have even become acquainted with some of them. After all, they are just people, much like you and me in many ways. Where there is ill will now, it is most often about the damage done to highways by the steel shoes on horses and the steel wheels on buggies and equipment.

Mennonite farms in our immediate neighborhood

It is hard for me to estimate the size of the Mennonite community in this part of Christian County, except to say that we have a large and ever-growing population. I tried to count the number of families within a 2-1/2 mile radius, and I came up with at least 11 Mennonite households, two of which are childless, but most of the families have at least four children and some have seven or eight children. Within a five mile radius of our house, there are two Mennonite churches and four schools.

Mennonite and Amish families are good at making a living on a small acreage -- that's why we have so many families in such a small area. The Fairview Produce Market (just five miles from us) has been a big help for produce growers.

Many of the families have dairies or big chicken houses and it's very common for them to have some kind of a repair shop or small store that they operate on their property. Within the 2-1/2 mile radius that I mentioned above, our Mennonite neighbors operate a greenhouse, a harness repair shop, a small-engine repair shop, a tractor repair shop, several chicken houses and three dairies -- in addition to doing regular farming of various sorts.

The church that our neighbors attend allows its members to have telephones and electricity, but does not permit automobile ownership or voting. All motorized implements must have steel wheels (to prevent them from becoming road vehicles.) I am not sure what designation this church applies to itself, but it is not Old Order.

We do have a large family of Old Order Mennonites nearby. (I think there are 16 brothers and sisters in the family but I don't know if they all live around here or not.) They use horses or mules in the fields and do not have electricity or telephones in their homes. They do not hire vehicles to go to town. If they must go to town, they drive their buggies or ride bicycles. Their school is included in my count above (within a five-mile radius). I am not sure if they meet at the school for Sunday worship or in homes.

Our Mennonite neighbor Clarence told us that the sons in this Old Order family have been marrying into another group that he called Canadian Mennonites. He says these Canadian Mennonites are even more conservative than the Old Order Mennonites are.

Amish settlements in Christian and Todd Counties

We don't have any Amish families living near us, but there are areas of Christian and Todd Counties that do have settlements of Old Order Amish and New Order Amish. In Christian County, the New Order Amish seem to have settled mostly around Crofton (northern Christian County), and the Old Order Amish have settled in southern Christian County.

The Old Order Amish whom I have observed don't use electricity or tractors. They travel by horse and buggy or hire a driver if they're going far. Their clothing is usually dark in color. The ladies wear dark bonnets that come down onto their shoulders. I notice that the ladies use straight pins for their garment closures.

The New Order Amish dress more brightly. They drive to town in tractors pulling converted pickup-box trailers. The men drive and the women, children, and cargo are stowed in the trailers. Besides the settlements of New Order Amish around Crofton, KY, there are communities around Elkton, KY, and in southern Todd County.

Other Mennonites in the area

There are also people whom I see that do not seem to fit into the four main categories I have described above, but their style of dress makes it evident that they are from other Mennonite or Amish groups. Some of them may be Brethren which is another Anabaptist group.

For example, a fellow whom our Mennonite neighbors call a "Russian Mennonite" built a kitchen cabinet for us. This cabinet maker drives a pickup truck and has electricity and a telephone. His family's style of dress makes it very evident that they are Mennonite. They do not attend a local church, but travel to southern Missouri once a month to worship with a church that shares their particular beliefs.

Today, another Mennonite man who is not a member of any local church is helping my husband with some plumbing. He drives a van. He and his wife have a Christian bookstore in their home that caters particularly to local Mennonites. They also publish a catalog and do a mail-order book business.

Another large Mennonite family nearby (13 children, all grown now) attends church here but they do not take communion here. For communion, they go to Ohio. They are more liberal than the local Mennonite church. They drive a horse and buggy, but they don't obey the rule about having only steel wheels on their tractors. (They don't have to obey the local Mennonite rules since they aren't "in communion" with the local church anyway.) Their children attended public school through 5th grade with our kids. Some of their children have married into Mennonite communities elsewhere that drive automobiles. Two of their children (that I know of) have married members of our local Mennonite church and have complied with its stricter lifestyle.

Importance of the church and community

I have read quite a bit about the Mennonite and Amish faiths and talked with our neighbors as well, and as I understand it, the particular practices of any community are determined entirely by a set of standards that the local church agrees on. The church may decide to allow gasoline motors on stationary farm equipment, for example, or to allow telephones but only in the barn.

A very important value that all these different Mennonite and Amish groups hold is community. This is the underlying reason for avoiding motor vehicles, for example. First of all, motor vehicles take people places where they are exposed to outside influences, and secondly, they reduce the interdependence and cooperation of the community's members.

Even the telephone can be seen as dangerous because you may seek help and input from an outsider instead of going to speak face-to-face with your neighbor who is a friend and fellow church-member.

We have seen a few Mennonite familes sell out and move away from this area because they could not agree with the standards of the local Mennonite church. They wanted to live differently -- more conservatively or more liberally or whatever -- so they moved to another community that is more compatible with their beliefs.

Erik didn't ask to know all this about the Mennonites and Amish here, but I seemed to think this lengthy explanation was necessary in order to accurately describe our neighborhood and community.



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Elk Farm in Todd County, KY

Life in The Upper South... More About Birds and Animals... And What I Think About It...

A small elk herd is held in a series of pens, behind the Amish store south of Elkton, KY. We saw these bulls on Tuesday when we were over there, as well as a small pen of younger bulls and a pen of cows.

Elk are ruminants like cattle. Their first stomach, an anaerobic digester of cellulose, is called a rumen, . Ruminants spend their time grazing and ruminating -- that is, regurgitating food matter from the rumen and re-chewing it. (This is also known as "chewing the cud.") When the grass is sufficiently ground up and fermented, it passes to the next stomach.

It seems probable that the elk meat sold within the Amish store comes from this herd. Elk meat, like buffalo meat, is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef, pork or lamb, and it compares favorably with chicken and turkey (according to nutritional information supplied by Grande Premium Meats, an online seller of buffalo and elk meats.)

Personally, I am not interested in trying elk meat for a couple of reasons.

• Reason 1: I am finicky about meats other than beef, pork, turkey and chicken. I avoid mutton, duck, goose, venison, etc. (and the etc. includes elk.)

• Reason 2: Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). I would want certification that the meat was from a CWD-tested animal, if I were to try the meat which is unlikely (see Reason One.)

Some of the Asian countries use elk and deer "velvet antlers" in folk medicine -- antlers that are removed before they are large and calcified. South Korea is a major processor and consumer, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China.

I wasn't able to find any official information about the current market for U.S. velvet antler, but producers have been greatly impacted by North America's CWD problems. I'm always sorry when someone who makes their living from the land is having difficulties, and I hope those people have survived the crisis with their farms or ranches intact, but frankly, the velvet antler business is vaguely sickening to me.

The elk in the photo appear well-tended and healthy and they certainly have handsome racks. Apparently their owner isn't selling velvet antlers. I wish they had a little more room to roam, but I know that Todd County farmland isn't cheap, and neither are the materials for a strong, high fence.

Rainy Trip to Guthrie

All In The Family... Life in Christian County, Kentucky...

After a night of heavy rain

It pays to have connections, or I should say, "A friend in need is a friend indeed."

A friend from church brought out a comfy old recliner one day this week for Dennis to use. I don't know if it's a loaner or a keeper, but we're grateful for it. It gives Dennis another place where he can stretch out and rest, and he can get up from it without assistance.

Meanwhile, a friend who works at the newspaper called to say she had taken an ad for a recliner. I called the owner, a Mr. Covington, and made arrangements to look at it this morning.

On the drive over to Guthrie, Kentucky, I saw lots of evidence of the heavy rain and wind we received during the night. I guess we're having an equinox storm. I couldn't find any evidence on the weather maps that we're in the fringe area of any tropical depressions or such.

Wind-blown leaves and small branches are scattered across the smaller roadways. Weeds and tall grass along the ditches are still bent from the torrent of water that washed over them in the night. In Elkton, a little stream is completely out of its banks. I drove through occasional showers all the way over to Guthrie.

I found Mr. Covington's house easily, using the directions he gave me: "Go to the pink elephant and...". The pink elephant at the junction of Highways 79 and 41, the Pachyderm of Tinytown, is a well-known landmark in this part of the state.

Mr. Harry Covington is an interesting gentleman. He's about 75 or 80 years old, and he lives in a brick ranch home with a circle drive that he built 40 years ago.

On the wall of his office, he has an old photograph of a horse-drawn milk wagon. When Mr. Covington was a boy. his father and mother and the nine Covington children milked 30 Jersey cows and delivered milk in glass bottles all around Guthrie. Mr. Covington pointed out that Guthrie was a boom-town in those days because two major railways intersected there.

I asked him if he remembered Robert Penn Warren who was born and raised at Guthrie, and Mr. Covington described how the poet used to stroll down the sidewalks in town, wearing long stockings and old-fashioned pants that ended just below his knees.

When this old white-haired gentleman heard that my husband had just come home from Iraq, he told me that he prayed every night for peace on earth, and he had done so ever since he came home from World War II. He said he had been a Marine at Iwo Jima, and he'd never forgotten what he saw there.

On the walls of his office, Mr. Covington has pictures of his children, many newspaper clippings with stories about himself, various awards, and his Kentucky Colonel appointments from two different governors. His business card says that he is the chairman of the Guthrie Industrial Development Commission, Inc.

But back to the recliner. It's a small, sturdy recliner that sits very nicely. Mr. Covington is going to take it over to Clarksville to a shop that steam-cleans upholstery, and I will pick it up there next week.

On the way home, I stopped at the Country Pantry, an Amish bulk food store located between Guthrie and Elkton. Half a dozen automobiles were parked outside, and their "English" owners were in the store. I bought flour, yeast, flaxseed and a pound of Amish sausage.

Some things at the Amish store are amazingly cheap (like spices and yeast), while other things are surprisingly expensive They offer a larger variety of flours than any other store I know of. I always enjoy looking around there, and I'll have another excuse to stop in when I drive over to Clarksville to pick up the recliner.

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Pilot Rock

Landmark in Todd and Christian counties

Pilot Rock

Pilot Rock is the highest point in both Christian and Todd Counties (in Kentucky) with an elevation of 966 feet. It sits on the county line, at the summit of a large, high hill. It has been cited as a landmark since local history was recorded, and it surely was noted by prehistoric travelers as well.

A Knob on an Escarpment

When I took my brother over to see Pilot Rock, he wondered whether underground activity such as a volcano or a shifting fault line had pushed the big rock upward. I didn't know the answer to that question, and after a little research, my answer is that I still don't know for sure.

The University of Kentucky's Groundwater Resources page for Todd County says that Pilot Rock is a knob on an escarpment. I wasn't entirely clear about what an escarpment was, so I looked it up.

Escarpment or scarp, long cliff, bluff, or steep slope, caused usually by geologic faulting or by erosion of tilted rock layers. An example of a fault scarp is the north face of the San Jacinto Mts. in California. Examples of erosional escarpments include the Palisades along the Hudson River and the long break separating the coastal region from the inland area in Texas, roughly paralleling the coast.

Source: The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press, as presented by Answers.com

The escarpment in Todd and Christian counties separates the low farmlands of South Christian and SouthTodd from a high plateau in North Christian and North Todd. There are several lesser knobs of note, but the highest of them short of Pilot Rock's elevation by 86 feet:

• Pine Knob a few miles west of Pilot Rock: 863 feet
• Keeling Hill in Todd County near Fairview: 848 feet
• Tucker Ridge a few miles north/northeast of Pilot Rock: 880 feet

Big Clifty Sandstone is the underlying rock of the escarpment. It can be seen at Pilot Rock and on top of other high knobs. It interested me that Big Clifty is also seen on the Mammoth Cave Plateau as the top or "cap" layer of the rock in which Mammoth Cave was carved by underground streams.

Local History

I've read several old histories of Christian County and memoirs of people who grew up here in the 1800's, and without fail, Pilot Rock is mentioned as a recreational site to enjoy.

Of [Todd County's natural objects of peculiar interest,] Pilot Rock is perhaps the most striking. This is a vast mass of rock some 200 feet high, resting upon elevated ground and entirely isolated.

Its summit is a level area of about half an acre in extent, covered with a small growth of timber and wild shrubbery, and is a pleasant resort, frequented by picnic parties from the neighboring country. It stands north of Fairview on the line between Christian and Todd Counties, the larger portion of the rock lying within the limits of the latter.

Its elevated summit, which is gained without much difficulty, affords a fine view of the surrounding country for many. miles, presenting a prospect beautiful and picturesque. In the leafless season and a favoring atmosphere, it is said Hopkinsville, twelve miles away, may be distinctly seen from its summit, and in pioneer days it was known far and wide as an infallible landmark, hence its name.

Quoted from: Kentucky Genealogy. The writing style suggests that this is quoted from an old book, but thus far, I am unable to locate a citation for it.

A few strange events have taken place at Pilot Rock during the time that we've lived here. In one incident, a mentally disturbed person climbed the Rock to elude the police and had to be coaxed down. Another time, a drunk man fell to his death from the summit.

Buzzards at Pilot Rock

Several years ago a girl photographer from the local newspaper climbed Pilot Rock and photographed the fall foliage and autumnal landscape. In her photographic essay, she mentioned big hawks that repeatedly circled the rock. We all laughed, out here close to Pilot Rock. We knew that those big birds were buzzards, not hawks.

A couple of weeks later, the newspaper published a letter from someone in another state who had written to say he suspected that the birds were buzzards, not hawks. We all laughed again.

A lady who grew up in this neighborhood came home to spend a few days. She has lived and worked in the big city for years. While she was here, she decided to climb Pilot Rock for old time's sake.

After her climb, she stopped by the little country store where I was working. Her brother, a local fellow about 50 years old, was there, drinking a soda. She sat down beside him and shared her experience. "It was so peaceful on top of Pilot Rock" she exulted. "I stretched out in the sunshine and just watched the buzzards circling."

Her brother snorted. "I wouldn't be lying on the ground for long if there were buzzards circling over me," he said emphatically. He did have a point, I thought.

Sad Condition

Pilot Rock's listing on the National Register of Historical Places states that Woodland Indians painted petroglyphs on the rock (or somewhere in the immediate area) and used it as a ceremonial site. I have never seen the petroglyphs, but I fear that they may have been vandalized. Pilot Rock is heavily used as a party-place. The ground is littered with broken glass and the sides of the rock have suffered spray-paint graffiti.

I looked at one website that stated that Pilot Rock is privately owned; another stated that the property is owned by "the government" (whatever entity that may be.) I have been told that it was formerly public property but is now privately owned. Whatever is the case, I wish we could take a little better care of it.

Having said that, I'm a little ashamed that I picked up a couple of conglomerate rocks from a washed-out road at the base of Pilot Rock and brought them home to add to my outdoor rock collection! Shame on me for not practicing what I preach. I will restrain myself next time I think of picking up a rock at an unprotected, unattended historic site and natural wonder like Pilot Rock.

My brother at Pilot Rock

Conglomerate rocks from Pilot Rock

Related site: Todd County High Point Report
Related post: Treasure at Pilot Rock or Apex in Christian County, KY

Old Homesite

Life in Christian County, Kentucky... History and Old Stuff...

The barn is still standing, but across the road, only the trees are left at the old homesite.


These photos were taken in Todd County, Kentucky, about 15 miles southeast of our home. I decided to use sepia toning to give them an old-fashioned look as Rich Legg of Leggnet's Daily Capture often does. I like the effect a little better on the trees than on the barn.

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Todd County, Kentucky