Remembering The Storekeeper

Henry Clay Huffaker was born in 1832 at Beaver Creek in Wayne County. He married Margaret Shearer in 1855 and to their union were born thirteen children, seven boys and six girls. The 8th born was Juliann "Hettie" Huffaker. Hettie married Ulysses Grant Frost in 1889. Their youngest child, Vada, was my grandmother. Hettie's second oldest sister, Laura, married Daniel Rector. Their youngest child, Wendell, married Lela Cooper. After the family moved to Albany, the oldest child, Clay, left home for the U.S. Navy, never to return again. He was aboard the USS Arizona when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The first torpedo in the assault on Pearl Harbor hit the USS Raleigh at about 7:55 a.m., Sunday morning. Battleship Row was hit at 7:57 a.m. The USS ARIZONA was moored inboard of the repair ship Vestal when the attack occurred. At 8:10 a.m. a Japanese Type 97 Attack Bomber dropped a bomb that struck the Arizona between the No. 1 and No. 2 turret. This bomb was a converted armor piercing artillery shell that ignited the Arizona's forward magazine. Blazing furiously, the once majestic battleship Arizona violently exploded, sinking to the bottom of the harbor. .

This December 7th will mark 70 years that 1,177 men, including Storekeeper 3rd Class Clay Cooper Rector of Albany, rest at the bottom of the harbor, encased in the Arizona's rusty hull. In the Navy's known history, there has never been a ship that has taken so many of its crew down with her.

This Memorial Day, the Notorious Meddler pauses to remember Clay Cooper Rector, and the others aboard the USS ARIZONA who paid the supreme sacrifice while in service to the United States of America.

David Williams Is Not The First Gubernatorial Candidate Born In Cumberland County

Kentucky State Senator David Williams of Burkesville is not the first gubernatorial candidate born in Cumberland County. Two other gentlemen, born in Cumberland County, actually served as Governor.

Thomas Elliot Bramlette was Governor of Kentucky from 1863 to 1867. He was born January 3, 1817, to Ambrose Shrewsbury Bramlette and Sarah Elliott Bramlette, in a part of Cumberland County that is now in Clinton County. In 1841, Thomas Bramlette was elected representative of Clinton County in the State Legislature. In 1852 he moved to Adair County. In 1856, he was elected Judge for the 6th District. In 1861 he accepted a colonel's commission in the Federal Army and raised the Third Kentucky Regiment of Infantry. In 1862 he resigned from the Army and accepted President Lincoln's offer of the United States District Attorney ship. In 1863 he was commissioned major-general and while organizing his division was nominated as the Union candidate for governor of Kentucky, which was followed by his election in August, by a large majority. As governor, he acted to curb Confederate guerilla raids. Bramlette opposed the Freedmen’s Bureau and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. He advocated the establishment of what became the University of Kentucky. During his service he was offered a seat in congress, but declined to become a candidate. In 1864 the convention in Louisville instructed their delegates to vote for McClellan and Bramlette as their candidates for president and vice-president, but he again declined to allow his name to be used. On his retirement from office he resumed the practice of law in Louisville. Thomas Bramlette died on January 12, 1875 in Louisville. He is buried at Cave Hill Cemetery. As a wartime governor, Bramlette disagreed with President Lincoln over the enlistment of African American troops, the suspension of habeas corpus, and civilian arrests. After Lincoln’s assassination the governor recognized the enduring legacy of Lincoln’s policies. He said, "We may differ with him, and have differed with him, but when the judgment of future events has come, we found we were differing blindly; that he was right and we were wrong . . . experience and time have demonstrated that his was the only line of salvation for our country."

Preston Hopkins Leslie was Governor of Kentucky Governor from 1871 to 1875. Like Bramlette, he was born on March 8, 1819 in a part of Cumberland County that is now in Clinton County. He was a member of the same Church I am a member of -- Clear Fork Baptist Church. Leslie studied law and was admitted to the bar on October 10, 1840, and served as the deputy clerk of the Clinton County courts. On November 11, 1841, he married Louisa Black. The couple had seven children. In 1841, Leslie moved his family to Monroe County, where he became county attorney in 1842. When his wife died in 1858, Leslie married Mary Kuykendall and they had three children. Leslie was elected as a Whig to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1844. In 1850 he was elected State Senator for Barren and Monroe counties. When the Whig Party faded from prominence Leslie became a Democrat. He declined nominations for a seat in the United States Congress and on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, choosing instead to work on his farm. Leslie returned to the state Senate in 1867. He was Senate president from 1869 to 1871. When Governor John Stevenson resigned in February of 1871, because there was no lieutenant governor at the time, Leslie, as Senate president became the Governor. Later that same year he was elected to his own term. During his tenure, an educational system for blacks was created, the sale of liquor was controlled and the penal system was improved. Leslie was appointed territorial governor of Montana in 1887, but two years later the territory's political machinery turned against him and he was removed from office. Later, he was appointed district attorney for Montana. He continued to practice law well into his nineties, and was being considered for a district court judgeship in Montana when he fell ill with pneumonia and died on February 7, 1907, at the age of 94. He is buried at Forest Vale Cemetery in Helena.

This past Tuesday, David Williams and his running mate, Ritchie Farmer, the fomer Kentucky Wildcat basketball star, and current Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture, won the Republican nomination for Governor and Lieutenant Governor.

Marina and Ian's Prom 2011

Watch "Marina & Ian's Prom 2011" on YouTube

A Struggle For Freedom

The Palatine of the Rhine in Germany was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire, administered by a count. The land was divided into two regions. The Upper Palatinate, located in northern Bavaria, remained under Bavarian authority, and the Lower Palatinate, located between Luxembourg and the Rhine River, was an independent state. Heidelberg was its capital until the 18th century. The boundaries of the Palatinate varied with the political and dynastic fortunes of the counts palatine.

In 1356, a Papal decree made the Count an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire, and during the Reformation, the Palatinate accepted Protestantism and became the foremost Calvinist region in Germany. After Martin Luther published his 95 Theses on the door of the castle church at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, many of his followers came under considerable religious persecution for their beliefs. Perhaps for reasons of mutual comfort and support, these folks who shared a common view on religion, gathered in the Palatine.

In 1618, E lector Friedrich V’s acceptance of Bohemia’s offer of its crown touched off the Thirty Years War. From 1618 to 1648 was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history, and the beginning of much persecution the Palatines would have to endure for the next 100 years.

The Palatine country suffered greatly from the horrors of fire and sword as well as from pillage and plunder by the French armies as the Roman Catholic armies sought to crush the religious freedom of a politically-divided Protestantism. Many armies and bands of mercenaries, both of friends and foe, devoured the substance of the Palatines. The Thirty Years War was a complicated catastrophe from which the Palatinate never really recovered. Instead of politically leading Germany, the Palatinate became a spoil, fought over by other states and countries.

A weakened Palatinate was no match for French ruler Louis XIV, who, seeking to increase his Empire sent his forces to ravage the region of the Palatine. Every large city on the Rhine above Cologne was sacked. The War of the Palatinate from 1688 to 1697 only served to further weaken an already famine Palatine. The result was a large scale emigration from 1689-1697.

In 1702, the War of the Spanish Succession began in Europe and lasted until 1713, causing a great deal of instability for the Palatines. To make matters worse, there was a major freeze in the winter of 1708 in the Palatinate. It was the harshest winter the Palatinate has seen in 100 years. On January 10, 1709 the Rhine River froze and was closed for five weeks. Wine froze into ice. Grapevines died. Cattle died in their sheds.

While the land of the Palatinate had originally been good for its inhabitants, many of whom were farmers, vineyard operators etc., residents finally came to the realization that oppressive taxation, religious bickering, hunger for more and better land, the advertising of the English colonies in America and the favorable attitude of the British government toward settlement in the North American colonies were reasons enough to abandon their homeland. The scene was set for a mass migration and over the next century that is what happened as literally thousands upon thousands of Palatines fled to America.

Hans Jacob Speck and his family lived near Baden, Germany, in the Ruppurr-Karlsruhe district, which was roughly 61.9km, or about an hour, south of Heidelberg. Jacob was born in the year 1670 and had worked most of his life as a butcher. He died on January 14, 1736.

About a year after his father died, Jacob's son, Michael Martin, better known as Martin Speck, took a boat ride down the Rhine River to Rotterdam, where he boarded the ship Friendship and sailed to Dover, England. On September 20, 1738, approximately one year after he began his journey, Martin set foot on American soil when his ship reached port in Philadelphia.

Martin, who was born in 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession, had grown up as his father had lived....suffering the effects of war and famine throughout the Palatinate. I imagine that he lay awake at night wondering what life might be like in the new world, and now he was in America and would live out his days without the sufferings that continued back in his homeland.

Supposedly, this is correct: Hans Jacob Speck, Martin Speck, Jacob Speck, Sr., George Speck, John Speck, William Calvin Speck, James Wiley Speck, Obed Speck, Cecil Speck, Darrell Speck, ME.

In 1933, 3,358 Jews lived in Karlsruhe. In 1945, because of the actions of the Nazi regime, there were only 18 Jews in Karlsruhe. Many had been exported or expelled or emigrated. Between 1933 and 1945, more than 1,000 of them were killed.


Many of Martin's relatives also migrated to America. For more reading on the Palatine saga read The Palatine Project

Something To Think About

In the Bible, in the sixth chapter of Genesis, we read, "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

I read those verses the other day and it started me thinking about the things I think about and as I began to study the issue for a story, I ran across an article that was written several years ago by Charles Greer, who at the time was primarily a consultant and industry trainer for salespeople and technicians in the air conditioning and plumbing industries. His article about what we think was too good to pass up, so I am going to re-post parts of it here. Mr. Greer writes some good stuff so it it well worth the read.

Several years ago, the National Science Foundation said we think a thousand thoughts per hour, or about 12,000 thoughts per day. A deep thinker will think 50,000 thoughts per day. 

Imagine that, fifty percent of the time, we are positive in our thinking. For many, that still means twenty-five thousand negative thoughts are being programmed every day, along with the consequent negative realities that are created by them. Watch your thoughts—they are blueprints for actions. A great deal of what we see depends on what we're looking for. Ugly thoughts make ugly faces. It is important that we review our thoughts each day. Many of us are not aware of how much we actually think or how negative our attitudes might be. We must not let our thoughts take charge of us.

Positive thinking is the only way to produce positive results.

Every thought you think, everything you believe contains enough creative power to bring about the condition or experience or circumstance you're thinking about. The things you habitually think about, the thoughts you habitually think, the things you habitually say to yourself will mold and shape every aspect of your life.

What are you thinking about?

Negative self-talk is as bad a habit as you can have and most people are afflicted with it. Habits are first cobwebs, then they become chains. Chains of habits are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken. Bad habits are like comfortable beds, asy to get into, but hard to get out of. Bad men excuse their faults while good men abandon them.

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. The city of happiness is in the state of mind. Happiness comes when we stop complaining about our troubles and begin to be thankful for the troubles we don't have. Some people find happiness in making the most of what they haven't got. Some people bring happiness wherever they go, others whenever they do. Every day, do something every day to make others happy, even if it means just leaving them alone.

The most important things in life are not things. Joy is not in things; it is in us. We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about. The need is not for more money, less disease, etc., but to change one's way of thinking.

You are only poor when you want more than you have. Poverty is a state of mind, and it's caused by a neighbor's new car. It is better to be short of cash than to be short of character. A poor man can be happy, but a happy man isn't poor. The happiest people are those who discover that what they should be doing and what they are doing are the same things.

An open mind is fine but be careful what you shovel into it. Be bold in what you stand for, be careful what you fall for. Unless we find beauty and happiness in our own backyards, we will never find them in the mountains.

To read the entire article by Charles Greer click here.

A Tribute To Elizabeth Taylor

Actress Elizabeth Taylor died Tuesday at age 79. She is well known here in Kentucky for her 1956 movie, Raintree County, which was filmed in different parts of the state.

Expected to be the next Gone With the Wind, the 3-hour Civil War drama, Raintree County, turned out to be a disappointment at the box office. But to Kentuckians, that did not matter. Elizabeth Taylor, a 24-year-old actress, dressed in her almost-scandalous form-fitting capri pants, had been here.

Raintree County premiered in Louisville in October 1957. At the time of the filming, Ms. Taylor was divorcing husband No. 2, Michael Wilding, for husband No. 3, Mike Todd, and Danville telephone operators reportedly said they heard plenty of phone calls between the three of them. While Ms. Taylor was on location in Danville, Todd sent her 200 long-stemmed roses and a $30,000 black pearl ring, Ms. Taylor's biographer, C. David Heymann, wrote in his 1995 book Liz.

MGM Studios and more than 100 actors moved into Danville to shoot the movie, which, cost $6 million dollars. It was the most expensive American film ever made at that time.

Raintree County was based on a novel by Ross Lockridge Jr. It earned four Academy Award nominations. The making of the movie was a big deal in Kentucky. Nearly half of the filming took place in Danville. A home near Somerset was used in the movie. Today, it is known as Raintree Inn. 15,000 pounds of props, 3,500 costumes, 216 tons of equipment, 135 crew members, and 119 speaking roles for a cast that included Eva Marie Saint, Nigel Patrick, Rod Taylor, Agnes Moorehead, and Lee Marvin. More than 300 locals, including a few from this area, served as extras.

Danville resident, Eleanor McDonald, recalled, “Stretch pants had just been invented and we’d never seen them before. They looked like you’d just melt and pour yourself into them. Elizabeth Taylor was wearing them and I thought my husband would fall off the back porch when he saw her. Oh, she was pretty.”

March Madness

People have gone plumb mad.

How can a person sit in front of the TV day and night between Thursday to Sunday and watch nothing but basketball is beyond me?

Wait, I am talking about own brother, and even my.....MOTHER!

It's March Madness!

And, there is a rumbling going on right now within the boundaries of the Wildcat Nation. 

Yes, the Kentucky Wildcats have their own nation. It stretches way beyond the outer limits of the universe...way beyond a galaxy far, far away.

Hello, I am the Notorious Meddler and I am a recovering Wildcats fanatic. It's true. All I needed on game day was a radio or a TV, and a pizza place that delivered, and it was GO BIG BLUE!

...and then, Duke defeated Kentucky in 1992.

But, lets not talk about that...

I would rather go back to when it all began -- the 1979 Magic Versus Bird NCAA Final Between Michigan State and Indiana State. It was the nation's top two players going up against one another. Life was good,and it was only the beginning.

I was h-double o-k, hooked, bay-bee!

Then came that fateful night on March 28, 1992. (Refer to the comment I made just five lines ago.)

That night, my poor TV must have been a nervous wreck. I did, after all, threaten to do it harm on more than one occasion by picking it up and throwing it out into the front yard. Poor, poor TV!

Normal U.K. fans will not understand what I am saying when I admit that I was too fanatical about the Wildcats, but I was, and after the greatest college basketball game EVER was over, so was my desire to be so fanatical about the Cats, or for any team or sport for that matter, Well, except the mighy, mighty Bulldogs of CCHS! Oh, don't get me wrong, I love Kentucky Basketball and am glad when we win, but nowadays I am not so into it that it controls me. I tried to watch the Kentucky-West Virginia game Saturday but I fell asleep with two minutes left to play.

According to one dictionary, being a fanatic means wildly excessive or irrational devotion, dedication, or enthusiasm. That's a Kentucky Wildcats fan!

My grandmother is the reason I was a Wildcats fanatic. She was one, too. She would sit in her rocking chair, dressed from head to toe in U.K. blue and white, holding a basketball that had been signed by then-coach, Tubby Smith. She was a die hard fan and always cheered enthusiastically for her beloved Wildcats.

There are over 4.3 million people living in Kentucky and most of them are fanatical about the University of Kentucky men's basketball team.

Once, after the Wildcats had played a poor game, legendary coach, Adolph Rupp, bumped into an elderly lady at the airport. "Sorry ma'am, no offense." She replied, "D--- little defense either."

It's March Madness.

People have gone plumb mad!

The Kneeling Camel

The camel, at the close of day

Kneels down upon the sandy plain

To have his burden lifted off

And rest to gain

My soul, thou too shouldst to thy knees

When the daylight draweth to a close

And let thy Master lift thy load

And grant repose

Else how canst thou tomorrow meet

With all tomorrow's work to do

If thou thy burden all the night

Dost carry through

The camel kneels at break of day

To have his guide replace his load

Then rises up again to take

The desert road

Sou thou shouldst kneel at morning's dawn

That God may give thee daily care

Assured that He no load too great

Will make thee bear

Anna Temple

Over The Hill To The Poor-House

Over the hill to the poor-house I'm trudgin' my weary way---

I, a woman of seventy, and only a trifle gray---

I, who am smart an' chipper, for all the years I've told,

As many another woman that's only half as old.

Over the hill to the poor-house---I can't quite make it clear!

Over the hill to the poor-house---it seems so horrid queer!

Many a step I've taken, a-toilin' to and fro,

But this is a sort of journey I never thought to go.

What is the use of heapin' on me a pauper's shame?

Am I lazy or crazy? am I blind or lame?

True, I am not so supple, nor yet so awful stout;

But charity ain't no favor, if one can live without.

I am ready and willin' an' anxious any day

To work for a decent livin' and pay my honest way;

For I can earn my victuals, an' more too, I'll be bound,

If anybody is willin' to only have me 'round.

Once I was young an' hand'some---I was, upon my soul---

Once my cheeks was roses, my eyes was black as coal;

And I can't remember, in them days, of hearin' people say,

For any kind of a reason, that I was in their way!

'Tain't no use of boastin' or talkin' over-free,

But many a house an' home was open then to me;

Many a han'some offer I had from likely men,

And nobody ever hinted that I was a burden then.

And when to John I was married, sure he was good and smart,

But he and all the neighbors would own I done my part;

For life was all before me, an' I was young an' strong,

And I worked my best an' smartest in tryin' to get along.

And so we worked together; and life was hard, but gay,

With now and then a baby to cheer us on our way.

Till we had half a dozen, an' all growed clean an' neat,

An' went to school like others, an' had enough to eat.

An' so we worked for the child'rn, and raised 'em every one---

Worked for 'em summer and winter, just as we ought to've done;

Only perhaps we humored 'em, which some good folks condemn,

But every couple's own child'rn's a heap the dearest to them!

Strange how much we think of OUR blessed little ones!---

I'd have died for my daughters, and I'd have died for my sons.

And God He made that rule of love; but when we're old and gray

I've noticed it sometimes, somehow, fails to work the other way.

Stranger another thing: when our boys an' girls was grown,

And when, exceptin' Charley, they'd left us there alone,

When John he nearer an' nearer came, an' dearer seemed to be,

The Lord of Hosts, He came one day an' took him away from me!

Still I was bound to struggle, an' never cringe or fall---

Still I worked for Charley, for Charley was now my all;

And Charley was pretty good to me, with scarce a word or frown,

Till at last he went a-courtin', and brought a wife from town.

She was somewhat dressy, an' hadn't a pleasant smile---

She was quite conceity, and carried a heap o' style;

But if ever I tried to be friends, I did with her, I know;

But she was hard and haughty, an' we couldn't make it go.

She had an edication, and that was good for her,

But when she twitted me on mine, 'twas carryin' things too far,

An' I told her once, 'fore company, (an' it almost made her sick)

That I never swallowed a grammer, nor 'et a 'rithmetic.

So 'twas only a few days before the thing was done---

They was a family of themselves, and I another one.

And a very little cottage one family will do,

But I never have seen a mansion that was big enough for two.

An' I never could speak to suit her, never could please her eye,

An' it made me independent, an' then I didn't try.

But I was terribly humbled, an' felt it like a blow,

When Charley turned agin me, an' told me I could go!

I went to live with Susan, but Susan's house was small,

And she was always a-hintin' how snug it was for us all;

And what with her husband's sisters, and what with child'rn three,

'Twas easy to discover there wasn't room for me.

An' then I went with Thomas, the oldest son I've got:

For Thomas's buildings'd cover the half of an acre lot,

But all the child'rn was on me---I couldn't stand their sauce---

And Thomas said I needn't think I was comin' there to boss.

An' then I wrote to Rebecca, my girl who lives out West,

And to Isaac, not far from her---some twenty miles at best;

And one of 'em said 'twas too warm there for anyone so old,

And t'other had an opinion the climate was too cold.

So they have shirked and slighted me, an' shifted me about---

So they have well nigh soured me, an' wore my old heart out;

But still I've borne up pretty well, an' wasn't much put down,

Till Charley went to the poor-master, an' put me on the town!

Over the hill to the poor-house---my child'rn dear, good-bye!

Many a night I've watched you when only God was nigh;

And God'll judge between us; but I will al'ays pray

That you shall never suffer the half that I do to-day!

Will Carleton, 1897

Dan Gunderson and Chris Julin of Minnesota Public Radio wrote: "The American dream is freedom and financial security. But it's possible to lose everything. One day you have a job, a family, a house. Then there's an accident, an illness, a poor choice. One misfortune piles on another. One hundred years ago, if you lost your health, or your mind, you might have faced the poor-house. It was a terrifying possibility - the slide from working, healthy person to the poor-house."

Growing up, I used to hear things like, "Careful what you do, otherwise you'll end up in the poor-house," or "Looks like I'm headed to the poor-house." As amusing as that might be, a poor-house reference is really no laughing matter. Most of us say we live there already. But, a century ago the poor-house was very much a reality.

According to the Adair County News.

August 8, 1900 - An old man whose name was Sloane, and who had been in the poor-house for several years, died last Sunday morning.

February 26, 1902 - The widow Burton and her little boy escaped from the poor-house Saturday and Sunday afternoon made their (court) appearance in Columbia. The little boy was sick and had walked himself down, looking more dead than alive.

October 12, 1904 - The Adair County Court did a righteous act last week when it elected Mrs. Leach poor-house keeper. She has heretofore filled the position, giving entire satisfaction.

September 29, 1909 - Mr. John Will Moore, who was a son of Dock Moore, died at the poor farm last Saturday. He met with a stroke of paralysis about three weeks ago, and being alone in the world, having no home, he was sent to the poor house by order of the Court.

By the late 1800s, there were thousands of poor-houses across the country and thousands of people died in poor-houses. Even though poor-houses began to disappear after the adoption of the Social Security program in the 1930s, some people wonder how far we've come from a time when poor people were simply thrown away.

Dixie's Little Darling

In 1902, 13-year-old Laura Talbott of Louisville, Kentucky became the idol of all true ex-confederate soldiers, when she refused to sing, "Marching Through Georgia," at the request of her teacher.

You see, "Marching Through Georgia," which was written by Henry Clay Work at the end of the Civil War in 1865, refers to U.S. Major General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea, which had occured late in the previous year.

Bring the good old bugle, boys, we'll sing another song

Sing it with a spirit that will start the world along

Sing it as we used to sing it, 50,000 strong

While we were marching through Georgia

Hurrah! Hurrah! we bring the jubilee!

Hurrah! Hurrah! the flag that makes you free!

So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea

While we were marching through Georgia

Sherman's March to the Sea, also known as the Savannah Campaign, began with Sherman's troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta, Georgia, on November 15, 1864 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah five weeks later. It inflicted significant damage, particularly to industry and infrastructure, and also to civilian property. Military historian David Eicher wrote that Sherman "defied military principles by operating deep within enemy territory and without lines of supply or communication. He destroyed much of the South's potential and psychology to wage war."

Naturally, the song, "Marching Through Georgia," became widely popular with Union Army veterans after the war. But 13-year-old Laura Talbott apparently felt differently about the song, just as she apparently felt differently about the outcome of the war that had ended many years before she was even born. As word spread throughout the South that Laura had refused to sing the song, she became known as 'Dixie's Little Darling.' But, it wasn't just that Laura Talbott refused to sing "Marching Through Georgia" that made her the idol of all true ex-Confederate soldiers. There was a little more to it than that.

It was on a late July day in 1902. Miss Talbott had been invited to attend a Confederate reunion at Owensboro, Kentucky, where she was to be given a medal by some old Confederate soldiers in Georgia, who had heard about her refusal to sing the song in class. When the young teenager stepped up to the podium to accept her medal, she said the reason she refused to sing the song was because 'it was General Sherman's only claim to greatness.'

With that, the 4,000 ex-Confederates at the reunion went wild.



*From the Adair County News, 1902.

The Dream

On an old farm, known as the Jonathan Jones place, one mile from Gradyville in Adair County lived Mack Coomer and wife, both of whom who had reached the age of 60. Mr. Coomer, who was a good citizen, upright in his dealings, and just and courteous to his neighbors, was also a wicked man and had never given much time or attention to spiritual matters.

All that changed one night after Mr. Coomer and his wife had retired for the night. After deep sleep had been disturbed by a dream, Mr. Coomer awoke his wife to tell her that he has been warned in a dream that lightning would strike the house and kill him. He urged that they leave immediately, which they did, spending the remainder of the night with a neighbor.

The next morning when they returned home, they discovered that lightning had indeed struck their home,  even the very bedstead in which they had abandoned the night before.

This story originally appeared in the April 27, 1904 edition of the Adair County News. The story noted that Mr. Coomer 'has turned a leaf, so it is stated, and now holds family prayer every night.'