Jessamine County KyArchives History - Books .....Nicholasville Beginnings 1898
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Book Title: A History Of Jessamine County, Kentucky

Nicholasville Beginnings.

   Maj. Anderson Miller, in 1805, made up a large lot of gunpowder, at his
father's residence in the northern part of Jessamine; he hauled it by wagons to
Louisville, bought flatboats and shipped it to New Orleans. The venture was
largely remunerative.

   In July, 1824, a capillary steam engine, invented by Dr. Joseph Buchanan, was
used in working Jackson's cotton factory in Nicholasville.

   In early days cotton was grown quite extensively in Kentucky, in sufficient
quantity to meet all the wants for family use.

   Dr. Joseph Buchanan was a professor in Transylvania University, and this
engine was a remarkable piece of work. It was claimed for it that it was
perfectly safe and that one cord of wood would sustain a seven-horse power for
twenty-four hours. Inducements were offered to owners of steamboats to avail
themselves of this capillary arrangement, because of its great power in
proportion to its weight, to enable boats to outrun all competitors by changing
the boiler for a generator, thus converting the boilers then in use into
capillary engines.

   The first shoemakers in Nicholasville were Samuel Peake, Thomas Dunbar and a
colored man named Martin. Also James Lusk, who carried on the business until 1837.

   The first saddle and harness-maker in Nicholasville came in 1812, and was
named Edmund Phipps. David Majors was another person, who carried on a saddlery
and harness business three-quarters of a century ago.

   Early in the twenties Edmund Emanuel Hart established a cabinet-making shop
and his son, Joseph Hart, settled in Nicholasville as a cabinet-maker in 1834.

   The first hat-makers were Thomas Foley and Stephen Guy, and they made wool
hats in a house on the lot now occupied by the hemp factory of E. R. Sparks, and
on the corner lot of Dr. Talbert, John Fritzlen carried on the making of silk
and fur hats. It was with him that Robert Young learned this business of
manufacturing silk and fur hats and opened a factory in Nicholasville, in 1825.

   John La Fevers, of French Huguenot extraction, had a pottery establishment on
the lot of the late Mrs. Eve. His daughter, Nancy La Fevers, was the first
person to open a school in Nicholasville, in 1802.

   Miles Greenwood, of Cincinnati, who was a day laborer on the Lexington and
Danville turnpike in 1831 and '32, helped to dig the land down on a level with
the pike where the court house now stands. He worked with James Gooch, who had
undertaken to build a section of the pike running through Nicholasville, two
miles each way from the town. Mr. Greenwood afterwards became one of the most
distinguished men in the business world at Cincinnati.

Postmasters of Nicholasville.

   The postmasters of Nicholasville have, some of them, held unusually long
terms. Benjamin Netherland held the office from 1801 to 1822; Dr. Archibald
Young from 1822 to 1826, and Wm. Rainey, from 1826 to 1835. He was succeeded by
Jas. Lusk; he by James A. Welch, he by David P. Watson, and he by Jas. A. Welch.
In 1848 D. P. Watson was again appointed postmaster, and was succeeded by R. A.
Gibney, who held the office until 1856, when he was succeeded by Joseph
Fritzeen. After him, Thos. Payton held the office for eight years, then H. C.
Rodenbaugh, who remained postmaster for eight years. Then followed W. J. Denman;
he was succeeded by Samuel M. Anderson who held the office for eight years, and
was succeeded by John B. Smithers, who held it for four years, and he gave place
to W. L. Buford, who now holds the place.

Court House in Nicholasville.

   The first court house erected in Nicholasville was built in 1823. In earliest
times the quarter session judges who represented the Circuit Court held their
sessions in sheds or stables, or in parlors of their private homes. Judge
William Shreve, the last of the quarter session judges, often held court in a
shed attached to a large stable on the ground where the Jessamine Female
Institute is now built. The court house of 1823 was a brick building and was
used until 1878. It had thus served the people fifty-five years. It was erected
by Thompson Howard, who removed to Missouri, and died there in 1836. It was
inconvenient and uncomfortable, but it served well in its day, and the men of
the present generation have many delightful and pleasing memories connected with
the old red brick edifice in which they have often listened to the great men who
made Kentucky history, for the half-century following 1820.

   The first work on the present court house was done September 5, 1878. The new
building cost $38,385, and is a superb structure of modern style. The
magistrates composing the County Court, when the question of either repairing
the old court house or putting up a new one was first advocated by Hon. W. H.
Phillips, the present County Judge, were: Dudley Portwood, John J. Cobbman, E.
J. Young, Charles McDavitt, Miordecai Crutchfield, Richmond Hunter, George T.
Nave, R. J. Scott, Isaac Bourne and Edmund E. Horine. A commission had been
appointed, consisting of G. B. Bryant, J. L. Logan and W. G. Woods, to examine
the old court house. They reported that it could not be repaired. Thereupon the
construction of a new court house was undertaken. It may stand for a hundred
years as a monument to the public spirit and wisdom of the officers who laid
before the people the necessity and the advantages of a new structure, which in
all its appointments is creditable to a great county.

   It has all modern appliances and conveniences. It was provided for by
taxation and the obligations of the county have long since been paid off. It was
opened for the public in 1878. The ministers resident of the town of
Nicholasville, were invited by County Judge Phillips to dedicate the structure
with religious ceremonies, which occurred at nine o'clock on Monday morning. The
following ministers were present: Rev. A. D. Rash, Baptist; W. F. Taylor,
Methodist Episcopal, South; T. F. Farrell, Methodist Episcopal; Rev. Russell
Cecil, Presbyterian; also the venerable John T. Hendricks, of Paducah, who died
only a few months since in Texas.

   Judge Phillips first spoke in the new building. He announced the purpose of
the meeting. After the reading of scripture, Dr. Hendricks took the ten
commandments as the basis of his address on "The Law Which Should Govern Men and
States." The members of the bar at the opening of the court house in 1878 were:
George S. Shanklin, Benj. P. Campbell, J. S. Bronaugh, H. A. Anderson, T. U.
Wood, M. T. Lowry, A. L. McAfee, W. S. Holloway, George R. Pryor, L. D. Baldwin,
J. C. Wickliffe, W. H. Crow, G. B. Letcher, Benjamin A. Crutcher. On the same
day Circuit Court met. Honorable Joseph D. Hunt, Judge of the court, arrived at
noon and at one o'clock opened court, with Charles J. Bronston, Commonwealth
Attorney, who had been recently elected to that position.

   Of the sixteen grand jurors who were then empaneled only five remain: Lee
Reynolds, G. W. Goode, W. J. Dennan and G. S. Moseley.

Hotels.

   Nicholasville in its earliest days had distinguished men as proprietors of
its hotels. In those times keeping hotel was a much more important business than
in later years. Immediately after the cessation of the Indian raids in Kentucky,
there was such a tremendous influx of travelers that almost every gentleman took
out tavern license. The prices were not very extravagant, but it was more to
accommodate friends and to show hospitality than to make profits. The uniform
price was, for each meal of victuals, 25 cents; for lodging and a bed at night,
12 1-2 cents; horse, 12 1-2 cents; horse with corn and fodder at night, 18 3-4
cents. Whisky and brandy were plentiful, as the prices show at this time. The
price was, for whisky or peach brandy, 18 3-4 cents per pint, apple brandy and
cherry bounce, 4 pence a drink.

   Joshua Brown was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married Margaret
Mansel. He was in the siege of Yorktown, and served for six months under the
immediate supervision of General Washington. He came from Baltimore, Maryland,
and landed in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1789. He had four sons: Col. Washington
Brown, Preston Brown, Samuel Brown, and Col. Thomas Jefferson Brown. The two
latter were both graduates of the Transylvania University. Washington studied
and practiced law. He married Gen. Hugh Chrisman's daughter Matilda; General
Chrisman then lived on Hickman creek, at the old stone house, the last building
erected by Gov. Thomas Metcalf in the county. Col. Geo. W. Brown settled in
Nicholasville in 1825. He twice represented the county in the legislature. He
was an enterprising citizen and a successful manufacturer of hemp. He left
Kentucky in 1837 and moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he died in 1862.
Alexander Campbell said of him that he was the most perfect and courtly
gentleman that he had ever met. The names of these two sons, Washington and
Thomas Jefferson, evinced a high degree of patriotism; one being named for
George Washington and the other for Thomas Jefferson.

  Thomas Jefferson Brown came to Nicholasville and took charge of the hotel in
1836, He was a man of splendid appearance, six feet two inches in height, and on
county militia days, in his fine uniform, and on his thoroughbred horse, in a
suit of blue, with a red silk sash and golden epaulets, he impressed all who saw
him with his superb physique. He studied medicine, but did not practice. He
married Miss Mary J. Wallace, of Jessamine, and settled in Nicholasville, taking
charge of the Central Hotel, where he died in 1849. He was reckoned as one of
the most courteous men of the county. His kindly heart prompted him to many
generous deeds and his helpfulness to the struggling and deserving left him many
grateful and sincere mourners. He first urged the necessity of a public cemetery
in Nicholasville, helped to lay off Maple Grove cemetery, and was the first
person buried there. He and his wife dispensed kindly hospitality. They were
charitable and humane, and created pleasing impressions on all who visited
Nicholasville. They left a family who have always been prominent in county
affairs. Miss Henrietta Brown, Mrs. Virginia Noland, and Mrs. Victoria Mitchell
were daughters of Col. Brown.

Public Well.

   The Public Well on the corner of Main and Maincross streets in Nicholasville
is one of the most remarkable in Kentucky. Twice during the Civil War and in
very dry seasons it had its capacity tested to the fullest extent. The Ninth
Army Corps, commanded by General Burnside, encamped for three weeks around the
town and the entire division used the water from this well night and day.
Several thousand of General Bragg's army also encamped near Nicholasville and
used water from the well in September, 1862, and even these were unable to
reduce the strength and power of its flow. This well is 180 feet deep and was
bored by John W. Charlotter, a blind man. The well was put down in the year
1846, and after blasting down to the unusual depth of 180 feet a stream of water
was struck. It gushed up ten feet high and from that time to this has furnished
all who demanded of it, clear, cool; refreshing drink. No drouth and no call
upon its resources has ever lessened its flow, and after more than half a
century of usefulness it is yet the pride and comfort of the citizens of the town.

Bethel Academy.

   The Legislature of Virginia in 1780 set apart 8,000 acres of land for the
establishment of schools in Kentucky. The Kentucky Methodists early took
measures to secure part of the land appropriated to this purpose. Bishops Coke
and Asbury attended a conference held at McKnight's, on the Yadkin river, North
Carolina, in 1789. Here the Kentucky Methodists, by letter and messenger,
requested direction. The response to this petition was that during the next year
Bishop Asbury would visit Kentucky, and if the petitioners could secure a grant
of 5,000 acres of land from the state or individuals, a college should be
completed within ten years. Early the next spring Bishop Asbury, accompanied by
his friend, Richard Whatcoat, who was himself afterwards made a Bishops came
through from Virginia on horseback to Kentucky. They stopped on their way in
Southwestern Virginia, and there waited for an escort from the friends in
Kentucky. The Kentucky guards did not appear as soon as had been expected, but
on a certain Monday morning Bishop Asbury related to Mr. Whatcoat that the night
before in a dream he had seen the friends for whom they had been waiting. After
breakfast they retired to the banks of a small stream nearby for prayer and
meditation. While engaged in these services he saw approaching over the hills
two men. He felt at once that these were the Kentuckians coming for him. This
proved to be the fact. These men were Peter Massie, afterwards known in Kentucky
as the "Weeping Prophet," and John Clark. They delivered the Bishops their
credentials and told them that they had left a guard of eight men in the valley
below, ready to start for Kentucky, as soon as was his pleasure to begin the
journey, The following is the entry that Bishop Asbury made in his journal:

   "After reading the letters and asking counsel of God, I concluded to go with
them."

   They left Southwestern Virginia early in May, 1790, with sixteen men and
thirteen guns. They were to make a journey of more than 200 miles through a
wilderness constantly waylaid with, savages. Three times a day they halted to
feed and refresh themselves, and each time they sought God's protection and
guidance in prayer. The first day they rode 35 miles, the second 45 and the
third 50. This rapid travel proved a little inconvenient to the Bishop, who
complained that he could neither sleep nor eat. He says: "While in camp some
were on guards while others rested." They frequently passed the graves of those
who had been slain by the savages. In one camp he saw 24 graves.

   They arrived in Lexington on the 12th of May. On that day the Bishop preached
and then held a conference in the house of Richard Masterson. Constant services
were held; ministers were ordained. Francis Poythress, the Bishop declared, was
much alive to God, and they arranged for a school to be known as Bethel Academy.

   They rode to the land of Thomas Lewis, at the bend of the Kentucky river,
near High Bridge, and Mr. Lewis there offered the Bishop a hundred acres of land
as a site for Bethel Academy. The Bishop remained in the vicinity nearly two
weeks, preaching every day, making acquaintances and many friends for the
projected scheme.

   His principal asistants in establishing Bethel Academy were Rev. Francis
Poythress and Rev. John Metcalf. A brief sketch of Mr. Poythress will not be out
of place.

   He belonged to an old and distinguished family of Virginia. He sought the
instructions of a minister of the church of England, and in 1773 he was led to
the Saviour and connected himself with the Methodist church.

   In North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and Virginia he did splendid work for
the church to which he had made his allegiance. Whenever there was danger he was
always ready to go where duty called. Whenever there was a difficult commission
he would say: "Here am I, send me." He traveled over a large part of these
states, preaching under the trees and in cabins, enduring all the hardships of
the settlers in their wilderness homes. A man of some scholarship, he was easily
enlisted in the work of building Bethel Academy, in which he was not altogether
successful and was unjustly censured. His health failed and his mind gave way.
He removed from Kentucky afterwards to North Carolina. He never entirely
recovered either his spirits or his health or his energy. He returned to
Kentucky in 1801, but no work was assigned to him. He made his home in
Nicholasville. In 1810 Bishop Asbury saw him and was deeply distressed at his
condition.

   In 1792 Bishop Asbury made his second visit to Kentucky and he entered in his
journal: "I wrote an address on behalf of Bethel School," and later on he says,
"I find it necessary to change the plan of the house to make it more comfortable
for the scholars." Rev. Thomas Hinde, a contemporary of Bishop Asbury, makes
this entry: "Bethel Academy. Our conference for 1797 was held at Bethel School,
a large three-story building erected by Mr. Poythress on the bank of the
Kentucky river, in Jessamine county."

   The work of building had progressed so that in the year 1794 a school was
opened. The following letter from Rev. Jno. Metcalf, will be interesting:

                                  Nicholasville, Jessamine Co., Ky.
                                         June 13, 1794. 
Hon. George Nicholas:

   I have lately received from you two of your kind letters and would have
answered them before now, but I have taken charge of Bethel Academy and I have
been so confined for the last two weeks in fitting tip suitable places of abode
for some of my pupils that I have greatly neglected my private affairs,
especially that portion of it which you are attending to in Lexington.
                           Your friend,
                                       JOHN METCALF.

   The Kentucky conference of the Methodist church in 1797 met in Bethel
Academy. The Rev. Mr. Metcalf was principal until 1803. For a while Bethel
School was a competitor of Transylvania Academy, at Lexington, then under
control of Presbyterians. The original site of Bethel Academy was chosen for its
wonderful beauty and for its adaptability for a village. The lines of travel and
lines of settlement could not then be determined. It ought naturally to have
been the county seat of the county.

   In 1799 Rev. Valentine Cook took charge of the literary department with Rev.
Francis Foythress as assistant. Mr. Cook was a man of scholarly attainments and
was a distinguished graduate of Cokesburg College, at Abbington, Md. He remained
with the school one-year. His anti-slavery views induced his removal.

   In 1803 Rev. John Metcalf moved to Nicholasville and opened in his own house
a school which he called Bethel Academy, Mr. Harris maintaining Bethel School on
the Kentucky river as a neighborhood school until 1805. In 1798 Mr. Metcalf
purchased several lots in the village of Nicholasville and erected a good log
house, which still stands and is the property of life grandson; John Metcalf. At
this house Bethel Academy was continued until 1820, when a new brick building
was built and the school was continued in it under the name of Bethel Academy.

   About this time Mr. Metcalf died, in the sixty-third year of his age.

   In 1798 the Legislature of Kentucky passed an act incorporating Bethel
Academy. The first section of the act is as follows:

CHAP. XXXI.

An Act Establishing Bethel Academy, and Incorporating the Trustees Thereof.
                     Approved Feb. 10, 1798.

   1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the Reverend Francis
Poythress, John Knobler, Nathaniel Harris, John Metcalf, Barnabas McHenry, James
Crutcher, James Hord and Richard Masterson, shall be, and they are hereby,
constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known by the name of trustees of
Bethel Academy, and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and a common
seal, with power to change the same at pleasure; and as such shall be authorized
to execute all powers and privileges that are enjoyed by trustees, governors or
visitors of any college or university within this state, not herein limited or
otherwise directed.

   Section 6 provides as follows:

   "The President of said academy shall be a man of most approved ability in
literature."

   For five years from 1841 Professor A. R. Northup, A. M., a graduate of the
Wesleyan University, was at its head. He was succeeded by Charles F. Smith. In
the early part of the century a grant of 6,000 acres of land was made by the
state of Kentucky to Bethel Academy. In 1876 Professor A. M. Gordon was elected
principal. He was the ablest teacher ever in charge of the school. In 1877 the
property of the academy was leased to Professor Gordon for ten years. Professor
Gordon introducing the condition that five indigent, sprightly boys should
attend the academy each year free of charge for tuition.

   Under the direction of Professor Gordon Bethel Acadeniy attained high rank as
a school. The buildings as modernized are in the middle of five acres of ground,
and they are large and elegant, and were erected in 1878 at a cost of $7,000.
After the abandonment of the site on the Kentucky river the one hundred acres of
land given by Mr. Lewis reverted to his estate, but portions of the material of
the building were taken to Nicholasville and used in erecting a school building
there. At the end of 105 years Bethel Academy has been turned over to
Nicholasville, and is now a graded school. It is used for the public benefit. It
has lost its denominational control, and is part of the great system of the
general education of the masses in the State of Kentucky.

   The first site of Bethel Academy is still easily found. On the splendid
eminence overlooking the mighty banks of the Kentucky, one can stand on the
ruins of the ancient building, in which was begun the life of this school, and
for miles around can see what a hundred years of cultivation and growth have
wrought. The school is gone. The structure, then palatial as an educational
home, has crumbled and decayed, but as the eye takes in the picturesque and
charming landscape, covering parts of Garrard, Jessamine, Woodford and Mercer
counties, with fertile farms; happy homes, large families, loyal and true
citizens, all contented in their abiding places and all busy and satisfied with
their places in life, the saddening memories of the old school, are hushed by
admiration for the prosperity, peace and industry which rise up to tell that the
work of a century is not lost, but that the grandsons and great-grandsons of
these educational pioneers are not unworthy of the founders of this ancient
school, in which were centered the hopes and aims of the brave and liberal men
who gave it a name and being in the wilds of a wilderness.

Jessamine Female Institute.

   One of the most important and successful of all the enterprises in the county
has been Jessamine Female Institute. In 1854 an act of the Legislature was
passed allowing the organization of a company for the purpose of conducting a
female school of a high character; such as would attract patronage from abroad,
as well as give the highest facility for education in the town. The capital
stock was fixed at $2,500 in shares of $100 each. The articles of incorporation
under this act were signed by Alexander Lyle, Thos. E. West, L. H. Chrisman, J.
D. Hill, R. E. Woodson, Hervey Scott, Robt. Young, D. B. Price, J. A. Scrogin,
J. P. Letcher, W. C. Letcher, M. T. Lowry, G. M. Barkley, Isaac Barkley, J. F.
Barkley, C F. Smith, A. L. McAfee, M. T. Young, Samuel McDowell, Wm. McDowell,
Jas. H. McCampbell.

   After this, in 1855, the school was reorganized, and Rev. M. Branch Price, a
Presbyterian minister, was elected principal. After some years of successful
administration he was removed by death, and was succeeded by Mrs. Jacob Price,
wife of the Rev. Jacob Price, a Presbyterian minister. In 1857 she was succeeded
by Rev. Mr. Frazee, a Presbyterian divine, and he in turn, by Mrs. Browning, who
presided one year.

   In 1860 Rev. Joseph McDowell Matthews, of Hillsboro, Ohio, rented the ground
and building and conducted the school under the name of the Jessamine Female
College. The incorporators of this collge were J. C. Wilmore, Henry M. Chrisman,
J. B. Cook, T. J. Cassell, Moreau Brown, S. S. Mizner, J. S. Bronaugb, J. W.
Olds, R. M. Messick, John McMurtry, P. H. Smith, W. R. Welch, Wm. Brown, Thos.
B. Crutcher and J. S. Mitchell.

   At the end of the term of 1862 Dr. Matthews returned to Ohio.

   In 1863-64 Rev. J. E. Spilman, then pastor of the Presbyterian church,
conducted the school for several years.

   In-February, 1866, the Legislature of Kentucky granted a charter for the
Jessamine County Female Institute, with the following incorporators: Robert
Young, George Brown, Dr. Joseph P. Letcher, T. B. Crutcher and J. S. Bronaugh.
Under this charter the school was to be non-sectarian. In 1881 the school was
closed for want of patronage and in September of that year Miss M. F. Hewitt
took charge of it as principal. Under her management it was highly successful
for twelve years. In the very beginning of her administration the number of
pupils was largely increased, and it became necessary to erect new and more
commodious buildings.

   In 18S1 the Board of Trustees determined to erect the present building, at a
cost of $20,000. This money was almost altogether subscribed by the citizens of
the town and county.

   There have been a large number of graduates from the school; several hundred,
all of whom occupy either as teachers or in society, most prominent and
distinguished positions.

   Miss Hewitt was compelled to resign her position as principal by reason of
declining health, and in 1893 Mrs. B. W. Vineyard, the present principal,
assumed control of the institution. Under her conduct the reputation of the
school has not declined and the condition of the buildings has been greatly
improved. It now stands as one of the leading institutions in the state, has a
large patronage from all parts of Kentucky and the South. The curriculum is wide
enough and broad enough for all purposes and the patronage has met the
expectations of all connected with the management and control of the institution.

Newspapers.

There are two newspapers published in Jessamine county; the Jessamine Journal
and the Nicholasville Democrat. The Jessamine Journal was founded by J. M.
Parish, who came from Mt. Sterling in 1872, and was its editor and owner. For
several years it was printed on a Washington hand-press and had a hard struggle
for its existence. It changed owners seven or eight times, and the office was
destroyed by fire in 1886. At the time of this fire it was well equipped with a
large power press and a first-class outfit of type. J. M. Kerr, who purchased
the plant from C. W. Metcalf after the fire, ran it on a small scale for a short
time and in 1887 sold it to Col. H. M. McCarty, who was one of the most
successful and distinguished journalists in Kentucky. He was secretary of state
under Governor Knott, and held other positions of distinction. Harry McCarty,
one of the editors, was the junior member of the company.

   At this time its editorials were quoted very largely throughout the state. At
the death of Col. McCarty in 1891 his interest was sold to T. H. Morris, who was
connected with the paper until 1894, when he disposed of his interest to J. B.
Stears.

   The paper is now edited by Mr. Harry McCarty and Mr. Stears. It has a wide
circulation, democratic in its politics.

   The Nicholasville Democrat, an eight column folio, was established in June,
1888. At that time It was the property of Louis Pilcher, the present editor and
proprietor, and his brother Thomas Fielding Pilcher. After a short time a job
printing plant was established. For eight years its office was in the old
historic building erected by Judge Wake.

   Thomas F. Pilcher and his brother, Louis Pilcher, assumed the management of
the paper. The former assisted in establishing the Lexington Argonaut. He did
his first newspaper work on the Lyceum Debater, afterward on the Central
Courier, and was for five years the correspondent of the Cincinnati and
Louisville dailies. He was one of the promoters of the Lexington Advertiser.
Later he edited the Nicholasville Star. In 1895 he established "The Coming
Nation," which absorbed the Illustrated Kentuckian, and these two were merged
into the Argonaut. He afterward founded the Blue Grass World and then returned
to his present position as editor and proprietor of the Nicholasville Democrat.

   Mr. Pilcher has had a wide experience as a newspaper man. In the Cleveland
campaign, he did work on the Louisville Courier-Journal, paragraphing and
producing comic articles with Donald Padman. He was born in Nicholasville, July
11, 1855, opposite where the newspaper office now stands.

   The first paper published in Nicholasville of political character was the
Nicholasville Democrat, in 1857 to 1860. It was strongly anti-slavery, and the
office was raided and the type pied and dumped in the streets. Samuel
Leffingwell and the late Dr. Jno. C. Welch were its editors. For a while, from
1871 to 1875, Nicholasville was without a paper. The Central Courier was
established by Samuel Owens in 1875 and subsequently consolidated with the
Jessamine Journal, and was known as the Journal-Courier. In 1875 the late L. D.
Baldwin purchased a plant in Frankfort and edited a paper for one week. He sold
it to W. T. Jones, who never printed an issue. At this time Col. McCarty came to
Nicholasville and secured the necessary means to establish the Jessamine Journal.

   In 1895 the third paper was started, with M. E. Wilhoit as editor. It was
printed in Lexington. This paper passed into the hands of J. T. Farrow and
shortly afterward suspended. The Nicholasville News was published in 1878 by A.
W. Huggins for a brief period. The first paper ever published in Nicholasville
was a religious publication under Presbyterian auspices and was founded in early
years, it is said. Others deny the whole story.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

A HISTORY OF JESSAMINE COUNTY, KENTUCKY,
FROM ITS EARLIEST SETTLEMENT TO 1898.
By BENNETT H. YOUNG,
PRESIDENT POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY; MEMBER FILSON CLUB; MEMBER CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTION, 1890; AUTHOR HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTIONS OF KENTUCKY, OF "BATTLE OF
BLUE LICKS, ETC, ETC.

S. M. DUNCAN, ASSOCIATE AUTHOR.

Every brave and good life out of the past is a treasure which cannot  be
measured in money, and should be preserved with faithfullest care.

LOUISVILLE, KY.: COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING CO., 1898.


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