PREFACE
PART I
THE PIONEER PERIOD. Locating the County seat. Peopling the Wilderness.
The War of 1812. The First Newspaper in 1820.
PART II
THE DEVELOPMENT PERIOD—from 1825 to 1850. The Migration of the Indians.
The Mexican War. The New Constitution.
PART III
THE HISTORIC PERIOD—from 1850 to 1875. The Old Plantation
Days. The War Between the States. The First Railroad.
PART IV
THE CONSTRUCTION PERIOD—from 1875 to 1900. Hopkinsville Becomes a City.
The War with Spain. Educational Development.
PART V
THE PROGRESSIVE PERIOD—from 1900 to 1930. The World War. Greater Christian
County. Automobiles, Airplanes and Radios.
PART VI
BIOGRAPHICAL DEPARTMENT. Makers of History.
CHAPTER I
Col. William Christian; The Revolutionary Officer and Indian Fighter
for Whom Christian County Was Named; His Descendants in Christian County.
CHAPTER II
BLAZING THE WAY
The Pioneer Period and the Settlement in What Became Christian County;
The New County; Its Vast Extent; Its Rivers and Topography.
CHAPTER III
THE NINETEENTH COUNTY
Organized March 1, 1797; Locating the County Seat; Bartholomew T. Wood;
The Very First Settlers; The River Pioneers.
CHAPTER IV
Gen. Samuel Hopkins; Getting Down to Business; Officers Who Have Served
the County for 183 Years.
CHAPTER V
The Homes in the Wilderness; The Game in the Woods; Settlers Who Ar
rived During the First Quarter Century; The Pioneer Graveyard.
CHAPTER VI
Christian County's Twenty Daughters in the Order of Their Formation.
CHAPTER VII
The Revolutionary Soldiers; The Col. John Green Chapter, D. A. R.;
The War of 1812.
CHAPTER VIII
The Development Period; From 1825 to 1850; Leaders of the Day; Political
Alignments; Early Religious History; Three Noted Pioneers.
CHAPTER IX
Migration of the Indians; Noted Chiefs Buried in Hopkinsville; Politics
in the Forties.
CHAPTER X
The Mexican War; Col. Jefferson Davis, the Hero of Buena Vista; His
Last Visits to His Birthplace; The Monument to His Memory.
CHAPTER XI
The Lawless Period of 1845; The Execution of Lonz Pennington; A Gruesome
Chapter; Hangings and Electrocutions; Two Lynchings.
CHAPTER XII
The Discovery of Gold in California; The Constitution of 1851; The
Antebellum Period; The Old-time Fairs; Later Fairs; The Pennyroyal Fair;
Street Fairs and Carnivals.
CHAPTER XIII
First Paper in 1820; Subsequent Publications Under Many Names; The
Record of 110 Years; The Publishers of the Nineteenth Century; Negro Papers;
The Hopkinsville Kentuckian and The Kentucky New Era.
CHAPTER XIV
Authors of the County; James Weir; Sketch of Charles W. Webber, by
W. T. Tandy; S. C. Mercer, Hanson Penn Diltz, V. M. Metcalfe, John
W. McGarvey, Hattie Lee Johnson, Florence Brasher, Hailie Erminie
Rives, W. W. Hamilton, C. W. Merriweather, John 0. Rust, Cyrus S.
Radford, J. N. Prestridge and J. C. Metcalf.
CHAPTER XV
Indian Trails; The First Roads and Bridges; The Covered Bridges; The
Early Turnpikes; The Toll Gates; The Toll Roads Made Free; The Bond issues
for Highways; the $2,500,000 Highway Program of 1930.
CHAPTER XVI
THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES
Both Sides Occupy Hopkinsville; Federal Cot. Sam Johnson; Confederate
Col. Thos. G. Woodward Killed; Execution of Captain James F. Brewer; Confederate
Gen. H. B. Lyon Burns the Court House.
CHAPTER XVII
The Confederate Volunteers; The Oak Grove Rangers; Companies A and
B, First Kentucky Cavalry; Company H; Death of Col. H. C. Leavell;
Cot. L. A. Sypert Organizes a Company; Joins Green’s Battery; Maj.
W. R. Henry Dies in Prison; Gen. Adam Johnson’s Command; Five
Confederate Brothers; A War Time Letter.
CHAPTER XVIII
Federals Organize in 1861; Maj. John W. Breathitt’s Company A, Third
Kentucky Cavalry; Capt. B. T. Underwood; Cot. E. A. Starting; Gen. Jas.
S. Jackson Killed; Surviving Federal Soldiers in 1930.
CHAPTER XIX
The First Railroad in 1868; The Ohio Valley Railroad; The Tennessee
Central Railroad; The Illinois Central Railroad.
CHAPTER XX
The Last Quarter of the Century; A Period of Prosperity; The Tobacco
Market Organized; The Method of Selling.
CHAPTER XXI
City Government of Hopkinsville; The Village of Elizabeth; New Name
in 1804; Changes Under Constitution of 1851; Incorporated as a City in
1870; its Officers Since 1870; Commission Government in 1916; The Cemeteries.
CHAPTER XXII
Christian County Congressmen; Organization of Ned Merriwether Bivouac
in, 1890; Roster for Forty Years; Survivors in 1930.
CHAPTER XXIII
Generation of Peace; State Guards Organized; The Postmasters from 1804
to 1930.
CHAPTER XXIV
The Spanish-American War; Company D Ordered Out; Those Who Served in
Cuba, Porto Rico and the Philippines; Colored Troops Called For; The New
Company D.
CHAPTER XXV
The Passenger Pigeons; The Bar of 1868; Sketch by Judge Joe McCarroll.
CHAPTER XXVI
Naval and Army Officers from Christian County; List of Midshipmen;
List of Cadets; James J. Wheeler; Lieut. Com. W. V. Bronaugh, Gen. Cyrus
S. Radford; The Present Officers.
CHAPTER XX VII
The County Towns; LaFayette, Newstead, Crofton, Pembroke, Gracey.
CHAPTER XX VIII
Yellow Fever Epidemic in 1879; City Bank Organized in 1880; Public
Schools Established 1881; The Great Fire in 1882; Building Boom in
1883; Perrin’s History in 1884; Negroes on the Juries 1885; Turkey
Hunting on Pond River.
CHAPTER XXIX
The Big Snow of 1886; The County Goes Dry; Jefferson Davis’ Visit to.
Fairview; Gas Company Starts, 1887; The Confederate Monument;
Latham Light Guards in 1888; County Goes Wet Again, 1889; The’
First Race Horses, 1890.
CHAPTER XXX
The Constitutional Convention; Hopkinsville Divided into Wards, 1891;
Ohio Valley Railroad, 1892; Electric Lights; The Sam Jones Revival,
1893; The First Mayor, 1894; Organized Baseball; Water Works in
1895.
CHAPTER XXXI
Litigation of Public Fountain Bequest, 1896; First Colored Councilman,
1897; Battleship Maine Blown Up, 1898; Soldiers Sent to Philippines,
1899; The First Street Fair; The Athenaeum Society; Free Mail
Service.
CHAPTER XXXII
First Rural Free Delivery In 1901; Tennessee Central Railroad Comes
Into Hopkinsville, 1902; Dr. W. L. Nourse Resigns As Pastor of Westminster
Church, 1903; Home Telephone Company Established 1904; D. A. R. Chapter
Organized; Sewerage Franchise Sold In Hopkinsville; Company D in 1905;
San Francisco Earthquake; Stock Law, 1906; Great Flood, 1906; Davis Home
Purchased, 1907; Bar of 1908; Sketch of Maj. J. 0. Ferrell, 1908; Dedication
of Davis Park, 1909; Death of John C.
Latham, Jr.; City Donates High School Lot.
CHAPTER XXXIII
Citizens of Christian County Who Had Biographical Sketches in Perrin’s
History of 1884.
CHAPTER XXXIV
The Rural Mail Deliveries; Telephone’s Development; The Jersey Cattle
Industry. A Prize Winning Cow. Sketch by Thos. A. King.
CHAPTER XXXV
The Race Horse Industry of Christian County; Origin of the Thorough.
bred; The Breeding of Race Horses; Christian County Racers.
CHAPTER XXXVI
Educational History; Old-Time Teachers; The South Kentucky College;
Bethel Woman’s College; Ferrell’s High School; List of Students for
Thirty Years; County Teachers; Hopkinsville Public Schools; Colored Schools.
CHAPTER XXXVII
Western State Hospital; Organization of D. A. R.; The Athenaeum Roster.
CHAPTER XXXVIII
The Early Churches. Presbyterian. First Baptist. Baptist Churches of
County. The Christian Churches. Universalist Churches. Cumberland Presbyterian.
Episcopal. Methodist Churches.
CHAPTER XXXIX
Bartholomew T. Wood. Pioneer Graveyard. Odd Fellows Lodge and Building.
A Group of Former Members.
CHAPTER XL
Jefferson Davis Monument. The First Airplane. The Chamber of Commerce.
Hopkinsville’s Benevolent Institutions. Broadcastle Cemetery and Those
Buried In It.
CHAPTER XLI
The Banking Resources of the County. Seven Successful Financial institutions.
CHAPTER XLII
The Night Riders and Causes Leading up to the Tobacco Troubles; The
Raid On Hopkinsville; The Soldiers Called Out; The Court Proceedings; Peace
At Last.
CHAPTER XLIII
A Prosperous Period; First Automobiles and a Rapid Increase; The K.
I. T. Baseball League Prospers; A Home-made Airplane Flies; The New High
School; The Public Library; The Post Office Building; The Confederate Fountain;
The Jennie Stuart Memorial Hospital.
CHAPTER XLIV
Beginning of War in Europe; Ferrell’s Boys Organize; Border Trouble
in 1916; Woodrow Wilson Re-elected President; Work for State Guards.
CHAPTER XLV
Into the European War; Patriotism at Fever Heat; Christian County’s
8,000 Soldiers Registered in 1917; The World’s Greatest Struggle; The Glorious
But Dearly Bought Victory.
CHAPTER XLVI
List of World War Men from Christian County; The Allied Relief Committees;
Overseas Workers. Women Who Took a Part.
CHAPTER XLVII
The Great U. S. Hospital No. 79, Located at Out wood, Ky.
CHAPTER XLVIII
Industrial Survey of Hopkinsville, Compiled by the Kentucky-Tennessee
Light and Power Company; Historical Sketch.
CHAPTER XLIX
Hopkinsville’s White Way; The Davis Monument; Bethel Woman’s College
Rejuvenated; The Veterans’ Hospital at Ontwood Completed; The Modern School
System of Hopkinsville.
CHAPTER L
The Last Decade; The Industrial Foundation; Dark Tobacco Growers Organize;
The First Radio; The End of the Chapter.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
The Biographical Sketches can be found at Kentucky
Biography Project
