September 24, 1816, William Ramey, Elkhorn City’s 1st settler , bought 200 acres of land and began settling the rugged valley of Eastern Kentucky.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to James Dixon Black, born in 1849 , nine miles from Barbourville on Richland Creek in Knox County. The 39th governor only served seven months in 1919. As Kentucky’s 32nd lieutenant governor he ascended to the office when Governor Augustus O. Stanley took the U.S. Senate seat.
Black Friday occurred on September 24, 1869, which saw the collapse of the gold market after two speculators, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, concocted a scheme to drive up the price of gold. The duo convinced President Ulysses S. Grant to limit the metal’s availability further. Grant ordered the sale of $4 million in government gold in response. Although Gould and Fisk succeeded in driving up the price of gold, panic ensued, and the price plummeted once the government bullion hit the market. Unemployment jumped, asset prices plummeted, and panic selling ensued, which caused one of the most severe depressions in U.S. history.
September 24, 1883, prominent African American leader Frederick Douglass addressed the National Convention of Colored Men in Louisville. Just weeks after Douglass delivered this speech, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875, permitting racial segregation in public accommodations and setting the stage for Jim Crow laws.
September 24, 1909, Deputy Sheriff Carlo Jones, Whitley County Sheriff’s Office, died from a gunshot as he quelled a disturbance. As Deputy Jones road a train near Pineville, two men started fighting in the smoking car. Trying to stop it, one of them pulled out a .45 caliber revolver and shot him twice. Police arrested two brothers weeks later in Corbin. Locals convicted one of manslaughter with two years in prison. The state released the man from the Kentucky Penitentiary only four hours before he killed Deputy Jones. Governor Augustus Wilson pardoned him after serving six years of a life sentence for murder.
September 24, 1927, Harry Gamage coached his 1st game as UK’s 22nd head football coach . Kentucky tied Maryville 6-6. He would coach for seven seasons accumulating a 32-25-5 record.
September 24, 1938, A.D. Kirwan coached his 1st game as UK’s 24th head football coach. Kentucky beat Maryville 46-7. Kirwan stayed on for six seasons accumulating a 24-28-4 record.
September 24, 1950, the following died in the Korean War : 19-year-old Marine Corps CPL Jack Ray Harrison from Jefferson County , Army PVT Clarence H. Tingle from Nelson County , and Army PVT Edward J. Wilson from Franklin County .
September 24, 1951, Army CPL James A. Hoelscher from Boone County and Army SFC William A. Cecil from Washington County , died fighting in the Korean War.
September 24, 1967, Johnny Unitas, the UofL quarterback standout , passed the 30,000 NFL yards thrown, in a win, for the Colts against the Eagles. The GOAT currently holds the record with 84,732 yards thrown.
September 24, 1970, 21-year-old Army SGT Billy Harrison Ratliff, from Pomeroyton in Menifee County , died in the Vietnam War.
On September 24, 1974, as the Lexington Fire Department held a massive and successful protest downtown, the historical Phoenix Hotel announced ownership transferred again, this time to a Philadelphia firm. The firefighters wanted a spot at the bargaining table like the police enjoyed and it took two strikes/protest marches to make it happen.
September 24, 1977, at 9:35 a.m., a cargo-tank semitrailer descended a 720-foot-long grade as it approached a left curve and a railroad/highway crossing on Kentucky State Route 11 in Beattyville. The truck carried 8,255 gallons of gasoline. It crossed the tracks against the flashing red lights in front of an approaching train, got hit by the train and struck buildings adjacent to the road’s edge. The truck overturned on top of a parked car. Escaping gasoline ignited and the fire destroyed six buildings and 16 parked vehicles. Seven persons died in the fire.
September 24, 1978, Lee Majors returned to Kentucky and visited Caroline Treviranus who received serious injuries at the World Three-Day Championships.
September 24, 1980, click to see Victor the bear wrestling a few humans at the Fayette Mall ’s 9th-anniversary celebration. His handlers declawed, defanged, and muzzled Victor as he wrestled. He reportedly stood 6 feet, 9 inches tall and weighed about 650 pounds. However, those numbers varied. Anyone older than 18 could wrestle him.
September 24, 1986, Keeneland Race Course became a National Historic Landmark.
September 24, 1998, Governor Patton’s top aid , his labor aid, and two teamster union leaders earned indictments for violating restrictions on campaign contributions in Patton’s 1995 election. On the same day in Louisville, Patti and Jim Hearn were also indicted on 13 counts of theft. The couple occupied powerful positions in the Jefferson County public school system.
September 24, 2000, Coach Jerry David Claiborne died at the age of 72.
On September 24, 2002, Governor P. Patton, embroiled in a sex scandal that rocked his administration and his personal life, told Kentuckians he would take himself out of politics for now, including the upcoming races for the Congress, state legislature, and possibly the U.S. Senate in 2004.
On September 24, 2011, former first lady Phyllis Ann George Brown held an auction for many pieces she collected while living in the Governor’s Mansion and Cave Hill. Some items had been in storage for 15 years; however, “it was very hard to do,” she told a reporter. Phyllis passed in 2020 in Lexington.
On September 24, 2016, the Big Sandy Power Plant imploded its Unit #2 cooling tower since it became obsolete after converting operations to natural gas.
On September 24, 2020, the flu took a back seat to Breonna Taylor protests, the local and national elections, and illegal historical racing machines in Kentucky racetracks, according to the state Supreme Court. Meanwhile, President Trump refused to commit to a peaceful power transfer if he lost the November election.
On September 24, 2021, Governor A. Beshear helped level the playing field for many and promised to keep doing it.
Sunday, September 24, 2023, the Lexington police attended to four shooting deaths in 24 hours. A 21-year-old shot two people on Broadway, one person died after being shot on Main St., and one scene involved a murder-suicide. News like this in Central Kentucky has become routine.