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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

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Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Governor Thomas Elliott Bramlette, born in 1817 in Cumberland (now Clinton) County.  He was the last of three Kentucky governors to hold office during the Civil War; his term was 1863-1867.  While devoted to preserving the Union and the Constitution, he defended the state against what he saw as invasions of its rights.  He responded angrily when the Union army began to enlist blacks.  Bramlette took pride in reducing the state’s debt, an apparent decline in crime, and the establishment of the Agricultural and Mechanical College, now UK.

January 3, 1829, Kentucky created Hancock County from Daviess County, Ohio County, and Breckinridge Counties and named it in honor of John Hancock, signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Hawesville is the county seat.  Other localities include: Lewisport, Adair, Cabot, Chambers, Dukes, Easton, Floral, Goering, Patesville, Pellville, Petri, Roseville, Sanders, Skillman, Utility, Waitman, Weberstown, and Boling Chapel.  The 83rd county created, Hancock County covers 199 square miles.

KY 1829
640px Map of Kentucky highlighting Hancock County.svg 1
By David Benbennick

January 3, 1849, Henry Clay won a special election giving him his final term in the U.S. Senate.  Sen. John J. Crittenden resigned from the Senate in mid-1848, and Kentucky appointed former Governor Thomas Metcalfe as interim Senator until Clay took the seat.  Unfortunately, Henry died during this term.

January 3, 1861, Fleming County native Claiborne Fox Jackson became Louisiana’s 15th governor.  Unionists forced him out of office in July of the same year.

January 3, 1873, Barbourville native Silas Woodson became Missouri’s 21st governor and the 1st Democrat elected to that position since the Civil War.  No Republican would reach the office for over 30 years after Woodson’s election.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Madison County native Mary Kavanaugh Eagle and Arkansas Governor James Philip Eagle, who wed in 1882.  Mary was a community leader, club woman, book editor, and activist in Protestant missionary work.

January 3, 1893, Constable W. F. Deskins, Magoffin County Constable’s Office, died in a shootout when a group of men attacked the county jail in an attempt to free a prisoner.

On January 3, 1908, while soldiers guarded Hopkinsville’s tobacco and other strategic points, the Night Riders raided Russellville with 55 men and destroyed two factories.  The Black Patch War continued.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Covington native Frank Duveneck, born in 1919, a figure and portrait painter.

January 3, 1945, Christian County native Edgar Cayce passed away.  The clairvoyant claimed to channel his own higher self in a trance state induced with help from friends or family.  During these sessions, he would answer questions on healing, reincarnation, dreams, the afterlife, nutrition, and future events.  However, his channeling claims were met with skepticism and viewed with sinister overtones from many of his fellow Christians.

January 3, 1946, George Monroe Woolf fell from Please Me in the 4th race at Santa Anita as they turned for home.  George died the next day in the hospital.  Nicknamed The Iceman, George, the Canadian-born jockey is known for riding the people’s champion, Seabiscuit, to victories in 1938.  An annual U.S. Jockeys’ Guild gives a yearly award in his name.

January 3, 1949, Virgil Chapman became Kentucky’s 34th Class II U.S. Senator by defeating incumbent Senator John Sherman Cooper.  Cooper considered running for governor in 1951, but when Senator Chapman died in an automobile accident on March 8, 1951, he made another run against Senator. Underwood, Governor L. Wetherby’s appointee, to fill the vacancy.  Cooper won to hold his seat for his 2nd term.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lexington native Beth Anderson, born in 1950.  A neo-romantic composer is best known in her field for her swales, a musical form she invented based on collages and samples of newly composed music rather than existing music.  She told a reporter for The New York Times in 1995 she named the form based on this definition of the word: “A swale is a meadow or marsh where a lot of wild things go together.”

January 3, 1951, Army PFC Charles Taylor from Greenup County died in the Korean War.

January 3, 1952, Coach Rupp’s #4-ranked Cats defeated an unranked Mississippi Rebel team 116-58 in the Owensboro SportsCenter.  Cliff Hagan earned high-scoring honors in his hometown with 37.

January 3, 1955, Alben W. Barkley became Kentucky’s 37th Class II U.S. Senator by defeating incumbent Senator John S. Cooper. Barkley served 69 weeks when he died dramatically on the Washing and Lee Campus.

January 3, 1957, Louisville native Thurston Morton became Kentucky’s 34th Class III U.S. Senator.  Incumbent Earle Clements, from Morganfield, lost his re-election bid.

January 3, 1966, Lexington swore in Harry Sykes, the city’s 1st black city commissioner, by Judge Joseph E. Johnson.  After graduating from Kentucky State University in 1952, Sykes played basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters through the 1954 season.  He passed away in 2012.

January 3, 1967, Officer Danny L. Redmon, Lexington Police Department, died in a motorcycle accident while chasing a speeding truck on Winchester Road.  His motorcycle collided with another car.

January 3, 1968, Navy P02 Thomas P. Moore from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

January 3, 1973, Burkesville native, Walter D. Huddleston became Kentucky’s 40th Class II U.S. Senator.  Incumbent Senator John Sherman Cooper lost re-election for a 3rd and final time.

On January 3, 1985, Alabama native Mitch McConnell served his 1st day as Kentucky’s 41st Class II U.S. Senator by defeating incumbent Senator Huddleston, thanks to Mitch’s sharp-witted television commercials.

January 3, 1999, Davis County native Senator Wendell H. Ford retired from his Senate Minority Whip position, and Jim Bunning became Kentucky’s 37th Class III U.S. Senator.  At the time of his retirement, he served longer than any other individual; a mark Mitch surpassed in 2009.

January 3, 2000, an unusual winter tornado touched down in Owensboro, leaving 8,000 locals without electricity.  President B. Clinton declared Daviess, Crittenden, and Webster Counties disaster areas.

January 3, 2005, Sergeant Larry Dale Cottingham, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after disarming a suicidal woman.  Sergeant Cottingham was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War.  He had served with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office for 25 years.

On January 3, 2005, Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino apologized for the week-long uproar he caused when he interviewed with LSU right after signing an extension with the Cardinals.  He left for the Atlanta Falcons in 2007 for $24 million.

January 3, 2005, Sergeant Larry Dale Cottingham, Henderson County Sheriff’s Office, suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after disarming a suicidal woman.  Sergeant Cottingham served in the US Army during the Korean War and in the Henderson County Sheriff’s office for 25 years.

January 3, 2009, Marine Lance CPL Chadwick A. Gilliam, 29, of Mayking in Letcher County, died in Kuwait fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

January 3, 2011, Texas native Rand Paul became Kentucky’s 38th Class III U.S. Senator replacing Senator Jim Bunning, who retired after serving 12 years.

January 3, 2018, eight members of the House of Representatives called for the expulsion of House Speaker Jeff Hoover.   Hoover had promised to step down amid a sexual harassment scandal in 2017.

January 3, 2019, Big Pharma got bigger and became more powerful when Bristol-Myers bought Celgene for $74 billion.

January 3, 2019, the Lexington Herald-Leader ran a story on the front page about a man who relied on marijuana in order not to go blind.  The story explained how he tried to be present for every medical marijuana hearing in Frankfort.  He gave credit to Rep. John Sims Flemingsburg, for his assistance maneuvering Frankfort politics.

January 3, 2019, Bob Burrow, a legendary UK basketball player, died.  The co-holder for most rebounds in a single game with 34; it may be a record many say will never be broken.  He holds the record with Bill Spivey.  Mr. Burrow had his #50 jersey retired to the rafters in 1999.

January 3, 2020, Franklin Circuit Court dismissed a whistleblower’s lawsuit for retaliation.  Daisy Olivo, a Republican House staffer, exposed the 2017 secret sexual harassment settlement.

January 3, 2021, The Atlantic published an article by Kentucky writer Silas House.  Silas discussed his thoughts on Senator McConnell blocking $2,000 checks to the American people during the coronavirus pandemic.  However, the Senator did vote for the $2,300,000,000,000 coronavirus/omnibus bill, a majority of which went to corporations.

January 3, 2021, Nancy Pelosi won a 4th term as Speaker of the House.  Many Americans learned of the strategy of “Force the Vote” to remove her as speaker.  Force the Vote failed, but after the police visited her California home in the middle of the night to secure a situation between her husband and another man, the Democratic Party said enough was enough.  Nancy announced her retirement in January 2023.  While serving as a congresswoman, her wealth increased by over $100 million.

January 3, 2021, a Kentucky bred won Santa Anita’s $200,500 GII Ynez Stakes for four-year-olds.