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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

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Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Kentucky’s 13th governor James Clark, born in 1779, the 3rd governor to die in office and the 1st Whig to run the state.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lexington native John Cabell Breckinridge, born in 1821, the 14th Vice President alongside President James Buchanan.  Only 36 at the time, Breckinridge remains the youngest V.P. in American history.

January 16, 1827, Kentucky created Anderson County from Franklin County, Mercer County and Washington County and named it in honor of Richard Clough Anderson, Jr., Kentucky and U.S. legislator.  Lawrenceburg is the county seat.  Other localities include: Glensboro, Alton, Stringtown, and Tyrone.  The 82nd county, Anderson County covers 204 square miles.

1827
Kentucky 1827
640px Map of Kentucky highlighting Anderson County.svg
By David Benbennick

January 16, 1861, the Crittenden Compromise, the last chance to keep North and South united, died in the U.S. Senate.  Proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Versailles, the compromise consisted of constitutional amendments to alleviate all Southern states’ concerns.  Four states had already left the Union when proposed.  Still, Crittenden hoped the compromise would lure them back.

January 16, 1865, Oldham County native Richard James Oglesby became the Illinois governor for the 3rd time.  The town of Oglesby, Illinois, is named in his honor.

On January 16, 1883, Texas inaugurated Hart County native John Ireland as their 18th governor.  During his term, the University of Texas came into existence, and the Texas State Capitol began construction, where he picked the local pink granite as the structure’s material.

January 16, 1899, Tennessee inaugurated Monroe County native Benton McMillin as their 27th governor.  He attempted to create a federal income tax as a congressman, which led to the landmark Supreme Court decision, Pollock v. Farmers’ Loan & Trust Co. (1895), which declared the federal income taxes unconstitutional.

January 16, 1900, a party of prominent republicans and anti-Goebel democrats met at the Galt House to determine whether there should be forcible resistance to newly elected Governor Taylor’s unseating.  The meeting’s details never became made public.

On January 16, 1900, at 12:30 a.m., the infamous Colson-Scott Pistol Tragedy took place in the Frankfort Capitol Hotel lobby between the elder ex-Congressman Colonel David Colson and Lieutenant Ethelbert Scott, a young lawyer.  Both were devoted Republicans and served the same causes.  Still, the two didn’t like each other.  As a result, there were 18 bullets shot; Scott was dead, hit seven times, two innocent bystanders died, and three were injured.  The event made national headlines and elevated already high tensions in Kentucky until calm prevailed as the public learned this conflict was not related to the Taylor/Goebel governor dispute.

January 16, 1902, Carnegie Corporation of New York awarded Lexington $60,000 to build a new library.

Jan 16 Library
Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning

On January 16, 1907, in their season opener, Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky/State College/(UK) lost to Lexington Y.M.C.A. 17-25 in the State College Gymnasium.  “The crowd was small but enthusiastic and was given numerous opportunities to applaud their favorite teams.  The game was exciting and hotly contested from the very start, and at the end of the first half there was only one-point difference in the score,” from the Lexington Leader.

January 16, 1920, prohibition began.

January 16, 1928, Chief of Police Silas West, Somerset Police Department, died in a gun battle with a drunken man as he and another officer attempted an arrest.  They shot the suspect eight times, and he also died.

January 16, 1932, Sheriff Noah J. Tipton, Rockcastle County Sheriff’s Office, died by a gunshot after confronting a Kentucky prison guard whom he had accused of providing insufficient security for a prisoner.  The guard had brought the prisoner to the Rockcastle County Courthouse to testify against his brother in a bank fraud trial.

January 16, 1947, Paducah native Fate Marable passed away after a successful career as a jazz pianist and bandleader.

On January 16, 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Manchester native Bert Combs to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, four years after being our governor.  Combs replaced the deceased Shackelford Miller Jr.

January 16, 1967, Army SSG Charles L. Rogers from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

January 16, 1971, Army CPT John M. Graham from Owensboro and Army SP4 Charles D. St. Clair from Coxs Creek in Nelson County died in the Vietnam War.

January 16, 1980, Burks’ Distillery in Marion County became a National Historic Landmark.

Jan 16 Makers Mark Distillery
By William Gus Johnson

On January 16, 1982, Florida Assistant State Attorney Eugene Berry answered his doorbell and got shot dead by Kentuckian Bonnie Kelley.  Lexington native Henry Vance wanted Berry dead, so he supplied her with the gun and talked her into it.  One of many deaths directly related to the Bluegrass Conspiracy.

January 16, 1988, Harlan Hubbard died while he lived a simple lifestyle.  Harlan’s realization that industrialism and consumerism threatened the environment and human survival changed his life forever.  So did his marriage to Anna Eikenhout in 1943.  “What Henry David Thoreau did for two years, Anna and Harlan Hubbard did for 40, except they did it in the 20th century,” said filmmaker Morgan Atkinson, who produced the 2012 documentary Wonder: The Lives of Harlan and Anna Hubbard.  “Anna and Harlan chose to live as few people in modern times have.  In so doing, they inspired thousands.”

January 16, 1989, Kentucky remembered Martin Luther King Jr.  MLK Day was the 1st national holiday designated by Congress since Thanksgiving in 1941.

On January 16, 1991, President George H. W. Bush announced another one of his wars, called Operation Desert Storm—a military operation supposedly to expel occupying Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

On January 16, 1992, Owensboro native Senator Wendell Ford filed to run for his 4th senate term, saying it would probably be his last.  He served 24 years, the longest serving Kentucky senator until Mitch surpassed him.

January 16, 1995, Kentucky remembered Martin Luther King Jr.  At the age of thirty-five, “Big Mike” became the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

January 16, 2001, calling Kentucky “an example for the rest of the nation,” U.S. Attorney General (AG) Janet Reno announced the end of federal supervision of the state’s juvenile justice system.  Reno, who came to Kentucky five years earlier when the state gave up, called the turnaround one of the more memorable events in her career as U.S. AG.  

January 16, 2001, President William J. Clinton awarded two Medal of Honors posthumously; one to Smithland native Andrew Jackson Smith a Civil War soldier, and the other to President Theodore Roosevelt.

January 16, 2006, Kentucky remembered the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.  U.S. AG Robert F. Kennedy authorized the F.B.I. to begin wiretapping King’s phone in 1963.

January 16, 2012, Kentucky remembered Martin Luther King Jr.  A gifted student, King skipped grades nine through 12 before enrolling at Morehouse College at age 15.

January 16, 2012, the Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills hosted the 41st annual Eclipse Awards.  Havre de Grace received the 2011 Horse of the Year and Champion Older Female.  She became the 3rd consecutive female Horse of the Year, following Rachel Alexandra in 2009 and Zenyatta in 2010.

On January 16, 2017, Kentuckians celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. day.  The 30-foot granite sculpture of himself at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is called The Stone of Hope.

Jan 15 MLK Memorial NPS photo
National Park Service Photo

January 16, 2018, Governor M. Bevin proposed a two-year state budget that would eliminate “about 70” state government programs and cut spending at many state agencies by 6.25%.  Bevin also wanted to end Kentucky’s expanded Medicaid program for 400,000 low-income citizens.

January 16, 2020, the 1st impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump began in the U.S. Senate.  The made-for-T.V. special started when the House of Representatives adopted two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress a month earlier.

January 16, 2020, one of Richmond’s most distinguished citizens, retired Circuit Judge James S. Chenault, passed away at age 96.  His courtroom set the national precedent for using video technology as official court records.  It was also one of the 1st courtrooms to allow prisoners to stay in jail and testify through cameras.

January 16, 2021, a Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate won the Fairgrounds GIII $200,000 Lecomte Stakes for three-year-olds.

January 16, 2022, while 6” to 8” of snow covered many parts of Kentucky, Frankfort lawmakers revived Senate Bill 63 to block the release of information held in public records about lawmakers, judges, hearing officers, prosecutors, police, firefighters, 911 calls, and social workers.  Governor A. Beshear vetoed a similar bill in 2021.