January 29, 1801, Judge John Rowan and Dr. James Chambers attended the same card game in Bardstown at Duncan McLean’s Tavern . Drunk and rowdy, after several spirited games of 21, Rowan said something that offended Chambers. The card game started one of the Commonwealth’s most famous duels. Famous Kentucky Tragedies and Trials by Lewis Franklin Johnson
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Woodford County native Zerelda Elizabeth Cole James, born in 1825. Zerelda gave birth to Frank and Jesse James.
January 29, 1829, the Maysville and Washington Turnpike Company came into existence. That same year the company paved the 1st macadamized road in the West, between the two cities, based on the principles espoused by John McAdam. The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky edited by Paul A. Tenkotte, James C. Claypool; pg: 598
January 29, 1840, Kentucky created Kenton County from Campbell County and named it in honor of Simon Kenton, a pioneer. Covington is one of the county seats and Independence is the other. Other localities include Atwood, Bromley, Crescent Springs, Crestview Hills, Edgewood, Elsmere, Erlanger, Fairview, Fort Mitchell, Fort Wright, Kenton Vale, Lakeside Park, Latonia Lakes, Ludlow, Nicholson, Park Hills, Ryland Heights, Taylor Mill, Villa Hills, and Walton. The 90th county created, Kenton County, covers 164 square miles.
By David Benbennick
January 29, 1850, in his last term as U.S. Senator and two years before his death, Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions . The Compromise of 1850 delayed the inevitable Civil War by amending the Fugitive Slave Act, ending the slave trade in Washington, D.C., allowing California to enter the Union as a free state and making Utah a territorial government.
On January 29, 1869, stakeholders reorganized the Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad to the Elizabethtown, Lexington & Big Sandy Railroad . By 1873, the company connected 109 miles of track from Lexington to the Big Sandy River. The Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad bought the line by 1880. The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington by J. Winston Coleman, Jr. pg: 54
January 29, 1870, Kentucky created Lee County from Owsley, Breathitt, Wolfe, and Estill Counties and named it in honor of Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Revolutionary War hero and Virginia governor. The county seat is Beattyville. Other localities include Airedale, Athol, Belle Point, Canyon Falls, Congleton, Cressmont, Crystal, Delvinta, Earnestville, Enoch, Evelyn, Fillmore, Fincastle, Fixer, Greeley, Heidelberg, Idamay, Leeco, Lower Buffalo, Maloney, Monica, Mount Olive, Old Landing, Primrose, Proctor, Saint Helens, Standing Rock, Tallega, White Ash, Williba, Willow Shoals, Yellow Rock, Zacharia, and Zoe. The 115th county created, Lee County, covers 211 square miles.
By David Benbennick
January 29, 1885, Constable Jacob Montgomery Howard, Elliott County Constable’s Office , died from a gunshot while questioning a suspected outlaw. The suspect escaped but was later captured and died of tuberculosis.
Monday, January 29, 1900, newly elected Governor William Taylor notified the democratic-controlled assembly that he would not hand over his certificate of election, as requested earlier by the assembly.
January 29, 1921, UK defeated Auburn 40-25 in Buell Armory Gymnasium . Lexington native William King took high scoring-honors with 16 points. The Wildcats used Coach George Buchheit’s three-man offense for another victory; one man under each goal and three on the floor.
January 29, 1946, Owingsville native May Stone died . A co-founder of Hindman Settlement School in Knott County during the Depression, she used her wealth to keep the school functioning. Throughout her lifetime, Stone belonged to the Daughters of the War of 1812, the Daughters of the Confederacy, the Transylvanians, the Filson Club of Louisville, the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Kentucky Federation of Women’s Clubs.
January 29, 1951, Army PVT Donald L. Hurst from Boyd County died in the Korean War.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Cynthiana native Betty Carmichael Pariso, born in 1956. She was the world’s oldest active professional female bodybuilder while competing.
On January 29, 1957, Wendover, the Frontier Nursing Services home on the Middle Fork, flooded . Nurse Jane Furnas woke up at 6:30 a.m. and could see nothing but water. As the nurses traveled to Hyden Town, she was “appalled by the cars swept into fields and resting up in the trees.” The Kentucky River by William E. Ellis, pg: 113.
January 29, 1969, Army 1LT Joseph E. Greenwell from Vine Grove in Hardin County and Army SP4 Lanny W. Banta from Pleasureville died in the Vietnam War.
January 29, 1970, Army CPL Roy L. Stringer from West Somerset and Army SSG Lawrence O. Washington from Henderson both died in the Vietnam War.
January 29, 1972, Freedom Hall hosted the 5th American Basketball Association (ABA) All-Star Game before 15,738 . Joe Mullaney coached the winning East team, and Dan Issel received MVP honors, both Kentucky Colonels.
January 29, 1995, Lexington native Marc Logan won a Super Bowl ring when San Francisco beat San Diego 49-26.
January 29, 2000, Marathon Ashland Petroleum completed repairs on a pipeline in Clark County near Winchester that leaked 500,000 to 900,000 gallons of oil . The pipeline carried oil from Western Kentucky to their Catlettsburg refinery.
January 29, 2011, a Keeneland graduate won the black type $300,000 Sunshine Million Filly and Mare Turf Stakes at Gulfstream Park for four-year-olds and upward.
January 29, 2013, UK’s College of Agriculture released a study stating that 1 in 9 jobs in Fayette County, almost 17,000, tied into agriculture . Also, on this day, Ashley Judd announced her separation from race car driver Dario Franchitti after a decade of marriage.
January 29, 2015, all 173 public school districts in the Commonwealth approved raising their dropout age from 16 to 18 . The “Graduate Kentucky” bill gave each district the authority to raise the age or not. Ashland Independent, Caldwell, Hickman, Laurel, Letcher, and Rockcastle Counties were the last districts to climb aboard.
January 29, 2019, Governor Matt Bevin fired Lt. Gov. Hampton’s chief of staff, Steve Knipper, despite her strong objections . Knipper filed a week earlier to run for secretary of state. Additionally, at least two state employees who filed to run for statewide office in 2019 resigned from their state jobs, Knipper did not.
January 29, 2023, as the U.S. continued to send weapons to Ukraine to fight its proxy war , Thomas Massie tweeted, “Deploying offensive weapons against a nuclear power is a terrible idea.”
