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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

January 31, 1801, Dr. James Chambers challenged Judge John Rowan to a duel.  The judge sat on the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and Chambers was the son-in-law of a judge on the Kentucky Supreme Court.  The actual duel took place on February 3.

January 31, 1809, Kentucky created Caldwell County from Livingston County and named it in honor of John Caldwell, lieutenant governor.  Princeton is the county seat.  Other cities and towns include Fredonia, Bakers, Baldwin Ford, Black Hawk, The Bluff, Cedar Bluff, Claxton, Cobb, Cresswell, Crider, Crowtown, Enon, Farmersville, Flat Rock, Friendship, Fryer, Harper Ford, Hopson, Lake Shore, Lewistown, McGowan, Midway, Needmore, Otter Pond, Pumpkin Center, Quinn, Rufus, Shady Grove, Smith Ford, Tom Gray Ford, and White Sulphur.  The 51st county created, Caldwell County, covers 348 square miles.

By David Benbennick

On January 31, 1814, Kentucky legislatures authorized the construction of a 2nd permanent capitol building on the same site as the 1st one; the 1st capitol had just burnt down.  Legislatures stipulated the main structure to have as little wood as possible and be fireproof.

January 31, 1825, a Kentucky jury sentenced Isaac Bledsoe Desha to death by hanging for a murder that occurred near Fleming County in his 1st trial.  The next day, State Representative John Rowan, Desha’s defense attorney, filed a new trial motion, citing jury tampering; Judge Shannon agreed.  Isaac’s father lived in the governor’s mansion.

January 31, 1833, Maysville incorporated as a city.

January 31, 1834, the Lexington and Ohio Railroad reached Frankfort for the 1st time, and Lexington celebrated with a grand ball in the Phoenix Hotel.  Lexingtonian Thomas Barlow invented the steam engine used, and Joseph Bruen, the mechanic who constructed the locomotive, was also a Lexington native.  Unfortunately, their strange-looking contraption broke down frequently and could not carry heavy loads.  Lexington: Heart of the Bluegrass by John Dean Wright; pg: 51

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Governor Ruby Laffoon and Mary “May” Bryant Nisbet, who wed in 1894.  The ceremony took place at the Lucille Hotel in Madisonville.  The couple later had three daughters.  May Laffoon was also active in politics as a delegate-at-large to every Democratic National Convention between 1932 and 1960 and actively campaigned for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1st presidential campaign.

Wednesday, January 31, 1900, the dying William Goebel took the oath of office and became Kentucky’s 34th governor.  He would live two more full days.

January 31, 1900, the Contest Committee declared William Goebel had received the highest number of legal votes and was lawfully entitled to be the Kentucky governor for the term beginning December 12, 1899.

January 31, 1914, State University, Lexington (UK) easily defeated the Young Men’s Hebrew Association of Louisville 59 to 12.  UK’s Woodland Avenue Auditorium hosted its 1st Kentucky basketball game.  From the Lexington-Herald, “The new floor is an excellent one, well-lighted, with good baskets and a large seating capacity.  The only drawback is the fact that it is raised above the concrete floor beneath, causing a great deal of noise.”

January 31, 1930, Deputy Sheriff Bee Martin, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, died while arresting a drunk man causing a disturbance.  In 1940, his son-and-law shot and killed the suspect in Floyd County.

January 31, 1931, Patrolman Basil Duke Offutt, Louisville Police Department, got struck by a bus crossing the street at 10th and Broadway in front of Union Station at 12:25 a.m. as he approached a car to issue a ticket.

January 31, 1931, Patrolman Harold D. Boyer, Louisville Police Department, died in an automobile crash in the 2100 block of South 3rd Street at the entrance to the University of Louisville.

January 31, 1935, 100 Kentucky National Guardsmen moved secretly into Manchester in the middle of the night to clean up Clay County.”  Governor Ruby Laffoon ordered the sweep to breakup an auto theft ring and other lawlessness.  Troops set up a military rule and Judge Begley adjourned court to give way to military control.

January 31, 1950, speakers deploring Kentucky’s low standing of public education no longer need to say, “Thank God for Mississippi.”  In a report released on this day, Kentucky rose to #47 in most, if not all, phases of education.

January 31, 1958, Louisville native Helen Maria Turner died.  A painter and teacher known for oils, watercolors, and pastels, she created miniatures, landscapes, still lifes, and portraits, often in an Impressionist style.

January 31, 1964, Frankfort announced they would widen U.S. 60 between Lexington and Versailles to four lanes, stating it would bring the road “up to modern standards.”

January 31, 1975, 71-year-old Allan R. Casey called in the local high school basketball scores from Scottsville to Louisville and Nashville newspapers, as he has done since the 1920s.  Casey wrote a weekly article in the Scottsville paper, conducted a weekly radio show, and attended every World Series since 1926.

On January 31, 1985, officials found more than two pounds of cocaine on a small plane that had crashed into an Edgewood home in Kenton County.  All three passengers died.

January 31, 1985, about 4,000 gallons of oil poured into a stream and small pond after a valve malfunctioned on a Haywood oil well, in a Barren County community.

January 31, 1996, The Mount Sterling Miracle continued as the city announced another manufacturing plant, an electric cabinet factory with 400 employees.  Mt. Sterling opened five factories in 1995, which outpaced Louisville and Lexington.  Locals pined the term TMSM.

January 31, 2003, Governor Paul Patton stopped freeing prisoners.  The governor counted on public outcry to force the legislators to fund the Corrections Department fully.  Budget battles were in full force.

January 31, 2005, John Schnatter gave up his role as CEO at Papa John’s Pizza to bring in the former CEO of Blockbusters in hopes of ending weak sales.  John remained Chairman of the Board.

January 31, 2005, “It’s an insult to his family.  It should be an insult to everyone who cares about the history of Kentucky.”  Rochelle Cochran, President of the Boone Society, a national group of descendants, on renaming the Daniel Boone Parkway the Hal Rogers Parkway.

January 31, 2015, a Keeneland graduate superfecta won Santa Anita’s GI $301,000 Las Virgenes Stakes for three-year-old fillies.

January 31, 2017, Kentucky officially slid to 4th place in U.S. coal production, with 1 in 4 jobs vanishing in 2011.  Kentucky led the nation in coal production from 1971 to 1988 and had been the third-biggest producer since 1994.  Kentucky mines turned out 42.5 million tons in 2016, a drop of 30.7% from 2015.

January 31, 2019, Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes called a journalistic investigation about the state’s voter-registration system, a sexist smear job.  She stated both parties were timing the report to hobble her would-be run for governor.

January 31, 2019, citing verbal abuse as the main reason for an “alarming shortage” of referees, KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett posted an open letter to all moms, dads, and school personnel.  The letter urged everyone to “cool it.”  He went on to say, “We created an environment in America, we can no longer just talk, we have got to shout.”

January 31, 2019, at the height of Russia xenophobia, Rachel Maddow pushed it to the limits, “What would happen if Russia killed the power in Fargo today?  What would you do if you lost heat indefinitely as the act of a foreign power on the same day the temperature in your backyard matched the temperature in Antarctica?”

On January 31, 2020, Mitch finally sided with his party, and the Senate rejected witnesses for Trump’s impeachment hearing, ensuring his acquittal; the trial would end five days later.  Meanwhile, the Trump administration stopped all individuals arriving from China from entering the U.S.

On January 31, 2020, a hundred-plus people gathered at the state capitol for the last of three gun-rights rallies in January organized by the group We Are KY Gun Owners.  Meanwhile, the state ordered the Bell County Detention Center closed because of safety concerns; however, at the last minute, they were given a 30-day reprieve to fix the issues.

January 31, 2021, for the 3rd week in a row, Kentucky decreased in weekly new coronavirus cases, Governor A. Beshear announced on Twitter.  In Frankfort, legislators began the 2nd part of their session and tackled a $12 billion budget and issues related to medical marijuana, gambling, the governor’s emergency powers, and conversion therapy.  In D.C., Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial continued.

January 31, 2022, Horse racing returned to Eastern Kentucky with the Cumberland Run harness track groundbreaking.  The track and Cumberland Mint, a satellite historical horse racing venue in nearby Williamsburg, are a joint venture between ECL Racing Management and Keeneland Association.  ECL also owns Kentucky Downs and The Mint Gaming Hall in Franklin.

On January 31, 2022, Kentucky legislators introduced another bill to limit the governor’s power.  House Bill 394 wanted to establish a nine-member board appointed by the Kentucky State Police Commission to oversee the state police, making it an independent state agency.  Currently, it falls under the state Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which serves at the pleasure of the justice secretary and the governor.

January 31, 2023, Thomas Massie tweeted, “The unscientific, unethical, unconstitutional COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers was predicated on lies which I exposed on the House floor. The House will vote to end this mandate today.”