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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

February 10, 1763, the last French and Indian War in North America officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.  The war changed economic, political, governmental, and social relations among the three European powers and their colonies.  The treaty assigned Kentucky lands to the British.

February 10, 1797, Chief Red Bird, a Cherokee leader, and his friend, Will Emory, experienced a horrific death in what is now Clay County.  Red Bird River, a tributary of the Kentucky River, was named in his honor.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Winchester native and sculptor Joel Tanner Hart, born 1810.

1860 Statue of Henry Clay in New Orleans – Picture By George Francois Mugnier

February 10, 1775, Governor Martin of North Carolina denounced Judge Henderson’s Transylvania enterprise in Kentucky.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Kentucky’s 15th governor, Robert Perkins Letcher, born in 1788.

February 10, 1798, Kentucky created Fleming County from Mason County and named it in honor of John Fleming, frontiersman and one of the county’s original settlers.  The county seat is Flemingsburg.  Other localities include Ewing, Elizaville, Bald Hill, Beechburg, Blue Bank, Colfax, Concord, Cowan, Craintown, Dalesburg, Fairview, Foxport, Fox Valley, Goddard, Grange City, Hillsboro, Hilltop, Johnson Junction, Mount Carmel, Muses Mills, Nepton, Pleasureville, Plummers Landing, Poplar Grove, Poplar Plains, Ringos Mills, Sherburne, Tilton, and Wallingford.  The 26th county created, Fleming County, covers 351 square miles.

By David Benbennick

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Cynthiana native Orville Hickman Browning, born in 1806.  Hickman was America’s 9th U.S. Secretary of the Interior.  As a result of their involvement in Whig politics and their shared Kentucky backgrounds, A. Lincoln and Browning became lifelong friends.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Abraham’s older sister and Elizabethtown native Sarah Lincoln Grigsby, born in 1807.

February 10, 1814, Congress passed an “Act for the Relief of Daniel Boone,” which confirmed his title to land.

On February 10, 1841, the Kentucky General Assembly made the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction an official state post, created a state Board of Education, and encouraged the organization of common schools in each county.  Governor W. Owsley appointed The Rev. Robert Jefferson Breckinridge as the county’s first Superintendent.

On February 10, 1841, George W. Snyder, a watchmaker and inventor from Paris, passed away.  In 1820, he invented the first American-made fishing reel, the “Kentucky Reel.”

February 10, 1900, Governor William S. Taylor issued a proclamation stating that the General Assembly would no longer meet in London but shall now report to Frankfort on February 12 at noon.

With Goebel dead, Democrats and Republicans met jointly and drafted a proposal to bring peace.  Under the proposal, Taylor and his lt. Gov, John Marshall, would step down from their offices with immunity from prosecution in the assassination.  In addition, they repealed the Goebel Election Law and dispersed the militia from Frankfort.  Prominent leaders on both sides signed on, but on February 10, 1900, William Taylor announced he would not.

February 10, 1908, Georgetown College hosted and defeated State University, Lexington (UK), 30-22.  A good crowd attended, including a large group of girls from Rucker Hall.  Unfortunately, contrary to expectations, not many State College students made the trip.

February 10, 1922, the National Guard and Federal Prohibition Officers raided saloons in Newport, resulting in twenty people arrested, 400 rounds of ammunition seized, vehicles loaded with liquor seized, ten stills uncovered, and many gambling and slot machines confiscated.

February 10, 1923, Night Watchman Joseph M. Self, UK Police Department, died while confronting occupants in a car at Mechanical Hall.  He attempted to take them to the police station when one of the men opened fire, striking him once.  Locals acquitted the 21-year-old student.

February 10, 1927, Constable Jackson Kelly, Pike County Constable’s Office, died in Dorton while calming down a man whose dog just died in a mining camp.  As Constable Kelly returned to town, he encountered the subject riding a horse behind the railroad station and asked the man to go home quietly.  The man demanded that Constable Kelly release the reigns and then pulled out his revolver.

February 10, 1940, Deputy Sheriff Elhanon Jones, Perry County Sheriff’s Office, died in a shotout after arresting a subject at a roadhouse near Duane.

February 10, 1949, Birmingham native Joseph Franklin “Jumping Joe” Fulks set the BAA/NBA single-game scoring record for the 4th and final time when he scored 63 points for the Philadelphia Warriors.

February 10, 1951, Army PVT George K. Jones from Metcalfe County and Army PFC Glenn R. Walker from Perry County, died in the Korean War.

February 10, 1953, police arrested Reverend James Bays, a Middlesboro preacher, in the courthouse during the recount of Middlesboro’s hotly contested wet/dry elections returns.  His 2nd charge was possession of a deadly weapon when the sheriff took a rolled-up newspaper from his coat.

February 10, 1965, Army SP5 Robert S. Mosier from Louisville and Army PFC Floyd Wynn from Siler in Whitley County died in the Vietnam War.

On February 10, 1965, a Methodist priest and nuclear scientist spoke to 400 Lexingtonians to claim science and religion were no longer antagonists.  Dr. Pollard spoke at the 3-day event hosted by the UK and the College of the Bible and explained that after breaking down electrons, protons, and neutrons, there is nothing.  Matter is made of nothing.  Once you find the last layer, you will find nothing except religion.

February 10, 1971, a Scott County Grand Jury returned two separate indictments against Lexington for polluting the South Elkhorn Creek and Royal Spring.  They had issues with Lexington’s wastewater discharge.

On February 10, 1974, the nationwide truck driver strike ended, with a few holdouts scattered throughout the U.S.  Police made leads on the Patty Hearst kidnapping as they searched for seven suspects.  H. Kissinger laid out a plan to address the energy shortage, while President Nixon dealt with Watergate.

On February 10, 1974, Senator E. Kennedy and President Nixon worked together on a free ”voluntary national healthcare plan.”  Earlier in the week, Nixon’s Health, Education, & Welfare Secretary C. Weinberger went on Meet the Press, and Kennedy appeared on Face the Nation to discuss their differences and agreements.

February 10, 1980, Eastern Kentucky’s trash is spotlighted.  Almost every Judge-Executive in the mountains would say it’s a money problem, a geography problem, geology problem, a public-relations problem, and a “priorities” problem.  Illegal dumps were and are rampant.

On February 10, 1993, Larry Collins resigned as Letcher Circuit Judge rather than be removed from the bench.  The Kentucky State Police arrested Collins for taking bribes three months earlier.

February 10, 2000, Lexington native and comedian Jim Varney passed over.  Varney made KnowhutImean? part of our pop culture chatter as fast-talking bumpkin Ernest P. Worrell.

February 10, 2002, two months after Enron’s bankruptcy, some U.S. lawmakers wanted the CEO to face perjury charges in a congressional committee investigation.  President B. Clinton’s repeal of Glass Stegall played an integral part in the con game.  Meanwhile, as 9/11 sentiment lingered in the air, Frankfort introduced a bill to keep public information secret, for example, water quality reports.

On February 10, 2009, the Kentucky Horsemen of the AF2 league signed Jared Lorenzen but the team dissolved in October 2009 after bankruptcy.

February 10, 2010, the Interstate Interdiction Unit pulled over a tractor-trailer with 1,700 pounds of marijuana in Memphis.  The DEA wanted the load stored in Louisville, so TN officials accompanied the truck.  However when the feds retrieved the evidence from the tractor-trailer in Louisville, it was empty.

February 10, 2014, Army PFC Joshua A. Gray, 21, of Van Lear in Johnson County, died in Afghanistan, in a non-combat incident during Operation Enduring Freedom.

February 10, 2014, Army SPC Christopher A. Landis, 27, of Independence in Kenton County, died in Afghanistan fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.

February 10, 2018, the Keeneland graduate superfecta in Tampa Bay Downs’s GIII $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes paid $68.50 for a $1.00 ticket.  One starter went to the Derby.

February 10, 2019, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) approved 1,035 growers to cultivate 42,086 industrial hemp acres along with 2.9 million square feet of greenhouse space.  In 2018, Kentucky had 210 applicants growing 16,100 acres.  In 2017, participants grew 3,200 acres.  Kentucky panted hemp for the 1st time in 2014, 33 acres, without a successful harvest.

February 10, 2020, while Lexington opened a new police canine facility for 20 dogs, Frankfort ended the Braidy Industries aluminum saga in a Senate hearing after the company requested $500 billion.  Also, the governor pitched his budget to the supermajority party.

February 10, 2021, Kentucky lawmakers advanced a bill to protect utilities’ rights to charge late fees and terminate service to customers who fell behind during the coronavirus pandemic state of emergency.

February 10, 2021, prosecutors unveiled a new video of the January 6 Capitol riots in Trump’s 2nd impeachment trial.  The footage showed police shooting into the crowd and killing a woman.  The tapes also showed guards opening doors to the Capitol and F.B.I. agents inciting the mob, all of which was not public yet.  The audience loved to hate the villain as they watched the “Made for T.V. Impeachment Hearings” in prime time.

On February 10, 2022, the Canadian Trucker Strike, “Freedom Convey,” entered its 3rd week with a goal to end the coronavirus vaccine mandates on the border.  Frankfort also advanced a bill banning transgender girls from girl sports in public schools K-12 after hearing pleas not to do so from transgender students.

Friday, February 10, 2023, while Andy Barr tweeted about a Chinese weather balloon to monger for war, Thomas Massie tweeted about the American government spying on its citizens as he tried to kill the coronavirus vaccine mandates.  At least Andy didn’t tweet about helping his banker friends.

On September 10, 2024, Thomas reminded everyone why inflation had skyrocketed.