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TODAY IN KENTUCKY HISTORY

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Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary Judge Todd and Lucy Washington, who wed in 1812 in the 1st White House wedding.  Todd married while an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.  He moved to Kentucky County from Virginia in 1783 and died in Frankfort.  Lucy was Dolley Madison’s sister.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Harrodsburg native Frances Wisebart Jacobs, born in 1843.  Frances founded the United Way, one of the many charitable organizations she influenced.

March 29, 1878, Kentucky created Leslie County from Clay County, Harlan County, and Perry County and named it in honor of Preston Leslie, Kentucky’s 26th governor.  Hyden is the county seat.  Other localities include: Asher, Bear Branch, Big Rock, Causey, Chappell, Cinda, Confluence, Cutshin, Essie, Frew, Grassy, Hare, Hell for Certain, Helton, Hoskinston, Kaliopi, Middlefork, Mozelle, Roark, Sizerock, Smilax, Stinnett, Thousandsticks, Toulouse, Warbranch, Wendover, Wooton, and Yeaddis.  The 117th county creatd, Leslie County covers 404 square miles.

KY 1878
640px Map of Kentucky highlighting Leslie County.svg
By David Benbennick

March 29, 1914, Deputy Sheriff Beverly Gerome McCowan Floyd County Sheriff’s Office, died and arresting two brothers for selling liquor in Wayland.  

March 29, 1917, Deputy Sheriff Wilburn Taylor, Harlan County Sheriff’s Office, died while attempting to arrest two drunk men in Layman.  The men shot Deputy Taylor nine times.

March 29, 1917, a few minutes before midnight, Man o’ War foaled at Major August Belmont, Jr.’s Nursery Stud, near Lexington.  Mahubah threw her 2nd foal as America entered WWI.  He raced 21 times as a two and three-year-old; 18 in New York, two in Maryland, and one in Canada, his last race.  Big Red and Babe Ruth would capture the hearts of sports fans nationwide as the country roared into the ’20s.

March 29, 1923, Sister Mary Settles, Kentucky’s last known Shaker, passed away at Pleasant Hill, ending the historic religious communal village that flourished from 1805 to 1910.

March 29, 1929, Deputy Sheriff Borkan Jones, Perry County Sheriff’s Office, died in the Troublesome Creek area trying to arrest five men for being drunk in public.  As Deputy Jones dismounted his horse, one of the men shot him.

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Louisville native Mariam Robertson and stockbroker Wallace T. McCreary, who wed in 1931.  McCreary lost $3 million on bad investments one week before they married.  The couple used McCreary’s remaining money to open a dress shop in Beverly Hills.  Within months, the shop went out of business, and Nolan filed for bankruptcy.  Nolan divorced McCreary in July 1932.  She married once and had no children.

March 29, 1934, seventy-five downtown Louisville businesses and shops closed their doors for two hours so employees could attend Good Friday Services.

March 29, 1953, Marine Corps PFC Stewart W. Long from Louisville died in the Korean War.

March 29, 1960, Patrolman Orville Chancy Trinkle, Jr. Louisville Police Department, died in a motorcycle accident while he and his partner attempted to catch up to two cars they observed drag racing on Eastern Parkway.

March 29, 1966, Army WO1 Raymond L. Ford from Owensboro and Marine Corps PFC Jerald R. Towater from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

March 29, 1966, Muhammad Ali (23-0) fought George Chuvalo (34-11-2) in Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.  Chuvalo, a Canadian, had the best chin in boxing history, having never been knocked down in 93 fights.  This fight would have been for Ali’s world title, but boxing politics caused it to be called “a heavyweight showdown.”  The fight went the distance, with Ali winning a unanimous decision.  “He’s the toughest guy I ever fought,” Ali said afterward.  Dundee said of Chuvalo: “He never stopped coming on.  You’ve got to admire a man like that.”

March 29, 1969, Louisville Central High School won a memorable Sweet 16 state basketball championship in Freedom Hall by beating Ohio County 101-72 in a close-to-perfect performance.  The 1st all-black high school to win the tournament also broke the record for most points scored in a final game.  Ron King broke Cliff Hagan’s 20-year record by three and scored 44 points in the finals.  Central broke the barrier for all black schools after Lexington’s Dunbar failed twice.

March 29, 1970, Army PFC James M. Furgerson from Evarts in Harlan County and Army PFC David P. Shelton from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

March 29, 1971, Army SGT William G. Cox from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.

March 29, 1971, Lexington forbade Lexington’s new proposed race track to operate on Sunday and at night.  The proposed track at the Kentucky Training facility on Paris Pike never became a reality.

Saturday, March 29, 1980, the Owensboro Red Devils defeated Doss 57-56 in Freedom Hall for the 63rd Boys’ Sweet 16 basketball championship with 11,000 spectators.  Owensboro captured its 3rd title.  Rod Drake, an All-Tourny pick for this game, coached the Red Devils to the 2015 Boys’ Sweet 16 championship.

Sunday, March 29, 1987, Clay County outdid itself with a celebration of the school’s 1st Boys’ Sweet 16 basketball title.  It was the 1st time in 31 years since Carr Creek won in 1956 that a mountain team won the championship. “I didn’t know there were this many people in Clay County,” junior guard Richie Farmer said.  By the parade’s end, people counted 600 cars, ten miles long.

March 29, 1994, Bowling Green native William Huston Natcher passed over.  William served in the U.S. House of Representatives for 40 years, seven months, and 28 days, at the time he was the longest-serving member from Kentucky. 

March 29, 2000, Governor P. Patton signed into law the Pledge of Allegiance to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  I pledge allegiance to the Kentucky flag, and to the Sovereign State for which it stands, One Commonwealth, blessed with diversity, natural wealth, beauty, And grace from on High.

March 29, 2012, Army SPC David W. Taylor, 20, of Dixon, died in Afghanistan by an accident at an ammunition supply point during Operation Enduring Freedom.

March 29, 2014, a neck decided the GI $1,015,000 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.

March 29, 2017, Police Officer Nicholas Aniceto Rodman, Louisville Metro Police Department, succumbed to injuries sustained in a vehicle crash during a vehicle pursuit over a domestic violence incident.

March 29, 2018, Police Officer Phillip Lynn Meacham, Hopkinsville Police Department, died while investigating a police impersonator.   Officer Meacham, who was off-duty, observed the vehicle behind him operating with blue lights.

March 29, 2018, the Kentucky Senate passed Senate Bill 151, a pension bill.  The legislation received numerous criticisms, especially from teachers and was overturned in December 2018 by the Kentucky Supreme Court as “unconstitutional.”  It was Governor M. Bevin’s attempt to address the pension crisis.

March 29, 2020, Governor A. Beshear announced 45 more people contracted the coronavirus bringing the total to 439 with no new deaths keeping the count at nine.  In a dramatic response to prevent the coronavirus’s spread behind bars, the state reduced the number of county inmates in jails by 28%.

March 29, 2021, in a live update, Governor A. Beshear announced that for the 11th straight week, coronavirus cases continued to decline.  To date, the flu strain caused 6,042 deaths with 425,333 positive cases reported.  Also in Frankfort, the Assembly returned from a short break and quickly asserted their legislative dominance over the governor’s veto pen.

March 29, 2021, during an MSNBC interview with Rachel Maddow, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said: “Our data from the CDC today suggests that vaccinated people do not carry the virus, don’t get sick, and that it’s not just in the clinical trials, but it’s also in real-world data.”