On September 8, 1775, Frances Jane Greenleaf and her crew reached Fort Harrod . Francis later manufactured the 1st salt in Kentucky at Drilling’s Lick, an essential stop for pioneers moving deeper into Kentucky. She also is considered one of Kentucky’s 1st school teachers.
September 8, 1808, Nathaniel Duval and Lloyd Wilcoxen, both citizens of “Bairdstown,” dueled in the Indiana territory nearly opposite of Louisville. Duval “fell at the 1st fire, having received the ball of his antagonist in the right side. The wound proved mortal.” Famous Kentucky Duels by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 136
September 8, 1867, John L. Helm died as Kentucky’s 24th governor , five days after being sworn in. Lt. Governor John W. Stevenson became the 25th governor. Stevenson would later resign at the end of his term to become Kentucky’s 18th Class II Senator.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Wendell Hampton Ford , born near Owensboro, in Daviess County, in 1924.
September 8, 1931, Fayette County filed the will of the late William Monroe Wright, disposing of property estimated at $60 million . The bulk of the enormous estate, including Calumet Farm, the famous harness breeding operation, went to his son Warren Wright of Chicago.
On September 8, 1940, a Cincinnati lawyer and accountant bought the 30-acre Dowling Brothers Distilling plant in Mercer County for $300,000. The plant opened in 1889 and underwent a significant renovation in 1935.
September 8, 1950, Army PFC Charles Keeley from Jefferson County and Army SGT Kenneth O. Williams from Laurel County , died in the Korean War.
September 8, 1951, Army CPL Dewey F. Bruce from Knox County died in the Korean War.
September 8, 1960, Mrs. Richard Nixon, wife of the V.P., visited Henry Clay’s shrine, Ashland , for a Blue Grass State reception the public could attend. She flew in from D.C. and returned the same evening.
On September 8, 1962, Kentucky completed the new Lure Lodge on a steep cliff overlooking one of the broadest expanses of water on Lake Cumberland . The lodge originally had 24 guest rooms, but the new expansion added another 24 rooms and an indoor swimming pool.
Lure Lodge 1962 September 8, 1967, Air Force CAPT Albert F. Sayer from Ft. Thomas died in the Vietnam War.
September 8, 1968, Marine Corps PFC Bobby R. Sumpter from California in Campbell County died in the Vietnam War.
September 8, 1970, Army PFC Kenneth J. Nolen from Manchester died in the Vietnam War.
September 8, 1971, Army PFC Donald E. Smith from Louisville died in the Vietnam War.
September 8, 1979, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) opened their regular season on their way to a National Championship.
September 8, 1983, Haskell Penn helped customer Susie Edelen at the counter of Penn’s Store in Gravel Switch. Penn’s Store is the oldest country store in America, run continuously by the same family. It sits on the Boyle and Casey County line and opened in 1845. They operated the community’s 1st post office in 1882.
September 8, 1989, the U.S. National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) added the Red Bird River Petroglyphs , a series of petroglyphs, or carvings, on a stone in Clay County. The rock originally sat along the Red Bird River but later moved to a park in Manchester after it fell onto the roadway below in 1994. The NRHP removed it from its list in 2003.
September 8, 1990, EKU named their football stadium the Roy Kidd Stadium during a half-time ceremony with Coach Kidd in their season opener. Coach Kidd and the Colonels beat S. Florida 24-12.
September 8, 1995, former U.S. House Speaker Thomas S. Foley received the 2nd Henry Clay Medallion for Distinguished Service in a ceremony at the governor’s mansion . Thomas D. Clark, Kentucky’s Historian-Laureate, received the 1st medallion.
On September 8, 2009, Columbia native Dakota L. Meyer took heroic action during the Battle of Ganjgal in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, and for this, he later received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
On September 8, 2011, KYforKY launched a 60-day Kickstarter campaign to raise $3.5 million to crowdfund a Super Bowl ad to show the world just how amazing Kentucky is.
On September 8, 2017, Troy Gentry died in a helicopter crash in Medford, NJ , where he and Eddie Montgomery were to perform that evening.
September 8, 2018, a Kentucky bred and Keeneland graduate won the Kentucky Downs GIII $750,000 Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes going 1 ½ miles on the turf.
September 8, 2020, Governor A. Beshear announced one death and 273 new cases . He finished the briefing by encouraging people not to pay attention to claims that the pandemic is “not real” or that the virus is “nothing more than the flu.” Eight months later, Bill Gates, promoting his new book, told an audience, “The coronavirus is just like the flu, hurts the elderly more, and the vaccines are imperfect.” Gates explained, “We didn’t understand that it’s a fairly low fatality rate and that it’s a disease mainly in the elderly, kind of like flu is, although a bit different than that.”
Wednesday, September 8, 2021, with the state of emergency to expire on Friday, Governor A. Beshear asked Kentucky legislatures to extend the crisis to January 15, 2022, during the 2nd day of the Special Session in Frankfort.
September 8, 2022, a YouTube preacher and another Louisville ministry settled out of court with Pat Robertson’s Organization over Kentuckian Ruth H. Hugh’s will. She died in 2017 in the affluent San Diego community of La Jolla.
