On June 17, 1781, locals constituted Severn’s Valley Baptist Church with 17 members in Hardin County. This church is the oldest Baptist congregation to exist continuously west of the Allegany Mountains.
Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Jefferson Davis (29) and Sarah Knox Taylor (21) , who wed in 1835 in Louisville. Sarah was President Z. Taylor’s daughter and part of the notable Lee Family. Malaria killed her three months later.
Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Martin van Buren Bates and Anna Haining Swan , who wed in 1871 in London, UK, drawing thousands of people hoping to attend or catch a glimpse. Queen Victoria gifted them two extra-large diamond-studded gold watches as a wedding gift. The “Kentucky Giant” was 7′ 9″ tall (some accounts add two more inches), and the bride was 7′ 5 1/2″ tall.
June 17, 1883, Town Marshal George Freeman, Versailles Police Department , died by a gunshot by two brothers who held a grudge against him. They alleged that the marshal killed their brother a year earlier.
June 17, 1905, Missouri outlawed betting . The law explicitly prohibited the recording or registering of bets. However, in St. Louis, Delmar continued racing, declaring it would not be responsible for any betting. The Delmar bookies circumvented the felony by a system where the number on the admission badge identified bettors.
June 17, 1906, Sysonby died in his stall at Sheepshead Bay Racetrack of septic poisoning. Some 4,000 attended his funeral following a day of racing at the historic track. He won 14-15 lifetime starts.
June 17, 1909, Chief of Detectives Frank B. Stiggers, Kentucky Railroad Police , died from gunshot in Louisville, while speaking with a man who had threatened another railroad detective the previous day.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Blue Lick (Lincoln County) native and Hall of Famer, Clyde Julian “Red” Foley , born in 1910.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Annville native David Akeman aka Stringbean , born in 1915 in Jackson County.
June 17, 1922, two U.S. Army Fliers died in an Air Circus over Bowman Field after their planes crashed to the ground in flames. Over 3,000 spellbound spectators witnessed the tragedy. Soldiers and civilians suffered blistered faces trying to save the two men. The event raised money for the Waverly Hills Sanatorium.
Washington, D.C., held the 1st National Spelling Bee on June 17, 1925, sponsored by The Louisville Courier-Journal . Nine finalists (six girls and three boys) competed where they met President C. Coolidge before the start. Kentuckian Frank Neuhauser, 11, won after a 90-minute contest. He correctly spelled gladiolus, a flower he had raised as a boy. He won $500 in gold pieces, and Louisville held a parade in his honor.
June 17, 1927, Deputy Sheriff Philip Mark Daniels, Bell County Sheriff’s Department , died from a gunshot while investigating a disturbance at the Southern Mining Company camp in Insull.
June 17, 1932, Deputy Sheriff William Hamilton, Floyd County Sheriff’s Office , died from a gunshot while investigating the sounds of gunfire coming from a home in Pikeville. When he approached the homeowner and inquired about the gunshots the owner told him he was firing at a rat and then shot him.
June 17, 1953, Army PFC, Harold F. Patterson from Henderson died in the Korean War.
On June 17, 1957, the legendary Smiley Pete died around 9:00 p.m. Born in 1943, speculated to be a mix of spitz, shepherd, and bird dog, he came to downtown Lexington around 1946 after his owner, rumored to be a traveling man, gave up trying to keep the wandering pup still. He set up his new home on the sidewalk between Welch’s Cigar Store and Brandy’s Kitchen on the east corner of Main and Limestone Streets, where the courthouse sits today. Smiley Pete would travel up and down the downtown streets, crossing busy intersections up to 50 times a day, without a care.
Localtonians wishes a Happy Birthday to Lexington native Dermontti Farra Dawson , born in 1965.
On June 17, 1972, President R. Nixon had his peeps bug the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate Hotel. He then won reelection and later resigned from the office.
Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Lincoln Tyler George Brown , born in 1980 to Governor John Y. Brown, Jr. and First Lady Phyllis Ann George Brown, in one of the Commonwealth’s most anticipated births. The White House called to congratulate the couple.
June 17, 1990, over 1,700 people filed through the Capitol Rotunda to pay their final respects to Happy Chandler . Happy wore a grey suit and his customary Kentucky Wildcat tie.
June 17, 1991, the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery made national news when they exhumed Zachary Taylor’s remains to determine if poisoning caused his death and not an intestinal ailment as previously thought. A historian requested the exhumation. According to one theory, Zachary Taylor died suddenly by poison in 1850 because his political opponents related to the U.S.-Mexican War.
On Saturday, June 17, 1995, while locals learned about Frankfort’s new 13 “Tax Cops” to find big-dollar tax cheats , Kentucky crowned Kristie Hicks, 23, Miss Kentucky at Transy. The third time was the charm for the Bardstown High School and Morehead State University graduate who had previously won the Miss Apple Blossom crown in 1994.
June 17, 2004, Constable Steven Lloyd Hutchinson, Grayson County Constable’s Office , died when a vehicle struck him while attempting to apprehend a juvenile suspect at 2348 hours.
June 17, 2009, Robert Marsh from Erlanger caught a state record Grass Carp that weighed 58.50 pounds . The record fish came from Forest Lawn Lake in Kenton County.
June 17, 2017, Venus Ramey Murphy passed away .
June 17, 2019, part of an O.Z. Tyler Distillery brickhouse collapsed . No one was hurt.
June 17, 2021, a group of lawyers received permission to continue their lawsuit against Keeneland and The Red Mile over their losses on historical racing machines . They decided to sue after the Kentucky Supreme Court said the machines were illegal because it was not pari-mutuel.
On Friday, June 17, 2022, United Kingdom’s Home Secretary Priti Patel signed an order to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to the U.S. to face espionage charges , in a decision his organization said marked a “dark day for press freedom.” Wikileaks asserted that Assange “committed no crime and is not a criminal,” adding that he is a “journalist and a publisher” who “is being punished for doing his job.”
On June 17, 2023, Thomas Massie stirred the pot again by criticizing the 2024 GOP nominee for president. The comments were entertaining. The issue was Trump’s obsession with censoring his main D.C. nemesis, Adam Schiff, the main pusher of the Steele Dossier.
On June 17, 2024, Dolly Parton’s cutout graced Kentuckians with a visit to Kenton County.
