Mayfield - Graves County Kentucky Area

 

County of the Month: Graves County, Kentucky

Graves County, the 75th in order of formation, was the central part of the Jackson Purchase and included 560 miles of land. The county is named after Major Benjamin F. Graves a Fayette County soldier who was captured by the Potawatomie Indians and never seen again after the Battle of River Raisin in the War of 1812.

According to legend, a Mississippian named George Mayfield was attending the annual races at Mill's Point on the Mississippi River. He was preyed upon by a group of thieves who had conspired to kidnap and rob him. During his captivity, he carved his name into a tree, then he planned and attempted to flee from his captors. As he was crossing a log over the creek near which the camp was located, he was shot and drowned. The creek was named Mayfield Creek, and the town nearby named Mayfield. Mayfield became the county's seat in 1824.

Besides Mayfield, other communities in the county included Cuba, Fancy Farm, Farmington, Feliciana, Lowes, Lynville, Pryorsburg, and Wingo; and later Folsomdale, Sedalia, Water Valley, and Symsonia. Many settlers from Virginia, middle Tennessee and south-central Kentucky came to the county because of the rising prices for land; an acre of land in Graves County, shortly after it was established as a county, was 25¢ an acre. Not only was the land cheap, but it was also a fertile treeless grassland known as the barrens - the perfect area for farming dark fire-cured tobacco. This would eventually become the county's cash crop and economic base. Roads to the Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee rivers, as well as the New Orleans and Ohio Railroad, connected county tobacco farms with New Orleans markets. By the 1920s, Mayfield's market was the leading exporter of dark fire-cured tobacco in the nation.

By 1860, the population of Graves County had grown from 2,504 in 1830 to 16,233. Small industries such as tanneries, grist mills, potteries, distilleries and cotton plants were in full swing at the onset of the Civil War. Although there was never an actual slave market in Mayfield, slaves were bought and sold on the streets. The average number of slaves per owner ranged from two to four.

While the people of Graves County sent several companies of soldiers to both Northern and Southern forces, the area was highly Confederate. Early in the war, a meeting was held in Mayfield to discuss Western Kentucky's idea of seceding from Kentucky in order to become a Confederate district. This movement failed, and Graves County remained part of the Union, along with Kentucky through the end of the war.

Several skirmishes, but no significant battles, were fought in Graves County. In 1861, a Confederate training camp, Camp Beauregard, was established near Water Valley. The camp was constantly infected with epidemics of diphtheria, typhoid, pneumonia, and cerebral spinal meningitis. At one time the camp averaged 75 burials a day; it was abandoned in 1862. In 1864, Graves County was occupied by Union Gen. Eleazar Paine. He began a 51 day "reign of terror, violence, rapine, extortion, oppression, bribery, and military murders." He was known for executing suspected rebel spies without a trial. His sadistic executions - like chasing down prisoners who were set free on old horses - were described as "chasing the fox with fresh horses." He also had a fondness for villagers' furniture, confiscating it for his own use. He was removed from the post April 29, 1864 by the orders of Major General William T. Sherman, who transferred him to Tullahoma after Paine and his men were found guilty of "extreme cruelty and extortion.". (For more information about Paine, visit Duke University's Library.)

Source: Kentucky Encyclopedia
Call number: K 976.9003 Kent

 

Graves County Trivia

 

In a plot at the local cemetery are the unusual Wooldridge monuments—stone figures of an eccentric aristocrat and Civil War soldier, Henry Wooldridge (buried there in 1899), his family, friends, and animals. Those enshrined are Keziah Nichols, mother of Col. Henry Wooldridge; his brothers, W.F., Alfred, Josiah and John; his sisters, Narcissa, Minerva and Susan; small statues of great nieces, Maud and Minnie. His favorite hunting dogs, Tow-Head and Bob, a deer and fox along with Henry, himself, astride his favorite horse, Fop.

This rare statuary, a memorial to loved ones, was conceived by Wooldridge, whose central marble image was carved in Italy. Devoted to the memory of his family and his life. Animal lover, famous fox hunter and member of the Masonic order, only he is entombed here.

The monuments were featured in the movie "In Country," starring Bruce Willis.

 

Graves County has had four courthouses. The first, a log structure, was built in 1824. It was replaced by a brick building in 1834. When the Union army, under the harsh military rule of General E. A. Paine, occupied the Mayfield courthouse during the "Reign of Terror" from July to September, 1864. Trenches were dug around the building by local conscript laborers. It was eventually destroyed in 1864 and replaced by a third building in 1866. The third courthouse was destroyed by fire in 1887. The fourth (and current) courthouse was completed in 1888, and is modeled after the elaborate Victorian style.

 

Family History and Graves County Research Resources

Below are some resources for genealogists and researchers interested in the Graves County area.

  • County Clerk records
    • Agency history
    • Affidavits to establish deed titles after a fire or other disaster – 1888-1894
    • Appropriation ledgers – 1935-1949
    • Articles of incorporation books (indexed) – 1888-1932 and 1934-1987
    • Administrator’s bonds books (indexed) – 1893-1898, 1905-1913, and 1919-1941
    • Guardian’s bonds books (indexed) – 1899-1909 and 1917-1942
    • List of guardians books – 1886-1943
    • Minister’s bonds book (indexed) – 1922-1954
    • Miscellaneous bonds book (indexed) – 1972-1982
    • Sheriff’s bonds book – 1899-1909
    • General cross indexes to deeds – 1887-1916
    • General indexes to deeds – grantee – 1916-1974
    • General indexes to deeds – grantor – 1916-1974
    • Deed books – 1887-1989
    • Reports of commissioners’ of division of land – 1888-1901
    • Certificates of election book – 1927-1937
    • Inventory, appraisement and sale bill books – 1888-1911
    • Lunatic inquest book (indexed) – 1894-1901
    • Marriage bond book – 1888-1895
    • Marriage bond book “colored” – 1895-1907
    • Marriage books (indexed) – 1915-1988
    • Marriage registers (indexed) – 1887-1915
    • Medical register – 1889-1893
    • Chattel mortgage books – 1887-1930
    • Minutes chattel mortgage books – 1928-1940
    • Occupational license register – 1910-1933
    • Order books (indexed) – 1889-1977
    • County Judge/Executive order book (indexed) – 1978-1982
    • Minute/order books – 1939-1955
    • Confederate pension applications by soldiers and indigent widows – 1912-1929
    • Poorhouse keeper’s report – 1894-1939
    • General index to real estate conveyances – grantee – 1974-1988
    • General index to real estate conveyances – grantor – 1974-1988
    • General indexes to recorded instruments – 1887-1897, 1904-1920, and 1922-1937
    • Road orders book – 1880-1940
    • Settlement books – 1880-1934
    • Sheriff’s land sold for taxes books (indexed) – 1890-1946
    • Stray (estray) book – 1889-1904
    • Surveyors/processioners book – 1888-1900
    • Tax assessment books – 1824-1831, 1833-1835, 1837, 1839-1875, 1880-1887, 1891, 1906, 1909, 1912, 1918, 1920-1925, 1927-1938, 1940, and 1943-1944
    • Board of supervisor’s revised assessments books – 1911-1922 and 1927-1931
    • Tobacco pooling book – burley tobacco society – 1911-1914
    • Voter registration books (indexed) – 1924-1935
    • Will books – 1888-1988
  • Circuit Court records
    • Agency history
    • Committee bonds book – 1889-1905
    • Guardian’s bonds book – 1916-1954
    • Injunction bonds book – 1899-1948
    • General indexes to civil cases – 1953-1977
    • General indexes to criminal cases – 1854-1977
    • General indexes to common law cases – 1883-1953
    • General indexes to equity cases – 1866-1953
    • Civil case files – 1943-1977
    • Criminal case files – 1884-1977
  • Common law case files – 1883-1907, 1909-1946, and 1949-1953
    • Equity case files – 1878-1946
    • Coroner’s inquests – 1887-1952
    • Civil judgment book (indexed) – 1916-1928 Criminal judgment book – 1926-1927
    • Judgment from inferior courts books – 1858-1921
    • Jury attendance books – 1896-1908 and 1922-1925
    • Order books – 1853-1863, 1865-1868, and 1873-1890
    • Civil order books (indexed) – 1893-1977
    • Criminal order books (indexed) – 1883-1978
    • Trustee of the jury fund report of fines and forfeitures – 1893-1917
  • Quarterly Court records
    • General indexes to civil and criminal cases – 1887-1971
    • Bonds in liquor cases book – 1926-1932
    • Judgment book – 1866-1886
    • Civil order books (indexed) – 1877-1887, 1902-1909, and 1915-1977
    • Criminal order books (indexed) – 1895-1904, 1911-1916, and 1924-1977
  • Court of Common Pleas records
    • Order book (indexed) – 1868-1871
    • Civil order books (indexed) – 1884-1892
  • Fiscal Court records
    • Minute book – 1931-1935
    • Order books (indexed) – 1886-1894 and 1902-1988

 

 

 

Famous People from Graves County

 

 

                                   

 

                               Bobbie Ann Mason - Author

 

Author of three novels and several short stories, Bobbie Ann Mason used her life in Graves County, Kentucky as the basis for most of her plot lines: the differences between generations, the gap between those who left and those who stayed in the South's narrow, fated ways.

Mason was born in 1940 and reared on a 53-acre dairy farm off KY 45 in Graves County, a few miles from Clear Springs, where her ancestors had settled early in the 19th century. After attending college at the University of Kentucky, Mason worked in publishing and magazines in New York. She received an M.A. from SUNY-Binghamton in 1966, and a Ph.D in English from the University of Connecticut in 1972. She wrote fiction as well as literary criticism, and had stories published in The New Yorker and Redbook, among other magazines.

However, Mason discovered that she had left her best subjects behind in Graves County. She returned to Kentucky because "I always knew where my center was -- here on this land. This is my parents' greatest gift -- this rootedness, this grounding. It is what has let me roam. I've been like a hawk on a gyre, flying off, ranging as far as I can, yet always spiraling back, securely tethered to home." (quote from Lexington Herald-Leader, 4/25/99)

Her first book of fiction, Shiloh and Other Stories, was published in 1982. Shiloh and Other Stories was awarded the Ernest Hemingway Award in 1983. Mason has received an NEA Fellowship as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship. Other works by Bobbie Ann Mason include In Country and Spence + Lila (both 1988). Mason currently lives in rural Pennsylvania.

(Image: University of Kentucky)

 

 

 

 

                                 Alben Barkley - Politician

 

U.S. Congressman, senator, and Vice-President during the Truman Administration (1949-1953), Alben William Barkley was born in a log house in 1877 in Graves County, Kentucky. Barkley spent his childhood helping his parents raise tobacco on the tenant farm on which they lived. Barkley's education was sporadic, dependent upon either the planting/harvesting season or the income the crops brought to the household.

After receiving a bachelor of arts degree from Marvin College in Hickman County, he moved to Atlanta to attend Emory College, an affiliate of Marvin. However, financial problems caused him to move back to Kentucky, and he joined his parents in Paducah. While in Paducah, Barkley obtained access to and began studying the library of Democratic Rep. Charles K. Wheeler and gained employment as a law clerk. Shortly thereafter, Barkley passed the bar exam and set up his own law practice.

During this time, Barkley began honing his skills for political campaigns. He began to cultivate circles of friends by belonging to several community and religious organizations. He also became a talented public speaker, known for his ability to move audiences with lay sermons or Southern jokes. During his run for county attorney, he honed his debate skills, and overwhelmed voters with personal appearances.

Barkley was elected County Prosecutor for McCracken County in 1905, serving until 1909; he was then elected County Judge, serving from 1909 - 1913. He was elected to the US House of Representatives, representing Kentucky from 1913 - 1927, then was elected to the US Senate, representing Kentucky from 1927 - 1949. He became Senate Majority Leader in 1937, pushing through many of President Roosevelt's New Deal and wartime legislation.

Passed over for the vice presidency in 1944 because of his age, he was finally nominated at the 1948 convention, though only after William O. Douglas declined the position. Barkley was the oldest man elected as vice president, and later the first Vice President to get married while in office. Barkley, age 71, married Jane Hadley, age 38. Barkley was also the first Vice President to be called the "Veep," a word coined by his 10 year-old grandson when he was unable to pronounce the title.

After a brief unsuccessful bid for the presidency, he was reelected to the Senate in 1954. Barkley died one evening in 1956 when he traveled to Lee University in Washington to attend a "mock convention". During his keynote speech he nobly said, "I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty", then suddenly fell down dead of a heart attack. (quote from Respectfully Quoted: A Dictionary of Quotations)

(Image: Library of Congress)

 

Ellis Wilson - Painter

Wilson, an African-American, was born in 1899 in "the Bottom" of Mayfield, Kentucky. While working as a janitor and delivery person for Day's Ready-to-Wear Dress Shop, Wilson would make soap drawings on the store's windows before cleaning them. The owner of the shop was so impressed with the portraits, that he added the weekly portraits to Wilson's job duties. It was then that Wilson determined that he would be an artist.

In 1917, Wilson enrolled at Kentucky State College in Frankfort. Unfortunately, the only coursework offered by the institution was for the study of agriculture or education. No other Kentucky institution offered blacks post-secondary education in other fields. After two years at Kentucky State, Wilson enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago.

In 1928, he moved to New York City, and continued his art studies while working odd jobs. From 1935 to 1940, he worked for the Federal Art Project, sponsored by the W.P.A. After Wilson went to work at a New Jersey factory that made airplane parts in 1943, he became interested in painting his co-workers. In 1944, on the strength of a series of paintings of defense plant workers, Wilson was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, which was renewed in 1945. Wilson used the money to travel to the Deep South, and produce a series of paintings depicting culture of Southern black people.

During the 1950's, Wilson went to Haiti, and produced a colorful collection, Impressions from Haiti that would bring him acclaim in New York. It was during the his visit to Haiti that Wilson's style became evident: heightened range of color, use of simplified forms, and the portrayal of the simple dignity of the working African-American.

Not only was Wilson among the pioneers of African American art at a national level, he also generated much attention for African American art and art in general in Kentucky during a time when segregation ruled the art world on a national scale. In 1947, he exhibited his work at the Mayfield Public Library, making this possibly the first art exhibit - by white or black artist - ever held in Mayfield. He considered the recognition of his art by his hometown one of the eventual high points of his life.

A year later, in 1948, the J.B. Speed Museum hosted an exhibit of Wilson's work, possibly the first exhibit of work by a black artist at the museum. In 1950, Murray State College exhibited his work - a college which did not accept black students. In 1951, Wilson's paintings were the first paintings by a black artist to be accepted for the Kentucky and Southern Indiana Exhibition.

In his own time, though, Ellis never quite managed to make a living at painting; no black artist of his time did. When he died in 1977 in New York, he was buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. Its location is unknown.

During the late 1980's, his painting Funeral Procession received national exposure on the set of Bill Cosby's television show and revitalized interest in his work.

A quiet, shy man, he let his art speak for him: "I noticed such great hopes among the people in the South: hopes that they could soon vote, and hopes that education would become free and open. My own hope is that I capture their hopes in my work." (quote from Ellis Wilson: So Much to Paint, KET)

(Image: Tulane University, New Orleans)