Continuation of William Daniel Tolle's write-up on the Rocky Hill area. (c) Sandra K. Gorin as "Backroads of Barren County". "I have very little knowledge of recent dates of the village of Rocky Hill. I have some dates of about twenty years back; and probably further back and will name some of the citizens who lived in and around the village at that date. "Franklin SETTLE was the first settler of the town and was for many years its leading citizen. He had a store, blacksmith shop and a fine farm, and kept a house of entertainment where the weary traveler could find rest, lodging and recreation of different kinds. The big brick house that he erected still stands on the hill where he quietly sleeps by the side of his wife in the family grave yard nearby. "Twenty years ago Mr. Settle's daughter, Mrs. Jennie PAGE, and granddaughter, Mrs. Lalla PAGE, and her son, Mr. Garland PAGE and wife lived at the old homestead. The late Jerry S JORDAN of Oakland lived there at that time. His residence was on the hill above his storehouse where Sam HOOVER now lives. Felix SMITH was selling goods there. Martin BUTTON lived in town, but had a farm and raised stock and farm crops. Joe SETTLE, John LEWIS, Jack MANN, Allen DODD, John ALLEN and Hiram GRIFFIN went to the gold mines of California in the spring of 1851. They were all citizens of the Rocky Hill country. Simon SETTLE, Sr lived at the old Settle mill where Mr. VAUGHAN afterwards lived. (Mr. Vaughan ran this mill for several years; the creek changes its course and left the mill site; it was run by steam awhile but has gone out of use with about all the old fashioned mills of the country.). Mr. SETTLE raised a large family; twelve sons and four daughters. After his death his son Joe Settle lived there and ran the mill. The Settle mill pond was once a noted place for fishing and was resorted to by many persons for and near for fishing. George CARTER lived where Brad PARKER now lives. He owned a large farm and raised a large family of children, whom are all dead but his youngest son, Allen CARTER, of Smiths Grove. John BUTTON lived on the creek near Rocky Hill where the late Esquire Buck HUDSON lived. Mr. Button settled there in an early day and raised a large family of children - twelve sons and four daughters. His son, Nat BUTTON, lived there afterwards and sold out to Esq. HUDSON and moved to Tennessee. Esq. HUDSON raised a large family of sons and daughters. John and Brack HUDSON lived at the old homestead and his son, Judge J G HUDSON, is now Police Judge of Smiths Grove. The FISHBACK place on the road from the HUDSON homestead was first settled by Jack LEWIS. Mr. LEWIS lived on the right between the road and the spring in a log cabin. It was just in front of the brick house on the opposite side of the road. It was in this log cabin that General Joseph LEWIS was born. None of the first children of the first settlers of the country were born elsewhere than in log cabins. "Mrs. Ann BURTON lived above the SETTLE mill. She was a sister of John and James PAGE. She owned a good farm and lived in a brick house; was a good woman and took great pleasure in dispensing lavish hospitality to all her friends who visited her. Mrs. Jane GREEN lived near Rocky Hill. The late Rev. Simon SETTLE lived on the Rocky Hill and Glasgow Road, where his sons; Luther, William and Tom SETTLE now live. David ANDERSON and Mrs. EMERSON lived on the Stovall Road at the widow ANDERSON's place. "We go back to Captain William EDMUNDS about four miles north of Rocky Hill. As before stated, Mr. EDMUNDS moved from Virginia in 1810 and bought 1000 acres of land and opened up a farm in the primeval forest. He raised a family of five sons and seven daughters, all of whom are dead. "HAIDEN DAVIDSON lives at the old Isaac DAVIDSON place, where his father, the late Winston DAVIDSON, lived until his death. Frank DAVIDSON lived on the old Allen DAVIDSON homestead. Nathaniel DODD lived adjoining Mr. Davidson, and his sons, John and Wick DODD live there now. On the Dodd lanad is a large beech tree with the letters, D. B. 1776" on it; the initials of Daniel BOONE. We have a tradition that Daniel BOONE was in that section of the country in 176. The late Joel EMERSON lived across the creek from Mr. DODD's. Mr. EMERSON was a prominent farmer and a tobacco grower; was a good man and raised a number of children. Thomas EMERSON, a merchant of Rocky Hill, and Haid EMERSON who lives on the old home place, were sons of his. Up the creek from Mr. EMERSON's is the Capt. John MATTHEWS' mill, and residence on the hill. Mr. MATTHEWS owned a large farm, a grist mill and saw mill on the creek. He also raised fine horses. Red Oak, the winner of the $1,000 stake at Memphis, was raised by Capt. MATTHEWS. Twenty years ago there were three of his children living in Kentucky - J T Matthews who lived near South Fork Church and George Matthews, who lived near the old Allen Matthews' Mill; Mrs. DOCKERY of Kentucky and Mrs. C M WHEELER of Texas, are his daughters. Mr. SMOOT is an old man and has a number of children who are among the best people in the country. Among them are Wilson SMOOT, Brad SMOOT, Mrs. Wm WINN, George and Jim SMOOT, and another son who lives out in the South Fork country." To be continued next week. Sandi. SCKY Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=south-central-kentucky Barren Co Archives: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index?list=kybarren Sandi's Puzzlers: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gensoup/gorin/puz.html