My friends - I have recently been poking around in the 19th century large city newspapers for various items which appeared in connection with the JP region. As I continue to do that, I will turn today to a subject we have briefly mentioned in years past: the town liar. Just as many towns had a "town drunk"(or more than one), there was often an individual who was well known for telling stories which might have a small element of truth in them, but were, for the most part, fictitious, and the teller could present it in such a manner as to make believers out of most of those who heard him tell the tale. Murray, in Calloway County, had such a man. All that I have been able to find about him was that his given name was "Jake", and he was known as the "town liar". One of his stories has been preserved for over a century, which was told to me by my late Grandmother Utterback, who heard it from her father-in-law(my g-gf), to whom the event actually happened. This might be another item that could be brought to the JP-Lore List, but it demonstrates well that our 19th century families did have a good sense of humor about most things, so I am presenting it here. It seems that my g-gf, James Henry Utterback, was sitting on the courthouse square in Murray in the 1870's, in the company of his father-in-law, William Hardy Curd. Suddenly, Jake came galloping up on his horse at a furious pace, reining the horse in just as he reached the two men. As Jake got off his horse, one of the men said, "Hey Jake, come on over and sit down and tell us a lie". But Jake, who had already started moving quickly down the street, called back over his shoulder, "Can't do it today - old man Kirk Fallis fell over dead this morning out at his place, and the widow asked me to bring in his corpse to the undertaker. The wagon is coming along behind me." With that, Jake rushed down the street and went toward the mortuary. Just as he was lost to sight, a wagon came rolling through, with a long box in the bed, and with the driver of the wagon standing, which was the usual indicator in those days that there was a body being taken through. The men rose and removed their hats as the wagon passed, and it turned down the street toward the mortuary. My g-gf and his father-in-law both knew the deceased and decided to ride the 4 miles out to his farm to pay their respects to the widow. They did so, only to be met at the door by the supposed corpse himself! Jake had done it again. My great-grandfather was still chuckling about that elaborate practical joke some 50 years later. More newspaper items to follow shortly......... -B =====================================================================