TIP #255 - ANOTHER LOOK AT BRACKEN, BREATHITT, BRECKINRIDGE, BULLITT, AND BUTLER COUNTIES. Bracken County became our 24th county in 1797. It was formed from parts of Campbell and Mason Counties. Brooksville is the county seat of Bracken County, the birthplace of white burley tobacco, and Brooksville is a center of a rich tobacco region. The site of many Civil War encounters, Brooksville was on the route of Confederate troops involved in a conspiracy to capture Covington, Newport, and Cincinnati, but a battle at Augusta prevented this. Augusta is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating old towns in Kentucky. A harbor community, Augusta is located on a high bank overlooking the waters of the Ohio. Augusta became the home of the first Methodist Church college in America in 1822. The college is now a city school. Many fine homes of grace and charm are found in Augusta. The home of the George White family, which was built in 1850 by Abraham Baker, has an old wine cellar that became the refuge of women and children during the Civil War. The first fair of Germantown was held in 1854. Today, Bracken County is part of the tri-county Germantown fair which is held in Mason County. (The third county is Robertson.). Bracken County's family tree goes back to Fayette County as its earliest ancestor, but through a series of "generations." Out of Fayette was formed Woodford, out of Woodford was formed Scott. Scott contributed to the formation of Campbell, and Campbell helped form Bracken. The other county that gave land to Bracken was Mason, which took its land from Bourbon County, which was taken from a part of Fayette. Breathitt : The history of Breathitt County is alive with stories of flaring clan feuds in the mountainous land of Eastern Kentucky. Stories of the "wild west" (it was west in those days!) and its rough mountaineers present a contrast to the tranquility and beauty of the countryside today. Breathitt Count was formed as the 89th of Kentucky's counties in 1839 from parts of Clay, Perry and Estill Counties. It is located on the headwaters of the Kentucky River. Its name exists as a memorial to Governor John Breathitt, who took office in 1832 and died in the Governor's mansion two years later. The topography of Breathitt County is a hilly surface with rich valleys, and soil of red clay and sandstone formation. The county seat, Jackson, was one of the first mountain towns of Kentucky to offer a college curriculum, Lees Junior College was established in 1864 by the Presbyterian Church and is today a Presbyterian-financed school. Three miles southeast of Jackson, an experimental substation of the forestry division of the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture was established as a 15,000 acre "laboratory" with huge oak, pine and walnut trees and livestock. The substation conducts guided tours for visitors. One of the most mysterious legends of the mountains originated at a small town seven miles southwest of Jackson, Nailor's Rock. In the 1760's John Swift and his pioneer companions were believed to have mined silver in this area. Contemporaries said he was only counterfeiting. But whatever the truth is, countless numbers of men have spent years looking for the silver mines. Among them was a man named Nailor, who sank a shaft near a rock pedestal formation. There are still looking, and to this day thee are prospectors who believe thee might be some truth in the legend of John Swift. Breckinridge County: Named in honor of John Breckinridge, a Virginia who was one of the early Kentucky pioneers, became our 39th County in 1800. It was formed from part of Hardin County. Its northern boundary is the Ohio River. The county seat, Hardinsburg, was originally a frontier fort established in 1790 by William Hardin, known to the Indians as "Big Bill." With "Big Bill" furnishing them with courage and leadership, the settlers never abandoned their Hardin fort, and today Hardinsburg is a modern community with well-preserved, gracious old homes and a progressive outlook. Addison Dam and Park at Lock 45, in the Ohio River on Highway KYK-144, make a popular place for picnicking and boating. North of this dam are the birthplace and grave of Joseph Holt, Judge Advocate General of the Union Army during the Civil War. The Holt mansion was build 180 years ago with brick made from Ohio River clay. The small town of Cloverport is touched by the Lincoln Heritage Trail. Here Abraham Lincoln's family ferried across the Ohio River from Kentucky to their new home in Indiana. The trail is a 1,000 mile circle tour that may be said to originate in Kentucky at Hodgenville, where the great emancipator was born. It touches any number of sites related to Lincoln's life, and proceeds from Kentucky into Indiana, where Lincoln grew up, and on to Illinois, where he later made his home. The Rough River and the lake formed by damming it up, Rough River Reservoir, are on Breckinridge County's southern border. Just across the lake, in Grayson County, is one of Kentucky's newest resort parks, Rough River Dam State Park. You can fish, boat, or water-ski on the 35-mile lake, and camp along the water's edge. Bullitt County: Bullitt County is in the "Knob Country" where hills are covered with tall pine and laurel and are rich with iron and other ores. Among the oldest counties in Kentucky, Bullitt became our 20th county in 1797. It was formed from parts of Jefferson and Nelson Counties, and named for Lieutenant Governor Alexander Scott Bullitt. The land is watered by the Salt River and its tributaries. The history of Bullitt County was affected to a great degree by its salt resources. Salt licks and springs first brought salt-hungry game. Then the Indians hunted the game and also used the salt. Finally, the early settlers migrated to the area where the valuable substance could so easily be obtained. The first salt refinery in the county was built in 1796 and sold salt for 20 shillings per bushel. Sites of the pioneer salt wells, 30 to 40 feet deep and 10 feet wide, are still preserved around Shepherdsville, the Bullitt County seat. Near Shepherdsville is Bernheim Forest, where 10,000 acres in a privately-endowed park preserve the knobs land much as it was when Daniel Boone traveled it. Shepherdsville was once the home of the grand 19th-century hotel, Paroquet Springs, which brought prominence to the town. Today the site is marked only by the "Lone Grave", that of a visiting southern Belle. Butler County: This county was named in honor of General Butler, of Pennsylvania, an officer of distinguished service in the Revolutionary War. It was organized as the 54th county in 1810 from parts of Logan and Ohio Counties. The country is picturesque and hilly, surrounded by timber and watered by the Barren, Green, and Mud Rivers. Its land is usefully adaptable to grazing and fruit growing, grain crops and truck farms, and its hills are full of coal. On the south bank of the Green River is Morgantown, the county seat of Butler County. The people of Morgantown respectfully named the streets forming their town square after neighboring counties - Ohio, Warren and Logan - and Butler Street crosses in front of the courthouse. Butler County's citizens were among those Kentuckians whose families split over Civil War ideology and a commerative monument was erected in 1907 to honor both the Confederate and Union soldiers from Butler County who died in the war. Two miles west of Morgantown is a sandstone carving commerating the site of the first Civil War casualty in Kentucky, the death of Granville Allen. You can certainly find quiet recreation, beautiful landscapes, and inviting camp sites along the Green River. The bottomlands along the river are rich with corn, tobacco, soybeans and sorghum - especially soybeans. Some of the best molasses made in Kentucky can be bought here in the fall. The oil wells around Huntsville, and the farms with their cattle, sheep and hogs, help make Butler County prosperous and attractive - a good place to live, and a wonderful county to visit. To be continued - (c) Copyright 9 August 1999, Sandra K. Gorin, All Rights Reserved. sgorin@glasgow-ky.com Colonel Sandi Gorin 205 Clements,Glasgow, KY 42141 (270) 651-9114 or E-fax (707)222-1210 Gorin Genealogical Publishing: http://members.delphi.com/gorin1/index.html TIPS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Tips KYBIOS: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/Ky/Bios ARCHIVES: http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl