TIP #465 - OH THOSE FUNNY SETTLERS, CONCLUSION Before this tip, I have a favor to ask. I know that a majority of you forward these tips to others when it's something of interest to you. I don't mind at all. But, I was confronted this week by a situation that does hurt. My daughter was forwarded an email which had been forwarded and forwarded, you know how it goes! Eventually it reached my daughter. She laughingly said that she had just received the funniest email with the names of Kentucky towns. She read me a few and lo and behold, it was my post. No copyright, no credit, appearing that some person along the line had created the post. Please, if you forward my tips (or anyone's work) to someone else, include the (c) Copyright notice. These tips are copyrighted and will soon be in book form - I have 6 volumes of Researching Guides in print. It hurts when someone else takes (or appears to take) credit for the work and it is a violation of copyright laws. So forward away, but remember to give credit! Thanks! This is a continuation from last week on strange and often hysterical Kentucky town names. 41. Monkey's Eyebrow, Ballard Co. No one is positive on the naming of this town but some say it refers to the crescent-shaped elevation called Beeler Hill with tall grass growing from which it resembled a monkey's eyebrow. Others insist it "was only fit for a bunch of monkeys" ... 42. Mossy Bottom, Pike Co. Named simply because the town lay in a low-lying area. 43. Mousie, Knott Co. Supposedly named for Mousie (Mrs. Mart) Gibson, daughter of Clay Martin. 44. Mouthcard, Pike Co. Named for its location at the mouth of Card Creek. 45. Mummie, Jackson Co. Bobby Farmer submitted this name since a mummified human body had been found there by early settlers. 46. Neon, Letcher Co. First known as Chip, but changed to Neon with conflicting reasons. It might have been so called for an old tree stump to put your "knee on". Or possibly for an early neon sign there. 47. Nobob, Barren Co. It might have been named for Robert (Bob) Todd, a hunter for a party of Virginia military land grant surveyors who had made camp near where the town is now location. According to old tales, Bob failed to return one night and for days his companions searched in vain. They would return with the report "No Bob". 48. No Creek, Ohio Co. Said to have been named by surveyors sometime before 1798 when they thought the area was a dry bed, making them think there was no creek at all.. 49. Nonesuch, Woodford Co. Samuel McCauley, a local magistrate noted that this area was highly productive farmland and said "there is no other place like this." 50. Ordinary, Elliott Co. Nelson Eagen (or someone else!) said that this was such an ordinary place. Or it could have been named for an ordinary there - that being another early name for a tavern. 51. Paradise, Muhlenberg Co. One tale has a family traveling upstream with a sick baby and they decided to spend the night. The next morning the baby had recovered and the mother said "This truly must be Paradise." 52. Parrot, Jackson Co. It might have been named ford Dan Parrot, a resident there. It was also known as Letter Box, KY. 53. Pig, Edmonson Co. In 1880 when the post office was established, no one could agree on a name. Finally one man said in disgust "I see a small hog outside on the road and that prompts me to suggest that we name the post office Pig." 54. Pigeonroost, Clay Co. In 1888, when the post office was established here, Jefferson D. Rowland became postmaster and it was probably named for the branch on which early setters had observed such large numbers of pigeons roosting in the time that they seemed to break the branches out. 55. Pinchem, Clark Co. One of the favorite stories that that an early storekeeper was so tight there that customers would come away feeling they had been pinched in the trade. 56. Plant, Clay Co. Marin Martin of Plant wrote "there was very fine virgin timber and sawing lumber was big business. Each sawmill owner liked to boast of the largest boards of planks they had sawed." 57. Pleasureville, Henry & Shelby Co. Named possibly from a visitor's remark about his pleasure in being there among such pleasant people. Wonder if he ever visited Paradise? 58. Plumkum, Casey Co. Later known as Little Hickman, this name might have been a corruption of Plaquemine which is alleged to have come from some Indian tribe called the Piakemins. 59. Possum Trot, Marshall Co. Sol King and Buck Bolen were possum hunting in the area at the turn of the century and one said to the other "If we don't catch one soon, these possums are going to trot across the road and be gone." 60. Poverty, McLean Co. William Short, M.D. was ridiculing his snobbish neighbors who had formed a social circle. They believed that poverty, breeding, and cultural attributes placed them a cut above everyone else in the community, including the doctor. 61. Quicksand, Breathitt Co. Named for the treacherous shifting sands which caused great difficulty for early travelers. 62. Rabbit Hash, Boone Co. Named for all the various ways the early settlers fixed rabbit, an early and frequent menu item. This resulted from a flood which killed thousands of rabbits which appeared in many homes. 63. Razorblade, Knott Co. Remember the town of Democrat from last week? Same town! 64. Redwine, Morgan Co. Said to be named for the William B. Redwine family. 65. Relief, Morgan Co. Wallace W. Brown, the post master here in 1859 said it was named by patrons who thought it would be a relief" not to have to go so far for their mail." 66. Rivals, Spencer Co. After having three names rejected for this lovely town, Charles W Stout (1900) was desperate. He spied a box of shotgun shells with the band name Rivals on the shelf of a local store. Other stories credit the Van Dyke brothers who were rivals. 67. Rowdy, Perry Co. Said to reflect the wild character of its residents. 68. Sacred Wind, Lawrence Co. I don't know how to handle this one and thought a long time about the wording. It was named supposedly by the first post master, James N Sturgill for his father who was a Baptist minister. His father had a problem and may I say that foods didn't set well on his stomach many times and caused an irritable condition while he was preaching? I trust you understand and won't be blown away. 69. Scuffletown, Henderson Co. A tavern here in the early 19th century was a rendezvous for the rougher class of riverman who every Saturday night enjoyed their free-for-alls. 70. Shake Rag, Todd Co. Later called Claymour, Some say it's named for the neatest of all housekeepers there who would be seen shaking their dust rags outside the door; or it could have come from poorly-dressed men who shook their rags as they stood outside in the cold weather. 71. Shoulder Blade, Breathitt Co. Later called Juan, it was named for the creek which was named by early hunters for what seemed to be the shoulder blade of a very large animal found near their camp. 72. Skullbuster, Scott. According to legend, a very tall man, on entering a log structure "struck his head against the cap of the door after his friend, John Cartenhour had warned him to look out or he would bust his skull. Maybe he had just come from Scuffletown, Rowdy or other various towns! 73. Slapout, Graves Co. Maybe this was the town where the semi-rowdy skullbusters lived; they controlled their tempers a little more! Later called Crutchfield, also known as Alexander, no one knows how this town got its name. 74. Smile, Rowan Co. They weren't on Candid Camera (c) but the citizens supposedly smiled when they learned they were going to get their own post office. 75. Squib, Pulaski Co. Henry Whitaker, a young man here, was nicknamed Squib and since every other name had been rejected by the US Post Office, they submitted this name and it was approved. 76. Stop, Wayne Co. Some say this was the last stop on the old mail route or that the road stopped here. Others say the post master said STOP! when people kept suggesting names. 77. Tearcoat, Clinton Co. The creek nearby was almost inaccessible and in an unfriendly location. It inspired legends of people, such as the daughter of pioneer Daniel Clift, stumbling through the dense thicket along the creek and tearing her coat. 78. The Back Yard, Butler Co. No guesses! 79. Thousandsticks, Leslie Co. Many stories, one being that there were so many ancient trees which had died of old age that there were a thousand sticks. 80. Torchlight, Lawrence Co. Named for the Torchlight Mine, and when a man dropped a pine torch onto the porch of the Greenup Hotel and it burned to the ground. Or for the torches used in the mines. 81. Tyewhoppety, Todd Co. This might refer to an "unkempt, ill-appearing person." Or it is a Shawnee word for a place of no return. 82. Wax, Grayson Co. Supposedly given by a postal inspector after he saw the local storekeeper (where the post office was located), weighing beeswax. 83. Whoopflarea, Owsley Co. Most likely from the whoop of owls and maybe Indians. Many other possibilities. 84. Zag, Morgan Co. Pearl Cox saw the word Zig Zag in an old newspaper used to paper a wall , and Zag was accepted by the US Post Office. I hope you enjoyed these! There are hundreds more that I could have chosen and I'm sure you have your favorite. Again, my thanks to Robert Renick for putting these all together! (c) Copyright 30 Oct 2002, Sandra K. Gorin Colonel Sandi Gorin SCKY Links: http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/Gorin.html SCKY surname registry sites: http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/reg.html http://www.rootsweb.com/~kyclinto/forms/SCKYreg.html Gorin Publishing: http://ggpublishing.tripod.com/