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Some
Old Homes In Pendleton County
The Fryer Home
Nancy
Bray found this fascinating documentation at the Pendleton
County Library. She generously transcribed and donated it
to me for the Pendleton County site.
Thanks so much Nancy!
Nell
Bradford Woolery (Mrs. Louis A.)
Most
everyone has an inborn sentiment and regard for things and
places connected with the early settlers of our country and
this is particularly true of Kentuckians, who revere the
pioneers, who established homes in this section, which was
rightfully called "the dark and bloody ground".
Naturally Pendleton County and its early history _____the most
interesting to us, many of whom have heard our ancestors
describe happenings of the years long past and we visualize as
best we can the events of the time.
One
thing that holds our interest, as much if not more than
anything else, is the old homes, where our forefathers, their
friends and neighbors lived and where hospitality was extended
to both friends and strangers, who perchance sought
shelter--the homes such as inspired Stephen Foster and John
Howard Payne to put them in song.
We
look upon the larger old homes and most of us create our own
mental pictures of the happenings within those walls and our
thoughts are ofttimes of a romantic and centinental nature--we
imagine the belles and beaux, the parties and infares such as
constituted the social life _______ the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries.
The
one room house makes us think of the privations of the
pioneer--the women dressed in linsey-woolsey and man clad in
jeans or perhaps buckskin breeches and coon caps, all
struggling to succeed in what to them seemed a land of
promise. None of us can realize the extent of the
fortitude with which those folks were endowed in order to
withstand the frontier life and its cold bleak winters,
unproductive years, Indian attacks and the nostalgia they must
have suffered many, many times. Nor can we know the
happiness these pioneers experienced when their homes in the
wilderness or sparsely settled sections were completed for
with their crude tools and scarcity of labor it required at
the time to complete even a small structure. Logs had to
be hewed, ________burned and the shingles made by hand.
Nails were so scarce that ______pins were used in their place.
The
first homes were built of logs or of native limestone. A
few of these types have been preserved in Pendleton County and
there are some built of logs that have been covered with
weatherboarding so the outward appearance we are unaware that
they are some of our oldest homes. Brick houses made
their appearance later--the brick being usually ______near the
site of the house and this type can be found in most _____
section of our county. Then too there are the old houses
built of _______sawed lumber, some of which remain.
Usually
homes were built near a spring or some source from which water
could be easily secured and for that reason most of the
settlements in the county were built on the creeks or rivers.
The ________in 1850 of the Kentucky Central Railroad had an
effect upon the ______ of the towns and villages.
Pendleton
County was formed from parts of Campbell and Bracken Counties
in 1798 and the information that I have been able to
______ as to the earliest settlers in Pendleton County is that
they came from Virginia and Pennsylvania in 1776 and settled
on South Licking River and some on Grassy Creek, which is
sometimes called "Grasse Creek in the early records.
According
to some historians there was a settlement here when Col. Byrd
came this way on his march to attack Ruddle's and Martin's
Stations and that he landed in Falmouth, "made peace with
the settlement and secured provisions". Tradition
tells at this time there was a settlement on South Licking and
a water power corn mill was located there.
From
Spencer's History of Kentucky we learn that there appeared in
the "Centinel of the Northwest Territory", which was
published in Cincinnati the following advertisement, to wit:
"Plank
and Scantling of every kind delivered at the mill or in
Cincinnati, on the shortest notice. Orders will be
thankfully received and pointedly attended to.
Falmouth,
Forks of Licking, Dec. 15, 1794
N.
B. The subscriber will be down with a quantity of planks as
soon as the water of the Licking will permit.
No
doubt much of the lumber used in the construction of the old
homes was produced at this mill.
On
Dec. 19, 1796 the General Assembly of Kentucky passed an act
establishing the town of Falmouth. This act provided one
hundred (100) acres of land were to be divided into town lots
one-fourth (1/4) acre and sold by the town trustees. The
act required that a house sixteen (16) feet square with either
brick or stone chimney be built on the lots with-in seven
years after sale and it further required that these houses be
occupied within the same length of time. In 1799 the
Trustees secured the lands to be divided into town lots from
John Waller, John Cook and William McDowell paying for it by
deeding back to them certain lots after the plat was made.
I file with this paper a plat of the town of Falmouth ( a copy
of the one appearing on the records in the office of the
County Clerk) as it was first layed off into town lots.
It will be seen from the plat that the town limits did not
include land west of the railroad but extended beyond the
creek in the extreme eastern portion.
The
greater part that we learn of the old homes is purely
tradition, stories handed down from one generation to another,
there being no public records from which we can ascertain
dates houses were built. The homes that I mention are
present day homes too and the ones with which we are all
familiar.
A
home that was of prime importance in the establishment of
Pendleton County was that of Thomas Anderson for it was there
the first meeting of the Justices of the County was held on
June 4, 1799 and here they continued to meet for several
years. From the records we learn that at this meeting
the Justices and Sheriff were administered the oath of office
and Falmouth was selected as the county seat. Thomas
Anderson owned lot #35 on Union Street which is now Main
Street and this lot is in the second one north from Shelby on
the east side of Main St. On Dec. 3, 1799 Thomas
Anderson was granted a license to operate a tavern in the town
of Falmouth, so one concludes that hotel was located on that
lot.
On
the following day, June 5, 1799, we find the Justices at the
home of Alvin Montjoy, whose brother William was on the
previous day elected Pendleton County's first clerk and gave
bond in the sum of one thousand pounds. Alvin Montjoy's
home faced the "public ground" and was on lots 19-20
which are on the west side of Chapel Street and corner of
Second Street. For these lots and six others, 72, 73,
156, 165, 166 & 169 Alvin Montjoy paid the Trustees of
Falmouth in 1799, $138.00. The house is still habitable
and as far as I am able to ascertain the oldest house standing
in Falmouth today. It is a two story structure of logs
which are said to be of unusually large size, and has been
weather boarded and one enters it directly off the
pavement--there being no porch or yard.
South
of town about 5 miles we find the old Colvin house, which
until recently had remained in the possession of that family.
It was this land--part of the Bennett Bartlett patent--that
Charles Colvin purchased in 1799 and about 1805 built his
house of logs using wooden pegs in place of nails in its
construction. It was in this home that the First
Methodist meeting in Pendleton County was held. Such
meetings continued to be held in this house until such time as
the first church was built.
Soon after the erection of the Colvin House, the Beverly
Minor home, a large two story brick, was built near Bunker
Hill by the contractor James Duvall, a relation of Mrs.
Minor. In this home the Baptist of the early days met
and held their services. This home was formerly back
and unseen from the road but after its second owner, Jas. T.
Applegate, bought it the road was re-routed so that one
could see it when riding along the Cynthiana Pike.
This home is now owned by a grandson of Jas. Applegate.
The
Fryer home at what we know as Flour Creek but which was
originally called Flower Town, was built by Walter Fryer,
the ancestor of that family in this county. The
contract was let in 1811 and Abraham Vastine, a housejoiner,
as contractors were then called, was employed to build this
two story house of limestone and it was not completed until
two years later, in 1813. The ground upon which it
stands is part of the Mosby patent, one of the nine patents
in the county. Since its erection this home has been
continuously in the possession of descendants of Walter
Fryer and his great great grandson is the present owner.
Note:
The Fryer House is now owned by Hill Top Stone LLC.
With all thanks to Hill Top, and if things go as planned,
the Fryer House will become the new home of the Pendleton
County Historical Society and Museum.
Most
of us consider "the little stone house across the
creek" the oldest house in Falmouth and I find from
records that land was bought by Jeremiah Monroe, a physician
practicing in Pendleton County as early as 1792, from
Pressley G. Kennett in 1812. It has been related to me
that this house was first built for a sheep fold as a
protection from wolves and was later converted into a
dwelling. We hear this house spoken of as the old
Casey house. Mrs. Casey (familiarly known to the older
citizens as Aunt Sally) was a sister of Reuben McCarty, whom
I will later mention. About 1854 Lunnenberg Abernathy,
a school teacher occupied the little house that has recently
fallen to decay and what a pity it has not been preserved as
a reminder of the early days in Pendleton County.
In
1803 Robert Forsythe first owned property in Pendleton
County and in 1818 he sold to his son, Peter, land which is
located on the Cynthiana road and at the foot of Mt. Vernon
hill and upon which stands a two story log house that has
been weather boarded and which according to reports is one
of the oldest houses in that section of the county. It
has around it old pine trees that have surely weathered as
many years as has this old house. No doubt this family
like others who lived in that vicinity, carried their corn
and wheat to the mill located at Levingood traveling the
Bradford road to reach that point.
Near
McKinneysburg we find the King house which is another two
story log house that has been weather boarded. There
is evidence that this house was built about 1820 and the
land upon which it stands was part of the Forsythe and
Hanley patent, which extended "from river to
river".
Having
made a previous trip to Kentucky from Virginia in 1792
Joseph Hitch returned to Pendleton County in 1807 from
Maryland and in 1820 built near Catawba his home and called
it "Popular Grove". This is one of the best
known old homes in the county and is built of brick, they
having been burned near the site of the house and excepting
the wing in the rear it is a replica of his father's home in
Wicimoco County, Maryland.
In
1800 William Logan bought from Daniel Boone land in
Pendleton County, the deed being signed by Boone's agent,
John Grant. Around 1820 he built for his home, about
two and one-half miles east of Falmouth on the Milford Pike
and Licking River, a two story log house and today a great
grandson and his son reside there. Before this old
home there stands a pine tree which has endured as many
winters and summers as has the house for it was planted
about the time the house was built and in the rear of the
place there is a well kept family burying ground.
William Logan had three sons who inherited this land--one
continued to occupy his father's home, another built a four
room log house not far away but to the east, while the third
son built his house atop a hill farther on down the road,
but that house does not stand today.
On
March 21, 1822 Samuel Hauser, an attorney who came to
Falmouth from North Carolina married Mary Ann Kennett and
took her to a home he had built for her on Main Street and
south east corner of the alley. This was a two story
brick house (it has in recent years been covered with
stucco) set directly on the pavement and many social affairs
of that day were given in this home. The Hausers had
several children and their son, Samuel T. Hauser, was
perhaps the most prominent citizen Falmouth ever had.
He was first Govenor of Montana, having followed the Lewis
& Clark expedition in 1862 and located in Helena and was
closely connected with the development of the west.
On
the North end of Main Street below Second, which was first
called Ferry Street, there is a quaint two story brick house
and it was there that Johnson Minor, a cabinet maker and his
wife Harriet lived in 1828 having bought the property from
Philip Bush.
From
a published account of their golden wedding in 1878 we learn
that Thomas Jefferson Oldham and Permelia Ann Colvin married
and he took her to live in the old homestead on the
northeast bank of Licking River and there they spent the
remainder of their lives. At present his
daughter-in-law and grand daughter occupy this old home that
is so familiar to all of us with its avenue of pines and the
family burying ground nearby. The land upon which was
bought in 1816 from Henry Clay and J. Hughes by Tyree
Oldham, father of T. J. Oldham, for the sum of $2500.00 and
5 shillings. Thomas Jefferson Oldham operated a ferry
across Main Licking river but discontinued it when in 1853
the wonder of that time, the old suspension bridge, was
built at that point.
Richard
Mullins, son of Gabriel Mullins, a Revolutionary War
soldier, located on Grassy Creek, and on the knoll just at
the intersection
of the DeMossville road and Route #17, he built about 1830
a large brick house. There were about twenty rooms
in the original house of which only a portion remains
today because years ago it was converted into a smaller
dwelling. It was in the home of Richard Mullins that
the first Masonic lodge--DeMoss Lodge # 220--in Pendleton
County was organized on December 21, 1850 and here the
meetings were held for several years. Gabriel B.
Mullins, son of Richard, was the first elected Master of
this lodge. Richard Mullins had a large family and
we find the graves of some of his descendants as well as
that of his in the family burying ground located in the
yard of this home. This property is now owned by the
daughter of Richard Mullins.
Rueben
McCarty, a red haired man, was captured by the Indians
during the War of 1812 and because of the Indians being
superstitious or fascinated by his Titian locks, he was
released after having withstood he terrible ordeal of
running the gauntlet and returned to Kentucky. In
1815 he married Polly Porter (Potter?) and owned much
property in Falmouth and Pendleton County. He served
as County Clerk from 1833 to 1851 and was also County
Surveyor. From Richard Collins, McCarty bought lots
143-144 in Falmouth in Aug. 1834 and they are located on
the south side of Shelby Street between Maple Ave. and
Montjoy St. There stands today a house McCarty built
on these lots and it has special significance to me for it
was there in 1858 that my mother was born soon after her
parents came here from Mason County. This is a large
two story brick house and was used as a tavern--having a
dance hall connected with it and in that part there was
until recently a balcony, where Negro maids were permitted
to sit while their young mistresses danced with the beaux
of that day.
Kentucky's
second Governor was James Garrard and it was his grandson,
Thomas Lewis Garrard who built the old Garrard home on
Duck Branch of the Licking River prior to 1836 he having
bought the land from John Childers July 3, 1830.
This was a two and a half story house with brick kitchen,
Negro cabins and loom house built in the yard at the rear.
This home was built near a never failing spring and faced
the river along which the road originally ran--it being
later located at the rear of the house. R. F.
Garrard, son of Thomas Lewis later owned this home and it
was not until 1907 that he disposed of it after having
spent nearly seventy years in the home in which he was
born and where proverbial Kentucky hospitality was always
extended by the Garrard family.
Enos
Daniel whose home was situated on Main Street about where
the Falmouth Outlook office now stands, sold in 1840 and
for $250.00 a southern portion of that lot #36 (mentioned
in the deed as the garden lot) to G. C. Lightfoot and it
was on that lot the old Lightfoot home was erected and
where for many years a tavern was operated by the
Lightfoot family and was one of the popular hotels of that
day.
In
1844 the house on the north east corner of Main and Fourth
Streets was one of the business houses of the town for it
was there a store was operated and the second story as a
dance hall, the stairway leading to the upper floor being
built on the outside of the house. I was unable to
learn when this building was converted into a residence.
Tradition tells that one of the storekeepers was so
grieved over having failed to win the hand of the girl of
his affections that he died of a broken heart a
"disease" which seems to be a "lost
art" at the present time.
Born
in Waterville, Maine in 1794 William Bacon Sherwin moved
with his parents to Ohio thence to Kentucky and in 1846
bought from William Reilly a home near Mt. Hope in the
northern part of Pendleton County. This log house
now weather boarded, has been owned by his descendants
continuously since that time and at present one of his
granddaughters lives--she being on of the three
granddaughters who had their weddings in this old home as
did their mother. Mr. Sherman was a farmer and a
cooper--making barrels, kegs and churns to say nothing of
a thirty-six gallon lard keg he made for his daughter.
An
unusual home in Falmouth was that of Charity "a woman
of color" who after legal controversy established her
freedom and in Oct. 1848 for $30.00 bought lot #97 which
is on the north end of Montjoy Street formerly known as
Fifth Street and she no doubt was "Happy
Hollow's" first resident. Charity, a mulatto,
was brought at the age of two years from Virginia to
Nelson County and later brought here and attempts were
made to sell her "down the river" but she
instituted legal proceedings and proved her right to
freedom.
Susan
McCarty, wife of Rueben McCarty bought in 1852 the lots
between Second Street and the alley which runs between
Main and Chapel Street, they being a part of the estate of
her brother, W. C. Kennett. I have always been told
that the brick house now standing on the lots facing Main
Street was built by Rueben McCarty and it is in this
property that the Hubinger family lived at one time, a
tavern license being granted to J. F. Hubinger in 1863. It
was this family who later moved west and became the
manufacturers of the well known Elasic Starch
In
1848, John Lowe, a bachelor, engaged a contractor named
James Duval to build a home on his thousand acre tract at
what is known today as Uma, but at that time was a
wilderness. The lumber used in the construction of
this home was hand sawed whipped sawed, the stones from
which the four large chimneys were made were chiseled the
same size, about 8x8x15 and the roof and windows were put
together with wooden pins. Seven years were
required to complete this home so it was not until 1855
that it was finished and after the death of John Lowe had occurred.
We know this as the Monroe home.
The
first Baptist Church in Falmouth was located on the south
east corner of Fourth and Main Streets and in 1855 sold
that lot to Ancel Johnson for $90.10, and there he built a
two story house which was one of the few houses in
Falmouth at that time. In the front of this old home
and alongside the old flag stone walk, there are age old
locust trees that have for many "summers worn nests
of robins in their hair". Tis said that in the
attic of this house a hole was cut in order that bees
might enter there and make honey. Mr. Johnson was a
blacksmith shoeing horses and oxen at his shop near his
home.
Between
the years of 1856 and 1860 my grandfather, John L. Chiles,
built a home on his farm west of the railroad and on what
is now known as North Liberty Street. Excepting one
other house the Chiles home was the only one in that
section and there was no Shelby Street at that time, but
the road coming to Falmouth from the west followed along
the bank of South Licking River and this and Woodson Road
were the only thoroughfares between the railroad and the
river. On this property there is a never failing
spring and there is a legend that if one drinks from this
spring they will eventually return to Falmouth. It
was on this farm that the Union forces encamped during the
War between the States and where they remained during
practically the entire war while guarding the railroad
bridge.
The
Richard Mann home on the H. E. Race farm was built of logs
about 1815 and the land upon which it stands is the only
part of the original thousand tract that is today in
possession of his descendants.
Near
Browningsville on Willow Creek there stands the home
of Harry Browning, who came to Pendleton County from Mason
County and built this log house before 1856.
The
John R. Wadsworth home at Goforth was built prior to 1859
and at that time there were very few houses in that
section which was almost a wilderness, so sparsely was it
settled.
And
so it is with affection and reverence that we think of
these and other old homes in the county and we hope to
imbue our children with the same feeling for them and for
our
"Homes that our feet may leave
But never our hearts".
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