On the morning of Thursday, May 23, 1889, David W. Vandeveer woke to find his Newfoundland dog, Rebel, dead. Nine other dogs in Stanford, Kentucky, would be found “sleeping the sleep that knows no waking” that day.[1] Who, or what, had killed ten dogs in this small town? Stanford’s newspaper, the Interior Journal, reported on... Continue Reading →
The Elopement of Lida Pratt Hornsey
Seventeen-year-old Lida Pratt Hornsey gathered up her schoolbooks and scurried out the door of 75 North Broadway in Lexington, Kentucky on the morning of Tuesday, October 12, 1897.[1] The shouts of her younger sister, Tommie, to wait up faded as her booted feet carried her down the cobblestone street.[2] Lida tightly clasped her fur-trimmed cape... Continue Reading →
The Ahlfield Women & their Famous Pants
A block-long, three-story brick complex stands between South and Water Streets in Mayfield, Kentucky [8]. Flat brick pilasters break up the great expanses of wall, and an arched entranceway once welcomed hundreds of employees into one of the largest clothing factories in the nation [3, 8]. The Merit Pant Company (also called the Mayfield Pants... Continue Reading →
Hugh Lonney & the Cholera Epidemic of 1833
Learn about our miasmaphobic ancestor, Hugh Lonney, and his response to the 1833 cholera epidemic of Lexington, Kentucky.
Elnora & the Flour Sack
A story about my great grandmother, Elnora Calhoun from her great niece, Evelyn Calhoun Rogers.
Hog Heaven: The Death of Earl Pierce
Like most children, my brothers and I would often seek out our mother throughout the day – to ask what was for dinner, tattle on someone, tell her we were bored, etc. If we found our father first and asked him if he had seen Mom, a common refrain was, “She went out to feed... Continue Reading →