Mrs. Verna Garr Taylor

 

 

       Born in 1878 in Bowling Green, Ky., Brigadier General Harry Denhardt served in WWI and the Spanish-American War.  In 1923 he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky, serving a four-year term.  In 1933 he divorced his wife of 28 years and bought an 800 acre farm near LaGrange, Ky.  It was there that the 60 year old Denhardt met Verna Taylor, a 40 year old widow who was considered to be the most beautiful woman in Henry and Oldham County.  In the summer of 1936, Denhardt proposed to Taylor with a $1,500 engagement ring, much to the demise of Taylor’s two daughters, Mary Taylor Brown and Frances Taylor, and her three brothers, Roy, Jack and E. S. Garr.  Denhardt had a reputation of being hot-headed, a womanizer and heavy drinker.

            On the evening of Nov. 6, 1936, Denhardt and Taylor had dinner in Louisville with friends and were scheduled to chaperon one of Taylor’s daughter at a dance later that evening.  They left their dinner early because Taylor indicated that she was not feeling well.  Taylor called her daughter to tell her she couldn’t make the dance and then asked Denhardt to go for a drive in hopes that it would make her feel better.  They drove down Hwy. 146 into Henry County and then pulled around to go home.  Unfortunately the car stalled and a farmer stopped to help them push their car into a nearby driveway, at the home of George Baker.  Another man, J. B. Hundley, stopped by to help and offered to go in search of a new battery for the car.

            George Baker invited Denhardt and Taylor into his home several times while they waited but they declined.  Baker’s dog kept barking and then he heard a loud gun shot.  Baker went outside to investigate and saw Denhardt standing beside the car.  Baker and Denhardt then heard a second gunshot.  Baker asked Denhardt if he heard the gunshot and the colonel replied : “Ain’t it awful?  She was the finest woman I ever knew.”

            Hundley had returned with the car battery and all three men began to search for Taylor.  They found her body lying in a ditch, an eighth of a mile down the road with Denhardt’s .45 caliber revolver lying several feet from the body. Denhardt kept his revolver in the glove compartment of the car.  Henry County Coroner D. L. Ricketts said that the position of the entry of the bullet hole in Taylor’s chest made it seem unlikely that she committed suicide.

            A trial took place in Henry County on April 20, 1937. Over 1,000 people gathered in the courthouse and on the lawn for the trial with entertainment and refreshments being offered on the courthouse lawn. The trial ended in a hung jury and a retrial was scheduled on Sept. 21, 1937.  On the night before the retrial, Denhardt met with his attorneys at the Armstrong Hotel in Shelbyville to discuss the trial’s strategy and then walked to a nearby tavern.  Upon leaving the tavern to return to the hotel, Denhardt was gunned down by Verna Taylor’s brothers, E.S., Jack and Roy Garr.   The Garr brothers turned themselves in and later were cleared of all charges.  Roy claimed self-defense, E. S. claimed mental illness and Roy was unarmed. 

            No one has ever figured out if Denhardt was the real murderer of Verna Garr Taylor. Verna Garr Taylor is buried in the Valley of Rest Cemetery in LaGrange. (Taken from the Denhardt Scrapbook in the Oldham County History Center J.C. Barnett Archives and Library)

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