The 1948 Graduating Sophmore Class of the LaGrange Training School

African American Education in Oldham County in the Early Years

In the pioneer years, African American slaves rarely received the opportunity for an education unless they were fortunate enough to be playmates of their owner’s children.  Newspaper editor, author and abolitionist, Henry Bibb (1815-1854) recalls his education was received through observation and from the lessons that were taught to his slave owner’s daughter, Harriet White.

            Following the Civil War, the U. S. government established an agency, the Freedman’s Bureau, to help the newly freed slaves “provide relief and become self-sufficient”.  These funds were used several ways.  Bureau officials issued rations and clothing, operated hospitals and refugee camps, and supervised labor contracts. In addition, the Bureau managed apprenticeship disputes and complaints, assisted benevolent societies in the establishment of schools, helped freedmen in legalizing marriages entered into during slavery, and provided transportation to refugees and freedmen who were attempting to reunite with their family or relocate to other parts of the country. The Bureau also helped black soldiers, sailors, and their heirs collect bounty claims, pensions, and back pay”.    

            Elijah Marrs was instrumental in helping to secure Freedmen funds to establish schools in LaGrange.  Marrs, a preacher, educator, and a Civil War soldier who recruited slaves to join the Union, began teaching Sunday School in LaGrange where he commented in his narratives that he would have over 150 students attend his class.  Because of conflicting “strife” between the Baptists and Methodists churches in LaGrange, two schools for blacks were established in 1867 and the teacher funds were split between the two schools.  Marrs recalls an incident he had with some white people:

 While teaching in LaGrange I had occasion to go out into the country one evening to visit some of my pupils and stay all night with them.  The latter lived adjacent with some white people by the name of Whitesides.  They had never seen a colored school teacher, and, from their actions, one would have supposed they had never come in contact with a white one either. They had heard of my coming and were all in the yard of the house, awaiting my coming with, apparently, as much curiosity as if I were President of the United States.  As I walked into the yard, I heard one of them say, “Thar he is now!” Another said, “Take keer, Ann, let me see him for God’s sake!”  I underwent this ordeal as I marched down to the quarters of the colored people, the crowd following and stationing themselves about the door of the house when I reached it.  Finally one of them asked:

“Teacher, can you read?”

I answered in the affirmative.

“Well, I wish you’d read some for me.”

I took a book and read a portion of it to them, much to their surprise.  They were wonderfully astonished that a colored school teacher could read.

            In 1894-95, J. L. Reeves, Superintendent for Oldham County Schools reported there were 24 schools for white and 8 schools for colored students in the county.  There were 882 white students and 334 colored students enrolled in the school system during that time. The number of teachers for the schools were 4 male and 22 female in white schools and 3 male and 6 female in colored schools.  Total salaries spent for the 1894-95 school year which included teachers, superintendent and institute workers was:  $4, 719.65 white and $1,861.60 for colored personnel.

            Although Oldham County established the Oldham County Public High School by 1903, African American students were not allowed because of segregation.  By 1910, Lincoln Institute in neighboring Shelby County, opened its doors to African Americans and many African American students from Oldham County went to Lincoln to complete their high school education.  In the early years, students that attended Lincoln boarded there and usually came home on weekends.  In latter years, the Oldham County Public Schools had to provide bus transportation to Lincoln until desegregation of schools in 1964.

            Oldham County also received a Rosenwald grant in 1921 to build the LaGrange Training School for African American students.  The Rosenwald fund was established by Julius Rosenwald  born in 1862 in Springfield, Ill.  Rosenwald, who became President of Sears & Roebuck in 1909, was a national philanthropist that provided grants-in-aid to rural communities.  Rosenwald was introduced to Booker Washington in 1911 and they immediately struck-up a friendship.  Washington, who opened the Tuskegee Institute for African Americans campaigned heavily for educational reform for black students.  Through Washington’s influence, Rosenwald helped to endow funds to establish the Rosenwald School Fund to build schools in the South for African American students. These funds were distributed through grant requests directed by the Tuskegee Institute of which Rosenwald served on the Board of Trustees.

            In 1932, by the time of his death, the Julius Rosenwald Fund had helped to construct 5,357 public schools, shops and teachers’ homes in 883 counties in fifteen southern states.  The total cost of the entire project was $28,408,520.  This figure included $4,364,869 (!5.36%) in Rosenwald Funds, $18,105,805 (63.73%0 in tax funds, $4,725,891 (16.64%) from African Americans and $1,211,975 (4.27%) from the white community.

            In LaGrange, African Americans raised $1,000 to build the LaGrange Training School.  The Rosenwald Fund added $1,000 and the county board furnished the remainder to build the three room schoolhouse.  There was an auditorium and industrial arts program.  The school was located on Hwy. 53 North on two acres in LaGrange.  The building burned and the LaGrange First Baptist Church now occupies the site where the school once stood.

(Note: This story also appeared in the wekkly Oldham County Neighborhoods Section of the Louisville Courier-Journal on Oct. 20, 2010)

Originally called Woodland Farm, this home built by Colonel John Fible, is located in the Grand Dell subdivision in Ballardsville.

Ballardsville was originally founded on land in Henry and Shelby counties prior to the formation of Oldham County.  Deeds in Shelby County before 1824 show land being purchased by Daniel Ellis, Henry Caplinger, John Eccles, John Gathright, Elijah Baker, Elijah and Thomas Mount, Robert Wasson, James Goslee, William Taylor, Elijah Lyon, Thomas Green, Fredrick Foyable (Fible), and Henry and Michael Smiser.  Deeds in Henry County reveal the names of Edward and John Bays, William Taylor, Leonard Grimes, Richard and William Ragsdale, Peter Outhouse, George Forbis, Joseph and William Ellis, Hadley Head, George Goodrich, James and Joseph Barnhill and James Blackmore (Blakemore).

            Ballardsville developed because of the wagon traffic traveling from Shelbyville to Westport and New Castle to Floydsburg. A log constructed tavern with sleeping accommodations and livery stable for horses offered weary travelers a good stopping point. At that time tavern rates were set by the Court: dinner was 37 cents, lodging was 25 cents per night, horse feed was 12 ½ cents, imported spirits were 37 ½ cents for a half pint, peach brandy was 18 ¾ cents for a half pint.  Court records show that James Cummins was granted a tavern license in September 1825, explaining why this area was called, at one time, “Crossroads at James Cummins”.

            Early records reveal Bland W. Ballard, from which Ballardsville is named,  volunteered in the campaign against Indians around the Ohio River Valley under George Rogers Clark in the late 1700s.  Ballard, along with his wife and three children, were killed in an Indian attack at their cabin on Tick Creek, October 1788, near Tyler Station in Shelby County.  His son, Major Bland W. Ballard, killed six Indians, and survived the attack along with two other children.  Tyler Station was established in 1781 by Ballard and Robert Tyler. It was abandoned shortly after the massacre.

            In the heart of Ballardsville was the home, known as Woodland, of Col. John Fible who served in the Kentucky Legislature first in 1841 and later in 1873.  Woodland was known for hospitality.  Today it is the centerpiece of the Grand Dell subdivision.  Distinguished visitors included Colonel Will S. Hayes who, while visiting there, wrote his famous song “Evangeline”.  In his own words, Hays recalled how he came to compose his song: “There was a girl named Evangeline.  She was a society girl in Louisville. A party of us went out into the country to spend the day.  While we were there, a storm came up.  We found shelter and built a fire. Evangeline begged me to write a song about her. There was not a scrap of paper in the crowd.  But when the storm passed over, I snatched a piece of charred wood from the fire, went over to a high board fence and scrawled the words and music to “Evangeline”.”

            Majorie Vene Heilman recalled tales from her ancestral home in Ballardsville, the “Blakemore House”.  “I was well acquainted with two cellars of the house.  The north cellar was where the sawdust ice box was kept and where I carried butter and cheese to and from, before every meal.  This was where potatoes, apples, and other root crops were kept in the winter.  It had three steps down to the outside door.  It had one grating for light and one for air back in the far corner.  The south cellar was naturally on the other side of the house. Here were kept the many jars of canned fruits and vegetables my dear grandmother slaved over a hot stove to jar for winter use”.

            It was from Heilman’s grandfather that she learned about a third cellar, the “secret cellar”: “ The women, children and slaves sought refuge there during the Civil War, when the Yankees or Confederate Raiders swept through the county in search for food or anything to their liking” according to Heilman’s grandfather.  “He opened the closet under the stairway” and “in the dark recesses” under the stairs, “”the floor could be raised revealing a ladder into a dry haven with light and air.  The space was just the size of the front hall making it ample in size for as many as needed a hiding place.”

            The early trade route down Hwy. 22 was originally called the Ballardsville Turnpike and was the most direct route for local farmers to transport goods to Louisville. That changed in 1854 when the railroad was built through LaGrange and farmers could load their goods via railway. 

            John Caldwell, a fifth generation farmer in Ballardsville, recalled days of cold wagon rides and trying to stay warm by putting the lantern on the wagon floor and making a tent to contain the heat.  He also remembered going on a cattle drive into Louisville by way of the old route 22 when the cattle decided to take a detour into Lake Louisvilla where the cattle scattered throughout the woods and the family almost lost them.

The Harrods Creek Baptist Church was an important part of the pioneer community in Oldham County

As Indians disappeared from the Oldham County landscape, pioneers moved slowly from Ft. Kuykendall, a couple of miles east to establish a new community. The small hamlet of Brownsboro that still exists today is a reminder of this early, Oldham County community, established in 1788. Families, comprised of mainly Baptists and Methodists, met in each other’s log cabins for worship until the arrival of a dynamic and promising young preacher, William Kellar. Under Kellar’s leadership the Baptists formally organized as the Harrods Creek Baptists in 1797 and received membership initially, into the Salem Association of Baptists but switched to the Long Run Association in 1803.

William Kellar established not only the Harrods Creek church but Eighteen Mile and Lick Branch in Oldham County as well as Beargrass Baptist in Jefferson County. A native of Virginia and known as a wild youth, Kellar moved to Tennessee where he met his wife and found the calling to ministry. He moved his family to Brownsboro and was described as a strong, physical man who had mechanical skills in woodworking. He ran a distillery on his farm at Brownsboro that cleared him more than “a thousand dollars a year” which helped to support his preaching.

Kellar was described by fellow friend and preacher, John Taylor, as “so beloved that all the people loved to be at his house and in his company”. Taylor went on to say that Kellar’s voice was “the most melodious for singing I had ever heard; and many precious songs he knew, he warbled forth with that heavenly melody, which seemed to change our wilderness into the Garden of the Lord”.

Kellar left his congregation briefly in the War of 1812 to join a corps of Kentucky foot soldiers and mounted rifleman under the command of the governor of Kentucky, 66-year-old Maj. Gen. Isaac Shelby. Shelby’s forces included five brigades of Kentucky buckskin-clad infantrymen and the 3rd Regiment of Mounted Riflemen. These Kentucky frontiersmen were instrumental in driving back British forces in the Battle of the Thames.

Kellar returned to his family and congregations after the war but died a few years later, at the age of 49. From the dozen charter members of 1797, the Harrods Creek Baptist Church had grown to 279 members at the death of Pastor Kellar. It was said that Kellar died of an infection from a bear attack that he received as he was traveling to the Eighteen Mile Baptist Church to preach, although there has been some dispute regarding this story. His wife, Rebecca, his son, Abraham H. Kellar, and eight daughters survived him. After his death, one of his three daughters, who was twelve years old, was severely injured in a storm when a branch fell on her and shattered her leg, which had to be amputated.

Kellar was preceded as minister by Benjamin Allen who had been apprenticed to Kellar at 12 years of age to learn cabinet making and lived with Kellar’s family for six years. During this time Allen grew up in Harrods Creek congregation, was baptized by William Kellar and became licensed to preach. He married Elizabeth Clore and they had five children: Wiliam Kellar, James Clendenning, John Taylor, George Waller and Rebecca Ann. The given names of Benjamin’s sons were names of Baptist preachers of that day.

Allen got to oversee the construction of the Harrods Creek Baptist Church in 1822 which is the structure that stands today. During Allen’s ministry, he became influenced by Alexander Campbell who, along with Alexander’s father, Thomas, founded the Campbellite movement. Originally associated with the Presbyterian Church, Campbellites argued that there were too many different types of religious associations and that they should all come together under as one unified church, which became the Disciples of Christ or Christian Church. In 1831, Allen split from the Harrod’s Creek Baptist Church and formed the Christian Church across the road. In 1831, Harrod’s Creek Baptist Church had 209 members; following preacher Allen’s withdrawal, the church in 1833 had 40 members.

The Harrod’s Creek Baptist Church continued to survive, even after the split with Allen’s departure and over the years eventually membership increased. In 1966 the congregation built a new church beside the original structure and in the 1980s, there was some concern that the older church would have to be torn down. Thanks to the hard work of some local citizens, funds were secured to restore and keep the church.

The stucco finish that covered the little pioneer church was stripped away during the restoration. Underneath the stucco were hand-hewn poplar beams that provide the support for the truces and floor bracing of two foot thick limestone walls chinked with clay. Three, long narrow windows are on each side of the building and a simple arched doorway is accented overhead by circular, wrought iron sculpture. Today, as visitors walk up the stone steps and enter the church their voices are uplifted through the acoustics that reverberate from the stone walls. One can visualize a pioneer life where church socials, gospel song and worship echoed through the fabric of the Brownsboro community.

Anita Springs

Shortly after the Revolutionary War, Lt. John Russell of Henrico, VA received a sizable land grant for his services to the United States.  Receiving nearly 3,000 acres of land in what was to later become Oldham County, Russell moved his wife Hannah and their 12 children to the new frontier.  Russell discovered his property continued one prominent and important feature, five natural limestone springs.  The prominent spring was located ½ mile from the center of downtown LaGrange. These natural limestone springs became very popular vacation spots, attracting families throughout the country that would bring their families to Kentucky for extended visits.  While some would come for the “curative powers” of the clear spring waters, others came merely for a season of socializing. These springs also became popular for mixing drinks such as bourbon and branch. 

By 1854, the railroad was running through the city of LaGrange and small resorts were built to accompany the tourists who would flee large, mosquito infested cities like Louisville in the summer to find relief in the countryside with cool springs. It was during time that resorts, such as the Royal Inn in LaGrange, were so popular. 

In 1877 Dr. James Thornley Berry and his wife, Anita, bought 200 acres of the property that was formerly owned by Lt. John Russell that contained the prominent spring.  Berry named the property, Anita Springs, after his wife, and began bottling the mineral spring water. Since the L&N Railroad passed thorugh Anita Springs property, Dr. Berry could easily ship jugs of his bottled water to friends in Louisville. 

By 1903, demands for Dr. Berry’s mineral water increased so that he felt obliged to start the Anita Water Company.  He located his office at 721 S. 2^nd Street in Louisville. Within a matter of months after establishing his business, ill health forced him to turn operations over to Robt. Brooke, husband of Berry’s daughter, Anita Anderson Berry Brooke.

With Dr. Berry’s death in 1905, Brook made several changes in the company.  He moved the office to 210 Pearl St. and constructed a bottling plant at that location.  The new site took advantage of the Interurban Electric Railway whose tracks ran parallel to the L&N Railroad tracks on the Anita Springs property.  With the convenience of a platform built by the Interurban Electric Railway on Anita Springs property, workmen could transport large barrels of water from the spring to the on-site loading facility.  From here the cargo of water would travel to the plant entrance in Louisville was made by Coleman Bennett using a horse and wagon.  The Berry family continued to run Anita Water Company until 1918 when it was sold.

The following story is taken from the history center’s cookbook, History by Food: Stories and Recipes about the Food and Families of Oldham County, Kentucky which is on sell at the Oldham County History Center gift shop. The Oldham County History Center Museum and Archives is located at 106 N. Second Ave., LaGrange, KY.

Thanksgiving Day Celebrations

Persimmon Pudding
Submitted by Elizabeth Cull and Jeanne Gibson

Many years ago, my Mother and Father would patiently wait for fall to arrive, which meant persimmons would be ripe. They always gathered containers and piled into their old Ford for the long journey all the way to Crestwood in Oldham County. They knew of a big old persimmon tree by the railroad tracks and the bank, where they could pick up plump, juicy persimmons. They carefully avoided all of the honeybees and gathered as many persimmons as they could, as their mouth watered in anticipation of the tasty cookies and pudding that were to come.
At home they would patiently rub the fruit with a big wooden spoon, pushing the pulp thru a colander. It took quiet a few to produce a cup of golden pulp. Usually they froze the pulp in one-cup portions in cottage cheese cartons for Thanksgiving and Christmas. This was a time before zip bags and plastic containers were available in stores.
On Thanksgiving Day, the wonderful aroma of spices, sugar and persimmons would permeate the house as the persimmon pudding baked in the oven. Late in the day, we’d enjoy warm pudding with fresh whipped cream- the finale of a delicious turkey dinner with all the trimmings.
This tradition continues until this day, although the family has scattered to California, Maryland, Texas, North Carolina ,Georgia and Arkansas. We always keep an eye out for persimmon trees as we visit friends and travel in the fall; it’s always a thrill when we discover one.

Persimmon Pudding

1 pint persimmon pulp
1 pint milk
2 eggs, separated
½ cup sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon soda
1 rounded teaspoon baking powder

Mix egg yolks, sugar and pulp together. In another bowl, sift flour, soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg together. Beat egg whites until stiff. Add milk and flour mixture alternately to pulp mixture. Add melted butter and then fold in beaten egg whites. Pour into a greased 1 ½ quart casserole and bake 1 hour in a 325 F degree oven. Test with a toothpick until it comes out clean. As soon as the pudding comes from the oven, spoon immediately into a large bowl. Serve with whipped cream or orange sauce.

Amber Pie
Submitted by Cindy Jeffries Barr

This recipe came from my great-grandmother Sally Bett Smizer who was married to Hubbard Buckner Goodrich. They had a farm in Ballardsville. Sally wrote a social column for the Oldham Era from around the turn of the century up until the 1940s, when she passed away. This recipe is a family favorite that has been passed down. The name comes from the color of the pie. Because it is so rich and full of delicious calories, we now serve it as a special treat only twice a year, at Thanksgiving and at Christmas

Amber Pie
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sugar
½ cup sweet cream
½ cup butter
1 cup blackberry jam
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in a little bit of water

Combine first 6 ingredients in a saucepan on top of the stove. Once this mixture is warm, slowly stir in cornstarch. Cook over medium heat until thick- do not boil. This can take 15 minutes or more. Pour into a baked pie crust and refrigerate.

Ripe Persimmon

 The Confederate Home in Pewee Valley was created to house veterans from the Civil War that served in the Confederate Army.

The Confederate Home

In 1901, the Kentucky State Legislature introduced an act to support a Confederate Home for veterans that had served in the Confederate army during the Civil War.  Many of these veterans had lost their families and finances during the reconstructive period.  In 1902, 40 acres in Pewee Valley that included the home of Villa Ridge was dedicated by Governor J. C. W. Beckham, as the Confederate Home of Kentucky and an infirmary was added a year later.  Gov. Beckham’s speech included the following:

“Kentucky must not be considered tardy and neglectful in making this provision for her gallant sons who followed the flag of the Confederacy; for it should be remembered that the soldier of the South, who passed through the terrible ordeal of the war and the far more terrible ordeal of the reconstruction, with his spirit tested in the fire of defeat and suffering, come through it all as a proud and independent American citizen.  He has asked nothing but the rights guaranteed him by the Constitution and the privilege of earning by his own brawn and brain an honest living, faithful to his obligations as a man and his duties as a citizen.”

By 1908 there were 348 veterans registered as living at the Confederate Home.  Additional land was purchased at the Pewee Valley Cemetery as a burial site for the veterans, many who had no living relatives, others who wanted to be buried with the men of whom they had served in battle.  Today there are 313 veterans buried at the Confederate Cemetery.

Many of the veterans had served under John Hunt Morgan, Lee Jackson and the fourth Kentucky Infantry, “Orphan Brigade”. The Confederate Home Messenger was a monthly publication for the veterans that gave accounts of war experiences as well as information about upcoming events and news from the Confederate Home.  The following is an account taken by Capt. Thompson of veteran Taylor McCoy who was a private in the Orphan Brigade and detailed as a sharp shooter.

“While occupying his position [Private McCoy] in the corps of sharp shooters, he had been shot at several times by an invisible foe. Screening himself from danger as best he could, he scanned with searching eyes the ground in front of him.  Looking higher he saw the top branches of a tree swaying gently back and forth. Ah! There was his foeman.  Looking through his telescopic sights, he located his man and fired.  A piercing cry and a boy fell from the treetop.  McCoy, unnerved, dropped to the ground, and when Major Heweitt ran to him, and asked him if he was hurt, he said, “No Major, I am not hurt, but I have killed a boy,” adding, “I did not come here, Major, to fight boys, but men.”  Truly has it been said: “The bravest are the tenderest.”

On March 25, 1920, a fire destroyed the main building and west wing of the infirmary. After major repairs from the fire, the Home was kept open until an Act approved by the state legislature, March 17, 1934, provided for the sale of the Pewee Valley property.  At that time there were 5 veterans left in the Home and they were removed to the Pewee Valley Sanatorium (which is now the location of the Friendship Manor Nursing Home).

Author of the Little Colonel Series, Annie Fellows Johnston

Most don’t realize that Oldham County Kentucky, was the backdrop for a popular children’s series of books in the early 20^th Century.  Annie Fellows Johnston was a celebrated author of children’s fiction form the 1890s until her death in 1931 and is best known for her “Little Colonel” novels centered around old Kentucky’s aristocracy, and in particular, one girl, Lloyd Sherman, who was nicknamed the “Little Colonel.

 It was while visiting her relatives, the Burges, in Pewee Valley (Oldham County, Kentucky) that Johnston met five-year-old Hattie Cochran and her grandfather, Colonel George Washington Weissinger, the inspirations for the characters Old Colonel Lloyd and Little Colonel Lloyd Sherman in her now classic first tale, The Little Colonel.  Published in 1895, the book proved so popular that more stories soon followed.  Though Johnston planned to complete the series several times, her fans compelled her to keep writing.  The last book in the series, The Little Colonel Stories, Part 2, was published just months before she died.  The series’ fame reached zenith in 1935 when Twentieth Century Fox released “The Little Colonel” film starring Shirley Temple and Lionel Barrymore.

  Many scenes in the “Little Colonel” stories take place in fictional Lloydsborough Valley-Johnston’s pseudonym for Pewee Valley.  And many of the characters, homes, businesses, and churches in the stories were based on real people and places in the charming little turn-of-the-century resort town where it seemed to the authoress as if all the world were on holiday.

            Johnston revealed some of her characters’ true identities in her autobiography, The Land of the Little Colonel. Others were mentioned in the forewords to her books and on “Little Colonel” promotional postcards.  The following letter, courtesy of the Filson Historical Society, is written by Hattie Cochran to Elizabeth Kathleen Hansborough divulging how Johnston wove real people, places and even pets into the “Little Colonel” stories.

July 17, 1907

Pewee Valley, Ky.

Dear Elizabeth:

I am the real Little Colonel though everything in the books are not true.

You ask is my home like Mrs. Johnston describes it, sorry to say it is not, though there is a real Locust not far from where I live, where my Grandfather, Colonel Weissinger used to stay.  Perhaps you know of Mr. Harry Weissinger who has a summer home in Shelbyville, he was my Grandfather’s brother.

All of the Waltons are real, and the Beeches, the name of their place, is right in Pewee.  Also the haunted house of Hartwell Hollow.

Mrs. Macintyre really Mrs. Craig lives opposite Mrs. Lawton, her daughter.  I suppose you know they are general Lawton’s family and Miss Allison or Miss Craig is my teacher.  She is just as lovely a character out of the stories as in.

The MacIntyre boys are the Culbertsons of Louisville and Rob Moore’s real name is Muir Semple.  He does not live in Pewee, but Oaklea is here and he often visits his cousin Anna Moore or Anna Muir.

Betty is real but I do not know her.

Mrs. Johnston has met girls like Eugenia and Joyce and thought she would use their characters in the books, of course you know everything in fiction cannot be true.

Phil is also fiction and so is Mary Ware.

Mom Beck is real and so was Fritz (her Scotch and Skye terrier) but is now dead.

The Little Colonel or the first book was practically the truest and all the others, some parts are true and others are not.

Perhaps you think I am grown but I am not, as I am only sixteen, though in the books she has made me much older.

Hoping you will not be disappointed in knowing the real truth.

Very Sincerely,

Hattie Cochran

  Tim Dixon, Korean War Veteran

In 2001, The Oldham County History Center joined with the Library of Congress and the AARP to begin a series of oral histories collected from veterans in our area.  Below is an excerpt from one of our oral histories transcribed by history center staff, Jan Jasper. 

The oral history interview was conducted by Paulette Carey and the recording operator was Shirley Orr.

The Veterans Oral history Project

Korean Veteran Tim Dixon

            Tim Dixon enlisted in the U. S. Army in November 1948.  Tim was from Cumberland, Ky. when he enlisted in the Army because jobs were scarce.  “The only job available would be in a coal mine, and I had seen what it would do to people, including my dad.  It made a seventy-five year old man out of a young man; breathing all that coal dust.  So I didn’t want any part of that coal mine and I dropped out of high school and joined the Army.”

            “I served in the Korean Conflict.  That’s what they called it – a conflict.  But to me it was an all-out war. My job was machine gunner in the Korean War.  We had 30 caliber machine guns and also a water tank on that.  In the winter time we had to use that and put antifreeze in there to keep our weapons from freezing up.    If it froze up, it wouldn’t fire.  I was in Korea 15 to 16 months; the tour of duty was one year.  We just couldn’t get enough replacements to fill in the ones who lost their lives. [There were] ..a lot of casualties, about 50,000 of them.”

            Tim recalled how his platoon operated. “Like I said, I was on machine guns.  A platoon consists of four squads and we had eight machine guns, four for the winter and four for the summer.  And we would lie down on a hill if we done took that hill from the Koreans, we’d lie down and dig in pretty close together.  And we had a real good laugh out of this.  Everything that the Koreans eat, they put garlic in it.  The main food is fish and rice and soybeans and garlic.  We would be in our foxholes at night and we had made up what to do if they tried to slip up on us. And they were good at it too.  They ate so much garlic that when they perspire, it would come out on their clothes.  We could smell them before we could see them.  Who ever smelled the garlic first passed it down the line.  When it got a little bit slow, we would just open up and fire the devil out of them and tell the count the next day.  I don’t think they ever figured out what happened to them.  The alert, and everything you know, was we would smell that garlic, we sure did.”

            Tim went on to say the food rations were minimal.  “What little food we did get was C-rations….. There are the times we were following the North Koreans so fast that we went off and left our supplies and we would have to wait.  Sometimes we need the ammunition and we couldn’t go forward; we didn’t have enough ammunition.  And we averaged one meal a day, I would say.  And the water was extremely important.  The only water we received came from a Navy ship, a de-salting ship.  They took the salt out of ocean water and had tanker trucks at the dock to haul it in to us, but you could only wait so long if you’re real thirsty. We crossed this one river and our sergeant told us, ‘Do not drink this water because there are dead bodies in there.’. Right in front of us, I seen this one dead soldier.  I was so thirsty; I just walked out holding my canteen in the water. I don’t want to die from thirst or die from a bullet. I filled that canteen up and took a drink of it and filled it back up and went about my business.  We had chlorine to put in it; chlorine to put in it to purify it.  You’re supposed to wait 24 hours to drink it.  I didn’t even use it.  You couldn’t drink the water if you put it in there.  It might have been ready in 24 hours, but my thirst was calling for it right now.”

            Tim received three Purple Hearts for injuries received during combat. “We were attacking this hill, and I guess I was holding my rifle up ready to fire at one of them  and a bullet hit me in the left wrist ricochet out and broke my wrist and they sent me back to Japan.  I was there about five or six weeks; I thought I was coming home.  But they said, ‘Naw, we are already short. It’s hard to get replacements.’  They couldn’t train them fast enough to come up to Korea and get killed. The second Purple I received, this Korean got awful close to me, and I don’t know how he did. He threw a hand grenade in and that shrapnel broke my legs.  This time I just went back to the MASH Unit.”  After that Dixon was ready to go home but his sergeant said he couldn’t leave until his replacement came.  “For the third time, I got wounded was with the artillery shell coming in.  I could hear it coming but I didn’t know where it would hit.  I was talking to our First Sergeant. At that time, that thing hit right between us and blew that sergeant half into in his back.  He died instantly.  They took my right hip off with a big piece of shrapnel and also a big piece under my arm.  I crawled quite a way and we had an Aide Station sitting back there the artillery couldn’t hit it.  ……  I was laying there with part of my pants gone, and I felt something wet in my shoe and it was my blood that filled my shoe up. I told the Medic, “You’d better come here.” I wasn’t in pain because they fill you with morphine. He said, “That’s no problem”. I told them, “I’m bleeding to death! You gotta get me outta here.”  And he looked me over and said, “Well, I’ll send you on the next flight out.” And so he did. And I got to Japan, and the Captain brought another Purple Heart.  I said, “I don’t need any more, I’ve already got two.”  He said, “Well, you’ve got three, now.” 

            Tim Dixon passed away on July 4, 2003.  His wife Rosa lives in LaGrange.  They have 4 children and 4 great-grandchildren.

U. S. Highway 42 was one of the most traveled routes in the United States because it was the connector between Cincinnati and Louisville before the Interstate 71 was opened in1970.  There were many road houses, motels and restaurants located along the Hwy. 42 corridor.  Chicken Trail Inn was a very popular restaurant noted for its delicious steaks and fried chicken.  The following is taken from

from the history center’s cookbook, History by Food: Stories and Recipes about the Food and Families of Oldham County, Kentucky which is on sale at the Oldham County History Center gift shop:

Chicken Trail Inn

            Anyone and everyone who lived in Oldham County during the 1940s through the 60s still remembers the great steaks (Rib Eye dinner @ $4!) served at Chicken Trail Inn.  The Roquefort Cheese Dressing is a classic- if you can just find someone to share it with (makes up a gallon!!!!)  The beautiful farm house with it’s inviting front porch is till standing (Located by The Bank and close to Hillcrest Elementary School on Hwy. 42.) 

            The restaurant was owned and operated by Ruth and Ted Heyser. Ruth Heyser was a long standing resident of Oldham County.  She was very active in her community and church.  She volunteered at the hospital and served on the Cooperative Extension Board.  She was a member of the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels in 1971, helped organize the Crossroads Homemakers Club, and also supported and served for many years, senior citizens in LaGrange and Oldham County.  Ruth also owned a business for several years and taught ceramics at the Chicken Trail Inn.  Ruth was well known for her cooking and honored in April 1988 with a 2nd place win of the American Dairy Association with her pasta recipe, Noodles Southern Style.  She will always be remembered for her Barbecue Meatballs at large family gatherings.

            Ted Heyser was a native of Leitchfield, Kentucky.  Ted graduated from Jefferson School of Law and was a practicing attorney in Louisville for several years.  In 1942, he and Ruth  purchased a farm at Prospect and began the well-known “Chicken Trail Inn Restaurant” which they owned and operated they retired in  1969.  He was also a great lover of thoroughbred horses; which he bred, raised, and raced. 

Ruth Heyser’s Meatballs and Sauce

Meatballs

2 lbs ground beef

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

1 cup old-fashioned oatmeal

1 cup cracker crumbs

2 eggs

½ cup chopped onion

½ teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of chili powder

Mix all ingredients together and shape into walnut size meatballs.  Can be frozen.

Sauce

2 cups ketchup

1 cup brown sugar

½ teaspoon liquid smoke

½ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ cup chopped onion

Mix sauce ingredients together.  Can be frozen.

When ready to use meatballs and sauce:

Mix meatballs and sauce together in a roaster.  Cook in 350 degree oven  for 45-60 minutes.

Chicken Trail Roquefort Cheese Dressing

1 ¾ cup Treasure Cave brand blue cheese (cut in small chunks)

About 10 drops of Tabasco sauce

About 10 drops of garlic juice

2 tablespoons of Worchester sauce

1 pint buttermilk

2 ounces apple cider vinegar

Mayonnaise

Stir first four ingredients gently until thoroughly mixed.  Do not beat!  Leave very lumpy.

Stir in gently the buttermilk and vinegar.  Gently fold in enough mayonnaise to make the mixture measure a gallon.

Better refrigerated three or four days before using