News in Brief

Sesquicentennial kickoff…
100-plus attend Civil War Summit, six April events available to public

More than one hundred people – representing libraries, museums, tourist agencies, state parks, Main Street programs, Civil War sites, local historical societies, the National Park Service, schools, and the Kentucky Junior Historical Society – attended the March  22 Kentucky Civil War Sites Summit in Frankfort.

From that meeting, the following events for April were announced:

April 7, 6:30 p.m., History Speaks! presentation at the Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort – Tim Talbott will speak on “Principles Opposed to the Public Peace: Kentuckians’ Reactions to John Brown’s Raid.” For more information, see www.history.ky.gov.

April 8-9, Civil War Seminar, Bluegrass Heritage Museum, Winchester - Join historians and speakers for a two-day seminar about the Civil War in Kentucky. For more information, contact bgheritage@bellsouth.net.

April 10, 2:30 p.m., United States Colored Troops gravestone dedication, Simpsonville - Dedication of 22 gravestones of African-American soldiers slain by pro-Confederate guerrillas. For more information, contact jtmiller95@insightbb.com.

April 16, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.,  Alexander Hamilton Society Symposium, University of Louisville Ekstrom Library, Chao Auditorium: “Federalism, the Power of the States, and Adherence to the Constitution” - Speakers include Hon. Michael O. McDonald (retired) Kentucky Court of Appeals: "Changing the Constitution Through the Necessary and Proper Clause;” Dr. Aaron D. Hoffman, associate professor, Political Science, Bellarmine University: "Federalism and the Commerce Clause;" Dr. Jasmine Farrier, associate professor, Political Science, University of Louisville: "State Politics and the 14th Amendment;" Dr. Charles E. Ziegler, university scholar, Political Science, University of Louisville: "U. S. Federalism In the Comparative Perspective.” Event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact olympia1231@aol.com.

April 20, 12 – 1:30 p.m., “Food For Thought” at the Kentucky Historical Society, Frankfort, reservations required - Sgt. Maj. (RET) Jose Rosario speaking about Medal of Honor winner Pvt. Henry Mattingly. For reservations, contact Julia.Curry@ky.gov.

April 23, 9 – 11 a.m., Civil War Walking Tour of Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville - Discover Civil War burials at Cave Hill Cemetery with historian Bryan Bush. For more information, contact cavehill@bellsouth.net.


Civil War symposium set in Winchester

Three Kentucky Civil War historians are featured at “A Civil War Symposium” scheduled April 8-9 (Friday-Saturday) in Winchester.

Kent Masterson Brown, Lexington attorney and nationally recognized Civil War authority, will be the event’s keynote speaker on the eighth at the Old Historic Baptist Church. Brown’s remarks will include a synopsis of his new book, “One of Morgan’s Men: Memoirs of Lieutenant John M. Porter of the Ninth Kentucky Cavalry.”

Chris Kolakowski, director of the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, will present “The Perryville Campaign” at the Winchester Opera House on the ninth, followed by Robert Bell, a charter member of the U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery, who’s topic is  “Last but not forgotten, Kentucky’s African American Soldiers during the Civil War.”

Brown concludes the Saturday morning program with “The Civil War: Kentucky’s Mercurial Political Course.”

The weekend event is sponsored by the Bluegrass Heritage Museum.

Registration is $15 for a Friday evening reception, $50 for both days and $40 for Saturday’s program. Those interested should call 859-745-1358 or e-mail bgheritage@bellsouth.net.


Original music composed for Philadelphia exhibit

A jazz musician with Kentucky roots has composed music to be used in conjunction with a Civil War exhibit at Philadelphia’s Rosenbach Museum and Library.

Dave Burrell, a pianist, performed a suite of music – Portraits of Civil War Heroes – at a recent exhibit entitled The Civil War Begins. The exhibit focuses on eyewitness drawings at the trial of John Brown, Robert E. Lee’s letter of resignation from the U.S. Army, original newspaper accounts of the firing on Fort Sumter, a document that sought to win U.S. recognition for the Confederacy in 1861, and an official report on the Battle of Manassas by CSA Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard.

The African-American musician is a native of Ohio with Kentucky ancestors on the maternal side of his family.





Available books benefit Fort Duffield

The Friends of Fort Duffield are offering three booklets about the Civil War fort and its location – West Point. All proceeds benefit the fort and its activities.

• The Saga of Fort Duffield, Kentucky’s Civil War Treasure, by Richard A. Briggs, $12 plus $3 postage, handling.

• Driftwood On The River, The Life and times of West Point, Kentucky In The 20th Century, 2001, by Richard A. Briggs and Leslie A. Smith, $15 plus $5 postage, handling.

• Driftwood On The River, The Life and times of West Point, Kentucky In The 20th Century, 2010, revised and updated with index by Christina W. Lucken, by Richard A. Briggs and Leslie A. Smith, $20 plus $5 postage & handling.

Send check or money order to Friends of Fort Duffield, 16706 Abbotts Beach Rd., West Point, Ky. 40177.


Trimble presentation next for Madison County

Next up for the Madison County Civil War Roundtable is a May 20 presentation on CSA Major Gen. Isaac Trimble who was wounded, captured and lost a leg in the Gettysburg Campaign.

David Trimble will provide details about Gen. Trimble at the 6:30 p.m. meeting at Berea’s Dinner Bell Restaurant.

Other programs on the 2011 schedule include:

– July 22, “Principles Opposed to the Public Peace: Kentuckian’s Reaction to the John Brown  Raid” by Tim Talbott.

– Sept. 16, “The American Indian and the Civil War” by Dr. Paul Rominger.

– Nov. 18, “Georgia Confederate William Tatum Wofford” by Ronald Wofford Blair.

The 2011 schedule opened Jan. 19 with Don Clark discussing “The Notorious Bull Nelson, Murdered Civil War General.” And, on March 11, Don Rightmyer was featured with “Kentucky Bookends in the Civil War; Major Robert Anderson and Fort Sumter.”


Civil War Trust drops ‘preservation’ from name

The nation's leading nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting Civil War battlefields has a new name – the Civil War Trust.

Formerly known as the Civil War Preservation Trust, the name was shortened to modernize the group’s image as part of the 150th anniversary observance of the War Between the States.

The Trust also has a new logo, which features the silhouettes of two soldiers each bearing a flag.




Civil War led many into U.S. presidency

How many Civil War veterans became presidents of the United States?

If you said seven, great, and if you can name each one, go to the head of the class.

The seven are:

• Andrew Johnson - May 4, 1862 - Mar 3, 1865, Army. As military governor of Tennessee, he raised 25 regiments for the Union.

• Ulysses S. Grant - Jun 6, 1861 -1865, Army. Grant was with the 7th Regiment, 21st Illinois Volunteers.

• Rutherford B. Hayes - June 27, 1861 - June 8, 1865, Army. He was with the 23rd Ohio Volunteers.

• James A. Garfield - Aug. 14, 1861 - December 1863. The winning commander at the Battle of Middle Creek was with the 42nd Ohio Volunteers.

• Chester A. Arthur - July 10 - Dec. 31, 1862, Militia. Arthur served six months as quartermaster general of New York state troops.

• Benjamin Harrison - July 14, 1862 - June 8, 1865, Army. Harrison was a member of the 70th Indiana Regiment.

• William McKinley - June 11, 1861 - July 26, 1865, Army. He served with the 23rd Ohio Volunteers.

It’s icing on the cake if you can name when each served as president and where he ranked among the 43 U.S. Commanders in Chief.

Give up?

Here they are:

Johnson, 1865-69, 17th president; Grant, 1869-77, 18th president; Hayes, 1877-81, No. 19; Garfield, 1881-81, No. 20; Arthur, 1881-85, the 21st; Harrison, 1889-93, 23rd president; McKinley, 1897-1901, No. 24.


Female re-enactors perform at Jefferson Davis site

A portrayal at Jefferson Davis State Historic Site showed how free African American women survived and supported black soldiers as they fought for freedom during the Civil War.

The Feb. 4 program featured the Female Re-Enactors of Distinction (FREED), affiliated with the Civil War Museum in Washington, D.C. The ladies of FREED performed in period costumes and used period speech to portray African American people and their way of life during the Civil War.

The program, part of Black History Month, attracted 100 visitors.


KSU course debates secession question

Should Kentucky secede or not?

That’s the question and subject of a debate that began Jan. 18 at the Old Capitol Building in Frankfort. It’s all part of a new course at Kentucky State University that shows students and community members what it was like to live in Kentucky on the eve of the Civil War.

“Kentucky 1861” will focus on the pivotal months between Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 and the state legislature’s decision to remain neutral in the war. After a few months of study, students will portray legislators, militiamen and journalists in a role-playing game that asks them to debate the same issues Kentuckians grappled with 150 years ago.

Some of those debates will take place in the Old State Capitol – under the same roof that housed the talks the first time around.


Civil War days scheduled at Columbus-Belmont

Columbus-Belmont State Park will host its annual Civil War Days Oct. 7-9 featuring a Ghost Walk on Friday (the 7th) and battles on Saturday and Sunday commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Belmont.

A Civil War Ball is scheduled Saturday evening with Sunday Morning and Memorial Services at Columbus Cemetery. Special entertainment is scheduled daily.

Contact the Park Office (270-677-2327) or e-mail cindy.lynch@ky.gov for additional information.


Lincoln house restored at Elizabethtown

The Lincoln Heritage House, destroyed by fire in 2009, has been restored in Elizabethtown.

A $5,000 grant and donated items for furnishings have been utilized to have the house ready for tours by this spring. The house has ties to Thomas Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s father, and was preserved by the city decades ago as a tourist attraction. Thomas Lincoln was a skilled cabinet-maker and farmer who owned a 200-acre farm and log house on Mill Creek near Elizabethtown.

The house, which consists of two log buildings, was built in 1789 and 1805 by Hardin Thomas and Thomas Lincoln. The stairways, mantelpieces and most of the woodwork were built by Lincoln.


Behringer-Crawford to honor service to learning

The Behringer-Crawford Museum has invited applications for the museum’s first annual Two-Headed Calf Community Service Award for service to learning. The award will celebrate extraordinary teaching and learning at the primary or secondary school level.

Such disciplines as history, heritage, art, music and/or archaeology are emphasized. The Civil War is among the topics highlighted in museum exhibits and programs throughout the year. Awards will be given April 2.


Connelly, Canby were New Mexico appointees

Two Kentucky natives profited politically in New Mexico with the start of the Civil War in April 1861.

Henry Connelly, a physician from Spencer County, was appointed governor and Col. Edwin Canby, born at Piatt’s Landing in Boone County, was named to head the military department.

Their appointments occurred as U. S. Army forts in New Mexico lost many of its Southern-born officers and enlisted men who left to join the Confederacy. Even the loyalty of the governor, North Carolina native Abraham Rencher, was questioned and President Abraham Lincoln removed him from office, replacing him with Dr. Connelly.

Another Kentuckian, Madison County’s Christopher (Kit) Carson, commanded the 1st New Mexico Volunteer Regiment in the 1862 Civil War Battle of Val Verde.


Re-enactment, relic show scheduled at Cave City

For a study in the logistics of war, Civil War enthusiasts are invited to attend a special re-enactment at the Cave City Convention Center May 27-29.

The battle will be conducted on a rolling terrain near the convention center and will be held in conjunction with a Civil War relic show. Activities begin at 9 a.m. with 300 tables available for displays. Lectures on various period topics also are scheduled.

Other activities include a tea party with a period dress fashion show, a pancake breakfast on the 28th and a dinner that night for re-enactors. A Sunday church service is set for 10 a.m.

For more information, contact Ed Keiley at 270-531-3115 or e-mail e-kelle@scrtc.com.


Bowling Green initiates roundtable meetings

The kickoff meeting of the Bowling Green Civil War Roundtable was conducted March 17 on the campus of Western Kentucky University.

Charles Biggs, president of the Clarksville, Tenn., Roundtable, spoke on “Nashville – Siren’s Song of the Confederacy,” describing how the Confederacy tried on three occasions to retake Nashville after Union forces captured the city in February 1862. Biggs also is coordinating the Bowling Green meetings, which will be held the third Thursday of each month in coordination with the Tennessee roundtables in Nashville, Murfreesboro and Clarksville. Biggs said this arrangement would allow the sharing of speakers from long distances.

The next meeting of the roundtable will be April 21 and will feature WKU author and Kentucky Museum administrator Nancy Baird. Her topic is “Bowling Green’s Josie Underwood’s Civil War Diary.”

Biggs can be contacted at biggsg@charter.net.


Living history scheduled at Old Mulkey

A living history event celebrating the Old Mulkey Meetinghouse Historic Site is scheduled Sept. 23-25 at Tompkinsville.

The 9th Kentucky U.S. Volunteer Infantry will conduct a mustering event (call to arms) where civilians were gathered in a social setting that led to young men signing a roster for military service. Included in the event will be an encampment, musket-firing and drilling, period-correct debates and speeches.

The Old Mulkey Meetinghouse is billed as the oldest free-standing log church in Kentucky. For additional information, contact Sheila Rush
at 270-487-8481 or e-mail at Sheila.rush@ky.gov.


Still home to meetings
The Old Mulkey Meeting House near Tompkinsville
– originally called the Millcreek Baptist Church -
reportedly was built in 1804 and is one of the
oldest freestanding meeting houses in Kentucky.
The structure has 12 corners in the shape of a cross
and three doors symbolic of the Holy Trinity.