Fewer words in the English language are more glibly uttered and more misunderstood than the word “history.” American history rests squarely upon a local base. Thomas Jefferson theorized that what happens at the local level of society is more important to the individual than what happens at the national or international level.
Kentucky is divided into one hundred and twenty counties, and scores of towns, cities, and crossroad communities. Every one of these places has a history. Of even greater importance, they have emotional and sentimental meaning to the people who live within their borders, as well as those who have moved away and carry with them precious memories and lifetime attachments.
The history of a county in Kentucky is a microcosm of the state itself. It involves the politics of local government, the rise of institutions, the settlement, ownership, and transfer of the land itself. From that moment in 1780 when the three original counties in Kentucky were established, down to the present day, the county seat with its courthouse has been the institution which has held the county together as a cohesive whole. Nowhere in Kentucky has this fact been more evident than in Rowan County, Kentucky’s 104th county, located in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.
By writing this book, Dr. Jack D. Ellis has performed an invaluable service for Rowan County, Morehead, and the outlying communities. In the area of local history, this type of reminiscent treatment is of greater importance than a more elaborate interpretative treatment. It is important to know something of the personalities who lived, performed public services, operated stores, shops of all kinds, and who served as supporters and officers of local institutions. In the history of Kentucky towns before World War II, many merchants and their stores became social institutions as well as commercial ones. Both townsmen and countrymen alike accumulated memories of those youthful days of growing up when stores and streets were places which generated life-long memories.
Few American towns have escaped troubles and tragedies. Both Rowan County and Morehead have memories of violent episodes, feuds, floods, fires, accidents, and other incidents which touched the lives of every person living within their boundaries. Dr. Ellis has written graphic accounts of these moments. Conversely there is the positive history of evolving institutions such as churches, schools, a university, medical services, hospital, local newspapers, and recreational and amusement centers. All those things go together to give substance to local history.
Dr. Ellis has recorded a multitude of facts, first-hand experiences, and the memories of people which otherwise might well have slipped unnoted into oblivion.
A central theme of this book is change. This book is rich in the presentation of the past in the context of decisions made, of failures and mistakes, and of the consequences of the collective experiences of the area.
This deeply ingrained sense of place is evident in the county’s emergence from a primitive economic, political, and social entity carved out of an Appalachian Highland ridge and valley. This collection of rich factual materials preserves in an indelible form the nature and depth of changes which have occurred, of personalities who gave spirit and substance to local history, of institutions which flourished and faded with the progression of modernization, and of local crises and calamities which shaped the turns of local history. This book gives Rowan County and its community a creditable place in the ever-growing list of books which bring the history of the Commonwealth itself into clearer focus.
The Jesse Stuart Foundation has published five books by Jack D. Ellis that illuminate the history of Rowan County and some neighboring counties: “Alpha M. Hutchinson: The Biography of a Man and his Community;” “Kentucky Memories: Reflections of Rowan County, 1856-2006;” “Missing Christmas: My Life in the Depression and World War II;” “Morehead Memories: True Stories from Eastern Kentucky;” and “Patriots & Heroes: Eastern Kentucky’s Soldiers of WWII.”
Jack D. Ellis’ books are available at the JSF at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information, contact the JSF at 606-326-1667 or email jsf@jsfbooks.com.
Edited and submitted by James M. Gifford
JSF CEO & Senior Editor
Fewer words in the English language are more glibly uttered and more misunderstood than the word “history.” American history rests squarely upon a local base. Thomas Jefferson theorized that what happens at the local level of society is more important to the individual than what happens at the national or international level.
Kentucky is divided into one hundred and twenty counties, and scores of towns, cities, and crossroad communities. Every one of these places has a history. Of even greater importance, they have emotional and sentimental meaning to the people who live within their borders, as well as those who have moved away and carry with them precious memories and lifetime attachments.
The history of a county in Kentucky is a microcosm of the state itself. It involves the politics of local government, the rise of institutions, the settlement, ownership, and transfer of the land itself. From that moment in 1780 when the three original counties in Kentucky were established, down to the present day, the county seat with its courthouse has been the institution which has held the county together as a cohesive whole. Nowhere in Kentucky has this fact been more evident than in Rowan County, Kentucky’s 104th county, located in the hills of Eastern Kentucky.
By writing this book, Dr. Jack D. Ellis has performed an invaluable service for Rowan County, Morehead, and the outlying communities. In the area of local history, this type of reminiscent treatment is of greater importance than a more elaborate interpretative treatment. It is important to know something of the personalities who lived, performed public services, operated stores, shops of all kinds, and who served as supporters and officers of local institutions. In the history of Kentucky towns before World War II, many merchants and their stores became social institutions as well as commercial ones. Both townsmen and countrymen alike accumulated memories of those youthful days of growing up when stores and streets were places which generated life-long memories.
Few American towns have escaped troubles and tragedies. Both Rowan County and Morehead have memories of violent episodes, feuds, floods, fires, accidents, and other incidents which touched the lives of every person living within their boundaries. Dr. Ellis has written graphic accounts of these moments. Conversely there is the positive history of evolving institutions such as churches, schools, a university, medical services, hospital, local newspapers, and recreational and amusement centers. All those things go together to give substance to local history.
Dr. Ellis has recorded a multitude of facts, first-hand experiences, and the memories of people which otherwise might well have slipped unnoted into oblivion.
A central theme of this book is change. This book is rich in the presentation of the past in the context of decisions made, of failures and mistakes, and of the consequences of the collective experiences of the area.
This deeply ingrained sense of place is evident in the county’s emergence from a primitive economic, political, and social entity carved out of an Appalachian Highland ridge and valley. This collection of rich factual materials preserves in an indelible form the nature and depth of changes which have occurred, of personalities who gave spirit and substance to local history, of institutions which flourished and faded with the progression of modernization, and of local crises and calamities which shaped the turns of local history. This book gives Rowan County and its community a creditable place in the ever-growing list of books which bring the history of the Commonwealth itself into clearer focus.
The Jesse Stuart Foundation has published five books by Jack D. Ellis that illuminate the history of Rowan County and some neighboring counties: “Alpha M. Hutchinson: The Biography of a Man and his Community;” “Kentucky Memories: Reflections of Rowan County, 1856-2006;” “Missing Christmas: My Life in the Depression and World War II;” “Morehead Memories: True Stories from Eastern Kentucky;” and “Patriots & Heroes: Eastern Kentucky’s Soldiers of WWII.”
Jack D. Ellis’ books are available at the JSF at 4440 13th Street in Ashland. For more information, contact the JSF at 606-326-1667 or email jsf@jsfbooks.com.
Edited and submitted by James M. Gifford
JSF CEO & Senior Editor
