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Harrison County Time Starts in . . .
1783 ~ Daniel Boone leaves his mark in Harrison
County and all over Kentucky and its history. Visit this page to see what
impact he had on Harrison County.
1793 ~
View the
birth certificate of Harrison County, Kentucky and read the law
which gave birth to the 17th county. Be sure to check the county's
vital statistics, read about
how
the county got its name and
how
its communities came by their names, and look at records which
document the
growth of the county over time.
1825
~ The oldest recorded marriage of African Americans
in Harrison County,
free or slave, for which a date is provided in the Harrison County Court Clerk's records, is that of Jarrard & Mint (No surnames), which took place on
Feb. 22, 1825. They got
their license to marry just the week before, on Valentine's Day.
While marriage records are some
of the earliest recorded documents to be found in the Harrison County Court
Clerk's Office, only a very few of those recorded before the Civil War are
for African Americans. Whether you just want to read more about antebellum
African American Marriage Records or want to begin researching a family
tree, more information than you ever thought possible on the subject of
African American marriages in Harrison County can be found by clicking the
link above.
1847 ~
Lewis Collins'
History of Kentucky is published & Harrison County rates its
own chapter.
1850 ~ In the effort to fill in the blanks of a genealogy, one
part of the record is largely overlooked, the documentation of what kept
people busy from day to day. What did people do? How did they make a
living? Where or to whom did one go to get a horse shod or a cabinet
made? The answers to those questions with regard to the 1850s have been
around for a while, thanks to the efforts of two men named Thomson and
Bassett. Read the article, "What Kept People Busy in 1850?"
 1851
~ R.B. Gruelle, father of Johnny Gruelle,
the creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy, was born February 22, 1851 in Cynthiana, Kentucky. R.B. later moved to Arcola, Illinois, where his son Johnny was born on
December 24, 1880. Johnny Gruelle grew up to become a well known
political cartoonist, illustrator and artist.
Around 1908 he began
producing features for children. The Raggedy Ann doll was created
in 1915 and Gruelle published the first stories in 1918.
When Johnny's
daughter, Marcella, became ill and was bedridden, he spent many hours
telling stories to entertain her. She died at the age of thirteen, but
the stories which were based on Marcella's own dolls became the genesis for
Johnny's illustrations and children's books. There are several
accounts regarding the origin of the first Raggedy Ann doll. Most
believe the first Raggedy Ann was an old handmade rag doll made in Illinois
many years before for Johnny Gruelle's mother. The doll was found
years later in the attic and after some repairs, it became a new playmate
for Marcella.
1852-55 ~ T.S. Hawkins writes about his early life and education in
antebellum Harrison County in Recollections of a Busy Life.
1854
~ The railroad arrives in Harrison County! Read all about it in
George D. Slade's fine history of railroading in Harrison County.
 1861-65 ~ If
you want to know about the Civil War in Harrison County, then you need to read
Kentucky Rebel Town by William A. Penn. One might call it a
revision of the author's earlier Civil War history,
Rattling Spurs and Broad-Brimmed Hats: The Civil War and Harrison County,
Kentucky (Battle Grove Press, 1995). Yet, it really is a body of work
that stands on its own when one considers how much more work has been done in
recovering the details of lost history using research techniques and records not
readily available in what might be considered the pre-internet era of the 1980s
and '90s.
The volume should fill all your
desires to know what is knowable about Cynthiana and Harrison County in the
1850s, '60s, and post-bellum era.. There are 278 pages of great reading for the
history buff with about an additional hundred pages of citations, including the
index.
Bill's book should be of interest to
genealogists as well. Did you know the difference between how a regular person
reads a book and how a genealogist reads a book? Your average bookworm will
start at page one, while the genealogist will go to the back of the book first
... not to find out how the story ends, but to see if his relations ever got
listed in the index before even bothering to read the text!
So, for a genealogist, quite a few
books end up being pretty short reads, but Kentucky Rebel Town has just over
twenty pages of index, with lots of names for genealogists to search for.
Rebel General John Hunt Morgan thought
that Cynthiana was worth coming back to for a second "visit," and, luckily for
us, Bill came back, too, to put his pen to work in giving old history a new
look.
1862
~ Read reports of Confederate
General John Hunt Morgan's first raids on Cynthiana, Kentucky in 1862, as
recounted by the men who were there.
Basil W. Duke,
George D. Mosgrove,
W.C. Sleet, put down their swords and pick up their pens to tell
about their experiences in the first Battle of Cynthiana. 19th
century historian
Lewis Collins also offers a brief account of life in Harrison County during the Civil
War. A text from
Campfire & Battlefield also sheds a little light on the story.
Learn more about it all by visiting a list of links to heritage trails which follow
the footsteps of the "Rebel Raider" through Kentucky, Indiana, & Ohio, links
to information about battle reenactments, and to "Morgan's Men."
1864 ~
Basil W. Duke,
George D. Mosgrove, and
Lewis Collins put their pens to paper again to tell about Morgan's Raiders second
"tour" of Kentucky and of their "visit" to Cynthiana.
1874 ~
Lewis Collins'
History of Kentucky is published & Harrison County rates its
own chapter.
1877
~ D.G. Beers & Co.,
not DeBeers, published Map of Harrison County, Kentucky over 125 years ago, but it is still a little
gem of a record to a genealogist. Find the lands of your ancestor using
this rather unique genealogical tool, a cadastral (landownership) map, which
pinpoints the residences of landowners and
includes detailed maps of several communities.
1882
~ History
of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison & Nicholas Counties, Kentucky is
published. It has served as a common reference for the history of
the county since its initial publication. Historians from the 1920s
such as Cynthiana's John Cromwell to the late George Slade often used this
history as a ready reference.
1884 ~ "The Colemansville Cyclone"
strikes at northwestern Harrison County. Read all about the tornado
which ravaged
the northwestern communities of Colemansville, Eureka, & Conrey in the early
spring of 1884.
1893
~ Lewis Cass
Woolery (1858-1900) writes a biography of his brother, William Henry Woolery,
entitled The Life and Addresses of W.H. Woolery, LL.D., Third President of Bethany College. Although a large portion of the book is about his brother's
studies and career at Bethany
College, a good
portion of the early chapters was devoted to their seemingly idyllic life
growing up in and around the vicinity of Antioch Mills.
1894 ~
Chronicles of Cynthiana by Lucinda Boyd is published. It was
a small volume with a big chunk
of history, a little bit of genealogy, sprinkled with fancy and some
social commentary. Learn more about the author and read all
twenty-three chapters of this interesting book.
1896 ~ In June, 1896
The
Cynthiana Democrat published a 24-page "Special Edition," an
issue chock-full of
photographs of Cynthiana and its business establishments, as well as
biographical sketches of its businessmen, government, and church leaders and
descriptions of its government, school, and church facilities. It is a
"must-see" for anyone interested in life in
Cynthiana and the county as it appeared almost exactly a century ago.
1905 ~ On November 11, 1905 the Log Cabin Printery
of Cynthiana, Kentucky published a "Souvenir Supplement"
of The Cynthiana Log Cabin, a 32-page edition chock-full of
photographs of Cynthiana and its business establishments, as well as
biographical sketches of its businessmen, government, and church leaders and
descriptions of its government, school, and church facilities. A page
was also given over to Harrison County's second largest community, the
"city" of Berry. It is a "must-see" for anyone interested in life in
Cynthiana and the county as it appeared almost exactly a century ago.
1917
~ Harrison
County, Kentucky goes to World War I. Harrison County was not
lacking for volunteers when Uncle Sam put out the call to go over there.
See the list of Harrison Countians who served during The Great War and
learn more about their participation in the war effort.
 1939
~ Take a
road trip thru Cynthiana & Harrison County, Kentucky and see the sights
of Harrison County before the onset of World War II
(Pages 246-261
of 'Kentucky - A Guide to the Bluegrass State', New York: Harcourt,
Brace, & Co., 1939; the pages referring to Cynthiana & Harrison
County are on pages
251-252.)
1941 ~ Children of the World War I generation, great-grandchildren of
Civil War veterans and descendants of the Revolutionary War soldiers who first
settled in Harrison County rallied round the flag as the nation went to war
after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Among them was Benjamin
Whiteker of Sunrise. Click on the link to read his story and more about
World War II and Harrison County.
1993
~ See if
anyone you know got their image in 1993's Pictorial History of Harrison
County. This family photo album of the historical places and
events of the county was published in 1993 to commemorate the county's
Bicentennial in that year. Included in the original book were class
photos, school pictures, scenes of bygone days, some sad faces, but mostly
happy ones. The book is no longer in print, but you may be able to
find one in a library near you.
This Week ~ Visit the Cynthiana Democrat online to see what
is happening in the county this week.
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The following links are provided to
connect you with transcripts of historical texts, sketches,
and outlines which focus on the local history of Cynthiana and Harrison County,
including chapters from the Collins histories of 1847 and 1874 which describe
the county, as well as full transcripts of the Harrison County chapters of W.H.
Perrin's History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Couties, Kentucky, Lucinda Rogers Boyd's 1894 volume entitled Chronicles of Cynthiana,
and last but not least, George D. Slade's Railroads in Harrison County,
Kentucky.
