Museum Newsletter - 15 Sep 2006

Friends of the Bullitt County History Museum
E-Newsletter
September 15, 2006 (Volume 2, Number 13)

Dear Friends,

Announcements.

>>Bullitt County Genealogical Society Meeting September 21 with guest speaker Mel Arnold.

Our museum parent organization, The Bullitt County Genealogical Society, will have its regular monthly meeting September 21 at 7 p.m. This month's guest speaker is Mel Arnold, who will be speaking on the creepy-but-fascinating subject of "Diseases of our Ancestors". Meeting location is in the Shepherdsville City Hall on Frank Simon Street but keep a sharp eye when coming. City government is in the process of moving to a fine new building nearby and we may have a note on the door telling you about a change of meeting place.

I also hope to have a brand new, specially-produced video of our recent cemetery rededication event and Civil War re-enactment to play that night.

Museum Activity.

>> KIMMS Training

I just came back from a three-day training session at the Kentucky History Museum that will be very helpful to us. The Kentucky Intensive Museum Management Seminar (or KIMMS) had sessions on such subjects as record keeping; proper methods of artifact storage and care; designing displays on a small budget; publicity; and working with educational institutions. It was indeed "intensive". I have a four inch binder of information to study. But it was well worth the work! I was proud to have been one of only fifteen from across the state selected to attend. Many thanks to the Kentucky Historical Society for sponsoring it!

My thanks go to volunteers Lola Fisher, Shirley Miller, Jim Crepps, Bob Kline, and Jerry Combest for watching over the museum while I was gone.

>> Response From Note about Lexington Plane Crash is Impressive

In the last newsletter "Finally..." section I commented about the recent tragic crash in Lexington. Kentucky. I asked for readers around the country to reply about that and about the 1917 Christmastime train wreck in Shepherdsville that had killed almost exactly the same number. Well, the response was impressive. I received e-mails from Museum Friends in Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, and California. All stated that the plane crash was indeed big news in their parts of the country and they relayed their sympathies about the loss. One Friend had even heard from another person in Europe asking about it. Joyce Ferring mailed a newspaper clipping.

As I had asked, several promised to look in their local newspaper archives to see if there was equivalent news coverage about the 1917 train wreck.

Mary Lou Hackett e-mailed me with the story that her family had recently come across the purse of her mother-in-law Willie Maye Hackett's mom who had carried it the day she died in that very train wreck. It still has her shopping list from that day.

I look forward to seeing what else may be found by our friends across the country.

>> Donation for Shepherdsville Cemetery from Arizona

Rosie Jackson DeMent wrote to the museum from Green Valley, Arizona, thanking everyone for the recent work restoring the old Shepherdsville Pioneer Graveyard. She tells us that she has several relatives buried there including her great grandmother and great grandfather and grandfather. She very kindly sent us a donation of $200 along with some information about George William Jackson, her grandfather.

>> Gail Bagwell Painting of Salt Making Donated to Museum

Museum Friend Gail G. Bagwell has created a painting of pioneer salt making in Bullitt County and graciously donated the painting to the museum. Inspired by her reading of the novel "Tidewater Sprig", Ms. Bagwell's painting shows a row of kettles boiling on a salt furnace, with water transferred through wooden pipes and Indians dangerously lurking in the nearby trees. Ms. Bagwell ahs done previous works on local history, including one of "The Old Stone Bank". Her salt making painting will be on display in the museum near our collection of salt kettles. She also has prints ($30) and cards ($5) of the painting available for sale at the museum.

Thank you Gail!!

For Your Information...

>> Three New Books from Edith Blissett.

Many know of the prolific work of local Friend Edith Blissett, who has spent countless hours transcribing old local newspapers and other papers and indexing them for researchers. She has several such books to her credit and now has three more. They are Bullitt County Death Certificates 1911-1929 ($25), The Bullitt News 1906 ($25), and The Pioneer News 1923-1924 ($30).

As always, they will be invaluable help to researchers. Edith donated a copy of each new book to the museum and we have copies available for sale there as well.

Finally...

This is a short newsletter this time due to my being gone to the KIMMS training, but look to the next edition, when I will be telling you the story of the three attempts to burn the railroad bridge in Shepherdsville during the Civil War. I have been pulling together some information about those engagements and I know I learned a lot! Perhaps you will enjoy it too.

Thank you for being a Friend of Bullitt County History.

David Strange
Bullitt County History Museum
Executive Director
Museum Phone: 502-921-0161
E-Mail address: David.Strange@BullittCountyHistory.org