Museum Newsletter - 28 Apr 2010

Friends of the Bullitt County History Museum
E-Newsletter
April 28, 2010 (Volume 6, Number 4)

Dear Friends,

Announcements...

>>Nichols Elementary School 50 Year Anniversary Celebration.

Nichols Elementary School, in western Bullitt County, will be celebrating it's fiftieth anniversary of its current school building May 8, from 3-9 p.m. The school building has undergone a dramatic remodeling, so the timing couldn't be better. Call 502-543-2071 for more information.

>>"Library-in-a-Box" at Nichols.

Speaking of Nichols Elementary, I am proud to announce a new innovation there. The Bullitt County Public Library system has placed a new type of automated library branch in that under-served area. The innovative little unit looks a lot like a series of post office boxes. A person orders a book, DVD, etc. from the library, either by phone or internet. Within a couple of days, the person then goes to the unit, located on the porch of Nichols Elementary School, punches in a code number, and a box pops open with the ordered materials. As a library board member, I, and others, have been pressing for better service to Nichols, a small community some 12 miles from the nearest library branch. I am glad we have had at least some small success. Check out the library web site for more information.

>>Genealogical Society meeting May 15.

The May speaker will be John Keith, presenting a program on the preservation and restoration of tombstones. Normal meeting place and time, 10:00 a.m. at Ridgway Memorial Public Library in Shepherdsville.

>>Update on a Collection of Elliott Family Letters.

I wrote last month about the "Elliott papers", a couple of shoe boxes of letters dating from WWII and Viet Nam. Well, we got several responses from the newsletter, and looks like we have found a great connection; a family member who had two of the people of the letters in his wedding. I hope to report a conclusion to this story next month.

>>Henry Mattingly Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony May 22.

Henry B. Mattingly, a descendant of one of the Maryland to Kentucky families, was a Civil War hero. At the Battle of Jonesborough (Tennessee), while serving with the 10th Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, Mattingly captured the battle flag of the 6th and 7th Arkansas Infantry. He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1865. Mattingly died in 1893 and was buried at Pitts Point in Bullitt County, Kentucky, on what is now Fort Knox. His wife Amanda died in 1926 and is buried in the Lebanon Junction Cemetery in Bullitt County. In 1966, Mattingly's remains were moved to the Lebanon Junction Cemetery, at his children's request. The tombstone did not mention that he was a Medal of Honor recipient, and another marker had been lost.

Due to the efforts of José Rosario, SGM, U. S. Army, Retired, a volunteer at the Bullitt County History Museum, other volunteers at the museum, and members of the Bullitt County Genealogical Society, an appropriate tombstone with the proper inscription, "Medal of Honor," has been received from federal authorities and installed at the grave site.

A special installation ceremony for the new marker is set for May 22, 2010, 11 a.m., at the Lebanon Junction Cemetery. The public is invited. José has arranged quite a ceremony, with modern-era troops, a real "Taps" salute, and even Civil War re-enactors. Kind of a chilling coincidence is that the Civil War re-enactors use the very same unit designation as the unit that Mattingly was in so long ago. It should be quite a ceremony. Jose's story on Mattingly can be found in the genealogical society quarterly, "The Wilderness Road", and on our web site. The web page includes a link to a page on the cemetery that includes a map.

Activity...

>>Web Site Additions.

Additions to our web site have grown since last time. To see what is new, visit our Latest Additions page.

>> Books donated.

The Draper History, a book by Barbara Joan Draper, was sent to the society by the author. Betty Darnell has written a review of the book that will be in the next Bullitt County Genealogical Society quarterly, The Wilderness Road. Betty also donated a copy of her new transcript book, "Bullitt County Will Book A". We also have copies of that book for sale at the museum.

The Bullitt County Genealogical Society bought the book, "Nelson County KY Cemeteries Vol. 2 (we had the other) Southwestern section, including Abbey & Gesthemani", published by the Nelson Co. Gen. Roundtable. It is now in our museum library collection.

And an updated "Fort Knox Alpha Cemetery list", updated 5/19/2009 was donated by Gary Kempf.

>>Edith Blissett has made a CD of her voluminous newspaper transcripts and made them available for sale, with half the sale price donated to us. This a steal at $20 (picked up at the museum). It consists of virtually a shelf-full of her books, all on one CD, and text-searchable.

For Your Information...

>> "Kentucky Ancestors" Table of Contents on line.

The "Kentucky Ancestors" publication, by the Kentucky Historical Society, is a tremendous source of information from its many years of publications. But it can be hard to actually find specific information. Now there is a table of contents for the magazine collection on line. You can find it in pdf format here.

Finally...

VOTE!

As most of you know, I am running for elected office in Bullitt County. Since I try to keep this newsletter free of politics, and especially self promotion, I will say no more of that here.

But I do want to urge you to vote. Vote for whomever you think best, in what ever race that you have in your area, wherever you are. But vote.

In Bullitt County, and most of Kentucky, we have our primary elections on May 18 this year, with general election in November. Dates might differ in whatever state our many readers reside in.

I urge you to vote. To pay attention. To try to educate yourself and vote wisely.

Do not get overwhelmed by hype, hoopla, or hooey. Do not get too disillusioned by all the negativity and corruption that bothers us all so much in this day.

Vote. Vote with the hope and anticipation that our forefathers felt when they voted freely for the first time.

Despite all our human frailties and failures, crimes and corruption, the American Vote is almost unique in the world for its level of opportunity and fairness.

Winston Churchill once said about democracy, "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

Vote, my Friend, vote. And be proud that you can.

Thank you for being a Friend of the Bullitt County History Museum.

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