Museum Newsletter - 29 Jun 2010

Friends of the Bullitt County History Museum
E-Newsletter
June 29, 2010 (Volume 6, Number 6)

Dear Friends,

Announcements.....

>>Museum closed Monday July 5. Our museum will be closed Monday, July 5, for the 4th of July holiday.

>>Genealogical Society meeting July 17.

The July speaker will be Victor Bitter, a history re-enactor. Victor will portray Moses Tyler as he does at the Blackacre Conservancy in Jeffersontown. Included in the program will be how the Tyler's got to Kentucky, the 1,000 acre land grant to Edward Tyler from Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia. His program will include who settled the land, what the four farms produced and information on Moses' children and brother. Victor is also a member of the Painted Stone Settlers, a group of re-enactors who stages the Long Run Massacre and Floyd's Defeat in Shelby County each year. It should be an interesting program as he brings equipment and is dressed in period costume. Victor is a history interpreter at the Tyler Settlement in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and should put on quite a show for us!

Meeting place is same as usual. At the Ridgway Public Library in Shepherdsville, at 10:00 a.m.

>>Looking for someone to repair Old Stone Jail roof.

I have been talking about this for years, but it's now getting critical, so I need to really get pushing. Our historic Old Stone Jail has a flat, tar-paper roof that is leaking worse all the time. This past winter, so much water ran in that we had nearly three inches of ice on the INSIDE floor. Not only did this force us to close the jail for a time; the constant thawing and freezing of the water does tremendous damage to the stone work.

Some of you might not be familiar with this structure. The Old Stone Jail was built in the late 1800's as the county jail. Just 22 by 22 feet square, it consists of four cells, a small hallway, a "sweat box" (a roughly 2 by 2 foot cell), and lots of great stories. The old jail looks like a small castle, and is both a wonderful and horrible reminder of days not so long ago. We restored the jail several years ago as a tourism attraction, but have never been able to get the roof replaced.

So, I ask for help to replace the old roofing, or at least put a new layer over the old. It should be a fairly simple job, but beyond my capability, and we have no money set aside for such a job. The flat roof is about 20 foot square, with no pipes or vents protruding.

If you, or someone you know, might be willing to take on this small job, either gratis of for a reasonable charge please get them in touch with me.

Activity...

>>War of 1812. The bicentennial anniversary of The War of 1812 will be coming up in a couple of years, and Kentucky is beginning to make plans. Our museum, along with many others, is being asked if we have any local historical connections to that war that finally cemented our independence from Great Britain.

There might be grant opportunities for us if we find such a connection, but is also just a good time to investigate our local history.

Did you know, for example, that a majority of the war's casualties were Kentuckians? The Kentucky Historical Society asks us to start thinking about possible programs that we might host to help commemorate the War of 1812.

We have already been looking into possible casualties from Bullitt County, and ask for any local info or stories you might have.

>>Names added to "In Memoriam" list.

We continue to work on our "In Memoriam" list of Bullitt Countians who died while in the military. Judy Richardson and others are currently focusing on the Civil War era and before. That is particularly difficult because records are often unclear. Nevertheless some more names have been found for the Civil War. We have none so far before that. Recently added John Garritt (Garrett), William Tuney, and Charles Hardesty. Check here for the full list.

>>Web Site Additions.

The web site is very active and growing. Be sure to check it out regularly. Of particular note this time is a letter of information that Bullitt County Walt Sholar wrote for us as a follow-up to his recent presentation to our genealogical society about cemetery preservation law. Follow this link to the page of Latest Additions.

>>Cemetery Preservation Class attended.

Speaking of cemetery preservation, our genealogical society President Barbara Bailey, and V.P. (and Cemetery Committee Chairman) Daniel Buxton attended a day-long seminar on cemetery and tombstone preservation and repair in Frankfort this past Saturday. The seminar included actually going to a cemetery and repairing a broken tombstone.

>> Main Street USA trip.

Also this past Saturday, I was happy to be part of a day-long trip as part of a learning tour about Main Street USA progress in several towns around the state, led by Dale Salman, Director of the Mt. Washington Main Street Program. "Main Street USA" is a program that helps small towns restore and revitalize their old downtown districts. Mt. Washington has been working hard on this program and is beginning to see very positive results.

>>Brookland Cemetery expansion progress.

Brookland Cemetery, in northern Bullitt County on Hebron Lane, is adding a new grand entrance off of John Harper highway. Part of that new entrance will probably include a tribute to those who sacrificed all while in the military. Work is in progress and we have been helping with historical information. Volunteers Wilma Lemons and Daniel Buxton have been working to document the cemetery.

>>And continued general research.

Most every day now at the museum, we have visitors and volunteers doing research. It sometimes gets a bit crowded with four or five people in our little research office. It's all really quite exciting! We often have some great discussions and impromptu training sessions on all sorts of research and history subjects.

For Your Information.....

>> iPhone "app" for genealogy.

Here's a new thing for this newsletter: IPhone Apps (Applications). The rapid growth of iPhones and other smart phones is making big differences in how we find information. Huge amounts of information right in the palm of your hand! I have had an iPhone myself since Christmas and love it. So, starting with this newsletter, I'll occasionally mention an "app" that might be useful to genealogists and history researchers.

For example, I have downloaded a new app called simply "Genealogy" by Deep Powder Software. This program is a rather simple dictionary of terms related to genealogy and history. It's simple but must have thousands of terms. Everything from "AB" (meaning "Welsh son of", making "Ab Owen" become the name "Bowen") to "yellowjacket" (an old term meaning Yellow fever). It should be pretty handy! To find the app, just search the App Store for keyword "genealogy."

If you have any other apps that I should tell our Friends about, please let me know!

>> Lions Camp Crescendo special camps.

A special, mostly unnoticed, jewel in Bullitt County is Lions Camp Crescendo. Many of you might remember this huge camp, located near Lebanon Junction, as the place high school bands from all over the region have gone for summer "band camps" for many years. You might not know that several years ago state Lions clubs went together and bought it. Now, in addition to band camps, Lions Camp Crescendo offers, usually without charge, special summer camps for children with special needs. Examples are "Camp Freedom" for children in foster care or custody of grandparents, and "Kentucky Youth Camp" for children who are vision impaired or are hearing impaired.

Come to think of it, we should do a history of Camp Crescendo sometime. It's quite a story!

For more information, check out www.lions-campcrescendo.org or call 502-833-4427.

>>Frankfort is a great visit.

If you haven't visited Kentucky's state capital, Frankfort, in the past several years, you are in for a treat. What I remember from my childhood as, frankly, a dingy, dirty little city has been revitalized. The old downtown area, near the Kentucky History Museum, is especially nice, with good shops, restaurants, and museums all around. I enjoy visiting there more each time I go. For more information, check

• www.visitFrankfort.com
• www.FrankfortKy.info
• www.DowntownFrankfort.com

Finally...

In The Cool of the Evening

"Summer is coming on.
Spring is fading.
Much of life prepares for the hot, dry months ahead.
Or soon passes away."

Ah, Summer. Hot, humid, Kentucky Summer has arrived. The soft Spring flowers are quickly cooking away. The lush green grass shrivels and hardens and holds on for Fall.

Last year gave us a record low average temperature for July, but this year seems to be catching up, with a record hot June, with most days in the 90s. Since this newsletter goes out to readers all across the U.S. and Canada, I know those temperatures might sound unbearably hot, or nice and cool to some of you. But for me, it's just plain hot, with the added discomfort of our sticky, sweaty Ohio Valley humidity.

But it makes one appreciate things.

The most obvious is air conditioning. Halleluia for electricity and for nice, cool air conditioning!! A place of sweet retreat from the furnace blast of Summer weather.

But I also especially enjoy getting out in the evening of the day, as the sun begins to fade, and the hard oppressive heat gives way, briefly, to a nice, calm, comfortable rest before night sets in. One can almost hear the land sigh in relief.

In Genesis, the Bible speaks of God walking in the Garden of Eden "in the cool of the day". If I remember from my reading of it some years ago, the Koran also refers to that Heavenly time of day.

For a brief time, the suffered heat goes away, a nice easy breeze cools the face, and peace fills the soul.

There is nothing quite so refreshing to me, so satisfying, as a nice leisurely walk in my yard in the cool of a Kentucky summer day.

The depiction of God strolling along at that time of day, enjoying the results of His work is especially understandable.

Perhaps God is a Kentuckian.

Or at least from Bullitt County.

May your Summer evenings be so good.

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