The Blue and the Gray

 Blue and Gray

        After the Civil War ended in 1865 the South suffered through a period of Reconstruction and an invasion of "carpet-baggers." At some point in time the surviving veterans of Ohio County who had served with the Union Army and with the Confederate Army (the Blue and Gray) began having a joint reunion.  Hearts had softened and these men forgave those on the other side and became friends.  I have been unable to determine exactly when the Ohio County joint reunions started  but I think it was September 29, 1885, the twentieth anniversary of the end of the War, although it could easily have started earlier.

          Apparently these joint reunions were taking place all over the nation, with perhaps the earliest being in Vicksburg, MS in 1874 where they formed as association known as “The Order of the Blues and Grays.” Another joint reunion was held in Elizabeth, NJ in 1875.  These joint reunions continued until at least 1920 – at that time an actual participant in the War would be have been about 75 years old.  There was a Blue & Gray Reunion in Gettysburg in 1938 (the 75^th anniversary), at which time an actual participant in the War would have been in his early to mid 90’s.  It is thought that most veterans of the Civil War were gone by 1950, although one Union veteran from Minnesota lived until 1956, and one Confederate veteran lived until 1959, although there is much dispute about whether some men that claimed to be Civil War veterans were actual participants or not.

            In any event, at “Blue and Gray” reunions, veterans of both sides made conciliatory overtures, enjoyed the hospitality of former enemies and celebrated their collective American identity.  Attended by the hundreds and thousands, reunions of all kinds evoked powerful sentiments and became fertile ground for the construction of Civil War memory.  Certainly, the veterans themselves gained a lot of satisfaction from these reunions, but the service they provided to their united nation in fostering reconciliation and promoting reunion between the two armies was also extremely important.

          I am including a few clippings from the Hartford Herald and Hartford republican about some of these reunions:

September, 1885:

14 October 1885, Hartford Herald:

30 Jun 1893, Hartford Republican:

25 June 1897, Hartford Republican:

14 June 1907, Hartford Republican:

18 June 1909, Hartford Republican:

Slavery in Ohio County 1850-1870

Ohio County (KY) Slaves, Free Blacks, and Free Mulattoes, 1850-1870

          Ohio County was established in 1798 from a portion of Hardin County, and was named for the Ohio River. The county ran along the Ohio River before it was divided into additional counties. The Green River is one of the borders of Ohio County. Hartford is the county seat, and is located on the Rough River, a tributary of the Green. The land was part of a grant that Gabriel Madison received from Virginia, and Fort Hartford was one of the first settlements in the area.

          The 1800 county population was 1,223, according to the Second Census of Kentucky: 1,069 whites, 151 slaves, and 3 free coloreds.

          The population increased to 10,919 by 1860, according to the U.S. Federal Census, excluding the slaves.

          Below is the number of slave owners, slaves, free Blacks and free Mulattoes for 1850-1870.

1850 Slave Schedule

·                                 327 slave owners

·                                 865 Black slaves

·                                 268 Mulatto slaves

·                                 40 free Blacks

·                                 9 free Mulattoes

1860 Slave Schedule

·                                 320 slave owners

·                                 825 Black slaves

·                                 547 Mulatto slaves

·                                 20 free Blacks

                        9 free Mulattoes

[The Emancipation Proclamation took effect January 1, 1863.  The 13^th Amendment to the Constitution was passed by Congress January 31, 1865 and ratified by the States on December 6, 1865, and slavery was abolished.]

1870 U.S. Federal Census

·                                 1,190 Blacks

·                                 132 Mulattoes

·                                 About 42 U.S. Colored Troops listed Ohio County, KY, as their birth location.

Source: Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

Brownsville Affair [Texas] - 1906

 Brownsville Affair [Texas] - 25th U.S. Regiment

In 1906, the 25th U.S. Regiment [Colored] was stationed at Fort Brown, TX; it included 20 servicemen from Kentucky. Soon after the men arrived at the Fort, tensions ensued between whites in Brownsville and the soldiers. On August 13th, a bartender was killed and a police officer wounded; the men of the 25th Regiment were blamed for both. President Theodore Roosevelt had 167 men dishonorably discharged from the service.

In 1970, author John D. Weaver investigated the incident and found that the men of the 25th Regiment were all innocent; he published his investigation in The Brownsville Raid. As a result of Weaver's book, the U.S. Army conducted an investigation into the Brownsville incident and also found that the men were innocent. The Nixon Administration reversed President Roosevelt's 1906 order, and in 1972, the men of the 25th U.S. Regiment were given honorable discharges (but without back pay).

In December 1972, an article was placed in the Lexington Leader seeking the descendants of the 20 men from Kentucky. Below are the names and birth locations of 19 of the men.

·                                 Pvt. Henry W. Arrin, Pembroke

·                                 Corp. Ray Burdett, Yosemite

·                                 Pvt. Strowder Darnell, Middletown

·                                 Musician Hoytt Robinson, Mt. Sterling

·                                 Pvt. Samuel Wheeler, Clark County

·                                 Pvt. Richard Crooks, Bourbon County

·                                 Pvt. Edward Robinson, Mulborough

·                                 Pvt. Benjamin F. Johnson, Fayette County

·                                 Pvt. Charles Jones, Nicholasville

·                                 Musician Joseph Jones, Midway

·                                 Pvt. Thomas Taylor, Clark County

·                                 Sgt. Luther T. Thornton, Aberdeen

·                                 Corp. Preston Washington, Lexington

·                                 Pvt. Charles E. Rudy, Dixon

·                                 Pvt. William VanHook, Oddville

·                                 Pvt. August Williams, Hartford

·                                 Pvt. Stansberry Roberts, Woodford County

·                                 Pvt. William Smith, Lexington

·                                 Pvt. John Green, Mulborough

For more see Brownsville Affair in Wikipedia; Brownsville Raid of 1906, at The Handbook of Texas Online; and "Descendants of cleared Black soldiers sought," Lexington Leader, 12/05/1972, p. 2B.

Source: Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

African American Schools

 African American Schools in Ohio County, KY

        In 1878, there was a bill in the Kentucky Senate to authorize the building of a colored school in District 1 of Ohio County [source: Journal of the Regular Session of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, December 1877, p.764]. The bill was said to have passed due to the Democrat vote, according to the article "Colored voters remember..." in the Hartford Herald, 08/01/1877, p.2. The school teacher at the Hartford Colored School in 1880 was Joe C. H. Taylor and the school year began in September [source: Hartford Herald, "The colored school...," 09/01/1880, p.3]. Prof. McDowell from Bowling Green, KY was the teacher at the Hayti Colored School [source: "Prof. McDowell," Hartford Herald, 09/10/1884, p.3]. In 1886 there were 11 colored schools in Ohio County, according to the Kentucky Superintendent Report, and by 1899 there were 8 school districts reported in the article "Statistics" in the Hartford Republican, 06/02/1899, p.3.

        In 1892, there was an investigation by the Hartford Herald on behalf of the colored schools and the colored teachers who had not received their pay. The newspaper reviewed the bookkeeping of the Ohio County school superintendent and determined the colored teachers were owed their pay [source: "In case a suit is brought..." and "Cowering beneath the Herald's revelations" both in the Hartford Herald, 10/26/1892, p.2] The debate about the disposition of the colored school fund became a political disagreement between the Democrats and Republicans as to which had done more for the Negro.

        Other schools in Ohio County included Rockport Colored School in District 9 with P. A. Gary as the teacher [source: "Report," Hartford Republican, 11/17/1893, p.4]. The Sulphur Springs Colored School teacher was Samantha Bracken during the 1893-94 school year [source: "Program," Hartford Republican, 01/19/1894, p.2]. There was a colored school in McHenry as early as 1894 when Miss Charlotte Eidson was the teacher [source: "McHenry Colored School," Hartford Republican, 01/19/1894, p.1]. L. W. Smith was the McHenry school teacher in 1904 [source: "The Guess candle," Hartford Herald, 01/20/1904, p.3].

        In 1940, the Negro teachers in Ohio County were Delois Eidson, Kenneth Eidson, William C. Jackson, Mittie K. Render, and Ethel Tichenor [source: U.S. Federal Census]. The first schools to be listed as integrated were  Beaver Dam Elementary and High School; Hartford Elementary and High School; and Wayland Alexander School, all on p.147 of the Kentucky School Directory, 1962-63. 

·                                 Bruce School [source: Kentucky School Directory, 1961-62, p.883]

·                                 Hayti School

·                                 Hartford School

·                                 McHenry School

·                                 Rockport School

·                                 Sulphur Springs School

Source: Notable Kentucky African Americans Database

Barclay Shoulders

 Barclay Shoulders

Barclay was born 17 April 1895 in Centertown, Ohio County, the son of John William Shoulders and Martha Francis Southard.  Barclay married Fannie Fisher and they had four daughters.  He served in the U.S. Army during WWI, serving with the 336^th INF, Co. K., from 5 October 1917 to 25 Feb 1919.  Barclay survived WWI and the 1918 pandemic, but died at a young age in a mining accident.  I think the article below is incorrect as to his age - in 1922 he would have been age 27.

WWI Draft Registration

Hartford High School - 1922

 Hartford High School - 1922

Henderson County

 Part of Henderson County was once a small part of Ohio County. At the time of the transfer the border of Ohio County extended to the Ohio River.