KY:Historical Society - Historical Marker Database

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Bristow, The Soldier-Birthplace
(Marker Number: 1355)

County: Todd
Location: South Main St., Elkton, KY 181

Description: Benjamin Helm Bristow, 1832-1896, Federal officer and staunch Unionist during secession. Active recruiter of 25th Volunteer Militia, of which he was Lt. Col., and 8th Ky. Cavalry, which he served as Col. At Fort Donelson and Shiloh battles, 1862. A leader in capture of Morgan and raiders, 1863. Elected state senate while still in field, 1863. Over.

(Reverse) Bristow, the Lawyer - Practiced law here until 1858. (See over for military career.) From 1866-70, US attorney for district of Kentucky. First US Solicitor General, 1870-72. As Secretary of Treasury, 1874-76, exposed frauds in "Whiskey Ring" operating in mid-west. In 1876, lost Republican presidential nomination to Rutherford B. Hayes. Leading member Ky. Bar Assn. until 1878, when he moved to New York.

(Subjects: Forts and Stations | Morgan, John Hunt | Shiloh, Battle of)

County Named, 1819
(Marker Number: 800)

County: Todd
Location: Elkton, Courthouse lawn, Jct. US 68 & KY 181

Description: For Col. John Todd. Born Pa., 1750. In battle of Point Pleasant, 1774. Came to Kentucky, 1775; in Va. legislature, 1776. On expedition led by Gen. George Rogers Clark that captured Illinois country from British, 1778. Named Civil Commandant of Illinois County. Va. legislature, 1780. Procured land-grants for public schools. Killed at Blue Licks, Aug. 1782.

(Subjects: Blue Licks, Battle of | Clark, George Rogers | Indians | Revolutionary War | Schools)

First RFD in Kentucky
(Marker Number: 1384)

County: Todd
Location: Post Office, Allensville, KY 102

Description: First rural free delivery of mail in Kentucky was established at Allensville Post Office on Jan. 11, 1897. Three carriers, with horse and buggy, over dirt roads, traveled 15 miles per day; covered an area of 24 square miles with population of 220, at $300 annually. RFD enabled farmers to receive daily mail and avoid a drive to the post office.

Home of U.S. Jurist
(Marker Number: 824)

County: Todd
Location: South Main St., Elkton, KY 181

Description: Justice James Clark McReynolds, born here, 1862. His home through life. Law practice in Nashville and New York. Asst. U.S. Atty. General, 1903-07. Later, as U.S. Attorney General, 1913-14, known for enforcement of Sherman Anti-Trust Law. For 27 years a distinguished Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1914-41; an opponent of New Deal measures. Died in Washington, D.C., 1946.

Jefferson Davis Birthplace
(Marker Number: 57)

County: Todd
Location: Fairview, US 68

Description: Here the only President of the Confederate States of America was born June 3, 1808, the son of Samuel and Jane Cook Davis. The family moved to Mississippi during his infancy.

(Subjects: Civil War | Davis, Jefferson | Forts and Stations)

Jefferson Davis' Salute to Kentucky
(Marker Number: 1073)

County: Todd
Location: Fairview, on monument grounds, US 68

Description: "Kentucky, my own, my native land. God grant that peace and plenty may ever run throughout your borders. God grant that your sons and daughters may ever rise to illustrate the fame of their dead fathers and that wherever the name of Kentucky is mentioned, every hand shall be lifted and every head bowed for all that is grand, all that is glorious, all that is virtuous, all that is honorable and manly." From address made here on his last visit to his birthplace in Nov. 1886. At that time he presented the site of the cabin in which he was born to the Bethel Baptist Church. He also presented a communion service, which is still kept in church. Marker erected in the 175th anniversary of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

(Subjects: Davis, Jefferson)

Robert Penn Warren, 1905-1989
(Marker Number: 1879)

County: Todd
Location: Third & Cherry Sts., Guthrie

Description: A native of Guthrie, Warren was one of nation's most prolific writers, a world-renowned man of letters. Graduate of Vanderbilt Univ., summa cum laude, 1925; member of the Fugitives (writers group). Rhodes scholar at Oxford, 1928-1930; and twice a Guggenheim Fellow. He was professor of English at La. State, Minnesota, and Yale universities.

(Reverse) Robert Penn Warren, 1905-1989 - Designated "First Poet Laureate of the United States" by Congress on February 26, 1986. To date only person to receive a Pulitzer Prize in both fiction and poetry. Warren was a three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize: 1947 in fiction for All the King's Men; 1958 in poetry for Promises; 1979 in poetry for Now and Then: Poems 1976-1978.

(Subjects: Authors | Books)

Tobacco Farmers Unite
(Marker Number: 2294)

County: Todd
Location: 236 S. Ewing St., Guthrie

Description: Farmers throughout western Ky. and northern Tn. gathered in Guthrie on Sept. 24, 1904, in response to the tobacco growers’ economic hardship. Five thousand farmers participated in the formation of a cooperative to pool their crops in opposition to price-fixing actions by James Duke and the American Tobacco Co. Two more Guthrie rallies in 1905-06.

(Reverse) The Planters Protective Association advocated state & federal policies more responsive to farmers’ needs. On May 29, 1911, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that American Tobacco Co. violated the Sherman Antitrust Act & directed James Duke to bust up his operation. Tobacco prices began to climb. The association disbanded in 1914.

(Subjects: Tobacco | Farms)