News

The Madison County Historical Society met at historic Mt. Zion Church on August 3 for the annual picnic meeting.  After a catered meal by Greg Tipton, we adjourned to the church sanctuary for the program presented in conjunction with the Kentucky Humanities Council.  Chautauqua speaker Obadiah Ewing-Roush gave a spirited presentation on Reverend John G. Fee.

On June 20, six individuals were honored by the Society for their significant contributions to preserving Madison County history.  Those honored were:

Robert Piper Boyce

Dr. John Fox

Loyal Jones

Lavinia H. Kubiak

Henry Allen Laine

Beulah Nunn

To find more information about these individuals, please look under our About link.

After the ceremony Jackie Couture, archivist for EKU, presented a talk on Dr. Jonathan Dorris.

 

Ann Johnson, former Kentucky Historical Society administrative assistant, worked in cemetery preservation and implemented two programs: the Kentucky Pioneer Cemetery Program and the Adopt a Cemetery Program.  She shared with us laws and attorney general's opinions pertaining to family cemeteries and abandoned cemeteries as well as stories of her efforts to protect cemeteries state wide.  

Reinette Jones, Special Collections Librarian and African American Studies Academic Liasion at the University of Kentucky, has spent untold hours in her research on Kentucky African Americans.  Her presentation on notable Madison County African Americans was extremely informative and entertaining.

Mr. Rex Mann, a retired USDA Forest Service official, gave a presentation on his passion - restoration of the American Chestnut Tree.  This species of tree once spanned the east coast of the United States until a blight wiped it out.  Mr. Mann is now a private forestry consultant and is leading the charge to restore the tree.

On April 19, 2019, our presenter was Dr. Matthew Davidson on the topic of Iron Furnaces of Kentucky. Dr. Davidson is a district archaeologist with the Daniel Boone National Forest and a temporary visiting scholar with the University of Kentucky. In his position with the national forest he studies and documents Native American rock shelters and petroglyph sites.  He is currently working on developing an atlas of 17th and 18th century Native American settlements of Kentucky.

We welcome Mr. Bill Williams to our Board of Directors.  Bill moved back home to Madison County three years ago after retiring from UPS in Florida.  He is also a very active member of the Battle of Richmond Association and enjoys doing research.

October 18, 2018;  Chester Zoeller, author and Bourbon distiller, made a presentation to the society on the topic of Bourbon in Kentucky.  Mr, Zoeller has written a couple of books on the topic:  Bourbon in Kentucky:  A History of  Distilleries in Kentucky and Kentucky Bourbon Barons:  Legendary Distillers From the Golden Age of Whiskey Making as well as producing a poster "Spiritus Frumenti" of Kentucky Bourbon bottles.  Mr, Zoeller brought three bottles of his Jefferson Reserve for tasting.

February 11, 2019:  Glyn Green was asked to serve as a board member for the society.  Glyn is a retired teacher and football coach from Madison Central and Madison Southern High Schools. He is currently a real estate appraiser and has a love of history and Madison County.

January 21, 2019:  The Bogie Family - Jesse, June Ed, Billy June and Billy Reed Bogie donated the date stone from the James Bogie house dated October 11, 1811.  The initials JB are written above the date.  The stone is currently at the Richmond Tourism house awaiting display there.

The family also donated photographs of the College Hill Baseball Field and a baseball scorebook from the 1930's with several names of young men from the College Hill area.  A story will be published in Heritage Highlights at a later date with more information.