Spirit of 76 Celebration honors Clinton County's veterans; they include two who earned the Medal of Honor

Many early Clinton County pioneers were Revolutionary War soldiers who received land grants in recognition for their service. They are too many to mention.

Several Cumberland countians (there was no Clinton at the time) served in McNair's Regiment in the War of 1812. Captain William Cross of Stockton Valley commanded a company of local men.

Sam Bell Maxey and many others served in the Mexican War. Maxey graduated from the United States Military Academy, one of only two Clinton Countians to do so, the other being Michael DeForest, whose roots through the Staton family go back to Seventy Six. Maxey later moved to Texas where he was a Brigadier General (C.S.A.) and later served two terms in the U.S. Senate.

Thomas E. Bramlette

Most of Clinton County was of Union sentiment during the Civil War, with the most prominent Union men being Clinton native Colonel (and later Governor) Thomas E. Bramlette, who had moved from Albany to Columbia in the early 1850s but was sitting as circuit judge for the area when the war began. On July 29, 1861, Bramlette gave a stirring speech in Albany on behalf of the Union, and many men enlisted as a result.

John Allen Brents was an officer in the First Kentucky Cavalry and would write a book, Patriots and Guerrillas, which was very pro-Union in sentiment and made him a marked man by the Confederate guerrilla Champ Ferguson, who would periodically wreak havoc in the county. Col. William A. Hoskins was living in Clinton at the beginning of the war, and he commanded the 12th Kentucky Infantry. George W, Burchett was a member of the honor guard for the funeral of Abraham Lincoln in 1865.

 
Captain E.M. Shelley of Clinton County commanded a troop which included many Clinton Countians in the Spanish-American War.

The most famous hero of World War I, Sgt. Alvin C. York, was born just a few miles south of Clinton County. York did his banking business at Citizens Bank of Albany. 

Corporal James Herbert Cannon was killed in France on October 1918, and on July 12, 1920, the Cannon Post #135 of the American Legion was formed in Albany. Its 16 charter members were Oscar Dyer, William H. Nunn, Oscar B. Conner, Porter H. Dyer, Herbert Hopkins, Newman L. Morgan, Herbert Pittman, Reed Cox, Belden Carr, Ottie Cummings, John B. Grider, Alva Tompkins, Beldon Pierce, M.A. (Crow) Brummett, James W, Parrigin, and Walter F. Perdue.

Lt. Garlin Murl Conner

Garlin Murl Conner, raised on Indian Creek a few miles below Seventy Six Falls, may now be the most decorated American soldier of World War II, after being awarded the Medal of Honor over 70 years after the end of the war and 20 years after his death. Hundreds of local men and women served in that war. Clay Rector, whose father was an Albany barber, was on the U.S.S. Arizona when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and he remains entombed there.

 
Hundreds of other young men and women have served in the wars and conflicts which have occurred since the end of World War II, and many are in the service today, protecting our freedom. Let us always remember that the Spirit of Seventy Six Celebration owes its existence to those men and women who have served and are serving. We appreciate the local VFW chapter who have worked with us regarding this event. Hats off this day and every day to all of our servicemen and women, past and present.

Clinton County was home to another Medal of Honor winner.

Oliver Hughes was born in Fentress County, Tennessee, on January 21, 1844. At that time, Fentress abutted southeastern Clinton County. In 1860, Hughes was living in Clinton County. He enlisted in the Union Army at Albany in 1861. He was a Corporal in Company C, 12th Kentucky Infantry.

The 12th Kentucky was commanded by Colonel William A. Hoskins, a native of Garrard County who was living in Clinton County at the start of the war. Hoskins was a principal in the Nashville and Rowena Coal Co., which was mining coal on Short Mountain in Clinton County and sending it down the Cumberland River to Nashville. That enterprise failed, but after the war Hoskins, with new investors, formed the Poplar Mountain Coal Company, and they built a railroad from the top of Short Mountain down to the mouth of Indian Creek, where they shipped the coal down the river. Hoskins established the mining town of Cumberland City, five miles northeast of Seventy Six.

Many of the soldiers in the 12th Kentucky were from Clinton County. They included Capt. Martin Van Buren Duvall, who would die at the hand of Confederate terrorist Champ Ferguson after major hostilities had ceased, and his brother Lewis "Bug" Duvall, who survived the encounter with Ferguson. The 12th was involved in the first Civil War battle in Tennessee, the incident at Travisville in Fentress County on September 29, 1861.

Hughes was awarded the medal for capturing the colors of the 11th South Carolina (CSA) at Town Creek, N.C., on Feb. 20, 1865. The medal was awarded to him on Aug, 1, 1865.

Hughes owned a 200-acre farm at Seventy Six downstream from 76 Falls on Browns Creek. He sold it on Oct. 26, 1867, to C.V. Wright and moved to Callao, Missouri, where he operated a saloon for many years. In 1903, he was charged with selling alcohol to minors but was tried and acquitted because, to quote one juror, the jury was afraid if they convicted him they "would have no place to drink." He made a race for town marshal but was defeated. He died Jan. 5, 1911, and is buried in the Old Callao Cemetery in Macon County. He was survived by his wife and four children. The farm that he owned was later owned by Marcus McFall, and most of it is believed to have been taken for the Lake Cumberland project.

Benjamin Franklin, in the person of Buz Piercey, will speak about the Declaration of Independence July 3 and 4

"Dr. Benjamin Franklin" will give a short presentation on the Declaration of Independence at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, July 3, and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, July 4, at Mount Union Christian Church near 76 Falls.

Franklin's physical body has suffered from age and decay a lot over the last 250 years, but his mind is still as sharp as ever. We expect the talk to be electrifying! (Electrifying, get it?)

As a convenience for the audience, Dr. Franklin has made special arrangements to occupy Buz Piercey’s body while presenting the talk. No special bifocal glasses will be required. (Get it?) Come learn how Dr. Franklin helped found our great nation.

Buz Piercey is Rodney Piercey Jr., a native of Seventy Six who had a long career in higher education, concluding it as provost (chief academic officer) of Eastern Kentucky University in 2007-09.

After graduation from Clinton County High School and Centre College, Piercey earned his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from Vanderbilt University. He worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a German research institute, then was an assistant professor at Centre. In 1982-89 he led a program at the University of Florida to study gamma-ray astronomy and the effects of space radiation. At Mississippi State University he rose to become the head of the Physics and Astronomy Department, then moved to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida as a department chair in 2001 and was founding dean of its College of Arts and Sciences in 2002.

Piercey has conducted a very wide range of research, from software reliability to the nature of free will in a quantum reality, and has received numerous awards including one for the design of Kmax, a multi-parameter data acquisition system. He formerly served on the board of directors of Sparrow Corp. and Tribo Flow Separations LLC, and has served on several other government-appointed boards and panels. He and his wife, Katarzyna, a native of Poland, have three children.

One of the April 1974 tornadoes devastated Seventy Six

The park and church were destroyed.

The tornado of April 3, 1974, was so devastating in Clinton County that when people refer to it, only "April 3rd" needs to be said.

Tornadoes ravaged areas from Tennessee to Ohio on that fateful evening. It was the greatest outbreak of F5 tornadoes in America's recorded history. A total of 148 tornadoes were confirmed on that single day.

Twin funnels entered the county at Green Grove, then crossed through Ida into the Seventy Six Falls area and continued on through Piney Woods, crossing KY 558. Eight people were killed in Clinton County, including Effie Wells, 64, who lived in a brick house within sight of Seventy Six Falls. She was the mother of Holland Wells.

Homes destroyed in the community included those of J.S. Andrew, Rudy Thomas, and Frank Summers. The Ida community was devastated. The home of Jimmy Hicks was destroyed, as was the nearby home of Cletis Boils, where three people died.

Had the area been more heavily populated, the loss of life would almost certainly have been much greater. As it was, Clinton County lost 0.1% of its population, a greater rate than any April 1974 community in Kentucky except Meade County, where 31 died.

The Mount Union Christian Church building was leveled. The Andrew home above the falls was lifted from its foundation and turned sideways, yet its occupants escaped unharmed. Rudy Thomas, who lived on the hill east of the falls, suffered a broken back but miraculously survived.

Debris from the Frank Summers home at Seventy Six was found more than 50 miles away.

The roadside park at the falls, then operated by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, was completely destroyed. It took several years for the park to be rebuilt, and it is now maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Mount Union Church rebuilt much more quickly, and its new building was rededicated in 1975.

This day will never be forgotten by those who lived through it.

How and why did Albany and Clinton County get their names? We may never know for sure, but it's interesting

Clinton County was created by the 1836 Kentucky Legislature from portions of Cumberland, Russell, and Wayne counties. The original proposal in 1835 was to create a county named Crittenden with similar boundaries as Clinton, but that measure was, for unknown reasons, defeated. The name was designed to honor John J. Crittenden, then the Kentucky secretary of state and later governor and U.S. senator. The legislature created Crittenden County, in Western Kentucky, in 1842.

The bill later resurfaced with the name "Clinton" affixed to the new county, and that measure passed. The county was officially named for DeWitt Clinton, former governor of New York and the driving force behind the Erie Canal. However, the Erie Canal had been completed over 10 years earlier, and Clinton had died in 1828.

The gravestone of Israel Clinton
Winfrey in the Columbia Cemetery

The unpublicized truth was that Francis Winfrey, who represented Cumberland County in the lower house of the General Assembly, had an eight-year-old son named Israel Clinton Winfrey, and the county was quietly named in his honor. The first mention of this was in a March 25, 1951, New Era newspaper column by S.V. Brents, a highly respected local author and historian.

After the establishment of the county, a mass meeting was held to determine where the county seat should be located. There were three proposed locations: Paoli, a village a mile south of Albany that already had a post office, named for a Corsican patriot; an area in the middle of the county in what is now the Wago community; and a place where Robert Cross had offered to donate a portion of his land for public use and where Benjamin McDowell had a tavern.

Benny McDowell was a strong proponent of establishing the town at his tavern's location and supposedly supplied strong drink to several in the crowd, who started chanting, "We're ALL for BENNY," which evolved into "ALL-BENNY." Benny McDowell and Robert Cross carried the day, and their location prevailed, and that further explains the locally preferred pronunciation of "All-Benny."

The official version is that "Albany" is named after Albany, the capital of New York. They both make good stories. You decide for yourself which one to believe.

Schedule is final for the Spirit of 76 Celebration July 3 & 4

Here's the schedule for the Spirit of 76 Celebration on Friday, July 3. Saturday's schedule follows. 

Here's the Saturday schedule. Note that Mt. Union Christian Church events are the same both days.

Official flyer for 7.6 Miler race on July 4 is released

Here is the official flyer for the 7.6 Miler race from 76 Falls to Albany on July 4. Please share!

John Woodrum of Seventy Six lived the American Dream

John G. Woodrum in front of his casino in Las Vegas

By David M. Cross

In 2013 Clinton County lost one of its most successful native sons, John Woodrum. However, if you were from Clinton County, you called John by a different name; here he was "J.G." And if you called, he would always answer.

J.G. Woodrum was a Fairlander, through and through. He was raised down at the end of what is now called Woodrum Road. His parents, Loren and Golsie Woodrum, were not people of great means but were certainly respected folks of good character. After quitting school and enlisting in the National Guard, J .G. made his way back to high school where he was one of Coach Lindle Castle's first Bulldogs. After the 1958 season, J.G. was too old to play, but he hung around as an unofficial motivator/confidante/ traveling companion of the only Bulldog team to ever reach the Sweet Sixteen. Along the way he did a little bit of everything for Coach Castle and the team, including driving the team bus on occasion.

That's the first amazing thing about J .G. Woodrum. While still attending high school, he drove a school bus. They say it's an arrangement that his mother Golsie made with the superintendent, after the regular driver suffered a heart attack, to help him to complete high school. It was a way for him to afford to go to school, as well as his mode of travel. He parked the bus at the Woodrum house each night and picked up the children of Seventy Six and Fairland along the route, taking them to school. And ever since those high school days, he was picking folks up all along his route in life, helping them out in some manner to try and help them on their journey. 

J.G. was a member of that storied CCHS Class of 1960 (and prided himself on personally sponsoring three of their class reunions), a class which arguably was closer than any other class in school history. J.G. and a high-school classmate headed out to California in 1963, got as far as Las Vegas, and ran out of money. Or maybe they ran out of money on the way back. Anyway, they did run out of money, and Vegas was as far as they got. It is said they sold the tires off the car, then sold the car.\

The classmate moved on after a few months, but J.G. stayed, becoming known as John Woodrum. He was a master storyteller. He would tell people in Vegas that he left Kentucky with the carnival at age 14 and ended up in Vegas. John would tell a lot of things out there; after all, Vegas is a town based on entertainment. His large frame, great personality and warm smile and handshake won him both friends and respect from those he met in Vegas, including Sam Boyd, who John worked for from 1963 until Boyd, one of Vegas's heaviest hitters, helped the Kentuckian go into business for himself.

John Woodrum was recognized throughout Las Vegas, not just as the owner of the former Klondike Casino, which he bought in 1976 for $1 million and sold in 2006 for many times that figure; not just, as one columnist wrote, as the man who knew more stories of old Las Vegas than anyone; but also as the entrepreneur who had sense enough to run power to re-light the now famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign in front of the Klondike at the end of the Strip. It was to become the most recognized landmark in Vegas. If not for him, it quite likely would have just faded away.

When Jerry Tarkanian coached basketball at UNLV, John Woodrum was one of his biggest supporters, so close that when the NCAA exiled "Tark the Shark" from the program, they did the same to John. Apparently, his old practice of picking people up was viewed as being in violation of NCAA rules.

J.G. loved to see the home folk come to Vegas. If you were from Clinton County, he certainly treated you special out there. But he had a way to make everyone feel special. J.G. used his rural raising in Kentucky as an advantage, not as an excuse. He learned how to deal with people, and to appreciate people, big and small, but with love for the little people. He learned to follow through and do what you said, a trait not always found in Vegas. He always kept his heart in Clinton County, even though his feet were elsewhere.

He was one of Seventy Six's finest expatriates, and there are several who could share that title. Others yet to be raised here will continue to rise and achieve success, in some place far larger than the many professionals, entrepreneurs, and business executives are now scattered around America but still call Clinton County their home.

Google Map

It is so unfortunate that so many rural children educate themselves "right out of Clinton County," for that is where the greater opportunities lie. That's just the way it is. However, the J. G. Woodrum success story, as well as the stories of those who have chosen to return home and succeed, should help motivate our young people to see what they too can achieve when they put their mind to it.

J.G. Woodrum came from a large, poor family that lived at the end of their road in rural Clinton County, which now bears the name Woodrum Road. But that road was not a dead end for him. It was the beginning of his long, colorful, interesting and successful journey down the road of life. He traveled a long, hard road, but in his journey, he learned something every step of the way and used it to help him achieve success, and to help others along the way. This is the story of The American Dream, fulfilled and achieved, by a country boy from Seventy Six who never forgot where he came from.

7.6-mile July 4 race from 76 Falls to Albany is attracting dozens of runners; CCHS Alumni Band will play at finish

The route will follow KY 3062, KY 734, US 127, Business US 127, a KY 1590 loop and Business 127 to the Albany square.

The big link between Seventy Six and its county seat of Albany, Kentucky, during the Spirit of 76 Celebration will be the unique 7.6-mile race from the 76 Falls Recreation Area on Lake Cumberland to the courthouse square in Albany on the morning of Saturday, July 4.

Dozens of runners are signing up for the race and are expected begin arriving at the finish line around 8:45 a.m. The Clinton County High School Alumni Band, with some help from current band members, will begin playing at Albany Place, 203 South Cross Street, at 9 a.m. and continue until 10:30 a.m. to provide entertainment for spectators, runners and their companions.

Billed as one of Kentucky's most patriotic road races, the 7.6 Miler will take runners on a memorable journey through the Appalachian foothills of Clinton County before finishing in the heart of downtown Albany. The 7.6 Miler will be a celebration of community pride, American spirit, the natiomn's 250th birthday and the traditions that make Independence Day special.

The route will follow KY 3062 to US 127 to Buisiness 127 (North Cross Street), take a loop on KY 1590 (Burkesville Road) and take North Cross to the finish line at the square. The race will be professionally timed and entrants will get a commemorative shirt.

The race is open to runners age 15 and up. Prizes in the male and female divisions will be $300 for first place, $200 for second, and $100 for third. Age-groups awards will be made in male and female divisions to the top three in these groups: 15-19, 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, and 60+. To sign up, go here.

Where better to celebrate the nation's 250th birthday and the spirit of 1776 than the only place in America named 76?

SEVENTY SIX, Ky. – The 250-year history of the United States of America has been written not only in places like Philadelphia, New York and Washington, but in every community in the country – including the historic community of Seventy Six in Southern Kentucky.

So, where better to celebrate the spirit of 1776 than the only place in America named Seventy Six?

That’s the question being asked – and the invitation being issued – by folks in Clinton County, who are staging what looks to be the area’s biggest celebration ever and one of the more interesting celebrations of America’s semi-quincentennial on the weekend of July 3 and 4.

The schedule includes free concerts by country, bluegrass and Americana music stars; a huge fireworks show; golf tournaments, a 7.6-mile race, and historical and patriotic presentations that will highlight the contributions of Seventy Six and the county to the history of Kentucky and the nation.

Seventy Six is best known today for 76 Falls on Lake Cumberland, and the 76 Falls Country Club on KY 3062 (off KY 90) will be the site of free concerts by rising and established music stars.

Colton Bowlin (Photo by Sommer Daniel)

On Friday, July 3, the 8 p.m. headliner will be Colton Bowlin of Albany, whose album “Grandpa’s Mill” has been called one of the best country albums of the year. The opening acts, starting at 6 p.m., will be locals Kristen Hunter and Thomas Oesterreicher, who is part of the Thomas extended family who made music for decades at Renfro Valley and much of Kentucky.

The free concert Saturday, July 4, will begin with EmiSunshine at 6 p.m., followed by award-winning singer-songwriter Larry Cordle and his reunited Lonesome Standard Time band at 7. The headliner at 8 will be Chris Knight of Slaughters, Ky., long a big and popular voice of rural America.

The 76 Falls Country Club will start its weekend schedule with the “Battle of 76” golf tournament at 1 p.m. CT Friday. On Saturday at 8:30 a.m., it will host “The Spirit of 76 at 76,” limited to 76 players.

At 8:30 a.m. Saturday, scores of runners are expected for a 7.6-mile race from the 76 Falls Recreation Area on Lake Cumberland to the public square in Albany, where the Clinton County High School Alumni Band will perform. From 8 to 10 a.m., VFW Post #1096 on Hopkins Street in Albany will host a free breakfast, limited to veterans, active military and reserve and their spouses.

Seventy Six no longer has a post office, but for more than a century it was one of the leading communities in the region, and it produced many political and business leaders, including the Semple family, whose members were early leaders of the republic and state of California, and Sen. Ed P. Warinner, who was a leader in the Kentucky legislature and state Republican politics in the 1950s.

Seventy Six Baptist Church

The history of the community and its families will be highlighted at the historic Seventy Six Baptist Church, founded in 1822, and at the Mount Union Christian Church near 76 Falls. At these and other locations, there will be portrayals of historical figures in period costumes, and Uncle Sam on stilts.

At noon on Friday and Saturday, poet, author and former Clinton County school superintendent Rudy Thomas will give a walking lecture on “The Importance of Place,” about the development of Seventy Six, starting at the 76 Falls Recreation Area and going less than half a mile down KY 3062 to the Mount Union Christian Church, which will be the alternate site of the weather is inclement.

At 1:30 each day at Mount Union, former Eastern Kentucky University provost Rodney Piercey Jr. will lecture on Benjamin Franklin’s role in the American Revolution. His brother Terry will display and discuss part of his extensive collection of Native American artifacts (this is on Indian Creek!) and their sister Vickie Piercey May will demonstrate how to spin wool on their grandmother’s spinning wheel.

Lt. Garlin Murl Conner

At 3 p.m. each day, Mount Union will host a screening of the KET-aired documentary, From Honor to Medal: The Story of Garlin M. Conner, an hour-long film about local resident Murl Conner’s heroism in World War II and the unusual but successful effort to get him the Medal of Honor 20 years after his death, followed by a panel discussion including State Treasurer Mark Metcalf, a veterans’ advocate.

The Seventy Six Baptist Church, at the junction of KY 734 and KY 639, will have different programs each day, and a quilt display both days. On Friday from 1 to 3 p.m., speakers will discuss local history and families. Gospel singing will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the Tim Riddle Singers, the Cross Brothers from Byrdstown, Tenn., Ryan Thomas, and the Albany Community Chorus. At 3 p.m. Carl Sasser will serve his homemade ice cream until it's all gone, and there will be more discussions of family history.

Rain or wind will prevent rides.

From 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday at the 76 Falls Country Club, there will be children’s activities, including patriotic temporary face tattoos, cornhole and a vintage bag toss. From 5:30 to 8 p.m., weather permitting, the ReMax hot-air balloon will offer tethered rides at a lot near the country club.

Following the Chris Knight concert, the crowd will be treated to a huge show from LT’s Fireworks.

The Spirit of 76 Celebration is a project of the Clinton County Community Foundation and is funded almost entirely by private donations and sales of commemorative items, including a keepsake program with many historical articles and photographs. Articles are being published on the Celebration website, AlbanyKySpiritof76.blogspot.com, and its Facebook and Instagram pages.

The Thomases of 76 may be Clinton County's greatest extended musical family; members will sing on July 3 and 4

Flossie and Reual Thomas (Berea College archive)

By David M. Cross

The family in Clinton County that may well have the greatest reputation for singing and making music is the Thomas family of Seventy Six.

The most noted member was Reual Thomas, a schoolteacher who originally headed the gospel group The Crusaders, formed in the 1930s.

This group consisted of Reual (lead) and his wife Flossie Garner Thomas (alto), their neighbor Leslie Andrew (baritone and guitar) of Seventy Six, and Marvin York (bass), also of Clinton County. They played at Renfro Valley during the peak of its popularity in the early 1940s.

The Crusaders, L to R: The Thomases, Leslie
Andrew and Marvin York (Berea College archive)

They also played on Renfro Valley owner John Lair's “more subdued, scripted radio programs such as Monday Night in Renfro Valley and the Renfro Valley Gatherin' until disbanding in 1944,” Berea College researcher Kevin Kehrberg wrote. “They were generally typical of Southern gospel quartets of the time. However, with both male and female members, their sound was more mild and rounded than all-male groups, then the majority in Kentucky’s gospel-quartet scene.”

From the collection of David M. Cross

To hear a recording of the Crusaders singing "I'll Wake Up in Glory Land," from the Digital Library of Appalachia, click here. The library has four other Crusaders recordings.

During this time Reual made a good race for Clinton County Clerk in 1937, losing to incumbent Logan Frost.

Reual organized the Four Tones in 1944 to replace The Crusaders. That group didn't stay together long, and two other groups in the region were using the name, Reual formed the Seventy Six Quartet in 1947. Members at times included Jeff and Clay Colson, Flossie Thomas, Leslie Andrew, and Morris Gaskins, later pastor at Clearfork Baptist Church. This group sang across Mid-America and for a time had a radio show on WLAP Radio in Lexington. 

Reual Thomas posed with the 1941 Buick brake drum that has
been struck at the end of every Renfro Valley Gatherin' since
1943, sounding like a church bell. (Berea College archives)

Reual became Renfro Valley owner John Lair's right-hand man and master of ceremonies of the Barn Dance in the 1950s. He “profoundly shaped many aspects of the sacred music programming and events sponsored by Renfro Valley for over 15 years during the organization's most successful period,” Kehrberg wrote. “Not only did he lead various quartets that performed on many of Renfro Valley's network radio programs, but he also organized many gospel music events (monthly singings, singing schools, quartet contests, an annual all-night and all-day sing) on the grounds of Renfro Valley that served the surrounding local and regional communities of Kentucky.”

The Digital Library of Appalachia has seven recordings of the Seventy Six Quartet, including "Did You Ever Go Sailing," sung on the Renfro Valley Gatherin' on Louisville's WHAS Radio on Feb. 28, 1951.

Reual Omer Thomas died in 1959, and Flossie died in 1963. They were the parents of Danny Omer Thomas of Seventy Six.

Noble Thomas was a teacher and country merchant who operated a store near what are known as the "Old Seventy" curves on the Grider Hill Dock Road. He taught singing schools in the community for years.

Brothers Maxie and Maurice Thomas led the singing for years at Mount Union Church. Local DJ Hank Snow Thomas has been playing music for 50 years.

Nearly every Thomas could sing, and that tradition is carried on at the Spirit of Seventy Six as Maxie Thomas' great-grandson, Thomas Oesterreicher, will be performing prior to the Colton Bowlin show on Friday night, July 3.

Additionally, to further carry on the tradition, Ryan Thomas and his group will be performing at the historic Seventy Six Baptist Church (founded 1822) on the afternoon of July 4.

Close-up seats for concerts at 76 Falls Country Club go on sale tomorrow, June 4; otherwise, admission is free

The July 3 and 4 concerts at 76 Falls Country Club are free to the public, but VIP tickets will be available for $25 per person, starting at 11 a.m. CT tomorrow, June 5. Those who buy eight tickets will get a reserved table.

Live Music Headliners:

• Friday, July 3: Colton Bowlin

• Saturday, July 4: Chris Knight

Spectacular Fireworks July 4

Food and Drink

Family-Friendly Fun

VIP ticket holders will have exclusive access to the clubhouse facilities during the event.

Prohibited Items: Glass, weapons, personal fireworks

VIP Tickets Go On Sale 11 a.m. CT Friday, June 5

VIP tickets are first come, first served and must be picked up in the Pro Shop. A limited number of VIP tickets are available, so don’t wait to reserve your spot! Call 606-688-2803.

Gather your friends and family and celebrate America’s 250th birthday at 76 Falls Country Club!

EmiSunshine, an opening act for Chris Knight at 76 on July 4, writes and sings a blend of country, folk, blues and rock

EmiSunshine no longer looks like a child star on the cover of her new double album, Miss Demeanor.

EmiSunshine, one of the opening acts for Chris Knight at the Spirit of 76 Celebration concert on July 4, is only 22 but has been in the music business for 15 years.

Emilie Sunshine Hamilton recorded her first two albums at 7 and found an international following at 9 when a fan posted a video of her flea-market performance of Jimmie Rodgers’ “Blue Yodel No. 6” on YouTube and it became a viral hit. That led to an appearance on the Today show and a spot on the Grand Ole Opry. She was soon opening shows for Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn and Tanya Tucker and had appointments to write songs with Nashville songwriters.

While she still has elements of that little girl from Madisonville, Tennessee, EmiSunshine’s new album, Miss Demeanor, is a testament to who she is now. The songs are more personal, more mature, and give honest insights about growing up in the spotlight, writing and playing country, folk, blues and rock.

“It takes a double album to represent who EmiSunshine is now,” her publicity says. “There’s plenty of familiar dark themes, old-time country stylings, and the clever lyrics and odd twists that have always been Emi’s signatures. This time, though, they’re delivered with a more nuanced and mature vocal style. One track is “Now You Know,” Emi’s first public acknowledgement that she is gay.

“I had a fan base that had a false perception of who I am,” says Emi. “This is the first time I’ve talked about that. . . . I loved every moment of my spotlight. It was an important part of my journey, but if I could go back I’d be more honest about who I was.” Emi’s publicity says, “If she loses a few fans, so be it. She’s more concerned about reaching people who want to connect with who she really is.

There are fans whom Emi is happy not to have. Her song “P.D.L.M.A.” (“Pedophiles Don’t Love Me Anymore”) depicts creepy requests and inquiries she got as a child. She says it isn’t really intended to make light of the subject: “It’s a way for me to deal with what happened.”

Emi knows she’s making a statement with her new album. “I’m re-introducing myself as an artist,” she says, “and ending the child-star era of my life.”

Award-winning singer-songwriter Larry Cordle will help open the July 4 concert to be headlined by Chris Knight

By Randy Speck

Larry Cordle, a long-successful songwriter and musician from Eastern Kentucky, will be one of the opening acts for Chris Knight at the free July concert for the Spirit of 76 Celebration.

Cordle was born in Louisa, the seat of Lawrence County, and grew up near the neighboring small community of Cordell. As a young child he was introduced to bluegrass, country and gospel music by his great\-grandfather, Harry Bryant, an old-time claw hammer banjo stylist, fiddle player and dancer.

“Mom said I could sing 'I’ll Fly Away' all the way through when I was two years old!” Cordle fondly remembers on his website, recalling his grandfather's influence. “We lived so far away from everything that we had to make our own entertainment. Papaw would get the fiddle out in the evenings sometimes and play and dance for us. Just as soon as I was old enough to try to learn to play, I did so and kinda seconded after him on the guitar. He ran an old country store and I spent many happy hours in there with him playing, talking about and listening to music. It was our escape into another world, something we grew up with and looked so forward to. I was always happiest when we were in a jam session.”

After graduating from high school, Cordle spent four years in the Navy, was honorably discharged and attended Morehead State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting. “I just didn’t see how I could ever make a living doing only music,” he explains, “so I worked for a CPA firm during the day and played in clubs at night.” All the while, he desperately wanted to devote all of his time to music, but his commitments would remain divided, until writing a song that changed everything for the aspiring singer-songwriter.

Cordle's childhood friend and neighbor, musical prodigy Ricky Skaggs, heard Cordle’s “Highway 40 Blues” and promised that he would record it one day. In the summer of 1983, it was the No. 1 country song in the nation, helping launch Larry’s songwriting career and skyrocketing Skaggs’ already solid music career.  “A lot of people who hear it think it's about Interstate 40, which runs through Nashville, but I actually wrote it about that little state highway in Kentucky,” which runs from Salyersville through Paintsville and Inez to the West Virginia border, almost touching Lawrence County.

Cordle's best known song is “Murder On Music Row,” co-written with Larry Shell in 1999 as a complaint against the rise of “country pop” music. It was first recorded by his bluegrass group, Lonesome Standard Time, as the title track of an album, and gained its greatest fame when it was recorded as a duet by George Strait and Alan Jackson, reaching No. 38 on the country singles chart even though it was never officially released as a single. Cordle’s songs have also been recorded by Alison Krauss, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

The original version of “Murder On Music Row” won Song of the Year at the 2000 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. It was the second such award for Cordle; in 1993, the Lonesome Standard Time band won IBMA Song of the Year for “Lonesome Standard Time,” written by Cordle and Jim Rushing.

Cordle shared in a Grammy Award with friends Carl Jackson and Jerry Salley for the song "You’re Running Wild" on Livin', Lovin', Losin': Songs of the Louvin Brothers, a project that featured numerous country music stars singing songs made famous by the legendary duo. It won the 2004 Grammy for Country Album of the Year. Cordle has played on several other collaborative albums and singles, including the 2022 Gospel Music Association Dove Award-winning song, “The Sweet By and By,” with Jackson, Salley, Dolly Parton and Bradley Walker. He has provided harmony vocals for artists such as Brooks, Blake Shelton and many more. At last count, Cordle’s songs had appeared on projects that had sold a combined total of more than 55 million records. 

In April 2015, Larry Cordle was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame. In 2017, he released an all-gospel album, Give Me Jesus, which received a 2018 Grammy nomination for Best Roots Gospel Album and a 2017 IBMA Gospel Recorded Event of the Year nomination for the title track.

Cordle released one of his best albums to date, “Where The Trees Know My Name,” in 2021. The album produced three hit singles (“Sailor’s Regret,” “Cherokee Fiddle” and “Breakin’ on the Jimmy Ridge”) along with more chart singles “The Devil and Shade Wallen” and “Natural State” on the Bluegrass Today Top 20 song chart.

In 2022 Cordle scored with the release of his song, “East Kentucky Blues,” which reached No. 1 on the Bluegrass Today Top 20 weekly and monthly charts and was named one of the publication’s Top 50 Songs of 2022.

“Cordle remains highly active in all facets of his career,” his official biography says. “He regularly records and performs. He is also still first and foremost a songwriter, now writing independently for his own company, Wandachord Music (BMI). He is a long-time resident of the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, where he lives with his wife Wanda. However, he still enjoys the opportunity to make frequent trips back to his Kentucky home place. Those Eastern Kentucky roots certainly shine through on his award-winning original songs.”

We are proud to welcome Kentuckian Larry Cordle to Seventy Six, Kentucky, and the Spirit of 76 Celebration at the Seventy Six Falls Country Club. Hope to see you there!!

Colton Bowlin, headliner of free July 3 concert at 76 Falls Country Club, is inspired by Albany and Clinton County

Colton Bowlin (Photo by Sommer Daniel)

By Al Cross

Colton Bowlin was riding with his grandfather in a truck, singing along with a Merle Haggard tune.

“That don’t sound half bad,” Gayle Bowlin told him. That compliment spurred Colton to teach himself to play guitar, and he started to write songs.

One was about his grandfather’s mill on the headwaters of the Clear Fork in Happy Hollow, where he worked before and after graduating from Pickett County High School in 2023. When Gayle Bowlin died in July 2024, Colton had written one verse of “Grandpa’s Mill.”

“After he had passed, I went back and finished it, as a way of mourning his passing,” Colton recalled in an interview. It became the title song of his latest album, released in March on State Line Records, his own label. “I decided to dedicate that record to him because of how close we were.”

Colton says on his website that the songs on the album were “written mostly between loading feed, swapping stories with old-timers, and playing local bars on weekends. I shaped these songs from the rhythms of real work and small-town life.” The album "has been named one of the year’s best so far by a number of outlets," notes Matt Wickstrom in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Bowlin’s songs and rhythms will be featured Friday night, July 3, in the opening concert of the Spirit of 76 Celebration at the 76 Falls Country Club and golf course. The event will be free, but the nonprofit country club is selling VIP seats. Kristen Hunter and Thomas Oesterricher will be the opening acts.

The songs of Colton Bowlin are mainly about his life, the lives of people he has known, and stories he heard around the mill and elsewhere. His most-heard song on Spotify is “Don’t Come Home,” a country rocker that says he was “raised in the holler . . . mixing meal in an old feed mill.”

His second most-heard song is “Clinton County,” in which he sings, “The sounds of the city push away this hillbilly” and “Let me go back to the hills that I call home.”

Bowlin still lives in Albany. “I like to stay home as much as I can, stay out of the Nashville scene,” though “Nashville’s a great place,” he said. “I think I can bring out my best art in the quiet times, away from the noise of the city.” 

He says he is inspired by classic country and Southern rock, and by two Kentucky country stars, Sturgill Simpson and Tyler Childers, neither of whom he has met. “I try to lean more to the outlaw side of things, going against the grain,” he said. “I always love the dark songs.” 

What he would like people in Albany to know most about his music? “There’s always a meaning behind something. I’d like people to know that I try to write songs that people can relate to in some form or fashion. I just try to make music from the heart. . . . I want people to say, at the end of the day, that ‘He’s not fabricating anything; those are stories that could happen, or things that he’s seen.’”

Bowlin’s first album, “Songs from the Holler,” has millions of listens on Spotify. His latest album was produced by David Ferguson of Nashville, who has worked as a recording engineer with Childers and Simpson, and the late Johnny Cash and John Prine.

“I thought he fit the job that I wanted to get done the best, and his track record of who he’s worked with is cool, to say the least,” Bowlin said. The album was recorded at Chase Park Studios in Athens, Ga., with his band, “a lot of hippies from Atlanta: great guys, really talented musicians.”

Bowlin met Ferguson through Alan Scher of Atlanta, who became Bowlin’s co-manager in a meeting at McDonald’s in Albany. Now that he’s become known as a country artist, “I can’t even go in there much without somebody wanting a picture,” even at the drive-thru.

“Bowlin writes with a surprisingly mature perspective and sings with a deep, lived-in tone,” wrote Tennessean music reporter Bryan West, who related the story about the Gayle Bowlin compliment that started Colton toward a musical career.

People magazine online wrote of Colton, “By blending emotionally powerful country sonics with red-dirt sound, Bowlin evokes the energy of names such as Jason Isbell, Zach Bryan and the early work of BJ Barham and American Aquarium. Bowlin's emotionally charged, unique blend of Appalachian-honed, country-driven storytelling is precisely why his artistry has been noticed by everyone from Hank Williams Jr. to Asley McBryde, both of whom have tapped the budding star to open for them on tour.”

"It's mind-blowing," Bowlin says. "I just never would've thought that my songs would have that reach or even have the capability of reaching that far.”

Gayle Bowlin

He keeps reaching farther. On Sept. 11, he will perform on stage at the Ryman Auditorium, as an opening act for Paul Cauthen, a Grand Ole Opry artist. Entertaining at “the mother church of country music” seems to fulfill the promise he made to Gayle Bowlin.

“When my grandpa was getting pretty sick on his last few days, I would always tell him, ‘Don't worry, I'm going to make something of myself’,” he said. “He always wanted to make sure that I tried to follow in his footsteps, and he tried to be a good example . . . I told him I'm going to make something of myself and I want that to be something worth remembering, so that's what I'm striving to do.”

Chris Knight, a big voice of rural America, will headline free 'Spirit of 76' concert July 4 at 76 Falls Country Club

Knight says, "I just try to sing the songs like I mean it."

Singer-songwriter Chris Knight, in his 28th year as a recording artist telling the stories of rural America, will headline the concluding free concert of the Spirit of 76 Celebration at the Seventy Six Falls Country Club on Saturday, July 4, 2026, the 250th birthday of the United States of America.

Knight “remains boldly empowered to make music that always delivers the unflinching truth,” says the bio on his website. “That brutally honest, no-frills philosophy fits his Americana-fueled, backwoods-grown merger of folk, country, and rock.”

The musician grew up in Webster County, earned an agriculture degree from Western Kentucky University, and was a state strip-mine reclamation inspector and consultant for 10 years before embarking full-time on his entertainment career. He began writing songs when he was 26 after being inspired by hearing Steve Earle on the radio, and started performing at 30. After a couple of years he got a spot on songwriters’ night at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, and attracted the interest of music producer Frank Liddell, who signed him to a contract when he was 37.

When Liddell became an artist-and-repertoire representative for Decca Records, Knight got a contract with Decca, which released his self-titled debut album in 1998. At the time, Knight still lived in a 10'-x-15' trailer on 90 acres in Slaughters, Kentucky. Decca went out of business just two years later, but after two years without a label, Knight signed with Dualtone Music Group. He licensed his music to Dualtone for two records, then began released his music independently with the help of his manager.

His own songs have been the backbone of nine studio albums, from 2001’s A Pretty Good Guy and 2003’s The Jealous Kind, to two demo-styled discs (2007’s The Trailer Tapes and 2009’s Trailer II, recorded in his trailer at Slaughters), to the electric-guitar-heavy Almost Daylight in 2019. He collaborated with former Decca labelmate Lee Ann Womack on "You Lie When You Call My Name" on the Little Victories album in 2012. He was joined on the title track by his longtime musical hero, John Prine.

“Chris Knight is one of the most starkly honest lyricists working today, much like his late friend John Prine,” wrote Massachusetts music columnist Jay N. Miller. “His songs tell the stories or set the mood of working-class folk and their struggles in candid, often dark shadings. . . . There are songs about these people prevailing against tough odds, and also songs where it is clear they just won’t.”

Opening for Chris Knight will be Emi Sunshine and Larry Cordle, a country-and-bluegrass singer-songwriter best known for writing “Murder on Music Row,” recorded by George Strait and Alan Jackson, which received the Country Music Association award for Vocal Event of the Year, and was nominated for CMA Song of the Year in 2000. He plans to reunite his band, Lonesome Standard Time, at the Spirit of 76 Celebration. 

Eddie Paul Coop: The Big Wheel and the Sad Hammer

This is another in a series of stories about the colorful history of Seventy Six, Kentucky.

Eddie Paul Coop, right, shakes hands with Rep. Hal Rogers in 1982
as Mitch McConnell, then Jefferson County judge-executive, looks
 on. Coop was county Republican chairman. (Clinton County News)

It’s hard to believe that The Big Wheel has been dead for 20 years.

When you mention The Big Wheel, a lot of older folks in Clinton County immediately know who you’re referring to. For the younger people who don't, you sure did miss quite an experience. The Big Wheel was a memorable character.

Eddie Paul Coop was born and raised in Seventy-Six. Except for a few years living in Casey and Russell counties, where he worked at the radio stations there, he was a lifetime Seventy-Sixer.

E.P. was named for Senator Ed P. Warinner, another native of Seventy Six. That may have helped pique his interest in politics, and he sure stayed interested in them for his entire life. His father, a local constable, tragically died in a shootout when Eddie Paul was only a year old.

For all his adult life, Eddie Paul was a radio man. He hosted morning shows on the Russell Springs, Albany and Burkesville stations, and always had a following. His memorable line was, “It’s time to roll and go.” For years he referred to his constant companion, his dog Tadpole, as being by his side.

Eddie Paul was certainly creative, as well as entertaining. He authored one of the funniest Kentucky Derby fictional race calls, with jockeys aboard, which played locally every Derby Day, with Herman “Humdinger” Conner, well-known for his prominent snout, winning the radio race by a nose.

E.P. was quite the mischief maker. He could tell anything with a straight face, or, if on the radio, a solemn demeanor.

Jeff Hoover tells a great story about when Eddie Paul did Russell County basketball games for the Hoover family's radio station years ago. E.P. and Scott Hamm were doing the game at McCreary County, and when they got there, the telephone line was down and they weren't going to be able to transmit. Eddie Paul didn't let Scott know this important fact, and proceeded to set up and start talking as if they were on the air.

Something happened in the game and E.P. said Coach Allen “Feldhaus is mad as hell!” Scott waved his arms and motioned for Coop not to use that language on the airwaves.

E.P. went on, and a short time later, a questionable call occurred, and he proceeded to use very strong and prohibited language, with his comrade telling him all the while, “You can’t SAY that over the air!” Finally, after Eddie Paul had gone completely wild with outrageous talk, and Scott had gone to pieces listening, E.P. revealed to him that they weren't on the air and hadn't ever been. We don't think they rode back to Russell County together.

E.P. attended various government board meetings for Albany’s WANY, and if the news was slow he would make news, coming up with something controversial to make the news himself. In ways, he was brilliant. He could stir things up better than anybody in the county. He would take a position on nearly every issue, and nearly every political race. He was among the plaintiffs who filed suit to challenge the first version of the county occupational tax. He also filed a lawsuit to set aside magisterial redistricting. Things would happen if E.P. was around. And you always knew where he stood on every issue.

If he was on your side, there was no better ally. If he was against you, you were in for a hard fight. He might decide he was mad at you and you'd never understand why. You just had to treat him like he wasn't mad and then you’d see him and everything would be fine. But you'd soon know who else he had decided to be aggravated at instead of you.

He got the name "Little Wheel" at Robert York's store at Seventy Six, where most people in the community acquired their nicknames. As he grew older, that evolved into "The Big Wheel." He feared no man but had a heart of gold, doing a tremendous amount of good works for the people of Clinton County.

E.P. was commissioner of the local softball league and was known to get a bit riled up at the ballfield. He served many years as Republican election commissioner and also served as Republican county chairman. His brother Billy Joe was property valuation administrator for 31 years, but Eddie Paul ran for office only once, for magistrate, as an independent. It’s too bad he lost. It sure would have been a quite eventful four years of Fiscal Court meetings.

One of his favorite lines was about “the sad hammer” being put on someone due to their bad conduct. That term is a Clinton County original, a phrase he coined and promulgated. 

In trying to recall the origin of the phrase, we recall him telling the story of a young, naïve fellow who hadn't been seen in a while because he had been in jail. When asked how he fared in court. The poor fellow advised that everything seemed to be going very well for him until the judge brought down his gavel and ordered him to jail.

As the fellow colorfully put it, “I was doing real good until that ol’ judge brought that sad hammer down on me.”

And that’s how a memorable, unique local phrase was born.

 

Free breakfast for veterans, Guard and Reserve, active-duty military and spouses July 4 at VFW post in West Albany

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Garlin Murl Conner Post #1096 will serve a free breakfast for veterans, National Guard and Reserve members and active-duty military members and their spouses Saturday, July 4, from 8 to 10 a.m. at the post on Hopkins Street in West Albany. A notice from the veterans says, "Post 1096 is honored to participate in the Spirit of Seventy Six, and we remind all that if not for the effort and sacrifice of America's veterans the flame of the Spirit of 76 and the shining light of the United States of America would have been distinguished long ago."

Film on Medal of Honor winner Murl Conner to be shown July 3 and 4, followed by panel discussions about his and veterans’ lives, including state Treasurer Mark Metcalf

By Al Cross

More than 3,500 service members have won the Medal of Honor, but no one earned it and won it quite like Garlin Murl Conner, who was from Indian Creek in Clinton County.

The story of Conner’s World War II heroism, and the efforts of friends and admirers to get him the medal 20 years after he died, is told in an hour-long documentary, “From Honor to Medal: The Story of Garlin M. Conner,” which has aired many times on KET.

The documentary will be shown Friday and Saturday, July 3 and 4, at 3 p.m. both days, at the Mount Union Christian Church near 76 Falls. The showings will be followed by panel discussions about Conner’s life and veterans’ experiences. Panelists will include State Treasurer Mark Metcalf, a veterans’ advocate.

From The New Era, Albany, Nov. 11, 1944

One item up for discussion is whether Conner was the most decorated American soldier of World War II. That title is typically given to Audie Murphy, who was in the Third Infantry Division with Conner and earned his Medal of Honor two days later and a few miles away, in Alsace in eastern France in January 1945. Conner received four Silver Stars, two more than Murphy, and said he was wounded seven times, but the records of his Purple Hearts were destroyed in a fire at a federal records center.

Audie Murphy came home to fame and fortune as a Medal of Honor winner and movie star. Murl Conner earned the Distinguished Service Cross, which wasn’t upgraded to the Medal of Honor until 2018. He came home to a Kentucky farm with no electricity or running water. He had a family, gave them a good life, and was a leader of his fellow farmers and veterans. He suffered in body and mind from his Army service, but said very, very little about it.

He had offered the ultimate sacrifice, calling in artillery on his forward observer’s position, to stave off an attack by a German tank unit. He had volunteered for the task soon after being released for treatment of a leg wound. His valor earned him Medal of Honor, after a campaign he authorized shortly before his death in 1998.

His story was first told by a rank stranger who became his greatest advocate and inspired others to join his campaign to get Conner the Medal of Honor. Led by a neighbor who wouldn’t take no for an answer, they struggled for 20 years to break through the Army bureaucracy, losing at every turn – but remaining inspired by Murl Conner’s battlefield examples of determination and resolve.

In the end, in an amazing turn of events, they won. Their story is told in the documentary, produced by the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky.

“He was a combination of Kit Carson and Davy Crockett,” said the late Walton Haddix of Albany, who took up the campaign begun by Richard Chilton, a Green Beret veteran from Genoa City, Wisconsin, who met Conner and learned his story while researching the service of his uncle, who died at Anzio under Conner’s command.

“He cared about his men more than anybody I ever knew,” Chilton says. “If you want to save your life, go out with Murl. Don’t go out with anybody else.”

The documentary was sponsored by private donors and the Veterans Trust Fund of the Kentucky Department for Veterans Affairs, which assisted the Conner team’s legal efforts at the direction of then-Commissioner Heather French Henry, whose cause was veterans when she was Miss America. She says in the documentary, “Just to know that you are part of this great mission that has lasted so long, and that you could at some point in your future, tell your kids, tell your grandkids, that once upon a time you were part of this fight . . . ”

President Trump embraces Pauline Conner at White House (EPA-EFE)

The fight ended June 26, 2019, when President Trump presented the Medal of Honor to Conner’s widow, Pauline Conner, in a ceremony at the White House. She said in a speech at the Pentagon the next day, “This is what Murl would want me to say: God bless these United States of America.”

The documentary was written and directed by Jeff Hoagland of Lexington. The associate producer was Janet Whitaker, formerly of KET and the Institute for Rural Journalism. The writer of this article, who was director of the Institute at the time, was executive producer.

The panel discussion about Murl Conner’s life and the effort to get him the Medal of Honor will be led by his cousin, Luther C. “Hoppy” Conner Jr., a lawyer who was part of the effort. Metcalf, the state treasurer, has made veterans and military personnel one of seven communities in his Financial Empowerment Coalition and Database.