Leftover proceeds from Celebration will go to Clinton County flood victims; sales of merchandise will help

The posters, not pictured, have the image from the back of the black T-shirt.
The T-shirts come in black, gray, sand and white.

The Spirit of 76 committee voted Monday night to dedicate all leftover proceeds from the celebration to the relief of flood victims in Clinton County.

The amount will depend largely on the sale of surplus merchandise from the Celebration: 118-page commemorative programs, T-shirts, caps, and limited-edition posters, including about 40 framed posters priced at $76 each. The other items are now all priced at $20 each and are available at the David Cross law office on the Albany square.

"The one thing that hurt us was the weather Friday night," which delayed Colton Bowlin's performance and hurt merchandise sales, said Cross, who raised $95,000 for the Celebration.

T-shirts are also available at the 76 Falls Country Club, which received praise from committee members as the central venue for the Celebration. The club raised $7,500 for flood victims during the events, which concluded with a huge fireworks show on the golf course that was visible for miles.

James Guffey's book has 44 pages.

Also available for purchase is Professor James Guffey's limited-edition book of photographs of all the Celebration events, priced at $76. To order, email him at profguffey@yahoo.com. Be aware that these books are printed to order in batches, so it may take several weeks to produce your copy.

The committee also voted to make $500 donations to each of the two churches that hosted a series of events on Friday and Saturday, July 3 and 4: the Seventy Six Baptist Church and Mount Union Christian Church. "We were just blowed over by the people who showed up," said Juanetta Sasser of the Seventy Six church.

Cross said the turnout at the church for music and historical discussions was larger than he expected. Mt. Union hosted presentations by children of the late Rodney and Jean Piercey and the documentary about Medal of Honor recipient Murl Conner, From Honor to Medal.

The committee also voted to confirm prior authorization of the payment of $1,200 in cash prizes to winners of the 7.6 Miler race to Albany from the Seventy Six Falls Recreation Area on Lake Cumberland. The vote was requested by staff of the Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky, which is the fiscal agent for the Celebration, through the Clinton County Community Foundation. Staffers Amy Karr and Tammy Hignite said the Celebration was an outstanding example of what small towns in Appalachia can do for themselves.

Hometown Revitalization sponsors childen's activities

The Albany Hometown Revitalization group sponsored children's activities at the 76 Falls Country Club on the afternoon of Saturday, July 4. The group is working to transform downtown Albany and selected landmarks into a vibrant place where people want to visit, socialize, live and work through clean-up, beautification, community events, walkability and downtown living. (Photo by James Guffey)

Spirit of 76 Celebration revelers enjoy hot-air balloon rides

Civil War re-enactors remind Celebration attendees of the contributions and sacrifices of our military veterans

Charlton Claywell (left) and Mark Maupin donned Civil War garb and carried period-era weapons during the Celebration to remind us of the contributions and sacrifices of our military veterans.

     Photos by James Guffey

Maupin and Claywell spoke to attendees at the historic Seventy Six Baptist Church.

Historic Seventy Six Baptist Church hosts two days of tales, music, family memories, quilts and other displays

Gospel singing, family stories, displays and the history of the community were enjoyed Friday and Saturday, July 3 and 4, at historic Seventy Six Baptist Chuch, founded in 1822, as part of the Spirit of 76 Celebration. Above, the gospel group Generations of Grace performs in the sanctuary.

At right, David Cross discusses the long, colorful history of Seventy Six. Here's a short video of his introduction, with his description of the Semple family, who came here from Virginia, laid out Seventy Six as a town, then moved on to Iowa and California, where they made major marks. Read David's story on the history of Seventy Six here, on the third page of this website.

The two-day event included displays of many quilts and some historical articles from the website and the Celebration's commemorative program, including one below on the Thomases, likely Clinton County's greatest singing family. At bottom, the Cross Brothers of Byrdstown, Tenn., and Ryan Thomas perform.         PHOTOS BY JAMES GUFFEY

Rudy Thomas, educator and poet, reads his work to illustrate the importance of place at Seventy Six

Rudy Thomas and Faye Piercey Dalton (Photo by Al Cross)

For a YouTube video of this part of the Spirit of 76 Celebration program, go here.

Rudy Thomas has been a teacher and a Clinton County school superintendent, and remains a poet who has published more than 1,000 poems, many of them tied to the concept of place. His presentation during the Spirit of 76 Celebration was titled "The Importance of Place."

Rudy learned the importance of place by growing up on the hill above 76 Falls, where he had hoped to begin a walking lecture, but the weather was too hot, so he spoke in the air-conditioned Mount Union Christian Church.

"I had good luck getting poetry published about my father; he was a character," Rudy said of his father, the late Morris Thomas, who was the inspiration for the title one of Rudy's 35 books, The Song Leader.

Though Morris was the song leader at the church, he was not baptized until he was old and had 19 strokes, Rudy said. His uncle Maxie Thomas asked why he had waited so long, and Morris replied, "When you go to the show you have to have a ticket to get in."

Rudy said his father went fishing under 76 Falls and came home drunk, explaining that "mermaids" from recreational boats on Lake Cumberland brought him beer. Morris came through the Battle of the Bulge and wouldn't stay in New York for a medical evaluation, so the doctor said he would rate him 10 percent disabled. "It was a small check," Rudy said, "but it was something that meant something to him." Morris was a well-known auto-body repairman.

When the lake was impounded, Rudy said, Lyman Cook was the last person to leave Indian Creek as the waters rose. When they reached his fromt porch, he hutched up his mules and said, "Let's go."

The next big event at Seventy Six was the April 3, 1974, tornado that destroyed the church and devastated the park on Indian Creek above the falls. He said the tornado gave him the idea for the poem "Threatening Conditions" in the book Old Wounds, New Words, published by the Jesse Stuart Foundation, and for "A Local Legend," a poem about Effie Wells, who lived on a hill overlooking the falls and was killed by the tornado at age 64. He read it, adding some explanations:

"She was a good woman, folks say; loved the Bible and a church she could not attend. Hard feelings stood in the way, her husband's and another's. . . .

A green light came to the opposite bank when the creek was raging wild. No one could cross from bank to bank, not man, not woman, not child.

To the folk that was a warning they should not take it light. She had cause for warning. death came in a fortnight. ("Took her husband," Rudy added.)

She lived in fear alone; her children realized they must care for her, and brought home a dog to guard a woman to dust, both capable.
The [next] woman saw a sign; she too became afraid, coming from east to west in a line, coming from west to east, she said, and moved out.

("So that was two women who moved out of the house because they saw this strange light across the creek when it was roaring.")

The storm came from the west that day, spiraling like a swarm of bees, cleaning the land in a warlike way, of her houses, her barns and her trees.

Howling down to the river the animal would go until the rescuers followed his run; across the river he had them go, to find her body, her Bibles, her guns, twisted and torn.

The folk now fear the woman dwells within in the storms' calm eye; when they hear the wind, they hear her yell, so shrill, so real, the children cry."

Rudy also spoke from his book Life on the River Hill, which he said was based on the manuscript of a half-Indian woman whose father reportedly rode with the Jesse James Gang. He said he was mentored by the late Jim Wayne Miller, the Appalachian poet at Western Kentucky University.

After Rudy spoke at noon Saturday, July 4, he asked Faye Piercey Dalton to share some stories of the community. She said after Wednesday night prayer meetings, she and other children would enjoy watermelon "and we all thought we had to go to the spring . . . a little bitty narrow path into the woods. And to tell you the truth, there might have been some hand-holding, and maybe a few stolen kisses, but you have to remember most of us were kissin' cousins, so that's about all it amounted to. . . . I look back at all those days and I see what a big impact Mount Union made on me. I still have a special place in my heart for this church."

Faye's brother, Terry Piercey, recalled an energetic preacher at a revival who "ran up and down the aisles and everything, and he caught my eye. He ran over and he grabbed me by the arm . . . he thought I was of age and that I looked like I was under conviction, but I was really just scared to death." He read "a poem Rudy wrote about our nights in church:"

"I remember. Terry laughs. Going to Old Seventy Church once one night when I was about 8. It was hot, no screens on the windows, and the bugs would come in. I was whippign a snapping bug, a brown bug hinged in the middle; they coudl flip straight up when you touched them. I was doing that. And the preacher came back, hobvering over me, and told me I was under conviction. I'd already read all of Edgar Allan Poe and most of Shakespeare by then, but I didn't have a clue what 'being under conviction' was. He asked me, 'What do you think your parents were about when you were conceived, young man? They weren't wanting a sweet baby, they were lusting,' I remember him saying, and I had no idea what lust was. I kept looking at my mother for help, but she didn't give me any."

Piercey sisters talk about family, community and history; one of them spins some wool as a brother interjects

A great part of the Spirit of 76 Celebration was the package of historical presentations at Mount Union Christian Church by children of the late Rodney and Jean Piercey.

Faye Piercey Dalton and Phyllis Piercey Amonett, both retired teachers, helped plan the program, and Faye acted as a sort of mistress of ceremonies. "It's been such an adventure getting this done," she said July 3. "It's been a privilege to grow up in this place . . . Community makes you who you are, family makes you who you are."

Faye displayed and discussed the black silk "flapper" dress of one of her grandmothers, Zada Thomas Brown, "something very special to me." She said hemlines rose in the 1920s, and "She was independent, oh, so very independent, and I thnk this dress is just a reflection of who she was. She was probably the first woman in the community whose skirt went that far up. . . . She was just such a blessing to me, and I hope I treat my grandchildren and my great-grandchildren in the same way I was treated because it was a very special relationship."

Earlier, Faye stressed the value of history: "You don't know much about yourself unless you know some history. It's tragic for people to get to my age, anyway, and not know who they are. I think it gives you a special feeling of confidence and identity, and learning to get to know people. . . . Share with your children their history. Tell those stories about grandparents, great-grandparents, all you know about your past, and expose them to it. They're not perfect people; they had their strengths and weaknesses, just like all of us, butthose people that have your own genes, you can see yourself in them. Have you ever seen that grandchild or great-grandchild and just a glimpse of someone, your grandparent or your grandfather? It's a wonderful experience."

Faye Dalton and Phyllis Amonett dressed in period costume.

Faye continued, "What is [the] Seventy Six community? It is a community. We still identify with each other. We've been meeting up at Junction Station [about a mile south, to plan the Celebration] . . . getting to know people who we knew when we were children or whatever. So we are a community here; we still have some boundaries, but they aren't really that clear; we go to Fairland, and that's really still Seventy Six. Those lines are blurring, and they will continue to blur," to the pount that "at some time in the future, nobody'll even remember" the place. "We're the only Seventy Six in the United States, but other than thatg we're not that unique. But we live in a special place . . . the land, we're very attached to it, but more important, the people."

Faye and her cousin, poet and retired teacher Rudy Thomas, recalled that after the Mount Union church was destroyed by one of the April 3, 1974, tornadoes, the community saw to it that it was quickly rebuilt.

Phyllis P. Amonett, at 79 the oldest of the siblings, said "I feel like this community has built me and who I am and how I raised my kids." She recalled attending the church with the Thomas, Wells, Orton, Conner and Wray families, and "We always had a relationship. . . . They built your character, they built your community, and sometimes they built your work, because you worked with them all the time. We worked in tobacco, we worked in gardens, we worked in the hay. . . . We worked putting up food, we chopped kraut, we dried apples and tomatoes. I can't remember everything that we did do, but our No. 1 hate . . . was the ironing. My mother sprinkled, and she ironed everything from the underwear on down."

Vickie P. May at the wheel (Photos by Al Cross)

Vickie Piercey May of Lexington, the youngest Piercey sister, demonstrated how to spin wool thread on a wool-only spinning wheel that was given to her grandmother Margarette Piercey by her mother-in-law (around 1840, Phyllis says) and restored by her brother Terry, who rescued it from a chicken house.

In college, she said, "I followed a path that included working in pioneer crafts and then after that I followed a path into industry and I retired from Toyota in Georgetown after 25 years as a mechanic."

She explained that weavers often made "linsey-woolsey," with linen threads (from flax that grew along streams) in one direction, because wool was too heavy to wash and dry and the combined fabric lasted much longer. The wheel to make thread from flax was much smaller, she said.

Terry Piercey, expert collector of Native American artifacts, shared his knowledge July 3 and 4 at Mount Union Church

Piercey with a Benton projectile point he found (Photo by Al Cross)

Terry Piercey has colleced Native American artifacts since he was a small child, and he lived in a good place to start doing that: along Indian Creek, which was named for Native Americans or the evidence they left behind.

Piercey, who calls himself "an avocational archaeologist," shared his knowledge in presentations July 3 and 4 at Mount Union Christian Church as part of the Spirit of 76 Celebration. For a video of his July 4 presentation, go here.

In discussing how the Adena people and earlier Native civilizations lived, he also discussed the geology of the area, including its many disappearing creeks, which run underground through karst limestone. He suggested that they knew Indian Creek as "Mystery Creek" because of its in-and-out route and perhaps its huge waterfall, now named 76 Falls.

He also discussed the Longhunters and Voyageurs, the French explorers who named the Cumberland River the Rivere des Chouanons, or River of the Shawnees, the name it was known by until English explorers and the Longhunters came downstream and named it for the Duke of Cumberland, King George's brother. He said the Longhunters wore buckskin, and harvested deer mainly in the summer, when hair was easier to remove from their hides.

Portraying Ben Franklin, Buz Piercey recalls the past to make points about the present: seek truth and compromise

Rodney "Buz" Piercey as Ben Franklin (still from video)

By Al Cross

"We dared to dream of what America might become -- and look at you now," Benjamin Franklin said at the Spirit of 76 Celebration. Well, Ben Franklin as portrayed by Rodney Piercey Jr., better known as "Buz," in the Mount Union Chrstian Church where he grew up.

"Franklin" recalled that he was involved in drafting the Declaration of Indepedence in 1776 and the Constitution 11 years later, both at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the city where he lived.

"We needed a birth announcement . . . a ceclaration to the world, a statement of our intentions" and reasons for separating from Great Britain, he said. That job was assigned to a five-man committee, but Thomas Jefferson did most of the writing.

Franklin said one "correction" he made was to replace Jefferson's line "We hold these truths to be sacred and inviolate" to "We hold these truths to be self-evident," because people can disagree on what is sacred and "The monarchy gets its authority from the church."

When the drafters of the Constitution emerged from Independence Hall in September 1787, a woman asked Franklin, "What have we got? A republic or a monarchy?" Franklin replied, "A republic, if you can keep it."

"A democracy, unlike a monarchy, is not self-sustaining," Franklin said. "If you want to have a democratic republic, you'd better get to work. . . . In a democracy, the work is never over." He said that when democracies fail, it is usually from "a decay of civic virtue."

Franklin, who discovered several of the fundamentals of electricity, then staged a pseudo-science experiment that failed. His point was that while most scientific experiments fail, they can be repeated until success is achieved, but "Our democratic experiment is very different. We might not get another chance. . . . We must not let it fail."

He said divisions of opinion nearly prevented adoption of the Declaration and the Constitution, and "Division is still your worst enemy," made worse by misinformation and the desire for confirmation of our beliefs over information that might be contrary to them.

Keeping a republic "requires seeking truth over confirmation," and compromise, "which is the very soul of a democracy," he said. "It involves seeking cooperation and compromise every time. . . . When we compromise, we are not surrendering principles. That's not what compromise is about."

He quoted from a letter that he wrote at the constitutional convention: "We must all approach our public lives with a degree of humility, recognizing that our opponents may sometimes be right and that we ourselves may sometimes be mistaken."

Concluding, he shifted to the present: "If we've lost that skill set, if we've lost that ability, then we certainly have lost this country."

Free veterans breakfast at VFW Post attracts 58 people

Part of the crowd of 58 at the veterans' breakfast (Photo by Larry Craig)

The free breakfast for veterans, active military, reservists and spouses Saturday morning at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Murl Conner Post No. 1096 attracted 58 people. The event was held to highlight the role of military service in the history of Clinton County and the nation. Thanks to all veterans for your service!

Commemorative programs, T-shirts, caps and posters (including some framed and numbered) are still available

Some limited-edition mementos of the Celebration are still for sale at the 76 Falls Country Club and at the David Cross Law Office, 200 East Cumberland St., Albany (northeast corner of the courthouse square).

These were produced to defray the cost of events. Available are caps; posters, framed (and numbered, 1 through 76) and unframed; T-shirts in black, white, gray and sand; and the tremendous 118-page commemorative program, not just a collector's item but a historical treasure. Get yours before they're all gone!

7.6-mile race from 76 Falls to Albany draws 52 runners; was sponsored by Med Center Health

The 7.6-mile race to the Albany square began at the steps to 76 Falls at 8 a.m. (Photos by James Guffey)

The 7.6-mile race from the 76 Falls Recreation Area on Lake Cumberland to Albany on Saturday, July 4, drew 58 signups, 52 runners who started the race, and 49 who finished at the courthouse square on a very warm morning, race coordinator Dee Soma said.

The Clinton County High School Alumni Band, joined by some current CCHS band mambers, performed just past the finish line at the former Albany City Hall on South Cross Street. Soma said the runners appreciated the musical welcome.

The race was sponsored by Med Center Health, which owns the hospital in Albany.

Free concert and fireworks attract big crowd to 76 Falls CC

A huge crowd gathered for the free concert and fireworks show that capped the Spirit of 76 Celebration. This photo was taken near the end of headliner Chris Knight's long set, around 9:30 p.m. at the 76 Falls Country Club. The big-time fireworks show followed quickly after Knight wrapped up. For a short video of part of the fireworks show, see the Celebration's Facebook page.

BELOW, a photo taken earlier in the evening shows the hot-air balloon, Larry Cordle and his band, the American flag hoisted by a ladder truck, and the crowd enjoying the evening. (Photo by James Guffey)

Colton Bowlin plays 100 minutes for his hometown fans; Kristen Hunter and Thomas Oesterreicher opening acts

Kristen Hunter

Colton Bowlin

Friday night's concert went two minutes into Saturday, July 4, because of a two-and-a-half-hour weather delay that began during the latter part of Kristen Hunter's set. Not much rain fell, but dark clouds swirled and the radar projections did not look good.

However, Colton Bowlin very much wanted to play for his home Clinton County crowd, so a tarpaulin was placed over the stage and he and his band performed from about 10:20 until just past midnight. He did much of his set with an electric guitar, something new for him, and it seemed to go well. He did a short acoustic set while his rocking band took a break.

Thomas Oesterreicher, who like the other entertainers is from Albany, was the opening act, below.

Photo by Al Cross; above photos by Patti Cross

Posters, 76 of them framed, go on sale Friday at golf course

Limited-edition posters promoting and commemorating the Spirit of 76 Celebration will go on sale at noon Friday on the back porch of the 76 Falls Country Club and golf course.

Only 200 posters have been printed; 76 of them will be framed and numbered as collector's items. The framed posters will be $76 each and the others will be $30 each. Proceeds will help defray the cost of the Celebration.

Also on sale will be two styles of Spirit of 76 Celebration caps, and four colors of T-shirts: white, sand, gray and black. The front of the T-shirts has a small Celebration logo and the back has the poster design. Caps and T-shirts are priced at $30.

Priced at $20 is the 118-page Commemorative Program, full of historical articles and other information, including advertising from the many sponsors who have made the Celebration possible.

Veterans' breakfast will be held at VFW Post after all

The free breakfast for veterans, active military, reservists, and their spouses will be held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Murl Conner Post No. 1096 on Hopkins Street in Albany after all.

The breakfast had been moved to the Albany First Baptist Church because the VFW Post was going to be used for storage and distribution of washers and dryers for flood victims, but that decision has been reversed.

The breakfast will run from 8 to 10 a.m. and is open only to veterans, active military, reservists, and their spouses.

Hopkins Street runs from the Burkesville Road (KY 1590) to West Wood Street (which becomes the Old Burkesville Road).

Jeff Vincent, who lives in the heart of Seventy Six, has a big flag display for the Celebration

Jeff Vincent, who lives very near where the Seventy Six post office and store stood, has decorated his place in a big way for the celebration. The photo was taken by Professor James Guffey. See more on our Facebook page.

Kentucky Living magazine and student newspaper at WKU give Spirit of 76 Celebration a publicity boost

Media outlets beyond Clinton County are picking up on the Spirit of 76 Celebration. KET did a story this week, and now there are stories in the student newspaper at Western Kentucky University, the College Heights Herald, and in Kentucky Living, the magazine of the Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives. The latter article was written by Byron Crawford, "Kentucky's storyteller," and is accompanied by a painting of 76 Falls by Melissa Warp, above.

The perfect place for the nation’s big birthday
By Byron Crawford

The small comunity of Seventy Six in Clinton County is not about to let the 250th birthday of the USA pass without a celebration.

“Where better to celebrate the spirit of ’76 than in Seventy Six, Kentucky, the only Seventy Six in America?” says David Cross, a Clinton County attorney and historian who helped organize the celebration.

Missouri once had a hamlet named Seventy Six, he says, but it vanished many decades ago and now lies beneath a forest of hardwoods. So Seventy Six, Kentucky, population maybe 500, will mark America’s semiquincentennial on the Fourth of July with the biggest fireworks show ever seen in Clinton County.

Other plans for July 3 and 4 include concerts and events honoring Clinton County’s two Medal of Honor recipients, Union soldier Oliver Hughes of Seventy-Six, and Lt. Garlin Murl Conner, a World War II hero with close ties to Seventy Six. There will be special observances by churches, a golf tournament and a program featuring prehistoric artifacts found near Indian Creek—which flows through Seventy Six and over a cliff into nearby Lake Cumberland as 76 Falls.

Since 1952, when Wolf Creek Dam on the Cumberland River impounded Lake Cumberland, the falls has been among the most familiar landmarks and one of the favorite party coves for boaters along the lake’s approximately 1,255 miles of shoreline. . . .

Long ago, historian Ella Nunn, a native of Seventy Six, wrote that when her brother was 6 years old, he and a young cousin were chasing geese in Indian Creek above Seventy Six Falls when the cousin slipped and nearly went over the falls. She said he was saved when her brother grabbed him by the hair as his feet went over the edge.

As children, she wrote, she and her two brothers slipped away from home and “got brave enough to lie on our stomachs right beside where the water poured over the falls and look over.” They waited until they were grown to tell their parents.

Poet, author and historian Rudy Thomas will share many more episodes of local history and folk life during the celebration’s events, including stories of river life before Lake Cumberland, as well as a remembrance of the deadly April 3, 1974, twin tornadoes that took several lives and left permanent scars in Seventy Six and neighboring communities.

Yet, this July Fourth, the little community whose spirit so perfectly matches its name is still here to celebrate America’s 250th birthday.

“We started a foundation a few years ago that’s helped financially,” says Cross, a consumer-member of South Kentucky RECC. “I told somebody, ‘We’re gonna ask for money this year, but we won’t be back for another 50 years.’”

Film on Medal of Honor winner Murl Conner to be shown twice, followed by panel discussions about him and vets

First Lt. Garlin Murl Conner

This story is an updated version of one published May 24.

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 on Friday 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, about twice as many as Murphy, 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 sponsored by James Cagney. Murl Conner earned the Distinguished Service Cross, which wasn’t upgraded to the Medal of Honor until 2018. He came home to an Indian Creek 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 for hours, 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.

KET's 'Kentucky Edition' features Spirit of 76 Celebration

KET's Laura Rogers interviewed Barry Melton at the golf course.

"Kentucky Edition," the nightly news program on Kentucky Educational Television, had a three-minute story about the Spirit of 76 Celebration Tuesday evening.

Reporter Laura Rogers interviewed Barry Melton and David Cross at the 76 Falls Country Club. "I've been looking forward to this since 1976," when the nation celebrated its 200th birthday, Barry said.

David recalled what he thought when he saw that Charles Kuralt of CBS News was doing feature stories on "places associated with the 200th anniversary of the country, and I remember thinking to myself, I wonder why he doesn't come to Seventy Six, Kentucky." Perhaps no one told him about it.

The segment shows several locations in Clinton County.

David said that of the nearly $100,000 raised to stage the Celebration, 90 percent has come from private sources, "and a lot of it has come from the community of Seventy Six."

"The whole community's excited about it," Barry said. "The whole county, surrounding counties."

Rogers concluded, "As communities across America celebrate America 250, this one has 76 reasons to feel festive."

To watch the program, click here.

Spirit of 76 Celebration Committee holds its final meeting; next, we will look for you at events starting at noon Friday!

At least 27 people attended the Spirit of 76 Celebration volunteers' meeting Monday night at Junction Station.

Volunteers planning the Spirit of 76 Celebration held their final meeting Monday night at Junction Station, reviewing the schedule and ironing out final details.

UPDATE: The 8 a.m. Saturday breakfast, limited to veterans, active military, reservists and their spouses, has been moved from the VFW Post to the Albany First Baptist Church, because the VFW will be storing washers and dryers being provided to local flood victims.

Air-conditioned churches: With hot weather in store, some of the most welcome informtion at the meeting was that the two churches holding events, Seventy Six Baptist and Mount Union Christian, are air-conditioned and will provide a respite from the heat Friday and Saturday. Seventy Six Baptist has several speakers scheduled to discuss the families and history of the community, but all are welcome to come share what they know.

At Mount Union, Rodney Piercey Jr., better known as "Buz," will be dressed up as Benjamin Franklin to discuss the founding father and his role in our nation's independence. "He's researched Ben Franklin from day one," said his sister, Faye Piercey Dalton. She and her sister, Phyllis Amonett, are the Mount Union organizers; their sister Vickie Piercey May will spin wool on their grandmother's spinning wheel, restored by their brother Terry, who will display and discuss his Native American artifacts, which he has collected since he was a small boy. "Indian-artifact people I've talked to say he knows more about them than anyone around here," David Cross said. He said there were no natives on Indian Creek when settlers arrived, but there was so much evidence of them that the stream was named for them.

Take a walk: The activities will begin at noon Friday, when Rudy Thomas will lead a walking tour from the 76 Falls parking lot to Mount Union, discussing "The Importance of Place." The afternoon will end with showing of the documentary about Medal of Honor winner Murl Conner and a panel discussion led by Luther C. Conner Jr., better known as "Hoppy," with a panel including state Treasurer Mark Metcalf, retired Col. Brack Flanagan of Creelsboro and Al Cross, executive producer of the documentary. All activities at Mount Union on Friday will be repeated on Saturday.

Athletics: Dee Soma reported that 28 runners have signed up for Saturday's 7.6-mile race from 76 Falls to Albany, and he expects more. The race will begin at 8 a.m. and end at the square, where the Clinton County High School Alumni Band and some current student musicians will play from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Thatg will be the only public event in Albany for the Celebration, which focuses on Seventy Six.

Matt Brewington of the 76 Falls Country Club reported that 56 golfers have signed up for The Spirit of '76 at 76 tournament, which will be held Saturday and limited to 76 golfers. (Friday afternoon, the club will host a "shootout" tournament.) Matt showed the committee how the golf course and the rest of the county-club campus will be used for the Friday night and Saturday night concerts. Parking will be directed by attendants, he said: "You won't park unless somebody tells you where to park," and parking will not be allowed until late afternoon, to avoid overlapping with the golf tournaments.Also, no tents will be allowed.

The country club will be collecting donations for flood victims and running its own application process for people who want help, Matt said.

Concerts: Colton Bowlin of Albany, a rising star in country music, is expected to draw a large crowd Friday night. David Cross said Chris Knight will probably play for 90 minutes Saturday night and the county's biggest-ever fireworks show will follow immediately.

Now on sale: T-shirts, caps and commemorative program!

The T-shirt front has the Spirit of 76 Celebration logo; the back illustration was used to produce a limited-edition poster that will sell for $25 each. 76 of the 200 posters will be numbered and framed, and sell for $76 each, starting Friday. Caps and T-shirts are $30 each. Programs are $20. The T-shirts also come in sand and white as well as gray and black.

The Spirit of 76 Celebration promises to be a memorable series of events, and to help defray the costs, members of the committee are selling several memento items: Posters, T-shirts, caps, and a 118-page commemorative program full of historical articles and information about the Celebration.

The posters will be ready Friday. Other items will be available at the law office of David M. Cross on the square in Albany and at Spirit of 76 Celebration events. Other members of the committee will also be selling items before the events. Watch this website and our social media for updates!

Warinners were leading family of Seventy Six for decades; their store was believed to be Clinton County's largest

Young Ed P. Warinner with the wrecker advertising his Log Palace Inn in Albany. (Warinner family photo)

Iverson L. Warinner and his brother Joseph Warinner moved to the Seventy Six community from Rockhouse Bottom in Russell County just before the beginning of the Civil War. 

Iverson Warinner established a mercantile business at Seventy Six which for many years went under the name of I.L. Warinner and Son (J.A. Warinner). Iverson served in the Union Army and after the war was elected justice of the peace, or magistrate. He obtained the Seventy Six post office in 1890, during the administration of President Benjamin Harrison. The Warinners were strong Republicans, and so was Harrison. The office was moved from a location near 76 Falls. 

The store became the largest between Albany and the Cumberland River port of Creelsboro in Russell County. It is said that it was bigger than any store in Albany.

I. L. Warinner invested in the wholesale grocer Cumberland Grocery Co. and Cumberland Transportation Co., which owned steamboats that plied the Cumberland River unti11933. I.L. Warinner was also a director of Farmers National Bank of Somerset, which years later consolidated to become First and Fanners Bank and later purchased Citizens Bank of Albany. He also had a controlling interest in the Seven Gables Hotel, a landmark in Burnside before the town was flooded by Lake Cumberland. 

According to the New Era newspaper of May 31, 1907, two groups were attempting to start a second bank in Albany to compete with the Bank of Albany. One was headed by E.M. Cox, the Clinton County clerk, and the other was headed by Henry Wallace of Paint Lick and J.A. Warinner of Seventy Six. After a time, "the two movements became one," the Albany paper reported.

In the initial shareholder list of Citizens Bank, the following had 10 shares each: Wallace, I.L Warinner, J.A. Warinner, George Guinn of Albany, J.W. Long of Cartwright and the Russell brothers of Chanute, Tenn., just across the state line. Lesser stockholders included many other notables, including K.E. Huddleston, P.H. Smith, E.M. Cox, S.V. Brents, Charles Huff and W.M. Johnson of Forbus, Tenn., who was president. For a full list, see the Spirit of 76 Celebration Commemorative Program.

This bank was located in the building where Dyer Drug is now located, and the bank vault is still located therein. Iverson Warinner thereafter became president and served until his death. J.A. Warinner then served as president at different times and remained on the board of directors for many years until his death in 1943. The two banks consolidated in 1918 and became known as Citizens Bank of Albany and was located in the Bank of Albany building, now known by many as the Eddie Lovelace office. 

Ed Warinner also served as bank president, as did Leo Sewell, who was the son-in-law of Jim Warinner. His wife had died of tuberculosis in 1932. Jim Warinner had backed Sewell and others in the ill-­fated Dicken-Sewell & Co. store in Albany, and he suffered losses in that investment, as well as being affected by the end of Cumberland River transportation in 1933 and the overall poor economic conditions after 1929. 

After the death of Iverson Warinner in 1919, the business was known as J.A. Warinner and Son. The store remained open until after Jim Warinner's death in 1943. Edgar Dicken operated the store for five years until it burned February 26, 1950. Dicken then rebuilt a smaller store in front of the old store site, and he operated it there until 1960. 

The home of Jim Warinner, now known as the Dickerson house, still stands on KY 734 across from the old Warinner store site. 

The late Warinner Anderson of Watauga was descended from lverson's brother, Jasper Warinner. The Fount Warinner family, including long-time Clinton County High School Principal David Warinner, also descends from Jasper Warinner. Other descendants include long-time local educator Jerry Warinner Branham, State Police Detective Jason Warinner, and the lady who served more restaurant coffee than any other person in the history of Clinton County, Zora Warinner. Other descendants are far too numerous to name. 

The Warinner Family Cemetery on KY 734 in Seventy Six has recently been restored. Joseph Warinner, father of Iverson, is buried there.

Ed P. Warinner was born at Seventy Six, Ky., in 1909. The large log house near the family's store, which unfortunately was torn down in recent years, was the home of Ed's grandfather, Iverson L. Warinner. The large white house across the road known as the Dickerson house was the home of J.A. (Jim) Warinner, father of Ed.

Ed Warinner was the owner of a shoe store, the Log Palace Inn and the Albany Locker Plant, the latter two located across the street from the other at the intersection of Cross Street and Burkesville Road in Albany. 

Warinner was best known, however, for being a man of progress, and was a regular at any meeting regarding the growth and development of the area. He was a leading proponent of changing the Corps of Engineers' original name of "Wolf Creek Reservoir" to "Lake Cumberland," and was instrumental in KY 35 becoming US 127, and in establishing a roadside park at Seventy Six Falls where a historical marker honors him. He also served as president of the Citizens Bank of Albany. 

Warinner and Gov. Lawrence Wetherby held the ribbon as Vice President Alben Barkley cut it at the dedication of Wolf Creek Dam in 1951. Upon the election of state Sen. Terill Wilson as circuit judge for Clinton, Russell, and Wayne counties in 1951, Ed Warinner obtained the Republican nomination for Wilson's unexpired term and was unopposed for the position until his death in 1959. 

While in the state Senate, Warinner, as a member of the minority party, forged a strong relationship with the majority, including Gov. A.B. (Happy) Chandler. The efforts of Warinner and the late N.L. Morgan are credited with the late1950s street and sidewalk project that motorists and pedestrians in Albany still benefit from today. 

Warinner was also an early supporter of veterans' benefits and was a sponsor of the constitutional amendment which in 1955 made Kentucky only the second state in the Union to give 18-year-olds the right to vote. 

Warinner was chair of the Clinton County Republican Party for 12 years and a delegate to the party's national convention in 1952. He made an unsuccessful race for an open seat in Congress in 1954 and announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 1955 and 1959 but withdrew from both races, health issues having a bearing on his 1959 withdrawal. After it, party officials supported his wife Jo as the GOP nominee for state auditor. She was defeated in the November election, in which all statewide Democrats were elected.

Ed Warinner died suddenly at age 49 on June 20, 1959, at his home in Albany, which is known to most as the home of the late Judge Eddie Lovelace. Chandler came to Albany and spoke at his funeral. 

The family left Albany in the early 1960s and moved to Louisville, where Jo was employed in the administration of Jefferson County Judge Marlow Cook. Three of the Warinner children have passed: Paul, who attended Kentucky Military Institute and served in the military, played football at Morehead State, and coached football for many years; Joanne, who married Dave Sawyer of Albany and was director of admissions at Transylvania University; and Iverson, who was a longtime professor of theatre at Spalding University in Louisville. 

Ed Warinner has one surviving child, Harriet Hile, a retired teacher in the Spencer County school system who lives in Louisville. His descendants include Ed Warinner III, who served as offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator for the 2014 NCAA champion Ohio State Buckeyes and is now head coach at Avila University in Kansas City; and Stephen Sawyer, a renowned artist who lives in Versailles.

The story of Grider Hill Dock is the story of the Sloans, their families, their friends and the Seventy Six community

Tony Sloan, dock operator extraordiaire

By David M. Cross

When Bruce Sloan established Grider Hill Dock on the Indian Creek embayment of Lake Cumberland in 1951, no one dreamed that tourism on the lake would grow to today's level. The reservoir had been created for flood control and hydroelectric power, and tourism was an ancillary consideration.

In the newly impounded waters, fishing was great, houseboats basically didn't exist, and a 10-horsepower motor was the biggest. Grider Hill rented more rowboats than anything. The busiest times of year were spring and fall, fishing seasons. Bruce maintained a good relationship with outdoor writers of newspapers in Louisville. Cincinnati and Nashville, and the dock quickly became a popular fishing spot. 

Bruce Sloan was a man of great vision, but some folks thought he was was crazy to build the beautiful Indian Creek Lodge (inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright) on land he didn't own. Bruce had been in numerous businesses including coal, timber and automobiles, and was such a great marksman that he did shooting exhibitions for Remington Arms. He was elected sheriff of Clinton County in 1941 and prior to that had been Albany mayor and served three terms in the Kentucky legislature. He was a man who saw so far ahead of his time that at times he saw too far and the world took too long to catch up with him. 

After Bruce's untimely death in 1963, the Sloan family dedicated itself to managing and growing the dock. Boats and motors were getting bigger, and houseboats were becoming popular. Ski boats became all the rage. The growing dock took a lot of attention, so Tony Sloan quit teaching school to manage it. A few years later his wife Bettye did the same to help manage the lodge and restaurant. Ned Sloan Sr. and his wife Jimmie also dedicated themselves to the dock, as did the entire Sloan family. Tony and Bettye worked first shift, Ned and Jimmie the second . 

The restaurant at the lodge became legendary for its country cooking with its country ham and fried chicken. Most of the cooks were from Seventy Six: ladies such as Ella Ryan, Carmi Simpson, Marie Daniels, and sisters Ruby Davis and Reba Brown. Jimmie's sister Laura Ann Tallent, experienced in the restaurant business, became a key figure in the kitchen. Laura Ann, a tireless worker, came up with the peanut butter pie recipe for which the restaurant became famous. The quality of the dining experience was always high as long as the Sloans owned the dock. 

If you lived in Seventy Six, it is very likely that some of of your family members worked at the Grider Hill. Long-term employees included Glenn Brown. Karen Groce, Jim and Joyce Conner and Gran and Polly Hopkins and their daughter Bertha. Tony Sloan said Gran Hopkins had the best hand-eye coordination of any man he ever saw. The "Round Man" excelled at anything he tried and was as dependable as the sun rising in the morning.

Grider Hill Dock remained a family operation for over 50 years, but as years passed the family realized that it was time to sell, and they did so in 2007. It is now operated by Safe Harbor, a company that owns several docks on Lake Cumberland and Dale Hollow. However, Tony Sloan did not leave the dock business. 

ln 1970 Tony put together a group to obtain the lease for Conley Bottom Dock on Lake Cumberland in Wayne County. That dock was greatly expanded and thrived as Conley Bottom Resort. Tony maintained controlling interest until he sold out to his partner in 2019.

Tony and his investors purchased a small dock on Dale Hollow Lake in 1993 and under the leadership of Tom and Angela Allen transformed it into Sunset Resort, now the leading dock on Dale HoJlow. It was recently expanded.

Finally, Tony started working on what could be called his greatest legacy, one that has had tremendous positive impact on the local economy: Marina at Rowena.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had originally proposed a dock at the Rowena location in their Lake Cumberland Master Plan of 1949 but nothing had ever been done there. Tony, with the help of his able partner Tom Allen, persistently battled the bureaucracy for years and finally in 2017 Marina at Rowena, on the south side of the main lake, opened to the public.

A full-service marina, it has thrived since its opening and continues to grow, with a 2026 expansion that will more than double its number of private slips. To reach the new part of the resort, you turn on an access road that is fittingly named Tony Sloan Way, for the visionary who proved to be the best dock man in the Southeast. He died on April 1, 2025, but his legacy lives on.

No one loved Seventy Six more than Holland Wells; he was executive VP of America's largest department-store chain

Holland Wells on Indian Creek above the falls

Holland K. Wells, raised within sight of Seventy Six Falls, loved the community of Seventy Six more than any man. He was the son of James Thomas (Jim) Wells Sr., and Effie Lowhorn Wells. As a boy Holland played in the waters of Indian Creek and around the falls. He thought there was no greater place in the world than the hills and waters of Seventy Six.

Before he finished high school Holland moved to Louisville and his first job at age 16 was as a window dresser in the F.W. Woolworth store there. Woolworth's had been the pioneer of "five and dime" retailing in America, and was a huge company.

Holland's work ethic was so strong that he didn't dress windows for long. He started to rise up the ladder of the company, becoming an assistant store manager and then a store manager, moving to various places including Detroit, Toledo and Athens, Ohio. The company transferred Holland to various spots around the country that needed attention. Ultimately, he was transferred to the corporate headquarters in New York where he became executive vice president of the company. By 1979 Woolworth's had became the largest department store chain in the world.

As Holland became successful, he acquired most of the land above the falls, which his family still owns. Sadly, his mother was killed in the April 3, 1974 tornado that devastated the falls area.

Holland retired to Kentucky, finally settling in Versailles, where he died in 2022. Of course he was brought back to his beloved Clinton County as his final resting place.

The basis of our government is the Constitution; the moral basis of our country is the Declaration of Independence

1823 engraving of the Declaration of Independence
(National Archives image; for a larger version, click on it.)

In The Moral Foundation of America, Elaine Pagels, a professor of early Christian history at Princeton University, wrote:

“In the ancient empires of Babylonia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome, only those whom rulers regarded as their peers had value, or what the Romans called dignitas. Hindu societies enshrined the ruler as one who embodies the divine order of the gods, and established a hierarchical rank for everyone else. The caste system even defined some people as outcaste, with no right to move freely and little recourse from lifelong servitude.

“The Declaration of Independence, by contrast, speaks of the rights to life and liberty as sacred gifts that ‘Nature’ and ‘Nature’s God’ have given freely to all humanity. These principles were inspired partly by the Enlightenment, the philosophical movement that emerged in Europe after hundreds of years of horrifying religious war. But they originated in the Book of Genesis, which declares that every human being has value.

“The Founders knew that monarchy had been the norm for most of human history, and they saw how difficult that would be to change. The cruel and dangerous reversion to rule through fear and violence that we are seeing now was among their greatest concerns. But I have faith in their 1776 vision. I believe that the rights to life and liberty are the sacred inheritance of every human being, grounded in a transcendent reality. Now is the time for those of us who love what the Founders entrusted to us to pledge anew—to one another, to our children, and to all who come after us—that we stand for their Declaration.” (Read more: https://lnkd.in/eGMXskFP)

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States;
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;
For imposing taxes on us without our consent;
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences;
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies;
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments;
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy [of] the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind: enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name, and by authority of the good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.