76 Falls Country Club, a nine-hole golf course established in 1967 and successfully resurrected in 2025, was named for the falls, less than a mile away. It will be the host site for the concerts on Friday, July 3rd and Saturday July 4th. A fireworks show will follow the Chris Knight concert at the Country Club on Saturday night.
Activities and events are scheduled at two of the churches in the community: Mount Union Christian Church and Seventy Six Baptist Church, which was founded June 29, 1822, making it the second oldest church in Clinton County. At the time, it was in Cumberland County.
Decades ago, there was years ago a village called Seventy Six on the banks of the Mississippi River in Missouri. It was long ago obliterated and abandoned, and no longer exists. Therefore, the only "Seventy Six" in the United States is in Clinton County, Kentucky.
What better place to celebrate the Spirit of Seventy Six in the only place named Seventy Six in America?
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 |
Captain E.M. Shelley of Clinton County commanded a troop which included many Clinton Countians in the Spanish-American War.
 |
| Lt. Garlin Murl Conner |
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 (C.S.A.) 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.
The most prominent and noteworthy physical feature in Clinton County is the waterfall originally known as Big Indian Creek Falls.
John W. Semple moved to the falls area before 1810 (we find him in the area in the 1820 Census) and built a mill and shop. As the mill drew customers from a wide area, he undoubtedly felt that the location might be good for the establishment of a town around the falls. The closest villages were Creelsboro, across the Cumberland River from present-day Clinton County, and Paoli, south of present-day Albany. The closest county seats were at Burkesville to the west and Monticello to the east. Albany had not yet been established, as Clinton County was not created until 1836.
Semple served in the state legislature in 1806. At that time we believe he was living at "Mt. Radiance" on the Cumberland River in present-day Russell County. This is believed to have overlooked Horseshoe Bottom, which is now under the waters of Lake Cumberland.
Semple published a notice in 1817 that he intended to establish the town of Seventy Six. He had lots surveyed and Lot No. 76 was located near the Big Indian Creek Falls, so there is a belief that the falls received its name in that manner. There is also a school of thought that the height of the falls was estimated at 76 feet, and the name arose as a result thereof, but most sources estimate the height at 83 feet (before the impoundment of Lake Cumberland). A third school of thought is that it actually was based on the "Spirit of 76." It is possible that the name has more than one source.
Semple's dream of a town never materialized, and the Semples would ultimately leave Clinton County for the greener pastures of Illinois and California, where they made quite a mark:
· Robert Baylor Semple was the first of the family to travel to California, in 1845, prior to the California Gold Rush. He founded the first newspaper in California and was chairman of the California Constitutional Convention in 1849. He made an unsuccessful race to be one of California's first United States senators.
· John W. Semple Jr., 6'8" in height, was an attorney who practiced in Louisville after he practiced for several years in Clinton County. He left for California in 1849 with Will Semple Green and another Clinton Countian, Jannes Yates.
· Will Semple Green, grandson of John W., was elected California state treasurer, serving in 1898-99. He was a newspaper editor and is referred to as "the father of irrigation" in California. His home has been restored and maintained in Colusa, a town founded by his uncle, Charles D. Semple, who made an unsuccessful race for Kentucky state representative in 1844, losing to F.H. Winfrey.
· In a bit of an oddity, brother Robert Baylor Semple founded another city – the town of Benicia, California.
· There is a record of John Semple Jr., Charles Semple, and Will S. Green boarding the steamer Portland in August 1849 in New Orleans to make the trip to the Isthmus of Panama where they would portage to the Pacific Ocean and sail to California.
· James Semple, son of John W., was a U.S. senator from Illinois and also served as charge d'affaires (a top embassy position) in Colombia. He established the town of Elsah, Illinois. James' son Eugene Semple was the next-to-last governor of Washington Territory, in 1887-89, almost exactly the same period that Clinton County native Preston Leslie, governor of Kentucky 1871-75, was the next to last governor of Montana Territory.
The store near the Falls was sold to R.H. Kookindoffer, who later sold Lots 78, 79 and 90 of the platted town, and it was later sold to J.C. Staton for $170.00, who became Postmaster at Seventy Six. Five years prior, Kookindoffer had purchased a farm near Illwill Creek and was Postmaster at Green Grove in Clinton County, 1857-58. We are uncertain as to when the store at the falls finally closed. The mill remained open for many years and drew business from a broad area.
The family names of Ellison, Semple, Gist, Andrew and Goodson are found in the vicinity of Seventy Six but all those names are now gone from the rolls of Clinton County.
The Seventy Six Baptist Church is the second oldest church in the county, established on June 29, 1822 and still in operation today. Isaac Denton, long time pastor at Clearfork Baptist Church south of Albany, helped found the church. It became a member of the Stockton Valley Association upon formation. It was moved to its present location at the sinks of Indian Creek in 1864; see deed from Joseph Warinner in 1866 for a 4-acre tract, in exchange for a tract near "the graveyard". This cemetery is referred to as the "Seventy-Six Cemetery" in a prior deed. The original church site was located next to a graveyard located on the Raymond McFarland farm, now owned by Steve Burchett. There was once a Freedom Missionary Baptist Church on the Steve Burchett farm; it was consolidated with Seventy Six Baptist Church in 1868.
The Fairview Church tract was deeded from John Ellison to the church in 1877. It was referred to as being "on the "east side of the road leading from Graham Cross Roads to the town of Seventy-Six". Ellison owned a large tract of land in the area. Graham Cross Roads was where the post office and hamlet of Snow were located.
The Mount Union Christian Church had one acre deeded from W.H. Hammons near the "Guthrie Spring" in 1897 for purposes of building a church building. This church still thrives. When the Wells Bottom Christian Church closed the few remaining members transferred to Mount Union.
 |
| We have no idea what the whiskey distilleries at Seventy Six looked like, so we're using this illustration from pngtree.com. |
Before Prohibition, whiskey was legally made in every community in Clinton County. Usually, in this part of the country, brandy was the alcoholic beverage produced. Brandy is alcohol distilled from fermented fruit juice, in this area usually apples or blackberries.
Stills were licensed by the federal government, and an inspector would come around every so often to inspect the stored whiskey and gauge the proof. These men were called “storekeepers and gaugers” and these were prized federal patronage appointees. A.B. Parrigin and Judge S.G. Smith were among those holding this position. (Full disclosure: My grandfather Al Cross operated a government-licensed still for several years in the Beaty community.)
When locals were arrested for violating federal tax laws (that’s why federal agents were called “revenuers”) they would be taken to an appointed United States commissioner, who would determine whether the case would go on to U.S. District Court, generally in Bowling Green. Locally, Judge J.A. Perkins, who has numerous descendants in Clinton County, was the commissioner for several years under Republican administrations.
William Sloan, known as "Wild Bill" locally, was for many years a deputy U.S. marshal who would form posses to assist revenue agents when they were seeking out local stills. Wild Bill had quite a reputation of his own, on both sides of the law. He was, to say the least, a very colorful character, as was his son-in-law. J.A. “Dean” Tompkins, sometimes an attorney and sometimes a defendant in the local courts. They, too, have numerous descendants remaining in the county.
According to various records that we can find, these distillers operated in the Seventy Six area:
W.H. Hammons & John Ryan
John Ryan: This still was over the hill behind Wayne Ryan's house. They made apple and blackberry brandy and there was a very large orchard on the Ryan farm furnishing the apples.
T.L. Davis: Bobby Johnson states that a Tom Davis distillery was located west of and over the hill from the Bobby Reneau house at the junction of KY 734 and KY 1266.
J.A. Warinner: The Warinners operated a large store at Seventy Six.
Walter Neathery, McKinley & Neathery, Tilford (Til) Neathery, Jarvis & Lawrence, William Prince & J.M. Davis: In 1907 Prince's still was seized by authorities. In 1910 Prince leased a tract in Seventy Six to Lewis A. York for distilling for eight years. Prohibition began in January 1920.
We find a published report that the following distillers, having been twice convicted for selling liquor in local-option territory, would be required to give a $500 bond “for their good behavior for the next 12 months": Thomas Lee, Richard McWhorter, Bill Prince, J .M. Davis, and Joe Griffin. These were at Seventy-Six and also at Huntersville, which was a hot spot for distilling and the site of several "line houses," shacks on the Tennessee border where whiskey was sold.
The Thomases of Seventy Six were singing stars for decades
 |
| Flossie and Reual Thomas (Berea College archive) |
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.
 |
| The Crusaders, L to R: The Thomases, Leslie Andrew and Marvin York (Berea College archive) |
 |
| From the collection of David M. Cross |
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) |
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.
 |
| The park and church were destroyed. |
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.
 |
| John G. Woodrum in front of his casino in Las Vegas |
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.
 |
| Google Map |
 |
| 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment