KYBOURBO-L Archives

From: Bob Francis <>
Subject: [KYBOURBO-L] Perrin--Part 26?
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 16:42:41 -0500

To one and all,

I've not posted Perrin's History for a while, so I've kinda' forgotten
which number I was on. I'll call it "Part 26" and we'll go from there.
Since I've been busy on organizing our book project and other things, I
have let the postings slide. So, today I'll start them up again.

Enjoy!

Source: Perrin, p. 83

Paris Precinct--Boundaries, Topography, Physical Features, Etc.--The
Pioneers--Their Toilsome Journeys--Kennedy Family--Other Settlers--Early
Industries--Educational and Religious--Old Cane Ridge Church

"But long years have flown o’er these scenes of the past,
And many have turned gray in the winter's cold blast;
While others only think of the time that is gone;
They are bent by the years that are fast rolling on."

When first seen by white men, Central Kentucky was an unbroken
wilderness. Dense forests overhanging the margins of crystal streams
were unmolested by the pioneer's ax. The notes of myriads of songsters,
the howl of wild beasts and the yell of savages alone awakened the
silence that had brooded over them for centuries. But now came a change!
The first wave of immigration rolled westward, precurser of an
overwhelining tide destined to sweep everything before it. The fierce
contest commenced between the pale-face and the Indian, and was waged
with relentless fury, but the superior prowess of the white man
prevailed, and his title to the "dlark and bloody ground" was sealed
with hundreds of human lives. The red sons of the forest have
disappeared, and Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans," preserves in romance a
story of the race. The plowshare levels their graves; their favorite
hunting grounds groan beneath the white man's harvests, and will know
them no more forever. Fulfilled to the letter were the gloomy
forebodings of the chief, when he spoke in the pale-face's council: "My
people are like the scattered stalks that remain in the. field when the
tempest has passed over it. The Great Spirit ordained us for the forest,
and our habitation is the shade. We Pursue the deer for our
subsistence, but they are disappearing before the pale-faces, and the
red man must starve or leave the graves of his fathers, and make his
bed with the setting sun." Thus it has been, and thus has the mellowing
hand of Time served to

"Make their name sublime,
And departing, leave behind them,
Footprints on the sands of time."

The section to which this chapter is devoted, though small in extent, is
not without traditional interest. Like every spot of Central Kentucky,
it is entwined with historical association, and these associations and
reminiscences, will be presented in a becoming form to our readers.
They have been gathered from the most reliable sources now available,
and are no doubt correct.

Paris Precinct, the Election Precinct No. 1 of Bourbon County, comprises
the central part, and is as fine bluegrass land as the county contains,
or as may be found, perhaps, in the entire blue grass region, Its
configuration is good, save possibly a few bluffs contiguous to the
watercourses. It would puzzle a mathematician to define the shape of
Paris Precinct, or one of fertile imagination to give correctly its
boundaries. As much as we can venture is, that it is bounded by Harrison
County, and by Ruddel's Mills, Millersburg, Flat Rock, North Middletown,
Clintonville, Hutchinson and Centerville Precincts. These extend round
it, and we leave it to the reader to give to each the cardinal point of
the compass, to which it is entitled. The precinct has an excellent
system of natural drainage in its numerous watercourses. Stoner Creek or
river is the largest stream, and flows nearly north through the center
and through the city of Paris, where it furnishes waterpower and supply
to mills, distilleries, etc. It unites with the Hinkston near Ruddel's
Mills, just before entering Harrison County. Kennedy's Creek is a
tributary of Stoner, and flows in nearly the same direction, emptying
into the latter a little south of Paris. Houston Creek enters the
precinct from the west, near Houston Post Office, and unites with the
Stoner at Paris. Clark's Branch is a small tributary of Houston, in the
west part of the precinct. Flat Run flows north and empties into the
Stoner near Ruddel's Mills. Cooper's Run in the northwest empties into
the Stoner near Ewalt's Cross Roads; and Townsend's Creek passes through
the northwest corner. The timber growth of Paris Precinct was that
indigenous to this section of the State, and consisted chiefly of oak,
hickory, black walnut, buckeye, ash, sugar maple, etc.
--
Bob Francis
1920A Butner St.
Ft. Eustis, VA 23604
MY HOMEPAGE: http://www.shawhan.co

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