[VHSL-helper]

I remember when I was in School, I had a History Teacher named Mr. Hazelett (Eddy Hazelett's dad). He is pretty well know for some of his research here in Eastern KY. One of his main obsessions was the "Swift's Silver". He felt that it may be located in this area. He seemed to think that it may be in or around the area of the subdivision Cross Creek and Rt. 460, if my memory serves me correct. Do you know any thing about this legend?

Over here, we've heard it's buried somewhere near the Breaks Park.

[VHSL-helper]

I'm looking for info on "the battle of the Breaks"... when the railroads fought over which one would build in. Anyone ??? Anyone ???

[J. R. VanHoose]

JR ever read the Coalwood book series about the rocketboys from Coalwood a coal mining camp.Homer Hickam was the author and one of the Rocket boys.They all went to Big Creek high school.Homer and his friends won the national title with their rockets in the national science fair.Homer went on to Virginia Tech and a career with Nasa.He has a great website.Homer Hickam!!!They even have a Coalwood festival every year down there.

I actually got to meet some of the "Rocket Boys" while I was at Marshall. They were being honored by the university and we had a game that night and they came into the locker room!!!

[J. R. VanHoose]

Hahaha, I'm not expecting to be related to 5 presidents like ol' VanHoose

Hey, now, those are just some of the good things about my genealogy, I have some "interesting" people as well. Now my wife, who is from Pike County, she has some good ones too. LOL!!!!!!!!

[mcfan1]

Anyone interested in genealogy? I have some interesting facts about some of my family:

My 9th Great-Grandfather was the first in the VanHoose line to come to America. His name was Jan Fransse Van Husum. His name means the following: Jan was his first name, Fransse means "son of Francis", Van means "of" or "from", and Husum is the town now presently in northern Germany where he was from - so Jan "son of Francis" "from" Husum!! Anyway, he was born in 1608 and came to New Amsterdam (now the state of New York) in 1639. What is also geat about this man is that his descendants include:

President Martin Van Buren (3rd Great-Grandson of Jan Fransse Van Husum)

AND

President Theodore Roosevelt (6th Great-Grandson of Jan Fransse Van Husum)

Through my mother's genealogical lines I can claim descent to the grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. to the following U.S. Presidents:

George Washington, Herbert Hoover, and Richard Nixon!!!!

Thought this was cool to mention!!!!!

If it were me I probably wouldn't claim Nixon or Hoover, lol. Just kiddng.

[Armchair QB]

What do you know about the WV/KY Border on the eastern end of the state. I have heard that the Levisa Fork not the Tug Fork was supposed to have been the boundary. I heard that when they were mapping it, they had a little too much to drink one night and went up the wrong Fork.

[phs1986]

Found another interesting one from Pikeville....

THE LEGEND OF OCTAVIA HATCHER
In 1889, at the age of 30, James Hatcher was married in Pikeville to a young woman named Octavia Smith, the daughter of Jacob Smith, an early settler. Their life together would be tragically brief and their union would produce one son, Jacob, who was born shortly before his mother died. The baby died soon after he was born, possibly leading to the depression and illness that preceded Octavia’s own death.


And it is the death of Octavia Hatcher that has created a legend that is still very much a part of Pikeville. The Hatcher baby, Jacob, was born in January 1891 and only lived for a few days before he died. A short time later, Octavia took to her bed, likely suffering from depression, and was quite ill. The illness took a turn for the worse in April of that same year and she slipped into a coma. The doctors were unable to determine a cause for it and when she died on May 2, it was thought that she had perished from an unknown illness.


The funeral services were held and almost immediately carried out. It was an unseasonably hot spring and as Octavia was not embalmed , no was time was wasted in placing her in her grave at the Hatcher family plot. James had just suffered a terrible double tragedy - but his grief was not yet over.


Several days after Octavia’s death, several other people began suffering from the same coma-like symptoms that Octavia exhibited at the time of her death. Research conducted by Herma Shelton shows that this illness was a sort of sleeping sickness that was brought on by the bite of a certain fly. When news of this began to spread, Hatcher and members of his family (some of them doctors) began to worry that this may have been the same illness that Octavia had contracted. Their fears turned to panic as they realized that she may have been buried alive!


An emergency exhumation was conducted and Octavia’s casket was opened. They found the poor young woman in a horrific state. Apparently, the coffin had not been airtight and she had managed to survive for a few days, trapped beneath the ground. The lining on the lid of the coffin had been torn and shredded by Octavia’s bloody nails and her face had been scratched and contorted into an expression of terror. She must have awakened from her sleep to find herself trapped in the casket. Then, unable to escape, she had undoubtedly succumbed to a terrifying death!


Octavia was reburied but James’ heart was broken. He had a expensive monument erected on the site, a tall stone that bears a likeness of Octavia standing atop it. At one time, a carving of her baby had been placed in the statue’s arm, but in more recent times, vandals have managed to break the arm off and the infant lies on the ground next to the marker.


As the years passed, the strange and unsettling story of Octavia Hatcher’s final moments began to be told and re-told in Pikeville. Eventually, as is the case with many legends, the story was twisted and changed until much of the truth was lost. During the years that Herma Shelton was attending Pikeville College, she heard a number of versions of the story, all of them different. The most commonly told revision of the story had it that Octavia had died while she was still pregnant. The story went that, during the funeral, the mourners heard an odd sound coming from inside of the coffin. When they opened the lid, they found that the baby, Jacob, had been born to the dead woman. He only lived a short time and then died himself. Obviously, this story is untrue and a glance at the Hatcher family gravesite would reveal that Jacob’s death preceded Octavia’s by several months.


As the story of Octavia Hatcher continued to spread, the tale took on a more “urban legend” quality. Students from the college and teenagers from around the area often went to the cemetery on Halloween night to drink and scare one another. They claimed that the statue would come to life on certain nights and frighten trespassers out of the graveyard. It was during this period that someone broke off the arm that held the stone infant.


This Photo of Octavia's grave was taken on a clear day with no fog and with warm temperatures. A mist was seen in several of the photos taken that day but it did not appear in all of them. (Photo by Herma Shelton)
Pranksters also went to the trouble of climbing onto the monument to bother the statue themselves. This gave birth to yet another, and perhaps most popular, version of the story. According to this version, Octavia’s spirit was angry at the people of Pikeville for allowing her to be buried alive. Because of this, she would literally turn her back on the city on the anniversary of her death. On these nights, the statue mounted on her grave marker would turn on its pedestal and would face the opposite direction from where it had been previously. This story was accepted as truth for many years until it was finally revealed that the nocturnal movements were the work of clever college students.



Even after story after story about Octavia was debunked, this never seemed to quell the rumors that spread about the cemetery being haunted. People who visited the site, and most especially, those who lived on the hill where the graveyard was located, often spoke of hearing strange cries in the darkness and about spotting a misty apparition in the vicinity of Octavia’s grave. Finally, in the middle 1990’s, the Hatcher family placed a stone in the cemetery that contained accurate information about Octavia’s death and placed her statue on a new marble base. They also enclosed the area with a fence, hoping to keep out the trespassers and vandals.


And while the additions to the gravesite have managed to keep out the unwanted, they have done nothing to curb the continued stories of ghosts and supernatural manifestations around the plot. Herma interviewed a number of people who live on the hill near the cemetery and heard about several incidents that took place in the cemetery. Many of them expressed a fear to come into the graveyard, especially at night, and there is a solid belief that the ghost of Octavia Hatcher still walks here.

One couple that she spoke with, who had lived nearby for more than 30 years, stated that they had noticed something very odd in recent months. According to their account, they heard the sound of woman weeping, coming from the direction of the burial plot on several nights. A check of the area revealed absolutely no one in the cemetery.


Another couple, who had moved to the neighborhood a short time before, said that they were told by others in the community to expect parties and trespassers in the cemetery at night but that they had yet to see anyone around. However, one evening they walked out into the graveyard themselves because they thought they heard a kitten crying in the darkness. As they approached the Hatcher plot, where the sounds were coming from, the crying stopped.


So, does the ghost of Octavia Hatcher walk in the Pikeville Cemetery? Or are the stories nothing more than local myths? According to a number of reliable witnesses, unexplained things still take place around the place where her life ended in terror. Could witnesses who claim to feel depressed and anxious around the grave be experiencing the young woman’s final moments? Or is the apparitions reported around the grave the spirit of Octavia as she still searches for peace?


That is, of course, up to the reader to decide … but if you ever get the chance to visit the Pikeville Cemetery, we’ll invite you to visit this site for yourself. Haunted or not, this is a place where a tragic young woman deserves a moment or two of silent recognition for a life cut too short and a death that came far too early.

[VHSL-helper]

What do you know about the WV/KY Border on the eastern end of the state. I have heard that the Levisa Fork not the Tug Fork was supposed to have been the boundary. I heard that when they were mapping it, they had a little too much to drink one night and went up the wrong Fork.

kinda sorta maybe.
Acccording to the story, the plan was to set the boundary along the "largest" fork. When they got to Louisa, WV had been hit with a big rain, so the Tug was bigger that day. "Luck of the draw", rather than ineptness, helped make Pike Co. the largest one east of the Mississippi.

[J. R. VanHoose]

kinda sorta maybe.
Acccording to the story, the plan was to set the boundary along the "largest" fork. When they got to Louisa, WV had been hit with a big rain, so the Tug was bigger that day. "Luck of the draw", rather than ineptness, helped make Pike Co. the largest one east of the Mississippi.

That is what I have heard as well!!!

[thetribe]

J.R., I'm from Pike Co. too...should I be scared? Hahaha.

PHS, all of the college students that kept going to the cemetary also managed to took the baby off from the monument sooo I'm pretty sure if it IS haunted that they aren't very happy campers.

[phs1986]

I would have to agree Tribe.... !!

[TOMCAT06]

According to my wife who grew up on 2nd circle Prospect it is actually the big white house on top of Ashland Ave. I don't know if there is any truth to the but she grew up there and that is what the local rumor was back then.

I didn't know that! I actually know the people who own that house hmmm interesting!

[BlackcatFootball]

JR ever read the Coalwood book series about the rocketboys from Coalwood a coal mining camp.Homer Hickam was the author and one of the Rocket boys.They all went to Big Creek high school.Homer and his friends won the national title with their rockets in the national science fair.Homer went on to Virginia Tech and a career with Nasa.He has a great website.Homer Hickam!!!They even have a Coalwood festival every year down there.

Yea the movie about it with Jake Gylenhalle or however you spell it is very good, one of my favorites. "October Sky"

[BlackcatFootball]

Found another interesting one from Pikeville....

THE LEGEND OF OCTAVIA HATCHER
In 1889, at the age of 30, James Hatcher was married in Pikeville to a young woman named Octavia Smith, the daughter of Jacob Smith, an early settler. Their life together would be tragically brief and their union would produce one son, Jacob, who was born shortly before his mother died. The baby died soon after he was born, possibly leading to the depression and illness that preceded Octavia’s own death.


And it is the death of Octavia Hatcher that has created a legend that is still very much a part of Pikeville. The Hatcher baby, Jacob, was born in January 1891 and only lived for a few days before he died. A short time later, Octavia took to her bed, likely suffering from depression, and was quite ill. The illness took a turn for the worse in April of that same year and she slipped into a coma. The doctors were unable to determine a cause for it and when she died on May 2, it was thought that she had perished from an unknown illness.


The funeral services were held and almost immediately carried out. It was an unseasonably hot spring and as Octavia was not embalmed , no was time was wasted in placing her in her grave at the Hatcher family plot. James had just suffered a terrible double tragedy - but his grief was not yet over.


Several days after Octavia’s death, several other people began suffering from the same coma-like symptoms that Octavia exhibited at the time of her death. Research conducted by Herma Shelton shows that this illness was a sort of sleeping sickness that was brought on by the bite of a certain fly. When news of this began to spread, Hatcher and members of his family (some of them doctors) began to worry that this may have been the same illness that Octavia had contracted. Their fears turned to panic as they realized that she may have been buried alive!


An emergency exhumation was conducted and Octavia’s casket was opened. They found the poor young woman in a horrific state. Apparently, the coffin had not been airtight and she had managed to survive for a few days, trapped beneath the ground. The lining on the lid of the coffin had been torn and shredded by Octavia’s bloody nails and her face had been scratched and contorted into an expression of terror. She must have awakened from her sleep to find herself trapped in the casket. Then, unable to escape, she had undoubtedly succumbed to a terrifying death!


Octavia was reburied but James’ heart was broken. He had a expensive monument erected on the site, a tall stone that bears a likeness of Octavia standing atop it. At one time, a carving of her baby had been placed in the statue’s arm, but in more recent times, vandals have managed to break the arm off and the infant lies on the ground next to the marker.


As the years passed, the strange and unsettling story of Octavia Hatcher’s final moments began to be told and re-told in Pikeville. Eventually, as is the case with many legends, the story was twisted and changed until much of the truth was lost. During the years that Herma Shelton was attending Pikeville College, she heard a number of versions of the story, all of them different. The most commonly told revision of the story had it that Octavia had died while she was still pregnant. The story went that, during the funeral, the mourners heard an odd sound coming from inside of the coffin. When they opened the lid, they found that the baby, Jacob, had been born to the dead woman. He only lived a short time and then died himself. Obviously, this story is untrue and a glance at the Hatcher family gravesite would reveal that Jacob’s death preceded Octavia’s by several months.


As the story of Octavia Hatcher continued to spread, the tale took on a more “urban legend” quality. Students from the college and teenagers from around the area often went to the cemetery on Halloween night to drink and scare one another. They claimed that the statue would come to life on certain nights and frighten trespassers out of the graveyard. It was during this period that someone broke off the arm that held the stone infant.


This Photo of Octavia's grave was taken on a clear day with no fog and with warm temperatures. A mist was seen in several of the photos taken that day but it did not appear in all of them. (Photo by Herma Shelton)
Pranksters also went to the trouble of climbing onto the monument to bother the statue themselves. This gave birth to yet another, and perhaps most popular, version of the story. According to this version, Octavia’s spirit was angry at the people of Pikeville for allowing her to be buried alive. Because of this, she would literally turn her back on the city on the anniversary of her death. On these nights, the statue mounted on her grave marker would turn on its pedestal and would face the opposite direction from where it had been previously. This story was accepted as truth for many years until it was finally revealed that the nocturnal movements were the work of clever college students.



Even after story after story about Octavia was debunked, this never seemed to quell the rumors that spread about the cemetery being haunted. People who visited the site, and most especially, those who lived on the hill where the graveyard was located, often spoke of hearing strange cries in the darkness and about spotting a misty apparition in the vicinity of Octavia’s grave. Finally, in the middle 1990’s, the Hatcher family placed a stone in the cemetery that contained accurate information about Octavia’s death and placed her statue on a new marble base. They also enclosed the area with a fence, hoping to keep out the trespassers and vandals.


And while the additions to the gravesite have managed to keep out the unwanted, they have done nothing to curb the continued stories of ghosts and supernatural manifestations around the plot. Herma interviewed a number of people who live on the hill near the cemetery and heard about several incidents that took place in the cemetery. Many of them expressed a fear to come into the graveyard, especially at night, and there is a solid belief that the ghost of Octavia Hatcher still walks here.

One couple that she spoke with, who had lived nearby for more than 30 years, stated that they had noticed something very odd in recent months. According to their account, they heard the sound of woman weeping, coming from the direction of the burial plot on several nights. A check of the area revealed absolutely no one in the cemetery.


Another couple, who had moved to the neighborhood a short time before, said that they were told by others in the community to expect parties and trespassers in the cemetery at night but that they had yet to see anyone around. However, one evening they walked out into the graveyard themselves because they thought they heard a kitten crying in the darkness. As they approached the Hatcher plot, where the sounds were coming from, the crying stopped.


So, does the ghost of Octavia Hatcher walk in the Pikeville Cemetery? Or are the stories nothing more than local myths? According to a number of reliable witnesses, unexplained things still take place around the place where her life ended in terror. Could witnesses who claim to feel depressed and anxious around the grave be experiencing the young woman’s final moments? Or is the apparitions reported around the grave the spirit of Octavia as she still searches for peace?


That is, of course, up to the reader to decide … but if you ever get the chance to visit the Pikeville Cemetery, we’ll invite you to visit this site for yourself. Haunted or not, this is a place where a tragic young woman deserves a moment or two of silent recognition for a life cut too short and a death that came far too early.

PHS actually on You Tube there is a video about this. If you search Pikeville, Ky you will find it, it is by a man named Bill Blackburn, hes from pike county its like 9 minutes long.

[phs1986]

HUM>.... I'll go there now and check it out!!! I would LOVE to go and do one of the overnight tours at Waverly Hills Sanatorium.... I enjoy this kind of stuff!!!! Thanks for the info~

[phs1986]

Watched it.... this kind of stuff really interests me!!! Thanks... and OH.... a tidbit of my "roots"

My Great-great-great grandfather was Tobias Wagner who helped design the old courthouse in Pikeville.... He was actually (if I have this correct) an elected official in the late 1800's... married a lady from P'ville and is buried at either Mossy Bottom or not sure about this... his son who was also my grandfathers grandfather is buried there... My dad has all the details and I will check it out and post any interesting info....

[VHSL-helper]

Lets move some letters around :

October Sky
R octobe Sky
Roc tobe Sky
Rock tobe Sy
Rocke tob Sy
Rocket ob sy
Rocket bo ys
Rocket Boys (which is the name of the book the movie was based on)

[BlackcatAlum]

Give me some info on the "Samuel May House" and the "Battle of Middle Creek".

[Old school Dawg]

Give me some info on the "Samuel May House" and the "Battle of Middle Creek".

I worked with a man named Don Stanley and he had a bluegrass band called the boys from middle creek,,,is that the same Middle creek?

[Old school Dawg]

The battle of Middle Creek Jan.10th 1862 was Eastern Kentuckys most significant civil war battle.Battle of Middle Creek effectively ended the confederacy,s first bid to gain control of the region.The battle was a poignant example of neighbor vs. neighbor.Floyd County men of the 5th Kentucky Infantry csa and the 14th infantry usa fired volleys at each other, charged each others lines and engaged in hand to hand combat on the steep hills of Middle creek.Much much more to this battle.

[BlackcatAlum]

Thanks Old school Dawg... I live about a mile and a half from the the Middle Creek Battle site.

[Panther Thunder]

Anyone ever been to the Breaks of the Mountain? Well, I had heard about this story but didn't believe it until I tried it.

According to old records a Confederate soldier was returning home from the war (his name, regiment, and destination are still unknown) and was killed. His sprit apparently haunts the area where he was killed. If you ever go the Breaks look for the road marker that discusses the Unknown Confederate soldier (it is at the top of a little knoll). Well I had always heard that if you were going downhill away from or uphill towards the marker that you could put your car in neutral and "something" would pull your car towards the marker. Well, I just had to try this. So I was going downhill (away from the marker) I stopped (there was no traffic) and put my car in neutral (instead of going on downhill (like I should have been) I was being pulled back up hill towards the marker. It was kind of spooky, yet awesome at the same time!!!!!

One of my friend's sisters tried this and said it worked!!

[thetribe]

If you are going up that hill and put it in neutral you don't roll back as you should either. It is totally wild. Everyone that knows the legend has to try it at least once and then use it to impress people that aren't from the area. It's soooo awesome.

[Old school Dawg]

[QUOTE=blackcat_student]Do you know Don Stanley who started the bluegrass band The boys from middle creek.

[airball3]

Pikeville was named Liberty when it was first founded.

The county seat of Morgan County is to the west of Pikeville (Liberty) so they picked up the name West Liberty. Pikeville switched their name from Liberty to Pikeville. So another town in further western kentucky picked up the name Liberty. So West Liberty is actually East of Liberty Kentucky.. now..

Does this make any sense?

[THUNDERCHILD]

Floyd County was actually formed in 1799 from the following counties: Fleming, Mason, and Montgomery!!

Pike County was formed in 1821 entirely from land that once used to be Floyd County!!

Hey J.R., nice info. To give a little perspective to the size of the county, if it were today it would include in whole or in part 15 current counties.

[Old school Dawg]

Anybody been seeing about the big hazard flood in the late fifties.

[THOMCAT]

Be careful....I was doing some research on my family and had to quit....by the time I got to the Revolutionary war, I was getting too embarassed!!!LOL
Talk about a bunch of thugs!!!LOL

The more times change, the more things stay the same. LOL

[thetribe]

Old school, I watched the special on WYMT about it.

[J. R. VanHoose]

I will try to post some old basketball history tonight, my computer has been messed up, so I hope it works tonight!!!