Category: Uncategorized

A post to honor my late husband.

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

As people in my community and circle know, my husband, Don Kincaid, died on June 18th of this year after a long and often brutal battle against liver disease caused by auto-immune hepatitis. He was the bravest person I’ve ever known, lovingly ran a tight ship, and now I feel like I’ve lost my captain. In trying to learn to navigate without him, I’ve decided to spend some more time on this blog, which was started in memory of his father, William Burl Kincaid, Jr.

Don loved the idea of the blog, but his declining health prevented him (and me) from keeping up with it and following through with our plans for it. I’m not exactly sure of how active I’ll be on here because, to be honest, the last few years have been very hard and I’m moving forward slowly, but my intention is to invest a little more time in it, hopefully expanding a bit in content.

Don loved Owingsville and all of the quirkiness that can be found in small, rural towns. He loved people, was a keen judge of character, and paid zero attention to a person’s wealth or position when engaging with them. I have had people I don’t know come up to me since he died to tell me of a certain kindness he did for them, or to tell me how much they admired him for both his professional and public service work. A local man who worked with Don in city government sent me a note describing him as “selfless.” He certainly was, always putting the needs of others before his own. He served in office to help the community, because if you have the capacity to make the lives of others better, that’s what you do . . . and that’s what he did.

He accomplished a lot in his life, but he never was one to brag or seek to take credit, traits he inherited from his father. He also got his dad’s stoicism and resolve – characteristics that the Greatest Generation seemed to have in spades. Throughout his illness, he was a fighter, even until the very end. He refused to give up, never felt sorry for himself, refused to sink into despair, and when I myself was tempted to do just that, he would say, “You can cry for a little while, but then you have to pick yourself up and go on.” Or, “We don’t quit. We look things straight in the face and carry on.” I am trying so hard to do that.

As I move forward with this blog, I plan to share old recipes, old letters, historical tidbits, book reviews, pictures – pretty much what we did before – but I also want to add some personal elements, like crafts with my grandchildren, my personal hobbies, and musings about things that are important to me. I hope to maybe inspire another person who has lost their anchor in life. In doing all of that, I want to honor the memory of my husband, and, wherever his spirit is in this vast and beautiful universe, I hope he’s proud of me.

On the beach at St. Augustine. One of our very favorite places.

What was Owingsville and the world like in 1916?

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There was no I-64. It was built in the 1960’s. The main road was the Midland Trail which was gravel.
The automobile of the day was the Ford Model T and they were all black.
To go somewhere of any distance, you went to Preston or Olympia and caught the train.
US 60 as we know it did not exist until 1926, when they built it out of concrete.
There were no microwave ovens, stoves of the day were probably wood burners.
There was no natural gas for gas stoves and the main heat was coal burning stoves.
No clothes dryers existed – you hung them on the clothes line!
Half of all homes in the US didn’t have electricity. Most still used oil lamps.
High Street was a gravel road and all the houses on the street had fences because . . .
turkeys, cattle, pigs were all driven or walked down the main streets.
Morehead State University at that time was called Morehead Normal School.
There were no…..
computers,
cd players,
ipods,
cellphones,
air conditioners
televisions,
cable for tv’s,
Internet,
mini calculators
Subway, McDonald’s, Dairy Queen, or Pizza Places,
Only 8% of all homes in the United States had a telephone.
A loaf of bread cost 7 cents and sugar was 4 cents per pound.
Most families had chickens, pigs and a garden….in town!
The population was 942 – in 2010 the population was 1592
Owingsville was 105 years old – this year it is 205 years old
Owingsville was exactly 1 square mile – it is now approximately 2 ½ square miles.
There were no water faucets in the house,  Water came from wells – the city water works were built in 1927.
There were no indoor toilets.  Every building had a privy or outhouse in the back yard.
There was no city sewer system – it was built in the mid 1950’s.
There were no street lights.
No weather radar or army radar existed.
No radio, if you wanted the news, you read the newspaper.
For fires, huge cisterns were built, many of which still exist.
World War 1 was being fought in Europe.


Daddy talked or wrote about all of these things at one time or another. He loved history and the memories of his town. He was born on February 23, 1916.  This coming Tuesday, February 23, 2016 he would have been 100 years old.

Don

More odd Phrases…….

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Here’s another list of odd phrases that he collected and found lots of humor in. ~ Don, 1/24/2016
A sign seen in an Owingsville service station”NOT RELIABLE FOR ACCIDENTS!”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Git a hankerin’
As bitter as gall
Pretty as a picture
Hotter than a $2 pistol
Hotter than a firecracker
Bigger than a bear
Meaner than a snake
What’s cookin’?
Hackin’ it
Gone fishin’
Wed backer bed
Young whipper snapper
Punkin’ stud
Middlin’ to skuddlin’
Sharper than a tack

Odd Words and Phrases

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The use of proper grammar and correct enunciation were important to Daddy.  His mother, Jane Kincaid, taught for many years, and he taught and worked in the board office for 42 years.  Here is a list of words he wrote down that were local regionalisms. When coming into town one of his favorites was ” we have arroved!” ~ Don
That therin (that)
Hit (it)
His’n, her’n (his or her ownership)
Wed backer beds ( weed tobacco beds)
Hain’t (they ain’t)
Summers (somewhere)
That’s all they are to it.
Sumpin (something)
Agin (against) 
He listed a few sayings as well:
Nip and tuck (thought to be the same as neck to neck as in a race)
Colder than a mackerel (cold and dead)
Darker than pitch. (roof pitch is black)
Madder than a wet hen.
Meaner than a snake.
Hotter than a fire cracker.

Letters from Miss Jane and Betty Burton Manley

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This week I have two letters to share with you. The first is one from Betty Burton Manley, who as a child lived across the street from the Kincaids with Mr. and Mrs. Charles Darnell.  You can read her letter first and then Miss Jane’s, who, you will notice, encourages Burl to write Betty. ~Ginger

Mr. Burl working in bluegrass seed.  If you’ve been reading the blog, you’ll know that a lot of Miss Jane’s letters were written to Mr. Burl while he was in the Midwest harvesting seed with Henry Ficklin, Uncle Ruby (Reuben Kincaid, Sr.), and R.W. (Reuben’s son).  
The front of Betty Burton’s note to Mr. Burl.
The note itself, which is transcribed below (complete with the spelling errors and incorrect grammar one would expect from a child her age).

Dear Burl
           How are you getting along. I will be glad when you come home. I miss you when I go to your mother and I don’t know where you could be. I forget where you are. Say Hello to Mr. Ruby and Mr. Ficklin for me. Are you still silly. I want you to hurry back. I want to see you and your mother want to see you to and we all want to see you and Mr. Ruby and Mr. Ficklin to. Have you found a girl yet if you haven’t found one I no one to watch for you her name is Ella Bohon.* Ha! Ha!
 
From your litter friend,
Betty Burton
*Ella Bohon Doggett Goodpaster.  Miss Ella is mentioned quite a few times in the letters, sometimes as a potential girlfriend for Mr. Burl, whose bachelor status was evidently of concern to the town!
Now, Miss Jane’s letter:

 Sunday Morning,
           We haven’t heard since last I wrote, but know you are expecting to hear from us.
           We are all O.K. Aunt May is having asthma, but has some medicine that relieves her.
            Daddy has discovered that the potatoes are rottening.  You know how he has always prided himself on his potatoes. Perhaps it is a wetter place in garden that he has dug from, and too, they are such nice big ones.
           I believe the damage by water in county is estimated at $500,000.  Everyone is telling of their losses.
           It did not rain Fri. night , Sat. or Sat. night, but looks like rain today. It is very hot this morning.
           Lewis is coming to take Burl down to Ruby’s place after dinner.
           Folks are talking about the Horse Fair now, what they will wear, their guests, etc.
           By the number of cars passing yesterday afternoon, there must have been a crowd at Morehead.*
           Marguerite and Dr. Lester** are considering cutting a door in “Guy’s room” on the alley and moving his dental office over there.
           Honey, try to find time to write Betty a card at least.  She said that Ruby had written her.
           Ella*** has come back to work again, starting tomorrow. I want to get finished up house-cleaning and rest awhile before my (or our) Iowa trip.
           Hope we hear from you today. We want to know how things are going since we have had so much rain.
Lots of love, 
Mother

*This was before the interstate was built.
**Dr. Lester was a dentist here in Owingsville and his office was in his house.  That house burned a few years ago. 
***There are two Ellas mentioned in Miss Jane’s letters: Ella Bohon Doggett [Goodpaster] and an Ella (who had a child the family called “Little Ruby”) who worked for the family and whose last name we don’t know, though Tommy Hodge says she is related to him.  We’re still trying to find out more about her, so if anyone knows, please send a message or leave a comment.

Old Recipes

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Just in time for Thanksgiving, here are some old recipes that might be of interest.  Sorry if some of them seem incomplete, but this is how they are recorded in the old cookbooks from which I’m getting them.  I guess it was a given that everybody would know what to do next.  I’ll try to put more up before Christmas. ~ Ginger

Pie Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/3 cup shortening
6 tbsp. water

Mrs. Chester Jones
Kendall Springs Homemakers

Butterscotch Pie
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. cream
Boil to a wax and add:
Yolks of 3 eggs
1 cup water
2 tbsp. flour
1 cup milk
Boil together until thick.

Mrs. Chester Jones
Kendall Springs Homemakers

Rolls [Missionary Society Recipe Book / Owingsville First Church of God]
3 cups flour
1 cup milk – lukewarm
2 tablespoons lard
2 tablespoons sugar
pinch of salt
Dissolve cake of yeast in small amount of warm water.  Mix milk, lard, sugar, and salt.  Add yeast when milk is cool.  Let rise one hour.  Roll out.  Let rise again one hour.  Bake in hot oven 450 degrees.

Gladys Markland

Ma Bess’s Jam Cake [Missionary Society Recipe Book / Owingsville First Church of God]
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups butter
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups jam
2 cups flour (sifted before measuring)
1 cup chopped nuts
6 eggs – beaten separately
2 teaspoons soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
Cream butter, add sugar and beaten egg yolks.  Put all dry ingredients in flour and add alternately with buttermilk to butter, sugar, and egg mixture.  Add jam and nuts; then fold in beaten egg whites.  Bake in 4 layer cake pans 35 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees.

Filling for Jam Cake
1 1/2 cups jam cake batter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sweet milk
2 tablespoons butter
Mix all ingredients in sauce pan.  Cook over burner, stirring constantly until pastry thick or purplish color.  Spread between layers. (Cover sides and top of cake with any good frosting.

Unknown [Dorothy Butcher says Ma Bess refers to a “Ma Woodard” – Thank you, Miss Dorothy!]

Best Ever Caramel Frosting  [Missionary Society Recipe Book / Owingsville First Church of God]
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup milk
3 1/4 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar
Melt butter; add brown sugar.  Boil and stir 1 minute or until slightly thick.  Cool slightly.  Add 1/4 cup milk; beat smooth.  Beat in confectioner’s sugar until of spreading consistency.  Frosts tops and sides of 2 9-inch round layers.

Louise Stone

French Beans [Woman’s Club Cookbook, 1954)
2 cans French beans
1 can mushroom soup
More than 1/2 lb. Chateau cheese*
Heat soup until good and hot, add cheese cut fine, and melt thoroughly.  Add 1/2 can Carnation milk; drain beans and pour into baking dish with soup and cheese mixture; add 1 tablespoon A.1 sauce and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, season with salt and a bit of Tabasco.  Bake until cheese is rather thick.

May S. Piper
Owingsville, Kentucky
*Chateau cheese was evidently a type of cheese sold around the 1950’s and was a bit similar to Velveeta but with a sharper taste.

Harvard Beets [Woman’s Club Cookbook, 1954]
Cook 12 small beets in salted water until skins slip off easily.  Cube. Mix 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 heaping teaspoon flour, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon butter.  To this mixture add cubed beets and cook until transparent.

Mrs. Ed Hickey
Bethel, Kentucky


1947 advertisement for Chateau cheese.

Coon Hunting with Uncle Jim and Uncle John: A Bath County Folktale

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Night hunters – this picture is courtesy of Oliver Hartley’s Hunting Dogs,
a book you can read for free at Project Gutenberg. 
Hartley published the book in 1909. 
Several months ago, I shared a folktale that my father-in-law had written down.  In that very short story, “Uncle John” and “Uncle Jim” jump a train to Mt. Sterling and later end up climbing trees to avoid what they believe is a rabid dog.  If you missed that tale, you can read it here.  Well, our protagonists are back once again, and this time they’ve gone coon hunting!

From the journals:

In days past it was a custom for men and boys to hunt with dogs at night.  On those forays through pastures and woods, the dogs would “tree” varmints either in dens or up trees.  The word “varmint” was used to cover most any wild animal found in the county, such as ‘possums, skunks, weasels, minks, coons, and muskrats.  It was a sport that could supply much entertainment and some monetary income.
It was something to look forward to and enjoy.  Some hunters would take a snack with them and maybe even roast some corn over an open fire.  Occasionally the dogs would catch a varmint on the ground and often the animal would be a skunk.
Uncle John and Uncle Jim enjoyed hunting with their dogs at night and spent many enjoyable evenings in quest of varmints.  One night the dogs treed a varmint in a den under a rock ledge.  Uncle John reached back under the ledge and could just barely touch the tail of the animal.  He suggested that Uncle Jim should reach in and get the varmint.  Uncle Jim stretched and could just reach the animal but suddenly jerked his hand back. 
Uncle John questioned, “What’s wrong?”
Uncle Jim retorted, “He swapped ends!”

Hope you enjoyed that little tale.  Hopefully, I’ll be back with much more soon.  We’re still working on the book, but we’ve all had a lot going on, and that’s been put on hold for a while. ~Ginger

You don’t have to go coon hunting to enjoy roasted ears of corn.
 You can use your grill or even the gas burner on your stove.

Folk Tales (Uncle John & Uncle Jim)

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“The past is not dead.  It’s not even past.” ~ William Faulkner
Jumping a train.
In Mr. Burl’s folk tale below, “Uncle Jim” and “Uncle John” hop a train to Mt. Sterling.

Folk and fairy tales have always been a source of fascination to me.  As a child, I couldn’t get enough of Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and all of those beloved classics.  As an adult, I carried that interest with me into some scholastic pursuits, studying, for instance, the history of those age old stories while trying to understand what they mean in our collective consciousness. 

Folk tales  hold an especially important place in local communities.  Children can learn moral lessons from them and they can act to enforce social norms.  But, and perhaps most wonderfully, they work to help us define a sense of place, and we all need that, no matter how far we roam. 

Mr. Burl had a few Bath County folk tales he liked to tell and what follows is one of them.  “Uncle Jim” and “Uncle John” are completely fictitious, by the way. ~Ginger

From the journals:

It is probably true that tales, whether true or not, are told and ever handed down from generation to generation.  The author has heard some local tales many times and with a little different twist each time.

Do you remember the one about the two good old boys who loved to jump the freight train and ride to Mt. Sterling for special events?  On some of their visits they imbibed in a few “snorts.” One day, before hopping the freight to Mt. Sterling, they heard that there was a “mad dog” in the community.*  While in town, they had a few “snorts” and attended a circus.  After leaving the circus, they went down to the tracks to hitch a ride home.  Upon reaching the jump off place which was up a grade, they jumped off and started walking through the woods.  Suddenly they met a dog.  Remembering  the news they had heard prior to leaving home that morning, Uncle John climbed a nice big tree nearby, while Uncle Jim unfortunately scrambled up a sapling..  As he was trying to climb out of reach of the dog the sapling began bending over until Uncle Jim was almost back on the ground.  

Uncle Jim being very frightened called to Uncle John and said, “What do I do now?”  

Uncle John hollered back, “Turn her loose and climb her again!”

*In Mr. Burl’s notes, he mentions “mad dog scares” and writes that he wants to ask Dr. Bobby Byron how rabies was treated before the vaccine.  I don’t guess he ever had that chance, but it sure would have made for interesting reading.  I’m assuming there was no cure, and any treatment would have pretty much been regarded as futile.  

Atticus Finch protects the town from a mad dog in To Kill a Mockingbird, surprising his children with his skill with a gun.   I thought of this scene when I read Mr. Burl’s note on mad dog scares.  
Don’t we all just love Atticus?

“It was times like these when I thought my father, who hated guns and had never been to any wars, was the bravest man who ever lived.” ~ Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

May Day

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A May Day float, pulled by a tractor.

Floats were often “pomped” by stuffing tissue paper or dinner napkins in chicken wire.  Evidently, cardboard and glue are used more frequently now.
Last year, I asked my youngest son, Boone, if he was coming in from college for May Day (our annual spring festival here in Bath County, for those of you who aren’t familiar).  He rolled his eyes and said, “No.  I’m staying as far away from Owingsville as I can on that day.”
Well, he made it home just before the parade started.  “I thought you weren’t coming in,” I teased.
“I forgot it was May Day,” he replied, with just a hint of a grin.
He hadn’t forgotten.  We sat down on our front porch and watched the parade together, waving at participants, admiring the floats, pointing out people we knew, and both of us smiling from ear to ear.    
I’m betting Mr. Burl was smiling when he wrote this piece.  We hope it makes you smile, too.  Happy May Day, everybody! ~ Ginger
From the journals:
The courthouse clock strikes 1:00 P.M.  Hundreds of people line Main Street anxiously awaiting the parade that by some fellas is the number one event of the year in Bath County.  Older folks are greeting old friends, making new ones, and generally having a great day.  Children are squirting water guns, often spraying spectators and parade participants.  Camera bugs are all set at vantage positions to make keepsake photos. 
There are concession stands in front and to the sides of the courthouse.  They are broiling steaks and hamburgers out in front.  Parking spaces are gobbled up early and some people are forced to park a half mile distance from the center of town.
May Day!  May Day! – No, these words do not signal an emergency – they signal the parade is approaching!  Color guard, class A and B floats, antique cars, clowns, horses, miniature cars, queen candidates, calliopes, bands, antique hearses, fire trucks, DES vehicles, Boy Scouts, and farm tractors – these are all part of our May Day parade.

In front of what is now Marley Clark’s garage. 



The would-be May Day avoider, Joseph Boone Kincaid (grandson of William Burl Kincaid, Jr.)
His grandfather would approve of the fishing, but not that Dodger’s cap.

Old Photographs and Funeral Notices

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Jefferson Dawson Brother, 1875 – 1975.  Nephew of John William Dawson, below.  He married Elizabeth Prewitt.  We have a letter he wrote while in Germany during WWI that we will share soon.
John W. Dawson 1849-1910.  Son of Jefferson Dawson and Eliza Rice.  Father of Emma, Elbert,  Nancy Jane (WBK, Jr.’s mother),  Ashby, Mary, and Stella.  This image was scanned from a reduced copy of the original, which we have.


Yes, that is Isaac’s hair!