Tag: Black History

A Hometown Baseball Legend

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Black History, Mr. Burl's Writing, Sports2 Comments
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The Owingsville Giants.  Nathan Redmond is third from the left in the back row. Photo courtesy of The Bath County Outlook.

My father-in-law, William Burl Kincaid, Jr., was a huge baseball fan. Well . . . he was more like a fanatic.  Some of my fondest memories are of going with him to watch his beloved St. Louis Cardinals play their exhibition games in Louisville and watching them play their championship games on TV in his living room. This was back in the 1980’s when they boasted such players as Willie McGee and the outstanding Ozzie Smith. There was one hometown player from the 1920’s that he thought ranked right up with these greats. ~ Ginger

From his journals:

Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Willie Mays. If you love baseball, you have heard of the exploits of these baseball players, but have you heard the name Nathan Redmond?  This man was legend around Owingsville. To begin with, he was endowed with a fine physique.  He stood about six-two and was well proportioned.

Nathan, in his younger days, was noted as a pitcher with a blazing, screaming fast ball. Today, baseball fans would say that he threw “heat.”   Many batters – good hitters – were caught with their bats on their shoulders.  Of some that did swing, it was too late because of the velocity of his pitch.

Nathan, like many pitchers today, unfortunately developed arm trouble and that blaze he had thrown was slowed down.  Being a great hitter (especially of the long ball), Nathan began to play first base and was a standout there.  

The author saw him play many times and on occasions remembers the left-handed batter hitting one that rolled across U.S. 60 from Kimbrough Park.*

Had Nathan Redmond lived now or in recent years, those who remember him feel that he would have starred as a big leaguer.  In his day, Nathan could not have been a National League or American League player because of his color.

Some of you remember the men who played with Nathan.  To name a few – Jim Reid, Jerry Lacy, Bob Foley, Dusty Stewart, Diner Gray, and Lawrence Berry. **

* Kimbrough Park was located in the vicinity where the Southern States lot is and across from Steve Butcher’s car lot on U.S. 60 East.

**I’m not completely sure the names Dusty and Diner are correct as those words are difficult to make out in the text. If they are wrong, please make a comment or drop me a note.

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A news clipping from July 18, 1921 edition of  The Public Ledger (Maysville, Ky). Image courtesy of the University of Kentucky via The Library of Congress.

Letter to the Herald-Leader about Frank Jones

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Black History, Mr. Burl's Writing, SportsLeave a comment

 

Mike Fields, Staff Writer
Lexington Herald-Leader Co.
100 Midland Avenue
Lexington, KY 40508

Sir,

Read your column Friday 19th and noted your piece about Jeremy Simpson and Mark Higgs.

In 1969, Bath County had a great running back-Frank Jones.  Frank was the leading scorer in Kentucky high school football that year.  Jones scored 38 TDs and 22PATs for a total of 250 points.

Jones rushed for a total of 3,361 yards in 327 carries in 1969.  Frank’s average per carry was 10.24 yards.

The above statistics ware taken from the Nov. 13, 1969 Louisville Courier-Journal.

Also, Frank Jones is the all-time rushing leader for Morehead State University.

Am enclosing a copy of the Courier-Journal article from which the above statistics were taken.

Yours for good sports,

W. Burl Kincaid, Jr.
Owingsville, Ky

Jones still holds the record he set in 1969 for rushing a total of 3,361 yards.  
Official records of this can be found at KHSAA internet link below.  Don

http://khsaa.org/records/football/individualrecords.pdf

The X-Ray Mobile Comes to Owingsville

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Miss Jane's Letters, OwingsvilleLeave a comment

In the summers of the late 1940’s, Mr. Burl, Reuben Kincaid, Henry Ficklin, and R.W. (Reuben’s son) went out west to harvest bluegrass seed.   Don will write more about the harvesting part a bit later, but what I want to share with you are the numerous letters Miss Jane (Mr. Burl’s mother) wrote to them while they were away.  

I love these letters, and I hope you enjoy them as well.  I’ll tag them all with the label “A Letter From Miss Jane,” and that way you can find them easily if you want to share or reread them at some point.  They shed a wonderful light on the Owingsville of that time period. If you want to add anything, please feel free to leave a comment.  We don’t know who everyone is that Miss Jane mentions so we could use your help!

Just a few notes to get started:

  • I’ll transcribe the letters, but also add scans of them. The bolded parts might be of particular interest and if you see an asterisk, I’ll have a note at the end about something.  Footnoting would work better than asterisks, but I need to figure out how to do that on here.
  • I’ll put a _______ instead of a name if I think there is even a chance that something she wrote might cause anyone embarrassment, and I do that in this letter.
Here’s the first letter we’ll share, written on a Thursday morning a long time ago.
 
Dear Son,
          Well, Henry arrived sooner than we expected, got here Tuesday night – and the chicken wasn’t fried – ha!  We were glad to see him.  He had been gone 8 weeks. He was so tired.
          We got your letter of the 20th yesterday.  You had some of the Missouri mud that May has talked about .  Hope you got your car out alright.
           Did you find any more seed?  Will you have more than one car?
           Tuesday and yesterday were very hot days and I believe today will be too.
           We are expecting the copper pipe any day now that Mr. Horton has ordered.  Ernie has promised to put the tub in as soon as the pipe comes.  
           _________ disappointed us in the papering, so Burl engaged George Harris* to come Monday.  I am so anxious to get through.  The porch floor is fresh and bright in its coat of green and the furniture is all out. You painted the chairs last year, I believe.  They look nice and white.  The lawns all through the street have been freshly cut and look so pretty.
          Marguerite** and I had the X-Ray yesterday – you know the X-Ray-mobile is here.  We had letters from Mr. Roschi*** saying this is the teacher’s year for a physical examination.
          There was a very swell wedding in the colored Methodist Church****  yesterday afternoon – a Duncan girl and the groom was from Colorado.
          Ella went back with Dan and Mimi*****, have you heard from her?
          Mr. John Crane is in hospital very ill.  He is up in 80, I believe.
          This is “fishing day” again.  I wish Daddy could have some luck.  Banks****** caught two bass last Thursday.
          We are all alright.
                                                                                                   Lots of love, 
                                                                                                   Mother
 
*George Harris was a prominent resident of Owingsville and a member of the city council (probably the first African-American council member in our town). 
**Marguerite Lester – she lived next door to Miss Jane (the house that burned by us).  Her husband was Dr. Lester.
***Mr. Roschi was the school superintendent.
****I think I wince each time I see the word “colored,” but it was a common term of that time period.  The “colored Methodist Church” she refers to is the A.M.E. church on West High Street by the old water tower.
*****Dan and Mimi Doggett.  Ella is Ella Doggett (Goodpaster).  
******Banks Thompson.  The “Daddy” she refers to is her husband, Burl, Sr. That was what she called him.
 

 

 

 
 

Will Hayden’s Roofs

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Black History, Work2 Comments
 

Annie Hayden, wife of Will Hayden, circa 1953.  “Miss Annie” worked for the Jacob Kincaid family and can be seen in numerous family pictures. This picture was taken in the back yard of what is now Marcelle Doggett’s home. Some say there is the image of a ghost in the lower right hand side of the picture, right under Miss Annie’s left hand.  
 
If you make it a point to observe some of the tin roofs in Bath County, you will note that there is a type with ridges, where sheets of tin have been crimped together.  These tin roofs were installed by a master tinner.  This tinner was a resident of Bath County, and his name was Will Hayden.  He had his shop in the building that he owned on the corner of Oberlin and Water Streets.  The red building still stands at that address.*
Many houses and businesses are still sheltered by the tin roofs installed by Mr. Hayden.
*The red building that Mr. Burl refers to is no longer standing, as it was destroyed by fire several years ago.  However,  Mr. Hayden’s roofs are still visible all over town.   Don and I took a drive on a Sunday not too long ago, and he showed me several examples of this skilled tinner’s work.  You can differentiate between newer metal roofs and those installed by Mr. Hayden by looking for staggered, horizontal overlaps.  Some of the houses in town are completely covered by his metal roofs, while others just have the original porch overhang.   The overhang on Mr. Delbert Anderson’s home is an example of Mr. Hayden’s fine craftsmanship.  Once you know what to look for, the roofs become easy to spot.

Johnny White’s Hamburgers

On By Ginger Karrick KincaidIn Black HistoryLeave a comment
I’m a hamburger traditionalist:  I like them fixed the old fashioned way, with no “modern” toppings like mushrooms, Swiss cheese, or jalapeno peppers,  which is why I think I probably would have loved Johnny White’s. ~ Ginger
 
From the journals:
     Should you ask an old-timer in Bath County, especially in Owingsville, about the best hamburger he ever tasted, the answer would almost invariably be “Johnny White’s hamburgers.”  It has been told that he dipped them in meal and fried them in suet.  At any rate, they were scrumptious and delectable and almost any other adjective meaning great that you can think of.
     Another man who was also noted for his hamburgers in Owingsville was Bob Foley.  Bob had his stand usually either on Henry or Oberlin Street.  Johnny White’s stand was usually on Oberlin Street.
     The stands of these hamburger specialists were small and could be moved without much trouble.  The fronts were structured so that the front side would lift up and be propped up, revealing a counter ledge. Inside would be a coal oil stove which furnished the necessary heat for cooking and enough room for two people to work.
     These hamburger men did not use buns but light bread.  It was not uncommon for one person to buy five to ten at a time.   The price for these delicacies was for many years all of ten cents, but they went up to fifteen cents after World War II.     Another business that was good for the businessman and great for the public has faded from the local scene.