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Young E. Allison: A Writer in the Making
Fifteen men on the Dead Man's Chest—
Drink and the devil had done for the rest—
The mate was fixed by the bos'n's pike,
The bos'n brained with a marlin spike,
And Cookey's throat was marked belike
It had been grippedBy fingers ten;
And there they lay,
All good dead men
Like break-o'-day in a boozing-ken—
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum!
from “The Derelict” by Young E. Allison
Prior to his career as a famed poet, writer, and journalist, native Hendersonian Young Ewing Allison (1853-1932), who composed the preceding lines, had created a local legacy of his own. The author, who, as a child, resided on the north side of Fourth Street between Main and Elm Streets, would become the youngest officer ever to serve Henderson County and would have an incredible career all before he had reached voting age.
According to a 1932 article in the Sunday Gleaner and Journal, William D. Allison, Henderson County clerk at the time of the Civil War, entrusted his then ten-year-old son, Young Allison, with the considerable responsibility of serving as his deputy county clerk. By the time Young was thirteen, he had begun his newspaper career working in a printing office. His journalistic pursuits would come to fruition two years later when he became editor of a local daily paper. By the age of seventeen, Allison was city reporter, the position which would propel his later careers as editor of the Evansville Journal, Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville Commercial, and Louisville’s Daily Herald.
At the time of his death in 1932, Young Allison was a literary success, generating, in addition to “The Derelict,” such works as The Delicious Vice, The Old Kentucky Home, The Curious Legend of Louis Philippe in Kentucky, and various others. To think, it all started in Henderson.
To learn more about Young E. Allison or to read some of Allison’s inimitable tales and poems, be sure to visit us upstairs in the library!
Prior to his career as a famed poet, writer, and journalist, native Hendersonian Young Ewing Allison (1853-1932), who composed the preceding lines, had created a local legacy of his own. The author, who, as a child, resided on the north side of Fourth Street between Main and Elm Streets, would become the youngest officer ever to serve Henderson County and would have an incredible career all before he had reached voting age.
According to a 1932 article in the Sunday Gleaner and Journal, William D. Allison, Henderson County clerk at the time of the Civil War, entrusted his then ten-year-old son, Young Allison, with the considerable responsibility of serving as his deputy county clerk. By the time Young was thirteen, he had begun his newspaper career working in a printing office. His journalistic pursuits would come to fruition two years later when he became editor of a local daily paper. By the age of seventeen, Allison was city reporter, the position which would propel his later careers as editor of the Evansville Journal, Louisville Courier-Journal, Louisville Commercial, and Louisville’s Daily Herald.
At the time of his death in 1932, Young Allison was a literary success, generating, in addition to “The Derelict,” such works as The Delicious Vice, The Old Kentucky Home, The Curious Legend of Louis Philippe in Kentucky, and various others. To think, it all started in Henderson.
To learn more about Young E. Allison or to read some of Allison’s inimitable tales and poems, be sure to visit us upstairs in the library!
Want to see what we have? Take a look here: http://www.hcpl.org/genealogy/.
To view previous "Revisiting Henderson's Past," click here: http://www.hcpl.org/genealogy/genblog.html.
To view previous "Revisiting Henderson's Past," click here: http://www.hcpl.org/genealogy/genblog.html.
Correction: According to the official Kentucky Death Certificate, the father of Young E. Allison was Young E. Allison, Sr., not William D. Allison.
1 comment:
One slight error in your story about Young Ewing Allison... He was not the son of William D. Allison, he was his nephew. Young E. Allison's father was another Young E. Allison - who was of course William D. Allison's brother.
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