Henderson's Claims to Fame
It has often been said that every town has its claim to fame in one fashion or another. For instance, Tampico, Illinois, claims 40th President Ronald Reagan as its most famous native. Bradford, Vermont, claims to have produced the first globe map manufactured in the United States, and Olney, Texas, is home of the One-Arm Dove Hunt. While many Hendersonians know that our little town on the Ohio River can boast of people like John James Audubon, W. C. Handy, and General Samuel Hopkins, you may not realize exactly how many lesser-known claims to fame Henderson County actually has. Take the following for example:
- Henderson was the first county in the state of Kentucky to use an all-dial telephone system.
- It also claims our country’s second millionaire, Alexander Buchanan Barret, who made his fortune in tobacco.
- Henderson has produced four Kentucky governors, Lazarus Powell, John Young Brown, A. O. Stanley, and A. B. Chandler, as well as three lieutenant governors, General Thomas Posey, Archibald Dixon, and A. B. Chandler.
- Now a nationally-recognized holiday, Mother’s Day was first celebrated right here in Henderson.
- The first American to fall in the Mexican War was Hendersonian Colonel Philip Barbour.
- Henderson County was the birthplace of Ann Rutledge, the famous first love of would-be President Abraham Lincoln.
- Husband E. Kimmel, commander of the Pacific fleet during the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, was also a Henderson native.
These are just a few of Henderson’s innumerable legacies. To learn more fun facts about our town, come visit us upstairs in the library. You can also take a look at the archive’s webpage at: http://www.hcpl.org/genealogy/.
To view previous "Revisiting Henderson's Past," click here: http://www.hcpl.org/genealogy/genblog.html.
(Photo is of Husband E. Kimmel. He personally presented this photo the library.)
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