Oh, and on my ride home, I was completely creeped out. Cruising by myself, that is, alone in Betty Blue, in the dark, with the radio blasting. Guess what comes on the radio? That's right, Tom Petty's, "American Girl." So, I crank it and start to sing it out, and then this eerie feeling comes over me. Deja vu. It seems as if this same scenario has played out before and had a terrible ending. And then, it hit me! BUFFALO BILL! Catherine Martin was driving alone, in the dark, blasting and singing "American Girl" just before Buffalo Bill kidnapped her and took her to his creepy ass basement and threw her down in the hole and told her "It puts the lotion on its skin." So, naturally, I ran from the garage to the side door of the house as quickly as I could. I saw BB's image staring out at me from the empty foreclosed house next door. Oh, God, why can't I open this damn door faster! Finally, I made it in the house and my kittens were there to greet me. BB was only in my head. I was safe at home. Flashy the bat slayer would protect me.
Well, I finally got my family stories typed up and sent into my professor. I sure hope she thinks they are as hilarious as I do! I had a fun time collecting them, and hope more come my way. I'll end this blog with one of these tales. Hope you get a kick out of it.
William Cornett Arrives in Kentucky
Before moving to the hamlet of Dwarf, the Cornetts were settled in Sassafrass in Leatherwood, Kentucky. William Cornett, the first Cornett in the lineage of Cornetts who eventually settled in Dwarf, first came to Kentucky in the late 1790s. The Cornetts may look like a scrappy bunch, but one thing’s for certain, they love to eat. So, it is not surprising that the reason this Revolutionary War veteran ventured out of his hometown in Henrico County, Virginia to Kentucky was to hunt for food! He had heard tell of plentiful game in the region, so he recruited his friend, Gideon Ison, to come along and the men headed for Kentucky.
Now, around this time, Kentucky went by another name, “Kaintuck,” which, if you know your J.R. Cash, you know Kaintuck was referred to by Native Americans as the “dark and bloody ground.” Perhaps William and Gideon weren’t aware of this fact, or perhaps they simply thought the benefits of fresh game in their belly outweighed the risk of being scalped. At any rate, after four or so days of travel, the men ended up at the mouth of Beech Fork on Big Leatherwood in Perry County Kentucky.
Once they had assembled their camp site, William decided to cut down a beech tree. His plan was to return within the next few months to see if the tree seasoned, and if it had, this would indicate that the seasons and growing patterns in Kentucky were similar to Virginia. Thus, he would be able to grow the same types of crops here if he was to relocate his family, which he ultimately did.
The next day was full of hunting and exploring. The men decided that in order to cover more ground, they should split up, so they headed out in opposite directions. It wasn’t long until Gideon happened across a camp site where a fire had recently been burning—it was a Native American campground. Gideon Ison turned right around and high-tailed it back to camp. Once he arrived safely back to camp, Gideon was faced with a dilemma: wait for William or hit the trail back to Virginia; he decided to give William until dark to make it back.
It was practically dark and still no sign of William. Gideon hopped on his horse and started of for home, when he saw his friend walking toward camp. He got down off his horse and greete William with an embrace, “Where have you been?” Gideon asked. “I’ve been getting supper,” William replied, as he lay down the deer he had killed, “What’s gotten into you, Gid? Where were you headed on your horse?” Gideon had to confess to his friend that he was fixing to take off for home. He described the campground he had come across and told William that he thought for sure the Indians had already scalped him! To which William replied, “Damns to hell if I didn’t see one’s head stuck over a log today! I walked by as if I didn’t see him, and when I got far enough away, I took off running! I looked back to see if he followed me, but all I saw was him running full speed in the other direction!”
Not wanting to stick around to see if the feller William had come across had gone back to get friends, the men decided they would load up camp that night and head on back to Virginia before their blood was on the ground of Kaintuck.
William eventually made his way back to Kentucky (no one knows if he ever checked to see if the beech tree he cut down on his previous trip had seasoned) and permanently took up residence in Sassafrass Hollow. The Cornetts lived there for four generations (William Jesse + Rhoda Gilliam [and after Rhoda’s passing, and with her final last words being of encouragement to do so, William married Mary Everage]; John + Rachel Smith; Robert + Adeline Brashear; and Manton + Julia Godsey). The custom at the time was that the youngest son of the family would inherit the homestead in return for caring for the old. George Washington Cornett, son of Manton and Julia, was not the youngest child, so decided to leave Sassafrass Hollow and settle elsewhere when it was time for him to take a wife and leave the family homestead. George Washington married Isabelle Ritchie and established a homestead in Dwarf, Kentucky. Since George W.’s big move, the Cornetts have resided in Dwarf for four generations and counting.
The End
P.S. After researching my family tree, I found that I am related to George Washington Cornett, Jefferson Davis Taulbee, and Andrew Jackson Taulbee!
No comments:
Post a Comment