| News and information for Lewis County, Kentucky! |
More facts on earlier stories
By William M. Talley
(use the "Contact Us" form to comment on Dr. Talley's columns)
A gigantic yellow poplar
Several years ago we published an extensive article on the huge tree that once stood
on the river bank of the Charles King Burriss farm in Black Oak. The felling of the tree in
August 1881 was the occasion for a picnic and celebration for all the community around
Vanceburg and Black Oak.
Curiously, in all of the accounts of the tree no one stated specifically what kind of tree it
was. Since it stood in an area called the beech woods some individuals contended that
it surely was a beech. Others argued that it probably was a big black oak. But neither of
these was right, and we found out from an old issue of The Portsmouth Times, dated
Saturday, August 5, 1876, that the tree was a yellow poplar:
"Pertaining to a man of ripe years. Charles Burriss, living two miles above Vanceburg,
Ky., is one of those who has through fair dealing and hard labor, carved out wealth, and
although he has passed the four score that the prophet put as the extreme limit, being
in his 94th year, he has not lost his zest for superintending his possessions. He owns
about 2,000 acres of fine farming lands in Fleming and Lewis Counties, the home farm
being in the fertile Ohio Valley, 100 acres of which was in wheat, 100 in grass, and 100 in
corn this year. He has 27 head of horses, several four years old that have been curbed
by a lavish bridle rein.
"He is hale and hearty, and only recently rode to Fleming County to look after his
farming interests there. As an instance of his integrity we cite the following -- there is a
large yellow poplar tree standing on the bank of his home farm, ten feet in diameter and
100 feet high to the first limb. Twenty-five years ago a flatboat man, whose name is
unknown, passing down the river on a raft, saw the tree and went ashore, where he
bargained with Mr. Burriss for the tree, giving him twenty dollars for it in cash, saying
he would call again and cut it down. Nothing was ever heard of the purchaser, and
though Mr. Burriss has been offered almost fabulous prices for it since, he has refused
to sell what once he has been paid for. The bank is cutting away, and the tree is
threatening to yield before the woodman's ax is laid at its heart, and Mr. Burriss does
not know what to do with it. It is too valuable to be lost, and he does not want to sell
another man's property. Basil Burriss, carpenter of this city [Portsmouth], is a son of the
subject of this notice.
"Perhaps some of the reasons that Charles Burriss has lived so long, are because he
has been so industrious and honest, to say nothing of his being an earnest Democrat, a
hospitable gentleman, and a reader of the Portsmouth Times. We hope he will live to
see Samuel J. Tilden inaugurated president, and to see a Democratic president and
inaugurate reform in government."
Charles King Burriss came to Lewis County from Fleming County and was a son of a
William Burriss, who died about 1841. It is believed his mother was Mary Radenour. His
gravestone in the Reynolds Chapel Cemetery says he was born Dec. 22, 1784, and died
Sept. 17, 1872, nine years before the "big tree" was cut down. Charles K. Burriss was
married twice, but there is some question as to the identity of his first wife. She may
have been Rachel Weir because there was a Charles Burriss who married Nancy Weir in
Fleming County on Jan. 7, 1809, and if that is the case Charles K. would have been
about 25 years of age when he married.
His second wife was Rebecca Mark, whom he married in Fleming County on Feb. 1, 1821,
and is buried beside him in Black Oak. Many of his descendants also buried nearby.
Perhaps one of the largest gravestones in that cemetery is that of his daughter,
Elizabeth (1838-1862), who remarked before her death that she was saving her money
so she could have the largest gravestone in the cemetery. One of his sons, William K.
Burriss, died as the result of an encounter with Asa Coan in 1873.
The ruins of the old Burriss home stood until the late 1950s.
NOTES: We do not know the exact location of the big tree, but the late W.C. Dugan once
told us that he had heard that it stood near the mouth of Sand Branch.
According to the Vanceburg Courier, dated August 24, 1881, the tree was of enormous
proportions. It measured 16 feet in diameter across, from the root or ground base. The
cut was made six feet from the ground. The stump surface measured eight feet nine
inches in diameter. It measured 75 feet from the cut to the first limb. The circumference
of the trunk at the base was 33 feet, and astonishingly it measured a full 33 feet in
circumference at the height of 75 feet. The diameter of the projecting limbs was four
feet. They were in themselves equal to ordinary saw logs. The estimated height of this
huge tree was 120 feet, but since the top had been dying for many years much of the
upper part had been broken off. The missing section was estimated to have been about
30 feet, making the estimated height to be altogether about 150 feet. It was estimated
(from growth rings) that the tree was 300 years old when it stopped growing.
Two men of reknown
Ward Williams: Many years ago Mrs. Alice Cox who attended classes at Morehead at the
same time I went used to tell me some fascinating stories about old-timers on Quicks
Run as we made our automobile trip over there. At the time, she was keeping house for
her uncle Forest Queen.
Alice had a delightful way of relating a story and the one I remember best was about a
man who was distantly related to her family named Ward Williams. Ward, it seems was
somewhat eccentric with some idiosyncratic behaviours.
He became quite impressed with the New Testament book, Epistle of James, which
emphasized the evil things that can happen from evil speech that comes from the
tongue. In taking this book literally and applying it to himself, he decided that he would
stop talking, thus preventing an evil conversation. In order to communicate he
designed a number of printed signs that he carried around his neck with frequently
used messages, such as "yes", "no", "please repeat" etc. Alice's son, Tom Cox, told me
recently that he did not speak a word for 40 years.
A further anecdote Tom told me was that Ward took his meals at the home of some
sisters or aunts and they would always ask him before meal time if he had washed his
hands. He came to the dinner table one day with a newly made sign that said, "I have
already washed my hands."
Ward Williams is buried in the little Irvin graveyard on Martin's Fork above the place
where Queens store was located. His gravestone says he was buried May 15, 1823, and
died Mar. 3, 1904.
Uncle John Irwin: Some people engage in obsessive-compulsive behavior that can be
dangerous and deadly. Such was the case with an elderly man known as Uncle John
Irwin.
In August 1974, the editor of the Lewis County Herald published a small historical note
stating that around August 8, 1899, an old man was killed at Vanceburg. His house was
alongside the railroad, and one of his freaks was to walk across the track whenever he
heard a train coming. Like the fool lion tamer and the baloonatic, he made the trip once
too many time for a "Flyer" dumped him into the ditch without a whole bone in his body.
This was Uncle John Irwin, an eccentric who lived in a small brick cottage where the
William Sullivan dwelling now stands in front of milepost 572 on the railroad. He was
born in 1819. He had a saying: "My, Oh! My, Oh!, My, Oh!" The train struck him right in
front of his house, the body soared through the air like a kicked football, and came
down on the track about half way up to Market Street. His small stone in Woodland
Cemetery carries the inscription: "Remember the Poor".
(NOTES: There was a John Irwin, veteran Union soldier of the Civil War, living at Trinity
in 1913 and he was a member of Croxton Post GAR. We don't know if it is the same man.
It seems clear that Uncle John had a compulsion, but who of us has not at some time or
another had a curious feeling of thinking about jumping from the height of a skyscraper
or racing your car to cross a track even though the red light and bell are warning us?)
Further curious notes
A ton of people: On Jan. 25, 1912, the Vanceburg Sun headed a column with "A Ton of
Irwins". It said, "There is almost a ton of Irwins in the family of Thomas Irwin, the well
known citizen of Martin. The eight members of his family weigh, as follows: Thomas M.
Irwin, 224; Elizabeth, 212; Olie, 256; Mella, 200; Fannie, 240; C.C., 215 and F.F., 230, a total
of 1804 pounds. Is there a family in the county that can beat it?"
A chicken eating snake: On July 28, 1888, the Vanceburg Times printed this startling item:
"Jesse Irwin killed a snake last week that measured 9 ft., 2 in., and was 12 inches in
circumference. He heard a terrible racket in the henhouse and found the snake just as
it had devoured the last of a brood of 13 chicks, which were half grown. Poultry had
been disappearing for years. The hide was placed on display at the store of Auxier and
Pollitt at Valley. Species not known. The head was shaped like a human head and eyes
like a rabbit."
Railroad tycoon visits Vanceburg: "C.P. Huntington, the great railroad magnate, passed
through the city on last Saturday on a tour of inspection of his new railroad the M&BS
[later the C&O]. In a conversation with H.L. Fitch, he expressed himself pleased with his
new road and said he would not support [Grover] Cleveland and Thurman. Said he
would vote for Harrison and Morton. Says he cannot endorse Cleveland's Free Trade
policy." (Vanceburg Times, Sept. 28, 1888).
NOTE: After struggling for many years to finish the Maysville and Big Sandy Railroad,
Collis P. Huntington, a man of great wealth, agreed to purchase the railroad and finish it
from Ashland to Cincinnati, and make it a part of his intercontinental railroad dream.
By William M. Talley
(use the "Contact Us" form to comment on Dr. Talley's columns)
A gigantic yellow poplar
Several years ago we published an extensive article on the huge tree that once stood
on the river bank of the Charles King Burriss farm in Black Oak. The felling of the tree in
August 1881 was the occasion for a picnic and celebration for all the community around
Vanceburg and Black Oak.
Curiously, in all of the accounts of the tree no one stated specifically what kind of tree it
was. Since it stood in an area called the beech woods some individuals contended that
it surely was a beech. Others argued that it probably was a big black oak. But neither of
these was right, and we found out from an old issue of The Portsmouth Times, dated
Saturday, August 5, 1876, that the tree was a yellow poplar:
"Pertaining to a man of ripe years. Charles Burriss, living two miles above Vanceburg,
Ky., is one of those who has through fair dealing and hard labor, carved out wealth, and
although he has passed the four score that the prophet put as the extreme limit, being
in his 94th year, he has not lost his zest for superintending his possessions. He owns
about 2,000 acres of fine farming lands in Fleming and Lewis Counties, the home farm
being in the fertile Ohio Valley, 100 acres of which was in wheat, 100 in grass, and 100 in
corn this year. He has 27 head of horses, several four years old that have been curbed
by a lavish bridle rein.
"He is hale and hearty, and only recently rode to Fleming County to look after his
farming interests there. As an instance of his integrity we cite the following -- there is a
large yellow poplar tree standing on the bank of his home farm, ten feet in diameter and
100 feet high to the first limb. Twenty-five years ago a flatboat man, whose name is
unknown, passing down the river on a raft, saw the tree and went ashore, where he
bargained with Mr. Burriss for the tree, giving him twenty dollars for it in cash, saying
he would call again and cut it down. Nothing was ever heard of the purchaser, and
though Mr. Burriss has been offered almost fabulous prices for it since, he has refused
to sell what once he has been paid for. The bank is cutting away, and the tree is
threatening to yield before the woodman's ax is laid at its heart, and Mr. Burriss does
not know what to do with it. It is too valuable to be lost, and he does not want to sell
another man's property. Basil Burriss, carpenter of this city [Portsmouth], is a son of the
subject of this notice.
"Perhaps some of the reasons that Charles Burriss has lived so long, are because he
has been so industrious and honest, to say nothing of his being an earnest Democrat, a
hospitable gentleman, and a reader of the Portsmouth Times. We hope he will live to
see Samuel J. Tilden inaugurated president, and to see a Democratic president and
inaugurate reform in government."
Charles King Burriss came to Lewis County from Fleming County and was a son of a
William Burriss, who died about 1841. It is believed his mother was Mary Radenour. His
gravestone in the Reynolds Chapel Cemetery says he was born Dec. 22, 1784, and died
Sept. 17, 1872, nine years before the "big tree" was cut down. Charles K. Burriss was
married twice, but there is some question as to the identity of his first wife. She may
have been Rachel Weir because there was a Charles Burriss who married Nancy Weir in
Fleming County on Jan. 7, 1809, and if that is the case Charles K. would have been
about 25 years of age when he married.
His second wife was Rebecca Mark, whom he married in Fleming County on Feb. 1, 1821,
and is buried beside him in Black Oak. Many of his descendants also buried nearby.
Perhaps one of the largest gravestones in that cemetery is that of his daughter,
Elizabeth (1838-1862), who remarked before her death that she was saving her money
so she could have the largest gravestone in the cemetery. One of his sons, William K.
Burriss, died as the result of an encounter with Asa Coan in 1873.
The ruins of the old Burriss home stood until the late 1950s.
NOTES: We do not know the exact location of the big tree, but the late W.C. Dugan once
told us that he had heard that it stood near the mouth of Sand Branch.
According to the Vanceburg Courier, dated August 24, 1881, the tree was of enormous
proportions. It measured 16 feet in diameter across, from the root or ground base. The
cut was made six feet from the ground. The stump surface measured eight feet nine
inches in diameter. It measured 75 feet from the cut to the first limb. The circumference
of the trunk at the base was 33 feet, and astonishingly it measured a full 33 feet in
circumference at the height of 75 feet. The diameter of the projecting limbs was four
feet. They were in themselves equal to ordinary saw logs. The estimated height of this
huge tree was 120 feet, but since the top had been dying for many years much of the
upper part had been broken off. The missing section was estimated to have been about
30 feet, making the estimated height to be altogether about 150 feet. It was estimated
(from growth rings) that the tree was 300 years old when it stopped growing.
Two men of reknown
Ward Williams: Many years ago Mrs. Alice Cox who attended classes at Morehead at the
same time I went used to tell me some fascinating stories about old-timers on Quicks
Run as we made our automobile trip over there. At the time, she was keeping house for
her uncle Forest Queen.
Alice had a delightful way of relating a story and the one I remember best was about a
man who was distantly related to her family named Ward Williams. Ward, it seems was
somewhat eccentric with some idiosyncratic behaviours.
He became quite impressed with the New Testament book, Epistle of James, which
emphasized the evil things that can happen from evil speech that comes from the
tongue. In taking this book literally and applying it to himself, he decided that he would
stop talking, thus preventing an evil conversation. In order to communicate he
designed a number of printed signs that he carried around his neck with frequently
used messages, such as "yes", "no", "please repeat" etc. Alice's son, Tom Cox, told me
recently that he did not speak a word for 40 years.
A further anecdote Tom told me was that Ward took his meals at the home of some
sisters or aunts and they would always ask him before meal time if he had washed his
hands. He came to the dinner table one day with a newly made sign that said, "I have
already washed my hands."
Ward Williams is buried in the little Irvin graveyard on Martin's Fork above the place
where Queens store was located. His gravestone says he was buried May 15, 1823, and
died Mar. 3, 1904.
Uncle John Irwin: Some people engage in obsessive-compulsive behavior that can be
dangerous and deadly. Such was the case with an elderly man known as Uncle John
Irwin.
In August 1974, the editor of the Lewis County Herald published a small historical note
stating that around August 8, 1899, an old man was killed at Vanceburg. His house was
alongside the railroad, and one of his freaks was to walk across the track whenever he
heard a train coming. Like the fool lion tamer and the baloonatic, he made the trip once
too many time for a "Flyer" dumped him into the ditch without a whole bone in his body.
This was Uncle John Irwin, an eccentric who lived in a small brick cottage where the
William Sullivan dwelling now stands in front of milepost 572 on the railroad. He was
born in 1819. He had a saying: "My, Oh! My, Oh!, My, Oh!" The train struck him right in
front of his house, the body soared through the air like a kicked football, and came
down on the track about half way up to Market Street. His small stone in Woodland
Cemetery carries the inscription: "Remember the Poor".
(NOTES: There was a John Irwin, veteran Union soldier of the Civil War, living at Trinity
in 1913 and he was a member of Croxton Post GAR. We don't know if it is the same man.
It seems clear that Uncle John had a compulsion, but who of us has not at some time or
another had a curious feeling of thinking about jumping from the height of a skyscraper
or racing your car to cross a track even though the red light and bell are warning us?)
Further curious notes
A ton of people: On Jan. 25, 1912, the Vanceburg Sun headed a column with "A Ton of
Irwins". It said, "There is almost a ton of Irwins in the family of Thomas Irwin, the well
known citizen of Martin. The eight members of his family weigh, as follows: Thomas M.
Irwin, 224; Elizabeth, 212; Olie, 256; Mella, 200; Fannie, 240; C.C., 215 and F.F., 230, a total
of 1804 pounds. Is there a family in the county that can beat it?"
A chicken eating snake: On July 28, 1888, the Vanceburg Times printed this startling item:
"Jesse Irwin killed a snake last week that measured 9 ft., 2 in., and was 12 inches in
circumference. He heard a terrible racket in the henhouse and found the snake just as
it had devoured the last of a brood of 13 chicks, which were half grown. Poultry had
been disappearing for years. The hide was placed on display at the store of Auxier and
Pollitt at Valley. Species not known. The head was shaped like a human head and eyes
like a rabbit."
Railroad tycoon visits Vanceburg: "C.P. Huntington, the great railroad magnate, passed
through the city on last Saturday on a tour of inspection of his new railroad the M&BS
[later the C&O]. In a conversation with H.L. Fitch, he expressed himself pleased with his
new road and said he would not support [Grover] Cleveland and Thurman. Said he
would vote for Harrison and Morton. Says he cannot endorse Cleveland's Free Trade
policy." (Vanceburg Times, Sept. 28, 1888).
NOTE: After struggling for many years to finish the Maysville and Big Sandy Railroad,
Collis P. Huntington, a man of great wealth, agreed to purchase the railroad and finish it
from Ashland to Cincinnati, and make it a part of his intercontinental railroad dream.