Ada LaRue Earnest

May 14, 1926

February 17, 2012

Ada LaRue Nye was born May 14, 1926 in Magna, Utah to Phoebe Winn and Walter Nye.  As a toddler she moved with her family to Rupert, Idaho and then on to Nyssa, Oregon where she grew up with her best buddy, her older brother Alvin.  You might say she was somewhat of a tomboy.  Finding adventure in climbing on the nearby train trestle, or, as I remember her telling the story, putting a can on her head so a boy could shoot it off with a BB gun.

During her teenage years she worked part time at the local drugstore and was a cheerleader for the Nyssa High School Bulldogs.  Upon reflection it was an interesting time to have grown up; as a young girl in the 30’s, through the Great Depression, and then as a teenager during World War II.  I never recall her complaining about any of it; not once.  For Mom it isn’t about what you can get, it’s about enjoying what you have.

The Fall of ’45 a handsome young man came home from the war and swept her off her feet and Mom & Dad were married the 1^st of February 1946.  A year later Stan was born and by January 1950 Mom had her hands full with three little boys.  Stan, Steve, and Alan were born in nearby Ontario, Oregon.  Last summer I asked her, “what was your favorite time.”  Without any hesitation she said, “when you kids were little.”  That fits, I thought.  Mom was happiest with children; that’s where she felt the most comfortable.  In part, I suppose, because she always has been a kid at heart.

So with no real home yet, these were her happiest times.  This should be a lesson for all of us.

The home was soon to come.  During the early 1950’s Mom & Dad moved to Culver.  Dad had purchased forty acres five miles east of Culver at the edge of the new irrigation district.  They built their home there.  By 1957 Robbie and I had been added to the clan.

When I see a mother bear with her cubs, I think of Mom.  She adores them when they are little, kicks them in the behind when they need it, and protects them ferociously when necessary.  Even when not necessary!  It especially applies to her grandkids!

I don’t remember Mom missing any sporting event, 4-H or FFA event, or anything any of us participated in.  Funny, isn’t it?  I can’t remember the score of a single game, I can’t remember a single shot I took, but I remember Mom in the stands.  Always.  No matter where the game was at.

All five of us were involved in athletics; I guess it came naturally.  We love to compete; I guess it comes naturally.  We stand up for our teammates; I guess it comes naturally.  We’ve been known to argue with the Ump; Uh, I guess … !

Her children mean everything to Mom.  Here’s a quick story Alan recalled that reflects her convictions:

“I was with Steve and Grandpa Homer riding for cattle in the BLM Land just southeast of Haystack Dam.  Steve and I were about 13 and 11.  The horses got spooked and Steve’s horse lost its footing on the hillside and rolled, with Steve still in the saddle.  When the dust settled, the horse got up, but Steve didn’t.  He was lights out!  Grandpa Homer stayed with him while I made it back to the house to get help.  I explained to Mom the situation and she immediately went into maximum overdrive!  We jumped into the Chevy station wagon and she slid around every corner, screeching tires and throwing dust that could be seen for miles.  When we got near to where Steve and the horse had rolled, Mom dropped the car into low gear, went OFF THE ROAD and started mowing down sage brush and dodging juniper trees through the BLM Grasslands to get to the site of the accident.  Can you imagine!  At times we were totally AIR-BORNE through a roadless terrain!   By the time we got there Steve was awake and alert and all turned out for the best.  We thought about putting Richard Petty’s number on the side of the car, but Mom would have nothing to do with it.”

I always remember Mom working.  She worked in the potato harvest, and as a waitress at Bad Pete’s.  For those of you not old enough to know better, Bad Pete’s was the restaurant just south of Madras where Charlie’s Pizza is now.  She worked there with Rena Waldorf and recently Jared (a grandson) married Rena’s great granddaughter, Christina Amos.  Mom was very pleased.

About the time Robbie started first grade Mom took a job as a cook at the Culver school cafeteria.  She worked there until sometime after Robbie graduated; the last several years as the head cook.  She enjoyed being around the kids.  It kept her young.  However, Robbie and I basically had “Mom at school” with us the whole twelve years!  Sometimes that was a real bummer!

The school cafeteria wasn’t what you younger people think of today.  Imagine grandma cooking lunch for you every day!  They would provide meals for all the awards banquets as well.  I know Mom was very proud of the Honorary Chapter Farmer Award the Culver Chapter of the FFA gave her.  It meant a lot to her.

Retirement gave Mom & Dad the opportunity to travel, so they bought a travel trailer (I think primarily because no hotel could ever be clean enough to suit Mom) and off they went.  To Alaska for one long summer; across the U.S. where they spent time with Stan and his family in Michigan; they even took their trailer with them to Kentucky when they served a mission for the Church.  Mom loved the people of Eastern Kentucky.  She once told Stan it was harder leaving those people she was serving during her mission than it was to leave her grandchildren to go serve the mission.  Years later twelve of her grandchildren served missions for the Church throughout the world (in the Philippines, Russia[2], Texas, The Dominican Republic, The Canary Islands, Indiana, British Columbia, Utah, Brazil[2] and Germany).  In the not too distant future her great grandchildren will continue on the tradition she started.

Eventually they landed, as snowbirds, in Mesa, Arizona.  That’s where Mom became a pool shark.  She learned to play pool at the community center where they lived, and started competing in Senior Olympic competitions.  Shuffleboard was another activity Mom took up while in Arizona.

She loved to compete and always loved sports.  She liked to play softball when she was younger, but her real love is baseball.  She became a lifelong Braves fan (mostly because, in the early days, that was the only team you could consistently watch on television) until some kid named Jacoby started playing for the Red Sox.  Mysteriously she was suddenly a Red Sox fan.  During my last visit, a few weeks ago, Mom was pretty frail.  She was sitting in the chair and the television was on with the sound off.  She motioned to me and struggled to ask me what was on the television.  I told her it was an old episode of “Wagon Train.”  She told me to change it to a sports channel.

I asked the grandchildren to email me there impressions of Grandma.  I have compiled a list of what they sent me and I’ve asked Adrienne Porter, her oldest granddaughter, to tell you about them:

·      Homemade bread with homemade raspberry jam

·      Enchiladas

·      Bran Muffins

·      Busy, productive, no nonsense

·      Quick to laugh and her laugh is awesome

·      Steadiness

·      The way she rolled her eyes

·      The way she played tricks on us

·      All about family

·      Always made me feel comfortable

·      Playing cards and other games

·      Wheat Thins and Starbursts

·      Baseball, especially the Braves

·      Dinner rolls

·      Snapping green beans at the kitchen table

·      Cribbage

·      Bike rides and walks on the ditch bank road

·      Crocheting – she taught me how to crochet

·      Wiffleball games in the back yard

·      Pies

·      Quilting

·      Yelling at umps at little league games

·      One time she yelled at my varsity baseball coach, questioning his baseball knowledge, when in the bottom half of the last inning he sent a runner from first to second. We were losing by several runs at the time. The runner was thrown out at second to end the game. Afterward, the coach asked me if I could have my Grandma “tone it down a bit.” (from Todd)

·      Shuffleboard

·      Pool shark

·      Always had a toothpick in her mouth

·      Quilted blanket for each grandchild for their wedding

·      Clip-on earrings

·      A little brown sugar makes everything taste better

·      Carrot cookies

·      She could take a joke and was fun to tease

·      I remember sitting in church one Sunday next to Grandma and singing (she couldn't sing very well) and there was a part in the song that goes: hark, hark, hark.  Instead of harking it sounded like she was barking, I remember looking at her and we both started laughing and couldn't stop. (from Jenny)

·      Grandma would always say that Grandpa was a cheater when it came to playing cards because he somehow always managed to win.

·      Grandma used to make really cool birthday cakes and yummy, yummy rolls!!

·      Most amazing cook, ever!

·      Always taught with love, never scolding

·      A warm and loving hug after a long car ride to visit her

·      When nearly 80 she was still getting down on the floor to play with my children (her great grandchildren) the same way she did with me when I was little

·      In a word, she’s “Super Grandma”

It took a lot of work to build a home out of nothing and it took a lot of work to raise five boys.  Remember, she told me her favorite times were “when we were little.”  Work is something Mom has never been afraid of and, I dare say, even likes.  When I think of Mom I think of her love for children and that she had to be doing something.  During the early years of our marriage my wife, Bobi Jo, used to get frustrated with Mom when she would visit us.  Mom would no sooner walk in the door than she would be washing dishes or starting a load of laundry.  After a few visits I got Bobi to understand that it wasn’t a statement about her, that is “just the way Mom is.”  From that point forward Bobi would always make sure there was “something for Mom to do” when they came to visit; which wasn’t too hard since we had four little ones of our own.

I recently became aware of a piece of trivia that seems fitting here.  The word love appears in the bible 314 times; the word work appears 793 times.  I think Mom’s response would be, “that’s not surprising.”  Seems Mom knew instinctively how to love those who couldn’t work, the little ones, and be an example of work for the rest of us.  She understood the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ without ever picking up a book or reading a scripture.  Which brings me to “the other LaRue Earnest.”

Mother, Grandmother, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Friend; yes, she is all of the above.  More importantly she is a daughter of our Heavenly Father.  We come to this earth to receive a body and experience the trials of this mortality that we may be rewarded with eternal life.  For this we are indebted to our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.  This faithful daughter of God, like all of us, has her flaws.  However, she placed her trust, as we should, in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and pressed forward.  That is why her passing was a comfort and a blessing to me.  True enough, she would no longer suffer, but more importantly, she had endured to the end.  She demonstrated her faith through her actions with very few words.  As so eloquently stated by St. Francis of Assisi, “preach the gospel always; if necessary, use words.”

Mother has left a lasting impression on all of us.  She has two nieces named after her, one granddaughter, and two great granddaughters.  At last count, in addition to the five of us boys, Mother has 26 grandchildren and 64 great grandchildren (with more on the way); Steve & Lark’s daughter Chelsea LaRue Cotter gave birth to her boy Nash last Friday morning, just hours before Mom passed away.  That’s 95 of us that have the honor of carrying her character, her love for children, her love for work, and her faith in our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

Steve sent me an email listing a number of things he remembers about Mom, including the last words she spoke to him.

“I love my family so much.”

Goodbye for now, Mom.  We’ll see you soon.

We love you too.

The Earnest - Whitesides Feud of 1860-61

About twelve years ago I received a story from a second cousin regarding a feud involving a George Washington "Wash" Whitesides and Jacob "Jake" Earnest which culminated in the deaths (murders) of at least eight people.  This feud was purported to have occurred in Simpson County, Kentucky during 1860 and 1861.  It was a very interesting story as Jacob Earnest is my great, great, great grandfather.  However, it was "just a story," in other words, there was no source or other evidentiary information attached to the story; nor any information as to where the story came from.

In May, 2011 my daughter Erin and her husband Boyd moved their family to Franklin, Tennessee.  A wonderful community just south of Nashville.  During a recent trip to Franklin, Tennessee to visit them, I journeyed about an hour's drive north to Franklin, Kentucky.  Franklin, Simpson County, Kentucky.  As I entered the Simpson County Historical Society in Franklin I was pleasantly greeted by a lady with the often heard librarian like salutation, "can I help you."  The long and short of it is she provided me with two recent editions of the "Jailhouse Journal," the Simpson County Historical Society's quarterly newsletter.  In the April and July, 2010 editions there is a story about "The Whitesides Feud" written by Gayla Coates.  Now Gayla has done a wonderful job of checking out many of the facts and circumstances surrounding this story.  Her work provides a clearer picture of what was happening in Simpson County in and around 1860, especially with regards to the particulars of this story.  Following is Gayla Coates, "SIMPSON COUNTY IN 1860: The Whitesides Feud" as published in the April and July, 2010 editions of the "Jailhouse Journal," the Simpson County Historical Society's quarterly newsletter.

(My personal thoughts and commentary have been inserted along the way.)

SIMPSON COUNTY IN 1860:

The Whitesides Feud

By Gayla Coates

One of the most interesting [oral histories] concerned a feud which began around 1860.  At least eight people died in perhaps a two year period.  This story of violence and murder was written down by Mary Ellen Richards as it was told to her by her father, Lovin Richards (1868-1948) and possibly others.  In a handwritten note on the typed account, Miss Richards wrote the article "based on conversations with some old folks."  According to an article written by L. L. Valentine in the Franklin Favorite in 1948, Mr. Richards was possibly the only person who knew the complete story of this feud between the Whitesides family on the one side and the Bell and Earnest families on the other.  He received this information from Mark Whitesides first and then later from Judge George Whitesides as the two men sat on the steps of the courthouse.  Since both accounts were nearly alike in detail, Mr. Richards dictated his version of the two accounts to his daughter, Mary Ellen Richards.  Of course, the story may be somewhat biased towards the Whitesides family!  The story as told by Mr. Richards is in quotes and [red] bold face type.  I will attempt to add to this account with additional information from primary sources of the time period and family information and stories.

 

"In the northeastern part of Simpson County, there lived a family by the name of Whitesides.  Samuel Whitesides, the founder, whose wife was a Bell, had quite a large estate on Drakes Creek.  He was the father of Davis, Washington, Tom, William and Berry.  While they were not aristocrats, they were people of fine sense and an unbounded amount of nerve."

William Whitesides originally came from Northern Ireland and settled in Pennsylvania, later moving with his brother, Thomas, to that part of Goochland County which became Albemarle County, Virginia.  He and his wife Betsy Stockton had thirteen children, and they eventually moved to Rutherford County, North Carolina where William died in 1777, leaving a will naming his children.  One of the sons, Samuel Whitesides, born in 1752, moved to Gasper River in Warren County [Kentucky] about 1799 with his wife, Elizabeth Brackett Whitesides, and children.  He received a grant of 200 acres on Gasper River in 1799.  Samuel died in 1811 and in his will named three older sons; Stephen, John and Samuel; three younger sons, Phillips, Thomas and Dave; three single daughters and five married daughters, not named.  His son, Samuel, married Rebecca Bell, daughter of James Bell, in Warren County on 8 June 1809.  Samuel Jr. received a grant of land of 200 acres in Logan County on Sinking Fork of Drakes Creek in 1805.  Part of this tract was sold in 1817. (Logan County Deed Book E, page 430)  In the 1850 Simpson County tax list, Samuel owned 500 acres of land on the watercourse of Drakes Creek and by this date, Samuel was living at the family home place on Cedar Bluff in Simpson County.  He and his wife, Rebecca, had one daughter, Sarah Ellen, still at home.  Their other children were George Washington, born 1811, Thomas Jefferson, born 1813, Davis Bell, born 1816, Eliza, born 1819 and married to William White, John Bell, born 1821, died 1840, Martha, born 1822, and married to William G. Robinson, Elizabeth, born 1824 and married to Cyrus Milton Robinson, William Franklin, born 1827, and Berry, born 1829.

 As related in the story told by Mr. Richards, jealousy was the cause of the feud between the Whitesides and the Earnests.  "In the same community there lived a man by the name of Jake Earnest, a shrewd and unscrupulous horse trade[r], who had quite a following among a lower class of people than the Whitesides family.  The Whitesides being of a higher type of citizen, there grew up a jealousy and enmity between these two factions..."  As stated before, this story was told to Mr. Richards by the Whitesides, so the account might be somewhat prejudiced toward that family!

Jacob Earnest was born in Kentucky in 1796 and was named in the will of his father, Aaron Earnest, in 1814. (Warren County Will Book B)   He married Lucinda Aden who was born in 1800 (The 1850 & 1860 census indicate that Lucinda was born in South Carolina.  Family records have her birth date as 7 April 1800) on 20 September 1815 in Warren County, Kentucky.   They were the parents of twelve children, the youngest, Joseph, born in 1844.  Living in his household in 1860 was Jacob, age 66, Lucinda, age 60, son Joseph, age 16 and a widowed daughter, Sophia Williams, age 31 and her three children, ages 1 to 9.

George Washington Whitesides, or "Wash" as he was known, was born in 1811 and married Elizabeth Holland, daughter of Hezekiah Holland, in 1832 in Warren County, Kentucky.  George W. and Elizabeth lived in the eastern part of Simpson County, neighbors to Stephen Barnes in 1850, but by 1860, he and his family were living in Franklin with six of his eight children still at home.  Their home was on the west side of South College Street, just south of the alley which was one of the early boundaries of Franklin when it was founded in 1819.  In a Franklin Favorite article written in 1915, the author describes the home of the Whitesides as follows: "do you remember the Whitesides' home, a handsome two story frame building that stood just south of the Clem Montague property on South College Street?  For a time it was owned and occupied by Mr. Reese Eubank.  This home was the scene of many enjoyable social events, to which additional charm was given by the presence of the three attractive and accomplished daughters, Misses Fannie, Sara, and Jenetta Whitesides, who were perhaps better known as Mrs. Allie Salmons, Mrs. Sara Gillespie, and Mrs. W. B. Wood.  Mrs. Wood just recently married Shelby Harwell.  They were sweethearts in childhood days, and the writer carried many cards to Miss Jenetta from Shelby.  While waiting for answers, the carrier was always remembered with a delicious apple from the fine orchard that covered the section south of the home to the residence now owned by Mrs. Dr. J. H. Milliken, thence to the Gaines home.  Many handsome homes now stand on the site of the old orchard.  There were four sons in the family, Messrs., Joseph, Mark, George, and Sam, all loved and respected citizens."

In what may be a separate story, perhaps told by another person to Mary Ellen Richards, is the following: "The whole affair started over a rivalry between Jake Earnest and Wash Whitesides for the affections of Kate Holland, a half-sister of Dock Holland.  She married Crack Herrington and later married John Wess Hunt."

A rivalry between Earnest and Whitesides over the affections of Kate Holland seems rather unlikely, since Jacob was well into his sixties and George was in his late forties by 1860, both married and with large families.  The woman referred to in this story was Clara or Clarissa Holland, although she may have been called Kate as well.  She was born in 1840 in Allen County, Kentucky and married James M. Herrington on 3 January 1856 in Simpson County. (Vital Statistics, Marriages, 1856)  Her father was Walker D. Holland and her mother, his third wife, Mary Cynthia Casey.  James P. or "Doc" was a half-brother by Walker's fourth wife, Sophia Kirby.  Clara's great grandfather was Hezekiah Holland, the father of Elizabeth Holland Whitesides; thus Clara was great niece of Elizabeth.  James M. Herrington was the son of Benjamin and Effie Skaggs Herrington.  In 1860, James and Clara were living in eastern Simpson County, no children.  their son, Walker L., was born 10 May 1861. (Vital Statistics, Births, 1861 and Kentucky death certificate for Walker - his parents listed as James Herrington and Kate Holland) Another child, Mary, was born about 1876.  James must have died about that time for Clara married John Wesley Hunt, son of William Hunt and Jane Rush in 1877 in Simpson County.  Clara, died in 1925 and John Wesley died in 1914.  Both are buried at Hillsdale Cemetery, Simpson County.

 Other reasons for the enmity between the Whitesides and Jacob Earnest and his supporters may have been a series of lawsuits in the late 1850's and early 1860's between members of the Whitesides family and relatives and associates of the Earnests.  What must have been a rather shocking case was an indictment against George W. Whitesides by the Commonwealth at the September term of the Simpson Circuit Court in 1860 on charges of assault and battery with attempt to commit a rape.  Bail was set at $100.  Persons called as witnesses on behalf of the commonwealth were Samuel V. Epperson (Clarissa Harrington's uncle), Amos Poe, Stephen Poe, (Amos & Stephen Poe are brothers of Alvin Poe.  Alvin Poe's granddaughter, Louisa Jane Largent, will marry William Jacob Earnest in 1874.  William Jacob Earnest is Jacob Earnest's grandson.  William Jacob & Louisa Jane Earnest are my great grandparents.) I. V? Kirby, Isaac Goodnight, William Blackburn (Goodnight and Blackburn were neighbors in Allen Co.), W. E. Arnold, W. D? Holland (Clarissa Herrington's father?), W. C. Herrington (possibly William Carroll Herrington, a cousin of James M. Herrington), Mary Herrington, James W. Herrington (aunt and uncle of James M. Herrington), Thomas Chapman, Wiott Kirby (neighbor of James and Clarissa Herrington), James M. Herrington, Clarissa Herrington, Jonathan Davis, and Joseph M. Wright.  All of these witnesses were living in east Simpson County, southeast Warren or east Allen County, Butlersville district.  Since the bundles of loose records for the cases tried in circuit court, both civil and criminal, for the years 1858 through 1865 were burned in the 1882 courthouse fire, we cannot know the facts of the case.  The only records left from that time period are the Circuit Court order books.  Whatever the reasons for the feud, according to Mr. Richards the results "finally culminated in the assassination of Wash (George Washington) Whitesides which occurred near a place called Hickory Flat.  This was in Mr. Cecil Meadow's (Meador) field, just above our woods."  The Richards' farm was on Highway 622 and Reeder School Road.  At the time of the shooting, it was owned by the Pearson family.  I have not determined who owned the farm next to this one in 1860 or who Whiteside was visiting that fateful night.  "Whitesides was spending the night at the place and during the night he was called to the door and shot.  This history of the feud was given to me by Mark Whitesides who was a son of Wash Whitesides.  Quoting Mark, one Herrington was hired to kill Wash Whitesides for the sum of $100.  One Dinning, a close friend of Jake Earnest, was to go along to see the work done.  When Wash was called to the door Herrington whispered to Dinning, 'I can't do it', whereupon Dinning said, 'Give me the gun, then, I can,' and he did."  The assassination occurred on Sunday night, 7 October 1860.  George W. is buried at Green Lawn Cemetery, Franklin; moved there from the old city cemetery which was on East Cedar Street since Green Lawn did not open until 1873.  A suit against the Whitesides by William [Harrison] Earnest, a son of Jacob, was dismissed at the December term of the Circuit Court because of the death of the defendant, and the charges of assault and battery with attempt to commit rape were dismissed in the March 1861 term.

I find it curious that Wash Whitesides was indicted for rape in September 1860 and murdered October 7, 1860.  I also find it interesting that the indictment is not mentioned in the story told by Mr. Richards; a story that has already been established as being passed down as the Whitesides' version of events.  Mr. Richards' says, "the whole affair started over a rivalry between Jake Earnest and Wash Whitesides over the affections of Kate Holland."  Is that simply one side's spin when it was really about Jake Earnest, and his friends, not being too thrilled with Wash Whitesides' attempting to rape Kate (Holland) Herrington and they took matters into their own hands.  That seems more believable as a motive for murder.

"The Whitesides were much bothered to know who did the killing.  They employed a detective from Cincinnati, paying him the sum of $1,600 to obtain information satisfactory to them as to the killer of Wash Whitesides.  This took more than a year's time.  The work developed the fact that Jake Earnest, wanting to get rid of Wash Whitesides, had hired Herrington to kill him, with the understanding that Dinning was to go along to see it done.  In order to divert suspicion, Jake Earnest started to Bowling Green, it being the night before county court there, and stopped for the night with Mose Hess, a short distance from Bowling Green.  Being a trader and horse dealer, he told Mr. Hess that he had a horse at home which would exactly suit him and at midnight or shortly after he rose and returned to his home under the pretense of getting the horse to show to Mr. Hess.  The real purpose of the trip was to see whether or not Wash Whitesides had been killed."  Moses Hess was 56 year old farmer in 1860, born in Virginia and lived in District 1 of Warren County.  His closest neighbor was Elizabeth Aden, age 65, also from Virginia.  Jacob's wife was Lucinda Aden, so there may have been family ties with people in this neighborhood.  Mr. Richards did not say which Dinning or Herrington was hired to kill Whitesides, but William "Bill" Dinning was mentioned as close friend of Earnest.  There was a family connection between the Earnest's and the Herrington's, in that Jacob Earnest's son, Tolbert, had married Susan Herrington, daughter of John M. and Nancy Hunt Herrington.  Tolbert had also been in trouble with the law in the past.  The Maysville Eagle had the following notice on 10 November 1837:

"$500 REWARD  I will give the above reward for the apprehension and delivery of a murderer by the name of Tolbert Ernest to the Bowling Green Jail, Warren County, Kentucky.  Said Ernest is about 22 years of age, 5 feet 8 or 10 inches high, with fair skin, blue eyes and a very bad countenance; is fond of gambling at cards and dice, and is very profane in conversation.  He was brought up in Simpson County, Kentucky where he committed the murder.  He has been in the habit of attending the races in all the adjoining counties and at Nashville, Tennessee, and has been at New Orleans, two or three times.  George H. Holland."

Someone other than Mr. Richards may have told this story to Mary Ellen Richards about the detective hired by the Whitesides.  "People might wonder how the detective worked up the case.  There was a family by the name of Floyd, associates of the Hensons.  Riley Henson was the key used to find out who killed Wash Whitesides.  That was all they asked - just who killed him.  It was a pleasure for the Whitesides to do the rest."  There is no mention of the Floyds in the story so whether they were involved in the killing is unknown.  Three Riley Hensons lived in Simpson County in 1860.  The eldest was Riley Henson, age 54, the youngest was Riley, age 25.  Living in the household of Riley Henson, age 31, was Chester Floyd, age 19, so perhaps it was this Riley with whom the detective spoke.  (A Nicholas Floyd was living with William Harrison Earnest [Jacob's son] in 1860.  William was living very near his father in 1860; at least he is listed just four households after Jacob's family in the census record.  The family listed directly after William Earnest's family in the 1860 census is the family of Isaac Floyd.)

"The Whitesides were a high-strung and determined set of people and as soon as they found out the facts in the case they set about to destroy all who had any connection with it.  Each side of this feud had its friends who would aid and abet them in any manner in which they were called upon to help.  Some of the relatives of Wash Whitesides even sided with the Earnest crowd, George Bell, an own cousin of Wash being one of the number.  Another was Alec White, a son-in-law of Bell, who carried the news that Wash was spending the night at this place (where Whitesides was killed) some seven or eight miles from his home."

George H. Bell was born 4 February 1811, so he was the same age as George W. Whitesides.  Another source says that George H. Bell was a brother to Rebecca Bell Whitesides, George W.'s mother, in which case he would have been an uncle to George W. instead of a cousin as stated above.  Rebecca Bell Whitesides was born in 1791, so there would have bee 20 years difference in their ages, but that was not unusual for siblings to have such a wide age range in those days.  Rebecca's father was James Bell, but there were two James Bells in Simpson County in 1820 and they both had males under the age of 10 in their households, so it is difficult to determine which James may have been George H. Bell's father.  In 1860, George and Mary Peden Bell had eight children living at home from ages 1 through 18.  Alexander E. White, or Alec, was married Martha A. Bell on 18 January 1855 and according to the story above, she was George Bell's daughter.  Alexander, born 8 October 1830, was the son of Henderson and Eliza S. Clark White.  In the March term 1858 of Simpson Circuit Court, both George H. Bell and Alexander White were indicted for a "affray," while George W. Whitesides, Jacob Earnest and Thomas J. Whitesides were indicted for failure to attend as witnesses for a trial.  Alexander White was indicted in 1860 for "striking and bruising with intent to kill" but this was dismissed in September of that year.  One story about Alexander White was told by Dr. George Duncan to Cecil Harris, "He (Dr. Duncan) was coming toward Franklin on the L and N pike about a mile from town, accompanied by Alec White; that a man ran out of the house and took aim at White, cutting in two a feather which White wore in this hat.  This marksman was Mark Whitesides.  White escaped by the speed of his horse."

The next event in the ongoing feud was a dramatic gun battle in the streets of Franklin.  "The two factions met in Franklin and had quite a battle in which Bill Dinning was shot to pieces while he was hiding behind a hitching post.  William Whitesides stood in a store door doing the shooting, telling his nephew, Mark, to load the guns right for he could shoot them.  In the same battle Jerry Lynch was shot in the knee and Berry Whitesides had a hole shot through his hat which was on his head."   This gun fight may have occurred before the tenth of September 1861, since there were a large number of indictments in Simpson Circuit Court on that day.  Those indicted for assault and battery included George H. Bell, and George's sons, Benjamin Bell and John C. Bell, David Jennett, Wiley Hall, James Bradshaw, Charles Smith, John Barlow, F. J. Walters, Henry Butler, Franklin Wilson, Frank Hargiss, and Sydney J. Ray.  Indicted for breach of the peace were William F. and Berry Whitesides, brothers of the murdered George "Wash" Whitesides.  William Dinning and Wesley Brown were charged with malicious striking and wounding with intent to kill, while James W. Ford and Porter White (Alex White's brother) were indicted for malicious shooting with intent to kill.  Jerry Lynch, who was shot in the knee, may have died from this wound.  In a biographical sketch of William Lynch, Jerry's son, in the book, Kentucky: A History of the State by Perrin, Battle and Kniffen, Jerry's date of death was given as 9 September 1861.

If Marcus Whitesides, George's son, was involved in this gun fight, as stated above, he made a very quick trip to Louisville since he was there before the 12th of September, 1861.  A newspaper article from the Louisville Journal, Sept 14, 1861 stated that "on Thursday evening, (Sept 12) Mr. M. D. Whitesides, a highly respectable citizen of Franklin, Kentucky, whilst returning home from this city was seized on the railroad platform at Cave City by half a dozen ruffians and thrust into the cars, the fellows swearing that they would take him to Camp Boone.  The villains belonged to a company of about sixty secession soldiers on their way to that camp.  Mr. Whitesides was rudely searched and all his letters broken open, the rascals making all manner of charges against him.  After being taken about thirty miles, however, they consented to release him at the earnest request of their friend, ex-governor Helm, who was upon the cars.  Perhaps the world will never know how many that den of lawlessness and iniquity."  Apparently, Marcus D. Whitesides and his uncle, Berry, were involved in the smuggling of letters and other contraband in the spring and summer months of 1861.  On 29 July 1861 he advertised in the National Intelligencer that "he would forward letters and papers to the seceded States, if they were directed to him, at Nashville, enclosing 10 cents - this arrangement to continue during the war."


"Something more than a year (late 1861) after Wash Whitesides was killed, Jake Earnest and his friend, Bill Dinning (apparently he didn't die when he was 'shot to pieces' in the Franklin shootout mentioned above), attended a sale across the line in Warren County.  On the return trip a short distance before they got to Drakes Creek they were fired upon and Jake Earnest fell dead.  Dinning escaped by running his horse at top speed but was shot at several times between there and the creek.  After Earnest's death, the feud was on in earnest."  Although there is no gravesite or death record for Jacob Earnest, the following was found in a circuit court case, Uriah Whitney vs. Jacob Earnest.  This case was dismissed in June of 1862 because "the parties appearance by their attorneys and the death of the defendant (Jacob Earnest) being suggested, it is now ordered by the court that the suit be revived against and in the name of F. M. Cornwell, administrator of said defendant."

Family records list Jacob Earnest's death date as December 15, 1861; curiously, the death date for his wife, Lucinda Aden, is December 12, 1861.  The family records give no mention to any gravesite or other information as to what happened to their bodies.


"Davis Whitesides, a brother of Wash, was murdered in his own home on Sinking Creek.  Davis Whitesides had nothing to do with the feud; he lived away from the rest of them but was killed just for spite.  He was murdered at his home in day time."  A note scribbled in the margins of this paper says that Jacob Earnest died 16 December 1861.  If that was the case, he actually died after Davis Whitesides.  Davis Bell Whitesides never married and in the 1860 census was living with his mother Rebecca Bell Whitesides.  He was a farmer and listed with a fair amount of real estate.  Davis was murdered 20 October 1861 and is buried in Green Lawn cemetery near his brother.


In a story which is very much connected with the Davis Whitesides' murder, Mr. Richards related the following: "Alec White was one night at the home of his father-in-law, George Bell.  A gang went for him but could not get him out of the house.  The house was fired and White escaped in a woman's dress."

Another version of this story about Alexander White hiding in an attic was told by Miss Jennie Crowdus.  "This was told to me by my mother, (Mrs. John A. Crowdus).  It was told to her by her father, William Porter Aspley - since this is a story concerning the Civil War and she was not born until 1866 - her information came from the older generation.  This concerns Alex White.  The Union soldiers during the Civil War thought Alex White was a Confederate spy.  Thinking he was hiding in the attic of the (George H.) Bell home on Clarke's Ford Road (on this site Maben Sloss built a home - it is now owned by Paul Vaughn), the Union soldiers burned the Bell home.  Actually he was in the attic of my grandfather, William Porter Aspley's home on 31W northeast of the highway.  After the death of William Porter and Sarah Lewis Aspley in 1904, the house burned and the farm sold to Mr. Jesse V. Harris.  William Porter Aspley's first marriage was to Mary Melvina Bell, daughter of the Bells (George H. and Mary Peden Bell) whose home was burned by Union Soldiers."


A contemporary account of this incident appeared in The New York Times, originally appearing in the Louisville-Nashville Courier.  "27 December 1861.  In your issue of the 20th inst., you notice a serious affair at Franklin, Ky., on the night of the 25th.  I will give you the outlines, and being an eyewitness to the whole affair, I think I can give it correct.  On the 20th of October, a party of men, viz: A. E. White, Thos. Lynch, Ben Bell, George Hoy, Jim Ford and John Rowland, all living in the neighborhood, and without an known cause, went to the house of Davis B. Whitesides, called him out to his gate and shot him down.  Since then, every effort on the part of the brothers and friends of Whitesides has been made to arrest the parties, and reward of $1,500 has been offered for their arrest by Berry Whitesides, a younger brother of the deceased, but without effect, as the murderers had may relatives in the neighborhood who afforded them shelter.


The military having been called out on three different occasions to arrest them, but not succeeding in either attempt, on the day of the 25th (October or November?) Berry Whitesides heard, on what he considered reliable authority, that the murderers were at the house of one Geo. H. Bell, who is the father of young Bell, (Ben) and father-in-law to White, and that they were in number estimated from eight to thirteen.  He immediately procured a detachment of twenty-five cavalry and squad of fifteen infantry, in advance, under the Marshal with the writ. told old Bell their business, when he immediately made fight, drawing two derringers, a Colt's repeater and a large knife, which the Marshal succeeded in taking from him.  Then the Marshal, with two others, started upstairs to look for White and party, and just as they darkened the steps, with a candle in hand, they received a volley of fire, supposed to be about twelve or fifteen shots from above, when the men fell back with a loss of one man (R. H. Lee of Louisville, Ky.)


The Marshal then surrounded the house with his men and returned the fire into the windows.  On all sides of the house, and either from the flurry and excitement of the negroes with candles, or from explosions inside, the house caught fire, (but was not set on fire by the Marshal, as you stated,) and in its rapid progress of burning, was closely guarded, and a heavy fire kept up for about two hours, exchanging not less than three hundred shots.  During the burning there could not have been less than three or four kegs of powder exploded, and at least one hundred smothered reports of cartridges and small quantities of powder.  Next morning the cavalry made a partial examination of the ruins, yet in a burning condition, and found fifteen or twenty charred guns and as many pistols, together with four or five knives.  Old Bell was badly wounded in the thigh.  Three of the men made their escape through the guard, and the remainder perished in the house either killed, or burnt up.  One of our men, Will Keller, was slightly wounded, but is doing well.  The excitement of the community was intense, and every effort is being made by the community to arrest the parties who escaped."  So according to this newspaper account, the incident was part of the feud between the Whitesides and Bells.  In the first term held of Simpson Circuit Court after this incident, 13 March 1862, the following were indicted: Ben Bell for unlawful shooting and assault and battery, J. C. Bell, M. M. Dawson for assault and battery, Porter White, James Ford, John Hunt and H. T. Hoy for malicious shooting and wounding with intent to kill as well as malicious shooting and wounding with intent to kill, Wesley Brown for malicious striking and wounding with intent to kill, and Ben Bell, Thomas Lynch, George Hoy, John Rowland and James Ford for murder.


"George Bell, on the other side, was murdered in his home in the suburbs of Franklin. (at the Mack Lamb place)"  As related in the newpaper account above, Bell was wounded on the 25th October, or November, 1861 and his home was burned.  This home was on the north side of North Street.  The home presently on this site was said to have been built by John Mebane Sloss who bought the property from Hassie Pond in 1903.  Hassie was a daughter of Lucinda Bell Bryan, one of George H. and Mary Bell's 13 children.  The property was conveyed to Hassie by her mother and siblings and was part of the distribution of property to the heirs of George H. Bell in 1866.  George H. Bell died (or was murdered) 27 November 1861 and is buried at Green Lawn.


"Bill Dinning was killed...at his own home by Sam Williams, an adherent to the Whitesides clan.  On account of the intimacy between Sam Williams' wife and Bill Dinning, Sam Williams was chosen to kill Bill Dinning.  Dinning lived down the road from Barnes school house.  He was killed on Sunday morning.  He and his children were out to catch a chicken; Williams was hidden in the bushes and killed him.  The Whitesides were shrewd enough to know how to enlist his help.  Sam Williams, who killed Bill Dinning, went to Missouri and it is said that Dinning's son, Ol Dinning, followed him there and killed him."  At the December term, 1862 of Simpson Circuit Court, the case of William Dinning vs. Berry Whitesides was dismissed, "it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that the plaintiff has departed this life..."  there were three William Dinnings living in Simpson County in 1860, but the most likely one in this story was William C. Dinning, age 33, who lived near the Kirbys, Wrights, Hensons and Breedloves, on the eastern side of the county in 1860.  William was born in Tennessee and married Martha Jane Morris in Sumner county on 2 October 1846.  In 1850, William an Jane were living in Sumner County, District 16 with three children: Oliver, age 3, Marion, age 2, and Susan, under 1.  One more child was born to them, Claibourn, born about 1851.  Martha Jane had died by 1854, when William married Nancy B. Lynch in Sumner County on 21 May 1854.  Nancy was a daughter of Jerry Lynch who probably died as a result of the gunfight in Sept 1861.  In 1860 William and Nancy had the following children at home: William O. (Oliver), 12, Francis M. (Marion) 11, Susan, 10, Claibourn B., 9 and Narcissa, 4.  The youngest daughter, who was born to Nancy, was probably named after Nancy's mother, Narcissa Trail Lynch.  The "Ol" Dinning mentioned in Mr. Richard's account was probably William Oliver Dinning.  William Oliver Dinning married Louisa Hale and in 1880 was living in Sumner County with three children, his brother and mother-in-law.  He died in Simpson County in 1934.  Sam Williams may have been S. L. Williams who lived in the eastern section of Simpson in 1860.  He was married to Sophia Earnest, daughter of Jacob Earnest who was killed in the feud.  (It is not likely that this Sam Williams is S. L. Williams, husband of Sophia Earnest since Sophia is living with, her father, Jacob Earnest and listed as a widow, on the 1860 census.)

"Many years later, Berry Whitesides, returning from Woodburn, fell in with Ol Dinning, who was drunk.  Ol tried to raise a fuss.  Berry said, 'Now go on away, Mr. Dinning, I'm not bothering you.'  Dinning said, 'No, but you Whitesides killed my father,' to which Berry replied, 'No sir, you're mistaken.  We hired a man to do it and paid him the money for it.'"

"After the feud was over William Whitesides founded Cedar Bluff College on what was known as the old Samuel Whitesides homestead.  This he ran successfully until about 1893, when it was destroyed by fire.  Out of this institution grew Potter College at Bowling Green which was finally bought by the state and is now a part of Western Kentucky State Teachers' College.  Cedar Bluff College was started by Whitesides for his own family and a very few others....Whitesides was a large land owner, having at one time 1100 acres, all joining.  He was reported to have been the best friend to poor people ever to live in East Simpson - probably in the entire county.  He ruled with an iron hand, yet he was sympathentic and kind, and genteel with everybody.  He addressed all his tenants as "Mr."   William Franklin Whitesides and his wife, Maggie, organized the Cedar Bluff College for girls and young women in 1864 on the family farm on Drakes Creek.  The college offered such subjects as Latin, study of the modern classics, Virgil, Geometry, Algebra, Zoology, Logic, political economy, and advanced rhetoric.  In the 1886/87 school year, there were 85 girls from Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Texas boarding at the school.  By the 1890's, many of their students had transferred Potter College Bowling Green and when Cedar Bluff burned in 1892, it was not rebuilt.  William died in 1905.


"Berry Whitesides and Mark, his nephew, were noted gamblers in steamboat days on the Mississippi; sometimes rich, sometimes poor.  At one time Berry owned the Belle Meade farm at Nashville but went home to spend his old days with his brother, William.  Berry was never married.  He acted as overseer of the estate for a number of years before he became mentally incapacitated.  George Whitesides (1842-1926), a son of Wash, was very prominent citizen of Simpson County, filling various offices and practicing law until the time of his death."  Berry Whitesides was never owner of Belle Meade since that famous estate in Nashville was owned by the Harding and Jackson families until the early 1900's.  Berry was living in the household of David G. Jackson in Wilson County, Tennessee in 1880 and his occupation was listed as farmer, so he may have been a farm overseer for that Jackson family.  He died in 1896.  Marcus D. Whitesides, son of George "Wash" Whitesides, apparently traveled a great deal.  He died in 1899 and is buried at Green lawn Cemetery.  George W. Whitesides, who was 18 when his father was killed, was an attorney by 1870.  He was also an early superintendent of Simpson County schools and was county judge from 1886 through 1890 and 1894 through 1900.  Whitesides and other lawyers were credited with saving some of the circuit court records from the devastating court house fire of 1882.  He died in 1926.

A century and a half later we don't really have any concrete answers regarding the catalysts for the murders that occurred in Simpson County, Kentucky in 1860 and 1861.  I earlier mentioned a plausible motive for the murder of Wash Whitesides in that, if he either did (or was thought to have) attempt to rape Kate (Holland) Herrington, a group of men might have gotten themselves worked up enough to decide to "take the law into their own hands."  If that were the case they may have also decided for themselves that it was unlikely that the courts would every convict "a Whitesides" of rape.  We'll never know.  This is completely conjecture on my part.  It follows, then, that Jacob Earnest was murdered as retribution for the murder of Wash Whitesides.  Curiously, his wife, Lucinda, died just three days before his murder.  There is no indication of what the cause of her death was.

There is no evidence that Jacob Earnest was involved in the murder of Wash Whitesides, other than the story told by Mr. Richards.  It does seem there was a long history of contempt between the Whitesides and the Earnests; particularly Wash and Jake.  By 1860 both families had been in the area since the turn of the century.  Apparently that was plenty of time for people to find reason to kill each other.

One thing is certain; by the time of the taking of the 1870 census in Simpson County, Kentucky there were at least fifty Whitesides listed, and not a single Earnest. The Earnests had left south central Kentucky and moved to Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana.


I, of course, found this story of particular interest because of my relationship to Jacob Earnest.  It is also a part of American history.  When placed in that context I also wonder if the Civil War played any part in this feud.  Franklin, Kentucky is literally only a few miles north of the Tennessee border.  Were there Union and Confederate issues involved in the origins of these disputes?  The war started right smack dab in the middle of this whole feud; April 1861.  Or was this human nature gone awry?  Was it simply the same "stupid" type of dispute we have read about throughout history?

Whatever happened in Simpson County in 1860 and 1861, and the years leading up to it, somehow I can't help but think that, by now, Wash and Jake have "shook hands and buried the hatchet;" at least I hope so.