Benton, Ky.–The Jackson Purchase Historical Society (JPHS) will meet on Saturday February 19 at 10:30 am at the Benton Branch of the Marshall County Public Library, 1150 Birch Street in Benton, KY.
The speaker will be Society Vice President Richard D. Parker who will discuss his just-published book, Wicked Western Kentucky with a special emphasis on the Marshall County area. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the meeting. This is a change from the program previously announced, which has been rescheduled for June.
The program will also be available by ZOOM for those unable to attend in person.
Register in advance to participate by ZOOM for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAofuutqD0vHN1dvRg6FruVjVA2yHstEyd1
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Those attending should comply with current state and local public health guidelines for gatherings. The meeting room is large and will allow ample social distancing. Masks will be available for those who wish one. The Society continues to monitor the regional public health situation and may make appropriate adjustments. For updates consult the Society webpage: www.jacksonpurchasehistory.org
Western Kentucky has always had a dark side, despite being the “Birthplace of Bluegrass Music” and home to amazing BBQ and many other people and things. For example, Mary James Trotter, an arrested moonshine-selling grandma, remarked to a judge that she “simply had to sell a little liquor now and then to take care of my four grandchildren.” Rod Ferrell led a bloodsucking vampire cult in Murray, Kentucky, and traumatized parents of the 1990s. In the early morning of July 13, 1928, at the “Castle on the Cumberland,” seven men were put to death in Kentucky’s deadliest night of state-sponsored executions. Plus, many more are discussed in Richard’s book. Join award-winning author Richard Parker as he introduces us to some of Western Kentucky’s most nefarious people, places, and events.
Richard Parker is a native of Paris, Tennessee and a history graduate of Murray State University and has his master’s degree from Western Kentucky University. He is Vice President of the JPHS and has written several articles and book reviews that have appeared in the Journal of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society. In 2019, JPHS received the Kentucky History Award as Volunteer Organization of the Year. Parker’s most recent contribution to the society’s Journal received the 2019 Dr. Lonnie E. Maness Award as the Most Outstanding Article. The 2019 Journal received a Kentucky History Award for Excellence in Publications in November 2020. This was the Journal’s third such award in the last six years. Parker is a speaker for the Kentucky Humanities Council Speakers’ Bureau. He and his wife, Emily, co-own Atomic City Tours, a company focused on providing historical walking tours in downtown Paducah. He lives in a historic house Paducah, Kentucky, with his wife and their two children, Ellis and Sullivan. He previously published The Wild World of the Jackson Purchase (2019).
In 1958, a group of historians met in Murray, Kentucky led by faculty from Murray State University and University of Tennessee-Martin and formed the Jackson Purchase Historical Society to promote interest, study, and preservation of the regional history of the territory encompassed in the Treaty of Tuscaloosa, known as the Jackson Purchase. The society holds a number of meetings each year with a speaker on Jackson Purchase history and publishes an award-winning journal on local history. Members include a wide range of people who simply share a love of history and a love of the Jackson Purchase area.
Articles are welcome for the 2022 Journal and can be sent to the editor, Jim Humphreys, at jhumphreys@murraystate.edu. The editor would also welcome inquiries about topics, books for review, or offers to review a book. Copies of the Journal are available from the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, PO Box 531, Murray, KY 42071. The cost is $15.90 including postage and sales tax. Anyone interested in Jackson Purchase history is welcome to join the JPHS.
Information about membership and future programs and much more is available on the society’s website: http://jacksonpurchasehistory.org/. Free electronic access to back issues of the Journal through 2016 is available through the Murray State University libraries at https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/jphs/.