Hello from the Greenup Public Library System! Did you know that on this day in 1864 America minted the 2 cent coin? On the same day in 1876 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completed his ballet "Swan Lake". On April 22nd 1969 the first human eye transplant was performed. Finally, on this day in 1970 the first Earth Day was celebrated.
Kentucky History
Kentucky is a fascinating state full of odd and interesting locations. One of the strangest of these is the Kentucky Bend or “New Madrid Bend”. Essentially a 30 square mile section cut off from the rest of the state by a twisting hairpin turn of the Mississippi River, the bend has a strange and intriguing history. In the early 1800s a fault running through what is now the Kentucky Bend uplifted and damned the Mississippi in multiple places, causing waterfalls and raging rapids. According to some people the river actually began to run backwards; capsizing boats, opening enormous holes (one such hole filled with water and is now Reelfoot Lake), tearing trees from the ground and even submerging nearby New Madrid. The bend itself actually sticks out into Tennessee though the land is owned by Kentucky. For years the two states fought over ownership of the land with Tennessee claiming that the boundary line had been incorrectly drawn. At some point a church called Compromise was built right over the line with families sitting on either the Kentucky or Tennessee side depending on where their loyalties lie. As of the 2010 census, only about 18 people live on this odd peninsula with the nearest voting booth 40 miles away in Hickman, Kentucky. Before the bend was all but deserted however it was actually a lively community with a population of nearly 300 people. When the land was first partitioned and given to Kentucky word spread that the soil was extremely fertile because of its location within the Mississippi floodplain.
The land became an agricultural haven and was even the location of a famous family feud between the Watson and Darnell families. The original feud was sparked over an argument about horse or cow ownership and went on to last 60 years. The feud was so bloody and so dramatic that Mark Twain would later write about it in his book Life on the Mississippi. The fighting only ended when the last two Darnells attempted to leave the bend on a steamboat only to be killed by the Watsons, ending the family line. Today Reelfoot Lake is 280-acre State Park and part of a complex of public lands that include the Reelfoot Lake National Wildlife Refuge and the Reelfoot State Wildlife Management Area. Although the park is technically located within the Tennessee boundary line it is impossible to discuss its history without talking about Kentucky due to how it was created. The park’s ecosystem is incredibly unique as it is actually a flooded forest, home to cypress trees and many species of wading birds. According to the park’s website during January and February Reelfoot Lake is home to thousands of American bald eagles with an annual Reelfoot Eagle Festival in February. In addition the park is home to hundreds of white pelicans during their fall migration.
New York Times Bestsellers
New to this week’s bestselling list are Someone Knows by Lisa Scottoline, Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly and The Tale Teller by Anne Hillerman. Someone Knows opens with Allie Garvey heading home to attend the funeral of a childhood friend. Unfortunately going back will also mean facing the two people with whom she shares an unbearable secret, one that has haunted her for twenty years. The unspoken truth of a prank that went horribly wrong has distanced her from everyone she loves and know she stands on the brink of losing everything. When she digs into the past looking for answers however, she unearths a secret she never saw coming. A secret that will change everything. Lost Roses takes us to the year 1914 and begins with New Yorker Eliza Ferriday traveling with her best friend Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. The two met one year in Paris and have been close confidantes ever since. Now Eliza finds herself on the trip of a lifetime, visiting Russia with Sofya. But when Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia's Imperial dynasty begins to fall Eliza is forced to escape to America with Sofya and her family fleeing to their country estate. Eliza does her best to assist families as they find safety but inevitably Sofya’s letters stop coming. Terrified that the worst has happened to her beloved friend, Eliza continues her work helping Russian families in America. As the war rages on Eliza and Sofya’s lives begin to intersect in different ways, painting an intimate picture of a momentous time in history. The Tale Teller finds protagonist Joe Leaphorn retired from the Tribal Police but still deep into a mysterious case involving a priceless artifact from a dark time in Navajo history. Having been hired to locate a traditional weaving that had been donated to the Navajo Nation, his investigation becomes sinister with the discovery that witchcraft may be involved.
Life on the Mississippi
If you are interested in reading more about the Darnell-Watson feud as well as many other historical events and locations along the Mississippi River then check out Life on the Mississippi by Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) from the library. The book also gives an autobiographical account of Twain's early days and provides a wealth of humorous anecdotes and sketches. Life on the Mississippi details the true events that provided the raw material for Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Quotes
“They find joy in motion, which transforms their lives into unending odysseys. Their souls are brightly burning streaks of light across the universe—constantly traveling in an endless dance across space and time.”
-- Zita Steele, Dine: A Tribute to the Navajo People
"In no part of the South has the vendetta flourished more briskly, or held out longer, between warring families, than in this particular region."
--Mark Twain, Referring to The Kentucky Bend in his book Life on The Mississippi
“The Mississippi River towns are comely, clean, well built, and pleasing to the eye, and cheering to the spirit. The Mississippi Valley is as reposeful as a dreamland, nothing worldly about it . . . nothing to hang a fret or a worry upon.”
― Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
“Unquestionably the discovery of the Mississippi is a datable fact which considerably mellows and modifies the shiny newness of our country, and gives her a most respectable outside-aspect of rustiness and antiquity.”
― Mark Twain, Life on the Mississippi
Jokes
“What is round on the ends and high in the middle?”
“Ohio.”
“What do you call the little rivers which flow into the Nile?”
“Juveniles.”
Q: Why don’t you see penguins in Great Britain?
A: Because they’re afraid of Wales.
Lauren Cagle
Library Hours
Flatwoods: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday: 10-8. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday: 10-5.
Mckell: Monday,: 9-8, Tuesday-Friday 9-5. Saturday 9-2.
Greenup: Monday and Thursday: 9-8. Tuesday-Friday: 9-5. Saturday: 9-2
Closed Sunday.
Phone #s Flatwoods: 606-836-3771, Fax: 606-836-8674. Mckell: 606-932-4478. Greenup: 606-473-6514.
More about all the library has to offer is available on our website @ www.greenuplib.org. Make sure to read next week’s Beacon for more reads and weekly events.
