| Once Upon A Time In Byrdstown |
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County Historian Ronald Dishman shared
with me an old newspaper article describing the Christmas season in
our neighboring Pickett county in the year 1882. It reads as
follows: “Where a little less than a year ago was only a forest,
we now have a very thriving and promising town with several dry
goods stores, several followers of Esculapius, and a number of young
limbs of the law, a large saw mill, the latter not only supplying
the necessary lumber for the rapidly growing town, but filling
contracts with parties in our city. We also have a new commodious
three-story hotel furnished and run by Messrs. Chowning and Sidwell;
a fine brick jail now completed, a magnificent courthouse, the
foundation of it being laid, now under contract, that would be an
ornament to any town in the state; and a number of creditable
residences in course of erection. So that where formerly the eye of
the tourist and wayfarer was rudely greeted on all sides by the
primitive though comfortable log cabin, we now have the modern
cottage to welcome and delight the view, with the more modern and
improved style of architecture. We proudly retain the mountain
hospitality of yore which was and yet is as free, pure and
adulterated as the numerous crystal streams that bubble up from the
bosom of our health-giving county.
Our festivities commended on Christmas night at Bate Hall, a
fine, commodious room in the third story of the imposing storehouse
of our prosperous merchants Messrs. R. H. Miller & Company which was
filled to overflowing with specially invited guests from this and
adjoining counties. Bate Hall named in honor of one of the late
“tidal wave heroes” having been beautifully decorated by fair hands
with evergreen crosses, anchors, drooping festoons and two Christmas
trees, all interspersed with laurel, ivy, holly and mistletoe, all
loaded down with presents from Old Kris, ranging all along from the
slightest remembrances in the way of toys and sweetmeats up to
handsome clocks, stylist suits, fine jewelry and such other things
as St. Nicholas could fetch across the mountains, the presents
surprisingly looming into an aggregate of several hundred dollars.
The presents all distributed, the
festivities of the evening were brought to a close with a literary
essay by Mr. Bond, after which the large audience quietly retired to
their homes. On the afternoon of the 26th, the young ladies and
their escorts in response to invitations began to assemble from
Jamestown, Albany, KY, Livingston, and Celina. Preparations having
been made to accommodate at least two hundred couples, and Chowning
and Sidwell Hotel was filled at an early hour of the evening with a
happy concourse of young folks all aglow with excitement over the
evening dance. Promptly at 8 o’clock in the evening, the guests
retired to Bate Hall, the appointed rendezvous for the devotees of
Terpsichore (I looked up the definition of this word - ‘taking a
series of rhythmical steps in time to music’). The string band
struck up with a beautiful waltz, then on with the dance till the
wee hours of the night, winding up with a regular “breakdown” in
old-fashioned style when the band play Sweet Bye-and-Bye. The
guests’ supper was next announced and everyone retired to Chowning
and Sidwell’s Hotel where a beautiful and tastefully arranged table
laden with the luxuries of the season afforded ample refreshments
for all in attendance.
Some of those in very handsome
costumes with exquisite taste were Miss Smith of Indian Territory;
Misses Chowning and Kyle of Clay County; Misses Tutt of Albany; Miss
Estes of Livingston; Miss Hurst of Fentress County; Miss Capps of
Pickett County; Miss Knight of Pickett County; and Miss Ida Grimsley
of Olympus, a fair debutante in brocaded pearl satin, daughter of
our prominent merchant and county court clerk, W.B. Grimsley. This
being the first affair of the kind in our new town, I wished to
furnish a brief account, knowing it will be of interest to many
readers in this and adjoining counties.”
Although the name of the writer of this article was not included, I
very much enjoyed the details that person included about the town of
Byrdstown in it’s very early days. As I read the paragraphs about
the dance held on the day after Christmas, I could just imagine the
guests arriving for the gala event. Those who traveled to Byrdstown
by horse and buggy from Livingston, Celina and the other places
mentioned on a cold December night must have been chilled to the
bone before they got there. The descriptions given made it easy to
see the beautiful Christmas decorations, the presents, and the
buffet the guests enjoyed after the dance. What a treat it would be
if we could turns back the hands of time and catch just a glimpse of
the young ladies in their beautiful dresses and the young men in all
their finery, to hear the string band who played for the dance, not
to mention listening to a literary essay by Mr. Bond. On second
thought, we might just skip the essay by Mr. Bond. The writer did a
really good job bringing this event to life right before our eyes,
but that person certainly makes it hard to believe this actually
took place once upon a time in Byrdstown.
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