News from Oct. 2, 2003 issue

In its first close look at enlarging the city limits, the Marion City Council spent about 30 minutes Monday night examining a map prepared by Councilman Ronnie "Doorknob" Hughes that details areas for possible annexation.

For more than a year, the council has been discussing the idea of growing the city boundaries. Several areas have been discussed as attractive for future growth; however, the council seems determined to narrow annexation to only those properties currently outside the incorporated boundary but receive city services.

Hughes has identified 87 properties outside the city that currently have use of either city water or sewer or both. Those properties were identified on a large map presented before the council Monday during a special meeting.

Hughes showed the current city limits with red boundary marks on the large rolled-out map. He identified the potential annexation areas using green lines.

Janet K. Hawkins' interest in the history of the African-American community of Crittenden County began as an offshoot of her own genealogical research. Now, some are encouraging her to publish the information she has uncovered.

Hawkins has developed a connection to Crittenden County through her research which she is incorporating into her master's thesis at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. Hawkins' fifth great-grandfather, Joseph "Irish Joe" Newcom, and his sons immigrated to Crittenden County in the early 1800s. Like many Kentuckians of this period, Joseph's sons owned slaves. Before Joseph's son William died in 1854, he bequeathed his slaves to his children, instructing that the slaves be "equally distributed."

"I was saddened to learn that my fourth great-grandfather may have split up husbands and wives or parents and children. But unfortunately, this practice was common in slave days," said Hawkins.

Some of the former slaves apparently did remain close to the white Newcom family after Emancipation and probably adopted the Newcom surname.

During a 1995 interview with her third cousin, Hawkins discovered a long-lasting bond. The cousin remembered traveling from Harrisburg to Kentucky by surrey in the early 1900s to visit her grandmother, Nancy Newcom Sullivan."My grandmother would say, 'Come here, Mary Lois. This is some of your folk. This is so-and-so Newcom.' I thought that was the funniest thing, those little black kids named Newcom," the cousin said. "I couldn't figure out how they were kin to me. Their parents were all freed, working in the mines and everything, but living around here. They stayed very close to the Newcom family."

Of course, as Mary Lois later learned, her black playmates were children and grandchildren of the Newcom family slaves.

"After Mary Lois told me this story, something clicked. I started to wonder about the freed slaves who decided to remain in Crittenden County after Emancipation," Hawkins said. "I began to compile a genealogical history of the county's slaves and their descendants. I wanted to know who they were, why they stayed, and what kind of lives they lived."
Many people mistakenly believe that former slaves migrated North as soon as the Civil War ended when, in fact, thousands remained in rural Kentucky.

In Crittenden County, the free black population did not peak until the year 1880 ­ 15 years after slavery ended ­ when it reached 1,151 individuals. Subsequent census counts revealed a steady decline, yet population numbers remained in the hundreds well into the 19th century: There were 876 black residents in 1900. In 1910, the count was 588. By 1930, some 281 individuals remained. The 2000 federal population census counted only 61 blacks residing in Crittenden County. However, Hawkins has discovered that most who remain trace their lineage to area slaves.

Hawkins has conducted telephone and personal interviews and read through numerous historical documents to uncover a vibrant community history.

"Less than 140 years ago, former slaves settled in Crittenden County with virtually nothing ­ little money, no land, few possessions, and almost no education," she said. "Yet, in the span of only a few years, they had accomplished a great deal in terms of education and economic improvement."

In January 1879, The Crittenden Press reported that the black community "seemed to be suffering for sustenance."

Yet, less than a year later, Press reports revealed a dynamic, motivated population dedicated to improving its situation. For example, on July 31, 1880, the black community organized a barbecue and invited white political candidates to speak. By the fall of 1881, four schools had opened their doors to black children. Several former slaves had become land owners, with some operating farms comparable in size to those of white farmers.

Hawkins's research has uncovered many interesting facts about the individuals within the black community, as shown by the following findings: