Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1921-04-14
OLD HOPE REDM0N
HOUSE At CYNTHIANA
Built of Logs In 1890 Has Much
Historical Interest To
Kentuckians

Z
for obtaining the use of one OF
the oldest buildings in KENTUCKY
for a meeting place for the Wo-
mans Club of Cynthiana are be-
ling worked out here. The build
ling is in old Hope Redmon house,
built in 1870, and which is mex
ericably bound up with the his
tory of Harrison county.
| The old building, which also is
lone Of the oldest in the state,
was the first court house of Har
rison county and in it the first
newspaper ever published in the
county, "The~Guardian Of Liber-
ity," was printed. 1t recently
came back into possession Of the
county and is now used as the
office OF the county road engineer.
The Hope Redmon house, how
ever, has been the oldest build
ing i'll the town for only short
time. Not long ago the Lee house
was torn down and a modern ga
rage erected on the site. Until
that time this building was the
Oldest.
/ Mrs. Maude Ward Latferty, the
chairman of the history section OF
the Kentucky Federation of Clubs
and for 20 years a deliver in Ken.
tucly history, iii a letter to Mrs.
iWi9gleslorth, president of the
!Cynthiana Woman's Club, cites
authorities for the time of the
building of the Hope Redmon
house. She says that Prof. q. l..
Marshall in letter written many
years ago, says that the building
was erected in 100 by DIR. James
tMcPheeters, who came from
Rockbridge county, Virginia. DR.,
McPheeters, says the historian,
studied medicine in Philadelphia
and married Miss Elizabeth Coul-
ter, bringing her to Cynthiana,
where they lived until his death.
He died at the age of "a, leaving
his wife with four sons and a
daughter. Airs. 1IcPheeters al
terward moved to Missouri. The
history of this family, according
to Mrs. Lafferty, is given in the
diary OF Rev. William McPheet-
ers, a brother, who left his man
uscript dated 1912. Prof. Mar
shall, she says, said that the build
ling was used successfully as a
residence, court house, law office,
printing office and perhaps a
church.
In this building in 1901 Henry
Clay was admitted to the bar at
the quarterly sessions court of
Harrison county, says Mrs. Laf-
ferty.
In 1915 the building was known
as the printing office of John Kee
man. Bishop Kavanaugh and Lud
ley Mann, later a distinguished
diplomat, were apprentices in this
shop.
Guthrie's arithmetic was print
led in this shop and in 1917 the
first issue of The Guardian of
Liberty" appeared.
There are not many houses
left west Of the Alleghanies that
have been in continuous use 131
years. says Mrs. Lafferty. Man
Idy Lees old house was the only
one OF its type | have ever found
i'm Kentucky. 1t had the slides
for windows used in the old forts.
The log house at the end of
Pleasant street at the New ridge
is said to have been toll house.
Judge Boyd's old house was built
in 1907. The old hotel at the cor
Iner of Main and the alley, next to
Mrs. Cars, was built by Dir. Nc
MILAN in 1872. A stone near the
roof on the alley side has 1912 cut
on it. The house on the corner
iof Main and Pleasant streets
known as the Turtoy house, was
built by William Moore in 1906,
and there are many others built
prior to 1872"