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Trimble County was formed from parts of Gallatin, Henry, and Oldham Counties, and was created on February 9, 1837. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia of the internet, has an article on Trimble County, as well as Bedford, and Milton, and a page on the man for whom Trimble County is named, Robert Trimble, whose picture is on the left. |
| Trimble County was the 86th county formed in Kentucky. The law enacting Trimble County was passed on February 9, 1837 and the county was formed on April 1, 1837 from parts of Gallatin, Henry and Oldham Counties. Its boundaries are unchanged since March 6, 1850. It has an area of 148.8 square miles, making it the 117th largest of Kentucky's 120 counties. |
The law that established Gallatin County in 1798, which at that time included what is now Trimble County, is here.
The 1837 laws specifically creating Trimble are here, and here; both shortly amended, here.
Discover the highest point in the county.
Chicago's Newberry Library has posted online a complete set of maps of American counties formations. They start with the date of county formation, and trace every little change to the boundaries after that. Trimble County has had 2 such changes, and you can see the Trimble maps here (pdf). To see the counties from which the county was formed, you'll have to download the entire Kentucky state pdf. There's also a feature that you can use to import all this data into Google maps. Good stuff! |
| In 1876, the R. L. Polk Company published The Kentucky State Gazetteer and Business Directory, which listed information about virtually every town in Kentucky. The listings from Trimble County are these: | ||
| Bedford | Milton | Winona |
From George W. Hawes' Kentucky State Gazetteer and Business
Directory, for 1859 and 1860, is this listing for
Bedford. (pdf)
Hawes published an updated version of his Gazetteer in 1883-84, which included these Trimble County Communities:
| Abbett | Bedford | Milton | Winona |
Trimble County sites placed on the National Places of Historical Places are listed at this site.
| Membership Rolls of the Masonic Lodges of Trimble County in 1890: | Membership Rolls of the Masonic Lodges of Trimble County in 1911: (pdf's) | |||
| Bedford | Milton | Bedford | Milton | |
For membership rolls of ALL Masonic Lodges in ALL cities in Kentucky,
from 1878 thru 1922, they're at the Hathi Trust Digital Library, by individual year.
Who's who in Trimble County, in 1840
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One of Trimble County's most written about citizens is artist
Harlan Hubbard. There are oral history interviews that have been transcribed. You
can read them, but need to search for “Harlan Hubbard“ (use the quotes)
when you get to this site. His Wikipedia page is here.
“The Trimble County Highwaymen. - The trial of Roberts and Hall, for their crimes, will take place at Bedford, Trimble County, Ky., this week. It will excite intense interest, and we learn that the citizens of Milan and Madison, Indiana, are already preparing to attend the trial. The rascals stand a pretty good chance to swing, with law or without it, so great is the indignation of the citizens of Trimble County at their scoundrelism.” Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, July 26, 1859 Read the whole story of this man, of whom they said “a more blood-thirsty, black-hearted, cold-blooded villain does not exist.” |
The murder of Ann Rall.
| The WPA (Wikipedia) produced this documents on the history of Trimble County. All are pdf's. | ||||
| Bedford Springs | Preston House | Historic Homes | Business Census | Indian Fort |
| Robert Rennick wrote about every post office ever in Trimble County, and how the towns they were in got there names. Highly recommended. | ||||
A history of the Preston Plantation is here. (pdf).
Sandusky Daily Commercial Register, February 23, 1865
| Lottie Snyder asked Byron Bacon Black for a History of Bedford. From his hospital bed, he said that'd take way too long, but he'd give her a view of the earliest days of the town. You can read his letter to her here. | A railroad, from Madison to Lexington? |
| The banks of Trimble County, in 1911, here. | Irish tourist in 1890 says the strife from the outside world never reached Trimble County. |
| The lawyers of Trimble County, 1872, here. | How's fishing in 1898 Trimble County? This guy knows. |
| Protecting willow trees, 1876. | The History of Trimble County from Collins' History.(pdf) |
| “In the Trimble Circuit Court last week a man was awarded fine and imprisonment for carrying concealed weapons, but before the jury returned its verdict the officers allowed him to walk off. Another was fined for kissing girl against her will, and a third is being tried for waylaying and cutting a woman who refused to marry him.” The Commonwealth, November 27, 1877, reprinting an item from the Carrollton Democrat. | |
| “Bedford, Ky., March 9 - A feud of 10 years' standing between the Carson and Hackney families broke out afresh here near here, and as a result James and George Carson were, perhaps, fatally cut, and Ed and Elliott Hackney, whom they had waylaid, were seriously wounded. The Hackney boys came to town Monday and surrendered. Judge Lee released them on $100 bond each.” from Maysville's Daily Public Ledger, March 9, 1898 | “Milton, Ky., March 20. -- The post-office at Green, Ky., six miles below here, has been discontinued. The post-office building was washed away by high water, and Postmaster F. L. Moreland immediately resigned. The postal authorities have been unable to get anyone to accept the place.” from Marion, Kentucky's Crittenden Record-Press, March 28, 1907 |
“Henry Boggess shot and killed a pelican, in a pond on Mrs. Moreland's farm last Saturday. The bird measured eight feet from tip to tip of its wings and its bill measured eleven inches.” from the Trimble County News, quoted in the Carrollton Democrat, September 5, 1891 |
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| “Clarence Harmon has a new automobile. There are now 17 machines owned by persons in or near Bedford. The whir of the engine is so great on Sunday morning that the denizens of the county seat are aroused from their slumber before 8 o'clock.” Trimble Democrat, July 13, 1916. | The September 7, 1837 issue of the Kentucky Gazette listed a postal route than ran from “Frankfort, by Laputa [Franklin Co.], Pleasureville, New Castle, Benevola [Campbellsburg], Bedford, Corn Creek and Milton to Madison, Indiana, 53 miles and back, three times a week in stages.” |
| In 1906, the Courier-Journal published a list of out-of-state residents who would come home to Trimble County. | “Bedford, Ky., April 13. - The residence of W. F. Pierce, merchant, was burned tonight. The rest of the town was saved by dynamiting the burning building, which was only eight feet from the Bedford Hotel.” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 14, 1912 |
| The Gallatin Ohio Steam Boat Company was formed in 1816. | The Kentucky legislature authorizes a turnpike from Milton to Bedford, 1866. |
| “Tom Boswell, the negro who knocked Jailer on the head on the night of the November 21 and escaped,was captured in Carroll County by Sheriff George Powell and T. J. Weathers. He was returned to the Bedford jail. He is charged with murder.” Courier-Journal, November25, 1902 | Betsy Connell remembers when Milton was “a wilderness waste, where bears and wildcats roamed at large.” Fascinating item, here. |
| As part of his 1952 dissertation at UK, a student pastor in Bedford, Paul Richardson, made a list of the non-church, community organizations in Trimble County. Want to take a guess at how many? If so, you probably came up short of the 37 he found. The full list is here. (pdf) | “Madison, Ind., Dec. 9. - James Divine shot 'Lafe' Gammons dead in a quarrel at Bedford, Ky., 10 miles south of this city, last night, and was arrested today. Divine had been previously severely stabbed by Gammon's father. In Trimble County opposite Madison, George Ewing probably fatally wounded one Evans, who was courting Ewing's daughter against her father's wishes.” New York Times, December 10, 1884. |
| Dispatch from Alvin P. Hovey, Brevet Major General, to Capt. C. H. Potter, Headquarters District of Indiana in Indianapolis, December 16, 1864: “I am informed by telegram from Madison, Ind., that Colonel Jessee's men have taken Milton, a small town in Kentucky. They here fired on two steamers, and left in the direction of Bedford, Ky. We must have a small force for the front on the Ohio.” from the War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of Official Records | For Trimble County Historical Information, we suggest their application to the National Register of Historical Places. It's a pdf you can read here. |
| “As soon as the weather will permit Madison will be placed in telephone connection with Milton, Carrollton, Gratz, Warsaw, and Ghent, Ky.” Indianapolis News, February 3, 1882 | |
| “Mr. James Williams, the mail carrier from Corn Creek, brought to town one day recently several porcupine quills. Mr. Williams informs us that a gentleman living just across the river from Corn Creek owns a dog that frequently goes out hunting by itself. It returned last Friday from its usual hunt litterly [sic] filled with porcupine quills. By its actions, the dog indicated that it wanted some one to go with it, and its master followed, and was surprised when the dog led him to the dead body of a large porcupine.” New York Times, February 8, 1896, reprinting and item from the Bedford Banner-Democrat. | |
| The Irishman Rafferty comes to Bedford, 1889 |
Two toll gates on the road from Bedford to Carrollton authorized in 1844. |
| A Bedford citizen takes offense at the implication that Bedford is backwoods, 1922. |
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Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, November 13, 1907
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| Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, April 12, 1908 | Cincinnati Commercial Tribune, June 10, 1908 |
“Milton, Ky., Feb. 12. - Wagon load after wagon load of fine burley tobacco is daily being delivered to the three dealers in leaf tobacco here, and a large percent of it is coming from Locust precinct, Carroll county where the Equity Association has been strongest. It is believed that if the season is favorable that in ten days within a radius of ten miles half the crop will be sold and delivered. Rumors have come to town of an anticipated visit of night riders, and as a result the town is being guarded every night by two men. Should a raid be made upon this town almost the entire population would answer an alarm and give the intruder a warm reception.” from the Hopkinsville Kentuckian, February 15, 1908 |
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| The tobacco farmers of Trimble County elect to grow no crop in 1908. Story is here. A skirmish is reported here. | |
“Milton, Ky., June 12th - Night riders did
their first work in this section of Trimble county. Tobacco plant beds on
the farms of Taylor Alexander, I. T. Spillman, Mike Brinston and
Dora Ginns, were destroyed. These farms are in the western section of
Trimble county.” from the Paducah Evening Sun, June
12, 1908 |
Robert Jackson Tingle (Jack) is the only man from Trimble County to play in the NBA.
His record is
at this site.
Indianapolis Times, August 4, 1926
“We understand that the services of H. Jackman, Esq., our county Auditor, was secured yesterday by the directors to survey a route for a plank road from Milton to the Bedford Springs, in Tremble [sic] county, Ky.” Madison Daily Courier, April 5, 1850 |
| “The good people of Bedford are at
present in a most deplorable condition: mud all around axle tree
deep, and no possible chance of getting away, and yet we will find
plenty of old fogies who will vote against the turnpike tax next
Monday.” from the Carrollton Democrat, March 4, 1882
“Behind a doubt, Trimble will soon have good roads. The turnpike tax carried by 186.”from the Carrollton Democrat, March 18, 1882 |
Cincinnati Commercial, May 7, 1871
| Missouri Governor Charles Henry Hardin, right, was from Trimble County. He has a page at Wikipedia. |  |
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John C. Strother, left, compiled, and presented to the Louisville's Filson Club, in 1920, his Historical Sketch of Trimble County. You can read it here. Clara Scott found the need in 1983 to correct a small piece of it, and her remarks are here. |
Cincinnati Commercial, April 21, 1879
| C. 1928, the Kentucky Opportunities Department published a fact sheet about Trimble County for potential businesses that might be interested. You can read it here. (pdf) | The Interstate Commerce Commission moved part of Carroll County and Trimble County from the Central to the Eastern time zone at 2 a.m. on Sunday, July 23, 1961. | In 1930, Kentucky Progress Magazine ran a feature letting each of Kentucky's counties list their accomplishments for 1929. What Trimble County came up with is here. (pdf) |
| The Trimble County roots site is here. | Milton man receives largest-ever pension check in 1886, story here. | Know where to pay your 1915 Trimble Co taxes? Find out here. |
| In 1937 UK released surveys of known archaeological sites by county. Trimble County's is here. (pdf) | In 1855, a widespread corn shortage meant hunger. Details. | |
A general history of Trimble from Collin's is here (pdf). |
Excerpts from Collin's History of Kentucky, about Trimble County, are here. |
There are no other counties named “Trimble” in the entire USA. |
Report on a prehistoric fort near Milton, here. |
In 1883, the Trimble Banner-Democrat described the businesses in the City of Bedford. Read it here. |
1919 Statistics on Trimble Agriculture, here. |
| In 1969, Edna Talbott Whitley compiled a list of Cabinetmakers in Kentucky. The only one in Trimble County was F. F. Skidmore, who was a furniture maker in Bedford in 1850. | Young man develops a knack for killing eagles. (Does “an immense good”). Here. | |
| Detailed Presidential voting statistics from Trimble County are here. | Remember the time the Post Office lost $16,000 in gold? In Mt. Pleasant? Story here. | You can read an episode in the Carson Hackney feud in Trimble County here. |
| The Southern Business Directory and General Advertiser, from 1854, had these listings for Trimble County. | ||
| The trial of Trimble highwaymen Roberts and Hall | County bored; needs a show. In 1845. | Corn shortage creates crisis, 1855. |
| Trimble County made a better place by F. G. Burd, 1922. |
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| A List of Trimble County Historical Markers is at this site. | A sister's wrong is avenged at Wise's Landing, here. | General LaFayette visits Milton? Here. |
| “The Milton and Bedford pike [contract] was let out Thursday of last week, to Mr. Murphy, of this city, at $2,845 per mile. Seven miles were put under contract. Work will commence immediately.” Courier-Journal, June 5, 1871 | ||
| “Madison, Ind., July 9. - Thomas Mikesell, the murderer of Peter Metsinger, was arrested last night at his father's house, ten miles west of Milton, Ky. He was placed in jail at Bedford, Ky. There is great excitement, and a lynching is not improbable.” Indianapolis News, July 9, 1895 | The Daily Commonwealth, a Covington Newspaper, reported on June 9, 1883 that the road from Locust, in Carroll County, to Milton would be completed “soon.” | |
| “The old oak, the corner tree of Trimble, Henry and Oldham, was struck by lightening last Thursday and split into three pieces, one part falling in Trimble, one in Henry, and one in Oldham.” From Covington's Daily Commonwealth, August 23, 1879, quoting the Trimble News | ||
| H. C. Black wrote a description of Trimble County in 1917, here. (pdf) | “The Kentucky State Horticultural Society will meet Dec. 9th and 10th at Bedford, Ky. An exceedingly interesting program has been prepared.” from the Lancaster, Ky., Central Record, December 5, 1902 | Obituaries of Samuel Fearn and Dr. B. O. Rand are here. |
| The Richwood Plantation is here. | ||
| In WWII, German POW's were used on Trimble County farms. | “Bad man from Kentucky” caught. | 24 locations in Trimble County have had a post office. The list is here. |
| In 1888 the Kentucky Legislature outlined the law for Trimble County turnpikes. | Trimble County was a candidate in 1954 for the location of the Air Force Academy. | |
| A site dedicated to the bridges of Trimble County is at this site. | The Kentucky Department of Agriculture's assessment of agriculture in Trimble County, in 1898-1899 can be found here. (pdf) | D. H. Peak wrote this piece on Trimble County in 1907. |
Cross section of a meteorite found in Trimble County in 1903
| In c. 1936, the WPA created these four documents, all pdf's: | |||
| Preston House | Bedford Springs | Other Old Houses | A Trimble County overview. |
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Additional Papers on Trimble County History, with a note. (All pdf's) |
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| Sligo Baptist Church | Trimble County Schools | Note: We found all of these in various file folders at the |
| Wises Landing | Pleasant View Baptist | |
| Bedford Christian | History of Bethel Church | |
| Buck Creek School | Post Offices of Trimble County | |
| History of Bethel Methodist | History of Bedford United Methodist Church |
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| Riverboat Landings Along the Ohio River in Trimble County | ||
The Comet Club
| The Comet club was a social club organized on July 14, 1886 by a group of teenage boys. Membership was limited to no more than 25 individuals, and the goal of the organization was to have fun through dances, masked balls, picnics, fireworks displays, musical events and excursions down the Ohio River. By 1890, the club had purchased a building and had also become chartered. In 1893, they purchased some land on the Kentucky side of the Ohio river and created a Summer camp, which is shown here in the 1920s right before they group disbanded. |
The Madison Jefferson County Library has a collection of nearly 200 older
Madison, Indiana pictures from photographer Harry Lemen,
here. Lemen also took
lots of nice old pics of Milton, Carrollton, and Prestonville, but evidently the Madison folks'
scanner broke before they could get around to posting the Kentucky pics.
This list of Trimble County deaths from WWII is from
the National Archives. There's a key to what the
various abbreviations mean here, and the actual list is here.
Trimble soldiers who died in WWI are listed here.
In 1858, the Kentucky Legislature repealed, for Trimble County, the statewide ban it had
previously passed against “billiard tables, bowling saloons, and Jenny Lind tables.”
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| Maj. Nathan Parker, C.S.A. Died in battle at Wytheville, Va., May 10, 1864. He was returned to Bedford for burial. 3,000 people attended the funeral. |
Cincinnati Daily Gazette, August 22, 1862
| “Colonel G. W. Berry, Provost Marshall of this district [for the Union], received information yesterday that one of the enrolling officers for Carroll County was unable to make further progress in the discharge of his duties on account of armed resistance of the citizens. A detachment of soldiers was sent to his aid at once. We also learn that there is some trouble in Trimble County, threats of personal violence having repeatedly been made against the enrolling officers.” The Cincinnati Enquirer, June 25, 1863 | |
| “At 2 places between Carrollton and Madison, the Confederate flag is displayed to every passing steamer, particularly those descending the Ohio loaded with troops. These rebel ensigns are unfurled and vaunted to the breeze by females who flatter themselves that their sex will protect them.” Cincinnati Daily Enquirer, February 23, 1862 | |
| Citizens of Trimble County, Carroll County, and Madison, Indiana meet in April of 1861 to avoid Civil War Hostilities. Read the story here, and follow-up stories here. | |
| “The Courier says a company of one hundred and ten men from Trimble County passed, going South, last evening. Another company of one hundred will leave shortly. The Democrat says a company of forty left today.” Cincinnati Enquirer, July 6, 1861 | |
| “It is reported that a rebel force of 300, under Jenkins, crossed the Kentucky River into Trimble County, 8 miles from Carrollton last night, coming westward.” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 17, 1864 | “The rebel force in Trimble County, Kentucky, took possession of Bedford, the county-seat, to-day, capturing the Provost Marshal at last accounts.” Cincinnati Enquirer, June 18, 1864 |
| Note: Many “rebel forces” by this time weren't soldiers fighting the North, but rather thugs and thieves marauding under the guise of being “confederate troops.” We don't know if Jenkins was the real deal, or one of the groups of thugs. | |
 Cleveland Morning Leader, July 6, 1861 |
 Cincinnati Daily Gazette, June 17, 1864 |
| “The guerilla raid into Milton, Ky., is reduced to the following proportions: Fifteen of Jessemen [troops of guerilla Col. Geo. M. Jessee], all well armed and mounted, rode into Milton, fired on the [steamboat] Dumont and went on board, searched the ferryboat Union, and shortly afterwards moved off toward Bedford.” The New York Herald, December 21, 1864 | |
Daily Empire, June 18, 1864
| “Inspired by the big money realized on the peach crop of last season, numerous citizens of Trimble County, Ky., are planting young orchards. Over forty thousand trees are now in Milton ready for planting, and Mr. E. H. Ruthe planted one hundred bushels of seed, which will bring six hundred and eighty thousand young trees.” Cincinnati Enquirer, November 23, 1881 |
A 1922 article about a Trimble farmer.
 Chicago Packer, October 6, 1917 |
  Cincinnati Commercial, July 10, 1878 |
“Trimble promises to make more maple-sugar this year than any other county in the State.” Courier-Journal, March 11, 1872
Chicago Packer, May 27, 1911
| “Kentucky Peaches. Cincinnati, February 18. – F. W. Spreen, who owns 18,000 peach trees in Trimble County, Ky., stated to-day that not a bud on his trees is injured. The prospect for a large peach crop is flattering in Kentucky and in Southern Indiana.” San Francisco Call, February 19, 1893 |
| “The Madison (Ind.) Evening Courier,
publishes a report of a peach growers convention in Milton, Ky.,
which shows the crop of Trimble County to be at least 100,000
bushels the present season.” from The Fruit
Recorder and Cottage Gardener, January, 1878. (Figure 48 pounds per bushel, and box cars, in 1871, could carry 20,000 pounds per car. That's 416 bushels per railroad box car, or 240 railroad box cars full of peaches!! Assuming we can do math . . .) |
A nice article on the magnitude of the blackberry crop in antebellum Trimble County is here. Curiously, there is no mention of slaves being involved. It's also the only article you'll read today which contains the sentence “Not bad wages for children to make.” Another item on the huge blackberry crop is here. |
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| “Two hundred and fifty bushels of blackberries arrived from Trimble county, Kentucky, by the Madison and Indianapolis yesterday.” Daily State Sentinel (Indianapolis), July 22, 1858 | “Jefferson county, Ind., and Trimble county, Ky., have sent to Cincinnati, Chicago and other distant cities, six thousand nine hundred and fifty-eight bushels of blackberries this season.” Evansville Daily Journal, August 26, 1858 | “The blackberry trade between Trimble County, Kentucky – via Madison – and Indianapolis continues extraordinary. Yesterday the berries brought one dollar a bucket, the demand exceeding the supply.” Daily State Sentinel (Indianapolis), July 23, 1858 |
from Trow's Legal Directory of Lawyers in the United States, 1875
| When Dr. Jesse Hancock,
President of the Trimble County Medical Association died in 1904,
remaining doctors in the Society were L. G. Contis, W. A. Wright, S. K.
Fisher, C. P. Harwood, J. Calvert, and J. H. W. McMaken. Ponder that: In 1904, there were at least 6 doctors in Trimble County - not counting the late Dr. Hancock - and a hundred years later, when we are so much more “advanced” there are . . . how many? |
| “The most remarkable record to become part of the vital statistics of Trimble county was made public last week by J. E. Ray, a traveling man, whose home is in Milton, Ky. Mr. Ray received a letter from a relative in Milton stating that Mrs. Chas. Dolby of that place, last week, gave birth to fifteen children. The babies were from three to four inches in length, perfectly formed, and though minute in size were well developed. None of the children lived.” This is from Marion, Kentucky's Crittenden Record-Press, March 28, 1907, which acknowledged it was reprinting the item from the Warsaw Record. A similar article appeared in several other Kentucky papers, but they may have all been reprinting the Warsaw, or even some other paper's story, a common and accepted practice of the time. |
Quintuplets (sextuplets?) born in Trimble County in 1852? Maybe.
| The Courier-Journal's Howard Hardaway spent three days walking all over Trimble County, so he could report on the scenes and stories he encountered. Don't miss it. |
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| A portrait of Trimble County from a 1976 Souvenir newspaper about the Centennial. | Robert Rennick drew this map showing locations of where, over time, there have been post offices in Trimble County. |
| Here's a curious collection of official documents from the 1860-1940's, from the post office, with town names, maps, and name changes. You really should start here, and they might make more sense to you. All are pdf's. | |||
| Abbot | Bedford | Callis | Carmel |
| Corn Creek | Cottage Hill | Ewingford | Gum |
| Hammels Store | Hisle | Jennings | Leesport |
| Milton | Monitor | Mt. Pleasant | Revere |
| Trout | Vail | Welch | Winona |
Courier-Journal, February 1, 1896
We have no idea what this is about.
Additional Links that apply to all of Northern
Kentucky Views, and may or may not
be related to Trimble County, are on the main Links & Miscellany page,
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