Monthly Archives: February 2020

“We had to turn out in full strength”

Claim form for victims of Morgan’s Ohio Raid

The surrender of Confederate cavalry leader John Hunt Morgan on July 26, 1863, marked the end of the “Great Raid,” his 18-day charge from Kentucky into Indiana that veered east into southern Ohio.  There was “a great scare here,” reported infantryman Aaron Stuver in a letter to his sister from Cincinnati, “and we had to turn out in full strength” as the state militia scrambled to defend the area against Morgan and his raiders. 

Morgan ultimately brushed past Cincinnati—“or we might have had an interview with the rebels,” wrote Stuver.  Splitting up his troops, he then caused havoc as he charged through southern Ohio ahead of a major battle in Meigs County, at Buffington Island on the Ohio River.  The largest Civil War engagement in Ohio, the battle memorably witnessed the death of Major Daniel McCook, one of fifteen in his family who saw service with the Union.  The patriarch of the “Fighting McCooks,” as they were known, was buried in Cincinnati after a large funeral in which four companies of Stuver’s regiment participated as escorts.  During the ceremonies, both enlisted men and officers, wrote Stuver, stood up to a soaking rain “like good soldiers.”  McCook, he observed, “was a Paymaster in the Army, and went voluntarily after Morgan, he was 60 years old.”

While the Great Raid accomplished little lasting good for the Confederates, it succeeded for a time in siphoning off Union forces from important offensive measures in east Tennessee.  It also caused fear and uncertainty among civilians in Indiana and Ohio, many of whom suffered loss and damage to property that had been seized by Morgan or otherwise caught in the crossfire.  Eight months later, the Ohio legislature created a commission to assess claims, and in April 1869 authorized the payment of compensation.  The final cost Morgan extracted for the Great Raid was the printing of special forms for “Morgan Raid Claims,” on which farmers like Asahel Skinner of Meigs County certified their losses.  Skinner received a total of $220 for two horses, bridles and other provisions, and for the death of a colt.

Aaron Stuver’s letter and Asahel Skinner’s damage claim from the Great Raid are part of the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives of WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections.  Click on the links to access finding aids.  For more Civil War collections, click here or search TopSCHOLAR and KenCat.

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He Touched the Heart as Well as the Funny Bone

As we celebrate Black History Month, Library Special Collections would like to spotlight one of Bowling Green’s best known sons, Reuben Crowdus, aka Ernest Hogan.  Coincidentally, local attorney and historian Ray Buckberry has recently donated a nice gift of research material about Hogan and sheet music written by him to Special Collections.  Buckberry was the chief person responsible for researching and orchestrating the effort to get a historical marker erected for Hogan at the L&N Depot in 2009.  Here we re-print a short biography of Hogan written by Buckberry for the publication Mt. Moriah Cemetery:  A History and Census of Bowling Green, Kentucky’s African-American Cemetery (Landmark Association, 2002)

Reuben Crowdus was born 17 April 1865 in Bowling Green, Kentucky.  Not much is known about his early life, although indications are that he left home at an early age, joining a traveling minstrel show.  One of his first jobs is said to have been as a plantation singer in a low-rent, tent-show version of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a show that launched the careers of many black entertainers.

In 1891, Crowdus adopted his stage name “Ernest Hogan” and later began referring to himself as “The Unbleached American,” utilizing both references throughout his career in show business.  He wrote the lyrics, music, or both, for approximately 35 published songs.  The 1896 sheet music for a song written by Hogan contained a notation that the music is to be performed “with Negro rag.”  This was the first use of the word “rag” on a song sheet and many thereby credit Hogan as writer of the first piece of ragtime music.

His first big solo starring role in New York City came in 1898, with the show “Clorindy, or the Origin of the Cakewalk.”  This was the first black show to play in a first class theater on Broadway.  A Chicago paper reported that Hogan “is firmly established as the greatest colored comedian of the age.”  The rising star organized a group of about 20 experienced entertainers in 1905, and called the “The Memphis Students.”  Their opening show in New York was so successful it was held over for 5 months.  This show has been referred to as the first public concert of syncopated music in history.

A long-cherished dream was realized when he mounted his own musical comedy “Rufus Rastus,” opening on Broadway in 1906.  A critic commented that the depth Hogan brought to his new role took him out of the ranks of “darky comedian” forever in that he had learned to “touch the heart as well as the funnybone.”

Hogan became seriously ill and, in 1908, his business friends produced a benefit show in his honor.  The show lasted four hours and a noted black performer remembered it as the “greatest assembly of colored actors ever to appear in the same theater and on the same stage in one night.”

On 20 May 1909, Hogan died.  His remains were returned to Bowling Green for burial in Mt. Moriah Cemetery.  By Hogan’s request, the local band participating in the service at the Methodist Episcopal Church, played only his favorite ragtime tunes.  At the cemetery, the many floral displays were said to represent the most flowers ever received for any funeral in Bowling Green.

Hogan had an infectious and crusading spirit, talent and generosity; he was appropriately referred to as “a Moses of the colored theatrical profession.”

To see the finding aid for the Ernest Hogan research material, click here. To see other material in our collections about Hogan, search KenCat or TopSCHOLAR.

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Kentucky Club Woman, Official Organ of the State Federation of Colored Women’s Club

This rare newsletter, The Kentucky Club Woman: Official Organ of the State Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs is representative of the collection focus of Special Collections Library. We hold materials that are either irreplaceable or unusually rare and valuable. We also maintain items in a secure location with environmental controls to preserve the items for posterity. This newsletter was produced by the Kentucky State Association of Colored Women’s Clubs which was organized in 1903. They boasted a membership of 2,500 women in 112 clubs. The Kentucky clubs specialized in “fostering day nurseries, hospitals, old folks homes; homes for delinquent girls, building club houses and community centers.” We are the only holding library for this issue. Find this and other one-of-a-kind items by using the One Search box, TopScholar and KenCat.

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