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Facts and Events
John McDougal Atherton
- As a county, LaRue had to have a courthouse, and one was duly finished circa 1866. A year after that, Louisville distiller J. M. Atherton built a distillery on the Rollin Fork River on the eastern edge of the county, and later ran a rail spur to the village, naturally named Athertonville, Kentucky. Because they had a courthouse and a distillery, the town fathers thought it time to establish a school. In 1849 the LaRue Seminary was opened.
- 1867: Began building distilleries in LaRue County
- 1870 – 1871: Elected as representative in Kentucky State Legislature
- 1873: Moved his office to Whiskey Row in Louisville
- 1881 – 1900: Elected as Director of Bank of Kentucky, LG&E and Railroad
- 1882: Became the largest bourbon distiller in the country
- 1894: Sold distilleries and invested in Louisville real estate
- 1910: Chairman of Board of Trade committee selecting Board of Education candidates
Distillery's of John Atherton & Marshall Key
- Suit by Cochran & Fulton, a partnership, against J. M. Atherton and others, to settle partnership accounts. Judgment for plaintiffs. Both parties appeal.S7
- This action was instituted in July, 1882, by the appellees, Cochran & Fulton, in the law and equity court, against John M. Atherton, for the settlement of a partnership. Atherton and his step-father Marshall Key were the joint owners of a distillery in Larue county, near New Haven, and engaged in making sweet-mash whiskey under the firm name of J. M. Atherton & Co. The appellee, Cochran & Fulton, were wholesale liquor dealers in the city of Louisville,and had been engaged in that business for a number of years. They purchased from Marshall Key his one-half interest in the distillery, and became partners with Atherton in the production and sale of whisky,—Cochran & Fulton owning one-half, and Atherton the other onehalf.S7
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 John McDougal Atherton, in Find A Grave.
- ALL THE CURRENT DECISIONS OF THE SUPREME COURTS OF MISSOURI, ARKANSAS, AND TENNESSEE, COURT OF APPEALS (CRIMINAL CASES) OF TEXAS. The Southwestern Reporter. (ST. PAUL: WEST PUBLISHING CO., AUGUST 6, 1888 - JANUARY 7, 1889.)
Vol. 9, Pages 519-529, AUGUST 6, 1888—JANUARY 7, 1889.
- Athertonville, Kentucky, in Wikipedia.
- Atherton High School, in Wikipedia.
- Kerr, Charles (ed.); E. Merton Coulter; and William Elsey Connelley. History of Kentucky. (Chicago: American Historical Society, 1922)
Vol. 4, 65-66, 1922.
- David L. Morgan, State Historic Preservation Officer, Kentucky Heritage Council. National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form. (United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service)
Page 9, 10, 14, 32., 26 Nov 1990.
Distilleries were also common in the county as early as 1800. Whiskeymaking provided early settlers with a commodity which could be readily transported to markets and sold. Wattie Boone and Aaron Atherton both operated distilleries on the banks of Knob Creek in the 1790s and these distilleries were forerunners of the John M. Atherton Distillery built after the Civil War. Other small distilleries are known to have been operated on farms throughout the county.
Source http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/64500235.pdf
- The Kentucky Law Reporter: A Monthly Magazine, Devoted to the Interests of the Legal Profession at Large and Particularly of the Kentucky Bar. (Frankfort, Kentucky: Geo. A. Lewis, Book And Job Printer, 1890)
Vol. 11, Page 186, July 1, 1889 To June 15, 1890.
ATHERTON v. COCHRAN & FULTON.
- The pre-Prohibition Distillery Database
2002.
- Patrick Hogue (Samples). The Samples / Semples Family.
John McDougal Atherton was in business with his cousin Alexander Mayfield
- A Sesqui-centennial history of Kentucky: a narrative historical edition, commemorating one hundred and fifty years of statehood, preserving the record of the growth and development of the commonwealth, and chronicling the genealogical and memorial records of its prominent families and personages. (Hopkinsville, Ky.: Historical Record Association, 1945)
Pages 1800-1802.
- Adams, Evelyn Crady. Goodin’s Fort (1780) in Nelson County Kentucky, in Filson Historical Society (Louisville, Kentucky). The Filson Club history quarterly. (Louisville, Kentucky: The Club, 1930-2000)
Vol. 27, January 1953.
These were among the people at Goodin's Fort (According to Edgar Porter Harned)
Samuel Goodin, Sr. , John Houston, Capt. Samuel Pottenger, Isaac Goodin, Samuel's son, Atkinson Hill, Samuel's son-in-law; Samuel Goodin, Jr., Samuel's son; Peter Kennedy (Indian scout); Thomas Goodin, Samuel's son; Elizabeth Goodin, Samuel's daughter; Catherine Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Letitia Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Sarah Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's daughter; Elizabeth Van Meter, Elizabeth Goodin's dau; Abraham Goodin, son of Samuel and Elizabeth; General BraddockS12 (only slave mentioned at fort, freed in 1797); Abraham Van Meter, died about 1782; Beck SwankS12, married General BraddockS12; Abnego Carter; Unknown Hamilton; Aaron Atherton Sr.; Peter Atherton, son of Aaron; John S. Atherton, son of Peter; John M. Atherton, son of Peter; Peter Lee Atherton, son of John M. Atherton.
The fort was the logical refuge for the following adjacent families: David Crady; Richard Edlin; Christopher Bush; Samuel Miller; Anthony Chambers; Daniel Vittitow; Samuel Vittitow (ie. Withrow); Stephen Vittitow; Zachariah Maraman; Leonard Johnson's son Clemmy, fiddler from Maryland.
Page 5 - Atherton's Ford
Page 7 - Aaron Atherton Sr. and family
Page 18 - Milton Atherton
Page 19 - B.F. Atherton, Finetta Atherton
Page 26 - 16 Dec 1823, Suit of Purcell vs Atherton, in Hardin County Court
Page 27 - Atherton Family. W.H. Perrin, op.cit., 1887, p. 781.
When Samuel abandoned the Fort Goodin, he moved across the Rolling Fork to one of his plantations in present LaRue County, KY. He apparently retained more than half of his original land entries which approximated two thousand acres. He died on his plantation in the Edlintown area in 1807. He left no will.There seems to be some confusion about the names, "Goodin, Goodwines, and Goodwins" . There seemed to be a lot of them in early Kentucky, especially in Nelson and Hardin Counties.. And, they seemed to share the same given names as well. Several writers have attempted to sort this out.
- Dr. John C. Butler, in Jacob Van Meter Family & History.
The son, Abraham Van Meter, had at least one slave he brought with him from Virginia. This was "General Braddock", who earned his freedom through killing nine Indians. He moved from the Severns Valley settlement to Goodin's fort in the Rolling Fork when Abraham Van Meter's widow, who had inherited "General Braddock" from her husband, following his death from a poison Indian arrow, married Samuel Goodin. The slave was appraised at 100 pounds. On March 19, 1797 he was "set free forever". He afterwards married Becky Swan and lived on a small farm near Elizabethtown. This verifies that the Swans, who came out with the Van Meter party, also brought slaves to Kentucky. The son, Abraham Van Meter, had at least one slave he brought with him from Virginia. This was "General Braddock", who earned his freedom through killing nine Indians. He moved from the Severns Valley settlement to Goodin's fort in the Rolling Fork when Abraham Van Meter's widow, who had inherited "General Braddock" from her husband, following his death from a poison Indian arrow, married Samuel Goodin. The slave was appraised at 100 pounds. On March 19, 1797 he was "set free forever". He afterwards married Becky Swan and lived on a small farm near Elizabethtown. This verifies that the Swans, who came out with the Van Meter party, also brought slaves to Kentucky.
- 2012 Atherton Alumni Association Hall of Fame Inductees
Namesake of J. M. Atherton High School
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