1892-04-23; Extracted from: State, published as: The State

Murder at a Wedding

                Louisa, Ky., April 22 – At a wedding last night, Henry Davis, an uninvited boy, nineteen years old, walked into the house, and without provocation or warning, struck Noah Mead, aged twenty-one, in the temple with a knife.  Mead was sitting in a chair, but raised up and knocked Davis down with his fist.  A scuffle followed, and while on the floor Davis stabbed Mead in the heart.  Mead died immediately.  Davis fled, but the officers and citizens are out searching for him.  The wedding halted awhile, but was continued after the excitement was over.  Mead is a son of one of the best known justices in this city.  The trouble was an old feud.

1892-08-27; Extracted from: Charlotte Observer, published as: Daily Charlotte Observer

A Sewer Caves In With Five Men

                Huntington, W. Va., August 26 – At Louisa, Ky., a street sewer caved in last night burying five men.  The sewer was 11 feet deep and very narrow.  It took an hour to recover the bodies.  Oscar Hughes was dead.  Abe Webb was rescued more dead than alive with both legs broken.  He will probably die.  Lion Wilson is believed to be fatally injured.

1894-06-23; Extracted from: Omaha World Herald, published as: Morning World-Herald

Near Louisa, Ky., Jacob Jones was fatally injured and his son, Robert, age 15, instantly killed by the explosion of a sawmill boiler.

1895-02-02; Extracted from: Herald Weekly, published as: The Biloxi Herald

                        Andrew Cole, wife and four children were brought to Lexington Monday from Louisa, Ky., and placed in the insane asylum, all suffering from rabies except the mother.

1896-05-24; Extracted from: Morning Herald, published as: The Morning Herald

Postoffice Robbers Captured

                Williamson, W. Va., May 23 – Deputy Marshal Sam Smith has arrived here with John Jones and John L. Ackey, who robbed the postoffice and jewelry store at Louisa, Ky.  They were captured in the mines at Algoma and had a large quantity of stamps with them.  They confessed to the robbery and turned up the booty.

1896-06-03; Extracted from: Morning Herald, published as: The Morning Herald

CATTLE THIEF CAUGHT

                Inez, Ky., June 3 – Yesterday at this place “Rebel Bill” Smith, the noted mountain detective, arrested John Damron, who stole a team of cattle in West Virginia, drove them into his State over a year ago and sold them.  He has been at large ever since until captured here.  Smith took him this morning to Louisa, Ky., to answer the charge.

Transcribed from:  The Morning Herald   Aug. 23, 1896

RESULT OF A DRINK

 Louisa, Ky., Aug. 22 – At Zelda, this county, John Lett killed Brack Hensley by cutting him in the abdomen.  While drunk Hensley went into the store where Lett works and raised a row, finally assaulting him.  Lett then used his knife and Hinsley died in eight minutes.  Both were married and considered good citizens.

1896-09-18; Extracted from: Morning Herald, published as: The Morning Herald

NEGRO KILLED

                Louisa, Ky., Sept. 17 – In a saloon at Thacker a negro miner was killed and his body robbed of $100 by unknown parties.

December 28, 1896 Extracted from The New York Times

Bill Marrow amused himself by shooting the candles off the Christmas tree at Kavanaugh Chapel, in Lawrence County, and when George Pack remonstrated, Marrow shot him in the abdomen and escaped on horseback.

1897-11-07; Extracted from: Morning Herald, published as: The Morning Herald

ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING

                Louisa, Ky., Nov. 6 – Albert White accidentally discharged a revolver and the ball passed through Will Caine’s leg, and after striking the floor hit little Ray Butler on the arm, bruising it slightly.  The accident occurred while White and Caine were examining the pistol, and was deplored by all.

1897-11-07; Extracted from: Morning Herald, published as: The Morning Herald

YOUNG MAN DROWNS

FALLS FROM A STEEP BANK ON THE BIG SANDY WHILE CLIMBING

                Louisa, Ky., Nov. 6 – One of the most generally deplored accidents and deaths that ever occurred here was the drowning this week of Will, the seventeen-year-old son of Dr. L. Y. Gray, of Fort Gray, nearby.  He fell from a steep bank into a deep hole of water and was drowned before assistance could reach him.  The body was recovered in about twenty minutes, but life was extinct.

                The burial took place yesterday morning at 10 o’clock.

1898-01-27; Extracted from: Morning Herald, published as: The Morning Herald

AGED FARMER

KILLED BY A VICIOUS JACK AT LOUISA

                Louisa, Ky., Jan. 26 – John Sammons, aged 76, met a horrible death at his house, six miles south of this place.  He owned a vicious jack, and went to the stable to give  it a bucket of water.  The animal is kept tied, but had broken the halter, and when the old man went in he was immediately attacked.  The jack caught him by the shoulder with its teeth and struck him to the ground with its fore feet, and then jumped upon him with its knees, crushing his breast-bone.  The beast kept up the attack until the old man’s wife reached the scene and thrust a pitchfork into it.  Several bones were broken in Sammon’s body, and he was severely bitten in many places.  The calf of the leg was almost torn off by the animal’s teeth.  The old man died within a few hours.

Transcribed from:  The Columbus Enquirer-Sun  Mar. 18, 1899

BATTLE WITH RIFLES

Two Men Mortally Wounded in a Feud in Kentucky

Grayson, Ky., March 17. - (Special) - In Lawrence county, fifteen miles south of this place, six men engaged in a battle with rifles today.  Three were arrayed on one side and three on the other.  It was a resumption of the famous Adkins-Hensley feud which broke out in that section several years ago, and in which several persons have already been killed.  The members of both families are among the wealthiest and most prosperous citizens of Lawrence county, one of the wildest counties in the mountains of Kentucky.

For several weeks trouble has been brewing, and last week John Adkins, the father of the Adkins boys, who have been involved in the feud, was dangerously shot by one of the Hensleys.  This was the signal for a general arming on the part of the belligerent families, and every male member of them equipped himself with a rifle.

The first engagement took place in Lawrence county today, when the six men met.  Fifty shots were fired, but the combatants were so far apart that nearly all the balls went wide of the mark.  William Adkins, one of the leaders in the feud, was shot through the groin and fatally injured.  Old man Adkins and his son will die.