14th KY Cavalry Archive
This Old House
By Etta J. Eversole
The Hazard Herald, Monday, Jan. 9, 1961
This old house still broodingly watches the river sweep 'round the curve midway between Krypton and Chavies as it has done for the past 157 years. Proudly guarded by rows of gnarled old apple trees that stretch away down the river and a grove of cedars that rise darkly on a point at the rear, the house holds many memories of heartaches and happiness, of tragedy and comedy, of Civil War skirmishes, and four generations of Eversoles.
The oldest house standing in Perry County, it was built in 1803 by Woolery Eversole, whose father, Jacob Eversole, head of all the Eversole clan in Kentucky, came to the Lick Branch section in 1789. A few years later Jacob reserved for himself, eighteen acres of land with a private duck pond for shooting, in what is now Krypton and divided the remainder of his 30,000 acres of land among his five sons. He was later buried on a point overlooking this spot and all his slaves were buried in a circle around.
Hand-hewn Logs
Woolery chose the present site for his home and built a two-story house composed of two "pens" witha "dog trot" or breezeway between and a large lean-to kitchen at the back. It was built of hand-hewn logs which were saddle-notched to such perfection that it was hard to detect where one began and the other ended. It was originally weatherboarded with poplar lumber, whipsawed by hand and painted brown, and the whole building trimmed with a scalloped cornice. The yellow poplar lumber with which it was ceiled was planed, tongued and grooved by hand and put on with homemade square nails and dogwood pegs.
The large chimneys, one at each end, were made of cut stone, set on edge, with no binding material but each supported by its own weight. These were unlike most chimneys made at that time, which were built of flat stones, stacked, with mud for mortar. There were big fireplaces which burned huge logs, a for stick and a back stick in each. These have since been filled in and replaced with grates which burn coal.
The old house has seen other changes, too. The weather-boarding gradually decayed and was torn down leaving the logs bare. The roof, originally made of riven boards, has been replaced by blue asphalt shingles. Water is no longer carried from the spring down the river and through the field, but is piped into the house from a spring on the hill above. The dog-trot, too, has been boxed in and holds, among other things, a huge home freezer. Instead of the soft glow of homemade candles and, later, kerosene lamps, the house is now lighted by electricity.
John C. Eversole, one of Woolery's sons, lived in the old home for a while after his marriage. At the outbreak of the Civil War John C. freed his slaves and joined the Union Army where he became a Major.
The Major Comes Home
During the War, Major Eversole came home with a squad of his men. Somehow a group of Rebel soldiers learned of their presence and opened fire on the house from the point above and a pitched battle ensued. Large two-ounce lead balls thudded against the house and buried themselves in the logs. The Union soldiers returned the fire with old man Woolery helping as Joe, the Major's 13-year-old son, helped him load his rifle. (Young Joe was the grandfather of J. C. Eversole Sr., of Hazard). After two of the Rebels were killed the others hastily retreated. The bullets have since been dug from the logs by souvenir hunters, leaving only the scars.
After the Major returned to war, his family moved two miles down the river, and it was here that a band of marauding guerillas descended on the helpless wife and children. The marauders took all the cattle and horses except one blind mare and one yearling steer which were hidden in the woods, they took all the meat from the smokehouse; they killed the geese and threw them in the river to float downstream; they ripped the featherbeds and let the feathers blow away on the March wind. And it was here that the same band of guerrillas found the 35 year old Major after the war was over called him outside and killed him.
Passed to Heirs
Following the death of Woolery, the old house passed to his heirs, and not much is known from there until his grandson, George (one-time Perry County Judge and father of Tom Eversole, who now lives at Krypton) bought the place from these heirs. (Tom is the only Eversole now living in Perry County born in the old house.) The place now belongs to the family of Dr. J. P. Boggs, whose late wife was a daughter of George Eversole.
Links With The Past
For the past few years, Mr. and Mrs. Rex Napier and their two children, Robert Kelly and Peggy Lee, have lived there and farmed the land. And it is there that Paul Gerard Eversole, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Eversole. and great great great grandson of Jacob Eversole, spends every holiday, every weekend and every spare moment that he is allowed. He is fascinated by the whole place and the history which it holds, even though the Civil War uniforms have long since disappeared from the attic, and his great-grandfather's sword no longer hangs above the mantle.
Then, too, Paul enjoys nothing more than being at the barn with Myrt and Kate, the two white mules and Nell, the old horse. His love of horses is a heritage of many generations for the Eversole's always raised horses, a breed similar to the quarter horses used in the West today, and each spring they took a herd south to sell. It is interesting to note that the horses they raised were used in the cavalry on both sides in the Civil War.
And so, as the old house has kept its secrets and memories for a century and a half, with care and restoration, it could stand for a century more.
