Mineral Springs and Boyhood Trips, Part 2

J. Mark Lowe

As my Dad continued his story, we headed toward a picnic table with our dessert from JELLIS. [J. Ellis Drug Store, Glasgow, KY] 

 Towards the river, a large round stone stood with water flowing from the top and sides. My Dad said when he was a little boy and they stopped here, he would go to that stone and drink as much water as he could hold. He said the water contained minerals and was good for one's health. I walked to the stone and saw the water shooting about 3 or 4 inches above the stone. I bent over and began drinking the cool water flowing above the stone. Just like many of the springs where I have tasted water, this water was very cold. I swallowed as big a drink from the stone (like my Dad said) and stood up. Suddenly, I realized the water had a peculiar taste. Not only did the water now have a taste, I began to notice an odor much like rotten eggs. I was drinking from a old sulphur spring. As I began to belch the sulphur gas, my Dad began to laugh.

He related the story of the Sulphur Well. They would stop here for a rest during the all-day journey to the house of his Aunt Maude and Uncle Leonard. The ladies would begin to spread linens across the picnic tables, while the men and children washed their hands at the big stone.
I could only imagine the lunch these relatives prepared. Growing up attending family reunions, these relatives made the most scrumptious fried chicken, cathead biscuits, and sweet corn pudding. The ladies were recognized as the best cooks in southern Kentucky. There were three sisters called Annie,Nannie and Clara. As everyone else unloaded their prepared feasts, Annie and Nannie were spying out what they might carry home for supper.
We sat down at the picnic table, and I asked my Dad what they did while they rode along during this journey. He told me they sang songs, told stories, played games, and watched the sites along the road. His Uncles had to bring gasoline along to fill the tanks. Although there were some gas refueling stations or service stations, my Dad said there were few in the country.
He said the family gathered around the picnic feast, which was now covered with a large tablecloth. One of his Uncles would lead a prayer of blessing and the cloth covering the food would be removed.

We continued on to the Funeral in Greensburg, and a quick visit with his Aunt Maude and Uncle Leonard.  He related the story of our stop at the Sulphur Well - Uncle Leonard laughed so hard, that he started crying. " I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." he joked.    

When my Dad visited the White Sulphur Well as a boy, he remembered a swinging bridge crossing the water to the hotel and grounds. On the site of the sulphur well is a Kentucky Historical Society roadside marker:
This artesian well was discovered in 1845 by Ezekiel Neal, who was drilling for salt water. When he reached 180 ft. depth, pressure shot water, auger, and shafting over top of large sycamore tree. Besides salt, water contained sulphur, magnesium, and iron; used by many for its medicinal value. Constant water supply not affected by cold, heat, rain, or draught.

A postcard from the Beula Villa Hotel at Sulphur Well, KY

 

Beula Villa Hotel - Built in 1903 by Catlett W. Thompson, across from sulphur well. Two main buildings with guest rooms were noted for spacious, wide verandas. A swinging bridge was erected from the main veranda to the well. Next owner was King C. Crenshaw. Business thrived until 1960, when Crenshaw's health failed. After 65 years of serving the community, this popular hotel closed in 1968
My Dad did not remember ever staying at the hotel, but he did remember eating there on one occasion. He remembered the wide porches with rocking chairs, the smell of country ham and hot biscuits. My two most vivid flashbacks of the visit are seeing my Dad laugh as I continued to burp the taste of sulphur on our journey.

Martha Neal Cooke shared her memories of the Sulphur Well Hotel called the Beula Vista from her childhood.
“The smells from the Beula Vista met us as we made the turn toward the grand hotel in Sulphur Well. This was th eone Sunday ritual I looked forward to as a child. We got out of our car and headed for the enormous porch which semi-circled the hotel, and each adult and child found a high-backed flat-armed rocking chair in which to rock and talk for at least 30 minutes before dinner.
At the stroke of noon, King Crenshaw would come out on the porch and ring the biggest brass bell I’ve ever seen. He then led us through the parlor, with its Gone With the Wind lamps and their awesome prisms, to the dining room. There, round tables to seat 12 were ready with starched linen, heavy flatware, and the precious cargo of Sunday-dinner: fried county ham still steaming with the smell of coffee in the red-eye gravy, mashed potatoes with butter melting from the peaks, fried chicken and accompanying bowls of cream gravy, green beans visibly bolstered with ham chunks, and those silver dollar biscuits that would fog your glasses when you pulled them apart. How could they keep everything so hot! I don’t remember salads, except maybe cole slaw, but dessert! I can still taste the mixture of hot apple cobbler and cold ice-cream coming together in my mouth.” Sources: Southern Food: At Home, On the Road, in History, Egerton, 1993, Kentucky Historical Society

Mineral Springs and Boyhood Trips, Part 1

J. Mark Lowe

Although I grew up in Cedar Hill, my parents were natives of Kentucky. I grew up hearing the place names and stories of small Kentucky towns. For example, Chalybeate Springs, pronounced Clee-Bit, is a small town in Edmonson county, Kentucky near the Mammoth Cave and known for the mineral springs with the mineral, Chalybeate, known for its healing properties. As a young boy, I remember the sulphur well which provided water for Jo Byrns High School [Cedar Hill, Tenn.]. How could one forget the taste of that water from the water fountain.
In a review of medical journals, I found a lot of study of the medicinal qualities of mineral and thermal waters. In one 1902 Medical Journal, I found a list of noted mineral springs. Among them were:
Eldorado Springs, Chancy [later Ridgetop]. Robertson Co., Tenn. sulphuretted, Idaho Springs, St. Bethlehem, Montgomery Co., Tenn.; Kingston Springs, Cheatham Co., Tenn., sulphuretted and chalybeate; Red Boiling Springs, Macon Co., Tenn. sulphuretted and chalybeate; also in this list were Buena Vista Springs and Borgher Springs near Russellville in Logan County.
According to the 1893 Keating and Hamilton’s Dictionary of Medicine, “Natural water possessing more or less distinct medicinal properties due to inorganic substances in solution. All are diuretic when taken in considerable quantities. Chalybeate waters are those holding in solution one or more of the iron compounds, most frequently ferrous bicarbonate and ferrous oxide. They are useful in anemia, but usually have other constituents, the administration of which may or may not be indicated in certain cases. Purgative waters usually owe their properties to sodium sulphate and magnesium sulphate. They are used in some cases of constipation, and in gout, gastric congestion [catarrh], and congestion of the liver. Sulphuretted waters contain sulphuretted hydrogen, and usually the sulphates of sodium and potassium. They, are useful in some cases of gout and rheumatism, in hepatic torpor [liver inactivity], and in constipation, and are asserted to have been used with good results in cases of chronic bronchitis and phthisis [tuberculosis or consumption]. In all these diseases they may be used internally, and externally as baths.”
The springs of Kentucky and Tennessee have had considerable attention paid to them by geologists and chemists, and they have many improved resorts.
I remembered my Dad talking about stopping at the White Sulphur Well on his way to visit his Aunt and Uncle in South Central Kentucky. Eventually, I would learn more about the Sulphur Well. When the father of the Baptist minister in Cedar Hill died in Kentucky, my father and I set out to the funeral home.
We left early one Saturday morning, right after breakfast. I’m not quite sure why I was chosen to go, but I always enjoyed the one-on-one time with my Dad. We traveled through Keysburg and on to Russellville, where we turned onto Highway 68-80. I was familiar with this road, since we often visited family in Bowling Green, but on this day our destination was a bit further. We passed the South Union Shaker village in Logan county and passed the oil pumps near Woodburn. As we approached the community of Rockfield, my Dad told me that he attended first grade in the old school here. He promised we could come back to visit on another day. We passed through Bowling Green and continued northward on the highway.
We soon passed through Bristow, where I knew my brothers and sister attended school before the family moved to Tennessee. Dad turned right following 68-80 through the community of Oakland and by Smiths Grove.
We traveled through the countryside with my tour guide pointing out farms and sights from his youth. I only wish I could remember more of the stories he told on that day. We headed into Glasgow, and he said “I guess we will have time to stop at JELLIS.” I didn’t know what he meant, but he encouraged me to wait and see. As we turned into the city square in Glasgow, I saw across from the Courthouse, a large brick building with a sign painted across the front – J. Ellis’ Drug. [JELLIS] We went inside for an early lunch at the drugstore counter, where everyone there seemed to know my Dad. He suggested we get our dessert to go and head on our journey.
Heading east on Hwy 68-80, he began to tell me about how his family loaded up in a wagon to visit his Aunt Maude and Uncle Leonard, who lived in Greensburg, Kentucky. He said his grandmother, his Uncles, Aunts, and parents would load up two truck wagons with food and supplies for the visit. Based on his stories, I would suspect his first trip would have been about 1925. One of the trucks has high sides and a cover over part of the bed. The other truck had lower sides and only a cloth cover. My Dad remembered his younger brother, Ralph, being held by an Aunt most of the way. The trip would take all day, so they would head out early in the morning, stop over for lunch, then arrive in the early evening at their destination. Staying a day or two, they would head back following the same plan. He said,” We always stopped at the Sulphur Well for lunch.” As he shared more about this trip, he pulled over to a small parking area, he announced, “ We’re here!”
Although disappointed at the story being interupted, I jumped out of the car with anticipation. “Where are we?” I asked, only seeing a rushing creek and a few picnic tables. “The Sulphur Well, we are at the Sulphur Well, “ he exclaimed as he grinned.
Learn more about the trip to Sulphur Well in the next installment.