Berry Howard, of Harlan County, was indicted and tried and was defended by the late Grant Forester. He was cleared. When Augustus Wilson became governor he pardoned the men who had been sentenced. The whole state was in a turmoil after the killing. John L. Powers, a brother of Caleb Powers headed for Harlan County to muster a group of men to go to Frankfort to defend the men and the party. One old timer said the men went to Frankfort to "stand their grounds." Since John L. Powers had never been to Harlan County he arrived in Barbourville and was almost at the end of the row.
Hotel Familiar Sight
On the scene appeared one of Harlan's fair young ladies. Miss Mae Kelly(Jones) who was going to school in Barboursville at the time. As luck would have it she had called her father, Jim Kelly, manager of the Kelly Hotel in Harlan, and told him she was coming home because a small pox epidemic was raging down there. He consented. The Kelly Hotel was a familiar and much visited building on Main Street. May Kelly Jones remembers when John Fox Jr. and his brothers Jim and Oliver, of Big Stone Gap, Va., boarded there while they were surveying in Harlan County. Then too, John Fox, Jr., was writing his famous book, "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine," at that time. In Barbourville depot, Denver Cornett introduced Miss Kelly to the stranger, John L. Powers and she told him that she would lead the way to Harlan. they boarded the train in Barbourville and rode to Hagan.
Becomes Worried
There they rented horses for the long ride across the mountains. It was raining and the river was rising slowly. Kelly became worried about his daughter and called Can. Ball who ran a store at Pansy. "Yes, I heard some horses hit the river on the other side," he said, : I believe it was her." Ball called a few words to them from door and on they came. The water was still rising. As they came to the last Clover Fork crossing, Miss Kelly said, "I'll go first because I know the ford." She fixed her bridle over the saddle so the horse couldn't get tangled if he had to swim. She could hold on better.
Accused Slayer Arrives
They made it at last. Powers mustered up a group of 50 men and they left the nest day for Frankfort. In a few days two men came to the hotel at midnight. One of them was John L. Powers. He was being accused of the killing. Orders were for him to hide up stairs. He was guarded there for three months by Tom Ward, Jim Kelly, Boyd Kelly and Jeff Rice. No stranger dared come near but just as a precautionary measure, a rope was hung aat the foot of the steps with a cow bell tied to it just in case.Henry Yountze was tried for the murder and was sentenced to life. John L. Powers left for South America but before going away he remembered the Harlan County people and wrote a poem about them dedicated to Miss Kelly. Entitled: "My Trip To Harlan, it reads as follows: It rained all day and when night came around, The streams from the hillsides were rushing down. With many a leap and gurgling sound; The night I went to Harlan. I had been told of the country wild. Where they spared nether man, woman or child; And your life was in danger while You stayed in Harlan. They told me of the mountains, rocky and rough, Where the men carried Winchesters and all were tough, And the women carried pistols they said, to bluff.A stranger if he came to the county of Harlan.
Meets Lovely Girl
I met a girl at the close of day, A lovely girl by the name of May, Who said, "Young man I'm going your way, I live in the town of Harlan. May, that night was my only guide So I took my place close by her side; the night I made that long, dark ride Over the mountains to Harlan. I was told to be watchful and to know, to a kinder people you will never go, For nobody on earth was ever lied on so As have been the people from Harlan.
Be Nice Or Leave
But the men are brave, not afraid to kill In defense of their homes, and still You can have your choice, so either at will Treat them nice or leave the county of Harlan. Among more hospitable people you will roam, They will treat you as kindly as do your friends at home If you tend to your business and leave them alone, The people who live in Harlan. Far away among evergreens Those mountain brooklet crystal streams are running away with pleasant dreams. Among the mountains of Harlan.
Nature's Flower Garden
O my friend, I envy you, If everybody the truth about you knew, they would want to come and live there too, In nature's flower garden, the county of Harlan.
Sunday October 5, 1952
Volume 51 Number 235
Pages 1 & 8
