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Paris-Bourbon County Hemp History

Bourbon County was an early leader of Kentucky hemp production and manufacturing, and remained so through the mid-19th century. Hemp was one of the most profitable agricultural endeavors and became the basis for a number of local fortunes in Paris. Click on the link below to learn more about Bourbon County Hemp History.

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18th Century

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In 1785, Bourbon County was created as the fifth county in Kentucky (which was still part of Virginia at the time). The city of Paris was chartered as the county seat four years later. During this time, the area began to grow and thrive as an agrarian economy based on hemp, corn, tobacco, bluegrass seed, sheep, horses, and whiskey (Scott & Scott, 2002). Records show that by the 1790s, Bourbonites were shipping hemp downstream to New Orleans (Everman, 1977).

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19th Century

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As a demand for cotton bagging and rope grew in the South, Bourbon County emerged as leading hemp producers in the state. By 1810, Bourbon County had two hemp mills producing 50,000 yards of fiber per year, and the annual crop in Kentucky had risen to 5,755 tons (U.S. Census Bureau, 1865). The greater part of the total was grown in the fertile Bluegrass region, where Bourbon County led the way with 796 tons (followed by Scott with 599, Fayette with 595, Mercer with 433, and Woodford with 417, and outside of the region, Mason County, reporting at 581 tons of fiber (Hopkins, 1998)

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Increased attention to the manufacture of hemp bagging as the demand for cotton increased. Hemp factories in Bourbon and Fayette counties accounted for over 94 percent of bagging produced along the Maysville Road, and 73 percent of the state’s total production by 1812. Merchant-manufacturers of Lexington and Paris found great profit in hemp and cotton productions, tapping into the cash crop that flourished in southern Kentucky (Friend, 2005).  

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As the hemp industry began to show profits, the local manufacturing industry continued to develop around what is now known as the Maysville & Lexington Pike. This route was originally known as the "Limestone Trace" and was a native path made by the Indians following herds of animals searching for vegetation along the "licks." When early settlers came to Kentucky on the Ohio River, they landed at Maysville (formally known as Limestone Landing) and followed the native trail toward Lexington. This became the main trade route to the river, and Bourbon County was situated perfectly along the path making it an early trade hub.

 

In 1812, Samuel Williams built a two-story rope, bagging and hemp fiber warehouse, along with a two-story ropewalk, a loom house, and a block of small brick buildings in which he housed his laborers on Georgetown Road, just a short distance from Paris. By 1816, he had become so affluent that he contributed to the sixty-five-foot steeple and bell for the town’s new courthouse. Sometime between 1816-1818, William Alexander installed a hemp factory a half-mile from Paris on the Maysville & Lexington Pike (Perrin, 1882). His 600-foot “rope walk” was said to be one of the world’s longest, and made ropes for rigging on sailing ships. The factory was operated by more than 100 slaves, whose cabins are long gone (Eblen, 2016). It remained in operation until 1856. Another hemp factory was built at the upper end of Pleasant street around 1818 by Samuel Pike, a wool manufacturer who came to Bourbon County from England in the early 19th century. Pike sent the bagging South and have cotton sent back for manufacturing. He continued in the business until his death in 1837. The factory continued in operation by Henry T. Duncan, a Bourbon county native who was married to Pike’s daughter Eliza. Still another was built on the east side of the Stoner by William Woodward around 1822 (Perrin, 1882). All these factories made bagging, rope and twine, made of hemp fiber which were shipped South, where they found a ready market (Everman, 1977).

 

An increasing demand for hemp fiber sparked a need for shipping improvements. In 1829, a canal was built around the Falls of the Ohio River opening a waterway from Kentucky to New Orleans. It allowed steamboats to start carrying Kentucky hemp, along with tobacco and bourbon, to markets along the Mississippi River. By 1840, Kentucky led the nation in hemp production (Brown, 2002), while the counties of Fayette and Bourbon led in the state.

 

During this time, the U.S. Navy began to advertise for high quality American grown hemp fiber for Naval use such as ropes and ship rigging. However, the requirement for water-rotted hemp differed many Kentucky farmers from meeting navy standards. On January 15, 1846, the President of the Bourbon County Agricultural Society, G. W. Williams, wrote to Lewis Sanders who was the designated hemp agent for the state of Kentucky, to express sentiments toward the naval requirements for hemp and asking price. Mr. Williams described the planning and labor demands for water-rotting hemp, claiming that the Navy had advertised too late for farmers to prepare for this purpose and that seven-eighths of the hemp in Kentucky had been spread out to dew-rot before the government advertisement was known to local farmers (Williams, 1846)

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While many had anticipated an increase in price and demand once the U.S. Navy began seeking domestically grown hemp fiber, farmers were unable (or unwilling) to spend the time, labor, and additional expense required for water-rotting hemp crops. Instead, many farmers insisted on using the method of dew-rotting the crops and selling to Southern markets.Prices had become more competitive and the growing demand from the Southern cotton market incised farmers to experiment with different growing and harvesting methods in an effort to produce higher quality crops. In 1847, the Bourbon Agricultural Society granted three premiums for the largest amounts of clean hemp produced on one acre, and the average was 900 pounds. Cotton planters responded by demanding more of the less expensive, but durable bagging, while shippers sought after large amounts of bale rope (Everman, 1977)

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Hemp production became even more profitable for Bourbon County farmers when the “southern terminus” of the Maysville and Lexington Railroad was constructed in 1854. Paris was designated the most important shipping point in Kentucky (Collins, 1878), and hemp became cheaper and easier to transport. Bourbon County remained a leading hemp producer through the mid-19th century, and the making of rope and sailcloth contained as one of its most profitable agricultural endeavors and became the basis for a number of local fortunes. However, by 1859, it had fallen behind Fayette, Woodford, Boyle, Scott, Mason, and Jessamine counties in production. 

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Prior to the Civil War, the hemp industry had relied heavily on slave labor for growing, harvesting, and processing of hemp crops. The hemp break was the most common piece of equipment and method used for processing hemp. It was called a hemp break because it broke the long hemp fibers from the inner woody core of the stalk. Many efforts to invent machinery to break the hemp more efficiently were made throughout the 19th century, but none could proved successful. The ropewalks and hemp factories were also operated by enslaved people. The crop was extremely labor intensive and unpleasant to handle. 

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After the abolishment of slavery, wealthy plantation and factory owners struggled to find workers to keep up with operations. In addition, the lack of mechanized equipment for hemp breaking and inefficiencies of processing slowed down the industry. Through the late 19th century, the hemp industry fluctuated drastically. Hemp dealers began struggling to find markets for the crop as foreign sources of fiber became cheaper to import and readily available. Many farmers turned to tobacco, and soon it had taken stolen the role as Kentucky’s leading cash crop. 

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While the Kentucky hemp industry fluctuated drastically between 1870-1900. In 1870, farmers reportedly produced a crop of 567 tons in 1870 (Scott & Scott, 2002). A decade later, the local paper stated that the hemp market was so unsettled and unreliable that many of the producers were contemplating abandoning its production and turning their attention to more reliable, profitable crops (The Bourbon News, 1882). Just the next year, reports described a small number of medium to good quality hemp crops being harvested within the county. That November, a local farmer Edwin G. Bedford sold 280,000 pounds of hemp at $5.00 per cwt. The order required thirty cars to transport the crop, and it was considered one of the largest (if not the largest) sale of hemp ever made by a Bourbon County farmer (The Bourbon News, 1883)

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Several hemp dealers and manufacturers managed to corner the industry

and find success toward the turn of the century. E.F. Spears & Sons began

dealing rough and dressed American hemp in 1886. In the next several years,

Chas S. Brent & Bro began to advertise hemp wanted, hemp brakes, and

hemp seed for sale in local papers. Chas S. Brent & Bro became leading

dealers in hemp, often making large purchases of hemp crops from farmers

in Bourbon County and the surrounding bluegrass region. In 1897, C.S. Brent

& Bro. bought a number of hemp crops at $3.35 per cwt. That years crop was

considered large, but inferior grade (The Bourbon News, 1897).

 

The following May, the company purchased 60,000 pounds of the 1897 crop

at $3.50, and 25,000 pounds of the 1899 crop at $3.00 from Hol C. M. Clay Jr.

Just several months later, C.S. Brent & Bro. purchased another 60,000

pounds of hemp from C. M. Clay Jr., 50,000 pounds from Junius Clay, and

30,000 pounds from L.M. Bedford at $4.00 a cwt (The Bourbon News, 1898).

In February 1899, the Brent Bro’s purchased more than 200,000 pounds of

hemp at $4.50 per cwt (The Bourbon News, 1899).

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20th Century

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Going into the 20th century the Bourbon County hemp industry had declined, but was still proving to be profitable for those in the business. In 1905, The Bourbon News reported that a little over 3,000,000 pounds, at 5 cents a pounds, contributed to $150,00 of the county’s wealth the year prior (The Bourbon News, 1905). That year, E.F. Spears and Sons contracted 1,000,000 pounds from Clark County hemp dealers bought at $13.75 per hundred pounds. According to an article, Spears & Sons had to rent the warehouses of Bush and Geoff on North Main Street, along with Martin & Hodgkin on Broadway in Winchester for the purpose of receiving and handling the hemp (The Bourbon News, 1917)

 

A hemp-braking machine was invented by a Bourbon County boy in 1910. Frank O’Neill Jr. designed the steel brake while a student in the mechanical engineering college of the Kentucky State University at Lexington. The brake was meant to travel from field to field and ran on a steam or gasoline engine. It was said that the machine produced 175 pounds more fiber to the acre than the common hand break, and did not injure the fiber, delivering clean fiber. The invention was expected to re-spark the industry and bring back the cultivation of hemp crops (Courier-Journal, 1910). Unfortunately, by this time it was too late for a hemp revival, and the constant inconsistencies in the market proved to outweigh the mechanical innovation. 

 

While the industry experienced a brief influx during World War I and again in World War II, hemp production ceased in the area by the end of the 1940s. E.F. Spears and Sons and Chas S. Brent and Bro’s were some of the last known hemp dealers in Bourbon County. Chas S. Brent & Bro continued to advertise hemp and hempen goods in newspapers until 1921. One of E. F. Spears’ last contracts of was to supply the hemp for the renovation of the battleship Constitution around 1920 (Scott & Scott, 2002). By 1923, difficulties in processing and lack of demand forced the company to deal exclusively in blue grass seed. 

 

Today, the Hopewell Museum in Paris preserves this hemp history and interprets how the land and the people of Bourbon County, formed from large and small farms, communities and schools, relied on the products and wealth from hemp crops for more than two centuries. 

Pioneers

 

Alexander, William - William Alexander an early Bourbon County settler. He built a hemp factory with a 600-foot long ropewalk near his home in East Paris on what is now the Maysville & Lexington Pike around 1816-1818. It was considered one of the longest in its day (Eblen, 2016). The factory made bagging, which was hauled south with six- horse teams (According to local accounts, he owned as many as 100). The wagons returned with cotton that was converted into clothing in Paris. One hundred slaves are said to have been housed near the home; not far away was housing for factory workers. The section was called Cottontown, a name sometimes still applied to East Paris (U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1972).

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Brent, Charles S. - Born in Bourbon County, to the Hon. Charles S. Scott (1811-1881) who was also born and raised in Bourbon County, Charles Brent served in the Civil War and returned to Paris where he engaged in the mercantile business, often dealing hemp. After a short stint in Covington, Kentucky, he returned to Paris and re-entered in the business under Chas. S. Brent & Bro. Later, his sons Charles S. (II) and Alfred C. took over the enterprise. Charles S. Scott II was born in Paris, Kentucky and attended private schools in Lexington. After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1906, he returned to Lexington and partnered with his brother, Alfred Chambers Brent, to continued in the wholesale seed business established by his father. The business became known as Chas. S. Brent & Bro. and sold hemp seed, hemp brakes, and other necessary machinery. It continued in operation until around 1909.   (Johnson, 1912).

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O’Neill Jr., Frank - Frank O’Neill Jr. invented a hemp-braking machine in 1910. As a native of Bourbon County, O’Neill graduated from the mechanical engineering college at the Kentucky State University where he designed the first model of the steel hemp-brake in 1903. It was built and used the following summer, and in 1903-1904, the inventor built four full-sized models and experimented with all kinds of conditions of hemp. In 1905, the first steel machine was operated in the fields near Paris and is said to have performed satisfactorily. The second machine was completed and operated in the fields during the winter of 1906 and the spring of 1907. In 1908, an improved machine was built at Philadelphia and used for shop demonstrations and tests. Then the machine was shipped to Kentucky and used during the hemp-breaking seasons of 1909 and 1910. The machine was made entirely of steel and ran on a steam or gasoline engine. It required seven men to operate at full capacity and delivered 5,000 pounds of merchantable hemp or hemp fiber per day. At the time, the hand method was not averaging more than 150 pounds per day. His machine also cleaned and delivered the tow without injuring or tangling the hemp fibers (Courier-Journal, 1910).

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Duncan, Henry  - Henry T. Duncan was a native of Bourbon County and married the daughter of Samuel Pike (Pyke). After his father-in-law’s death, he continued to run his hemp factory for fourteen years and accumulated a fortune manufacturing cotton bagging and rope. In February 1849, Duncan sold the land on which the Bagging factory and ropewalk in Paris to a William H. Johnson for $3,000. He later relocated to Lexington, Kentucky where he passed in 1881.

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Pike (Pyke), Samuel - Samuel Pike was a leading manufacturer of the early times. He was a native of England, and migrated to Bourbon County around 1810. He had but small means, and was himself a practical wool manufacturer. He was the first man who carded wool in Paris. In 1815, he built a cotton factory or mill and continued the businsess until 1825. Another factory was built by him in 1822-23, on the ground east of the present Christian Church. The factory built in 1815 was merged into this in the fall of 1825, and continued in existence until 1837. It had a capacity of 720 spindles. Mr. Pike built a hemp factory at the upper end of Pleasant street around 1818, which he carried on until his death in 1837. He made rope, bagging, etc., which he shipped South and brought back cotton and manufactured it. He was succeeded in the business by Henry T. Duncan (Perrin, 1882).

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Spears, Edward F. - The Spears family were early settlers of Bourbon County. Jacob Spears (1754-1825) was a soldier who served with George Washington at Yorktown. He erected the first whiskey distillery in Bourbon County in 1790. Edward Ford Spears (1840-1907), his grandson, was a Confederate veteran who served in the Orphan Brigade. He married Sallie Woodford (1840-1919) in 1866. They had six children: Woodford, Mary, John W., Lizzie, Catesby, and Keith Young. In 1886, Edward Spears founded E.F. Spears & Sons, a company which advertised Kentucky Bluegrass seed, rough and dressed American hemp, flour, meal, feed, grain, etc. in Paris, Kentucky. E.F. Spears & Sons became a major participant first in the hemp industry, and then in the bluegrass seed industry. The difficulties in producing hemp, a lack of demand, and the tobacco industry reduced hemp's importance as a viable agricultural crop. In 1923, the company changed its name to Woodford Spears & Sons, and added a bluegrass seed cleaning business in Paris, Ky., which reflected a diversification of offerings. The firm was then led by Edward's grandsons, Charles F. Spears (1897-1982) and Edward F. Spears (1895-1970). Woodford Spears & Sons continued expanding their offerings with general farm and agricultural materials, including animal feed and fencing products following the demise of the Kentucky hemp industry (E. F. Spears & Sons Hemp records, 1886-1925).

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Williams, G. W. - In 1846, G. W. Williams, wrote to Lewis Sanders at the Hemp Agency for Kentucky expressing his sentiments toward the naval requirements for hemp and asking price. Mr. Williams described the planning and labor demands for water-rotting hemp, claiming that the Navy had advertised too late for farmers to prepare for this purpose and that seven-eighths of the hemp in Kentucky had been spread out to dew-rot before the government advertisement was known to local farmers (Williams, 1846).

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Williams, Samuel - In 1812, Samuel Williams built a two-story rope, bagging and hemp fiber warehouse, along with a two-story ropewalk, a loom house, and a block of small brick buildings in which he housed his laborers on Georgetown Road, just a short distance from Paris. Just four years later, he had become so affluent that he contributed to the sixty-five-foot steeple and bell for the town’s new courthouse (Friend, 2005).

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Places

Bourbon-Pieces

Pieces (References)

 

Brown, D. (2002). Kentucky. Minneapolis: Lerner.

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Claypool, J. C., & Tenkotte, P. A. (2009). The encyclopedia of northern Kentucky. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.

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Collins, L. (1878). Collins' Historical Sketches of Kentucky: History of Kentucky (Vol. 2). Collins & Company.

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Eblen, T. (2016, September 27). 200-year-old Paris house restored, expanded by descendant of the builder. Kentucky Herald-Leader. 

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E. F. Spears & Sons Hemp records, 1886-1925, University of Kentucky Special Collections.

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Everman, H. E. (1977). The history of Bourbon County, 1785-1865. Bourbon County, KY: Bourbon Press.

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Friend, C. T. (2005). Along the Maysville Road: the early American republic in the trans- Appalachian West. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.

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Gresham, J. M. (1896). Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky: embracing biographies of many prominent men and families of the state. Chicago: J.M. Gresham Co. Retrieved December 7, 2017, from 1896 "Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky.

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Hopkins, J. F. (1998). A history of the hemp industry in Kentucky. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky.

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Johnson, E. P. (1912). A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians: the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities (Vol. 3). Salem, MA: Lewis Publishing Company.

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Perrin, W. H. (1882). History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas counties, Kentucky. Chicago, IL: O.L. Baskin & Co.

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Scott, B., & Scott, J. (2002). Paris and Bourbon County. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing.

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The Advocate-Messenger (1941, Feb 27). City of Paris Seeks Hemp Plant. p. 3 

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The Bourbon News (1882, May 19). The Trader, Turfman, Farmer and Sportsman. p. 1

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The Bourbon News (1883, August 21). The Trader, Turfman, Farmer and Sportsman. p. 1 

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The Bourbon News (1883, January 19). The Trader, Turfman, Farmer and Sportsman. p. 1. 

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The Bourbon News (1897, Jan 19). Stock and Turf News. p. 8. 

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The Bourbon News (1898, September 23). Large Hemp Crops Bought. p. 5. 

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The Bourbon News (1899, February 7). Hemp Crops Bought. p. 5.

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The Bourbon News (1905, October 03). Hemp Breaking in Bourbon County. p. 6.

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The Bourbon News (1917, February 02). Spears & Sons Receiving Big Hemp Purchase. p. 1.

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The Courier-Journal (1910, June 19). Hemp-Breaking Machine, Invented by Bourbon County Boy, Solves Labor Problem. p. 3.

 

The Lexington Cemetery. (n.d.). Duncan, Henry T. (1800-1880)

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U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. (1865). Manufactures of the United States in 1860; compiled from the original returns of The Eighth Census "Hemp Bagging" (p. cxix). Washington: Bureau of the Census Library.

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U.S., Department of the Interior, National Park Service. (1972). Albemarle (Allen-Alexander House) - Nomination Form. Paris, KY.

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Williams, G. W. (1846, January 15). In regard to the purchase of water-rotted hemp for naval purposes [Letter to Lewis Sanders, Hemp Agency of Kentucky].

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