An Underground Labyrinth

I’ll start out by admitting that I’m not all that fond of caves.  I’ve toured a few caves over the years, but only because they were in national parks.  Mammoth Cave National Park, however, has been on my bucket list for some time, and Tim and I spent the entire day at the park.

Mammoth Cave National Park contains the most extensive cave system in the world.  Almost 400 miles of passageways have been surveyed, which is twice as long as any other known cave.  It is likely that twice that many additional miles have yet to be explored.  The rooms and passageways here are vast, hence the name “Mammoth.”  Mammoth Cave has been a tourist attraction since 1816.

This is a perfect time of year to visit Mammoth Cave, since the crowds are almost nonexistent.  I can’t imagine being on a tour with 120 other people.  Talk about experiencing claustrophobia.  We took two tours today, and there was only one other couple on our afternoon tour.  It was like having a private tour, and even the ranger enjoyed the small size.

Tim and I decided to take both of the two-hour, general tours that are offered in the winter.  The Historic Tour began at the natural entrance to Mammoth Cave and followed the route that has been followed since the 1800s.  We learned how the cave was a source for saltpeter during the War of 1812, heard about the early tour guides and the stories they told and witnessed the “historic” graffiti on the walls.  Adding one’s name to the cave walls was a popular component of the early tours.  We squeezed our way through Fat Man’s Misery and gazed down at Sidesaddle and Bottomless Pits.

The Natural Entrance

Saltpeter Operations

Historic Graffiti

One of the Early Tour Guides Signed His Name

Vast Passageways Distinguish Mammoth Cave

Sidesaddle Pit

Bottomless Pit

Our afternoon New Entrance tour began at a more remote entrance that was discovered in the 1920s.  Here we made our way down 280 twisting and turning stairs through a slim, vertical shaft into an open area known as Grand Central Station.  We saw domes and pits and walked through huge passageways where rivers once flowed.  For me, the highlight of the tour was Frozen Niagara, the most decorative area of Mammoth Cave.

Unlike most other caves like Carlsbad Caverns, Mammoth Cave has few decorative areas of stalactites, stalagmites, draperies and other dripstone formations.  Instead, it is known for its length and size.  Although those elements were certainly impressive, I prefer to be “rewarded” with “pretty” formations if I’m going to drag myself into a cave.  That said, I really did enjoy both tours, and the small size of our groups made the visit that much more pleasant.

Water Created Frozen Niagara

Features at Frozen Niaagra 

Dripstone Formations

More Dripstone Formations

Lincoln Revisited

Has anyone ever tallied how many monuments and memorials have been erected to honor Abraham Lincoln?  Surely there must be hundreds, or more.  Not that he doesn’t deserve every one of them.  Several of these memorials are even units of the National Park Service.  Every state where Lincoln ever lived wants to claim him as a native son. 

Jane and I visited the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in Indiana, and Tim, Manny and I visited the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., certainly the most well-known of all the memorials.  Today, Tim and I found one more, the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historical Park in Hodgenville, Kentucky.

This park focuses on Lincoln’s early life in Kentucky and is located on the Sinking Springs Farm where he was born in 1809.  The first memorial ever built to honor Lincoln is the centerpiece of the park, and the memorial building protects the birth site.  The memorial was established by the Lincoln Farm Association to preserve what was then thought to be the original Lincoln cabin.  Later research revealed that the cabin was not the one where Lincoln was born. 

Memorial Building

The marble and granite neoclassical memorial, designed by John Russell Pope, was dedicated in 1911 and houses what the National Park Service now considers to be a “symbolic cabin.”  The memorial is a beautiful structure that sits atop a hill approached by fifty-six granite steps, one for each year of Lincoln’s life.  Also on the site is the Sinking Spring, from which the farm received its name.

Symbolic Cabin

Tim at Sinking Spring

Unlike our visit to the Lincoln Memorial, we had this park almost to ourselves.  It provided more of an opportunity to contemplate Lincoln’s humble beginnings and what he was able to accomplish.

We drove south through the Kentucky countryside on our way to Mammoth Cave National Park.  Today was for gathering information about the various cave tours.  We’ll be back tomorrow to explore the underground.

The End of the Hunt

We had much better luck today in our search for Tim’s ancestors.  Two very helpful librarians in Marion and Nelson Counties helped us locate cemetery records, newspaper articles and other documentation that aided our quest.

Yesterday we had tried to locate the house built by Clement Hill, Thomas Hill’s youngest son.  Sadly, we discovered today that the house had been demolished between 1960 and 1970.  We viewed a microfilm copy of a newspaper article from 1960 that included a photograph and a description of the house.  So at least there is a record of it.  We also confirmed that Clement Hill and his wife were buried at St. Rose Cemetery, which we visited yesterday, but their headstones had disappeared underground over the years.  No wonder we couldn’t find the headstones.  It was reassuring to confirm that we had not overlooked them.

Our search for Charles Hill was much more interesting and productive.  During lunch in New Haven, a gentleman and his son at the next table complimented us on our RV.  It seems that the RV had attracted a bit of attention in town.  We had been in the area yesterday, and his son had noticed our RV.  Of course, he saw it again today when we parked at the diner.  I’m sure they were wondering what we were up to.  We described our search and found out that their family name was Pottinger, as in Pottinger’s Creek where Charles Hill had settled.  Talk about a small world.

 
We knew that Charles Hill was buried at St. Catherine Cemetery in New Haven, but did not know where to look.  We stopped in the branch library in town and learned that an inventory of all cemeteries in Nelson County was on file at the main library in Bardstown.  What luck!  After a quick detour to Bardstown, we were in possession of a map of the cemetery. 

On our return to New Haven, it didn’t take us long to find the headstone for Charles Hill. What is so odd, however, is that a new marker has been added in front of the original marker, which is illegible.  Who may have added this marker is unknown.

St. Catherine Cemetery in New Haven, KY

Charles Hill's Headstone and Memorial Marker

Tim is satisfied that we have accomplished what we set out to do.  We found what could be found and confirmed that some things simply no longer exist.  It really turned out to be a fun and satisfying search.

The Hunt for Ancestors in Bluegrass Country

Tim and I arrived in Kentucky yesterday and drove through mile after mile of beautiful countryside on our way to Versailles.  Here we visited with Angela, Jane’s sister, and the last of the Caporelli clan that we would meet up with on this trip.  I never would have guessed that we would have the opportunity to catch up with the entire family.  Seeing Angela and her friends Liz and Lisa was so much fun, and we talked and laughed over drinks and dinner.  

Angela and Tim

Versailles is a historic town just west of Lexington, Kentucky, in the heart of Bluegrass country.  This morning, Tim and I explored two-lane scenic byways lined with incredibly beautiful thoroughbred horse farms.  There is no place like this anywhere, and I think it’s one of the most beautiful regions in the country.  The horse farms are lined with picturesque, dry stone walls and mile after mile of black wooden fences.  Huge barns set in manicured fields are visible in the distance. 

Expansive Horse Farms

Barns to House the Thoroughbreds

Scenic Byways Lined With Stone Walls and Fences

Beautiful Stone Walls

Miles and Miles of Fences

I could have wandered around Lexington all day, but we had things to do, namely, search for some of Tim’s ancestors.  Thomas Hill was one of Tim’s ancestors on his mother’s side.  Hill settled in central Kentucky in the eighteenth century, and he and many of his descendants are buried near Springfield.  We couldn’t start our search on an empty stomach, so we had a great lunch in Springfield.  The chicken and dumplings and the pie were simply divine!

Chicken and Dumplings, Stewed Tomatoes and Green Beans

Coal Miner's Pie

We visited St. Rose Catholic Church hoping to find family headstones in the church cemetery.  Unfortunately, St. Rose never kept records of where individuals were buried, nor did the church ever map the graves.  So, we just started wandering through the cemetery in search of the name “Hill.”  We did find several members of the Hill family, although not necessarily the earlier generations.  The older headstones throughout the cemetery were beautiful, but it was sad to see the condition of many of them.  Too many are broken, and the names on others are illegible.

St. Rose Catholic Church

Three Hill Family Headstones

We then went in search of the house built by Thomas Hill’s youngest son.  Although Tim had a good description and what seemed to be good directions, we were unsuccessful in our search.  A search for another cemetery at St. Ann’s Church was also a bust.  It was pretty discouraging to come up short.  Maybe we’ll have better luck tomorrow.