Last week, I wrote about an abandoned house on Paris Road just north of Royal Oak subdivision. Evidence suggested that the house was erected by William C. VanMeter in the 1860s or 70s. VanMeter sold the property “including the dwelling house” in 1899.
Looking for further evidence, I began tracing the property deeds and identifying owners. VanMeter sold his farm and residence to A. H. Hargis. This was Alexander Hamilton Hargis (1859−1943) of Breathitt County. More on him later.
Shortly after the sale, the Winchester Democrat stated, “Mr. Hargis will erect an elegant new brick residence on his farm on the Paris pike.” The Winchester News later reported, “This farm is better known as the Alex Hargis place and, aside from being one of the best located farms in the state, is highly improved, the dwelling alone costing Senator Hargis $12,000.”
A later sale ad for the property gave an elaborate description of the house and farm: “The dwelling is a magnificent brick structure with a slate roof and contains ten large rooms with a spacious reception hall, water, bath, piped for gas or acetylene, two story servants house, carriage house, poultry houses, dairy, stock barn, wind-mill and in fact every convenience that heart could wish.”
One could speculate that the two-story servants’ house had been William C. VanMeter’s residence.
Hargis sold the farm to Commonwealth Attorney Ben A. Crutcher (1910), and over the next few years, the property changed hands five more times.
Crutcher sold to Judge W. C. Taylor (1910), Taylor to Charles A. Tabor (1910), Tabor to James B. Martin (1911), Martin to R. N. Ratliff (1913), and Ratliff to Dorcas Scott (1915). A few years after Dorcas died, her son Thomas sold the land to a cousin, James Edward Pinson (1945). The land passed through a succession of Pinson owners — all residents of Williamson, West Virginia — and is currently owned by Kathy Pinson.
Francis Farm LLC has leased the farm for the last sixteen years. Francis Farm is a cow-calf operation and a registered gaited horse breeder headquartered on White Turley Road. They keep both cattle and horses at the Paris Road farm.
The mystery house has been unoccupied for at least twenty-five years. There is no question, however, that the house was erected by A. H. “Alex” Hargis.
The Hargis family played a leading role in fashioning a Democratic Party stronghold in Breathitt County. Alex served a term in the Kentucky Senate, and his brother Jim was the county judge. The two owned a store together in Jackson, had extensive land holdings, and accumulated considerable wealth. Alex moved to Clark County at the turn of the century, when trouble was brewing in Breathitt, namely the Hargis-Cockrell War.
The war began in 1902 when town marshal, Tom Cockrell, shot and killed Ben Hargis in a blind tiger (illegal saloon). Ben was a brother of Alex and Jim. Another brother, John “Tige” Hargis, was killed in a shootout while riding on the Lexington & Eastern Railroad. Two weeks later, a half-brother, Elbert Hargis, was shot and killed in an ambush. The Hargises complained that three of their family had been murdered, and no one was in prison for their deaths.
One of the Hargises’ rivals was the well-known and highly regarded Republican attorney, J.B. Marcum. In a letter to the Lexington Herald, Marcum claimed that over thirty men had been killed in Breathitt since Jim Hargis took office. Marcum himself became a victim when he was shot down on the courthouse steps by Curtis Jett. Jett received a life sentence for the murder.
In addition to being a political feud, like nearly all the other mountain feuds the Hargis-Cockrell War was also a family affair. Alex Hargis’ wife was a sister of J. B. Marcum. Curtis Jett’s father was a brother of Tom Cockrell’s mother. Curtis Jett’s mother was a half-sister of Jim and Alex Hargis.
Jim Hargis and Ed Callahan were brought to trial for hiring Marcum’s killer. After five trials, they were acquitted, as no jury dared bring in a guilty verdict. Marcum’s widow filed a $100,000 damage suit that was tried in Winchester. Judge James Benton presided, Beverly Jouett represented the plaintiffs, and Smith Hayes represented the defendants.
The local jury awarded Mrs. Marcum $8,000 from Jim Hargis and Ed Callahan, while exonerating Alex Hargis. Alex then filed a suit to dissolve the business partnership with his brother Jim.
The notorious Jim Hargis met his fate when he was shot dead in his store by his own son. Beach Hargis, a heavy drinker, came into the store, waved his pistol at his father, then fired. During a struggle, Beach shot him four more times, and Jim died a few minutes later. The feud finally ran its course, leaving in its wake a legacy of violence and the nickname “Bloody Breathitt.”
