Pulaski – The Kaintuckeean

The Feminine County and General Pulaski’s Gender

Counties and localities have historically been named after men. This is not a surprising fact for a society where women were traditionally unable to serve in military or government. After all, these place names were almost uniformly created several decades before women could even vote.
As a result of this implicit gender bias, Jessamine County has long been thought to be the only Kentucky county with a feminine name. Although this represents a small percentage of Kentucky’s 120 counties, we can be grateful to at least be on the list. According to Wikipedia, the number of counties in the United States with feminine names are woefully low.
New research, however, indicates that another Kentucky county may be named after a woman, or perhaps an intersex, individual.
Pulaski County is named after Casimir Pulaski, an 18th century Polish-American general who aided colonial forces during the Revolutionary War. Revered as the “Father of the American Calvary,” Pulaski is often depicted on horseback.
When arriving in the United States, Pulaski threw his allegiance to the young country and wrote General George Washington: “I came here, where freedom is being defended, to serve it, and to live or die for it.”
Modern science, funded by the Smithsonian Institute, has revealed new information about Casimir Pulaski using xis* skeletal remains. Pulaski died during the siege of Savannah in 1779; xe was only 34. Pulaski’s bones were stored under a monument in that city.
Through DNA testing, it has been determined that General Pulaski was born with XX chromosomes (typically, female) and was thus female. It is likely that the infant’s external sex organs, however, appeared (in some ways) in the male form. As a result of the baby’s apparent anatomy, Casimir’s parents raised xim male which gave Casimir the opportunity to serve in the military and to save General Washington’s life at the Battle of Brandywine.
But despite xis gender identity, Casimir was not, in fact, male. Xe was either female (chromosomal-based) or intersex (both sexes). Without diaries, we cannot understand what Casimir thought of xis sexuality or his gender identity. But no doubt, the lens through which we view the legacy of General Casimir Pulaski will forever be changed through this scientific discovery. Neither Pulaski’s gender identity nor his sexuality (of which we know nothing) have any impact whatsoever on his contributions to American history. And perhaps that is the point.
This summer is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City which is seen as a seminal moment in the fight for LGBT rights in this country. In Kentucky, the Kentucky Heritage Council has been working to recognize significant LGBT sites in the Commonwealth. Given the modern science, Pulaski should be so recognized. Xis contributions, as a transgender/intersex individual, to our society were significant. Given that approximately 1.7% of children are born with intersex traits (approximately the same likelihood as one having red hair), it is a demographic which should not be ignored.
Kentucky already celebrates General Pulaski every year. KRS 2.140 provides that October 11 of each year (the anniversary of Pulaski’s death) is a state holiday in Kentucky which should be marked “with appropriate ceremonies” in “schools, churches, or other suitable places.” Perhaps, in light of the Smithsonian’s latest research, this holiday will garner more attention in 2019 and beyond?

Sources
“Casimir Pulaski may have been woman or intersex, study says. BBC News. Available at bbc.com, last accessed April 16, 2019.
Mervosh, Sarah. “Casimir Pulaski, Polish Hero of the Revolutionary War, Was Most Likely Intersex, Researchers Say. New York Times. Available at nytimes.com; last accessed April 16, 2019.
Viloria, Hida. “An Intersex Revolutionary May Have Saved General Washington’s Life.” Out Magazine. Available at out.com; last accessed April 16, 2019.
*Nota bene. In referring to General Pulaski, the author of this post has carefully avoided using either the masculine or the feminine pronoun instead utilizing “xe” which has become a standard gender-neutral third-person singular subject pronoun.

NoD: Celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in Somerset

Below is a modified rerun of a 2010 post about my experience walking in Somerset’s annual March to Remember Dr. King. This year, I won’t be able to take off and explore and march. Across Kentucky – in small towns and large – we gather to pay homage to a great American who taught us so much.

Somerset, Kentucky

I celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Day 2010 by hopping in the car and driving to see more of Kentucky. As I drove into Somerset along Highway 80, I couldn’t help but notice the flashing lights of a police car and a crowd of about sixty persons gathering in front of the old courthouse. I got out of the car and joined the group in prayer. A short march through downtown followed and I was immediately welcomed into this diverse crowd which was marching to remember the legacy of the slain civil rights leader. One of the marchers, Richard (below), invited me to join them for a meal which followed this annual walk. Unfortunately, I wanted to drive more and I declined the offer. I wish I had taken the opportunity to sit down and talk and learn.

Richard

The prayer in front of the Pulaski County Courthouse reminded me of another prayer I shared with a diverse crowd the year before on January 20, 2009. Then, we were led by Rev. Rick Warren. He asked that we all join him in praying the Lord’s Prayer at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

There, on Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue – surrounded by people various ages, races and backgrounds – so many voices prayed the Lord’s Prayer. Our Father, who art in Heaven… On that day, just over a year ago, it was truly about We the People.

I thought of this experience while I was in Somerset. Somerset is a small southern town located in a county and in an area sympathetic to the Confederacy. Memorials here speak to the Confederate “Southern Manhood” and “Glorious Immortality.”

History and memorials aside, Pulaski Countians know and recognize the import and legacy of Dr. King. Together, they walked and sang and remembered and lived his Dream. We sang and hummed “We shall overcome.”

Richard thought I was with the local paper. He wanted his picture taken; he had always wanted to be in the paper. I told him I wasn’t with the paper, but that I’d make sure his photo got published on a blog. If you know Richard, make sure he sees this! The local paper did, however, post this article about the march.

NoD: Boy Scouts Began in Pulaski County

Historic Marker – Burnside, Ky.

Two years before the Boy Scouts of America organized in the United States, Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass gathered a troop of 15 Pulaski County boys in 1908. Utilizing British scout literature, she guided the boys in hiking and camping. A Kentucky roadside historic marker (#1007) on U.S. 27 in Burnside reminds travelers of this great contribution:

Before Boy Scouts of America was organized, 1910, a troop of 15 had been formed here, spring of 1908, by Mrs. Myra Greeno Bass. Using the official handbook of English scouting, she guided them hiking and camping, like scouting today. Known as Eagle Troop, Horace Smith was troop leader. Insignia was a red bandanna around neck. Reputed the first American Boy Scout Troop.

Of course, several other communities around the country declare themselves the home of the boy scouts. We Kaintuckeeans will hold to Burnside as being the groups American place of origin. Today, the Boy Scouts of America is headquartered in Texas and boasts nearly 115,000 troops consisting of over 2.7 million youth members. Well done, Mrs. Bass!

Pulaski County Courthouse – Somerset, Ky.

Pulaski County Courthouse, Somerset, Ky.

Pulaski County is named for Casimir Pulaski, a Polish soldier who saved George Washington’s life during the American Revolution. He is only one of seven people to have been honorarily given U.S. Citizenship. The Commonwealth of Kentucky has actually recognized a Casimir Pulaski day since the 1940s to honor the heritage of Polish Americans.

This judicial center is enormous. For the life of me, I can’t understand why Pulaski County needs a three story courthouse with two circuit courtrooms.

Anyway, I took this photo last week after the ice storm, and I nearly killed myself trying to get a better shot. The courthouse square is completely paved, and I made the mistaken attempt to walk on it. This shot was a compromise.

No Destination: Zollicoffer Park Cemetery

Union troops who fell are buried in the Mill Springs National Cemetery, but the Confederate fallen were hastily buried in shallow graves. Locals reburied these dead in a mass grave, but first removing and returning to Tennessee the remains of General Felix K. Zollicoffer.

During the Battle of Mill Springs, Zollicoffer accidentally rode on horseback into the Union line (it was raining and smoky from battle) believing it was own. He was killed on the spot and a white oak (the Zollie Tree) was soon thereafter planted to mark the site.

In 1902, ten-year old Dorothea Burton believed it unfair that annual memorials occurred only at the National Cemetery. She believed that the Confederate fallen should be acknowledged, and she took the initiative (with her father’s help) to clear the area around the Zollie Tree and to place a wreath at the site. It soon became an annual tradition, drawing the attention of the United Confederate Veterans Association. By 1910, an obelisk (pictured above, upon which a close examination will reveal bullet marks showing that the obelisk was once used by locals for target practice) was erected to mark the site where Zolliffer died. At the same time, a monument was also erected to mark the mass grave (pictured right). Today, representative markers for the fallen stand nearby though all of the remains continue to lie in the original mass grave site.

The area, later designated the Zollicoffer Park Cemetery eventually fell under the control of the Kentucky Department of Parks until 1992 when the Mill Springs Battlefield Association was formed to protect this and other sites associated with the 1862 battle.

No Destination: Mill Springs National Cemetery

Kentucky has seven national cemeteries and has the highest concentration of national cemeteries of any state in the Union. Mill Springs National Cemetery is the smallest cemetery in the national system, though its has existed since the system was first established in late 1862 with only twelve cemeteries. Because of complications associated with the war, it was impractical to create a proper resting place for our nation’s heroes until after the war. Congress in 1867 provided more specifics for the national cemetery system and Mill Springs National Cemetery was formally dedicated on June 15, 1881. Mill Springs Nat’l Cemetery sits atop a high, sloping hill next to the Mill Springs Battlefield Visitor Center (opened in 2006) in the Pulaski County community of Nancy.

The Battle of Mill Springs occurred in January of 1862. During the course of the battle, 39 Union soldiers fell while Confederate losses numbered 125. (Visit the Kaintuckeean on Wednesday for a post about Zollicoffer Park and the Confederate mass grave/cemetery). Prior to the battle, CSA troops had established themselves in the immediate area, though the Union had control of neighboring communities. Confederate attempts to keep the two groups of Union troops from joining were defeated during this battle, and the surviving Confederates fled their position and supplies.

The Battle of Mill Springs occurred nine days after the Battle of Middle Creek; these two Confederate losses shifted the field of battle from southeeastern Kentucky into Tennessee until the Battle of Perryville brought the war back to Kentucky.

NoDestination: Somerset’s Fountain Square & John Sherman Cooper

Fountain Square, the center of Somerset, was restored in 1963 by Senator John Sherman Cooper and his wife, Lorraine. At that time, Cooper was serving his third stint (1946-49, 1952-55 and 1956-73) as a United States Senator from Kentucky. The Senator was a liberal Republican who also served in the Army, in diplomatic posts to the U.N., East Germany and India as well as a member of the Warren Commission.

Cooper voted for the Civil Rights Act, was one of the first senators to stand up to McCarthyism and was instrumental in barring U.S. military operations in Cambodia during the Vietnam War.

Born in Somerset in 1901, Cooper died in 1991 in Washington. He never forgot his Kentucky roots; from his obituary in the NY Times:

Mr. Cooper worked quietly, avoiding histrionics. He left behind no ringing calls to action, perhaps because he was, by his own admission, “a truly terrible public speaker.” On the rare occasions when he did take the Senate floor, he was often inaudible. He mumbled and swallowed his words, and apparently made no effort to avoid use of Kentucky dialect in which “great” sounded like “grett,” “government” became “guv-ment,” and “revenue” was pronounced “rev-noo.”

He was, however, a man of principle. A man who was elected to serve his constituents and not party leaders. He frequently bucked party leadership to vote his conscience.

Fountain Square is the focal point of Somerset; its center where the Martin Luther King march began and where Somernites car show gathers each summer month. The land is owned by Pulaski County, a determination made following a court order prohibiting the city of Somerset from building a road through the square [cite]. According to the local Commonwealth-Journal, Fountain Square will soon undergo a $1 million renovation complete with improved pedestrian access and a “grand fountain” [cite and cite]. Along with the new Pulaski County Courthouse, it will bring even more activity to this city center.

NoDestination: Home of Gov. Morrow

Governor Edwin P. Morrow was the second of five Republicans elected to the office of Kentucky governor during the 1900s serving from 1919 to 1923 (thus, Republicans held the office for only 20 years in the century); his uncle was the first Republican governor of Kentucky. Morrow was a progressive who sought social change such as giving the vote to women and stopping racial violence. He built the above-pictured house in 1903.

Elected in 1919 and blessed with a friendly legislature, Morrow was successful in reforming state government, increasing teacher salaries, funding schools which would eventually become Morehead State and Murray State universities and passing the 19th Amendment in Kentucky. He deployed the Kentucky National Guard to Lexington in 1920 to quell a lynch mob at the trial of Will Lockett.

Lockett, an African-American, was without a lawyer when he confessed to the murder. He was tried in a half hour and sentenced to die in the electric chair. The mob, however, sought to act more quickly than “swift justice” (though some versions of the story have the ultimate source of the ruckus as a photo op by a local newspaper photographer). The National Guard fired, killing 6 and wounding 50. With martial law declared, no further incidents occured and Lockett was executed at the state penitentiary 30 days later.

Governor Morrow received accolades from the NAACP for his efforts in the first successful squelching of a lynch mob in the south. The mob is pictured below.

NoDestination: Somerset

Somerset, the seat of Pulaski County, is apparently a haven for tourists making the trek to Lake Cumberland during the summer months. During the winter months, however, this community is quite sleepy. First settled in 1798 and named after Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset was incorporated in 1887.

Pulaski County, Kentucky’s 27th, was named after Polish County Casimir Pulaski who came to America to help and fight for our independence (among other things, he at one point saved the life of George Washington). Pulaski gave his own life for the cause of American freedom at the Battle of Savannah; he died October 11, 1779. In fact, KRS 2.140 requires each October 11th to be commemorated in Kentucky as “General Pulaski’s Day.”

Unfortunately, you would not learn much of this in Somerset. Despite a few memorials, history is not at the forefront of this community’s concern. It’s most impressive monument was erected in 1976 to commemorate the nation’s bicentennial; it is located in a parking lot between two strip malls/office parks. Pictured above, it is a white brick obelisk with an eagle perched on top. In front, is an exposed portion of the spring which first brought settlers to this location. The saying goes (and is inscribed in the memorial), “Whoever drinks from Old Town Springs has Wisdom & Will Always Return to Somerset.” Witnessing the spring (as pictured below) makes me leery of drinking this water, despite any promise of Wisdom.

No Destination: Somerset on MLK, Jr. Day

On Monday, I celebrated MLK Day by hopping in the car and driving to see more of Kentucky. When I arrived in Somerset, however, I was able to join in prayer and a short march through downtown. I abandoned the walk before its terminus, but Richard (pictured below) informed me that a meal in the park followed each year’s march.

I arrived at the central town square to see a diverse group of about 60 people gathered in front of the Pulaski County Courthouse. I joined in prayer with this group prior to walking. I was reminded of another diverse crowd I prayed with last year. Then, we were led by Rev. Rick Warren. He asked that we all join him in praying the Lord’s Prayer at the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

There, on Washington’s Pennsylvania Avenue – surrounded by people various ages, races and backgrounds – so many voices prayed, “Our Father, who art in Heaven.” On that day, just over a year ago, it was truly We the People. I thought of Washington while in Somerset.

Somerset is a small southern town located in a county and in an area sympathetic to the Confederacy. Memorials here speak to the Confederate “Southern Manhood” and “Glorious Immortality.” History and memorials aside, the people here know and recognize the import and legacy of Dr. King. Together, they walked and sang and remembered and lived his Dream.

Below is Richard, who thought I was with the local paper. He wanted his picture taken; he had always wanted to be in the paper. I told him I wasn’t with the paper, but that I’d make sure his photo got published on a blog. If you know Richard, make sure he sees this! The local paper did, however, post this article about the march.