THE BLACK PATCH WAR HERO

Rotary was treated to a Kentucky Chautauqua performance by young Ethan Sullivan Smith of Cynthiana, who portrayed 13 year old Price Hollowell, whose family was traumatized by the infamous Night Riders of western Kentucky a century ago.

The Night Riders, as they were known, were actually tobacco farmers who had banded together to form the Planters' Protective Association. The farmers were at the mercy of the huge American Tobacco Company, headed by James B. Duke. By 1904, American Tobacco had so monopolized the tobacco market that the company was paying less for the tobacco than it cost the farmers to raise it.

The farmers' association had a simple strategy "withhold tobacco from the market until the company agreed to pay better prices." The key to the plan, however was that all farmers had to remain united in the effort. American Tobacco fought back by offering high prices to farmers who were not members of the planters' association.

Known as "non-poolers," these farmers either couldn't afford not to sell their crops, or refused to participate on principle. One of those non-poolers was young Price Hollowell's father.

The battle lines were drawn. Duke's American Tobacco Company refused to deal with the association and its members suffered financially. The stress pitted neighbor against neighbor and brother against brother, leading to the formation of a vigilante group, called the Night Riders. The armed and hooded group raided the farms of non-poolers, destroyed tobacco beds and sometimes used buggy whips on uncooperative farmers.

Price Hollowell's mother, Mary Lou, ran a boarding house in Princeton, or as some residents whispered, it was a house of a different sort altogether. She and her son Price had a front row seat for the the raid and destruction of two independent tobacco warehouses by the association.

As the owner of the boarding house, Mary Lou was privy to the identities and secret plans of the Night Riders. In disgust, she testified before a Caldwell County Grand Jury, even though her husband's brother was a member of the Planters Association.

This didn't sit well with the Night Riders, who rode under darkness to the Hollowell farm on May 2, 1907. Some thirty men raided the farm, shooting up the house and beating Price's father. Mary Lou's cheek was grazed by a bullet.

Mary Lou was also brought up on charges of destroying two tobacco beds owned by association members. The family then fled to Oklahoma, but were forced to return to Kentucky to testify. Upon the advice of Paducah attorney John G. Miller, the family filed a lawsuit against the Night Riders out of state, making it a federal case.

One of the Night Riders was famously quoted as saying,that we Night Riders fear no judge or jury, but they had less political sway in Paducah's federal court, than in Caldwell County. Although the first trial ended in a hung jury, the second drew jurors from the Louisville area, which ended with a verdict in favor of the Hollowell's, due in part to the young Price's testimony. Twenty-eight of the Nigh Riders were ordered to pay the Hollowell's $35,000. It was the beginning of the end for the Planters Protective Association, which officially collapsed in 1914.

Many thanks to our own David Denton for sponsoring the Kentucky Chautauqua Price Hollowell program.

NEXT WEEK

November 21, 2007 - Dr. Bob Haugh speaking on his latest endurance adventure through the Gobi Desert