Did You Know This About Williamstown...

Do You Know These Things About Williamstown?

There is an elephant buried in the Williamstown Cemetery (Read More)

 

There is an elephant buried in the Williamstown Cemetery.


Back long, long ago in the archives of Williamstown’s yesteryears, every summer a traveling circus would grace itself in the City of Williamstown. Folks would flock to the City to gaze their eyes on the marvelous, wondrous and amazing things that could only be seen at the circus. One summer while in Williamstown, this circus birthed a baby elephant who, sadly, only survived a few days before passing.

While our local Historian, Mr. Ken Stone, wasn’t exactly sure if this happened in 1946 or 1948, he knows for certain that the City of Williamstown decided to graciously offer a place for the baby elephant to be laid to rest in the Williamstown 

Cemetery. Some have claimed this was the Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus, while others say that it was just a small circus company. Have you heard of the elephant buried in the Williamstown Cemetery?


Circus-Early 1900Circus 1893










































John Wilkes Booth may be buried in the Williamstown Cemetery ( Read More)



John Wilkes Booth may be buried in the Williamstown Cemetery. 


John Wilkes BoothThe death of the man who assassinated America’s 16th President and Kentucky Native, Abraham Lincoln, has been long debated. Various rumors have claimed that he escaped his capture and eventually found himself as Williamstown High School’s Principal (circa 1917).  Legend has it that a mysterious man named Henry Newton came to town in the late 1870’s and took a career as a local high school teacher. Mr. Newton: a man who walked with a limp, looked almost identical to John Wilkes Booth, and refused to ever speak of Abraham Lincoln, both in and out of the classroom, married Amanda Rodgers of Crittenden in 1878 and had six children. He had teaching stints in Grant, Boone, and Kenton County High Schools until, eventually, Henry Newton become the principal of Williamstown High School. There were many, many rumors circulating at the time that this mysterious Henry Newton could be the elusive John Wilkes Booth. It was said that Henry Newton would carry with him a briefcase that was to never be opened and instructed his wife, Amanda, to upon his death, burn the briefcase without question and to not allow it to be opened or its contents shown. In 1924 Henry Newton passed away, and it was later discovered that his wife did not burn the briefcase but, instead, buried it somewhere in Williamstown. To this day, no one has ever found this mysterious briefcase.

What do you think? Did John Wilkes Booth evade his capture? Was John Wilkes Booth’s Kentucky alias Henry Newton? Will Henry Newton’s briefcase one day be unearthed?

A Meteorite has landed in WIlliamstown (Read More)

Screen Shot 2023-05-03 at 1.52.22 PMOn July the 7th of 1872, quite a commotion was heard by witnesses in the surrounding cities of a loud thunderous "rumblings in the Heavens" that lasted for a few minutes followed by a shaking in the earth. Nothing ever came of this, just stories of what could have been, that is, until April 25th, 1892, when Mr. A.E. Ashcraft discovered a 68-pound iron meteorite on his farm in Williamstown. Since 1892 the Williamstown Meteorite has traveled all over the world to be studied.  A slice of the meteorite can be found at the University of Kentucky.  A special thank you to Dr. Stephen Greb for allowing Mayor Christopher to visit and examine the Williamstown Meteorite firsthand.  Efforts are being made to bring the Williamstown Meteorite back home to be place on display.  But the biggest question remains unanswered, are there fragments of the Williamstown Meteorite that have yet to be discovered?  Could there be a piece of the Williamstown meteorite in your backyard?