Webster County was formed from Henderson County, Hopkins County and Union County in 1860. It is located in the Western Coal Field region (click here to see regional map) of Kentucky. It is bounded by Union, Henderson, Hopkins, McLean, and Crittenden counties and has an area of 336 square miles. The Tradewater River forms its western border and the Green River its eastern border. A ridge runs through the middle of the county and divides the watersheds of the two rivers.Back to topWebster County is characterized by rolling hills and fertile creek bottoms. Since the end of the Civil War, the county's prosperity has been tied to its fertile soil and mineral resources. While 90% of the county's farm income is derived from corn and soybean production, wheat and fruit are also grown. Beef and hogs and both dark and burley tobacco provide supplementary income. Almost 30% of the county's acreage is commercial forest land.
Dixon, located in the center of the county, has served as the county seat since its incorporation on February 6, 1861. Webster County's largest community is Providence. Sebree, was the location of Sebree Springs, a summer resort and park. Other Webster County communities are Clay, Slaughters, Poole, Tilden, Onton, Wheatcroft, Lisman and Blackford. The population of Webster County was 13,282 in 1970; 14,832 in 1980; and 13,955 in 1990.
Official Webster County KY web site
Statistics from The Kentucky Encyclopedia
copyright 1992 University Press of Kentucky
Dixon, Webster's County Seat Dixon is located at the junction of U.S. 41A and KY 138. Revolutionary War veteran William Jenkins in 1794 established a stagecoach inn five miles north of the town's present site, on the old Indian trail between Nashville and St. Louis. When Webster County was formed in 1860, Dixon was platted from land owned by Ambrose Mooney. The town was incorporated on Feburary 6, 1861, and named after Archibald Dixon, former lieutenant governor of the state (1844-48) and U.S. senator (1852-55).The notorious Harpe brothers, murderous outlaws, once roamed the area. After Micajah ("Big Harpe") was slain on July 22, 1806, his head was cut off and impaled on a sharpened tree branch just north of Dixon as a warning to other outlaws. Even such acts of lawlessness and "frontier justice" did not discourage settlers from coming into the area. To read more about the Harpe Brothers, check out FRONTIER JUSTICE by Harold Utley, President, Hopkins County Historical Society or A Bloody Legend. Also see see Jon Musgrave's Southern Illinois History Page for more about the Harpe brothers. Writer and poet Cale Young Rice was born in Dixon on December 7, 1872, and the town was the residence of Garrett L. Withers, U.S. senator (1949-50) and member of the U.S. Congress (1952-53).
Although Dixon is the county seat, both Providence and Sebree are larger. Pioneer Plastics, manufacturer of molding and custom injection parts, is Dixon's largest employer, and many residents work at local strip mines. The population of the residential sixth-class city was 572 in 1970; 533 in 1980; and 552 in 1990.
Source: James Duane Bolin in The Kentucky Encyclopedia
copyright 1992 University Press of Kentucky
Providence, Webster's Largest Town Providence, the largest town in Webster County, is located in the southwestern part of the county, east of the Tradewater River, at the intersection of KY 293, KY 120, and KY 109. The town was founded by Richard B. Savage, who arrived in the vicinity from Virginia in 1820 with his eldest sister, Mary (Savage) Settler.Between 1820 and 1830, Savage laid out twenty-four town lots on land purchased from William Jenkins and built a trading post and residence. The settlement post office was established at Providence on October 16, 1828. The town name may have been copied from the city in Rhode Island; other accounts credit an old trader who thanked Providence for the Good Samaritans among local farmers. On February 18, 1840, when the town of Providence was officially sanctioned, it had a population of 150, including three physicians, as well as five stores, two hotels, a school, a Baptist church, a Masonic hall, and three tobacco stemmeries. In the heart of the state's Black Patch tobacco-growing region, Providence eventually became the third largest stemming market in America.
Providence was incorporated as a city on March 1, 1860. The onset of the Civil War slowed economic growth in the city, although no major battles took place there. A Confederate reconnaissance and foraging force commanded by Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest passed through Providence between November 24 and December 5, 1861.
By 1890 the town's population had reached only 522. Population growth accelerated with the coal boom in the 1890s, reaching 1,286 by the turn of the century. Commercial coal mining began in 1888, and by 1930 Providence residents numbered 4,742. In the 1930s depressed conditions in the coal fields resulted in a loss of population that continued through the 1960s. The town's economy remains tied to coal and agriculture. Providence accounts for 30 percent of the population of Webster County.
The population of the fourth-class city was 4,270 in 1970; 4,434 in 1980; and 4,123 in 1990.
Source: James Duane Bolin in The Kentucky Encyclopedia,
copyright 1992
University Press of Kentucky
Sebree
Sebree is centered at the junction of US 41 and KY 56, 9 1/2 miles ne of Dixon. It was founded in 1868 by William Scott and Col. E.G. Sebree and laid off for settlement when the L&N Railroad was built through in October of that year. It was to be called Springdale for the local mineral springs, but a post office of this name already existed in Mason County. The Sebree post office was first established as McBride on August 25, 1869, with James H. Priest, postmaster, but was renamed Sebree the following year for the Colonel, a Trenton native who was the first president of the St. Bernard Mining Company of Earlington and influential in bringing the railroad into that section of the state. The town was incorporated in 1871.
Source: Robert M. Rennick's Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of KentuckyPhoto of Main Street in Old Sebree
Clay
Clay is on KY 130, 132, and 270, 6 1/2 miles wsw of Dixon. Established on July 6, 1837, the Clay post office, with Thomas W. Powell, postmaster, was first called Ashland, probably for Henry Clay's Lexington home. After an intermittent existence it was renamed Clay in 1854. It was discontinued in 1865 and re-established for a brief time the following year as Winstead with Bush D. Winstead (1837-1867), a local merchant and Webster County's first circuit court clerk, as postmaster. The Clay name was restored 3 months later. The town was incorporated as Claysville in 1860 and as Clay in 1872.
Source: Robert M. Rennick's Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of Kentucky
Slaughters
Slaughters lies just west of US 41 and 9 1/2 miles east of Dixon. According to local tradition, it was named for Gustavus G. Slaughter, local storekeeper, who in 1855 won the right to name the new town and post office in a card game with his rival, blacksmith Frederick W. Stiman. The post office was established as Slaughtersville on January 29, 1856, with Henry A. Prater, postmaster. Slaughter himself served as postmaster from 1860 to 1865 and was succeeded by Stiman. Though the post office was renamed Slaughters in 1915, the town remained Slaughtersville from its incorporation in 1861 until 1967 when the Board on Geographic Names reversed an earlier decision and conformed to common usage and the present name of the post office.
Source: Robert M. Rennick's Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of Kentucky
Poole
Poole lies at the junction of US 41A and KY 56 and 145, 8 miles north of Dixon. The brothers, John H. and James Poole, first cousins to Sam Houston of Texas fame, arrived here from Nelson County KY in 1826 to settle on a 2400-acres military grant. John (1776-1862), a millwright, built a horse-powered gristmill and brick factory. The town was first called Poole's Mill, as was the post office established on January 29, 1855, with John's son William W. as postmaster. The town was later called Pooleville; it and the post office were renamed Poole in 1894.
Source: Robert M. Rennick's Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of KentuckyRead more about the beginnings of Poole at Betty Sellers' web page The Legend of Poole
Earlington Bee's 1895 article about Poole, transcribed by Phil Brown
Onton
Onton, with recently discontinued post office, is centered at the junction of KY 147 and 370, 13 miles east of Dixon. The community was first called Orton for an early family, but another Orton in Kentucky compelled the adoption of the Onton for the post office established on September 28, 1882, with Franklin P. Tilford, postmaster.
Source: Robert M. Rennick's Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of Kentucky
Wheatcroft
Wheatcroft, a coal town with post office, is on KY 109 and the Illinois Central Gulf Railroad, 8 1/2 miles west of Dixon. It was probably named for Irving Horace Wheatcroft, an Englishman, who in 1899 laid out and founded the town on land acquired from Elijah Cullen, opened one or more area coal mines, and built the Kentucky Western Railway from nearby Blackford to Dixon. The Wheatcroft post office was established on September 10, 1900, with A.S. Logsdon, postmaster, and the town was incorporated in 1902.
Source: Robert M. Rennick's Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of Kentucky
The obituary of Irving Wheatcroft is available in our Webster County Obituary Project.
Lisman
Lisman, a hamlet with an extinct post office, lies at the junction of KY 270 and 874, 3 1/2 miles ssw of Dixon. Lisman was once a prosperous village; it was first called Shiloh. When the post office was established April 13, 1888, with Lynn B. Nichols as postmaster, it was named for William Lisman, an early settler.
Source: Robert M. Rennick's Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of Kentucky
Blackford
Blackford lies on KY 143, across the Tradewater River from Crittenden County and 13 1/2 miles wsw of Dixon. It was first called Blacksford for a river crossing on the farm owned by Rich Black. In 1887 a station on the just-completed Ohio Valley (later Illinois Central Gulf) Railroad was established here as Blackford, as the post office opened on August 29, 1887, with James M. Clement, postmaster.
Source: Robert M. Rennick in Kentucky Place Names
copyright 1984 University Press of Kentucky
Late in June, 1996, this exciting project reached its goal of having a genealogy page online for every county in the state of Kentucky.
Everyone involved is to be congratulated, in particular Jeff Murphy, whose brainchild KYGenWeb was. Visit the late Jeff Murphy's
Mother Murphy's Muhlenberg County Page if you want to see the page that inspired the rest of us!
There are a few Kentucky counties up for adoption. The Orphan Counties Page lists the KY counties that are currently available for adoption. If you are interested in adopting a Kentucky county, contact KYGenWeb State Coordinator Sherri Bradley.
And check out the USGenWeb Archives Search Engine
Visit the KYGenWeb Page to see the latest Kentucky county pages that have come online. And be sure to take a look at the
KYGenWeb Archives. New source material is available there almost daily.
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