History of Harlan County, KY
HARLAN COUNTY, is named after Silas Harlan. It is
located in the southeastern portion of the state on the border of Virginia. We are located in the Eastern Kentucky coal
fields stretching along the Appalachian Mountains and the Cumberland Plateau. Harlan has several mountain systems.
Black Mountain runs along the Kentucky -Virginia border. Big Black Mountain is the highest point in the state of Kentucky
at 4,145 feet above sea level, near Lynch. Another system in Harlan is Pine Mountain which runs toward Cumberland.
Stone Mountain is another mountain that isn't talked about much but has very beautiful views many times of the year.
This mountain is located on the Harlan-Bell-Virginia borders. Another one of natures heavenly sites is Blanton Forest. This is by far the largest old-growth forest in Kentucky and one of the oldest in the United States. It covers
2,350 acres of Pine Mountain's south slope.
source James S Greene III, Major Silas Harlan: His Life and Times(Baxter,
Ky., 1963); Alpheus Hibben Harlan,History and Genealogy of the Harlan Family(Baltimore 1914)
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History of Perry County, KY
PERRY COUNTY, the sixty-eighth county in order of formation, lies in the southeastern section
of Kentucky, at the headwaters of the Kentucky River, and is bordered by Breathitt, Owsley, Leslie, Harlan, Letcher,
Knott, and Clay counties. It covers 341 square miles of the Appalachian region and is drained by the north and middle
forks of the Kentucky River and their tributaries. The land surface is hilly and mountainous and abounds in coal and natural
gas.
Christopher Gist was the first to leave a written record of his travels through the valley where HAZARD, the seat
of Perry County, now stands; in his journal on March 27, 1751, he noted the presence of large coal deposits.
Source: See Hazard Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, History of the Perry County, Kentucky (Hazard, Ky., 1953).
MARTHA HALL QUIGLEY & From
The Kentucky Encyclopedia, edited by John Kleber. Copyright  1992. Reprinted with permission of The University Press of Kentucky
Here's a cute little story I couldn't pass up!!
Pecans in the Cemetery
On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery
fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucket full of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.
"One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the
fence.
Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from
inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one
for me."
He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend
he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. "Come here quick," said the boy, "you won't believe what
I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls."
The man said, "Beat it kid,
can't you see it's hard for me to walk." When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled to the cemetery. Standing
by the fence they heard, "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me..."
The old man whispered, "Boy,
you've been tellin' the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord."
Shaking with fear, they peered through
the fence yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter
and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. At last they heard, "One for you, one for me. That's all.
Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done."
They say the old man made it back to town
a full 5 minutes ahead of the boy on the bike.
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