The war for free turnpikes
The picture is a stock picture of what a toll house and gate looked like in that era.
We hear the tales of old western type gunfights and armed posses riding out of town at top speed looking for the bad guys. Popular western themed television shows in the early days of visual broadcasting, like The Lone Ranger and Hop Along Cassidy, brought a glorified version of these tales to audiences who anxiously anticipated what would happen to their heroes on the following week’s show. About 120 years ago, Eastern Kentucky was experiencing this kind of entertainment, but on a very real scale.
One such event in Bath County’s history was the War for Free Turnpikes. Prior to November 1896, counties were limited with power to levy taxes for roadways. The solution was to authorize private citizens to organize toll roads, or turnpikes. These toll roads were governed by corporations headed with presidents and board of directors, meaning the corporation owned the roadway to be traveled. The revenue went toward improvement and maintenance of roadways and encouraged counties to establish improved road systems. In 1896, there were approximately 175 miles of toll roads owned by the corporations with tolls averaging around 75 cents per every 15 miles. Citizens often complained about not being able to travel from any point in the county without having to pay the tolls multiple times. Many meetings were held and plans drawn out to resolve the issue, but the poor financial state of the county prevented officials from being able to act. An attempt by legislators to take a referendum of voters to free the turnpikes resulted in a majority of favoring the move, but the county’s financial condition couldn’t warrant the situation.
Threats of violence were reported to officials, and in 1897, the issue culminated with raids on the toll gates houses. Masked horsemen raided the houses and dynamited roads throughout the county, reaching a climax on the night of May 21, 1897. Sheriff James Lane had received word that a raid was being planned on the Prickly Ash toll house at the Owingsville and Wyoming turnpike, which was located near the present bridge spanning Prickly Ash Creek on Ky. 111. Under the direction of County Judge W. S. Gudgell and County Attorney C. G. McCallister, Lane and his deputy, George Young, organized a posse of nine armed men to protect the toll house. At approximately midnight, the group heard heavy gunfire down Slate Creek in the direction of Wyoming. The raiders had cut the pole at the toll house at the White Oak Turnpike and another at the lower end of the Wyoming Turnpike and began firing into the toll houses. A short time later, the raiders were heard approaching Prickly Ash and when they were about 150 yards away, they surrounded the toll house. The raiders demanded, at gunpoint, that Chris Garner, who resided at the toll house, present an axe so that the gate pole could be cut.
Sheriff Lane and Dept. Young’s posse flanked the raiders and demanded a surrender, only to be met with gunfire. The posse returned fire striking three of the raiders. The raiders split into two groups, one heading up Skillet Branch, the others down Slate Creek toward Wyoming. Later Lane and Young’s posse found and arrested a member of the raiders, David Johnson, who was lying wounded along the turnpike. The following morning, Charles Johnson who had also been wounded, was arrested in the Forge Hill community. Arrest warrants for the other raiders were obtained by Sheriff Lane, but only four were arrested, as the others had fled the area. These arrests brought death threats to Sheriff Lane and Judge Executive Gudgell and threats to burn the courthouse and jail raided. Judge Gudgell wired Governor William Bradley about the circumstances and requested state troops to assist in maintaining order in the county. Company E, 2nd Regiment of the Kentucky State Guard, dispatched 52 men to Owingsville to protect the jail and courthouse and provide security for upcoming court appearances of the accused raiders. The War for Free Turnpikes ended after this bloody, yet non-fatal, event in Bath County. After the court trials, the Bath County Fiscal Court appointed commissioners to meet and negotiate the purchase of the turnpikes and eventually purchased all of them; officially ending the turnpike debate by 1929.
Today, nothing remains of the toll house and gate at the intersection of Wyoming Road and Prickly Ash. Wyoming Road’s route has been changed several times over the years; the most noticeable changes were made when the route bypassed the town of Wyoming, which no longer exists. Toll roads still exist in this modern age, but are used to fund the construction costs and are no longer privately maintained. The days of armed posses chasing bad guys by horseback are long gone, but the lore and accounts of actual events that happened in our small community are a reminder of those rough and rowdy times.
