"Pewee Valley: Land of the Little Colonel," by Katie S. Smith
In October 1974, Katie Snyder Smith published "Pewee Valley: Land of the Little Colonel" in conjunction with Kentucky's Bicentennial Celebration. The 68-page book was the first in-depth exploration of our city's unique history in pictures and words. It was sold by the Pewee Valley Bicentennial Committee for $2.50.
A newspaper story titled "Pewee Hugs its Past," written by Debbie Halverson (date unknown), talked about the problems Katie faced trying to ferret out Pewee Valley's origins:
...She has searched county archives to learn just where great-grandfather Michael Smith settled when he came to this area in 1807 with his wife, Rosanna, and family of seven, later 11, children.
An account written by his oldest son Daniel, in his later years, recalls when the family moved from Virginia to Kentucky they settled about 12 miles above Louisville near the Ohio River among "wealthy old acquaintances who thought and cared nothing about religion and some would not suffer a Bible about the house. But visiting, dancing and drinking were their amusements." He said they moved twice after that until Michael
...She has searched county archives to learn just where great-grandfather Michael Smith settled when he came to this area in 1807 with his wife, Rosanna, and family of seven, later 11, children.
An account written by his oldest son Daniel, in his later years, recalls when the family moved from Virginia to Kentucky they settled about 12 miles above Louisville near the Ohio River among "wealthy old acquaintances who thought and cared nothing about religion and some would not suffer a Bible about the house. But visiting, dancing and drinking were their amusements." He said they moved twice after that until Michael
Above, the state marker for Pewee Valley in 1970, from the June 1970 Call of the Pewee. Below, the corrected marker as it appears today, thanks to Katie Smith's research.
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purchased a farm about five miles from there. Daniel approved of his new neighbors for he said, "Here we mingled with civil people."
From her investigations, Katie Smith figures that would be around the Pewee Valley area, but she wasn't able to pinpoint the spot. Between then and 1856, a train stop along the present L&N railroad became known as "Smith's Station." The dilemma is: which Smith owned the land where the train stopped. Very possibly, it was son Henry who owned much of the land in the area..." For many years, the man given credit for putting the "Smith" in Smith's Station was Thomas Smith, a Lexington newspaper publisher and businessman whose Pewee Valley home, Woodside, was located close to the train depot and still stands today on Central Avenue. However, Katie was unable to find any records showing that Thomas Smith owned land in the area at the time the town was starting. Eventually, she proved that Michael Smith's grandson, Charles Franklin Smith, was the "Smith" in Smith's Station, and that Michael's son and Charles' father, Henry Smith, was the true "Founding Father" of Pewee Valley. At the November 1974 Town Council County meeting, Katie was named Pewee Valley's first Official Town Historian. Although others wrote historical vignettes for the Call of the Pewee -- including Iris Haskins, Florence Dickerson, Lee Heiman and Ann Montgomery -- Smith's columns were all painstakingly researched and relied on primary source material such as Town Council minute books and cemetery documents. |
As a third generation Peweean, Katie's interest in our town's history wasn't surprising. Her mother, Cornelia Lee Snyder, was born in Pewee Valley and grew up on Tulip Avenue on land her father purchased from the Kentucky College for Young Ladies. Cornelia's role as a teacher at Pewee Valley School and as Pewee Valley Postmaster from 1945 to 1961 also meant she knew everyone in town. And Katie worked with her at the post office for a time.
Her father, W.H. Snyder, was a child when his family moved to a farm on Reamers Lane in 1903. W.H. served on our Town Board from 1948 to 1957 -- the years when Central Avenue was taken over by the state, the City of Pewee Valley purchased its first street signs, and residences were numbered for the first time. And for several decades after leaving the Town Board, he kept the city map updated.
Her father, W.H. Snyder, was a child when his family moved to a farm on Reamers Lane in 1903. W.H. served on our Town Board from 1948 to 1957 -- the years when Central Avenue was taken over by the state, the City of Pewee Valley purchased its first street signs, and residences were numbered for the first time. And for several decades after leaving the Town Board, he kept the city map updated.
Katie married John S. Smith, a direct descendant of Pewee Valley's town father, Henry Smith, through his son William Alexander Smith.
She died on June 14, 2004 and is buried in Pewee Valley Cemetery. Thanks to her sons John S. Smith, II and William Lee Smith for giving the Pewee Valley Historical Society special permission to reprint her copyrighted and out-of-print "Pewee Valley: Land of the Little Colonel" on our website.
She died on June 14, 2004 and is buried in Pewee Valley Cemetery. Thanks to her sons John S. Smith, II and William Lee Smith for giving the Pewee Valley Historical Society special permission to reprint her copyrighted and out-of-print "Pewee Valley: Land of the Little Colonel" on our website.
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