Hancock County, Kentucky Stories - Pellville Post Office began in 1851 when Jett was appointed

Hancock County, Kentucky Stories
Pellville Post Office began in 1851
when Jett was appointed

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Retyped as it appeared in the Clarion, by Mary L. Gibbs, George Lee Gibbs, Jr., for non-profit use

The Pellville, Hancock County, Post Office has been in continual existence and serving its patrons since May 29, 1851, when Richard C. Jett received the appointment as its initial postmaster.

In the spring of 1965 the names of Pellville’s postmasters and their sequence of service was obtained by Mrs. Stella E. Jackson, the present postmaster, from the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

According to Archives records, running through 1925, the office was first established the name of Blackford on May 29, 1851 and the name was subsequently changed to Pellville on May 25, 1868. The postmasters, listed with the dates of the appointments are as follows:

Richard C. Jett - May 29, 1851; William Bryant - June 16, 1853; Charles E. Haynes - July 14, 1853; Pius M. Montgomery - Oct. 10, 1853; James W. Snider - May 15, 1858; Benjamin F. Miller - Aug 14, 1863; James W. Snider - Apr 2, 1866; Ranson R. Gabbert - July 20, 1869; James H. Obenchain - July 8,1872; Thomas C. Blanford - Feb 12, 1874; William A. Huff - Nov 10, 1879; E.O. Miller - March 16, 1881; William Huff - Sept 18, 1882; Hardin D. Brown - July 10, 1885; George W. Brown - May 3, 1889; James H. Obenchain - Apr 17, 1893; David J. Morrison - May 15, 1897; John H. Glover - Aug 21, 1908; Etta Stevens - May 4, 1912; James H. Obenchain - Nov 17, 1913; Robert S. Rice - Jul 1, 1925.

Here the Archives records ends with the footnote: (successor appointed after 1929): Mrs. Jackson was further advised that requests for information about post offices after 1929 should be addresses to The Post Office Department.

Following Mr. Rice, Pellville’s postmasters were:

Mrs. Pearl Stevens, Miss Sue Obenchain until Jun 1953; then Mrs. Stella Jackson for 19 years, from Jun 1952 until Jun 1972.

There was an interim administrator of the office for nearly two years, until the appointment of the present postmaster, Mrs. Charles (Norma) Shultz, in Feb, 1974.
Postal appointments at Pellville, we assume was an accurate barometer of political fortunes before the adoption of the Civil Service System. It may be noted that a number of these public servants received more than one appointment (presuming that those with the same names are one individual) as the parties in power were changed. Notable James W. Snider served in 1858 and again in 1866; William Huff in 1874, 1879 and in 1882. The longest tenure of service, was rendered by the late James H. Obenchain, who was appointed for the time in 1872, again in 1893, and received his third appointment in 1913.