In the City of Olive Hill, at the intersection of State Route 2078 and U.S. Route 60, at the western edge of town, you will find three things displaying a large chunk of history in the form of 1) a very old cemetery created in the mid-1800's; 2) the United Methodist Church built in 1926; and 3) a historical marker dedicated to "Beckham County."
The marker reads as follows:
Beckham County
"Created from parts of Carter, Lewis and Elliott Counties with county seat here by legislative act signed February 9, 1904, by Gov. J.C.W. Beckham, for whom it was named. C.C. Brooks appointed County Judge. On April 29, 1904, the Court of Appeals ruled that it failed to meet constitutional standards of size and population and ordered it dissolved."
The effort to form a separate county, with Olive Hill as the county seat, began to gain momentum after the end of the Civil War. Olive Hill had become an important hub for the railroad and was enjoying a sprint of increased commercial and industrial trade. The residents felt that Olive Hill should have more recognition. Additionally, certain political forces recognized that an additional county in that area could bolster certain political strongholds. In 1904, Beckham County was formed and became the only county to be abolished in the State of Kentucky. Some marriages were performed under the authority of the new county of Beckham. Those marriage records are now housed at the Carter County Courthouse in Grayson.
Submitted by Garrett and Sherry Lowe
The following supplementary information was contributed by the Knott Historical Society on April 27, 2004.
January 21, 1904.
The House passed the Senate Bill creating the county of Beckham from parts of Carter, Elliott, and Lewis, with
Olive Hill as the county seat. The new county will be Republican.
February 24, 1904.
W.L. Gearheart to be Circuit Court Clerk, was born at Prestonsburg, Ky., 44 years ago.
For 20 years he has lived in what is now Beckham county. He has a wife and four children.
His business is that of a farmer. For 27 years he has been a teacher in country schools.
His father served in John Morgan's command. His wife was born in the house in which she has continuously lived.
This house was first located in Carter, then in Elliott and now Beckham county. Their post office is Limestone.
1 April 1904.
Gov. Beckham showed a weakness when he vetoed the bill creating the county of Thorne.
He lost no time in signing the bill creating the county of Beckham.
Either or both of the counties would be pauper counties and there was as much necessity for one as there was for the
other – in fact there was no necessity for either. If the counties had been created they would not only have been
Republican counties. If the county of Thorne had been created the county of Wayne, which now gives a Republican
majority, would have given a Democratic majority. So if either was a necessity it seems to us that it would have
been that of the county of Thorne. – Georgetown News. (dem).
6 April 1904.
The official report gives 28 new post offices in Beckham county.
15 April 1904.
The officials in Carter and Lewis counties have had a survey made of the lines from the beginning of a point in
Elliott county and running to the north point of the lines given in the boundary of Beckham county.
The survey made by Carter county did not come up to Briary creek by nearly two miles, and this caused a reduction
of nearly two miles on the north end of the line in Lewis, which line stopped on the farm of Peter Kelley, about
one mile from the Ohio river and about four miles west of Vanceburg. The survey shows that Vanceburg and a very
large portion of Lewis county are included in the boundary given to the act creating Beckham county.
New County of Beckham. Frankfort, Ky. April 15. The case of Carter county vs. Brooks and Zimmerman, which involves
the constitutionality of the act creating the new county of Beckham, was argued in the court of appeals Thursday.
The point urged is that the new county does not contain 400 square miles of territory, as required by the
constitution, and that the counties of Lewis and Carter will be left with fewer than 400 square miles of territory
if the new county is created; that the new county line is less than ten miles from the county of Carter, which is
also contrary to the constitution. When this case was filed the alleged mistake in making the survey of the new
county had not been discovered, but in the argument before the court of appeals Friday the glaring errors in the
survey will be discussed and exhibited to the judges by plots and maps, which show that the lines as called for in
the bill run over into the state of Ohio and include Vanceburg in the new county.
15 April 1904.
New County of Beckham. Glaring Errors Have Been Discovered in the Creating of It. Frankfort, Ky. April 15.
The case of Carter county vs. Brooks and Zimmerman, which involves the constitutionality of the act creating the
new county of Beckham, was argued in the court of appeals Thursday. The point urged is that the new county does
not contain 400 square miles of territory, as required by the constitution, and that the counties of Lewis and
Carter will be left with fewer than 400 square miles of territory if the new county is created; that the new county
line is less than ten miles from the county of Carter, which is also contrary to the constitution.
When this case was filed the alleged mistake in making the survey of the new county had not been discovered,
but in the argument before the court of appeals Friday the glaring errors in the survey will be discussed and
exhibited to the judges by plots and maps, which show that the lines as called for in the bill run over into the
state of Ohio and include Vanceburg in the new county.
22 April 1904.
The officials of Carter and Lewis counties have had a survey made of the lines from the beginning of a point in
Elliott county and running to the north point of the line given in the boundary of Beckham county.
The survey made by Carter county did not come up to Briary creek by nearly two miles, and this caused a reduction
of nearly two miles on the north end of the line in Lewis, which line stopped on the farm of Peter Kelley, about
one mile from the Ohio river and about four miles west of Vancebug. The survey shows that Vanceburg and a very
large portion of Lewis county are included in the boundary given in the act creating Beckham county.
April 29, 1904.
Beckham County. Knocked Out by the Court of Appeals. Frankfort, Ky. April 29. The legislative act creating the county
of Beckham out of parts of the counties of Elliott, Carter, and Lewis, was today declared by the Court of Appeals to
be unconstitutional and void in that it violates Sections 63 and 64 of that instrument, which sections prohibit the
reducing of the area of the counties from which a new county is made to less than four hundred square miles, their
population is less than 13,000 and the line within ten miles of an old county seat. The contention that the lines
of boundary of the new county proposed would not close, but run into the State of Ohio, the court disposes of by
saying that the act as a whole shows what was meant, its magisterial districts being properly defined, and such a
mistake alone would not have invalidated the act. The whole court considered the case, and Judge Hobson delivered
the opinion from which there is no dissent.
The decision was given by the court in agreed cases of Carter county against Zimmerman and Brooks, here on appeal from
the Carter Circuit Court, and it is a reversal of that court, which sustained a demurrer to the position is the
second named case and released to allow the county of Carter to be heard in the matter. The court here says this
was error and remands the cases for further proceedings. There will not likely be any further proceedings in the
lower court than to follow the judgment of the higher tribunal, as the appellees practically admitted all the
allegations of the petition as to the territory involved, but on the ground that the judicial department of the
State Government could not go behind the bill creating the new county proposed and inquire into the facts upon
which the General Assembly acted. The court here, in passing upon that question, says that the provisions of the
Constitution are as binding upon the General Assembly as upon an individual, and as mandatory, and that it is proper
for the courts to inquire into the findings by the Legislature, and it has authority to ascertain whether the
provisions of the Constitution as to area, population and location of lines are followed by the General Assembly in
the formation of a new county.
The allegations of the petition of Zimmerman were that the county of Beckham was created out of parts of the counties
of Carter, Elliott and Lewis; that the part taken from Carter county leaves it with only about 250 square miles;
that the county line between Beckham and Carter counties runs within less than two miles of the county seat of
Beckham county; that Elliott county, before any territory was taken from it, had a less area than 400 square miles,
and was by the act reduced to far less than that; that the area of Carter county was 354 square miles, the area of
Lewis county 454 square miles, and Elliott county 274 square miles; that the new county line runs within six miles
of Grayson, the county seat of Carter, and within seven miles of Vanceburg, the county seat of Lewis county; that
the area of Beckham county does not exceed 286 square miles; that Lewis county is reduced to 300 miles, Elliott to
234 miles; that the population of Beckham county is less than 12,000, and that its establishment reduces Carter and
Elliott to less than 12,000 each.
3 May 1904.
Beckham County Knocked Out. In reversing the judgment at the Carter Circuit Court in the agreed cases of Carter
county against Zimmerman, and Zimmerman against Brooks, the Court of Appeals declares that the act creating
Beckham county from portions of Lewis, Clark and Elliott counties is unconstitutional and void, in that it
violates Sections 63 and 64 of the Constitution, which prohibit the reducing of the area of the counties from which
a new county is made to less than 400 square miles, their population to less than 12,000, and making the line
within ten miles of an old county seat. All of these provisions have been violated in the formation of Beckham
county, the higher court declares.
4 May 1904.
Beckham County. Formation of Beckham County Unconstitutional. “On last Friday the Court of appeals decided that
the act of forming Beckham County is unconstitutional and void. Fuller account will be given next week. Great will
be the disappointment of many people at Olive Hill and other parts of the new county. The decision of the court was
unanimous.” - Mt. Sterling Advocate.
11 May 1904.
Beckham County. “Although the impression has been made from the decision of the Court of Appeals, that the formation
of Beckham County is null and void, yet the public will find that Beckham County is a lively corpse. The friends of
the new county claim that the requirements of the constitution as to area, distance and population exist as facts
and that when the matter comes before the Carter Circuit Court, to which the Court of Appeals remanded it, these
facts can be shown to exist. An amount of money sufficient to defray the necessary expense of investigation will be
readily furnished.” – Olive Hill.