The following is one of a continuing series of articles on the Great Depression by local historian of that era, Wilbur Bush.
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Part 2
In regard to Gallatin’s courthouse dedication on Oct. 5, 1908, there was a large discrepancy as to the number of people attending. Estimates ranged from 3,000 to 8,000 with 5,000 being a conservative estimate. A two hour rain caused the plans to be changed from having the speaker talk from an outdoor platform built for the occasion, to having him speak inside the circuit courtroom which allowed only a small handful of the crowd to hear him.
Throughout the day, in spite of the rain delay, the crowd was entertained by music from the Cameron Military Band and the Pattonsburg Band.
Boyd Dudley, speaker, pointed out that on March 26, 1838, an appropriation of $400 was made to build a jail, and $6,000 to build a courthouse. When the contracts were let, they called for a period of one year to build the jail and three years to build the courthouse.
Previously, in 1905, plans had been made to pay for the courthouse in four years by a special tax of four direct levies, rather than by issuing bonds. At the time of the dedication, three payments had already been made and this was done at a time when there wasn’t any money in the treasury.
The divine ration at the time was two to one: two coonskins for one dollar, and the coonskin was the money of the common people. Using this coonskin currency, it would require 12,000 coonskins to build the courthouse and 800 coonskins to build the jail.
Dudley also pointed out that there had been rivalry for 70 years over where the county seat was to be located.
The people south of the Grand River wanted Gallatin to be the county seat, while those north of the river wanted it to be Jameson. At the time of the dedication, and long after Gallatin had been selected as the county seat, there were still old settlers who thought the county seat should be located at Jameson.