Historical Timeline
1840-1859
June 7, 1842
Marshall County was divided from Calloway County.
1842-1843
The seminary lands in Calloway County were sold and from the proceeds two school buildings were erected, one at New Concord and one in Murray.
October 1843
The town of Murray was chartered as the seat of Calloway County. Orders were issued for a new courthouse.
1844
Murray was named after Honorable John L. Murray.
Historic marker for John L. Murray.
1845
The Freemasons bought a large bell weighing about 150 pounds from a steamboat which sank in the Tennessee River. This bell was used on the Masonic building, also known as the old Union Church, then the New Concord High School.
1846
Murray Baptist Church was established, including about 20 enslaved persons as members.
1846-1848
Approximately 50 Calloway County men volunteered for the Mexican War.
US Marines in the Mexican War.
1848
Peter Mackness Rowlett established a tobacco factory between New Concord and the Tennessee River. The first two brands of tobacco made were named "48" and "Old Dominion".
Rowlette family barn.
1848
The Christian Church was established in Murray,
1849
The first poor farm was established north of Murray.
1850
The Kentucky Constitution was amended, changing appointments by the Governor to popular votes; giving pro-slavery forces greater protections; preventing ministers from running for Governor or the General Assembly; setting the number of days for the session and the numbers for house and senate seats; mandating a maximum amount for state indebtedness and making a provision to prevent anyone who had participated in a duel from running for public office.
1850
Willis Bonner built a kiln and started a pottery business using high-quality clay of the vicinity, thereby identifying the location as Pottertown.
The kiln at Pottertown
April 29, 1851
The Calloway County Male and Female Institute was built on lots number nine and twelve of the old town plat which ran from Main to Olive. Today's Murray Middle School stands on the site.
The Male & Female Institute.
1852
Former Calloway County resident Linn Boyd served as Speaker of U.S. House of Representatives, 1851-55.
Lynn Boyd, State Representative.
1854
Gerard iron furnace was built by Browder, Kennedy and Company, six miles east of New Concord on Shannon Creek. The pig iron was sent to foundries, refined and cast into usable products such as kettles, plows, and nails.
Iron furnace marker.
1857
The first newspaper in the county was the General Baptist Banner, a religious periodical established by John Elliott on behalf of the Freewill Baptist Church.
August 3, 1858
A heavy freeze destroyed the entire tobacco crop as well as other vegetation.
October 25, 1858
Levi Williams opened a ferry on the Tennessee River at Newberg in Calloway County.
September 15, 1859
According to Collins' History of Kentucky a Negro woman in Murray bore six living babies.
