NameChester Fabian HOWARD

BirthMar 14, 1887, Howardstown, Nelson Co., KY
DeathOct 23, 1974, Knob Creek, Larue Co., KY
Burial1974, St. Catherine’s Cemetery, New Haven, Nelson Co., KY
BaptismApr 3, 1887, St. Ann's, Howardstown, Nelson Co., KY
OccupationMerchant/Postmaster/Farmer
EducationC-4
ReligionCatholic
Misc. Notes
Chester F. Howard, 87, of Hodgenville, Ky., Rt. 4, died at 4:55 p.m. Wednesday at his home. He was a retired farmer and merchant who operated the C. F. Howard Hardware Store at New Haven. He had been in business for 65 years. He is survived by his wife, the former Hattie Howell; three sons, Paul and Milburn Howard, both of New Haven, and Fred Howard, of Hodgenville; two daughters, Mrs. Helen Peak, of Hodgenville Rt. 4. and Mrs. Mildred Head, 22 grandchildren, and 39 great-grandchildren The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. Catherine Catholic Church, New Haven, with burial in church cemetery. The body will be at the Joseph L. Greenwell Funeral Home, New Haven, after 2 p.m. Thursday.
Owned C.F. Howard & Sons General Merchandise, New Haven, KY
Chester Howard bought the Old Dawson Hotel on the SW side of the railroad tracks fronting US 31-E on May, 14 1935 from R. W. Haviland Deed Bk 103 Pg. 122 and tore down the Hotel and contracted Jenkins & Essex Company in Elizabethtown to build the new store. The Grand Opening was October 26th 1935. Within one month the store was profitable. It was run by Paul Howard until 1983 when he sold 50% to Janice and Ervin Vittitow his Daughter and Son-in Law. Janice had the final auction on Auction Day November 05, 1994.
Gifted in math and business, he lost this ability after suffering a concussion following a car crash while driving home after playing cards in New Haven. He was unconscious for two weeks.
He and Hattie lived in St. Louis , MO for a time. Chester ran a cable car.
Postmaster of Howardstown, KY in 1912.
Lived in Howardstown in 1931.
Spouses
BirthJul 18, 1886, Morning Star Rd., Larue Co., KY
DeathMay 3, 1976, Elizabethtown, Hardin Co., KY
BurialMay 1976, St. Catherine’s Church, New Haven, Nelson Co., KY
OccupationFarm Wife
ReligionCatholic convert from Baptist
EducationH-1
Misc. Notes
Tombstone has "HATTIE", not Henrietta. She never went by her real given name.
Hattie and her husband Chester bought 380 acres containing the original Knob Creek farm on August 26, 1931 from John W. Crady, along with Crady’s adjacent 62.5 acre tract. Chester Howard came from an established family that had founded Howardstown in 1833 and started a successful distillery supply store, the income from which provided the funds for the Knob Creek farm purchase. In 1931 they dismantled a single-pen log cabin thought to date from the early 1800s from the Gollaher farm, which was included in the land purchase. With the logs they constructed a cabin said to resemble Lincoln’s. Their neighbor Robert Thompson, who said that he remembered the Lincoln family’s cabin, assisted the Howards in the construction.
Howards purchased Knob Creek Farm with the intention of creating another memorial to Lincoln. This land was the Lincoln family’s home from 1811 to 1816, and by Lincoln’s own admission was the site of some of his earliest memories. Here, the Howards used the logs of a cabin belonging to the family of Lincoln’s childhood friend Austin Gollaher to re-build a hewn-log cabin said to resemble Lincoln’s boyhood home. Then in 1933, they followed in the established theme of Lincoln’s rustic log structure and built the adjacent Lincoln Tavern. This second structure, made of exposed round logs purportedly cut from trees felled on the site, was a popular dancehall and nightclub for travelers. After the sale of alcohol became illegal, the tavern was converted to restaurant and gift shop in the 1950s. In recognition of their significant role in Larue County tourism the site containing the cabin and tavern was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 as the Lincoln Boyhood Home. The National Park Service acquired the site from members of the Howard family in 2001 for inclusion in the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site.
Hattie was the first female to not ride a horse sidesaddle at the Larue County Fair, where it caused quite an uproar. She sewed her skirt up the middle and rode the horse like a man.
Mrs. Chester Howard, 89, Hodgenville, Rt. 4, died at 10:30 p.m. Monday at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown. She was the former Hattie Howell. Survivors include three sons, Paul and Milburn Howard, both of New Haven, and Fred Howard, and two daughters, Mrs. Helen Peak and Mrs. Mildred Head. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Catherine Catholic Church in New Haven, with burial in the church cemetery. The body is at the Joseph L. Greenwell Funeral Home in New Haven.
She did not attend the weddings of any of her children.
MarriageJan 14, 1908, Jeffersonville, Clark Co. IN