Monday, April 12, 2010

Hard-Working Family

I wrote recently about the Kentucky Confederate Home’s October 1917 monthly payroll. (The commandant earned $100 monthly; the bookkeeper and matron each earned $45.)

Four of the twenty-four full- and part-time employees shared the same surname. Maria Hinkle was the head cook; Earnest Hinkle was her assistant. Part-timers Ben and John Hinkle worked in the kitchen and as waiters.

I found the Hinkles in the 1910 and 1920 U. S. Census rolls for Oldham County, Kentucky. They were a black family, all related, living in the mostly-black settlement of Beard. (Ben’s wife was also employed “out of home”, but she doesn’t appear on any of the Kentucky Confederate Home payroll lists I’ve seen.)

Together, the Hinkle family was earning $96 a month, almost as much as Commandant Henry George himself.

(See “Monthly Pay Roll of Officers and Employees, October 1917” in Special Collections at the Kentucky Historical Society.)

2 comments:

Richard G. Williams, Jr. said...

Rusty - I assume you have an image/photo of the Lee Camp Home in Richmond? If not, I have one I could pass along to you. Can't wait to read your book.

Best,
Richard Williams

Rusty Williams said...

Thanks, Richard! I'd love to see (and post) photos of the Lee Camp Home. (I have a lengthy post about the home planned for next week).