Beech Tree News Network

Grant County. Kentucky was established in 1820 from land taken from Pendleton County.  The county seat, and largest seat, is Williamstown and was named for Colonel John Grant, who led a party of settlers in 1779 to establish Grant’s Station, in today’s Bourbon County, Kentucky.   As of 2015, estimated population was 24,757. 
Country singer Skeeter Davis hailed from Grant County, Dry Ridge to be specific.  She and her sister, Betty Jack Davis, were one of the original female country groups.  They are best known for their #1 country hit “I Forgot More Than You’ll Ever Know” in 1953 and the duo’s debut single “Jealous Love” on Fortune Records.
Graves County, Kentucky was founded in 1824.  The county seat is Mayfield.  Population as of 2014 was 37,618.  The county was named for Benjamin F. Graves.  He was one of the numerous Kentucky officers killed after being taken prisoner in the disastrous 1813 Battle of Raisin River in Michigan Territory during the War of 1812. 
Graves is one of Kentucky’s largest counties.  The fertile land attracted early settlers from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, who brought with them education, culture and a fierce determination to succeed.  Graves County developed the dark-fired and dark-air-cured tobacco used in smokeless tobacco farming.  A woolen mill began operating before the Civil War and continued to expand with the men's clothing market. Several clothing manufacturing companies were added in the area. The county seat's minor league baseball team was named the Mayfield Clothiers for this historical connection
American writer Bobbi Ann Mason was born in Mayfield in 1940.  Rick Trevino had a song called “Bobbi Ann Mason”.  Not sure if it’s the same person.  Probably not.  Associate Administrator of NASA Rex Geveden was born in Mayfield.  David Boaz, Executive Vice President of the Cato Institute, was born in Mayfield in 1953.  Just a few years earlier, in 1949, my alma mater Mid-Continent University originated.  MCU closed doors in 2014.