Step back in time: Slack Farm ceremony held; wealthy capitalist's death stirred much interest

There was a lot of interest stirred up when the wealthiest man in town died 75 years ago.

It's unclear whether Henry Kraver was actually the richest man hereabouts, but a lot of people certainly thought he was.

I don't know that he wore a top hat a general rule (he sported a straw boater in the only photo I've see of him), but in census records and city directories he described his occupation as "capitalist."

Kraver was the owner of the Kraver and Kentucky theaters, and was one of the founders of First National Bank, where he was president. He also owned the Henderson Brewery at Fifth and Water streets.

Probably his best claim to fame, though, was that he presided over what was the largest Kentucky distillery west of the Green River prior to Prohibition.

The E.W. Worsham Distillery was founded in 1881 and was located on 4.5 acres on McKinley Street between Washington and Second streets. It's not clear exactly when Kraver came on the scene, but he had a controlling interest by 1900. He initially had financing from the Mann Bros., who operated the Tri-state's most famous department store at Second and Main streets.

It was a huge complex that encompassed about a dozen buildings, some of them rather large. By 1913, the distillery was producing 10,000 barrels a year and employing about 50 people.

Kraver was an extremely astute businessman. He saw the writing on the wall and sold the distillery business at a handsome profit before Prohibition knocked the legs from under it, although he retained the real estate until 1925.

He also had fingers in a lot of other pies. For instance, he was one of the original investors in the Soaper Hotel. The inventory of his estate listed 15 pieces of real estate, mostly buildings downtown, although he also owned a 486-acre farm in Union County. The real estate was valued at $68,040, which seems piddling by today's standards, but was real money back in the 1930s.

He also had personal property valued at $44,374, which included mortgages on properties in New York City, Chicago and Atlanta. So, maybe he wasn't the richest fellow in town. But as The Gleaner speculated Jan. 27, 1938, in announcing details of his will, he had probably lost a quarter-million dollars in the 1929 crash of the stock market.

"From his will it is apparent that he was burned by municipal bonds and had little regard for the average city government," the article said.

The Jan. 22 article announcing his demise the previous day said his death "closed a life story that reads like a volume by Horatio Alger." He was 79 when he died and had been injured in an accident in Chicago the previous October. Complications set in, resulting in the removal of his right leg.

The story is vague about where he was born April 22, 1859. The 1930 census states he was a native of Poland, but older census documents say he was born in New York City. Perhaps he was an illegal immigrant?

At any rate, he was selling newspapers in New York City by the age of 12. He went to St. Louis as a youth and became a cotton buyer, which sent him to New Madrid, Mo., where he made the acquaintance of Rufus Mann, who operated one of the branch stores of the Mann Bros.

And that's how he wound up in Henderson in 1885, where he became a clerk in the Mann Bros. store at Second and Main streets. "Native ability and ingenuity took Mr. Kraver from a salary of $50 a month as a clerk to more lucrative fields" after he took $300 in savings and went into the retail liquor business sometime before 1889.

But the story says his big break came after he bought an interest in the Worsham distillery and upgraded its capacity from 11 barrels a day to 200 a day.

Gleaner Publisher Leigh Harris, in an editorial published Jan. 23, lumped Kraver in with such distinguished names as Atkinson, Barret and Soaper who had boosted Henderson's growth.

A memorial advertisement Jan. 30 paid for by First National Bank extolled his record as a builder of Henderson. "With the fingertip touch of an artist, he transformed many an unsightly situation in Henderson into beautiful, substantial and worthwhile business buildings."

The Jan. 25 edition of The Gleaner carried an account of his funeral service; Rabbi Milton Greenwald of Evansville presided at the Adas Israel synagogue at Alves and Center streets. "This was the first time that the temple had been used in a funeral service."

100 years ago

A liver illness of several months duration felled Henderson City Councilman Louis Metzner, 72, The Gleaner reported Jan. 23, 1913.

He had been born in Germany in 1840 and came to the United States in 1856, locating in Henderson in 1871. While in the grocery business in 1897 he was shot by three black men attempting to rob his store; they narrowly escaped lynching. Metzer still carried the bullet at the base of his brain at the time of his death.

50 years ago

Barney Allen, 53, the father of six children, was killed while dynamiting fish in the Geneva area, The Gleaner reported Jan. 23, 1963.

According to the news reports, he and several friends had been lowering sticks of lit dynamite into the water on a string, but the string got tangled, blowing a side and the stern out of the boat. One of his friends was on the shore and assisted another to safety, but Allen was blown into the air and lost.

Two of the friends were charged with fishing violations. The search for Allen's body was called off on account of inclement weather. It resumed in mid-February before weather once again caused it to be called off.

25 years ago

A tobacco-burning ceremony was held by Native Americans at the Slack farm site in Union County, The Gleaner reported Jan. 19, 1988.

"This is how we did it in the old days, and this is how we do it today," said Dennis Banks, a founder of the American Indian Movement. The ceremony was aimed at cleansing the desecration of approximately 1,200 Native American graves that had been looted by artifact hunters.

Frank Boyett can be reached at or 831-8342.