Each month, The Kentucky Explorer magazine receives literally scores of letters from our faithful readers. Whenever possible, we try to publish as many of them as possible in the 12 pages we have set aside for "Letters to the Editor."

Things Used From Long Ago

Dear Editor:

I wonder how many people remember using a wash tub and washboard to do laundry with. I remember it well, since we used these items.

We had to carry water from the creek for Mother to use on washday. She was very clean. I still have a bar of soap that she made many years ago. She made her necessary supply of soap every year.

One thing I've never understood is why some people boiled their clothes after they'd been washed.

I am shocked that many of the younger folks these days have no idea what some of the old things are. Some thought that an ice-cream separator was some type of pump and that Dad's old auger was a corkscrew. He used that auger many times in building sleds. They thought my string of drying beans hanging inside on a nail was for decoration purposes. I tried to explain everything to them.

I really enjoy the magazine and have met some nice people through it over the years. I wish more people from Lawrence County would submit something to be published.
I may live in Ohio, now, but I'm a 100% hillbilly from Kentucky.

Keep up the good work.

Marie Cotton Stone
8660 Lilly Chapel Road
West Jefferson, OH 43162

The Hatfields And The Germantown Baseball Team

Dear Editor:

I am writing about the photo of the Germantown baseball team that appeared on page 99 in the February 2002 issue of The Kentucky Explorer. I can identify some of the players.

(First row, top): Nathaniel Corvinia Hatfield; (second row from top, l-r): unknown, unknown, unknown, and Claude Thomas Hatfield; (third row from top, l-r): John W. Hatfield and Orville L. "Peck" Hatfield; (fourth row, l-r): unknown and unknown; (bottom row, l-r): unknown, unknown, Orie Wells Hatfield, and unknown.

Nathaniel Hatfield, the son of Anthony and Elizabeth Bosley Hatfield Smith of Bracken County, Kentucky, was born in 1866 and died in 1953 in Mason County.

Nathaniel and his wife, Katherine Spegal, were the parents of ballplayers Claude (1898-1989), John (1891-1957), Orville (1903-1925), and Orie (1899-1977) Hatfield.
Nathaniel is my great-uncle.

Some of the Hatfields remain in the area and some moved to Spencer and Jefferson counties in Kentucky and Indiana. We are not connected to the famous Hatfields of the Hatfield and McCoy feud. Our line of Hatfields came from Pennsylvania, although we haven't proven that point yet.

This information was given to me by Mary Hatfield Nunery, the daughter of Claude Thomas Hatfield.

Keep up the good work. What a blessing The Kentucky Explorer is to all of us.

Jonn Michelle Armstrong
1125 Lilly Pike
Taylorsville, KY 40071
makarmstrong@msn.com