By Stephen D. Bowling

The South family ranked among the most prominent and wealthiest families in Breathitt County and most of Eastern Kentucky. The patriarch, Jeremiah Weldon South, owned thousands of acres in Madison, Franklin, Breathitt, and several Appalachian counties. He was active in state-wide democratic politics. He served several years as the Superintendent of the Kentucky State Penitentiary in Frankfort.

Jeremiah Weldon South dropped dead of a massive heart attack on April 15, 1880, while reading the newspaper in the hallway outside the Kentucky State Senate chamber. His extensive and valuable estate passed to his children and grandchildren. His son, Captain William T. B. South of Lexington, served as administrator of the South estate. Over the next several years, Captain South distributed property and other holdings to the South heirs. Many acres of the estate in Breathitt County passed to Jeremiah Weldon “Jerry” South, III, the sole legitimate heir of Jeremiah Weldon South, Jr.

Jerry South was the only son born to Jeremiah Weldon South, Jr. and his wife Caroline Cope. Jeremiah South, Jr. served in the Confederate Army as a Lieutenant in the 5th Kentucky Infantry during the Civil War. He was a prized target for Captain William “Bill’ Strong and his company of men who patrolled Breathitt County. A later report written by a “Union man” indicated that Lt. South and his “band of outlaws and rebel guerrillas under him infested the counties of Breathitt, Wolf, Perry, and portions of Clay and Owsley as guerrillas, murders, and robbers.” Several attempts to capture or kill Jeremiah South, Jr. were unsuccessful.

Word came to Strong in February 1864 that Lt. South was recruiting new soldiers for the Confederate cause in Wolfe County. Strong sent Lieutenant Alfred Little and four men to Holly Creek to locate South and his men. The Union cavalrymen found South and a group of “rebels” near Terrill Fork. A small engagement ensued, during which Lt. South was severely wounded but escaped. Captain Strong’s band located him several days later near South’s home and finished the job, shooting South numerous times while his family, including his son, Jerry, watched.

Jerry South, III’s only sibling, sister Addie South, died on April 20, 1876, in Frankfort leaving him as the only legal heir of Jeremiah W. South, Jr.

The people of Breathitt County, especially those in the Frozen Creek area knew Jerry South, III well. A wealthy landowner following his inheritance, South wasted much of his existence on “women and wine.” During his sprees he became known as “Bad Jerry” South for his wild, often drunken antics. Despite his wild ways (or perhaps because of them), he was frequently seen in the company of prominent and powerful men, including James H. Hargis, Edward “Ned” Callahan, and Futon French. Most in the area knew of his fast gun and his willingness to do “almost anything.”

The veteran of numerous firefights during the Breathitt County feuds and the French-Eversole Feud, most believed that South would fall to the rifle of a concealed gunman seeking to settle a score. The end came for him in 1896, but not as most had predicted. His death came as a shock when news spread that South had been killed in a pistol fight over a couple of catfish on the large sandbar just below the mouth of Frozen Creek.

Copies of The Jackson Hustler from that week Jerry South, III died are not known to exist. Luckily for Breathitt County historians, The Hazel Green Herald reprinted a portion of the Hustler article about the death of one of the “mountain desperados.”

Jerry South Dies From a Pistol Wound.

A desperate battle occurred late Saturday afternoon on the Kentucky river below Jackson, in which Jerry South, grandson of Jerry South, for many years superintendent of the Kentucky penitentiary, was killed.

South and several companions, among them John Gillum, were engaged in the unlawful business of seining the river.  They were all drinking moonshine whisky, and after the fish had been caught, they quarreled over their division.  It was not long until all five of the men were blazing away at each other with their pistols.  South fell from a bullet believed to have been fired by Gillum.

South’s grandfather owned fifty thousand acres of land in Breathitt County, and the young man inherited a large tract.  He has been wayward.  Several years ago, he was indicted for killing a man but got clear on some pretext.

He was a warm friend of Fult French, leader of the French faction in the Eversole feud, and was strongly opposed to evangelists coming into Eastern Kentucky.  He has been charged with being one of French’s lieutenants and when French’s leading killer, Tom Smith, who confessed to having murdered eight men, was on the scaffold, South remarked that Evangelist Dickey, who was praying for Smith, ought to be hanged instead of the multi-murderer.

The Hazel Green Herald, May 21, 1896, page 5

Dr. John J. Dickey recorded the news of Jerry South’s death in his prolific diary, which chronicled much of Breathitt County’s history during the 1890s. Dickey and South had been at odds for some time. After the office of the Jackson Hustler was dynamited and destroyed in May 1893, Dickey blamed South for the attack, citing South’s opposition to the paper’s recent assault on lawlessness and strong drink. Dr. John J. Dickey did not editorialize the news of South’s death in his memoirs and wrote on the evening of May 18, 1896:

Today’s paper announced they Jerry South of Breathitt County was shot and killed last Saturday afternoon while engaged in dividing a big lot of fish that a party had seined from the river near the mouth of Frozen Creek. He is one of the men who threw the dynamite into the Jackson Hustler office.

Diary of Dr. John J. Dickey, page 1687.

The family and neighbors of Jeremiah Weldon South, III retrieved the body from the sand bar, and a brief service was held at his home. A small procession, including his mother, wife, and children, followed South’s coffin to the Cope Cemetery on Strong Fork.

“Bad Jerry” was buried on May 23, 1896, near his father and many members of the Cope family. His mother, Caroline, died in 1917. His wife, Lula Belle Hargis, remained at their home on Frozen until her health deteriorated. She suffered for some time with numerous issues and eventually had a “breakdown” in the years following the death of her husband. She died on December 18, 1954, as a resident of Eastern State Hospital in Lexington where she had been undergoing treatment for some time.

Caroline and Lula Belle rest today in the Cope Cemetery near Jeremiah Weldon South, III.

In memory of my friend and South researcher
Jayne (South) McRae
1935 – 2017

© 2024 Stephen D. Bowling