Bonnie Strassell - Owen County Historical Society

Many early roads that snaked through the hills and hollows of Kentucky have been lost to history, their names and locations forever erased from the memory of man. Most were named after a settler who held a patent on land through which the road ran. However, remnants of the some of these roads exist, and their stories linger in local folklore.
Road names were known to change over time, perhaps when the pronunciation of a road wasn’t clearly understood. Such seems the case with Kay’s Branch Road.

His slender long-fingered hands rest atop a cane. Yet, the stately white-haired gentleman in the picture sits erect, and his finely chiseled features reflect a strength that seems to deny his frailty or the need for a walking stick.
The handwritten caption below the picture identified the Owen countian as “Uncle George 98 years,” and this image of George S. Forsee has become a treasured piece of Owen County history.

In the 1700s families from Virginia and the Carolinas traveled with friends and neighbors into the wilderness of Kentucky. They joined together in large groups for defense against Indian attacks and frontier brigands, and to offer each other assistance in clearing the forest and building homes. Before long communities dotted the landscape of the Commonwealth and these small villages and towns created an unforgettable and enduring history which helped define the character of Kentucky

“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrong-doing. Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick, and I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm.”
The above quote was taken from the Hippocratic Oath which was a solemn promise historically taken by physicians. It was first used in Greece and was one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. Originally the oath required a new physician to swear to uphold specific ethical standards.