32 January 2002 La Posta
Doubles Branch, 10 ½ miles south-southeast of just below the mouth of Maden Fork, 1.7 miles above
Hindman, to serve the Little Carr locality. Here it Trace and less than six miles south of Hindman by the
36
closed in 1965. new Rt. 3391.
At the mouth of Little Carr, on June 1, 1894, William Incidentally, another Amburgey post office had been
R. Amburgey operated the inexplicably named Critic established on January 5, 1898, probably in the vicin-
post office. In the following year John Jesse Amburgey ity of Wolfpen Creek or Deadmare Branch of Little
had it moved 1 ½ miles up Little Carr to serve Francis Carr, but postmaster Wiley Amburgey’s authorization
Amburgey’s flour mill at the mouth of Dead Mare was rescinded on April 21. The Amburgeys of the Carr
Branch (three miles below Bath’s first site). It closed valley were descendants of Virginia-born John (1758-
in mid-June 1899. For some reason this office is re- 1831) and Elizabeth Amburgey, who had settled there
34
called by a few persons as Kricket (sic). in the 1820s. Their son Ambrose owned most of Little
37
Carr for much of the nineteenth century.
From December 4, 1922 through January 1928 the
post office of Does was maintained by Mrs. Eunice
Post Offices On Breeding Creek
Pigman about a mile up Wolfpen Creek and four miles
(Of Carr Fork)
from old Bath. I’m merely guessing that the name was
Settled early by and probably named for Elisha Breed-given by the office’s applicant, Maggie (Mrs. Elijah)
ing (died 1863), whose sons George M. And JamesHale, to honor her five children, Delice, Dona, Delmas,
and their families were also residents, this four mileDora, and David.
long stream heads against the Letcher County line and
Post Offices On Irishman Creek
joins Carr Fork at Cody. Along it extends Ky 15 and
160, connecting Hindman with Letcher’s seat of
The 5 ¼ mile long Irishman Creek heads a mile south
Whitesburg. Three post offices served valley residents.
of the first Brinkley post office site and joins Carr
Fork a mile below Smithsboro. Its lower section is
The earliest, Redfox, was operated between March
now in Carr Lake. It is said to have been named by
14, 1888 and mid-September 1890 by John Hale at an
pioneer settler and owner George Madden for the Irish
unknown site in the Breedings valley. On September
homeland of his forebears. Three post offices served
15, 1906 Jasper Hale (the first postmaster of Witch)
its residents.
re-established it some 600 yards up Hale Branch, two
miles up the creek from Cody. In 1916 it was moved
Though the application for Jeptha, the first Irishman
one mile further up the creek. In 1937 it was on Sugar
office, was submitted while the valley was still in
Branch, just below Hale Branch. In early 1940 it may
Letcher County, the office did not actually open till
have been moved nearly three miles further up Breed-
May 29, 1884, after Knott’s establishment. Its only
ings to the vicinity of the earlier Witch and Amelia,
postmaster was its name source Jeptha T. Maddin,
35
but was later moved to the mouth of Breedings Branch
George’s grandson. The office, four miles north of
(earlier called Mallet Fork) where it remains.
Carr Fork and six miles south of Hindman, closed in
mid-December 1890. It was re-established by Mad-
For some years Redfox served a racially integrated
den on November 27, 1891 as Saint Cloud. At least
community whose earliest black members were slaves
three other American post offices, in Minnesota, Wis-
of pioneer white landowners. According to tradition,
consin, and Florida, have borne this name, and each
a red fox was once found standing in the middle of the
was derived from the Paris suburb that had been the
road, just too tired to resume his run from pursuing
home of several French rulers, including Marie
hunters.
Antoinette and Napoleon.
To serve Breedings’ residents after the closing of
From 1936 to 1993 Irishman’s families were served
Redfox in 1890, Jasper Hale, on November 12, 1892,
by the Amburgey post office. This was established by
opened the post office of Witch. This may have been
Ida Madden (Mrs. John) Amburgey two miles up the
at the mouth of (then) Mallet Fork, the later site of the
creek, and named for this large extended Carr Fork
re-established Redfox, 2.3 miles above Cody. In 1903
family. Sometime after the Second World War it was
James Breeding had Witch moved two miles up the
moved a mile south to Newton Amburgey’s store at
creek to a site just short of the Letcher County line,
the mouth of Trace Fork, but when it closed it was
where it closed at the end of September 1912. Ac
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