History meets tales of the paranormal with Ghostly Tales

Oct. 18—Spencer Mahon

What does a Kentucky preacher, a president and ghosts have in common?

Well, the answer isn't just what you would think. Ghostly Tales is set to return to the Old Parsonage of Andrew Tribble on October 27, the Friday before Halloween.

The Tribble Parsonage has a history of its own within the county, with that story beginning as the pioneers traveled west just after the Revolutionary War.

"[Andrew] Tribble came over here to the Kentucky part of Virginia in 1780," said Dr. Rusty Rechenbach.

Rechenbach is the one responsible for restoring the Old Tribble Parsonage at its current location near Fort Boonesborough. The original property sits just off of I-75 near the ninety-first mile mark. There sits the grave of Andrew, other family and what used to be the Tribble Farm.

Andrew Tribble was one of many Pioneer Kentuckians who forged their way west through Virginia, into Kentucky and like the Boones a decade or so earlier, made their way up into Madison County. Tribble was a big part of the history of the Baptist Church movement in both Virginia and Kentucky.

Tribble also preached to the likes of Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence and the third president of the United States.

"Thomas Jefferson credited Tribble for his design for American Democracy," the announcement for this year's event on Facebook page for the Parsonage stated.

After packing up, Tribble and other baptists headed west.

"The Baptists came to evangelize the west, and he built and was instrumental in starting many of the Baptist churches in Madison County," Rechenbach said.

In the 1790's, Tribble built a two story log house in Madison County which over time was reduced in size with Tribble's children moving away as well as being altered to fit the needs of the property at various times.

"In 1967, it was taken down and it was one third of the house and the tenant farmers had been living in it," he said.

That's when the Tribble Farm was sold out of the family for the first in nearly 180 years and Nathan Amster moved the Tribble House over to Boonesborough Road.

At the time, there was no recognition of Daniel Boone within Madison County according to Rechenbach, which Amster was not happy about. With that, the house was moved.

"[Amster] refashioned it into a corner block house of Fort Boonesborough," Rechenbach said. At the time, the Fort that now stands as the representation of Fort Boonesborough as it would have been in the 1860s had not been built yet.

For a time, the Tribble Parsonage was a Kentucky History Museum that looked like part of Fort Boonesborough.

"It may have been that Nathan Amster's attempt encouraged Fort Boonesborough to be built down the street," he said. The Fort is just over a mile from where the Parsonage is currently located.

After Rechenbach's purchase of the property, the roof had caved in as had not been used in several years so he took the opportunity to restore the property back the late 1700s version of the property.

Part of the Parsonage is a community events space which can be rented out for weddings, receptions, showers and other events, Rechenbach said.

Every year, the Friday night before Halloween, Ghostly Tales takes over the Parsonage.

It's been done for the last seven years, he's brought in several storytellers over the year to tell ghost stories to those who attend the shows. Rechenbach thinks it's fitting of the era because tradition in the late 1700s was to sit around a fire and tell ghost stories.

This year's event is bringing out Cincinnati, OH based story teller Paul Strickland.

According to the Facebook page for the Old Parsonage, Strickland's performances, both collaborated and solo,

have been featured at the

National Storytelling Festival, comedy clubs, and Fringe Festivals across the United States and Canada.

"He gained notoriety with his performance 'Ain't True and Uncle False', which received the Best of Fest Award at Cincinnati Fringe Festival in 2013," the post said.

The event is set to have two show times on October 27, which will be 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets are going for $20 each, you can reserve tickets through emailing Rechenbach at drrussellrrechenbach@gmail.com and by phone at (859) 358-8427.