This Spencer County Historical Society’s 31st Annual Historian of the Year Banquet was held Thursday evening, December 9, at the Rockport Nazarene Church. Members of the congregation worked hard to realize the “banquet” aspect of the event, lining the Fellowship Hall with a full selection of homemade meals and desserts.
These efforts were much appreciated by the society, as the church’s Fellowship Hall quickly filled with members and visitors come to celebrate Darrell Stephens’ selection as the 2021 Historian of the Year, as well as descendants of this year’s Commemorative Award, Lepha Mackey.
Steve Sisley, president of the historical society, offered thanks to the church and its members for agreeing to host this year’s banquet.
“Two weeks before Christmas, that’s a lot to put on a church,” he noted.
Sisley also thanked various members of the society who have helped to promote its mission over the years, including vice president and charter member Duane Walter, secretary and treasurer Patricia Dawson and her husband Raymond, who organizes the group’s website and publishes its ever-popular newsletters. Congratulations were also offered to past Historian of the Year honorees, including Walter, Daryl Lovell, Tom Brauns, Steve Haaff, Coach Jim Haaff and Betty Grose.
On a more somber note, Sisley reported the society had lost five members over the past year. These included James Hevron and Georgia Banks, both former Historians of the Year. The Spencer County Historical Society can still boast more than 100 members, but more are always welcome, and should consider joining if Raymond Dawson’s regular newsletters on local history might be of interest.
Sisley was also happy to report that two Hall of Famers were present at the banquet that evening. Coach Jim Haaff representing Spencer County’s storied baseball heritage and Wayne Boultinghouse marking a recent entry on the basketball side of things.
Spencer County’s first historical society operated from 1915 to 1936. It reorganized in 1985 in the Spencer County Public Library, where it still holds regular meetings today. Sisley lauded local libraries for maintaining thorough microfilm records of local newspapers through the years, as well as other documents regarding wills, immigration etc. The society has worked to help raise funds to add to this collection and assist with genealogy projects and other research into local and family histories.
“Spencer County is very fortunate,” said Sisley. “It’s a good place to do research.”
Said research often goes into the decision-making process for the annual Commemorative Award, honoring individuals who have made a mark on the study of local history, or have made history themselves. This year’s recipient, “Aunt” Lepha Mackey, lived a very storied life from 1820 to 1899. She and her husband, Jacob, lived on the west side of Rockport, with Lepha helping circumvent discriminatory educational restrictions of the time by helping teach African American children to read out of her own home. The couple also donated land and material to construct a small church known as the “Mackey Chapel” and ultimately a school for the African American community, and also helped connect them with employment opportunities.
John Hargis was eager to speak on Lepha’s behalf, presenting some of his research into the Rockport she knew and helped shape. He referred heavily to the book, “Thenceforth and Forever Free” by Bess Ehrmann, a Commemorative Award honoree in her own right. Ehrmann dedicated a whole chapter in her book to the works of the Mackeys and the African American community in Rockport in the post-bellum years.
Those years represented a peak in the local African American population, before migratory trends changed the demographic profile. Hargis noted Spencer County once had nearly 1,000 African American residents, with around 650 of those residing in Rockport. This substantial community within a community had severely diminished access to public resources, not the least of which was the lack of a public school their children could attend. Lepha’s one-story cabin, located close to where the Lincoln Pioneer Village now sits, would have been a very important place for many residents, a haven granting them at least some chance of advancement.
Hargis marveled at the scale of population that would have relied almost solely on the affectionately named “Aunt Lepha” to gain a true foothold in American life.
“You have to wonder with that population how many kids she taught to read and write,” he said. “That’s remarkable.”
Indeed, the Mackeys made their lives in the heart of what was then the de facto African American community in Rockport, generally cornered on the southwest of the city. Even before Emancipation and the post-war Constitutional Amendments granted freed slaves equal rights, in theory, the couple worked in solidarity with African Americans. Hargis noted they served as guides along the Underground Railroad, secreting runaway slaves from Kentucky to way stations on the journey to Canada, risking legal action by the state or vigilante threats by southern bounty hunters.
“This was some pretty risky business,” he said.
The Mackeys were not particularly well off by any metric. Lepha brought in money predominantly by helping mend clothes and quilting. Still, she and her husband were able to acquire property through land grants by improving undeveloped parcels. In this way, they helped pave the way for a public school and church for the African American community in Rockport.
While Lepha did not live to see the new century, the community she helped build continued to flourish. The July 29, 1936 edition of the “Evansville Argus” reported, “The Ladies’ Aid Society of the Colored Mackey’s Chapel of Rockport held a memorial Sunday in honor of Mrs. Lepha Mackey, who established the first colored school in southern Indiana.” The article also noted Rev. Charles Winston of Indianapolis presided over the ceremony and a paper on the life of “Aunt Lepha” was presented.
Hargis pointed out a grander ceremony, a “Founder’s Day Rally” was held in 1941 at the church to honor Lepha’s memory. Four former students of hers were in attendance, a plaque was presented and a professor from Evansville performed a eulogy for her. Though the Mackey Church is no longer standing, it was once located at the corner of Ninth and Eureka streets.
Hargis noted the Lincoln Pioneer Village once included a replica of the Mackeys’ one-story cabin, but it fell into disrepair and was taken down. An attempt was made last year to earn a grant to cover the estimated $60,000 cost of replacing it, but no grant funds were available. The historical society hopes to meet with more success in the future.
There is, however, one memorial to Lepha standing near a U.S. Housing and Urban Development apartment complex near the village, and Mackey’s old homestead. That stone monument stands close to a similar marker for President John F. Kennedy.
“She’s in some high cotton there,” remarked Hargis.
There are also living testaments to the Mackey legacy in the form of descendants. Jane Senefeld was present at the banquet to accept the Commemorative Award on behalf of her family. She noted many have taken up jobs in the field of education and civic engagement, much like their forebear.
“That has come down through the family,” said Senefeld.
The lengthy December dinner came to its main event when Sisley returned to the podium to honor the 2021 Historian of the Year, Darrell Stephens. He offered a lengthy and comprehensive biography of Stephens and his family, one that Stephens himself was more than little surprised by.
Stephens was born in Somerset, Kentucky to Luther and Mary Joyce (Hughes) Stephens in 1954. This was a close, rural community that would soon be replaced on the map by Cumberland Lake, built as a form of flood control. While the Stephens family was uprooted by the project, Luther somewhat ironically found work with the Army Corps of Engineers building the Markland Dam in Switzerland County. The family then settled in Florence in 1960, where Darrell was first introduced to baseball via yard games. He also developed a budding interest in history, courtesy of the local library.
“Growing up, Darrell was a regular attendee and avid reader in the local library, American History and baseball being his primary interest,” said Sisley. “Newsstands with baseball magazines always sucked him in, and nearby Cincinnati radio station WLW carried the Reds, where he kept tabs on Pete Rose, Tommy Harper, Vadi Vinson and Frank Robinson.”
Luther continued to support his family working on various river projects, even after nearly drowning one winter day, he returned to work promptly the next morning. Eventually, Luther was faced with the choice of working on the Cannelton Dam or the Newburgh Dam, and as fate would have it chose the latter. Darrell later joked this was a pivotal moment in his life, as it ensured he would be brought up in Luce Township, in a community with a strong and celebrated baseball tradition.
Sisley noted Darrell quickly made himself at home at Joe Hargis Athletic Field and the South Spencer Gymnasium, and a school system with many talented athletes.
“It wasn’t Iowa, and it wasn’t Heaven, but it was close,” said Sisley. “It was Darrell’s Field of Dreams.”
After graduating from South Spencer High School in 1972, Darrell continued attending sports events to keep the books and scores. He has been involved in youth baseball and softball for 29 years and became the official score book keeper for American Legion Post 254 Baseball team from 1973 to 1990, returning from 2010 to present. Darrell continues to provide scores and updates to local newspapers to this day. Over the course of his career, he has attended seven out of 11 Rockport American Legion State Championships, three World Series American Legion Tournaments and a host of other major sports events he would commit to paper.
In 1989, Darrell graduated from Wabash Valley Junior College with an associate degree, earning honors and a 4.0 GPA, but missed the graduation ceremony to work the college’s baseball game that day. He became a Sport Information Director at Armstrong State College, where he took classes and again graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in 1992.
Four years later, he returned to Spencer County to work at Spencer Plastics, where he retired after 18 years. Darrell’s latest employment began in 2020, when he was elected as Clerk of Spencer County. Sisley commended Darrell for his considerable historical research in the field of local sports, even as he continued his everyday responsibilities.
“Stephens has spent countless hours, days, weeks and years meticulously collecting data,” he said. “Starting with the raw material and going through page by page, line by line of basketball score books, baseball score books, year books and newspaper recordings, collecting endless statistics, dates, names and teams. His years of perseverance and determination have produced three sports publications loaded with statistics.”
Indeed, Sisley noted Spencer County’s significant sports traditions would not be as well known or celebrated without the Darrell’s diligence.
“Few Indiana counties, if any at all, can boast of the available sports information Darrell Stephens has provided Spencer County,” he said. “His goal has never been to make money from his painstaking work; it was done in the name of preservation.”
Even after Sisley’s lengthy tribute had concluded, Darrell still had to endure a bit of good-natured embarrassment by a long-time colleague, Coach Jim Haaff. He credited Darrell with undertaking some tasks a coach might find unpleasant, such as communicating with the press, or the unglamorous work behind the scenes to keep a team working well.
“You’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” said Haaff. “I can tell he really enjoys baseball, and I can tell he really enjoys his work at the Courthouse.”
That last testament to his character out of the way, Darrell and Haaff embraced for a brief hug before the 2021 Historian of the Year finally got a word in edgewise. He immediately turned the spotlight on Boultinghouse, congratulating him on his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He noted Boultinghouse was able to effectively coach many teams throughout the area, many of them long-abiding rivals.
“What an honor for the county,” said Darrell. “What an honor for the (Rockport) Zebras.”
He also deflected his lauds in favor his family, pointing to his father’s work ethic, his mother’s generosity, his brother’s willingness to help and his step-daughter’s recent award for going above and beyond to assist someone at her hospital after a 12-hour shift.
“That’s the kind of family I’ve got. I feel like I’m the black sheep,” he joked. “Because I’m not in their league.”
It was not just family to earn Darrell’s respect over the course of his life. He spoke of many local figures over the course of the evening, including many celebrated coaches. For example, he recalled one instance where he let emotions run a little hot and earned a rebuke from Coach Bill Evans, who chided him on his temper. Darrell, in turn, reminded Evans of a time when four state troopers were required to keep him in check, after which the two agreed to let the matter drop.
“History is good to you,” he joked.
Darrell also congratulated members of the Spencer County Historical Society for making it such a strong and entertaining organization. He specifically pointed to Raymond Dawson’s newsletters, which Darrell credited as being worth the price of admission in and of themselves. Another thrill of the society is finding and returning Spencer County artifacts to their ancestral home, and categorizing their importance.
“Part of history is the fun of finding it,” he said.
While still a little uncertain about his selection as the 2021 Historian of the Year, Darrell is eager to continue to work with the society going forward.
“It’s an honor,” he said. “I’m going to have to keep working to make this sure it’s justified.”
