News from around Johnson County as reported on Nov. 23 in the pages of the Daily Journal and the Franklin Evening Star from the last 111 years.
On this day in 1963, Johnson County was in shock after the death of President John F. Kennedy.
One day earlier, on Nov. 22, Kennedy was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas, while in a car with Texas Governor John B. Connally, who was also shot. “KENNEDY ASSASSINATED” was the headline on the top of that evening’s Daily Journal.
The headline on top of the paper the following day was “Townsfolk shocked by President’s death.” Some county residents initially thought his death was a joke, while others refused to believe it.
“I took it as a joke,” said Carolyn Roy, a cashier at G.C. Murphy’s department store in Franklin.
“It seemed like a dream. It didn’t sound real,” said Tom Willett, a freshman at Franklin College.
Flags were at half-mast. Special memorial services began to be planned for Kennedy. Local churches planned special prayer services.
Governments and schools announced they would be closed the day of Kennedy’s funeral. Franklin Mayor Frank S. Records issued a proclamation asking businesses to “show their respect” by closing during the time of the funeral.
Kennedy, “both as a man and the 35th President of these United States, left his mark on history,” the Daily Journal said in an editorial.
“And it won’t be erased by an assassin’s bullet, as long as we continue asking ourselves ‘what can we do for our country.’”
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Other memorable Johnson County stories from this day
2021
The Franklin Police Department was mourning the death of K-9 Pepper, who died unexpectedly.
2018
Johnson County was gearing up for Small Business Saturday events in Franklin and Greenwood.
1973
A convicted murder who was one of three to escape the Johnson County jail was captured in his hometown of Franklin, Kentucky.
