Charles Manson’s name is written in history by leading a cult called the Family to commit murders with the intent to start a race war.

Manson and his following killed actress Sharon Tate and four others on August 9th, 1969.

While Manson made headlines for the murders one little-known fact is he spent a short amount of time during his childhood in Eastern Kentucky.

Ron Daley wrote a letter to Manson.  In Manson return  letter, Manson recalled living in Knott County with his mother who had him at 16.

"It was kind of a rambling letter. But it said he remembers living there briefly as a young boy. He said he had what he called snake cousins in Knott County the Rameys the Neelys and the Kilgores and he said he remembered moonshine and mason jars," said Randy Campbell the owner of Manson's childhood home.

Campbell is a lawyer and represented former newspaper publisher Ron Daley after Daley wrote a letter to Manson and had to get the letter back after it ended up in the wrong hands.

In the letter, Manson recalled living in Knott County with his mother who had him at 16.

"The first thing that went through my mind is he really did live in Knott County. Because the Rameys the Neelys and the Kilgores are families that live in Knott County so I was surprised for him to be like yea I really know Knott County," said Campbell.

The building that Campbell owns was known as the Blue Moon Café. Campbell says he has been approached to make it a museum highlighting Manson’s time there, however, he has no plans to do that.

The killer Charles Manson is now dead in California at the age of 83 after serving a life term in prison, but he was born in Cincinnati and had some Kentucky roots.

His grandparents lived in Ashland, Kentucky — a fact explored by Courier Journal's Sunday Magazine in 1988. The story, titled "Strange as its Scenes," offered readers directions on how to find oddities across the commonwealth, from what was described as the world's smallest bus station to "Charles Manson's

 response to a September 1993 letter to Charles Manson in prison concerning being in Knott County and being around the Blue Moon Café he wrote, “Mom worked there after she got out of prison. I was 5 or 6…law and order border town (he draws smiley face)….moon was in jars then. Now I got it under my fingers. My grandmoms brother was put in prison and hung for a murder in Knocksville. I think that in TENN. It’s been a long time since I ever thought. It’s TRUE you can’t take the Hills out of the boy. I think I left my diper pens in Eddieville (draws prison). I remember the VISITING room and I was just walking and my uncle was rolling an old Indian Bike – BIKER BOOTS in them days….WERE Railroad boots.

“I stomped all over Ky. I got 1000s of snake cousins who fear saying oh yes Manson is related to all the Raymes, Millers, Kilkores, Mc’s and Mac Irish and Satts moonshiners and mason jars (signed Charles Manson) ps. I still ant went to no YANKEE School.”

The Blue Moon Café no longer stands on the top of Jones Fork Mountain off KY 550. At the time Manson was in the vicinity Knott County was “wet” allowing legal alcohol sales. I was told by area residents that adjacent to the café were “Ginny Barns” in which women and men could have privacy.

Most written accounts describe Manson’s mom, Kathleen, as a prostitute which may explain her purpose at the place. In a 1972 interview she denied she was ever a prostitute. The building later used for other purposes, once including mission work in distributing clothes.

Last year one elderly man hearing about my Manson letter told me, “I played with Charlie as a kid…he was meaner than a snake.”

The biographies of Manson omit the period of years 1943 to 1947 when his mother sent him away. Manson wrote in a memoir in 1987, Manson In His Own Words, about his troubled youth. He was born to a single mother, abandoned at the age of 12 and then abused and raped at reform school.

“It’s obvious there is something lacking in my makeup,” Manson said. He also reflected on his popular image as the face of evil. “I’m nothing but the reflection of evil that goes through the minds of all those people who created the monster and keep pushing the myth to kids who don’t know any better,” he wrote.

Manson said in one interview that the most poignant childhood moment in his life was when his mother gave him a hug after getting out of prison. He was obviously starved for his mother’s love and attention after being sent off to relatives during her incarceration. But, his relationship with her was complicated as stated in one interview. “Mom was in a cafe one afternoon with me on her lap. The waitress, a would-be mother without a child of her own, jokingly told my Mom she’d buy me from her. Mom replied, ‘A pitcher of beer and he’s yours.’ . off and left the place without me. Several days later my uncle had to search the town for the waitress and take me home.”

When Manson’s mother was sent to a West Virginia prison he went to live with his mother’s sister Glenna and her husband Bill in the same state. The uncle was not happy having “Charlie” around. In his first few days of school, a notoriously cruel teacher ridiculed Charles for being the son of a criminal, and he returned home with tears streaming down his face. His uncle Bill yelled that crying was only for girls and forced him to return to school in a girl’s dress the next day as punishment.

His mother was born Ada Kathleen Maddox to her parents Charles and Nancy in Rowan County, Kentucky. The family moved to Ashland when Kathleen was 10. She became pregnant with Colonel Scott of Catlettsburg, Kentucky at the age of 16. Kathleen married a William Manson while she was pregnant. Charles was born in a Cincinnati hospital.

The Blue Moon Restaurant former home of Charles Manson in Knott County Kentucky

David G. Duncan July 20, 2016

The Blue Moon Restaurant mostly referred to as the “Blue Moon” in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s still stands on Kentucky Hwy 550 between the towns of Hindman and Mousie in Knott County Kentucky. It got its name from the “Blue Moon Mountain” on which it still stands today. The Blue Moon was a greasy spoon restaurant that stood as a front for the illegal sale of whiskey, moonshine and prostitutes. Fights were not uncommon almost every night as the inebriated clients started feeling their liquor. This notorious house of ill repute was the only form of entertainment available in Knott at that time. There were no commerce or jobs with the exception of the mining industry. This illicit operation gave the company stores owned by local coal operators a run for their money. You could buy a hamburger, glass of shine and a lady of the night all at one sitting.

This two story building had America’s most notorious serial killer as a tenant who lived there as a child in the mid 1930’s . Charles Manson and his prostitute mother Kathleen Maddox lived on the second floor of the establishment. She once sold him to a female patron for a pitcher of beer. Kathleen’s uncle found young Manson and returned him. Maddox had a plethora of cousins in the area who served as baby sitters while prowling the Blue Moon and is said to be related to the Kilgores, Millers and Calhoun’s of Knott. Manson not knowing who his father really was adopted his name from two words “man’s son” hence Manson not from the Manns family residing in the area as some publications have stated.

Behind the building there were three “Jenny Barns” that were used for prostitution. These buildings were made mostly of old junk wood . They were about 10 by 8 feet in size. Each had one bed in it. Neither of the Jenny Barns had electricity. They were lighted only by candle or oil lamps. Ten dollars got you a brief visit to one of these huts, time was limited to make way for the next customer.

 Most the patrons who are still living tell me that law enforcement was not a problem in the 30’s and 40’s. The local law enforcement at the time spent more time there than on the road. Payoffs and bribes were the licenses to sell at that time in history. The Blue Moon was open 24/7 serving it’s clientele. It also was a bootleg house at different times in the 1960’s. After that it was used as an apartment well into the 80’s and 90’s. It has since fallen into decay due to time and no attention. This is to say the least a historical land mark in eastern Kentucky and should be treated as such. Curiosity seekers routinely break the doors open to look inside. The reason for this article was to bring attention and possible save it. It sits on what is known now as the Jones Fork Mountain for all passersby to see. 

 Born Ada Kathleen Maddox in 1918, Kathleen ran away from home in 1933, and became pregnant at only 16 years of age. In November of 1934, she gave birth to illegitimate son "no first name Maddox" in Cincinnati, OH. It was around this time that she met and married William Manson who would go on to give the boy (eventually named Charles Milles Maddox after his maternal grandfather) his last name. Unfortunately, this marriage was short lived.

    Charles Manson in Nuel Emmons' book Manson in His Own Words^[1] describes the Maddox family:

"Kathleen was the youngest of three children from the marriage of Nancy and Charles Maddox. Her parents loved her and meant well by her, but they were fanatical in their religious beliefs. Especially Grandma, who dominated the household. She was stern and unwavering in her interpretation of God's Will, and demanded that those within her home abide by her view of God's wishes.

My grandfather worked for the B&O Railroad. He worked long hard hours, a dedicated slave to the company and his bosses...He was not the disciplinarian Grandma was...If he tried to comfort Mom with a display of affection, such as a pat on the knee or an arm around her shoulder, Grandma was quick to insinuate he was vulgar.

For Mom, life was filled with a never-ending list of denials. From awakening in the morning until going to bed at night it was, "No Kathleen, that dress is too short. Braid your hair, don't comb it like some hussy. Come directly home from school, don't let me catch you talking to any boys. No, you can't go to the school dance, we are going to church..." In 1933, at age fifteen, my mother ran away from home.

Other writers have portrayed Mom as a teenage whore...In her search for acceptance she may have fallen in love too easily and too often, but a whore at that time? No!...In later years, because of hard knocks and tough times, she may have sold her body some..."

Kathleen was the kind of mother that children are taken away from and placed in foster homes. She had a habit of disappearing for days and weeks at a time, leaving Charlie with his grandmother or his aunt.^[2] According to Manson, his mother once even traded him for a pitcher of beer. Kathleen brought her young son to a café and was chatting with the waitress, who wanted a child of her own and thought Manson was cute. "A pitcher of beer and he's yours," she said. The waitress assumed she was joking, but gave her an extra pitcher anyway. True to her word, Kathleen finished her drinks and left her child behind. Days later, Manson's uncle tracked him down and brought him home.

In 1939, Kathleen and her brother were both sentenced to the penitentiary for robbing a Charleston, West Virginia, service station. After spending three years in prison, Kathleen was paroled in 1942. When she returned home, she gave Manson a hug. He later described this as his only happy memory from childhood.

According to a 2013 biography of Charles Manson by author Jeff Guinn, once Maddox was out of jail, her son had already become a petty criminal, stealing and skipping school. Unable to control his bad behavior, Maddox sent him to a Catholic school for delinquents when he was 12 years old.

In the early 1960s, when Manson was incarcerated at a prison in Washington state, Maddox reportedly moved there from California to be closer to him while he was serving his time.

The rest of Kathleen Maddox’s life is shrouded in even more mystery than her early years. In a 1971 interview, the same year Manson was convicted of first-degree murder, Maddox said that she was five years into her third marriage with husband Gale Bower. She had a nine-year-old daughter and lived a quiet life with few friends.^[3]

Kathleen Maddox died on July 31, 1973 at age 54 in Spokane, Wash. She’s buried at Fairmount Memorial Park. She was the daughter of Nancy Lorraine and Charles Maddox and the mother of Charles Manson

Nancy Lorraine (Nannie) Maddox formerly Ingraham aka Ingram

Born 11 Apr 1887 in Morehead, Rowan, Kentucky, United States

ANCESTORS 

Daughter of Luther Martin Ingraham and Serepta (Holbrook) Ingraham

[sibling(s) unknown]

Wife of Charles Milles Maddox — married 24 Aug 1907 in Moorehead, Rowan, Kentucky, United States

DESCENDANTS 

Mother of Glenna Faye (Maddox) Thomas, Dorthy Aileene Maddox, Luther Elbert Maddox and Ada Kathleen (Maddox) Bower

Died 17 Jul 1959 in Ashland, Boyd, Kentucky, United States

Serepta (Reppie) "Reppa" Ingraham formerly Holbrook

Born 7 Nov 1854 in Carter Co., Kentucky, United States

ANCESTORS 

Daughter of John Henry Holbrook and Lourana (Holbrook) Wagoner

Sister of Sarah Elizabeth (Holbrook) Stephens

Wife of Luther Martin Ingraham — married 27 Jul 1874 in Elliott Co., Kentucky, United States

DESCENDANTS 

Mother of Nancy Lorraine (Ingraham) Maddox

Died 27 Dec 1923 in Rowan Co., Kentucky, United States

Braddock Holbrook

Born 10 Oct 1787 in Wilkes, North Carolina, United States of America

ANCESTORS 

Son of John Henry Holbrook Jr and Mary (Cooksey) Holbrook

Brother of Robert Alford Holbrook Sr and John Holbrook

Husband of Judith (Jordan) Holbrook — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

DESCENDANTS 

Father of John Henry Holbrook, Sarah (Holbrook) Skaggs, Delilah (Holbrook) Pennington, Amos Holbrook and James Monroe Holbrook

Died 31 Jul 1871 in Green, Elliott, Kentucky, United States of America

John Henry Holbrook Jr

Born 1764 in Goochland, Russell, Virginia

ANCESTORS 

Son of John Henry Holbrook Sr. and Mary (Hargis) Holbrook

Brother of John Hammon [half] and Randolph Holbrook

Husband of Mary (Cooksey) Holbrook — married 1785 in Wilkes, North Carolina

DESCENDANTS 

Father of Robert Alford Holbrook Sr, Braddock Holbrook and John Holbrook

Died about 1815 in Russell, Virginia

John Henry Holbrook Sr. aka Holbrooks

Born about 1727 in Goochland, Goochland, Virginia

ANCESTORS 

Son of Randolphe Holbrook and Mary (unknown) Holbrook

Brother of Randolph Holbrook, Edy Holbrook and Elizabeth (Holbrook) Earle [half]

Husband of Mary (Hargis) Holbrook — married 1763 in Goochland, Goochland, Virginia

DESCENDANTS 

Father of John Henry Holbrook Jr and Randolph Holbrook

Died about 1805 in Dockery, Wilkes, North Carolina

Randolphe (Randolph) Holbrook

Born about 1697 [location unknown]

Son of Unknown Holbrook and [mother unknown]

Brother of John Holbrook

Husband of Mary (unknown) Holbrook — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Husband of Jeanette (Patterson) Holbrook — married 1733 in Stafford, Virginia

DESCENDANTS 

Father of Randolph Holbrook, Edy Holbrook, John Henry Holbrook Sr. and Elizabeth (Holbrook) Earle

Randolphe (Randolph) Holbrook

Born about 1697 [location unknown]

Son of Unknown Holbrook and [mother unknown]

Brother of John Holbrook

Husband of Mary (unknown) Holbrook — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Husband of Jeanette (Patterson) Holbrook — married 1733 in Stafford, Virginia

DESCENDANTS 

Father of Randolph Holbrook, Edy Holbrook, John Henry Holbrook Sr. and Elizabeth (Holbrook) Earle

Randolphe (Randolph) Holbrook

Born about 1697 [location unknown]

Son of Unknown Holbrook and [mother unknown]

Brother of John Holbrook

Husband of Mary (unknown) Holbrook — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Husband of Jeanette (Patterson) Holbrook — married 1733 in Stafford, Virginia

DESCENDANTS 

Father of Randolph Holbrook, Edy Holbrook, John Henry Holbrook Sr. and Elizabeth (Holbrook) Earle

Died about 11 Oct 1777 in Goochland, Goochland, Virginia

Profile managers: Linda Swilling  [send private message] and Jeremy Earle  [send private message]

Profile last modified 22 Mar 2022 | Created 21 Nov 2013 | Last significant change:22 Mar 2022

20:51: Ellen Smith edited the Biography for Randolphe Holbrook (abt.1697-abt.1777). (link to Source page for book cited) [Thank Ellen for this | 1 thank-you received]

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Randolphe (Randolph) Holbrook

Born about 1697 [location unknown]

Son of Unknown Holbrook and [mother unknown]

Brother of John Holbrook

Husband of Mary (unknown) Holbrook — married [date unknown] [location unknown]

Husband of Jeanette (Patterson) Holbrook — married 1733 in Stafford, Virginia

DESCENDANTS 

Father of Randolph Holbrook, Edy Holbrook, John Henry Holbrook Sr. and Elizabeth (Holbrook) Earle

Biography

Personal records of Linda Swilling Regan:

The parents and place and date of birth for this Randle/Randolph Holbrook is unknown! He was mixed up with another Holbrook family in England, but from further research, this was discovered to be wrong.

What is known is this Randall Holbrook, sometimes found as Randal Holdbrook or Holebrook, has been found in Virginia records as early as 1721 King George County, when Randolph and his wife, Mary, sued James Grant for tobacco. He is mentioned in the Overwharton Register as a tobacco tender in 1724

In 1733 he is mentioned as the brother of John Holbrook in John's will, written 9 March 1733. Also in this will are the names of Randle's sons, John, Randall, and Edy Holbrook. These children would have been adults in 1733.

Also in 1733, this Randle Holbrook married Janet Patterson (Pattison) Conyers, widow of Henry Conyers..^[1] Together they had one daughter, Elizabeth Holbrook born about 1734 in Virginia.

In 1754 he is seen as a witness in the Goochland Records.^[2]  December 22, 1754. George Payne, Jr., to Agatha George; sec.,
 

Wm. Mitchell; witn. Randall Holbrook. Certificate of consent from James George, father of Agatha, and Josias Payne, father of George Payne. Witnesses to first consent, Will Mitchell and George Lovell; to second, Will, Mitchell and Josias Payne, Jr. In 1755 Randle made out a Deed of Gift to his son-in-law, Samuel Earle and Elizabeth (Holbrook) Earle, for all goods and other things belonging to his deceased wife, Jannet Holdbrook of Stafford County, Virginia. The Douglas Register reports two funeral notices of Ran. Holbrook, one dated in 1777 and one in 1778. No further information has been found as of 2020.

    From personal records of J. C. Halbrooks, dated April 1999:   Buried Oct 20, 1777 - as "Randolph" or Feb 15, 1778 - as "Ran". Douglas Register, p. 37 & 125. Parents: Male Holbrook. Spouse1: Mary Unknown. Randolph Holbrook Sr. and Mary Unknown were married between 1715 and 1716. Children were: John Holbrook, Edy Holbrook, Randolph Holbrook.Spouse2: Janet Patterson. Randolph Holbrook Sr. and Janet Patterson were married between 1730 and 1733 in Stafford County, Virginia. Children were: Elizabeth Holbrook . Samuel Earle III married his second wife Elizabeth Holbrook, daughter of Randolph (Randall) and Jeannette Holbrook of Prince William county. The date of this marriage was after 1748..."^[3]