A philosopher once wrote that a house without a woman is like beans without seasoning. It is supposed that in manufacturing this apothegem, the sage had the home in mind, not a courthouse. But be that as it may, there are many people here in Breathitt who will say the county courthouse would seem a little flat without the presence of Mrs. Cora M. Noble.

Doubtless this is true, because Mrs. Noble is rounding out her 24th year as county court clerk and has been nominated on the Democratic ticket for four more years. Democratic nomination in Breathitt is the same as election, barring miracles, of course.

Other than being a soft-spoken, gentle, white-haired lady and reputedly an extremely efficient office holder, her record denotes that she also is an indisputable expert in the art of political survival. No politican (Mrs. Noble looks more like a sweet-faced grandmother) can win 14 successive primary and final elections without having in possession more than the ordinary amount of astuteness and understanding human nature.

In other words, at politics, Mrs. Noble is a whiz.

With a natural feminine reluctance at being too precise about her age, Mrs. Noble said she wouldn't go into that, but added that it was a long time ago when she was born at Barwick on the extreme southern border of Breathitt. She was educated at Lees College and the Fugazzi School of Business in Lexington and entered upon her public career as deputy clerk of the Breathitt County Court.

In this capacity she served 12 years, before being elected for the main job.

The secret of her success in maintaining her tenure in office, she says, is that she has carefully avoided exploiting people, has always told the truth, and makes no distinction between the citizens she serves.

"One thing I treasure more than anything else in the world," she said, "is the fact that folks have confidence in me, and be they rich or poor or of other status in life, I endeavor to treat everyone the same and extend the same courtesy to all."

She has one reservation, however. No more will she tend or permit anyone to leave pigs in her office, while they go shopping. In recounting some of her experiences, she gave this good reason.

One day she said a "blessed old crippled woman" came into her office with a little white pig in her arms. It was a "pretty little thing with a ribbon tied around its neck," and the old lady asked Mrs. Noble to piggy-sit while she went downtown to buy some items or other.

"Since the pig was so small," Mrs. Noble said, "I didn't anticipate much trouble. I put it in a shopping bag and thought it would go to sleep."

But it didn't. The first thing she knew the pig was gone and the next thing, somebody came in her office and told her there were hogs running around in the courthouse hall.

After a mad scramble through the hall and in and out of the other offices, the pig was finally captured, returned to her office, and tied to the leg of a desk.
Considering this an insult of major proportions, the pig almost tore down the office, before the old woman finally hobbled back and took charge.

"I made a rule after that," she said, '"to the effect that folks could leave packages, musical instruments, and other items in my office, but absolutely no pigs, poultry, or any other brand of livestock."

Mrs. Noble is a member of the Presbyterian Church and was more proud of this fact than anything else in connection with her life and public career. That she is devoted to her church can be seen in her tenure as a Sunday School teacher. She has taught a Sunday School class for 40 years.

Mrs. Noble's constituency has a word of description of her. A humanitarian, they call her, and back it up with tales of her kindness and concern for everyone crossing her path. They tell of her generosity to the aged, the unfortunate, and the helpless; of her kindness to children; of her distributed gifts, and of her hos- pitality.

Never having any children of her own, it is told that she reared and educated possibly a dozen belonging to worthy parents of less affluent circumstances. All this was done out of the goodness of heart and not for the sake of politics. Any political gain from these acts of kindness and compassion was incidental.

There is little doubt there are some scars of conflict of long years of political campaigning. But if so, they do not show, and the impression one gets from talking with Mrs. Noble and many people in Breathitt County is that here is a woman; Noble by name, and noble by nature.

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(Courtsey of the Lexington Leader-Leader and The Jackson Times, 1958.)

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