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THE CIVIL WAR
Opposition to this measure and to the men who con trolled the Federal government burst forth in denunciatory Indignation of speeches within the State and in Congress. Kentucky At Lexington, the daring Federal cavalry raider, Colonel Frank L. Wolford, with his picturesque, untutored eloquence, roused the people to revolt from the idea of "keeping step to the music of the Union alongside of negro soldiers"; and for his defiance was arrested and imprisoned. Lieutenant Governor Jacob also de- nounced the methods of the administration, and likewise suffered arrest. In Congress, Aaron Harding spoke ably on the same subject, and William Henry Wadsworth made a speech which increased Kentucky's claim to orators.
Early in January, 1864, General Boyle resigned the position of military commandant of Kentucky. He had
Military striven to fulfill his trying duties as a Christian
oppression gentleman; and his resignation was a misfor- tune to the Kentuckians. For the next two years the people were harassed by a series of military rulers who were re- garded at the time as nothing less than tyrannical. In February, Major General Steven G. Burbridge was ap- pointed commander of the department of Kentucky. He belonged to the extreme Radical wing of the Union party in his State, and he met the situation in Kentucky in what seemed a harsh and unrelenting manner.
The terrible guerrilla raids, alike condemned by honor- able Confederates and Federals, became exasperatingly
Notorious frequent during the last years of the war.
guerrillas Scarcely a county in the State escaped their depredations, and their leaders usually succeeded in evad- ing the officers of the law. It was only after long months, when unnumbered crimes had been committed, that three of the most notorious leaders were captured ; and then by
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CIVIL CONFLICTS
accident. Captain Billy Magruder, of a powerful gang, had been dangerously wounded. Two of his comrades, Henry Metcalf and "Sue Munday,"-showing that spark of goodness which exists in all human beings, - had tarried by to nurse him. They were captured, and Munday, the most conspicuous of the three, was taken to Louisville and hung, although to the last he maintained his innocence of the crimes with which he was charged.
Meanwhile terror filled the hearts of the aged, and the women and children; for none were exempt fromn the guerrilla cruelties. The civil authorities of the Civil and mili-
Commonwealth made an earnest effort to sup- tary conflicts press this evil, but they did not have the power which belonged to their offices. From now until the establish- ment of peace they were disturbed and enfeebled by un- avoidable conflicts with the military rulers which the secretary of war placed over the State.
The new commanding officer, General Burbridge, as- sumed control of the State. The measures which he adopted to suppress the guerrillas were thought very gen- erally to be as brutal as the acts of those outlaws them- selves. He issued an order to the effect that whenever a citizen was killed by guerrillas, four military prisoners should be taken to the spot where the murder was com- mitted, and hung in retaliation. These prisoners were supposed to be guerrillas, yet as has been stated, guerrillas were seldom captured. The victims were usually simply Confederate prisoners of war. Strong opposition to such measures was expressed throughout the State, but to no effect. In the western district, where Brigadier General E. A. Paine was in command, the military acts grew so oppressive - extending even to bold murder and robbery - that many peaceable citizens were obliged to abandon
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THE CIVIL WAR
their homes to escape a horrible fate. In several cases, even loyal men who had fought for the Union, were arrested by order of General Burbridge and sent outside of Kentucky, because they had expressed their opposition to the men in control of national affairs. But these were not all the grievances which the people of that day had to deplore. The Federal officers further encroached upon the civil powers by attempt- ing to control the elections of the State.
In August, 1864, the elec- tion for judge of the court of appeals in the Victory of Con- second district servative Union was to take place, party
as well as for some minor county and precinct officers. Judge Alvin Duvall, a South- ern Rights man, was the Jacques Reich Democratic candidate for re- election. The division in the Union party of the State, which has already been noted, George Robertson was steadily becoming more pronounced. Mortimer M. Benton, an eminent lawyer of Covington, was the nominee of the Radical wing of that party.
Several days before the election, General Burbridge ordered that the name of Alvin Duvall should not be allowed to appear on the poll books as a candidate. This interference of the military authorities with the civil government was not only insufferable, but altogether un- necessary. Kentucky was still a zealous Union State. There was no chance just yet of any Southern Rights
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CIVIL CONFLICTS
candidate being elected. The coast now seemed cleared for the election of the Radical candidate, Benton; but the Conservative Union men, in righteous resentment of Gen- eral Burbridge's order, on the very morning of the election, telegraphed over the district the name of a new candidate, George Robertson, formerly chief justice, and he was elected.
George Robertson, who was one of the most competent judges in Kentucky, had always been on the Conserva.
George tive side in
Robertson politics. He had taken part in the in- teresting conflict between the Old Court and New Court parties, upholding the former faction. He had been a stanch Whig, and now he was a Con- servative supporter of the Union. He stood promi- nent in the midst of such able lawyers as Madison C. Johnson, George Black- burn Kinkead, Thomas A. George B. McClellan Marshall, and Aaron K. Woolly, of the Lexington bar, and Samuel Smith Nicholas, James Guthrie, and James Speed, of the Louisville bar.
The political state of Kentucky was most interesting at this time. The year 1864 was the year of the presiden- tial election. Kentucky held three conven- Action of the
three parties tions to select delegates to the national con- ventions. The Unconditional Union, or Radical conven- tion, was presided over by Robert J. Breckinridge, a
.
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THE CIVIL WAR
Presbyterian divine and political speaker, - a strong con- trolling spirit in his party. This convention indorsed the administration and voted for President Lincoln's reelection. The Conservative Union, or Union Democratic, convention, of which James Guthrie was the leading spirit, boldly an- nounced its opposition to Lincoln and declared for General George B. McClellan. The Democratic, or Southern Rights, convention was harmonious with the Conserva- tive, and in favor of Mcclellan.
President Lincoln received the nomination on the basis of reestablishment of the Union with- out slavery ; Gen- eral McClellan, of reestablishment with slavery. Lincoln was elected No- vember, End of the 1864, by tragedy
Ulysses S. Grant
an overwhelming majority ; but Ken- tucky gave a ma- jority of over thirty- six thousand to McClellan. Peace
was at hand. The State was becoming relieved of her mil- itary oppressors.
Toward the end of the year, Paine was deprived of his office in the western district, and the following February General Burbridge was replaced by General Palmer, to the great satisfaction of the Kentuckians.
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CIVIL CONFLICTS
On April 9, 1865, the Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to General U. S. Grant, at Appo- mattox Courthouse, Vir- ginia.
Five days later, Abra- ham Lincoln was assassi- nated at Ford's theater, in Washington. But he had finished his work. The cause for which he lost his life was estab- lished. In December, 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal constitution - which declared that nei- ther slavery nor involun- tary servitude should Robert E. Lee any longer exist in the United States- was ratified by three fourths of the States and became a part of the con- stitution. Kentucky opposed the amendment.
RECAPITULATION
Lincoln departs from the policy he was elected under.
Issues the Emancipation Proclama- tion, January 1, 1863.
Radical Union party of Kentucky ap- proves his course.
Conservative Union party denounces it.
Conservative Union party the con- trolling power.
Colonels T. E. Bramlette and R. T. Jacob, Conservatives, elected gov- ernor and lieutenant governor, Au- gust, 1863.
Martial law enforced during the elec- tion.
Negro soldiers first recruited in the State, January, 1864.
Jacob and Wolford denounce the ad- ministration on this account.
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THE CIVIL WAR
They are arrested and banished. General Boyle resigns his office. S. G. Burbridge, a Radical Union man, appointed commander of Kentucky military department. The beginning of harassing situa- tions.
The State's civil rulers are Conserva- tive.
The military rulers are Radical.
They are in conflict until peace is es- tablished.
Munday, Magruder, and Metcalf, no- torious guerrillas.
Many crimes committed by them and other guerrillas.
Confederate prisoners of war hung in retaliation.
General E. A. Paine's course in the western district.
The military attempt to control elec- tions.
Judge Alvin Duvall, a Southern Rights man, candidate for reëlec- tion to court of appeals.
Military forbid his name to appear on the poll books.
Efforts of the military to elect the Radical candidate.
Defeated by the prompt action of the Conservatives. George Robertson, Conservative, elected.
Conservative Union, Radical Union, and Democratic conventions held. The Radical Union convention for Lincoln.
Conservatives and Democrats support McClellan for President.
President Lincoln reëlected.
Kentucky's large vote for McClellan. General Burbridge replaced by Gen- eral Palmer.
Kentucky rejoices over Palmer's ap- pointment.
Paine removed in the western dis- trict.
Peace at hand.
Lee surrenders at Appomattox Court- house.
Abraham Lincoln assassinated. The Thirteenth Amendment passed. Slavery abolished in the United States, December, 1865.
V-THE NEW KENTUCKY, SINCE 1865
CHAPTER XIX
THE RESTORATION OF PEACE, 1865-1875
ON December 18, 1865, the Conservative majority in the legislature passed resolutions of general pardon to all citizens who had fought for the Confederacy. Return of the As the Confederate soldiers returned to their Confederates old places, the Conservative men, who still had control of the State, stretched forth their hands in welcome, with a promise to forget the differences which had separated them in past issues, in the hope that the good men of all parties would unite with them for the restoration of peace.
But in this they were disappointed. The Confederate soldiers had just suffered defeat. They believed that the support which the Conservative men caused the State to give to the Union was an impor- Democratic Powerful organization tant factor in that defeat. Therefore, they had little desire for party harmony with those men. Also, the
people in general, who had stayed at home and taken no active part in the war, had suffered so much from the mil- itary rulers which the Republican party had placed over the State, that they felt a temporary hostility towards Union principles. Even a portion of the old Conservative element went over into the more extreme position of the
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THE NEW KENTUCKY
Democrats. Thus, when the Democratic State convention met at Frankfort, February 22, 1867, to select nominees for the pending August elections, it showed a large and powerful body. At the other extreme stood the Radical, or Republican, party, which had steadily, though slowly, increased in the State, and at this time received also a portion of the Con- servative force. This party put forth a ticket headed by S. M. Barnes and R. T. Baker.
The men who still
adhered to the Con-
servative Downfall of the doctrine Conservative party
organ- ized in Louisville in the spring of 1867 and nominated W. B. Kinkead gover- nor, Harrison Taylor William B. Kinkead for lieutenant gover- nor, John M. Harlan for attorney-general, J. S. Hurt for auditor, Alfred Allen for treasurer, J. J. Craddock for register, and B. M. Harney for superintendent of public instruction. They had no hope of carrying the election. Their purpose in presenting a ticket was the opportunity thereby gained of making known their principles. Their work was finished. They soon dissolved as an organization and passed mainly into the Democratic party. A few, however, went with the Republicans. Distinguished among these were C. F.
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THE RESTORATION OF PEACE
Burnam, John M. Harlan, James Speed, and William Henry Wadsworth, who received high national ap- pointments.
The Democratic ticket was composed of John L. Helm for governor, John W. Stevenson for lieutenant governor, John Rodman for attorney-general, D. Howard Democratic
Smith for auditor, J. W. Tate for treasurer, J. triumph A. Dawson for register, and Z. F. Smith for superintend- ent of public instruction. The Democratic candidates were elected by an enormous ma- jority, and the politics of the State was settled for many years to come. Until the present day this party has had almost undisputed power. Only Democrats of Southern sympathies were elected to Congress, with one exception. Major George M. Adams, a Federal soldier, who had now joined the Democratic party, received the election in the 8th district; and for William H. Wadsworth some time he alone was al- lowed to take his seat in Congress.
On September 3, 1867, John L. Helm received the oath of inauguration as governor, while lying dangerously ill at his home in Elizabethtown. Five days later John W. he died, and John W. Stevenson, the lieutenant Stevenson governor, became acting governor until the following August, when he was elected governor. Governor Steven- son was a man eminently fitted for the position to which
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THE NEW KENTUCKY
he was called. He was a lawyer, and at the Covington bar had gained the reputation of exceptional ability. By this time Kentucky was in a state of financial prosperity and comparative peace, though law and order were not yet firmly es- tablished.
One of the causes of the disturbance of the peace was the establish- ment in the State, in the year 1865, of agencies of the Freedmen's Bureau. In Freedmen's March, 1865, Bureau
Congress had passed an act setting free the wives and children of negro soldiers. This John W. Stevenson was prior to the adop- tion of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Federal constitution, which declared that slavery should no longer exist in the United States. We have seen that the emancipation act of 1863 did not practically affect Kentucky, which was a loyal State; but the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau attempted to en- force this law in Kentucky. They demanded money for the services of the wives and children of negroes who had been enlisted in the United States army. The proceed- ing was deemed unconstitutional, and was deeply resented by the Commonwealth.
A number of suits were brought for this cause by the Freedmen's Bureau; but they were all lost, as the court
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THE RESTORATION OF PEACE
of appeals sustained the lower courts. The first was against Garrett Davis, then ably representing Kentucky in the United States Senate, -a stanch Union man and a large owner of slaves. The effect of the Freedmen's Bureau was : (I) to irritate the people against the Re- publican party, the party in power in the nation; (2) to strengthen the Democratic party ; (3) to retard the ad- vancement of the negro.
The organization assumed the guardianship of the race. It awoke an opposition on the part of the slave to his former owner, and thereby prevented the friendly rela- tions which to-day exist between the two races. By 1870, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States constitution were ratified and the rights of citizen- ship and suffrage were conferred upon the negroes of the nation.
Another cause of the disturbance of the peace was the terror created in various counties of the State-especially Marion, Boyle, Lincoln, and Mercer - by bands of men at first called Regulators and Kuklux
afterward Kuklux. These men took it upon themselves to punish the offenders against the laws of the State. When a crime was committed, a large number of them would go out together in the dead of night, thoroughly armed, and disguised by masks, proceed to the home of the culprit, drag him out of bed, take him to the woods, and whip him or inflict some other torture upon him. The members of the Kuklux pretended that such acts were done by them in order to intimidate evildoers, and thereby improve the moral condition of the State; but in reality these men made themselves criminals of the most dangerous order. Their conduct was wrong enough when their cruelties fell upon the guilty; it was horrible when
KENT. HIST. - 14
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THE NEW KENTUCKY
the innocent became their victims. The Kuklux were suppressed by 1873, but the lawless spirit which animated them has not yet wholly died out in Kentucky. Sometimes, particularly in the hill country, lynchings still occur -the speedy executions of mob law.
Governor Stevenson, having been elected to the United States Senate in February, 1871, resigned the position of governor, and Preston H. Leslie, acting lieu-
Negroes vote
for the first
tenant governor, assumed the duties of the
time office. The following August he was elected
governor. His opponent was the eminent Republican, John M. Harlan. John G. Carlisle was elected lieutenant governor. The Democratic majority was greatly reduced, because of the addition to the Republican numbers for the first time of the negro vote. Whereas, in the presidential vote of 1868 the Democratic majority in the State had been seventy-six thousand, at this time it was scarcely more than thirty-seven thousand.
At the close of the war was begun a much-needed reform in the public school system of the State. We
Educational have noticed that Kentuckians had never
affairs been indifferent to education; nevertheless, the facilities for public education had never been of the very highest. Old Transylvania University had now passed away. Center College, chartered by the Presby- terians in 1819, still existed, and retained somewhat of that picturesque interest which had formerly belonged to it. Its distinguished presidents were from some of the most prominent families of the State, - Reverends Jere miah Chamberlin, Gideon Blackburn, John C. Young, Lewis W. Green, and William L. Breckinridge. Other denominational colleges existed in various parts of the State. but Kentucky was beginning to realize that it is
2II
THE RESTORATION OF PEACE
upon the public schools that the educational life of a State depends.
The financial condition of the Commonwealth at the close of the war was good. In 1873, there occurred a financial panic which was the greatest ever Period of known in the history of this nation. Though quietude much individual loss was endured in Kentucky, as a Com- monwealth she suffered less than many of the other States of the Union.
A bill having passed the legislature to establish a geo- logical survey in Kentucky, in 1873, Governor Leslie appointed Nathaniel Southgate Shaler, then filling the chair of Geology in Harvard University, as chief of the corps of survey. Professor Shaler, a Kentuckian, brought into the work an earnest enthusiasm, as well as exceptional scholarship. Vast sums of money were expended, and the wealth which lies hidden in the depths of Kentucky was discovered and made known.
RECAPITULATION
Conservatives still in power.
Pardon and return of the Confederate soldiers.
Reaction against Conservatism.
Large growth of the Democratic party in 1867.
Lesser growth of the Republican party.
Conservatives offer a ticket with no hope of election.
They pass mainly into the Demo- cratic party, but some become dis- tinguished among the Republicans. Democrats carry the State.
Governor John L, Helm dies a few days after his inauguration.
He is succeeded by John W. Steven-
son, lieutenant governor, who is elected governor the following year. The Freedmen's Bureau causes an- noyance and retards the advance- ment of the negro.
The Kuklux, a low order of secret outlaws, disturb the peace.
Governor Stevenson elected United States senator.
Preston H. Leslie becomes acting governor, and then governor (1871 ). John G. Carlisle, lieutenant governor. Negroes vote for the first time.
A public school reform begun. Financial panic of 1873.
Professor Shaler, State geologist.
Kentucky's resources pointed out.
CHAPTER XX
THE ERA OF TRANSITION, 1875-
THE future greatness of Kentucky must depend largely upon education. The reform in the public instruction of
Public educa- the State, begun after the Civil War, has been
tion in the progressing toward a more elevated standard.
State
For the training of school teachers, the State established (1906) two well-equipped Normal Schools for white persons, one at Richmond and one at Bowling Green ; and (1886) one for colored persons, at Frankfort. The State has also a continually enlarging institution for higher education.
The State College of Kentucky (Agricultural and Me- chanical College) owed its origin to the act of Congress of 1862 donating public lands for its endowment. From 1865 to 1878 it was attached to the old Kentucky Uni- versity. In 1880 it was placed upon an independent basis, under the management of a Board appointed by the State. In 1908 it was reorganized as the State University (the older Kentucky University being renamed Transylvania University). It now owns grounds, buildings, and other property valued at about $1,000,000. To James K. Pat- terson, its learned and efficient president from 1869 to 1909, and to the late Judge W. B. Kinkead, long the chairman of the Executive Board, is due the provision which opens all its classes to young women, placing them on an equal basis with the male students. Each county is entitled to send a certain number of white students who
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THE ERA OF TRANSITION
may attend the University for a full four years' course, free of tuition, matriculation, and dormitory fees. All appointments are made by the county superintendent of schools, upon competitive examination of applicants be- tween the ages of fourteen and twenty-four years; but preference is given to those who have passed through the public schools. The University is thus the head of the common school system of Kentucky.
The three State administrations from 1875 to 1887 were concerned with few matters of definite importance for this history. In 1875, James B. McCreary, the State politics Democratic candidate, was elected governor.
During his term of office, two United States senators were chosen, - James B. Beck, for six years from the 4th of March, 1877; and General John S. Williams, from 1879. Dr. Luke Pryor Blackburn, Democrat, was elected gov- ernor in 1879; his term was notable for his humane effort to relieve the suffering in the State penitentiary, due to the overcrowded condition of the institution. J. Proctor Knott, Democrat, was elected governor in 1883, by a majority of nearly forty-five thousand votes. James B. Beck was returned to the United States Senate, and J. C. S. Black- burn succeeded John S. Williams.
In the year 1884 was started in the city of Louisville an organization that has had the greatest influence in discover- ing and preserving the interesting facts in the The Filson
State's history. The Filson Club owes its ori- Club gin mainly to the inspiration of its first president, the late Colonel Reuben T. Durrett, whose knowledge and enthusi- asm in regard to Kentucky subjects were unsurpassed. The members of the club reside in the various counties of the State. By them old garrets have been searched for forgotten manuscripts, old letters have been brought to
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THE NEW KENTUCKY
Reuben T. Durrett, First President of the Filson Club
light, and new and im- portant information has been gathered concern- ing the character and life of the early settlers. The publications of the Filson Club are invalu- able to students of Ken- tucky history.
In the State elections of 1887, the Demo-
cratic party State elections continued in of 1887
power. General Simon B. Buckner was elected governor. Three other tickets were run, - a Prohibition, a Union Labor ticket, which received an insig- nificant vote, and a Republi- can ticket, headed by W. O. Bradley. A considerable in- crease in the Republican vote was discovered. At this time, also, the voters decided to revise the State Constitution.
On the 3d day of May, 1890, an act to call a consti-
tutional conven-
The new constitution tion passed the legislature, and the second Monday (the 8th day) of September following was appointed for its assembling.
gasquest
Simon B. Buckner
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THE ERA OF TRANSITION
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