USA > Kentucky > History of Kentucky, Volume II > Part 31
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The historical interest of the people was considerably aroused for a time. Humphrey Marshall, the first one to write a systematic history of the state, had finished his History of Kentucky in 1812 and had in 1824 brought out a second and enlarged edition. But having been either a spectator of or participant in most of the events he dealt with, and being a man of violent likes and dislikes, he too often forgot the role of the historian to vent his hatreds by violent attacks or contemptuous silence. In 1834 Mann Butler finished his history of the state, a much more reliable work than Marshall's. The Legislature had taken a cer- tain interest in the preparation of this history, to the extent of authoriz- ing the secretary of state to lend Butler any documents in his posses- sion, but not until Butler had executed a bond of $1,000 to return the material within twelve months.6 But by far the most elaborate and ambitious history of the state was the work of Lewis Collins, which was a perfect mine of information on the history of the state. It was less a history and more a gazetteer.
It was the first published in 1847.7
4 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 82.
5 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 38. The Governor was too late to secure for the state the minutes of the conventions held for the purpose of securing separation from Virginia and entrance into the Union. None of these records are in the state archives today. The celebrated Durrett Collection (now owned by the Library of the University of Chicago) contains the MS. minutes of the following conventions : Beginning July 28, 1788; November 3, 1788; July 20, 1789; July 26, 1790; and April 2, 1792. The original minutes of the previous conventions are not known to be in existence.
6 Ibid., 39.
7 A second edition much enlarged by Richard H. Collins, son of the author of the first edition, and brought out virtually under the patronage of the state govern- ment, appeared in 1874. This is the dedication statement: "To his Father, JUDGE LEWIS COLLINS, whose Labors, in 1846-7, as a Historian of Kentucky, were most appreciated after his Death, in 1870; to the Kentucky Legislature of 1869-71;
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In 1836 the Kentucky Historical Society was founded in Frank- fort. It was organized largely out of a rising patriotic fervor for Ken- tucky and her past. At first its membership was restricted to native Kentuckians, or those intermarried with native Kentuckians, or those emigrating to Kentucky before June I, 1792, when it became a state. "One of the main objects of the association shall be to celebrate, in such a manner as shall be deemed most expedient, the anniversary of the first settlement of Kentucky on the spot where the settlement was made." 8 In preparing for its historical celebrations, it was expected that as many as possible of the old settlers would attend "for the pur- pose of communicating the incidents connected with the early history of Kentucky." In May, 1840, the celebration of the settlement at Boones- borough was held, where from 7,000 to 10,000 people assembled, with over 3,000 ladies present. Governor Wickliffe was present, and reviewed eleven military companies, which were there to add splendor to the occasion. The state was not so old that it did not have still interesting connecting links with the past. Some of those who were in the fort during the siege in 1777 and other interesting pioneers made the celebra- tion much more vivid. Lewis W. Green preached the anniversary ser- mon, and James T. Morehead delivered his celebrated historical ad- dress.9 The following year the settlement of Harrodsburg was cele- brated by equally as large an assemblage, with Benjamin Hardin, deliv- ering the historical address.10 During this burst of interest in her his- tory Kentucky remembered Daniel Boone particularly and affectionately. In 1839 a full length portrait of Boone, was presented to the state and was given a place on the walls of the House of Representatives.11 And in 1845 in pursuance of an act of the Legislature the remains of Boone and his wife were brought from Missouri and interred on a high bluff overlooking the Kentucky River in the Frankfort Cemetery. Elab- orate ceremonies marked the occasion, with John J. Crittenden deliver- ing the oration before a great concourse of people.12 In 1850 a military
which, by contracting for Copies of it as a foundation for Public School Libraries throughout the State, generously and confidingly encouraged its Publication; to those Members of the Kentucky Legislature of 1871-73 and 1873-75, whose Justice and Liberality sustained the Action of that of 1869-71; and to the Hon. Francis Ford, of Covington, and other noble Friends, whose generous and hearty Approval and kind Words encouraged him, amid unworthy Opposition and unforeseen Ob- stacles, during the four Years of its Preparation; this Work is affectionately in- scribed by THE AUTHORS.
8 John Rowan was its first president and the moving spirit in its organization and growth. After Rowan's death in 1843, the society gradually died down until it was completely discontinued with the Civil War. It was not re-organized until 1878. In 1880 it was given quarters in the state capitol and in 1906 it was given an appropriation by the state of $5,000 annually. J. W. Townsend, Kentuckians in History and Literature (New York, 1907), 129 et seq .; North American Review, Vol. 47, pp. 253, 255; Niles' Register, Vol. 69, p. 13; Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1892, p. 12; 1905, I, 286, 307; 1905, II, 228-234.
9 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 45. This address was published in a pamphlet cf 181 pages: An Address in Commemoration of the first Settlement in Kentucky, delivered at Baonesborough, May 25th, 1840 (Frankfort, 1840).
10 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 46. Other historical events were celebrated hereafter, with particular interests attaching to them after the Civil War. 11 Ibid., 44.
12 In the words of Collins, History of Kentucky, II, 251, "There seemed to be a peculiar propriety in this testimonial of the veneration borne by the commonwealth for the memory of the illustrious dead; and it was fitting that the soil of Kentucky should afford the final resting place of his remains, whose blood in life had been so often shed to protect it from the fury of savage hostility. It was the beautiful and touching manifestation of filial affection shown by children to the memory of a beloved parent ; and it was right that the generation who were reaping in peace the fruits of his toils and dangers, should desire to have in their midst, and decorate with the tokens of their love, the sepulchre of their primeval patriarch, whose stout heart watched by the cradle of this now powerful commonwealth, in its weak and helpless infancy, shielding it with his body from all those appalling dangers which
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monument, commemorating the famous events in the military history of the state was completed, indicative of the people's interest in their his- toric past as well as a reminder of their military prowess.
The state was ever mindful of its military past as evidenced in monu- ments as well as generous consideration for those soldiers who were still living. It maintained a close interest in the old soldiers and their de- pendents by seeing that all who were deserving should receive pensions.13 A rather remarkable interest in the living Revolutionary soldiers was marked in 1842, when the Legislature suggested that the names and resi- dences of all the survivors be secured and some way be devised "in which a grateful people may do honor to the memory and character to the immortal heroes and patriots, collectively, by whose toil and valor the boon of freedom is inherited." 14
Apart from a historical interest in military affairs, the state had its current military problems and interests. From the War of 1812 to the Civil war almost every governor found occasion to recommend changes in the militia laws. The military ardor of the people was quickly enough aroused when wars threatened or came, but it failed to respond to the hum-drum of state militia organizations. Governor Desha's reference in 1825 to the disorganized and lifeless condition of the state militia was characteristic of the period. He said, "From the deranged state of our militia, neither improvement in discipline, nor any other material benefit, is to be expected from it. A general revision of the system would seem to be desirable, by which the establishment may be placed on a more respectable footing. The scanty attendance on parades, arising from a want of discretionary power in the courts for the assessment of fines, under proper limits, produces numerous resignations, which not only de- range the system but have become expensive to government." 15 Fre- quent requests were made by the Legislature to Congress to set up armories and military schools in Kentucky, and this same desire went down to the individual as seen in the petition of the inhabitants of Pen- dleton County in 1825 to Congress to set up an armory on the Licking River.16
Apart from the military and historical interest in the collection and preservation of books and documents, there was early felt the current need of a library where the officers of the Government might obtain easily various kinds of information which they so often needed. In 1817 Governor Slaughter referred to the need of a state library. "A state library at the seat of government," he said, "would be very useful and convenient. The members of the Legislature, public officers and judges, who attend the courts held at Frankfort, ought not to be entirely de- pendent on the private libraries of gentlemen of the bar, and other citizens. The surplus reports of the decisions of the court of appeals belonging to the commonwealthi might be sold or exchanged for books. This fund with a small annual appropriation would probably be suffi- cient." 17 The Legislature in 1820 made a small beginning by providing for a library to be established in the office of the Secretary of State or in some other place which it might determine upon. In 1833 a further
threatened its safety and existence." Also see Library of Southern Literature, XVIm 82.
13 For example, note Governor Shelby's solicitous interest, as expressed in his message in December, 1815. Niles' Register, Vol. 9, p. 319.
14 Acts of Kentucky, 1841, pp. 296, 297. A list of Revolutionary soldiers living in Kentucky in 1840 may be found in Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 5-9.
15 Niles' Register, Vol. 29, p. 224. Governor Shelby, directly after the end of the War of 1812, was strongly in favor of building fortifications and keeping well armed the state and nation as the best assurance of peace or victory in war. See Niles' Register, Vol. 9, p. 318.
16 American State Papers, Military Affairs, III, 154-156; V, 514, 515.
17 Niles' Register, Vol. 13, P. 388.
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step was taken when a provision was made for the election of a librarian. At the same time an appropriation of $500 annually for five years was made. The librarian was far from being a person trained for the work; in 1838 the Legislature passed an act requiring the books to be num- bered. The so-called librarian's duties in the library were the least of his cares : He was "superintendent of the public property of the Com- monwealth at the seat of government," which included among other things the protection from injury of the capitol, the airing and cleaning of the various rooms and their carpets and furniture, and the protection and caring for the capitol grounds. A respectable number of books were on hand by 1833, when the total reached 500.18 Five years later the Leg- islature directed the deposit in the library of fifty copies of the acts and twenty-five copies of the journals. A few years later the Government sought to have the manuscript journals of the constitutional conven- tions of 1792 and 1799, a History of the Indian Tribes of North America, and the best set of works on agriculture that could be purchased for $100, placed in the library.19 Benjamin Shelby, the librarian, in 1851, with the true sense of a collector and with a keen insight into the value of records, invited all the editors over the state to send him copies of their issues and help him in educating the public to preserve in the state library copies of all the newspapers published in the state, as "such a record will furnish to the country the very best history of the age." 20
Another valuable collection of books that was in the process of being built up was the library of the Kentucky Historical Society. In 1841 the Legislature provided for the depositing in the historical library of one copy of all the books published by the state.21 The Legislature took the attitude that intellectual advancement should come before con- siderations of national revenues or protection. In 1847 it declared that the tariff laws should be so amended "as to admit and allow of the im- portation of books, chemicals and philosophical apparatus, designed and imported for the use of colleges, seminaries of learning, and schools, and not for sale or merchandise, free of duty." 22 The state was also inter- ested in the quick dispatch of intelligence through the use of the newly invented electric telegraph. Before 1848 lines were being constructed from Maysville to Cincinnati and from Maysville across the state through Lexington, Frankfort, Louisville, Bardstown, and Bowling Green to Nashville.23
The press of the state which has advanced so rapidly during the first two decades of the nineteenth century in numbers of papers, gradu- ally slowed down to a more consistent and healthful growth. In 1810 there were 17 in existence out of the larger number that had been set going since John Bradford had begun his Kentucke Gazette in 1787. In 1828 there were 23, and six years later the number had increased to 25. Out of these there were two dailies (both in Louisville), two semi-week- lies, and the remainder, weeklies.24 In 1839 there were twenty-one newspapers, which took an active part in politics, with the whigs over- whelmingly outnumbering the democrats.25 An editors' convention was
18 American Almanac, 1836, p. 244.
19 Acts of Kentucky, 1837, p. 356.
20 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 62, 63.
21 Townsend, Kentuckians in History and Literature, 131-134; Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 46. 22 Acts of Kentucky, 1847, p. 382.
23 Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 56.
24 American Almonac, 1835, 247. The list is given here.
25 The list as given in the Kentucky Gazette, October 24, 1839, follows: Whigs: Maysville Eagle, Flemingsburg Kentuckians, Paris Citizen, Lexington Observer, Lexington Intelligencer, Richmond Chronicle, Danville Olive Branch, Bardstown Herald, Bowling Green Gazette, Russellville Advertiser, Paducah Express, Prince- ton Examiner, Louisville Journal, Louisville Gazette, Frankfort Commonwealth,
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held in Lexington in 1837, consisting of most of the editors of the state. The main purpose was to elevate the newspaper standards and to make the work and salaries of newspaper men more attractive. The peculiar power of the newspaper editor had risen high by this time and he re- alized the fact. The heat of politics had tended to make the editors forgetful of the ordinary etiquette of life and had caused many to degen- erate into cutting and bitter personalities, which had the effect of lower- ing the standards of journalism. This convention had a full realization of the unfortunate conditions, and sought to build up an unwritten code of courtesy and ethics in the profession. This resolution was adopted, striking at the heart of the matter: "Resolved, That in all future discussions, whether political or otherwise, the Editors of the Kentucky press shall carefully abstain from all disrespectful personal allusions or epithets toward each other; that they shall not name each other, or apply nicknames, but shall conduct all controversies between themselves, with decency, decorum and moderation; and, that it be also recommended to them to cultivate each others good will, and on all proper occasions to advance other interests." 26 The outstanding figure in Ken- tucky journalism during the period before the Civil war was George D. Prentice. He exercised a powerful influence over the state for the whigs in politics, and for every cause that he undertook to advance. Henry Watterson, who adorned equally the period after the war, said of him, "From 1830 to 1861 the influence of Prentice was perhaps greater than the influence of any political writer who ever lived; it was an in- fluence directly positive and personal." 27
Kentucky politics continued spectacular and absorbingly interesting to the average individual. A traveller declared in 1825 that the "popula- tion of Kentucky are the most intelligent and are best informed in all matters connected with the politics of the state, of any whom I have ever met with in any other country." 28 Duels were still fought and barbecues were still in fashion. The former under the ban of the law were somewhat less frequent than formerly, and when challenged it was possible by skillful maneuvering to escape fighting a duel at all and at the same time escape social and political ostracism. Some escaped fighting duels by contemptuously dismissing the challenge as coming from one whose station in life was so low as not to entitle him to claim the right to feel insulted and to issue a challenge. Others turned their answers to challenges on other points. Robert Wickliffe in 1825, parried the challenge for a contest "with flint and steel" by spreading his answer on a handbill which he issued in which he declared that if the chal- lenger "thinks he is fit to live, without becoming a better man, after the
expose I shall now and hereafter make of his conduct to me,
I have no wish to take his life; nor have I the least intention of permit- ting the man, who by tears and address extracted from me nearly half my fortune, to take mine-at all events until he pays me what he owes me." 29 Barbecues not only served to draw great throngs of people to- gether to feast on choice viands and oratory, but they served as an occa-
*
*
Georgetown Banner, and Warsaw Patriot. Democratic: Louisville Advertiser, Lexington Gazette, Maysville Monitor, and Covington Globe. There were 17 Whig and 4 Democratic.
26 Kentucky Gazette, March 9, 1837. Collins, History of Kentucky, I, 520, erroneously refers to this as the first meeting of newspaper editors ever held in the state. The vigor of the language used by the newspaper editors in referring to each other is seen in the characterization by a Covington editor of his opponent as "a little Implement of Sophistry-a little forked upstart of a whistle-toot. A glass-eyed little skunk-a puny blow-toot of a Whig editor."
27 Quoted in Library of Southern Literature, IX, 4191. For a short appreciation of Prentice see Ibid., 4189-4195.
28 Letters on the Conditions of Kentucky in 1825, p. 39.
29 One of these handbills is preserved in Breckinridge MSS. (1825).
GEORGE D. PRENTICE, 1802-1870 (Courtesy of The Filson Club)
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sion for which the political leaders of the party throughout the nation could be invited to be present. Not that it was believed that they could be present, but the replies of regrets, in which occasion was always taken to extol the party and its lofty principles, formed valuable propa- ganda.30
As late as the early '20s the political practice still persisted on the part of candidates for office of maintaining the dignified position that presidential candidates at one time were wont to occupy, but have now long since abandoned. No candidate should so far forget himself as to go on a tour of speech-making; at most he might write his opinions in the papers. The ideal candidate was the one whose friends had brought about his nomination, and whose friends should see that he was elected. It was even held by some of the ultra-conservative that the people really had no right to know what the candidate thought about the important questions of the day. But curiosity has always been a strong human trait ; and people also have the habit of wanting to know some things for good and sufficient reasons. They, therefore, often annoyed certain candidates by addressing a series of questions to them concerning the is- sues that were supposed to be before the people in the campaign. In 1818 a candidate for office on receiving a set of questions finally agreed to answer them, but not before making the following statement : "Altho' I am confident the object of the writer is to produce an effect upon the approaching election, and in that view of the subject do not feel myself bound to answer his questions; yet as they embrace general interests and silence might be construed into a fear to make an avowal of my opinions, I will briefly answer them." 31 A set of questions that appeared in the campaign in 1822 follows: "The following queries are put to each of the candidates in Fayette County for the next Legislature, to each of which candid answers are required.
"Do you or do you not believe that the Bank of the Commonwealth to have been constitutionally created?
"Will you (if elected) give all the aid in your power to measures cal- culated to support that institution, and to raise the credit of its paper?
"Do you or do you not believe that the Replevin and endorsement laws to be constitutional-and will you (if elected) exert yourself to support and maintain those laws?
"Do you or do you not believe that the legislature possess the right by the constitution of removing the Judges of the Circuit Court and Court of Appeals by address of two thirds 'upon reasonable grounds?'
"Do you or do you not believe that error as well as corruption in Judicial opinions is reasonable grounds of removal-if the error be pro- ductive of effects ruinous to the prospects and happiness of the people?
"It is hoped that no candidate will shrink from answering those questions strictly and unequivocally. He that does so deserves not the confidence of the people ; he shall not have mine. ONE OF THE PEOPLE." 32
But a candidate conducting a campaign with arms folded in the pre- cincts of his home, appealed no more to many candidates than it did to the Kentucky voters, who always liked a fight vigorous and open. There was growing up much opposition and criticism against a few political bosses managing their candidate before the election and per- haps more so after his election. The Kentucky Gazette thought that this practice was a relic of aristocracy, and that the method of sending the candidate before the people and making him stand on his own feet was "the only plan consistent with the freedom of our government." 33
30 For example, see Frankfort Commonwealth, Nov. 1, 1842, etc.
31 Richard Barbour in the Louisville Public Advertiser, July 21, 1818.
32 Kentucky Gazette, July 18, 1822. One candidate who hoped to win the votes of the Relief Party replied that "to each and every of the above interrogatives, I answer unhesitatingly in the affirmative." Ibid., Aug. 1, 1822. 38 May 29, 1823.
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From the same source came this further argument: "The opposition to candidates for mixing freely with the people tends to destroy one of the improvements of the western country over the eastern states in county elections particularly. Where we see any of our fellow citizens who have embibed the erroneous notion of shutting themselves up at home with folded arms pending an election at which they are to poll, we would recommend to them the study of the principles of our Government, in which they will find that the power in the possession of the people so neglected will become a feather in the scale when opposed to the execu- tive and judiciary branches of the Government. Once learn the people to vote for those they neither know or care any thing about, their pride falls and they will soon learn to be lukewarm and careless about the affairs of their country. An election in seven years would be too often for such a people-no election at all would suit them better." 34 With the rise of real political parties during the '20s this old practice was given a speedy death. Soon the most vigorous men in the state were the candi- dates, carrying their speaking campaign all over the country. Hereafter candidates vied with each other in the endurance tests which the cam- paigns set.
The dangerous and unrepublican custom of selling offices early ap- peared in Kentucky. This practice had its basis in the fact that large numbers of officers were then appointed, which have later come to be elective. One of the most flagrant examples of office-selling was in the case of sheriffs. By the constitution of 1799 (under which the state con- tinued to live until 1850) the county court should recommend every two years two of the senior members of its body for sheriff to the governor, whose duty it was to appoint one of them. This was designed as a reward toward which the county justices could look. But it too often happened that the justice instead of accepting the appointment, sold the office to some other persons not on the court bench, and then refused the appointment with the understanding that the governor would appoint the man he had sold out to. This was so glaringly corrupt, that Gov- ernor Desha served notice that he would appoint no one who was not a member of the county court.35
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