USA > Kentucky > Fayette County > Lexington > History of Lexington, Kentucky : its early annals and recent progress, including biographical sketches and personal reminiscences of the pioneer settlers, notices of prominent citizens, etc., etc. > Part 16
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197
LEXINGTON LIBRARY.
1795.]
Leavy, Lyman W. Seeley, and John S. Wilson. The library finally landed in the house now owned by the library company, on Jordan's row, and at present occu- pied as the internal revenue office.
In 1865, the present library building was bought by money raised from issuing bonds of the company for six - thousand dollars, and the books were forthwith removed to it. This important occasion is the result of Mr. Thomas Mitchell's enlightened exertions.
The following bondholders have, up to the present time, given up their bonds, and have accepted, instead, perpetual shares, viz: Benjamin Gratz, M. C. Johnson, Mrs. John Carty, D. A. Sayre, Wm. Warfield, H. T. Duncan, Jr., E. D. Sayre, J. B. Payne, J. S. Wilson, J. M. Elliott, W. W. Bruce, M. P. Lancaster, S. S. Thompson, J. B. Morton, M. E. Graves, C. W. Fouschee, M. G. Thompson, J. W. Berkley, J. W. Cochrane, J. W. Cochran.
At the meeting of the Kentucky Press Association in Lexington, in January, 1870, the editors in attendance re- solved to send their various journals free to the library. The Lexington Library is an exceedingly valuable one, abounding as it does in rare old works, which can not now be obtained elsewhere for any consideration, and the good that it has done can not easily be overestimated. The names of the librarians, in the order of their succession, are: Andrew McCalla, Lewis H. Smith, David Logan, Thomas M. Prentiss, James Logue, Lyman W. Seeley, James Logue, Wellington Payne, William M. Matthews, Henry C. Brennan, Allie G. Hunt, Joseph Wasson, William Swift, and J. B. Cooper. The office was held longer by James Logue than by any other librarian. He was custo- dian of the books for more than twenty-five years. Mr. Swift will be remembered for his accurate and extensive information and for his extraordinary memory. The in- stitution has never had a librarian more devoted to its in- terests than the present one, Mr. Cooper.
198
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1796.
CHAPTER XXIII:
Episcopal Church-First Building-Rev. James Moore- Early Members-The " St. Paul" Schism-List of Rectors of Christ Church-Present Condition.
THE history of the Episcopal Church in Lexington com- mences with the year 1796, when a feeble little band or- ganized the present Christ Church, in a dilapidated frame house which stood on the site of the present church, on the corner of Market and Church streets. Rev. James Moore, who was the first minister of the Episcopal Church of the United States who settled permanently in Kentucky, was the first rector of Christ Church. He came from Virginia to Lexington in 1792,* and was at that time a candidate for the ministry in the Presbyterian Church, but shortly after, considering himself too rigorously treated by the Transyl- vania Presbytery, he connected himself with the Episcopal Church. He was a man of learning, great piety, and beau- tiful manners. In 1798, he was appointed acting president of Transylvania University, which office he held for several years. He died June 22, 1814, at the age of forty-nine.
A little brick house succeeded the frame one, in 1808 and was furnished by means of a lottery, of which William Morton, Walter Warfield, Daniel Sheely, and John Wyatt were managers .; Among others, who were either members of the church at that time, or were adherents of it, may be namedį John D. Clifford, Thomas January, John Bradford, Henry Clay, John W. Hunt, Thomas B. Pinkard, Frederick Ridgely, John Jordan, Elijah Craig, Alexander Parker, John Postlethwaite, William Essex, John Brand, Matthew, Elder, Matthew Shryock, and T. King.
*Collins. TOld Gazette.
#Church Records.
199
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
1796.]
The Rev. John Ward succeeded Mr. Moore in November, 1813. Mr. Ward conducted a successful female school in Lexington for many years. He died in this city in 1860, aged eighty-two. After performing the duties of the rec- torship for six years with great acceptability, he was suc- ceeded, in September, 1819, by Rev. Lemuel Burge, who officiated as pro tem. pastor for five months, when he was called to the church eternal.
The zealous and talented Dr. George T. Chapman, who is still living, at a very great age, in Massachusetts, became the next regular rector, in July, 1820. His volume of "Ser- mons to Presbyterians of all Sects," which was published in 1828, passed through several editions .* He was rector of Christ Church for ten years.
During Dr. Chapman's ministry, the little brick chapel gave way to. a larger and more church-like edifice, which was built on the same spot which had been occupied by both of its predecessors. The building was of brick, stuc- coed to imitate stone, and the aisles and other parts of it were, in time, strewn with memorial slabs and tablets to those who were buried in and around the edifice. This church building was badly constructed, and it became more and more insecure every year. A knowledge of this fact made the growth of the congregation very slow as long as it was occupied.
The present bishop of the diocese, the Rev. Benjamin Bosworth Smith, was called to the rectorship of Christ Church in November, 1830. Bishop Smith was born June 13, 1794, in Bristol, R. I., was graduated at Brown Univer- sity in 1816, ordained priest in 1818, and consecrated bishop in St. Paul's Church, New York city, October 31, 1832. This learned, faithful, and now aged minister, resigned the rectorship in October, 1838, since which time he has been constantly employed in a laborious oversight of the diocese. In addition to publishing several sermons and charges, Bishop Smith has contributed largely to religious journals. .
Dr. Henry Caswell,t an English clergyman, was assist-
*Caswell.
+B. B. Smith.
200
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1796.
ant rector of Christ Church for a part of Bishop Smith's term. In 1834, he was called to the professorship of Sacred Literature in the Episcopal Theological Seminary, then just established in Lexington, which position, with that of assist- ant rector, he held for three years. In 1839, he published a volume entitled " America and the American Church," and, about the same period, returned to England, and was for ten years vicar of Figheldean, Diocese of Salisbury. He came back to the United States a few years ago, and sub- sequently died in Franklin, Pennsylvania.
· In 1837, Christ Church became divided* upon some com- paratively unimportant questions, and a part of the congre- gation organized a church, which they named "St. Paul's." They worshiped in Morrison College, but only for a short time. The trouble was soon settled, and the seceding mem- bers renewed their connection with Christ Church.
For a short time after the resignation of Bishop Smith, the amiable Rev. Edward Winthrop, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, was temporary rector. He died in New York, in 1865.
The regular successor of Bishop Smith was Rev. Edward F. Berkley, who entered upon the duties of the rectorship in January, 1839. Mr. Berkley was born in Washington City, September 20, 1813. He came to Lexington in 1835, was for three years a member of the Episcopal Theological Seminary in this city, and was ordained to the ministry in Christ Church in December, 1838. Mr. Berkley's fine qual- ities of head and heart so endeared him to his congregation, that he was retained in the service of the parish for nearly nineteen years. He resides at present in St. Louis, Mis- souri.
On the 17th of March, 1847, the corner-stone of the present tasteful and elegant church edifice was laid, with appropriate ceremonies, and a dedicatory address was deliv- ered by the Rev. James Craik, of Louisville. The remains of those buried in and around the church were subsequently removed to the Episcopal Cemetery. The memorial tablets
*Church Records.
201
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
1,96.]
of Mr. Moore, first pastor of the church, and Mr. John D. Clifford, one of its early and generous benefactors, were preserved through the provident attention of Mr. John S. Wilson, and, in 1858, when the church was still further im- proved, they were set in the wall of the building, where they still remain.
Mr. Berkley resigned in November, 1857, and was suc- ceeded, in March, 1858, by the Rev. James H. Morrison, of Pemberton, Virginia, a gentleman of superior scholarly attainments.
The present rector, the Rev. Jacob S. Shipman, took charge of Christ Church on the 14th of October, 1861. Mr. Shipman was born in Niagara, New York, November 30, 1832. In completing the Yale College course he enjoyed the special instruction of Dr. Joseph M. Clark. Mr. Shipman was ordained to the priesthood in 1858, and had been rector of two churches successively before he was called to Christ Church. Scholarly and original, possessed of a cultivated mind and a warm and generous heart, Mr. Shipman has gained the highest esteem of his congregation, which has enjoyed abundant peace and prosperity under his efficient ministry.
Christ Church has been steadily increasing in membership and influence for many years, and its present very flourish- ing condition is a source of great gratification to all christian people.
202
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1797
CHAPTER XXIV.
Lexington Immigration Society-Size of Town-Town Prop- perty-Market Houses-Theater-Henry Clay : His Char- acter as an Orator, Statesman, and Man-Incidents.
THE year 1797 produced an association in Lexington, whose influence was so salutary that it was soon imitated in other places; and this was the " Lexington Immigration Society." Strong exertions, and successful ones, were made by it to induce industrious farmers and mechanics to re- move to this region. Publications were made and circu- lated full of information regarding the amount of the or- dinary products of the soil per acre, the common prices of marketing, the various species of mechanical labor, and productions, etc. Of this society, Thomas Hart was presi- dent; John Bradford, secretary.
The following particulars from one of these documents are extracted for the benefit of the curious:
AVERAGE PRODUCE OF ONE ACRE OF LAND.
Of wheat sown in corn-ground, 25 bushels; in fallow- ground, 35; corn, 60; rye, 25; barley, 40; oats, 40; pota- toes, Irish, 250-sweet, -; hemp, 8 cwt .; tobacco, 1 ton ; hay, 3 tons.
LEXINGTON MARKET PRICES.
Wheat, per bushel, $1; corn, 20 cents; rye, 66 cents ; barley, 50 cents; oats, 17 cents ; potatoes, Irish, 33-sweet, $1; hemp, per ton, $86.66; tobacco, per cwt., $4; hay, per ton, $6.
The establishment of this society shows that our enter- prising ancestors were determined to build up their flour- ishing town, which consisted of sixteen hundred inhabit-
203
MARKET HOUSES-THEATER.
1797.]
ants, and over two hundred houses,* a few of them brick ones, many of them frame, but the most of them log ones, with chimneys built on the outside. A town lot was worth thirty dollars, and good farms in the vicinity could be bought for five dollars per acre .; The best farmers lived in log cabins, and even when they went "to town " wore hunting-shirts and leggings. The then beautiful vale through which town fork poured, was variegated with corn-fields, meadows, and trees. The means used for car- rying on the town government were not as extravagant then as those of modern times, as all the town property in the hands of the trustees consisted of "two oxen, a cart, a wheelbarrow, sledge, mattock, crowbar, shovel, and a two-foot rule."}
By this time, the ground-room of the old state-house, which had been converted into a market-house, had become entirely too small for the ambitious citizens of Lexington, and a subscription was raised, which resulted in the build- ing of a substantial market-house on the public ground, between the present court-house and Cheapside, from which circumstance Market street derived its name.
In 1814, a market-house was built on Water street, but the Cheapside structure was not removed until 1817. The market-house now in use was built in 1844.
How Lexington supported a place of amusement in 1797, we are not prepared to say, but she certainly had one. "An exhibition-room, adjoining Coleman's tavern," was erected by George Saunders, and opened to the public Monday evening, June 5th. " Admission at sunset; performance to begin at dark; pit, 3s. 9d .; gallery, 2s. 3d."§ A theat- rical performance was held in the court-house in 1798. In 1807, Melish, the traveler, was in Lexington, and visited the theater, which then stood on the corner of Water and Limestone, but his metropolitan tastes were not entirely gratified, as he said afterward, that "the performance did very well, but there was a deficiency of actresses, and one
*Joseph Scott's Directory. tBrown's Gazetteer. įTrustees' Book. ¿Old Gazette.
204
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1797.
of the men had to play a female part, which did not suit my taste at all."
In 1812, "Macbeth" was played at the "Hotel Theater," and on the evening of May 30th, in that year, "John Bull," a comedy, was performed before a packed audience, by Thespian amateurs belonging to the " Old Infantry" com- pany, in honor of the Lexington volunteers for the war against England. A goodly sum was realized, and used to buy arms, clothing, and camp equipage for the soldiers .*
"Usher's Theater" was built about the year 1816 .; It was located on the old Bruen property, at the corner of Spring and Vine streets, and, though it was on a small scale, it could boast of regular boxes, a pit, and a gallery. The celebrated Drake family constituted one of the first regular companies which appeared in the theater. Edwin Forest, who had before played minor parts in Philadelphia, made his debut as a leading actor in " Usher's Theater." He was brought out by Collins and Jones.t Sol. Smith, the noted comedian, who died in St. Louis in 1869, raised his first theatrical company in Lexington, and played in this theater for several weeks previous to his first tour.
In 1832, and frequently thereafter, the Masonic Hall was used for theatrical purposes. The theater was located, in 1837, on the lot now occupied by John S. Wilson's resi- dence, on Upper street, and here the noted Mrs. Duff made her first appearance in Lexington. The remarkable Gus Adams charmed a crowded audience, in 1840, in a building neither very large nor very pretentious, which the citizens dignified with the name "Theater." It stood on Short street, between Broadway and Jefferson, opposite the resi- dence of J. B. Wilgus.
After this time, Melodeon Hall and other rooms were used ; but for the last fifteen years, the Odd Fellows' Hall, corner of Main and Broadway, has been "the theater." The followers of Thespis and Orpheus who have visited Lexington would make an army, and we can only mention, in addition to the distinguished artists already named, the
#Observer and Reporter. 1Benj. Kiser.
įMarsh.
205
HENRY CLAY.
1797.]
famous elder Booth, the great pioneer actor Cooper, Julia Dean, Murdoch, Mrs. Lander, Joe Jefferson, Sontag, Patti, Parodi, Brignoli, and Ole Bull.
Henry Clay, whose greatness is crystallized in history, and whose name is the most illustrious one associated with Lexington, came to this city in November, 1797, and made it his home for the rest of his life, a period of more than half a century. Here he struggled. Here he triumphed. Here he sleeps.
On the 12th of April, 1777, in the "Slashes " neighbor- hood, of Hanover county, Virginia, in the midst of a great revolution, Henry Clay was born. His father, a Baptist minister, died when Henry was four years old, and left his family no legacy but poverty and toil. Fortunately, the mother of Henry was a woman of vigorous intellect and great energy, and she managed to maintain her large family in comparative comfort. Both parents were natives of Vir- ginia. The early years of the future orator were years of much labor and little education, and it was then that he was known as "the mill-boy of the slashes,"* from the fact that he was often seen, when the meal-barrel was low, going to and fro between his mother's house and the mill, on the Pamunky river, mounted on a scrub pony, with a meal-bag for a saddle and a rope for a bridle. Up to the age of fourteen, he had received three years' "schooling," in a log house of the period, and from Peter Deacon, of whom little is known, except that he was the only teacher of Henry Clay. He was now placed by Captain Henry Watkins, whom his mother had married, in the store of Richard Denny, of Richmond. At the end of a year, Peter Tinsley, of Richmond, clerk of the high court of chancery of Vir- ginia, gave him a situation in his office, and about the same time, namely 1792, his mother removed with his stepfather to Kentucky, and settled in Woodford county, where she died in 1827.
While engaged in the chancery court office, Henry Clay attracted the attention of Chancellor Wythe, who engaged
*Colton Papers, 19.
206
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1797.
him as an amanuensis, assisted him in mental improvement, and encouraged him to study law, which he subsequently did, in the office of Robert Brook, then attorney-general of Virginia.
Mr. Clay, having obtained a license to practice law from the judges of the court of appeals of Virginia, immigrated to Lexington, Kentucky, in November, 1797. Here (to use his own words), *" I established myself, without patrons, without the favor of the great or opulent, without the means of paying my weekly board, and in the midst of a bar un- commonly distinguished by eminent members." Lexington was then the metropolis of the West, claiming sixteen hun- dred inhabitants, and George Nicholas, Joe Daviess, James Brown, John Breckinridge, William Murray, and James Hughes were the leading lawyers. Mr. Clay, at this time, seemed to be in bad health .; He was delicate in person and slow in his movements; but he quickly rallied. His first speech in Lexington was made in a young men's de- bating club. The smiles provoked by his awkward begin- ning were succeeded by cordial cheers and congratulations.} The first fee Mr. Clay received was fifteen shillings. His first public speech he made at the age of twenty-one, in the summer of 1798. The news had just arrived in Lexington that Congress had passed the infamous alien and sedition laws, and while crowds of excited and indignant men were discussing the news on Main street, a cart was drawn out, and Clay was put in it and told to " speak." He did speak; and the brilliant and crushing eloquence of his denuncia- tions of those odious enactments, revealed his genius to the people, and laid the foundation of his fame. He rose rap- idly in his profession. In 1799 he married Lucretia, daughter of Thomas Hart, one of the earliest citizens of Lexington. The marriage took place in the house on the corner of Mill and Second, now occupied by Mrs. Ryland. Mrs. Clay was born in Hagerstown, Maryland, 1781.
As we have seen, Mr. Clay united himself at an early period with the Jeffersonian or Democratic party. In
*Speech at Lexington, 1842.
+Collins. įColton.
207
HENRY CLAY.
1797.]
1803, he was elected from the county of Fayette to the lower house of the Kentucky legislature, and was re-elected to that body every succeeding session, until 1806, when he was chosen United States senator, to fill out the unexpired term of General Adair. The rapidity with which these favors were showered upon Mr. Clay evidence how soon he had gained a strong hold upon the popular heart. After serving during the session for which he was elected, Mr. Clay resumed the practice of his profession in Lexington. He was now thirty, the leader of the bar, and overwhelmed with important cases.
In the summer of 1807, he was again sent to the state legislature, and was elected speaker of the house. He was continued in the assembly until 1809, when he was returned to the United States Senate to fill out the unexpired term of Buckner Thurston. He bore a conspicuous part in the discussion of the great national questions before the senate. His first speech of the session foreshadowed the outlines of that vast scheme of "protection," known as the "Amer- ican system," of which Mr. Clay has been called the " father." His powerful efforts in favor of the " protection " of domestic manufactures, on the "line of the Rio Per- dido," and in opposition to the rechartering of the United States Bank, stand pre-eminent in congressional history. Mr. Clay subsequently changed his opinion, and urged the chartering of the United States Bank, and gave his reasons for the change with characteristic force.
In 1811, Mr. Clay was elected to the lower house of Con- gress, and entered on the great period of his life, commenc- ing with his election as speaker of the house of represent- atives, and terminating with his death, during which all his great endowments became so conspicuous through services and efforts so illustrious .* He had never before been a member of that house, which renders it still more remarkable that he should have been elected its speaker on the day he took his seat. He was re-elected speaker six times, and after occupying the chair about thirteen years,
*Address of Dr. R. J. Breckinridge.
208
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1797.
left it to become secretary of state in the cabinet of the younger Adams, in 1825, which situation he held till the close of that administration in 1829. He was out of Con- gress during two short periods ; first in 1814-15, while en- gaged as one of the American commissioners in negotiat- ating the treaty of Ghent, and again in 1820-22, when the condition of his private affairs obliged him to return to the bar. After the close of his service as secretary of state, in 1829, he remained in private life till the autumn of 1831, when he was elected to the senate of the United States for the third time, and commenced a senatorial career even more protracted and glorious than his previous career in the more popular branch of Congress. He was elected to the senate the fourth time in 1837. In March, 1842, after twelve years continuous service in the senate, covering six years of the administration of General Jackson, the whole of Mr. Van Buren's administration, and the first two years of Mr. Tyler's, he resigned his seat in the senate, and re- tired, as he supposed, finally to private life. In 1848, he was elected to the senate for the fifth time, and was a mem- ber of it till his death, in 1852. From his entrance into public life, just fifty years had expired at his death; and of these more than forty years had been passed in the most laborious public service. From his entrance into the house of representatives, in 1811, he had served thirteen years as a speaker of that house, about sixteen years as a senator, and four years as secretary of state, thus occupying far the greater part of the last forty years of his life in a career unsurpassed by any statesman of his era.
That career of forty years was as diversified as it was brilliant .* During the war of 1812 he was "the master spirit, around whom all the boldness and chivalry of the nation rallied. He was the life and soul of the war party in Con- gress." In 1815, we find him one of a commission con- cluding a treaty of peace with England, in the ancient city of Ghent, and shortly after enjoying the society of the most . noted characters in Europe. Then comes his review of the
*Niles' Register and Congressional Globe.
209
HENRY CLAY.
1797.]
Seminole war; his triumphant efforts in behalf of internal improvements, and for the recognition of the South Ameri- can republics ; his Herculean labors to avert the convulsion which threatened the nation in 1821, on the application of Missouri for admission into the Union ; his eloquent appeals in behalf of Greece; his achievements in the protection battles of 1832-33; opposition to the sub-treasury system in 1836; thrilling farewell scene in the senate in 1842; re- tirement to Ashland; practice of his profession; recall to the senate in 1848; and the mighty efforts of "the old man eloquent" during the perilous slavery excitement in Con- gress in 1850-52.
Mr. Clay was thrice a candidate for the presidency ; first, in 1825, when his opponents were Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and W. H. Crawford. The people failed to make a choice. The election was thrown into the house of representatives, where Mr. Clay gave his vote and influ- ence for Mr. Adams, who thus became President. Upon the inauguration of the new President, Mr. Clay was made secretary of state. The course pursued by Mr. Clay on this occasion subjected him to the bitterest denunciations and abuse. It was charged that he had bought his seat in the cabinet, and the cry of "bargain and corruption " was re- peated over and over again, to the end of his life, and de- feated him in every subsequent race for the presidency. Where now is the man who may hope to keep his greatness and purity undefiled from the ever accumulating filth of the political arena ? Slander is the soul-scorching price of po- litical eminence. In a speech delivered at Lexington, Ken- tucky, September 9, 1842, Mr. Clay said: "My error in accepting the office tendered me arose out of my under- rating the power of detraction and the force of ignorance, and abiding with too sure a confidence in the conscious in- tegrity and uprightness of my own motives." It is enough to say that the life-long friends of Mr. Clay, those who knew, indeed, the integrity and clearness of his inner life, have always scouted this charge with scorn and contempt.
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