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 23
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In 1795, he commenced his career of authorship, which has since made him so distinguished. He labored with prodigious energy, and his literary and scientific writings and translations are estimated at ten thousand pages.
Dr. Caldwell was the first prominent champion of phre- nology in the United States, and was one of the few distin- guished men who openly espoused the mesmeric theory in the face of public ridicule. He bought, in Europe, the first medical library of Transylvania University. Many of the books he gathered in Paris from dealers to whom they had been sold by once eminent and wealthy physicians, who had been ruined by the French Revolution. By this means
*Gazette.
294
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1819.
he obtained many rare and valuable works, which made the Transylvania Medical Library superior to any other at that time in this country. The books were brought from Maysville to Lexington on pack-horses.
Dr. Caldwell was a resident of Lexington and professor in the Medical College for sixteen years, at the end of which time (after making himself very unpopular, by favoring the removal of the college to Louisville,) he resigned, and was largely instrumental in establishing the Louisville Medical Institute. He died some years ago, leaving behind him a wide-spread reputation as a clear writer, an able teacher of philosophical medicine, and a man of enlight- ened liberality in advance of his age.
295
RUSSELL'S SPRING.
1820.]
CHAPTER XLIV.
Recuperation-John D. Clifford-Russell's Cave-Mrs. Lin- coln's Birthplace.
IN 1820, Lexington, which for several years had been decreasing in population, commenced to grow again, and business slowly but steadily increased.
John D. Clifford died in Lexington, May 8, 1820, aged forty-two. Mr. Clifford was noted for his love and knowl- edge of the natural sciences; for being a public-spirited friend of every learned and charitable institution, and for the liberal support he extended to the Episcopal Church. He was the president of the Lexington Atheneum, in a room of which institution he opened a museum of natural and antiquarian history, and just before his death he assisted Professor Rafinesque to survey the ancient remains near Lexington. Mr. Clifford married Mary S., daughter of William Morton.
Russell's spring and cave, in this county, were explored by Professor Rafinesque, in 1820, and were thus described by him :*
" Russell's spring is a natural curiosity. It is a subter- ranean stream of water issuing from a cave. Both have been traced and followed for three-quarters of a mile, and it is moreover connected with the sinks west of Russell's, since something thrown into them has been seen to come out at the spring. The cave is crooked, narrow, and rather shallow. As the stream often fills it from side to side, one must often wade to explore it, and even swim in some places. Fishes are often found in it, such as suckers and catfish. In freshets, the water fills the cavity. At the
* Western Review, 1820.
296
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1820.
mouth the stream is usually one foot deep, and discharges itself into the Elkhorn, about one hundred steps below. The mouth of the cave is below a chain of rocky limestone cliffs, where some organic fossils are imbedded. A large and spacious hall lies next to it in the rock, forming another cave, which is filled by rubbish at a short distance, but communicates by narrow chasms with the other cave."
In 1820, Robert S. Todd, who died in 1849, lived on Short street, in the house adjoining and belonging to St. Paul's Church (Catholic), and at present occupied by Father Bekkers. Colonel Todd's daughter, Miss Mary Todd, after- ward the wife of President Lincoln, was born in this house. Mrs. Lincoln was married November 4, 1842.
297
THE GREAT FINANCIAL CRISIS.
1821.]
CHAPTER XLV.
Financial Crisis-Relief and Anti-Relief-Prevailing Prices -Elder T. P. Dudley.
IN 1821, Lexington, like the whole state of Kentucky, was suffering from the financial distress which had been growing worse and worse ever since the close of the war of 1812. The community was flooded with all sorts and sizes of depreciated "shinplasters," as they were contemptuously called; business was ruined, everybody was in debt, and every one was suing or being sued. During this terrible depression and stagnation of commercial interests, all the old political interests were lost sight of, and the crisis brought into existence the now famous "Relief" and "Anti-Relief" parties, the first demanding a stay-law on executions from the legislature, the last opposing it. The contest was hot and protracted, and resulted in the still more famous " Old Court" and " New Court" parties.
At this dark period all the farmer had to sell went at ruinously low prices, and all he bought he got at the most exorbitant rates .* Corn sold at twelve and a half cents per bushel; wheat, thirty-seven cents ; flour at two dollars and fifty cents per barrel; net pork at one dollar and twenty- five cents per hundred pounds; butter at six cents per pound, and eggs at three cents per dozen ; cottons, forty and sixty cents, and prints, which would not be worn, at seventy-five cents per yard. Tea retailed at three dollars per pound, coffee at seventy-four cents, and Muscovado sugar at thirty-seven cents per pound ; and, as an instance of the perverted taste of that day, it was the usual custom to exchange two pounds of tree sugar for one of the Mus-
* Kentucky Letter in Cincinnati Gazette.
298
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1821.
covado. Whisky-old copper-distilled Bourbon whisky- sold at twenty-five to thirty cents per gallon. Milch cows rated from seven dollars to ten dollars per head, and good horses were often bought at twenty-five to forty dollars.
The venerable Elder Thomas P. Dudley, of Lexington, entered the ministry of the Particular Baptist Church in 1821. He was born in Kentucky county, Virginia, May 3, 1792, and in a few days after was under the government of the infant commonwealth of Kentucky. He enlisted for the campaign of 1812 in Trotter's cavalry, but left the troop at Fort Defiance to act as assistant commissary to the left wing of the northwest army. He was in the battle and massacre at the river Raisin, where he was captured. After his release from captivity, he served as quartermaster-gen- eral of the Kentucky troops sent to the aid of Jackson at New Orleans, and was in the celebrated victory of the 8th of January, 1815. After serving faithfully in the ministry for more than half a century, Elder Dudley still survives, and is one of the oldest and best known citizens of Lex- ington. Mr. Dudley has been the pastor of the church at Bryant's Station for many years. This church, which was organized in 1786, has had but two pastors from that time to the present, viz : Ambrose Dudley, and his son, Thomas P. Dudley, the subject of this notice.
1822.]
GAMBLING SUPPRESSED, ETC.
299
CHAPTER XLVI. Gambling Suppressed-Female Bible Society.
LEXINGTON was so grievously infested with gamblers in the fall of 1822, that the citizens combined to crush them out, and after an indignation meeting, a general attack was made on the sporting characters, and many of them were lodged in jail. A newspaper of the time,* "hoped that persons at a distance would understand that the society of Lexington does not tolerate any species of gaming."
In 1822, the Lexington Female Bible Society was organ- ized. Mrs. Elizabeth Skillman, whose lovely character will long be remembered by our citizens, was one of the members of the first board of managers, and was president of the institution for nearly forty years. She died Febru- ary 18, 1872, in the eighty-sixth year of her age.
*Observer and Reporter.
1
300
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1823.
CHAPTER XLVII.
Thomas T. Skillman-D. A. Sayre & Co .- " Old Court" and " New Court" Parties-The Contest in Lexington- Incidents-Jos. C. Breckinridge.
THE " Western Luminary," the first religious newspaper published in the southwest, was established in Lexington, by Thomas T. Skillman, in 1823, to aid in counteracting the strong infidel tendency then manifested in the city. Mr. Skillman was one of the best and most useful citizens of his day. He died June 9, 1833, a victim of the terrible cholera season of that year, and the loss which his church and the community sustained, was felt to be such that it deepened still more the sadness and gloom that pervaded the suffering city.
The banking house of D. A. Sayre & Co., was founded in 1823.
In 1823, the court of appeals of Kentucky made its cele- brated decision that the "relief" statutes passed at prior sessions of the legislature, retrospectively extending re- plevins, were unconstitutional. This decision created an immense sensation. The " Reliefs " now became known as the "New Court" party, whose sole aim was to remove the offending judges of the court of appeals, and substitute new ones who would bend to the popular will. . The " Anti- Reliefs," or as they were soon called, the "Old Court" party, formed the opposition. The struggle which ensued, and which extended through three years, was the most vio- lent and bitter one in the annals of the state, excepting the one at the eve of the late war.
In no place in the state was the combat more fierce than in Lexington, the home of several of the ablest leaders of
-
301
THE CONTEST IN LEXINGTON, ETC.
1823.]
both the parties. Every weapon of political warfare was called into play ; argument, and invective, and sarcasm, and satire, and pasquinade, and ribaldry, were all exhausted in the strife of words.
It was during this exciting period, that the famous brick- bat war broke out on the streets of Lexington .* The combatants in about equal numbers, were ranged on each side of the street, and while pick and crowbar were kept busy in tearing up pavements, the fighting men in the op- posing ranks were equally busy for a full hour, by " Shrews- bury clock," hurling missiles at each other. Broken heads and bloody noses was the order of the day. When the fight was raging most furiously, and all were expecting a resort to firearms, R. J. Breckinridge and Charlton Hunt, opposing candidates, both of them brilliant, rising young lawyers, appeared on the street, with arm locked in arm, each waving a white handkerchief, and walking boldly be- tween the combatants. They thus ended the fray.
Another incident characteristic of the day and the people deserves to be recorded. It was then the custom for success- ful candidates at the close of the polls, to give a "big treat" to their constituents. On one of these occasions, Robert Wickliffe, Sr., " treated " to punch, a barrel of which was set in the middle of Limestone street, opposite the place now known as the Sayre Institute. A strong partisan on the other side, a somewhat notorious character, who was always after called "Dr." Napper, secretly dropped some tartar emetic in the punch. Such a scene as ensued beg- gars all description, and could hardly be limned with the pencil of a Hogarth. The retching and heaving, the sput- tering, and spewing, and spouting, with
" The two and seventy stenches, All well defined, and several stinks,"
Which assailed the olfactories of the passers-by was due notice to give the participators in the debauch a wide berth. That was the last general political treat given in the interior of the state.
*Kentucky letter to Cincinnati Gazette.
302
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1823.
Joseph C. Breckinridge, oldest son of Hon. John Breck- inridge, and father of Hon. John C. Breckinridge, was for many years a citizen of Lexington. He died in Frankfort, September 1, 1823, aged thirty-five. Mr. Breckinridge was born in Virginia, graduated at Princeton, served in the war of 1812, studied law and practiced in Lexington. At an early age he was elected to the legislature from Fayette county, and at the time of his death, was secretary of state under Governor Adair.
303
LEXINGTON LYCEUM.
1824.]
CHAPTER XLVIII.
The "Athens of the West"-Lexington Lyceum-Botanical Garden-Jefferson Davis.
THE literary culture and educational advantages of Lexington had become such by 1824, that the city was spoken of far and wide as the "Athens of the West."* Her claims to the title were by no means insignificant. The society of Lexington was noted for its intelligence, ap- preciation of literature, its good taste and elegance. The pulpits of the city were adorned by able and eloquent men, the newspapers were the leaders of the state press, and the bar was probably the strongest one at that time in the United States. Transylvania University, under the dis- tinguished Dr. Holly, had attained even a European celebrity, and the city was crowded with her learned professors, and medical, academical, and law students. Lectures were fre- quent and well sustained and the weekly discussions of the Lexington Lyceum, which was composed of the best men of all professions, were listened to by crowded audiences. The city library was the largest in the west, and has never been more liberally patronized. A botanical garden had just been established; the pencil of Jouett had made him famous and was now constantly engaged; and scholars and distinguished men from all parts of the country, vis- ited Lexington to enjoy the society in the noted seat and center of learning and intellectual culture in the west.
The Lexington Lyceum mentioned above was the suc- cessor of the "Lexington Junto,"t the debating society in which Henry Clay distinguished himself by the first speech he made in Lexington, in the year 1798. The Lyceum
# Flint's Travels.
tOld Kentucky Gazette.
304
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1824.
met at one time in Satterwhite's tavern, and afterward in the court-house. It existed for very many years and did great good by means of lectures and public debates. The Lyceum now in existence was chartered March 9, 1868 .* Its incorporators were : J. S. Phelps, J. R. Morton, H. M. Buford, J. H. Webster, G. W. Darnall, F. W. Woolley, and G. W. Ranck.
The botanical garden established in 1824 was projected by the learned Prof. C. S. Rafinesque of Transylvania University, who became its first director and manager, as- sisted by John W. McCalla, Thos. Smith, Joseph Ficklin, and J. M. Pike .¡ The garden, which was, properly speak- ing, a botanical, medical, and agricultural institution founded to promote the natural sciences and a knowledge of husbandry, was situated about where Judge S. S. Good- loe now lives on the Richmond turnpike. It existed but a few years, but is noted as having been the first institution of the kind projected in the west, if not the first in the United States.
Hon. Jefferson Davis, late President of the Confederate States, and who will always occupy a prominent and illus- trious place in the world's history, resided in Lexington in 1824, and was a member of the senior class in Transylvania University. He is remembered as a slender, fair-haired young man, quiet, unassuming, and of very studious habits. He boarded with Postmaster Ficklin, in the brick house, still standing, on the southwest corner of Hill and Lime- stone streets. The historic interest now attached to this spot will deepen and increase with advancing time.
*Acts Legislature.
TB. G. Records.
¿Letter to the Author.
.
305
LAFAYETTE'S VISIT.
1825.]
CHAPTER XLIX.
Lafayette's Visit to Lexington-Reception-Ceremonies and Incidents-The Christian Church-First Meeting Places- "Union of the Disciples and Christians"-Early Ministers- Dr. Jas. Fishback-Regular Pastors-Dissensions about Ordination-The Campbell and Rice Debate-"Excommuni- cation"-Present Condition of the Main Street Church.
PROBABLY the grandest gathering ever seen in Lexington was on the occasion of the reception of General Lafay- ette, May 16, 1825. In no place in this country did the old hero recive a more cordial welcome than in the seat of the county which was named in his honor. An immense con- course of people from all parts of Kentucky and from sev- eral other states, companies of infantry, artillery, and cav- alry, Revolutionary soldiers, distinguished strangers, mem- bers of all professions, went out to meet him, wearing "La- fayette badges."
The announcement that the marquis and suite were in sight was the signal for round after round of deafening cheers, volleys of musketry, and thunders of artillery, which only ceased long enough to give the following com- mittee time to formally receive and welcome him to Lex- ington, viz: John Bradford, William Morton, Dr. Richard Pindell, Dr. Walter Warfield, John Fowler, Alexander Parker, Andrew McCalla, William Leavy, James Lemmon, Charles Norwood, Col. James Trotter, and Gen. Thomas Bodley .* The welcome address in behalf of Lexington was delivered by John Bradford, and that in behalf of the county by Leslie Combs. Formal replies were made by Gen. Lafayette, after which, amid renewed cheers and salutes, a
*Observer and Reporter.
306
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1825.
grand procession moved through the principal streets of the town to Mrs. Keen's tavern, where rooms were pre- pared for the distinguished guests.
The procession marched in the following order:
First assistant marshal and staff, Col. McConnell.
Division of cavalry and mounted riflemen.
Marshal of the day and staff, Gen. McCalla.
Committee of Revolutionary officers and soldiers.
Sub-county committee.
State committee, with Colonel Wash from Missouri.
General Lafayette, with Col. Bowman, of the Eighth Vir- ginia regiment in the Revolutionary army, in a barouche drawn by four bay horses.
Col. G. W. Lafayette, Col. Le Vasseur, and Count De Syon, in a barouche also drawn by four bays.
Governors Desha and Carrol, with their suites, Colonels Hickey and Rowan, and Colonels Shelby and Erwin.
Revolutionary officers and soldiers.
Trustees of the town.
Judges of the Federal and State courts, and members of Congress and of the State legislature.
Officers of the army and navy.
Officers of the militia.
Second assistant marshal and staff, Col. Payne. First division of the military escort on foot.
Third assistant marshal and staff, Col. Beard.
Second division of the military escort on foot. Fourth assistant marshal and staff, Col. Dunlap.
President, Professors, and Trustees of Transylvania Uni- versity, and the clergy.
Union Philosophical and Whig Societies of the Uni- versity.
Students of the University according to classes.
Fifth assistant marshal and staff, Col. Prewitt. Citizens on foot.
Sixth assistant marshal and staff, Lieut. Col. Dudley. Citizens on horseback.
307
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
1825.]
Division of cavalry and mounted riflemen.
Seventh assistant marshal and staff, Lieut. Col. Combs.
1
Rest and then a sumptuous dinner followed the arrival at the tavern, after which the afternoon was spent by the marquis in a cordial reception of the enthusiastic multi- tude which crowded in upon him. At night a grand com- plimentary ball was given him in the then new Masonic Hall, on Main, between Broadway and Spring streets, which was beautifully decorated for the occasion. The managers of the ball were: E. Warfield, J. H. Morton, J. W. Hunt, J. W. Palmer, C. Wilkins, W. W. Worsley, B. Gratz, J. Postlethwait, L. Combs, T. Smith, T. S. Caldwell, W. Brand. General Lafayette was welcomed to the hall by the Rev. John Ward in behalf of his Masonic brethren.
Before his departure, Lafayette reviewed the old sol- diers of the Revolution, visited Mrs. Clay and the widow of Governor Scott, and spent some time with Jouett, who afterward completed the life-size portrait of Lafayette, now owned by the State of Kentucky. One of the most prominent features of the entertainment of Lafayette in Lexington was a literary reception at Transylvania Uni- versity. A classic address was made by President Holly, and eulogistic orations and poems were delivered in French, Latin, and English by the students.
In 1825,* two feeble little religious bodies, which occa- sionally attracted attention on account of their "new notions," struggled for existence in Lexington. The mem- bers of one met at the residence of Mrs. Bell (mother of Dr. T. S. Bell, of Louisville), who lived on Main street, between Walnut and Rose, and nearly opposite Mr. S. S. Thompson's planing mill. They called themselves " Chris- tians," and their pastor was that learned, liberal, and great man, Barton W. Stone, who had long been at the head of a flourishing classical school in Lexington. The other little flock met in a house on Spring street, between Main and Water, which afterward became the machine shop of Thomas H. Barlow, one of the greatest inventors America
* Old Inhabitants.
308
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1825.
has ever produced. They called themselves "Disciples," and held the peculiar views advanced by Alexander Camp- bell, who, two years before (1823), upon the occasion of his first visit to Lexington, had created a great sensation by his startling and powerful sermons. The "Disciples " were occasionally addressed by that intrepid, original, and able man of God, Elder John ("Raccoon ") Smith, who now sleeps in the Lexington cemetery. Elders Wm. Poindexter and Thomas Smith also labored for this church.
The "Christians " and "Disciples" agreed in most of their religious opinions. They kept up separate organiza- tions, however, for a number of years. The "Christians," or "Stoneites," as they were then often called, were par- ticularly careful not to make immersion a test* of religion, and it was their practice to receive unimmersed christians of all denominations to their communion and fellowship. It was this which prevented for some time the union of the two bodies.
By the year 1831, the Christians had gathered strength sufficient to erect a house of worship, which they built on Hill street, near the corner of Mill, and opposite the pres- ent residence of Judge Robertson. The church was a very plain brick one, with an interior gallery, which, after the old style, ran around two sides and the end of the building. It was formally opened for worship on Sunday, October 16, 1831,t and the dedication sermon was delivered by the eccentric and eloquent elder, Jesse Bledsoe, who, but a short time before, had abandoned the bar for the pulpit. The "Disciples," at this time, were meeting in a building which stood near the present residence of Dr. H. M. Skill- man, on Broadway.
On Saturday, January 1, 1832, the Christians and Dis- ciples, between whom there existed a most fraternal feeling, assembled, by agreement, in the Hill Street meeting-house, to consider the probabilities of the union of the two bodies. Candid and generous addresses were delivered by Elders Barton Stone and John Smith; the members of both
*Christian Messenger, vol. v, p. 19.
tObserver and Reporter.
1825.]
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
309
churches conferred together, harmony was arrived at, and the hoped-for union was effected upon the broad ground that the Bible was the only rule of faith and practice; that all should enjoy the right of private judgment, and that the opinions of ecclesiastical leaders should not be allowed to disturb the peace of the church. The united congrega- tions adopted the name Christian for the church, and the Hill Street house became the sole meeting-place.
Until the services of a regular pastor were obtained, Elders Jacob Creath, Curtis Smith, Thomas M. Allen, and others preached at different times for the church.
One of the earliest and ablest of Bishop Campbell's indorsers in Lexington was Dr. James Fishback,* who subsequently became a member of the Christian ministry. He was the son of Jacob Fishback, who came to Ken- tucky from Culpepper county, Virginia, in 1783. Dr. Fishback was educated for the medical profession, and as early as 1805 filled the chair of " Theory and Practice" in Transylvania University. In 1816, becoming dissatis- fied with the stricter views of the Presbyterian Church, of which he was a member, he connected himself with the Baptists, and became one of their regularly ordained preachers.
In 1823, when Bishop Alexander Campbell visited Lex- ington for the first time, Dr. Fishback paid the closest attention to the opinions and arguments he advanced, and the impressions he then received influenced the balance of his religious life. In 1827,; while pastor of the Baptist Church on Mill street, he strongly advocated a change in the name of the church from what it then was to that of "Church of Christ." Many members of the church favored it, and many denounced it as an "unnecessary change sug- gested by the spirit of the New Light heresy." The dis- sension which ensued resulted in the exclusion of Dr. Fishback, John M. Hewitt, Purnell Bishop, Alex. Gibney, E. Chinn, A. Graham, and thirty others, "for contumacy and disorderly conduct." In April, the excluded members,
*Davidson's History.
t Baptist Church Records.
310
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1825.
who claimed the ownership of the church building, met in it, organized "the Church of Christ on Mill street," and in turn excluded their excluders from the church. Dr. Fish- back was elected pastor of the new church, the congrega- tion of which met for some time alternately with the other Baptists in the Mill Street church, but subsequently left that place and worshiped in the building now known as the Statesman office, on Short street. Most of this congre- gation finally went back to the First Baptist Church, but Dr. Fishback and others, after wavering for some time, joined the Christian Church. Dr. Fishback was a promi- nent preacher of this last-named body for a number of years, and died connected with it in the summer of 1845.
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