The doors will open at 6:00 p.m. and Scary Night will begin. Please use the Short Street entrance (back of museum). Don’t know where the Lexington History Museum is located? 215 W Main St in the Old Fayette County Courthouse. The museum is bounded by Short, Upper, Main, and Cheapside Park.

Continuous activities on the 3^rd Floor 6-9 P.M. –

2^nd Floor
Haunted Museum! Come see the Ghosts of the Old Fayette County Courthouse as they chill you to the bone. Small children and anyone who does not like to be scared are asked to not participate in the Haunted Museum as there are thematic elements which may  be too scary for kids. The Haunted Museum will not run during the costume contest (7-8).

Clay-Davis Gallery Reception Room
Crafts
Games
Guest tables: Fayette County Cememtery Trust, Ghost Chasers International, The ScareFest, Apex Publications Owner Jason Sizemore and Editor Mari Adkins

Third Floor Hallway
Food from Papa John’s Pizza, Babycakes Cupcakes, Ale-8-One Bottling Company

Schedule of events for Original 1900 Courtroom
6:15: Mock Witch Trial

6:30: Storytelling with Octavia Sexton

7:00 – 8:00: Costume contest, Judges: Dr. Nick Couns, Mick Jeffries, Ide Bouldin
If you wish to participate in the Costume Contest, you must register at the desk at the Short Street Entrance. A form will be provided for you to put your Name, Age, and the Concept for your costume. Please be at the museum no later than 6:45.

8:00: Mock Witch Trial

8:30: Storytelling with Octavia Sexton

Thank you to all of the local businesses who have shown us SO much support: Ghost Chasers International, The Scarefest, Holiday Inn North, J. Peterman Company, Babycakes Cupcakes, Ale-8-One Bottling Company

If you have any questions about Scary Night please call the Museum at (859) 254-0530.

Something goes bump in the night in the Old Fayette County Courthouse, home of the Lexington History Museum. Only one night of the year do the spirits of dearly (and not so dearly) departed Lexingtonians and historic figures come back to walk its hallowed halls. On October 23 from 6 – 9 pm, visitors to the Lexington History Museum’s Scary Night at the Museum will be chilled to the bone and will witness terrors beyond their imagination. For those who do not like to be scared, a free community fall festival on the museum’s third floor will provide thrills without the chills.

The ghosts in the Haunted Museum are based on real people and the volunteers portraying them reveal Lexington and Kentucky’s haunted past. Students from Henry Clay High School, SCAPA, Transylvania University, and the University of Kentucky will be doing the scaring. Some apparitions are rumored to be Bonnie and Clyde, who committed a robbery in Western KY, Native American, and zombies from the Lexington Cemetery. This year, there is a new addition to Scary Night in the form of a mock trial of women tried for witchcraft in 1800s rural Kentucky. It is a fictional account based on oral history of witch burnings in Kentucky and the grand jury trial of a woman in Owen County for witchcraft. Visitors to the museum will be able to hear the defense and prosecution present the case and it will be their job to reach a verdict. The sentence for the woman on trial? She will burn at the stake. Mwahahahahahaha.

Back for 2010 is Appalachian storyteller Octavia Sexton who will tell her “haint” tales to those brave enough to listen. Many of her stories are passed down from generation and are derived from European, African and Native American stories, though some are from her own creation. Learn more about Octavia Sexton by visiting her website.

Also on the third floor, there will be representatives from the Fayette County Cemetery Trust with information about their programs. Kentucky author Mari Adkins will be signing copies of her anthology Harlan County Horrors. Representatives from The ScareFest, the largest horror and paranormal convention in the Southeast US will be around so you can learn more about the convention.

There will be crafts and games for children of all ages along with food from local restaurants. The costume contest will be early in the event so children aren’t up too late. Prizes will be awarded to the top three in categories Children 0 – 3, Children 4 – 10, Teens 11 – 18 and Adults 18+ and have been donated by local businesses.

And the best part of it all? Scary Night at the Museum is free!

For questions about Scary Night at the Museum please contact Museum Assistant Natasha Collier by email tashalee09@gmail.com or by phone (859) 254-0530.

Scary Night at the Museum
Lexington History Museum
October 23, 2010
6 – 9 pm

Costume contest, haunted museum, games, crafts, food, mock trial.

Special thanks to BabyCakes Cupcakes, J. Peterman Company, Lexmark Corporation, The ScareFest, Chuck and Patti Starr, Ghost Chasers International, Ale-8-One and Holiday Inn North for their partnership!

The admission changes also bring about changes in entering and exiting the Old Fayette County Courhouse which houses the Lexington History Museum. As of September 25, point of entry will be the Short Street entrance. The Main Street entrance will be permanently closed and signage will be placed accordingly.

After the Games close on October 10, Fayette County residents will be admitted at no charge upon presenting proof of residence (driver’s license, student ID, check, library card, etc.) The change in policy is because of projected budget deficits, but still remains in keeping with the spirit of Dr. Thomas D. Clark’s vision that local residents should not have to pay to learn about their heritage. The decision to charge admission to non-residents is supported by Dr. Clark’s widow.

Museum President and CEO had this to say about the impending changes:

The Museum receives no public operating funds, although the building is maintained at a minimum by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government. The Museum operating expenses are totally dependent on private donations, such as the impending admissions costs.

The cost will be $5 for Adults and Children over 12, $3 for Children 6-11. Children 5 and under will be free. Visa, MasterCard and American Express credit cards will be accepted at both the admissions desk and in the gift shop. The three other History Center museums Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum, Pharmacy Museum and Public Safety Museum will remain free to the public.

For questions regarding these changes, please contact Museum President and CEO Jamie Millard by email jamie@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org or by phone (859) 254-0530.

Located at 215 W. Main St in Downtown Lexington, KY, the Lexington History Museum is open seven days a week 12-4 with extended hours on Saturday 10-4. During the World Equestrian Games, the hours will be extended to fit with the Spotlight Lexington events downtown. The new hours will be Sunday through Friday 10-6 with hours of 10-6 on Saturday. Following the close of the games, the museum will revert to its Friday through Monday schedule.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, KY and the Bluegrass region.

Though he favored Kentucky’s neutrality during the Civil War, he was considered to be a Southern sympathizer. During his terms as Lt. Governor, Governor (18th and 24th) and in the Senate, he favored state aid for economic development, election reforms to curb irregularities and violence, higher salaries to attract better judges, and prohibition of the carrying of concealed deadly weapons.

He proposed that LaRue County be so-named for his grandfather.

Voting is simple:
“Like” Chase Community Giving on Facebook
Search “Lexington History Museum” —> click on LEXINGTON HISTORY MUSEUM INC
THEN! (And this is the most important part) click “Vote!”

Send all of your friends to vote for the museum too!

There are some amazing things that we can do with even $20,000 like our Scary Night at the Museum event or Hands on History Summer Day Camp. Help us preserve history for Lexington and the Bluegrass Region.

VOTE TODAY!

The school year is drawing to a close and that means it is time to figure out what to do with the kids this summer. The Lexington History Museum is sponsoring 3 week-long summer day camp sessions for children of all ages. The camp mixes hands-on activities, walking tour of Lexington, trips to other historic sites and behind the scenes fun at the museum. Kids will play Native American games, explore life as a Pioneer, find out how Lexington was divided during the Civil War and create their own exhibit!

Three sessions will be held daily from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.: June 21- 25
July 05 – 09
July 12 – 16

Ages listed on the promotional material specify children 6 – 10, but we welcome children of all ages with a desire to learn about the history of Kentucky and Lexington!

Topics for the camp include: Native Americans in Kentucky, Lexington’s Pioneer Heritage, Abraham Lincoln and His Wife’s Hometown, Civil War Lexington, and Behind the Scenes of the Lexington History Museum.

Important Information about the Camp:

• Each camp session costs $183 per camper
• Cost includes all materials and any outside attraction admission charges.
• Lunch is not included in the camp fee. (Campers should bring a bagged lunch printed with his/her name and a soft drink. There is access to a refrigerator to keep lunches cool.
• Camps sessions are Monday – Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Campers are expected to be dropped off and picked up on time.
• Late pick up at 5 p.m. is available for $25 per camper, per session.
• Activities are in the Museum Center building, on the Court Square, or within short walking distance of the Museum

Payment is due the Monday before the desired session begins. Financial assistance is available for those in need.

Stop by the museum for a registration form or email lexhistorymuseum@yahoo.com for a pdf version!

The Sunday Stroll is a free way to get out and see important historic sites in Lexington. While the Lexington History Museum is always free, we will be giving a 10% Discount in the Court Square Trader Museum store during the event. Visitors must mention the Sunday Stroll to receive the discount.

The evening culminates at Christ Church Cathedral for an organ concert and Evensong beginning at 4:30. The Lexington History Museum will be open until its normal time of 4 p.m. so be sure to check it out!

Open sites include:

1.  Hunt Morgan House & garden  (Blue Grass Trust)
201 North Mill St.

2.  Old Morrison, Transylvania University; Patterson Cabin is on the grounds
West Third St.

3.  Bodley Bullock house & garden (Lexington Junior League)
200 Market St.

4.  Christ Church Cathedral, Art Gallery & Garden;  Organ Concert & Evensong
166 Market St.

5.  Henry Clay Law Office (The Henry Clay Center for Statesmanship)
176 North Mill St.

6.  First Presbyterian Church
174 North Mill St.

7.  Lexington History Museum (Old Fayette County Courthouse)
215 West Main St. (Main at Upper; open ’till 4 PM)

Additionally, Pope Villa, 326 Grosvener Ave., a restoration in progress by the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation will be open for free tours conducted by historic preservation specialists.

Saturday, May 8 (and possibly Sunday, May 9) come say hi to us at Mayfest Art Fair in Gratz Park. This annual event features local art vendors, artisans and crafters. We’ll be hanging out at the education tent, so come make some crafts (and kids, impress your moms with your art skills) and take home some information about our upcoming programs. Gratz Park is located between Third and Second Sts at Mill and Market Sts. Music, a book fair at the Carnegie Center, educational activities, and fun times await you at Gratz Park for Mayfest. And just think… it’s the beginning of funnel cake season!

Saturday, May 15 we’ll be at Founders Day celebrating the founding of Lexington at McConnell Springs off Manchester St. Due to construction, there may be some detours in getting to McConnell Springs so give you up-to-date information. We’ll have crafts and activities focused on the founding of Lexington.

Beginning Saturday, May 29, the Lexington Learning Cooperative will be offering free educational activities for families at the Lexington Farmers Market at the new 5/3 Pavillion at Cheapside Park. Check back for more information!

A completed Lincoln hat from Mayfest 2009

Kentucky’s 21st governor was born on April 18, 1815 in Harrodsburg. Following graduation from Centre College in Danville, he attended Transylvania University where he studied law. He entered state politics in 1850, when he was elected to the state Senate. Magoffin defeated Joshua Bell in 1859 in a gubernatorial race.

Magoffin accepted slavery and states’ rights; he believed in the right of secession but hoped to prevent it by collective action of the slave states in reaching an agreement with the North. To avoid total conflict in Kentucky, he proclaimed that the Commonwealth remain neutral on May 20, 1861 and rejected aid from both the Union and Confederate armies.

Because of his Southern sympathies the 1861 two-thirds Union majority in the Kentucky legislature distrusted Magoffin. They would not pass any of his legislation. When he suggested that a Kentucky convention be held so that the Commonwealth may choose its stance in the Civil War, they blocked his effort.

Beriah Magoffin resigned from office in 1862 and was succeeded by James F. Robinson. He returned to a private life of farming and his law practice in Harrodsburg. Following the Civil War, he urged Kentucky to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution which would grant civil rights to African-Americans. He died on February 28, 1885, and was buried at Harrodsburg.

Many of the men who early on took up the cause of Kentucky’s statehood were born in Virginia and most fought in the American Revolution. Christopher Greenup is one man who fits both of those characteristics. The third governor of Kentucky was most likely born in Loudoun County, Virginia, in 1750, though little is known of his parents. He worked as a surveyor and studied law before moving to Lincoln County in 1781 and was very active in the young Commonwealth, even representing Fayette County in the Virginia House for a time. Greenup participated in two of the Danville conventions that led to Kentucky’s statehood in 1792.

That same year, Christopher moved to Frankfort and began his career in Kentucky politics. For five years, he represented the Commonwealth in the United States House of Representatives. His aspiration, however, was the Office of Governor. He ran against James Garrard in 1800, but came in second place. He gained popularity in the following years and he was uncontested in the 1804 gubernatorial race and served for eight years. In his time as governor, he worked hard in directing public affairs and growing the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

While he was well-liked by citizens and the General Assembly alike, many of the programs he wished to put in place were unsuccessful. He wanted to reform the state militia, court system and the state revenue system, but was unable to secure the reforms that he envisioned. During his administrations, however, the Bank of Kentucky was founded and he initiated the purchase of stock in the Ohio Canal Company, as it was evident that the Ohio River would prove to be a very useful trade and transportation route. Kentucky almost became embroiled in the Bur Conspiracy scandal, but Greenup testified that Kentucky had no involvement in Burr’s supposed idea to invade Mexico and take over.

Christopher Greenup died in Frankfort at his home on April 17, 1818 and was buried in the Frankfort Cemetery. He left office in high-esteem and continued to be liked by the citizens of the Commonwealth. Greenup County, in northeastern Kentucky, was named after him in 1804.

Put on your hard hat and bear with the mess. We’re working hard to improve the site and not only make it more efficient, but more interesting as well. We appreciate your feedback, so if there is anything you would like us to change or improve please let us know!

Thank you!

With the death of Louis “Shoeshine” Cobb this past November, Lexington lost its latest in a string of colorful characters that stretches unbroken to the community’s founding days in the late 1700s. Certainly, anyone who takes on a wildcat (of the four-footed kind) with his bare hands must be quite a character. Thus, one John McKinney qualifies as the town’s first such type (and its first school teacher), as in early June 1783 he was attacked by a strangely behaving cat inside the one-room schoolhouse on the site of today’s Lexington History Museum. As the cat’s claws dug into his torso, its teeth deep in his shoulder, the commotion from the fight convinced the other settlers of an American Indian attack. Finally, McKinney got the upper hand and choked the cat to death. After being bandaged, McKinney called his class to order and resumed their instruction for the day. Understandably, shortly thereafter, McKinney left teaching to take up farming in Bourbon County, helped write the state’s first constitution, and was elected to the first legislature.

William “King” Solomon is also counted among the town’s earliest characters. Reputedly the scion of a wealthy Virginia family, he migrated to Lexington and took up residence – as the town drunk. One day, while inebriated, he climbed a tree, only to fall and land on a constable. Promptly arrested, Solomon was auctioned to pay his fine and debts. Bought for the sum of 50 cents by a free black woman known as Aunt Charlotte (for which the East End’s Charlotte Court is named), he was essentially enslaved – a white man to a black woman. Solomon’s lasting fame stems from the 1833 cholera epidemic. Because he drank whiskey, not water (or so the story goes), he was impervious to the water-born germs in polluted wells. As even the grave diggers fled for safe haven, Solomon calmly stayed behind to bury the dead at the Old Episcopal Burying Ground on Third Street at today’s Elm Tree Lane. Upon his death in 1854, Solomon was buried in the new Lexington Cemetery, and a statue declaring him a “hero” was erected at the gravesite. (Footnote to history: Solomon was not the only person digging graves. Two others worked with him: London Ferrell, a free black who is the only non-white buried in that graveyard, and a young U.S. Army Lieutenant Jefferson I. Davis, graduate of Transylvania University and later president of the Confederacy.)

After the War Between the States, former soldiers on both sides returned to their communities to live out their lives with memories of heroic wartime adventures. For years, Col. O.F. Redd, CSA, celebrated his exploits by leading the town’s many parades high on his cavalry steed. Sometimes, he would swoop a watching youngster up on his saddle where she had a bird’s eye view of the parade route. At the terminus of the parade, he would always remove his hat with a grand gesture, stand in the stirrups, and let out a blood-curdling Rebel Yell.

Of course, regular readers of the Chevy Chaser and its sister publications are familiar with the visage, if not the story, of the dog known as Smiley Pete. For 11 years, Pete, a mixed breed with an apparently fixed grin, was a fixture at the corner of Main and Lime, holding court outside Hart’s Drugstore. Nearby merchants saw to his nutritional needs.When the regular rabies outbreak occurred, Smiley Pete took up residence at Del-Tor Veterinary until the crisis passed. In 1952, Pete sired his only documented litter. But his loose living caught up with him, and he died on June 17, 1957. A plaque is in the sidewalk at “his” corner, and he is buried near the old Fairlawn mansion on North Broadway, where the marker reads: “Pete/Our Dog/A Friend to All/A Friend of All.”

Lexington’s colorful characters have been such to prompt newspaper editorials. The Lexington Leader of April 5, 1965, pays tribute to no less than five individuals whose antics entertained the community, if not the police department. Lost John wore a top hat and tails, strolling around downtown and the UK campus, playing the harmonica. Evidently, he came into a few hundred dollars, which he splurged on a motor scooter, extending the speed and range of his wanderings. Eddie Young was banned from Main Street after he suggested how an inquiring woman could “catch a streetcar.” Pete McGarvey, whose residence was listed as the Workhouse on Bolivar Street, spent his non-jail time preaching to whomever would listen from his perch on Cheapside “while he got himself in shape to go back to jail.” Walkin’ Munn Wilson was a perennial candidate for political office who would “preach politics and brimstone” until led away by the police. And there was a certain Mrs. Littleton who took Lexington society by storm – until a police detective recognized her as a former resident of The Hill (the city’s red light district).

No accounting of Lexington’s colorful characters would be complete without mention of James “Sweet Evening Breeze” Herndon. Known as “Sweet Evening” or just “Sweets” (and rarely called or even known by his given name), Herndon was born in 1889 in Scott County. Allegedly, the youngest of eight children was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital for treatment of an eye injury – and abandoned. Miss Lake Johnson, the administrator, took a liking to him and provided living space at the hospital. He paid for his room by running errands for the hospital and playing ukulele for patients. In time, he trained as an orderly, and earned a reputation for his skills of tenderly turning the bedridden. He also earned a reputation as the city’s first cross-dresser. Many a Saturday evening found Sweets dressed in feminine finery, wearing makeup and sporting a handbag while he strolled downtown streets. Many legendary tales are told about Sweets, perhaps the most memorable being when he was lowered in a basket from the Woodland Auditorium ceiling to perform the “Passion Dance of the Bongo Bongoes.” Sweets died Dec. 16, 1983, and is said to have donated a hefty sum to Pleasant Green Baptist Church, of which he was a longtime member.

Now that “Shoeshine” has joined the pantheon of Lexington’s colorful characters, who stands ready to take up the mantel?

The Lexington History Museum is currently developing an exhibit based on the lives of many of these colorful characters. We would like your input. If you feel that we have omitted any treaured Lexington character, please letus know.

On April 11, 1923 Frances Estill Beauchamp passed away. The temperance advocate was born in Madison County in 1857, an only child.She was educated in Madison County and moved on to Science Hill Academy in Shelbyville. In 1875, she married James H. Beauchamp , an attorney.

The couple moved to Lexington in 1880. Frances was a devout Presbyterian and had embraced the temperance lifestyle at an early age. A temperance movement criticizes excessive alcohol use, complete abstinence, or government eradication of alcohol by legislation.

In America, temperance began as early as the American Revolution and continued through the 1800s and well into the 1900s. Beauchamp became active in the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1886, when a local chapter was formed in Lexington. She took charge of the Lexington union as president and helped to form chapters across Kentucky. In 1894 Beauchamp was elected assistant recording secretary of the national WCTU, an office she held for ten years, but returned to the Kentucky chapter in 1895 and held the position until her death.

Under her guidance, the WCTU exploded in Kentucky. There were more than 300 chapters formed across the Commonwealth. Temperance education was pivotal to expanding the message of the movement. Frances was a gifted orator. She gave speeches at chautauquas (educational meetings for adults), women’s clubs, revivals, and other forums across the nation. She used her voice and was  widely credited for the ratification of the prohibition amendment to the state constitution in November 1919.

Beauchamp died in Geneva, New York, on April 11, 1923, and was buried in the Lexington Cemetery.

Beginning March 29, the museum will be open seven days a week from 12 p.m. until 2 p.m. with extended hours on Saturday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Volunteers are needed to staff the reception desk on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for shifts 12-2 and 2-4. They may also be called upon to fill in for volunteers on other open days. Volunteers are expected to learn about the exhibits at the museum and familiarize themselves with the other three museums in the building. They may be called upon for special events and to lead guided tours if needed. All required materials will be provided, such as a gift shop procedure tutorial and exhibit information.

During the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, volunteers will be needed to staff the front desk and lead tours during special extended hours. The hosting position is perfect for a college student who is looking to fulfill community service hours or anyone who is looking to give back to their community. There are other opportunities to volunteer such as research and assistance with the museum’s social media programs. Volunteers meet fellow Lexingtonians and visitors to Lexington, gain a unique knowledge of Lexington and the Bluegrass region while promoting and securing Lexington’s only free historical site.

Please join us for a Volunteer Orientation on Saturday, April 10 at 2 p.m. and learn more about the museum. There will be an opportunity to meet museum staff members and become familiar with exhibits. Shift sign-up and training will be provided for all prospective volunteers.

Come help us record and preserve our city’s history. For more information, contact Debra Watkins, Museum Manager, by calling 859-254-0530 or emailing debra@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org. Find us on the web at www.lexingtonhistorymuseum.org, www.facebook.com/lexhistory, www.twitter.com/lexhistory. If you have a question, comment, or concern, feel free to leave a comment on this post. Can’t make it to the orientation? Let us know if you are interested in taking one of the volunteer shifts and we can schedule a private training!

Emily moved to Augusta, Georgia in 1818 to visit with cousins and live with Col. Nicholas Ware’s family for the winter. It was during that visit that she would meet her future husband, Richard Tubman. Tubman was a businessman from England. The two were wed and she made a move to Georgia. He passed away in 1836, leaving her with a vast fortune and estate. She ran her plantations with efficiency and even owned a textile mill.

Emily was faced with a decision. Would she accept Southern convention and own slaves to work on her plantations, or would grant their freedom. In 1842, she let her slaves decide. She gave them the option of staying with her or being freed to join a colony that emancipationists had created in western Africa called Liberia, of which Henry Clay was in favor. Of her 144 slaves, seventy-five chose to stay and the remainder opted for the freedom of the Liberia colony. The freed slaves set sail to Liberia from Baltimore and settled at Harper, in Maryland County, Liberia. For her efforts, a city in Liberia was named in honor of the Tubman family.

Emily Tubman was very generous with her fortune. She donated money to several Kentucky schools including Midway Orpahn School, Kentucky University (which merged with Transylvania,) and Millersburg College. She even donated $30,000 to help rebuild Frankfort Christian Church after it had been destroyed by fire. She as very influential in the Christian Church.

She passed away on June 9, 1885, in Augusta and was buried next to her husband in the Frankfort Cemetery.

We will be opening new exhibits including A Salute to the World Equestrian Games and Lexington in the Civil War in the coming months.

For more information, email info@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org, leave a comment on this post, or call 859-254-0530.

Those Clay Women
by Jamie Millard & Joan Grever
Originally printed in the Chevy Chaser magazine
March 04, 2010

Lexington, KY – As we begin the run up to the War of 1812 bicentennial, a lot of attention will be given to Lexington’s Henry Clay, leader of the War Hawks who embarked on the flawed adventure. Every bit as fascinating as the patriarch of the fabled family are three Clay women: a wife, a granddaughter cum daughter-in-law and a second cousin once removed.

Spanning three generation across 160 years, each Clay woman in her own way made significant contributions, not only to Lexington, but to the nation as well.

Lucretia Hart Clay (1781 – 1864), the daughter of a Continental Army Colonel, was born in Hagerstown, Md. Her father, Thomas Hart of North Carolina, was a principal in the Transylvania Company, which drove the settlement of Kentucky. The family moved to Lexington in 1795, residing in a fine house on the southwest corner of Mill and Short Streets (the structure was torn down in 1955 – an event that sparked the founding of the Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation).

Lucretia was considered one of Lexington’s most attractive young women. The Hart home was a social center of town, where Lucretia played the first piano in Lexington. She drew the eye of young Henry Clay, a very eligible bachelor who arrived in Lexington from Virginia in 1797 penniless, but intent on building a law practice in the growing city.

Married at age 18, Lucretia and her husband established their home, “Ashland,” just six years later. By all rights, Lucretia was very much the woman of the house, organizing the kitchen gardens and overseeing the entertainment of the leading lights of the day. Such famous visitors as the Marquis de Lafayette, President Chester A. Arthur, Vice President John C. Breckinridge, Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln, and many others either visited or stayed at the house.

Along the way, Lucretia became the mother of 11 children who, along with their tutor and 10 house slaves, comprised a small village east of Lexington. Over the years, that community suffered great sorrow. By the time of her death on April 7, 1864, at the home of her youngest child, Lucretia had buried all but four of her children.

Josephine Russell Erwin Clay (1835 – 1920) was the widow of Lucretia’s grandson Andrew Eugene Erwin, a Confederate Colonel killed during the Siege of Vicksburg. She returned to her late husband’s hometown from her family farm near Independence, Mo., in 1864. Lucretia had invited Jo, her three daughters and her mother, Zaenett Freeland Russell, to supervise the household of her youngest son, and eccentric bachelor, John Morrison Clay – a move that scandalized Lexington society. The two were married the following year, by which time Lucretia was dead and unable to witness her granddaughter-in-law becoming her daughter-in-law (perhaps an outcome she intended).

When Henry Clay died in 1852, John had inherited 200 acres of Ashland property along the Tates Creek Pike. Having managed his father’s Thoroughbred breeding program, John established Ashland Stock Farm and built “Ashland on Tates Creek Pike,” designed by famous architect Thomas Lewinski. A Union man, John fended off several attempts by Confederate John Hunt Morgan to raid his fine stock.

Upon the marriage, Jo put a stop to John’s carousing, although letters written while he was out of town document his wild streak was not entirely tamed. Jo was a Catholic, and her husband frequently attended Mass with her, having been disallowed from joining Christ Church because he “ran” horses; John noted the discrepancy that trotters were admitted, but runners denied.

Jo became a partner in the farm, having grown up around horses in Missouri. Together, they bred Day Star, Ashland’s first Kentucky Derby winner in 1878. As John aged (he was 14 years her senior), Jo took on more and more of the farm operations. Under her hand, she converted the farm from a racing stable to a breeding operation as her husband retired from the track. Jo became known as the “Horsewoman of the Bluegrass,” raising the farm’s reputation to national prominence.

Not to be a one-dimensional horsewoman, Jo was also a best-selling author of romantic novels published by Lippincott & Co. of Philadelphia. Jo died suddenly on March 29, 1920. Eventually, portions of the farm were sold off. Cassidy Elementary and Morton Middle schools stand on part of the farm, Lakewood Subdivision in Chevy Chase on another.

Laura Clay (1849-1941), the eighth of 10 children born to Cassius Marcellus and Mary Jane Warfield Clay, was definitely the child of both her parents. Mary Jane was strong willed, holding her family together while Cassius spent vast amounts of time away from home pursuing abolition, and not a few skirts. At the age of 12, Laura and her family traveled to Boston, then London, and eventually St. Petersburg, where her father served as Ambassador to Russia under President Abraham Lincoln. Returning to Kentucky to save expenses, Laura was enrolled in the Sayre Institute, cared for the wounded from the Battle of Richmond, and observed a cavalry raid led by Gen. John Hunt Morgan.

Early in 1878, her parents divorced and Laura was given a portion of the farm at White Hall, as were each of her siblings. Calling herself a “practical farmer,” Laura became known for her strong business skills. Unlike the other two Clay women, however, Laura’s national reputation was far removed from the soil – and from any man, for that matter.

Laura Clay was one of the nation’s leaders in the struggle to secure voting rights for women. She became active in the movement in her early 30s, and by 1881 was elected president of the Kentucky Woman Suffrage Association, which evolved as the Kentucky Civil Rights Association when the cause broadened to include property rights for married women and the right to practice as physicians in asylums.

Laura led the charge in the Kentucky legislature that created benefits for women and children, secured the right to vote in school board races, and helped draw up the 1890 Kentucky Constitution. Laura’s work was not confined to Kentucky. She campaigned tirelessly in a dozen other states.

Finally, the tide was turned and Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution and sent it to the states for ratification. Kentucky ratified it in January 1920, and by August of that year the right of women to vote was the law of the land. Her sole foray into electoral politics came in 1923 when she ran for the Kentucky senate. She was defeated on the divisive issue of betting at horse tracks. She died on June 29, 1941, having enjoyed just over two decades of voting.

Just three of the many Clay women (and not a few men) who helped shape the destiny of our community, Commonwealth and nation.

Her passion for research will live on as she has willed her remains to the University of Kentucky Body Bequeathal Program which will later be placed in the Grever plot in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Ky.

Family, friends and fellow historians are invited to celebrate Joan’s life Saturday, March 20, at the Lexington History Museum at 2 pm.

Donations may be made to the Lexington History Museum or Hospice of the Bluegrass. For more information, contact the museum by calling (859) 254-0530.

Cora Wilson Stewart was born on January 17, 1875 in Farmers, Kentucky, just outside of Morehead. She attended Morehead Normal School (later Morehead State University) and the University of Kentucky. She began her teaching career at twenty years old in Rowan County, where she grew up. It wasn’t long before she gained a reputation as an exceptional teacher and after just six years of working in education was elected Rowan County school superintendent. In 1909, she was re-elected and continued to be recognized for her triumphs in education.

Recognizing that illiteracy was a problem, she decided to do something about it. She founded the Moonlight Schools in 1911 as an experiment to combat illiteracy. Classes were held for adults in the one-room schoolhouses that were filled with learning children by day. The students made their way to the schools on nights where light from the moon would guide them and teachers volunteered their time and talents.

The Moonlight Schools opened on September 5, 1911. Stewart later called this first night “the brightest moonlit night the world has ever seen.”  1200 people, ranging in age from 18 to 86, showed up at the 50 schools on that September night. One of the Moonlight Schools sat for many years on the campus of Morehead State University and has been moved to a more central location near the Morehead Tourism center.

She was also a delegate to the 1920 Democratic Convention in San Francisco, and was nominated for President of the United States. In 1923 Stewart was elected to the executive committee of the National Education Association. Six years later President Herbert Hoover named her to chair the executive committee of the National Advisory Committee on Illiteracy. In 1924, for example,she received Pictorial Review‘s $5,000 achievement prize for her contribution to human welfare, and in 1930 she accepted the Ella Flagg Young Medal for distinguished service in the field of education. Accolades were well-deserved.

Cora Wilson Stewart was a trail-blazing individual. She fought for the right for all people to get the  education that they deserved and was elected first female president of the Kentucky Education Association. Her legacy lives on in the spirit of education.

Garrett’s inventions didn’t end with sewing machines. When automobiles were becoming popular, he realized that something had to be done to regulate traffic. He’d witness accidents on the streets of Cleveland and knew that there must be  a way to fix this problem caused by these new automobiles and animal-powered vehicles. Though others had attempted to invent a signal, Garrett Morgan was the first to apply for and acquire a U.S. Patent for the traffic signal. It was even inexpensive to produce! He was granted his patent on November 20, 1923.

The traffic signal wasn’t his only life-saving invention. Morgan had created a “breathing device” — gas mask — in his Cleveland shop. On July 25, 1916, he made national news when he wore the mask to save 32 men trapped below Lake Eerie. Fire departments and other organizations wanted this gas mask, which Morgan’s company could now reproduce. The United States military even came calling about this mask. A refined version was used by the U.S. Army in World War I.

Morgan’s successes allowed him to purchase a home and automobile in Cleveland. He died on August 27, 1963, at the age of 86. He was buried in Lake View cemetery in Cleveland. His inventive spirit left a lasting legacy.

This bust would start what would become a prolific sculpting and art career. His sculptures would be housed all over the United States and he would eventually move to Florence, Italy, a hub for artists and sculptors. In 1838, Hart visted the Hermitage to scupt President Andrew Jackson, a political rival of Henry Clay. However, he would go on to sculpt Henry Clay several times. First, a sculpture was commissioned by the Ladies’ Clay Association in Richmond, Virginia, to produce a full-length sculpture of the great statesman.

After sculpting John J. Crittenden, Robert Wickliffe, and the Reverend Alexander Campbell, Hart went to Italy in September 1849 to transfer his plaster molds of the statue into marble. He fell in love with Italy, but would return to the United States and visit Great Britain and France.

The city of New Orleans commissioned the statue of Henry Clay to be replicated in bronze for display in the city square. The marble statue was placed in the Virginia state capitol. Hart was also asked by Louisville to replicate the statue for the Jefferson County courthouse.

Later in his career, he was commissioned to sculpt a piece for the Fayette County Courthouse. The piece was known as Woman Triumphant. Unfortunately, he died before he could finish the sculpture, but it was completed by another artist and housed was put on display in the courrhouse until it was destroyed by fire in 1897. Only remnants of the sculpture were recovered and are now housed in the University of Kentucky archives.

A reconstructed photograph of Woman Triumphant along with information about Hart and the courthouses of Fayette County are on display at the Lexington History Museum.

By the fifth day of the battle on February 23, 1945, Mount Suribachi was effectively cut off from the rest of the island. Marines raised the flag at Iwo Jima to secure U.S. claim, as the tactic for the war in the Pacific was that of island-hopping. In February, it had come to Iwo Jima. Earlier in the day a small flag was placed upon the mountain, but later in the day a large flag was found which was deemed more appropriate. A group of six men, though only five are seen in the famous picture, was sent to place the new flag. One of these men, Franklin Sousley, who was only nineteen at the time of the battle, was a Kentuckian.

Franklin Sousley was born September 19, 1925 in the small farming community of Hilltop. When he was a child, his father died of diabetes, which left him to be the man of the house. He was very close to his mother, lightening her spirits with his easy going personality. Upon graduating from Fleming County High School in 1943, he moved to Dayton, Ohio to seek work. Sousley enlisted at seventeen and set sail for the Pacific on his eighteenth birthday. Franklin chose to be a U.S. Marine and after extensive training, he became a member of U.S. 5th Marine Division landing force on Iwo Jima.

The battle continued for over a month. Word had come back that Sousley may be part of a War Bond tour that was being planned back in the States after Rosenthal’s photograph had become so popular. It would have meant going home to see his mom and traveling the country as an example of the importance of purchasing war bonds. Sadly, he was killed in action on March 21, 1945, just five days before the end of the battle. He was the last of the Iwo Jima flag-raisers to die on the island. Three survived and went on to be part of the war bond tour. Originally buried on Iwo Jima, his body was reinterred on May 8, 1947, in Elizaville Cemetery.

He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, Presidential Unit Citation with One Star, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star, World War II Victory Medal. He was a Private First Class.

Letters to his mother from IwoJima.com, a site commemorating the battle and the legacy of the men who served:

————July 1944, Letter from Training Camp:
“Mother, you said you were sick. I want you to stay in out of that field and look real pretty when I come home. You can grow a crop of tobacco every summer, but I sure as hell can’t grow another mother like you.”

————Feb. 27, 1945 Letter from Iwo Jima:
“My regiment took the hill with our company on the front line. The hill was hard, and I sure never expected war to be like it was those first 4 days. Mother, you can never imagine how a battlefield looks. It sure looks horrible. Look for my picture because I helped put up the flag. Please don’t worry and write.”

Semper Fi, Franklin Sousley. 1925-1945

Within these natural boundaries is Kentucky,
Shaped like the mouldboard on a hillside turning-plow.
Kentucky is neither southern, northern, eastern, nor western,
It is the core of America.
If these United States could be called a body,
Kentucky can be called its heart.

I didn’t have any choices as to where I was born,
But if I had had my choice,
I would have chosen Kentucky.
And if could have chosen wind to breathe,
I would have chosen Kentucky wind.
With the scent of cedar, pinetree needles,
Green tobacco leaves, pawpaw, persimmon and sassafras.
I would have chosen too,
Wind from the sawbriar and greenbriar blossoms.

If I could have chosen the spot in Kentucky,
I would have chosen W-Hollow,
The place where I was born,
Where four generations of my people have lived,
And where they still live.
Here, too, I have always lived where
The hills form a semicircle barrier against roads
And there is only one way to get out.

This way is to follow the stream.
Here I first saw Kentucky light.
Here I first saw breathed Kentucky air.
And here I grew from childhood to manhood
Before I had been away to see what lay beyond
The rim of hills that closed my world.

I followed the little streams
That flowed over rocks between the high hills to the rivers
And then somewhere into the unknown world.
I hunted the wild game in the hunting seasons
Skillful as an Indian.
And I ran wild over the rock-rimmed hills
Enjoying this land of waters, sunlight,
Tobacco, pine, pawpaw, persimmon, sawbriar, greenbriar, and
sassafras.
I enjoyed the four seasons,
Sections of time my father used to divide his work for the year,
As much as any boy in America ever enjoyed them.

For Kentucky has four distinct seasons.
I learned this in childhood
And I didn’t get from a book.
Each season I learned was approximately three months.
Kentucky wasn’t all summer, all autumn, all winter or spring.
The two seasons that I wanted to be longer and longer
Were the Kentucky spring and autumn.

When winter began to break, snow melted
And ran down the little channels on the high hills.
Spring was in the wind.
I could feel it.
I could taste it.
I could see it.
And it was beautiful to me.
Then came the sawbriar and the greenbriar leaves
And the trailing arbutus on the rock-ribbed hills.

Next came the snowwhite blossoms of percoon in the coves,
Then came the canvas-topped tobacco beds,
White strips of fortune on each high hill slope.
Then came the dogwood and the wild crabapple blossoms,
White sails in the soft honey-colored wind of morning
And red sails of the flowering rose bud,
Stationery fire hanging in the soft honey- colored wind of morning
Of evening against the sunset….
The weeping willow, stream willow, and pussy willow
Loosed their long fronds to finger the bright wind tenderly.
Then came soft avalanches of green beech tops
In the deep hollow that hid the May-apple,
Yellowroot, ginseng, wild sweet williams, babytear and phlox.
When I learned Kentucky springs
Could not go on forever,
I was sick at heart.

For summer followed with work on the high hills.
I plowed the earth on steep slopes
And hoed corn, tobacco, cane, besides my strong mother
With a bright-warn gooseneck hoe.
Summer brought good earthy smells

Of tobacco, cane and corn and ferny loam and growing roots.
Summer brought berries too
That grew wild in the crevice rocks,
On the loamy coves and in the deep valleys.
Here grew the wild blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and
dewberries.
All I had to do was take my bucket and pick the up.

Then came the autumn with hazelnuts ripening on the pasture
bluffs
Along the cattle paths and sheep trails.
The black walnuts, white walnuts, hickory nuts, beech nuts
Fell from the trees in little heaps.
And the canopy of leaves turned many colors
After the first sharp frost had fallen
And the soft summer wind turned cool and brittle
And the insect sounds of summer became a lost murmur
Like the dwindling streams.
Autumn brought sweet smells of the wild possom grapes.
And the mountain tea berries.
In the blood-red sassafras and persimmon.
Autumn brought the mellow taste of persimmon.
That after frost did not pucker my mouth with summer bitterness.

October paw paws with purple-colored skins,
I found in heaps beneath the trees when I went after cows.
I opened them to find the cornmeal-mush softness,
Yellow-gold in color and better than bananas to taste.

These things are my Kentucky.
They went into the brain, body, flesh, and blood of me.
These things, Kentucky- flavored, grown in her dirt,
Helped build my body strong and shape my brain.
They laid foundations for my future thoughts.
They made me a part of Kentucky.
These are inescapable things,
Childhood to boyhood to manhood.
Even the drab hills of winter were filled with music.
The lonesome streams in the narrow-gauged valleys
Sang poetic songs without words.
And the leafless trees etched on gray winter skies
Were strong and substantial lines of poetry.

When I was compelled to put poems on paper
They wrote themselves for they were ripe
And ready for harvest
As the berries, the persimmons and the paw paws
As the yellow leaves and nuts falling from the trees.
Then I went for the first time into other states
And I knew my Kentucky was different.

As I observed the closeness of the tombstones
In the eastern cemeteries
This gave me a feeling that land was scarce.
I saw the tall smokestacks of industry
Etched against the eastern skies
And cities that were a pillar of fire by night
And the clouds of rolling smoke by day…
I saw New York, a city so large it frightened me,
Cliff dwellings as high as Kentucky mountains,
The streets and avenues were deep gorges
Between high walls of multicolored stone.
And while it interested me
To see how fellow Americans lived,
I longed for Kentucky sunlight, sights and sounds
And for log shacks and the lonesome waters.
I was homesick for the land for the fox
And spring’s tender bud, bloom and leaf,
For white sails of the dogwood and the crabapple
And the flame of redbud in the sunset.
I knew that my Kentucky was different
And something there called me home.
The language too was different
Not that it was softer
But it was more musical with the hard “g”s
Left automatically from the spoken word
And the prefix “a” supplemented…
I knew more than ever before my brain
Had been fashioned by the sights and sounds
And beauties of wildgrowth and life of the hills
That had nurtured my flesh from infancy to full growth

Then I went beyond the hills to see
America’s South of which I had always thought
We were a distinct part.
But I learned we were different from the South
Though our soils grew cane, cotton and tobacco…
We moved faster and we spoke differently.
The West I visited where land
Was level as a floor,
Where the endless field of growing corn
Was a dark cloud that hugged the earth,
Where the single field of growing wheat was endless, endless,
And the clouds always in the distance
Came down and touched the earth.
No matter how fast the train or the car ran,
It never reached the spot where the clouds came down to earth.
The people moved quickly,
They talked with the speed of the western wind.
They were “doers,” not talkers.
I knew this was not the heart of America:
This was the West, the strong man of America.

I visited the North where industry
Is balanced with agriculture
And where man is measured by what he can do.
I did not find the softness of the pawpaw and the persimmon,
The lusty morning smell of green growing tobacco,
The twilight softness of Kentucky spring
But I did find the endless fields of corn and wheat
Where machinery did the work…
Beyond the cornfields and wheatfields
I saw the smokestacks of industry,
Belching fire and smoke toward the sky.
Highways were filled with traffic that shot past me like bullets.
And I found industrial city streets filled
With the fast tempo of humanity…
Then I was as positive as death Kentucky
Was not east, west, south, or north
But it was the heart of America
Pulsing with a little bit of everything.

…The heart of America
A land of even tempo,
A land of mild traditions,
A land that has kept it’s traditions of horse racing,
Ballad, song, story, and folk music.
It has steadfast to its pioneer tradition
Of fighting men, fighting for America
And for the soil of Kentucky,
That is not akin to poetry
But is poetry…
And when I get go beyond the border,
I take with me growth and beauty of the seasons,
The music of the pine and cedar tops,
The wordless songs of snow-melted water
When it pours over the rocks to wake the spring.
I take with me Kentucky embedded in my brain and heart,
In my flesh and bone and blood
Since I am Kentucky
And Kentucky is part of me.

–Jesse Stuart, “Kentucky is my Land”

Stuart taught in one-room school houses in Greenup County throughout the depression and these experiences were the inspiration for his autobiographical book The Thread That Runs So True which was written in 1949. The book dramatized the need for education reform in the Commonwealth and the president of the National Education Association called it “the best book on education written in the last fifty years.” Stuart, who saw the need for education reform, left teaching to put his efforts toward lecturing and writing.

Jesse Stuart self-published most of his writing and was named Kentucky Poet Laureate in 1954. His poetry collections include Album of Destiny (1944) and Kentucky is My Land (1952). Stuart also lectured widely for many years, particularly on the subject of education and its value, and wrote a number of highly regarded books for children and youth. Prominent among the latter are The Beatinest Boy (1953) and A Penny’s Worth of Character (1954). His works have been part of the Greenup County curriculum and literature curriculum across the state of Kentucky for more than three decades.

As he had come to appreciate the value of the land at a very young age, he and his wife Naomi donated their property on W-Hollow in Greenup County as a nature preserve. He was able to acquire over 700 acres in Greenup County over his lifetime and his homestead is a testament to his dedication to the land. The Jesse Stuart Foundation in Ashland, Kentucky oversees that the property maintains the preserve designation and controls the rights to his literary works. The Foundation also helps local authors become published. The Jesse Stuart Lodge at Greenbo Lake State Resort Park, just down the road from his beloved W-Hollow, showcases many of his personal possessions and has a large portrait of him in the lobby. He is immortalized in the land which he loved so dearly.

Jesse Stuart died on February 17, 1984 and was buried in Plum Grove Cemetery in Greenup County, Kentucky. Kentucky truly was his land.

The exhibit notes the life and times of the Town of Lexington 200 years ago. Barely 30 years old, the town was the largest in the West with a population of more than 4,300. Ironically, 1810 was Lexington’s zenith year. As river trade opened up, the landlocked town went into commercial decline, a trend only overcome in the years following World War II.

“”1810 is a fascinating year for Lexington,”” observed Bradley C. Canon, Ph.D., the retired University of Kentucky political science professor who conducted research for the exhibit. ““Lexington saw itself as one of the great cities of the nation, if not the world. The year represented the city’s vision of itself that continues today.””

Displays include newspaper articles from The Kentucky Gazette and The Lexington Reporter, a book published in Lexington that year, and a letter written by Henry Clay while he was serving as a Congressman in Washington, D.C. The latter two artifacts are on loan from the Special Collections & Digital Programs, University of Kentucky Libraries. The newspaper articles are from the Kentucky Room, Lexington Public Library.

“Lexington: 1810” will run through June 2010, after which it will be replaced by “Lexington: 1910,” recounting the city 100 years ago.

Located at 215 W. Main St., The Lexington History Museum is open Friday-Monday, Noon-4 p.m. It also opens early Saturdays at 10 a.m. Admission is free. For more information call 859-254-0530 or visit www.LexingtonHistoryMuseum.org.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

William Taylor Barry was born in Virginia on February 5, 1784. As a child, William moved with his family to the young Fayette County. He attended Pisgah Academy, the Kentucky Academy in neighboring Woodford County, and Transylvania University, a college that was in its infancy. Barry was admitted to the Fayette County bar following his graduation from William and Mary College and legal studies with Judge John Rowan, one of Kentucky’s finest legal minds. Rigorous studies of the law paid off, as he was appointed Commonwealth Attorney shortly after he began practicing law in Kentucky.

His career in law and politics wouldn’t end there. Barry was elected to the Kentucky house in 1807 and he went on to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives from August 8, 1810, to March 3, 1811. William served in the War of 1812, when military service demanded that he turn his attention away from politics. For a small man, the Jeffersonian Republican was a powerful speaker and was known for his political know-how and way with words. Following his brief military service, Barry was reelected to the Kentucky house. Confident in his abilities, the members of the house sent him to the U.S. Senate, but he resigned and returned to Kentucky in 1816 after one session.

As a powerful voice in Kentucky politics and great legal mind in his own right, William Barry worked with Judge Jesse Bledsoe to develop a first-rate law curriculum at Transylvania University, his alma mater. From 1817 to 1821, he served in the Kentucky Senate and during his tenure Kentucky was faced with a bank panic, major financial crisis,  in which both prominent Kentuckians and ordinary citizens alike were losing their wealth and possessions. Following the panic, Barry spoke out for the Relief party which called for bank reform and debtor relief legislation. He was elected Lieutenant Governor in 1820 and served until 1824 alongside Governor John Adair. During their administration the Bank of the Commonwealth was founded, in part because of Barry’s “fiery stump speeches.” As Lieutenant Governor, Barry was involved in a committee which examined the public school systems of the other states. His committee’s Barry Report recommended that Kentucky establish a free public school system for all children.

Barry’s diverse political career would end with his appointment as ambassador to Spain. However, this would come following political scandal. He was a staunch supporter of Andrew Jackson (political rival of Henry Clay) and in 1829, Jackson appointed him as postmaster general. Within two years, however, accusations of corruption and favoritism within the Jackson administration led to congressional investigations in 1834-36. Such political calamity would ruin his physical and mental well-being and he died suddenly on August 30, 1835 in Liverpool, England as he was traveling to his new assignment. He was buried in the Frankfort Cemetery.

I’ve been a volunteer at the Lexington History Museum since 2007. In that time, I have seen exhibits come and go, thousands pass by the reception desk, and have been involved in some wonderful projects. Preserving Lexington’s history, though extremely fun, is not an easy task, then again, I do not think anyone said it was. I was approached by a community member in August to talk about the museum and about Lexington for the Review Lex series and I was proud that the museum was featured as one of the first stops along the journey. Frankly, I was also very nervous (and you can tell when you listen to me speak) and I was thankful that Jamie Millard, the museum’s President and CEO was in his office so he could provide the intro for the clip.

I love Lexington. I love waking up to a crisp Spring morning in the Bluegrass, driving down Winchester Road and smelling the glorious aroma of roasted peanuts*. Horse farms, Keeneland, the FEI World Equestrian Games, Red Mile: I love the horse industry and its impact on the history of Lexington. I love First Presbyterian Church, the oldest church in Lexington. I love it all.

What does this have to do with Lexington’s history? Everything, really. At the end of the day, it is my love for this city that makes what I do at the Lexington History Museum very special. I want to share it with you.

What do YOU love about Lexington?

*By the way, the now Jif plant was formerly Big Top Peanut Butter and was owned by William T. Young. You can see an original can of Big Top peanuts and an unopened jar of Big Top Peanut Butter on display in Athens of the West.

On January 27, 1830, the Lexington & Ohio Railroad was chartered. This would allow trade goods to bypass the competitive town of Louisville and give Lexington direct access to the New Orleans market. The L & O charter named over twenty of Lexington’s most influential citizens as its proponents with Elisha Winters and General Leslie Combs as the lead organizers.

Learn more about what happened after the charter by reading our August 15 blog post.

Want to know more about railroad history in the Bluegrass? Visit our Bluegrass Railway exhibit at the Lexington History Museum.

The Johnson family was a very influential family in this new Commonwealth. Many of the sons were involved in politics, and James himself went on to serve as representative of Scott County in the Senate from 1808-1811. But political office was not all that concerned James Johnson. When Britain threatened the new America with their supply blockade, America took up arms against their former rulers. Johnson served under his brother Richard in the War of 1812. He was involved in both the Battle of the Thames and Battle of New Orleans.

Johnson was also concerned with the growing need for transportation. He promoted the stagecoach indutry even forming his own company Johnson, Weisiger and Company, a line that ran from Frankfor to Louisville. He was reported to be one of the wealthiest men in Kentucky, owning a plantation near Great Crossing. Johnson was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served from March 4, 1825, until his death in Washington, D.C., on August 13, 1826. He was buried in the family cemetery at Great Crossing.

The Colonel opened Sanders Cafe, which could seat 142, by 1937. It was there that the flavor combination that we enjoy in Kentucky Fried Chicken was born. The chicken was so immensely popular and his business expanded even more. Though secret about the exact recipe, Sanders was quoted in saying that the spice blend consisted of spices everyone had on the shelf. He also was innovative in the frying process by using a pressure cooking. His chicken was truly unique.

Business was going very well until a fire destroyed the cafe in 1939. He rebuilt the business as a restaurant and motel, but when construction of Interstate 75 led to the bypass of Corbin, business steadily declined. At the age of 66, Colonel Sanders began to franchise his chicken. The first franchisee was Pete Harman out of Salt Lake City and by 1959, more than two hundred Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets in the United States and Canada sold food under the Colonel Sanders trademark. Kentucky Fried Chicken became a force to be reckoned with the in the fast food industry. His daughter Margaret suggested that the chicken be available for take-out, which revolutionized the way consumers accessed the product.

Why is Harland Sanders a “colonel” anyway? In 1934, Governor Ruby Laffoon granted Sanders the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel.” In 1950, he was recommissioned by Governor Lawrence Wetherby. After this recommission, he began to look the part, by growing a mustache and a goatee and by wearing a white suit and string tie.

In 1960, Sanders moved the headquarters of Kentucky Fried Chicken to Shelbyville, near Louisville. On February 18, 1964, Sanders sold his franchise business to former Kentucky Governor John Y. Brown Jr. and Jack Massey for $2 million. Sanders was retained on salary as spokesman for Kentucky Fried Chicken and his face was everywhere! Kentucky Fried Chicken is not just popular in the Bluegrass state or even the United States. It’s even popular globally, especially in Japan.

The Colonel was a very committed philanthropist, contributing money to religious charities, hospitals, medical research, education, the Boy Scouts, Junior Achievement, and the March of Dimes. Sanders died on Dec. 16, 1980, after which his body lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort. He was buried in Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery.

As a member of Lexington’s elite, Mary was afforded an in-depth education. She studied at Frenchwoman Charlotte Mentelle’s boarding school, which was located across from Ashland, the Henry Clay Estate. The Todd family lived less than two miles from the Clays was well acquainted with them. Though it is unclear whether Mary’s future husband would ever meet the esteemed politician, Clay once promised a young Mary that she would be among his first guests in Washington should he ever become president. After completing twelve years of school, Mary was one of the most well-educated women of her day.

But how did Mary Todd end up in Illinois in order to meet Abraham Lincoln? In 1832, Mary’s older sister Elizabeth married Ninian Edwards, son of a former governor of Illinois, and upon his graduation from Transylvania University, the couple moved to Springfield, which had become the new Illinois capitol. In 1839, Mary followed her sister to Springfield and at a dance, she met Abraham Lincoln, a junior partner of her cousin John Todd Stuart’s law firm.

Abraham and Mary were very different. Mary grew up very wealthy, whereas he grew up relatively poor and from a rural family. However, they shared a love of the written word and a deep interest in politics, and those among other things, linked them. The Todds did not necessarily approve of this backwoods nobody and tried to convince her that marrying Abraham was a mistake. They wed in 1842.

Mary’s new life as a lawyer’s wife seemed much different than the life of leisure she enjoyed in her youth. Abraham was often away working for long periods of time, which meant that Mary had to tend to household business as well as raising four sons. Though she lived a very domestic life, she also took great interest in politics and had very ambitious goals for her husband. Many say it was her ambition that took him to the White House. During her time as first lady, Mary worked hard to make the White House a fashionable place. She was often criticized for extravagant spending during the Civil War. She was also accused of being a Confederate sympathizer, because she was from Kentucky and her sister Emilie was married to Benjamin Hardin Helm, a Confederate general, who fell at Chickamauga. Mary invited Emilie to come stay with her in the White House in 1863.

Mary Todd Lincoln’s life after she became first lady was marked with tragedy. Her son Willie died of typhoid fever in 1862 at age eleven and the stress of the war burdened her as she saw the toll it took on her husband. Upon his assassination in 1865, Mary never recovered from shock. She struggled financially, fighting for Abraham’s pension, but living on the money from his estate. Her son Tad died of pneumonia, which only added to the grief and pain she felt. Robert Todd, her son, decided that it was best she stay in an asylum, but she fought for her freedom and was released after several months. Though she lived for nearly two decades after her husband’s death, Mary never recovered from the anguish that she felt upon his murder.

Mary Todd Lincoln died on July 16, 1882, and was buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.

To learn more about Abraham Lincoln in Lexington, please visit our exhibit “Lincoln and His Wife’s Hometown” which discusses Mary and her family’s interaction with her husband during his four visits to Lexington.

On Valentine’s Day 1862 Buell entered and took control of Bowling Green as Rebel forces under the command of General Albert S. Johnson retreated toward Nashville. By the fall, Confederate General Braxton Bragg had invaded Kentucky. Buell and his army had to defend Louisville, Kentucky and important transportation route of the Ohio River. His troops surprised Bragg at Bardstown, forcing him to divide his army, before engaging at Perryville on October 8, 1862. Buell cut off Bragg’s line of communication by moving to Danville as Bragg retreated to Harrodsburg. Bragg then retreated south out of Kentucky via the Cumberland Gap, solidifying Union control over the Commonwealth. Buell was scrutinized for preventing Bragg’s escape out of Kentucky, which called into question his loyalty. He resigned his commission on June 1, 1864 and made a permanent move to Kentucky.

In 1880, Governor Luke Blackburn appointed him one of the twelve members of the first board of trustees at the Agricultural and Mechanical College, formerly part of Transylvania University, now the University of Kentucky. Buell was appointed state pension agent and held this position until 1890. He died on November 19, 1898 in Paradise, Kentucky and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis.

Robertson served briefly as Kentucky’s secretary of state and in 1828 accepted appointment to the Commonwealth’s court of appeals, most of the time as chief justice. Resigning from the court in 1843, he practiced law in Lexington, often as a defense lawyer. One of his most famous defense cases was the trial of Abner Baker, who was convicted for the murder of Daniel Bates in Manchester in July 1845. He was unable to obtain a pardon for Baker from Governor William Owsley. Robertson was an instructor of law at his alma mater, Transylvania University from 1834 until 1857.

At the age of seventy-four, he was elected to the Kentucky court of appeals, where he served until a stroke forced his resignation in 1871. In this time serving on the court, published some radical opinions, such as drunkenness as a defense against a murder charged, which detracted from his otherwise favorable image. Robertson died on May 16, 1874 and was buried in the Lexington Cemetery.

Who was Lexington’s most famous madam? How did Mechanic Street get its name? This week’s episode will answer these questions as we take a look at the life of Belle Brezing in the first installment of our new series on Lexington People. We will also discuss upcoming museum events and museum news. After a long hiatus, The Bluegrass Historian podcast is back!

Narrator: Natasha Collier
Producer: Jamie Millard
Program Director: Natasha Collier
Research: Debra Watkins, Jamie Millard, Natasha Collier

Also on Thursday, State Historian Dr. James Klotter will present “The Breckinridges of Kentucky” at 7:30 p.m. The Breckinridges of Kentucky are one of the two most important families in Kentucky history. Well-known members range from presidential candidate John C. Breckinridge, who served as the nation’s youngest vice president, to educational and religious leader Robert J. Breckinridge to newspaper editor Desha Breckinridge to health-care advocate and founder of the Frontier Nursing Service Mary Breckinridge, among others. Dr. Klotter, Professor of History at Georgetown College, has long studied the family and their place in the state’s story. That work includes his book, The Breckinridges of Kentucky. In this talk he will discuss what lessons he has learned over the years from that study.

Join us as we kickoff the Christmas season at the Lexington History Museum. Located at 215 W. Main St., The Lexington History Museum is open Friday-Monday, Noon-4 p.m. It also opens early Saturdays at 10 a.m. Admission is free. For more information call 859-254-0530 or visit www.LexingtonHistoryMuseum.org. The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

On the 75th anniversary of the game, Centre challenged Harvard to a rematch, but they declined.

Scary Night at the Museum
October 24, 5-7
Haunted Museum tours, Scary Storytelling, Crafts, Games and Refreshments

Thank you to donations by community partners: Target, Wal-Mart, Kroger, Cinemark Theaters, Qdoba, and Babycakes!

Though he was a very accomplished horse, he didn’t even win his first race! He finished fourth in six furlongs at the Aqueduct in New York. Nearly two weeks later, he would win his second race at that very track and would go on to win his next seven. At three years old, in 1973, he was named Horse of the Year. He lost the race just before the Kentucky Derby, but that didn’t stop bettors from giving him 3-2 odds over Sham. On May 5, 1973, Secretariat won the ninety-ninth Kentucky Derby in 1:59 2/5, setting the current derby record for the distance of 1 1/4-miles. Two weeks later he won the Preakness, and on June 9, 1973, he won the third race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont, by thirty-one lengths, setting a world record of 2:24 for a mile and a half — a record that stands today. Secretariat became the first Triple Crown winner since Citation had won all three races twenty-five years prior.

Secretariat was retired in 1974. He went on to sire over three hundred sons and daughters and his blood flows through many notable race winners, such as 2004 Derby and Preakness winner Smarty Jones. In 1989, he developed a very painful hoof condition and the decision was made on October 4 to euthanize him. He was buried at Claiborne Farm in Bourbon County, Kentucky and was mourned by millions there. His legacy continues with celebrations in Bourbon County and the filming of a new Disney film entitled Secretariat.

Helm continued his education by studying law at the University of Louisville, graduating in 1853 and attending Harvard Law school for an advanced course before settling in Elizabethtown to practice with his father until 1856. From law, the natural progression was to seek political office and in 1855 he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he served one term. For three years following, Benjamin Helm served as commonwealth attorney for the 3rd district.

Helm married Emilie Todd, the half-sister of Mary Todd Lincoln on March 20, 1856. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln offered his brother-in-law the position of paymaster of the Union army with the rank of major. Helm declined the offer, however, and turned to the Confederacy and began recruiting. He was appointed colonel of the 1st Regiment of the Kentucky Confederate Cavalry in September 1861. Helm served bravely for two years until he was struck down in the Battle of Chickamauga.

But because Kentucky is by all purposes land-locked, the Commonwealth needed a fast way of moving over the land. Carriages, stagecoaches and wagons were all population methods, but were not very fast. What Kentucky needed was a railroad. Iron rails were made for faster transport and on January 27, 1830 the Lexington & Ohio Railroad was chartered. The charter allowed the L&O to build lines from Lexington to major cities along the Ohio River.Construction began and the L&O Railroad was able to start operating as soon as fifteen miles of track had been laid. A horse-drawn car began operating out of Lexington on August 15, 1832. The iron rails had been imported from Liverpool, England and shipped to Lexington from New Orleans to Louisville. The first locomotive was introduced in 1833 by Barlow and Bruen of Lexington and the track to Frankfort was finally completed in 1834.

LEXINGTON, KY. — The Lexington History Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and other museums across the nation will celebrate Museum Day on Saturday, Sept. 26. “

Museum Day is a wonderful way for Americans to celebrate their vast cultural heritage,” noted Jamie Millard, President & CEO of the Museum. “Here in Lexington, we celebrate that heritage at the Lexington History Museum every day.”

A special Museum Day pass is available at the website, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday/venues/Lexington_History_Museum.html. The pass is good for free admission on Sept. 26. Because the Lexington History Museum is admission free, visitors presenting the pass will receive a 10% discount on any items purchased in the Court Square Trader Museum Store. The store features a large selection of books, signature clothing, and other items related to the history of Lexington, the Bluegrass, and Kentucky.

Located at 215 W. Main St., The Lexington History Museum is open daily, Noon-4 p.m., through October 2009. It also opens early Saturdays at 10 a.m. Admission is free. For more information call 859-254-0530 or visit www.LexingtonHistoryMuseum.org.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

In Kentucky’s infancy, a committee was appointed to choose the new capital for the Commonwealth. Several men, including Robert Todd of Fayette County, debated towns such as Lexington, Frankfort, Louisville, Leestown, Legerwood’s Bend (Mercer County) and Delany’s Ferry and Petersberg both in Woodford County. In 1814, Matthew Kennedy’s design was chosen and he built the second Kentucky statehouse in Frankfort.

In 1816, he returned to Lexington to oversee construction of Transylvania College’s main building in Gratz Park. Matthew’s design was chosen over Benjamin Latrobe, an architect who was designing on an international level. In 1824Kennedy went on to design the Grand Masonic Hall in Lexington and his last major public building was the medical hall for Transylvania which he contstructed in 1827.

In addition to buildings for public use, Matthew Kennedy also developed a distinct style for residences. He constructed his own house circa 1815. The 2 2l/2 story late Federal style house brick house with a raised basement and covered by a hipped roof was a template for his other residential construction. None of his public buildings survive, but many of his residences, including the Matthew Kennedy House at 216 North Limestone in Lexington, still exist. He built a large number of these houses in the Bluegrass region from 1816 until his retirement in the early 1840s, including Grassland in Fayette County and houses in Frankfort, Bardstown and Lebanon.

Matthew Kennedy died on April 17, 1853 and was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.

LEXINGTON, KY. — The Lexington History Museum has launched a new program to assist local schools in funding field trips for students.

“Our ‘Scholar-Trips’ program will assist budget-challenged schools by funding the cost of the bus ride,” said Foster Ockerman, Jr., chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Museum. “The Museum offers a variety of educational programs relevant to Kentucky history at all grade levels — and all programs are free,” he added.

The “Scholar-Trips” program offers a limited number of roundtrip bus grants that will be awarded on a need basis to schools in Fayette County. Interested teachers can email debra@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org for an application. The deadline is September 30, 2009, for the 2009-2010 school year.

Funding for the program is provided by the Edward T. Houlihan III Fund, established in memory of the Museum’s first president. Donations to the Houlihan Fund to expand the “Scholar-Trips” program are welcome and tax-deductible under U.S. Internal Revenue Service regulations.

Located at 215 W. Main St., The Lexington History Museum is open daily, Noon-4 p.m., through October 2009. It also opens early Saturdays at 10 a.m. Admission is free. For more information call 859-254-0530 or visit www.LexingtonHistoryMuseum.org.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

In 1803, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark departed from the Falls of the Ohio near Louisville, Kentucky and set out on an expedition that would become a journey of the American Spirit. Over their three year experience, the team charted the course that would lead the way for those who packed up to move west with Manifest Destiny guiding them. One detail of this story often goes unmentioned. Kentucky played a large part in the Lewis and Clark adventure. It is believed that nearly half of the members of the expedition were from Kentucky or had Kentucky connections. The core of the Corps of Discovery, the heart of the Lewis and Clark group, were from the Louisville area. The nine men who made up the group’s nucleus were known as the “Nine Young Men from Kentucky” and laid the foundation for one of the most historic journeys ever taken.

Leader William Clark was born at his family’s homestead in Caroline County, Virginia on August 1, 1770. He was the ninth of ten children and the youngest of six sons. Exploration was in his blood. His oldest brother, General George Rogers Clark was an Indian fighter in several skirmishes including Lord Dunmore’s War and surveyed for the Ohio Company in Kentucky. He became a delegate for Harrodsburg in the Kentucky Colony of Virginia and is credited with the foundation of Louisville. George definitely set the precedent for explorers in the Clark family.

William was educated formally in Virginia and his family moved three miles southeast of Louisville when he was fourteen years old. It was at “Mulberry Hill” where his practical education began. William became skilled in surveying, wilderness living, running a plantation and even cartography. By the time he was twenty-one, he was proficient as a surveyor, frontiersman, planter and soldier. The men in the Clark family were no strangers to war. His five brothers had all fought in the Revolutionary War, with two giving their lives to their country. According to the William Clark biography by the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, he “might have served under his brother George in a 1786 militia expedition against the Wabash River Indians, but it is certain that he served in John Hardin’s 1789 expedition against the White River Indian towns, Charles Scott’s 1791 expedition against the Ouiatanon Indian towns, and assisted with the defense of the settlements against Indian attack.” Regardless, his skills were highly praised and on March 7, 1792, he became a second lieutenant in the infantry of the army.

William Clark’s involvement with Indian affairs would continue with territorial expansion into the Northwest Territory and he was present at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. 1803 would be the year that marked William Clark’s place in history. He was invited to become a member of a group that would map a route to the Pacific Ocean. Meriwether Lewis, who was formerly a subordinate of Clark’s, had become private secretary to Thomas Jefferson and suggested that he be a part of this mission. In July, Clark received a letter that he was called to be a member of the Corps of Discovery. By October, he began recruiting men from the Louisville area to take part in the expedition and met Meriwether Lewis there. On October 26, 1803 Lewis and Clark, who complemented each other very well, set off on the three-year journey. This journey was just another occasion showcasing the spirit that Kentuckians have long-since possessed. The Unbridled Spirit of a journey which that made history.

LEXINGTON HISTORY MUSEUM TRUSTEES ELECT OCKERMAN CHAIR

LEXINGTON, KY. — The Lexington History Museum Board of Trustees elected Foster Ockerman, Jr., to serve as its chair. He was elected to fill the position vacated with the death of James F. Glenn, M.D.

Ockerman, a founding trustee and general counsel for the Board from 1988, is a Lexington attorney, noted legal expert on non-profit organizations, and a local historian. He is author of First United Methodist Church Bicentennial (1989), former chair of the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board that approves all state nominations to the National Registry, and is a former chair of the American Bar Association’s Tax Exempt Organizations Committee. He also serves as counsel to the Courthouse Square Foundation.

Ockerman is the Museum’s third chair, the first being Dr. Thomas D. Clark, whose lifelong dream was to establish an admission-free museum dedicated to Lexington’s fascinating history.

Also elected at the June 30, 2009, trustees annual meeting were Stephen Amato, vice chair; Isabel Yates, secretary; and William Ambrose, treasurer. New trustees elected were Kent Masterson Brown, Thomas Dupree, Jr., Burt Hutchinson, Barry McNeese, and Rev. Troy Thomas.

Located at 215 W. Main St., The Lexington History Museum is open daily during the summer vacation period, Noon-4 p.m.; open early Saturdays at 10 a.m. Admission is free. For more information call 859-254-0530 or visit www.LexingtonHistoryMuseum.org.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

This message is composed with the Courier New typeface designed by IBM in Lexington, Ky. The Lexington History Museum is the repository for the Historic IBM Typewriter Collection, which includes the world’s first commercially successful typewriter, as well as the first and last production models manufactured in Lexington.

President James A. Garfield, who before he became President was a  colonel of the Union army in the Civil War, was shot by an on July 2, 1881. Garfield, the twentieth president of the United States, was born on November 19, 1831 in Orange, Ohio. He received commission as lietenant colonel of the Union army’s 42^nd Ohio Regiment and was promoted to colonel in November 1861. General Don Carlos Buell, commander of the Amry of the Ohio, ordered Garfield to take command of the 18^th Infantry Brigade in Eastern Kentucky. In December 1861, he departed Catlettsburg, Kentucky, with the 40th and 42nd Ohio and the 14th and 22nd Kentucky infantry regiments, as well as the 2nd (West) Virginia Cavalry and McLoughlin’s Squadron of Cavalry.

Garfield and his men, totaling of 3,000 men and some cavalry, confronted the Confederates along Middle Creek between Paintsville and Prestonsburg in Eastern Kentucky on January 10, 1862. The Battle of Middle Creek was a day-long skirmish, in which Garfield’s force suffered twenty-one casualties, including three killed. The battled proved to be a strategic success for the Union as Confederate Brigadier General Humphrey Marshall’s troops were forced to retreat into Virginia. The victory helped the Union to secure Eastern Kentucky and would ultimately allow the entirety of Kentucky to stay in the Union when coupled with the tactical victories that the United States army would see later in 1862. Garfield established his headquarters in Prestonsburg and remained in Kentucky for two months and was promoted to Brigadier General.

Blanton Long Collier, football coach for both the University of Kentucky and Cleveland Browns, was born July 2, 1906 in Millersburg. He played basketball and football at Paris (Kentucky) High School and received a bachelor of arts degree in 1927 from Georgetown College. He taught mathematics and coached basketball at Paris High School when he enlisted in the Navy in 1943. He was assigned to Great Lakes Naval Station in Illinois as a swimming instructor. There he joined the staff of Paul Brown, who was coaching the navy’s football team. When Paul Brown formed the Cleveland Browns in the American Football League in 1945, Collier joined Brown’s coaching staff as a backfield coach.

Collier earned his Master of Arts degree at the University of Kentucky in 1947 and became head football coach of the school in 1954. During his eight years at UK he compiled a 41-36-1 record and was Southeastern Conference coach of the year in 1956. He returned to Cleveland in 1961 and the next year became Paul Brown’s successor as head coach of the Browns. Collier’s record at Cleveland was 74-36-2, and he won the National Football League championship in 1964. He retired in 1970. Collier died on March 22, 1983, in Houston, Texas, and was buried in the Paris Cemetery.

Lexington was a very urban area even during the Civil War. As the heart of the Upper-South, Lexington was a crossroads and a commercial center. Cheapside, the open market at the site of Lexington’s courthouse square, was home to the largest slave auction in Kentucky and, for a time, in the United States. Following the Emancipation Proclamation, Lexington saw an influx of rural slaves looking for work and freedom in the city. A separate community formed within Lexington and African-Americans founded churches, schools, fraternal organizations, neighborhoods, and business districts. The city became an educational, social, and religious center for African Americans. The Colored Agricultural and Mechanical Association began sponsoring a black fair in September 1869 in Lexington. Visitors from across the United States were attracted to the fair and it remained a popular social event well into the twentieth century. In Black in White reflects the history of the most intense racial struggle in American history.

A remarkable part of the exhibit is the ability for visitors to comment on the pictures which are included. Post-It Notes line the walls where visitors have added to the commentary of pictures, including naming previously unidentified person in the photographs. The exhibit is a permanent part of the Lexington History Museum’s collection and can be visited Sunday through Friday 12-4 and Saturday 10-4. Access the museum website lexingtonhistorymuseum.org for more info.

Before Keeneland there was Raceland. The fifth racecourse built in Kentucky, it is the namesake of the town in which it was built, known as Chinnville, and formally changed to Raceland in 1926. J.O. “Jack” Keene was the proprietor of the venture and created a lavish design, nicknamed the “Million Dollar Oval” because construction of the course cost around one million dollars and included an astounding 350 acres, 22 stables, a rail spur, and its own jail. The 1.5 mile-long track was circled by a white fence of wood and iron, as well as rambling roses. The bridle paths and the front lawn were paved in red tapestry brick matching the clubhouse, stewards’ stand and judge’s stand.

Raceland made its debut on July 4, 1924 with a first-class boxing match of which 5,000 spectators were in attendance. The first race, titled the “Ashland Handicap,” was held on July 10 and drew a crowd of 15,000. The first “Raceland Derby” ran on July 19, 1924 with 27,000 in attendance and featured Kentucky Derby winner (and race favorite) Black Gold as well as Bobtail, winner of the first Raceland Derby, Post Dispatch and Altawood. Having gained great notoriety, a leading racing forum boasted that it could be “the Saratoga of the middle-west” and toted the amenities of the track and surrounding town.  Three more annual derbies followed in the remaining years of operation, totaling five races at the track.

Financial difficulties forced the closure of the track after its last season in 1928. It was sold and torn down in 1937. The clubhouse still stands along US-23 and a historical marker was put in place on May 26, 2004 to commemorate the track’s 80^th anniversary.

Photo courtesy of American Byways by Sherman Cahal

By Jennifer Hewlett
jhewlett@herald-leader.com
Reprinted from the Lexington Herald-Leader

The Lexington History Museum is open daily, Noon-4 p.m.; open early Saturdays at 10 a.m. Admission is free. The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

LEXINGTON, KY. — The Lexington History Museum will hold its first major fundraising event on Thursday, June 18, from 5-8 p.m. at the Museum (215 W. Main St.).

Titled “Belle’s Birthday Ball,” the event will have two components: a FREE entertainment venue coinciding with Thursday Night Live in Cheapside Park, and a by-admission-only event inside the Museum. The latter will feature a “Taste of Cheapside” sampling of the fare from area restaurants and nightspots.

The event is a lighthearted nod to Lexington’s famous madam, Belle Brezing, who was the model for the character of Belle Watling in Gone with the Wind. She served in or operated several Lexington houses, 1879-1917. She retired a wealthy woman. Upon her death in 1947, TIME magazine noted she operated “the most order of disorderly houses.”

In Cheapside, the fun begins shortly after 5 p.m., when “Belle’s Girls” arrive by horse drawn carriage, courtesy of Lexington Livery. The Girls will be on hand throughout the evening, telling tales of Belle and accepting donations to the Museum, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Belle, herself, will also be on hand during band breaks in Cheapside to tell her story: from the fateful Christmas Eve when, as a destitute and homeless young mother, she made her decision to “join the trade” in the house that had been Mary Todd Lincoln’s childhood home, to her first house on North Upper (now, Transylvania University’s women’s field house), to her retirement as a wealthy businesswoman. (Belle had an eye for talent of all types: she employed a young John Jacob Niles to sing to her girls on Christmas mornings. He went on the sing in Carnegie Hall.)

Inside the Museum, a “Taste of Cheapside” and cash bar will be available for Museum patrons on an admission basis. The cost in advance is $40 per person, $75 per couple. At the door, the cost is $50 and $100 respectively. Decorations will recall the Victorian opulence that characterized Belle’s famous “House on the Hill,” including period furniture on loan from Heritage Antiques.

Patrons may have their picture taken with Belle in a special setting for a nominal fee of $5. In Cheapside, a backdrop featuring a photograph of Belle’s parlor will be available for souvenir photos with Belle for the same charge.

Invitations have been mailed to the Museum’s lists, but are also available online at http://www.lexingtonhistorymuseum.org/news/index.php. Attendees are encouraged to contribute a “birthday present” for Belle. These range from a $25 case of Weidemann Beer to a $5,000 Governor’s Pardon. Weidemann and other items on the gift card represent local products and enterprises that are no longer in business. In 1883, Kentucky Gov. Luke Blackburn pardoned Belle from a charge of “keeping a bawdy house.”

Patrons at the inside event will receive a satin gift bag (limited to the first 75 couples) containing a copy of the pardon, a copy of Belle’s December 1890 liquor invoice, a copy of a booklet published by local historian William H. Townsend entitled “The Most Orderly of Disorderly Houses” (long out of print), and other treats from the era.

Located at 215 W. Main St., The Lexington History Museum is open weekly Friday-Monday, Noon-4 p.m.; open early Saturdays at 10 a.m. Admission is free. For more information call 859-254-0530 or visit www.LexingtonHistoryMuseum.org.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

School’s out for the summer. The kids are growing restless and everyone in need of something to do. What’s the solution? Enjoy the start of festival season, of course! This weekend is packed full of exciting events; you could practically visit one each day! Visiting Kentucky festivals (and the historic sites nearby) are perfect mini-vacations for the family and they often offer local fare including that festival staple… funnel cake. I can’t guarantee funnel cake will be present at all of these, but bear with me folks. Don’t shoot the messenger! So, what is there to do this weekend? Check out some of these events and note some other things to see and do while you’re there. Be sure to check out museums and historic sites while you’re there as well!

Like garage sales? You’re in luck this weekend because the annual 400 Mile Sale along Highway 68 begins June 4^th and lasts until June 7. Sixty communities from Paducah to Maysville and small towns in between are participating in this annual yard sale-esque event. Each community participating has different events and guidelines for their sale, so check out http://400mile.com/com-info.html for specifics. Lexington neighbors Harrodsburg, Nicholasville, and Paris are participating and are just a short drive. But don’t just go for the rock bottom prices, there is plenty of history to be had as well. Historic Paris Bourbon County/ Hopewell Museum is hosting an Attic Sale, June 4^th and 5^th, which is coinciding with the Highway 68 sale. While you’re there, check out their newest exhibit Waco and the Bybees: Central Kentucky Art Pottery, 1900 to 1935. There is plenty history to see in Paris and Bourbon County as well. Duncan Tavern, built in 1788, was visited by frontiersmen Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton. Tours are conducted Wednesday, Friday & Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Thursday at 1:30 p.m. only.

The sale goes for miles and so does the fun, excitement and history. Multiple vendors will be set up along Lexington Street in Harrodsburg so you can get your yard sale fill, but also check out the Fort Harrod Beef Festival which runs June 5^th-June 7^th. A schedule of events can be found here http://www.fortharrodbeeffestival.org/new/eventsschedule.php so you can plan your day accordingly. But, and I’m serious, there HAS to be some funnel cake around there… right? ….Right? Surely. Nearby historic sites include Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill and Fort Harrod — founded in 1774 and is Kentucky’s oldest settlement. So plan your schedule so you can visit all three!

In the South-Eastern portion of the state you can sample the traditional southern delicacy known as Poke Sallet at the annual Poke Sallet festival of Harlan from June 4^th – 7^th. What’s Poke Sallet, you ask? It’s a green, leafy vegetable. Native Americans used it medicinally, but now it is proper to eat a mess with some Vidalia onions and some bacon. And if bacon grease laden vegetables aren’t your taste, sample the traditional festival food. No doubt there will be funnel cake. (I saw a picture from the festival in years past and there definitely was a stand.) Visit the festival site to get more information on events. http://www.harlanfestivals.com/poke_sallet.htm While you’re in town, go see the Kentucky Coal Mining Museum or head on down to the Pine Mountain Settlement School, which was founded in 1913 by Katherine Pettit, native Lexingtonian.

If you want to stay in Lexington, just head on out to the Kentucky Horse Park for the Family Fun Fest June 6^th – June 7^th. This event, sponsored in part by Ale-8-One, was “created to bring the whole family together for a day of special activities, without having to drive far or spend much money. “ Special activities bound at the Family Fun Fest: coloring contests, train rides, prizes and special give-aways, and the first 100 families will receive a free six-pack of Ale-8-One! You can’t beat that! You can share the rest of the Horse Park with your family as well. The site of the 2010 World Equestrian Games, the KHP features the American Saddlebred Museum and the International Museum of the Horse, perfect for any horse lover AND museum lover.

Needless to say, this weekend is jam-packed full of neat stuff to do. Most important, however, is getting out in the community. Visit the historic sites, festivals, and museums that are the backbone of our cultural heritage.

Lexington, KY – “What difference would it make?” How many times that thought has prevented action that might have made a difference is anyone’s guess. But in the case of two historic downtown structures, it truly took the efforts of just one person (albeit one powerful and one insistent person) to make the difference.

On the south side of Main Street between the Jefferson Street viaduct and the Martin Luther King. Boulevard viaduct, only two structures remain among those that stood from the days when Abraham Lincoln visited his wife’s hometown: The Melodeon Building on the southwest corner of Main and Upper Streets and the Mary Todd Lincoln House just west of the Lexington Center. Each of these structures has a story all its own – both in how they came to be, and how they are still with us.

In 1969, when urban renewal was taking huge bites out of “Old Lexington,” William Lucas, proprietor of the McAdams & Morford drug store that operated on the first floor of the Melodeon Building, sent an urgent telegram to President Richard Nixon, asking the 120-year-old building be granted a reprieve. So many historic structures had already succumbed to the “progress” of the wrecking ball, that this seemed a doomed effort.

Although the idea had been to build a downtown shopping mall on the block bounded by Main, Mill, Vine and Upper streets (a venture that never took hold), cooler heads obviously prevailed. Lucas continued to operate his drug store until 1993. Today, the bar Harvey’s occupies that venerable location.

In fact, until McAdams & Morford closed, a drug store had operated in that location continuously since 1817. George Norton built the first drug store to occupy that spot, a two-story building. In 1849, he tore it down to build a magnificent three-story masonry structure with its fancy cast iron façade – so popular at the time. Norton Drug Store operated on the first floor, with the second and third floors occupied by the Grand Hall, an entertainment area seating 300. The Grand Hall opened with a concert on New Year’s Day 1850. Just a few weeks later, the legendary Tom Thumb – the “28-Inch Giant” – played there. In subsequent years, such nationally renowned performers as Jenny Lind and John Wilkes Booth played the Grand Hall.

During the opening months of the Grand Hall in 1850, a future national figure visited Lexington. But it is doubtful Abraham Lincoln was in any mood for frivolity, for his youngest son, Willie, died that February and he was in Lexington to settle the estate of Mary’s beloved grandmother Elizabeth Parker.

Just the year before, Abe and Mary had returned to Lexington from Springfield, Ill., to settle the estate of her father, Robert S. Todd, who died in the Cholera Epidemic of 1849. Part of that estate included the 1806 Federal style house at what is today 578 W. Main St. The two and a half-story structure was built by William Palmateer to house his “Sign of the Green Tree” tavern.

In 1832, Robert Todd purchased the structure and converted it to a private home for his growing family, including a 13 year old Mary. She continued to live in the house until 1839, when tensions with her stepmother became too great and she moved to Springfield to live with her married sister Elizabeth Edwards. Todd added the rear two-story ell. The property, which bounded on the Town Branch of the Elkhorn, included a carriage house, smoke house, horse stables and cattle barn.

Following Todd’s death and several years of contentious legal fights among the Todd children, the deed was finally signed by 20 Todd heirs – including Abe and Mary – and the property passed out of the family. For the next 120 years, the structure served as a grocery, dry cleaner, plumbing supply warehouse and, most famously, as the “house” where Belle Brezing initiated her career that would lead to national fame as the madam of the “most orderly of disorderly houses” and alleged model for the Belle Watling character in “Gone with the Wind.”

In 1941, W.J. Wilson bought the structure for $7,600 from Mrs. Pat Golden, who had operated a restaurant and boarding house there for decades. Wilson’s intent was for the Commonwealth to preserve the home of Kentucky’s only First Lady. Those efforts failed, and the property was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Sterling Coke for their Van Deren Hardware Company.

It took one First Lady, however, to prevail on behalf of that most-famous First Lady.

In 1967, Beulah Nunn became Kentucky’s First Lady and took up W.J. Wilson’s fallen banner on behalf of Mary Todd’s childhood home. With her considerable clout and indomitable spirit, Mrs. Nunn would let no obstacle stand in her way. When the Cokes refused to sell their parcel with the house, the city considered preserving the structure by moving it to the grounds of Waveland State Shrine. Mrs. Nunn would have none of that, and she convinced the Commonwealth to condemn the property.

Thus, the state government that had thwarted Wilson’s efforts more than three decades earlier, owned the house in 1975, with the Kentucky Mansions Preservation Foundation, Inc., established to operate and maintain the building. Faithfully restored as it was when its namesake was just 13, The Mary Todd Lincoln House is one of the area’s prime tourist attractions.

Today, only two structures still stand along that south side eight-block stretch of Main Street. But, thanks to the “power of one,” they still stand.

For more information on this and other stories of Lexington’s past, please visit the museums of the Lexington History Center, 215 W. Main St.

Cassius Clay continued his political career by serving as ambassador to Russia. He advised President Abraham Lincoln on the decision to issue the Emancipation Proclamation based on the response of the anti-slavery movement border states, such as Kentucky.

Get a brief primer on the history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in this week’s episode. Relive the Lexington Sesquicentennial Jubilee Celebration, and listen to the history of Isaac Shelby’s inauguration as First Governor of Kenutcky! We examine what in the world a “Jaggie Fox” is and talk about news and upcoming museum events!

Narrator – Natasha Collier

Program Director, Technical Director – Natasha Collier

Research – Jamie Millard, Natasha Collier

The history of Kentucky can be traced back thousands of years to the prehistoric cultures which inhabited the state. Modern Native Americans in the state included Shawnee tribes from north of the Ohio River and Cherokee and Chicasaw tribes from south of the Cumberland River were a few of the Indian nations which made up Kentucky from about 1650 until the arrival of the first white settlers. The first explorers came into the land which would become the 15^th state of the Union in the mid 1700s and in 1774, James Harrod constructed the first permanent settlement in Kentucky at Fort Harrod, the site of present-day Harrodsburg. Boonesboro was established in 1775, and many other settlements were created soon after. Kentucky grew rapidly as the first major settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains and settlers (primarily from Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) entered the region via the Cumberland Gap and the Ohio River. Kentucky County was formed out of land of Western Virginia on December 6, 1776 known as Fincastle County. Shawnee Indians sided with the British during the American Revolution and one of the last major battles of the war for American Independence, the Battle of Blue Licks, was fought along the Licking River in Northern Kentucky.

Soon after the end of the American Revolution, a separation movement began in Kentucky. Citizens of had grounds to separate from Virginia, as the state refused to recognize the importance of trade along the Mississippi River to Kentucky’s economy and trade with the Spanish colony of New Orleans, which controlled the mouth of the Mississippi, was forbidden. The Kentucky Constitutional Convention met in Danville in 1784 and in the next six years, nine more conventions would be held. Kentucky became the 15^th state on June 1, 1792. Isaac Shelby was chosen as the first governor. Kentucky’s first constitution was drafted in April and May of that year (the constitution was rewritten in 1800, and again in 1850 and 1891), and Frankfort was chosen to be the site of the state capital.

In the years leading to the Civil War, Kentucky prospered. Population growth stimulated economic growth and soon Louisville emerged as the largest city in the Commonwealth due to railroads and steamships making it a commercial center. Agriculture, however, shaped the economy of the entire state, with hemp being the largest industry. Slavery became a reality in Kentucky, though not nearly has prevalent in other parts of the South.

In 1860, Kentucky native Abraham Lincoln was elected President, Southern states began to secede and the Civil War began. Kentucky remained a border state, declaring neutrality during the war. However, the state was torn apart by Northern allegiance and Southern sentiment, as brother literally fought brother during the bloodiest of all American wars. The Battle of Perryville was fought October 8, 1862 and was a decisive victory for the Unites States, as the Commonwealth remained in Union hands for the remainder of the war. Kentucky provided the second largest number of African-American soldiers to the Union during the Civil War. Many African-Americans enlisted at Camp Nelson as a way to escape slavery. Camp Nelson provided the Union Army with over 10,000 African-American soldiers, making it the third largest recruiting and training depot for African Americans in the nation. Though Kentucky refused to ratify it, slavery officially ended in Kentucky after 13th Amendment was ratified by enough state to become national law.

After the Civil war, Kentucky’s economy underwent dramatic changes. As the hemp industry declined, the development of burley tobacco contributed to a tremendous increase in tobacco production. Many Kentuckians made the change from subsistence farming to coal mining, particularly in the Appalachian region.

Like the rest of the country, Kentucky experienced dramatic inflation during the war years. Much infrastructure was created; roads had to be greatly improved to accommodate the increasing popularity of the automobile. The war also led to the clear cutting of thousands of acres of Kentucky timber. These new industries created many jobs for Kentuckians, though many citizens chose to leave the state to find jobs in other parts of the country.

The tobacco and whiskey industries had boom years during the teens, although prohibition seriously harmed the economy when the Eighteenth Amendment took effect. Prohibition led to widespread bootlegging that continued on into the middle of the century. Bootlegging became an industry in itself, creating small economies especially in the Appalachian region of the state. Kentucky, like the rest of the nation, faced great hardships during the Great Depression, including widespread unemployment and little economic growth. New Deal programs began to improve the state educational system and led to construction and improvement of a great deal of infrastructure; the creation of roads, construction of telephone lines and rural electrification were significant developments for the state.

World War II helped to bring Kentucky out of its economic problems by providing new jobs, placing importance on industry and less importance on agriculture. Shipyards at Jeffersonville and elsewhere generated numerous skilled jobs. Louisville’s Ford manufacturing center produced almost 100,000 Jeeps during the war. The war also increased importance of higher education and training for technical occupations. Women in Kentucky took up jobs in factories and fought the battle on the home front as their husbands went to war. Rose Will Monroe, one of the models for “Rosie the Riveter,” was a native of Pulaski County. In the years following World War II, the interstate highway system allowed rural Kentucky to be connected to the more metropolitan locations. Kentucky was also an important part of the Civil Rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders made trips to Kentucky and the Lexington Woolworth’s Store was the site of sit-in protests to end segregation.

Today’s Kentucky, while increasingly urban, holds true to its rural past. A mix of ante-bellum charm and contemporary flair make up the Bluegrass State. The state is rooted in culture, tradition and history. Big city celebrations like the Kentucky Derby Festival, the two-week party leading up to the Kentucky Derby in Louisville, go hand in hand with the celebrations of rural communities like the Clarkson Honeyfest in Grayson, County.

While it is part of the Upper South, Kentucky continues to be regarded in the same light as many of its Deep South counterparts. Even writers like Mark Twain took note of the state’s slow-paced lifestyle. “I want to be in Kentucky when the end of the world comes, because it’s always 20 years behind”

Each day of the celebration had a different theme, from “Old Kentucky Home Day” on June 1 to honor Kentucky’s birthday to “Lexington Founder’s Day” on June 4th which celebrated all founders of Lexington. A “Grand Historical Pageant” was held at the University of Kentucky Athletic field and stadium, featuring 1,500 men and women portraying a large cast of characters in each episode including “Indian Squaws and Maidens” as well as “Delegates at the Boonesboro Convention”. In the episode titled “Raiding with Morgan,” men impersonated members of Morgan’s Raiders and in the World War pageant, men, women and children portrayed Red Cross workers, soldiers, Boy Scouts and the iconic “America,” “Spirit of Lexington,” “Spirit of the Blue Grass,” and a “Voice of Prophecy.” That episode praised Lexington for answering the call to arms when America needed it to assist in the war effort. Box seats for the pageant cost $2.20 and general admission tickets were $1.10. All proceeds from the ticket sales went toward paying for the cost of the Sesquicentennial Celebration.

A “Patriotic Parade” was held which showcased “civic organizations of all kinds” and the other towns which made up the Bluegrass Region. Many Lexington groups such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, Optimists Club, and the like were featured in the parade, for which the route was “all principal streets.” The Sesquicentennial Celebration was a grand homecoming event for Lexington and celebrated the descendents of Lexington’s founders. There were scheduled times for “hand-shaking” and exercises at many local attractions. At Morrison Chapel on the campus of Transylvania University, a “Hall of Fame and Museum” was constructed with many artifacts and relics of Lexington’s history. There were many exhibits in the museum, “Confederate Room”, “Henry Clay Exhibit”, collection of Indian relics, “Daniel Boone relics” and many others. One exhibit was comprised of relics associated with the visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to Lexington, the 100th anniversary of which was being celebrated, including the quilt that Lafayette slept beneath. The collection amassed some of the most priceless history ever assembled at that time.

A souvenir program was available detailing all activities in the celebration and featured advertisements from some of Lexington’s largest businesses at the time, including the bygone “Phoenix Hotel.” The program cost 25 cents and was “Published under the auspices of the General Committee Representing all Civic Organization.”

The Bluegrass Historian is back after a brief hiatus and change in direction! We appreciate your patience and your willingness to hear more Bluegrass history! This episode explores the history of Gratz Park, Lexington’s favorite park and home to some of the most beautiful architecture in town. Also in this episode, we discuss this week in history and the murder of Solomon P. Sharp!

Narrator: Natasha Collier
Program Director: Natasha Collier
Technical Director: Natasha Collier
Research: Natasha Collier, Jamie Millard

After the Revolutionary War, vast migration began into the western outpost of Virginia, bringing into the Bluegrass area the earliest leaders of the three largest traditions in the frontier era: Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians. Episcopalians also settled in the region, as well as Roman Catholics, who predominated in the area around Bardstown.

Religious movements were very important to Kentucky’s early history. The Kentucky revivals are considered by historians to be the beginning of a national “Second Great Awakening.” The Great Revival proved to be epochal in its long- term effects as well. The revival multiplied church memberships in Kentucky; both Baptists and Methodists tripled in their numbers within a three-year period. From this era sprang the Cumberland Presbyterians, the Christian Church, and the Disciples of Christ. The religious excitement also led to establishment of Shaker Communities.

April 30, 2009

Lexington, KY – To many Lexingtonians, native or adopted, Cheapside Park is something of an enigma. This first of all public spaces in Lexington lies just to the west of the Lexington History Center, located on Main Street in what was once the Fayette County Courthouse.

If at all, many Lexingtonians know Cheapside as the locale for the weekly summertime Thursday Night Live concerts. Now, more will come to know it as the location of the weekly Lexington Farmers’ Market on Saturdays. Historically, both uses reach back to the earliest days of the community.

Originally, the 1781 town plat designated the block bounded by North Upper, West Main, North Mill and West Short streets as the “public square,” with the intent of locating the courthouse there. For whatever reason, however, the town’s first courthouse, a one-story log structure erected in 1782, was located on the northwest corner of Broadway (then Main Cross Street) and Main, and a short-lived school house – the first in Kentucky – was located on the public square.

In 1788, Lexington’s second courthouse, a two-story limestone structure, was built on the east side of the public square, pretty much in the same location as the Lexington History Center (formerly, the Fayette County Courthouse). By 1806, the community was ready for a new courthouse, a three-story affair built of brick on a stone foundation. It sported a clock tower and a bell that strikes the hour – strikes, because that same bell continues to mark the hour for the downtown business and residential community.

In 1789, the Virginia Assembly (Kentucky was still a county of that state) authorized dividing the public square to allow for a market to be located on its west end. The division was recognized by cutting a new street running parallel to Upper and Mill. This street was named Market Street, but did not extend north of Short. In 1795, a one-story market house was erected on the northeast corner of the new street and Short. A year later, a post-and-rail fence was erected around the market house, scales were installed and the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the market house. In 1807, a stone market house was constructed in the same location.

The first reference to the street by its current name, Cheapside, is found in an 1813 advertisement for the Todd & Smith wholesale grocery located on the west side of Cheapside. That building, operated by Mary Todd Lincoln’s father, Robert Todd, is occupied today by the Bluegrass Tavern.

But why “Cheapside”? Did it mean goods were bought and sold cheaply at the side of the courthouse? No. The name is taken from a historic marketplace in London, England. That Cheapside exists today as an office and retail center. Historically, however, it was the site of one of London’s largest produce markets, and became known as “the busiest thoroughfare in the world.”

(Etymologically, “cheapside” means “market-place,” derived from the Old English ceapan, meaning “to buy.” In time, good ceap came to mean “good buy.” Since a good buy was often at a good price, the word took on the meaning of cheap or inexpensive, and devolved into its modern meaning of low value, as in “on the cheap.”)

Is it any wonder that Lexington, “The Athens of the West,” would adopt the world’s most famous market’s name for its own market square?

And that market square was vital to the community’s economic life. Lexington was founded as a trade town, supplying westbound settlers with replenishment after coming down from the hills before making their trek to the frontier. Essentially a community of shopkeepers, the public was allowed to buy, sell and trade goods on the second Monday of each month, called “Court Day” because the circuit court sat at the courthouse, bringing litigants in from the surrounding areas, and with them merchandise.

All sorts of items were offered for sale or trade: horse, hemp – and humans. From the nation’s earliest days, slavery was a way of life. At the time of the American Revolution, the slave population in the North and South were about equal. By 1860, however, fully one-third of the South’s total population was enslaved (Fayette County reflected that number), while less than 2 percent of the North (where, for the most part, slavery was legal until 1865) were slaves.

Unfortunately, in time, Lexington became the largest slave market in the South – and Cheapside took on a more sinister connotation. But a wide variety of items were offered for sale, including Kentucky’s most famous product: horses. In 1829, the first horse show west of the Alleghnies was held at Cheapside. Some of the famous stallions of the day included Snow Storm by Dr. Elisha Warfield’s Meadows Farm in Fayette County, Old Potomac by John Clay of Bourbon County, and Sumpter by William Buford’s Tree Hill Farm in Woodford County.

In 1831, Cheapside was paved over, or macadamized, with stone aggregate, no doubt owing to all those horse hooves.

After the War Between the States, however, Court Day degenerated into essentially a rowdy flea market where goods were sold cheap at the side of the courthouse. Silently presiding over the unruly crowds was the statue of John Cabell Breckinridge, vice president of the United States and secretary of war of the Confederacy, erected in 1887. The situation became so bad that in 1921 the city abolished Court Day. In 1928 the paving was removed, grass and trees planted, and Cheapside became an elegant little park in the middle of a rising city.

Today, Cheapside is returning to its roots. The grass has been removed, replaced by a semi-pervious surface. The trees remain, providing shade for the Saturday merchants and buyers on the city’s market square.

This is the first of a monthly series of articles presented by the four museums located at the Lexington History Center, 215 W. Main St.

Before the 18th Amendment and Prohibition, Fayette County was a leading Bourbon producer and the area’s breweries thrived. With the stroke of a pen, it all went away. To be sure, after Repeal, pieces of Lexington’s alcohol production came back, but it was never the same again. Relive those days when Lexington was the “Bourbon Capitol of the World”!

Date: Thursday, May 21, 2009
Time: 7:30pm – 8:30pm
Location:
Lexington History Museum
215 W. Main Street
Lexington, KY

As with all of our programs and events, An Evening With Your History is free and open to the public.

The camp will hold three one-week sessions, Monday-Friday: June 29-July 3, July 6-10, and July 13-17. The hours are 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Topics for each session are as follows.
Monday: Native Americans in Kentucky
Tuesday: Lexington’s Pioneer Heritage
Wednesday: Lincoln in His Wife’s Hometown
Thursday: Civil War Lexington
Friday: Behind the Scenes at the Lexington History Museum

Each day will feature craft activities, games, and tours of area historical sites.

The sessions are limited to 15 children each. Cost per child is $183, which includes all materials and any attraction attendance fees. Each child can stay at the Museum until 5 p.m. for an additional $25 per week.

Enrollment deadline is Friday, June 19.

For more information, call Debra Watkins, Camp Director, at 859-254-0530 or email debra@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org.

Following two trips back to France, Lafayette returned to America in May 1781 and was sent to Virginia to defend against Benedict Arnold and to replace Baron von Steuben. Lafayette evaded Cornwallis’ attempts to capture him in Richmond. On 4 July, the British decamped at Williamsburg and prepared to cross the James River. Cornwallis sent only an advance guard across the river, with intentions to trap, should Lafayette attack. Lafayette ordered Wayne to strike on 6 July with roughly 800 soldiers. Wayne found himself vastly outnumbered against the full British force and, instead of retreating, led a bayonet charge. The charge bought time for the Americans, and Lafayette ordered the retreat. The British did not pursue. The result was a victory for Cornwallis, but the American army was bolstered from the display of courage by the men.

On 14 September 1781, Washington’s forces joined Lafayette’s, which had succeeded in containing the British until supplies and reinforcements arrived. On 28 September, with the French fleet blockading the British, the combined forces attacked in what became known as the Siege of Yorktown. Lafayette’s detail formed the right end of the American wing, the 400 men of which took redoubt 10, in hand-to-hand combat. After a failed British counter-attack, Cornwallis surrendered on 19 October 1781.

President James Monroe invited Lafayette to visit the United States from August 1824 to September 1825, in part to celebrate the nation’s 50th anniversary. The county of Fayette, of which Lexington is the county seat, was named for him. The program from Lexington’s sesquicentennial celebration (100 years after Lafayette’s visit) chronicled his journey through Kentucky.

“The procession came from the Versailles Road to High Street, from High to Broadway, and from Broadway east on Main to Mrs. Keene’s tavern. His first visit was made to Transylvania University which was then in Gratz Park, where he was greeted by the president of the college, Horace Holley, and given a ‘Literary Repast.’” Celebrations of Lafayette’s visit continued through the day and that evening, the Clay family hosted him at Ashland. After Breakfast the next morning, Lafayette sat for a portrait painted by Matthew Jouett, son of Jack Jouett, who was also a hero of the American Revolution. Having spent two days in Lexington, Lafayette mounted and was escorted out of town. “The memory of his visit still lingers and Fayette County is proud to bear his name.”

By 1820, Lexington had become one of the wealthiest and most cultured towns west of the Allegheny Mountains. Home to Transylvania University, the sixteenth oldest university in the United States, the town was so cultured that it was given the nickname “Athens of the West”. Lexington would continue to grow and have a pivotal role in shaping the history of Kentucky. Many of 19th Century America’s most important people spent part of their lives in the city, including both American president Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis (who attended Transylvania University in 1823 and 1824), Civil War General John Hunt Morgan, US senator and vice president John C. Breckinridge, and US Senator, Transylvania law professor, and presidential candidate Henry Clay. Lincoln’s wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, was born and raised in Lexington; the couple visited the city several times after their marriage in 1842.

Known as “The Thoroughbred Capital of the World,” Lexington is home to both Keeneland and Red Mile racecourses and miles of rolling bluegrass horse farms. The Kentucky Horse Park just north of Lexington is host to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day event, one of the top 5 annual equestrian competitions in the world. The city will be hosting the 2010 World Equestrian Games, the world’s largest equestrian event.

Lexington has four sister cities as designated by Sister Cities International. Deauville, France, County Kildare, Ireland, Shinhidaka, Japan, and Nemarket, England are Lexington’s sister cities and all, like Lexington, are major centers for the Thoroughbred industry in their respective countries.

227 years after Lexington was established as a “town” by the Virginia Assembly, Lexington is a thriving metropolis with a home-town feel. The town is still as cultured as it was in the 1800s. Home to museums, historic homes, an opera house and other music performance venues, art galleries, festivals and even sports arenas, Lexington really has it all.

Come celebrate the 100th anniversary of Belle Brezing’s 49th Birthday on Thursday, June 18, 5-8 p.m. Belle will be present and you will have an opportunity to hear her fascinating story in her own words! A donation of $20 to the Lexington History museum will be rewarded with a souvenir photo with Belle!

The Cheapside celebrating (coinciding with Thursday Night Live!) is FREE and open to the public. A private reception with cocktails and heavy hors d’oeurves in the Mayors Gallery (Museum Third Floor) is $40 per person, $75 per couple in advace ($50 per person, $100 per couple at the door).

Want to give Belle a special birthday present? Here are some suggestions and prices:

• Case of Weidemann Beer ($25)
• Case of White Seal sparkling wind ($50)
• Gold ring from King & Metzger ($100)
• New ball gown from Caden & Caden ($250)
• Diamond bracelet from Bogaert Victor ($500)
• Mink coat from Lowenthal’s ($1,000)
• Governor’s pardon ($5,000)

Gifts will be gladly accepted by the Lexington History Museum, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

Store names were located in downtown in 1909, when Belle turned 49.

Distilling probably arrived in what would later become known as Kentucky when Scottish, Irish, English, and German settlers began to farm the area in earnest in the late 18th century. The spirit they made evolved and gained a name in the early 19th century. It is named for Bourbon County, Kentucky, which itself is named for the House of Bourbon from French history. Corn was a native crop growing abundantly in Kentucky. Farmers on the frontier soon began distilling their surplus corn, producing a new kind of whiskey and during the 1800s, whiskey produced in Central Kentucky came to be known as Bourbon whiskey.

The Federal Standards of Identity for Distilled Spirits (27 CFR 5) state that bourbon must meet these requirements:
• Bourbon must be made of a grain mixture that is at least 51% corn.
• Bourbon must be distilled to no more than 160 (U.S.) proof (80% alcohol by volume).
• Bourbon must be aged in new, charred oak barrels.
• Bourbon may not be introduced to the barrel at higher than 125 proof (62.5% alcohol by volume).
• Bourbon which meets the above requirements and has been aged for a minimum of two years, may (but is not required to) be called Straight Bourbon.
• Bourbon aged for a period less than four years must be labeled with the duration of its aging.
• If an age is stated on the label, it must be the age of the youngest whiskey in the bottle.

Bardstown, Kentucky, is called the Bourbon Capital of the World and is home to the annual Bourbon Festival in September. Visitors to Kentucky can experience the rich history and proud tradition of America’s native spirit by visiting eight well-known distilleries: Buffalo Trace (Frankfort), Four Roses (Lawrenceburg), Heaven Hill (Bardstown), Jim Beam (Clermont), Maker’s Mark (Loretto), Tom Moore (Bardstown, added to the trail on August 27, 2008), Wild Turkey (Lawrenceburg), and Woodford Reserve (Versailles). Buffalo Trace distillery was one of the only distilleries in the country with permission to continue operations during Prohibition.

Linda Neville, Appalachian health crusader whose efforts led to the eradication of blindness-causing trachoma, was born in Lexington on April 23rd, 1873. After visiting Kathrine Petit’s Hindman school, Neville saw that many people were suffering from a form of conjunctivitis called trachoma, which was highly contagious and caused many eye problems including blindness. She encouraged eye specialists to go to Appalachia and provide free care to those in need. She organized, planned, and publicized eye clinics and supplied medical teams with anesthesia and medications. In 1910, Neville founded the Kentucky Society for the Prevention of Blindness, and became the Executive Secretary and solely responsible for its activities. In conjunction with her work, she helped draft laws and lobbied successfully for legislation supporting the cause of blindness. The first such law was the Opthalmia-Trachoma Reporting Law from 1914, which required that all newborn babies with diseased eyes be reported to local boards of health. Her work continued for more than forty years and she passed away June 2, 1961 and is buried in the Lexington Cemetery.

“The consideration of public safety, the well being of society and long experience enforced by the example of other countries, conspire to prove the necessity of providing by law for the care, comfort and safe keeping of persons, mentally diseased and who are of unsound minds. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” that a Lunatic Asylum shall be, and is hereby established in this state, which shall be seated in the county of Fayette, near the town of Lexington, a suitable tract or lot of ground including a spring of never failing water, of not less than ten nor more than twenty acres, for the public purpose aforesaid. The said commissioners shall proceed immediately after the passage of this act, to make such purchase, upon the best terms practicable, and proceed to erect or cause to be erected, suitable and convenient buildings, of stone or brick or both, sufficient for the care and safekeeping of at least two-hundred persons, having a due regard to their comfort as well as safe keeping.”

The Eastern State Hospital Cemetery, located on the hospital grounds, was use from the first quarter of the 19th century until the early 1950s, is no longer intact. Local industrial development resulted in a relocation of many cemetery graves to a small common area of land near the hospital grounds. It is unknown how many individuals are buried in the cemetery, but is believed to consist of 10,000 or more. These persons came from all over the state of Kentucky, as well as from other states.

Over the years, the name changed several times, until 1912 when the General Assembly officially renamed it Eastern State Hospital.

Bring in your non-perishable food items to the reception desk and log your donation. The individual who donates the most food will win a $50 gift certificated to the museum store and the business with the largest donation will receive their choice of meeting space for free!

For more information, refer to our flyer or click here for a smaller version. and if have any questions contact us at 859.254.0530 or e-mail the Museum President at jamie@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org.

Below is the view this afternoon, compared to a view c. 1880.

Cheapside, April 9, 2009

Cheapside, c. 1880

LEXINGTON HISTORY MUSEUM GROWS “FAMILIES WITH CHILDREN” TO 48%

LEXINGTON, KY. — The Lexington History Museum has seen its “families with children” demographic increase to 48% for the past two months in a row. That’s up from 32% since the Museum targeted that demographic for future growth.

“This is significant growth in a demographic category that history museums, by their very nature, find difficult to attract,” observes Jamie Millard, President & CEO of the Museum, located at 215 W. Main St. in the former Fayette County Courthouse. “Eighteen months ago, what few families that visited would leave within 15 minutes. Now, families are staying a full one or two hours because we have elements that engage children in the active discovery of their heritage.”

A key element to the demographic growth is the Museum’s proprietary “Play Date with History”®, which injects learn-by-playing activities into such major exhibits as “Lincoln and His Wife’s Hometown” and “The Keeneland Legacy.” In addition, a “Play Date with History” room recently opened, featuring craft and play activities that related to Lexington’s cultural heritage. Since implementing the strategy in December 2007, total visitor counts have increased 16.5% versus the same period year-ago.

A second reason for growth has been the Museum’s extended open days during school vacation periods. Normally open Fridays through Mondays, during vacations the Museum remains open seven days a week (Noon-4 p.m., open early Saturdays at 10 a.m.). That strategy was implemented in June 2008. During that summer, the Museum saw its families-with-children visitor totals account for nearly two-thirds of total visitors, a trend that continued during December 2008. This week, Fayette County Public Schools’ Spring Vacation, the Museum will be been open daily through Monday, April 6.

A third reason might be attributed to the downturn in the economy. With many families having fewer entertainment dollars, the Museum’s admission-free policy is a real bargain. “Our founding chairman, the late Dr. Thomas D. Clark, was adamant that citizens should not have to pay to learn about their heritage,” says Millard. “Since we opened our doors more than five years ago, we have abided by Dr. Clark’s wishes.” The Museum is 100% dependent on private donations and foundation grants to support its operations. A 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, donations to the Lexington History Museum are tax-deductible.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

The Transylvania University Pioneers ended their football program in 1941 and proudly state that the college is “undefeated”.

We apologize for the delay of this week’s broadcast. Your patience will be rewarded as we examine the life and political career of the great statesman, “Harry of the West”, Henry Clay. Also in this episode, we discuss this week in history as well as answer our history mystery on the mysterious blue lady on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University!

**Edit: Transylvania University ended their football program in 1941, not 1949 as was reported in the podcast. We apologize to all Pioneers.**

Narrator: Natasha Collier
Program Director: Lindsay Merritt, Natasha Collier
Technical Director: Tyler Chelf, Natasha Collier
Research: Lindsay Merritt, Jamie Millard

We sincerely apologize for the delay in this week’s podcast – but we promise it’s worth the wait! Learn about various state symbols including the official song, dance, and seal, and find out why the John Hunt Morgan monument outside the museum has the Confederate general riding a stallion instead of his favorite mare, Black Bess. We hope you enjoy!

Credit:
Narrator: Natasha Collier
Program Director, Technical Director: Lindsay Merritt
Research: Jamie Millard, Lindsay Merritt, Natasha Collier

We will begin distributing the flyers among local businesses and public places, so if you would like us to drop some off with you or your office, please let us know by contacting us at 859.254.0530 or e-mailing the Museum President at jamie@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org.

In 1805, three Shaker missionaries set out to find new converts among the pioneers that had headed westward via the Cumberland Gap and the Ohio River. By August of that they, they had gathered a small group of followers of the doctrine of Mother Ann Lee, many of whom had been influenced by the reawakening of religion because of the Cane Ridge Revival.

In December of 1806, 44 converts signed a document agreeing to mutual support and communal ownership of property. The community began living together on the farm of Elisha Thomas, which started out at 140 acres. Additional converts quickly joined the Shakers, and the property grew to 4,369 acres. In 1808, the Pleasant Hill Shaker community was permanently established. The Shakers were excellent farmers and were able to overcome hardships and adversity through their strong sense of commitment and will. The location of the community was ideal for agricultural and economic growth, and by 1816, the Shakers regularly traveled to larger cities to sell their wares, going as far away as New Orleans.

The Shaker society disbanded in 1910, and the Pleasant Hill property changed hands several times and was used for various purposes. Elderly Shakers continued to live on the property until Mary Carmichael Settles passed away in 1923.

A reminder that the Lexington History Museum will be open all week, Monday-Friday, March 30-April 3, during Fayette County Public Schools’ Spring Break.

If you or someone you know wants a great place to allow the children to have some fun while exploring their Bluegrass heritage, nothing beats the Lexington History Museum’s “Play Date with History” activity centers throughout the Museum. Play with toys the Lincoln and Todd children may have played with, explore the interesting facts behind the Keeneland Legacy, and participate in craft activities with mid-20th Century toys.

The Lexington History Museum is open Noon-4 p.m. daily (including Sundays) through Monday, April 6. On Saturdays, we open early at 10 a.m.

Hines and his wife Florence began to assemble a list of several hundred good restaurants around the country, in order to share with their friends. The list became so popular, that Hines published a book entitled Adventures in Good Eating, which documented restaurants and their featured dishes that Hines himself personally recommended. Restaurants that were given a favorable rating were given permission to hang a sign in the window that read, “Recommended by Duncan Hines,” and if a restaurant’s standards dropped, they could be cut from the next edition of the book – for this practice, Hines is known as the first modern food critic.

In 1952, Hines introduced his line of bread to the world through Durkee’s Bakery in New York. In 1953, he sold the right to use his name to Roy H. Park to form Hines-Park Foods, which licensed the name to a number of food businesses. The cake mix license was sold to Nebraska Consolidated Mills in Omaha, which developed and sold the first of the Duncan Hines cake mixes. Four years later, Nebraska Consolidated Mills sold the cake mix business to Proctor and Gamble, who brought the business to a national level and added a series of related products. Hines passed away on March 15, 1959, but his products remain a staple in many American households to this day.

Curious as to how Monkey’s Eyebrow got its name? Ever wonder whether bourbon the drink was named after Bourbon the county, or vice versa? Today’s podcast can answer these questions and more, as we delve into the history of place names throughout the state, discuss Duncan Hines’ life, and learn about the history of bourbon. Have any questions about Lexington or Kentucky? Send in your questions before next Saturday, and maybe we’ll answer it on air! Next week’s show will be about Kentucky state symbols, so stay tuned!

Credit:
Narrator – Natasha Collier
Program Director – Lindsay Merritt
Technical Director – Tyler Chelf
Research – Jamie Millard, Natasha Collier, Lindsay Merritt

LEXINGTON, KY. — The Lexington History Museum closes out its popular Play Date with History® craft project on Saturday, March 21, Noon-2 p.m. with a focus on famous moments in Lexington’s transportation history. Admission is free. The Museum is located at 215 W. Main St. For information, call 859-254-0530.

Children may make one of three paper models: a steamboat, a locomotive, and an airplane. During the project, children and their parents will learn some interesting facts about the role Lexington played in developing those modes of travel.

On August 6, 1801, Edward “Ned” West demonstrated a steamboat on Lexington’s Town Branch –- nearly six years to the day before Robert Fulton’s steamboat demonstration between Albany, N.Y., and New York City on August 7, 1807. Unfortunately for West and Lexington, the Town Branch was not navigable, and his steamboat went nowhere. Literally.

In December 1835, the first train arrived in Lexington from Frankfort, establishing the Lexington & Ohio Railroad as the nation’s second road following the Baltimore & Ohio. The L&O later became part of the Louisville & Nashville. Eventually, both the B&O and L&N were swallowed up by today’s CSX.

In March 1928, on the first day of the Kentucky high school basketball tournament, Charles A. Lindbergh landed his famous “Spirit of St. Louis” at Lexington’s Halley Field (today’s Meadowthorpe subdivision). Less than a year before, “Lucky Lindy” completed the first transatlantic nonstop flight, arriving in Paris on May 21, 1927.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

Right now, the Lexington History Museum (listed as the Fayette County Courthouse
) is not doing well in the public opinion, because not many people are aware that the museum is located in the Courthouse and think they are voting to renovate a new building. If you could take a look at the website and vote for the Fayette County Courthouse, the Lexington History Museum would be able to do major renovations and create roughly 90 jobs for the downtown area.

One of the things covered in the funding is a renovation of the current HVAC system, which does a poor job of covering the whole building. The Lexington History Museum houses a large number of historic documents and objects, all of which need temperature- and humidity-controlled environments to best preserve them. Extreme temperature and humidity fluctuations, such as the ones the museum experiences, can be very damaging to these artifacts, and can even destroy them over time.

We need to preserve these pieces of Lexington history!

Please take a few minutes and look at the website and cast your vote for the projects you think are important for Lexington to focus on! The future of the museum rests in your hands. Thank you!

To see all of the projects, click HERE.

To see the Fayette County Courthouse/Lexington History Museum, click HERE.

LEXINGTON, KY — The Lexington History Museum will be open every day of Spring Break for Fayette County Public Schools, March 30-April 3, Noon-4 p.m. Admission is free. The Museum is located downtown at 215 W. Main St. For information, call 859-254-0530 or visit the website at www.LexingtonHistoryMuseum.org.

“Because of the current economy, many parents are looking for Spring Break activities closer to home,” observed Jamie Millard, Museum President & CEO. “With the Museum’s goal of increasing visits of families with children — and our free admission policy — this is a perfect time to schedule a visit.”

Current exhibits include the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial “Lincoln and His Wife’s Hometown” exhibit, the ancillary “Window on the War: The Frances Peter Diary”, an overview of “Lexington: Athens of the West”, “Black & White: A Photographic Perspective” of Lexington’s African-American community up through Civil Rights, and “The Keeneland Legacy” story of the area’s horse racing history.

The Museum normally operates Friday-Monday, Noon-4 p.m., opening early Saturdays at 10 a.m. This means the Museum will be open every day from Friday, March 27, through Monday, April 6.

The Museum first experimented with remaining open seven days a week during the 2008 Summer Vacation period, and saw its “families-with-children” category grow to 32% of the total visitors. The Museum was also open seven days a week over the 2008 Christmas Holiday Vacation.

In February 2009, families-with-children grew to 48% of total visitors. That growth has been spurred by the Museum’s proprietary Play Date with History® learning concept that includes a hands-on play area in major exhibits. In addition, the Museum also has a Play Date with History room with unsupervised craft activities that relate to local history and culture.

The Lexington History Museum engages all people in the discovery and interpretation of the history of Lexington, Ky., and the Bluegrass Region.

In this week’s episode, learn about Benjamin Gratz, Lucretia Hart Clay, and Blanton L. Collier, hear some spooky ghost stories, and find out how Tates Creek got its name! Next week’s episode will be about unique place names in the Bluegrass State, and, as always, will feature our History Mysteries segment, so send in your Kentucky-related questions and we’ll try to give you your answer on-air!

Credit:
Narrator – Natasha Collier
Program Director – Lindsay Merritt
Technical Director – Tyler Chelf
Research – Jamie Millard, Natasha Collier, Lindsay Merritt

The food drive will be throughout the month of May, and there will be a donation box at the reception desk of the museum for you to leave your canned goods and non-perishable foods and log your donation. The Lighthouse Ministries is looking for the following items: coffee, canned vegetables, macaroni and cheese, dry beans, pasta, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soups, spaghetti sauce, styrofoam plates, napkins, forks, spoons, sugar, creamer, cake mixes, and icing.

There are two types of prizes — if the winner is an individual, they will win a gift certificate to the museum’s gift shop and a guided tour for themselves and a set number of guests. If the winner is a business, they will win their choice of third floor meeting space at no charge. The museum offers excellent and flexible conference rental space in two of its third floor rooms; the Original 1900 Courtroom seats 130 theatre-style and features full A-V support. The Mayor’s Gallery is 2,200 square-feet available for stand-up or sit-down affairs. Either of these rooms would be perfect for a business meeting, event, or function.

If you are interested in participating or would like to know more, please e-mail the museum president at jamie@lexingtonhistorymuseum.org.

Spread the word by printing up our food drive flyer, and help us give back to the community that has supported us so loyally!

Ingredients:
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup of light corn syrup
- 1/2 cup of brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup of chopped pecans
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
- 6 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate morsels
- 1 9-inche deep dish pie shell, unbaked

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix all ingredients and pour them into the pie shell.
3. Bake for 10 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees; cook for another 35 minutes.
4. Let cool, and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Enjoy!

The Museum would like to thank the community for its support of this project! These trunks would not have been possible without your help.

Loaned diaries, letters, and other paper artifacts will be digitally scanned and made into posters to be hung on the wall, other items will be put inside display cases, and oral histories can be recorded and put on the blog or podcast, or can also be put in a kiosk in the exhibit room. We’re curious about your family’s history and how it relates to the Bluegrass State, and want to share your story with the rest of the community!

Some items we’re interested in seeing: war medals, diaries, letters, political campaign paraphernalia, photographs/albums, books, drawings/paintings, quilts, crafts, and oral histories.

We’re trying to gauge the community’s interest, so if you would please comment either on our blog or our Twitter with ideas, we would really appreciate it!

Sample Response
I would like to loan my mother’s diary to the museum. She was a child living in Lexington during World War II and documented the effect the war had on the city. In one entry, she wrote about getting letters home from her father, who served in the Pacific Theatre. This diary is very important to my family because it’s exciting for me and my children to see what my mother was like when she was young, and to read about all of her experiences.

Sample Response
I would like to donate an audio recording I made of my grandfather in 2007. He was present at the opening of Keeneland, working at the admission gates. He has some great stories about the racetrack and I wanted to preserve them before he passed on. I think it’s important to take time to sit down with our older generations and learn about their experiences before they are gone.

In this podcast, the Lexington History Museum delves into Kentucky’s food history, covering the state’s iconic foods and how Abraham Lincoln enjoyed his steak. We have an excellent History Mystery that clarifies Kentucky’s role in the Civil War, and plenty of exciting museum news.

Credit:
Narrator – Natasha Collier
Program Director and Research – Lindsay Merritt
Technical Director – Tyler Chelf

Next week’s show will cover ghosts and graveyards of the Bluegrass region. Got any scary stories? Let us know and maybe your contribution will be mentioned in the podcast! If you have any History Mysteries, make sure to send in your question by Saturday, March 14th, and we will do our best to answer it.

If you want to play, feel free to post your answers in the comments section, or e-mail us at lexingtonhistorymuseum@gmail.com.

Questions: History of the Bluegrass Trivia Contest: March 7.

1. Who was the leader of the group of explorers who named Lexington?
2. What year did that happen?
3. If a person left Fort Pitt on a canoe and disembarked at the new town of Lexington, what waterways would he have taken, in order?
4. In terms of proximity to a present town, where was the largest Native American settlement of the 1750’s located?
A. Winchester B. Harrodsburg C. Versailles D. Frankfort.
5. What tribe established that settlement?
6. Which of the following was already here when the first Europeans arrived in the new world?
A. The Potato B. The Tomato C. Horses D. Small Pox E. Syphilis.
7. What was the name of the company that hired Daniel Boone and his axe men to cut a trail into the Kentucky territory of Virginia?
8. What was the name of that trail?
9. Whose grandfather accompanied Daniel Boone in that endeavor but was later killed by Indians?
10. What was the grandfather’s name?
11. Name Kentucky’s first three counties while still part of Virginia.
12. Name the last county established before Kentucky became a state (the ninth overall).
13. In what year did Kentucky become a state?
14. Name Kentucky’s first newspaper and the year it was first published.
15. Who was known as the “Paul Revere of the South” because of his 40 mile ride that saved Thomas Jefferson from capture by the British during the American Revolution?
16. What was Lexington citizen, William “King” Solomen, noted for in 19th century Lexington history?
17. Charlton Hunt is noted for what in Lexington history?
18. Which war did both Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln oppose?
19. When Henry Clay ran for President in 1824, he held the position currently held by:
A. Mitch McConnell B. John McCain C. Hillary Clinton D. Nancy Pelosi.
20. Name his political opponents in that contest.
21. What was Lincoln’s annual salary as President?
22. Name Mary Todd and Abraham Lincoln’s children.
23. Lexington’s largest cash crop by 1840 was:
A. Corn B. Tobacco C. Hemp D. Hay?
24. Cassius Clay was ambassador to which country?

Good luck!