xt72ng4gn063 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt72ng4gn063/data/mets.xml Rothert, Otto Arthur, 1871-1956. 1915  books b92-58-27063838 English J.P. Morton], : [Louisville, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Bibliography. Local history in Kentucky literature  / by Otto A. Rothert ; a manuscript read before the Louisville Literary Club, September 27, 1915. text Local history in Kentucky literature  / by Otto A. Rothert ; a manuscript read before the Louisville Literary Club, September 27, 1915. 1915 2002 true xt72ng4gn063 section xt72ng4gn063 



















LOCAL HISTORY IN KENTUCKY LITERATURE

                 By

          OTTO A. ROTHERT



     A Manuscript read before

   The Louisville Literary Club,

         September 27, 1915


 




























     Dedicated

   To My Friend

JOHN WILSON TOWNSEND

 


LOCAL HISTORY IN KENTUCKY LITERATURE



       Many American tourists, until recently,
spent practically all their time in Europe or the
Orient.  But they are now beginning to realize that
Nature was as grand and lavish in building the sur-
face of this continent as she was in forming that
of other countries, and that to "See America First"
is to see many things that have no equal in the Old
World.

       Kentuckians are becoming more and more con-
vinced, though slowly, that within the bounds of
their own State are many sights worth seeing-some
not duplicated in any other part of the Union. This
increasing appreciation of things near home applies
not only to Kentucky in general, but practically to
every county in the State, notwithstanding
nearly every community has its faultfinders.

       The products of our people are becoming
better known at home. Articles "From Paris, France"
and "Made in Germany" are rapidly losing their
attraction.  Two years ago Louisville held its
first "Made in Louisville" exposition; last year
Owensboro showed its citizens the things that were
"Made in Owensboro."

       This spring the Kentucky Federation of Women's
Clubs, in order to encourage painters, gave its


 
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first State-wide Art Exhibit, in which forty Kentucky
artists were represented by more than two hundred
pictures. Never before were the citizens of the
State so impressed with the fact that the work of
some of our painters ranks with the best in the mid-
dle West. It is interesting to note that the first
prize was awarded to J. Bernhard Alberts, of
Louisville, not for a painting of a person or scene
in some far-off place, but for a portrait of his
sister, also a Kentuckian.

       The stigma of a prophet being "not without
honor save in his own country" has been partly re-
moved by our local appreciation of the living. On
April 25, 1913, some of the Louisville admirers of
Madison Cawein placed a bronze bust of the poet in
the Louisville Free Public Library; and an eques-
trian statue of General John B. Castleman was
erected in November, 1913, by his fellow citizens,
who befittingly placed it at the entrance of
Cherokee Park, one of the Louisville public parks
made possible through his foresight.

       This increasing appreciation of our own
country, our native state, our home town, and our
fellow citizens is not confined to the realms of
nature, commerce and art, but is extending also to
history and literature.

       Automobiles and good roads are making our
historic places and old landmarks more easily avail-
able and better known. Many Kentuckians incident-


 




ally, or by more chance, visit some of the historic
spots along their route. The men and women who were
indifferent about local or any other history before
seeing some of these places become, thereafter,
not only better informed regarding the State, but are
more likely to take an interest in local and State
history and literature, and, as a result, become
more appreciative and more loyal Kentuckians.

       Our fathers, in most instances, were versed
in ancient and European history alone, because we
had little history of our own, except, perhaps, in
immediate current events. Until recently State and
local history appealed to comparatively few. About
twenty years ago the first School History of Kentucky
was introduced into our schools. Last year
Mrs. Fannie Casseday Duncan published "The Child's
Story of the Making of Louisville," the first
history of a town in Kentucky to be used locally in
its schools.

       The day is coming when every county in the
State will awaken to the importance of its past as
well as of its present and future, and each will
have a County Museum devoted to its history,
industries, and resources. Then the printed matter
pertaining to the past and the many unwritten tra-
ditions will be more fully appreciated; and then,
too, local history will find its merited place in
Kentucky literature.


 
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       About a dozen histories of the State, twenty
county histories, and some four histories or cities
in Kentucky have been published in book form.
These, with the proceedings of the State legis-
lature, some newspaper files, a few old pamphlet
records of noted controversies and criminal trials,
the Filson Club publications, the Register of the
Kentucky State Historical Society, biographies,
books of travel and historical novels comprise the
principal printed records of events that have taken
place in Kentucky.

       Many of the noted authors who traveled
through the Western country when it was still new
described the territory as they then found it, and
thus wove into their books much interesting matter
pertaining to the early days in Kentucky. The best
and rarest of their writings were compiled, edited
with notes, and indexed by Reuben Gold Thwaites, of
Wisconsin, who, in 1906, published them in 32
volumes under the title of "Early Western Travels
1748-1846." They are filled with facts that will
long supply writers of pioneer romance with good
material.

       In Collins' "History of Kentucky" (1874) are
printed the titles of about 375 books referred to
in the preparation of his work; in Smith's "History
of Kentucky" (1886) 300 volumes bearing on the State
are mentioned, and McElroy's "Kentucky in the
Nation's History" (1909) contains a critical bibli-


 
-5-



ography of Kentucky history in which about 200 books
and some old files of newspapers are noted.

       A most valuable compilation for the student
of Kentucky's literary history is "Kentucky in
American Letters," by John Wilson Townsend,
published in 1913. It contains biographical
sketches of about 200 of Kentucky's writers, from
John Filson down to the historians, poets, novelists
and journalists of our day. By criticism and comment
he shows the character and merit of the principal
books written by men and women claimed by Kentucky.

       Of the various biographies of Kentuckians
Lucius Powhatan Little's "Ben Hardin: His Times and
Contemporaries" (1887) is doubtless the most
thorough ever published. It not only contains the
eulogies, so characteristic of most biographies,
but it also throws some side lights on the leading
public men who were Hardin's contemporaries, and
pictures many of the eventful happenings that go to
make up the history of Kentucky from 1784 to 1852.
For example, one thing in which the entire State was
then interested and which became a factor in the
life of Ben Hardin, was the killing of Meeks and
Rothwell by the Wilkinsons in the Galt House in
1838. Judge Little's record of this famous trial is
interspersed with extracts from the vivid accounts
and strong speeches made by Ben Hardin, who
represented the prosecution.


 
-6-



       But perhaps the most unique and distinct
book of a biographical nature ever published in the
State is Champion Ingraham Hitchcock's "The Dead
Men's Song" (1914). It is a sketch of the person-
ality and work of Young Ewing Allison, including
the fall history of Mr. Allison's famous poem "The
Derelict." This book is an artistic and notable
contribution to Kentucky literature and will stand
as a classic of its kind.

       Not many Kentuckians have written autobiog-
raphies, and most of these are valuable only from
the standpoint of local history; for, with rare
exceptions, they are written by men whose fields
were limited to their section of the country or
were, as in the case of the "Autobiography of Peter
Cartwright" (1856), practically confined to one
topic.

       Probably the best autobiography of a Kentuck-
ian is "The Autobiography of Nathaniel Southgate
Shaler, with a Supplementary Memoir by his Wife,"
published in 1909. Professor Shaler was born in
Newport, this State, in 1841, and died in Cambridge,
Massachusetts, in 1906. More than half his life
was spent in Kentucky. As geologist, historian,
scientist, and writer, he came in contact, not only
with many men and women of Kentucky and participat-
ed in many events in the State, but also saw much of
other people and places.  His own story of his life
and his comments on the people he met are presented


 
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in such a delightful way that the book ranks among
the best bearing on Kentucky history.

       Autobiographies have a charm of their own,
and bring the reader in closer and more intimate
touch with the writer and his times than does any
other form of literature.

       No governor or senator of this State has
given us a record of his experiences, opinions and
observations as a public servant and private
citizen. Had any done so, or had a number of
professional persons, merchants, mechanics, farmers
and pioneers written and published candid autobi-
ographies they would have contributed much valuable
material to local history, and doubtless would have
shown that truth is stranger than fiction and much
more fascinating.

       Autobiographies, diaries and biographies are
good subjects for the novice as well as for the
more experienced writer. The same may be said of
the abundant facts offered by local history and
tradition as material for short stories. Every
community in the State can supply a writer with
facts that would make not only readable sketches,
but also valuable contributions to literature bear-
ing on the history of the State.

       Among present day authors who have used
Kentucky scenes and traditions for the background
of short stories, none have surpassed, in subject
matter or literary style, James Lane Allen's six


 
-8-



sketches that appear in his volume entitled "Flute
and Violin and Other Kentucky Tales" (1891). A good
short story on horse breeding in Kentucky is "How
the Derby was Won" (1889), by Harrison Robertson.
"The Belled Buzzard" (Saturday Evening Post, 1912),
by Irvin S. Cobb, is a murder story of the Western
Kentucky cypress swamps that is classed among the
greatest American short stories.

       Miss Abbie Carter Goodloe, in her "Darius
and Alexander" (Scribner's Magazine, 1914), presents
a love story of the early forties of the last
century, mingling fiction and fact in a way in which
the two can be readily distinguished. In this story
she refers to the home of George Keats, on Walnut
Street in Louisville--now the Elk's Home--and to a
number of other once well-known residences that
stood near it, which references, with the vivid
picture of trade conditions and social conventions,
add to the story special interest. "Getting a Start
at Sixty" (Saturday Evening Post, 1911), by George
Lee Burton, is a striking story based upon living
conditions in Louisville, with a setting which
reflects local scenes. Stories portraying local
living conditions are always of interest to the
student of local history.

      Another short story, or rather a short story
in dramatic form, is Bert Finck's forthcoming "The
House of Tragedy," the scenes of which are laid in
Bullitt County.


 
-9-



      Two books of short stories based on tra-

ditions pertaining to pioneer days, published about
the middle of the last century, should be mentioned.
One is "The Hunter-Naturalist, or Wild Scenes and
Wild Hunters," (1852), by Charles W. Weber, of
Russellville. It contains sketches regarding Boone,
Harrod and Audubon, and includes the well-known
story of "The Darkie Fiddler and the Wolves,"
printed in early school readers all over the
country, and also "Bill Smith, the Silent Hunter,"
the later life of an old Revolutionary soldier.

      The second of these books of sketches is
"Legends of the War of Independence and of the
Earlier Settlements in the West", (1855), by
T. Marshall Smith, of Louisville. One chapter of
the volume recalls William Stuart, of Russellville,
whose life is full of suggestions for romance and
song. Among the old traditions given in detail by
Smith is the story of the Harpes, two outlaws who
had been Tories and who, about 1800, were the most
infamous characters in western Kentucky. Their
lives were filled with such brutality that no writer
is likely to use their careers as a basis for a
story or novel, except possibly some writer of
fiction who wishes to depict cold-blooded murder in
its worst form.

       In ante-bellum days there were published many
pamphlets describing villainy and murder. As news-
papers became more numerous, pamphlets devoted to


 
-10-



current subjects of that nature lost their populari-
ty, since readers who had a thirst for "blood and
thunder" could have it quenched more quickly by the
daily and weekly newspapers. These pamphlets, after
having been read, were soon relegated to the wood-
box or waste basket. Copies of most of them are very
rare now. Regardless of their literary merit or lack
of it, and regardless of any prejudice or imparti-
ality their writers may have shown, these old
pamphlets are a unique contribution to local history
and literature. That some of them might furnish
thrilling plots for scenario writers who are looking
for the highly melodramatic can be inferred from
their long and alluring titles, The following are
among the best known of these old pamphlets:

       "A Concise Statement of the Trial and
Confession of William Clutter, who was Executed on
Friday, the 8th June, 1810, at Boone Court-House,
Kentucky, for the Murder of John Farmer; to which
is prefixed a Short Sketch of his Life; 'The Wages
of Sin is Death'" (1810).

       "Narrative of the Circumstances which Led
to the Trial and Execution of John C. Hamilton for
the Murder of Dr. John P. Sanderson in 1817,"
(1818). This tragedy took place in what is now
Metcalf county. Hamilton was convicted on circum-
stantial evidence; fifty years later it developed
that he was not guilty.


 
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       "The Confession of Jereboam 0. Beauchamp,
who was Hanged at Frankfort, Kentucky, on the 7th
day of July, 1826, for the Murder of Col. Solomon P.
Sharp," (1826.)

       "Vindication of the Character of the late
Col. Solomon P. Sharp from the Calumnies published
against him, since his Murder, by Patrick Darby and
Jereboam 0. Beauchamp," (1827), by L. J. Sharp.

       "A History of the Feud between the Hill and
Evans Parties of Garrard County, Kentucky, the most
exciting tragedy ever enacted on the Bloody Grounds
of Kentucky," (1854), by J. J. Thompson. This feud
began in 1829 and continued about twenty-five years.

      A pamphlet that is sometimes, but errone-
ously, referred to as one pertaining to Kentucky is
"A History of the Detection, Conviction, Life and
Designs of John A. Murel, the Great Western Land
Pirate," (1835), by Augustus Q. Walton. Murrell was
a Kentuckian; his field of action in this pamphlet,
however, was not in this State, but in Tennessee,
Arkansas and farther south, and his recorded
villainy is but a small part of Kentucky's local
history.

      Most of the 400 or more publications listed
by Collins, Smith and McElroy and the other books
just referred to will continue to supply historians
with good material, and will furnish other writers
also with interesting matter for many Kentucky
historical novels, sketches and poems. Up to the


 
-12-



present time few writers of fiction or poetry have
availed themselves of this abundant supply.

      No matter what subject in Kentucky history,
previous to 1874, an author may be investigating,
he will find among these many books two that are
more than likely to contain a complete record of
the desired facts or give a clue to them. These
are the History of Kentucky, published in 1847 by
Lewis Collins, and its amplification published in
1874 by his son, Richard Henry Collins.

       These two works constitute a gazetteer of
Kentucky history. They are mines of personal,
political and general facts concerning the history
of the State and every county, and will ever remain
the starting point of any work bearing on local or
state history. Kentuckians will owe an ever
increasing debt of gratitude to the elder and
younger Collins for the patient labor and patriotic
devotion that animated them in preparing their
histories.

       Notwithstanding the fact that these and other
writers have preserved much local history which,
but for them, would have perished, there can be
found in every county and every neighborhood many
traditions of general interest that have not yet
reached the ears of historian, novelist, or poet,
and which would make valuable contributions to
recorded history or serve as the basis of a good
story or poem.


 
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      One need but visit any town or community, if
in search for new and interesting material. By exer-
cising a little tact and asking some of the oldest
intelligent citizens what was tie greatest tragedy or
most interesting event that ever took place in the
neighborhood, the investigator is more than likely
to hear a good "story" that has never appeared in
print. To the citizens of that locality many of
these local stories have become familiar and
commonplace, while to the outsider they are new
and filled with the picturesque. However, if he be
in search of unadulterated facts, let him beware of
the "gossipy pioneer."

       Much of what was gathered in the olden times
and published, either in books, pamphlets or news-
papers, has since perished. But in this day of many
and fireproof libraries we are prepared to preserve
books, newspapers and documents that otherwise would
be exposed to destruction by fire or ruined through
lack of care.

       Local newspapers, with an occasional excep-
tion, are not long preserved no matter how much
local history or literature they may contain.  The few
clippings that are cut from current papers are, as
a rule, not marked to show when or where they
were published; and, as a consequence, the informa-
tion they contain does not fully serve its purpose.
Fortunately, some of the large public libraries have
long been filing the most important daily paper pub-


 
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lished in the city which the library supplies. If the
county and circuit clerks throughout the State were
required by law to file copies of the local news-
papers and to give them the same care they bestow
upon the official records of the county, much local
history and literature would be preserved for the
present as well as future generations.

       Sir Walter Scott was probably the first of
the great English poets to refer to Kentucky.  In
his "Marmion," published in 1808, he sings of
"Kentucky's wood-encumbered brake." Lord Byron, in
"Don Juan," (1824), mentions "The General Boone,
back-woodsman of Kentucky." Lord Tennyson, in "On
Sublimity," (1827), longs for such scenes as are
offered by Mammoth Cave, "Kentucky's chamber of
eternal gloom."

       Among American poets who early entered the
Kentucky field we find Samuel Woodworth, of New
York, the author of "The Old Oaken Bucket," who,
shortly after the Battle of New Orleans, wrote "The
Hunters of Kentucky." In 1846 Benjamin Russell
Hanby, of Ohio, published the words and music of
"Darling Nellie Gray," and the name of Kentucky has
since been sung in every part of the world where
songs in English are heard. In 1852 Stephen Collins
Foster, of Pennsylvania, while visiting at "Federal
Hill," near Bardstown, wrote and composed "My Old
Kentucky Home."


 




       Rev. Stephen T. Badin, who came to America
from France in 1792, was one of the first Kentuckians
to write a poem on a Kentucky hero. His "Epicedium,"
an elegy upon the death of Joseph Hamilton Daviess
at the battle of Tippecanoe, was published in 1812
and has since been reprinted in many books.

       About 1840 George Dennison Prentice, a native
of New England, but one of the first of Kentucky's
well-known poets, published his poem on "Mammoth
Cave."  In 1847 Theodore O'Hara, who was born in
banville, wrote one of America's greatest elegies.
His "Bivouac of the Dead" was written to commemorate
the reinterment at Frankfort of the Kentuckians
who fell in the War with Mexico. O'Hara's poem on
"The Old Pioneer," written in honor of Daniel Boone,
appeared three years later.

       Down through the years we find that now and
then some of the Kentucky poets have been moved
by an individual or an incident. The heroism of the
women of Bryant's Station, who, on August 15, 1782,
brought water into the besieged fort, is one of
the few incidents in the State's history of which
a number of poems have been written. Henry T.
Stanton, Mrs. Jennie C. Morton, Ingram Crockett and
Madison Cawein have each given us a poem on that
thrilling event.



-15-


 
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       In 1892 Mrs. Fannie Porter Dickey published
"Blades 0' Blue Grass," a compilation of poems by
Kentuckians, and Josiah Henry Combs now has in
press "All That's Kentucky," a collection of poems
bearing on Kentucky. But a perusal of these books
and of Mr. TownsendIs "Kentucky in American Letters,"
(1913), shows that our poets have availed themselves
of very little of the material that goes to make up
much of our State and local histories.

       Madison Cawein, the great nature poet of
America, seldom went beyond the bounds of Kentucky
for inspiration. Faithful to his State, he entitled
one of his books "Kentucky Poems," (1902). Although
Cawein was strictly a nature poet, Kentucky's
history became more and more irresistible to him,
as can be seen by some of his more recent poems, such
as "Kentucky," "Bryant's Station," "Feudists," "The
Mound Builders," and "Moonshiners."

       No Kentucky epic has yet been written.
Cawein, shortly before his death, which occurred
December 8, 1914, had decided to attempt a poem of
that character. In the fall of 1914, in company with
Young E. Allison and the writer of this paper, he
visited Muhlenberg county to familiarize himself
with its history and scenes, expecting to use that
county as part of a background for a Kentucky epic.


 
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       Among prose writers Washington Irving was
one of the first noted American authors, not a
resident of the State, to write a short story
describing some of the firstcomers in Kentucky.
His "Early Experiences of Ralph Ringwood," published
about 1835, in "The Crayon Papers," is a story of
some of the pioneers of the Green River country and
a law student in Bardstown.

       The Beauchamp-Sharp tragedy, which occurred
in 1825, was the first one event in the history of
Kentucky to attract a number of well-known novel-
ists, living outside the State. One of them was
William Gilmore Simms, of South Carolina, whose
novel, "Beauchamp," appeared in 1842. Harriet
Beecher Stowe gathered much of her material in
Kentucky for her "Uncle Tom's Cabin," which was
first published in 1852, and soon thereafter became
one of the best known books not only in America but
in all the civilized world. Mary Jane Holmes,
during the three years she lived in the State,
1848 to 1851, found in the Bluegrass Region
characters for her "Tempest and Sunshine" (1854)
and "Lena Rivers" (1855). These two so-called
"Kentucky novels" ranked deservedly high in their
day, among the best fiction, although they might
now, in the estimation of many readers, be con-
sidered as out of date.

       Among the recent writers, not Kentuckians,
who have woven Kentucky history into their novels


 




is Winston Churchill, whose "The Crossing" (1904) is
a historical novel and takes the reader back to
the time of the Indians, Boone, and Clark, and the
early days of Louisville.

       Although Kentucky novelists have gone farther
into the forest of local and state history than have
her poets, they have, up to now, blazed only a few
trails and have pictured only a few of the many
romances and tragedies that can be found in this
great wilderness of history and tradition.

       Not until 1850 did a Kentuckian produce a
Kentucky historical novel.  In "Lonz Powers, or the
Regulators," by James Weir (Sr.), of Owensboro, we
have not only the first but also one of the longest
novels by a citizen of the State.  It is a story
based on the actual operations of an organization
of citizens known as Regulators, who felt themselves
called upon to enforce the moral and civil laws
which were constantly being violated by a number of
outlaws led by Alonzo Pennington, who, in this
novel, bears the name of Lonz Powers. The scenes
are laid in western Kentucky from about 1830 to

1845, and are typical of many new countries.

       During the course of the story the author
discusses, at length and in a very interesting
manner, the many subjects that are incidentally
introduced. Among these subjects may be mentioned
deer hunts, fox hunts and the old militia muster,
a dissertation on the "bliss of a brandy cocktail,


 
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and the roadworking age of old men and young boys;
--all of which are not only highly entertaining, but
reflect much of the life and opinion of those times.

       Weir's two other novels are "Simon Kenton,"
(1852), and its sequel, "The Winter Lodge," (1854).
Both bear on Kentucky history, but are much smaller
volumes than his first book.

       "Lonz Powers" was written about the time
Scott's novels were widely read, and Weir, like many
other American authors, attempted to follow
Scott in his literary style and in the length of
his stories, thus trying to follow the best model.
Books in which the author leads his readers into
many bypaths were popular during the middle of the
last century, but most of them, like "Lonz
Powers" are now considered old-fashioned. The
novelist of to-day tells his story and presents his
theme in a less divergent way, but, by evading the
somewhat irrelevant matter he, possibly, robs his
book of much that would make good reading.

       In 1874 there appeared another Kentucky
historical novel by a citizen of the State: "Lord of
Himself," by Francis Henry Underwood, who, for a
number of years, lived in Bowling Green. The
author, changing with the taste of the times,
avoided carrying his readers into many bypaths. The
time of the story is about 1845, and the scenes are
laid in what he designates as "Barry County,
Kentucky,' representing the actual counties of


 
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Barren and Warren. The book is a portrayal of the
days when slaveholders and emancipators, slaves and
freed negroes, and "poor white trash" made up the
life of the community. The story is based on facts;
the author, as Arthur Howard, is one of the princi-
pal characters.

       What is regarded by many critics as the most
faithful Kentucky historical early period sketches
is "Chronicles of a Kentucky Settlement," by
William Courtney Watts, of Smithland, published in
1897. It is a story of courtships and lovers, into
which some very good local history and a few well-
known historical characters are introduced. The
scenes are laid in western Kentucky in and near
Salem and Smithland, about the year 1820.

       Among other historical characters represented
is James Wilson, the leader of the "Wilson Band,"
later known as "Ford's Ferry Band," a gang of
notorious outlaws who, in the early days, robbed
many of the boats that passed Cave-in-Rock as they
floated down the Ohio. one of the facts inci-
dentally woven into the story is that Mrs. Lucy
Jefferson Lewis, sister of Thomas Jefferson, lived
for three years in Livingston county, where she
died and was buried in 1811. Her husband was
Dr. Charles L. Lewis, brother of the noted
Meriwether Lewis. They and their children appear
under the name of Gowan.


 
-21-



       In this, as in practically all other histori-
cal novels, fictitious names are used for real
characters portrayed and, as a result, unless
the reader has knowledge of the identity of the
originals, the incidents lose much of their real
interest. But in the case of "Chronicles of a
Kentucky Settlement," as in the case of many other
books of fiction bearing on history, an unpublished
key, more or less complete, as revealed by the
author and now handed down by tradition, may be had.
An unpublished key is looked upon as private infor-
mation and is regarded with keen interest.

       During the past twenty years James Lane Allen
has stood foremost among Kentucky novelists. The
literary beauty of his stories embracing Kentucky
history has not been equalled by any other writer
hailing from the State. His "King Solomon of
Kentucky," (1890), one of his first short stories,
is an example of how a skilled writer can select a
few incidents from local tradition and weave them
into a most charming and beautiful tale. Allen's
Kentucky novels are well known everywhere; they are
highly imaginative, but they are invariably based on
actual historic, social, and economic facts.

       John Fox, Jr., has done for the mountains of
Kentucky what Allen has done for the Bluegrass
Region. Fox's "Bluegrass and Rhododendron," (1901),
wThe Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come," (1903), and
his other Kentucky novels contain much that is


 
-22-



drawn from local history. Charles Neville Buck's
"The Call of the Cumberlands," (1914), and Miss Lucy
Furman's "Mothering on Perilous," (1913), and "Sight
to the Blind," (1914) are books picturing the life
of the Kentucky mountaineers of today.

       Miss Furman, in her first book, "Stories of
a Sanctified Town," published in 1896, has pre-
served, with fine humor, some curious aspects of
life in a western Kentucky village. Another book,
written about a quarter of a century ago, is
"Diana's Livery," (1891), by Eva Wilder Brodhead,
a love story with the Shaker Settlement in Mercer
county as a background. In 1899 Harrison Robertson
published his "If I Were a Man," a story of love and
politics, based on a senatorial contest of a few
years before.

       Within the past fifteen years Kentuckians
have produced more novels based to a greater or
less extent on local and State history than were
written during the century preceding, and it is
quite probable the number will continue to increase.
This is doubtless due, not so much to the growing
number of writers and readers, as to the fact that
the material offered by our histories and traditions
is older and, in consequence, is becoming more
interesting and more highly appreciated. Current
events, or rather immediate current events, seldom
make a good background for romantic novels, and such
novels are not likely to find a permanent place in


 
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historical fiction unless they portray faithfully
the manners of the day; then they contribute im-
portant material to later writers of history.

       As a rule the best historical novels are the
ones written long after the events described have
taken place. Time heightens tragedies, and adds
glamor to romance. Time, in most instances, must
elapse before an unbiased picture can be presented
and the significance of an event be fully appreciated.

       Historical novels, with some exceptions,
present the past in a more interesting manner than
do the formal histories which are intended as
chronicles of actual facts. It has been said, on the
one hand, that "truth is stranger than fiction,"
and on the other, that "fiction is often more truth-
ful than fact." Fiction is undoubtedly more truth-
ful in the presentation of the manners and the social
life of the period portrayed, than is formal history.

       Historians chronicle facts pertaining to
rulers, wars and other subjects which constitute the
general history of a country, community or great
event. It is, however, the writer of historical
novels who, with real and imaginary characters and
incidents, in writing a book of fiction, not only
puts the reader in closer touch with the daily life
of the people and the times he presents, but gives
us a more vivid account of the historical facts
which he has woven into his story. Allen's "The
Choir Invisible"(1897) and "The Reign of Law" (1900)


 
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are good examples of Kentucky novels in which facts
and fiction are combined to make truthful pictures.

       In addition to the writers already referred
to as authors of Ken