Controversy in the "Blue-Grass"

During a month rife with remembrances from many major world religions & cultures, a man was born who challenged them all - ironically, the grandson to another who shared in the birth of contemporary religious thought.

Yesterday (December 20), in 1837, Charles Chilton Moore was born on a small farm outside Lexington, KY. His mother was the daughter of Rev. Barton W. Stone, who helped spark the Great Revival with the Cane Ridge Revival and co-founded the Christian Church, the Disciples of Christ, & the Church of Christ only a decade or two earlier. After attending Transylvania University, and graduating from West Virginia's Bethany College in 1858, Moore was ordained into his grandfather's church by 1864. But not for long!

After a short time as a pastor in Versailles, Moore resigned his pastorate to work in a series of newspapers. Eventually he founded his own in 1884. This was the nationally-known & quite controversial Blue-grass Blade (that's right - the paper turns 125 this year!). Though sporadically published for assorted reasons (not the least of which were financial & legal), the Blade vigorously challenged contemporary religious views, particularly Christianity & the Bible. Editorial contributions championed social causes of the day, including women's suffrage & prohibition. Moore's personal contributions also argued for agnosticism and, it is sometimes argued, atheism. He is even considered by some as the "Father of American Atheism."

Moore's antagonistic writings led not only to turbulent publishing runs, but also a turbulent life. He dealt with assassination attempts & even imprisonment for the Blue-Grass Blade in 1899. More specifically, for mailing obscene materials. He only served 6 months after President William McKinley pardoned him. This time did not stop his writing. Instead, it led to an autobigraphy. Even his death on February 7, 1906 (he subdued to an illness rather than another human) did not stop the controversy he began in life! The Blade continued publication for another 4 years after his death, courtesy of publisher, James Edward Hughes.

For more on the Blue-Grass Blade, including the many of the issues in its sporadic runs, visit its browsing page & title history on KDL Newspapers: http://kdl.kyvl.org/k/kynews/blu.html

Kentucky "Pioneers," In Memoriam

Over the span of 50 years, on this day, Kentucky lost 3 of its pioneers; its founders; its visionaries - in every sense of the word. Today, we remember Dr. Thomas Walker (1715-1794), Robert Patterson (1753-1827), and Rev. Barton Warren Stone (1772-1844).

Dr.Thomas Walker (1715-1794)
Dr. Thomas Walker was a Virginia physician, living next door to Thomas Jefferson's father (for awhile, he was even Jefferson's guardian!). But he will likely be best remembered as a member of the Loyal Land Company, and leading the first organized English expedition into KY. This trek took place in 1750, and although it did not quite make it into the Bluegrass Region (he turned back after climbing a tree & only seeing more rough terrain ahead, even though he was only a couple days away), it resulted in a journal that assisted in future expeditions, as well as the alleged first house in KY (near Barbourville). It also resulted in the naming of the "Cumberland Gap" (in Southeast KY), for the Duke of Cumberland at the time. Walker did not technically name the Gap, but the River below it; throughout time, the surrounding features adopted the name "Cumberland" to match the River.

Later, in 1779-80, Walker surveyed the boundary between KY & TN, which was called "Walker's Line." Surveying techniques at the time meant there were a number of deviations, which assorted people accounted for & fixed over the next 100 years or so, but his basic boundary (at least to the Jackson Purchase region) is still the basis for the KY/TN border. Dr. Thomas Walker died on November 9, 1794. Years later, he was remembered as "Prof. Robertson" periodically wrote to the 1910 Berea Citizen, recording his travels "In Old Ferginny" (as he called it). This excerpt describes a bit of Walker's history, as "Prof. Robertson" recalls it in his August 4, 1901 column. (*Note: This is ONLY an excerpt! And also not in the original format! I have reformatted the columns for easier viewing. Please refer to the hyperlink above for the original newspaper format)


Robert Patterson (1753-1827)
Robert Patterson was another Pioneer & KY founder, as well as visionary, through his efforts in TRULY building the Commonwealth. He came to the state in 1775 with 6 other men and helped build what eventually became Georgetown. Then, he moved on to Harrodsburg and, a year later, returned to Fort Pitt (PA) to attain ammo to defend Bryan's Station during a siege! Three years later (1779), he headed the 25-man team that built the first blockhouse, which became the basis for Lexington. Aside from laying out Lexington, Patterson was elected a city trustee for 7 terms from 1781-1791, then every year between 1796 to 1806. He also participated in the 3rd KY Constitutional Convention, and ultimately became a state representative for Fayette County in the KY General Assembly, serving for 8 years. Aside from his political career, he served alongside George Rogers Clark, John Bowman, & Benjamin Logan in various battles, campaigns & skirmishes against domestic and foreign threats - most notably British & Native American - ultimately rising to the rank of Colonel. He died on November 9, 1827. According to this 1901 announcement in the Bourbon News, his log cabin was eventually moved (and presumably preserved) to Ohio.


Rev. Barton Warren Stone (1772-1844)
Barton Warren Stone was born in Maryland in 1772, and received his first pastorates in Kentucky & Tennessee during the beginnings of what would become the Great Revival. He helped organize the first significant camp-meeting at Cane Ridge, KY, which lasted nearly a week. It attracted thousands of people from all over to listen to sermons, and debate theological & social issues. Some people became so moved they began "speaking in tongues" or experienced "holy jerks."

In 1803, Stone left the KY Presbytery and over the next 21 years, traveled through Kentucky & Tennessee advocating for Christian unity. In 1824, he met Alexander Campbell, who supported a similar movement. Within 8 years, with the help of John Smith, they co-founded 3 new Christian denominations - the Disciples of Christ, the Christian Church, and the Church of Christ. Rev.

Barton Warren Stone died on November 9, 1844, but his religious legacy lived on in many ways, perhaps most controversially through his grandson Charles Chilton Moore, who published the KY religious newspaper the Bluegrass Blade, out of Lexington (most of its short run is available in digital copies are available on KDL). Moore's controversial views & publications involved him in many debates, much like his grandfather, though they also landed Moore in jail. Nevertheless, both Moore & Stone are at the very least nationally known KY trailblazers. This 1902 "Letter to the Editor" from the Bluegrass Blade shows the level of respect attained by Rev. Barton Warren Stone, as a New Yorker opts to name their child in his honor.

Happy 199th Bday, C.M. Clay!

*Note: I have not linked directly to many of the digitized newspaper pages from which these clippings appear, though their citations are available. Many are repeated news items within their respective time periods. Similarly, C.M. Clay himself was a popular news item during his life. For a closer view of these clippings, simply click on them with your mouse.

On this day, 199 years ago (1810), one of Kentucky's most notable figures - emancipationist Cassius M. Clay was born into a family of other historical figures including Brutus Clay, Green Clay (his father), and his second cousin Henry Clay. But, we are here to talk about C.M. Clay's life today.

After graduating from Transylvania University, Clay attended Yale, where he heard abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison speak, and his passion for antislavery began. In 1845, he even began publishing an antislavery newspaper out of Lexington, called the True American. Knowing his paper would face dissension, he reinforced his office door, armed himself with weapons (including a cannon!), and even installed an alternate escape route! His suspicions were correct and, shortly after, the city-folk (including Henry Clay's son) petitioned to have him thrown out of town. The paper moved to Cincinnati, where friends and family continued it while he left to fight in the Mexican-American War, earning the rank of General.

In his political life, Clay served 3 terms in the KY General Assembly. When the Civil War began, he turned down Lincoln's nomination for ambassador to Spain, opting instead to serve as ambassador to Russia. His time in this role proved key to American history, as Clay was influential in purchase negotiations of Alaska.

Throughout this time, Clay never lost his belief in emancipation. After returning from the Mexican-American War (but before leaving for Russia), he assisted Rev. John G. Fee in establishing Berea College by donating 10 acres of land, and encouraging the foundation of a church-based school. Although the school did not truly take off until after the Civil War, Berea would prove to be revolutionary as an racially coeducational institution. Over differences of opinion in how the school should be ran, Fee & Clay parted ways - Clay to Russia, and Fee to run the school (after briefly fleeing Madison County due to threats during the Civil War).

Later, in 1904, other "differences of opinion" further squashed the dreams of the revolutionary Berea with the Day Laws, prohibiting racially integrated education. Though Berea College fought it up through the US Supreme Court, including multiple fines for violations, it held until 1950. View the KY newspaper clippings below from 1904-1905 to see the progression of the situation:

As passionate as Clay was in his political & public life - leaving an undoubtedly strong legacy - it also deeply infiltrated his personal life. C.M. Clay married Mary Jane Warfield in 1833, the daughter of another notable KY figure, horseman Dr. Elisha Warfield. They had 10 children, raised on their Madison County estate, White Hall. However, a busy public life full of ambassadorships, lecturing, advocacy, and campaigning kept him away from the family. In 1878, they divorced.

At the time, existing laws meant essentially all property belonged to Cassius; Mary Jane was left with nothing - he even charged her for back rent from the time she kept house raising his children there! She moved the children to an apartment in Lexington. This devastating divorce had quite an impact on Clay's daughters, particularly two that you my recognize - Mary Barr and Laura. The sisters went on to fight for women's rights - Laura went on to form the Kentucky Equal Rights Association (KERA) in 1888, with Josephine K. Henry, and lobbied with the passion of her father. She became well-known on the national stage, along with her cousin, Madeline McDowell Breckinridge, the great-grandaughter of Henry Clay (but that's another story). Both were present to see the 19th amendment signed by the Kentucky governor, in 1920. Ironically, Laura's father, Cassius, supportive of emancipation was opposed to Prohibition & Women's suffrage. Check out these clippings below - from early 1891 editions of the Bluegrass Blade to see the respect Josephine K. Henry gives Laura Clay for KERA, & Laura's views on women's property rights:


Though these are some of the more enduring pieces of C.M. Clay's legacy, there are other, lesser-known stories. For example, his affinity for dueling (outlawed by the 3rd KY Constitution in 1850), or knife-fighting, in particular. More specifically, his favorite weapon was the bowie knife; he even published a pamphlet on it! His provocative nature continued into his elderly years, and seems to be what brought him "news-worthy" attention in the gossip columns (that and his quick divorce from his second wife, who was quite a bit younger than him. Perhaps these personality traits, which attracted controversy, is what gained him the nickname the "Lion of White Hall." Below are two clippings - one citing his involvement in a fight, when he was 91 years old!!! and the other referencing his nature and nickname, even after death, as he left 6 wills! (His property and estate were ultimately auctioned off, bringing quite a respectable price).

With any number of legacies to choose from, Cassius M. Clay was respectfully remembered for his achievements and contributions when he died on July 22, 1903. Read his elaborate bio, and view a sketch of him and his estate, White Hall, in this Berea Citizen obituary, published July 30, 1903.

Much of C.M. Clay's legacy, stemming from his life, including Berea College & Laura Clay's contributions to women's movement, occurred after his death. Do you think he would have approved of these achievements? Why or why not? Do you think Clay would have approved of his legacy - the one history books typically see; without the provocative & controversy; no knife-fighting or messy divorce? What do you think of the way Clay lived his life?