 |
| The Stanley-Casey House |
Augustus O. Stanley was born in the above-pictured house in Shelbyille on May 21, 1867, and would later go on to be Kentucky’s 38th governor (1915-1919). The house was erected c. 1816 Gov. Stanley also served in the U.S. House of Representatives (pre-governorship) and the U.S. Senate (post-governorship).
Stanley, a progressive Democrat, spent his time in Washington trust-busting (on behalf of Kentucky farmers against the American Tobacco Company and on principle against U.S. Steel). In 1912, Stanley authored a committee report that would be the basis of many of the reforms to the Sherman Act that would be embodied in the Clayton Act.
As governor, Stanley instituted a number of progressive reforms: state antitrust laws, ban on free railroad passes for public figures, campaign finance reform, worker’s compensation and budget reform. The biggest marker of Stanley’s political career was his opposition to prohibition; it and his progressivism ultimately cost him the 1915 Senate election and his Senate re-election bid in 1924.
Also of note, Stanley’s grandson (Augustus O. Stanley III, a/k/a Owsley Stanley a/k/a The Bear) was an underground LSD cook and financier for Grateful Dead. Oh, and he kind of designed the logo for the band.