1898 courthouse – The Kaintuckeean

Two statues, a military heritage commission, and the telling of history

The Kentucky Military Heritage Commission, until recently, was a little-known state agency. Over the past week, the Commission has received quite a bit of news, both locally and nationally, as Lexington considers what to do with two statutes presently standing in the public square.

Yesterday’s unanimous vote by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council was to “support the relocation” of the two statutes, a decision that will ultimately be made by the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission.

The Statues

The two statues at issue are of John C. Breckinridge and John Hunt Morgan. Both men were slaveowners who took up arms against the United States during the Civil War. Both men came from prominent, white Lexington families who were instrumental in Lexington’s 19th century growth and prominence (that familial success being achieved largely through the involuntary toil of slaves owned by the respective families).

Said one woman speaking to the LFUCG Council before their unanimous vote on August 18, 2017, “[Breckinridge and Morgan’s] only claim to fame is treason against this country.” Well, here’s a little more about the two men and the monuments that have stood for more than a century in the heart of Lexington…

John C. Breckinridge

Breckinridge was a Lexingtonian, a Vice President of the United States under President Buchanan, and then a U.S. Senator from Kentucky. But Breckinridge was expelled from the Senate upon joining the Confederate Army in 1861. He received a commission as a brigadier general; on February 7, 1865, Breckinridge would become the final Secretary of the Army for the Confederate States of America.

In The Breckinridges of Kentucky, James Klotter (the state historian since 1980) described Breckinridge’s fate in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War. By June 1865, the majority of the Confederate cabinet, including Vice President Stephens and President Davis, were captured and imprisoned. “Breckinridge determined early that he would not suffer such a fate.” Klotter writes of the Breckinridge’s escape from capture:

What followed enhanced the Breckinridge legend and surrounded an already appealing figure with even more romance. Here was a daring, charismatic Southern leader fleeing from Union pursues. Swarms of mosquitoes, ticks, sand-flies, and other insects of every description tormented him as he fled through Florida. In a boat too small to lie down in, the party rowed along the rivers of the area for days. Alligators surrounded them; rain soaked their food; hunger reduced them to eating turtle eggs, sour oranges, green limes, and coconuts. … Needing a larger boat to cross to Cuba, the “sailors” commandeered at gunpoint a larger craft. … The sloop No Name sailed into Cardenas, Cuba, on 11 June 1865. General Breckinridge – bronzed, unshaven, his feet swollen by salt water but the long mustache still intact, wearing a blue flannel suit open at the neck and an old slouch hat – was welcomed as a conquering hero.

John Cabell Breckinridge remained on the lam through the remainder of the 1860s until after President Johnson had issued him amnesty; Breckinridge died in 1875. The statue commemorating Breckinridge was erected by the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 1887 in the middle of Cheapside Park. In 2010, the statue was relocated so that it fronted Main Street making space for the Fifth Third Bank Pavilion. The bronze statute rests upon a granite pedestal, with each “being of equal height” according to the 1997 National Register nomination form.

John Hunt Morgan

John Hunt Morgan was born in Alabama, but his mother was raised in Lexington before marrying an Alabaman. John Hunt Morgan returned to Lexington for two years as a student at Transylvania before being suspended for dueling. During the Mexican War, Morgan achieved the rank of lieutenant in the United States Army.

John Hunt Morgan is best known, however, as the “Thunderbolt of the Confederacy.” He joined the Confederate Army in early 1862, and, following the Battle of Shiloh, began a series of raids. His raids were intended to disrupt Union supply lines and communications. His guerrilla tactics had as much, if not more, effect on citizens as it did on Union forces. In one raid, much of Cynthiana was burned. Morgan’s actions were unauthorized and, in 1864, he was killed by Union troops during a raid in Tennessee. Some persuasively argue that his death was akin to “suicide by police,” as he desired to neither be captured by Union forces nor court martialed by the Confederacy.

Hopemont, now known as the Hunt-Morgan House, was the home of Morgan’s maternal grandfather, John Wesley Hunt; it was built in 1814 and is located in Lexington’s Gratz Park neighborhood. John Wesley Hunt was the first millionaire west of the Allegheny Mountains. Henrietta Hunt, John Hunt Morgan’s mother, inherited the home. Although it was his mother’s home, John Hunt Morgan never lived here.

The statue of General Morgan was erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1911. New York sculptor Pompeo Coppini believed that “no hero should bestride a mare,” so he sculpted Morgan atop a stallion. Morgan’s horse, Black Bess, was not.

These two sculptures are located at Cheapside, the site of one of the South’s largest slave markets. Here, families were torn apart. Wives were separated from their husbands; children torn from the arms of their mothers. And, there can be no doubt, slaves owned by the Breckinridge and Hunt-Morgan families were sold on the very ground now memorializing these two men who rose up in arms against the United States.

The Military Commission

The Kentucky Military Heritage Commission was established in 2002 and is charged with “maintaining a registry of Kentucky military heritage sites and objects significant to the military history of the Commonwealth.” Sites accepted onto the registry “cannot be damaged or destroyed, removed or significantly altered, other than for repair or renovation, without the written consent of the commission.”

The commission consists of the Adjutant General, the State Historic Preservation Officer, the Director of the Kentucky Historical Society, the Director of the Commission on Military Affairs and the Commissioner of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

Both the Breckinridge and the Morgan monuments are included on the registry. As a result, their removal, destruction, or alteration, must have the written approval of this Commission.

By the Numbers

The registry of sites under the purview of the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission, as of January 2016, is available online (Word file). According to the KMHC, there are 230 “eligible” military sites and objects eligible for inclusion on the commission’s registry; only 25* sites or objects, however, are listed.

[* There actually is a little confusion as it pertains to the registry index. At the beginning of the report, there are total listings by county and a separate listing by war/conflict. According to the former list, there are 25 listings on the register which the latter list suggests 27. As I count the total listings, I count 27. Meanwhile, the war/conflict total list suggests 14 Civil War sites, while I only count only 12 as provided in the graphic below.]

Among eligible sites/objects, 113 (49%) relate to the Civil War while 52% of sites on the KMHC registry relate to the Civil War. An overwhelming share of these pay homage to those who fought against the United States of America. (It’s worth noting that there are 0 sites/objects recognized as eligible from the War of 1812 despite the fact that 83% of military age Kentucky males served in the conflict fielding 36 regiments for the cause. Further 570,000 of saltpetre was mined out of Mammoth Cave and used in the war effort. Yet, no eligible sites or memorials?)

In Fayette County, there are 11 sites/objects identified although only 4 appear on the registry. Those four are the Breckinridge Monument, the Morgan Monument, the Confederate Soldier Monument (erected 1893), and the Confederate Monument (Ladies Memorial) (erected 1873). In other words, all 4 sites/objects on the registry (1) relate to the Civil War and (2) memorialize Confederate causes or individuals.

It cannot be ignored, by the nominations submitted to the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission have historically been more about the preservation of Confederate/Lost Cause history than anything else.

Of the 12 Civil War related sites/objects on the registry, 10 are connected to the Confederacy. That’s 83%. Now, keep in mind the following: Kentucky never seceded from the Union (we were, however, a house divided). Both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky. More Kentuckians fought and died for the preservation of the Union than did for her destruction.

Telling History’s Story

Some have suggested that the removal of the statues in Lexington and across the country is a revision of history. I would argue to the contrary; the history memorialized by the Morgan and Breckinridge monuments does not properly tell of what truly transpired. What is more, it is a glorification of the worst among us. Furthermore, the history contained in these monuments is, itself, a revisionist history.

In the introduction to Creating a Confederate Kentucky, Anne Marshall quotes Kentuckian Robert Penn Warren, “When one is happy in forgetfulness, facts get forgotten.” The horror that Morgan poured out upon the Commonwealth was forgotten in favor of a perception of a genteel South and a noble cause. Marshall went on to write:

The conservative racial, social, political, and gender values inherent in Confederate symbols and the Lost Cause greatly appealed to many white Kentuckians, who despite their devotion to the Union had never entered the war in order to free slaves. In a postwar world where racial boundaries were in flux, the Lost Cause and the conservative potluck that with it seemed not only a comforting reminder of a past free of late nineteenth-century insecurities but also a way to reinforce contemporary efforts to maintain white supremacy.

In discussing the unveiling of the Morgan statue, Marshall wrote:

There was no outward sign of public objection to the man who had brought destruction to so many civilians during the war and no mention of the irony that the state on which he had inflicted so much damages and the state whose people he had robbed of thousands of dollars in species and horseflesh had spent many thousands more to honor him.

James Klotter also examined Kentucky’s nostalgic shift toward embracing the Lost Cause in his book Kentucky: Portrait in Paradox 1900-1950. He wrote that in the final decades of the 1800s, “Kentucky turned more and more sympathetic to the Lost Cuase.” Klotter noted that in 1902, a Confederate Home was built for Southern veterans and funds were appropriated for Confederate graves at Perryville. In 1910, the state legislature appropriate funds to the United Daughters of the Confederacy for the completion of the Morgan statue now at issue. In 1912, the state purchased the birthplace of Jefferson Davis. In 1926, Robert E. Lee’s birthday became a state holiday (and its not the only Confederate state holiday we celebrate in Kentucky).

Wrote Klotter,

Ironically, Kentucky had no need for a religion based on the Lost Cause, nor for a way to overcome the psychology of a tragic defeat – as did southerners generally – because most Kentuckians, and the state itself, had been on the winning side. Yet, they wholeheartedly embraced the mythology and the moonlight and magnolia image.

Much of the rewriting of history occurred in the waning years of the 19th century and the opening decades of the 20th century. The present discussion on removing the statues is not an attempt to hide history, but to tell a more complete and honest version of America’s history.

Support the Fayette Courthouse … TONIGHT

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

That’s the approach my grandfather took when tackling a big problem. And that’s the approach that Lexington will need to take in order to save the historic 1898 courthouse in the heart of Lexington.

It is time to take a bite and a step toward preservation of this important structure which served as the center of Fayette County’s governance for over a century.

The Lexington-Fayette UCG is requesting a $200,000 grant from the EPA’s Brownfields Program.
Brownfields are “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant” according to the EPA’s website.

The old courthouse, as has been well-documented and reported since the building’s public closure in 2012, contains a significant amount of lead-based paint, mold, asbestos, and guano (bird poop).

The city’s Division of Historic Preservation describes the old courthouse as a “property of extreme importance architecturally and/or historically.” There can be no doubt: the 1898 courthouse is significant and worthy of being preserved and restored. I don’t know what the ultimate use for this important structure will be, but nothing can be done unless and until the property is cleaned up and stabilized. Obtaining funds from the EPA Brownfields Program is a crucial step toward accomplishing the goal.

I was quite honored to read that much of the building’s history that was contained in the Brownfield Application references The Kaintuckeean‘s March 1, 2012 post. If you are unfamiliar with the courthouse’s links to Tibetan palaces and the Canterbury Tales, then you should click through and read the history.

But here’s what you can do to help the grand old courthouse: Show your support for the Grant Application. In person, come tonight at 5:30 p.m. (December 1) to the public meeting (they are accepting public comment) to the third floor Phoenix Building conference room, 101 East Vine Street. Online, you can make your public comments (or statement of support) by sending an email to [email protected].

And for more details about Brownfields Application, visit www.LexingtonKY.gov/brownfields.

Lexington’s Old Courthouse Indefinitely Closed

Old Fayette County Courthouse – Lexington, Ky.

Last Friday, the doors of the Lexington Museum Center were indefinitely closed due to “dangerous levels of damaged and deteriorating lead-based paint in the building.” Also cited by the city were asbestos, mold, and structural problems. The Lexington Public Safety Museum, the Kentucky Renaissance Pharmacy Museum, and the Lexington History Museum all call the Museum Center, Lexington’s old courthouse, home. And while these museums each tell a great history, the greatest history at the Museum Center is that of the old courthouse itself. Anyone who has explored the upper floors of the old courthouse knows that the building requires a tremendous amount of work in order to be fully restored and it is disappointing that impediments so great stand in the way of that vision.

The 1898 Richardson Romanesque courthouse is at the heart of downtown Lexington; it is decidedly Lexington’s most recognizable structure. It served as the county courthouse for over a century until the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza opened in 2002. And although the façade is incredible, the building’s interior is more spectacular.

Imagine in circa 1900 Lexington, a 100-plus foot atrium featuring the architecture of a 14th century Tibetan palace above a split steamboat stairway. After remodeling in the 1960s, the dome only reached fifty-two feet above the newly added fifth floor.

Though this fifth floor has not been accessible to the public for many years due to the now-familiar lead-based paint, I’ve twice had the opportunity to explore the upper reaches of the old courthouse. I first saw the detailed beauty, colors, and lights that evidenced Lexington’s world-class architecture in October 2009 while the Lexington History Museum celebrated its sixth birthday. This February, the Blue Grass Trust deTour of the Old Courthouse gave many the same opportunity.

Some estimates for complete restoration of the old courthouse have reached $25 million. This amount, however, was suggested a few years ago for a full restoration. Ongoing deferred maintenance may raise the overall price tag, though the full amount would not be necessary to once again open the doors of the old courthouse to the public.

But a full restoration of the old courthouse to its 1898 grandeur is not and should not be out of reach. The city committed to cultural improvements, namely the rehabilitation of the old courthouse, as part of a settlement with the state following the demolition of the Ben Snyder block (location of the current courthouses on North Limestone). To accomplish this commitment, the city created in 2009 a TIF district to accompany the proposed Centrepointe project which would have committed the inherent increase in tax revenues from the project to public infrastructure improvements including the old courthouse’s rehabilitation.

I discussed this funding mechanism at lunch yesterday with the Streetsweeper and he observed a number of issues with that TIF district. As progress on Centrepointe may be on the near horizon, perhaps revisiting our TIF application is necessary. As observed by the Streetsweeper, most of the public infrastructure goals sans courthouse rehabilitation are either completed or scrapped from the final project. Restoration of the old courthouse has also been discussed as part of the Arena, Arts & Entertainment District.

You can also help to save the old courthouse! Donations may be made at www.goodgiving.net or mailed to the Museum at 215 W. Main St., Lexington, Ky. 40507. However we act, we must act to save this key part of our community’s history. As former Governor Martha Layne Collins said, “the focal point [of our] community is the courthouse – the place where so much of Kentucky’s rich and fascinating history has been written…” We can not afford to lose that.

The dome of the old courthouse – Lexington, Ky.

Fayette County’s old courthouse is all history

The old Fayette County Courthouse – Lexington, Ky.

Even before a courthouse first occupied this site, it was an important center of Lexington. In fact, the first schoolhouse in the Commonwealth was built on the site in 1783. It was there that John “Wildcat” McKinney, the schoolteacher, was attacked by and fought off a wildcat that had entered the school.

Fayette County’s first three courthouses were torn down or sold, the fourth burned on May 14, 1897, and the fifth courthouse remains standing on the footprint of its two immediate predecessors. That fire in May 1897 occurred when the courtroom was full of fifth graders taking their year end exam. The smoke and fire caused great calamity throughout the building as adults scurried around with great difficulty and confusion, yet these fifth graders assembled a single file line before safely exiting the building.

A sneak peek of the HVAC-filled dome

Visiting the 1898 courthouse is particularly special when the historic dome becomes visible. As written following my 2009 visit to the old courthouse, “Prior to the renovation, visitors inside the courthouse would have marveled at a grand staircase as they gazed up 107 feet to the dome ceiling. The dome, picture above, was painted a blue with dozens of lights which would have illuminated the dome – then one of Lexington’s tallest structures – and the surrounding area. The use of these electric lights in 1900 was groundbreaking; only Paris, France (the “City of Lights”) was using lightbulbs in such innovative ways. The lights would also have illuminated the beautiful interior – the carvings and paintings reminiscent of a 14th century Tibetan palace.”

The 1898 courthouse was designed by the Cleveland, Ohio architecture firm Lehman & Schmitt, who also designed their own city’s Cuyahoga County Courthouse. The Fayette County Courthouse is a fantastic example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. In the shape of a Greek cross, though appearing almost cubic, the courthouse has an entrance on each of its four sides. Each entrance is marked by a large round arch and a shallow balcony above. The corbels supporting these balconies feature facing ranging from grotesque to “resembling characters from the Canterbury Tales.”

The clock in the belfry survived the 1897 fire and has been preserved through history to 1806. On the hour, you can still hear the bell mark the hours of the day just as that same bell did for the ears of Henry Clay, John Breckinridge and Abraham Lincoln.

In 1951, plans were moving forward to demolish the 1898 courthouse despite opposition from, as the Lexington Leader called them, “sentimentalists.” The 1951 plan would have transformed the block: “raze the present courthouse; widen Cheapside; build a county building to house businesses, county offices, courtrooms and the county jail at the corner of Cheapside and Short street; put a two-deck parking lot at Short and Upper streets; build a parking garage beneath the county building and the parking lot; sell the jail and the part of the courthouse square that fronts on Main street.” A chief proponent of this new plan was County Commissioner Dudley Burke who, frustrated with the insufficient space in the half-century old structure, wanted “to tear this damn thing down and building a new building.”And although the plan was supported by the chamber of commerce, it ultimately floundered.

The Old Grand Stairway Remembered

The space issues, however, did not go away, because five courtrooms had been squeezed into a building designed for one. A 1961 plan called for adaptive reuse. While preserving the façade of the historic courthouse, its inner workings (including the palatial atrium) would be filled with HVAC, an elevator system and restrooms.

A grand jury convened in 1987 focused on the possible solutions to the lack of community interest in the courthouse square which had become to be visibly seen by the growing layers of bird droppings on the lawn’s memorials.

In 2002, the old courthouse closed when the new courthouse complex opened a couple blocks away on North Limestone Street. The old courthouse is the home to several museums, most notably the Lexington History Museum, which opened in 2003. Fundraising is underway to restore the old courthouse to its original glory and provide a beautiful home for these great museums.

Additional photographs are available on flickr.

The Blue Grass Trust for Historic Preservation hosts a monthly deTour for young professionals (and the young-at-heart) at a local historic(al) site. Meetings are on the first Wednesday of each month, 5:30 p.m. Details are always available on Facebook! The next meeting is on March 7 at the Henry Clay Law Office and First Presbyterian Church (both on N. Mill between Short and Second Sts.). Click to see Kaintuckeean write-ups on previous deTours.

Sources: kentucky.com; ky120 (Fayette); local.lexpublib.org; NRHP; walkLEX (1st visit)

walkLEX: The Old Courthouse & Lexington History Museum

On my tour of the Old Fayette County Courthouse, my guide stopped to take pictures of children eating birthday cake. Whose birthday? The Lexington History Museum celebrates this month its sixth anniversary – happy birthday! During this busy day, I had the opportunity to walk and talk with Jamie Millard, the President of this great museum. Thanks to Jamie and the staff of the Museum for coordinating this tour on such a busy day!
The old Courthouse was finished in 1900 and is the fifth Courthouse to stand on the site. In the courthouse’s infancy, the the county required only one courtroom. But as dockets grew, room was made within the structure for additional courtrooms. By the 1950s, however, it was obvious that the courthouse was not sufficient absent significant change. A massive renovation of the building was done in the late 1950s.

Prior to the renovation, visitors inside the courthouse would have marveled at a grand staircase as they gazed up 107 feet to the dome ceiling. The dome, picture above, was painted a blue with dozens of lights which would have illuminated the dome – then one of Lexington’s tallest structures – and the surrounding area. The use of these electric lights in 1900 was groundbreaking; only Paris, France (the “City of Lights”) was using lightbulbs in such innovative ways. The lights would also have illuminated the beautiful interior – the carvings and paintings reminiscent of a 14th century Tibetan palace.

But during the renovations, the grand stairwell was removed and the dome sealed off. The area now below the dome is filled with HVAC and mechanical systems. Although I was disappointed that the remodeling done in the 1950s had hidden from view these great architectural attributes, Millard was quick to point out that this “adaptive reuse” resulted in the preservation of the building’s exterior. And it likely saved Lexington from having at its core a Soviet-era courthouse.

walkLEX will certainly visit the Lexington History Museum and the old Courthouse again – there is so much more to see.