When Stage-Coach Days in the Bluegrass was first published in 1935 by the Standard Press in Louisville, the New York Times reviewer described "this charming work" as "an interesting example of that very useful class of books, local histories, which so rarely get the attention they deserve." Along with his focus on the development of stage-coach travel, Coleman covers details such as pioneer roads, taverns, travelers' experiences, mail carriers, and the coming of the railroad. This fascinating look at an age gone by is truly a work of regional culture.
Kentucky Bluegrass Country by R. Gerald Alvey Horse breeding, the cultures of tobacco and bourbon, the forms of architecture, the codes of the hunt, the traditions of gambling and dueling, convivial celebrations, regional foodways-all of these are ingredients in the folklife of the Inner Bluegrass Region that is the focus of this fascinating book. R. Gerald Alvey (retired) was a professor of folklore and English at the University of Kentucky.
The Surprising Story of the Plucky Drivers, Shrewd Owners, and Ruthless Robbers Who Snubbed the Rules As pervasive as stagecoaches (popularly known as shake-guts) were in the early years of America, it shouldn’t be surprising that women who possessed a significant dose of grit and an ounce of entrepreneurial spirit engaged in one way or another in stagecoach enterprises. Though their contributions to stagecoach history were often overlooked, women drove stagecoaches, groomed and shod the stage horses, hoisted mailbags and boxes of gold bullion, negotiated contracts, bought and managed stage lines, defended (with their six-shooters) their cargo from bandits, and robbed stages in addition to fulfilling their traditional roles as housekeepers, cooks, and laundresses—and, oh yes, mothers to multiple children. Stagecoach Women offers an expansive overview of stagecoach history in the United States enriched by the personal stories of women who contributed to the evolution and success of a captivating facet of American history. Prepare for a teeth-rattling, romance-shattering journey that jolts away preconceived notions about women and stagecoaches and surprises with its twists and turns.
When Stage-Coach Days in the Bluegrass was first published in 1935 by the Standard Press in Louisville, the New York Times reviewer described "this charming work" as "an interesting example of that very useful class of books, local histories, which so rarely get the attention they deserve." Along with his focus on the development of stage-coach travel, Coleman covers details such as pioneer roads, taverns, travelers' experiences, mail carriers, and the coming of the railroad. This fascinating look at an age gone by is truly a work of regional culture.
When Stage-Coach Days in the Bluegrass was first published in 1935 by the Standard Press in Louisville, the New York Times reviewer described ""this charming work"" as ""an interesting example of that very useful class of books, local histories, which so rarely get the attention they deserve."" Along with his focus on the development of stage-coach travel, Coleman covers details such as pioneer roads, taverns, travelers' experiences, mail carriers, and the coming of the railroad. This fascinating look at an age gone by is truly a work of regional culture.
Eighteenth-century Kentucky beckoned to hunters, surveyors, and settlers from the mid-Atlantic coast colonies as a source of game, land, and new trade opportunities. Unfortunately, the Appalachian Mountains formed a daunting barrier that left only two primary roads to this fertile Eden. The steep grades and dense forests of the Cumberland Gap rendered the Wilderness Road impassable to wagons, and the northern route extending from southeastern Pennsylvania became the first main thoroughfare to the rugged West, winding along the Ohio River and linking Maysville to Lexington in the heart of the Bluegrass. Kentucky's Frontier Highway reveals the astounding history of the Maysville Road, a route that served as a theater of local settlement, an engine of economic development, a symbol of the national political process, and an essential part of the Underground Railroad. Authors Karl Raitz and Nancy O'Malley chart its transformation from an ancient footpath used by Native Americans and early settlers to a central highway, examining the effect that its development had on the evolution of transportation technology as well as the usage and abandonment of other thoroughfares, and illustrating how this historic road shaped the wider American landscape.
What is the Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania? It is the story of Abraham Lincoln in the Keystone State&—the chronicle of where he went, what he did, and what he said in the state. The trail begins with Lincoln's Pennsylvania ancestors, moves on to his travels, public appearances, and speeches, and concludes with his funeral train in 1865. The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania tells a story for the reader, but it is also a guide for those who would travel the state figuratively or literally, to recover the memory of America's sixteenth president. The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania transports the reader back in time to key moments in Lincoln's public life. In 1846, at the age of thirty-seven, Lincoln was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Using mileage that Lincoln claimed for his trip, available routes, duration of the journey, and average speeds, Bradley Hoch is the first to establish the probable route Lincoln followed on his way from Illinois to Washington, D.C. Hoch concludes that he traveled by steamboat along the Ohio and Monongahela Rivers and by stagecoach on the National Road into Maryland. After Lincoln was elected president in November 1860, he transformed his inaugural journey from Springfield to Washington into a grand railroad tour of northern cities, hoping to cement the people's loyalty to the Union and to himself. His inaugural train, the first of its kind, made several stops in Pennsylvania. Hoch follows Lincoln throughout his journey, including the dramatic last leg&—the &"secret night train&"&—when Allan Pinkerton and his agents, determined to protect Lincoln from would-be assassins, cut telegraph lines and sidetracked trains in order to spirit him safely from Harrisburg to Washington. Hoch recovers symbolic moments, none more moving than Lincoln's funeral train as it stopped in several Pennsylvania cities, including York, Harrisburg, Lancaster, and Erie. In Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell was placed at the head of Lincoln's coffin when it lay in Independence Hall. As more than one hundred thousand mourners passed by, the bell's inscription memorialized his life: &"Proclaim LIBERTY throughout all the Land unto all the inhabitants thereof.&" Rarely seen photographs, engravings, and maps enrich this illuminating volume. In the final chapter, Hoch offers a guide of sites to visit in present-day Pennsylvania, making The Lincoln Trail in Pennsylvania a welcome book for a wide range of readers interested in American history.
Provides a penetrating analysis of US Supreme Court justice John McKinley Steven P. Brown rescues from obscurity John McKinley, one of the three Alabama justices, along with John Archibald Campbell and Hugo Black, who have served on the US Supreme Court. A native Kentuckian who moved in 1819 to northern Alabama as a land speculator and lawyer, McKinley was elected to the state legislature three times and became first a senator and then a representative in the US Congress before being elevated to the Supreme Court in 1837. He spent his first five years on the court presiding over the newly created Ninth Circuit, which covered Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. His was not only the newest circuit, encompassing a region that, because of its recent settlement, included a huge number of legal claims related to property, but it was also the largest, the furthest from Washington, DC, and by far the most difficult to traverse. While this is a thorough biography of McKinley’s life, it also details early Alabama state politics and provides one of the most exhaustive accounts available of the internal workings of the antebellum Supreme Court and the very real challenges that accompanied the now-abandoned practice of circuit riding. In providing the first in depth assessment of the life and Supreme Court career of Justice John McKinley, Brown has given us a compelling portrait of a man active in the leading financial, legal, and political circles of his day.
This comprehensive study shows that the stage was active in Kentucky long before the first professional troupe toured in 1815. During the period covered, 1790–1820, Lexington, Frankfort, and Louisville became the major theatrical centers in the West. Performances on Kentucky stages far outnumbered those in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Nashville, or New Orleans. Drawing upon accounts in contemporary newspapers, West T. Hill Jr. demonstrates that drama had developed west of the mountains a full quarter century prior to the date given in theatre histories. The Theatre in Early Kentucky, 1790–1820 captures the full flavor and color of the promoters, managers, professional strollers, and actors, many of whom performed dual roles as actors and managers. Working under primitive conditions, the groups often put on a melodrama, a musical comedy or farce, and several acts of singing, dancing, and recitation in the same performance. Appreciative audiences responded enthusiastically to the overworked and predictable plots of mistaken identity, revenge, and domestic difficulty. This delightful, informative book includes and appendix containing the production data available for 1790–1820. It is illustrated with reproductions of charming newspaper theatrical announcements and with portraits of leading stage figures.
