Bourbon County, 1786 - Kentucky Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The marker in front of the courthouse reads:

Named for the royal French family who aided the colonies in the War of Independence. Bourbon was one of nine Virginia counties formed before Kentucky became a state in 1792. From its original area all of twenty-four counties and parts of ten other new ones were made. At this site the first courthouse in 1787 marked the county seat. Known as Hopewell, renamed Paris.


The following is taken from pages 39 and 40 of William Perrin's
"History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky":

The early pioneers of Bourbon and the surrounding Counties were a hardy, fearless and self-reliant people; they were a quiet people, simple in their habits and accomplishments, and devoid of all reckless extravogance. Fresh from the scenes of the Revolutionary struggle--a free people--their manhood elevated, they shrank from no difficulty, but, with a stern, unflinching purpose, they went forth to subdue the wilderness and subject it to the use of man. They lived in comparative social equality, the almighty dollar did not form a Chinese wall between the rich and poor; a man was esteemed, not for his money bags, but for his actual merit. Aristocratic distinctions were left beyond the mountains, and the first society lines drawn were to separate the very bad from the general mass. No punctilious formalities marred their social gatherings, but all were happy and enjoyed themselves in seeing others happy. The rich and poor dressed alike, the men generally wearing hunting shirts and buck-skin pants, and the women attired themselves in coarse fabrics, the produce of their own fair hands. Silks, satins and fancy goods that now inflate our vanity and deplete our purses, were then unknown. The cabins were furnished in the same style of simplicity. The bedsteads were home-made, and often consisted of forked sticks driven into the ground, with cross poles to support the clap-boards or the cord. One pot, kettle and frying-pan were the only articles considered indispensable, though some included the tea-kettle. A few plates and dishes, upon a shelf in one corner, was as satisfactory is is now a cupboard full of china, and their food was as highly relished from a puncheon-slab as it is it the present day from an oiled walnut table. Some of the wealthiest families had a few splint-bottomed chairs, but, as a general thing, stools and benches answered the places of lounges and sofas, and, at first, the green-sward or smoothly-leveled earth, served the double purpose of floor and carpet. Whisky toddy was considered good enough for the finest party, the woods furnished an abundance of venison and corn-pone supplied the place of every variety of pastry.

The credit of subduing the wilderness and transforming it into an Eden of loveliness was not the work of man alone. The women did as much, in their way, as the men the themselves. They were the help-meets, as well as the companions, of the men, and bore their part, uncomplainingly, in all the hardships of border life. They assisted in planting, cultivating and harvesting the crops, as well as attending to their household duties. They were happy and contented, and, we dare to say, yearned far less for the frivolities of fashionable life than do their fair descendants. A hundred years, however, have brought with them marvelous changes, not only in the face of the country, but in the usages of society and grand improvements have been made in our manners and customs. We have grown older, in many respects, if not wiser, and could not think of living on what our ancestors lived on. The corn-dodgers and wild meat they were glad to get would appear to us but a frugal repast, and would cause our Grecian noses to go up in lofty disdain. But this is all age of progress and improvement, and these observations are made by way of contrasting the past and present. The pioneers who bore the brunt of savage warfare, and made this country an earthly paradise, have long since passed to their final account, but their trials and hardships are remembered, and their names deserve to be "written in characters of living light upon the firmament, there to endure as radiant as if every letter was traced in shining stars."

The rich lands of Central Kentucky were settled rapidly after the close of the Revolutionary war. The influx of emigrants brought hither by the extravagant reports of the first visitors to this "land of corn and wine," and military land warrants of Revolutionary soldiers soon served to people the Licking and Elkhorn country. So rapidly did the country settle up that the fast-increasing population required increased civil rights and more perfect territorial organization.

Kentucky was, originally, a part of Fincastle County, Va. It was afterward made an individual county of the Old Dominion, and so remained for several years. But its territory was large, and its citizens remote from the seat of government, and, as soon as the number of inhabitants required it, changes were made, by a division of the unwieldly county. In the month of November. 1780, by an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, the county of Kentucky was divided into three districts, which were designated, respectively, Fayette, Lincoln and Jefferson Counties. The next county formed was Nelson, in 1784, from a part of Jefferson. In the following year (1785), Bourbon was formed from the territory of Fayette, thus being the fifth county erected in what now comprises the State of Kentucky, and was created seven years before Kentucky became a member of the Federal Union. Bourbon, at the time of its formation as a county, extended north to the Ohio River, and covered a large area since divided into a number of counties. The first division of her territory occurred in 1788, when Mason was set off; in 1793, the formation of Harrison took off a large slice, and, in 1799, Bourbon and Mason contributed jointly to the formation of Nicholas. Thus liberally has Bourbon given of her territory for the creation of new counties, until the frequent drafts made have brought her down to her present area. As now bounded, Harrison lies on the north, Nicholas and Montgomery on the east, Clark on the south, and Fayette and Scott on the west. The county was named in honor of the House of Bourbon, whence had descended the monarch of France, reigning at the time of our Revolution and at the time the county was organized, and Paris, the seat of justice, received its name, doubtless, from France's gay capital.

from page 46 and 47 of William Perrin's "History of Bourbon, Scott, Harrison and Nicholas Counties, Kentucky":

In the early history of Bouibon County, as at the present time, there was more or less of party strife. Bourbon County was formed just after the close of the Revolutionary war, when the people had for some time been divided into Whigs and Tories. Afterward came the "Old Court," "New Court," "Federal" and "Republican" or "Democratic" parties. These parties had their day, and then had their time to--die. The war of 1812, and the accompanying events, wiped out the old Federal party that had so bitterly opposed Mr. Jefferson. The war measures of Mr. Madison, and the then Republican party in Congress were strongly supported by the citizens generally. But as time passed on, and politicians became better educated to the business of wire-pulling, partyism grew, "and waxed strong." The Presidential election of 1824 was attended with unusual excitement. It was more exciting, perhaps, than any election that had ever taken place in the country. At this election the Presidential candidates were Henry Clay, Gen. Jackson, of Tennessee, John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, and William H. Crawford, of Georgia. These candidates had each his friends, who supported their favorite from personal motives, as well as from party consideration and party discipline. Mr. Clay carried his State but was overwhelmingly defeated for the Presidency. Neither of the candidates had a majority of the votes in the Electoral College, according to the constitutional rule, but stood, Jackson in the lead, Adams second, Crawford third and Clay fourth, the latter being dropped from the canvass when it came to the count. Upon the House of Representatives devolved the duty of making choice of President. Each State, by its Representatives in Congress, cast one vote. Mr. Clay was Speaker of the House of Representatives, and, it is supposed, that, through his influence, the Kentucky delegation cast the vote of its State for Mr. Adams, instead of for Gen. Jackson. By this little stroke of policy, Mr. Clay was instrumental in organizing political parties that survived the generation in which he lived, and ruled, in turn, the destinies of the republic for more than a quarter of a century. At the next Presidential election, party lines were closely drawn, between Mr. Adams and Gen. Jackson, and the result of a hot and bitter contest was the election of the hero of New Orleans, by both the electoral and popular vote. For several years after the political power and official patronage had passed into the hands of Old Hickory, parties were known throughout the country as Jackson and anti-Jackson parties. These, with some modification and changes, finally became the Whig and Democratic parties, the latter of which has retained its party organization down to the present day, and is still one of the great political parties of the period. In 1856, upon the organization of the Republican party, in which organization, the Whig party lost its identity, the county has been Democratic. Notwithstanding the great number of negroes added to the voting population, by virtue of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the national Constitution, the county still rolls up Democratic majorities.-Perrin.

Marker Name: Bourbon County, 1786 Marker Location: City Type of Marker: Other Marker Number (for official markers): 1246 Group(s) Responsible for placing Marker: Kentucky Historical Society Kentucky Department of Highways

Visit Instructions:
A picture of the site or anything specific to the text on marker.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   08/11/2022 Crazy4horses visited it