We are looking down the vista,
Of two scores of years departed,
We are searching ancient data,
For the story of the decade—
For the fourth decade recorded,
In the annals of Lancaster.
Peace and quiet leave no footprints
On the true historian's pages,
'Tis in action we remember
The career of our forefathers.
In the chapters now unfolded,
Rare memorials await us;
Of the principal achievements,
And the men who made them famous,
Some have floated down unto us,
Some shall live forever with us.
Borne along the stream of fortune,
Carried downward through the driftwood,
Come the names of learned statesmen,
Come the lives of men of genius,
Who were offsprings of the city,
The young city on the hillside.
Men who served the state and county,
In the schools of jurisprudence,
In the halls of Legislature,
In the House and Senate Chamber,
On the bench and legal rostrum.
There are records of their sayings,
In the books that crowd upon us;
There are fragments of their writings
In this distant generation;
There are volumes of their wisdom,
There are codes of law and practice,
Doctrines pure and bold and upright,
Which have made their names undying.
Standing first upon the columns,
Proudly distancing all rivals,
Is the veteran and jurist,
Is George Robertson, Chief Justice
Of the high court of Kentucky.
Born 'mid pioneer hardships,
Reared in schools of self-denial,
All his native force and vigor,
All his diplomatic talent,
From his youth to failing manhood,
Grew to giant strength and prowess,
Till he ably represented
Every gift the people tendered,
Till the honors of his era
Crowded thick and fast upon him.
Early sent away to Congress,
He became a rising member;
Soon his voice rang forth as Chairman
Of the famous Land Committee.
He was foremost on committees,
For improving territory;
For extending roads and railways,
All throughout the western nation;
For constructing modes of travel,
For uprooting mineral treasures,
For internal State improvement.
Sounded forth his clarion dicta,
In wise forms of litigation:
The Missouri Bill on Slav'ry,
Called the Compromise Restriction,
The Dred Scott and Home Law contest,
In the wrangles and debatings
Of the "Old Court" and the "New Court,"
All discussions of importance,
Themes of grave and weighty import,
All the mighty law decisions,
Found his tongue a bold defender,
Found his pen a busy helper.
All his aims in legal science,
Tended to the vindication,
Tended to maintain the standard
Of the country's Constitution.
He was author, speaker, pleader,
Wrote the noted "Manifesto,"
Wrote a score of learned essays,
Was the founder of the movement
Giving every man a refuge,
Giving poor and homeless laborers,
Peace and comfort at the fireside.
Ere his mighty frame was stricken
By the doom of pain and weakness,
He was offered many stations,
Full of public trust and glory;
He was proffered many titles
Of distinction and of honor.
Some he served with zeal unflagging,
Some he wore with conscious merit.
Others still, he waived with firmness,
Others still, he put behind him.
In eighteen hundred eight and twenty
He declined the nomination
For the Governor of Kentucky;
And the post of Secretary
Of the State, he soon vacated,
To pursue more arduous duties.
Chief among rejected honors,
Were, the governor's dominion
Of Arkansas Territory,
And the trust of foreign missions,
At Peru and at Colombia;
And a place among the jurists
Of the land's Supreme Tribunal,
Of the great judicial body,
At the nation's seat of power.
All along his pilgrim journey,
Are the thickly-showered laurels.
Now his days on earth are numbered,
As the sands are gently dropping—
—Fourscore years and four their telling—
Now his mighty brain is resting,
From the pressure of life's burdens,
May his end be as the twilight
Of a day replete with blessings;
May he fall asleep in Jesus,
With the Father's welcome plaudit,
"Thou hast been a faithful servant,
Enter into joys of heaven."
On the soil of Garrard county,
Lived another famous jurist,
Lived John Boyle, another member
Of the Lancaster triumvir,
Of the Letcher, Boyle, and Owsley—
Triune band of legal heroes.
Born at Castle Woods, Virginia,
Seventeen hundred four and seventy
By and by he journeyed westward,
Settling near to Whitley's Station,
And in seventeen hundred eighty,
Emigrated thence to Garrard,
Where the sun went down upon him,
On his brilliant life of labor,
In eighteen hundred five and thirty.
Educated in the English,
In the Greek and in the Latin,
Taught the strict routine of science,
By the Rev'rend Samuel Finley,
He selected as his mission,
'Mid his striving fellow-creatures,
The career of the lawyer;
And for sixteen years and over,
Stood among the highest jurists,
Was Chief Justice of Kentucky.
He declined a marked preferment,
In the ranks of politicians,
Choosing avenues of labor
Nearer home and happier duties,
Nearer scenes of calm retirement.
His decisions when Chief Justice
Meet the eyes of his successors,
Furnish precept and example,
State Reports, in fifteen volumes,
Give the purity and firmness
Of a day when vice and bribery,
Pettifogging and corruption,
Strategy and self-promotion,
Clouded not the patriot's vision.
Our renowned Judge William Owsley,
Representative and jurist,
Lawyer, legislator, ruler,
Has a record full of glory,
From his youth to his departure
From the stage of human striving.
Boyle and Mills and Owsley, colleagues,
With George Robertson, associate,
In the "Old Court" revolution,
Which endangered brave Kentucky
With dark anarchy and ruin,
Steered the state-craft o'er the breakers,
Stood unshaken 'mid the billows,
Saved the honored Constitution
From fierce partisans and wranglers.
Owsley's firm administration,
From the bench and bar judicial,
In the governor's chair of power,
Comes in heraldry unsullied,
On the banner of the contest,
Of the pen and diction contest,
Mightier than the sword of battle.
He reduced the annual bugbear,
The state debt, so long amassing,
And devoted all his efforts
To the Commonwealth's advantage.
In eighteen hundred two and sixty,
He laid down his useful manhood,
In the dust of lasting greatness,
At his home in Boyle county.
Long his psalm of life be chanted,
Long his earnest work remembered,
Long the sand retain his footprints,
Dust of dust, to earth returning.
R. P. Letcher was a lawyer,
In his native county, Garrard,
In the city of Lancaster,
Till the year of eighteen forty,
When he rose up by election
To the Governor's high office.
Advocate and bold defender
Of the popular Whig party,
He was prominent in Congress,
In Kentucky Legislature,
Ruled the district of Arkansas,
Went to Mexico in office,
Served at home and foreign stations.
Full of genial, pleasant humor,
Anecdote and social temper,
He left many mourning comrades,
When he ended all his labors
At his residence in Frankfort,
Eighteen hundred one and sixty.
William Jordan Graves, another
Of our citizens illustrious,
Is entitled to position,
In my melody of heroes.
He was lawyer by profession,
Went from Louisville to Congress,
And was actor in a drama,
As romantic as 'twas gloomy.
Mr. Cilley from New England,
Challenged Webb to mortal combat,
Webb, the editor, to fight him,
To atone for printed libel.
Webb declined the doubtful honor
Of becoming human target,
And on Mr. Graves, his second,
Fell the duty of the duel.
His antagonist, a marksman
Of accomplished skill and practice,
Yielding up the choice of weapons,
Whether pistol, dirk, or sabre,
Graves, a novice in the science,
Promptly risked his chance for living,
On the tried Kentucky rifle.
H. A. Wise of old Virginia,
Was the other chosen second,
Formed a member of the party,
Met at dawn in mortal combat.
Cilley fell at Graves's first fire,
The old rifle did its duty;
And a fellow-man lay rendering
Up the penalty of rashness.
George D. Prentice of the "Journal,"
Louisville editor and punster,
Called the tragical encounter
Very Grave, un Wise, and Cilley.
All the city on the hillside
Was in sympathy united,
And extended cordial welcome
To her wand'ring son and hero,
When he came among his people,
Eighteen hundred nine and thirty.
At the Mason House a dinner
Was prepared to do him honor,
All his comrades will remember
How they met to do him homage.
In eighteen hundred forty-seven,
When the soldiers of the city
Came from Mexico in safety,
Came among us with rejoicing,
A grand barbecue was given
In the wood of Gabriel Salter,
Mr. Graves, the chosen speaker,
On the glorious occasion.
Samuel McKee, the elder,
Was thro' many years distinguished
For his services as statesman,
Was conspicuous in office,
Was a gifted, brilliant member
Of a family of statesmen,
Of a family of soldiers,
Of superior men of talent.
One of Buena Vista's heroes,
Lying 'neath the sod at Frankfort,
'Neath the battle shaft of marble,
On Kentucky river's margin,
Was a son of this great lawyer,—
Colonel William R. McKee, a
Gallant sacrifice to courage.
A. A. Burton's name now meets us,
On the roll of public servants,
He, a living illustration
Of the might of patient progress.
With a mind of varied talent,
With a keen perceptive power,
With true pride and high ambition,
He endowed his human storehouse,
He provided ample weapons
For the world's unsafe arena,
For "the bivouac" of fortune.
He was lawyer, Police Judge, and
In Dacotah Territory
Was appointed Judge and ruler.
In Lincoln's administration,
Was assigned a foreign mission,
At Colombia Republic;
And was sent as Secretary
Of the recent expedition
To the shores of San Domingo.
Other leading men among us,
Have been tendered foreign duty,
Have declined the proffered honors,
Have been popular home magnates.
These celebrities we number
With the country's highest talent;
They, with lesser lights, illumined
Our ambition's broad horizon;
These and they, our master spirits,
Our auspicious hillside leaders,
Offspring of the young Lancaster,
Hers by birth or by adoption.
Strong the cord of native friendship,
Firm the bond of common birthright,
Binding close the city's children,
Linking all her sons together.
Waning moons have well attested,
Moving cycles, borne the triumphs
Of her statesmen and her rulers,
Of her public men and heroes.
Her municipal directors,
Her trustees and regulators,
Her attorneys and her judges.
Her executive comptrollers,
Her ambassadors, electors,
And her delegates intrusted,
Her mechanics and inventors,—
All her thinkers and her actors,
Join in fellowship untarnished,
Stand united in distinction.