Kentucky by Heart: From Lincoln to Ali to Henry Clay, everyone has their favorite colorful Kentuckian

By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist

Who is your favorite Kentuckian from the annals of history books?

Consider a person you find particularly fascinating who was Kentucky-born or, if not, made their mark while living in the state. Your choice may be one of sterling reputation, as mine is…or one of questionable repute—or some other in-between person.

If one uses the term “colorful” in describing their choice, that may, indeed, be code for one who ended up in jail or was on their way there. A “favorite” doesn’t mean you agree with their behavior.

As a child, I pretended I was Daniel Boone in the woods and around the creeks in Grant’s Lick and Claryville, but Honest Abe is probably my all-time best from the Commonwealth. I liked his intelligence, his amazing ability to be patient and cultivate crucial relationships, and his knack of acting courageously at the right moment in the midst of momentous times.

Recently, I thought it would be fun to ask friends and acquaintances about their choices on the matter. I received a wide assortment of responses, with some a bit surprising. That was a good thing, and I learned a few tidbits more about our heritage.

Judge Roy Bean (yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com)

Here’s a sampling of the names that came in: Mary Todd Lincoln, Wendell Berry, Jim Bowie, John Hunt Morgan, John Filson, Franklin Sousley, Kit Carson, Henry Clay, Jenny Wiley, Judge Roy Bean, and Carrie Nation. One person even mentioned Belle Brezing, who operated a thriving brothel business in Lexington in the late 1800s into the early 1900s.

Gerald Fischer, Brandenburg, chose two he called “unusual,” Judge Roy Bean and Carrie Nation.

“Roy Bean was born in Mason County in 1825. He left home on a flatboat when he was 16 and made his way to Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and California,” he said.

Bean was a Confederate soldier, fought duels, and killed a Mexican man who threatened a U.S. citizen.

“He was appointed as a justice of the peace for the new Precinct 6 in Texas called Vinageroon,” he continued. “He labeled his court ‘Law West of the Pecos.’ He was a combination judge, saloon keeper, con-man, and all-around colorful character.”

Fischer also noted that though Bean was known as a “hanging judge,” he only sentenced two to hang, and one escaped.

Of Carrie (later changed to “Carry) Nation, born in Garrard County, Fischer explained that she was a “woman activist in the temperance movement and chopped up bar fixtures and bottles with her axe. She led marches down the streets of many cities, and likely started the real movement to ratify the 21st amendment.”

Jon Greene, Lexington, didn’t have to think long for his favorite individual in the state’s history. That would be Muhammad Ali.

“A man with the courage of his convictions,” he said. “He was kind, intelligent and humorous. He was not only the greatest boxer ever in the greatest era of boxing ever, he was a polarizing political figure. He is a civil rights icon and a true national treasure. He sacrificed his prime years as an athlete out of a moral obligation to himself, his religion and his race. He’s the reason the masses know of Parkinson’s disease and its devastating effects. Plus, that jaw. Not only could he talk but man he could take a devastating punch and keep on going.”

Christy Witt, Mt. Sterling, profusely praised Franklin Sousley. He was the Kentucky connection in the iconic World War II flag-raising photograph taken by Joe Rosenthal on the island of Iwo Jima where fierce fighting raged between America and Japan.

Sousley served bravely as a U.S. Marine and grew up in the tiny town of Hilltop, in northeastern Kentucky. He died from wounds on Iwo Jima near the end of the conflict there.

“What strength and courage this young man had that represent the many, many, many more who sacrifice their lives in war,” she said.

Another person recalled that he, like me, loved Daniel Boone while a child.

“When I was a kid, I stayed in the woods pretending I was him,” said Mike Snyder, Kirksville. “I got to meet Fess Parker in Frankfort one time on a field trip in fourth grade. He played Daniel Boone on television, and gosh, he was a big man but so kind to all of us kids.”