Main and Limestone Streets, circa 1860s
1833-1871: Cholera, Slavery, Civil War, and Christian Churches
A fearful cholera epidemic swept Lexington, in June 1833. In less than a week 1,500 people lay dying and clergy could not meet one third of the demand. Saddened and chastened, the city turned to religion for consolation and a great revival was the result. Meetings were held for nearly a month, and four hundred new members were added to various churches.
Railroad expansion occurred during this period as new lines from Lexington led to Cincinnati, Frankfort, Danville, Maysville, Louisville, and southern Kentucky.
The first city school was established in the old Rankin Church at the corner of Short and Walnut streets, with 107 pupils, and was promptly hit by the devastation of cholera leaving many children unprovided for education. Soon after, respected citizen William Morton left a legacy of $10,000 to advance the interests of education and the school became known as Morton School (No. 1). That was followed by the creation of the Harrison (No. 2) and Dudley Schools (No. 3) serving 1,378 pupils in all.
In 1850, 28 percent of Kentucky's white families held enslaved African Americans, but only 5% had 100 or more slaves. In Lexington (Population 7,920), slaves outnumbered slave owners: 10,000 slaves were owned by only 1,700 slave owners.
Nowhere were families more divided, or sentiments so mixed as in Lexington, during the Civil War. Kentucky was a border state whose identity was more Western than either Northern or Southern; but strategically, it was central to the fortunes of both. Kentucky was a slave-holding state that contributed more soldiers to the Union than the Confederacy, though many eligible men declined to take up arms for either side.
Following the war, Kentucky refused to ratify the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, which granted blacks freedom, citizenship, and the vote. The state that bred President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis was torn politically and socially throughout the long and bloody struggle - and well into the confusing decades that followed.
The city that provided Lincoln a wife, was also home to Transylvania University where Davis was educated. Lexington was held in high regard by both men and, while solidly Democratic, was a place where the Union stars and stripes competed from the rooftops with the Confederate stars and bars.
In 1871, division was seen at the Main Street Christian Church. Under the leadershi9p of J. W. McGarvey, the Broadway Christian Church broke away and became independent. Soon after, the Second Church of Christ was formed by a number of persons desiring “freedom and rest from the intolerance and illiberality of certain leaders of the Main Street Church.”
Railroad expansion occurred during this period as new lines from Lexington led to Cincinnati, Frankfort, Danville, Maysville, Louisville, and southern Kentucky.
The first city school was established in the old Rankin Church at the corner of Short and Walnut streets, with 107 pupils, and was promptly hit by the devastation of cholera leaving many children unprovided for education. Soon after, respected citizen William Morton left a legacy of $10,000 to advance the interests of education and the school became known as Morton School (No. 1). That was followed by the creation of the Harrison (No. 2) and Dudley Schools (No. 3) serving 1,378 pupils in all.
In 1850, 28 percent of Kentucky's white families held enslaved African Americans, but only 5% had 100 or more slaves. In Lexington (Population 7,920), slaves outnumbered slave owners: 10,000 slaves were owned by only 1,700 slave owners.
Nowhere were families more divided, or sentiments so mixed as in Lexington, during the Civil War. Kentucky was a border state whose identity was more Western than either Northern or Southern; but strategically, it was central to the fortunes of both. Kentucky was a slave-holding state that contributed more soldiers to the Union than the Confederacy, though many eligible men declined to take up arms for either side.
Following the war, Kentucky refused to ratify the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, which granted blacks freedom, citizenship, and the vote. The state that bred President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis was torn politically and socially throughout the long and bloody struggle - and well into the confusing decades that followed.
The city that provided Lincoln a wife, was also home to Transylvania University where Davis was educated. Lexington was held in high regard by both men and, while solidly Democratic, was a place where the Union stars and stripes competed from the rooftops with the Confederate stars and bars.
In 1871, division was seen at the Main Street Christian Church. Under the leadershi9p of J. W. McGarvey, the Broadway Christian Church broke away and became independent. Soon after, the Second Church of Christ was formed by a number of persons desiring “freedom and rest from the intolerance and illiberality of certain leaders of the Main Street Church.”