Lexington, KY hero - William "King" Solomon

Here is an interesting account of a local hero from the early history of Lexington, Kentucky. In the summer of 1833 over 500 residents had perished in one of the worst cholera outbreaks in the city's history. But the death toll would have been much worse had it not been for William “King” Solomon.

Known for his drunkenness, Solomon, a former well-digger, seemed an unlikely candidate for anything great. A transplant from Virgina, Solomon spent his time doing odd jobs and drinking up his earnings. The city cited him with vagrancy for being drunk in public and he was auctioned as an indentured servant for one year. After the year was up he was to return to court for further judgment.

In an unlikely scenario, a former Virgina slave known as Aunt Charlotte, bought Solomon (who was white) for either 18 dollars or 18 cents, I have read two varying accounts of this – here and here. Aunt Charlotte knew Solomon while they were in Virgina together. After his purchase, Charlotte set Solomon free. Not long after this, the plague hit Lexington, and over half of the city's residents fled elsewhere. But not Solomon.

The former well-digger was no stranger to to the shovel and stayed behind working day and night to bury the dead in the local pioneer cemetery.  Ridding the city of pestilence probably helped end the spread of cholera. From what I gather, the epidemic lasted 2 or 3 months and by the fall it was over.

When Solomon returned to court he was spotted by a local judge who came over and shook his hand and thanked him for his sacrifice. Everyone in the courthouse came over and gave their thanks to the new hero of Lexington. In a sad example of irony, Solomon died from cholera in 1854 and was buried in Lexington Cemetery.

He had been a well-digger, so during the cholera he voluntarily gave his services for digging the graves for the unfriended dead, with no expectation of reward. It was but fitting that 21 years after, for he died November, 1854, when he fell prey to the same disease, his body was buried in the beautiful City of the Dead near where lay the remains of his friend "Harry" and not in the Potters' Field.

-Written by Gen. S.W. Price

In 1908 he was given a large tombstone at his grave. There is no mention of what became of Aunt Charlotte.

Here is a link detailing Solomon owning property near South Upper and Pine Streets well as information about his stint in the poor house and funeral.

Here is a wiki entry further discussing this interesting character of Lexington.
 
MJL

Burnside, Kentucky

Many people may not know that General Burnside State Park, just south of Somerset, KY off U.S. 27, used to be a bustling small town, with a post office, retail stores, restaurants, churches, banks, hotels and a vibrant shipping business via the rivers nearby. Some think Burnside was also the location of the first established instance of the Boy Scouts of America and a plaque outside of town pays tribute to this.

Settled at the intersection of the Cumberland and South Fork Rivers, it was originally named Point Isabele for a woman who allegedly jumped off a nearby cliff due to a relationship gone sour. In 1890 the town was renamed Burnside after the Civil War General, Ambrose Burnside (sideburns where named after him).

In the early 1950s the Nashville, Tennessee District of the Corps of Engineers, in an effort to create the largest lake in Kentucky, impounded the Cumberland River and built Wolf Creek Dam. The result was the popular recreation spot Lake Cumberland.  As an unfortunate side effect, the low areas of Burnside were flooded and the town was relocated to higher ground.

The rest of this story is a bit of oral history as told by my mom and grandmother who lived in Somerset in the 1940s. They told me about going to the town of Burnside for day trips to do shopping and eat out at one of the many nice restaurants. Or about how after the town had been flooded an adventure diver (can find no record of this) had gone down in the water and came back up stating he would never go down again. He told of entire buildings and houses in tack, power lines, utility poles, trees, cars and children's playground equipment left as it was before the dam waters filled the town. He said he saw man sized cat fish over 6 feet long. It all sounds a bit fanciful but makes for a great story and I do not doubt it was true, yet I have not been able to find any account of this diver and his tale. If anyone has record of this please let me know.

Here is an image of an old train bridge leading into the cliff side. When the water is low you can still see the top of the tunnel.

MJL

Welcome to Interesting Kentucky

This is a project to research and catalog any interesting stories, facts or lore, whether old or current, about the state of Kentucky. I plan to approach each story objectively and only want present the story as it is told or the facts as they are. Please feel free to send me anything that could contribute to this project.

Thanks,

MJL