xt7hx34mm35j https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7hx34mm35j/data/mets.xml  192  books b92-272-32007027 English Bardstown Chamber of Commerce ; Breckel Press, : [Bardstown, Ky.] : Louisville : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Bardstown (Ky.) History.Foster, Stephen Collins, 1826-1864. Historic Bardstown and my old Kentucky home text Historic Bardstown and my old Kentucky home 192 2002 true xt7hx34mm35j section xt7hx34mm35j 
Souvenir ditioni
      OF
orei c  3ardstown



         AND
1y OId 1entucky  fome,



s

 This page in the original text is blank.

 

__________                                     Iz - -



   HISTORIC BARDSTOWN
                AND

MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME



1/



Ko



Printed and Published under the auspi-s of the
BARDSTOWN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE



T-  

 


















" The sun shines bright in my old Kentucky
Home,
'Tis summer, the darkies are gay,

The corn-top's ripe, and the meadow's .n
the bloom,
While the birds make music all the day. "

 
































MAIN STREET, BARDSTOWN, KY.

 



                          HISTORIC BARDSTOWN


           -lSTORIC Old Bardstown, a beautiful and thriving city of about three thousand people, is the
           metropolis and county-seat of Nelson County, which was the first county established in Ken-
           tucky after the three original counties of Jefferson, Fayette and Lincoln.
               Bardstown is situated on a gently sloping plateau ov rlooking the scenic valley to the east,
             upon whose waters floated the miniature model of Captain John Fitch, the inventor of the
          H steamboat. Being possessed of all modern conveniences and ideally located on the Jackson
            Highway only thirty-nine miles from Louisville and al.o conveniently served by a line of the
            Louisville & Nashville Railroad, easily make Bardsto .vn one of the most desirable and attractive
residence towns of the State. The municipality owns its own water and electric lighting plants. The
water supply of the city is abundant and the two large reservoirs are fed by never-failing springs. The
water is filtored through the most modern filtering system and is perfectly ipure and clear as crystal. The
modern hotels of this prosperous, up-to-date city are commodious, con; enicnt, well lighted and heated and are
supplied with baths and running water. The progress've spirit of the people and their hearty hand-shake
and royal v-elzome and genuine hospitality destine Bardstomn to become the mecca and rendezvous of
hosts of tourists sojourning to feast upon the natural scenery, historic riches, thrilling legend and stir-
ring reminiscence, which cluster around Bardstown and Nelson County and have made them famous for
more than a century. It was here that Stephen Collins Foster wrote the immortal song, "AMy Old Kentucky
Home," and here in a seat of learning, culture and refinement and in a genius-inspiring, atmosphere that John
Fitch, a hero of the Revolutionary War, and the first to apply the principles of steam power to navigation,
which revo'utionized transportation by water, spent his last years in further perfecting his great inventions;
and here that Louis Phillippe, the exiled King of France, sought refuge from the revolutionary tempests of
the European Continent, and presented St. Joseph's Church with priceless gemns of art.
      Numberless are the historic treasures of Bardstown and these brief pages can chronicle only a few of
them.
      The virgin forests were felled and the town was settled in September, 1775, 1v emigrants from Vir-
ginia and Pennsylvania and was first called "Salem." The name was changed to "Bairdstown" in 1782 in
                                                   4

 
































ST. JOSEPH'S



     Here we find the first cathedral built w
paintings sent by Francis, tather-in-law to Lou
    (1) Main Altar. (Vanbree.)
    (2) St. Peter, with the keys, representing
his spiritual power; the cock crowing recalls
his weakness. The contrast between this power
and weakness is represented by the artist.
(Van Dyke.)



'est of the Alleglhanies and containing the famous
is Phillippe. Tlhese paintiligs ale as follows:
       (3) St. Mark, who wrote one of the gospels.
   (Also painWed by Van Dyke.)
       (4) Represents the Blessed Virgin crowned
   in Heaven. (Murillo.)
       (5) -M a r t y r d o m of St. Bartholomew,
   (Rubens.) The finest picture in the church.

 


honor of David Baird, son of William Baird, and later changed to Bardstown, the present name of the sec-
ond town in Kentucky. On September 30, 1785, two acres of ground were deeded for the erection of a Court-
house, Jail and other public buildings and the deed was signed "Wm. Bard," which was the correct name of
the Bard family.
      The early settlements of Bardstown and Nelson County were attended by privations, hardships and
danger of massacre by the bands of savage Indians, who made frequent raids into Kentucky.
      Cox's Station was the first fort built in Nelson County in the Spring of 1775 by Isaac Cox and other
emigrants from Virginia and Pennsylvania and was located on Cox's Creek about four miles east of the Jack-
son Highway. Polk's Station was the second fort of the county and was established by Benjamin Polk and
others eight miles east of Bardstown and about one mile south of the Bardstown and Bloomfield State road.
The inhabitants of this fort were nearly all massacred by the Indians in 1782. Then followed the erection
of Fort Goodwin below New Haven, settlements on Pottinger's Creek and many other pioneer settlements.
      The old brick residence and home of the famous Ben Hardin, at one time the greatest legal mind of
the State, stands unharmed by age at the south end of Fifth Street.
      "Wickland," the historic home of the Wickliffes and the Beckhams for several generations, is situ-
ated on a beautiful eminence about half a mile east of Bardstown.
      The home of the late Governor William Johnson, which has been in the family for nearly a century,
and many other homes add historic interest. One of the most unique buildings of the city is the old "Bards-
town Tavern," where travelers were entertained and made comfortable in the "Stage Coach" days. This
interesting old building is constructed of brick and is located near the east end of Market Street and has
recently been remodeled and restored to a place of beauty and attractiveness.
      Overlooking the valley on the east side of the city is "Lover's Leap," made famous by the fatal leap
from the top of the perpendicular stone cliff to instantaneous death below by an Indian princess, when aban-
doned by her faithless lover.
      Only a few feet distant from "Lover's Leap" is the entrance to a cave, which enters the cliff on the
east side of Bardstown and extends westward under Bardstown and under the courthouse square and has its
exit beyond the western boundary of the city. The opening is so small in many places that the cave is tra-
versed with great difficulty. There is a legend that in the early years of Bardstown a young man entered
this cave to explore it and took his violin with him to call others to his aid, should trouble overtake him, and
that he never returned. In after years on rainy nights it is said the youths and the more superstitious

 


































PRESBYTERIAN CHUP.JCH
     Erected in 1827

 


would gather irn the court square and with ear to the ground would catch distinctly the sweet strains of won-
derful violin music and listen to the weird chantings of a troubled spirit.
      The phenominal achievements of the town and community and the noble and distinguished men and
women contributed to Kentucky and other States, is attributable almost entirely to the splendid churches,
efficient schools and good roads, which have always been supported so liberally and loyally by a progressive
people.
                                             CHURCHES
      Many of the first settlers of Bardstown were Presbyterians and the first church was probably of that
denomination. Rev. Joshua Wilson was one of the pioneer Presbyterian preachers and remained in Bards-
town preaching and teaching until 1808. Rev. Joseph Lapsley was another pioneer preacher, whose resi-
dence was located on grounds now owned by Nazareth Academy. The present Presbyterian church was
erected in 1827 and is a commodious and attractive brick structure on Second and Broadway.
      The first Catholic church was a log building erected about the middle of St. Joseph's Cemetery prob-
ably in 1798. St. Joseph's Cathedral was the first west of the Alleghaney Mountains and was built in 1816.
This handsome structure is a place of unusual interest and beauty. The famous old paintings, statuary,
magnificent decorations and solid Walnut woodwork make St. Joseph's Cathedral one of the most attractive
and oft visited spots in Bardstown. Right Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget was the first resident Bishop, and
later Bishop Spalding. They were the most eloquent and noted Catholic clergymen of their day.
      In 1812 a Union church was built on Second Street, where the Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist
people held services.
      Bishop H. H. Kavanaugh was one of the early Methodist ministers in this community and in the begin-
ning of his ministry was instrumental in establishing the first Methodist church in Bardstown. The present
Methodist church was built in 18.52 on Second and Arch Streets and has since been remodeled.
      The first Baptist chalrch in Nelson county was built of logs in July, 1781, on Cedar Creek, and its pastor
was Rev. Joseph Barnett. This was the second Baptist church in Kentucky. The present Baptist church is
an elegant stone structure on Third and Chestnut Streets and was erected in 1892. The first Baptist church
built in Bardstown was torn away more than seventy five years ago.
      The present Christian church was built in 1893 and is a brick building on Third Street between
Broadway and Arch Street. The first church of the Disciples or Christian Church was erected many years
before the present church and its pastor was Judge Samuel Carpenter, for many years circuit judge and at
the same time an ordained minister and pastor of this church and served his congregation faithfully.
                                                   8

 

































METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH
           Erected in 1&52

                 9

 


                                               SCHOOLS
      The early educational institutions of Bardstown were noted and famous throughout the country.
Salem Academy was the first school, which attracted wide attention, and after several years operation this
institution was incorporated by act of the Legislature of Virginia in 1788. The distinguished founder of
this academy was Rev. James Priestly, a Presbyterian minister, and pupils attended this splendid educa-
tional institution from many other States.
      Nazareth Academy was founded in 1812 at St. Thomas and in 1822 was removed to its present site,
which embraces about thirteen hundred acres of land. The buildings cover several acres of ground and are
models of architecture, and the grounds are artistic and beautiful. This institution is nation-wide in its
reputation and its graduates for several generations have numbered talented and cultured women in re-
ligious, educational and social walks of life in every State of the Union.
      St. Joseph's College was established in Bardstown in 1819 by Right Rev. Joseph Flaget, and at one
time was the most celebrated educational institution for young men wvest of the Alleghanies. The college
sent out many famous men of the nation and flourished for a long period of years. It was discontinued for
a time, but has reopened its doors and is now doing splendid work under the direction of the Xaverian
Brothers.
      The Presbyterian Academy at Third and Beall Streets was one of the historic educational institutions
of Bardstown. This noted academy was established about 1830 by Dr. Nathan Rice and was most success-
fully operated by Rev. Jouett Vernon Cosby from 1849 for many years and was suspended in 1895. From
its classical walls were graduated many of the test educated and leading women of the country and the good
fruits of this academy are still visible in the community.
      The Methodist Academy at Third and Duke Streets flourished for years under the management of
Rev. John Atkinson. Later the academy grounds and buildings were purchased by the Baptist people and
continued to do excellent work until a few years ago. This academy was coeducational much of the time and
here many men and women were educated, who have aided materially in State and nation building for several
decades. Although rich in historic educational institutions in the past, Bardstown is richer still to-day
in her facilities for teaching and training the minds of her boys and girls.
      The Bardstown Graded and High School, with its strong corps of teachers, is second to no institu-
tion of its kind in the State in the character and thoroughness of mind training and basic education. Here
the boys and girls of the community have an opportunity to remain in their own homes under parental care
                                                   10

 






























BAPTIST CHURCH
Erected in 1892

 


and without any added expense acquire an education, which will make them worthy competitors of the
strongest men and women in both the social and business worlds, and from which they may enter the more
advanced colleges and universities of the country.
      Bethlehem Academy, conducted by the Sisters, is doing excellent work in educating the children of
the community, while Nazareth Academy and St. Joseph's College are as vigorous in an educational way
and in the thoroughness of their mental and moral training as at any period in their history, and St.
Monica's School for the colored children is doing a wonderful work for the uplift of the colored race. Parents
desiring to educate their children under the parental roof can find no place superior to Bardstown for this
purpose and they are given a hearty welcome to come and establish their homes with us.
                                            GOOD ROADS
      Bardstown was early known as the "Athens of the West" on account of her superior educational train-
ing and opportunities, yet for nearly a century this community has thought and planned and labored for a
system of good roads and better highways. Almost a hundred years ago the Hardins, the Rowans, and other
famous statesmen and law makers of this community were largely instrumental in the granting of State
aid to roads and in the building of several trunk line highways by the State of the old Telford or paved type
as early as 1828, and the town being centrally located, three of these old paved State roads centered in
Bardstown, extending Northwest to Louisville, Northeast to Lexington and Maysville,, and South to Nash-
ville, Tennessee. The progressive road sentiment and liberal spirit of the citizens of Nelson county have
wrought marvellous improvement in its road system in recent years. The county has nearly three hundred
miles of hard surfaced roads and the ardor and enthusiasm for better roads is daily in the public mind and
unabated, and Bardstown is on the "Jackson Highway."
      Bardstown and Nelson county are great home centers. Everybody there is made to feel at home.
When visitors come once they always come again; the native residents never desire to move away, and if
they go for greater commercial opportunities, they always long to return. This progressive city has many
beautiful building sites and will soon be linked with Louisville by a continuous asphalt and concrete highway,
and the residents of this community will have all the luxuries and benefits of country life combined with
the easily accessible privilege of the State's metropolis. Beautiful level lands surround Bardstown. Here
the heart's desire is attainable in this modern "Garden of Eden." "The latch string hangs on the outside."
We bid you Welcome! Welcome! Thrice Welcome!
                                                  12

 





































CHRISTIAN CHURCH
   Erected in 1893
         13

 








































                               THE OLD KENTUCKY HOME
     Not far from the eenter of the town is Federal ]Uill, whose original name has long since
been laid aside for that of the Old Kentucky Home, this being the place where Stephen Foster
wrote the song whose plaintive beauty is irresiktible and immortal.

 



                    "MY OLD KENTUCKY HOME"


F  EDERAL    HILL, the home of "My Old Kientucky Home," is just outside Bardstown on the old Lexing-
ton pike. [he mansion was erected in 1795 by Judge John Rowan and was originally a large brick struc-
      ture of ti ee stories but the third story was destroyed by fire many years ago and was never replaced.
      The Rowank home was the familiar stopping place of distinguished men of the State and nation.
The illustrious Henry Clay, President James Monroe, President James Buchanan, Humphrey Marshall, Presi-
dent James K. Polk, General LaFayette and United States Senators, Governors, Congressmen and famous
lawyers and literary men, were entertained most graciously and hospitably by their genial and accomplished
host. The home was made constantly joyous and festive with the wit, humor and mirth of these noted per-
sonages of national reputation, still fate and fortune were yet to smile on a native of Pennsylvania and an
adopted son of Kentucky. A child was born in Pittsburgh, July Fourth, 1826, at noon, the same day that John
Adams and Thomas Jefferson died, whose fame should not only be nation-wide but world-wide. His magic
name, by whose melodies the multitudes are charmed, was Stephen Collins Foster, who wvas a cousin of the
Rowans and frequently visited in their home. The surroundings served as an inspiration. The sunshine,
the trees, the flowers, the song of the birds, the gentle zephyrs, the lowing of the herds on the farm, the
music of the banjo and the merry-making. of the little negro picaninies, all lent enchantment and brought
the richly imaginative mind of Foster into sweet communion waith nature's best and brightest stores.

      It was in this state of ecstacy and delight and deeply inspired that Stephen Collins Foster composed
and set to music the lines of the immortal and ever immortal song, "My Old Kentucky Home." This inspired
                                                 Is

 



writer of song composed the well-known musical production, "Old Black Joe," "Old Folks At Home," "Massa's
in de Cold, Cold Ground," "Old Dog Tray," "Nellie Bly." "Nellie Was a Lady," and many others of wide re-
pute, yet the marvellous production, "My Old Kentucky Home," was the ladder by which Foster ascended
to eternal fame, and was a fitting climax to his unusual and extraordinary career. Wherever the tread of
civilization has marked progress this famous song is sung. The pulsating chords of the human heart are
touched and deeply moved by its magic musical strains and tender sentiment, and the rugged places in the
path of everyday life are made smoother and easier for the way-worn traveler.

      The Rowan homestead includes 236 acres of land, and the great and universal popularity of the song
created an overwhelming sentiment throughout Kentucky and elsewhere for the preservation of the entire
property as both a State and national shrine. A large sum of money was raised by popular subscription and
the General Assembly of Kentucky of 1922 supplemented these funds with an appropriation and the hand-
some old Rowan homestead was purchased and is now a State park, and will be preserved as nearly as can
be in its original condition The song was composed in 1852 and all furniture placed in the mansion since
that date has been removed. The matchless old furniture and curios remaining are so extensive that it is
said, "Old Kentucky Home" contains more antiques than "Mt. Vernon" or "The Hermitage." The furniture
is beautiful cherry, rosewood and mahogany, the portraits are exquisite works of art and the volumes of
the library are quite rare, dating as long ago as 1696. An attempt to describe the home and its contents, as
well as the park, would be unsatisfactory. It is necessary to visit and feast the eyes upon these luxuries of
nature and art in order to appreciate fully their genuine worth and to most thoroughly enjoy the well-spent
hours of inspection.

                                                  16

 







































BARDSTOWN GRADED AND HIGH SCHOOL
               17

 












      FITCH'S STEAMBOAT OF 1790
Carrying passengers for hire between Philadelphia
and Burlington on the Delaware River, during
       the Summer of the same year.



                                                  JOHN FITCH

       .  g HE wvorld-renowned subject of thig sketch, John Fitch, who was the first
                         X aa tT  in the world's history to invent and apply steam successfully to the propul-
                                 sion of vessels through water, was horn in South Windsor, Conn., January
                         21, 1713, and closed a most eventful life in Bardstown, Ky., July 2, 1798, where
                         his remains now repose in the old cemetery with those of other heroes of tOe
                         Revolution.
      This towering genius and mighty intellect was so far in advance of his generation that he was called
a dreamer of dreams. He early exhibited an unusual taste for mathematics and a decided talent for mechani-
cal operations.
      At the outbreak of the War of the Revolution John Fitch enlisted in the American army as lieutenant
of a Trenton company and served with distinction and great bravery under General Washington at Trenton,
Valley Forge and elsewhere. His services as a gunsmith were invaluable to the American army.
                                                   18

 



      In 1780 he came to Kentucky with eleven boat loads of emigrants from Virginia and Pennsylvania
and made extensive surveys, returning to Virginia in 1781 to have his surveys recorded. On a subsequent
voyage from Pittsburgh, March 21, 1782, Fitch and his companions were captured by the Indians and many
of his comrades were put to death, but he was spared on account of trinkets he invented for the savages, who
delivered him to the British, and he was imprisoned at Prison Island near the Canadian border and a month
later was exchanged by the British at New York and released. The years of 1783 and 1784 were consumed
in surveying 250,000 acres of western land for a land company  formed  in  Warminister, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania.
      This quest of fortune was never successful, yet with John Fitch it wvas decreed by fate that fame,
rather than financial fortune, should crown his remarkable careEr, and that world history would some day
vindicate his unquestionable claims and title as the inventor of tile first successful steamboat.
      The careful and unbiased student of history searches in vain for a competitor of John Fitch in the
first field of successful steam navigation. The boat experiments of Garey, in 1543, prove to be man-power
vessels. Marquis de Jouffroy attempted steam navigation of the Saone in 1782 but wvas unsuccessful for
want of power; Jonathan Huls wrote a pamphlet on the subject of steam navigation in 1736 yet nothing fur-
ther resulted from it; on October 14, 1788, Mlr. Miller. of Scotland, made some trials of a steamboat but failed
of success and abandoned his project, and in 1803 William Symington constructed the tug Charlotte Dundas
and steamed up the Forth and Clyde canal with some degree of success, but this boat wvas discontinued be-
cause it washed down the banks of the canal.
      The whole research resolves itself into a decision between the claims of Fitch, Symington and Fulton,
and it can be said to the credit of Robert Fulton that he never claimed to he the inventor of the first
successful steamboat.
       John Fitch first directed his attention to the invention of a steamboat in April, 1785, and he exhibited
a practical model of a steamboat August 20, 1785; hes was granted patent rights for fourteen years by the
States of New Jersey, March 18, 1786; Delaware, February 3, 1787; New York, 'March 19, 1787, Pennsyl-
vania, March 28, 1787; Virginia, November 7, 1787, and by the Congress of the United States, August 26,
1791, and no other steamboat patents were granted until after Fitch's death in 1798.
                                                    19

 



      The inventive genius of John Fitch was marvellously great, and calling to his aid a blacksmith and
brass workman, he invented a successful steam engine and installed it in a boat, which steamed on the
Delaware River from Philadelphia to Burlington, a distance of twenty miles, on July 26, 1788, and was the
longest trip ever made by a steamboat to that time. The boat steamed between these cities on October 12,
1788, and carried thirty passengers at the rate of six and one-half miles an hour, and in April, 1790, a larger
steamboat was launched by Fitch and carried passengers for hire regularly during the summer of 1790
on the Delaware River, developing a speed of eight miles an hour and traveling 3,000 miles.
      In 1793 Fitch went to France at the solicitation of Consul Aaron Vail, and desiring to visit England
while the French Revolution was threatening, he deposited with Mlr. Vail for safety his papers and steam-
boat plans. That same year Robert Fulton called upon Mr. Vail and borrowed from him the steamboat
plans, drawings and specifications left by Fitch and kept them for several months and shortly thereafter
wrote a treatise on steam navigation. Several years later, in 1803, Robert Fulton visited the tug Charlotte
Dundas and made drawings of the machinery and other construction of this boat of William Symington.
There is no historic suggestion that Robert Fulton ever had a thought of steam navigation until he had
studied Fitch's papers several years after Fitch's boat had steamed successfully on the Delaware River and
carried passengers at 61,, miles an hour in 1788, and 8 miles per hour in 1790, and nearly twenty years
before Livingston and Fulton constructed the "Clermont," which steamed up the Hudson River at a speed
of 41/, miles per hour only. Thus it will be seen that John Fitch preceded William Symington by fifteen
years, and William Symington preceded Livingston and Fulton by four years in the construction of a success-
ful steamboat.
      Mr. Robert R. Livingston, of New York, was traveling in France about 1803 and discovered Robert
Fulton in a Paris prison, due to business failure and debt, and he paid off the debt of Fulton and purchased
a twenty horse power Boulton & Watt engine and sent Fulton back to New York with this engine with
instructions to build a steamboat. A year later Mr. Livingston returned to New York and was disappointed
to find that Fulton had made no progress on the steamboat, and he then directed his attention to the construc-
tion of a steamboat with the aid of Fulton under the patent right secured by him for himself and Fulton
from the State of New York after Fitch's death in 1798, but the later patents of Livingston and Fulton were
annulled as in conflict with the Federal jurisdiction over patent rights.
                                                   20

 


      These indisputable facts of history and official records thoroughly establish the claims and title of
John Fitch as the inventor of the first successful steamboat by at least fifteen years. If Fitch had not in-
vented and operated his steamboats in 1788 and 1790 the honors of this world invention would have gone
most likely, to William Symington in 1803, when he constructed the tug Charlotte Dundas, and not to Robert
Fulton in 1807.
      The inventive genius of John Fitch and his wonderful accomnplishments stand out pre-eminent above
all others. Fitch invented his own engine while Symington and Fulton used engines made by others. The
Fitch engine propelled a steamboat at the rate of eight miles an hour while Livingston and Fulton's "Cler-
mont" only traveled four and one-half miles an hour with a Boulton & Watt engine; Robert Fulton copied
the plans and machinery of both Fitch and Symington; Fitch invented and constructed both the engine and
other parts of his boats from the recesses of his genuinely inventive mind, while Robert R. Livingston
and Robert Fulton borrowed their engine and motive power from Boulton & Watt, and their plans of con-
struction were copied principally from Fitch and Symington and thus equipped with the inventions of
others they constructed a reasonably successful steamboat fourteen years after Robert Fulton had borrowed
from Mr. Vail and studied the proven plans of Fitch, and about twenty years after John Fitch had suc-
cessfully operated his steamboat on the Delaware.
      While in the city of New York in 1796 Fitch constructed a successful steamboat, which was driven by
a screw propeller and was the first boat of this kind ever constructed. Upon his return to Bardstown,
Kentucky, in 1796 and 1797, Fitch continued his studies of steamLoat construction and here designed a
model boat, which he tried out successfully on the Beech Fork River near Bardstown. The machinery of
this boat was made of brass and the paddle wheels, v ry similar to modern construction, were made ot Woo
Many other miniature models were floated on the creek east of Bardstown and on a small pond southeast of
the courthouse square.

      The grave of this inventive genius and hero of the American Revolution, has been appropriately
marked and a handsome monument will soon do justice to his memory; history v ill repent of her
severe injustice to John Fitch and will rightfully record him as the inventor of the first successful steam-
boat, and the grave of this world benefactor will soon become one of the shrines of the Nation.
                                                   21

 















NAZARETH



THE Society of the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth was founded in 1812 by the Right Reverend John Baptist David at
        St. Thomas, Kentucky. The first Mother Superior was Sister Catherine Spalding, of a family conspicuous in the
T      American Church.

     After some time devoted to the formation of the Sisters in the religious life and In the art of teaching the Nazareth
school was opened. Several members had meanwhile been added to their number, some of whom were efficient teachers.

      After the erection of the Cathedral in Bardstown, St. Joseph's College was established, and a nearby site chosen for
the Nazareth Sisterhood, and to it in June, 1822, the Mother House and school or Nazareth were transferred. This section of
Kentucky then became the center of Catholic education for all the WVest and South. When in 1829, the State Legislature
granted a charter to the Nazareth Literary and Benevolent institution, it was already the Alma Mater of the daughters of
representative families-Catholic and non-Catholic-far and wide. The patronage throughout the next three decades demanded
the erection of the immense buildings which surprise visitors of to-day who marvel at their beauty, stability, and adaptability
to modern needs.

      Nazareth fulfills all the present educational requirements anti is considered an ideal institution, a model for the latest
and best in methods. Its Junior College with a Normal Dlepartmetnt conferring State Certificates both elementary and advanced,
offers facilities for higher education, while the healthful location and beautiful surroundings make it an deal place for the
education of girls and young women.
                                                            22

 






































      Court House. Bardstown, Ky., elected in 1S92, replacing an old stone Court House
nearly ItO() years old. The first Court House of Nelson County was built of hewn logs
on the present Court Square in 1795 on a pall of two acres of ground given the county
by William Bard as a site for the "Court House and other public buildings."
                                          23

 





































                                       GETHSEMANE
     By making a detour o