Luke P. Blackburn

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Luke Pryor Blackburn (June 16, 1816Template:Spaced ndashSeptember 14, 1887) was an American physician, philanthropist, and politician from Kentucky. He was elected the 28th governor of Kentucky, serving from 1879 to 1883.

After earning a medical degree at Transylvania University, Blackburn moved to Natchez, Mississippi, and gained national fame for implementing the first successful quarantine against yellow fever in the Mississippi River valley in 1848. He came to be regarded as an expert on yellow fever and often worked pro bono to combat outbreaks. Among his philanthropic ventures was the construction of a hospital for Mississippi River boatmen using his personal funds. He later successfully lobbied Congress to construct a series of similar hospitals along the Mississippi.

In the early days of the American Civil War, he acted as a civilian agent for the governments of Kentucky and Mississippi. By 1863, he was aiding Confederate blockade runners in Canada. In 1864, he traveled to Bermuda to help combat a yellow fever outbreak that threatened Confederate blockade running operations there. Shortly after the war's end, a Confederate double agent accused him of having carried out a plot to start a yellow fever epidemic in the Northern United States that would have hampered the Union war effort. The evidence against Blackburn was considerable, although much of it was either circumstantial or provided by witnesses of questionable reputation. Although he was acquitted by a Toronto court, public sentiment was decidedly against him throughout much of the United States. Historians still disagree as to the strength of the evidence supporting Blackburn's role in the alleged plot.

Blackburn remained in Canada to avoid prosecution by U.S. authorities, but he returned to his home country in 1868 to help combat a yellow fever outbreak along the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana. He rehabilitated his public image by rendering aid in yellow fever outbreaks in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1873, Fernandina, Florida, in 1877, and Hickman, Kentucky, in 1878. Dubbed the "Hero of Hickman", Blackburn's ministrations propelled him to the Democratic gubernatorial nomination the following year. In the general election, he defeated Republican Walter Evans by a wide margin. As governor, Blackburn won passage of several reforms in the areas of state finance and internal improvements, but his signature accomplishments were in the area of penal reform. Troubled by the conditions at the penitentiary in Frankfort, Blackburn attempted to ease overcrowding through liberal use of his gubernatorial pardon, earning him the derisive nickname "Lenient Luke". He also secured approval of the construction of a new penitentiary at Eddyville, the adoption of a warden system to replace the corrupt private oversight of the old penitentiary, and the implementation of the state's first parole system. Although his record of reform led historians to laud him as "the father of prison reform in Kentucky", his liberal pardon record and expenditure of scarce taxpayer money to improve the living conditions of prisoners was unpopular at the time, and he was booed and shouted down at his own party's nominating convention in 1883. After his term as governor, he returned to his medical practice and died in 1887. The Blackburn Correctional Complex, a minimum-security penal facility near Lexington, Kentucky, was named in his honor in 1972.

Early life and family

Luke Blackburn was born June 16, 1816, in Woodford County, Kentucky.<ref name=nga>"Kentucky Governor Luke Pryor Blackburn". National Governors Association</ref><ref>Powell suggests that Blackburn was born in neighboring Fayette County, but all other sources list Woodford County.</ref> He was the fourth of thirteen children born to Edward M. ("Ned") and Lavinia (Bell) Blackburn.<ref name=baird2>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 2</ref> Blackburn's great-uncle, Gideon Blackburn, was a well-known Presbyterian missionary and served as president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky.<ref name=baird2 /> Many of Blackburn's relatives were involved in politics.<ref name=baird2 /> His maternal grandfather was a delegate to the 1799 Kentucky Constitutional Convention and his uncle, William Blackburn, was President Pro Tempore of the Kentucky Senate and acting lieutenant governor in the administration of Governor James Turner Morehead.<ref name=baird2 /> Noted statesman Henry Clay was also a distant cousin, and occasionally visited the Blackburn home.<ref name=baird2 />

Blackburn obtained his early education in the local public schools.<ref name=nga /> At age sixteen, he began a medical apprenticeship under his uncle, physician Churchill Blackburn.<ref name=baird2 /> During his apprenticeship, he aided his uncle in treating victims of cholera outbreaks in Lexington and Paris.<ref>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, pp. 3–5</ref> He later matriculated to Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where he earned a medical degree in March 1835.<ref name=kygovs111>Baird in Kentucky's Governors, p. 111</ref> After graduation, he opened a medical practice in Lexington and was instrumental in combating a cholera epidemic in nearby Versailles.<ref name=perrin>Perrin, Battle, and Kniffin</ref> He accepted no payment for his services during the epidemic.<ref name=powell64 />

On November 24, 1835, Blackburn married his distant cousin, Ella Gist Boswell.<ref name=baird7>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 7</ref><ref>Perrin gives Blackburn's wife's name as Ella Guest Boswell.</ref> Boswell's father, Dr. Joseph Boswell, had died in the Lexington cholera epidemic a year earlier.<ref name=powell64>Powell, p. 64</ref> The couple's only child, son Cary Bell Blackburn, was born in 1837.<ref name=baird7 /> Just before Cary's birth, Blackburn invested heavily in the hemp rope and bagging industry and suffered a significant financial loss when the business venture subsequently failed.<ref name=baird7 /> In 1843, Blackburn was elected as a Whig to the Kentucky House of Representatives and served a single, undistinguished term.<ref name=kye84>Harrison, p. 84</ref> He did not seek re-election, and in 1844, he and his younger brother opened a medical practice in Frankfort, Kentucky.<ref name=baird7 />

Drawn by the city's prosperous economy, the Blackburns relocated to Natchez, Mississippi, in 1847.<ref name=baird7 /> Luke Blackburn quickly became an active member of the community, helping found a temperance society, joining a militia group, and becoming the administrator of a local hospital.<ref name=baird8>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 8</ref> He became a close associate of Jefferson Davis and William Johnson.<ref name=baird8 /> In 1848, Blackburn served as the city's health officer and implemented the first successful quarantine against a yellow fever outbreak in the Mississippi River valley.<ref name=kye84 /> Using his own personal funds, he established a hospital for boatmen who navigated the Mississippi River.<ref name=perrin /> He also successfully lobbied the Congress to establish a hospital in Natchez; upon its completion in 1852, he was appointed surgeon there.<ref name=perrin /> In 1854, he implemented another successful quarantine against yellow fever.<ref name=kye84 /> The Mississippi Legislature commissioned Blackburn to lobby the Louisiana State Legislature to establish a quarantine at New Orleans to protect cities along the Mississippi River; Louisiana authorized him to organize such a system.<ref name=perrin />

Blackburn and his son Cary traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in September 1854 to secure an apprenticeship for Cary under noted physician Samuel D. Gross.<ref name=baird17>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 17</ref> While they were there, a yellow fever outbreak hit Fort Washington near Long Island, New York.<ref name=perrin /> The mayor of New York City asked Blackburn to help treat victims of the outbreak; Blackburn accepted the invitation and refused compensation for his services.<ref name=perrin /> When he returned home in November 1856, he found his wife Ella, who suffered from dropsy and a nervous condition, ailing with a fever.<ref name=baird18>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 18</ref> Despite Blackburn's efforts to save her, Ella Blackburn's condition worsened and she died before the end of the month.<ref name=baird18 /> Blackburn was stricken with grief, and friends encouraged him to tour Europe, as he had often spoken of doing, to ease his sorrow.<ref name=baird18 /> He did so in early 1857, visiting hospitals in England, Scotland, France, and Germany.<ref name=perrin /> While in Paris, Blackburn met fellow Kentuckian Julia M. Churchill, who was traveling with her sister and niece.<ref name=baird18 /> Blackburn and Churchill cut their journeys short, returned home, and were married in November 1857.<ref name=baird18 /> After their honeymoon, the couple took up residence in New Orleans in January 1858, and Blackburn resumed his medical practice.<ref name=baird18 /> A brief poem written by Blackburn indicates that the couple had a daughter named Abby, but the child apparently died as an infant, and her birth and death dates are unknown.<ref name=baird19>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 19</ref>

Civil War

Blackburn's sympathies lay with the Confederacy at the outbreak of the Civil War.<ref name=baird20>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 20</ref> Too old to enlist in the Confederate Army, he acted as an envoy for Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin to obtain weapons from Louisiana for the defense of Kentucky, but he failed to secure the arms.<ref name=baird20 /> In early 1862, he was assigned to the staff of Major General Sterling Price as a surgeon.<ref name=perrin /> Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus appointed him as one of two commissioners to oversee the care of the state's wounded soldiers in February 1863.<ref name=baird21>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 21</ref> After securing sufficient medical supplies for the wounded, Blackburn traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to meet with Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon and offered to serve as General Inspector of Hospitals and Camps without taking compensation or a rank.<ref name=baird21 /> When the offer was refused, Governor Pettus asked Blackburn to travel to Canada to collect provisions for blockade runners there.<ref name=kygovs111 /> Blackburn and his wife left Mississippi for Halifax, Nova Scotia, in August 1863, then continued on to Toronto (in what was then the Province of Canada) where they lodged in a boardinghouse.<ref name=baird21 /> On one occasion, Blackburn was aboard a blockade running ship carrying ice from Halifax to Mobile, Alabama, when the ship was captured by the Union Navy.<ref name=steers47>Steers, p. 47</ref> Union officials assumed Blackburn was a civilian passenger on the vessel and released him, after which he returned to Canada.<ref name=steers47 />

A devastating outbreak of yellow fever struck the island of Bermuda in April 1864.<ref name=steers48>Steers, p. 48</ref> The island was a major base of operations for Confederate blockade runners, and the epidemic threatened their continued operations there.<ref name=steers48 /> At the request of Charles Monck, the Governor General of the United Provinces of Canada, Blackburn traveled to Bermuda to aid soldiers and civilians there.<ref name=perrin /> Blackburn continued his ministrations until mid-July when he briefly returned to Halifax.<ref name=bell104>Bell, p. 104</ref><ref name=steers49>Steers, p. 49</ref> The epidemic on the island continued, and Blackburn returned there in September to continue aiding the victims.<ref name=baird25>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 25</ref> He remained there until the outbreak abated in mid-October.<ref name=baird25 /> For his efforts in Bermuda, Blackburn received 100 British pounds and a commendation from Queen Victoria.<ref name=singer>Singer, "The Fiend in Gray"</ref> Although little is known of his actions in Canada for the remainder of the war, he was rumored to have been part of a plot to incite massive insurrections in New England as a diversion, allowing fellow Confederate agent Thomas Hines to lead a prison break at Camp Douglas in Chicago.<ref name=baird26>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 26</ref> When word of the plot was leaked to Union officials, they sent troops to reinforce Boston, Massachusetts, Blackburn's rumored target, quashing his role in the operation.<ref name=baird26 />

Yellow fever plot

On April 12, 1865, just days after the last major battle of the Civil War, a Confederate double agent named Godfrey Joseph Hyams approached the U.S. consul in Toronto claiming to have information about a plot by Blackburn to infect Northern cities with yellow fever.<ref name=singer /> Hyams said he and Blackburn had been introduced by Confederate agent Stuart Robinson at the Queen's Hotel in Toronto in December 1863.<ref name=baird29>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 29</ref> According to Hyams, he had agreed to help Blackburn smuggle trunks of clothes used by patients infected with yellow fever into Boston, Massachusetts; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington D.C.; New Bern, North Carolina; and Norfolk, Virginia (the latter two cities being occupied by Union troops).<ref name=bell104 /><ref name="steers49" /><ref name=singer /> Hyams said he was instructed to sell the trunks' contents to used clothing merchants,<ref name=singer /> and that Blackburn, subscribing to the common nineteenth century belief that yellow fever could be spread by contact, hoped that by dispersing the "contaminated" articles throughout these major cities he could trigger an epidemic that would cripple the Northern war effort.<ref name=singer /> Hyams further alleged that Blackburn had filled a valise with fine shirts and instructed him to deliver it to President Abraham Lincoln at the White House, saying they were from an anonymous admirer.<ref name=bell104 /> Upon completion of these tasks, Hyams said, Blackburn had promised to pay him $60,000.<ref name=baird29 /> Hyams claimed he delivered the trunks as agreed, but did not attempt to deliver the valise to President Lincoln.<ref name="steers49" /> According to his testimony, he never received more than nominal compensation for his efforts, partially prompting his decision to reveal the plot to the authorities.<ref name="steers49" />

Independent of Hyams' testimony, officials in Bermuda had received information that Blackburn had collected a second cache of "contaminated" garments and linens.<ref name="steers49" /> According to this information, Blackburn contracted with Edward Swan, a hotel owner in St. George's, to store them until mid-1865 and then ship them to New York City, in an attempt to start an outbreak there.<ref>Steers, pp. 49–50</ref> Acting on this intelligence, Bermudan officials raided Swan's hotel and found three trunks of garments and linens with stains consistent with the "black vomit" symptomatic of yellow fever.<ref name=haines>Haines, "Did a Confederate doctor engage in a primitive form of biological warfare?"</ref> Swan was arrested and charged with violating the local health code.<ref name=steers50>Steers, p. 50</ref> The contents of the trunks were soaked with sulfuric acid and buried.<ref name=haines />

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln just two days after Hyams related his story to Canadian officials heightened U.S. interest in arresting Blackburn to connect the assassination to Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his operatives in Canada.<ref name=steers50 /> The U.S. Bureau of Military Justice ordered Blackburn's arrest for attempted murder, but an arrest could not be effected because Blackburn was in Canada, beyond the Bureau's jurisdiction.<ref name=kygovs111 /> The subsequent discovery of the cache of garments and linens in Bermuda convinced Canadian authorities to act.<ref name=steers50 /> They arrested Blackburn on May 19, 1865, charging him with violation of Canada's neutrality in the Civil War.<ref name=steers50 /> He was held for trial on $8,000 bond.<ref name=baird31>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 31</ref> In October 1865, a Toronto court acquitted Blackburn on grounds that the trunks of garments had been shipped to Nova Scotia, which was out of the court's jurisdiction.<ref name=baird31 /><ref name=steers51>Steers, p. 51</ref> A charge of conspiracy to commit murder was dropped after Blackburn's attorney reminded the court that such a charge could only be made if the accused had made an attempt on the life of a head of state.<ref name=baird31 /> Blackburn did not testify in the trial and only spoke of the plot years later when he denounced it as "too preposterous for intelligent gentlemen to believe."<ref name=haines />

Historians disagree as to the strength of the evidence against Blackburn, and many of the federal and Confederate records relating to the case have been lost.<ref name=haines /> Writing in the journal America's Civil War, U.S. Navy physician J. D. Haines notes that the Confederate agents who testified against Blackburn were of dubious reputation.<ref name=haines /> Hyams in particular received immunity from prosecution and was paid for his testimony.<ref name="steers49" /> Haines also points out that Blackburn's previous reputation as a humanitarian was ignored; in the hysteria following Lincoln's assassination, conspiracy theories abounded and Northerners were inclined to believe the worst about anyone with Confederate sympathies.<ref name=haines /> The New York Times vilified Blackburn as "The Yellow Fever Fiend" and "a hideous devil".<ref name=singer /> Historian Edward Steers concedes that the evidence against Blackburn was circumstantial, but in his book Blood on the Moon, he contends that enough evidence survives not only to prove Blackburn's involvement in the plot, but to show that high-ranking Confederate officials up to and including President Jefferson Davis were aware of, condoned, and financed it.<ref>Steers, pp. 48–54</ref> As well as a violation of his Hippocratic Oath, Blackburn's plot was one of the earliest attempts at a refined biological warfare.<ref name=boltz>Boltz, "Physician's deadly plan to sicken Yankees foiled"</ref>

Post-war humanitarian work

After his acquittal, Blackburn remained in Canada to avoid arrest and prosecution by U.S. authorities.<ref name=singer /> When he learned of a yellow fever outbreak in New Orleans and the Texas Gulf Coast, Blackburn wrote to President Andrew Johnson on September 4, 1867, asking permission to return to the U.S. and help treat the disease.<ref name=singer /> Not waiting for Johnson's response—which never came—Blackburn returned to the U.S., arriving in Louisville on September 25, 1867, en route to New Orleans.<ref name=baird34>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 34</ref> After rendering aid during the epidemic, he and his family moved to an Arkansas plantation owned by his wife.<ref name=perrin />

No attempt to arrest Blackburn was made, and he returned to Kentucky with his family in early 1873.<ref name=baird36>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 36</ref> The family lived in Louisville's Galt House hotel, and Blackburn resumed his medical practice in that city.<ref name=baird36 /> During a cholera epidemic in 1873, Blackburn rightly theorized that the disease was spread by the consumption of contaminated water, but most citizens accepted the competing theory that cholera was a miasmatic disease.<ref name=baird37>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 37</ref> This theory was espoused by Thomas S. Bell, a better-known physician in Louisville.<ref name=baird37 /> Thousands died as a result of failing to heed Blackburn's advice to boil potentially contaminated water before drinking it.<ref name=baird37 /> Blackburn's philanthropic work included treating victims of yellow fever outbreaks in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1873 and Fernandina, Florida, in 1877.<ref name=register301>Baird in Register, p. 301</ref> He refused to accept compensation for his services in either city, but was presented with gifts from appreciative residents in both cases.<ref name=baird40>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 40</ref> Several southern newspapers also carried glowing accounts of Blackburn's service.<ref name=baird40 />

Louisville's Courier-Journal carried an announcement of Blackburn's candidacy for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Kentucky on February 11, 1878.<ref name=baird41>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 41</ref> It is not clear why, with only meager prior political experience, he decided to seek the office.<ref name=register301 /> He may have been influenced by the members of his family who were involved in politics. His brother Joseph was, at the time, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and another brother, James, had served in the Kentucky Senate.<ref name=register301 /> Two of his wife's brothers also held political office; Samuel Churchill was Secretary of State under Governors John L. Helm, John W. Stevenson, and Preston Leslie, and Thomas Churchill served as treasurer and later governor of the state of Arkansas.<ref name=register301 /><ref name=baird41 /> Whatever the reason, even his friends did not believe his announcement was wise due to his political inexperience.<ref name=register301 /> He opened his campaign with a speech in Owen County on March 29, 1878.<ref name=baird42>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 42</ref>

Blackburn's aid during a yellow fever outbreak in Hickman, Kentucky (marked) earned him the moniker "Hero of Hickman"

About the same time as his gubernatorial campaign began, Blackburn appeared before the Kentucky General Assembly to advocate measures to protect the state against disease outbreaks, including the creation of a state board of health and the construction of quarantine centers in the state's border towns. To a large degree, his pleas fell upon deaf ears, with the exception of his proposal for the state board of health, which was created in March 1878. Soon after, news came that yellow fever had appeared in the lower Mississippi Valley earlier than usual; by August 1878, it had reached epidemic proportions. Blackburn advocated implementing quarantines to deal with the influx of people fleeing north to escape the disease, but many of the state's doctors did not believe yellow fever could survive as far north as Kentucky. Some towns in the Jackson Purchase region attempted to implement crude quarantines, but the city of Louisville completely ignored Blackburn's advice and welcomed refugees from the South. Blackburn temporarily halted his gubernatorial campaign and traveled to Louisville to help treat those who arrived there already suffering from the disease.<ref name=register303>Baird in Register, pp. 302–303</ref>

On September 5, the mayor of Hickman, Kentucky, a small western town along the Mississippi River, telegraphed the state board of health, informing them that yellow fever had reached epidemic levels in the city and requesting that Blackburn be sent to them as soon as possible. Blackburn arrived on September 7 to find that roughly 20 percent of the town's population were ill with yellow fever. He organized cleanup crews to disinfect the town and a squad of Negroes to guard vacated homes. In late September, when it appeared the Hickman epidemic was waning, Blackburn traveled to Chattanooga and Martin, Tennessee, to render aid, but within ten days, he received word that the outbreak in Hickman had resurged and spread to nearby Fulton, Kentucky. Blackburn returned to the area and continued his ministrations until late October, when the outbreak had fully subsided.<ref name="register305"/>

Governor of Kentucky

A man in his late fifties, bald on top, with white hair on the sides and a white beard and mustache. He is wearing a black coat and tie and white shirt and facing left — Walter Evans, Blackburn's opponent in the 1879 gubernatorial election

Returning to Louisville, Blackburn was fêted at the Galt House hotel.<ref name=register305>Baird in Register, p. 305</ref> For weeks, receptions were held in his honor, gifts of appreciation poured in from across the state and region, and he was hailed as the "Hero of Hickman".<ref name=register306>Baird in Register, p. 306</ref> It was against this backdrop that he resumed his gubernatorial campaign in November 1878.<ref name=register306 /> Two other men also sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination: Lieutenant Governor John C. Underwood and former Congressman Thomas Laurens Jones.<ref name=register306 /> Before the yellow fever outbreak, Underwood had been the favorite, but public sentiment had turned in Blackburn's favor after his service to the people of Hickman.<ref name=register307>Baird in Register, p. 307</ref> Underwood questioned whether Blackburn's medical background had adequately prepared him to be the state's chief executive; he also mounted a failed legal challenge that claimed Blackburn had not met the constitutional state residency requirement of seven years.<ref name=register307 /> In late March 1879, however, Underwood determined that he would not be able to overcome the "avalanche" of support for Blackburn and withdrew his candidacy.<ref name=register307 /> At the May 1 Democratic nominating convention, Blackburn was nominated by an overwhelming majority—935 delegates to the convention voted for him compared to just 22 for Jones.<ref name=register308>Baird in Register, p. 308</ref><ref name=tapp164>Tapp and Klotter, p. 164</ref>

Due to ill health, Blackburn could not take an active part in the campaign.<ref name=tapp166>Tapp and Klotter, p. 166</ref> He sought relief from his ailments at Crab Orchard Springs, while much of the campaign oratory was delivered on his behalf by fellow Democrats Boyd Winchester, Parker Watkins Hardin, W. C. P. Breckinridge, and others.<ref name=register308 /><ref name=tapp166 /> Republicans, who had nominated Walter Evans, had fewer speakers with which to canvass the state, and were at a decided disadvantage.<ref name=tapp166 /> Democrats attacked the administrations of Republican Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes, cited the alleged abuses perpetrated in the South by Carpetbaggers and Scalawags, and leveled charges that Republicans favored capitalists over the state's working class.<ref name=tapp166 /> Republican orators, led by William O'Connell Bradley, charged Democrats with financial extravagance, citing a $3 million surplus in the state treasury in 1865 compared with a $1 million debt in 1878.<ref name=tapp167>Tapp and Klotter, p. 167</ref> Bradley claimed that Democrats had maintained their power in the state through gerrymandering election districts.<ref name=tapp167 /> He cited poor conditions at the state penitentiary and inadequate funding of public education as evidence of Democratic mismanagement of the state.<ref name=tapp167 />

In late May 1879, the Republican-leaning Cincinnati Gazette reported on Blackburn's alleged plot to infect northern cities with yellow fever during the Civil War, apparently the first time the incident had been reported in Kentucky. The newspaper formed a special department for the sole purpose of investigating the claims against Blackburn and published a daily column in which it related the department's findings. In the wake of the Gazette's investigation, other Northern newspapers, including the Canton Repository, Cleveland Herald, and Philadelphia Press, derided Kentuckians for even considering the election of Blackburn (who they nicknamed "Dr. Blackvomit"). The scandal gained more traction nationally than in Kentucky. Blackburn did not respond to the accusations, and Kentucky Republicans barely made mention of it, knowing that the northern press in general and the Cincinnati Gazette in particular were widely distrusted in the state. Kentucky newspaper editor Henry Watterson opined that most Kentuckians already knew about Blackburn's Civil War activities and either explicitly approved of them or were apathetic about events that had occurred a decade and a half earlier.<ref>Baird in Register, pp. 309–311</ref>

In the general election, Blackburn defeated Evans by a vote of 125,790 (56%) to 81,882 (36%), the largest Democratic margin of victory in a decade.<ref name=kye84 /><ref name=baird59>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 59</ref> Greenback Party candidate C. W. Cook garnered 18,954 votes, approximately 8 percent of the total votes cast.<ref name=tapp170>Tapp and Klotter, p. 170</ref> These votes came mainly at the expense of Blackburn and the Democrats.<ref name=tapp170 /> Until the election of Ernie Fletcher in 2003, Blackburn would be the only physician elected governor of Kentucky.<ref name=kygovs111 />

Financial reform

Immediately after his election, Blackburn began planning ways to balance the state's budget.<ref name=tapp173>Tapp and Klotter, p. 173</ref> In his 1880 address to the legislature, Blackburn reported that since 1867, the state had spent three million dollars more than it had taken in.<ref name=baird71>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 71</ref> Previous administrations had paid for the excess by using money from the federal government for "war claims" by the state and money from the state's sinking fund.<ref name=tapp173 /> Further, an economic depression had lowered property values and the state legislature had, in response to public demand, lowered taxes, further shrinking government income.<ref name=tapp173 /> Blackburn forcefully asserted that the situation must be remedied.<ref name=tapp175>Tapp and Klotter, p. 175</ref>

In response to recommendations from the governor, the General Assembly enacted cost-saving reforms in the judicial system, including the abolition of criminal, chancery, and common pleas courts, dividing the state instead into 18 circuit court districts.<ref name=tapp177>Tapp and Klotter, p. 177</ref> The number of jurors required for certain cases was reduced, juror salaries were set at a fixed rate, and penalties were established for soliciting jury duty.<ref name=baird72>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 72</ref> Reimbursement amounts for transporting and caring for prisoners were capped to prevent inflation of costs by local law enforcement.<ref name=baird71 /> Salaries of state officials were reduced by 20 percent.<ref name=nhok261>Harrison and Klotter, p. 261</ref> The state property tax was also increased from 40 to 45 cents per $100 of taxable property, and laws were strengthened to facilitate the collection of delinquent taxes.<ref name=baird71 /><ref name=tapp177 />

Penal reform

Template:Multiple image Blackburn's primary focus was on reforms to the state's penal system. According to Blackburn, 953 prisoners were being held at the state penitentiary, although the structure only contained 780 cells.<ref name=tapp178>Tapp and Klotter, p. 178</ref> Conditions in the penitentiary were poor and resulted in many illnesses. One fifth of the state's prisoners suffered from pneumonia in 1875.<ref name=nhok260>Harrison and Klotter, p. 260</ref> When Blackburn became governor in 1879, the mortality rate of the almost one thousand inmates in the state penitentiary was over 7 percent.<ref name=nhok260 /> Scurvy caused by poor nutrition afflicted 75 percent of prisoners.<ref name=nhok260 /> Blackburn compared conditions at the penitentiary to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta.<ref name=tapp178 />

The poor conditions at the penitentiary were partially because the state leased management of the facility to private contractors, who frequently neglected prisoners' needs to cut costs.<ref name=nhok260 /> These contractors often provided benefits such as cheap laundry services and free meals to legislators to secure contracts and encourage them to ignore their abuse of prisoners.<ref name=nhok260 /> Blackburn called for the contract system to be replaced with a system of oversight by wardens employed by the state.<ref name=tapp178 />

Before the General Assembly could act on his recommendations, Blackburn began granting pardons to relieve prison overcrowding.<ref name=tapp180>Tapp and Klotter, p. 180</ref> He particularly favored clemency for the incurably sick so they could go home to die with their families.<ref name=tapp180 /> During his term, Blackburn pardoned over one thousand individuals, earning him the nickname "Lenient Luke".<ref name=nhok260 /> The pardons were extremely unpopular with both the public and the Democratic political establishment.<ref name=tapp180 /> Several newspapers claimed that Blackburn sold pardons for two dollars apiece, though no evidence exists to support such an accusation.<ref name=baird110>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 110</ref>

In the 1880 legislative session, the General Assembly approved Blackburn's recommendation to construct a new state penitentiary in Eddyville.<ref name=nhok260 /> Legislators also responded to Blackburn's call for a warden system, authorizing the state to employ a warden, deputy warden, clerk, physician, and chaplain for the penitentiary.<ref name=tapp180 /> As a means of alleviating overcrowding, the Assembly allowed private contractors to lease convict labor from the penitentiary.<ref name=nhok260 /> These contractors would be responsible for feeding, clothing, housing, and caring for the prisoners in their charge.<ref name=kygovs113>Baird in Kentucky's Governors, p. 113</ref> With no oversight of these contractors, however, prisoner abuses again occurred, including malnutrition, overwork, and beatings that often resulted in injury and death.<ref name=nhok260 /> Finally, legislators adopted, for the first time in state history, a rudimentary parole process.<ref name=nhok260 /> Due to his extensive record of reforming the state prison system, Blackburn is considered "the father of prison reforms in Kentucky".<ref name=kygovs111 />

Other reforms

Blackburn was also a zealous advocate for improved river navigation. He persuaded the legislature to apply a $100,000 allocation from the U.S. Congress to the improvement of navigation along the Kentucky River and gave concurrent jurisdiction over the Big Sandy and Licking Rivers to the federal government so they could be improved as well. Legislators also approved construction of a canal around the Cumberland Falls and improvements along the Tradewater River.<ref>Tapp and Klotter, pp. 182–183</ref>

Blackburn's other accomplishments included establishing a state railroad commission and reorganizing the Kentucky Agricultural and Mechanical College.<ref name=kye84 /><ref name=tapp301>Tapp and Klotter, p. 301</ref> Kentucky A&M had been separated from Kentucky University under Blackburn's predecessor, James B. McCreary; Blackburn now advocated that it be put under the control of and supported by the state.<ref name=tapp200>Tapp and Klotter, p. 200</ref> This was done, and the rechartered institution, located at Lexington, became known commonly as the State College; in 1916, it was renamed the University of Kentucky.<ref name=tapp200 />

Later life and death

Despite his record of reforms, Democratic party leaders were largely displeased with Blackburn and his administration.<ref name=tapp211>Tapp and Klotter, p. 211</ref> They decried his record number of pardons and resented the fact that he did not give more consideration to party service and loyalty when appointing individuals to state jobs.<ref name=tapp213>Tapp and Klotter, p. 213</ref> Further, state newspapers noted a lack of eloquence by the governor, and this provided additional fodder for Blackburn's critics.<ref name=tapp211 /> Having announced at the beginning of his term that he would seek no further political office, Blackburn nonetheless attempted to defend his record in a speech at the 1883 Democratic nominating convention, but boos and shouts for him to sit down almost drowned out the address.<ref name=nhok261 /><ref name=tapp213 /><ref name=tapp172>Tapp and Klotter, p. 172</ref> Finally, Blackburn responded to the heckling by saying he expected to be criticized for his reforms, but that anyone who charged his administration with corruption was a "liar—a base and infamous liar".<ref name=tapp215>Tapp and Klotter, p. 215</ref> At this, the clamor from the crowd became deafening, and Blackburn was forced to end his address and take his seat.<ref name=tapp215 />

Blackburn retired from public life at the expiration of his term.<ref name=tapp172 /> He briefly visited a Virginia resort before returning to his apartment at Louisville's Galt House and resuming his medical practice.<ref name=nga /><ref name=baird114>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 114</ref> While attending the 1883 National Conference of Charities, Blackburn was lauded for his prison reforms by guest speaker George Washington Cable.<ref name=baird114 /> He also received praise at a similar conference in Saratoga Springs, New York, a few weeks later.<ref name=baird114 />

A few months after his return to Louisville, Blackburn opened a sanatorium near Cave Hill Cemetery.<ref name=baird115>Baird in Luke Pryor Blackburn, p. 115</ref> His failing health impeded the success of the endeavor, however, and in January 1887, he returned to the state capital of Frankfort—a city he regarded as his home—knowing that death was near.<ref name=baird115 /> After a prolonged illness, he became comatose and died September 14, 1887.<ref name=baird115 /> He was buried in Frankfort Cemetery.<ref name=nga />

On May 27, 1891, the state erected a monument over Blackburn's grave.<ref name=baird115 /> The granite monument features a bas-relief depicting the Parable of the Good Samaritan.<ref name=kygovs114>Baird in Kentucky's Governors, p. 114</ref> In 1972, the state opened the Blackburn Correctional Complex, a Template:Convert minimum security prison near Lexington named for Governor Blackburn.<ref name=kygovs114 />

Notes

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Luke P. Blackburn

Contents

Early life and family

Civil War

Yellow fever plot

Post-war humanitarian work

Governor of Kentucky

Financial reform

Penal reform

Other reforms

Later life and death

Notes

References

Further reading

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Luke P. Blackburn

Early life and family

Civil War

Yellow fever plot

Post-war humanitarian work

Governor of Kentucky

Financial reform

Penal reform

Other reforms

Later life and death

Notes

References

Further reading

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