Ah, The History You Find Out About Your Home State

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In one of those late-night newspaper reading moods last night I came across a little bit of history about the great Commonwealth of Kentucky (which many of you probably saw yesterday, at least in sports highlights, because of some horse race...). Here are the steps I took to get to Kentucky: I began by reading that Jean Stein, an author who wrote a book about Edie Sedgwick, who was a member of Andy Warhol's Factory in the 60s, died. So I read a little about Edie, then moved to Warhol's 1968 shooting (you may remember a movie a few years ago called I Shot Andy Warhol, based on that event). It so happens that Warhol was shot and critically wounded the day before Robert Kennedy was shot. From there I read a little about RFK, remembering he wasn't the first US senator to be assassinated. In 1935 Huey P. Long, one of the most controversial figures in U.S. political history (never mind just Louisiana, where he was from), was assassinated. Which brings me to Kentucky. To date, there has only been one state governor assassinated in US history. That distinction belongs to William Goebel, governor of Kentucky. And the "funny" (as in, peculiar, not as in a joke) thing is that Goebel wasn't technically governor when he was shot! Here's what happened: there were arguments and accusations of voter fraud (sound familiar?), and even the Democrats accused Goebel of "rigging" the process so he could get the nomination (again, sound familiar?). Goebel had the most pieces of paper with his name on them in terms of "votes;" however, there were a number of inconsistencies in voting throughout the state. (We have a saying in Kentucky: the only people who vote one time and honestly are the dead. ) While the results were still being contested the legislature (ruled by Democrats) declared Goebel the winner. Before he could be sworn in, however, he was shot and critically wounded. A Pennsylvania newspaper carried the headline about "The Kentucky Imbroglio." Yeah, that's an understatement. People were sure there was a "conspiracy" to cut down Goebel, and that it came from the man who'd lost the gubernatorial election, William Taylor (he left the state in a hurry after the shooting). Interestingly, everyone who was charged with the crime eventually received a pardon (making me think it wasn't just the Republican politicians that wanted this guy dead...and, that's quite possible, given that Goebel was an early supporter of women's suffrage and rights for blacks [if you're wondering, Kentucky successfully straddled the fence during the War Between the States: it was a Union state and a slave state!]). Whoever gave the order, it was carried out. Goebel was shot on January 30, 1900. The next day, he was sworn in as governor! He died February 3, 1900, having done only one act as governor: removed the militias that were striking fear in the residents of Frankfort. John Filson, Kentucky historian and author (and co-founder of Cincinnati, Ohio, right across the river from Kentucky) was the first to claim that the state's name, Kentucky, came from an American Indian word meaning "Dark and Bloody Ground." Given the wild history of Kentucky (the Hatfields and the McCoys [McCoy was from Kentucky, Hatfield from across the border in West Virginia]) and the fact that we're the only state that's suffered the assassination of a governor, it's easy to understand why that myth is so easily believed. Here's Ricky Skaggs' song "Kentucky Thunder," with an opening line referencing the "Dark and Bloody Ground" story: