The central record. (Lancaster, Ky.) 18??-current, 1921-04-07
THE STORY OF
FEDERAL HILL
And The Birth OF my
Old Kentucky
Home"

over the ~uofHt hnot otuu w b''e"
Fork River. In Nelson county. Ky,
Is the old Rowan estate and home
Of Federal Hill.' famous In song
and story and pictures as the place
where in the summer Of 1852 Steph-
en- Collins Foster wrote the words
and music Of "My Old Kentucky
Home" This Is the house and es-
tate Of gao acres which the people
OF Kentucky are invited to purchase
and preserve as n state park in honor
% the song. II Is one Of the mos,
historic places IN the whole Middle
West, dating back to 1895 when John
Rowan. then a brilliant young law
yer. born In Pennsylvania. built u
in the midst % a ! 800 acre planta-
ton and made II the center Of politi-
cal. legal and social life % the Ken
lucky Of the olden time.
Judge Rowan was to become a con
gresham. United States Senator.
Chief Justice Of the State and TO
die a. Commissioner Of the United
States TO define the boundary line Of
Mexico In an effort 10 avoid the war
OF is47. lie was great lawyer.
famous in tho practice Of civil and
criminal law. strong before juries
because Of his profound reasoning
and cloquence. At fourteen he had
with hisfath cr fought Indians in the
West and was dead shot. lie
fought oneof the earliest and mos,
deadly duals in the states history
and in his will left his duelling pis-
tolls TO his eldest son to be handed
down and used only in "the defence
% hi. honor" The will Is record
ed in Louisville.
Judge Rowan loved the practice Of
law and tried to avoid public office.
Seine Of the greatest early lawyers
Of Kentucky studied in his Office
He accumulated n great fortune for
those days. lie had a residence in
Louisville and made Il his nome Cor
some years. dying there In isa3.
He entertained Lafayette on his visit
in is2a, paying all the public ex-
penses and taking him TO Federal
Hill for a rest Judge Rowan u
buried In the family cemetery at
fescral Hill. HE children and
grandchildren have married into
noble families in Europe and have
won distinction in many ways. One
married n grandee Of Spain and was
lady in-waiting 10 the Queen. an
other was a Princess Rospielioso Of
Italy and others married into Eng
lish and French peerages.
Young John" Rowan. who sue
eeeded his father on the Federal Hill
estate. was remarkably handsome.
accomplished and eloquent He. too
was a duellist and a dead shot. He
declined a nomination for governor
and TO congress and refused all Office
except once 10 carry his district for
the legislature. President Fillmore
induced him 90 become minister to
the two Sicilies where he lived for
several years. at Naples and Rome
and returned in 1872.
The old home at Federal Hill is
filed with history. General William
Lyle. was a nephew Of the elder
Rowan and often visited there. He
wrote the famous poem II am Dying.
Egypt. Dying" There visited Theo-
dore O'Hara. author Of the "Bivouac
% the Dead" The house Is filed
with antique mahogany and rose
wood furniture, fine paintings and
historic souvenirs. II is essentially
a manor house Of the old type. well
preserved and crowded with tradi-
tions. tragic, romantic and historic.
Stephen c. Foster was not a Ken
tuekian. lie Was born on the
fiftieth anniversary Of the Declare
ton Of independence in 1875. in a
village near Pittsburg. He was a
cousin Of the Rowans Through the
Barclay family Of Pennsylvania. One
Of Fosters sisters, Charlotte. who
had a beautiful voice and musical
talent Of her own. died at nineteen
while she was visiting the Rowans
in Louisville at the home across the
street from the Catholic Cathedral
in Fifth Street. Foster went TO Fed
eral Hill on his honeymoon tour.
He was visiting his kinsman. the
younger John Rowan, there In 1852
when the pictures Of life about him
inspired the writing Of the IMMORTAL
song, my Old Kentucky Home"
lie generally composed music. wan
dering with his flute. There at Fed
eral Hill he saw the corn top ripe.
the meadow In the bloom. the young
folks rolling on the little cabin floors
In the slave quarters. From these