KENTUCKY, one of the United States of North America, is bounded on the north by the river Ohio, which separates it from Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana; on the east by Virginia; on the south by Virginia and Tennessee; and on the west by the river Mississippi. It extends from long. 81. 50. to 89. 29. W., and from lat. 36. 30. to 39.10. N. Its extreme length is 380 miles, its medium breadth is about 100, and it contains an area of 38,000 square miles. .

Kentucky is said to possess larger quantities of fertile land than any other western state; and, for beautiful variety of hill and dale, the general excellence of the soil, and picturesqueness of landscape scenery, including fine forests, and numerous streams and rivers, few countries surpass it. Yet there are in this state large sterile tracts, and a good deal of land either too mountainous or too poor for cultivation. The Allegany Mountains stretch along its eastern and south-eastern boundary, and branches from that chain penetrate into the counties contiguous to Tennessee and Virginia, rendering them broken and hilly. These offshoots from the larger mountains wind round the basis of the small table hills, and open up into frightful chasms, shaded by the gigantic poplar. A tract from five to twenty miles wide along the banks of the Ohio has the same character, but it is interspersed with fertile valleys. Between this strip of land, Green River, and the eastern counties, lies what has been called the garden of the state; it is the most populous part, and is distinguished for its beauty and fertility. It has a finely diversified or rolling surface, the soil is excellent, and there is abundance of timber and grape vines. It is about one hundred and fifty miles in length, and from fifty to one hundred in breadth. From three to ten feet beneath the surface, there is a substratum or floor of limestone. A great quantity of this mineral in a dissolved state is intermixed with the soil, and imparts to it a warm and forcing quality, highly favourable to the progress of vegetation. Much of it belongs to that species of soil technically called “mulatto land.” Through this beautiful[7:12:697] country meander the Little Sandy, Licking, Kentucky, and Salt Rivers, with their numerous tributaries* There are a few precipitous hills, but no elevations of a magnitude sufficient to entitle any part of it to the character of mountainous. The woods have a very fine appearance, and seem as if they had been promiscuously arranged for a pleasure ground. Grape vines of vast size climb the trees, and overshadow the verdure beneath with their umbrageous leaves. Black walnut, black cherry, honey-locust, buck-eye, pawpaw, sugar-tree, mulberry, elm, ash, hawthorn, coffee-tree, and the grand yellow poplar trees which indicate the richest soil, are everywhere abundant. When the country was first settled, it was covered with a thick cane brake; but this has now given place to a beautiful grass sward. In the early part of spring, the May-apple throws out its rich and beautiful verdure in abundance, which, along with the purple and redundant flowers of the red bud, and the fine white blossoms of the dogwood, impart a delightful charm to the landscape. The trees are not in general large, but tall, straight, and tapering at the top. Innumerable branches wind amongst the copses; and in the declivities numerous springs of water, impregnated with lime, gush forth. In the south-western part of the state, between Green and Cumberland Rivers, there is a large tract of country, called “barrens,” covered with grass like a prairie, and affording a fine range for cattle. Within these few years it has been planted with different kinds of trees, which, however, do not check the growth of the grass, or an infinite variety of plants, which enamel the sward, and during spring and summer flower in all the wild and luxuriant beauty of a western wilderness. Spread over this district are an immense number of small conical hills, called “knobs,” covered with shrubby and post oaks. The soil is of an excellent quality, being a mixture of clay loam and sand; and fine tobacco is raised by many of the farmers. Of this state in general, an American writer observes: “For variety of hiil and dale, for the excellence of the soil, yielding in abundance all that is necessary for comfortable subsistence, for amenity of landscape, beauty of forest, the number of clear streams and fine rivers, health, and the finest development of the human form, and patriarchal simplicity of rural opulence, we question if any country can be found surpassing Kentucky.”^[1. The History and Geography of the Mississippi Valley, by Timothy Flint, p. 348. ]

A long extent of the northern frontier of this state is washed by the Ohio River; and the Mississippi passes a considerable part of the south-western boundary. Most of the rivers which have their origin within the limits of Kentucky rise in the southern part of it, and flow in a northerly direction into the Ohio. The river from which the state derives its name rises in the south-eastern portion, and interlocks with the head waters of Licking and Cumberland Rivers, the former having its origin in the north-east, and the other in the south-east corner. The Kentucky is an important stream, navigable for one hundred and eighty miles during winter, with a rapid current, and high, and in some parts perpendicular, banks of limestone. It takes a north-west course, and joins the Ohio at Port William, seventy-seven miles above Louisville, after receiving various tributary streams. Licking waters a rich and well-settled country, and, after a sinuous course of two hundred miles, enters the Ohio at Newport, opposite Cincinnati. Cumberland River waters eighty miles of this state, when it enters Tennessee; but crosses again into Kentucky, and, after running fifty miles in it, once more returns to Tennessee, which it leaves a second time to traverse the sister state. The river Big Sandy rises in the Allegany Mountains, and forms the eastern boundary of the state for nearly two hundred miles. During its progress it receives a great number of large creeks, and, before it enters the Ohio, separates into two branches or forks. It is navigable for a considerable distance. Green River is boatable for two hundred miles, and receives a great number of tributaries in its course. Salt River is boatable for one hundred and fifty miles, and, traversing four counties, enters the Ohio twenty miles below Louisville. There are a great many mineral springs, possessing medicinal qualities, some of which are really valuable. A fountain of petroleum, vulgarly called mineral oil, was discovered at the depth of one hundred and eighty feet, whilst the ground was being pierced to obtain salt water. When the auger was withdrawn, the unctuous matter sprung perpendicularly upwards in a continued stream, more than twelve feet above the surface of the earth. The rocks of this state are said all to belong to the secondary formation. Limestone and marble of the most beautiful species abound. Coal has been discovered in some places, especially along the Ohio. Iron ore is very abundant, and wrought to a considerable extent. Lead, copperas, and aluminous earths are likewise found. There are a number of salt springs, from which salt was formerly obtained; but it is now found more profitable to import it from other states. The soil of Kentucky is strongly impregnated with nitre; and it has been affirmed that fifty pounds of that salt, in a crude state, have been obtained from only double the quantity of earth. There are many natural curiosities and antiquities in this state; the limestone caves in particular excite the astonishment of all who visit them. One, styled Mammoth Cave, in the south-western part, one hundred and thirty miles from Lexington, on the road leading to Nashville, is said to be eight or ten miles in length, with a great number of avenues and windings. The famous cave of Antiparos is nothing to this stupendous subterranean cavity. A number of the rivers have excavated the earth, so as to form abrupt precipices, deep glens, and frightful gulfs. The precipices formed by Kentucky River are in many places awfully sublime, presenting perpendicular banks of three hundred feet of solid limestone, surmounted with a steep and difficult ascent four times as high.

Amongst the antiquities of Kentucky are great numbers of those Indian mounds which are scattered over all the western territory. Human bodies have been found in a state of entire preservation in several caves; they are said to be considerably smaller than the men of modern times.

The fertile soil of Kentucky produces all the grains, pulses, and fruits of the temperate climates, in great abundance; and, in the south-western counties, near and on the Tennessee, Cumberland, and Mississippi Rivers, cotton is grown. Hemp, tobacco, and wheat are the staple productions, but Indian corn is the principal grain raised for home consumption. Rye, oats, buck-wheat, barley, flax, potatoes, and other culinary vegetables, are cultivated. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries, and plums, are the most common fruits; but grapes are raised in many places, and there are vineyards where wine is made. This state is distinguished for its breed of domestic animals, particularly the horse, which is of the noblest kind, and reared in great numbers. These, along with mules, horned cattle, and swine, are annually driven to the neighbouring states for a market. The fattening of animals is the chief mode of consuming the surplus grain, on account of the expense of conveying it to market. Considerable quantities of whisky are made; and, from its position and fairs, Kentucky has become a manufacturing state. The present exports are chiefly to New Orleans, though a considerable quantity of produce and manufactures ascends [7:12:698]the Ohio to Pittsburgh. The growers of the produce of this state, after arriving at New Orleans, frequently ship it on their own account to the Atlantic states, to Vera Cruz, and the West Indies. Besides the articles above mentioned, there are sent out of this state immense quantities of flour, lard, butter, cheese, pork, beef, Indian corn, and meal; whisky, cider, cider royal, fruit both fresh and dried; and various kinds of domestic manufactures.

With regard to the amount of the exports of surplus produce, an American writer on commerce observes, “from that part of the state of Kentucky which lies north and east of Kentucky River, and a few countries bordering on its south side, the exports in 1832 were valued as follows, viz.

Hogs, alive, and in pork, bacon, lard...1,000,000 dollars.

Horned cattle 200,000

Horses and mules 500,000

Hempen fabrics 750,000

Tobacco 150,000

Iron castings, pigs and bars 50,000

Wool, ginseng, &c 100,000

Total 2,750,000

Estimating the surplus produce of the remainder of Kentucky at two millions and a half, we shall have for that state 5,250,000 dollars.”^[2. A Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States of America. By Timothy Pitkin, 1835. ]

Kentucky is divided into eighty-three counties, each having a county town. Frankfort, the political metropolis of the state, is situated on the north bank of the Kentucky, sixty miles above its confluence with the Ohio. Long. 84. 40. W∙ Lat. 38. 14. N. The site of the town is a semicircular plain, some two hundred feet lower than the table-land in its rear. The environs of the plain are remarkable for their romantic and splendid scenery. The river is here about eighty yards wide, flowing between banks four or five hundred feet high, and dividing the town into about two equal parts, which are connected by a bridge. Amongst other public buildings, arc the statehouse, court-house, penitentiary, jail, three churches, aft academy, and a county court-house. The state-house is entirely built of marble, and contains the. customary legislative halls, and other apartments. This town contahjs rope-walks, cotton bagging manufactories, a cotton factory, tobacco warehouses, powder-mills, and other establishments. Being at the head of steam-boat navigation on the river, it is a place of considerable commercial enterprise. The population amounts to 4000.

Lexington, the largest and wealthiest town of the state, is finely situated, twenty-five miles east-south-east of Frankfort, in a beautiful valley on Town Fork, a small stream which falls into the southern branch of Elkhorn River. It is regularly laid out, and contains many large and handsome buildings. Those of a public nature are, the court-house, a handsome and spacious edifice; the bank; a large masonic hall; a spacious and commodious lunatic asylum; a number of churches, in which all denominations of Christians are represented; a market-house; an academy; and the Transylvania university, which has a high reputation. The manufactures of woollen, paper, and cotton are considerable; but the articles chiefly made are cotton-bagging, and various kinds of cordage, particularly bale-rope. Of the former there were manufactured, in 1830, 1,000,000 jards, and of the latter 2,000,000 pounds. The environs of this town are much admired for their beauty and cultivation; and they are adorned with a great number of handsome villas and ornamented rural mansions. The growth of Lexington has been very rapid. In 1797 it contained only about fifty houses; and the last census gives a population of 0104. Long. 84. 18. W. Lat. 38. 6. N.

Louisville, in a commercial point of view, is by far the most important town in the state. It is situated opposite the falls of the Ohio, fifty miles west of Frankfort; and its locality gives it the advantage of being the great outlet of a large portion of the surplus produce of the state. It is regularly laid out, and is three miles in length by upwards of one in breadth. The public buildings are, a court-house, jail, a number of houses of public worship, a poor-house, free public school house (a fine edifice), a marine hospital (a conspicuous and showy building), a bank, a theatre, and others of less importance. The private buildings are mostly of brick; and the warehouses, particularly those recently erected, are very extensive. Manufactures are as yet comparatively in their infancy. There is one manufactory of cotton and one of woollen, three iron founderies, a steam-engine factory, tanneries, hat, saddle, and shoe making establishments, and the like. The exports are, tobacco, whisky, cotton bagging and baling, hemp, flour, pork, bacon, lard, and many other productions of the country. The imports are various and extensive, the easy circumstances of many of the people creating a large demand for foreign articles of comfort and luxury. The commerce is carried on by upwards of three hundred steam-boats, some of which are daily arriving from or departing for all parts of the immense valley of the Mississippi. Amongst the public works connected with this rising town, is the Louisville and Portland Canal, which is two miles in length, and calculated to admit of the passage of the largest steam-boats on the western waters. Its top-water line is two hundred feet, its bottom fifty feet, and its depth varies from four to forty-two feet. Its sides are sloping and paved with stone, and it has over it a beautiful stone bridge between Louisville and Portland. Its locks consist of a guard-lock and three lift-locks, which are larger than any in the United States. It cost 940,000 dollars, and was opened on the first of January 1831. An idea of the extent of the commerce carried on by means of this medium of inland navigation may be formed from the following statement of the number of steam-boats, and flat and keel boats, which passed in 1832, 1833, and one half of 1834 :— 1832,453 steam-boats, 179 flats and keels, 70,109 tons; 1833, 875 steam-boats, 710 flats and keels, 169,885 tons; first half of 1834, 630 steam-boats, 139 flats and keels, 98,122 tons.

The county of which Louisville is the capital is one of the most fertile and best settled in the state, and the town is considered as one of the greatest thoroughfares in the union. The city government consists of a mayor and city council, chosen annually by the viva voce vote of all residents in their respective wards. The census of 1830 assigns to it a population of 10,352, but the increase has been exceedingly rapid since that period. Long. 85. 30. W. Lat. 38. 3. Ń.

The next town to Louisville, in point of commercial importance, is Maysville, situated on the Ohio, sixty-three miles north-east of Lexington. It is indebted for its importance chiefly to its being the principal place of importation for the north-eastern part of the state. Glass and some other articles are manufactured to a considerable extent. It possesses a fine harbour for steam-boats, a number of which have been built here, and is altogether a thriving, busy town. The population amounts to about 4000. Washington, three miles south of this place, is a considerable village, in the centre of a well-peopled country. It possesses the usual number of public buildings, such as court-house, jail, seminaries of learning, together with the customary stores and mechanics’ shops, and also a branch of the Kentucky bank. Paris, the chief town of Bourbon [7:12:699]county, is central to a delightful and populous country, and is entirely an interior town, twenty miles east of Lexington. Some of the houses have a spacious appearance; and it contains some manufactories of cotton bagging and ropewalks, with a population of 1200. Georgetown, the county town of Scott county, is situated in a fine, rich tract of country, and contains a number of considerable manufacturing establishments, handsome private houses, and some public buildings. Newport, opposite to Cincinnati, is the county town for Campbell county, and is situated at the mouth of Licking River. It has a spacious arsenal, containing arms and munitions of war, and also some other public buildings. Bagging, cordage, and tobacco are manufactured here. Covington, situated below Newport, and on the opposite side of the Licking, is laid out with great regularity. It is intended that the streets shall be continuations of those of Cincinnati, and liberal donations have been made for the erection of public buildings. In this place are respectable manufacturing establishments, particularly of cotton. Russellville, the county town of Logan county, is an interior town, intermediate between Green and Cumberland Rivers, and thirty-five miles distant from each. It contains a seminary denominated a college, and a number of respectable public buildings. Salt lakes abound near the town, and many of the prairies in the vicinity are of great beauty. There are a great number of other towns and villages in this state, but it would bean unnecessary repetition to enumerate them particularly. They all possess public buildings and manufactures corresponding to their size or situation. We have mentioned one great public work belonging to Kentucky, the Louisville and Portland Canal. Another of a very important nature deserves mention, namely, a railroad extending from Lexington, through Frankfort, to Louisville, a distance of about ninety miles. The work was begun in 1832, and in January 1835 it was completed as far as Frankfort, a distance of twenty-eight miles. It is substantially built, and estimated to cost, when finished, 1,032,000 dollars.

The first permanent settlement of this state was begun on Kentucky River in 1775, by Colonel Daniel Boone. The county formed a part of the state of Virginia till 1790, and in 1792 was admitted into the union as an independent state. The constitution then adopted continued in force till 1799, when the one which now exists was formed.

The legislative power is vested in a senate and house of representatives, which together are styled the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The representatives are elected annually, and are apportioned, every four years, among the different counties, according to the number of electors. Their present number is one hundred, which is the highest number that the constitution authorizes; fifty-eight being the 10west. The senators are elected for four years, one quarter of them being chosen annually. Their present number is thirty-eight; and they cannot exceed this number, nor fall short of twenty-four. The executive power is vested in a governor, who is elected for four years, and is ineligible for the succeeding seven years after the expiration of his term of office. At the election of governor, a lieutenant-governor is also chosen, who is speaker of the senate, and on whom the duties of the governor devolve in case of his absence or removal. The representatives and one quarter of the members of the senate are elected annually by the people, on the first Monday in August; the governor is elected by the people, every fourth year, at the same time, and he commences the execution of his office on the fourth Tuesday succeeding the day of the commencement of the election at which he is chosen. The polls are kept open three days, and the votes are given openly, or viva voce, and not by ballot. The general assembly meets (at Frankfort) annually, on the first Monday in November. The constitution grants the right of suffrage to every free male citizen (people of colour excepted) who has attained the age of twenty-one years, and has resided in the state two years, or in the county where he offers his vote one year, next preceding the election. The judiciary power is vested in a supreme court, styled the court of appeals, and in such inferior courts as the general assembly may from time to time erect and establish. The judges of the different courts, and justices of the peace, hold their offices during good behaviour. The state is divided into sixteen circuits or districts, to each of which there is attached a circuit judge.

The religious bodies of Kentucky stood in 1830 as follows: Baptists, twenty-five associations, 442 churches, 289 ministers, and 37,520 communicants; Methodists, seventy-seven preachers, and 23,935 members; Presbyterians, 103 churches, sixty-one ministers, six licentiates, and 7832 communicants; Roman Catholics, about thirty priests; Episcopalians, five ministers. What are called Cumberland Presbyterians are also numerous.

The principal literary institution is Transylvania university, at Lexington. It is under the patronage of the state, and in 1830 contained one hundred and forty-three graduates, sixty-two in the preparatory department, two hundred medical students, and nineteen law students. There are also other colleges in different parts of this state, supported by religious societies, viz. St Joseph’s, at Bardstown, by the Catholics; Centre College, at Danville, by the Presbyterians; Augusta College, at Augusta, by the Methodists; Cumberland College, at Princetow11, by the Cumberland Presbyterians; and Georgetown College, at Georgetown, by the Baptists. Many years since, the state appropriated 6000 acres of land for the purpose of endowing an academy in each county; but little public benefit has yet flowed from this source. Steps have been repeatedly taken for the purpose of introducing a system of common schools, but not with the effect which could have been desired. The general state of education in Kentucky may be gathered from a document furnished by the census of 1830. A committee had been appointed by the house of representatives to examine the subject, but the returns made to that body appear to be very inaccurate. If, however, we take those counties from which correct returns are supposed to have been made, it would appear that the number at school does not amount to more than one third of the aggregate number of children.

The first newspaper in Kentucky was printed at Lexington in 1786. The number printed in the state in 1810 was seventeen, and in 1834 twenty-five. There is ajournai of medicine published, and some other periodicals have been attempted.

By a return, dated the 30th of August 1834, the bank in Kentucky stood thus: Capital, 1,079,435 dollars; notes issued, 450,000 dollars; specie and specie funds, 240,690 dollars; deposits, 250,000 dollars; discounts of notes, &c. 1,500,000. The postage received in Kentucky for the year ending 31st March 1832 amounted to 42,979∙30 dollars. The population of this state by the census of 1830 was 688,844, of whom 165,350 were slaves, (κ. r. R.)