Kentucky Civil War Governors On The Web

By Charles H. Bogart · Originally published October 2016 · p. 21

Starting in 2012, the Kentucky Historical Society initiated a project to gather together and post to the web an image of every document and letter that crossed the desk of Kentucky’s Civil War governors. This endeavor, known as the Civil War Governors of Kentucky Digital Documentary Edition, is being led by Dr. Patrick A Lewis. A total of five men served as Governor of Kentucky between 1860 and 1866, three Union and two Confederate. The Union governors were Beriah Magoffin (1859-1862), James E. Robinson (1862-1863), and Thomas F. Bramlette (1863-1867); the two provisional Confederate governors were George W. Johnson (1861-1862) and Richard Hawes (1862-1865). As of June 2016, some 23,000 documents and letters have been located and scanned. These documents were found at the Kentucky History Society Library, Kentucky Library and Archives, Kentucky Department of Military Affairs War Records Division, and the Filson Club. However, only 13,000 of the 23,000 documents have been transcribed and, of these, just some 11,000 have been proofed for posting. Posting of these documents to the web started in April 2016 and, at present, approximately 10,000 documents and letters can be currently accessed at http:// civilwargovernors.org. It is expected that during 2017 another 5,000 letters and documents will be found in the document collections of the state universities and local historical societies. Each posting to the Kentucky Civil War Governors’ web page consists of a view of the original document with a transcription of that document next to it. Also posted on the page is the location of the original document. These documents run the gambit from official state documents to letters from locals reporting on local conditions. Many of the official documents are concerned with pardons and payment for military supplies. The letters from locals to the governor provide a unique glimpse into happenings on the home front. Most of these private letters deal with guerrilla or bandit actions taking place near the letter writer’s place of residency. These letters show how Kentucky was destroyed during the Civil War, not by major battles being fought on its soil, but by terrorism that destroyed Kentucky’s economic infrastructure. As might be expected, the Kentucky Civil War Governor Document Collection contains a wealth of material on the three Union governors but almost nothing on the two Confederate governors. Richard Hawes’ paper trail is, at the present moment, limited to two documents; his inaugural speech and an officer commission he issued. It is hoped that next year, when a search is made of Confederate government documents held in the National Archives, that additional letters and proclamations will be found. If funding can be found, the Kentucky Historical Society would also like to search through Confederate government documents held in state archives in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. It is thought that Governors Johnson and Hawes may have corresponded with fellow Confederate state governors to seek material support for Kentucky’s Confederate regiments and to discuss Kentucky’s place in the Confederacy. Present plans call for the Civil War Governors Editorial Board, circa 2020, to start identifying individuals and places mentioned in the letters and official documents. The next step will be to allow the Governors Civil War document search engine to cross reference any individuals between all the documents and letters in the collection. At present, only about a third of the individual names found on these documents and letters can be identified with any certainty. The Kentucky Historical Society expects that once all of these Kentucky governor Civil War documents and letters are posted to the web they will show how the public and private lives of these five governors reflect Kentucky’s Civil War society, as lived by both the elite and ordinary individuals. It is expected that this Kentucky Civil War Governor website will give future historians an insight into the social, legal, military, political, economic, and cultural forces which were re-shaping Kentucky during the Civil War. It has often been said, with some truth, that Kentucky stood by the Union in 1861 and the Confederacy in 1866.