Ed Porter Thompson was born near Center in Metcalfe County in 1834 and was elected Kentucky Superintendent of Public Instruction from 1891 to 1895. A noted educator, mathematician, and linguist, he wrote six books, including two state-adopted texts, Academic Arithmetic and Young People’s History of Kentucky. His History of the Orphan Brigade was regarded as a most complete and valuable Civil War record. He died in 1903.