Sen. Joseph C. S. Blackburn

Born in Woodford Co. on Oct. 1, 1838, Joseph C. S. Blackburn graduated from Centre College, studied law in Lex., and was admitted to the bar in 1858. He served as a lt. col. in the Confederate Army and settled in Arkansas in 1865, where he was a lawyer and planter. After returning to Ky. in 1868, he served in the Ky. Legislature from 1871 to 1875 and in the U.S. Congress from 1875 to 1885. He then served as U.S. Senator from 1885 to 1897 and again from 1901 to 1907, before Pres. T. Roosevelt appointed him the first governor of the Panama Canal Zone in 1907. He resigned in 1909, returned to Woodford Co., died on Sept. 12, 1918, and was buried in Frankfort Cemetery. He was the younger brother of Ky. Gov. Luke Blackburn and lived here from 1881 to 1899.

Versailles, Kentucky · United States