Born in Chicago, Illinois, Maurice Hudson Thatcher moved to Butler County in 1874 and was educated in public and private schools there. After serving as Butler County Circuit Court Clerk from 1893 to 1896, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1898. He moved to Louisville in 1900 and served as Assistant Attorney General of Kentucky from 1898 to 1900 and as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky from 1901 to 1906. He was appointed a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission and the fifth Governor of the Panama Canal Zone from 1910 to 1913 and was sent to establish the government of Panama. As a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, he guided passage of legislation for Mammoth Cave National Park, Lincoln’s Birthplace National Historical Park, and Zachary Taylor National Cemetery. Also a poet, his work honored Kentucky, nature, and his beloved Green River.