In February 1788, the Town Trustees approved the construction of a new courthouse. The commission consisted of Edward Payne, Robert Todd, Levi Todd, Thomas Lewis, Robert Johnson, James Trotter and William Campbell. The Commissioners selected the eastern portion of the “publick square[1] lot,” on Main Street.[i]
Bid Notice
In March 1788, the commissioners contracted “with Captain Cape for the building of the new court-house.” The courthouse was built with limestone masonry, quarried[2] just outside the western town limits. The two-story building was designed with four rooms per floor along a center hallway, with a four angle roof.[ii]
In the basement, was a fireproof vault for the Circuit Court’s records. The vault measured 5 feet wide, 7 feet high and 7 feet long. In 1806, when the Third Courthouse was built the vault was covered over. The vault was rediscovered in 1883, when the courthouse was being demolished.[iii]
Original survey of Lexington, by Levi Todd, March 1791 <LPL>
Jeremiah Murphy was appointed custodian, with a salary of 13 pounds per annum.
Diagram, 1791
The courthouse became a central part of the town’s social activities. In 1792, two prominent Kentucky attorneys, Felix Grundy and John Pope debated the Federalist Papers from the steps of the courthouse. Their debate on the adopting of the Constitution informed the local citizens of the issues. Grundy later became a Congressman, Senator and Attorney General. Pope also later became a Congressman, Senator and Governor of Arkansas.[iv]
During the summer of 1794, Colonel James Wilkinson[3], speaking from the front steps of the courthouse, called for volunteers to join General Anthony Wayne’s expedition against the Indians. He became the commanding officers of the Kentucky Militia and raised a regiment. In August 1794, the regiment participated in the victory at Battle of Fallen Timber.[v]
In 1787, Levi Todd built a small brick office at Ellerslie, his estate three miles east of Lexington, on Richmond Road. He maintained the county court records in this office.[vi]
On March 20, 1798, Henry Clay appeared at the courthouse and was admitted to the bar. The entry in the court records read:
“Henry Clay, Esquire, produced in court a license and on his motion is permitted to practice as an attorney at law in this court, and thereupon took the several oaths by law prescribed.
Signed by Thomas J. Bodley,
Clerk, District Court”[vii]
Clay became one of Lexington’s prominent lawyers, a skilled orator, who never lost a criminal case. He also was a politician, elected to the House of Representatives (serving as Speaker three times) and the Senate. He was also a candidate for the President of the United States three times.[viii]
At noon, on the Fourth of July 1800, the town celebrated with an assembly on the Cheapside. The militia companies of Lexington and Fayette County marched along Cheapside. The crowd was addressed by Henry Clay with “an elegant oration.” After his speech, the group marched to Maxwell Springs, with the Fayette County troops leading and the Lexington light infantry being up the rear. At the springs, the assembly drank a number of toasts.[ix]
During the night of January 31, 1803, arsonist set fire to the office of County Clerk, Levi Todd, on Richmond Road. The fire destroyed the early records of the county court, including marriage records. Most of the land records were recovered. The fire was probably set by tenant farmers and squatters, who had lost several court cases involving their property rights.[x]
On February 8, 1803, Todd published a letter to the editor of the Kentucky Gazette, requested that “fellow-citizens” bring in their copies of records, so that they could be rerecorded[4].[xi]
The new building quickly proved to be too small. During 1804-1805, the Kentucky Gazette’s editorials referenced the courthouse and stated “efforts should be made to secure a more commodious building.”[xii]
[1] In November 1791, the Publick Square was designated in the original town bounds when the Town of Lexington was formed. The square encompassed the entire block from Main, Mill, Short and Upper Streets. In 1789, a portion of the western end of the block along Mill Street was sold to the Presbyterian Church. The remaining portion became Cheapside and the Courthouse Square.
[2] Present site of Rupp Arena.
[3] In 1780, the Lexington Light Infantry was organized by Captain James Wilkinson, to protect Lexington from Indian attacks. The militia unit was equipped with uniforms of blue coats and pantaloons, with black hats and red plumes. The unit practiced near Maxwell Spring. The company supplied men for the Indian Wars, War of 1812, Mexican War and Civil War.
[4] In 1818, the Kentucky Legislature passed a special act ordering the old records collected and copied into the “Burnt Records Books” in the Fayette County Clerk’s Office. A commission was formed to certify these records. The commission included John Bradford, Matthew Elder and Samuel Blair. A total of eight volumes were prepared.
[i] Coleman (Court Houses), pages 11-12, Wright, page 8 and Kentucky Gazette, February 16, 1788, page 2, column 3.
[ii] Coleman (Court Houses), pages 11-12 Staples, page 288 and Kentucky Gazette, February 16, 1788, page 2, column 3.
[iii] Lexington Daily Transcript, April 3, 1883, page 2, column 3.
[iv] Coleman (Court Houses), page 14.
[v] Coleman (Court Houses), page 14.
[vi] Coleman (Court Houses), pages 12-14.
[vii] Coleman, J. Winston, Jr., The Squire’s Sketches of Lexington, Henry Clay Press, Lexington, 1972, pages 23-24.
[viii] Coleman (Court Houses), page 14.
[ix] Kentucky Gazette, July 10, 1800, page 2, column 3.
[x] Coleman (Court Houses), pages 12-14, Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research, Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, 1992, page 227 and Kentucky Gazette, February 8, 1803, page 3, column 2.
[xi] Coleman (Court Houses), pages 12-14, Roseann Reinemuth Hogan, Kentucky Ancestry: A Guide to Genealogical and Historical Research, Ancestry Publishing, Salt Lake City, 1992, page 227 and Kentucky Gazette, February 8, 1803, page 3, column 2.
[xii] Staples, page 288.
