The state of Kentucky is involved at this period in considerable confusion. A son of Governor Desha, was arrested on a charge of having robbed and murdered a traveller the year before; was tried and found guilty by two different juries. For the purpose of screening his son, as was reported, the governor had changed the whole court, and filled it anew with his own creatures. There was a prodigious excitement through the state at this arbitrary stroke of authority. It was torn by parties; I was assured that political struggles, often terminating in sanguinary conflicts, were the order of the day; nay, that this division had already given occasion to several assassinations. It is said to be almost as dangerous to speak upon the political relations of the state, as to converse upon religion in Spain.
A merchant from Lexington, Mr. Wenzel, a native of Bavaria, made me acquainted with an architect, Barret, from New York, who has the superintendence over the canal that is going forward. I received some more particular intelligence from this person concerning the work. The expense was estimated at three hundred and seventy-seven thousand dollars. The labour on it began this March, and is to be concluded in the month of November of the following year. The length of the canal amounts to nearly two miles. It commences below Louisville in a small bay, goes behind Shippingport, and joins the Ohio between that place and Portland. Its descent was reckoned at twenty-four feet. Three locks, each at a distance of one hundred and ninety feet from each other, will be located not far from the mouth near Shippingport, and the difference of level in each will be eight feet. The breadth of the locks was fixed at fifty feet, to admit of the passage of the broadest steam-boat, on which account also the interval from one lock to the other was made one hundred and ninety feet. Above the highest lock on both sides of the canal, dry docks will be constructed for steam-boats to repair in. The sides of the canal are only walled with masonry between the locks. The banks above are in a terrace form. One advantage this canal has, is that the bottom consists of rock; the depth to which it is hewed or blown out, must be throughout fifty feet wide. The rock, however, which is broke out here is a brittle limestone, which is not fit for water masonry, and of course does not answer for locks. The rock employed for this work is a species of blue stone, brought out of the state of Indiana, and a bulk of sixteen square feet, four feet deep, costs four dollars delivered at the canal. To dig this canal out, twenty-seven feet of yellow clay at its thickest part, then seven feet thick of yellow sand; from here fifteen feet thick of blue clay, must be passed through before you come to the rock, where there are ten feet thickness still to be dug away. As for the lock gates, they were to be made only of timber, and none of the improvements introduced in England, either the elliptical form of the gates, or the iron frames were to be employed. Moreover, I observed from the profile of the work, the incredible height of the river, which often raises itself fifty feet over places fordable in the last of summer.
Upon the following day I took a walk with Dr. Croghan and Major Davenport, down the canal to Shippingport, and witnessed the labour in removing the earth for the canal. The soil intended to be dug out, was first ploughed by a heavy plough, drawn by six oxen. Afterwards a sort of scoop drawn by two horses was filled with earth, (and it contained three times as much as an ordinary wheel-barrow,) it was then carried up the slope, where it was deposited, and the scoop was brought back to be filled anew. In this manner much time and manual labour was saved.
Several steam-boats lie at Shippingport, among them was the General Wayne, which had arrived at New Orleans in five days voyage from this place; had stopt there five days on account of unloading, and reloading, and had made her return trip from New Orleans to Louisville in ten days; consequently had moved against the stream one hundred and thirty-five miles daily. Several hackney coaches waited here from Louisville, expecting the arrival of the steam-boat George Washington, which was looked for every minute. The country is highly romantic. We found ourselves on an eminence upon the bank, where a large substantial warehouse had been built jutting over the river. Before us was the foot of the falls; opposite an island overgrown with wood, to the right the falls, and Louisville in the back ground; to the left on the other shore, New Albany, and all around in the rear, a green forest of the finest trees.
On our return we passed by a large deserted brick building. It is called the Hope Distillery, and was established by a company of speculators to do business on a large scale. After the company had invested about seventy thousand dollars, several of the stockholders stopped payment. One of them procured the whole at auction for three thousand dollars, and would now let any one have it for less. In the year 1817, the desire to buy land and build upon it, had risen to a mania in this place. Dr. Croghan showed me a lot of ground, which he had then purchased for two thousand dollars, and for which, at present, no one would hardly offer him seven hundred. He has hired a German gardener, who has laid out a very pretty vegetable garden on this spot, which will yield considerable profit by his industrious management.
Dr. Ferguson, a physician here, carried us to the hospital. This edifice lies insulated upon a small eminence. The building was commenced several years ago, and is not yet finished. The state of Kentucky gave the ground as a donation, and bears a part of the expenses of building. As the establishment is principally used for the reception of sick seamen, congress has given the hospital a revenue from the custom-house in New Orleans. The hospital consists of a basement story, three stories above, and wings, which each have a basement and two stories. In the basement of the centre building, are the kitchen, wash-house, the store-rooms, &c., and in the upper story, the chamber for the meeting of the directors, the apothecary’s room, the steward’s dwelling, and the state rooms for patients paying board and lodging. In the third story a theatre for surgical operations will be arranged. In the wings are roomy and well aired apartments for the white patients, and in the basement, those for the negroes and coloured persons. Slavery is still permitted in Kentucky. There has been until now only one apartment habitable, in which twelve patients are lying. These have cleanly beds, but only wooden bedsteads. When the building is thoroughly finished, it will contain at least one hundred and fifty persons with comfort. Such an establishment is extremely necessary for such a place as Louisville, which is very unhealthy in summer.
I made with Major Davenport an excursion into the country, to the very respectable country-seat, Locust Grove, six miles from Louisville, belonging to Dr. Croghan and a younger brother, and inherited from their father. Close by the town we crossed a small stream, which falls here into the Ohio, and is called Bear Grass creek. This serves the keel and flat boats as a very safe harbour. From the bridge over this, the road goes several miles through a handsome wood on the banks of the Ohio, past country-seats, and well cultivated fields, behind which fine looking hills arose. The wood consisted mostly of sycamores. We observed five that sprung from one root; two are quite common. The trees are very thick. We measured the bulk of the thickest sycamore, and found it twenty-seven feet four inches in circumference. I never recollect to have seen such a mammoth tree. Locust Grove itself lies about a mile from the river, and is, as appears from its name, surrounded by those trees. We found here the doctor, his brother William Croghan, with his young wife, a native of Pittsburgh, and a fat, lovely little boy, who strikingly reminded me of my sons.
At a party in the house of Mr. Use, a rich merchant and president of the branch of the United States Bank here, we met a very numerous and splendid society. Cotillions and reels were danced to the music of a single violin, and every thing went off pleasantly. We remained till midnight, and the company were still keeping up the dance, when we left them.
Dr. Ferguson was very much occupied in vaccination. The natural small-pox had made its appearance within a few days, under a very malignant form, in the town. On this account every one had their children vaccinated as speedily as possible; even those who were prejudiced against vaccination. In the evening, I went with Major and Mrs. Davenport to the house of Mrs. Wilson, to tea, whose daughter, fifteen years of age, had been married above a month. The young females marry much too early here, quite as early as in Louisiana.
There were two pieces represented at the theatre for the benefit of a Mrs. Drake; Man and Wife, a favourite English drama, and a farce called Three Weeks after Marriage. We were present on this occasion. The proscenium is very small; a confined pit, a single row of boxes, and a gallery. It was well filled; as Mrs. Drake was very much a favourite with the ladies here, all the boxes were full of the fashionables of the place. The dramatic corps was very ordinary with the exception of Mrs. Drake. Most of the actors were dressed very badly, had not committed their parts, and played in a vulgar style. One actor was so intoxicated, that he was hardly able to keep his legs.