[16] Address at Camp Madison, Franklin County, Ky., in 1843.
[17] Equivalent to about 845 English acres.
[18] The story of the original Harding portrait, as gathered from statements to the present writer by members of the painter's family, supplemented by letters of Harding himself to the late Lyman C. Draper, is an interesting one. The artist used for his portrait a piece of ordinary table oil-cloth. For many years the painting was in the capitol at Frankfort, Ky., "from the fact that it was hoped the State would buy it." But the State had meanwhile become possessed of another oil portrait painted about 1839 or 1840 by a Mr. Allen, of Harrodsburg, Ky.—an ideal sketch, of no special merit. Harding's portrait, apparently the only one of Boone painted from life, was not purchased, for the State did not wish to be at the expense of two paintings. Being upon a Western trip, in 1861, Harding, then an old man and a resident of Springfield, Mass., rescued his portrait, which was in bad condition, and carried it home. The process of restoration was necessarily a vigorous one. The artist writes (October 6, 1861): "The picture had been banged about until the greater part of it was broken to pieces.... The head is as perfect as when it was painted, in color, though there are some small, almost imperceptible, cracks in it." The head and neck, down to the shirt-collar, were cut out and pasted upon a full-sized canvas; on this, Harding had "a very skilful artist" repaint the bust, drapery, and background, under the former's immediate direction. The picture in the present state is, therefore, a composite. The joining shows plainly in most lights. Upon the completion of the work, Harding offered to sell it to Draper, but the negotiation fell through. The restored portrait was then presented by the artist to his son-in-law, John L. King, of Springfield, Mass., and in due course it came into the possession of the latter's son, the present owner.