Luke P. Blackburn
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{{Infobox_Governor
| name = Luke P. Blackburn
| image = Blackburn_Luke.jpg
| order = 28<sup>th</sup>
| office = Governor of Kentucky
| term_start = [[September 2]], [[1879]]<ref name=powell>{{cite book |last=Powell |first=Robert A. |title=''Kentucky Governors'' |publisher=Kentucky Images |location=[[Frankfort, Kentucky]] |year=1976 |id={{ASIN|B0006CPOVM}}, {{OCLC|2690774}}}}</ref>
| term_end = [[September 5]], [[1883]]<ref name=powell />
| lieutenant = [[James E. Cantrill]]
| predecessor = [[James B. McCreary]]
| successor = [[J. Proctor Knott]]
| order2 = [[Kentucky House of Representatives|Kentucky State Representative]]
| term_start2 = [[1843]]
| term_end2 = [[1844]]
| birth_date = [[June 16]], [[1816]]<ref name=powell />
| birth_place = [[Woodford County, Kentucky]]<ref>Powell suggests that Blackburn was born in neighboring [[Fayette County, Kentucky|Fayette County]], but all other sources list Woodford County.</ref>
| death_date = [[September 14]], [[1887]]<ref name=powell />
| death_place = [[Frankfort, Kentucky]]<ref name=powell />
| party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]]<ref name=powell />
| spouse = Ella Gist Boswell<ref name=nga>{{cite web |url=http://www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem.29fab9fb4add37305ddcbeeb501010a0/?vgnextoid=799737a59b066010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e449a0ca9e3f1010VgnVCM1000001a01010aRCRD |title=Governor's Information: Kentucky Governor Luke Pryor Blackburn |publisher=[[National Governors Association]] |accessdate=2007-05-01}}</ref><br>Julia Churchill<ref name=nga />
| profession = [[Physician|Doctor]]
| religion = [[Baptist]]<ref name=nga />
|}}
'''Luke Pryor Blackburn''' ([[June 16]], [[1816]] – [[September 14]], [[1887]]) was a doctor and [[philanthropist]] who, despite only meager previous political experience, served as [[Governor of Kentucky]] from [[1879]] to [[1883]]. He spent much of his life combating [[yellow fever]] in the southern states and is credited with establishing the first successful [[quarantine]] against the spread of the disease in the [[Mississippi River]] valley.
Blackburn was the first doctor elected governor of the [[Commonwealth (United States)|Commonwealth]] and was the only one until the election of [[Ernie Fletcher]] in [[2003]].<ref name=harrison>{{cite book |title=''Kentucky's Governors'' |editor=[[Lowell H. Harrison]] |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |year=2004 |isbn=0813123267 |chapter=Luke Pryor Blackburn)}}</ref> His major issue as governor was [[prison reform]]. He was called the "father of prison reforms in Kentucky" for his efforts in improving conditions in the state's penal system.<ref name=harrison />
One incident stands in dark contrast to the rest of Blackburn's life. During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], he deliberately shipped trunks of clothing and linens contaminated with yellow fever to Northern cities in order to begin a [[pandemic]] of the disease and cripple the Union economy. Though it was later discovered that [[mosquito]]s are responsible for the spread of yellow fever, the plot is believed to be one of the earliest attempts at [[biological warfare]] in the United States.
==Early life==
Luke Pryor Blackburn was born in [[Woodford County, Kentucky]] on [[June 16]], [[1816]], the fourth of thirteen children born to Edward M. (Ned) and Lavina Bell Blackburn.<ref name=baird /> Many members of his family were involved in politics, including his distant cousin, statesman [[Henry Clay]]; his maternal grandfather, John Bell, who represented [[Fayette County, Kentucky|Fayette County]] at Kentucky's first [[Constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional convention]] in 1799; his uncle [[William T. Barry]], who served as [[Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky|lieutenant governor]] under [[James Turner Morehead (Kentucky)|James Turner Morehead]]; and his younger brother [[Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn]], a congressman from Kentucky and civilian governor of the [[Panama Canal Zone]].<ref name=baird>{{cite book |last=Baird |first=Nancy Disher |title=Luke Pryor Blackburn: Physician, Governor, Reformer |year=1979 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |isbn=0813102480}}</ref> He was also a great-nephew of noted [[Presbyterianism|Presbyterian]] minister [[Gideon Blackburn]].<ref name=baird>{{cite book |last=Baird |first=Nancy Disher |title=Luke Pryor Blackburn: Physician, Governor, Reformer |year=1979 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |isbn=0813102480}}</ref>
It was, however, the profession of another relative – his uncle Churchill Blackburn, a noted physician in [[Paris, Kentucky]] – that interested him.<ref name=baird /> Shortly after his sixteenth birthday, young Luke began a two-year apprenticeship under his uncle, helping him minister to residents of Kentucky's [[Bluegrass region]] during an outbreak of [[cholera]] in 1833.<ref name=baird /> Following his apprenticeship, Blackburn entered medical school at [[Transylvania University]], earning an [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] in March of 1835. He then began practicing in [[Lexington, Kentucky]].<ref name=baird />
On [[November 24]], [[1835]], Blackburn married Ella Gist Boswell, the daughter of Lexington physician Joseph and Judith Bell Boswell.<ref name=powell /> Dr. Boswell had died in the cholera outbreak two years earlier.<ref name=powell /> Blackburn and Boswell had one son, Cary Bell.<ref name=harrison />
It was during a cholera outbreak in nearby [[Versailles, Kentucky]] that Blackburn's reputation as a physician and philanthropist began to escalate. He often offered his services for free to ailing victims of the disease.<ref name=powell />
After a failed business venture involving the manufacture of [[rope]] and bagging<ref name=powell />, Blackburn was elected as a [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]]<ref name=kye>{{cite book |editor=Kleber, John E. |others=Associate editors: [[Thomas D. Clark]], [[Lowell H. Harrison]], and James C. Klotter |title=''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'' |year=1992 |publisher=The University Press of Kentucky |location=[[Lexington, Kentucky]] |isbn=0813117720 |chapter=Blackburn, Luke Pryor}}</ref> to the [[Kentucky House of Representatives]] in 1843.<ref name=nga /> Despite his family history, politics apparently did not agree with him; he refused to seek a second term, instead opening a medical practice with his brother in [[Frankfort, Kentucky]].<ref name=baird />
==Growing reputation==
Dire health conditions and a booming economy in the Mississippi River valley drew Blackburn away from Kentucky to the city of [[Natchez, Mississippi]] in 1846.<ref name=baird /> Shortly after arriving, Blackburn became the manager of the city hospital.<ref name=baird /> The following year, he served as the city's [[Environmental health officer|health officer]].<ref name=nga /> In 1848 and 1853<ref name=kye />, he organized the first successful quarantines against the spread of yellow fever in the Mississippi Valley,<ref name=nga /> bringing him national acclaim.<ref name=powell />
His concern for boatmen working along the Mississippi River lead him to set up a hospital for them using his own money.<ref name=powell /> [[Mississippi]] Congressman [[Albert G. Brown]] used Blackburn's generosity to chide [[United States Congress|Congress]] for not providing adequate medical facilities for the boatmen.<ref name=baird /> Brown's pleas were heeded, with Congress appropriating $60,000 for the construction of six facilities along the Mississippi.<ref name=baird /> One of these facilities was constructed in Natchez, and Blackburn was named chief physician.<ref name=baird />
His successful quarantines in Natchez led Blackburn to lobby the [[Louisiana State Legislature]] to establish a quarantine station along the river below [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] to prevent the spread of yellow fever upstream.<ref name=baird /> The measure was approved in 1855 over the protests of merchants who claimed it would hurt commerce, though the merchants' considerable influence rendered it ineffective in subsequent years.<ref name=baird />
In November of 1856, Blackburn's wife Ella, who suffered from [[dropsy]] and a nervous condition, died of "a fever."<ref name=baird /> Grief-stricken, Blackburn was encouraged by family members to take the European trip he'd often talked about taking.<ref name=baird /> In 1857, Blackburn made the trip, touring the hospitals [[England]], [[Scotland]], [[Germany]], and [[France]].<ref name=powell /> While in [[Paris, France|Paris]] he encountered fellow Kentuckian Julia M. Churchill. Upon returning to Kentucky in November 1857, Blackburn married Churchill.<ref name=powell /> The couple took up residence in New Orleans.<ref name=powell />
==Role in the Civil War==
Upon the outset of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], Blackburn, a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] sympathizer, volunteered as a citizen agent. After serving as an unsuccessful envoy to Louisiana for Kentucky Governor [[Beriah Magoffin]]<ref name=baird />, he was assigned to the staff of General [[Sterling Price]].<ref name=powell /> In 1863, Blackburn was assigned by [[Governor of Mississippi|Mississippi Governor]] [[John J. Pettus]] to travel to [[Canada]] and collect supplies for [[blockade runner]]s.<ref name=baird /> Blackburn's vessel was captured by Federal forces while trying to run a blockade at [[Mobile, Alabama]]; however, it was assumed that Blackburn was a civilian passenger, and he was released.<ref name=baird />
On two separate occasions in 1864, Blackburn sailed for the Caribbean island of [[Bermuda]], where yellow fever was running amok.<ref name=baird /> On both occasions, he arranged for trunks filled with linens and clothing used by his patients to be imported to Northern cities, believing yellow fever could be introduced into the area in this way.<ref name=baird /> It was later alleged that some of the contaminated clothing was intended for [[Abraham Lincoln|President Lincoln]] himself.<ref name=baird />
In April 1865, Blackburn's plot was uncovered.<ref name=harrison /> The U.S. Bureau of Military Justice charged him with conspiracy to commit murder, but he remained in Canada to avoid prosecution.<ref name=harrison /> He was, however, tried in [[Toronto, Ontario|Toronto]] for violating Canada's neutrality in the war, but was acquitted.<ref name=eok>{{cite book |title=''The Encyclopedia of Kentucky'' |publisher=Somerset Publishers |location=[[New York, New York]] |year=1987 |isbn=0403099811}}</ref>
==Service as governor==
Blackburn returned to his home state in 1872 and resumed his medical and philanthropic efforts, combating yellow fever in [[Memphis, Tennessee]] (1873),<ref name=kye /> [[Fernandina, Florida]] (1877),<ref name=baird /> and [[Hickman, Kentucky]] (1878).<ref name=kye /> The admiration garnered through his efforts led to a successful bid to become [[governor of Kentucky]] in 1879.<ref name=eok /> Blackburn garnered 55.4% of the popular vote, defeating candidates Walter Evans and C. W. Cook.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kdla.ky.gov/resources/KYGovernors_pg4.htm |title=Kentucky's Governors: 1879 – 1907 |publisher=Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives |accessdate=2007-05-02}}</ref>
Reform of Kentucky's penal system was the hallmark of Blackburn's term as governor. He appointed a commission to oversee drastic improvements at the eighty-year-old [[penitentiary]] in Frankfort, ominously dubbed "Kentucky's [[Black Hole of Calcutta]] by some.<ref name=harrison /> He secured funding for the [[Kentucky State Penitentiary]] at [[Eddyville, Kentucky]],<ref name=kye /> though it never became what Blackburn envisioned – a facility that would "teach and train the prisoner in such a manner that on his discharge, he may be able to resist temptation and inclined to lead an upright and worthy life."<ref name=harrison /> He also hired out convicts to work on public projects.<ref name=kye />
Blackburn financed his reform measures by increasing the state's [[property tax]].<ref name=harrison /> The use of tax dollars to improve the lot of prisoners was an unpopular action, and had prevented previous prison reform advocates from accomplishing the needed improvements. Blackburn forced the [[Kentucky General Assembly|General Assembly]]'s hand by liberally invoking his power of [[clemency|executive pardon]], releasing the aged and infirm to alleviate overcrowding.<ref name=kye /> This action earned him the nickname "Lenient Luke."<ref name=harrison />
Other accomplishments during Blackburn's administration included revamping the state's [[United States district court|district courts]], creating a state superior court, and reorganizing the Agricultural and Mechanical College – later, the [[University of Kentucky]].<ref name=harrison />
==Later life and legacy==
Following the expiration of his term in 1883, Blackburn retired from politics and returned to his medical practice once again, briefly operating a [[sanitarium]] in [[Louisville, Kentucky]].<ref name=harrison /> He died on [[September 14]], [[1887]] in [[Frankfort, Kentucky]], and is buried at Frankfort Cemetery.<ref name=kye /> His monument, erected by the state, features a [[bas-relief]] depicting the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]], a tribute to his life of service and alleviation of suffering.<ref name=harrison /> In 1972, the state opened the [[Blackburn Correctional Complex]], a 400-acre minimum security prison near Lexington named for Governor Blackburn.<ref name=baird />
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Further reading==
*[http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/jefferson/blackburn.lp.txt Biography from Kentucky: A History of the State]
{{start box}}
{{succession box|title=[[Governor of Kentucky]]|before=[[James B. McCreary]]|after=[[J. Proctor Knott]]|years=1879–1883}}
{{end box}}
{{KYGovernors}}
{{Persondata
|NAME=Blackburn, Luke Pryor
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=[[Physician]], [[Governor of Kentucky]]
|DATE OF BIRTH=[[June 16]], [[1816]]
|PLACE OF BIRTH=[[Woodford County, Kentucky]]
|DATE OF DEATH=[[September 14]], [[1887]]
|PLACE OF DEATH=[[Frankfort, Kentucky]]
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackburn, Luke}}
[[Category:1816 births]]
[[Category:1887 deaths]]
[[Category:Baptists from the United States]]
[[Category:Governors of Kentucky]]
[[Category:Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives]]
[[Category:People of Kentucky in the American Civil War]]
[[Category:Transylvania University alumni]]
[[de:Luke Blackburn]]