Can you identify these Georgetown notables?
History’s pages are chockful of colorful characters and Georgetown’s own book would reveal past personalities who are worth entire chapters. For each, “go big or go home” could have been their personal life statement. They went very big.
Here are six clues about four illustrious history (some would say trouble) makers who left an indelible mark on Georgetown – even hundreds of years later. Can you put the right name to each notable?
I shouted when others thought I should keep my mouth shut
- Call me obnoxious – I’ve been called worse – but I still enjoy screaming at inappropriate times.
- My glorious, shiny black hair is the envy of all.
- I once hung out at a hat shop but always preferred the horse track.
- I was killed by a rifle-toting kid – the brat!
- My reign in Georgetown happened during the Andrew Jackson administration.
- Look for me downtown – I’m actually in two different places, but you can only see me at one.
Did I or didn’t I? The whole world sure thinks so
- Some like to pigeonhole me, but my claims to fame are many and varied, including giving Kentucky its first papermill and opening an academy for young men. (Sorry, ladies.)
- I was full of fire and brimstone and loved to preach the Good Book.
- On at least two occasions, I shocked my flock by getting arrested and jailed.
- There are conflicting stories about how many wives I had, and how many children I had with each.
- I founded a village and gave it one name, then asked that it be given another – that of this great nation’s first president. And it was, in 1792.
- The story of what people say I discovered that overshadows everything else I ever did begins at a park in downtown Georgetown.
‘Scandal’ could have been my middle name
- You might say I was an exhibitionist.
- The royalty of the day enthusiastically courted me – and not just Britain’s.
- The good women of the mid-19th century didn’t wear cosmetics . . . but I And they waited for me to introduce the very latest fashions.
- Whether by restlessness or a propensity to choose poorly, I had a string of marriages, and divorces.
- I amassed a fortune in the millions. (Thanks, hubbies!)
- I introduced Kentucky society to fancy dress balls at the place where I can be found today. Hint: Look for a piano. How I loved music!
Unmasked, unapologetic, unforgettable
- I’d like to think of myself as a Robin Hood – except I kept all the money I stole.
- Some people find it interesting (ironic?) that my daddy was a Baptist minister.
- The only way I could visit my family was to sneak into town under the cloak of night.
- In those days, nobody thought anything about marrying your cousin, and I married one who was named after my momma.
- I have fascinated people for a century and a half. Just look at the dozens and dozens of books and movies that have memorialized my life and times.
- I never lived in the area, but you can find my ties to town on a local tour where I’m one of 10 points of interest. Not bad, eh?