Humphrey Marshall, author of the first _History of Kentucky_ that was
in any wise comprehensive, was born near Warrenton, Virginia, in 1760.
What little school instruction he received was from the young woman
whom he afterwards married. Marshall removed to Kentucky in 1782,
after having served as an officer in the Revolutionary War. He was a
member of the Virginia convention of 1788, as a representative of the
district of Kentucky, which adopted the Federal constitution.
Marshall was in the Kentucky legislature for several terms and, from
1795 to 1801, he was United States Senator from Kentucky. Some years
later he was again in the State legislature; and at about that time
his famous duel with Henry Clay took place. The first edition of his
_History of Kentucky_ (Frankfort, 1812), appeared in a single volume
of 407 pages; but the second and final edition was greatly revised and
augmented and published in two octavo volumes (Frankfort, 1824).
Humphrey Marshall's pen was pointed with poison for his enemies (and
he had more of them than any other Kentuckian of his time, perhaps),
and in his book he lashed them ruthlessly. He was the first as well as
the last of Kentucky's "personal" historians. He first endeavored to
silence his foes with newspapers and pamphlets, but, not being
satisfied with the results, he poured out his wrath in book form to
the extent of a thousand pages and more. While prejudice is the most
descriptive word possible to use in characterizing Marshall's work, it
is not all prejudice. He wrote with wonderful keenness concerning the
Spanish conspiracy in Kentucky, his views upon the men that were
guilty of bartering Kentucky to Spain in order to obtain free
navigation of the Mississippi river having been abundantly affirmed by
the latest historical work upon that subject. He also wrote of the
Burr conspiracy with great clearness of vision, all of which is very
remarkable when one stops to consider that nearly every one of the men
connected with these two conspiracies were his bitterest enemies. That
Marshall was an able writer all of the Kentucky historians have freely
admitted, notwithstanding the fact they have quarreled with his "copy"
many times. He is, as his biographer writes, "the stormy petrel of
Kentucky's earlier years," a most remarkable man from several points
of view. His _History of Kentucky_, in either edition, is rather
scarce at this time, and it is not to be found in many of the rare
book shops of the country. Humphrey Marshall died at Lexington,
Kentucky, July 3, 1841. He lies buried upon the banks of the Kentucky
river, near the capitol of the Commonwealth, Frankfort.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. _History of Kentucky_, by R. H. Collins (Covington,
Kentucky, 1882); _Life and Times of Hon. Humphrey Marshall_, by A.
C. Quisenberry (Winchester, Kentucky, 1892).