Images of America: Paris and Bourbon County takes readers back in time to the days when the horseless carriage was still a glimmer in Henry Ford's eye and the term horsepower meant just that. Those, too, were the days in Bourbon County, the birthplace of bourbon whiskey, when distilleries dotted the map, and saloons almost outnumbered churches. Nestled in the heart of the famed Bluegrass region of Kentucky, Paris and Bourbon are known for their beauty and charm. The communities featured in this volume revel in their rich traditions but also delight in their survival through changing times. A variety of vintage images of long-forgotten treasures are included in this book. Some of the rare snapshots show the Interurban, which ran between Paris and Lexington; the Paris Opera House; early stores; church buildings and church groups; as well as many early schools. While time has changed many of the physical sites pictured in this volume, some-like the Cane Ridge Meeting House and the Bourbon County Courthouse-live on. Also showcased are the many people who contributed to the unique character of Bourbon County and its towns and hamlets, including renowned author John Fox Jr., Confederate soldiers, African-American church deacons, and lots of "everyday folks."

The First Census of the United States (1790) comprised an enumeration of the inhabitants of the present states of Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, and Virginia. Unfortunately, during the War of 1812, when the British burned the Capitol at Washington, the returns for several states were destroyed, including those for Virginia, of which Kentucky was a part. In 1940, this "First Census" of Kentucky: 1790, was published, being developed from tax lists from the nine counties which comprised the entire State in 1790. Individuals are listed alphabetically, and following each name is the county of residence and the date of the return. The cumulative returns for Kentucky are included on page one. Also included at the end of the book are the "Land and Tax List of King George County [VA], 1782;" "Personal Tax List of Fayette County, 1788;" "Personal Tax List No. 2 of Fayette County, 1787;" "Land Tax List of Prince William County [VA], 1784;" and the "Land Tax List of Charles City County, 1787." More than 10,000 names listed in this work. Paperback, (1940), repr. 2000, 2012, Alphabetical, viii, 118 pp.

Arthur Schlesinger Jr. thought that he might one day become president. He was a protege of Felix Frankfurter and Fred Vinson--a political prodigy who held a series of important posts in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations. Whatever became of Edward F. Prichard, Jr., so young and brilliant and seemingly destined for glory? Prichard was a complex man, and his story is tragically ironic. The boy from Bourbon County, Kentucky, graduated at the top of his Princeton class and cut a wide swath at Harvard Law School. He went on to clerk in the U.S. Supreme Court and become an important figure in Roosevelt's Brain Trust. Yet Prichard--known for his dazzling wit and photographic memory--fell victim to the hubris that had helped to make him great. In 1948, he was indicted for stuffing 254 votes in a U.S. Senate race. J. Edgar Hoover, never a fan of the young genius, made sure he was prosecuted, and so many of the members of the Supreme Court were Prichard's friends that not enough justices were left to hear his appeal. So the man Roosevelt's advisors had called the boy wonder of the New Deal went to jail. Prichard's meteoric rise and fall is essentially a Greek tragedy set on the stage of American politics. Pardoned by President Truman, Prichard spent the next twenty-five years working his way out of political exile. Gradually he became a trusted advisor to governors and legislators, though without recognition or compensation. Finally, in the 1970s and 1980s, Prichard emerged as his home state's most persuasive and eloquent voice for education reform, finally regaining the respect he had thrown away in his arrogant youth.

Fred Minnick traces bourbon's entire history, beginning with the New World settlers and following righ up through today's booming resurgence.