TEXT ON THE HISTORICAL MARKER
Pleasant Retreat
Home of William Owsley and his son-in-law Simeon Anderson. Built about 1815. Owsley, 1782-1862, State House of Representatives and Senate; Court of Appeals; Kentucky Secretary of State and Governor of Kentucky 1844-48. Owsley County named for him. Anderson, born 1802; State House of Representatives; in 1839, U.S. Congress. Died 1840, in office.
Location: Marker is on Stanford Street (U.S. 27) north of Industry Road (Route 39), Lancaster KY 40444
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The Place:
OWSLEY COUNTY KENTUCKY
From Wikipedia
"Owsley County is a county located in the Eastern Coalfield region of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,051, making it the second-least populous county in Kentucky. The county seat is Booneville. The county was organized on January 23, 1843, from Clay, Estill, and Breathitt counties and named for William Owsley (1782–1862), the judge of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Governor of Kentucky (1844–48). According to the 2010 census reports, Owsley County has the second-highest level of child poverty of any county in the United States. In terms of income per household, the county is the poorest in the nation. Between 1980 and 2014, the rate of death from cancer in the county increased by 45.6 percent, the largest such increase of any county in the United States."
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The Person:
WILLIAM OWSLEY
From Wikipedia
"William Owsley (March 24, 1782 – December 9, 1862) was an associate justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the 16th Governor of Kentucky. He also served in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly and was Kentucky Secretary of State under Governor James Turner Morehead.
Owsley studied law under John Boyle. After briefly serving in the state legislature, he was appointed by Governor Charles Scott to serve alongside Boyle on the Kentucky Court of Appeals. During his service on the court, Owsley was involved in the Old Court – New Court controversy. In 1824, the state legislature, unhappy with the court's rulings against debt relief legislation, attempted to abolish the court and replace it with a new court. For a time, both courts operated simultaneously, and both claimed to be the court of last resort in the state. Supporters of the old court won control of the legislature and abolished the new court in 1826. Owsley resigned from the Court of Appeals two years later.
In 1831, Owsley returned to the state legislature, where he served until Governor Morehead appointed him secretary of state in 1834. He resumed his legal practice in 1836 and in 1843, retired from that profession. The next year, he was nominated for governor on the Whig ticket and defeated William O. Butler in the general election. Through fiscally conservative policies, he was able to reduce the state's debt. In spite of his opposition to the Mexican–American War, large numbers of Kentucky's citizens volunteered for military service. Owsley's popularity declined sharply when he attempted to remove Benjamin Hardin as Secretary of State. Hardin successfully challenged his removal in court, then resigned in protest of Owsley's actions and charged him with practicing nepotism in his appointments. After his term as governor, Owsley never again sought public office. He died December 9, 1862 and was buried in Belleview Cemetery in Danville, Kentucky."
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