Chronicles of Cynthiana

A Book Review

     Members of the recently organized Harrison County Historical Society are to be congratulated for issuing an excellent facsimile reprint of the rare volume Chronicles of Cynthiana, and Other Chronicles, by Mrs. Lucinda Boyd.

     In 1894 Mrs. Boyd collected and published a volume filled with facts and folklore of Harrison County, Kentucky. Typical of the type of county histories written before the turn of the century, these chronicles are more readable and more interesting than many of this genre.

     "Miss Lu," as she is remembered by older residents of Cynthiana, was regarded by her peers as a very intelligent, if somewhat eccentric, local celebrity.  In compiling the Chronicles of Cynthiana she did not choose to give simply a factual history of the county and town:  only indirectly does the reader discover that Harrison County was formed from Bourbon and Scott in 1793.  However, the somewhat unusual method of combining the first names of Cynthia and Anna Harrison to create an original name for the county seat is given in detail.  The story of beautiful Margaret Goudy--unjustly imprisoned in the attic of the family home by her father--and the tale of the restless ghost of poor unfortunate David Sheely, who was hanged for a murder he did not commit, are chronicled gracefully.

     Some genealogy does creek pint Mrs. Boyd's accounts of the lives of "old citizens," lawyers, physicians, ministers, governors and teachers who lived in Cynthiana and Harrison County before 1900.  In general, though, she is more intent on recording interesting and unusual facts about members of the families she chooses to included than in giving a list of "begats."  She writes vividly about the cholera scourge of 1833, the county wide barbecue for old soldiers in 1844, the fine blooded horses at Abdallah park.  There are sad and humorous stories of and about slaves--some in dialect.  "Polly's" eye-witness account of the activities of local citizens when the "feds" and "secesh" each fought to control Cynthiana--during battles precipitated by John Hunt Morgan--is balanced by factual accounts copied from Collins.  Actually, by reading this excellent reprint the present generation may experience a pleasant and even humorous feeling of acquaintance with much of the unique lore of the locality.

     As a final chapter Mrs. Boyd includes a letter of greeting addressed to "Sir Unknown--The Historian of 1993."  She requests that an answer be delivered to the Cynthiana post office where she says she will pick it up on December 10, 1993.  The Harrison County Historical Society has thoughtfully answered her letter over twenty years ahead of time by assuring a re-reading of her work.  "Miss Lu" should be quite pleased.

Mrs. C.B. Van Arsdall, Jr.

Harrodsubrg, Ky.

This book review was originally published on pages 282-284 in the July, 1971 (Vol. 69, No. 3) issue of the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society.

Who Was Lucinda Boyd?

By George Slade 

Lucinda Boyd, author of the book, Chronicles of Cynthiana, was born in Dark County, Ohio, April 12, 1840, the daughter of Rev. Samuel and Elizabeth Irvin Rogers.  Samuel Rogers, a veteran of the War of 1812, entered the ministry and became the head of a great family of ministers in the Christian Church.  He was a widely known evangelist.  Lucinda's parents are buried near Main Street in the Graveyard at the north end of Cynthiana.  In an adjoining grave lie the remains of Lucinda's brother, Captain W.S. (Whip) Rogers, Confederate soldier, killed in the Battle of Augusta.

In 1851, after Samuel Rogers moved his family to Cynthiana, Lucinda married Judge J. Strother Boyd.  From this union there were born seven children, one dying in infancy.  Of the children, Mary became a physician, being the first woman to graduate in medicine at the University of Cincinnati, Frances was a university professor; Montgomery (Gum), a traveling salesman; Hall, a wireless operator, living in Mexico; Joseph, a physician, and Samuel a lawyer.

Mrs. Boyd enjoyed a wide reputation as a literary woman.  She was the author of a number of works, perhaps the most ambitious being The Irvin and Their Kin.  In preparing the manuscript of this book she made a special trip to England and Scotland and spent some time in the ancestral homes of the Irvins.  Of course, her work of greatest interest locally is the book Chronicles of Cynthiana.  She also wrote a wealth of sketches, short stories and poems.  One book, The Sorrows of Nancy (1899), was described in Coleman's Bibliography of Kentucky History:  "An attempt to prove Abraham Lincoln's illegitimate descent from John Marshall and that he was born in Clark County near Thatcher's Mill.  A collection of stories and traditions supported by affidavits, but on the whole the work is unreliable and faulty."

Judge Boyd and Lucinda bought the Gavin Morrison home in 1870 and it was here that they reared their family.  This house, located on West Pike Street, diagonally opposite the Old Jail, was possibly the most historic house in Cynthiana.  It was taken down to provide for a parking lot.  Passages in Lucinda's writings suggest that she may have spent many hours gazing across the river towards the hills beyond.

A contemporary, writing in 1896 observes, "Mrs. Boyd is a woman of striking personnel with traces of her noble ancestors in bearing and general appearance.  In stature rather above medium, with a full, well-rounded form and clear-cut classical features, shadowed by masses of glossy, richly waving black hair.  She has a deep penetrating black eye which ever and anon twinkles with wicked merriment and a mouth whose every curve indicates a love for fun, while the gleaming, strong set teeth show the courage of the Bruce.  Mrs. Boyd is of a responsive, appreciative nature, and a universal favorite.  She numbers among her close friends, quite as many men as women, quite as many poor as rich, goes wherever duty calls and is a noble type of Christian womanhood."

Lucinda Joan Boyd died at Harrison Hospital (Penn St.), October 4, 1913.  About four weeks before she had sustained an operation for the relief of appendicitis.  The operation was considered successful but pneumonia developed and in her weakened condition she was unable to withstand the shock.  She is buried at Battle Grove Cemetery next to her husband, Judge Boyd.

The final chapter of Chronicles of Cynthiana, published in 1894, is titled "To the Historian of 1993:  Greeting."  She ends, "Answer this letter and tell me all that has been done since my soul shook off the dust that encurmbered it here on earth.  I shall come for my letter December 10th, 12 o'clock at night, 1993.  I shall find the post office, move it where you will.  And now fare, fare you well."  Friday night, December 10, 1993, an audience of more than 300 people eagerly awaited the arrival of Lucinda at the post office on Ladish Road.  They were not disappointed.  At the stroke of midnight, "Lucinda" rode into the parking lot atop a black steed.  She wore a flowing black robe and veil and accepted her letter from historian George Slade.

This biography was originally published in the August, 2000 issue of the Harrison Heritage News, the monthly newsletter of the Harrison County Historical Society.

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