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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 3-1977 The Kentucky Tragedy in American Literature: From Thomas Holley Chivers to Robert Warren Jack Edward Surrency University of Tennessee, Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Surrency, Jack Edward, "The Kentucky Tragedy in American Literature: From Thomas Holley Chivers to Robert Warren. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 1977. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/3644 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jack Edward Surrency entitled "The Kentucky Tragedy in American Literature: From Thomas Holley Chivers to Robert Warren." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English. Richard B. Davis, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Nathalia Wright, Allen Carrol, John Osborne Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) · To the Graduate Council: I am submitting here\dth a dissertation written by Jack Edward Surrency entitled "The Kentucky Tragedy in American Literature: From Thomas Holley Chivers to Robert Penn Warren." I recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English. Richard B. Davis, �iajor Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Accepted for the Council: Vice Chancellor Graduate Studies and Research ThesiJ 11b ·J?I3 ' up·-2, THE KENTUCKY TRAGEDY IN AMERICAN LITERATURE : FROM THOMAS HOLLEY CHIVERS TO ROBERT PENN WARREN A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee , Knoxville Jack Edward Surrency March 1977 131SZ68 Copyright by Jack E. Surrency 1977 All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS During the course of researching and writing my dissertation, I have become indebted to many persons . I should like to thank the many librarians at the Universities of Tennessee, Kentucky. Western Kentucky. Georgia, and Florida for their cooperation and assistance . My thanks are due to Professor Nathalia Wright and Professor Allen Carrol for - reading my dissertation and offering their constructive advice . Professor John Osborne is to be thanked not only for reading my dissertation but also for discovering the location of what is perhaps the earliest printed drama based on the Kentucky Tragedy. I should like to express my gratitude to Professor Richard Beale Davis for introducing me to the story of Beauchamp and Sharp . His enthusiasm for the topic inspired me; his knowledge of the topic provided necessary guidelines for the direction and scope of the dissertation . My special thanks are offered to my wife Seena without whose help this dissertation would never have been completed. iii ABSTRACT On November 7, 1825, in Frankfort , Kentucky , Colonel Solomon P. Sharp , a distinguished Kentucky statesman, was murdered by Jereboarn 0. Beauchamp , who was hanged for Sharp's murder on July 7 , 1826, a few hours after he had stabbed himself in the abdomen and had witnessed the suicide of his wife Ann. This event-the celebrated case in which a young Kentucky gentleman , to fu lfill a vow of revenge imposed upon him by his wife as a condition of their marriage, assassinated the man who had been his wife 's lover years before-became known internationally as the Kentucky Tragedy and for over a century and a half has appeared as a maj or theme in American literature . Occurring at a time when American authors were searching for events from their national history for treatment and at a time when Americans were eager for stories of chivalry and romance, the Kentucky Tragedy developed into one of the most popular literary themes in the nineteenth century. Among the important reasons for the popularity of the Tragedy in literature is that it was a factual account that satisfied and fulfilled the curiosity and expectations of Americans about the violent character of frontier life in the Southwest of the early 1800's. Although violence has always been common in America, the South has always seemed to many the very emb odiment of that violence . As Charles R. Anderson, in "Violence and Order in the Novels of Robert Penn Warren ," Hopkins Review, 6 (Winter 1953), 88-105 ,. points out , "the witch-burning of New Eng land, the bandit of the Wild West , the underworld of Ch icago , iv v all • . fade before the succession of Southern images of violence that fascinate the popular mind : the lash of the slave-driver, the Bowie kni fe of the old Southwest, the duelling pistol of the hot-headed gentleman , the rebel yell of the fire-eater, the gasoline torch of the lyncher, the fiery cross of the Klansman ." The "popular mind," fascinated with stories of the violence of the South, could not have been more satisfied-than with the story of the Kentucky Tragedy, an incident fraught with murder, sui cide, and hanging. A wealth of incidents in frontier life, especially incidents of lawlessness and crime, appealed to the American public and provided American authors with native themes . J. B. Hubbell, in South and Southwest: Literary Essays and Reminiscences (Durham : Duke University Press, 1965) , p. 277, quotes one southern historian who suggests that "what is distinctive in American , in contrast to general English literature , comes out of our experience with the frontier." Of al l the stories of the frontier the Kentucky Tragedy became the most popular . In fact , Professor Richard Beale Davis has pointed out , in "Thomas Holley Chivers and the Kentucky Tragedy," University of Texas Studies in Literature and Language, I, No . 2 (Summer 1959) , 281-288, that the "Kentucky Tragedy stands as one of the three great historical events, matters , or themes which American writers have drawn up on in creating fi ction , poetry, and drama. On ly Pocahontas and Merry �iount rival it." Since its occurrence in 1825 and 1826, the Kentucky Tragedy has been discus sed by many Kentucky historians , and many theses have been written whi ch deal with the Tragedy as a maj or theme in American vi literature. The facts as reported by some historians , however, have too often been biased, misleading, and erroneous , creating a distorted, confused picture of what actually happened and why . The earlier studies which have examined the use authors have made of the event are usually sketchy in the background information rel ated to the case itself and have been necessarily limited in their appraisal of the literature based on the Tragedy. This study, therefore, attempts to present an accurate, chronological history of the Kentucky Tragedy--taking into consideration the economic and political climate of the times--relying often on court and county records to verify or disprove information that has long been regarded as factual . Moreover, four works are examined which have often been used by writers as source material for their works based on the Tragedy to determine how reliable these works are as factual sources . Finally, an examination of all extant works based on the Beauchamp ­ Sharp case by American authors is undertaken to determine how the Tragedy has been presented in fi ction and nonfiction and to demonstrate the ubiquity of the story as a maj or theme in American literature from its first appearance as a play by an anonymous author in 1833 to Robert Penn Warren 's novel World Enough and Time in 1950. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 I. THE HISTORY OF THE KENTUCKY TRAGEDY • 9 II. AN EXAMINAT ION OF SOURCES 56 III. MISCELLANEOUS PIECES 85 IV. PLAYS . • 98 V. NOVELS 128 VI. CONCLUSION 160 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 165 APPENDIX . 175 VITA .•. 179 vii INTRODUCT ION The 1820's were colorful but tumultuous times in Kentucky . The wild, untamed frontier existed side by side with the beginnings of a more refined society. The state was growing an d opportunity was available to those who would seize it. Excitement, growth , and opportunity, however, were mixed with despair. The effects of the nation 's depression in 1819 continued to be fe lt in Kentucky, and many historians believe that during this time, because of the existing political and financial conditions , Kentucky was on the verge of civil war. There was little faith in the banking system in Kentucky; trade was slowing down rapidly; and debtors were finding it increasingly 1 difficult to meet their ob ligations . To forestal l complete financial disaster and possib le anarchy, the Kentucky legislature passed laws which allowed deferment of debts. The lower courts and the Court of Appeals immediately declared that many of the more important relief measures were un constitutional . The legisla- ture responded by passing an act that called for the three regul arly appointed judges of the Court of Appeals to vacate and decreed that a new set of judges be appointed by the governor. The so-called Old Court justices, or Anti-Relief justices, refused to resign after Governor Joseph Desha appointed the New Court , or Relief justices , as they were 1 Arndt M. Stickles, "Joseph R. Underwood's Fragmentary Journal of the New and Old Court Contest in Kentucky," The Filson Club History Quarterly, 13 (1939) , 202-210.

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