One hundred and fifty years ago this month the “mothers, wives, sisters and daughters” of Graves County petitioned the Kentucky State Legislature to “guard them from the direful calamity of civil war”. On May 16, the State Legislature resolved that “this state and the citizens thereof should take no part in the civil war now being waged, except as mediators and friends to the belligerent parties and that Kentucky should, during the contest, occupy the position of strict neutrality”. Four days later, Governor Magoffin notified and warned “all other states, whether separate or united, and especially the United States and the Confederate States, that I solemnly forbid any movement upon the soil of Kentucky, or the occupation of any port, post or place whatever within the lawful boundary and jurisdiction of this state by any of the forces under the order of the states aforesaid”. The State Senate resolved on May 24 that “Kentucky will not sever her connections with the national government, nor will she take up arms for either of the belligerent parties, but will arm herself for the purpose of preserving tranquility and peace within her own borders”. The government of Kentucky had committed itself to the policy of neutrality, but there was a sizable minority in the Jackson Purchase that favored joining the Confederacy.
Jackson Purchase Historical Society