What happened when a clerk looked the wrong way at grandson of KY’s first governor?
Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history - some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
Jan. 10, 1846: Lafayette Shelby kills Henry Horine in front of the Phoenix Hotel.
Shelby, the grandson of Kentucky’s first governor, Isaac Shelby, was described as “the son of a rich and influential family but unhappily alienated from his father for the last year or two…” On this particular day, according to court records, Shelby felt as if he’d been insulted when Horine looked at him wrong.
Horine, a “sober, peaceful, innocent” clerk, defended his right to look at anyone anyway he saw fit. In fact, he is reported to have said, “He had a right to look at any man in the face and he would do it again when he pleased,” to which Shelby threatened to “break (his) head with a tumbler.”
Before long, words turned to actions and Shelby eventually ended up slapping Horine, who fell backward. Shelby saw Horine’s cloak move and, thinking Horine was grabbing for his gun, pulled out a pistol and shot Horine in the head.
The young clerk died instantly. Shelby was charged with murder and faced hanging if found guilty.
Represented by Henry Clay, Shelby was released on bail when the jury was unable to reach a verdict. When news of the trial’s outcome leaked out, the town exploded.
Citizens gathered to protest and called for the judge to resign. Effigies of the judge and jurors were hung and burned near Cheapside in protest.
Shelby fled to Missouri where it is thought he died at the hands of a bushwhacker in 1859.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 9:31 AM.
