Lexington’s ‘King’ Solomon: An unlikely hero who helped during the cholera epidemic

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.

An unlikely hero emerged during Lexington’s 1833 cholera epidemic — the town nuisance who stayed behind to bury those who died.

In the early days of Lexington, William “King” Solomon was known around the city as a drunk and a vagrant. He supported his drinking habit by digging cisterns, graves and cellars, and was arrested many times for public intoxication.

There are many myths and stories surrounding Solomon, but several historians agree that he was key in preventing the spread of cholera in Lexington.

In the spring of 1833, Solomon was brought up on charges of vagrancy. To punish him, he was sold into servitude for a year. Officials said that at the end of his punishment, he was to return to court.

A woman known as Aunt Charlotte, who had been brought to Lexington as a slave and freed when her owners died, won the bid for Solomon’s service, several accounts say. Charlotte had inherited property, and supported herself selling fruit and baked goods at Cheapside Market.

Accounts of what happened next vary, with some saying that Charlotte set Solomon free from his servitude. Solomon promptly got drunk, then the next day, made his way back to her home and passed out on her doorstep, the story goes.

When he woke up, the cholera epidemic had hit the city, and people in the city either had begun dying. He’d slept through the beginning of the pandemic in Lexington that ultimately claimed the lives of about 7% of the city’s residents.

All around him, people were preparing to evacuate the city, but Solomon refused to leave. While Aunt Charlotte had been preparing to go, when Solomon refused to leave, she decided to stay behind with him.

As more people succumbed to the disease, the dead started to pile up quicker than they could be buried. Solomon got out his shovel and began burying the dead. By doing so, Solomon is credited with saving the city from further spread of the disease.

A year later, when Solomon returned to court as he’d been instructed to, the judge reportedly shook his hand. Others thanked him for his heroism.

On Nov. 23, 1854, Solomon died and was buried in the Lexington Cemetery. A large tombstone was placed on Solomon’s grave in 1908, and a portrait of him hangs in the Bodley-Bullock House near Gratz Park, celebrating the actions he took during the plague that wiped out more than 500 people in a town of only 7,000.

Have a question or story idea related to Lexington’s 250-year history? Let us know at 250LexKy@gmail.com.