About Elizabeth

Elizabeth Rouse Fielder is an attorney and author who has published a biography about her great-great-grandfather Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn, entitled Kentucky’s Joseph C.S. Blackburn Soldier, Statesman and a Friend of All. She has written a number of articles about Joseph C.S. Blackburn. She is currently working on a nonfiction book about Blackburn’s legacy as the first Governor of the Panama Canal Zone and a historical fiction book based on the Blackburn family. She lives in Lexington, Kentucky with her husband, Tom. 

Ms. Fielder has written several articles on U.S. Senator Blackburn and his family that have been published in the following: 

  • Kentucky Historical Society Bluegrass Roots Quarterly Journal of the Kentucky Genealogical Society, “Kentucky Roots of Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn” (Volume 41, No. 1, Spring 2014);

  • Kentucky Historical Society Kentucky Ancestors Online, “The George Blackburn Family of Leaders” (October 14, 2014);

  • The Woodford Sun, “Woodford County and the Panama Canal,” (March 20, 2014, page 7); 

  • Quarterly Newsletter of the Woodford County Historical Society, “The Panama Canal Turns 100; Joseph C. S. Blackburn Appointed First Governor of the Panama Canal Zone,” (Volume 5, Issue 2, April-June 2014);

  • Quarterly Newsletter of the Woodford County Historical Society, “Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn’s Link to Lincoln” (Volume 5, Issue 2, April-June 2014);

  • Kentucky Explorer, “Dr. Christopher Columbus Graham, Living Encyclopedia of Kentucky History,” (Volume 29, Number 6, November 2014); and

  • Kentucky Historical Society Bluegrass Roots Journal of the Kentucky Genealogical Society, “Dr. Christopher Columbus Graham, Lincoln’s Mentor,” (Winter 2015 issue, posted December 2014).  

About The Book

Kentucky’s Joseph C.S. Blackburn
Soldier, Statesman and a Friend of All

…is the story of Joseph C.S. Blackburn, a young lawyer who was graced by Lincoln’s help on his first court case in Chicago, Illinois, but who turned against Lincoln during the Civil War, becoming a Confederate officer. He survived the war and resumed the practice of law, first in Arkansas and then, once pardoned, back home in Kentucky where he began his extensive political career. He served as Kentucky’s state and U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator for a combined thirty-two years. After his third senate term, he was chosen by President Theodore Roosevelt to serve as the first Governor of the Panama Canal Zone for approximately four years. Fittingly, he concluded his life honoring President Lincoln while he was the Special Resident Commissioner supervising the construction of the Lincoln Memorial, calling Lincoln “Our greatest President.”

Joseph C.S. Blackburn died on September 12, 1918 and is buried in the Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, Kentucky. His simple tombstone reads, “He Passed Through Life a Friend to All.”

Ordering

Kentucky’s Joseph C.S. Blackburn Soldier, Statesman and a Friend of All
ISBN-10: 1948901021
ISBN-13: 978-1948901024
$29.95, Acclaim Press, Inc. (November 21, 2018)

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A beautiful, 6” X 9” hard-bound book with a handsome dust jacket and book cover encloses the 349 pages of text, multiple photographs and graphics. There are 35 pages listing the sources and index. The author’s name and title are on the book spine. The book is available in the Barnes & Noble Bookstores nationwide and at Joseph Beth Booksellers.

Contact

Elizabeth Rouse Fielder is available for presentations, book-signings and appearances before book clubs. Send an email to set up a speaking engagement today: erfielder@fieldergroup.com.