Assassination Trivia

[Leon Greene]

Yes, Dr. Blackburn pursued a career in politics years after returning from exile in Canada, seeking to become Governor of Kentucky. Immediately following the Kentucky Democratic Convention in May 1879, the Cincinnati Gazette resurrected the story of the "yellow fever plot," and the Gazette even opened a special office to run the investigation and the reporting. The saga had never been reported in detail by the Kentucky papers in the late 1860s, and many Kentuckians simply couldn't believe that Dr. Blackburn - dubbed "Dr. Black Vomit" after the cardinal symptom of yellow fever - could have done such a thing. Many Northern newspapers picked up the story, though Kentucky reporters were hesitant to cover the scandal, questioning if there could actually be two Dr. Blackburns, one an upright citizen and the other a diabolical fiend. Blackburn, being a skillful politician, simply refused to comment on the accusations, saying only that the entire story was “too preposterous for intelligent gentlemen to believe.” His tactics were successful, and he was elected Governor of Kentucky.