In September 1861, Joshua Speed, the owner of Farmington, wrote to his long-time friend Abraham Lincoln expressing concern over John C. Fremont's emancipation order in Missouri. Speed at one point in the letter explained, "So fixed is public sentiment in this state against freeing negroes & allowing negroes to be emancipated & remain among us -- That you had as well attack the freedom of worship in the north or the right of a parent to teach his child to read -- as to wage war in a slave state on such a principle--" Despite being a slave owner, Speed was instrumental in keeping Lincoln informed about happenings in Kentucky. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.