Hon. Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope was a lawyer in Louisville but died in his prime. He was a member of the Kentucky House, 1818, Kentucky Senate, 1819-23, and was appointed the first county attorney for Hardin County in 1803. His home occupied the block on the south side of Jefferson St. between Sixth and Seventh with a frontage of about 200 feet and extending back to Green (now Liberty) St. Because of his older brother, Sen. John Pope, the Pope men were antagonists of Sen. Henry Clay (1777-1852) and strong supporters of Andrew Jackson. Tradition tells of the caucus held in Alexander Pope's law office, which stood at the side yard of his home, at which Andrew Jackson was brought forward as a candidate for the presidency in 1824. When President Jackson visited Louisville in 1829, he was delightfully entertained by the Pope families.

Colonel Pope married in 1806, Martha Minor “Patsy” Fontaine (1785-1863), one of the nine beautiful and brainy daughters of Captain Aaron (1753-1823) and Barbara Overton Terrell Fontaine (1756-98), of Louisville. Their six children were Capt. Henry Clay (1808-49), Maj. William Fontaine (1809-31), Maria Grimes (1813-43), Alexander, Jr. (1815-17), Penelope E. (1818-49) and Martha Ann Pope (1820-86). Captain Fontaine came to Kentucky from Virginia in 1798 and was a large property owner. Among other lands, he owned a tract west of Louisville at which he owned a valuable ferry franchise, "Fontaine Ferry." His father, Rev. Peter Fontaine (1696-1757)(Dublin 1715), was an Episcopal minister and rector for 40 years of Westover Parrish, Va.

Both of the sons who reached majority were very promising young men but were killed in duels and died without issue. Major William Fontaine Pope (1809-31) was private secretary to his uncle, Governor John Pope (1770-1845), at the time of his duel in Arkansas. Captain Henry Clay Pope (1808-49) was a lawyer in Louisville and co-founded The Democratic Rally newspaper in Frankfort. He served in the Mexican War, commanding Company D, Mounted Rifle Regiment, during Gen. Winfield Scott’s successful advance on Mexico City, 1846-47. As a result of the public outcry from Captain Pope's death, an 1812 statute was revised to include the provision that all state officials and all lawyers admitted to practice after 1850 must swear that they had not taken part in a duel. The statute still contains that provision.

Colonel Alexander Pope died on December 3, 1826. He was reinterred in Cave Hill Cemetery with his wife in 1864. His wife, Martha Fontaine, died December 22, 1863.

See Kathleen Jennings, Louisville's First Families (Louisville, 1920), 72-74; J. Stoddard Johnston, Memorial History of Louisville From Its First Settlement To The Year 1896 (Chicago & New York, 1896), I: 129, 375-376, II: 646; Samuel Haycraft, A History of Elizabethtown, Ky. (Elizabethtown (Rpt.), 1960), 180-181; Daniel E. McClure, Two Centuries in Elizabethtown and Hardin County, Ky. (Elizabethtown, 1979), 80; Will of Alexander Pope, 2 Will Book 332, Jefferson County, Ky.; Humphrey Bible (given to Filson Historical Society in 1972); Rev. George W. Beale, "Col. Nathaniel Pope and His Descendants (William & Mary College Quarterly, 1903-04), 250; John E. Kleber, The Encyclopedia of Louisville (Lexington, Ky., 2001), 712.* Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jul 14 2019, 19:03:25 UTC