Forest Home

Dr. Bedinger bought this house and thousands of acres of land and brought his wife here as a bride in 1820. The original owner went bankrupt building the house (three stories with a circular staircase) and Dr. Bedinger, who was buying land in Erlanger and Florence, raced another man horseback to the Court House in Virginia and bought it at public auction. After his son David's marriage, Dr. Bedinger moved to Erlanger and gave Forest Home to David. There was a fire, and during the rebuilding, David fell from an overhead beam, and died from internal injuries March, 1874. His widow Elizabeth Ann (Lizzie), decided to conserve money and only rebuilt two stories and a straight staircase. The picture [on the left on the prior page] was taken shortly after the rebuilding, about 1875, or perhaps as late as 1890.

The above legend is from modern typing that has been attached to the rear of the photo on the prior page, and is presented as found. We take the Virginia story as a stretch. After 1792, when Kentucky became a state, why would the court house have been in Virginia?