Editing Versailles, Kentucky (section)

==History==
Versailles was founded on June 23, 1792, on {{convert|80|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of land owned by Hezekiah Briscoe, who was, at the time, only a child. His guardian, [[Marquis Calmes]], named the town after [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]], France, in honor of [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette|General Lafayette]], a family friend and hero of the [[American Revolution]]. Located in what became known as the [[Bluegrass Region]] of Kentucky, where farmers also raised thoroughbred horses and other high-quality livestock, the city was officially incorporated on February 13, 1837. It was briefly occupied during the [[American Civil War]] by both [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] and [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] forces.

In 1870, black residents of Versailles took part in a demonstration against police violence after a white officer struck a black man with his pistol. Demonstrators formed armed pickets and guarded roads in and out of Versailles. Two of the leaders were subsequently lynched by a local militia company.<ref>Aaron Astor, ''Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation, and the Reconstruction'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2012), 237-238</ref><ref>Victor B. Howard, ''Black Liberation in Kentucky: Emancipation and Freedom, 1862-1884'' (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1983), 101</ref><ref>George C. Wright, ''Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865-1940: Lynchings, Mob Rule, and 'Legal Lynchings'"'' (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990), 48.</ref>