author

Ben Casseday

1825–1878

An early Kentucky historian, he is best remembered for a detailed 1852 account of Louisville at a time when the city was still defining itself. His work remains a vivid window into the people, commerce, and ambitions of a growing American river city.

1 Audiobook

The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852

The History of Louisville, from the Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852

by Ben Casseday

About the author

Ben Casseday was an American writer and historian born in Kentucky in 1825. He is chiefly known for The History of Louisville, from Its Earliest Settlement till the Year 1852, published in Louisville in 1852, a substantial local history that set out to record the city’s development from frontier settlement to an important regional center.

The book has endured as Casseday’s signature work because it gathers together early civic history, local description, and a sense of Louisville’s place in the wider growth of the American West. Even today, readers interested in Kentucky history still encounter his name through that volume and its later reprints and digital editions.

Available records indicate that he was born on September 17, 1825, and died on December 4, 1878; he was buried at Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville. I wasn’t able to confirm a reliable portrait image from the sources I found, so no profile image is included.