the 1883 National Conference of Charities, Blackburn was lauded for his prison reforms by guest speaker George Washington Cable. He also received praise at a similar conference in Saratoga Springs, New York, a few weeks later. A few months after his return to Louisville, Blackburn opened a sanatorium near Cave Hill Cemetery. His failing health impeded the success of the endeavor, however, and in January 1887, he returned to the state capital of Frankfort—a city he regarded as his home—knowing that death was near. After a prolonged illness, he became comatose and died September 14, 1887. He was buried in Frankfort Cemetery. On May 27, 1891, the state erected a monument over Blackburn's grave. The granite monument features a bas-relief depicting the Parable of the Good Samaritan. In 1972, the state opened the Blackburn Correctional Complex, a minimum security prison near Lexington named for Governor Blackburn. Notes References Further reading 1816 births 1887 deaths 19th-century American Episcopalians Physicians from Kentucky Burials at Frankfort Cemetery Governors of Kentucky Kentucky Democrats Kentucky Whigs 19th-century American politicians Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives People from Woodford County, Kentucky People of Kentucky in the American Civil War Transylvania University alumni Democratic Party governors of Kentucky 19th-century American philanthropists