Cincinnatus Shryock (

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

, 1816 – Lexington, 1888) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

. A number of his works are listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Life and career

Shryock was born into a famous American architectural family. His father was the

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

architect and contractor Mathias Shryock and his brother,

Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...

, also became a well-known architect in his own right. He matriculated to

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky. It was founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern ...

in Lexington, whose campus now occupies the former site of his boyhood home, which had been built by his father. There he studied medicine, but left one term short of graduation. He was also known as a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and designed his own

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

, and was known for his interests in

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. Shryock's first experience in as an architect involved the structural work for Morrison Chapel (now commonly known as " Old Morrison"), a Greek Revival structure designed by his brother Gideon, on the Transylvania campus, in 1833. After the building's completion, Gideon moved to Louisville, but Cincinnatus remained in Lexington, working as an employee of an architect named John McMurtry. Under McMurtry's tutelage, Shryock developed a taste for the Tudor Gothic and

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

styles, which were very popular during a series of revivals in architectural styles in the 19th century, particularly in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. During the 1840s and 1850s, McMurtry and Shryock's practice catered to wealthy Bluegrass landowners who fashioned themselves after Scottish knights from Sir Walter Scott's literature. In the years immediately predating the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Shryock and McMurtry broke off their business relationship, partly because the architectural business in Lexington had dwindled considerably. During the war, Shryock moved his family down the

Kentucky River The Kentucky River is a tributary of the Ohio River, long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed June 13, 2011 in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentuc ...

to operate a ferry. He exhibited some

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

sympathies, aiding Southern troops to cross the Kentucky River and later attempting to delay Union troops from raiding the town of

Lawrenceburg, Kentucky Lawrenceburg is a home rule-class city in Anderson County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 10,505 at the 2010 census. It is the seat of its county. Lawrenceburg is part of the Frankfort, Kentucky, micropolitan statistical area. His ...

. At the conflict's close, he returned to Lexington to resume his practice. Shryock's postwar practice prospered. He was engaged in the design of many period buildings, replete with mansard roofs, ornate gingerbread, and bay windows characteristic of

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

buildings. One of Shryock's most notable buildings is the First Presbyterian Church in Lexington, a Gothic revival structure built in 1872 and located on North Mill Street. His work also figures prominently in the South Hill Historic District of Lexington. Shryock is buried in the

Lexington Cemetery Lexington Cemetery is a private, non-profit rural cemetery and arboretum located at 833 W. Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky. The Lexington Cemetery was established in 1848 as a place of beauty and a public cemetery, in part to deal ...

Works

Works include: *

First Presbyterian Church (Lexington, Kentucky) The First Presbyterian Church in Lexington, Kentucky is a historic church at 171 Market Street. The church was designed by the important Lexington architect Cincinnatus Shryock who was also an elder at First Church. The original congregationa ...

, 174 N. Mill St.,

, NRHP-listed * Odd Fellows Temple (Lexington, Kentucky), 115-119 W. Main St., Lexington, Kentucky, NRHP-listed * Old Central University, University Dr. on Eastern Kentucky University campus,

Richmond, Kentucky Richmond is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Madison County, Kentucky, United States. It is named after Richmond, Virginia, and is home to Eastern Kentucky University. In 2019, the population was 36,157. Richmond is the fourth-la ...

, NRHP-listed *One or more works in South Hill Historic District, roughly bounded by S. Broadway, W. High, S. Limestone, and Pine Sts., Lexington, Kentucky, NRHP-listed

References

*Clark, Thomas D. ''The Kentucky''. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1942. Reprint, 1970. pp. 214–19 and 301-9.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shryock, Cincinnatus 1816 births 1888 deaths Architects from Lexington, Kentucky Transylvania University alumni 19th-century American architects