Beckner, Lucien (1872-1963) | Eastern Kentucky University - Special Collections and Archives
Name: Beckner, Lucien (1872-1963)
Historical Note: Lucien Beckner, geologist and longtime curator of the Louisville Free Public Library Museum, was born in Winchester, Kentucky, in 1872 to William Morgan and Elizabeth Taliaferro Beckner. He earned his education from multiple institutions, such as the Louisville Military Academy, Centre College, the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, and the University of Pennsylvania, but never earned a degree. Throughout his lifetime, he dabbled in a wide range of career paths, including lawyer, engineer, secretary, naturalist, auditor, historian, poet, artist, teacher, journalist, and mathematician. At one point, Beckner owned and edited the Winchester Sun and Clark County Republican newspapers, assisted in establishing the Lexington and Eastern branch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and helped build a railroad in Ecuador. Beckner died in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1963.