"Born into a politically connected Kentucky family, Sallie Ward (1827-1896) began her public career as a southern belle who captivated the popular press in Kentucky and throughout the nation. Known for her somewhat scandalous behavior, including obtaining a divorce and smoking cigars, she cut a swathe across the nineteenth century that seems out of proportion to her real circumstances. While Sallie and her frequent travels and adventures are the focus, there is also valuable material on her family, and especially on the murder trial of her brother Matt Ward, in which he was rather deplorably let off by virtue of his connections to the rich and powerful. This study is both an analysis of a unique character in nineteenth-century America and an examination of how celebrity was created and perpetuated before the rise of mass culture"--