On March 25, 2024, Governor Andy Beshear commissioned me a Kentucky Colonel. The document is an honorary commission issued in the name of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and attested by Secretary of State Michael G. Adams. It is not a military commission or a public office.
The title had already been part of my family history: my father was also a Kentucky Colonel. I do not have the date of his appointment, and that is not really the point. Receiving the same commission made this one personal in a way that a list of distinguished recipients never could.
I have put the fuller documentary record—including what the title is, what it is not, and why the usual 1813 origin story needs some qualification—on the permanent Kentucky Colonel page.