Political History of Christian County, Kentucky

For a decade or two after the birth of the county there was but little party strife to disturb the equanimity of the people. The old Federal party, which had bitterly opposed President Jefferson and his official acts, had become extinct through the exciting events of the war of 1812. The war measures of President Madison were generally and even earnestly supported by the people throughout the country, and nowhere more zealously than in Kentucky, as evidenced by the great number of her best men sent into the army. But the close of the war found the country in a deplorable condition financially, and from the de-pressing circumstances incident thereto, arose the first political storms seriously felt in Christian County. A newspaper recently said of us, in derision, perhaps, that " Kentuckians are too fond of talking politics to kill off anybody who can talk on the other side-they would rather keep him to argue with. Give a Kentuckian a plug of tobacco and a political antagonist, and he will spend a comfortable day wherever he is." But during the ten years from 1816 to 1826, it required a little more than a plug of tobacco to maintain peace and harmony in Kentucky, and no correct political history of the county can be written without some notice of the excitement of that stormy period, when " relief " and " anti-relief," and old court " and "new court " were the watchwords, and the " battle-cry " from one end of the State to the other. No greater political excitement, or party strife and hatred, unless we except the turbulent times of 1861-65, ever disturbed a community or harassed a people. Men de-bated the questions at issue, quarreled over them, fought for them, and not infrequently lives were sacrificed to the fury of the times.

The overwhelming cry of the people was relief from debt, and the Legislature at a single session chartered forty independent banks, with an aggregate capital of nearly ten million of dollars. They were permitted by law to redeem their notes with the paper of the Bank of Kentucky, then in good credit, instead of specie. The result of such a wholesale scheme was to flood the State with the paper of these " wild-cat" banks, and it required little prophetic wisdom to foresee the consequences that would inevitably follow. As a sample of its value; and the estimation in which this money was held, we copy from the Kentucky Republican (published at Hopkinsville) of September 15, 1821, a couplet or two--a little satirical-said to have been found on the reverse side of a fifty-cent note of one of the new Kentucky banks. The lines are credited to a Knoxville (Tennessee) paper, and are as follows:

"An infant I, of spurious birth,
Am by a parent usher'd forth,
To travel through this world of care,
From hand to hand, the world knows where.
But Jasper, Paris, and Will Fox,
A trio who deserve the stocks,
Have come in company here with me,
To greet their kin in Tennessee.
And should my presence make you blush,
You set the example; hush, friend, hush! "

And the following lines, discovered on the back of a two-dollar bill of the Hopkinsville Bank, appear in the same paper:

"My parentage I well may boast, Although I had no mother;
Of friends I had a numerous host, And Felix is my brother!
By legislative's cunning hand I first got absolution;
And now I travel through the land, Against the Constitution."

Large loans of this almost worthless money were rashly made and rashly expended, speculation ran riot, and the people became more hopelessly involved in debt than ever before. Soon the pressure became simply terrible. At the legislative session of 1819-20, an act was passed giving the power to replevy debts twelve months, instead of three, and a subsequent act extended the time to two years. If this was a relief to the debtors, it naturally enraged the creditors, who were thus deprived of collecting claims due them. The State was upon the verge of bankruptcy, and financial anarchy prevailed. This crisis led to the formation of the " relief," and " anti-relief " parties, and arrayed creditors and debtors against each other. In the relief party were the mass of debtors, and among the leaders were some of the most brilliant lawyers of the time, such as John Rowan, William T. Barry, and Solomon P. Sharp-the latter well known in Christian County, and Resin Davidge, one of the first resident lawyers of Hopkinsville. The party was strongly countenanced by Gen. Adair, then Governor, and its ranks were swelled by a large majority of the voting population. With the anti-relief party were nearly all the mercantile class, a majority of the bench and bar of the State, and also a majority of the better class of farmers. George Robertson, afterward Chief Justice of Kentucky, Robert Wickliffe and Chilton Allan were leaders in the anti-relief party, and between the two parties an angry conflict commenced in the newspapers, upon the stump, in the taverns and highways," which gradually invaded the most private and domestic circles.

The power of the Legislature to pass such relief acts was disputed, and when a case came up in the Circuit Court, it was decided unconstitutional by the decision of the Judge in favor of the anti-relief party. Then it was that the storm grew dark, and threatened to burst in its fury. But in the midst of the trouble, all eyes turned to the decision of the Supreme Court, then composed of John Boyle, Chief Justice, and William Owsley and Benjamin Mills, Associate Judges. The question came before them in the case of Lapsley vs. Brashear, and in their opinion they sustained the decision of the Circuit Court, declaring the act of the Legislature in violation of the Constitution of the United States, in that clause which prohibited the States from passing any law impairing the obligation of contracts. This decision of the Supreme Court but fanned the flame, and the conflict of parties was renewed with greater fury than before. The judiciary then held their offices during good behavior, and nothing less than two-thirds of both houses of the Legislature could re-move them. The canvass of 1824 was entered upon with the hope and the determination to obtain this majority. Never, perhaps, in the annals of Kentucky politics, did partisan strife run higher. Gen. Joseph Desha was the relief candidate for Governor, and was elected by an overwhelming majority, with a large majority in both houses of the Legislature. The three Judges, Boyle, Owsley and Mills, who had dared to oppose the will of the majority, were summoned before the legislative bar, and there assigned reasons at length for their decision. They were replied to by Rowan, Bibb and Barry, and a vote at length taken, but the constitutional two-thirds could not be obtained. The minority exulted in the victory of the Judges, but their adversaries were too much inflamed to be diverted from their purposes by ordinary impediments. Although their majority was not sufficient to remove the judges by impeachment or address, yet they could repeal the act by which the. Court of Appeals had been organized, and then pass an act to organize it anew, as this would only require a bare majority. A bill to this effect was drawn up, and, after a three days' debate, characterized by the most intense bitterness, it passed both houses. A new Court of Appeals was organized, consisting of four Judges, viz., William T. Barry, Chief Justice, and John Trimble, James Haggin and Rezin Davidge, Associate Justices. They took forcible possession of the records of the Court, appointed a Clerk, and thus proclaimed themselves the Court of Appeals. It was from this circumstance that arose the title of " Old Court " and "New Court " parties. The great majority of Circuit Judges continued to obey the mandates of the old Court, as well as a great majority of the bar of Kentucky. A few Circuit Judges, however, recognized the new Court, while still a few others obeyed both, declining to decide which was the true Court.

Thus matters stood in 1825, when the canvass opened for the Legislature. In Christian County, Daniel Mayes was put forward by the Old Court party, and Nathan S. Dallam by the New Court. This is represented as the bitterest political campaign the county has ever known in all the eighty. seven years of its existence. The questions were ably discussed by Mayes and Dallam from the stump, and partisan feeling was excited to such a pitch that the coolest heads feared a collision between parties. The elections then were held for three days, and the people never thought of going to the polls without their guns, and prepared for any emergency. But a spark would have touched off the magazine, and the fray once begun, there is no telling now what might have been the result. As much as the storm threatened, however, it passed by without bursting upon the county, and when the election was over, the people as with one accord drew a long breath, and congratulated each other upon the scarcely hoped for result. No such turbulent times had ever before disturbed the county; no such bitter political contest has since excited partisan discord among the masses. Mayes, the Old Court candidate, was elected, and after the election was over, the excitement subsided.

Daniel Mayes, the victorious candidate in this celebrated contest, was one of the ablest lawyers of the early bar of Hopkinsville, a peer of John J. Crittenden, Solomon P. Sharp, Benjamin Patton, .Rezin Davidge and other giant intellects of that day. He was cold, distant, and somewhat exclusive in his associations, rarely mingling with his neighbors. He would pass from his residence to his office and from his office to his residence and never look to the right or to the left, or speak to any one unless first spoken to. But he was a man of undoubted intellect and ability, though not a politician or party schemer. As regarded political intrigue he was as innocent as a child, and we have no record of his further public service than his election to the legislature in 1825, except as a Judge of the Circuit Court. He went to Frankfort to fill his seat in the General Assembly of the State, and never returned to Hopkinsville to reside. When his term as legislator expired he located in Lexington, where he was appointed Judge of the Fayette Circuit Court and Professor of Law in Transylvania University; he removed to Mississippi in 1838, and died in 1840 in the city of Jackson, of that State.

Mr. Mayes' father lived in Christian County, near Hopkinsville, and was quite an early settler; he had three sons, all lawyers-Daniel, Mat-thew and Richard. The latter, the youngest, is said to have been the most brilliant of the trio, which is a high compliment to his ability, when is remembered Daniel Mayes and his practice at the Christian bar. Mat-thew Mayes located in Cadiz, grew enormously wealthy, and died there. Richard removed to the " Purchase," where he died a good many years ago.

Young Ewing - In gone-by years no man took a more active and conspicuous part in the political affairs of the county than the Hon. Young Ewing, one of the backwoods politicians who flourished in the early days of the Commonwealth. He was a true pioneer and hunter, as everybody else was then; a surveyor, politician and statesman, and in his Protean capacity he usually had his hands full. He came to Christian county just at a time when he was most needed. An unorganized community of people had, by an act of the Legislature, been placed unto themselves, and there was a demand for men competent to do the work of putting the infant municipality upon its feet. Col. Ewing was a man adapted to the emergency, and took as naturally to the official harness as a duck to the water. He was the first Circuit Clerk of the Court, and for a quarter of a century or more he served the people in one position or another, and if he did not do much for the county it did a great deal for him. He had once commanded a regiment against the Indians, and though the campaign was a bloodless one, yet his military record wafted him into office over all opposition, just as such things sometimes happen at the present day. It is told of him, but the story may be taken with some allowance, that always when a candidate, particularly if the campaign waxed hot, and his election appeared at all doubtful, the Colonel would be seen at public gatherings hobbling about with a cane or with an arm in a sling, complaining loudly of the hardships of a soldier's life. But no sooner was he assured of his election than away went his cane, to be seen no more until again needed on a similar occasion. The name of Col. Ewing appears in the records of Logan County in 1792 as one of the first three magistrates for that county, and in 1795 as a Representative in the State Legislature. When he came there or where he was from are questions the most diligent investigation has failed to solve. It is to be regretted that so little is known or can be learned of his early life, as anything pertaining to so prominent a character could not but be of interest to the reader. He is believed to have been a native of the Old Dominion, and the elements of statesmanship he developed naturally point to him as a son of the " Mother of Presidents." From the humble office of magistrate he essayed and accomplished dizzy flights to higher positions, which he filled time and again. He was above the majority of his associates in intellect, but somewhat careless and indifferent in the use of the King's English when pouring forth from the stump one of his hot political campaign speeches. He came among the simple pioneers of Christian County, and waked the echoes of the primeval forests with his rude wild eloquence, and rode in triumph into the affections of the voters to that extent that he is not known to have been defeated but once in a political contest.

The following entries appear in the early court records: " The line between Logan and Christian Counties was run by Young Ewing and his deputy, Nicholas Lockett, on the part of Christian, and William Reading, Surveyor for Logan County, August 22, 1797." " Young Ewing was allowed £14 12s. for running the dividing line between Logan and Christian Counties." In addition to having been a surveyor and the first Clerk of the county, he was cashier of the first bank established in Hopkinsville. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention held in Frankfort, August 17, 1799, and which framed the second Constitution of the State. In the year 1800 his name first appears as a member of the Legislature from Christian County. He was elected again in 1801 and re-elected in 1802, and again elected in 1806 and in 1807. In 1808 he was elected to the State Senate, and again in 1812, in 1820 and in 1824, but resigned about a year before his last term expired. In the Presidential campaign of 1824 he was Elector for the Fifth Congressional District. So great and so universal was his popularity that he was elected to many of these positions without opposition, and generally when he had an opponent his military record carried him through with flying colors. He was a genial gentleman-a " hail fellow well met," withal, courteous and social; could take his toddy " with the boys," and " set 'em up " himself occasionally (all of which goes a long way with the " intelligent voter ") and which but added to his popularity. The last race he ever made for public office was about the year 1832, for the State Senate, and he was defeated. This was a wound to his self-complacency from which he never recovered. He had failed to keep pace with the age, new issues had sprung up beyond his ability to master, new and younger men op-posed him, and though the " old guard " rallied around him, the new order of things accomplished his defeat.

Kentucky has produced many remarkable men, but none so strongly original, or so interesting as the early, simple and honest statesmen of whom Young Ewing was a true type. They borrowed nothing from the books, and if some of them were so illiterate that it amounted to a gift or talent, their honesty of purpose off set any lack of education and culture. They legislated wholly for the good of the people and the country, and from them the modern statesman might learn lessons of wisdom.

Col. Ewing long lived one and a half miles from town, on the place now owned by the children of Dr. Shackelford, but for many years was a citizen of Hopkinsville. He was three times married. Of his first wife little is known, except that she bore him one child, a daughter. This daughter married a man named Davison, who was at one time High Sheriff of Daviess County, and who, it is said, was killed by friends of a prisoner whom he had arrested. Col. Ewing's second wife was Winifred Warren, and one of the best women, Judge Long says, that ever lived. His last wife was a Miss Jennings. This marriage to him was, to say the least, ill-assorted. She was an illiterate, uncouth backwoods damsel, scarcely more than eighteen, while he was verging onto his three score and ten years. Soon after his last marriage he moved South, perhaps to the western part of Tennessee, where he died many years ago. No lineal descendant of Col. Ewing is now, so far as known, living in Christian County, and only a few of the older citizens remember him. Those that do, describe him as a social, companionable and hospitable gentleman, one who loved his friends, and was never happier than when surrounded by them, and bestowing upon them the hospitality of his home, or when zealously engaged in a hot political contest.

Organization of Political Parties

The political excitement of 1824 -25 was not confined to Christian County and to Kentucky, but extended throughout the country. The Presidential campaign of 1824 was probably the most exciting since the formation of the Republic, with the exception of that of 1800, which resulted in the election of Mr. Jefferson over the elder Adams. The candidates at this election were Henry Clay, Gen. Jackson, John Quincy Adams and William H. Crawford, of Georgia. Each of these distinguished gentlemen had his friends, who supported their favorite candidate from personal preference and not from party predilection. None of them, however, had a majority of the votes in the Electoral College, and under the constitutional rule, upon the House of Representatives devolved the duty of making choice of President, each State, by its delegation in Congress,. casting one vote. Gen. Jackson led Mr. Adams in the Electoral College by a small plurality; Mr. Crawford was the third on the list of candidates, and Mr. Clay, who was the hind-most man, was dropped from the canvass. Mr. Adams was chosen President by the casting vote of the State of Kentucky. Mr. Clay was a member of the National House of Representatives, and its Speaker, and it was at once claimed. by many of his political enemies that it was through the great influence of Ohio, which State, as well as his own, Mr. Clay had carried in the Presidential contest, that the delegation from Kentucky was induced to cast the vote of the State for Mr. Adams, an Eastern man, in preference to Gen. Jackson, a Western and Southern man. By that coup d'etat Mr. Clay was instrumental in organizing political parties that survived the generation of people to which he belonged, and ruled in turn the destinies of the Republic for more than a quarter of a century. In the new cabinet Mr. Clay was placed at the head of the State department by Mr. Adams, which gave rise to the charge of " bargain and sale " between the President and his Chief Secretary, that threw the country into a blaze of excitement from one end to the other. At this time, when Henry Clay has been dead for more than thirty years, no one will presume or dare to question his patriotism or honesty; but the charge was so persistently made by the partisans of Gen. Jackson, it greatly injured Mr. Clay in the public estimation, and contributed largely to the General's success in the Presidential race of 1828, and proved the shibboleth of destruction to Mr. Clay's hopes of the Presidency ever after. At the Presidential election of 1828, party lines were closely drawn between Gen. Jackson and Mr. Adams, and the result of a hot and bitter contest was the triumphant election of the hero of New Orleans, both by the electoral and popular vote. At that time parties were known throughout the country as the Jackson and Anti-Jackson parties. With but few changes in their platform of principles, they eventually became the Whig and Democratic parties.

The Whig party, during its existence, was the ruling party in Christian County, and upon all important occasions, when a full party vote was called out, its champions were borne to victory. In 1840 the Liberty party was organized, and a ticket for President and Vice President nominated: James G. Birney, a former slaveholder of Kentucky, but then a resident of Michigan, was placed first upon the ticket, and Thomas Morris, of Ohio, placed second. This ticket was condemned and frowned upon in Kentucky, and the small vote polled by it throughout the country was drawn mostly from the Whigs. But notwithstanding the drafts made by the anti-slave party, the temperance party, and other organizations upon the Whigs, they continued to be one of the ruling parties until the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, which led to the organization of the Republican party, and the absorption of the Whig, as well as the Liberty or Abolition party. In 1856 the Republican party received one vote in Christian County, cast for John C. Fremont for President. It was given by David Croft, in Scates Mill Precinct. It is said that his son called out, " Father, what did you vote for Fremont for? " and that the old man-then very old-replied, " They say he wants to free the niggers, and so do I." Four years later a man named Davis Howell voted for Abraham Lincoln in the same precinct. To-day it is the dominant party in the county.

The Democratic party, which sprang into existence or assumed distinctive form during the administration of Gen. Jackson, is still one of the great political parties of the country. For fifty years it has maintained its organization without change of name, and at present the indications for its success were never more flattering. For some years after the close of the late civil war, it was the dominant party in the county, but since the ballot has been placed in the hands of the Negroes it has changed the phase of politics, and the Republicans hold sway, and usually carry off the spoils of office.

The County Patronage

The scramble for office in the early period of the county compared with later years, was almost nothing. But few offices were sought for their emoluments, and much oftener then than now the office sought the man. The most lucrative offices were filled by appointment, and not by popular vote, as they are under the present Constitution. It was more than fifty years after the formation of the county that local offices were made elective, and even now it is a question admitting of wide discussion, whether the latter is the best policy. In most cases offices were filled by faithful and competent men. The appointing power conferred by the Legislature upon county boards and the courts, although anti-Republican in principle, seems to be, judging from the experience of the past, the best calculated to secure efficiency and competency in office. Take the Sheriff, for instance: he is allowed to hold the office but for two consecutive terms, and in that time he only becomes familiarized with its duties, and prepared to discharge them with facility and intelligence. He must then give place to a new man who has all the duties to learn over again. Experience has shown pretty conclusively that the less frequently changes are made the better it is for the public service, notwithstanding the present political war-cry of " turn the rascals out." Chancellor Kent said that the great danger to this country is " the too frequent recurrence to popular election." The early records of the county show, under the appointing power, but few changes. Abraham Stites, a very exemplary man, held the office of County Clerk for more than thirty years, and in a preceding chapter a beautiful tribute is paid him by those who knew him best. And James H. McLaughlan for many years filled acceptably the office of Circuit Clerk. These remarks, how-ever, are not to be construed into reflections upon those who have held office under the elective system. The county has been highly favored in her selection of public servants, as much so, perhaps, as any county in the State.

The political history of Christian County shows the finger-marks of many of Kentucky's distinguished sons. Of those who have been, at some time or other residents of the county, and have served in Congress and other high and responsible positions, may be mentioned Charles S. Morehead, Edward Rumsey, Joseph B. Crockett, John P. Campbell, James A. McKinzie, Winston J. Davie, James S. Jackson, Benjamin H. Bristow, Robert P. Henry, John F. Henry, Walter B. Scates and others, who have attained distinction in other States. Sketches of Gov. More-head, Judge Crockett, Edward Rumsey and Robert P. Henry, are given in the bar of the county, of Gen. Jackson in the war and military history, and of Mr. McKinzie and Mr. Campbell in the biographical department.

John F. Henry was a son of Gen. Henry, and was born January 7, 1793. He was a surgeon in the war of 1812, and afterward located at Georgetown, Ky., where he engaged in the practice of medicine. He married Miss Mary Duke in 1818, and soon afterward removed to Missouri. His wife died there in 1821, and dissatisfied with the country, he came to Hopkinsville, Ky., and here continued the practice of the profession he had chosen. In January, 1828, he married Miss Lucy Ridgely, of Lexington, Ky., and soon after was elected to Congress to fill the unexpired term of his deceased brother, Robert P. Henry. After his retirement from Congress he removed. to Cincinnati, afterward to Bloomington, Ill., and then to Burlington, Iowa, where he died in 1873 in the eightieth year of his age.

Winston J. Davie was born in Christian County, and is a son of Hon. Ambrose Davie, a native of North Carolina, and an early settler in this county. Winston Davie graduated from Yale College in 1845 among such men as Henry Day and W. A. Lord, of New York; Hon. S. D. Nickerson, of Boston; Col. James Redfield, who fell at Chickamauga; Maj. William Conner, of Mississippi, who was killed at Gettysburg; Hon. Carter Harrison, present Mayor of Chicago; Hon. Daniel Chad-wick, of Connecticut; Gen. Richard Taylor, of Louisiana, and a number of others since distinguished throughout the country. Mr. Davie studied law and obtained license to practice, but abandoned it for agricultural pursuits, milling and banking, in which he accumulated a large fortune. As was the case with thousands of others, his wealth melted away during the late war, leaving him at its close almost entirely without means. He was always an active politician and a Democrat of the Jeffersonian school. In 1850 he was elected to the Legislature from Christian County, and in 1858 was a candidate for Congress, but was defeated by Hon. Ben. Edwards Grey, his Whig competitor. He was placed at the head of the Bureau of Agriculture and Horticulture of the State by Gov. McCreary, a position he ably filled, and for which his long experience in agriculture eminently qualified him. He was twice married-in 1845 to Miss Sarah A. Philips, of Georgia, and who died in 1859, leaving two sons- Iredell P. and George M. In 1861 he married Miss Addie E. Kalfus, of Louisville, by whom he had one son-Southern K. Davie.

Benjamin H. Bristow was born in Todd County, Ky. His father was Francis M. Bristow, and well known as a lawyer of considerable ability. Benjamin received a thorough education, which was completed at Jefferson College in Pennsylvania. He studied law with his father, and practiced at Elkton, Todd County, until 1857, when he removed to Hopkinsville, and formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Judge Petree. At the breaking out of the late war he entered the Federal army as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twenty-fifth Kentucky Infantry, Col. Shackelford commanding, and participated in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh. He assisted in raising the Eighth Kentucky Cavalry in 1862, and after serving for a time as Lieutenant-Colonel, became its Colonel. In 1863 he was elected to the State Senate from the Hopkinsville district, and after the close of the term located in Louisville, where, in 1866, he was appointed United States District Attorney for Kentucky; resigned in 1870, and shortly after was appointed Solicitor-General of the United States. This position he re-signed after two years and returned to the practice of law in Louisville, and in 1874 became Secretary of the Treasury under President Grant. He filled that important office with great distinction, gaining for him-self a national reputation, which brought him prominently forward in 1876, by the reform element of the Republican party, as a candidate for the nomination for President in the National Republican Convention at Cincinnati, a nomination, however, he failed to obtain. Since then he has remained in private life, and at present resides in New York City.

Walter B. Scates was born in Virginia, and when but a child his parents removed to Tennessee, and soon after to Christian County. Here he received his early education, with a finishing course at Nashville, Tenn. Upon arriving at maturity he read law with Hon. Charles S. Morehead, and in 1831 was admitted to the bar. He immediately after went to Illinois, and as a lawyer soon rose to prominence. In 1836 he was appointed Attorney-General of the State, and the next year was elected a Judge of the Circuit Court by the Legislature. In 1840 he was elevated to the Supreme Bench, and with a short interval, remained in that exalted position until 1857, when he resigned and removed to Chicago, where he still resides, broken down in health, and his once large fortune considerably impaired.

The political history of the county since the close of the late war-since the enfranchisement of the " man and brother "-is too modern to be treated in this work. Space will not admit of it. The new order of things has given a color to politics, and an interest to State and national questions unknown to our fathers, and never dreamed of by the sages who were wont to cross swords on Whig and Democrat platforms, and stand or fall by the principles they involved. To the future historian is left the task of recording the modern political history and the acts of modern politicians. As a matter of some interest to the general reader we append in this connection a list of the members of the State Legislature from the organization of the county down to the present incumbents.

State Senators

The first member of the State Senate from this county was Young Ewing, elected in 1808; he was re-elected in 1812, in 1820 and in 1824; Matthew Wilson in 1816; James Gholson in 1832; Ninian E. Grey, in 1843; Ben Edwards Grey, in 1847; James F. Buckner, in 1855; Benjamin H. Bristow, in 1863; W. W. McKenzie, in 1865; E. P. Campbell, in 1871; Walter Evans, in 1873; C. N. Pendleton, 1875, and Austin Peay, in 1883, the present Senator.*

*In the list of Senators the names of those from this county are alone given. Buckner and Lysias F. Chilton, 1847; Daniel H. Harrison, 1849; Edmund Wooldridge and Winston J. Davie, 1850; John J. Thomas, 1851, 1853 (this was first Representative under the new State Constitution); Drury M. Wooldridge, 1853, 1855; Benjamin Berry, 1855, 1857; James S. Jackson, 1857, 1859; William Brown, 1859, 1861; George Poindexter, 1861, 1863 and 1865, 1867; E. A. Brown, 1863, 1865; James A. Mc-Kenzie, 1867 to 1871; Walter Evans, 1871, 1873; O. S. Parker, 1873, 1875; John Feland, 1875 to 1881; James Breathitt, 1881, 1883; Larkin T. Brasher, 1883, 1885, and the present Representative.

Representatives

James Kuykendall, 1799; Young Ewing, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1806, 1807; Jacob W. Walker, 1803; John Boyd, 1809 ;. Matthew Wilson, 1809, 1810, 1811; Abraham Boyd, 1810, 1811, 1819; Benjamin W. Patton, 1812 to 1815, and 1817 and 1822; Benjamin H. Reeves, 1812, 1814, 1817; Samuel Orr, 1813; Nathaniel S. Dallam, 1816, 1818, 1824; Morgan Hopson, 1816, 1817; James Breathitt, 1818, 1819; William Jennings, 1818; Robert Cole-man, 1819; Daniel Mays, 1825; John P. Campbell, 1826; William Davenport, 1827; Charles S. Morehead, 1828, 1829; David S. Patton, 1830, 1834; Gustavus A. Henry, 1831, 1832; John Pendleton, 1833; James C. Clarke, 1832; Joseph B. Crockett, 1833; William Morrow, 1834, 1837; Roger F. Kelly, 1835, 1836, 1845; Livingston L. Leavell, 1835, 1837; George Morris, 1886; Ninian E. Grey, 1837; Benjamin Bradshaw, 1838; James F. Buckner, 1839, 1840, 1842, 1847; Robert L. Waddill, 1839, 1843, 1844; Daniel H. Harrison, 1840 to 1849, except 1843, 1845 and 1847; James Gholson, 1841; John McLarning, 1843 and 1848; Isaac H. Evans, 1845; Joab Clark, 1846; James F.

 

Christian County, Kentucky History

Return to Christian County, Kentucky Genealogy