Finding aid prepared by Heather J. Burke
Breckinridge family papers
1759-1955
University of Kentucky Special Collections
Collection is arranged chronologically.
Collection is open to researchers by appointment.
68M106: [Identification of item], Breckinridge family papers, 1759-1955, University of Kentucky Special Collections.
1.0 Cubic feet
1 box, 2 items
The Breckinridge family has been prominent in both Kentucky and national politics since Kentucky was established as a state in 1792. John Breckinridge, founder of the clan, was Attorney General of the United States under President Thomas Jefferson; his son, Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, was a Presbyterian minister involved in the pre-Civil War rift in the Presbyterian church which has lasted down to the present. Robert favored public education, opposed slavery, and was an ardent supporter of the Union during the Civil War. Robert's son, Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, fought on the Union side during the war, and later made a career in the Army. He married Louise Dudley, daughter of Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley, the noted Kentucky physician and teacher, lecturer in medicine at Transylvania University and the Louisville School of Medicine. Joseph's brother, Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, Jr., fought on the Confederate side.
The Breckinridge family papers consists primarily of correspondence, but also includes large family genealogy charts (including a 1910 chart for the Campbell family) and an 1899 genealogy book of the Winston family by Elizabeth Winston Campbell Hendrick.
The papers contain miscellaneous letters and papers by and about Breckinridge family members. Included are a Fayette County indictment of Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, Jr. for treason against the state of Kentucky from June 12, 1862, several letters of Robert Jefferson Sr., and several to Dr. Ethelbert Dudley concerning his teaching career. There are considerable papers on the genealogies of the Breckinridges, Dudleys, Floyds, Scotts, Prestons and Littells. Also included in the papers is a transcript of the Fayette County Court proceedings in Breckinridge versus Lee from 1867 to 1884.
The general folder contains various undated materials of the Breckinridge family.