xt7mgq6qzr6p https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7mgq6qzr6p/data/mets.xml Townsend, John Wilson, 1885-1968. 1910  books b92-82-27254900 English Kentucky State Historical Society, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Kentucky Biography. Kentucky: mother of governors  / by John Wilson Townsend. text Kentucky: mother of governors  / by John Wilson Townsend. 1910 2002 true xt7mgq6qzr6p section xt7mgq6qzr6p 







































KENTUCKY HISTORICAL SERIES
        EDITED BY
  MRS. JENNIE C. MORTON

 
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Kentucky: Mother of Governors



 





U

 






























JOHN WILSON TOWNSEND

 








Kentucky: Mother of Governors




                         By

             JOHN WILSON TOWNSEND

                      Author of

               "Richard Hickman Menefee"
           "Kentuckians in History and Literature"
           "The Life of James Francis Leonard" Etc



The Kentucky State Historical Society
       Frankfort, Kentucky



1910

 
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Editor's Introduction



        HIS, THE FIRST volume of the Kentucky
 0         Historical Series-a series just inaugur-
         ated by the Kentucky State Historical
         Society-is a study of Kentucky initiative
in the United States as exemplified in these more
than one hundred sons of our Commonwealth who
have served as Governors of other States and
territories.
   Mr. Townsend has realized that the list is the
important thing, and he has made an earnest effort
to have it complete. For this reason he has been
content with sketches in miniature of each executive,
knowing that, had he attempted anything like an
adequate notice of each man, his paper would have
become an octavo.
   The Editor of this series believes that "Kentucky:
Mother of Governors" is a creditable piece of work;
something new under the Kentucky history sun; and
well suited to be the first in a series of books that
the Kentucky State Historical Society will issue
from time to time.
                     MRS. JENNIE C. MORTON

The Kentucky State Historical Society
        Frankfort, Kentucky

 
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Author's Prefatory Note



_a       HIS PAPER IS the result of a summer
0         day's browsing in a public library. The
          writer was bent on being amused, but
          he was amazed to find that so many
Kentuckians had served as governors of other states
and territories. This amazement grew into genuine
interest and, for more than two years, at different
times, the writer developed the theme until he had
it in some sort of shape for a paper.
   Though only completed in its present form,
"Kentucky: Mother of Governors" has been read
before the Filson Club, of Louisville, and the Ohio
Valley Historical Association; and it was published
some months ago in The Register, and in the third
annual report of the Ohio Valley Historical Associa-
tion. This list may not even now be complete, but,
if it is not, the writer here abandons the task as
unfinishable-for him.
                    JOHN WILSON TOWNSEND

The Kentucky State Historical Society
        Frankfort, Kentucky
        26 September, 1910

 
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       To
L. M. 0. of Kentucky

 
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Kentucky: Mother of Governors



V     IRGINIA, THE MOTHER of Presidents;
i J   Kentucky, the mother of Governors! And
         it is in a larger, truer sense that Kentucky
         is the mother of Governors, than it is that
Virginia is the mother of Presidents. It has been
many years since the Old Dominion furnished a
President-and she has furnished but five in all-
while the Bluegrass State has been making governors
for her sister States since the Republic was founded.
Indeed, the time has come for Virginia to relinquish
her famous title to her sister, Ohio, the mother of
eight presidents.
   To be exact, Kentucky has given one hundred
and five executives to twenty-six Commonwealths or
territories. This count, however, regards a Ken-
tuckian and a term of office as synonymous; but it
does not include Justice John Boyle, who declined
the governship of Illinois territory in 1809; nor
William 0. Butler, who refused to govern the
territory of Nebraska in 1855; nor James Birney,
son of the great James Gillespie Birney, who was
Lieutenant-Governor of Michigan in 1860; nor
Governor Moses Wisner, of Michigan, who died in
Kentucky; nor does it include the brilliant Jesse D.
Bright, Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana in 1841, and
a citizen of Kentucky for many years.
   By a Kentuckian the present writer means a
native son; an adopted son who has lived at least



15

 







            Kentutcky: Mother of Governors.

ten years in Kentucky; one who has lived but a few
years in this State, a sojourner; and one who was
educated in whole or in part in Kentucky, the college
claim. Under these four heads-although, perhaps,
admitting that the first two are the only legitimate
claims a State can hold upon a man or woman, and
that the last two are merely interesting-the
theme will be considered. The Kentuckians who
were to the manor born will be discussed first,
beginning with Missouri, because it is generally
known that more sons of Kentucky have occupied
the gubernatorial chair of that State than of any
other.



 









Missouri



   Lilburn W. Boggs was born in Kentucky in 1798.
He saw much real service in the War of 1812; and
he settled in Missouri in 1816. Boggs prepared him-
self for the governorship by serving several terms in
the Missouri Legislature. He was elected Governor
in 1836, and his administration is noted for the vigor
with which he put down the Mormon outbreaks.
Several years before his death, Governor Boggs
removed to California, where he died in 1861.
   The next Kentuckian to win the governorship
was Thomas Reynolds, who was born in Bracken
county, Kentucky, March 12, 1796. He studied law
and, at the age of twenty-one years, he emigrated to
Illinois. In 1828 he removed to Missouri, where he
was soon sent to the Legislature. In 1840 Reynolds
was elected Governor, and a few months before the
expiration of his term he committed suicide.
   The eighth Governor of Missouri was John C.
Edwards, a Kentuckian-born. Edwards was edu-
cated in Tennessee and he then emigrated to
Missouri. In 1845, at the age of thirty-nine years,
he was elected Governor-one of the youngest men
who ever held the office in Missouri. At the conclu-
sion of his term, Governor Edwards removed to
California, in which State he died in 1888.
   Claiborne F. Jackson was born in Fleming
county, Kentucky, in 1807, and removed to Missouri
at the age of twenty-five years and enlisted for ser-
vice in the Black Hawk War. He was elected Gov-



17

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governors.



ernor of the State in 1860. He was a Southern
sympathizer and he allowed his enemies to drive him
from the State Capitol, ana the Legislature to depose
him from his office. Governor Jackson died at Little
Rock, Ark., late in the year 1861.
   Missouri's seventeenth Governor, Benjamin Gratz
Brown, was born in Lexington, Ky., May 28, 1826.
He was graduated from Transylvania and Yale
Universities. In 1851 Brown emigrated to Missouri,
where he spent the subsequent twenty years in
journalism, law, and duelling. In 1863 he was
elected to the United States Senate. Brown served
four years in the Senate and, in 1870, he was elected
Governor of Missouri. Governor Brown was Horace
Greeley's running mate for the Presidency in 1872,
and after his defeat he resumed the practice of law
in St. Louis, in which city he died in 1885. He was
the most interesting man who has ever governed
Missouri, we should say.
   Silas Woodson, a native of Knox county, Ken-
tucky, was Brown's successor in the executive chair
of Missouri. Woodson was a farmer's boy, attending
the county schools of his day, and finishing his
education with a desultory study of the law. At
the age of twenty-one, he was admitted to the bar.
The few years following he spent in the Kentucky
Legislature and as a circuit attorney. In 1849 he
was a delegate to the third Kentucky Constitutional
Convention. A few years later, Woodson removed
to Missouri and, in 1872, he was elected Governor.
He died in St. Joseph, Mo., October 9, 1896.
                       18

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governrf8.



    Charles H. Hardin, the nineteenth Governor of
Missouri, was born in Trimble county, Kentucky, in
1820. His father was preparing to quit this State
at the time of the son's birth, so Charles celebrated
his first birthday in Missouri. He began the practice
of law at Fulton, Mo., in 1843. Thirty years later-
then a man of wealth-he handsomely endowed
Hardin Female College at Fulton. In 1874 Hardin
was elected Governor of Missouri.
   Thomas T. Crittenden was born in Shelby county,
Kentucky, in 1832, and he was graduated at Centre
College, Danville, in the famous class of '55. He
studied law at Frankfort under his celebrated uncle,
John J. Crittenden, and he then went to Missouri
to practice. In 1880 Crittenden was elected
Governor of Missouri. He successfully eradicated
the Jesse James gang during his administration.
At the expiration of his term of office, he resumed
the practice of law in Kansas City. Governor
Crittenden died only a few months ago.
   The twenty-third Governor of Missouri, David
R. Francis, first saw the light in Richmond, Ky.,
October 1, 1850. At the age of sixteen years, Francis
went to St. Louis. After having finished his educa-
tion, he engaged in the commission business. He
was elected mayor of St. Louis in 1885 and, four
years later, began his term as Governor. Governor
Francis was Secretary of the Interior in Cleveland's
second Cabinet and, in 1904, he served as president
of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Governor



19

 







Kentucky: Mother of Gaverno'rs.



Francis is one of the most representative citizens in
the Mississippi Valley.
   Governor Francis' successor, William J. Stone,
was also born in Richmond, Ky., in 1848. At the
age of fifteen years, he removed to Columbia, Mo.,
and completed his education at the State University
there. In 1892 Stone was elected Governor of
Missouri, and six years ago he was sent to the
United States Senate to succeed that other distin-
guished son of Kentucky, George G. Vest.
   Here we have ten native Kentuckians who have
been governors of Missouri.



20



 









                                           Illinois
    On February 3, 1809, Illinois territory was
organized and, twenty days later, President Madison
appointed Nathaniel Pope secretary of the territory.
Pope was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1784, and he
was graduated from Transylvania University in
1806. He shortly afterward settled as a lawyer in
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri-a little town that also
attracted Henry Dodge, afterward Governor of
Wisconsin, and George W. Jones, afterward United
States Senator from Iowa. On April 25, 1809, Pope
took the oath of office as secretary of Illinois terri-
tory and, as Governor-elect Edwards did not reach
the Capitol until June 11, Secretary Pope was acting
Governor from April 25 to June 11-nearly seven
weeks. Pope was the territory's delegate in the
Fourteenth and Fifteen Congresses, and from 1818
until his death at St. Louis, in 1850, he was United
States Judge for the District of Illinois.
   The fifth Governor of Illinois, Joseph Duncan,
was born at Paris, Ky., in 1789. Duncan served
gallantly in the War of 1812, and in 1818 he removed
to Illinois. In 1834 he was elected Governor of the
State. At the conclusion of his term, Governor
Duncan returned to Jacksonville, Ill., where he sperrt
the remainder of his life.
   Governor Duncan's successor, Thomas Carlin,
was born near Frankfort, Ky., in 1789-the same
year that gave his predecessor birth. When Carlin
was eleven years of age, his family removed to



21

 







Kentucky: Mother of Gouernors.



Missouri and later to Illinois. He served his adopted
State as Governor, and died in 1852.
   The eleventh Governor of Illinois was a Ken-
tuckian to the core, Richard Yates, born at Warsaw,
Ky., January 18, 1818. Yates received part of his
academic training at Georgetown College, George-
town, Ky., and then graduated in law at Transyl-
vania. He removed to Illinois to practice. In 1858
Yates took the stump for Lincoln against Douglas
for the Presidency. He was elected Governor of
the State two years later and he is famous as the
"War Governor" of Illinois. At the close of his term
Governor Yates resumed the practice of law. He
died in St. Louis, November 27, 1873. Governor
Yates' son, Richard, was the twenty-fourth Governor
of Illinois.
   Illinois' twelfth, fourteenth and eighteenth
Governor was one man, and a Kentuckian, Richard
J. Oglesby. He was born in Oldham county, Ken-
tucky, July 25, 1824. Left an orphan at eight years
of age, he went to Illinois in 1835, where he attended
school for a short time. Oglesby studied law and
was admitted to the bar. At the close of the Mexican
War-in which he took a splendid part-he attended
a law school in Louisville for a year and then went
to California as a forty-niner. Oglesby rose to the
rank of general in the Civil War. A thrilling, timely
speech made him the logical candidate for Governor
of Illinois in 1864, and he was elected by a magnifi-
cent majority. His second term as Governor was
interrupted by his election to the United States
                        22

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governors



Senate. In 1884 he was for the third time elected
Governor. Governor ("Uncle Dick") Oglesby died
at Elkhart, Ill., April 24, 1899.
    John M. Palmer, thirteenth Governor of Illinois,
was born in Scott county, Ky., in 1817. When he
was fifteen years old, his father removed to Illinois.
Palmer was unable to complete his college course
because of the lack of funds, but he studied at home
and was admitted to the bar in 1839. He was a
brave soldier during the Civil War, and in 1868 he
was elected Governor of Illinois, succeeding Oglesby.
He had the great Chicago fire of 1871 to handle
during his administration. In 1891 Palmer was
sent to the United States Senate and, five years later,
he made the race for the Presidency on the gold
Democrat ticket. His running mate was the old
Kentucky Governor, General S. B. Buckner. Of
course, they were overwhelmingly beaten. Governor
Palmer died at Springfield, Ill., September 25, 1900.
Some eight years ago his autobiography appeared.
   Shelby M. Cullom, sixteenth and seventeenth
Governor of Illinois, was born in Wayne county,
Kentucky, in 1829. When a boy of tender years, he
removed to Tazewell county, Illinois. Cullom studied
law and he was early elected to the State Legislature.
In 1864 he was elected to Congress, and he has been
a member of that body ever since, except the six
years he served as Governor (1876-1882), and a
short time he was engaged in the banking business.
Senator Cullom's solid, practical mind appeals to all
men.



23



 









Indiana



   Among the States that have been governed by
Kentuckians, in point of numbers, Indiana ranks
third. The fourth State Governor of Indiana was
James B. Ray, a native of Jefferson county, Ken-
tucky. Ray studied law and was admitted to the
Cincinnati bar. He later removed to Indiana, where
he was elected Governor in 1826. Governor Ray
made an able executive, being especially interested
in the internal improvements of the State. He died
in Cincinnati in 1848.
   Henry Smith Lane, Indiana's thirteenth Gov-
ernor, was born in Montgomery county, Kentucky,
in 1811. He was educated in his native county and,
in 1834, he removed to Indiana. Lane was elected
Governor in 1860, but he had served only four days
when he was sent to the United States Senate.
Senator Lane died in Crawfordsville, Ind., June 18,
1881.
   The twenty-third Governor of Indiana, Claude
Matthews, was a native of Bath county, Kentucky,
born in 1845. A few years after the death of his
mother, his father married the second time and
removed his family to Maysville, Ky. Matthews
prepared for college and entered old Centre at Dan-
ville, graduating in 1867. In the following year he
went to Indiana. Matthews was elected Governor
in 1892. He was a Free Silver Democrat and a
prominent candidate for the presidential nomina-
tion in 1896. But Mr. Bryan's glittering "cross of



24

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governors



gold" so dazzled the delegates' eyes, and his piercing
"crown of thorns" so punctured all previous booms,
that the gifted Kentuckian was as one with Richard
Parks Bland, better known as "Silver Dick," and a
Kentuckian-born. Governor Matthews died in In-
dianapolis, August 28, 1898-the last Kentuckian to
govern the Hoosier State.



25



 









Ohio



   One of Ohio's greatest men was Thomas Corwin,
a native of Paris, Ky., born in 1794. When "Tom,"
as he always was called, was but four years of age,
his father removed to Ohio, where the son studied
law and was admitted to the bar. In 1830 Corwin
was sent to Congress, where his eloquence and wit
won him a national reputation. He served in the
House for ten years, when he was elected Governor
of Ohio by a large majority. In 1844 Corwin was
elected to the United States Senate, and six years
later President Fillmore made him his Secretary of
the Treasury. He served another term in Congress
before his death, which occurred at Washington,
December 18, 1865.
   Ohio's thirty-fifth Governor, Richard Moore
Bishop, was born in Fleming county, Kentucky, in
1812. At the age of thirty-six, Bishop went to
Cincinnati to enter the grocery business. In 1859
he was elected mayor of Cincinnati and, in 1877, he
was chosen Governor of the State. Governor Bishop
was a prominent member of the Church of the Dis-
ciples for many years. He died in 1893.



26



 









Kentuckians-Bom in Other States



  Benjamin J. Franklin, who was appointed Gov-
ernor of Arizona during the second administration
of President Cleveland, was born in Germantown,.
Ky., in 1839. His early education was gained in the
public schools of Kentucky, after which he entered
Blethany College in West Virginia. Governor
Franklin taught school in his early manhood anti
later practiced law in Minnesota and Kansas. Dur-
ing President Cleveland's first administration, he
was selected for diplomatic service in China and at
the close of this service he went to Arizona and
settled in Phoenix, shortly before his appointment
as Governor. Franklin was Governor of the terri-
tory from 1896 to 1897. He died in Phoenix in
1898 and is buried in Rosedale Cemetery. His
official report to the Secretary of the Interior, issued
in 1896, contains much valuable matter relating to
the history and conditions of Arizona.
   Arkansas territory was formed in 1819, and
General James Miller, a New Hampshire hero of the
War of 1812, was appointed as the first territorial
Governor. Robert Crittenden, of Logan county,
Kentucky, was made secretary and acting Governor
until General Miller reached the capitol, a village
called Arkansas Post, established by John Law, of
Mississippi bubble fame. Acting Governor Critten-
den convened the first provisional Legislature, by
proclamation of July 4, 1819, and it was in session
for seven days, or from July 28 to August 3. General
                       27

 







Kentucky: Mother of Gomernors.



Miller did not reach the Post until Christmas, 1819,
so Crittenden served as Governor for about a year.
Late in the year 1820, the capitol was moved to
Little Rock.
   The sixth Governor of Arkansas was Henry M.
Rector, who was born in Louisville, Ky., in 1816.
He was educated by his mother and in the Louisville
schools. Rector removed to Arkansas when a young
man and, in 1860, he was elected Governor. He had
served but two years when the State Supreme Court
declared his seat vacant. Governor Rector died some
years ago.
   Another native of Louisville, Thomas J. ChurchiII,
was the thirteenth Governor of Arkansas. He was
educated in Louisville and served in a Kentucky
regiment during the Mexican War and he also saw
much service in the Kentucky campaign in the Civil
War. In 1880 Churchill was elected Governor of
Arkansas.
   Only one Kentuckian has ever been elected Gov-
ernor of Colorado: John Long Routt, a native of
Eddyville, Ky., born in 1826. Routt's father died
when he was very small, and when he was ten years
old his mother removed to Illinois, where the son
was educated and taught a trade. He served under
General Grant gallantly in the Civil War and Presi-
dent Grant appointed him Governor of Colorado
territory in 1875. Governor Routt prepared the
territory for statehood, which was granted, in 1876,
and the people immediately chose him as the first
State Governor. In 1883 Governor Routt was elected
                       28

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governors.



mayor of Denver, and seven years later he was again
chosen Governor. He now resides in Denver.
   David S. Walker, seventh State Governor of
Florida, was a native of Logan county, Kentucky.
He was educated in a Kentucky private school and
then removed to Florida. Walker was elected Gov-
ernor in 1865, and he served three years. He died
in Tallahassee, Fla., July 20, 1891.
   The fifth State Governor of Idaho was Frank
W. Hunt, born at Newport, Ky., in 1861. He was
educated in the Newport schools and then went to
Idaho in 1888.   Hunt served in the Spanish-
American War and, at its close, he entered politics.
In the fall of 1900 he was elected Governor of Idaho
and served until January, 1903. Governor Hunt
was an able executive, always urging his people to
take deep interest in agriculture and commerce. He
died at his home in Boise in 1906.
   The twenty-third and twenty-fourth Governor
of Kansas, Edward W. Hoch, was born in Danville,
Ky., in 1849. Hoch was educated at Centre College.
He then spent three years as a reporter on a Lex-
ington newspaper, when he resigned and went to
Kansas to engage in journalism. He was elected
Governor of Kansas on the Republican ticket in 1905
and re-elected in 1907. Governor Hoch's home is
in Topeka, Kansas.
   The thirteenth Governor of Louisiana, Robert C.
Wickliffe, was born in Bardstown, Ky., in 1820. He
graduated at Centre College, Danville, at the age
of twenty years. Wickliffe's poor health drove him
                      29

 







Kenturky: Mother of Governors.



to Louisiana shortly after his graduation. In 1856
he was elected Governor of the State. Governor
Wickliffe was an able lawyer, which aided him
greatly in his work as Governor. He died at
Shelbyville, Ky., April 18, 1895. He was an uncle
of former Governor J. C. W. Beckham, of Kentucky.
   Joshua Baker, Louisiana's military Governor
from 1867 to 1868, was a Kentuckian-born. Baker
was a small boy when his family removed to
Louisiana. He studied law in that State and then
returned to Kentucky to practice his profession.
Governor Baker died in Connecticut in 1886.
   Willis A. Gorman, the second territorial Governor
of Minnesota, was born near Flemingsburg, Ky., in
1814. He spent much of his early life in Indiana.
Gorman served as Governor of Minnesota (1853-
1857). He fought gallantly in the Civil War. He
died at St. Paul, Minn., May 20, 1876.
   Green Clay Smith, Montana's second territorial
Governor, was a native of Richmond, Ky., born in
1832. He was graduated at Transylvania University
and began the practice of law in Covington, Ky. He
was early in the Kentucky Legislature. In 1866
President Johnson appointed Smith Governor of
Montana territory, and he did much to prepare the
territory for statehood. About 1870 Governor Smith
became a minister of the Baptist Church. He died
in Washington, D. C., June 30, 1893.
   The seventh territorial Governor of Montana was
Samuel T. Hauser, a native of Falmouth, Ky. He
was educated in Falmouth and soon emigrated to
                        30

 






Kentucky: Mother of Governor.



Missouri and then to Montana. Hauser erected the
first silver mill ever in Montana. President Cleve-
land appointed him Governor of the territory in 1885
and he served for two years.
   Governor Hauser's successor was an old Ken-
tucky Governor, Preston H. Leslie, born in Wayne
county, Kentucky, in 1819. In 1871 Leslie defeated
Mr. Justice John M. Harlan, now of the United
States Supreme Court, for Governor of Kentucky.
At the close of his term, he practiced law for a few
years and then went to Montana. Leslie, like Hauser,
served as Governor of Montana but two years
(1887-1889). In 1894 President Cleveland appointed
Leslie United States District Attorney for Montana.
He died in Helena, Montana, in 1907.
   Montana's third State Governor, Robert B. Smith,
was born in Hickman county, Kentucky, in 1854.
He was educated in the Kentucky schools, taught in
this State and he was admitted to the Mayfield, Ky.,
bar. In 1882 Smith moved to Montana. He served
for four years as United States District Attorney
for Montana and was elected Governor in 1896 on
the Fusion ticket.
   The present Governor of Montana, Edward L.
Norris, was born and reared in Cumberland county,
Kentucky. Some twenty years ago he went West,
locating in Montana. He was a member of the State
Senate and afterwards Lieutenant-Governor. When
Governor Toole resigned, Norris became acting
Governor. In the autumn of 1908, he was elected
Governor on the Democratic ticket. Governor
                       31

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governorm.



Norris, accompanied by members of his staff, was
in Kentucky several months ago re-visiting the
scenes of his youth. He is noted as a lawyer.
   The fifth territorial Governor of Nebraska,
William A. Richardson, was born near Lexington,
Ky., in 1811, and died in Quincy, Ill., in 1875. He
was educated at Transylvania University, studied
law, and then removed to Illinois. He subsequently
served in the Illinois Legislature and in the Mexican
War. He was sent to Congress in 1846, and in 1858
was appointed territorial Governor of Nebraska and
served several months. In 1863 he was elected to
the United States Senate to fill Stephen A. Douglas'
unexpired term.
   The last territorial Governor of Nebraska was
Alvin Saunders, born in Fleming county, Ky., July
12, 1817. Saunders left Kentucky at the age of
twelve years for Illinois. From 1861 to 1867, he
served Nebraska as Governor. He was much loved
by the people of Nebraska and he was later sent to
the lower house of Congress. Governor Saunders
died in Omaha, Neb., in 1899.
   Joseph Clay Styles Blackburn was born in Wood-
ford county, Kentucky, October 1, 1838. He gradu-
ated from Centre College in the class of '57. In the
following year he began the practice of law in
Chicago. After the war between the States, in which
he served, he resumed the practice of his profession
in Versailles, Ky. In 1870 Blackburn began his
political career as a member of the Kentucky Legis-
lature. In 1875 he went to Congress and served
                       32

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governors.



in both branches, with the exception of a short
period, until March, 1907. On April 1, 1907, Presi-
dent Roosevelt appointed him a member of the
Isthmian Canal Commission, in charge of the De-
partment of Civil Administration in the Canal Zone,
and it was Governor Blackburn for the next three
years.
   Recently President Taft appointed Maurice Hud-
son Thatcher, formerly State Inspector and Exam-
iner, and a poet of no mean ability, as Blackburn's
successor. Governor Thatcher was born in Butler
county, Kentucky, a man of the people who has done
things for years.
   The twenty-fourth Governor of Tennessee was
Albert S. Marks, who was born near Owensboro,
Ky., October 16, 1836. At the age of nineteen years,
Marks went to Tennessee and began the study of
law. He served in the Civil War and, in 1878, he
was elected Governor of Tennessee.    Governor
Marks died in Nashville, Tenn., November 4, 1891.
   Governor Marks' successor, Alvin Hawkins, was
a native of Bath county, Kentucky. When he was
only five years old, his family removed to Tennessee,
where he was educated and taught a trade. He later
taught school and read law. Hawkins held several
fine offices before he was elected Governor of the
State in 1880. Governor Hawkins died in 1905.
   Another Kentuckian who governed the Volunteer
State was Benton McMillan, a native of Monroe
county, Kentucky, born in 1845. McMillan was
educated at Kentucky University, now rechristened
with its famous name, Transylvania. He began the
                      33

 







Kenturky: Mother of Gorernors.



practice of law in Tennessee in 1871. For twenty
years McMillan represented his district in Congress.
In 1899 he was elected Governor and re-elected in
1901. Governor McMillan's home is Carthage, Tenn.
   The first provisional, American Governor of
Texas was Henry Smith, who was born in Kentucky
in 1784. Smith spent his youth in this State and
then emigrated to Missouri. From Missouri he went
to Texas, being elected Governor in 1835. In the
fall of the next year, he declined the presidency of
the republic of Texas, and Sam Houston was elected,
with Governor Smith as Secretary of the Treasury.
Governor Smith was a forty-niner to California and
he died in Los Angeles, March 4, 1851.
   John Ireland, a native of Hart county, Kentucky,
was the seventeenth Governor of Texas. At the age
of twenty years, he served as deputy sheriff of Hart
county. He shortly afterwards began the study of
law and was admitted to the bar of Munfordsville,
Ky. In 1853 Ireland settled in Texas, and, after
having served on the State Supreme Court, he was
elected Governor in 1882; and the people approved
his administration by re-electing him. Governor
Ireland died in San Antonio, MNarch 5, 1896.
   Two Kentuckians have been Governors of Utah:
Eli H. Murray and Caleb W. West. Murray was
born in Breckinridge county, Kentucky, September
12, 1844. He fought in the Union Army in Ken-
tucky during the Civil War. In 1866 he was ap-
pointed United States Marshal for Kentucky and
he held this office for ten years, when he became
                        34

 







Kentucky: Mother of Governor



manager of the Louisville Commercial. President
Hays appointed Murray Governor of Utah in 1880,
and President Arthur re-appointed him, but he re-
signed in 1886 during the first Cleveland administra-
tion. Governor Murray vigorously opposed polyg-
amy and the demands of the Mormon Church. He
died in 1896.
   West also was born in 1844, in Cynthiana, Ky.
He was educated in his native town and practiced
law there for many years. He was appointed Gov-
ernor of Utah territory in 1886, succeeding Murray,
and he was re-appointed seven years later, serving
until the State Government was organized, June 6,
1896. The remainder of his life was spent as a
special agent for the United States Treasury. Gov-
ernor West died in San Francisco in January, 1909,
and his remains were brought to Kentucky for inter-
ment.
   While nine Virginians have been Governors of
Kentucky, only one Kentuckian has been Governor
of the Old Dominion-John Floyd. He was born
in Jefferson county, Kentucky, and graduated in
medicine at the University of Pennsylvania when
twenty-three years of age. He settled in Mont-
gomery county, Virginia, to practice his profession,
but he was soon drawn into politics, being elected
Governor in 1830. Throughout his administration,
he opposed the prevalent doctrine of nullification.
In 1832 South Carolina voted for Governor Floyd
for President. He died at Sweet Springs, Va.,
August 15, 1837.



35



 









The Adopted Sons
    This completes the list of the native born Ken-
 tuckians; we must now go back to Missouri and
 consider the adopted sons. The first adopted son
 of Kentucky to rule Missouri was'Benjamin Howard.
    In 1807 Captain Meriwether Lewis succeeded
 General James Wilkinson as Governor of the terri-
 tory and, when he died in 1809, Benjamin Howard
 was appointed as his successor. Governor Howard
 was born in Virginia, but his father was one of the
 early settlers at Boonesboro, Ky. At an early age,
 Howard represented his county in the Kentucky Leg-
 islature and, in 1807, he was a member of the Lower
 House of Congress. He resigned in 1809 and emi-
 grated to Louisiana territory to accept the governor-
 ship. In 1812 the territory of Orleans became the
 State of Louisiana, and the territory of Louisiana
 became the territory of Missouri. Governor Howard
 was contin