John Breckinridge (Virginia and Kentucky)

John Breckinridge (December 2, 1760 – December 14, 1806) was a United States Senator and Attorney General. He was the progenitor of the Breckinridge political family.

Early Life in Virginia

Born in Staunton, Virginia, Breckinridge attended William and Mary College (now the College of William and Mary) where he was taught by George Wythe. He was first elected to the Virginia legislature when he was only 19 years old and still a student, but because he was underage, he was not allowed to serve until his third term.

Breckinridge served in the Virginia militia during the American Revolutionary War. Afterwards he studied law, and began a private practice in Charlottesville, Virginia. He was elected to the United States Congress, but resigned in 1792 before his term even began.

Kentucky and U.S. Politics

In 1793 he moved to Lexington, Kentucky and began to practice law there. He purchased 2,467 acres (10 km²) of land and established a horse breeding operation that would become Castleton Farm, one of the most famous names in American horse racing history. He ran for a seat in the United States Senate in 1794, but was not elected by the legislature. He was, however, appointed Attorney General of Kentucky in 1795, although he resigned this position as well in 1797. He then successfully ran for a seat in the Kentucky House of Representatives, and served for two years. During this time he became the Speaker of the House.

In 1799, he served in Kentucky's constitutional convention. Afterwards he ran, this time as a Democratic-Republican, for a seat in the United States Senate, and he was elected. He served from March 4, 1801, until August 7, 1805, when he resigned again, this time to accept an appointment as the Attorney General of the United States under President Thomas Jefferson.

By many accounts, Breckinridge was an important adviser to Jefferson, and he sponsored Jefferson's Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. Breckinridge died in 1806, while still serving as Attorney General. He was buried in Lexington Cemetery.

According to Ethelbert Dudley Warfield's book The Kentucky Resolutions of 1798: An Historical Study, Breckinridge was the major author of the Kentucky Resolutions.

Legacy

• He was the father of minister and educator Robert Jefferson Breckinridge.
• He was the grandfather of C.S. General John C. Breckinridge, the fourteenth Vice President of the United States, who was also related to Senators Henry Clay and Thomas Hart Benton. CS General Breckinridge was the grandfather of US Marine General James Carson Breckinridge.
• He was the grandfather of General Robert Jefferson Breckinridge II, Spanish-American War Commander
• He was a great-grandfather of U.S. Representative and Minister to Russia Clifton R. Breckinridge, son of John C.
• He was a great-grandfather of US Navy officer Joseph Breckinridge son of Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, Sr. 1842-1920
• He was a great-great-grandfather of actor Bunny Breckinridge and of John B. Breckinridge who succeeded him as Attorney General of Kentucky and as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and who also served in the United States House of Representatives.
• Two of his other grandsons were US Congressman William Campbell Preston Breckinridge (1837-1904) and Confederate General John B. Grayson {1806-1861}.{General Grayson was also a grandson of Virginia Senator William Grayson}.
• He was a cousin of Congressman John Brown (Kentucky).
• Breckinridge County, Kentucky is named in his honor.

Further reading

• Allen, William B. (1872). A History of Kentucky: Embracing Gleanings, Reminiscences, Antiquities, Natural Curiosities, Statistics, and Biographical Sketches of Pioneers, Soldiers, Jurists, Lawyers, Statesmen, Divines, Mechanics, Farmers, Merchants, and Other Leading Men, of All Occupations and Pursuits. Bradley & Gilbert. pp. 58–59, 239–240. http://books.google.com/books?id=s_wTAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 2008-11-10. 
  • Encyclopedia of Kentucky. New York, New York: Somerset Publishers. 1987. pp. 120–121. ISBN 0403099811. 
• Harrison, Lowell. John Breckinridge, Jeffersonian Republican. Louisville: Filson Club, 1969
• Klotter, James C. The Breckinridges of Kentucky: Two Centuries of Leadership. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1986.

External links

• Congressional biography
• Biography from History of Kentucky by Lewis Collins