Thomas Metcalfe | |
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10th Governor of Kentucky | |
In office August 26, 1828 –September 4, 1832 | |
Lieutenant | John Breathitt |
Preceded by | Joseph Desha |
Succeeded by | John Breathitt |
Member of the U. S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 2nd district and 4th district | |
In office March 4, 1819 –June 1, 1828 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Desha Samuel H. Woodson |
Succeeded by | Robert P. Letcher John Chambers |
United States Senator from Kentucky | |
In office June 23, 1848 –March 3, 1849 | |
Preceded by | John J. Crittenden |
Succeeded by | Henry Clay |
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives | |
In office 1812–1816 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Fauquier County, Virginia | March 20, 1780
Died | August 18, 1855 75) Nicholas County, Kentucky | (aged
Political party | National Republican Whig |
Spouse(s) | Nancy Mason |
Residence | Forest Retreat |
Profession | Soldier, Stonemason |
Military service | |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Rank | Captain |
Battles/wars | War of 1812 |
Thomas Metcalfe (March 20, 1780 – August 18, 1855), also known as Thomas Metcalf or as "Stonehammer", was a U.S. Representative, Senator, and the tenth Governor of Kentucky. He was the first gubernatorial candidate in the state's history to be chosen by a nominating convention rather than a caucus. He was also the first governor of Kentucky who was not a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. [1]
The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they comprise the legislature of the United States.
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C.
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the head of the executive branch of government in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Fifty-seven men and one woman have served as Governor of Kentucky. The governor's term is four years in length; since 1992, incumbents have been able to seek re-election once before becoming ineligible for four years. Throughout the state's history, four men have served two non-consecutive terms as governor, and two others have served two consecutive terms. Kentucky is one of only five U.S. states that hold gubernatorial elections in odd-numbered years immediately before the United States Presidential Election. The current governor is Matt Bevin, who was first elected in 2015.
At age 16, Metcalfe was apprenticed to his older brother and became a stonemason. He helped construct the Green County courthouse, known as the oldest courthouse in Kentucky. Later, political opponents would mock his trade, giving him the nickname "Old Stone Hammer." His political career began with four terms in the Kentucky House of Representatives. His service was interrupted by the War of 1812, in which he commanded a company in the defense of Fort Meigs. At the age of thirty-eight, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He held his seat in the House for five terms, then resigned to run for governor. In an election decided by 709 votes, Metcalfe defeated William T. Barry in the gubernatorial election of 1828. [2] Metcalfe's predecessor, Joseph Desha was so stunned by his party's loss that he threatened not to vacate the governor's mansion. Ultimately, however, he respected the will of the people, and allowed an orderly transition.
The craft of stonemasonry involves creating buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone from the earth, and is one of the oldest trades in human history. These materials have been used to construct many of the long-lasting, ancient monuments, artifacts, cathedrals, and cities in a wide variety of cultures. Famous works of stonemasonry include the Egyptian Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, Cusco's Incan Wall, Easter Island's statues, Angkor Wat, Borobudur, Tihuanaco, Tenochtitlan, Persepolis, the Parthenon, Stonehenge, Great Wall of China, Chartres Cathedral, and Pumapunku.
Green County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,258. Its county seat is Greensburg. Green was a prohibition or dry county but has not been since 2015.
The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a House district, except when necessary to preserve the principle of equal representation. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits. The Kentucky House of Representatives convenes at the State Capitol in Frankfort.
Metcalfe's primary concern as governor was the issue of internal improvements. Among his proposed projects were a road connecting Shelbyville to Louisville and a canal on the Falls of the Ohio. When President Andrew Jackson vetoed funds to construct a turnpike connecting Maysville and Lexington, Metcalfe built it anyway, paying for it entirely with state funds. Following his term as governor, he served in the state senate, and completed the unfinished term of John J. Crittenden in the U.S. Senate in 1848. After this, he retired to "Forest Retreat", his estate in Nicholas County, where he died of cholera in 1855. Metcalfe County, Kentucky was named in his honor.
Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors and navigation improvements. This older term carries the connotation of a political movement that called for the exercise of public spirit as well as the search for immediate economic gain. Improving the country's natural advantages by developments in transportation was, in the eyes of George Washington and many others, a duty incumbent both on governments and on individual citizens.
Shelbyville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Shelby County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 14,045 at the 2010 census.
Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 29th most-populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being Lexington, the state's second-largest city. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, located in the state's north and on the border with Indiana.
Thomas Metcalfe was born on March 20, 1780 to John Metcalfe and his third wife, Sarah "Sally" Dent (Chinn) Metcalfe in Fauquier County, Virginia. [2] His father served as a captain in the Revolutionary War. [3] In 1784, the Metcalfe family settled near Russell's Cave in Fayette County, Virginia (now Kentucky). [2] Some years later, they would move to a farm in Nicholas County. [2]
Fauquier is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 65,203. The county seat is Warrenton.
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was an 18th-century war between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies which declared independence as the United States of America.
Fayette County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 295,803, making it the second-most populous county in the commonwealth. Its territory, population and government are coextensive with the city of Lexington, which also serves as the county seat.
Metcalfe received only a rudimentary education, and at age sixteen, he was apprenticed to his brother and learned the craft of stonemasonry. [4] Three years later, their father died, leaving the brothers to provide for their mother and younger siblings. [4] Metcalfe became one of the most prominent stonemasons and building contractors during the settlement period of Kentucky. [5] A number of his stone houses survive and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including his first home in Robertson County. [5] Other structures built by the Metcalfe brothers are the state's first governor's mansion and the Green County courthouse, known as the oldest courthouse in Kentucky, [6] and the Presbyterian church at West Union in far southern Ohio. [7]
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.
Robertson County is a county located in the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,282. Its county seat is Mount Olivet, Kentucky. The county is named for George Robertson, a Kentucky Congressman from 1817 to 1821. It is Kentucky's smallest county, both by population and by total area.
The Old Governor's Mansion, also known as Lieutenant Governor's Mansion, is located at 420 High Street, Frankfort, Kentucky. It is reputed to be the oldest official executive residence officially still in use in the United States, as the mansion is the official residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky.
On October 2, 1801, Metcalfe enlisted as a lieutenant in the 29th Regiment of the Kentucky Militia. [8] He was promoted to captain on October 12, 1802. [8] About 1806, Metcalfe married Nancy Mason of Fairfax, Virginia. [2] The couple had four children. [9] Between 1817 and 1820, Metcalfe built a house for his family in Nicholas County. [10] The estate was dubbed "Forest Retreat" by statesman Henry Clay who, on his first visit to the newly constructed house, told Metcalfe, "Tom, you have here a veritable Forest Retreat." [10]
A lieutenant is a junior most commissioned officer in the armed forces, fire services, police and other organizations of many nations.
Fairfax, colloquially known as Fairfax Courthouse, Downtown Fairfax, or Fairfax City, and officially named the City of Fairfax, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 22,565, which had risen to an estimated 24,013 as of 2015.
Henry Clay Sr. was an American attorney and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives, served as 7th speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and served as the 9th U.S. secretary of state. He received electoral votes for president in the 1824, 1832, and 1844 presidential elections and helped found both the National Republican Party and the Whig Party. For his role in defusing sectional crises, he earned the appellation of the "Great Compromiser."
Metcalfe's political career began in 1812 when he was elected to represent Nicholas County in the Kentucky House of Representatives. His service was interrupted by the War of 1812. In 1813, he raised a company of volunteers and commanded them at the Battle of Fort Meigs. [3] While he was away at war, the voters of his district re-elected him to the Kentucky House; only thirteen votes were cast against him. [11] He continued to serve in the Kentucky House until 1816. [9]
At the age of thirty-eight, Metcalfe was elected to the Sixteenth Congress, defeating Joshua Desha. [11] During his tenure in the House, which lasted five terms, he was the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Militia. [12] He opposed the Second Bank of the United States, but favored extension of credit to purchasers of public land. [2] In 1821, he proposed granting preemption rights to squatters. [13] He also opposed restrictions on slavery in Missouri and the Louisiana Purchase. [2]
In James Monroe's annual address to the legislature in December 1822, he called on Congress to report on how to best deal with the Seminoles that inhabited the recently acquired territory of Florida. As chair of the Committee on Indian Affairs, Metcalfe delivered the report on February 21, 1823. His committee found that, under the terms of the Adams-Onis Treaty that transferred control of Florida to the United States from Spain, the Seminoles were to be accorded the same privileges as U.S. citizens. Accordingly, the committee recommended that each Seminole family be given a land grant. They hoped that this would help break the tribal loyalties of the Seminoles and expedite their amalgamation into white society. The committee's report was largely ignored. [14]
In 1826, Metcalfe served on a House committee that investigated allegations that Vice-President John C. Calhoun had improperly benefited from a contract he awarded while serving as Secretary of War in 1822. While Calhoun was cleared of any wrongdoing, his friend, South Carolina Representative George McDuffie, began an exchange of correspondence with Metcalfe regarding the proceedings. The correspondence became heated, and McDuffie challenged Metcalfe to a duel. As the recipient of the challenge, Metcalfe had the right to choose the terms of the engagement. He chose rifles as the weapon at a distance of 90 feet. McDuffie insisted that wounds from a previous duel had left him incapable of handling a rifle, and proposed pistols as an alternative. Metcalfe replied that he had never handled a pistol in his life. Unable to come to an agreement on the conditions of the duel, both sides eventually dropped the matter entirely. [15]
Metcalfe resigned his seat in the House on June 1, 1828 in order to run for the governorship of Kentucky. [16] He was chosen as the candidate of the National Republican Party at their nominating convention and was the first gubernatorial candidate in the state to be chosen using this method. [9] He defeated William T. Barry by a margin of 709 votes, but his running mate, Joseph R. Underwood, was badly defeated by the Democratic-Republican nominee, John Breathitt. [9] Metcalfe's election in 1828 marked the first time the governorship had been won by a candidate who was not a Democratic-Republican. [11] However, only one Democratic-Republican would hold the office between Metcalfe's term and the election of Lazarus W. Powell in 1851. [11]
Joseph Desha, the outgoing governor, refused to believe that his party had lost the election. He disliked Metcalfe not only due to his party affiliation, but also because of his occupation as a stonemason, which he believed was too low a calling for a governor. Metcalfe's opponents made slights on the quality of his stone work and his views on the Old Court-New Court controversy. When told about these charges, Metcalfe remarked "They may say what they like about my views, but the first man that dares to attack my character, I will cleave his skull with my stone hammer, as I would cleave a rock." [17] As word of this remark spread, Metcalfe was given the nickname "Old Stone Hammer." Despite his threats to remain in the governor's mansion until the legislature convened, Desha respected the will of the people, and left the residence on September 2, 1828. [17]
Metcalfe opposed the spoils system and the doctrine of nullification. [2] He favored protective tariffs and federal aid for internal improvements. [2] He oversaw the establishment of a road connecting Shelbyville to Louisville. [16] When President Andrew Jackson vetoed federal aid for a turnpike connecting Maysville and Lexington, Metcalfe continued constructing it with state funds. [9] (The road is now a portion of U.S. Route 68.) [18] Metcalfe's term also saw the commissioning of the state's first railroad and the beginning of plans for a canal at the Falls of the Ohio. [16] At the governor's recommendation, the state legislature approved additional aid for education, and the creation of district schools. [2]
Following his term as governor, Metcalfe represented Nicholas and Bracken Counties in the Kentucky Senate from 1834 to 1838. [3] In 1836, he served as a Whig presidential elector, and he presided over the Kentucky Whig Convention in Harrodsburg on August 26, 1839. [16] [19] From 1840 to 1849, he served as president of the state board of internal improvements. [16] Finally, he was appointed and subsequently elected as a Whig to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John J. Crittenden. [12] He served from June 23, 1848, to March 3, 1849. [12] During his short tenure, he denounced secession, and asserted that Kentucky would remain part of the Union. [2]
After his term in the Senate Metcalfe engaged in agricultural pursuits near Carlisle, Kentucky. He died of cholera in his home on August 18, 1855. [3] He was interred in the family burial ground at Forest Retreat. [12] Metcalfe County, Kentucky was formed in 1860 and named in his honor. [20] "Forest Retreat" was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 2, 1973. [21]
Nicholas County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2010 census, the population was 7,135. Its county seat is Carlisle, which is also the only incorporated community in the county. Founded in 1799, the county is named for Col. George Nicholas, the "Father of the Kentucky Constitution".
John Breckinridge was a lawyer and politician from the U.S. state of Virginia. He served in the state legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky before being elected to the U.S. Senate and appointed United States Attorney General during the second term of President Thomas Jefferson. He is the progenitor of Kentucky's Breckinridge political family and the namesake of Breckinridge County, Kentucky.
John Pope was a United States Senator from Kentucky, a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky, Secretary of State of Kentucky, and the third Governor of Arkansas Territory.
Louie Broady Nunn was the 52nd governor of Kentucky. His election in 1967 made him the first Republican to hold that office since the end of Simeon Willis' term in 1947, and the last to hold the position until the election of Ernie Fletcher in 2003.
Solomon Porcius Sharp was an American attorney and politician, serving as attorney general of Kentucky and a member of the United States Congress and the Kentucky General Assembly. His murder by Jereboam O. Beauchamp in 1825 is referred to as the Beauchamp–Sharp Tragedy or "The Kentucky Tragedy."
John Adair was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician. He was the eighth Governor of Kentucky and represented the state in both the U.S. House and Senate. A native of South Carolina, Adair enlisted in the state militia and served in the Revolutionary War, during which he was twice captured and held as a prisoner of war by the British. Following the War, he was elected as a delegate to South Carolina's convention to ratify the United States Constitution.
John Breathitt was the 11th Governor of Kentucky. He was the first Democrat to hold this office and was the second Kentucky governor to die in office. Shortly after his death, Breathitt County, Kentucky was created and named in his honor.
John Rowan was a 19th-century politician and jurist from the U.S. state of Kentucky. Rowan's family moved from Pennsylvania to the Kentucky frontier when he was young. From there, they moved to Bardstown, Kentucky, where Rowan studied law with former Kentucky Attorney General George Nicholas. He was a representative to the state constitutional convention of 1799, but his promising political career was almost derailed when he killed a man in a duel stemming from a drunken dispute during a game of cards. Although public sentiment was against him, a judge found insufficient evidence against him to convict him of murder. In 1804, Governor Christopher Greenup appointed Rowan Secretary of State, and he went on to serve in the Kentucky House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives.
James Turner Morehead was a United States Senator and the 12th Governor of Kentucky. He was the first native-born Kentuckian to hold the governorship of the state. A member of Henry Clay's National Republican Party, Morehead entered politics just as his party was beginning to challenge the Democratic Party's dominance in the state.
Martin D. Hardin was a politician and lawyer from Kentucky. Born in Pennsylvania, his family immigrated to Kentucky when he was still young. He studied law under George Nicholas and commenced practice at Richmond, Kentucky. His cousin, future U.S. Representative Benjamin Hardin, studied in his law office. He represented Madison County in the Kentucky House of Representatives for a single term.
William Jason Fields was an American politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky. Known as "Honest Bill from Olive Hill", he represented Kentucky's Ninth District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1923, resigning to become the state's 41st governor.
Joseph Desha was a U.S. Representative and the ninth governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, Desha's Huguenot ancestors fled from France to Pennsylvania, where Desha was born. Eventually, Desha's family settled near present-day Gallatin, Tennessee, where they were involved in many skirmishes with the Indians. Two of Desha's brothers were killed in these encounters, motivating him to volunteer for "Mad" Anthony Wayne's campaign against the Indians during the Northwest Indian War. Having by then resettled in Mason County, Kentucky, Desha parlayed his military record into several terms in the state legislature.
Forest Retreat is a historic home of Kentucky governor and United States Senator Thomas Metcalfe, located in Nicholas County, Kentucky. It is currently operated as a Bed & Breakfast and event venue, visit their website at www.forestretreatky.com
James Douglas Breckinridge was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky. He was a member of the noted Breckinridge family.
George Robertson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky.
John Chambers was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and the second Governor of the Iowa Territory.
The Thomas Metcalfe House was the first house of Thomas Metcalfe (1780–1855), 10th governor of Kentucky. The house was built by Metcalfe, a stonemason and building contractor, in c.1810.
Isaac Bledsoe Desha was a 19th-century American tanner who was convicted of murdering one man in Kentucky, and confessed to murdering another in Texas. He was notable as the son of the Kentucky Governor, Joseph Desha. Shortly after his father's election as governor in 1824, Desha was accused of robbing and killing a man named Francis Baker, who was passing through Kentucky. Circumstantial evidence implicated Desha, who denied the crime.
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U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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Preceded by Joseph Desha | United States Representative from Kentucky's 4th District 1819–1823 | Succeeded by Robert P. Letcher |
Preceded by Samuel H. Woodson | United States Representative from Kentucky's 2nd District 1823–1828 | Succeeded by John Chambers |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by Joseph Desha | Governor of Kentucky 1828–1832 | Succeeded by John Breathitt |
U.S. Senate | ||
Preceded by John J. Crittenden | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Kentucky 1848–1849 Served alongside: Joseph R. Underwood | Succeeded by Henry Clay |