Beriah Magoffin
Beriah Magoffin | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 21st Governor of Kentucky | |
| In office August 30, 1859 – August 18, 1862 | |
| Lieutenant | Linn Boyd Vacant |
| Preceded by | Charles S. Morehead |
| Succeeded by | James F. Robinson |
| Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives | |
| In office 1867–1869 | |
| Member of the Kentucky Senate | |
| In office 1850 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | April 18, 1815 Harrodsburg, Kentucky |
| Died | February 28, 1885 (aged 69) Harrodsburg, Kentucky |
| Resting place | Spring Hill Cemetery |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Relations | Ebenezer Magoffin (brother)[1] |
| Alma mater | Centre College Transylvania University |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Signature |  |
Beriah Magoffin (April 18, 1815 – February 28, 1885) was the 21st Governor of Kentucky, serving during the early part of the Civil War. Personally, Magoffin adhered to a states' rights position, including the right of a state to secede from the Union, and he sympathized with the Confederate cause. Nevertheless, when the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a position of neutrality in the war, Magoffin ardently held to it, refusing calls for aid from both the Union and Confederate governments.
In special elections held in June 1861, Unionists captured nine of Kentucky's ten congressional seats and obtained
After the war, he encouraged acceptance of the Union victory and passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. He died February 28, 1885. Magoffin County, Kentucky, was named in his honor.
Early life
Beriah Magoffin was born on April 18, 1815, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.[2] He was the son of Beriah and Jane (McAfee) Magoffin.[3] His father was an immigrant from County Down, Ireland, and his mother was the daughter of Samuel McAfee, a prominent pioneer in early Kentucky.[4]
Magoffin's early education was obtained in the common schools of Harrodsburg.
Magoffin returned to Kentucky in 1839 due to an illness.[4] He continued his legal practice in Harrodsburg, and was appointed police judge of Harrodsburg by Governor Robert P. Letcher in 1840.[4] On April 21, 1840, he married Anna Nelson Shelby.[4] Shelby was the granddaughter of Kentucky's first and fifth governor, Isaac Shelby.[3] Ten of the couple's children survived infancy.[3]
Magoffin became active in the
Governor of Kentucky
Magoffin was elected Governor of Kentucky in the 1859 Kentucky gubernatorial election over Joshua Fry Bell, taking office on August 30.[3] He supported states' rights and the institution of slavery.[2] Although he believed in the right of states to secede from the union, he hoped to avoid this outcome by reaching an agreement between the southern and northern states.[3] To that end, he wrote a circular letter to the governors of the slave states on December 9, 1860, detailing a plan to save the Union.[5]
Magoffin's plan was to unite the slave states around a set of minimum concessions to see if the North would accept them as an alternative to war.
In January 1861, Magoffin called the
Magoffin called another special session of the legislature in May 1861.[4] Again, the legislators refused to call a convention to determine the state's course in the war.[4] Instead, they approved a resolution of neutrality, and Magoffin proclaimed this position on May 20, 1861.[3] Later that month, Magoffin sent a letter to Confederate President Jefferson Davis asking that he recognize and honor Kentucky's neutrality.[8] In August, he sent an identical letter to President Lincoln.[8]
Although Magoffin pledged "to abide by the will of the majority of the people in the state" and to uphold the
In early September 1861, both federal and Confederate troops entered Kentucky.[9] Magoffin declared both sides equally guilty of violating Kentucky's neutrality and demanded that both sides withdraw.[9] A resolution calling for immediate withdrawal by both Union and Confederate forces was defeated in the legislature.[9] Instead, the legislature passed a resolution ordering only the Confederate troops out of the state.[4] Magoffin vetoed the resolution, but his veto was overridden, and he obediently issued the order for the Confederates to withdraw.[7] In November 1861, a self-constituted convention of southern sympathizers met at Russellville, Kentucky, in order to form a provisional Confederate government for the state.[10] Despite his southern sympathies, Magoffin denounced the actions of this convention.[10]
Magoffin and the legislature continued to clash throughout the remainder of 1861 and into 1862. They found agreement only on the most menial of legislation, such as a bill to allow the common schools to continue the sessions that had been interrupted by the outbreak of hostilities in 1861.
Calls by the legislature for Magoffin's resignation had begun as early as September 30, 1861.
Later life and death
After the war, Magoffin returned to his legal practice and engaged in agricultural pursuits in Harrodsburg.
In his last act of public service, Magoffin represented Mercer County in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1867 to 1869.[4] He died at home on February 28, 1885, and was buried in Spring Hill Cemetery in Harrodsburg.[2][3] In 1900, a monument was erected in the cemetery in Magoffin's honor.[13] Magoffin County, Kentucky, was created in 1860 and also named in his honor.[2]
See also
- Kentucky in the Civil War
References
- Family Search. Retrieved November 10, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin"
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harrison in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 603
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Powell, p. 52
- ^ Harrison in Register, p. 92
- ^ Harrison in Register, p. 93
- ^ a b c d e Harrison in Kentucky's Governors, p. 79
- ^ a b c Dues, p. 23
- ^ a b c d Harrison in Register, p. 106
- ^ a b Harrison in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, p. 604
- ^ a b Harrison in Kentucky's Governors, p. 80
- ^ Harrison in Register, p. 108
- ^ Brent, p. 6
Bibliography
- Brent, Joseph E. "National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form". Archived from the original (JPG) on July 21, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
- Dues, Michael T. (January 1966). "Governor Beriah Magoffin of Kentucky". Filson Club History Quarterly. 40.
- Harrison, Lowell H. (April 1974). "Governor Magoffin and the Secession Crisis". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 72.
- ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
- ISBN 0-8131-2326-7.
- "Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin". National Governors Association. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
- Powell, Robert A. (1976). Kentucky Governors. Frankfort, Kentucky: Kentucky Images. OCLC 2690774.
Further reading
- Goebel, Robert William. "Casualty of War : the governorship of Beriah Magoffin, 1859–1862". University of Louisville. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2012. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
- ISBN 0-9769231-1-4.