John Y. Brown (politician, born 1835)
John Brown | |
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Charles Wickliffe | |
Personal details | |
Born | John Young Brown June 28, 1835 William Singleton Young (uncle) |
Education | Centre College (BA) |
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John Young Brown (June 28, 1835 – January 11, 1904) was an American politician from the U.S.
After his service in the House, Brown took a break from politics but re-entered the political arena as a candidate for governor of Kentucky in 1891. He secured the
Brown hoped the legislature would elect him to the
Early life
John Young Brown was born on June 27, 1835, in Claysville (near
Brown received his early education in the schools of Elizabethtown, and in 1851, at the age of sixteen, matriculated at
Brown married Lucie Barbee in 1857, but she died the following year. In September 1860, he married Rebecca Hart Dixon, the daughter of former U.S. Senator Archibald Dixon.[2][4] The couple had eight children.[1]
U.S. House of Representatives
At a meeting of local Democrats in Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1859, Brown was nominated to oppose Joshua Jewett for Jewett's seat in the House of Representatives.[4] Despite Brown's protests that he was more than a year younger than the legal age to serve, he was elected over Jewett by about two thousand votes.[4] He did not take his seat until the second congressional session because of his age.[3] He became a member of the Douglas National Committee in 1860 and engaged in a series of debates with supporters of John C. Breckinridge for president, including Breckinridge's cousin, William Campbell Preston Breckinridge.[4]
It is not clear exactly when Brown relocated to Henderson, Kentucky. Confederate officer Stovepipe Johnson recounts that Brown was among the city leaders who welcomed him to Henderson in early 1862, but other sources state that Brown did not settle in Henderson until after the war.[4][7] His sympathies during the war were decidedly with the Confederacy.[2][a]
Brown was re-elected to the House of Representatives in 1866.
Governor Stevenson resigned his office to accept a seat in the U.S. Senate, and the remainder of his term was filled by President Pro Tem of the Senate Preston Leslie. When Leslie, who enjoyed only lukewarm support from his party, sought the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1871, Brown's name was among those put in nomination against his; after a few ballots, however, it became clear that Brown would not be able to gain a majority, and his supporters abandoned their support of him in favor of other candidates.[8] The following year, Brown was re-elected to the House of Representatives by an overwhelming vote of 10,888 to 457 and was allowed to assume his seat.[6] He was twice re-elected, serving until 1877.[3]
Brown's most notable action in the House was a speech he made on February 4, 1875, in response to
1891 gubernatorial election
Following his service in the House, Brown resumed his law practice in
Entering the Democratic nominating convention, Brown seemed to be the favorite for the nomination. On the first ballot, he garnered the most votes (275), leading Clay (264), Clardy (190), and Hardin (186). Over the next nine ballots, the vote counts changed little. Finally, the convention chairman announced that the candidate receiving the fewest votes on the next ballot would be dropped from the voting. Clardy received the fewest votes, and on the next ballot, his supporters divided almost equally between the remaining three candidates. Hardin was the next candidate to be dropped, and Brown received a majority over Clay on the thirteenth ballot.[12]
The Republicans nominated Andrew T. Wood, a lawyer from Mount Sterling, who had failed in earlier elections for Congress and state attorney general. Concurrently with the gubernatorial election, the state's voters would decide whether to ratify a proposed new constitution for the state in 1891. The divided Democrats had taken no stand on the document as part of their convention's platform, and Wood spent much of the campaign trying to get Brown to declare his support for or opposition to it. About six weeks before the election, Brown, sensing strong public support for the new constitution, finally came out in favor of it. For the remainder of the race, Wood touted an alleged conspiracy between Brown and the Louisville and Nashville Railroad to thwart meaningful corporate regulations, but the issue failed to gain much traction.[13]
Both Democrats and Republicans were concerned about the presence of S. Brewer Erwin, nominee of the newly formed
Governor of Kentucky
Turmoil marked the legislative sessions of Brown's term; his supporters had been either unwilling or unable to influence the rest of the Democratic slate, and tensions over the currency issue soon split the administration. Attorney General William Jackson Hendricks, Treasurer Henry S. Hale, and Auditor Luke C. Norman were all free silver supporters and feuded with Brown and his (appointed) secretary of state, John W. Headley, throughout Brown's term. Over time, the rift deepened and spread to the entire Democratic party.[14] Brown also frequently clashed with the legislature and vetoed several of the bills it passed; none of his vetoes were ever overridden.[4]
When the General Assembly convened on the last day of 1891, Brown reported that he had appointed a commission to study the impact of the new constitution on the state's existing laws.[15] He also announced that the state's present budget deficit was $229,000 and was expected to reach almost half a million dollars by the end of 1893.[15] With these two large issues facing it, the Assembly was in session almost continuously from December 1891 to July 1893.[16] The length of the session earned it a derisive nickname – the "Long Parliament".[16] Part of the reason for the extended session was each chamber's difficulty in achieving a quorum; a Louisville newspaper reported that, for an entire month, the largest attendance in the House of Representatives was 61 of 100 members.[17] Consequently, some bills were passed by a plurality instead of a majority of the legislators.[18] Fearing that these bills would be challenged in court, Brown vetoed them.[18]
During the session, Brown secured the termination of a statewide geological survey, deeming it too expensive.[16] By constitutional mandate, the regular session ended August 16, but Brown convened a special session of the legislature on August 25 because important bills that he had vetoed needed to be rewritten and passed, and because some bills he had signed needed to be amended to comply with the new constitution.[17] Major legislation advocated by Brown and passed by the General Assembly included improvements in tax collection processes and tighter controls on corporations.[19] Among the measures not specifically advocated by Brown that were enacted by the General Assembly was a measure racially segregating the state's railroad cars, called the "separate coach law".[16] The special session lasted until November 1.[17]
Brown won acclaim from the railroad companies for vetoing a proposed railroad tax increase, but soon drew their ire for preventing the merger of the state's two largest railways, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and the
During the 1894 legislative session, Brown advocated and won passage of several government efficiency measures, including a bill to transfer certain state governmental expenses to the counties, a bill to reform state printing contracts, and measures clarifying laws governing asylums and charitable institutions.[13] The most significant bill, and the one that generated the most debate, was a law giving married women individual property rights for the first time in state history.[21] Other measures passed during the session included a basic coal safety measure, a common school statute, a measure prohibiting collusive bidding on tobacco, new regulations on grain warehouses, and a law providing free turnpikes.[20] Measures advocated by Brown but not enacted by the Assembly included broadening the powers of the state railroad commission, establishing the offices of state bank inspector and superintendent of public printing, and reforming prison management, including separate detention of adolescent criminals.[13] Brown also lobbied for the abolition of the state parole board; when the Assembly refused, Brown vowed to ignore the board's recommendations.[13]
Mob violence was prevalent in Kentucky during Brown's tenure as governor. From 1892 to 1895, there were fifty-six
Later life and death
It was widely known that Brown desired election to the U.S. Senate when his gubernatorial term expired in 1896.
After his term as governor, Brown again returned to his legal practice in Louisville.[19] He was an unsuccessful candidate for the House of Representatives in 1896, losing to Republican Walter Evans.[1][6] He would later claim that he had only run in order to improve Democratic voter turnout for William Jennings Bryan's 1896 presidential bid.[26] Prior to the 1899 Democratic nominating convention, Brown was mentioned as a possible gubernatorial nominee, but he declined to become a candidate.[27] When the convention began, he was mentioned as a candidate for convention chairman, but he also refused to serve in this capacity.[28]
Despite his proclaimed lack of interest in the gubernatorial nomination, Brown's name was entered as a candidate on the first ballot, along with Parker Watkins Hardin, former Congressman William J. Stone, and William Goebel, President Pro Tempore of the state senate. The convention was thrown into chaos when a widely known agreement between Stone and Goebel – designed to get Hardin out of the race – broke down. As balloting continued over the next four days (Sunday excepted) with no candidate receiving a majority, Brown continued to receive a few votes on each ballot. Finally, the convention delegates decided to drop the candidate with the lowest vote total until one candidate received a majority; this resulted in the nomination of Goebel a few ballots later.[29]
Following the convention, disgruntled Democrats began to talk about rejecting their party's nominee and holding another nominating convention.[30] Brown became the leader of this group, styled the "Honest Election League".[31] Plans for the new convention were made at a meeting held August 2, 1899, in Lexington, Kentucky.[32] The nomination was made official at a convention held in that city on August 16.[33] In addition to Brown, the Honest Election League nominated a full slate of candidates for the other state offices.[34]
Brown opened his campaign with a speech at
Due to his age and ill health, Brown was able to speak only once per week. At a campaign event in Madisonville, he challenged Goebel to a debate, but Goebel ignored the challenge. Brown, and other speakers enlisted on behalf of his campaign, frequently called attention to Goebel's refusal to acknowledge the challenge or agree to a debate. When William Jennings Bryan came to the state to campaign with Goebel, Brown sent him a letter challenging him to repudiate Goebel's nomination because of the broken agreement between Goebel and Stone. Bryan refused to comment on the events of the convention and stressed the importance of party loyalty. He denounced the Honest Election League's convention as irregular and invalid.[36]
Brown's campaign faltered as the race drew to a close. Two weeks prior to the election, Brown was injured in a fall at
Goebel challenged the vote returns in several counties.[38] While the challenges were being adjudicated, Goebel was shot by an unknown assassin; Goebel was ultimately declared the winner of the election, but died of his wounds two days after being sworn into office.[38] Among those charged in Goebel's murder was Governor Taylor's Secretary of State, Caleb Powers.[38] Powers employed Brown as his legal counsel during his first trial, which ended in a conviction in July 1900.[1][38] Brown died January 11, 1904, in Henderson and was buried at the Fernwood Cemetery in that city.[19] He was the namesake of, but not related to, 20th century Kentucky Congressman John Y. Brown Sr.[39]
See also
Notes
- ^[a] The National Governors Association web site claims Brown served as a cavalry colonel during the war, but provides no elaboration. Neither Brown's contemporaries (Levin, Johnson, Hughes, etc.) nor later historians (Clark, Harrison, Ireland, etc.) mention this service.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Harrison in The Kentucky Encyclopedia, pp. 129–130
- ^ a b c d Ireland, p. 123
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Brown, John Young". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Levin, p. 212
- ^ Tapp and Klotter, p. 463
- ^ a b c Powell, p. 70
- ^ Johnson, p. 102
- ^ Tapp and Klotter, p. 37
- ^ Trefousse, p. 8
- ^ a b c Trefousse, p. 9
- ^ a b c d e Harrison in A New History of Kentucky, p. 266
- ^ a b c d Tapp and Klotter, p. 317
- ^ a b c d e Ireland, p. 124
- ^ Tapp and Klotter, p. 325
- ^ a b Tapp and Klotter, p. 326
- ^ a b c d e Harrison in A New History of Kentucky, p. 267
- ^ a b c Tapp and Klotter, p. 327
- ^ a b Tapp and Klotter, p. 328
- ^ a b c "Kentucky Governor John Young Brown". National Governors Association
- ^ a b c Ireland, p. 125
- ^ Tapp and Klotter, p. 334
- ^ Wright, pp. 172–174
- ^ a b c d e Clark and Lane, p. 63
- ^ Ireland, p. 126
- ^ Tapp and Klotter, p. 357
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, p. 67
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, p. 13
- ^ Tapp and Klotter, p. 418
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, pp. 30, 36, 38–39
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, p. 46
- ^ Tapp and Klotter, p. 428
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, p. 59
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, p. 60
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, p. 69
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, pp. 70–71
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, pp. 71, 77 94–96
- ^ Hughes, Schaefer, and Williams, pp. 111, 146
- ^ a b c d Klotter, p. 377
- ^ Harrison in A New History of Kentucky, p. 373
Bibliography
- "Brown, John Young (1835–1904)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
- ISBN 0-8131-2253-8.
- ISBN 0-8131-1772-0.
- ISBN 0-8131-2008-X. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
- Hughes, Robert Elkin; Frederick William Schaefer; Eustace Leroy Williams (1900). That Kentucky campaign: or, The law, the ballot and the people in the Goebel-Taylor contest. Cincinnati, Ohio: R. Clarke Company. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
- Ireland, Robert M. (2004). "John Young Brown". In Lowell Hayes Harrison (ed.). Kentucky's Governors. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-2326-7.
- Johnson, Adam Rankin (1904). The Partisan Rangers of the Confederate States Army. G. G. Fetter Company.
- "Kentucky Governor John Young Brown". National Governors Association. Archived from the original on March 24, 2014. Retrieved March 20, 2012.
- ISBN 0-8131-1772-0. Archived from the originalon December 28, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
- H. Levin, ed. (1897). "John Young Brown". Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky. Chicago, Illinois: Lewis Publishing Company. Retrieved August 23, 2007.
- Powell, Robert A. (1976). Kentucky Governors. Danville, Kentucky: Bluegrass Printing Company. OCLC 2690774.
- Tapp, Hambleton; ISBN 0-916968-05-7. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
- Trefousse, Hans L. (1957). Ben Butler: The South Called Him Beast!. New York City: Twayne Publishers. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
- Wright, George C. (1990). Racial Violence in Kentucky, 1865–1940 : Lynchings, Mob Rule, and "Legal Lynchings". Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 0-8071-2073-1.
Further reading
- Powers, Caleb (1905). My own story: an account of the conditions in Kentucky leading to the assassination of William Goebel, who was declared governor of the state, and my indictment and conviction on the charge of complicity in his murder. The Bobbs-Merrill Company. Retrieved October 17, 2010.