John Boyle (congressman)
John Boyle | |
---|---|
Garrard County district | |
In office 1800 | |
Personal details | |
Born | John Boyle October 28, 1774 read law |
John Boyle (October 28, 1774 – February 28, 1834) was a
Education and family life
Born on October 28, 1774, at "Castle Woods" in
John Boyle married Elizabeth Tilford, and they had ten children, the first four of whom failed to survive their parents. Their eldest daughter Arethusa Jewell died in 1818 while visiting her parents' home after giving birth to their first and second grandchildren. Their eldest surviving son, James Madison Boyle (1809–1892), moved to Illinois, as did his youngest brother Henry Boyle (1821–1846) and longest surviving sister, Ellen B. Lagow McAllister (1816–1844). Son Marmontel Boyle (1811–1851) died in California. Only sons John Weir Boyle (1815–1845) and Jeremiah Tilford Boyle (1818–1871) remained in Kentucky, the last following his father's example and becoming a lawyer and politician before his Civil War service.
Early career
Boyle began his private legal practice in Lancaster, Garrard County, Kentucky in 1797 and continued until 1802.[1] His political connections also secured for him a post as deputy counselor at law for the Kentucky Court of Quarter Sessions in 1797.[1] Boyle won his first elective office in 1800, representing Garrard County in the Kentucky House of Representatives.[1]
He also farmed a plantation using enslaved labor.[4]
Congressman
In 1802, voters elected Boyle as a
Kentucky justice and dean
Appointed Governor of the Illinois Territory in 1809, Boyle declined the position.[3] Instead, Ninian Edwards, a seasoned politician and since 1806 Judge of Kentucky's highest court, the Court of Appeals was appointed the territory's governor. Boyle succeeded Edwards as a Kentucky appellate judge (having elected George M. Bibb as their chief), and soon his fellow judges elected Boyle as their chief. Thus, he served from 1809 to 1826, including as Chief Judge from 1810 to 1826.[1]
However, the last three years of his term were marked by the
On May 29, 1829, Boyle accepted the position of Dean of the Transylvania University law school, notwithstanding his federal service (as discussed below), although he only continued in that position for a year.[7]
Federal district judge
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Boyle-Robertson-Letcher_House.jpg/220px-Boyle-Robertson-Letcher_House.jpg)
Boyle received a
Death and legacy
Boyle died on February 28, 1834, near Danville, Kentucky, depressed following his wife's death in a cholera epidemic the preceding June, notwithstanding the presence of many of his children and grandchildren.[1] He was interred beside her in Danville's Bellevue Cemetery.[8][3]
The double log cabin which he built in Lancaster, Kentucky remains today (as improved by his successors) and was listed on the
Boyle's legacy also included his lawyer son Jeremiah Boyle, who unsuccessfully argued for emancipation of slaves at Kentucky's Constitutional Convention of 1849, and later recruited troops and became a Brigadier General during the American Civil War, and thereafter became active in the booming railroad industry[11] although some of Boyle's descendants would fight for the Confederacy. Furthermore, Judge Boyle taught law to his nephew John Boyle Gordon (the son of his young sister Jane who eloped), who moved to Missouri, where he served in the legislature for several terms, as well as taught law to relatives Oden Guitar and Stanley Matthews, who both became Union Army officers during the American Civil War, then became judges, Guitar in Missouri and Matthews on the United States Supreme Court.[12]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j John Boyle at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- ^ "Whitley station coordinates".
- ^ a b c d e f United States Congress. "John Boyle (id: B000729)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- ^ Boyle genealogy p. 56
- ^ "Justices of Kentucky's Highest Court: The Court of Appeals (1792–1975) & Supreme Court (1976-present) — Louis D. Brandeis School of Law Library".
- ^ Boyle genealogy pp. 53-56
- ^ Boyle genealogy p. 57
- ^ Robertson, George (1838). Biographical sketch of the Hon. John Boyle : an introductory lecture to the law class of Transylvania, November 7, 1838. A.G. Hodges. p. 19. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
- ^ "NPGallery Asset Detail". npgallery.nps.gov. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ Boyle, John (1909). John Boyle of Virginia and Kentucky. Perrin & Smith Print Company. pp. 136.
- ^ Boyle genealogy pp. 69-71
- ^ Boyle genealogy pp 105-106, 122-123
External links
- United States Congress. "John Boyle (id: B000729)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- John Boyle at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
- History of the Sixth Circuit
- 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. 277. Retrieved November 10, 2008.