James GUTHRIE, Congress, KY (1792-1869)

GUTHRIE, James, a Senator from Kentucky; born near Bardstown, Nelson County, Ky., December 5, 1792; attended McAllister’s Academy, Bardstown; engaged in transporting merchandise to New Orleans in 1812; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1817 and commenced practice in Bardstown; appointed Commonwealth attorney in 1820 and moved to Louisville; member, State house of representatives 1827-1831; member, State senate 1831-1840; unsuccessful candidate for election to the United States Senate in 1835; delegate to and president of Kentucky constitutional convention in 1849; road and railroad builder; founder and president of the University of Louisville; appointed Secretary of the Treasury by President Franklin Pierce 1853-1857; vice president and then president of the Louisville Nashville Railroad Co. and president of the Louisville-Portland Canal Co.; member of the peace convention of 1861 held in Washington, D.C., to devise means to prevent the impending war; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1865, to February 7, 1868, when he resigned because of failing health; died in Louisville, Ky., March 13, 1869; interment in Cave Hill Cemetery.

Bibliography

American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Cotterill, Robert S. “James Guthrie-Kentuckian, 1792-1869.” Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society 20 (September 1922): 290-96.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present