100 Notable alumni of
Transylvania University
Updated:
Transylvania University is 846th in the world, 311th in North America, and 290th in the United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Transylvania University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff.
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Jefferson Davis
- Occupations
- writerpoliticianpolitical writermilitary officerbusinessperson
- Biography
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Jefferson F. Davis was an American politician who served as the first and only president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party before the American Civil War. He was the United States Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857.
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Ned Beatty
- Occupations
- film actortelevision actorcomedianactorstage actor
- Biography
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Ned Thomas Beatty was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 films. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in Hollywood". His film appearances included Deliverance (1972), White Lightning (1973), All the President's Men (1976), Network (1976), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Back to School (1986), Rudy (1993), Shooter (2007), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Rango (2011). He also had the series regular role of Stanley Bolander in the first three seasons of the hit NBC TV drama Homicide: Life on the Street.
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Stephen F. Austin
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Stephen Fuller Austin was an American-born empresario. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas, he led the second and, ultimately, the successful colonization of the region by bringing 300 families and their slaves from the United States to the Tejas region of Mexico in 1825.
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Cassius M. Clay
- Occupations
- writerlawyerdiplomatpoliticianphotographer
- Biography
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Major General Cassius Marcellus Clay was an American planter, politician, military officer and abolitionist who served as the United States ambassador to Russia from 1863 to 1869. Born in Kentucky to a wealthy planter family, Clay entered politics during the 1830s and grew to support the abolitionist cause in the U.S., drawing ire from fellow Southerners. A founding member of the Republican Party in Kentucky, he was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as the U.S. minister to Russia, where Clay is credited with influencing Russian support for the Union during the American Civil War.
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John C. Breckinridge
- Occupations
- lawyermilitary personnelpoliticianuniversity teacher
- Biography
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John Cabell Breckinridge was an American lawyer, politician, and soldier. He represented Kentucky in both houses of Congress and became the 14th and youngest-ever vice president of the United States. Serving from 1857 to 1861, he took office at the age of 36. He was a member of the Democratic Party, and ran for president in 1860 as a Southern Democrat. He served in the U.S. Senate during the outbreak of the American Civil War, but was expelled after joining the Confederate Army. He was appointed Confederate Secretary of War in 1865.
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Albert Sidney Johnston
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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Albert Sidney Johnston served as a general in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, fighting actions in the Black Hawk War, the Texas-Indian Wars, the Mexican–American War, the Utah War, and the American Civil War.
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Richard Mentor Johnson
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Richard Mentor Johnson was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren. He is the only vice president elected by the United States Senate under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. Johnson also represented Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. He began and ended his political career in the Kentucky House of Representatives.
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John Marshall Harlan
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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John Marshall Harlan was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called "The Great Dissenter" due to his many dissents in cases that restricted civil liberties, including the Civil Rights Cases, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Giles v. Harris. Many of Harlan's views expressed in his notable dissents would become the official view of the Supreme Court starting from the 1950s Warren Court and onward. His grandson John Marshall Harlan II was also a Supreme Court justice.
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David Rice Atchison
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticianjudgemilitary officer
- Biography
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David Rice Atchison was a mid-19th century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. He served as President pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years. Atchison served as a major general in the Missouri State Militia in 1838 during Missouri's Mormon War and as a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War under Major General Sterling Price in the Missouri Home Guard. Some of Atchison's associates claimed that for 24 hours—Sunday, March 4, 1849, through noon on Monday—he may have been Acting President of the United States. This belief, however, is dismissed by nearly all scholars.
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Happy Chandler
- Occupations
- lawyerbasketball coachbaseball playerpolitician
- Biography
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Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Sr. was an American politician from Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second Commissioner of Baseball from 1945 to 1951 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. His grandson, Ben Chandler, later served as congressman for Kentucky's Sixth District.
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John Hunt Morgan
- Occupations
- military personnel
- Biography
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John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Braxton Bragg's invasion of that state. He also attacked General William Rosecrans's supply lines. In July 1863, he set out on a 1,000-mile raid into Indiana and Ohio, taking hundreds of prisoners. But after most of his men had been intercepted by U.S. Army gunboats, Morgan surrendered at Salineville, Ohio, the northernmost point ever reached by uniformed Confederates. Morgan carried out the diversionary "Morgan's Raid" against orders, which gained no tactical advantage for the Confederacy while losing the regiment. Morgan escaped prison, but his credibility was so low that he was restricted to minor operations. He was killed at Greeneville, Tennessee, in September 1864. Morgan was the brother-in-law of Confederate general A. P. Hill. Various schools and a memorial are dedicated to him.
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Francis Preston Blair
- Occupations
- journalisteditorpolitician
- Biography
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Francis Preston Blair Sr. was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and influential figure in national politics advising several U.S. presidents across party lines.
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Andrew Jackson Donelson
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomat
- Biography
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Andrew Jackson Donelson was an American diplomat and politician. He served in various positions as a Democrat and was the Know Nothing nominee for US vice president in 1856.
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Matt Jones
- Occupations
- writerlawyerradio personality
- Biography
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Matthew Harper Jones is an American attorney, businessman, radio host, author, and investor in Lexington, Kentucky.
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Stevens T. Mason
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Stevens Thomson Mason was an American politician who served as the first governor of Michigan from 1835 to 1840. Coming to political prominence at an early age, Mason was appointed his territory's acting territorial secretary by Andrew Jackson at age 19, becoming the acting territorial governor soon thereafter in 1834 at age 22. As territorial governor, Mason was instrumental in guiding Michigan to statehood, which was secured in 1837. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected as Michigan's first state governor in 1835, where he served until 1840. Elected at 23 and taking office at 24, Mason was and remains the youngest state governor in American history.
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George Graham Vest
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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George Graham Vest was a U.S. politician. Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, he was known for his skills in oration and debate. Vest, a lawyer as well as a politician, served as a Missouri Congressman, a Confederate Congressman during the Civil War, and finally a U.S. Senator.
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Joseph O. Shelby
- Occupations
- farmer
- Biography
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Joseph Orville "J.O." Shelby was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.
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Francis Preston Blair Jr
- Occupations
- politicianlawyermilitary officer
- Biography
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Francis Preston Blair Jr. was a United States Senator, a United States Congressman and a Union Major General during the Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and was active in preventing the State of Missouri from being absorbed into the Confederacy at the beginning of the Civil War.
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James Speed
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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James Speed was an American lawyer, politician, and professor who was in 1864 appointed by Abraham Lincoln to be the United States Attorney General. Speed previously served in the Kentucky legislature and in local political offices.
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Carter Harrison
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Carter Henry Harrison Sr. was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1879 until 1887 and from 1893 until his assassination. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives. Harrison was the first cousin twice removed of President William Henry Harrison, whose grandson, Benjamin Harrison, had also been president until just months prior to the assassination. He was also the father of Carter Harrison Jr., who would follow in his father's footsteps, and would serve five terms as the mayor of Chicago himself.
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Samuel Freeman Miller
- Occupations
- judgelawyer
- Biography
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Samuel Freeman Miller was an American lawyer and physician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1862 until his death in 1890.
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Robert Smith Todd
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Robert Smith Todd was an American lawyer, soldier, banker, businessman and politician. He was the father of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
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James G. Birney
- Occupations
- writerlawyerpoliticianjuristabolitionist
- Biography
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James Gillespie Birney was an American abolitionist, politician, and attorney born in Danville, Kentucky. He changed from being a planter and slave owner to abolitionism, publishing the abolitionist weekly The Philanthropist. He twice served as the presidential nominee for the anti-slavery Liberty Party.
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Arthur Ford
- Years
- 1897-1971 (aged 74)
- Occupations
- psychic
- Biography
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Arthur Ford was an American psychic, spiritualist medium, clairaudient, and founder of the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship (1955). He gained national attention when he claimed to have contacted the dead son of Bishop James Pike in 1967 on network TV. In 1928 Ford claimed to have contacted the deceased spirits of Houdini's mother and later in 1929 Harry Houdini himself.
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James Lanier
- Enrolled in Transylvania University
- Studied law
- Occupations
- lawyerbankerwriterentrepreneur
- Biography
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James Franklin Doughty Lanier was an entrepreneur who lived in Madison, Indiana, prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Lanier became a wealthy banker with interests in pork packing, the railroads, and real estate.
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George B. Crittenden
- Occupations
- military personnellawyer
- Biography
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George Bibb Crittenden was a career United States Army officer who served in the Black Hawk War, the Army of the Republic of Texas, and the Mexican–American War, and later resigned his commission to serve as a general in the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War.
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John Breckinridge Castleman
- Occupations
- military officer
- Biography
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John Breckinridge Castleman was a Confederate officer and later a United States Army brigadier general as well as a prominent landowner and businessman in Louisville, Kentucky.
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Lewis Sayre
- Occupations
- surgeon
- Biography
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Lewis Albert Sayre was a leading American orthopedic surgeon of the 19th century. He performed the first operation to cure hip-joint ankylosis, introduced the method of suspending the patient followed by wrapping the body to correct spine distortions, and popularized circumcision in the United States. Sayre improved sanitary conditions in New York, stopping the spread of cholera from incoming ships, and was a founder of the Bellevue Hospital Medical College and of the American Medical Association, of which he was elected vice-president in 1866, and president in 1880.
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Luke Pryor Blackburn
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
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Luke Pryor Blackburn was an American physician, philanthropist, and politician from Kentucky. He was elected the 28th governor of Kentucky, serving from 1879 to 1883. Until the election of Ernie Fletcher in 2003, Blackburn was the only physician to serve as governor of Kentucky.
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Jesse D. Bright
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticianjudgeentrepreneur
- Biography
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Jesse David Bright was the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Indiana and U.S. Senator from Indiana who served as President pro tempore of the Senate on three occasions. He was the only senator from a Northern state to be expelled for being a Confederate sympathizer. As a leading Copperhead he opposed the Civil War. He was frequently in competition with Governor Joseph A. Wright, the leader of the state's Republican Party.
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Thomas Ford
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Thomas Ford was a lawyer, judge, author and the eighth Governor of Illinois. The first Illinois governor to be raised in the state, he served from 1842 to 1846 and became known for restoring the state's solvency and reducing geographic sectionalism, as well as for leading the legislature despite his lack of prior political experience. A lifelong Democrat, Ford is also remembered for anti-Mormon sentiments and vacillation which led to the death of Joseph Smith, and the subsequent Illinois Mormon War of 1844-1845.
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Daniel Mongiardo
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
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Frank Daniel Mongiardo is an American physician and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Mongiardo is a Democrat and was the 54th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from 2007 until 2011. He was a member of the Kentucky State Senate from 2001 to 2007. He also ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, narrowly losing in the general election to Jim Bunning and again in 2010, losing in the primary election to Jack Conway.
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Gustav Koerner
- Years
- 1809-1896 (aged 87)
- Enrolled in Transylvania University
- Studied in 1834-1835
- Occupations
- writerdiplomatabolitionistrevolutionaryjournalist
- Biography
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Gustav Philipp Koerner, also spelled Gustave or Gustavus Koerner, was a German-American revolutionary, journalist, lawyer, politician, judge and statesman in Illinois and Germany, and a Colonel of the U.S. Army who was a confessed enemy of slavery. He married on 17 June 1836 in Belleville Sophia Dorothea Engelmann (16 November 1815 – 1 March 1888); they had 9 children. He belonged to the co-founders and was one of the first members of the Grand Old Party, and was a close confidant of Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd, and had an essential role in his nomination and election for president in 1860.
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Levi Day Boone
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Levi Day Boone served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois (1855–1856) for the American Party (Know-Nothings).
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James Brown Clay
- Occupations
- lawyerpoliticianjudgediplomat
- Biography
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James Brown Clay was an American politician and diplomat who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Kentucky's 8th congressional district from 1857 to 1859.
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James Lane Allen
- Enrolled in Transylvania University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- authornovelistwriter
- Biography
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James Lane Allen was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novel A Kentucky Cardinal, often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. His work is characteristic of the late 19th-century local color era, when writers sought to capture the vernacular in their fiction. Allen has been described as "Kentucky's first important novelist".
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Richard Hawes
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Richard Hawes Jr. was a United States representative from Kentucky and the second Confederate Governor of Kentucky. He was part of the politically influential Hawes family. His brother, uncle, and cousin also served as U.S. Representatives, and his grandson Harry B. Hawes was a member of the United States Senate. He was a slaveholder.
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Basil W. Duke
- Occupations
- lawyerwriterlobbyistmilitary officer
- Biography
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Basil Wilson Duke was a lawyer in Kentucky and a Confederate general officer during the American Civil War. Afterward, he achieved renown as a historian. His most notable role in the war was second-in-command to his brother-in-law John Hunt Morgan. Duke later wrote a popular account of what was called Morgan's Raid (1863). He took over Morgan's command in 1864 after U.S. soldiers killed Morgan. At the end of the war, Duke served among Confederate President Jefferson Davis's bodyguards after his flight from Richmond, Virginia, through the Carolinas.
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Robert Trimble
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Robert Trimble was a lawyer and jurist who served as Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, as United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1826 to his death in 1828. During his brief Supreme Court tenure he authored several majority opinions, including the decision in Ogden v. Saunders, which was the only majority opinion that Chief Justice John Marshall ever dissented from during his 34 years on the Court.
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William M. Gwin
- Occupations
- physicianpolitician
- Biography
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William McKendree Gwin was an American medical doctor and politician who served in elected office in Mississippi and California. In California he shared the distinction, along with John C. Frémont, of being the state's first U.S. senators. Before, during, and after the Civil War, Gwin was well known in California, Washington, D.C., and the Southern United States as a determined Confederate sympathizer.
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Beriah Magoffin
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Beriah Magoffin 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.
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William T. Barry
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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William Taylor Barry was an American statesman, jurist and slave owner. He served as Postmaster General for most of the administration of President Andrew Jackson and was the only Cabinet member not to resign in 1831 as a result of the Petticoat affair.
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Claria Horn Boom
- Occupations
- judge
- Biography
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Claria Denise Horn Boom is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. She is a member of the United States Sentencing Commission.
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Thomas James Churchill
- Occupations
- military officerpolitician
- Biography
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Thomas James Churchill was an American soldier and politician who served as the 13th governor of Arkansas from 1881 to 1883. Before that, he was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War.
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Carl Rogers Darnall
- Occupations
- chemistsurgeon
- Biography
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Brigadier General Carl Rogers Darnall was a United States Army chemist and surgeon credited with originating the technique of liquid chlorination of drinking water. Chlorination has been an exceedingly important innovation in public health, saving innumerable lives.
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Wilson Shannon
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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Wilson Shannon was a Democratic politician from Ohio and Kansas. He served as the 14th and 16th governor of Ohio, and was the first Ohio governor born in the state. He was the second governor of the Kansas Territory.
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Kyle Smith
- Occupations
- association football player
- Biography
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Kyle Joseph Smith is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club Orlando City.
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William Alexander Richardson
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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William Alexander Richardson was a prominent Illinois Democratic politician before and during the American Civil War.
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Jerome B. Robertson
- Occupations
- politicianmilitary personnel
- Biography
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Jerome Bonaparte Robertson was a doctor, Indian fighter, Texas politician, and a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was noted for his service in the famed Texas Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia.
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John Edward Bouligny
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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John Edward Bouligny was an American politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the state of Louisiana. He served one term as a member of the Know Nothing movement's anti-immigrant American Party. During his term, Louisiana seceded from the Union, but Bouligny remained in Washington and refused to resign. He was the only member of Congress from Louisiana to not resign or vacate his seat after the state seceded.
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Lazarus W. Powell
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Lazarus Whitehead Powell was the 19th Governor of Kentucky, serving from 1851 to 1855. He was later elected to represent Kentucky in the U.S. Senate from 1859 to 1865.
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John J. Hardin
- Occupations
- journalistlawyerpoliticianeditor
- Biography
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John Jay Hardin was a U.S. Representative and militia general from Illinois.
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Marcus A. Smith
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Marcus Aurelius Smith was an American attorney and politician who served eight terms as Arizona Territorial Delegate to Congress and as one of the first two Senators from Arizona. As a Delegate, he was a leader in the effort to gain statehood for Arizona. His non-voting status, however, minimized his influence with only 35 of the 277 bills he introduced into the House of Representatives being signed into law. Lack of a voice in the United States Senate further weakened his efforts as he managed to get Arizona statehood bills passed by the House only to see the legislation blocked in the Senate. Beyond his efforts for statehood, Smith worked to have government buildings constructed and to provide relief to his constituents affected by either man-made or natural misfortunes. His efforts to provide relief to the citizens of Arizona did not extend to the indigenous population, for whom Smith expressed great animosity.
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Nathaniel Pope
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Nathaniel Pope was an American government leader in the early history of the State of Illinois. He served as the Secretary of the Illinois Territory, then as a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Illinois Territory, and for over thirty years as the United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Illinois.
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George W. Jones
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticianjudge
- Biography
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George Wallace Jones was an American frontiersman, entrepreneur, attorney, and judge, was among the first two United States Senators to represent the state of Iowa after it was admitted to the Union in 1846. A Democrat who was elected before the birth of the Republican Party, Jones served over ten years in the Senate, from December 7, 1848 to March 3, 1859. During the American Civil War, he was arrested by Federal authorities and briefly jailed on suspicion of having pro-Confederate sympathies.
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Thomas Holley Chivers
- Occupations
- writerpoet
- Biography
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Thomas Holley Chivers was an American doctor-turned-poet from the state of Georgia. He is best known for his friendship with Edgar Allan Poe and his controversial defense of the poet after his death.
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Henry David Cooke
- Occupations
- journalistbusinesspersonpolitician
- Biography
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Henry David Cooke was an American financier, journalist, railroad executive, and politician. He was the younger brother of Philadelphia financier Jay Cooke. A member of the Republican political machine in post-Civil War Washington, D.C., Cooke was appointed first territorial governor of the District of Columbia by Ulysses S. Grant.
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Thomas Satterwhite Noble
- Occupations
- painterteacher
- Biography
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Thomas Satterwhite Noble was an American painter as well as the first head of the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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George W. Johnson
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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George Washington Johnson was the first Confederate governor of Kentucky. A lawyer-turned-farmer from Scott County, Kentucky, Johnson, a supporter of slavery who owned 26 slaves, favored secession as a means of preventing the Civil War, believing the Union and Confederacy would be forces of equal strength, each too wary to attack the other. As political sentiment in the Commonwealth took a decidedly Union turn following the elections of 1861, Johnson was instrumental in organizing a sovereignty convention in Russellville, Kentucky, with the intent of "severing forever our connection with the Federal Government." The convention created a Confederate shadow government for the Commonwealth, and Johnson was elected its governor. This government never controlled the entire state though it controlled about half the state early in the war, Kentucky remained in the Union after 1862 throughout the rest of the war.
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Richard Montgomery Gano
- Occupations
- politicianmilitary personnel
- Biography
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Richard Montgomery Gano was a physician, Protestant minister, and brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.
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James B. Beck
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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James Burnie Beck was a Scottish-American United States Representative and Senator from Kentucky.
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James S. Jackson
- Occupations
- politicianlawyermilitary officer
- Biography
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James Streshly Jackson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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Edward A. Hannegan
- Occupations
- diplomatpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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Edward Allen "Ned" Hannegan was an American lawyer and politician from Indiana, serving two terms as a United States representative from 1833 to 1837, and one term as a U.S. Senator from 1843 to 1849.
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Karen K. Caldwell
- Occupations
- judgelawyer
- Biography
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Karen Kaye Caldwell is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
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Charles S. Morehead
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Charles Slaughter Morehead was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, and served as the 20th Governor of Kentucky. Though a member of the Whig Party for most of his political service, he joined the Know Nothing, or American, Party in 1855, and was the only governor of Kentucky ever elected from that party.
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B. Gratz Brown
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Benjamin Gratz Brown was an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator, the 20th Governor of Missouri, and the Liberal Republican and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in the presidential election of 1872.
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John Calvin McCoy
- Occupations
- missionary
- Biography
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John Calvin McCoy is considered the "father of Kansas City".
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Jack Curtice
- Occupations
- head coach
- Biography
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Jack Camp "Cactus Jack" Curtice Jr. was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. Curtice served as the head football coach West Texas State (1940–1941), Texas Western (1946–1949), Utah (1950–1957), Stanford (1958–1962), and UC Santa Barbara (1962–1969). His teams were known for their passing offenses. His overall record was 135–115–8.
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William Orlando Butler
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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William Orlando Butler was a U.S. political figure and U.S. Army major general from Kentucky. He served as a Democratic congressman from Kentucky from 1839 to 1843, and was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee under Lewis Cass in 1848.
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James S. Rollins
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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James Sidney Rollins was a nineteenth-century Missouri politician and lawyer. He helped establish the University of Missouri, led the successful effort to get it located in Boone County, and gained funding for the university with the passage of a series of acts in the Missouri Legislature. For his efforts, he was named "Father of the University of Missouri."
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Joseph Rodes Buchanan
- Occupations
- physicianphysiologist
- Biography
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Joseph Rodes Buchanan was an American physician and professor of physiology at the Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Buchanan proposed the terms Psychometry (soul measurement) and Sarcognomy for psychic abilities he claimed humans had. His promotion of paranormal powers in humans caught the public imagination of the period.
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Matthew Harris Jouett
- Occupations
- painter
- Biography
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Matthew Harris Jouett was a noted American portrait painter, famous for painting portraits including Thomas Jefferson, George Rogers Clark and Lafayette.
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James Fisher Robinson
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
-
James Fisher Robinson was the 22nd Governor of Kentucky, serving the remainder of the unfinished term of Governor Beriah Magoffin. Magoffin, a Confederate sympathizer, became increasingly ineffective after the elections of 1861 yielded a supermajority to pro-Union forces in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly. Magoffin agreed to resign the governorship, provided he could select his successor. He selected Robinson.
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Joseph Nash McDowell
- Years
- 1805-1868 (aged 63)
- Occupations
- physician
- Biography
-
Joseph Nash McDowell was one of the most influential and respected doctors west of the Mississippi in the 1840s until his death in 1868. He is primarily remembered for his grave-digging practices, where he illegally exhumed corpses in order to study human anatomy. He is also known for his influence on Mark Twain, and was likely the inspiration for Twain's fictional character Dr. Robinson in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."
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Silas Adams
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Silas Adams was an American attorney and politician from Kentucky who served for one term as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky's 11th congressional district.
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Martin D. Hardin
- Occupations
- military personnelpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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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.
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Jeremiah Clemens
- Occupations
- lawyernovelistwriterpolitician
- Biography
-
Jeremiah Clemens was a U.S. senator and novelist from the state of Alabama. He was elected to fill the vacancy left by the death of Dixon Hall Lewis, and served from November 30, 1849, to March 3, 1853. Clemens was the author of Tobias Wilson, one of the first American Civil War novels, and he was also one of the earliest writers of Western novels.
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Joseph R. Underwood
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Joseph Rogers Underwood was a lawyer, judge, United States Representative and Senator from Kentucky.
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Eugene C. Barker
- Occupations
- authorhistorian
- Biography
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Eugene Campbell Barker was an American historian at the University of Texas, the managing director of the Texas State Historical Association, and the editor of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. He chaired the history department while soliciting gifts to the university, which he used to build a collection of archives and artifacts. In 1950, the university dedicated the Eugene C. Barker History Center as a repository for his collections. These collections are an important part of the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas.
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Albert Kellogg
- Occupations
- explorerphysicianbotanist
- Biography
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Albert Kellogg was an American physician and the first resident botanist of California. He was a founding member of the California Academy of Sciences and served as its first curator of botany. Kellogg was a prolific writer and an accomplished illustrator of botanical specimens. In 1882, he published "The Forest Trees of California", the first scientific account of the state's diverse forest species.
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Zebulon York
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Zebulon York was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was among a small group of Northern-born Confederate generals.
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Guinn Williams
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Guinn Terrell Williams was an American banker and politician. A Democrat, he served in the Texas State Senate, and is most notable for his service in the U.S. representative from Texas. His son was the actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams.
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Josiah S. Johnston
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Josiah Stoddard Johnston was a United States representative and Senator from Louisiana. Born in Salisbury, Connecticut, he moved with his father to Kentucky in 1788, and went to Connecticut to attend primary school. He graduated from Transylvania University (Lexington, Kentucky) in 1802, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Alexandria, Louisiana (then the Territory of Orleans). He was a member of the Territorial legislature from 1805 to 1812 and during the War of 1812 raised and organized a regiment for the defense of New Orleans, but reached the city after the battle. He engaged in agricultural pursuits and was a State district judge from 1812 to 1821.
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Uriah M. Rose
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Uriah Milton Rose was an American lawyer and Confederate sympathizer. "Approachable, affable, and kind," graceful and courteous, he was called "the most scholarly lawyer in America" and "one of the leading legal lights of the nation", "a towering figure in the...life of Little Rock". He was a founder of the American Bar Association, of which he was twice president, 1891–92 and 1901-02.
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Guy U. Hardy
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Guy Urban Hardy was a U.S. Representative from Colorado for fourteen years. He was a newspaper editor and publisher for 52 years as well as president of the National Editorial Association. Three parks were established in Cañon City, Colorado as the result of his lobbying efforts: Royal Gorge Park, Temple Canyon Park, and Red Canyon Park. The Guy U. Hardy award was established to recognize individuals who preserve, protect, and advocate for outdoor recreational opportunities.
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W. W. Fosdick
- Occupations
- writerlawyerpoetsongwriterlyricist
- Biography
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William Whiteman Fosdick was an American lawyer, poet, writer and song lyricist, primarily remembered today as the writer of original lyrics to the song "Aura Lea" (also known as "Aura Lee") to a melody composed by George R. Poulton.
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Jesse Bledsoe
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Jesse Bledsoe was a slave owner and Senator from Kentucky.
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John Telemachus Johnson
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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John Telemachus Johnson was a minister in the Christian Church, an attorney, and a politician, elected as U.S. Representative from Kentucky. His older brothers, also politicians, included James Johnson and Richard M. Johnson, who served as Vice President under Martin Van Buren; he was the uncle of Robert Ward Johnson, also a politician.
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Lewis V. Bogy
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Lewis Vital Bogy was a United States senator from Missouri. Born in Ste. Geneviève, he attended the public schools, was employed as clerk in a mercantile establishment, studied law in Illinois, graduated from Transylvania University (Lexington, Kentucky in 1835 and commenced practice in St. Louis. He served in the Black Hawk War, was a member of the board of aldermen of St. Louis in 1838, and was a member of the Missouri House of Representatives in 1840–1841 and 1854–1855. He was commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1866 and 1867, and president of the city council of St. Louis in 1872. Bogy was one of the founders of the St. Louis Iron Mountain Railway, acting as president for two years.
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Henry Connelly
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Henry Connelly was Governor of the New Mexico Territory during the American Civil War. He was appointed by President Lincoln and served from September 4, 1861, until July 6, 1866. During his term, the territory broke into two, and then three parts due to the Civil War and administrative problems.
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Solomon W. Downs
- Occupations
- farmerpoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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Solomon Weathersbee Downs was an American attorney, politician, and slaveholder from Louisiana. A Democrat, he served as a United States senator from 1847 to 1853.
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Clyde Roper
- Years
- 1937-.. (age 87)
- Enrolled in Transylvania University
- Graduated with Bachelor of Arts
- Occupations
- zoologist
- Biography
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Clyde F. E. Roper is a zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He has organised a number of expeditions to New Zealand to study giant squid, including in 1997 and 1999. He graduated from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1959.
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Samuel McRoberts
- Occupations
- politicianjudgelawyer
- Biography
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Samuel McRoberts was a United States senator from Illinois. Born near Maeystown, he was educated by private tutors and graduated from the law department of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1821 and commenced practice in Monroe County, and was clerk of the circuit court of Monroe County from 1819 to 1821. He was State circuit judge from 1824 to 1827 and a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1828 to 1830.
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William A. Trimble
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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William Allen Trimble was a Democratic-Republican politician from Ohio. He served in the United States Senate.
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Tisa Mason
- Biography
-
Tisa A. Mason is an American educator and the current president of Fort Hays State University. Prior to her presidency at Fort Hays State, Mason served as Valley City State University's president from December 15, 2014, to December 15, 2017. Mason served as Fort Hays State's vice president of student affairs July 2008 to December 2014.
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B. O. Flower
- Occupations
- editorjournalist
- Biography
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Benjamin Orange Flower, known most commonly by his initials "B.O.", was an American muckraking journalist of the Progressive era. Flower is best remembered as the editor of the liberal commentary magazine The Arena, published in Boston, New York City, and Trenton, New Jersey by the Arena Publishing Co. from 1889 until 1909.
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Francis Marion Walker
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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Francis Marion Walker was a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War (Civil War). He was killed while commanding a brigade at the Battle of Atlanta of July 22, 1864, one day before his commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army was delivered.
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Robert B. McAfee
- Occupations
- lawyerwriterpoliticiandiplomat
- Biography
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Robert Breckinridge McAfee was an American diplomat, historian and politician who was the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky serving from 1824 to 1828.
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Hugh Toland
- Occupations
- surgeonacademic
- Biography
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Hugh Huger Toland was an American surgeon who founded the Toland Medical College, which later became the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He was one of the most successful surgeons in California. He was from South Carolina, and was active in San Francisco.
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William Wright Southgate
- Occupations
- politicianlawyer
- Biography
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William Wright Southgate was a Kentucky State and United States politician. He was the son of Richard Southgate and Ann Winston Hinde. He married Adaliza Keene of Lexington, Kentucky, on November 7, 1823, and they had 13 children.
