1. Christopher Greenup became involved in politics, and played an active role in three of the ten statehood conventions that secured the separation of Kentucky from Virginia in 1792.
22 Facts About Christopher Greenup
1. 2.
Christopher Greenup became one of the state's first representatives, and served in the Kentucky General Assembly before being elected governor in a race where, due to his immense popularity, he ran unopposed.
3.
Christopher Greenup was most likely born in Fairfax County in the Virginia Colony around 1750.
4.
Christopher Greenup learned surveying and studied law under Colonel Charles Binns at Charles City County, Virginia.
5.
Christopher Greenup resigned his commission during the Valley Forge encampment in 1778, but later served as a colonel in the Virginia militia.
6.
In 1781, Christopher Greenup helped settle the area now known as Lincoln County, Kentucky where he spent time as a surveyor and a land speculator.
7.
Christopher Greenup was admitted to practice law in the county court in 1782.
8.
In 1785, Christopher Greenup was elected to represent Fayette County for a single term in the Virginia House of Delegates.
9.
When Mercer County was created later that year, Christopher Greenup was appointed a justice there.
10.
In 1786, Christopher Greenup served as a quartermaster in Benjamin Logan's expedition against the Shawnees in the Ohio country.
11.
Christopher Greenup was a founding member of the Danville Political Club and in 1787, he joined the Kentucky Society for Promoting Useful Knowledge.
12.
Christopher Greenup served as clerk of the first Kentucky statehood convention in Danville in 1784.
13.
Christopher Greenup was elected as a delegate to the second and sixth statehood conventions in 1785 and 1788, respectively, and was a trustee of the city of Danville in 1787.
14.
When Kentucky was admitted to the Union in 1792, Christopher Greenup moved to Frankfort where he was rewarded for his efforts on behalf of the state by being chosen as an elector for the state's senators and governor.
15.
Christopher Greenup served as clerk of the state senate from 1799 to 1802.
16.
Christopher Greenup was a candidate for governor of Kentucky in 1800, but was runner-up to James Garrard in a four-man race that included Benjamin Logan and Thomas Todd.
17.
Christopher Greenup garnered a majority of the vote in fifteen counties, just one fewer than Garrard, but Garrard enjoyed strong support in the populous central Kentucky counties and received 8,390 votes, compared with 6,746 for Christopher Greenup, 3,996 for Logan, and 2,166 for Todd.
18.
Christopher Greenup intended to make another run at the governorship, and at his request, Garrard withdrew the nomination days later.
19.
Christopher Greenup resigned his circuit judgeship on June 5,1804, to make another run for governor.
20.
Christopher Greenup deployed the Kentucky militia along the Ohio River to defend the state from any threat that might result from the Burr conspiracy, but that threat had largely dissipated by 1807.
21.
The Kentucky Senate approved the nomination on February 3,1813, and Christopher Greenup served until his resignation on March 13,1813.
22.
Christopher Greenup died April 27,1818, at Blue Lick Springs Resort, where he had traveled seeking relief from his rheumatism.