53 Facts About James Garrard

James Garrard was an American farmer, Baptist minister and politician who served as the second governor of Kentucky from 1796 to 1804.

James Garrard held several local political offices and represented the area in the Virginia House of Delegates.

James Garrard was chosen as a delegate to five of the ten statehood conventions that secured Kentucky's separation from Virginia and helped write the state's first constitution.

James Garrard was among the delegates who unsuccessfully tried to exclude guarantees of the continuance of slavery from the document.

James Garrard lobbied for public education, militia and prison reforms, business subsidies, and legislation favorable to the state's large debtor class.

In 1798, the state's first governor's mansion was constructed, and James Garrard became its first resident.

Under the resulting constitution, the governor was popularly elected and was forbidden from succeeding himself in office, although James Garrard was personally exempted from this provision and was re-elected in 1799.

James Garrard clashed with the legislature over the appointment of a registrar for the state land office, leaving him embittered and unwilling to continue in politics after the conclusion of his term.

James Garrard retired to his estate, Mount Lebanon, and engaged in agricultural and commercial pursuits until his death on January 19,1822.

James Garrard was second of three children born to Colonel William and Mary Garrard.

James Garrard's mother died sometime between 1755 and 1760; afterward, his father married Elizabeth Moss, and the couple had four more children.

William James Garrard was the county lieutenant of Stafford County, by virtue of which he held the rank of colonel and was in command of the county militia.

The James Garrard family was moderately wealthy, and the Stafford County courthouse was built on their land.

James Garrard was educated in the common schools of Stafford County and studied at home, acquiring a fondness for books.

James Garrard served in the Revolutionary War as a member of his father's Stafford County militia, although it is not known how much combat he participated in.

James Garrard's captors offered to free him in exchange for military information, but he refused the offer and later escaped.

In 1785, James Garrard was elected to represent Fayette County in the Virginia legislature.

James Garrard was placed on a legislative committee with Benjamin Logan and Christopher Greenup to draft recommendations regarding the further division of Kentucky County.

On his return from the legislature, James Garrard was chosen county surveyor and justice of the peace for the newly formed county.

In 1789, the Virginia legislature established a permanent county seat named Hopewell, and James Garrard was part of the committee chosen to survey the area for the city.

James Garrard was chosen as one of the church's elders and served the congregation there for ten years.

From 1785 to 1799, James Garrard served as a trustee of Transylvania Seminary.

James Garrard encouraged his fellow ministers and Baptists to vote against its inclusion.

James Garrard resigned all of his county offices to focus on his work in the Elkhorn Baptist Convention and his agricultural pursuits.

James Garrard was pleased when his son William was chosen to represent the county in the state legislature in 1793.

In 1795, William James Garrard was reelected, and the other four state legislators from Bourbon County were close associates of James Garrard's, including John Edwards, who had recently been defeated for reelection to the US Senate.

When Governor Isaac Shelby announced he would not seek reelection, James Garrard's friends encouraged him to become a candidate.

James Garrard benefited from his political connections in Bourbon County, and many held him in high regard due to his work in the Baptist church.

James Garrard was regarded as a strong chief executive who surrounded himself with knowledgeable advisors.

Shortly after James Garrard took office, the state commissioners of public buildings reported to the legislature that it would be more financially sensible to construct a house for the governor and his large family than to rent living quarters for them for the duration of his term.

James Garrard incited considerable public interest when, in 1799, he commissioned a local craftsman to build a piano for one of his daughters; most Kentuckians had never seen such a grand instrument, and a considerable number of them flocked to the governor's mansion to see it when it was finished.

James Garrard approved enabling acts creating twenty-six counties; no other Kentucky governor oversaw the creation of as many.

James Garrard supported pro-squatting legislation, including measures that forbade the collection of taxes from squatters on profits they made from working the land they occupied and that required landowners to pay squatters for any improvements they made on their land.

James Garrard was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party and agreed with party founder Thomas Jefferson's condemnation of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

James Garrard advocated the nullification of both laws, but encouraged the legislature to reaffirm its loyalty to the federal government and the US Constitution.

James Garrard was supportive of the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and 1799.

James Garrard secured the passage of laws reforming and expanding the militia.

James Garrard opposed lowering taxes, instead advocating increased spending on education and business subsidies.

James Garrard had been a more active governor than his predecessor, frequently employing his veto and clashing with the county courts.

James Garrard was personally exempted from both the succession and ministerial restrictions, clearing the way for him to seek a second term.

In 1801, James Garrard nominated Todd to fill the next vacancy on the Kentucky Court of Appeals after the election.

James Garrard questioned the cost of the additional courts and the wisdom of allowing untrained judges on the bench; he objected to the bill's circumvention of the governor's authority to appoint judges.

James Garrard urged President Thomas Jefferson to act and publicly declared that Kentucky had 26,000 militiamen ready to take New Orleans by force if necessary.

The purchase delighted most Kentuckians, and James Garrard hailed it as a "noble achievement".

James Garrard instructed Garrard to have 4,000 militiamen ready to march to New Orleans by December 20,1803.

The Kentucky General Assembly quickly passed a measure guaranteeing 150 acres of land to anyone who volunteered for military service, and James Garrard was able to inform Jefferson that his quota was met.

James Garrard first named Secretary of State Harry Toulmin, but the Senate rejected that nomination on December 7,1803.

Accusations of bad faith were exchanged between the governor and the Senate, after which James Garrard nominated John Adair, the popular Speaker of the House.

James Garrard privately backed Christopher Greenup's bid to succeed him in 1804, and Bourbon County's vote broke heavily for Greenup in the election.

James Garrard returned to Mount Lebanon, where he developed a reputation as a notable agriculturist.

The Mount Lebanon estate was badly damaged by one of the New Madrid earthquakes in 1811, but James Garrard insisted on repairing the damage as thoroughly as possible in order to reside there for the rest of his life.

James Garrard died on January 9,1822, following several years of feeble health.

James Garrard was buried on the grounds of his Mount Lebanon estate, and the state of Kentucky erected a monument over his grave site.