29 Facts About Richard Menefee

Richard Hickman Menefee was a US Representative from Kentucky.

Richard Menefee worked as a teacher to support himself and pay to finish his education.

In 1836, Menefee was elected to the House of Representatives.

Richard Menefee's best known speech in that body urged restraint in the Caroline affair with the British.

Richard Menefee did not stand for re-election following his term in office and returned to his legal practice.

Richard Hickman Menefee was born on December 4,1809, in Owingsville, Kentucky.

Richard Menefee was the third of five sons born to Richard and Mary Menefee.

Richard Menefee's father was an Irish potter who immigrated to Kentucky from Virginia in the 1790s and became one of the founders of the city of Owingsville.

Until the age of twelve, Richard Menefee was educated by his mother.

Richard Menefee then enrolled at Walker Bourne's preparatory school in Bath County, where he was a classmate of future congressmen Henry S Lane and John Jameson.

Richard Menefee began work at a tavern in Owingsville and engaged in farm work during the summer months.

Richard Menefee continued his studies as time allowed and became a teacher at age fifteen.

Richard Menefee relocated to Mount Sterling, Kentucky, and paid his way through school.

At age eighteen, Richard Menefee entered Transylvania University in the junior class.

Richard Menefee returned to Mount Sterling, where he was admitted to the bar in 1830 and opened a law practice in 1831.

On November 15,1831, Governor Thomas Metcalfe appointed Richard Menefee to succeed his law tutor, James Trimble, as Commonwealth's Attorney for the 11th district.

Richard Menefee held this office until 1836, when he resigned to seek election to the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Richard Menefee returned to the campaign trail, and he was elected as a Whig to represent Montgomery County in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Richard Menefee was appointed to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Richard Menefee defeated French by a margin of 234 votes and was the youngest member of the Twenty-fifth Congress.

Richard Menefee was appointed to the Committee on Expenditures of the Public Buildings and the Committee on Patents.

Richard Menefee opposed several measures favored by President Martin van Buren, including a bill to cease distributing the federal budget surplus to the states and a bill authorizing the printing of an additional $10 million in currency.

Richard Menefee urged restraint in responding to the British and proclaimed that he saw no great principles involved in the affair.

The House censured Graves over the incident, and the reputations of both Crittenden and Richard Menefee were tarnished by their involvement.

Richard Menefee voluntarily retired from public life after serving only a single term in the House.

Richard Menefee returned to Kentucky, settling in Lexington, where he resumed his law practice.

Richard Menefee's health was already beginning to fail during the trial with Clay, and he last appeared in court in September 1840.

In 1841, Cassius M Clay nominated Menefee to fill the US Senate seat vacated by the resignation of John J Crittenden.

Kentucky historian Lewis Collins opined that, had he lived, Richard Menefee would have succeeded Henry Clay as the leader of the Whig Party.