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Joseph Blackburn
Jblackburn
Governor of Panama Canal Zone

In office
April 1, 1907 – December 4, 1909
Appointed by Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by Richard Reid Rogers
Succeeded by Maurice Thatcher
Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus

In office
June 4, 1906 – March 4, 1907
Preceded by Arthur Pue Gorman
Succeeded by Charles Allen Culberson
United States Senator
from Kentucky

In office
March 4, 1901 – March 4, 1907
Preceded by William Lindsay
Succeeded by Thomas H. Paynter

In office
March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1897
Preceded by John S. Williams
Succeeded by William J. Deboe
Member of the United States House of Representatives
In office
March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1885
Preceded by James B. Beck
Succeeded by William Breckinridge
Personal details
Born (1838-10-01)October 1, 1838
Spring Station, Kentucky, U.S.
Died September 12, 1918(1918-09-12) (aged 79)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party Democratic
Signature Signature of Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (1838–1918)

Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (October 1, 1838 – September 12, 1918) was a Democratic Representative and Senator from Kentucky. Blackburn, a skilled and spirited orator, was also a prominent trial lawyer known for his skill at swaying juries.[1]

Biography[]

Mrs Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn

Mrs Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn

Blackburn was born on October 1, 1838 near Spring Station, Kentucky.[1] He was the younger brother of Kentucky governor Luke P. Blackburn.[2]

He attended Sayres Institute in Frankfort and graduated from Centre College in Danville in 1857. He studied law in Lexington and was admitted to the bar in 1858. He practiced in Chicago until 1860 when he returned to Woodford County, Kentucky and entered the Confederate Army as a private in 1861.[1]

A staff officer, by the end of the Civil War Blackburn had attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war he settled in Arkansas where he was engaged as a lawyer and a planter in Desha County until 1868 when he returned to Kentucky and opened law offices in Versailles.[1]

He was a member of the State house of representatives from 1871 to 1875. He was then elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1875 - March 3, 1885). He was the chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia (Forty-fifth Congress) and the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses).

In 1885, Lt. Henry T. Allen of the U.S. army named a mountain after Joseph Blackburn. Mount Blackburn is the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains of the state of Alaska and the fifth highest peak in the United States.[1]

He was elected to the United States Senate in 1884, was reelected in 1890, and served from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1897. He failed to be reelected in 1896. He was the chairman of the Committee on Rules (Fifty-third Congress). He was once again elected to the United States Senate in 1900 and served from March 4, 1901 to March 3, 1907, but failed in his next election bid in 1906. Loosely associated with the free-silver wing of the Democratic party, he was well known nationally and his name was placed in nomination for the presidency in 1896.[1]

He was appointed Governor of the Panama Canal Zone by President Theodore Roosevelt on April 1, 1907. He resigned and returned to his estate in Woodford County.[1]

He died on September 12, 1918 in Washington, D.C. He was interred in the State Cemetery in Frankfort.[1]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Jos. C. S. Blackburn, Ex-senator, Is Dead. Aged Kentuckian Served in Three Administrations and Was Civil Governor of Canal Zone". September 13, 1918. p. 11. https://newspaperarchive.com/obituary-clipping-sep-13-1918-2387638/. "Joseph C. S. Blackburn, former Senator from Kentucky and in recent years a Resident Commissioner of the Lincoln Memorial Commission, died early today at his home here. He was stricken shortly after arising with a recurrence of heart attack from which he was a chronic sufferer. ..." 
  2. Baird, Nancy Disher (1979). Luke Pryor Blackburn: Physician, Governor, Reformer. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-0248-0. 

Further reading[]

External links[]

  • United States House of Representatives
    Preceded by
    James B. Beck
    Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
    from Kentucky's 7th congressional district

    1875–1885
    Succeeded by
    William Breckinridge
    Preceded by
    Aylett Hawes Buckner
    Chair of the House District of Columbia Committee
    1877–1879
    Succeeded by
    Eppa Hunton
    Preceded by
    William M. Robbins
    Chair of the House War Department Expenditures Committee
    1877–1881
    Succeeded by
    James Frankland Briggs
    United States Senate
    Preceded by
    John S. Williams
    U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Kentucky
    1885–1897
    Served alongside: James B. Beck, John G. Carlisle, William Lindsay
    Succeeded by
    William J. Deboe
    Preceded by
    Nelson W. Aldrich
    Chair of the Senate Rules Committee
    1893–1895
    Succeeded by
    Nelson W. Aldrich
    Preceded by
    William Lindsay
    U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky
    1901–1907
    Served alongside: William Deboe, James B. McCreary
    Succeeded by
    Thomas H. Paynter
    Party political offices
    Preceded by
    Arthur Pue Gorman
    Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus
    1906–1907
    Succeeded by
    Charles Allen Culberson
    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Richard Reid Rogers
    Governor of Panama Canal Zone
    1890–1899
    Succeeded by
    Maurice Thatcher
    All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
    The original article can be found at Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn and the edit history here.