John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General) - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Breckinridge returned to Cabell's Dale in early 1806 and fell ill in June. In July, he visited Kentucky's Olympian Springs, hoping it would aid his recovery, but it did not. Doctors disagreed on the cause of his illness, with diagnoses ranging from typhus fever to stomach ailments. He attempted to return to Washington, D.C. on October 22, but while his horse was being prepared for the journey, he collapsed in pain and had to be helped back inside. Friends and relatives hoped for a recovery that never came, and he died on December 14, 1806. The cause of death was eventually determined to be tuberculosis. According to family tradition, Polly Breckinridge was so distraught over her husband's death that she went blind from her incessant crying. Breckinridge was first buried on site at Cabell's Dale on December 16 but was later reinterred in Lexington Cemetery.

At the time of his death, Breckinridge owned over 20,000 acres (81 km2) of land, and his net worth was estimated at more than $20,000. With a workforce of nearly 70 slaves, he was one of the largest slaveholders in the state. The breeding of horses and mules at Cabell's Dale had become more profitable than selling the excess crops raised there. His daughter, Mary Ann, and her husband, David Castleman, inherited the horse and mule breeding operations, which eventually became the thoroughbred stable of Castleton Lyons. Breckinridge County, Kentucky, created from a portion of Hardin County in 1799, was named in Breckinridge's honor.