John Breckinridge (U.S. Attorney General) - Domestic Life in Kentucky

Domestic Life in Kentucky

When he arrived in Kentucky, much of Breckinridge's land was occupied by tenant farmers whose leases had not yet expired. He planted rye and wheat on 20 acres (0.081 km2) of unleased land and sent 11 slaves and an overseer to clear land for the fall planting. Eventually, his crops at Cabell's Dale included corn, wheat, rye, barley, hay, grass seed, and hemp, but he refused to grow tobacco, a major cash crop, which he found too vulnerable to over-cultivation. He also bred thoroughbred horses, planted an orchard, and practiced law. He engaged in land speculation, particularly in the Northwest Territory, and at various times owned interests in iron and salt works, but these ventures were never very successful.

As his plantation became more productive, Breckinridge became interested in ways to sell his excess goods. On August 26, 1793, he became a charter member of the Democratic Society of Kentucky, which lobbied federal government to secure unrestricted use of the Mississippi River from Spain. Breckinridge was elected chairman, Robert Todd and John Bradford were chosen as vice-chairmen, and Thomas Todd and Thomas Bodley were elected as clerks. Breckinridge authored a tract entitled Remonstrance of the Citizens West of the Mountains to the President and Congress of the United States and may have also written To the Inhabitants of the United States West of the Allegany (sic) and Apalachian (sic) Mountains. He pledged funding to French minister Edmond-Charles Genêt's proposed military operation against Spain, but Genêt was recalled before it could be executed. Although alarmed that frontier settlers could initiate war with Spain, President George Washington made no immediate attempt to obtain use of the Mississippi, which the society maintained was "the natural right of the citizens of this Commonwealth". The resistance of the eastern states, particularly Federalist politicians, caused Breckinridge to reconsider his support of a strong central government.

Breckinridge was also concerned with easing overland transport of goods to Virginia. In mid-1795, he, Robert Barr, Elijah Craig, and Harry Toulmin formed a committee to raise funds for a road connecting the Cumberland Gap to central Kentucky. Breckinridge was disappointed with the quality of the route, which was finished in late 1796, concluding that the individual maintaining it was keeping most of the tolls instead of using them for the road's upkeep.

Breckinridge was also interested in education. Before moving to Kentucky, he accumulated a substantial library of histories, biographies, law and government texts, and classical literature. Frequently, he allowed aspiring lawyers and students access to the library, which was one of the most extensive in the west. He also provided funding for a municipal library in Lexington. His lobbying for a college to be established in Lexington bore fruit with the opening of Transylvania Seminary (now Transylvania University) in 1788. He was elected to the seminary's board of trustees on October 9, 1793, and supported hiring Harry Toulmin as president in February 1794 and consolidating the seminary with Kentucky Academy in 1796. Conservatives on the board and in the Kentucky General Assembly forced Toulmin – a liberal Unitarian – to resign in 1796, and Breckinridge's enthusiasm for his trusteeship waned. He attended board meetings less frequently and resigned in late 1797.