John Rowan (Kentucky) - Secretary of State and Early Legislative Career

Secretary of State and Early Legislative Career

Shortly after his duel with Chambers, Rowan moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, the state capital. In 1802, he was one of 32 men who signed a pledge to bring James Madison to Transylvania University as superintendent. This action began a long relationship between Rowan and Transylvania, and the university presented him with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1823. Governor Christopher Greenup appointed Rowan Secretary of State in 1802. He served until 1806, when he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He represented Kentucky's Third District (which included Bardstown) during the Tenth Congress from March 4, 1807 to March 3, 1809, even though he did not reside in that district at the time.

The first major congressional debate in which Rowan participated was over the election of William McCreery as representative from Baltimore, Maryland. Joshua Barney, McCreery's opponent in the election, claimed that McCreery did not meet a requirement in the Maryland Constitution that a representative live in the district from which he was elected for twelve months prior to the election. McCreery admitted that he had moved from Baltimore to the country prior to the election but claimed that he still owned his home in Baltimore and lived there during the winter months. A resolution was introduced to declare McCreery the duly elected representative from Baltimore, and an amendment was added to clarify that the grounds upon which the resolution was based were that McCreery had not abandoned his Baltimore home. Despite his support for states' rights, Rowan opposed the amendment because he felt that state sovereignty was only made possible by national sovereignty and that the national legislature had the right to declare a state law unconstitutional. By giving another reason for declaring McCreery duly elected, Rowan felt this issue would be obscured. The amendment was defeated by a vote of 92–8, and the resolution to declare McCreery duly elected passed 89–18.

Also during the first session of the Tenth Congress, Rowan proposed that a congressional committee be formed to investigate accusations against General James Wilkinson that, in 1788, he took money from the government of Spain in exchange for efforts to separate Kentucky from Virginia and unite it with Spain rather than the United States. Aaron Burr had been accused of working with Wilkinson in the so-called Spanish Conspiracy, and when Burr had approached Rowan in 1806 to solicit his services in defending Burr against the charges, Rowan had declined because he believed Burr to be guilty. Rowan's proposal to form an investigative committee against Wilkinson failed, but he succeeded in gaining approval for a committee to investigate federal judge Harry Innes' purported role in the Conspiracy. Rowan was appointed to the committee and delivered its report April 19, 1808; the report stated that the committee could find no evidence of wrongdoing by Innes.

Rowan was not as active during the second session of the Tenth Congress, introducing no legislation and making no major speeches. Newly-elected Kentucky Senator John Pope observed in a letter to a friend that the Democratic-Republicans in Congress disliked Rowan and were disappointed in his speaking and debating ability. He opined that Rowan's attempt to investigate Wilkinson had been a slap at party founder Thomas Jefferson (then in his second term as President), under whom Wilkinson was serving as Commanding General of the United States Army. Pope went on to write that, although Rowan personally cited no party affiliation, he was claimed by the Federalist caucus in the House. In studying Rowan's short tenure in the House, historian Stephen Fackler observed that "Rowan adhered more rigidly to the precepts of Jeffersonian republicanism than Jefferson himself, for the president compromised his principles in the national interest." Fackler observed that Rowan often disagreed with Jefferson as president, and that as a result, some historians labeled him a Federalist, a designation Fackler felt was in error.

After his tenure in Congress, Rowan was elected to represent Nelson County in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1813 to 1817. In 1817, the House debated a resolution instructing Governor Gabriel Slaughter to negotiate with the governors of Indiana and Ohio to secure passage of legislation requiring citizens of those states to return fugitive slaves. Representative James G. Birney vigorously opposed the resolution, and it was defeated. The pro-slavery members of the House then rallied behind Rowan's leadership to pass a substitute resolution which softened the most objectionable language but retained the call for fugitive slave legislation in Indiana and Ohio.