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Lazarus Powell
Lazarus Powell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator from Kentucky | |
| In office March 4, 1859 – March 3, 1865 | |
| Preceded by | John Thompson |
| Succeeded by | James Guthrie |
| 19th Governor of Kentucky | |
| In office September 2, 1851 – September 4, 1855 | |
| Lieutenant | John Thompson |
| Preceded by | John L. Helm |
| Succeeded by | Charles S. Morehead |
| Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives | |
| In office 1836 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lazarus Whitehead Powell October 6, 1812 Henderson County, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | July 3, 1867 (aged 54) Henderson County, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Harriet Jennings |
| Education | Saint Joseph's College (BA) Transylvania University |
| Signature |  |
Lazarus Whitehead Powell (October 6, 1812 – July 3, 1867) was an American politician who was the 19th Governor of Kentucky, serving from 1851 to 1855. He served as a U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1859 to 1865.[1]
The reforms enacted during Powell's term as governor gave Kentucky one of the top educational systems in the antebellum South. He also improved Kentucky's transportation system and vetoed legislation that he felt would have created an overabundance of banks in the Commonwealth. Powell's election as governor marked the end of Whig dominance in Kentucky. Powell's predecessor, John J. Crittenden, was the last governor elected from the party of the Commonwealth's favorite son, Henry Clay.
Following his term as governor, Powell was elected to the U.S. Senate. Before he could assume office, President James Buchanan dispatched Powell and Major Benjamin McCulloch to Utah to ease tensions with Brigham Young and the Mormons. Powell assumed his Senate seat on his return from Utah, just prior to the election of Abraham Lincoln as president. Powell became an outspoken critic of Lincoln's administration, so much so that the Kentucky General Assembly asked for his resignation and some of his fellow senators tried to have him expelled from the body, though both groups later renounced their actions. He was also a slave owner.[2][3] Powell died at his home near Henderson, Kentucky shortly following a failed bid to return to the Senate in 1867.
- ^ "Bioguide Search". bioguide.congress.gov. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ Weil, Julie Zauzmer; Blanco, Adrian; Dominguez, Leo. "More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation". Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
- ^ "Congress slaveowners", The Washington Post, January 27, 2022, retrieved January 29, 2022
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