John Boyle | |
|---|---|
 Judicial portrait of John Boyle, c. 1834. | |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Kentucky | |
| In office October 20, 1826 – February 28, 1834 | |
| Appointed by | John Quincy Adams |
| Preceded by | Robert Trimble |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Bell Monroe |
| Chief Justice of theKentucky Court of Appeals | |
| In office 1810–1826 | |
| Preceded by | George M. Bibb |
| Succeeded by | George M. Bibb William T. Barry (disputed) |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's2nd district | |
| In office March 4, 1803 – March 3, 1809 | |
| Preceded by | John Fowler |
| Succeeded by | Samuel McKee |
| Member of theKentucky House of Representatives from theGarrard County district | |
| In office 1800 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Boyle (1774-10-28)October 28, 1774 Botetourt County, Virginia Colony, British America |
| Died | February 28, 1834(1834-02-28) (aged 59) Danville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Resting place | Bellevue Cemetery (Danville, Kentucky) |
| Party | Democratic-Republican |
| Spouse | Elizabeth Tilford |
| Children | 10, includingJeremiah |
| Education | read law |
John Boyle (October 28, 1774 – February 28, 1834) was an American politician and judge who was aU.S. representative fromKentucky from 1803 to 1809. He was chief justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (now theKentucky Supreme Court) from 1810 to 1826, and finally aUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Kentucky from 1826 to 1834.
Born on October 28, 1774, at "Castle Woods" inBotetourt County in theVirginia Colony,[1] to the former Jane Black and her husband the patriot Major John Boyle. Boyle had an elder brother Alexander, and four sisters who also survived to adulthood. Their father moved his family to Whitleys Station,[2]Kentucky in 1779, upon receiving land for his patriotic service, where his sons were educated by private tutors and in private schools.[3] Although his elder brother continued as a farmer inGarrard County (moving toLincoln County, Kentucky after the Civil War), John Boyle thenread law with CongressmanThomas Terry Davis and was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1797.[1]
John Boyle married Elizabeth Tilford, and they had ten children, the first four of whom failed to survive their parents. Their eldest daughter ArethusaJewell died in 1818 while visiting her parents' home after giving birth to their first and second grandchildren. Their eldest surviving son, James Madison Boyle (1809–1892), moved to Illinois, as did his youngest brother Henry Boyle (1821–1846) and longest surviving sister, Ellen B. Lagow McAllister (1816–1844). Son Marmontel Boyle (1811–1851) died in California. Only sons John Weir Boyle (1815–1845) andJeremiah Tilford Boyle (1818–1871) remained in Kentucky, the last following his father's example and becoming a lawyer and politician before his Civil War service.
Boyle began his private legal practice inLancaster,Garrard County,Kentucky in 1797 and continued until 1802.[1] His political connections also secured for him a post as deputy counselor at law for the Kentucky Court of Quarter Sessions in 1797.[1] Boyle won his first elective office in 1800, representing Garrard County in theKentucky House of Representatives.[1]
He also farmed a plantation using enslaved labor.[4]
In 1802, voters elected Boyle as aDemocratic-Republican fromKentucky's 2nd congressional district to theUnited States House of Representatives, and later re-elected him, so he served in the8th,9th and10th United States Congresses (from March 4, 1803, to March 3, 1809).[3] Fellow Congressmen twice selected Boyle as one of theHouse managers to prosecute the cases inimpeachment trials, first in January 1804 against JudgeJohn Pickering, and,in December of the same year, against Associate JusticeSamuel Chase.[3] He was Chairman of the Committee on Public Land Claims for the 9th and 10th United States Congresses.[3]
Appointed Governor of theIllinois Territory in 1809, Boyle declined the position.[3] Instead,Ninian Edwards, a seasoned politician and since 1806 Judge of Kentucky's highest court, theCourt of Appeals was appointed the territory's governor. Boyle succeeded Edwards as a Kentucky appellate judge (having electedGeorge M. Bibb as their chief), and soon his fellow judges elected Boyle as their chief. Thus, he served from 1809 to 1826, including as Chief Judge from 1810 to 1826.[1]
However, the last three years of his term were marked by theOld Court - New Court controversy, prompted by his 1823 decision invalidating debt relief laws enacted by the 1820 legislature. At midnight on December 23, 1824, the new legislature (also pro-debtor and which had elected former CongressmanJoseph Desha as governor), appointed a new Court of Appeals with former SenatorWilliam T. Barry (who had argued one of the debt relief cases in 1823) as Chief Justice and John Trimble, James Haggin, Benjamin W. Patton and Rezin Davidge as associate judges (the "New Court").[5] Desha had campaigned for debt relief, since Kentucky was still suffering the effects of thePanic of 1819, and his party won majorities in both houses of the legislature, but could not find grounds to impeach Boyle and his two fellow judges. Instead, they purported to reorganize the judiciary. The legislature also refused to appropriate salaries for Boyle and his purportedly dismissed colleagues, although on December 24, 1826, the newly elected legislature (dominated by the "Old Court" party) repealed the two-year-old judicial reorganization act, restored the old judges (although Boyle had resigned on November 8, 1826, as discussed below) and awarded them backpay.[6] Boyle would be succeeded briefly as Chief Judge by Bibb (whom he had also succeeded), then by former Congressman George Robertson (who had represented creditors in one of the controversial cases as well as succeeded to Boyle's house).
On May 29, 1829, Boyle accepted the position of Dean of the Transylvania University law school, notwithstanding his federal service (as discussed below), although he only continued in that position for a year.[7]
Boyle received arecess appointment from PresidentJohn Quincy Adams on October 20, 1826, to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the District of Kentucky vacated by JudgeRobert Trimble.[1] He was nominated to the same position by President Adams on December 13, 1826.[1] He was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on February 12, 1827, received his commission the same day, and continued as district judge until his death.[1]
Boyle died on February 28, 1834, nearDanville, Kentucky, depressed following his wife's death in a cholera epidemic the preceding June, notwithstanding the presence of many of his children and grandchildren.[1] He was interred beside her in Danville'sBellevue Cemetery.[8][3]
The double log cabin which he built in Lancaster, Kentucky remains today (as improved by his successors) and was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1975, not only because of its age, but also because of its distinguished residents.[9] Boyle sold the house toSamuel McKee, who had read law with him and who also succeeded Boyle in Congress. McKee in turn sold the house toGeorge Robertson, whom he had guided in reading law and who succeeded McKee in Congress and later succeeded Boyle as Chief Justice of theKentucky Supreme Court. Robertson in turn sold the house toRobert P. Letcher, who became a Congressman and Kentucky governor[10]
Boyle's legacy also included his lawyer sonJeremiah Boyle, who unsuccessfully argued for emancipation of slaves at Kentucky's Constitutional Convention of 1849, and later recruited troops and became a Brigadier General during the American Civil War, and thereafter became active in the booming railroad industry[11] although some of Boyle's descendants would fight for the Confederacy. Furthermore, Judge Boyle taught law to his nephewJohn Boyle Gordon (the son of his young sister Jane who eloped), who moved to Missouri, where he served in the legislature for several terms, as well as taught law to relativesOden Guitar andStanley Matthews, who both became Union Army officers during the American Civil War, then became judges, Guitar in Missouri and Matthews on the United States Supreme Court.[12]
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 2nd congressional district 1803–1809 | Succeeded by |
| Legal offices | ||
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the District of Kentucky 1826–1834 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
