Linn Boyd | |
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| 20th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives | |
| In office December 1, 1851 – March 3, 1855 | |
| Preceded by | Howell Cobb |
| Succeeded by | Nathaniel P. Banks |
| Leader of theHouse Democratic Caucus | |
| In office December 1, 1851 – March 3, 1855 | |
| Preceded by | Howell Cobb |
| Succeeded by | James Lawrence Orr |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's1st district | |
| In office March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1855 | |
| Preceded by | John L. Murray |
| Succeeded by | Henry C. Burnett |
| In office March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837 | |
| Preceded by | Chittenden Lyon |
| Succeeded by | John L. Murray |
| 17thLieutenant Governor of Kentucky | |
| In office August 30, 1859 – December 17, 1859 | |
| Governor | Beriah Magoffin |
| Preceded by | James G. Hardy |
| Succeeded by | Richard T. Jacob |
| Member of theKentucky House of Representatives | |
| In office 1827 1831 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 22, 1800 |
| Died | December 17, 1859 (aged 59) |
| Party | Jacksonian Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Bennett Anna (Rhey) Dixon |
| Relations | Abraham Boyd (Father) Elizabeth Linn Boyd (Mother) |
| Children | Butler Boyd Linn Boyd Jr. Felix Boyd Rhey Boyd |
| Profession | Politician Farmer |
| Signature |  |
Linn Boyd (November 22, 1800 – December 17, 1859) (also spelled "Lynn") was a prominent US politician of the 1840s and 1850s, and served asSpeaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855. Boyd was elected to the House as aJacksonian fromKentucky from 1835 to 1837 and again as aDemocrat from 1839 to 1855, serving seven terms in the House.[1]Boyd County, Kentucky is named in his honor.[2]
Born to the wife of part-time delegate Abraham Boyd inNashville, Tennessee, he was raised and educated to some minimal extent in Trigg County. In 1832, Boyd married Trigg County native Alice C. Bennett. In 1850, the widower married a widow from Pennsylvania, Anna L. Dixon.[3]
Boyd moved toCalloway County to farm in 1826. The next year he became Calloway County's delegate in theKentucky House of Representatives, and served alongside his father (who represented Trigg County) in 1828–1829.[3] In 1831 Boyd moved back to Trigg County and its voters elected him to represent them in the state House.
In 1833, Boyd lost his first campaign for theUnited States House of Representatives. In 1835 he was elected to the House and served there until 1837, when a Whig landslide resulting from thePanic of 1837 cost him his seat.
Kentucky voters of the First Congressional District soon returned Boyd to the House, and he would serve from 1839 through 1855. He was a strong supporter of PresidentAndrew Jackson. Boyd played a key role in maneuvering the annexation of Texas through Congress during the term of PresidentJohn Tyler in 1845. Boyd was also important in getting theCompromise of 1850, chiefly credited toHenry Clay, passed through Congress. Largely though his prominence in shepherding the compromise to passage, Boyd was electedSpeaker of the House in 1851 and held that office until 1855.
While in the House, he sufficiently impressed his colleagueCharles S. Benton that he named his son, the future inventor and businessmanLinn Boyd Benton, after him.[4]
While still in Congress, Boyd declined a nomination forGovernor of Kentucky in 1848 and was replaced byLazarus W. Powell. In 1852, he moved toPaducah.
After leaving the House, he was mentioned as a candidate forVice President of the United States at the1856 Democratic National Convention but was never officially nominated; the eventual nominee was fellow KentuckianJohn C. Breckinridge.
Kentucky voters elected Boyd the17th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1859, but he died after less than four months in office. This became significant with the onset of theCivil War. GovernorBeriah Magoffin, who supportedslavery,secession, andstates' rights, became increasingly unpopular and distrusted as he sought to keepKentucky on a neutral course between the Union and theConfederate States of America. Unionists held a two-thirds majority in both houses of theKentucky General Assembly in the summer of 1861 and frequently overrode Magoffin's vetoes. By August 1862, Magoffin made it clear that he was willing to resign the governorship. However, due to Linn Boyd's death, the person next in line to becomeGovernor of Kentucky wasSpeaker of the SenateJohn F. Fisk, whom Magoffin thought unacceptable. After Fisk resigned as Speaker and was replaced byJames F. Robinson, Magoffin resigned. Thus, Robinson became governor, and Fisk was reinstalled as Speaker of the Senate.
Boyd died in Paducah on December 17, 1859. He was buried at Paducah's Oak Grove Cemetery. Oaklands, a spacious brick home he had built in Paducah in 1852, no longer exists except as a street name.
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 1st congressional district March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKentucky's 1st congressional district March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1855 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives December 1, 1851 – March 3, 1853; December 5, 1853 – March 3, 1855 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky 1859 | Succeeded by |
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