Background
Charles S. Morehead was born on July 7, 1802, in Nelson County, Kentucky, the son of Charles Morehead and Margaret Slaughter. He was the first cousin of James Turner Morehead and the second cousin of John Motley Morehead.
(Excerpt from Speech of Mr. Morehead, of Kentucky, on the ...)
Excerpt from Speech of Mr. Morehead, of Kentucky, on the Admission of California, and the Question of Slavery: Delivered in the House of Representatives of the United States, April 23, 1850 Mill/ir.ch.a1rman From the commencement of the unhappy sectional controver rsy in which we are now e'nga'ged, I have seen and felt its danger in all its length and breadth, and I begleave, 1n advance of What I have to say 011 this occasion, to declare that I am Willing to make any sacrifice, consistent With honor and the just rights of those I represent, to restore quiet and harmony to a distracted country. Bfeeling a deep and engrossing interest 1n the subject, so engmssing as to absorb all mere party allegiance, I do not hesitate further to deblane niy entire Willingness to unite With any party or any set of men, disconnected fi'orn all parties, who Will settle this question upon' a just and enduring basisi That it must be settled, and that it Will be settled, I cannot allow myself to doubt. It Will be settled, if We go about it as becomes patriots and statesmen, deter mined at all hazards to preserve inviolate the Constitution and the form of gov ernment it secures, and under Which we have so long and so happily lived. '3 2 That we have reached a crisis in the history of our country, no one Who hes been an attentive Observer of the signs of the times, it seems to me', can doubt-9 in my judgment a fearful, an alarming crisis. That our political fabric 15 in imminent peril, no one, I think, Who 15 not wilfully blind, can have failed to sée. A deep, pervading, almost universal discontent exists 1111 nearly one-half the States of this Union, at the apprehended fixed purpe's'e and detefminatidii of the other half, having a large majority in this House, to persist in a Eou'r'se of legislation, Which if consummated, will, in my judgment, blast the hopes of the friends of constitutional liberty throughout the World. On 'one side, We have heard of disunion as the ultimate remedy for the threatened evil; While on the other, the not less horrible alternative, of a forced submission, has been rung through this Hall. Profoundly and painfully impressed With this state of th an the short space of time allotted to me, to present my of calm and dispassionate mquiry demanded by the magu of the occasion. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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Charles S. Morehead was born on July 7, 1802, in Nelson County, Kentucky, the son of Charles Morehead and Margaret Slaughter. He was the first cousin of James Turner Morehead and the second cousin of John Motley Morehead.
After graduating from Transylvania University in 1820, Morehead became a tutor there, studied law, and received the Bachelor of Laws degree in 1822. He practised in Christian County and later in Franklin County.
After serving in the legislature from 1828 to 1829 he was appointed attorney-general, a position that he filled for almost six years.
In 1834 in collaboration with Mason Brown he published A Digest of the Statute Laws of Kentucky, a two-volume work authorized and supported by the legislature.
Several times reelected to the legislature, he served from 1838 to 1845 and again from 1853 to 1854. He was speaker from 1840 to 1842 and for the session of 1844 - 1845. He was twice elected as a Whig to the federal House of Representatives and served from 1847 to 1851.
In 1848, as a member of the committee on ways and means, he opposed the financial plans of the Polk administration.
In 1850, fearing that President Taylor's policy would disrupt both the party and the Union, he favored Clay's compromise measures and a new cabinet with Webster as secretary of state. When the Whig party declined he joined the American party, primarily, he said, in the hope of saving the Union.
In 1855 this party nominated him for governor. In a strenuous contest with the Democratic candidate, Beverly L. Clarke, involving the serious anti-foreign riot at Louisville known as "Bloody Monday, " he was elected, and he was inaugurated in September. The only partisan reference in his messages was to the "foreign invasion" and the desirability of a longer naturalization period. He denounced Northern "nullification" of the Fugitive Slave Act, and declared that slaves could be taken into any territory. He also favored the increase of educational facilities, internal improvements by corporations, the limitation of state banks and of the currency, and the encouragement of agriculture.
After 1859 he practised in Louisville with his nephew, Charles M. Briggs. The secession movement brought him back into public life.
In February 1861 he was a member of the peace conference, and, with others, had interviews with Lincoln and Seward. In May he was elected to the border states convention at Frankfort. He approved, with the other members, the plea for Kentucky to be neutral, but he refused to sign the address to the people of Kentucky because he did not indorse all the statements therein. Subsequently he accused Seward of inconsistency and publicly criticized cutting off trade with the South. It was doubtless such action that led to his arrest in September 1861 and his imprisonment, by order of the Secretary of War, without trial at Fort Lafayette in New York harbor and later at Fort Warren in Boston harbor.
The Kentucky legislature and Louisville Unionists petitioned for his release on parole, which was obtained on January 6, 1862, apparently largely through the influence of his friend, John J. Crittenden.
On March 19 he was discharged from the conditions of his parole, but, fearing arrest because of his refusal to take the oath of allegiance, he fled in June to Canada and then to Europe and Mexico. After the war, he resided on one of his plantations near Greenville, Mississippi, and died there on December 21, 1868.
(Excerpt from Speech of Mr. Morehead, of Kentucky, on the ...)
Though a member of the Whig Party for most of his political service, Charles Morehead joined the Know Nothing, or American, Party in 1855, and was the only governor of Kentucky ever elected from that party.
Charles S. Morehead married Amanda Leavy on July 10, 1823. She died July 5, 1829 at the age of twenty-five.
Following her death, Morehead married Margaret Leavy, his first wife's sister, on September 6, 1831. Together they had five children.
Mason Brown was an American politician who served as Secretary of State of Kentucky.
John Motley Morehead was an American lawyer and politician, who became the 29th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina.
James Turner Morehead was a United States Senator and the 12th Governor of Kentucky.
John Jordan Crittenden was an American politician from the U.S. state of Kentucky.
