John Boyle was the son of John Boyle. He was born on October 28, 1774 at the Clinch River near Tazewell in Botetourt County, Virginia. His parents, inconspicuous in the history of their times, moved to Kentucky in 1779 and settled at Whitley's Station not far from Boonesborough. They later removed to Garrard County where they remained until death.
Young Boyle had no educational advantages beyond the instruction he received in Latin, Greek, and in a few other subjects from Samuel Finley, a Presbyterian minister.
Having a strong inclination for the law, he began the study of that subject under Thomas Davis, who later represented Kentucky in Congress, and whom Boyle succeeded in that position in 1803.
Boyle took little part in speech-making in the House of Representatives but by a close attention to his duties and by a strict adherence to the principles of Jefferson, won the admiration and good opinion of the President. He was elected for three successive terms, refusing further service in this capacity, due to his desire to return to his home life in Kentucky.
In 1809, just before leaving Washington, he was offered by James Madison, the incoming President, the governorship of the Illinois Territory. After reaching Kentucky, he rejected the honor and thereby made the vacancy which Ninian Edwards filled, who in turn by resigning his position on the bench of the Kentucky court of appeals left a justiceship vacant which Boyle accepted.
The next year (1810), Boyle was appointed a chief justice to succeed George M. Bibb, who had resigned, and it was in this capacity that he did the work upon which his reputation chiefly rests. His decisions were logical, sound, and conservative, setting a great store on precedent.
In 1826 after the struggle was over and the old court had been re-established, he resigned and was immediately appointed by President Adams district judge for Kentucky. Twice he might have received an appointment to the United States Supreme Court had he desired it. Honored in his day as a great jurist, he died near Danville.
In his political affiliation John Boyle was a Democratic-Republican, so from March 4, 1803 until March 3, 1809 he servrd as a Democratic-Republican to the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth United States Congresses.
Boyle was a member of the Kentucky legislature.
John Boyle was married in 1797 to Elizabeth Tilford, who died in 1833, a victim of cholera.
1750 - 11 September 1824
1751 - 7 December 1801
1771 - 1841
20 November 1780 - 1 August 1840
1782 - 28 November 1869
17 November 1780 - 21 January 1814
4 June 1773 - 8 March 1858
1781 - 1833
1816 - 31 July 1844
22 May 1818 - 28 July 1871
18 March 1809 - 10 October 1892
American politician and the seventeenth United States Secretary of the Treasury.
