(Excerpt from Divine Discontent
Q singssings by my window...)
Excerpt from Divine Discontent
Q singssings by my window on the bough of an apple tree; but, for all his pertness, he is an innocent too and finds contentment without much to-do. His business does not mock at good daylight, he does not go far from home. And unlike that ragged beggar of the streets whose misery makes him sing, the robin sings for gladness, or there is no reason for him to sing at all.
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James Guthrie was an American railroad promoter, secretary of the treasury, representative in the lower house of the Kentucky legislature, was a U. S. Senator from Kentucky and Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of President Franklin Pierce.
Background
James Guthrie was born in Bardstown, Kentucky, United States, on December 5, 1792.
His father, Adam Guthrie, a native of Cork, Ireland, came to America at the age of twelve in 1774 and lived for a time with the family of his eldest sister near the headwaters of the South Branch of the Potomac River, in what is now West Virginia.
In 1788 he started westward over the mountains to Kentucky, and on the way fell in with the party of Edmund Polk, a veteran of the Revolution, whose daughter Hannah he married.
Settling at Bardstown, Kelson County, Kentucky, he became active in the Kentucky militia and represented his county in the state legislature (1800-08).
Education
After a preliminary education in McAllister’s Academy, Bardstown, James Guthrie began the study of law with John Rowan, and, admitted to the bar.
Career
He remained at Bardstown in the practice of his profession until 1820.
After two unsuccessful campaigns for the state legislature, James Guthrie was appointed commonwealth's attorney and removed to Louisville, where he continued to reside until his death.
In 1827 he was elected a representative in the lower house of the Kentucky legislature.
After four years in that capacity he was elected to the state Senate, representing Jefferson and Bullitt counties, and was continuously reelected until 1841.
He was twice speaker pro tempore of the Senate, and in 1835 was the unsuccessful candidate of his party for the United States Senate.
In each house he served as chairman of the committees on judiciary, and on internal improvement, his most important work being done in connection with the latter.
During this period Guthrie laid the foundation of his immense fortune by his judicious investments in Louisville real estate, and added to his wealth by his promotion of Macadam roads and of railways.
In fact, his success in this field was so spectacular that his reputation as a business man overshadowed his achievements as a legislator.
He was the outstanding railway promoter in Kentucky before the Civil War, and was the controlling force in the notorious Portland Canal as well as in many banking institutions.
By 1850 Guthrie’s activities as a railroad promoter had brought him into contact with the leading industrial men of the South and had given him a wide reputation as a financier.
He attended the Southern conventions which were so common during the forties and exerted an appreciable influence on their deliberations.
His outstanding position in the Democratic party and in the business world was given recognition by his appointment by President Pierce in 1853 as secretary of the treasury.
On his record Guthrie does not deserve to be ranked as one of the great secretaries, but he was certainly much more than a routine one.
He showed himself a ruthless reformer, overhauling the treasury regulations, curbing extravagance, reducing the debt, and weeding out incompetence.
He attracted particular attention to himself by his removal of the collector of the Port of New York for using his office for political purposes.
He brought down upon himself a storm of protest by his recommendation that the issue of paper money by state banks should be taxed out of existence.
Upon retiring from the treasury in 1857, Guthrie devoted himself to the promoting and financing of the languishing Louisville & Nashville Railroad.
Through his influence the railroad was able to sell its bonds and complete its track.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Guthrie was president of the road, and his attitude in the war was probably determined primarily by his business interests.
After a period of apparent vacillation during which, as a member of the Virginia Peace Convention and of the Kentucky Border Conference, he sought a compromise, he made his decision to adhere to the Union and throughout the war placed his railroad at the disposal of the United States government.
The service of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in transporting troops and supplies to the Southwest was one of the deciding factors in the conquest of that region.
There was continual friction, but Guthrie was able both to retain the control of his road and to elicit the praise of the Union authorities.
Achievements
James Guthrie has been listed as a noteworthy railroad promoter, senator, university president by Marquis Who's Who.
(Leopold is delighted to publish this classic book as part...)
Politics
James Guthrie remained a Democrat throughout his career, however; actively supported McClellan in 1864, and after the war was over was elected to the United States Senate as a conservative, where he became an uncompromising upholder of President Johnson’s policies and an unrelenting opponent of the reconstruction measures of Congress.
Membership
James Guthrie was as a member of the City Council.
Personality
In personal appearance James Guthrie was uncouth and unprepossessing, and was lame for life from a wound received in a personal encounter during his Bardstown days.
He was a man of many eccentricities, of a domineering and arrogant personality, and wholly lacking in the usual graces of the politician.
His success in business and in politics was chiefly due to his sound judgment and to his reputation for absolute honesty and integrity.
Connections
Guthrie was married on May 13, 1821, to Eliza C. Prather of Louisville, who died in 1836. He was survived by his three daughters.
