Background
William Owsley was born on March 24, 1782, in Virginia, but in 1783 his parents, William and Catherine (Bolin) Owsley, removed with him to Lincoln County, Kentucky.
judge lawyer politician statesman
William Owsley was born on March 24, 1782, in Virginia, but in 1783 his parents, William and Catherine (Bolin) Owsley, removed with him to Lincoln County, Kentucky.
After a common-school education, William Owsley studied law under John Boyle and practised in Garrard County.
In 1809 and 1811 William Owsley was a member of the state legislature. Appointed to the court of appeals in 1812, he resigned in 1813 but was almost immediately reappointed. One of the most important decisions in which he participated was Commonwealth vs. James Morrison, in which the court denied the right of the Bank of the United States to establish branches in Kentucky, although it later yielded to the decision of the federal Supreme Court. Another important case was Blair, &c. vs. Williams, wherein the court held unconstitutional the Kentucky replevin act of 1820 giving debtors two years' grace unless creditors would agree to accept notes of the state bank. This decision met with an outburst of popular criticism, but it was reaffirmed by Owsley's opinion in Lapsley vs. Brashears and Barr, which declared that the court need not follow the opinions of the legislature in interpreting the constitution and that previous replevin laws did not affect the issue. After these decisions the court was abolished by the legislature and a new one created. Nevertheless, he, with his colleagues, John Boyle and Benjamin Mills, continued to function as the old court, and after much controversy the new court was abolished. In 1828 he and Mills resigned, were renominated, but failed of confirmation by the Senate.
Owsley resumed practice in Garrard County and was again representative of that county in the state House of Representatives in 1831 and in the state Senate from 1832 to 1834. In 1833 he was a Clay presidential elector and from 1834 to 1836 was secretary of state under Gov. James T. Moorehead. He practised in Frankfort until 1843, when he retired from active practice and, having divided his farm in Garrard County among his five children, bought a new farm in Boyle County, near Danville.
In 1844, as the Whig candidate for governor, he defeated William O. Butler, the Democratic candidate, by a majority of about 5, 000 votes. He was an able governor from 1844 to 1848 but was not popular on account of his unsociableness and, especially on account of his removal of Benjamin Hardin as secretary of state. The courts upheld him, but under the constitution of 1850 the governor was denied the power of removing this official. On the outbreak of the Mexican War, after receiving a letter from Gen. E. P. Gaines at New Orleans but before receiving official notice from the War Department, he issued a call for volunteers and in a few days, by means of private subscriptions, had the Louisville Legion on its way to New Orleans. Largely owing to his recommendations, the state debt was decreased and the state prison improved. His last years were spent on his farm near Danville.
William Owsley was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives (1809-1811, 1831) and the Kentucky State Senate (1832-34).
William Owsley was tall, slender, erect, simple, reserved.
About 1804 William Owsley married Elizabeth Gill. They had five children.