Felix Grundy
Felix Grundy | |
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13thUnited States Attorney General | |
In office July 5, 1838 – December 14, 1839 | |
President | Martin Van Buren |
Preceded by | Benjamin F. Butler |
Succeeded by | Henry D. Gilpin |
United States Senator fromTennessee | |
In office December 14, 1839 – December 19, 1840 | |
Preceded by | Ephraim H. Foster |
Succeeded by | Alfred O. P. Nicholson |
In office October 19, 1829 – July 4, 1838 | |
Preceded by | John Eaton |
Succeeded by | Ephraim H. Foster |
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's5thdistrict | |
In office March 4, 1813 – July 19, 1814 | |
Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Newton Cannon |
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromTennessee's3rddistrict | |
In office March 4, 1811 – March 3, 1813 | |
Preceded by | Pleasant Moorman Miller |
Succeeded by | Thomas K. Harris |
Chief Justice of theKentucky Court of Appeals | |
In office 1807–1808 | |
Preceded by | Thomas Todd |
Succeeded by | Ninian Edwards |
Personal details | |
Born | Berkeley County,Virginia,U.S.(nowWest Virginia) | September 11, 1777
Died | December 19, 1840 Nashville,Tennessee,U.S. | (aged 63)
Political party | Democratic-Republican(Before 1825) Democratic(1825–1840) |
Spouse | Ann Phillips Rodgers |
Signature | ![]() |
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bf/Portrait_of_Felix_Grundy_by_George_Dury.jpg/250px-Portrait_of_Felix_Grundy_by_George_Dury.jpg)
Felix Grundy(September 11, 1777 – December 19, 1840) was an American attorney and politician who served as the 13thUnited States Attorney General.He also had served several terms as acongressmanand as aU.S. senatorfromTennessee.He was known for his success as a criminal lawyer who attracted crowds when he served on the defense.
Biography
[edit]Early life
[edit]Born in Berkeley County, Virginia (nowBerkeley County, West Virginia), Grundy moved with his parents toBrownsville, Pennsylvania,and thenKentuckywith his parents. He was educated at home and at theBardstown AcademyinBardstown, Kentucky.[1]Heread lawas an apprentice with an established firm, was admitted to the Kentuckybarin 1799. That year he started practice inSpringfield, Kentucky.
Career
[edit]In 1799, he was chosen to representWashington Countyat the convention that drafted the secondKentucky Constitution.[1]From 1800 to 1802, he represented Washington County in theKentucky House of Representatives.[1]He moved toNelson County,and was elected to represent it in the Kentucky House for one term (1804–1806).[1]
On December 10, 1806, he was commissioned an associate justice of theKentucky Court of Appeals.[1]Grundy was elevated to Chief Justice of the court on April 11, 1807.[1]
Later that year, he resigned and moved toNashville, Tennessee,where he again took up the practice of law.[1]Grundy was opposed to the rising Kentucky politician (and later founder of theWhig Party),Henry Clay,whose Bluegrass interests clashed with Grundy's. The former chief justice left Kentucky in part because of Clay's growing presence in the state.[2]In addition, Nashville was growing rapidly as the chief city in the Middle District of Tennessee. While soon renowned as a criminal lawyer in Tennessee, Grundy maintained his political ambition.[3]
Grundy was elected as aDemocratic-Republicanto the12thand13th Congressesand served from March 4, 1811, until his resignation in July 1814.[4]
He was elected and served as a member of theTennessee House of Representativesfrom 1819 to 1825. In 1820 he was a commissioner to settle the boundary line (state line) betweenTennesseeand Kentucky.
He was elected as aJacksonianin 1829 to theUnited States Senateto fill the vacancy in the term ending March 4, 1833, caused by the resignation ofJohn H. Eatonto join theCabinetofPresidentAndrew Jackson.Reelected in 1832, Grundy served from October 19, 1829, to July 4, 1838, when he resigned to accept a Cabinet position. During his period in Congress, Grundy served as chairman of theCommittee on Post Offices and Post Roads(21stthrough24th Congresses),U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary(24th and25th Congresses).
Grundy was appointed asAttorney General of the United Statesby PresidentMartin Van Burenin July 1838. He resigned the post in December 1839, having been elected as aDemocratto the United States Senate on November 19, 1839, to fill the vacancy in the term commencing March 4, 1839, caused by the resignation ofEphraim Foster.
He resolved the question of whether he was eligible to be elected as Senator while holding the office of Attorney General by resigning on December 14, 1839. He was reelected by the Tennessee legislature to the Senate the same day, serving from December 14, 1839, until his death inNashville,a little over a year later. During this stint in the US Senate, Grundy served as chairman of theU.S. Senate Committee on Revolutionary Claimsin the26th Congress.
Death and honors
[edit]Grundy was buried atNashville City CemeteryinNashville, Tennessee.After his death, four American counties were named in his honor. The four counties are located inIllinois,Iowa,MissouriandTennessee.
BothGrundy Center, Iowa,and its location ofGrundy County, Iowaare also named in his honor. Grundy Center's annual festival, called "Felix Grundy Days", are held each July. This marks the start to the annual Grundy County Fair, located in Grundy Center.
Legacy
[edit]Grundy was a mentor to futurePresidentJames K. Polk.Polk purchased Grundy's home in Nashville called "Grundy Place" and changed the name to "Polk Place".He lived and died there after his presidency. It was demolished in 1901.
Further reading
[edit]- Baylor, Orville W. (April 1942)."Felix Grundy, 1777-1840".Filson Club History Quarterly.16(2). Archived fromthe originalon May 2, 2012.RetrievedDecember 6,2011.
- Heller III, J. Roderick (2010).Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest.Baton Rouge: LSU Press.ISBN978-0-8071-3588-4.
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^abcdefgBiographical Cyclopedia,p. 268
- ^Heidler, David S. & Jeanne T.Henry Clay: the Essential American.Random House.
- ^John Roderick Heller,Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest,p. 113,LSU Press, 2010 Quote: "Even if more renowned as a criminal lawyer, Grundy defined himself early by his political ambition..."
- ^John Roderick Heller,Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest,p. 113,LSU Press, 2010
Bibliography
[edit]- Biographical Cyclopedia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.Chicago, Illinois:J.M. Gresham Company. 1896.
- Heller, John Roderick.Democracy's Lawyer: Felix Grundy of the Old Southwest(LSU Press, 2010), scholarly biography.
- Kanon, Tom. "'James Madison, Felix Grundy, and the Devil': A Western War Hawk in Congress."Filson History Quarterly75 (2001): 433–68.
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- United States Congress."Felix Grundy (id: G000509)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Allen, William B. (1872).A History of Kentucky: Embracing Gleanings, Reminiscences, Antiquities, Natural Curiosities, Statistics, and Biographical Sketches of Pioneers, Soldiers, Jurists, Lawyers, Statesmen, Divines, Mechanics, Farmers, Merchants, and Other Leading Men, of All Occupations and Pursuits.Bradley & Gilbert. pp.351–352.RetrievedNovember 10,2008.
- 1777 births
- 1840 deaths
- People from Berkeley County, West Virginia
- American people of English descent
- Van Buren administration cabinet members
- United States Attorneys General
- Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Tennessee
- Jacksonian United States senators from Tennessee
- Democratic Party United States senators from Tennessee
- Democratic Party members of the Tennessee House of Representatives
- Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives
- Judges of the Kentucky Court of Appeals
- People from Bardstown, Kentucky
- Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee
- Politicians from Fayette County, Pennsylvania
- People from Springfield, Kentucky
- United States senators who owned slaves
- Members of the United States House of Representatives who owned slaves