Linn Boyd

Linn Boyd (November 22, 1800 – December 17, 1859) (also spelled "Lynn") was a prominent US politician of the 1840s and 1850s, and served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1851 to 1855. Boyd was elected to the House as a Jacksonian from Kentucky from 1835 to 1837 and again as a Democrat from 1839 to 1855, serving seven terms in the House. Boyd County, Kentucky is named in his honor.

Linn Boyd
20th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
In office December 1, 1851 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by	Howell Cobb
Succeeded by	Nathaniel P. Banks
Leader of the House Democratic Caucus
In office December 1, 1851 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by	Howell Cobb
Succeeded by	James Lawrence Orr
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 1st district
In office March 4, 1839 – March 3, 1855
Preceded by	John L. Murray
Succeeded by	Henry C. Burnett
In office March 4, 1835 – March 3, 1837
Preceded by	Chittenden Lyon
Succeeded by	John L. Murray
17th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
In office 1859
Governor	Beriah Magoffin
Preceded by	James G. Hardy
Succeeded by	Richard T. Jacob
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
In office 1827 1831
Personal details
Born	November 22, 1800 Nashville, Tennessee
Died	December 17, 1859 (aged 59) Paducah, Kentucky
Political party	Jacksonian Democratic
Spouse(s)	Alice Bennett Anna (Rhey) Dixon
Relations	Abraham Boyd (Father) Elizabeth Linn Boyd (Mother)
Children	Butler Boyd Linn Boyd Jr. Felix Boyd Rhey Boyd
Profession	Politician Farmer
Signature

Sign in front of the McCracken, Kentucky Courthouse (in Paducah, Kentucky) commemorating early members of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Jackson Purchase (U.S. historical region). The "First District" in the title actually changed over time. It refers to the Jackson Purchase, which was in the 5th district from 1819 to 1823, the 12th district until 1833, and then the 1st district until the end of the sign's lineage in 1855.

Early and family life

Born to the wife of part-time delegate Abraham Boyd in Trigg County, Kentucky, he was raised and educated to some minimal extent in Trigg County. In 1832, Boyd married fellow Trigg County native Alice C. Bennett. In 1850, the widower married a widow from Pennsylvania, Anna L. Dixon.

Early career

Boyd moved to Calloway County to farm in 1826. The next year he became Calloway County's delegate in the Kentucky House of Representatives, and served alongside his father (who represented Trigg County) in 1828–1829. In 1831 Boyd moved back to Trigg County and its voters elected him to represent them in the state House.

U.S. Congressman

Further information: Presidency of Andrew Jackson, Presidency of Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison § Presidency (1841), Presidency of John Tyler, Presidency of James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor § Presidency (1849–1850), Presidency of Millard Fillmore, Presidency of Franklin Pierce, 24th United States Congress, 26th United States Congress, 27th United States Congress, 28th United States Congress, 29th United States Congress, 30th United States Congress, 31st United States Congress, 32nd United States Congress, and 33rd United States Congress

In 1833, Boyd lost his first campaign for the United States House of Representatives. In 1835 he was elected to the House and served there until 1837, when a Whig landslide resulting from the Panic of 1837 cost him his seat.

Kentucky voters of the First Congressional District soon returned Boyd to the House, and he would serve from 1839 through 1855. He was a strong supporter of President Andrew Jackson. Boyd played a key role in maneuvering the annexation of Texas through Congress during the term of President John Tyler in 1845. Boyd was also important in getting the Compromise of 1850, chiefly credited to Henry Clay, passed through Congress. Largely though his prominence in shepherding the compromise to passage, Boyd was elected Speaker of the House in 1851 and held that office until 1855.

While in the House, he sufficiently impressed his colleague Charles S. Benton that he named his son, the future inventor and businessman Linn Boyd Benton, after him.

Later career

While still in Congress, Boyd declined a nomination for Governor of Kentucky in 1848 and was replaced by Lazarus W. Powell. In 1852, he moved to Paducah.

After leaving the House, he was mentioned as a candidate for Vice President of the United States at the 1856 Democratic National Convention but was never officially nominated; the eventual nominee was fellow Kentuckian John C. Breckinridge.

Kentucky voters elected Boyd the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1859, but he died after less than four months in office. This became significant with the onset of the Civil War. Governor Beriah Magoffin, who supported slavery, secession, and states' rights, became increasingly unpopular and distrusted as he sought to keep Kentucky on a neutral course between the Union and the Confederate States of America. Unionists held a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly in the summer of 1861 and frequently overrode Magoffin's vetoes. By August 1862, Magoffin made it clear that he was willing to resign the governorship. However, due to Linn Boyd's death, the person next in line to become Governor of Kentucky was Speaker of the Senate John F. Fisk, whom Magoffin thought unacceptable. After Fisk resigned as Speaker and was replaced by James F. Robinson, Magoffin resigned. Thus, Robinson became governor, and Fisk was reinstalled as Speaker of the Senate.

Death and burial

Boyd died in Paducah on December 17, 1859. He was buried at Paducah's Oak Grove Cemetery. Oaklands, a spacious brick home he had built in Paducah in 1852, no longer exists except as a street name.

References

• United States Congress. "Linn Boyd (id: B000719)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Perrin, William Henry (1884). Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical. F.A. Battey Publishing Company. p. art II, p. 29.