100 Notable alumni of Transylvania University
Updated: June 16, 2026 EliteDegrees
Transylvania University is ranked #3,842 in the world and #1,010 in United States by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Transylvania University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. Many individuals affiliated with Transylvania University won Nobel Prizes for Peace, in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Economics.
1. William L. Breckinridge
1803-1876 (aged 73)
William Lewis Breckinridge was an American pastor and educator. The son of Senator John Breckinridge, he was born near Lexington, Kentucky, and attended college at Transylvania University. Early in his career, he became an emancipationist, and he entered academia in 1831 when he began teaching ancient languages at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. He was pastor of the First Presbyterian...
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2. Francis Marion Walker
1827-1864 (aged 37)
lawyer
politician
Francis Marion Walker was a Confederate States Army officer during the American Civil War (Civil War). He was killed while commanding a brigade at the Battle of Atlanta of July 22, 1864, one day before his commission as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army was delivered.
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3. William A. Trimble
1786-1821 (aged 35)
lawyer
politician
William Allen Trimble was a Democratic-Republican politician from Ohio. He was in the United States Senate.
4. Samuel McRoberts
1868-1947 (aged 79)
military officer
lawyer
businessperson
Samuel McRoberts was a United States senator from Illinois. Born near Maeystown, he was educated by private tutors and graduated from the law department of Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. He was admitted to the bar in 1821 and commenced practice in Monroe County, and was clerk of the circuit court of Monroe County from 1819 to 1821. He was...
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5. Hugh Toland
1806-1880 (aged 74)
academic
surgeon
Hugh Huger Toland was an American surgeon who founded the Toland Medical College, which later became the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He was one of the most successful surgeons in California. He was from South Carolina, and was active in San Francisco.
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6. Suzanne Miles
1970-. (aged 56)
politician
Suzanne Miles is an American politician who has served as a Republican member of the Kentucky House of Representatives since January 2014. She represents Kentucky's 7th House district, which includes Daviess, Henderson, and Union counties. She serves as the House's Majority Caucus Chair, and is the first woman in Kentucky to serve as both an acting floor leader and an...
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7. B. O. Flower
1858-1918 (aged 60)
journalist
editor
Benjamin Orange Flower, known most commonly by his initials "B.O.", was an American muckraking journalist of the Progressive Era. Flower is best remembered as the editor of the liberal commentary magazine The Arena, published in Boston, New York City, and Trenton, New Jersey by the Arena Publishing Co. from 1889 until 1909.
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8. W. W. Fosdick
1825-1862 (aged 37)
poet
lawyer
writer
novelist
lyricist
William Whiteman Fosdick was an American lawyer, poet, writer and song lyricist, primarily remembered today as the writer of original lyrics to the song "Aura Lea" (also known as "Aura Lee") to a melody composed by George R. Poulton.
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9. Lewis V. Bogy
1813-1877 (aged 64)
lawyer
politician
Lewis Vital Bogy was a United States senator from Missouri.
10. John T. Johnson
1788-1856 (aged 68)
lawyer
judge
cleric
politician
John Telemachus Johnson was a minister in the Christian Church, an attorney, and a politician, elected as U.S. Representative from Kentucky. His older brothers, also politicians, included James Johnson and Richard M. Johnson, who served as Vice President under Martin Van Buren; he was the uncle of Robert Ward Johnson, also a politician.
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11. Tisa Mason
1961-. (aged 65)
Tisa A. Mason is an American educator and the current president of Fort Hays State University. Prior to her presidency at Fort Hays State, Mason served as Valley City State University's president from December 15, 2014, to December 15, 2017. Mason served as Fort Hays State's vice president of student affairs from July 2008 to December 2014.
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12. Solomon W. Downs
1801-1854 (aged 53)
farmer
lawyer
politician
Solomon Weathersbee Downs was an American attorney, politician, and slaveholder from Louisiana. A Democrat, he served as a United States senator from 1847 to 1853.
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13. Jesse Bledsoe
1776-1836 (aged 60)
lawyer
judge
politician
Jesse Bledsoe was a slave owner and Senator from Kentucky.
14. Henry Connelly
1800-1866 (aged 66)
politician
Henry Connelly was Governor of the New Mexico Territory during the American Civil War. He was appointed by President Lincoln and served from September 4, 1861, until July 6, 1866. During his term, the territory broke into two, and then three parts due to the Civil War and administrative problems.
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15. Josiah S. Johnston
1784-1833 (aged 49)
lawyer
judge
politician
Josiah Stoddard Johnston was an American politician who served as both United States representative and senator for Louisiana. Born in Salisbury, Connecticut, he moved with his father to Kentucky in 1788, and went to Connecticut to attend primary school. He graduated from Transylvania University (Lexington, Kentucky) in 1802, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Alexandria,...
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16. Clyde Roper
1937-. (aged 89)
zoologist
Clyde F. E. Roper is a zoologist at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He has organised a number of expeditions to New Zealand to study giant squid, including in 1997 and 1999. He graduated from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1959.
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17. Eugene C. Barker
1874-1956 (aged 82)
historian
author
Eugene Campbell Barker was an American historian at the University of Texas, the managing director of the Texas State Historical Association, and the editor of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. He chaired the history department while soliciting gifts to the university, which he used to build a collection of archives and artifacts. In 1950, the university dedicated the Eugene C. Barker...
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18. Albert Kellogg
1813-1887 (aged 74)
scientific collector
explorer
botanical collector
physician
botanist
Albert Kellogg was an American physician and the first resident botanist of California. He was a founding member of the California Academy of Sciences and served as its first curator of botany. Kellogg was a prolific writer and an accomplished illustrator of botanical specimens. In 1882, he published "The Forest Trees of California", the first scientific account of the state's...
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19. Joseph R. Underwood
1791-1876 (aged 85)
lawyer
judge
politician
Joseph Rogers Underwood was an American politician, lawyer and judge who was a United States representative and senator from Kentucky.
20. Zebulon York
1819-1900 (aged 81)
lawyer
Zebulon York was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was among a small group of Northern-born Confederate generals.
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21. Jeremiah Clemens
1814-1865 (aged 51)
writer
novelist
lawyer
politician
Jeremiah Clemens was a United States senator and novelist from Alabama. A Southern Unionist, he opposed the secession of Alabama from the Union in 1861 but briefly served in the Confederate Army. He was the author of Tobias Wilson, one of the first novels set during the American Civil War.
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22. Matthew Harris Jouett
1788-1827 (aged 39)
painter
Matthew Harris Jouett was a noted American portrait painter, famous for painting portraits including Thomas Jefferson, George Rogers Clark and Lafayette.
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23. Silas Adams
1839-1896 (aged 57)
lawyer
politician
Silas Adams was an American attorney and politician from Kentucky who served for one term as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky's 11th congressional district.
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24. Guinn Williams
1871-1948 (aged 77)
politician
Guinn Terrell Williams was an American banker and politician. A Democrat, he served in the Texas State Senate, and is most notable for his service as a U.S. representative from Texas. His son was the actor Guinn "Big Boy" Williams.
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25. Joseph Rodes Buchanan
1814-1899 (aged 85)
physiologist
physician
Joseph Rodes Buchanan was an American physician and professor of physiology at the Eclectic Medical Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. Buchanan proposed the terms Psychometry (soul measurement) and Sarcognomy for psychic abilities he claimed humans had. His promotion of paranormal powers in humans caught the public imagination of the period.
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26. James Fisher Robinson
1800-1882 (aged 82)
lawyer
politician
James Fisher Robinson was the 22nd governor of Kentucky, serving the remainder of the unfinished term of Governor Beriah Magoffin. Magoffin, a Confederate sympathizer, became increasingly ineffective after the elections of 1861 yielded a supermajority to pro-Union forces in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly. Magoffin agreed to resign the governorship, provided he could select his successor. He selected...
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27. Martin D. Hardin
1780-1823 (aged 43)
military personnel
lawyer
politician
Martin D. Hardin was a politician and lawyer from Kentucky. Born in Pennsylvania, his family migrated to Kentucky when he was still young. He studied law under George Nicholas and commenced practice at Richmond, Kentucky. His cousin, future U.S. Representative Benjamin Hardin, studied in his law office. He represented Madison County in the Kentucky House of Representatives for a single...
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28. Jack Curtice
1907-1982 (aged 75)
head coach
Jack Camp "Cactus Jack" Curtice Jr. was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. Curtice served as the head football coach West Texas State (1940–1941), Texas Western (1946–1949), Utah (1950–1957), Stanford (1958–1962), and UC Santa Barbara (1962–1969). His teams were known for their passing offenses. His overall record was 135–115–8.
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29. Uriah M. Rose
1834-1913 (aged 79)
lawyer
Uriah Milton Rose was an American lawyer and Confederate sympathizer. "Approachable, affable, and kind," graceful and courteous, he was called "the most scholarly lawyer in America" and "one of the leading legal lights of the nation", "a towering figure in the...life of Little Rock". He was a founder of the American Bar Association, of which he was twice president, 1891–92...
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30. Guy U. Hardy
1872-1947 (aged 75)
politician
Guy Urban Hardy was a U.S. representative from Colorado for fourteen years. He was a newspaper editor and publisher for 52 years as well as president of the National Editorial Association. Three parks were established in Cañon City, Colorado as the result of his lobbying efforts: Royal Gorge Park, Temple Canyon Park, and Red Canyon Park. The Guy U. Hardy...
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31. Edward A. Hannegan
1807-1859 (aged 52)
diplomat
lawyer
politician
Edward Allen Hannegan was an American lawyer and politician from Indiana, serving two terms as a United States representative from 1833 to 1837, and one term as a U.S. Senator from 1843 to 1849.
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32. Joseph Nash McDowell
1805-1868 (aged 63)
physician
Joseph Nash McDowell was an American doctor primarily remembered for his grave-digging practices, where he illegally exhumed corpses in order to study human anatomy. He is also known for his influence on Mark Twain, and was likely the inspiration for Twain's fictional character Dr. Robinson in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
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33. John Calvin McCoy
1811-1889 (aged 78)
missionary
John Calvin McCoy was an American land surveyor, missionary, and entrepreneur. He is considered the "father of Kansas City".
34. Karen K. Caldwell
1956-. (aged 70)
lawyer
judge
Karen Kaye Caldwell is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
35. James B. Beck
1822-1890 (aged 68)
lawyer
politician
James Burnie Beck was a Scottish-American United States representative and senator from Kentucky.
36. Charles S. Morehead
1802-1868 (aged 66)
lawyer
politician
Charles Slaughter Morehead was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky, and served as the 20th governor of Kentucky. Though a member of the Whig Party for most of his political service, he joined the Know Nothing, or American, Party in 1855, and was the only governor of Kentucky ever elected from that party.
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37. George W. Johnson
1811-1862 (aged 51)
politician
George Washington Johnson was the first Confederate governor of Kentucky. A lawyer-turned-farmer from Scott County, Kentucky, Johnson, a supporter of slavery who owned 26 slaves, favored secession as a means of preventing the Civil War, believing the Union and Confederacy would be forces of equal strength, each too wary to attack the other. As political sentiment in the Commonwealth took...
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38. William Orlando Butler
1791-1880 (aged 89)
lawyer
politician
William Orlando Butler was an American politician and U.S. Army major general from Kentucky. He served as a Democratic representative from Kentucky from 1839 to 1843, and was the Democratic vice-presidential nominee under Lewis Cass in 1848.
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39. Nathaniel Pope
1784-1850 (aged 66)
lawyer
judge
politician
Nathaniel Pope was an American government leader in the early history of the State of Illinois. He served as the Secretary of the Illinois Territory, then as a Delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Illinois Territory, and for over thirty years as the United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District...
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40. Carter Harrison III
1825-1893 (aged 68)
lawyer
politician
Carter Henry Harrison III was an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1879 until 1887 and from 1893 until his assassination. He previously served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, and one term on the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
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41. Thomas Holley Chivers
1809-1858 (aged 49)
poet
writer
Thomas Holley Chivers was an American doctor-turned-poet from the state of Georgia. He is best known for his friendship with Edgar Allan Poe and his controversial defense of the poet after his death.
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42. John J. Hardin
1810-1847 (aged 37)
lawyer
journalist
editor
politician
John Jay Hardin was a U.S. representative and militia general from Illinois.
43. Marcus A. Smith
1851-1924 (aged 73)
lawyer
politician
Marcus Aurelius Smith was an American attorney and politician who served eight terms as Arizona territorial delegate to Congress and as one of the first two senators from Arizona. As a delegate, he was a leader in the effort to gain statehood for Arizona. His non-voting status, however, minimized his influence with only 35 of the 277 bills he introduced...
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44. B. Gratz Brown
1826-1885 (aged 59)
lawyer
politician
Benjamin Gratz Brown was an American politician. He was a U.S. Senator, the 20th Governor of Missouri, and the Liberal Republican and Democratic Party vice presidential candidate in the presidential election of 1872.
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45. George W. Jones
1804-1896 (aged 92)
diplomat
judge
politician
George Wallace Jones was an American frontiersman, entrepreneur, attorney, and judge, was among the first two United States Senators to represent the state of Iowa after it was admitted to the Union in 1846. A Democrat who was elected before the birth of the Republican Party, Jones served over ten years in the Senate, from December 7, 1848, to March...
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46. John Edward Bouligny
1824-1864 (aged 40)
lawyer
politician
John Edward Bouligny was an American politician who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the state of Louisiana. He served one term as a member of the Know Nothing movement's anti-immigrant American Party. During his term, Louisiana seceded from the Union, but Bouligny remained in Washington and refused to resign. He was the only member of...
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47. William Alexander Richardson
1811-1875 (aged 64)
lawyer
politician
William Alexander Richardson was a prominent Illinois Democratic politician before and during the American Civil War. A protege of Stephen Douglas, Richardson was an ardent proponent of Jacksonian democracy, popular sovereignty, and strict constructionism. During the American Civil War, he switched from supporting the conflict to join the Copperhead wing of the Democratic party and bitterly criticize President Abraham Lincoln.
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48. Jerome B. Robertson
1815-1890 (aged 75)
military personnel
politician
Jerome Bonaparte Robertson was a doctor, soldier, and politician who served as a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War. He was noted for his service in the famed Texas Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia.
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49. William T. Barry
1784-1835 (aged 51)
diplomat
lawyer
politician
William Taylor Barry was an American statesman and jurist. He served as Postmaster General for most of the administration of President Andrew Jackson and was the only Cabinet member not to resign in 1831 as a result of the Petticoat affair.
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50. Claria Horn Boom
1969-. (aged 57)
judge
Claria Denise Horn Boom is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. She is a member of the United States Sentencing Commission.
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51. Thomas James Churchill
1824-1905 (aged 81)
politician
military officer
Thomas James Churchill was an American soldier and politician who served as the 13th governor of Arkansas from 1881 to 1883. Before that, he was a senior officer of the Confederate States Army who commanded infantry in the Western and Trans-Mississippi theaters of the American Civil War.
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52. William M. Gwin
1805-1885 (aged 80)
politician
physician
William McKendree Gwin was an American medical doctor and politician who served in elected office in Mississippi and California. In California he shared the distinction, along with John C. Frémont, of being the state's first U.S. senators. Before, during, and after the Civil War, Gwin was well known in California, Washington, D.C., and the Southern United States as a determined...
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53. Richard Hawes
1797-1877 (aged 80)
lawyer
judge
politician
Richard Hawes Jr. was a United States representative from Kentucky and the second Confederate governor of Kentucky. He was part of the politically influential Hawes family. His brother, uncle, and cousin also served as U.S. Representatives, and his grandson Harry B. Hawes was a member of the United States Senate. He was a slaveholder.
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54. James Lane Allen
1849-1925 (aged 76)
novelist
author
writer
James Lane Allen was an American novelist and short story writer whose work, including the novel A Kentucky Cardinal, often depicted the culture and dialects of his native Kentucky. His work is characteristic of the late 19th-century local color era, when writers sought to capture the vernacular in their fiction. Allen has been described as "Kentucky's first important novelist".
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55. Basil W. Duke
1838-1916 (aged 78)
writer
lawyer
military officer
lobbyist
Basil Wilson Duke was a Confederate general officer during the American Civil War. Afterward, he achieved renown as a historian. His most notable role in the war was second-in-command to his brother-in-law John Hunt Morgan. Duke later wrote a popular account of what was called Morgan's Raid (1863). He took over Morgan's command in 1864 after U.S. soldiers killed Morgan....
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56. Robert Trimble
1776-1828 (aged 52)
lawyer
judge
politician
Robert Trimble was a lawyer and jurist who served as Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, as United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kentucky and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1826 to his death in 1828. During his brief Supreme Court tenure he authored...
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57. Gustav Koerner
1809-1896 (aged 87)
lawyer
diplomat
abolitionist
judge
statesperson
Gustav Philipp Koerner, also spelled Gustave or Gustavus Koerner, was a German-American revolutionary, journalist, lawyer, politician, judge and statesman in Illinois and Germany, and a Colonel of the U.S. Army who was a confessed enemy of slavery. He married on 17 June 1836 in Belleville Sophia Dorothea Engelmann (16 November 1815 – 1 March 1888); they had 9 children. He...
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58. Kyle Smith
1992-. (aged 34)
association football player
Kyle Joseph Smith is an American professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club FC Cincinnati.
59. Beriah Magoffin
1815-1885 (aged 70)
lawyer
judge
politician
Beriah Magoffin was the 21st governor of Kentucky, serving during the early part of the Civil War. Personally, Magoffin supported slavery, believed in the right of a state to secede from the Union, and sympathized with the Confederacy. Nevertheless, when the Kentucky General Assembly adopted a position of neutrality in the war, Magoffin ardently held to it, refusing calls for...
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60. Jesse D. Bright
1812-1875 (aged 63)
lawyer
entrepreneur
judge
politician
Jesse David Bright was the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Indiana and U.S. Senator from Indiana who served as President pro tempore of the Senate on three occasions. He was the only senator from a Northern state to be expelled for being a Confederate sympathizer, and also the last Senator to be expelled on Confederate rebellion. As a leading Copperhead he...
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61. Daniel Mongiardo
1960-. (aged 66)
politician
physician
Frank Daniel Mongiardo is an American physician and politician from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Mongiardo is a Democrat and was the 54th lieutenant governor of Kentucky from 2007 until 2011. He was a member of the Kentucky State Senate from 2001 to 2007. He also ran for the U.S. Senate in 2004, narrowly losing in the general election to Jim...
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62. Levi Day Boone
1808-1882 (aged 74)
politician
Levi Day Boone served as mayor of Chicago, Illinois (1855–1856) for the American Party (Know-Nothings).
63. Thomas Ford
1800-1850 (aged 50)
lawyer
judge
politician
Thomas Ford was a lawyer, judge, author and the eighth Governor of Illinois. The first Illinois governor to be raised in the state, he served from 1842 to 1846 and became known for restoring the state's solvency and reducing geographic sectionalism, as well as for leading the legislature despite his lack of prior political experience. A lifelong Democrat, Ford is...
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64. Luke Pryor Blackburn
1816-1887 (aged 71)
politician
physician
Luke Pryor Blackburn was an American physician, philanthropist, and politician from Kentucky. He was elected the 28th governor of Kentucky, serving from 1879 to 1883.
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65. John Breckinridge Castleman
1841-1918 (aged 77)
military officer
John Breckinridge Castleman was a Confederate officer and later a United States Army brigadier general as well as a prominent landowner and businessman in Louisville, Kentucky.
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66. James Lanier
1800-1881 (aged 81)
writer
banker
lawyer
entrepreneur
James Franklin Doughty Lanier was an entrepreneur who lived in Madison, Indiana, prior to the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861–1865). Lanier became a wealthy banker with interests in pork packing, the railroads, and real estate.
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67. George B. Crittenden
1812-1880 (aged 68)
lawyer
military personnel
George Bibb Crittenden was a soldier in both the United States Army and the Confederate States Army during the mid-19th century. The son of influential Kentucky politician John J. Crittenden, George Crittenden enrolled in the United States Military Academy in 1828, graduating four years later. He served in the Black Hawk War in 1832 before resigning from the military in...
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68. Lewis Sayre
1820-1900 (aged 80)
surgeon
Lewis Albert Sayre was a leading American orthopedic surgeon of the 19th century. He performed the first operation to cure hip-joint ankylosis, introduced the method of suspending the patient followed by wrapping the body to correct spine distortions, and popularized circumcision in the United States. Sayre improved sanitary conditions in New York, stopping the spread of cholera from incoming ships,...
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69. Samuel Freeman Miller
1816-1890 (aged 74)
lawyer
judge
Samuel Freeman Miller was an American lawyer and physician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1862 until his death in 1890 and who authored landmark opinions in United States v. Kagama and The Slaughterhouse Cases.
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70. James G. Birney
1792-1857 (aged 65)
jurist
abolitionist
lawyer
writer
meteorological observer
James Gillespie Birney was an American abolitionist, politician, and attorney born in Danville, Kentucky. He changed from being a planter and slave owner to abolitionism, publishing the abolitionist weekly The Philanthropist. He twice served as the presidential nominee for the anti-slavery Liberty Party.
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71. Arthur Ford
1897-1971 (aged 74)
psychic
Arthur Ford was an American psychic, spiritualist medium, clairaudient, and founder of the Spiritual Frontiers Fellowship (c. 1955). He gained national attention when he claimed to have contacted the dead son of Bishop James Pike in 1967 on network TV. In 1928 Ford claimed to have contacted the deceased spirits of Houdini's mother and later in 1929 Harry Houdini himself.
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72. John E. Fryer
1938-2003 (aged 65)
psychiatrist
psychologist
John Ercel Fryer, M.D. was a prominent American psychiatrist and advocate for gay rights. He is most notably remembered for his impactful speech, delivered anonymously at the 1972 American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual conference. Fryer addressed the conference under the pseudonym Dr. Henry Anonymous, catalyzing the movement to remove homosexuality as a classified mental illness from the APA Diagnostic and...
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73. James Speed
1812-1887 (aged 75)
university teacher
lawyer
politician
James Speed was an American lawyer, politician, and professor who was in 1864 appointed by Abraham Lincoln to be the United States Attorney General. Speed previously served in the Kentucky legislature and in local political offices.
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74. Joseph O. Shelby
1830-1897 (aged 67)
farmer
Joseph Orville "J.O." Shelby was a Confederate officer who commanded cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War. After the Confederacy surrendered, Shelby tried to swear fealty to Emperor Maximilian I during the second French intervention in Mexico. With the Emperor's permission, Shelby formed the New Virginia Colony, a colony of Confederate exiles in Mexico, until the end...
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75. George Graham Vest
1830-1904 (aged 74)
lawyer
politician
George Graham Vest was an American politician. Born in Frankfort, Kentucky, he was known for his skills in oration and debate. Vest, a lawyer as well as a politician, served as a Missouri Congressman, a Confederate Congressman during the Civil War, and finally a U.S. Senator.
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76. Robert Smith Todd
1791-1849 (aged 58)
politician
Robert Smith Todd was an American lawyer, soldier, banker, businessman and politician. He was the father of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln.
77. Andrew Jackson Donelson
1799-1871 (aged 72)
diplomat
politician
Andrew Jackson Donelson was an American diplomat and politician. He served in various positions as a Democrat and was the Know Nothing nominee for US vice president in 1856.
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78. Stevens T. Mason
1811-1843 (aged 32)
politician
Stevens Thomson Mason was an American politician who served as the first governor of Michigan from 1835 to 1840. Coming to political prominence at an early age, Mason was appointed his territory's acting territorial secretary by Andrew Jackson at age 19, becoming the acting territorial governor soon thereafter in 1834 at age 22. As territorial governor, Mason was instrumental in...
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79. Francis Preston Blair Jr
1821-1875 (aged 54)
military officer
lawyer
politician
Francis Preston Blair Jr. was a United States Senator, a United States Congressman and a Union Army major general during the American Civil War. He represented Missouri in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, and was active in preventing the state of Missouri from being absorbed into the Confederacy at the beginning of the war.
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80. Matt Jones
1980-. (aged 46)
association football player
Matthew Harper Jones is an American attorney, businessman, radio host, author, and investor in Lexington, Kentucky.
81. Cassius M. Clay
1810-1903 (aged 93)
lawyer
writer
military officer
photographer
politician
Cassius Marcellus Clay was an American planter, politician, military officer and abolitionist who served as the United States ambassador to Russia from 1863 to 1869.
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82. John Hunt Morgan
1825-1864 (aged 39)
military personnel
John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate general in the American Civil War. In April 1862, he raised the 2nd Kentucky Cavalry Regiment, fought at Shiloh, and then launched a costly raid in Kentucky, which encouraged Braxton Bragg's invasion of that state. He also attacked General William Rosecrans's supply lines. In July 1863, he set out on a 1,000-mile raid into...
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83. Francis Preston Blair
1791-1876 (aged 85)
politician
editor
journalist
Francis Preston Blair Sr. was an American journalist, newspaper editor, and influential figure in national politics advising various U.S. presidents across party lines. He was an early member of the Democratic Party, and a strong supporter of President Andrew Jackson, having helped him win Kentucky in the 1828 presidential election. From 1831 to 1845, Blair worked as Editor-in-Chief of the...
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84. John Marshall Harlan
1833-1911 (aged 78)
jurist
lawyer
judge
politician
John Marshall Harlan was an American lawyer and politician who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1877 until his death in 1911. He is often called "The Great Dissenter" due to his many dissents in cases that restricted civil liberties, including the Civil Rights Cases, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Giles v. Harris....
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85. Happy Chandler
1898-1991 (aged 93)
lawyer
politician
baseball player
basketball coach
Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Sr. was an American politician from Kentucky. He represented Kentucky in the U.S. Senate and served as its 44th and 49th governor. Aside from his political positions, he also served as the second commissioner of baseball from 1945 to 1951 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. His grandson, Ben Chandler, later...
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86. David Rice Atchison
1807-1886 (aged 79)
lawyer
military officer
judge
politician
David Rice Atchison was a mid-19th-century Democratic United States Senator from Missouri. He served as president pro tempore of the United States Senate for six years. Atchison served as a major general in the Missouri State Militia in 1838 during Missouri's Mormon War and as a Confederate brigadier general during the American Civil War under Major General Sterling Price in...
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87. John C. Breckinridge
1821-1875 (aged 54)
military personnel
lawyer
university teacher
politician
John Cabell Breckinridge was an American politician who served as the 14th vice president of the United States, with President James Buchanan, from 1857 to 1861, and as a general in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Assuming office at the age of 36, Breckinridge is the youngest vice president in U.S. history. He was also the Southern...
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88. Richard Mentor Johnson
1780-1850 (aged 70)
lawyer
politician
Richard Mentor Johnson was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren. He is the only vice president elected by the United States Senate under the provisions of the Twelfth Amendment. Johnson also represented Kentucky in the U.S. House of Representatives...
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89. Ned Beatty
1937-2021 (aged 84)
comedian
television actor
film actor
voice actor
stage actor
Ned Thomas Beatty was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 film and television roles. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest actor in Hollywood". His film appearances included Deliverance (1972), White Lightning (1973), All the President's Men (1976), Network (1976), Superman (1978), Superman II (1980), Back...
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90. Stephen F. Austin
1793-1836 (aged 43)
politician
Stephen Fuller Austin was an American-born empresario, i.e. a person granted the right to settle on land in exchange for recruiting and taking responsibility for settling the eastern areas of the Tejas region of Mexico in the early nineteenth century. Known as the "Father of Texas" and the founder of Anglo Texas, he led the second and, ultimately, the successful...
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91. William Windom
1923-2012 (aged 89)
film actor
television actor
stage actor
William Windom was an American actor. He was known as a character actor of the stage and screen. He is well known for his recurring role as Dr. Seth Hazlitt alongside Angela Lansbury in the CBS mystery series Murder, She Wrote and his intense guest role as Commodore Matt Decker in Star Trek.
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92. Albert Sidney Johnston
1803-1862 (aged 59)
army officer
General Albert Sidney Johnston was an American military officer who served as a general officer in three different armies: the Texian Army, the United States Army, and the Confederate States Army. He saw extensive combat during his 34-year military career, fighting actions in the Black Hawk War, the Texas-Indian Wars, the Mexican–American War, the Utah War, and the American Civil...
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93. Jefferson Davis
1808-1889 (aged 81)
military officer
political writer
politician
writer
businessperson
Jefferson F. Davis was the only president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party before the American Civil War. He was the 23rd United States secretary of war from 1853 to 1857.
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94. James Brown Clay
1817-1864 (aged 47)
lawyer
diplomat
judge
politician
James Brown Clay was an American politician and diplomat who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Kentucky's 8th congressional district from 1857 to 1859.
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95. Wilson Shannon
1803-1877 (aged 74)
diplomat
lawyer
politician
Wilson Shannon was an American attorney and Democratic Party politician from Ohio. He served one term in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the 14th and 16th governor of Ohio. He was the first Ohio governor born in the state. He was the second governor of the Kansas Territory. He failed to stop an attack by pro-slavery forces and...
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96. Carl Rogers Darnall
1867-1941 (aged 74)
surgeon
chemist
Brigadier General Carl Rogers Darnall was a United States Army chemist and surgeon credited with originating the technique of liquid chlorination of drinking water. Chlorination has been an exceedingly important innovation in public health, saving innumerable lives.
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97. Henry David Cooke
1825-1881 (aged 56)
politician
businessperson
journalist
Henry David Cooke was an American financier, journalist, railroad executive, and politician. He was the younger brother of Philadelphia financier Jay Cooke. A member of the Republican political machine in post-Civil War Washington, D.C., Cooke was appointed first territorial governor of the District of Columbia by Ulysses S. Grant.
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98. James S. Rollins
1812-1888 (aged 76)
lawyer
politician
James Sidney Rollins was a 19th century Missouri politician and lawyer. He helped establish the University of Missouri at Columbia, and led the successful effort to get it located in Boone County, and gained funding for the proposed state university with the passage of a series of legislative acts in the General Assembly of Missouri (state legislature) at the Missouri...
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99. James S. Jackson
1823-1862 (aged 39)
military officer
lawyer
politician
James Streshly Jackson was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
100. Richard Montgomery Gano
1830-1913 (aged 83)
military personnel
politician
Richard Montgomery Gano was a physician, Protestant minister, and brigadier general in the army of the Confederate States during the American Civil War.
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