Linn Boyd

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 from 1819 to 1823, the until 1833, and then the until the end of the sign's lineage in 1855. 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.

Early and family life

Born to the wife of part-time delegate Abraham Boyd in Nashville, Tennessee, he was raised and educated to some minimal extent in Trigg County. In 1832, Boyd married 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.

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 17th 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 come he had built in Paducah in 1852, no longer exists except as a street name.