Beriah Magoffin Jr.
Born: April 18, 1815
Birthplace: Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Father: Beriah Magoffin Sr. 1773 – 1843
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky)
Mother: Jane McAfee 1778 – 1858
Brother: Colonel Ebenezer Magoffin 1817 – 1865
(Buried: Woodlawn Cemetery, Independence, Missouri)
Wife: Anna Nelson Shelby 1818 – 1880
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky)
Married: April 21, 1840 in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Children:
Colonel Beriah Magoffin III 1843 – 1932
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky)
Jane Marie Magoffin Hutchinson 1849 – 1873
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky)
Ebenezer Magoffin 1851 – 1936
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky)
Anna Shelby Magoffin Tucker 1853 – 1919
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky)
Samuel McAfee Magoffin 1859 – 1934
(Buried: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky)
Political Party: Democratic Party
Education:
Graduated from Centre College
1838: Graduated from Transylvania University Law School
Occupation before War:
Attorney in Jackson, Mississippi
1838 – 1839: Reading Clerk for Mississippi State Senate
1839 – 1840: Attorney in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
1840 – 1844: Harrodsburg, Kentucky, Judge of Police Court
1844: Democratic Party Presidential Elector
1844 – 1859: Attorney in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
1848: Kentucky Delegate Democratic Party National Convention
1848: Democratic Party Presidential Elector
1850: Kentucky State Senator
1851: Declined Democratic Party Nomination for U.S. Congress.
1852: Democratic Party Presidential Elector
1854: Unsuccessful Democratic Candidate for Lt. Governor.
1856: Kentucky Delegate, Democratic Party National Convention
1856: Democratic Party Presidential Elector
1859 – 1862: Governor of Kentucky
Supporter of States Rights and Slavery.
1860: Kentucky Delegate, Democratic Party National Convention
1860: Author of plan to Save the Union, that was distributed to Governors of States on the urge of leaving the Union.
Civil War Career:
1861: Called the state legislature into special session, and asked them to call a convention to decide on secession.
1861: In Response to President Lincoln’s call for volunteers, he responded, “I will send not a man nor a dollar for the wicked purpose of subduing my sister southern states.”
1861: He refused Confederate Secretary of War Leroy P. Walker’s request for Kentucky troops for the southern cause.
1861: Called another special session of the legislature, but the legislatures refused to call a convention to determine the course of war, and in fact approved a neutrality resolution.
1861: The General Assembly became controlled by Unionists, and they voted to over-ride his vetoes as Governor.
1861: In September, he declared both Confederate and Union as violating the neutrality resolution when they both entered Kentucky. The legislature passed only a resolution to make the Confederate Army vacant, and Governor Magoffin vetoed the resolution, but his veto was overridden by the legislature.
1861: He denounced the actions of Russellville, Kentucky Convention.
1861: The Kentucky State legislature started calling for his resignation.
1862: His veto of a bill forfeiting the citizenship of anyone who fought or aided the Confederacy by the state legislature.
1862: Resigned as Governor of Kentucky on August 18th.
1862 – 1885: Attorney and Farmer in Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Occupation after War:
Held a series of land speculation near Chicago which made him wealthy.
Advocated for Civil Rights and urged passage of 13th Amendment.
1867 – 1869: Kentucky State Representative
1872: Kentucky Delegate Democratic Party National Convention
Died: February 28, 1885
Place of Death: Harrodsburg, Kentucky
Age at time of Death: 69 years old
Burial Place: Spring Hill Cemetery, Harrodsburg, Kentucky
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