Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn

Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (October 1, 1838 – September 12, 1918) was a Democratic Representative and Senator from Kentucky. Blackburn, a skilled and spirited orator, was also a prominent trial lawyer known for his skill at swaying juries.[1]

Joseph Blackburn
Governor of Panama Canal Zone
In office April 1, 1907 – December 4, 1909
Appointed by	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Richard Reid Rogers
Succeeded by	Maurice Thatcher
Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus
In office June 4, 1906 – March 4, 1907
Preceded by	Arthur Pue Gorman
Succeeded by	Charles Allen Culberson
United States senator from Kentucky
In office March 4, 1901 – March 4, 1907
Preceded by	William Lindsay
Succeeded by	Thomas H. Paynter
In office March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1897
Preceded by	John S. Williams
Succeeded by	William J. Deboe
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 7th district
In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1885
Preceded by	James B. Beck
Succeeded by	William Breckinridge
Personal details
Born	(1838-10-01)October 1, 1838 Spring Station, Kentucky, U.S.
Died	September 12, 1918(1918-09-12) (aged 79) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Relatives	Luke P. Blackburn (Brother)
Education	Centre College (BA)

Biography

Mrs Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn

Blackburn was born on October 1, 1838 near Spring Station, Kentucky.[1] He was the younger brother of Kentucky governor Luke P. Blackburn.[2]

He attended Sayres Institute in Frankfort and graduated from Centre College in Danville in 1857. He studied law in Lexington and was admitted to the bar in 1858. He practiced in Chicago until 1860 when he returned to Woodford County, Kentucky and entered the Confederate Army as a private in 1861.[1]

A staff officer, by the end of the Civil War Blackburn had attained the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war he settled in Arkansas where he was engaged as a lawyer and a planter in Desha County until 1868 when he returned to Kentucky and opened law offices in Versailles.[1]

He was a member of the State house of representatives from 1871 to 1875. He was then elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fourth and to the four succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1875 - March 3, 1885). He was the chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia (Forty-fifth Congress) and the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of War (Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Congresses).

In 1885, Lt. Henry T. Allen of the U.S. army named a mountain after Joseph Blackburn. Mount Blackburn is the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains of the state of Alaska and the fifth highest peak in the United States.[1]

He was elected to the United States Senate in 1884, was reelected in 1890, and served from March 4, 1885, to March 3, 1897. He failed to be reelected in 1896. He was the chairman of the Committee on Rules (Fifty-third Congress). He was once again elected to the United States Senate in 1900 and served from March 4, 1901 to March 3, 1907, but failed in his next election bid in 1906. Loosely associated with the free-silver wing of the Democratic party, he was well known nationally and his name was placed in nomination for the presidency in 1896.[1]

He was appointed Governor of the Panama Canal Zone by President Theodore Roosevelt on April 1, 1907. He resigned and returned to his estate in Woodford County.[1]

He died on September 12, 1918 in Washington, D.C.. He was interred in the State Cemetery in Frankfort.[1]

References

1. "Jos. C. S. Blackburn, Ex-senator, Is Dead. Aged Kentuckian Served in Three Administrations and Was Civil Governor of Canal Zone". New York Times. September 13, 1918. Joseph C. S. Blackburn, former Senator from Kentucky and in recent years a Resident Commissioner of the Lincoln Memorial Commission, died early today at his home here. He was stricken shortly after arising with a recurrence of heart attack from which he was a chronic sufferer. ...
2. Baird, Nancy Disher (1979). Luke Pryor Blackburn: Physician, Governor, Reformer. Lexington, Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-0248-0.

Further reading

• United States Congress. "Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn (id: B000508)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Mellander, Gustavo A.; Nelly Maldonado Mellander (1999). Charles Edward Magoon: The Panama Years. Río Piedras, Puerto Rico: Editorial Plaza Mayor. ISBN 1-56328-155-4. OCLC 42970390.
• Mellander, Gustavo A. (1971). The United States in Panamanian Politics: The Intriguing Formative Years. Danville, Ill.: Interstate Publishers. OCLC 138568.
• Johnson, E. Polk (1912). A History of Kentucky and Kentuckians: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities. Lewis Publishing Company. pp. 778–780. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
• McAfee, John J. (1886). Kentucky politicians : sketches of representative Corncrackers and other miscellany. Louisville, Kentucky: Press of the Courier-Journal job printing company. pp. 17–19.

External links

• Media related to Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn at Wikimedia Commons

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by James B. Beck	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 7th congressional district 1875–1885	Succeeded by William Breckinridge
Preceded by Aylett Hawes Buckner	Chair of the House District of Columbia Committee 1877–1879	Succeeded by Eppa Hunton
Preceded by William M. Robbins	Chair of the House War Department Expenditures Committee 1877–1881	Succeeded by James Frankland Briggs
U.S. Senate
Preceded by John S. Williams	U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Kentucky 1885–1897 Served alongside: James B. Beck, John G. Carlisle, William Lindsay	Succeeded by William J. Deboe
Preceded by Nelson W. Aldrich	Chair of the Senate Rules Committee 1893–1895	Succeeded by Nelson W. Aldrich
Preceded by William Lindsay	U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Kentucky 1901–1907 Served alongside: William Deboe, James B. McCreary	Succeeded by Thomas H. Paynter
Party political offices
Preceded by Arthur Pue Gorman	Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus 1906–1907	Succeeded by Charles Allen Culberson
Political offices
Preceded by Richard Reid Rogers	Governor of Panama Canal Zone 1890–1899	Succeeded by Maurice Thatcher