by Michiana Covenant | Jun 15, 2013 | Breckinridge
March 18, 2010
In 1836 R. J. Breckinridge took a sabbatical. He had been appointed the Presbyterian Church’s fraternal delegate to the Congregational Union of England and Wales. As soon as word got out that RJB was going to Britain, he received appointments from the American Colonization Society (devoted to ending slavery and sending the freed slaves to Liberia in west Africa), the Western Foreign Missions Society (at this point the Presbyterian church had no foreign missions board – this was the foreign missions organization of the Synod of Pittsburgh, and supported by Old School Presbyterians) and the American Protestant Association (devoted to maintaining and defending the truths of the Reformation against the Roman Catholic Church).
In those days such an appointment required several months: three weeks each way for the packet to Liverpool, another several weeks to attend the annual meetings of the various organizations to which he had been commissioned. He also visited the Church of Scotland’s General Assembly – at which point he got roped into a debate over slavery with George Thompson, a British Abolitionist. Breckinridge was devoted to ending slavery (only a year before he had signed a deed of emancipation that would set his own 20 slaves free after they had worked off their purchase price), but he did not believe that the immediate abolition of slavery would work – and he knew that any attempt to abolish slavery immediately would result in war (it didn’t take a genius to figure this out!).
So RJB and his wife, Ann Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge (“Sophy”), went together on this jaunt – leaving behind their three children, Mary (8), Sally (4), and Robert (2) with her mother in Abingdon, Virginia. Both RJB and Sophy had battled various illnesses, and they expected that the travel would improve their health. Sophy hoped that after spending some weeks in England, they would then return home – but since she was pregnant they decided to go to Paris, where she birth to Marie. They also toured Switzerland and southern France before returning home in the spring of 1837 (just in time for RJB to go to the famous General Assembly of 1837). Sophy told various people that she greatly preferred the Scots to the English, while RJB made some very good friends among the French Reformed churches of his day.
by Michiana Covenant | Jun 7, 2013 | Breckinridge
June 6, 2012
Last week I told you about the troubles that Kentucky faced with insufficient surveys that resulted in multiple claimants for many properties.
This week I have spent a lot of time in the Breckinridge (and Preston and Hart and Shelby) family estates. Robert Jefferson Breckinridge had a good patrimonial estate. If you look up the “Kentucky Horse Park” in Lexington on a map, and look for a creek straight east from there, you will be at the center of “Braedalbane” (RJB’s estate), and “Cabell’s Dale” (his father’s estate – inherited by one of RJB’s sons) is at the junction of Iron Works Pike and Mt. Horeb Pike (where the Mt Horeb Presbyterian Church is located — the church that RJB’s older brother founded, and where RJB was ordained as a ruling elder). You actually get a better map when you search for “Mt. Horeb Presbyterian Church.” (RJB’s house is no longer standing, but it was located on Huffman Mill Pike on the northwest side of the stream). This is prime bluegrass real estate!
RJB married Ann Sophonisba Preston. Her father, General Francis Preston of Virginia, did rather well for himself — investing in Louisville, Kentucky, when the city was just forming. He picked up a piece of real estate along the Ohio River — later called Preston’s Enlargement — which yielded some good land rent at first, but as the city grew, it was right in the path of Main and Market streets. And when I say “in the path of” — I don’t mean twenty blocks away. “First Street” is two blocks away! In other words, he owned the land on which Louisville Slugger Field now sits. And he gave a sizeable chunk of that land to his daughter, Sophy, for her children’s inheritance. (Not surprisingly, the cross-streets are titled, Floyd [another son-in-law], Preston, Jackson, Hancock, Clay, Shelby, Campbell [his wife’s maiden name], and, a few blocks down, “Breckinridge”). In 1856, RJB parceled out the Preston lands to his wife’s eight surviving children. Each received a few lots, worth $10,000 each.
Both his father, John Breckinridge, and his father-in-law, Francis Preston, had much larger estates, but with all the legal battles involved in establishing a clear title to land, and since they both had at least nine children, the portion received by their grandchildren was far more modest than what they themselves owned. While there was some squabbling and hard feelings in both families, it was nothing like what some other families faced (RJB’s second wife, Virginia Hart Shelby, who was Sophy’s first cousin, had a much uglier family squabble over the Hart estate).
Francis Preston married Sarah Campbell (who was a niece of Patrick Henry). Together they had 15 children. I’ll just mention the ones who play a role in the story of RJB:
William Campbell Preston (1794-1860) — U.S. Senator from South Carolina (1833-1842) — which put him in Washington D.C. for much of the time that RJB was a pastor in Baltimore
Eliza Henry Preston (1796-1877) — married General Edward Carrington (his business went up in smoke in the fires that produced the panic of 1837 and he fell into depression — she opened a school for girls, and taught several of RJB’s daughters after the death of their mother, her sister).
Susanna Smith Preston (1800-1847) — married Governor James McDowell of Virginia (their daughter, Sally, married the infamous Governor Francis Thomas of Maryland — and later divorced him in a notorious scandal — RJB helped rescue her from the abusive Governor Thomas. She later married John Miller — son of Samuel Miller of Princeton Seminary. As noted below, John’s sister had previously married RJB’s brother; now he married RJB’s niece!).
Sarah Buchanan Preston (1802-1879) — married Governor John B. Floyd of Virginia
Ann Sophonisba Preston (1803-1844) — married RJB!!
John Smith Preston (1809-1881) — married Caroline Hampton (sister of Wade Hampton) of South Carolina and settled on a large plantation in Louisiana
Thomas Lewis Preston (1812-1903) — professor at the University of Virginia (executor of the family estate — which meant that most of the hard feelings in the Preston family oriented around him!)
Margaret Buchanan Preston (1818-1852) — married General Wade Hampton of South Carolina
The standard practice was for sons to inherit the “family estate” (in order to keep the family name associated with the family estate) while other property or cash would be given to daughters. But when wealthy patriarchs had large families, the children invariably wound up with a smaller piece of the pie. The 10 Preston children to reach adulthood produced 38 grandchildren. Likewise, 7 of John Breckinridge’s 9 children reached adulthood, producing over 40 grandchildren.
But while most of John Breckinridge’s children reached adulthood — only two outlived their mother! Mary Hopkins Cabell Breckinridge died in 1858 at the age of 89. The siblings of RJB were:
Laetitia Preston Breckinridge (1786-1831) — died at age 45 (her first husband is always referred to as “the unfortunate Mr. Grayson” — he ruined himself, his family, and his promising political career through his gambling debts; her second husband, General Peter B. Porter, was a business colleague of Martin Van Buren, and served as secretary of war under John Quincy Adams).
Joseph Cabell Breckinridge (1788-1823) — died at age 35 (he married Mary Clay Smith, daughter of Samuel Stanhope Smith, the president of Princeton College; he served as secretary of state for Kentucky, and was known as the only lawyer in Lexington to become a communicant member of a church).
[two children, Mary and Robert, died in infancy in the 1790s]
Mary Ann Breckinridge (1794-1816) — died at age 22 (she married a neighbor, David Castleman, and died shortly after giving birth to their daughter; David Castleman then served as guardian for RJB while he was in college).
John Breckinridge (1797-1841) — died at age 44 (he married Margaret Miller, daughter of Samuel Miller, professor at Princeton Theological Seminary; he went on to serve as pastor of 2nd Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, and then as a professor at PTS with his father-in-law; their son, Samuel Miller Breckinridge married a daughter of David Castleman’s second wife [though he had been interested in RJB’s daughter, Mary, for a time], and became a federal judge in St. Louis, and an influential ruling elder in the Presbyterian church. He died at the General Assembly of 1891, immediately after completing an impassioned speech arguing that the General Assembly should disapprove of the teaching of Charles Briggs and forbid his teaching in Union Theological Seminary. As stated in the Minutes, “The Hon. Samuel Miller Breckinridge, LL.D., took the floor, and after speaking twenty minutes in favor of the Report of the Committee, closed his speech with the words, ‘I have discharged my duty,’ and turning to leave the platform, fell dead.” Needless to say, the debate was suspended for the day, and the Assembly spent the rest of the day in a service of “prayer and solemn commemoration” [Minutes, p92]).
RJB (1800-1871) — died at age 71. But, as you can see, although he was the seventh child, by the time he was 41, he was the oldest of the Breckinridge children!
William Lewis Breckinridge (1803-1876) — died at age 73 (he married Frances Prevost — a granddaughter of Samuel Stanhope Smith — and therefore, a niece of Cabell’s wife, Mary — he served as pastor of 1st Presbyterian Church in Louisville for more than twenty years, and later as president of Centre College in Danville, Kentucky).
James Monroe Breckinridge (1806-1819) — died at age 13.
I had intended to say a little more about the sin and misery involved in the estate conflicts — but that will have to await another day.
by Michiana Covenant | Jun 4, 2013 | Breckinridge
March 12, 2012
R. J. Breckinridge once said that he felt as though there were two different RJB’s — “one that was all tenderness; and one that was all sternness.” Which RJB you experienced depended upon whether you offended his sense of honor and duty. If he discerned any subtle disrespect or innuendo against his character or honor…well, let’s just say he was from Kentucky in a generation which lost dozens of its leading young men to duels…
RJB never fought in a duel — but he was challenged to one once! There is a contemporary account from a female cousin of his who regaled her brother with a juicy “tell-all” letter. The story was published (in slightly different versions) during a pamphlet war 20 years later between RJB and his arch-nemesis (and formerly his patron) Robert Wickliffe. And then there is an account fully 35 years later from a neighbor, who recounted the story for an interviewer who was collecting stories about Kentucky.
RJB was around 22 years old when it happened. He was in Louisville attending the theatre when a young Dr. Flournoy arrived with a certain Miss Preston and her sister (who was their chaperone). Apparently RJB — or Bob, as he was called then, was considered quite a catch in those days and the chaperone Miss Preston took one of Bob’s arms. Not to be outdone, the other Miss Preston took Bob’s other arm. Bob, who had a quick wit, made some crack about how Dr. Flournoy’s ladies preferred him (the exact statement has not been preserved). Flournoy did not think this was funny at all, and the next morning he wrote a statement to Bob demanding an explanation. The details are contested at this point, but it appears that Bob did offer a brief written explanation (which according to his cousin was quite polite). Flournoy refused to accept this and demanded an apology. Bob refused and Flournoy challenged him to a duel. When Bob ignored this challenge (on the grounds that the incident was trivial and unworthy of such measures), Flournoy “posted” him a coward.
(In those days, one was “posted” a coward by the challenger printing a card which advertised the refusal, and posting it in a key place in the town — in this case outside the main tavern in Lexington.)
Bob claims that he then went out and obtained a pair of pistols — but before he had a chance to do anything about it, a note came from the local Masonic lodge (RJB, who kept every piece of correspondence, published it later to demonstrate the veracity of his claims) ordering both Flournoy and Breckinridge to appear before the committee. After examining the claims in the case, the Masons declared that there was no reason for a duel and ordered Flournoy to accept Bob’s explanation and remove his card.
There are two postscripts to this:
1) Miss Ann Sophonisba Preston married RJB the following year
2) Dr Flournoy ran for the state legislature with RJB five years later
Which points to another side of RJB: you either loved him or you hated him — and the fact that you hated him at one time did not mean that you would hate him forever (and vice versa!).
by Michiana Covenant | Jun 4, 2013 | Breckinridge
May 31, 2012
I’ve spent the last couple days in the 1820s, reading and writing about the financial crisis precipitated by the real estate bubble that burst in 1819.
Many people had engaged in land speculation based on the supposition that since so many people were moving west, land prices would skyrocket. If everyone had refrained from going deep into debt in their land speculation, the whole thing might have worked — but, human nature being what it is, greed won out, and so the bubble burst (as bubbles are wont to do).
The result was that prices dropped dramatically (a house in Lexington that had received a $15,000 offer around 1818, was sold at auction for $1,300 in 1820). And when you looked at the money supply in Kentucky, there was not nearly enough cash in circulation for people to cover their debts (and the Bank of Kentucky only had 13 locations in the state).
So the legislature took prompt action: in 1818 they chartered 46 banks throughout the state, and permitted each bank to print their own money – up to $26 million in paper money. Just imagine the chaos! If I have a $5 bill from the Lexington bank, and I am in Bowling Green, a Bowling Green merchant might say, “but my local bank doesn’t take Lexington money — so it’s not worth anything here!” Banks and merchants had to quickly develop exchange rates for 46 different currencies! And since most people couldn’t figure out what the paper money was worth, it quickly lost its value. Two years later the legislature canceled the charters of the “Forty Thieves” (as the 46 independent banks had been nicknamed!).
Meanwhile even more people were now in debt! So in 1820 the legislature passed “replevin” laws. If you have never heard of replevy, I don’t blame you. They were declared unconstitutional in the 1820s, so no one has tried them since!
But the replevin laws in Kentucky permitted debtors to postpone repaying debts for a year (or two in some instances). The point of replevy was to modify the terms of the contract (against the will of the creditor) in order to enable the debtor to repay his or her debt.
(Does this sound familiar? The whole mortgage crisis of the last few years has been dealing with the exact same question. Have you ever wondered why Congress hasn’t “done” anything about it? It’s because Congress cannot force the banks to renegotiate contracts. They can only provide incentives to encourage them to do so).
Not surprisingly, at least one creditor in Kentucky objected to what he considered legislative interference with a valid contract! The case came before the Kentucky Court of Appeals, which determined that the replevin laws were unconstitutional ( the Kentucky Constitution stated: “no ex post facto law, nor any law impairing contracts shall be made,” and the U.S. Constitution has similar language).
The “Relief Party” in Kentucky was furious that “unelected judges” would seek to thwart the “will of the people” expressed through the legislature. Since they had a majority of the legislature, but could not muster a two-thirds vote to impeach the judges, they finally found another way: in January of 1825, they simply voted to eliminate the Kentucky Court of Appeals, and create a new state Supreme Court! (The Kentucky Constitution was silent on the manner of how the court was to be established).
Needless to say, the “Old Court” declared that this act was unconstitutional, and so refused to accept the new law, even as the “New Court” seized its records and began its work!
What does this have to do with Robert Jefferson Breckinridge?
Well, in August of 1824, RJB ran on the “Anti-Relief” ticket (what would soon be called the “Old Court” party) to represent Lexington in the state legislature. Temperatures ran hot that summer — and I don’t know what the weather was like!
On the third day of the elections in Lexington, as the various candidates gathered at the court house, electioneering was in full swig (and no, that is not a typo — candidates regularly offered alcoholic beverages to their supporters). Shouting led to fisticuffs, and fisticuffs led to brickbats. The streets of Lexington offered excellent weapons, as crews of men with picks and axes tore up the brick streets to provide missiles for their allies. Then someone shouted that he was going to get his gun.
As RJB later recalled the incident, his own election was already certain, but other elections were in doubt. “Suddenly the storm burst; a thousand men rushed furiously on each other, and seizing such weapons as their frenzy supplied, dealt murderous blows upon all who stood before them. Fire-arms were called for and eagerly demanded; and the air was darkened by deadly missiles of every kind. Some of the most distinguished citizens – some of the ministers of God’s sanctuary, had tried in vain, at the hazard of their lives, to appease the tumult. At this dreadful moment, I saw the doors of the hall of Justice suddenly thrown open, and from them emerge two young men. They bore upon a staff a white flag, and rushing between the combatants, and into the thickest of the danger, they cried with loud voices – ‘Shame, shame upon ye — ye are all brethren!‘ The generous hearts of their countrymen melted under the intrepid appeal; and they who a moment before sought each other’s lives, literally rushed into each other’s arms. Sir, I will name one of those young men; it was the present General John M. McCalla of Lexington. The other is willing to be forgotten.” [Other accounts said it was RJB and Charlton Hunt.]
While the threat of violence continued (indeed there were rumors of outright civil war in Kentucky), by the summer of 1825 the Old Court party had regained the majority, and by 1826 the Old Court was restored to its function.
by Michiana Covenant | Jun 2, 2013 | Pastoral Notes, Sabbath, Westminster Shorter Catechism
Dear Congregation,
This Sunday we turn to the Fourth Commandment. Since the catechism spends six questions on the Fourth Commandment, we will spend two weeks working through the biblical teaching on the Sabbath.
This Sunday we will focus on two basic principles:
1) the Sabbath as a creation ordinance — the Sabbath is not merely part of the Mosaic law, but goes all the way back to creation;
2) the Sabbath as a redemption ordinance — and therefore it plays a somewhat different role in the Mosaic economy than it does today in Christ
I grew up in a Baptist church that didn’t pay much attention to the fourth commandment. When I was a senior in high school I worked Sunday afternoon at a local grocery store and never thought twice about it.
It was only during my sophomore year in college that I first encountered a church that took the sabbath principle seriously. At first, I thought it was nuts. Sunday afternoons had always been dominated by football and studying. Taking a whole day for rest and worship would put a serious dent in my academic performance. But I saw the weight of the biblical argument for it: if God blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it, then that means that the sabbath was made for man — not man for the sabbath — and so the sabbath was a good thing (in theory).
When I started observing the sabbath the fall of my junior year of college, I discovered that the practical benefits were tremendous. Knowing that this day was set aside for worship, rest, and fellowship with God’s people meant that I could focus on the delights of this day — rather than worry about what was going to happen on Monday! I suppose some people can become legalistic about sabbath-observance, but I have noticed that when you spend the Lord’s Day doing the things that you should be doing, there is very little time left for wishing that you could do the things that you shouldn’t be doing! (and over time, even the desire to do those things starts to go away as you rejoice that God has given you a day that is set apart from the other six).
Obviously there are lots of good questions about where you draw the line. And there is need for good casuistry in thinking through those questions (I realize that “casuistry” has a bad name these days, but it simply refers to dealing with “cases of conscience” in those grey areas where good Christians may disagree about how to handle a situation). But our catechism provides a good starting point for helping us think through what duty God requires of us in the fourth commandment.
Q. 57. Which is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall you labor, and do all your work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord your God: in it you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, your manservant, nor your maidservant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger that is within your gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Q. 58. What is required in the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment requires the keeping holy to God such set times as he has appointed in his word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy sabbath to himself.
Q. 59. Which day of the seven has God appointed to be the weekly sabbath?
A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian sabbath.
Why Truth Matters
While not dealing with the fourth commandment directly, Carl Trueman offers some helpful reminders of the dangers of “going with the flow” of our culture in his article, “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.”
With an increasing number of youth activities now taking place on Sundays, Trueman’s article may suggest that Christians may need to take a different path.
