History of Kentucky U.S. Attorneys
In 1789 Kentucky was not a state, but was instead a frontier portion of Virginia. Nevertheless, Congress decided to place one of the original thirteen district courts here. Although far from the busy coastal colonies, the Kentucky wilderness was growing rapidly with a variety of hardy settlers and adventurers, ex-soldiers, and land speculators. On September 29, 1789, George Washington appointed Colonel George Nicholas to serve as the first United States Attorney in Kentucky. Born in Virginia, Nicholas had been a Captain in the Virginia line during the Revolution. Before settling in Kentucky, he had been an influential member of the Virginia convention called to ratify the federal Constitution. Nicholas, "the brightest luminary" of the Convention, has been called the "Father of the Kentucky Constitution." In 1799, Nicholas became the first Professor of Law at Transylvania College, the first college west of the Allegheny Mountains.
Other prominent individuals followed. One of the earliest was James Brown. Brown commanded a company of Lexington riflemen in General Wilkinson's expedition against the Indians in 1791. He served as the first Secretary of State for Kentucky and later moved to New Orleans where he was elected to the state legislature. In 1823, Brown was named Minister to France.
John Breckenridge, who served the district for two years beginning in 1793, was born in Virginia and was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in his early twenties. In 1792 he emigrated to Kentucky where he soon became a leading citizen. An eloquent speaker, he was an intense anti-Federalist who authored the famous Kentucky Resolutions decrying the Alien and Sedition Acts. He was a key figure in writing the second Kentucky Constitution of 1799. In 1801, he was elected to the United States Senate and four years later was chosen by Thomas Jefferson as the Attorney General of the United States.
The Trial Of Aaron Burr
Joseph Hamilton Daviess was commissioned as United States Attorney in 1800. He was the first western lawyer to come before the United States Supreme Court in 1802. In 1806, Daviess prosecuted Aaron Burr, the former Vice President under Thomas Jefferson, for treason. Daviess accused Burr of plotting to seize Spanish territory and to wrest the western territory from the infant Union, but he did not obtain a conviction. The trial is one of the most renowned in Kentucky history and deserves special note.
After the Kentucky proceeding, Burr was indicted for treason and tried in Richmond before Chief Justice John Marshall in one of the most famous trials in American history. Again he was found not guilty. Colonel Daviess, who had shown such courage in the Burr trial, was killed on November 7 in the last battle of the Indian wars–the battle of Tippecanoe.
Other United States Attorneys
Robert Trimble was commissioned in 1813, and left office in 1816 to become United States District Judge. In 1826, John Quincy Adams elevated him to the United States Supreme Court. Chief Justice Marshall and Justice Joseph Storey pronounced him not only one of the finest lawyers, but on of the most profound men they had ever known. George M. Bibb succeeded Trimble as United States Attorney and eventually became a United States Senator. He was Secretary of the Treasury under President Tyler. John J. Crittenden, after his service as United States Attorney from 1827 to 1829, became the 15th Governor of Kentucky. Between 1841 and 1850, Crittenden served as the United States Attorney General under three presidents, and was elected to the United States Senate for five terms. John Marshall Harlan, who served one of the longest tenures of any United States Supreme Court Justice, also served as the United States Attorney for Kentucky for a period during the Civil War.
Western District Established
Kentucky was divided into the Eastern and Western districts on February 12, 1901. The Western District is headquartered in Louisville and consists of 53 counties. Its varied caseload of criminal and civil cases reflect the diversity of the operations and interests of the federal government, as well as the economic and social makeup of Western Kentucky. The region consists generally of the financial and commercial centers found in Louisville, the state's largest city, and other urban areas, as well as farming and rural areas. The district also contains two major military installations, Fort Knox and Fort Campbell.