07/26/2026
In Kentucky, Crittenden County and the town of Crittenden are named for him.
July 26, 1863 - John Jordon Crittenden, one of Kentucky’s most influential political figures, died. Graduating from the College of William & Mary in 1807, Crittenden became territorial attorney general in Illinois but soon made his way back to Kentucky where he was elected to the state legislature. Between 1817 and 1861, he served in multiple positions including the U.S. Senate, U.S. Attorney General, Kentucky Secretary of State and Governor of Kentucky.
Crittenden was a fervent supporter of Henry Clay and an unrelenting opponent of Andrew Jackson. In the last months of John Quincy Adams’ administration, the president nominated Crittenden to the U.S. Supreme Court; however, Jackson supporters in the U.S. Senate postponed confirmation until Jackson was inaugurated and nominated his own selection.
While governor of Kentucky, Crittenden supported the work of Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, the “father of public schools in Kentucky,” and to support public schools urged the General Assembly to pass a common school law that established guidelines for administering the state’s schools. Legislators also elected to dedicate tolls collected on the Barren, Green, and Kentucky Rivers to education and enacted a 2-percent property tax to fund Kentucky schools.
Realizing the turbulence Lincoln’s 1860 election had created, Crittenden introduced a series of resolutions attempting to create a compromise on slavery; his efforts failed as secession fever grew. He then shifted his focus to keeping Kentucky from seceding from the union of states. While he supported the Union, he was a vocal critic of Abraham Lincoln.
Like thousands of American families, Crittenden’s was divided over the Civil War; his son George B. Crittenden was a general in the Confederate Army while another son, Thomas Leonidas Crittenden was a general in the Union Army. The elder Crittenden sought re-election to the House of Representatives in 1863 but died before the election was held.
John J. Crittenden's 1857 portrait by George Peter Alexander Healy hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.
