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John Breckinridge


Other Name:
John Breckinridge, Jr. John Breckenridge
Gender:
Male
Born:
July 4, 1797
Died:
August 4, 1841
Home Town:
Lexington, KY
Later Residences:
New Brunswick, NJ
Baltimore, MD
Lexington, KY
New Orleans, LA
Atlanta, GA
Marriage(s):
Mary Ann Babcock Breckinridge (September 2, 1840)
Margaret Miller Breckinridge (January 18, 1823)
Biographical Notes:
John Breckinridge was the great-grandson of Alexander Breckinridge who emigrated from Northern Ireland to Virginia around the year 1728. His grandfather, Robert Breckinridge was a Captain in the French and Indian War. His father, also John Breckinridge, was an early settler of and prominent politician from Kentucky who had a county in the state named after him, and resided at their family home, "Cabell's Dale." His father died when he was only nine years old and his older brother became his guardian.

In 1818 Breckenridge graduated from Princeton College after only three years of study. He then went on to study law at the Litchfield Law School. After completing his law studies however, Breckinridge became a minister despite considerable opposition from his family. Even before his studies ...
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Education
Years at LLS:
1821
Other Education:
Graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1818, attended Princeton Theological Seminary from 1819-1821, and received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Union College in 1835.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Religious Calling; Political Office; Lawyer
Political Party:
Republican
Federal Posts:
Chaplain of the U.S. House of Representatives 1822-1823

help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School (Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849).
Secondary Sources:
Brown, Alexander. The Cabells and Their Kin. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1895.

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