Robert Breckinridge McAfee (February 18, 1784 – March 12, 1849) was an American diplomat, historian and politician who was the seventh Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky serving from 1824 to 1828.

Early life

McAfee was born on February 18, 1784, in

Mercer County, Kentucky Mercer County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,772. Its county seat is Harrodsburg. The county was formed from Lincoln County, Virginia in 1785 and i ...

. He was the son of Robert McAfee (1745–1795) and Anne (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

McCoun) McAfee (1746–1794), who were distant cousins. Among his siblings was Samuel McAfee, Mary Ann (née McAfee) Adams, Sarah (née McAfee) Curran, and Anne (née McAfee) Cardwell. His brother Samuel and sister Anne both married Cardwell siblings. McAfee spent much of his leisure time in childhood hunting squirrels. McAfee was orphaned in 1795 after his father, a pioneer of Kentucky, was killed in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. His guardian his father's friend and his namesake, John Breckinridge, who later became the

Attorney General of the United States The United States attorney general is the head of the United States Department of Justice and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the ...

under President

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

Career

McAfee attended

Transylvania University Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780 and is the oldest university in Kentucky. It offers 46 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is Higher educ ...

, graduating in 1797, and after studying law with Breckinridge, was

admitted to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1801 and opened a practice in

Franklin County, Kentucky Franklin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,541, making it the second-least populous capital county in the United States after Hughes County, South Dakota. Its county seat ...

. In 1800, he was elected to represent Mercer County in the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

and served there until he volunteered during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

Military service

During the War of 1812, McAfee served successively as sergeant, ensign and second lieutenant in the Army of the Northwest in its border campaign, then as

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land army, armies, a quartermaster is an officer who supervises military logistics, logistics and requisitions, manages stores or barracks, and distri ...

and lastly as captain of

Richard Mentor Johnson Richard Mentor Johnson (October 17, 1780 – November 19, 1850) was an American lawyer, military officer and politician who served as the ninth vice president of the United States from 1837 to 1841 under President Martin Van Buren. He is ...

's regiment in the expeditions against the Native Americans. He was made General in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and commanded a troop raised by order of Gen.

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

, that took part in the

Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815, between the British Army under Major General Sir Edward Pakenham and the United States Army under Brevet Major General Andrew Jackson, roughly 5 miles (8 km) southeast of the Frenc ...

as well as the

Battle of the Thames The Battle of the Thames , also known as the Battle of Moraviantown, was an American victory in the War of 1812 against Tecumseh's Confederacy and their United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British allies. It took place on October 5, 1813, ...

. In 1816, his book, ''History of the War of 1812'' was published.

Political career

Following his military service, he lived in

Harrodsburg, Kentucky Harrodsburg is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Mercer County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 9,064 at the 2020 census. Although Harrodsburg was formally established by the Virginia House of Burgesses after Boo ...

, and was reelected to the House in 1819. In 1821, he was elected a member of the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout Kentucky, the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky senators. T ...

and served in the Senate until resigning his seat in 1824 to run, successfully, for

Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky The lieutenant governor of Kentucky was created under the state's second constitution, which was ratified in 1799. The inaugural officeholder was Alexander Scott Bullitt, who took office in 1800 following his election to serve under James Garra ...

. McAfee was elected as a

Democratic-Republican The Democratic-Republican Party (also referred to by historians as the Republican Party or the Jeffersonian Republican Party), was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. It championed l ...

and served from August 24, 1824, to August 26, 1828, under Governor

Joseph Desha Joseph Desha (December 9, 1768 – October 11, 1842) was an American politician who was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky from 1807 to 1819 and the ninth governor of Kentucky from 1824 to 1828. First known as an Indian fighter from Middl ...

. He cast a tie-breaking vote that prevented the abolition of the "New Court" during the

Old Court-New Court controversy Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

in 1825. After serving as Lt. Governor, he returned to the legislature in 1828 and remained active in Democratic politics, voting for the nomination of Andrew Jackson as president and

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

as vice president at the

1832 Democratic National Convention The 1832 Democratic National Convention was held from May 21 to May 23, 1832, in Baltimore, Maryland. In the first presidential nominating convention ever held by the Democratic Party, incumbent President Andrew Jackson was nominated for a seco ...

in Baltimore. On February 9, 1833, President

named him

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

New Granada New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia: *New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717 *Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1822 *United Provinces of ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

, which he served after presenting his credentials at

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

on July 1, 1833, until he presented his recall on June 20, 1837. After McAfee returned to Kentucky, he was again reelected twice more to the Kentucky Senate in 1837 and 1841. In 1842, he was appointed to the Board of Visitors (board of trustees) of the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

and was elected its president in 1842.

Later career

McAfee retired from politics in 1845, he returned to his farm and later the same year, he published his autobiography, ''The Life and Times of Robert B. McAfee and His Family Connections''.

Personal life

On October 14, 1807, McAfee was married to Mary "Polly" Cardwell (1793–1850). Polly was the daughter of James Cardwell and Sarah Salley (née Crockett) Cardwell. Together, they were the parents of: * Nancy Cardwell McAfee (d. 1857), who married William Arthur Hooe (1818–1869) in 1841. * Louisiana J. McAfee (1809–1853), who married Robert M. Alexander (1798–1869). * James Cardwell McAfee (1817–1877), who married Sarah Ann Edelen (1826–1899). * Evelyn Breckenridge McAfee (1832–1914), who married William Bruce Edelen (1827–1897). McAfee died on March 12, 1849, at his home at Salt River, Kentucky. He was buried in New Providence Churchyard in

References

External links

*
Robert B. McAfee
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 Politics of the United States, American political figures and List of United States political families, political families, along with other informa ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McAfee, Robert B. 1784 births 1849 deaths United States Army personnel of the War of 1812 Lieutenant governors of Kentucky Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Kentucky state senators People from Harrodsburg, Kentucky Ambassadors of the United States to Ecuador Ambassadors of the United States to Colombia 19th-century American diplomats 19th-century members of the Kentucky General Assembly