John Floyd

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Floyd

John Floyd (born April 24, 1783 near present-day Louisville , Jefferson County , Kentucky , †  August 16, 1837 in Sweet Springs , Virginia ) was an American politician and governor of the state of Virginia from 1830 to 1834 . He also represented his state in the US House of Representatives between 1817 and 1829 .

Early years

John Floyd's father died in an Indian attack twelve days before he was born. John attended the schools of his home and then the Dickinson College in Carlisle ( Pennsylvania ). He then studied medicine at the University of Pennsylvania until 1806 . He then moved to Virginia, where he settled first in Lexington and then in Christiansburg in Montgomery County . In this city Floyd worked as a doctor and from 1807 as a justice of the peace. He also became a member of the Virginia Militia. During the British-American War of 1812 he rose as a military doctor to brigadier general .

Political rise

John Floyd became a member of the Democratic Republican Party . From 1814 to 1815 he was a member of the Virginia House of Representatives . Between March 4, 1817 and March 3, 1829 he represented his state as a member of the US Congress . After the dissolution of his party in the mid-1820s, he joined the Democratic Party founded by Andrew Jackson . In Congress he campaigned unsuccessfully for the establishment of the Oregon Territory . This territory did not come into existence until 1848. In 1828 he supported Andrew Jackson's successful presidential campaign. In return he hoped for a position in the cabinet. Therefore, he did not run for another term in Congress. Jackson refused him such a position. Some of his friends were also not considered by Jackson in the appointment. For this reason, but also because of political differences of opinion, he fell out with the president and his party.

Governor of Virginia

In 1830, Floyd was elected governor of that state by the Virginia legislature. He was the first governor to serve under the terms of the new 1830 constitution. After re-election, John Floyd was able to hold his new office between March 4, 1830 and March 31, 1834. During this time, a bill to abolish slavery in Virginia was rejected in its House of Representatives. At that time, the first railway line in this state was opened in Petersburg . In the presidential election of 1832, his break with Jackson was finally completed: He supported Henry Clay against the incumbent Jackson. In the elections he himself received the eleven votes of the state of South Carolina as a candidate for the National Republicans . The re-election of Jackson to the office of President could not prevent Floyd. Due to a provision of the new state constitution, Floyd was no longer allowed to run for the next gubernatorial election.

Another résumé

After his tenure was over, John Floyd retired to his estate near Sweet Springs in what is now West Virginia. He died of a stroke in August 1837. He was married to Letitia Preston, with whom he had nine children. His wife was the sister of James Patton Preston , who had been governor of Virginia between 1816 and 1819. One of the nine children was John Buchanan Floyd , who was also to become Governor of Virginia and US Secretary of War and later General of the Confederate States from 1849 to 1852 .

According to him, Floyd County , Georgia, Floyd County , Virginia, Floyd County in Kentucky and Floyd County named Indiana.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Floyd, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH April 24, 1783
PLACE OF BIRTH Jefferson County , Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH August 16, 1837
Place of death Sweet Springs , Virginia