1808 Kentucky gubernatorial election
August 1, 1808
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  Scott: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Allen: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% >90% Clay: 50–60% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in Kentucky |
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The 1808 Kentucky gubernatorial election was held on August 1, 1808, to elect the governor of Kentucky. Charles Scott, a veteran of the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War, defeated attorneys John Allen and Green Clay. All three principal candidates were associated with the Democratic-Republican Party, which dominated Kentucky politics; consequently, the campaign turned principally on the candidates' personal reputations, military records, regional support, and political alliances rather than a contest between organized parties.[1]
Scott received approximately 61.2 percent of the recorded vote and carried 36 of Kentucky's 50 counties. Allen finished second with approximately 23.4 percent, while Clay received approximately 15.3 percent. Surviving newspaper returns disagree by three votes over the totals credited to Scott and Clay, but the discrepancy does not affect the result.[a] Scott succeeded term-limited governor Christopher Greenup and began his four-year term on September 1, 1808.[2]
Background
[edit]Kentucky's first constitution provided for the governor to be selected by an electoral college. The second state constitution, adopted in 1799, replaced that system with direct popular election of the governor and lieutenant governor to four-year terms. It also made a governor ineligible to hold the office again for seven years after completing a term.[3] The 1808 contest was therefore Kentucky's third gubernatorial election decided directly by the voters. Greenup, who had been elected without opposition in 1804, could not immediately succeed himself.
Kentucky was overwhelmingly Jeffersonian Republican during the First Party System, and the declining Federalist Party did not field a competitive gubernatorial candidate. Scott, Allen, and Clay were all identified with Republican politics. In practice, however, early Kentucky elections were only loosely organized by party. Candidates relied on personal correspondence, newspaper advocacy, county networks, public meetings, military associations, and the efforts of influential friends.[4]
Several other men were discussed as possible candidates before the field settled. State senator Thomas Posey and attorney Thomas Todd had announced candidacies by 1806. Posey's political prospects were damaged by a dispute over whether he could continue presiding over the Kentucky Senate after losing his Senate seat, as well as accusations that he was sympathetic to the Federalists. Todd withdrew after Greenup appointed him to the Kentucky Court of Appeals in 1807. Supporters also attempted to persuade former governor Isaac Shelby to run, but Shelby declined.[5]
Candidates
[edit]Charles Scott
[edit]Scott was among Kentucky's best-known military figures. He had served with the Virginia forces during the French and Indian War, risen to brigadier general in the Continental Army during the Revolution, and commanded Kentucky militiamen during the Northwest Indian War. He later served briefly in the Virginia House of Delegates and was elected a presidential elector in 1800, casting his ballot for Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.[6] By the 1808 campaign, public commemorations of his military service had made him a prominent representative of Kentucky's Revolutionary War veterans. He formally entered the gubernatorial race on February 11, 1808. His campaign was directed by his step-son-in-law, Lexington attorney and Transylvania University professor Jesse Bledsoe.[7]
John Allen
[edit]Allen was a prominent Lexington lawyer, state legislator, and militia officer. He and Henry Clay had represented former vice president Aaron Burr when Burr was prosecuted in Kentucky in connection with the Burr conspiracy. During the gubernatorial campaign, anonymous newspaper writers alleged that Allen had known of Burr's plans to organize a military expedition in the Southwest. Henry Clay publicly defended him, and Scott generally spoke of Allen respectfully rather than endorsing the accusations. Nevertheless, the association with Burr damaged Allen at a time when the failed conspiracy remained politically sensitive in Kentucky.[8]
Green Clay
[edit]Clay was a planter, surveyor, attorney, legislator, and Revolutionary War veteran. In the General Assembly he had supported measures favorable to debtors and settlers claiming land south of the Green River. These policies gave him a strong regional following among settlers, squatters, and land speculators in southern and western Kentucky. His supporters emphasized his service in George Rogers Clark's 1782 expedition against Shawnee settlements as an answer to Scott's military reputation.[9]
Campaign
[edit]The election lacked a sharp ideological division because the three leading candidates belonged to the same broad Republican political tradition. Scott's advantages were his statewide military reputation, his seniority among Kentucky's Revolutionary veterans, and Bledsoe's political organization. Allen and Clay were both respected public figures, but their profession worked against them amid contemporary suspicion of lawyers and land litigation.[10]
Allen's opponents concentrated on his former legal representation of Burr. Clay's campaign rested more heavily on his legislative record and his strength in the Green River country. Scott's supporters presented him as a disinterested soldier rather than a professional politician. Independence Day observances held throughout Kentucky less than a month before the election provided additional occasions to celebrate Revolutionary veterans and reinforced Scott's strongest campaign theme.[11]
Results
[edit]The election took place on August 1, the first Monday of the month. Scott won a majority of the statewide vote and carried 36 counties. Allen carried Breckinridge, Franklin, Green, Harrison, Livingston, Nelson, Ohio, and Pendleton counties. Clay carried Clay, Floyd, Knox, Madison, Warren, and Wayne counties. Scott's largest raw vote came from Fayette County, Allen's from Nelson County, and Clay's from his home county of Madison. Fourteen votes cast in Fayette and Jessamine counties were credited to a fourth candidate recorded only as Jewel.Lampi, Philip. "Kentucky 1808 Governor". A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825. American Antiquarian Society and Tufts Archival Research Center. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
The figures below use the county totals compiled by A New Nation Votes. Percentages are calculated from 36,010 recorded votes. Contemporary statewide summaries assigned three fewer votes to Scott and three more to Clay.[b]
| Candidate | Party | Votes | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Scott | Democratic-Republican | 22,053 | 61.24% |
| John Allen | Democratic-Republican | 8,430 | 23.41% |
| Green Clay | Democratic-Republican | 5,513 | 15.31% |
| Jewel | Unknown | 14 | 0.04% |
| Total | 36,010 | 100.00% | |
Aftermath
[edit]Scott's term began on September 1, 1808, with Gabriel Slaughter serving as lieutenant governor.[2] Scott appointed his campaign manager Jesse Bledsoe as secretary of state. After Scott suffered a disabling fall during his first winter in office, he relied increasingly on Bledsoe to assist with executive business.[12] Scott's administration advocated low taxes, economic development, debtor relief, and reform of the militia, although the General Assembly rejected many of his proposals. Its later years were dominated by deteriorating relations with Britain and preparations for the conflict that became the War of 1812.[13]
Scott was constitutionally barred from seeking an immediate second term. In the 1812 election, former governor Isaac Shelby defeated Slaughter and succeeded Scott. Scott retired to his estate in Clark County and died in 1813.[14]
Notes
[edit]- ↑ The county returns compiled by A New Nation Votes total 22,053 votes for Scott and 5,513 for Clay. The Palladium of Frankfort reported 22,050 for Scott and 5,516 for Clay. Both sets of figures produce the same combined total. Fourteen additional votes were recorded for a candidate identified only as "Jewel".Lampi, Philip. "Kentucky 1808 Governor". A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825. American Antiquarian Society and Tufts Archival Research Center. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
- ↑ The earlier figures—Scott 22,050, Allen 8,430, and Clay 5,516—exclude the 14 votes credited to Jewel and therefore produce a reported total of 35,996.
References
[edit]- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 158–166.
- 1 2 "Gov. Charles Scott". National Governors Association. December 8, 2015. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
- ↑ Harrison 1959, pp. 209–233.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 152–166.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 158–162.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 148–153.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 161–163.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 163–165.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 164–165.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 163–166.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 164–166.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 167–169.
- ↑ Ward 2004, pp. 16–19.
- ↑ Ward 1988, pp. 193–195.
Sources
[edit]- Harrison, Lowell H. (July 1959). "John Breckinridge and the Kentucky Constitution of 1799". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 57 (3): 209–233. JSTOR 23374530.
- Ward, Harry M. (1988). Charles Scott and the "Spirit of '76". Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. ISBN 978-0-8139-1152-6.
- Ward, Harry M. (2004). "Charles Scott: 1808–1812". In Klotter, James C. (ed.). Kentucky's Governors. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 16–19. ISBN 978-0-8131-2326-4. JSTOR j.ctt130hr39.8.
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