Cabell Breckinridge
Their son John C. Breckinridge would follow his father's (and grandfather's) path into law and politics and rise to become Vice President of the United States.
After graduating from Princeton University, Breckinridge intended to follow his late father's example by becoming a lawyer in Lexington, Kentucky, but first enlisted for service in the War of 1812.
Soon after the war, he also began his political career by winning election to the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he led an unsuccessful attempt to oust Governor Gabriel Slaughter, who had ascended to the governorship upon George Madison's death.
[4] Historian Lowell H. Harrison noted that otherwise "little is known of his boyhood", although presumably he received a private education suitable for his class and read from his father's extensive library.
[5][6] A case of measles prevented him from attending the College of William & Mary, his father's alma mater, where his cousin, future Congressman James Breckinridge, was enrolled.
[7] After Congress adjourned in March, John Breckinridge retrieved his son from school, and they arrived back at Cabell's Dale, the family estate near Lexington, on April 18, 1804.
[8] Breckinridge did not travel eastward with his father in late 1804, but instead studied for about a year under Colonel Samuel Wilson before enrolling at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).
[15] John Breckinridge died intestate, complicating the settlement of his estate and creating financial difficulties for Cabell, who had been receiving support from his father.
[19] Breckinridge considered enrolling at the College of William and Mary for the fall term in 1807, believing he could complete his studies in nine months, but ultimately decided against it.
[26] After visiting friends and relatives in Princeton, Philadelphia, and New York City, the newly wed couple moved in with Breckinridge's widowed mother at Cabell's Dale.
[28] His legislative career began during the national "Era of Good Feelings", largely congruent with the presidency of James Monroe, when political disagreements were relatively few.
[31] Slaughter followed this up by appointing Martin D. Hardin, widely regarded as a Federalist despite his nominal identification with the Democratic-Republicans, to fill the Senate vacancy caused by the resignation of William T.
[32] Both appointments were unpopular in the state, and on January 27, 1817, Breckinridge formed a coalition of legislators in the House that sponsored a bill to elect "a governor to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of" Madison, essentially an attempt to oust Slaughter from the governorship.
[34] Of this appointment, historian William C. Davis wrote, "It was a prestigious, albeit not too influential, position and would require his full-time presence at the capital.
"[34] He remained in Lexington until the birth of his son in January 1821; in February, the family moved to the Governor's Mansion in Frankfort to live with Adair.
[34] Although his mother opposed the move to Frankfort, he intended for it to be permanent; an acquaintance wrote that "his plans were extensive and his hopes high" for his family's life in the state capital.
[23] His wife, who also fell ill and was pregnant with the couple's sixth child, was so depressed because of his death and her subsequent financial straits that she suffered a miscarriage.
