Samuel McDowell (October 29, 1735 – September 25, 1817) was a soldier in three wars and political leader in Virginia and Kentucky.

He became a leader of the movement to separate Kentucky from Virginia, and presided over nine of the state's ten constitutional conventions.

[3][5] Later, he served in Lord Dunmore's War, participating in the Battle of Point Pleasant with future Kentucky governor Isaac Shelby.

[10] For his service in the war, he was awarded a large tract of land in Fayette County, Kentucky in 1775.

[5] Convention members selected him and Thomas Lewis to carry a letter to several delegates to the upcoming Second Continental Congress, thanking them for their actions.

[12] McDowell also was a founding trustee of Liberty Hall (formerly the Augusta Academy) which in 1776 became a college and relocated to Lexington.

[5] Following the war, McDowell presided over a 1782 convention that framed a constitution for the independent territory of Kentucky.

[17] On the night of December 27, 1786, a group consisting of Harry Innes, Thomas Todd, John Brown, Christopher Greenup, John Belli, and Robert Craddock assembled at McDowell's residence and formed a debating society known as the Danville Political Club.

[18] McDowell continued to host meetings of the Club at his residence from time-to-time, and participated in its activities for its entire four-year existence.