James Speed

Birth Date

1812-03-11

Death Date

1887-06-25

Gender

Race Description

White

Entity Type

Person

Louisville, Kentucky, attorney, politician, teacher, soldier, attorney general of the United States. Louisville, Kentucky, native. Married to Jane L. Cochran Speed on April 23, 1840. Father of John Speed, Henry Pirtle Speed, Charles Speed, Breckinridge Speed, James Speed, Jr., Joshua Fry Speed, Jr., and Edward Shippen Speed. Graduated from St. Joseph's College in Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, in 1828. Studied law under Worden Pope in Louisville. Graduated from law school at Transylvania University in Lexington in 1833. Member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from Louisville from 1847 to 1848. Member of the Whig Party. City council and board of aldermen member in the City of Louisville. Lecturer in the University of Louisville law department from 1856 to 1858. Appointed the mustering officer for Kentucky Volunteers (U.S.A.) in 1861 and commanded the local home guard. Member of the Senate of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from Jefferson County from 1861 to 1863. Attorney general of the United States of America from December 1864 to July 16, 1866.

James J. Holmberg, "James Speed" in The Encyclopedia of Louisville, ed. John E. Kleber (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 2001), 842.

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