Toulmin, Harry, 1766-1823

Toulmin and Vaughan had known each other in Philadelphia, and were friendly though not particularly close.

Harry or Henry Toulmin was born in Somersetshire, England, the son of Reverend Joshua Toulmin. Harry also became a clergyman and affiliated with the Unitarians. Harry Toulmin immigrated to Virginia in 1791. He came to Kentucky in 1792 with letters of introduction from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Harry Toulmin taught school and became an early president of Transylvania University. He served as secretary of state during the administrations of Governor James Garrard from 1796 to 1804. Following his terms as secretary of state, Toulmin received an appointment to a federal judgeship in Mississippi Territory. He remained on the federal bench until 1819. Toulmin was known as the author or compiler of a number of works, including a pamphlet, A DESCRIPTION OF KENTUCKY, published in England in 1792. He also wrote a number of legal works, such as the PUBLIC ACTS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (1802), the edited Mississippi statutes of 1807, and a 1823 digest of the laws of Alabama. Toulmin served as a member of Alabama's constitutional and statehood convention in 1819. He died in Alabama in 1823.