After the financial panic of 1819, the Kentucky legislature repealed the independent bank law in February of 1820, leaving thirteen branches of the Bank of Kentucky and two branches of the Second Bank of the United States. To relieve shortage of money, the legislature chartered the Bank of the Commonwealth in late 1820.
John Jordan Crittenden, governor of Kentucky from 1848-1850, was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1786. He graduated from William and Mary College in Virginia and studied law with Judge George M. Bibb. in 1809, Crittenden was appointed attorney for the Illinois Territory and aide de camp to Gov. Ninian Edwards. During the War of 1812, he served as aide to Gov. Samuel Hopkins and then to Gov. Isaac Shelby. In 1811, he was elected to the state House of Representatives for the first of six consecutive terms. He was Speaker in 1815, 1816, and 1817. From 1817-1819, Crittenden served as U.S. Senator for Kentucky. He was elected as president of the Bank of the Commonwealth in 1820. In 1835, he again became a U.S. Senator but resigned in 1841 to become William Henry Harrison's attorney general. He was then elected governor of Kentucky in 1848, only to resign in 1850 to become Millard Fillmore's attorney general. He was elected for a fourth time as U.S. Senator in 1854. During this term, he introduced the Crittenden Compromise in an attempt to save the Union. Crittenden died in 1863 and was buried in the Frankfort Cemetery.
From the description of James Anderson letter book, 1820-1823. (Kentucky Historical Society). WorldCat record id: 40113855
