Kentucky. Governor (1844-1848 : Owsley)

William Owsley was Kentucky's sixteenth governor, and served from 1844 to 1848 as a member of the Whig party.

Owsley was born in 1782 in Virginia. The following year his family moved to Lincoln County, Kentucky. He received a common school education and then worked as a teacher, surveyor, and deputy sheriff before studying law.

After completing his legal studies, Owsley started a practice in Garrard County, Kentucky. In 1809, he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives. He served in 1810 as a judge on the Court of Appeals, but returned to the state legislature in 1811 when the number of justices was reduced. Two years later he was reappointed to the Court of Appeals and stayed until 1828, despite numerous controversies that resulted when the court decided that the forms of debtor relief the state wanted to implement in response to the Panic of 1819 were unconstitutional.

In 1828, Owsley resumed his law practice and returned to the legislature in 1831. From 1834 to 1836, he served as Kentucky's secretary of state and then once again returned to his law practice until he was called on to run for governor in 1844. He was elected by a small majority over his Democratic opponent, General William O. Butler, following a campaign largely overshadowed by the presidential election between Henry Clay and James K. Polk.

Owsley was unpopular and very little was accomplished during his term. Though he urged the funding of public education, no money was forthcoming. He failed to adequately rebuild the state penitentiary after it was severely damaged by fire, and was accused of nepotism. He did decrease the state debt for the first time since the programs of internal improvement were implemented. On the national level, Owsley was involved with raising a large number of volunteers to serve in the Mexican War, and he became personally involved in the antislavery issue by pardoning a woman convicted of helping slaves escape.

Following his term, Owsley returned to private life. He died December 9, 1862. He is buried in Danville, Kentucky.

From the description of Subunit history. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 145415831