Robert Breckinridge McAfee papers, 1824-1841.

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Robert Breckinridge McAfee papers, 1824-1841.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/42369498

This collection contains two items relating to Robert Breckinridge McAfee, a prominent Kentuckian who served as lieutenant governor from 1824 to 1828. Included are minutes of a meeting McAfee chaired in Frankfort in 1824 where John Cleves Symmes gave a lecture on his theory of the earth "and the practicability of approaching the polar Regions." Those in attendance at the meeting approved a resolution recommending the general government consider fitting out an expedition to explore the northwest coast, the northern Pacific Ocean to the continent of Asia, and the "unknown regions" beyond the Arctic Circle. Symmes had a theory that the world was hollow and contained a number of concentric spheres. He believed openings at the poles would allow discovery of the inner spheres. The other item is an 1841 letter written by McAfee to Orlando Brown and A.G. Hodges, editors of THE COMMONWEALTH, concerning remarks made by Brown about the identity of the first child born to settlers in Kentucky in the 1770s. McAfee asserted that the first child was Harrod Wilson while Brown believed the first child born was a man of African descent identified only as "Old Frederick."

2 items.

Kentucky Historical Society, Martin F. Schmidt Research Library

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7448949

Kentucky Historical Society, Martin F. Schmidt Research Library

Related Entities

There are 5 Entities related to this resource.

McAfee, Robert B. (Robert Breckinridge), 1784-1849

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6348ncz (person)

McAfee was born on Salt River in Mercer County, Kentucky. McAfee's father, also named Robert, was an early settler in that area. The younger McAfee studied at Transylvania Seminary in the 1790s and read law under John Breckinridge. He began his legal practice in his native county and represented the area in the state legislature. McAfee entered the army in the War of 1812 and rose to the rank of captain. In 1807 he married Mary Cardwell. In the 1820s, McAfee entered the state senate before servi...

Brown, Orlando, 1987-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w61z5r2p (person)

Orlando Brown was born September 26, 1801, in Frankfort, Kentucky, to John and Margaretta Brown. He is a descendent of John Preston of Londonderry (now Northern Ireland) through his father's mother, Margaret Preston. He received an A.B. from Princeton and a law degree from Transylvania University. Brown practiced law in Alabama, but returned to Kentucky and became joint proprietor and editor of the FRANKFORT COMMONWEALTH. He was the first corresponding secretary of the Kentucky Historical Societ...

Hodges, Albert G.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xm1rpv (person)

Kentucky. General Assembly

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64b6w67 (corporateBody)

Symmes, John Cleves, 1780-1829

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p27hh9 (person)

John Cleves Symmes, a native of New Jersey, was the nephew of the noted jurist of the same name. He entered the army in 1802 and was commissioned a captain in the War of 1812. He left military service in 1816 to reside in St. Louis and embark on a brief career of supplying the army and trading with the Fox Indians. Symmes had earlier developed a theory of the earth's formation, following his studies of mathematics and the natural sciences. He began to promulgate his theory of "Concentric Spheres...