Metcalfe, Thomas

Born: 1780-03-20 Fauquier County, Virginia

Died: 1855-08-18 Nicholas County, Kentucky

Born in Fauquier County, Virginia, Metcalfe moved to Fayette County, Kentucky with his parents. He attended common school and learned the mason's trade. He served in the War of 1812 as a captain. He married Nancy Mason in 1806, with whom he had four children. Metcalfe served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1812-1816. He won election to the U.S. House of Representatives and the four following Congresses and served from 1819 until he resigned in 1828. Metcalfe served as Governor of Kentucky from 1828-1832. He won election to the Kentucky Senate, and served from 1834-1838. He served as president of the board of internal improvements in 1840. Metcalfe earned appointment, as a Whig, to the U.S. Senate to fill a vacancy. He served from June 1848 to March 1849, alongside Abraham Lincoln. He worked in agricultural pursuits.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1961), 1325; Gravestone, Forest Retreat Cemetery, Carlisle, KY; Matthew G. Schoenbachler, "Metcalfe, Thomas," American National Biography, ed. by John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) 15:389-90.