Morehead, Charles S.

Born: 1802-07-07 Nelson County, Kentucky

Died: 1868-12-21 Washington County, Mississippi

Morehead attended public schools and Transylvania University. He studied law and earned admittance to the bar and started a practice in Christian County, Kentucky. He worked as a planter on his plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana. Morehead served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1828-1829. He moved to Frankfort, Kentucky, and served as attorney general of Kentucky from 1830-1835. Morehead returned to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1838-1842 and 1844. He served as speaker in 1841, 1842, and 1844. Morehead won election, as a Whig, to the U.S. House of Representatives, and served from 1847-1851. He served alongside Abraham Lincoln during the Thirtieth Congress. After his tenure in Congress, he returned to his plantations and law practice. Morehead was elected again to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1853, while continuing to practice law. He was elected governor on the American Party ticket, and served from 1855-1859. He also served as a member of the Peace Convention of 1861, while attempting to prevent the impending war. Morehead was arrested by Federal authorities and charged with disloyalty in September, 1861 and sent to Fort Lafayette until January, 1862. He moved to Europe until the end of the Civil War.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774-1961 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1961), 1354; Gravestone, Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, KY.