Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Jordan Crittenden (1778-1863) span the years 1782-1913, with the bulk dating from 1841 to 1888. The collection consists chiefly of correspondence relating to Crittenden's career as United States attorney general and senator and as governor of Kentucky, but includes legal papers, speeches, and state papers. Among the topics covered are national politics, particularly tariff and banking matters; Texas, Mexico, and slavery; the southern Whigs; Crittenden‘s relations with Henry Clay; reaction to Crittenden’s efforts to resolve the secession crisis prior to the Civil War; and Kentucky politics and law.
Correspondents include George Edmund Badger, Francis Preston Blair, Albert T. Burnley, Orlando Brown, Henry Clay, John M. Clayton, Charles Augustus Davis, Reverdy Johnson, Richard M. Johnson, Amos Adams Lawrence, Robert Perkins Letcher, Charles Slaughter Morehead, Samuel S. Nicholas, John S. Pendleton, Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, Robert Augustus Toombs, and Robert C. Winthrop.