Danville Political Club

The Danville Political Club was a debating society based in Danville, Kentucky from 1786 to 1790.

There are very few extant contemporary references to the Political Club. A U.S. army paymaster by the name of Major Beatty wrote in his journal that, while staying in Danville, he and his companions were "very much disturbed by a Political Club which met in the next house where we slept and kept us awake till 12 or 1 o'clock." Also, two letters mentioning the Club were written from Peter Tardeveau, a member of the Club, to two other members. Beyond this, no references to the Club have been found. Whether the Club was meant to be kept secret or the lack of references to it was purely accidental is not known.

The existence of the Club may never have been known if not for the discovery made by Thomas Speed II in 1878. Speed, the grandson of the Club secretary Thomas Speed, discovered a bundle of papers labeled "Political Club papers" while cleaning out his grandfather's desk. The elder Thomas Speed had kept meticulous notes of the Club's activities throughout its existence, though some were scribbled on bits of newspapers and old letters. Speed's grandson published the documents through The Filson Historical Society in 1894.

According to the Club's first constitution, new members of the Club had to be elected unanimously. Later, the requirement was lowered to a two-thirds majority.

Thirty men belonged to the Club at one time or another, though no more than fifteen were ever present at any given meeting. A list of these members follows, with founding members listed in italics:

So prominent were these men in the history of Kentucky that Thomas Speed II opined "Full and complete biographies of some of the members would present a history of Kentucky from the beginning of its settlement past the first quarter of the ensuing century." Eleven different Club members participated in at least one of the ten constitutional conventions that helped separate Kentucky from Virginia. Samuel McDowell was president and Todd was secretary of the 1792 convention that produced the first Kentucky Constitution.

The Kentucky Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge was closely associated with the Danville Political Club. Fifteen men were members of both organizations, and some believe the Society was an adjunct of the Danville Political Club. Both organizations were active at about the same time and frequently debated the same or similar subjects.

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