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John Rowan (politician)

John Rowan
Portrait of John Rowan
United States Senator
from Kentucky
In office
March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1831
Preceded by Isham Talbot
Succeeded by Henry Clay
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Kentucky's 3rd district
In office
March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1809
Preceded by Matthew Walton
Succeeded by Henry Crist
3rd Secretary of State of Kentucky
In office
September 7, 1804 – March 1, 1807
Preceded by Harry Toulmin
Succeeded by Alfred William Grayson
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
In office
1813–1817
1822
1824
Personal details
Born (1773-07-12)July 12, 1773
York, Pennsylvania
Died July 13, 1843(1843-07-13) (aged 70)
Louisville, Kentucky
Political party Democratic-Republican
Spouse(s) Anne Lytle
Relatives Uncle of Robert Todd Lytle
Residence Federal Hill
Signature Signature of John Rowan

John Rowan (July 12, 1773 – July 13, 1843) was a 19th-century politician and jurist from the U.S. state of Kentucky. Rowan's family moved from Pennsylvania to the Kentucky frontier when he was young. From there, they moved to Bardstown, Kentucky, where Rowan studied law with former Kentucky Attorney General George Nicholas. He was a representative to the state constitutional convention of 1799, but his promising political career was almost derailed when he killed a man in a duel stemming from a drunken dispute during a game of cards. Although public sentiment was against him, a judge found insufficient evidence against him to convict him of murder. In 1804, Governor Christopher Greenup appointed Rowan Secretary of State, and he went on to serve in the Kentucky House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1819, Rowan was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, serving until his resignation 1821. He was again elected to the state legislature in 1823. With the state reeling from the Panic of 1819, Rowan became the leader of a group of legislators dedicated to enacting laws favorable to the state's large debtor class. He believed the will of the people was sovereign and roundly denounced the Court of Appeals for striking down debt relief legislation as unconstitutional. He led the effort to impeach the offending justices, and when that effort failed, spearheaded a movement to abolish the court entirely and replace it with a new one, touching off the Old Court – New Court controversy. New Court partisans in the legislature elected Rowan to the U.S. Senate in 1824. During his term, the nascent Whig Party ascended to power in the state legislature, and at the expiration of his term in 1831, the Whigs replaced him with party founder Henry Clay.


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