Lawyer by profession. The first native Kentuckian elected as governor. A
Whig. Established the Kentucky Association of Professional Teachers, and
encouraged the formtion of the Kentucky Common School Society

MOREHEAD, James Turner, a Senator from Kentucky; born near
Shepherdsville, Bullitt County, Ky., May 24, 1797; attended the public
schools and Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky.; studied law; was
admitted to the bar in 1818 and commenced practice in Bowling Green, Ky.;
member, State house of representatives 1828-1831; lieutenant governor
1832; upon the Governor’s death in 1834, he became Governor and served
until 1836; member, State house of representatives 1837-1838; president
of the State board of internal improvements 1838-1841; elected as a Whig
to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1841, to March 3,
1847; chairman, Committee on Indian Affairs (Twenty-seventh Congress),
Committee on Retrenchment (Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Congresses);
continued the practice of law in Covington, Kenton County, Ky., until his
death in that city on December 28, 1854; interment in the State lot of
Frankfort Cemetery, Frankfort, Ky.

From: Dictionary of American Biography; Jillson, W.R., ed. “Early
Political Papers of Governor James T. Morehead.” Register of the Kentucky
State Historical Society 22 (September 1924): 272-300, 23 (January 1925):
36-61.