CRITTENDEN, JOHN JORDAN (1787-1863), U.S. statesman, was born in Versailles (Ky.), on Sept. io, 1787. After he had graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1807, he began the practice of law in his native State. He was attorney general of Illinois Territory, and, from 1811 to 1817, after he had returned to Kentucky, was a member of the Kentucky house of representatives, of which he was speaker 1815-16. From 1817 to 1819 he was a U.S. senator. Again in 1825 and he was in the Kentucky house of representatives, acting as speaker 1829-32. From 1827 to 1829 he was U.S. district attorney. He was removed by President Jackson, to whom he was radically opposed. In 1835, as a Whig, he was again elected to the U.S. Senate, and was re-elected in 1841, but resigned to enter the cabinet of President W. H. Harrison as attorney general, con tinuing after President Tyler's accession from March until Sep tember. He was again a member of the U.S. Senate from 1842 to 1848. In 1848-50 he was governor of Kentucky. He was an ardent and outspoken supporter of Clay's compromise measures, and in 185o he entered President Fillmore's cabinet as attorney general, serving throughout the administration. From 1855 to 1861 he was once more a member of the U.S. Senate.
He was then one of the foremost champions of union in the South, and strenuously opposed the Kansas-Nebraska bill, which he said would unite the elements of opposition in the North and render the breach between the parts of the country irreparable. Nevertheless, he laboured unceasingly in the cause of compromise, gave his strong support to the Bell and Everett ticket in 186o, and in 186o-61 proposed and vainly contended for the adoption by Congress of the compromise measures which bear his name. When war became inevitable, he threw himself zealously into the Union cause, and lent his great influence to keep Kentucky in the Union. In 1861-63 he was a member of the Federal House of Representatives, where, while advocating the prosecution of the war, he opposed such radical measures as the division of Virginia, the enlistment of slaves and the Conscription acts. He died at Frankfort (Ky.), July 26, 1863.
See the Life of J. J. Crittenden, by his daughter Mrs. Chap man Coleman (Philadelphia, 18 71) ; C. A. Keith, The Life of John J. Crittenden of Kentucky (University of Indiana, 1926) ; and Channing, History, VI., pp. 293-296.
His son, GEORGE BIBB CRITTENDEN (1812-188o), soldier, was born in Russellville (Ky.), on March 20, 1812, and as a captain of mounted rifles in the Mexican War was breveted major for bravery at Contreras and Churubusco. In June 1861, he entered the service of the Confederacy, was commissioned major-general and given a command in south-east Kentucky and Tennessee ; but after the defeat of his forces by General George H. Thomas at Mill Springs (Jan. 9, 1862), he was censured and gave up his command. He then became a volunteer aide on the staff of Gen eral John S. Williams. From 1867 to 1871 he was State librarian of Kentucky. He died at Danville (Ky.), Nov. 27, 1880.
Another SOn, THOMAS LEONIDAS CRITTENDEN (1815-1893 ) soldier, was born at Russellville (Ky.). He studied law, and in 1842 became Commonwealth's attorney. He served in the Mexi can War and from 1849 to 1853 was U.S. consul at Liverpool, England. Like his father, he was a strong Union man, and in Sept. 1861 he was commissioned by President Lincoln a brigadier general of volunteers. He was promoted to the rank of major general in July, 1862. He was in command of a corps in the Army of the Ohio, and took part in the battles of Stone river and Chickamauga, and participated in the Virginia campaign of 1864. In July 1866 he entered the Regular Army with the rank of colonel of infantry, received the brevet of brigadier-general in 1867, served on the frontier and in several Indian wars, and retired in 1881. He died on Oct. 23,