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[The Blue Friar Lecture of 1993]

by Charles S. Guthrie, FPS
Printed by order of Wallace McLeod, Grand Abbot

James Guthrie: Entrepreneur, Statesman, Freemason

A long funeral procession wound through the
streets of Louisville on a March day in 1869 to
honor the city 's most prominent citizen--James
Guthrie--a courageous man of humble begin-
nings whose influence reached the highest eche-
lons of commerce and government. The words
and actions of his colleagues and Masonic
brothers and the attention of the press attested to
James Guthrie's status. This paper will con-
sider his background and his intertwined
achieuements in the law, business, politics, and
Freemasonry.

The Man

James Guthrie was of remote Scottish
ancestry. A possible antecedent, the Rev-
erend James Guthrie, was hanged in Ed-
inburgh in the seventeenth century be-
cause he maintained that his obligation
to serve the Presbyterian Covenant was
superior to the obligation to serve the
magistrate (Franklin, 1-2, citing Living-
ston, Eminent Americans .... IV, 21.)

In 1774, James Guthrie's father,
Adam, migrated at the age of 12 from
County Cork, Ireland to Norfolk, Vir-
ginia. He later lived in Augusta County
in what is now West Virginia, with his
sister, Margaret Walker. In 1788 he came
to Kentucky, marrying Hannah Polk on
November 5, 1788, "somewhere along
the Monongahela River. " Settling in
Bardstown, Kentucky, Adam was active
in the Kentucky Militia (L. R. Guthrie,
441; DAB).

James Guthrie was born in Bardstown
on December 5, 1792. He received his
early education in McAllister' s Academy
(a one- room log house) in Bardstown,
along with Charles A. Wickliffe and Ben
Hardin, both of whom also became
prominent in early Kentucky history. At
the age of twenty, James started in busi-
ness by making the first of two or three
trips to New Orleans by flatboat. He
bought produce in Kentucky, sold it in
New Orleans, and returned to Kentucky
on foot over the Natchez Trace (Baber,
9-10; Cotterill, 290; NECB, IV, 147-48).

Guthrie next studied law in Bardstown
under Judge John Rowan, a prominent
attorney and Mason. He began the prac-
tice of law in Bardstown after two years
of study, and made unsuccessful races for
the lower house of the Kentucky Genera'
Assembly (Franklin, 7).

When appointed Commonwealth's At-
torney in 1820, he moved to Louisville
and established his law office on Jeffer-
son Street between Fourth and Fifth
(Johnston, 86). On May 13, 1821, he
married Elizabeth Prather, described as
"an estimable lady of great wealth"
(Franklin, 18). In 1823, the Guthries
moved into a new, three-story brick
home on the south side of Walnut Street
(Now Muhammad Ali) between Second
and Third, the present site of the Pen-
dennis Club. Here they owned an entire
city block with servants' quarters, gar-
den, and a cornfield. Mrs. Guthrie died
in 1836, but Guthrie never remarried
and lived in the house the remainder of
his life. His oldest daughter would also
live there until her death in 1903 (C-J,
1903).

Guthrie was described by a colleague in
the Kentucky General Assembly as "of
robust form, over six feet in height, and
of fine personal appearance .... His
speeches were sensible, but his manner
was not captivating" (Allen, 275-76). In
its editorial on his death, The Courier-Jour-
nal (March 14-15, 1869) said, ". . . No
Kentuckian of the present generation
possessed in so much abundance, the
unhewn, but sterling characteristics
which are commonly ascribed to our sec-
tion of the country. Robust and stalwart
in person, short and direct in speech;
brief but by no means rude in manner;
an effective talker without being an ora-
tor, a well-read gentleman without being
a scholar; manly, substantial, clear-
sighted and sure- footed, he made his
mark deep upon the progress of his time
and upon the hearts of his fellow-citi-
zens, for, in addition to his force of will
and intellect, he was a kind and charita-
ble man, liberal in his private no less than
in his public spirits .... "

The Courier-Journal reported in 1903 that
Guthrie's grandson, James Guthrie
Coke, said, "I remember that it was said
of my grandfather that he never decided
anything hastily. If a question came up
among his fellow lawyers which they
were ready to settle, he always de-
murred, 'Lets take a week,' he would
say. 'Lets take a week to look into the
matter. " '

James Guthrie was a man of great
physical and moral courage. Early in his
Louisville days, he had spoken dis-
paragingly of John Hays, a political
enemy. Hays, armed with a pistol, ap-
proached Guthrie, who was seated on the
steps of the Galt House Hotel. Guthrie,
seeing the danger he was in, sprang on
Hays and in the ensuing scuMe, the pis-
tol discharged, wounding Guthrie in the
right hip. He was in bed three years, and

limped the remainder of his life from the
wound. On another occasion a man
whose brother Guthrie had convicted,
threatened him in the street; and Guthrie
bluffed him, saying "I got twenty dollars
for convicting your brother. I won't get
a cent for killing you. Get out of my
way" (Franklin, 7).

Again, a mob threatened the jailed,
accused murderer of a prominent citi-
zen. The sheriff could not raise a posse
large enough to bring him safely from jail
to the courtroom for trial. Guthrie of-
fered to go alone with the sheriff to the
jail. He seized the killer by the breast of
his coat, and took him safely to the court-
house, "his presence and bearing over-
awing the mob" (NEAB, 147-48).
Publlc Career

A Jacksonian Democrat, Guthrie soon
became a leading member of the Ken-
tucky bar and began a political career
that led him to President Pierce's Cabi-
net and the United States Senate. In
1827 he became State Representative in
the Kentucky General Assembly. Three
years later he was elected to the Ken-
tucky Senate where he remained ten
years. During his legislative tenure he
served on two committees: Internal Im-
provements and Courts of Justice. Dur-
ing this period, he was twice Speaker of
the Senate, and once the Democratic
nominee for the United States Senate,
but lost the election to Whig Archibald
Dixon (Cotterill, 291).

In 1849 he chaired the convention
which wrote a new Constitution for the
State of Kentucky. Although generally
democratic, the Constitution reflected
Guthrie's pro-slavery views (Baber, 111;
Bussey 60-61).

In 1853 President Franklin Pierce ap-
pointed Guthrie Secretary of the Trea-
sury because of his commanding influ-
ence as a Democratic leader in Kentucky
and his understanding of financial and
economic questions. He served from
March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1857.
Guthrie was sagacious in reducing the
national debt with a part of the Treasury
surplus and in making other reforms
which ". . . Ieft the Treasury in a stable
condition . . . . " (Baber, 11; Bussey,
63-65).

On January 11, 1865, the Kentucky
General Assembly elected Guthrie to the
United States Senate, as a conservative,
defeating General Lovell H. Rousseau,
a radical Republican. He took his seat in
1866 at the age of 74 (Franklin, 85). Ill
health kept him from attending later ses-
sions. On February 10, 1868, incapaci-
tated by a stroke, he resigned from the
United States Senate (Cotterill, 290-91,
295). To summarize Guthrie's public ac-
tivities up to the Civil War: in the 1830s
he kept the State of Kentucky financially
stable; as Secretary of the Treasury he
inherited a dismal situation and broke
the hold which some financiers had on
the Treasury; and at the 1861 Washing-
ton Peace Conference he persuaded the
opposing sides to support a peace pro-
posal, but Congress did not approve the
recommendations .

Also as a statesman, Guthrie is re-
garded as the father of the Kentucky
railroad and turnpike systems that lasted
until the coming of automobiles. In busi-
ness, he was connected with early rail-
roads, the Portland Canal (around the
Falls of the Ohio at Louisville), real es-
tate holdings, and banking interests. He
was particularly prominent in the orga-
nization and management of the Louis-
ville and Nashville Railroad (the L & N,
now a part of the CSX System). He
helped incorporate it in 1850, became its
vice-president in 1857, and president in
1860.

The L & N's first train between Louis-
ville and Nashville ran in 1859. Guthrie
and the L & N proved vital to the Union
during the Civil War, as the railroad
began in Northern territory and ended
in Southern. Although divided in his
sympathies at first, Guthrie became an
ardent Unionist and placed the railroad
at the service of the Union to transport
men and supplies to the advancing
Union armies in the South (Cotterill,
293). Thus, Guthrie's actions contrib-
uted to the preservation of the union
(Bussey, 68).

After Salmon P. Chase resigned as Sec-
retary of the Treasury in 1864, President
Lillcoln reportedly offered the post to
Guthrie, who declined to accept it. He
did not accept because he thought he
could do more good for the Union at the
head of the L & N. In the Presidential
election of 1864, Guthrie supported Mc-
Clellan (Springer, 169; Franklin, 65-66).

Guthrie applied his wealth and busi-
ness acumen in civic affairs also. He re-
portedly served forty years as President
of the University of Louisville, and was
instrumental in organizing and running
a school for the blind in Louisville.

He was active in many other civic af-
fairs as well. (Yater, 54). The Courier-Jour-
nal carried an account of his life and
public career on March 14-15, 1869,
along with an editorial, presumably
written by Henry Watterson.
Freemasonry

In Freemasonry, Guthrie had a long
career. His father, Adam, was an early
member of Bardstown Lodge No. 6. On
December 5, 1821, James became a
member of Clarke Lodge No. 51 (now
consolidated with Abraham No. 8) in
Louisville. He continued his member-
ship until his death, and served a term as
Master. He was exalted in Louisville
Chapter No. 5, Royal Arch Masons, on
February 16, 1821. When Lafayette vis-
ited Clarke Lodge during his visit to
Louisville in 1825, Guthrie was present
(Hume, 279-84). A notice from Clarke
Lodge No. 51 calling the brothers "to
attend the funeral of our late James
Guthrie, P.M., on Monday, March 15,
1869 at 12 1/2 o'clock p. m. " was printed
in The Courier-Journal.

Guthrie' s funeral was from his home on
March 15, 1869. After services in the
house by a Presbyterian and a Baptist
minister, twenty-nine pall-bearers from
the business, professional, and political
elite of Louisville carried his body, in an
ornate cast iron casket, and placed it in
a black hearse with eight heavy black
plumes on top. Drawn by four black-
plumed black horses to Cave Hill Cem-
etery, it was preceded by the Masons and
the Great Western Star Band. An elabo-
rate procession followed. At the grave,
Brother E. M. Woodruff performed thl
Masonic services. When he deposited
the apron and sprig of evergreen, th~
brethren moved in procession around
the grave and solemnly dropped their
evergreens. After the committal, the ser-
vices were closed by singing David
Vinton' s " Funeral Anthem " and offer-
ing a prayer. When the grave was filled,
the Masons formed again and moved
away, followed by the remainder of th(
procession .

Finis
On March 16, 1869, The Courier-Journal
carried an extended account of the fu-
neral, along with tributes from the L &
N Railroad, the Louisville and Portland
Canal, the faculty of the University of
Louisville, the City Court, the Savings
Bank of Louisville, the Louisville Ce-
ment Company, the L & N employees,
the Elizabethtown and Paducah Rail-
road, and the Louisville Bridge Com-
pany (C-J, March 16, 1869, 3).

The City Court of Louisville adjourned
for the funeral.

Its judge gave "a beautiful eulogium,
illustrating by the light of the life of Mr.
Guthrie to what eminence and useful-
ness the humble man of talent, coupled
with indomitable energy and iron will,
will rise in republics .... " (C-J, March
, 1869, 3).

Guthrie left a sizeable estate for the
time. To each of his three daughters he
left $100,000 in property, and to each of
his eleven grandchildren he left $10,000
in railroad stock, with the remainder of
his estate to be equally divided among
the daughters. Revenue Stamps on his
will made on December 25, 1865, indi-
cated a net worth of over S500,000, a
great sum at the time. His three sons-in-
law were the executors, no inventory was
required, and no sale was to be made
Jefferson County Will Book 7, 72).

James Guthrie was the epitome of the
boy born in moderate circumstances suc-
ceeding in the practice of law, in finance,
and in statesmanship. The City of Lou-
isville, in tribute to his successes, named
a two-block-long street in his honor, and
a small town in Todd County, Kentucky,
on the L & N, was named for him. Both
bear his name to this day. [Although they
bear the same last name, James Guthrie
was not related to the author. ]

Bibliography

Allen, William B. A History of Kcntucky ....
Louisville:

Bradley and Gilbert, 1872. Rept., Greensburg,
KY: Green County Historical Society, 1967.

Baber, George. "James Guthrie: Lawyer, Finan-
cier, Statesman. " Rcgistcr of thc Kcntucky Statc
Historical Socicty, 10 (1912), 7-13

Bussey, Charles J. "James Guthrie: Kentucky
Politician and Entrepreneul." Kcntucky Profiks,
ed. James C. Klotter and Peter J. Sehlinger.
Frankfort: The Kentucky Historical Society,
1982,57-71.

Cotterill, Robert S. "James Guthrie--Kentuck-
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Couricr-Journal, Thc, March 14-15, 1869, March
16,1869.
Cited as C-J with date.
Dictionary of Arncrican Biography. Cited as DAB.

Crawford, Reina. "Passing of the Historic
Guthrie House." Thc Couricr-Journal, December
27, 1903, Section 5, 1.
Cited as C-J, 1903.

Franklin, Mary Katherine. "The Life of James
Guthrie. " Thesis, University of Kentucky,
1932.

Guthrie, Laurence R . History of A mcrican Cuthric and
continuea on page 37
James Guthrie
continued from pa,o,e 31

Allicd Familics. Chambersburg, PA: Kerr Pub-
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Herr, Kincaid. Thc Louisvillc and Nashvillc Railroad
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Hume, Edgar Erskine. " Lafayette in Kentucky. "
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Jefferson County Will Book 7.

"James Guthrie," National Cyclopcdia of Amcrican
Biography. Cited as NCAB.

Johnston, J. Stoddard. Mcmorial History of Louis-
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Rennick, Robert M. Kcntucky Placc Namcs. Lexing-
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Springer, Helen L. "James Speed, the Attorney
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Philalethes  April 1993
