James A. McKenzie - Misplaced Pages

American politician (1840–1904) For other people with the same name, see James Mackenzie (disambiguation).

James A. McKenzie


Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 2nd district
In office March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883
Preceded by	John Y. Brown
Succeeded by	James Franklin Clay
48th Secretary of State of Kentucky
In office September 5, 1883 – August 30, 1887
Governor	J. Proctor Knott
Preceded by	James W. Blackburn
Succeeded by	George Madison Adams
United States Ambassador to Peru
In office June 24, 1893 – April 13, 1897
Preceded by	John Hicks
Succeeded by	Irving B. Dudley
Member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
In office 1867–1871

Personal details
Born	(1840-08-01)August 1, 1840 Bennettstown, Kentucky
Died	June 25, 1904(1904-06-25) (aged 63) Oak Grove, Kentucky
Resting place	Fairview Cemetery
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Amelia C. Parish Blakey
Relations	Uncle of John McKenzie Moss
Alma mater	Centre College
Profession	Lawyer
Military service
Allegiance	United States Confederate States
Branch/service	Confederate States Army
Rank	Private
Battles/wars	American Civil War

James Andrew McKenzie (August 1, 1840 – June 25, 1904) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and uncle of John McKenzie Moss.

Born in Bennettstown, Kentucky, McKenzie attended the common schools of Christian County and Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. He studied law and admitted to the bar in 1861, and commenced practice in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. McKenzie also engaged in agricultural pursuits during this time.

During the Civil War he served as a private in the Confederate States Army.

Following the war, he served as member of the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1867 to 1871. McKenzie later was elected as a Democrat to the Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, and Forty-seventh United States Congresses (March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1883). He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination in 1882.

McKenzie then served as Secretary of State of Kentucky under Governor J. Proctor Knott from 1884 to 1888 and as commissioner from Kentucky to the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, Illinois in 1893. In that same year, he was appointed Minister to Peru by President Grover Cleveland.

He resigned and settled on his farm near Long View, Kentucky. He died at Oak Grove, Kentucky, on June 25, 1904. He was interred in Fairview Cemetery, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Journalist and Toledo mayor Brand Whitlock described McKenzie as a colorful figure renowned for his flowery style of speaking:

He was tall and spare of frame, and his long moustache and goatee, and the great black slouch hat he wore made him in appearance the typical southerner of the popular imagination. **** He was fond of striking phrases; he it was who had referred to Blaine as a Florentine mosaic; and his reference to Mrs. Cleveland as “the uncrowned queen of America” had delighted the Democratic convention at St. Louis which renominated her husband for the presidency. And again at Chicago, on that memorable night of oratory in 1892 in seconding the nomination of Cleveland on behalf of Kentucky he stood on a chair and referred to his state as the commonwealth “in which, thank God, the damned lie is the first lick, where the women are so beautiful that the aurora borealis blushes with shame, where the whiskey is so good as to make intoxication a virtue, and the horses so fleet that lightning in comparison is but a puling paralytic.”

References

Whitlock, Brand, Forty Years of It, Ch.X, pp.56-7.

United States Congress. "James A. McKenzie (id: M000505)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded byJohn Y. Brown	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Kentucky's 2nd congressional district March 4, 1877–March 3, 1883	Succeeded byJames Franklin Clay
Political offices
Preceded byJames W. Blackburn	Secretary of State of Kentucky 1883–1887	Succeeded byGeorge M. Adams
Diplomatic posts
Preceded byJohn Hicks	United States Minister to Peru 24 June 1893–13 April 1897	Succeeded byIrving B. Dudley

v t e United States ambassadors to Peru
Chargé d'Affaires	Cooley Larned Thornton Pickett Bryan Jewett Clay
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	Clay Robinson Hovey Settle Thomas Gibbs Christiancy Hurlbut Phelps Buck Hicks McKenzie Dudley Combs Howard McMillin
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	Gonzales Poindexter Moore Dearing Steinhardt Norweb White Pawley Cooper Tittmann Briggs Achilles Chapin Loeb Jones Belcher Dean Shlaudeman Corr Ortiz Jordan Watson Quainton Brayshaw (a.i.) Adams Jett Hamilton Dawson Struble McKinley Likins Nichols Urs Kenna Syptak-Ramnath

Kentucky's delegation(s) to the 45th–47th United States Congresses (ordered by seniority)

45th	Senate: ▌T. McCreery (D) · ▌J. Beck (D)	House: ▌J. P. Knott (D) ▌M. Durham (D) ▌J. Blackburn (D) ▌A. Boone (D) ▌J. Clarke (D) ▌J. Caldwell (D) ▌J. Carlisle (D) ▌J. McKenzie (D) ▌T. Turner (D) ▌A. Willis (D)
46th	Senate: ▌J. Beck (D) · ▌J. Williams (D)	House: ▌J. P. Knott (D) ▌J. Blackburn (D) ▌J. Caldwell (D) ▌J. Carlisle (D) ▌J. McKenzie (D) ▌T. Turner (D) ▌A. Willis (D) ▌E. Phister (D) ▌P. Thompson Jr. (D) ▌O. Turner (ID)
47th	Senate: ▌J. Beck (D) · ▌J. Williams (D)	House: ▌J. P. Knott (D) ▌J. Blackburn (D) ▌J. Caldwell (D) ▌J. Carlisle (D) ▌J. McKenzie (D) ▌A. Willis (D) ▌E. Phister (D) ▌P. Thompson Jr. (D) ▌O. Turner (ID) ▌J. White (R)

This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

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