The Heritage and History of Marion, Kentucky

Crittenden County Historical Museum | Crittenden County Library

Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
"The Swamp Fox"
1732 - 1795
Hero of the American Revolution

Namesake of 29 cities
and 17 counties
across the United States.

Role model for Mel Gibson's character 'Benjamin Martin' in the film,
The Patriot.

   A major player in the American Revolution and one of the nation's first "folk heroes," most Americans have forgotten the life and accomplishments of Brigadier General Francis Marion.

   Better known as "The Swamp Fox" to his contemporaries because of his sly hit-and-run battle tactics that harassed the British troops in the mucky bogs of the southern United States, including his home state of South Carolina.

   After the Revolution, Marion served as a state senator in South Carolina. He was revered in early American history, but as the years have passed, his contributions have been mostly forgotten, except for the communities that still bear his name. General Marion died 56 years before Marion became a city.

It was not uncommon for budding American provinces to honor heroes, such as Francis Marion. In fact, there are 29 U.S. cities and 17 counties (including one in central Kentucky) bearing the name of this war hero. In addition, a national forest and university in South Carolina are named for him.

He might have been forgotten to recent generations but for the historical series aired by Walt Disney in the early days of television.

John Jordan Crittenden
1787 - 1863

Kentucky legislator
Speaker of the Kentucky House (twice)
Governor of Kentucky
United States Senator
US Attorney General (twice)
Author of the "Crittenden Compromise," an attempt to prevent the Civil War
Dedicated his final years to keeping Kentucky in the Union.

John J. Crittenden was born in Kentucky in 1787, began his law practice in 1807, and quickly became the best known lawyer in western Kentucky. In 1811, he was elected to the state legislature for six successive terms. He was chosen Speaker of the House in 1815 and 1816. During these years,Crittenden also served in the War of 1812, receiving a commendation for his part in the decisive Battle of the Thames.

   Following the war, Crittenden served for two years in the United States Senate, before returning to Kentucky in 1819 to practice law. He soon reentered the legislature, where from 1829-32, he was again Speaker of the House. In national politics, he aligned himself with Henry Clay and the administration of John Quincy Adams against Andrew Jackson.

   He was a leading Whig opponent of the Jackson and Van Buren administrations, and after campaigning aggressively for the Whig candidate, William Henry Harrison, in 1840, he was appointed Harrison's attorney general. Harrison's death shortly after inauguration brought Crittenden's resignation in September 1841.

   He reentered the Senate the following year, where he opposed the annexation of Texas. After the Mexican War, Millard Fillmore appointed him attorney general once again, a post he held until the end of Fillmore's term. Two years later, in 1854, he was elected again to the Senate.

   Representing a slave-holding border state, he considered the possible dissolution of the Union as "the greatest evil" that could befall the country. Following Lincoln's election, Crittenden introduced in the Senate his propositions, known as the Crittenden Compromise, the most important of which restored by constitutional amendment the Missouri Compromise line. But Crittenden was unable to gain passage of his proposals or to get a popular referendum on them. He also failed in his efforts to secure adoption of the program of the Peace Convention which assembled in Washington in February 1861.

   As compromise failed, Crittenden returned to Kentucky, where he actively sought to keep his state from seceding. On April 17, just days after the bombardment of Fort Sumter, Crittenden again urged his state to remain in the Union. Kentucky ultimately refused to join the Confederacy, and Crittenden was elected to the Congress, where he introduced resolutions to the effect that the war was to preserve the Union, not to interfere with slavery or to subjugate the South. As the war took a different course, he opposed the confiscation acts and the Emancipation Proclamation. He was preparing to run for reelection to Congress in 1863, when he died in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The failure of his attempts at compromise were a family failure as well. As he died, two of his sons were Civil War generals - one for the Union Army, one for the Confederates.

Gen. Thomas Crittenden, USA

Gen. George Crittenden, CSA

Want more information about visitng Marion?

Contact Tourism Director Michele Edwards
by phone at 270-965-5015
or by e-mail.