Robert Perkins Letcher

Robert Perkins Letcher 15th Governor of Kentucky

Robert Perkins Letcher Burial Site Memorial Monument at Frankfort, Kentucky

Robert Perkins Letcher (February 10, 1788 – January 24, 1861) was the fifteenth governor of Kentucky. Robert Perkins Letcher was born in Goochland County, Virginia, the son of Stephen Giles Letcher and Betsy Perkins. The family moved to Garrard County, Kentucky around 1800, and Letcher was educated at a private school near Danville, Kentucky. Letcher studied and practiced law near Danville, Kentucky. He was married twice; first to Susan Oden Epps, and then to Charlotte Robertson. He was a Presbyterian. Letcher is buried in the State Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky.

Letcher was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1813, 1814, 1815, and 1817. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1833. His 1833 campaign for the House against Thomas P. Moore was so close that a second election had to be held. [1] Letcher won by 258 votes, and served in the House from August 6, 1834, until March 3, 1835. Letcher was again elected to the Kentucky House as a National Republican-Whig in 1836, 1837, and 1838; for the last two years he served as Speaker.

Letcher, known colloquially as “Black Bob,” was elected governor as a Whig, and served from September 2, 1840 until September 4, 1844. Letcher received 54,892 to 39,160 for his opponent, Democrat Richard French (58.4% - 41.6%). Letcher’s term was dominated by the panic of 1837. He drastically cut spending, eliminating the state’s deficit. After leaving office, he made an unsuccessful bid for the United States Senate, and then served as the United States envoy and minister to Mexico. Letcher County, Kentucky is named for him.