List of Transylvania University alumni

This list of Transylvania University alumni includes alumni who are graduates or were non-matriculating students of Transylvania University.^[1]

Politics

Cabinet members

William T. Barry, United States Postmaster General
John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States, graduated 1841
Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, also President of the Confederate States of America; transferred to West Point in 1823
Richard Mentor Johnson, Vice President of the United States
James Speed, Attorney General under Abraham Lincoln, graduated in 1833

U.S. Senators

David Rice Atchison, Missouri (1843–1855), graduated 1825
Francis Preston Blair Jr., Missouri (1871–1873), studied law in 1841
Jesse Bledsoe, Kentucky (1813–1814)
Lewis V. Bogy, Missouri (1873–1877), graduated 1835
B. Gratz Brown, Missouri (1863–1867), also 20th Governor of Missouri, graduated in 1845
Jesse D. Bright, Indiana (1845–1862)
Alexander Campbell, Ohio (1809–1813)
Happy Chandler, Kentucky (1939–1945), also Governor of Kentucky and Commissioner of Baseball
Jeremiah Clemens, Alabama (1849–1853)
Solomon W. Downs, Louisiana (1847–1853), graduated in 1823
William M. Gwin, California (1850–1855, 1857–1861), graduated with a medical degree in 1828
Edward A. Hannegan, Indiana (1843–1849)
Martin D. Hardin, Kentucky (1816–1817)
Josiah S. Johnston, Louisiana (1824–1833), graduated in 1802
George Wallace Jones, Iowa (1848–1859)
Samuel McRoberts, Illinois (1841–1843)
Lazarus W. Powell, Kentucky (1859–1865), also Governor of Kentucky
William Alexander Richardson, Illinois (1863–1865), graduated in 1831
John M. Robinson, Illinois (1830–1841)
Marcus A. Smith, Arizona (1912–1921), graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1872 and a law degree in 1876
William A. Trimble, Ohio (1819–1821), graduated 1810^[2]
Joseph R. Underwood, Kentucky (1847–1853), graduated 1811
George Graham Vest, Missouri (1879–1903), Confederate, U.S. Congressman, Senator, and prominent lawyer, graduated in 1853.
Richard Yates, Illinois (1865–1871), also Governor of Illinois, studied law

Governors

Luke P. Blackburn, 28th Governor of Kentucky, graduated with a medical degree in 1835
Thomas James Churchill, 13th Governor of Arkansas,^[3] studied law at Transylvania University at some time between 1844 and 1846.
Henry Connelly, Territorial Governor of New Mexico, graduated with a medical degree in 1828
Henry D. Cooke, 1st Governor of the District of Columbia (1871–1873), graduated 1844
Thomas Ford, 8th Governor of Illinois, studied law
Beriah Magoffin, Governor of Kentucky,^[4] earned law degree in 1838
Stevens T. Mason (1811–1843), Governor of Michigan 1835–1840, attended circa 1830
Charles S. Morehead, Governor of Kentucky, graduated in 1820
James Fisher Robinson, Governor of Kentucky
Wilson Shannon, 14th and 16th Governor of Ohio

U.S. Representatives

Silas Adams, Kentucky (1893–1895)
Landaff Andrews, Kentucky (1839–1843), graduate 1826
John Edward Bouligny, Louisiana (1859–1861)
William Orlando Butler, Kentucky (1839–1843), Democratic VP nominee in 1848, and U.S. Army major general
James Brown Clay, Kentucky (1857–1859), also U.S. Ambassador to Portugal
David Grant Colson, Kentucky (1895–1899)
John J. Hardin, Illinois (1843–1845)
Guy U. Hardy, Colorado (1919–1933)
Carter Harrison Sr., Illinois (1875–1879), also Mayor of Chicago, graduated with a law degree in 1855
Richard Hawes, Kentucky (1837–1841), also Confederate Governor of Kentucky
James S. Jackson, Kentucky (1861), graduated with law degree in 1845
John Telemachus Johnson, Kentucky (1821–1825)
Nathaniel Pope, Illinois (1819–1821)
George Robertson, Kentucky (1817–1821)
James S. Rollins, Missouri (1861–1865), "Father of the University of Missouri", graduated in 1834
Green C. Smith, Kentucky (1863–1866), also Territorial Governor of Montana, graduated 1849
William Wright Southgate, Kentucky (1837–1839)

Judges

Claria Horn Boom, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
Karen K. Caldwell, Chief United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
John Marshall Harlan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, graduated in 1853 and was the first justice to have earned a modern law degree.^[5]
Samuel Freeman Miller, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court; graduated with medical degree in 1838

Other politicians

Stephen F. Austin, founder of Texas, graduated in 1810
James G. Birney, abolitionist, politician and jurist
Francis Preston Blair, co-founder of the Republican Party, graduated 1811
Levi Boone, mayor of Chicago, graduated from medical school in 1829
Cassius Marcellus Clay, abolitionist, state legislator, and ambassador to Russia, graduated in 1831
Andrew Jackson Donelson, U.S. Ambassador to Prussia
Thomas Burton Hanly, Arkansas state legislator and judge, CSA Congressman, graduated in 1834
Teresa Isaac, mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, 2002–2006
George W. Johnson, Confederate "governor" of Kentucky and Kentucky State Representative, received three degrees from Transylvania University: an A.B. in 1829, an LL.B. in 1832, and an M.A. in 1833
George B. Kinkead, Kentucky Secretary of State (1846–1847)
Gustav Koerner, U.S. Minister to Spain and Lt. Governor of Illinois, studied law in 1834 and 1835
John Calvin McCoy, founder of Kansas City, Missouri, studied 1826–1827
Daniel Mongiardo, Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
Steve Nunn, former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
Robert Smith Todd, member of the Kentucky Senate, father of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln
Susan Tyler Witten, Kentucky state representative^[6]

Military

John Breckinridge Castleman, a Confederate officer who later rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army, studied law there immediately before the outbreak of the Civil War
Carl Rogers Darnall, U.S. Brigadier General credited with originating the technique of liquid chlorination of drinking water
Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley, prominent physician and Union military commander in the Civil War, graduated in 1842 and joined the staff of the Medical School
Basil Duke,^[7] graduated the school of law in 1858. Later married Henrietta Morgan, sister of John Hunt Morgan, in 1861. Basil became a lieutenant in Morgan's Second Kentucky Cavalry. After Morgan's death, he was promoted to brigade commander. He later practiced law in Louisville, Kentucky and served as counsel for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. He was elected to the state legislature in 1869
Richard Montgomery Gano, Confederate General
Albert Sidney Johnston, Confederate General
Arthur D. Nicholson, United States Army officer shot and killed by a Soviet sentry in 1985 while conducting intelligence activities in East Germany
Jerome B. Robertson, Confederate General, Texas politician, graduated in 1835
George Shannon, member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Joseph O. Shelby, Confederate major general during the American Civil War, graduated 1850

Media and the arts

James Lane Allen, author
Ned Beatty, actor
Thomas Holley Chivers, poet
B. O. Flower, journalist
W. W. Fosdick, poet
Matt Jones, radio host, attorney, and founder of Kentucky Sports Radio
Matthew Harris Jouett, artist, enrolled in 1804
Thomas Satterwhite Noble, painter
Gil Rogers, actor

Medicine

Edward A. Eckenhoff, President and CEO National Rehabilitation Hospital, Washington, D.C.
John E. Fryer, American psychiatrist and gay rights activist best known for his anonymous speech at the 1972 American Psychiatric Association (APA) annual conference where he appeared in disguise and under the name "Dr. Henry Anonymous". This event has been cited as a key factor in the decision to de-list homosexuality as a mental illness from the APA's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
Albert Kellogg, doctor and noted botanist
Joseph Nash McDowell, noted doctor
Lewis Sayre, leading American orthopedic surgeon of the 19th century
Hugh Toland, surgeon, founder of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Sports

Cy Barger, major league baseball player
Jack Curtice, college football coach
Trey Kramer, Professional soccer and football player
Lee Rose, basketball coach
Kyle Smith, Professional soccer player

Other fields

Eugene C. Barker, historian; wrote The Life of Stephen F. Austin (1925); received LL.D. from Transylvania in 1940
Charles Lynn Pyatt, dean, Lexington Theological Seminary
Clyde Roper, zoologist

References

^ https://edurank.org/uni/transylvania-university/alumni/
^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2012). The Encyclopedia Of the War Of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military. ABC-CLIO. p. 717. ISBN 9781851099573. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
^ "Thomas James Churchill(1881–1883)". Old State House Museum. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
^ "Governor's Information: Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin". Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. Retrieved May 3, 2007.
^ "Trivia". Transylvania University. Retrieved January 16, 2015.
^ "Susan Tyler Witten". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-11-25.
^ Bevins, Ann (1973). "Abram-Buford – James K. Duke House". National Park Service. Retrieved February 4, 2015.

[1] ttps://edurank.org/uni/transylvania-university/alumni/

[2] Tucker, Spencer C. (2012). The Encyclopedia Of the War Of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military. ABC-CLIO. p. 717. ISBN 9781851099573. Retrieved July 17, 2014.

[3] "Thomas James Churchill(1881–1883)". Old State House Museum. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.

[nga-4] "Governor's Information: Kentucky Governor Beriah Magoffin". Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. Retrieved May 3, 2007.

[:0-5] "Trivia". Transylvania University. Retrieved January 16, 2015.

[6] "Susan Tyler Witten". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-11-25.

[NHR-7] Bevins, Ann (1973). "Abram-Buford – James K. Duke House". National Park Service. Retrieved February 4, 2015.

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