Thomas Metcalfe

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Metcalfe's political career began in 1812 when he was elected to represent Nicholas County in the Kentucky House of Representatives. His service was interrupted by the War of 1812. In 1813, he raised a company of volunteers and commanded them at the Battle of Fort Meigs. While he was away at war, the voters of his district re-elected him to the Kentucky House; only thirteen votes were cast against him. He continued to serve in the Kentucky House until 1816.

At the age of thirty-eight, Metcalfe was elected to the Sixteenth Congress, defeating Joshua Desha. During his tenure in the House, which lasted five terms, he was the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Militia. He opposed the Second Bank of the United States, but favored extension of credit to purchasers of public land. In 1821, he proposed granting preemption rights to squatters. A slaveowner himself, he opposed restrictions on slavery in Missouri and the Louisiana Purchase.

In James Monroe's annual address to the legislature in December 1822, he called on Congress to report on how to best deal with the Seminoles that inhabited the recently acquired territory of Florida. As chair of the Committee on Indian Affairs, Metcalfe delivered the report on February 21, 1823. His committee found that, under the terms of the Adams-Onis Treaty that transferred control of Florida to the United States from Spain, the Seminoles were to be accorded the same privileges as U.S. citizens. Accordingly, the committee recommended that each Seminole family be given a land grant. They hoped that this would help break the tribal loyalties of the Seminoles and expedite their amalgamation into white society. The committee's report was largely ignored.

In 1826, Metcalfe served on a House committee that investigated allegations that Vice-President John C. Calhoun had improperly benefited from a contract he awarded while serving as Secretary of War in 1822. While Calhoun was cleared of any wrongdoing, his friend, South Carolina Representative George McDuffie, began an exchange of correspondence with Metcalfe regarding the proceedings. The correspondence became heated, and McDuffie challenged Metcalfe to a duel. As the recipient of the challenge, Metcalfe had the right to choose the terms of the engagement. He chose rifles as the weapon at a distance of 90 feet. McDuffie insisted that wounds from a previous duel had left him incapable of handling a rifle, and proposed pistols as an alternative. Metcalfe replied that he had never handled a pistol in his life. Unable to come to an agreement on the conditions of the duel, both sides eventually dropped the matter entirely.

Metcalfe resigned his seat in the House on June 1, 1828 in order to run for the governorship of Kentucky. He was chosen as the candidate of the National Republican Party at their nominating convention and was the first gubernatorial candidate in the state to be chosen using this method. He defeated William T. Barry by a margin of 709 votes, but his running mate, Joseph R. Underwood, was badly defeated by the Democratic-Republican nominee, John Breathitt. Metcalfe's election in 1828 marked the first time the governorship had been won by a candidate who was not a Democratic-Republican. However, only one Democratic-Republican would hold the office between Metcalfe's term and the election of Lazarus W. Powell in 1851.

Joseph Desha, the outgoing governor, refused to believe that his party had lost the election. He disliked Metcalfe not only due to his party affiliation, but also because of his occupation as a stonemason, which he believed was too low a calling for a governor. Metcalfe's opponents made slights on the quality of his stone work and his views on the Old Court-New Court controversy. When told about these charges, Metcalfe remarked "They may say what they like about my views, but the first man that dares to attack my character, I will cleave his skull with my stone hammer, as I would cleave a rock." As word of this remark spread, Metcalfe was given the nickname "Old Stone Hammer." Despite his threats to remain in the governor's mansion until the legislature convened, Desha respected the will of the people, and left the residence on September 2, 1828.

Metcalfe opposed the spoils system and the doctrine of nullification. He favored protective tariffs and federal aid for internal improvements. He oversaw the establishment of a road connecting Shelbyville to Louisville. When President Andrew Jackson vetoed federal aid for a turnpike connecting Maysville and Lexington, Metcalfe continued constructing it with state funds. (The road is now a portion of U.S. Route 68.) Metcalfe's term also saw the commissioning of the state's first railroad and the beginning of plans for a canal at the Falls of the Ohio. At the governor's recommendation, the state legislature approved additional aid for education, and the creation of district schools.

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