George D. Prentice

(1802-1870)

“Well, thank God, we at last have weighed anchor, and set out for the haven of safety and of honor. Now, let all possible sail be spread, and the noble ship of state be driven into the lines of her insolent foe with the whole might of the valor and devotion of her true men.” — George Prentice in the Louisville Journal (September 19, 1861) following the repeal of neutrality in Kentucky

George Prentice was born in Connecticut on December 18, 1802, and graduated from Brown University in 1823. He came to Kentucky in 1830 to write a campaign biography entitled The Biography of Henry Clay and remained in this state until his death on January 22, 1870, in Louisville. Prentice became the editor of the Louisville Journal, the newspaper of the Whig Party. The main focus of this paper was the promotion of Henry Clay’s agenda and his multiple presidential campaigns. Prentice brought the Journal from upstart newspaper to the most widely read newspaper in the western United States because of his wit and command of the English language. Upon the failure of the Whig Party, Prentice supported the “Know-Nothing Party” and was seen as the catalyst of the Bloody Monday election-day riots in Louisville on August 6, 1855. Prentice supported John Bell and his Unionist platform in the 1860 election, calling for the Southern states to stay in the Union. Upon the onset of hostilities and Abraham Lincoln’s call for troops, Prentice urged that Kentucky remain a neutral state because of his fear that Kentucky would join the Confederacy. Prentice’s two sons fought in the Confederate army. Prentice became part of Lincoln’s core group of Kentucky advisors for Kentucky affairs during the war.

George D. Prentice

Kentucky Historical Society Collections