August 11, 1807…. Birth date of David Rice Atchison
David Rice Atchison, United States Senator from Missouri from 1843 to 1855, was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, August 11, 1807. After graduating from Transylvania University with high honors at the age of 18, he studied law and in 1829 was admitted to the Kentucky Bar.
Atchison emigrated to Missouri the following year, locating in Liberty. In April 1830, he was admitted to the bar and in St. Louis received his license to practice in the state. His success and brilliance as a lawyer soon won him recognition and in 1834 and 1838 he was elected on the Democratic ticket as representative from Clay County to the state legislature.
In February 1841, Governor Thomas Reynolds commissioned Atchison judge of the newly formed twelfth judicial circuit. Upon the death of United States Senator Lewis F. Linn 2 years later, Atchison was appointed to serve out the unexpired term in the Senate. He was elected to the Senate in 1844 and 5 years later was re-elected, serving until 1855. During his term in the Senate, Atchison gained the unique distinction, sometimes controvertible, of having been President of the United States for 24 hours. He was ex officio vice-president of the United States from April 18, 1853 to December 4, 1854.
A proslavery advocate, Atchison became one of the leaders in the anti-Benton faction of the state know as the “central clique.” In 1849 Atchison allied himself with Calhoun and led to victory the anti-Benton Democrats and the Whigs, who brought about Thomas Hart Benton's final defeat in the senatorial race of 1851. Atchison retired from the Senate in 1855. He was regarded as a leader of the proslavery party in the Kansas-Nebraska border troubles, and on several occasions he commanded Missouri forces on Kansas soil.
At the outbreak of the Civil War, Atchison joined the Missouri State troops in the Confederate cause and remained with the army until the Battle of Elkhorn. At the close of the war he returned to his home near Gower, Clinton County, where he died, January 6, 1886. His name is commemorated today in the city of Atchison, Kansas, and in Atchison County, Missouri.
Letter from Elizabeth A.R. Linn to David Rice Atchison dated February 3, 1845. For primary source material see…
