HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Trimble County Named, 1836

Bedford, Trimble County, Kentucky

Marker Inscription

County Named, 1836. For Robert Trimble, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 1826-28, appointed by Pres. John Quincy Adams. Born in Va., 1777, came to Ky., 1780. Capt., Bourbon Co. regiment, 1796. Practiced law in Paris, Ky., 1800. Member State Legislature, 1802-04. Ky. Court of Appeals, 1807-09. U.S. District Attorney, 1813-17. U.S. District Judge from 1817-26. Died in 1828, buried at Paris, Ky.

Erected by Kentucky Historical Society

The Story

Trimble County was created in 1836 and named for Robert Trimble, a Kentucky jurist who rose from a Virginia birth and a frontier childhood to sit on the United States Supreme Court. Appointed by President John Quincy Adams in 1826, Trimble had earlier served as a militia captain, state legislator, and federal district judge before his brief tenure on the high court ended with his death in 1828. He was buried at Paris, Kentucky.

Why it matters

Trimble's climb from the Kentucky frontier to the Supreme Court illustrates how the young republic drew its national leaders from its newly settled western states.

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Related people

  • Β· Robert Trimble
  • Β· John Quincy Adams

Themes & tags

Westward ExpansionFrontier HistoryLandmark

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