Thomas Scudder Page (April 19, 1800 – April 17, 1877) was

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

's first elected auditor of public accounts, and the first elected official to be tried for corruption in that state.

Biography

He was born in New York City, and moved to Kentucky in 1817. He became a clerk with the

Land Office The General Land Office (GLO) was an independent agency of the United States government responsible for public domain lands in the United States. It was created in 1812 to take over functions previously conducted by the United States Department o ...

and in 1839 was appointed auditor by Governor James Clark. Under Kentucky's third constitution, auditor became an elected position. Page was elected in 1851 as a Whig and in 1855 with the

Know Nothing The Know Nothing party was a nativist political party and movement in the United States in the mid-1850s. The party was officially known as the "Native American Party" prior to 1855 and thereafter, it was simply known as the "American Party". ...

party. He required official collectors of funds to deposit their collections with the Auditor's office, rather than the state treasurer directly, and in 1859 was sued for corruption by the state for

embezzling Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

$88,927 (~$ in ). Page declared bankruptcy in 1863. In 1867, he was ordered by the legislature to repay the state $88,000, plus interest and court costs. The case was settled by special act of the legislature that year, with Page agreeing to repay half. He lived the remaining 10 years of his life in destitution in Frankfort, and was buried in Frankfort Cemetery.

References

External links

* 1800 births 1877 deaths Burials at Frankfort Cemetery Kentucky auditors of public accounts Kentucky Whigs 19th-century American politicians Politicians from New York City Kentucky Know Nothings Politicians convicted of embezzlement American politicians convicted of corruption {{Kentucky-politician-stub