Thomas Speed (October 25, 1768 – February 20, 1842) was a U.S. Representative from Kentucky and a member of the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form ...

Biography

Born in Charlotte County, Virginia, Speed was taught by his father Captain James Speed. He moved with his parents to Kentucky in 1782. He was employed in the office of the clerk of the general court. He engaged in mercantile pursuits at Danville and Bardstown in 1790. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits. He served as clerk of the Bullitt and Nelson circuit courts. He served as major of Volunteers in the War of 1812. Speed was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fifteenth Congress (March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1819). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection. He resumed agricultural pursuits. He also contributed articles to the '' National Intelligencer'', Washington, D.C. He served as member of the

in 1821, 1822, and again in 1840. He was a member of the Whig Party when it was organized. His brother was

John Speed John Speed (1551 or 1552 – 28 July 1629) was an English cartographer, chronologer and historian of Cheshire origins.S. Bendall, 'Speed, John (1551/2–1629), historian and cartographer', ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (OUP 2004/ ...

. He died on his farm, "Cottage Grove", near Bardstown, Kentucky, on February 20, 1842, and was interred there.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speed, Thomas 1768 births 1842 deaths Members of the Kentucky House of Representatives People from Charlotte County, Virginia United States Army officers Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Kentucky Whigs 19th-century American politicians