Humphrey Marshall (politician) - U.S. Senate

U.S. Senate

Partly as a result of Marshall's attacks on prominent Democratic-Republicans such as Governor Shelby, the Federalists gained influence in the legislature. The Federalist cause was also bolstered by the quashing of the Whiskey Rebellion by federal forces in 1794 and the federal victory over the Northwest Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794. Later that year, the Federalists in the General Assembly nominated Marshall for the United States Senate. On the first ballot, Marshall garnered 18 votes, compared with 16 for Democratic-Republican John Breckinridge, 8 for John Fowler, and 7 for incumbent John Edwards. On the runoff ballot that followed, Marshall defeated Breckinridge by a vote of 28–22.

Shortly after Marshall departed for Philadelphia, George Muter and Benjamin Sebastian, both justices of the Kentucky Court of Appeals, published a pamphlet stating that Marshall had perjured himself in a Court of Appeals case between himself and James Wilkinson. No known copies of the pamphlet are extant, and related surviving documents do not relate the exact nature of the charges. Marshall, being out of the state, was unable to make an immediate reply to the charges, and his enemies in the General Assembly drafted a memorial to the U.S. Senate requesting an investigation of the charges. On December 16, 1795, the memorial was approved by the General Assembly and transmitted to the Senate. The Senate appointed a committee to recommend action on the memorial, and the committee found that the charges against Marshall were not specific, that the authors had provided no evidence upon which to evaluate the charges, that no one was empowered to prosecute the charges in the Senate, and that further action by the Senate was inappropriate. On March 22, 1796, the Senate approved the committee's report by a vote of 16–8. Muter and Sebastian never filed formal charges against Marshall for perjury.

Although he was not frequently active in debate on the Senate floor, Marshall was nonetheless a strong advocate of nearly every Federalist measure considered in that body. Many of these were unpopular in Kentucky, including the Alien and Sedition Acts. Marshall's vote in favor of the Jay Treaty was particularly unpopular with his constituents, and when he returned home after the vote, a mob of angry citizens in Frankfort stoned him. Next, the mob attempted to throw Marshall into the Kentucky River. Marshall appealed to the Baptists in the crowd, declaring "Now allow me to say that according to Baptist rules, it is irregular to administer baptism before the receiver gives his experience. If you are determined to proceed, let the exercise be performed in decent order. Let me give my experience first." The thought of hearing a testimony from Marshall, a noted infidel, so humored the mob that it disbanded in a fit of laughter, and Marshall escaped. In the subsequent senatorial election, however, Breckinridge defeated Marshall for his seat.