Early Life
Robert Breckinridge was born March 8, 1800 at Cabell's Dale near Lexington, Kentucky. He was the third son born to John and Mary Hopkins (Cabell) Breckinridge. Senator Breckinridge died in 1806, leaving his wife to tend the family's large plantations. Robert soon earned a reputation of misbehaving. In one instance, he and his brother John had a physical altercation because Robert put salt in a blind cousin's coffee; in another, his mother gave him a "tremendous whipping" for beating an old slave.
Breckinridge studied education at a classical school operated by Dr. Louis Marshall, the brother of Chief Justice John Marshall, then followed his brothers, Cabell and John, to Princeton in 1817. His behavior problems continued there; in one year, he spent more than twelve hundred dollars. He was suspended for fighting, and although he was later reinstated, the incident soured him on the Princeton, and he was granted an honorable release. (The school awarded him an honorary Master of Arts degree in 1832.) He enrolled at Yale University, but after three months, discovered that a one year residency was required for graduation. Unwilling to complete this requirement, he move to Union College in Schenectady, New York where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1819.
Following his graduation, Breckinridge returned to Kentucky with no clear direction in his life. He began to amuse himself by attending various parties and other social engagements. During a visit to the state capital, he so offended one man that he was challenged to a duel. Though he obtained two pistols, he never accepted the man's challenge, and was branded a coward. The dispute was later settled in the Masonic Lodge of which both Breckinridge and the other man were members.
On March 11, 1823, Breckinridge married his cousin, Ann Sophonisba Preston at the bride's home in Abingdon, Virginia; the couple had eleven children. Ann's political heritage rivaled that of her husband. A grandniece of Patrick Henry, she was also a sister to Senator William Campbell Preston and a sister-in-law to South Carolina governor Wade Hampton III, and Virginia governors John B. Floyd and James McDowell.
Read more about this topic: Robert Jefferson Breckinridge
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