Kentucky: Samuel McDowell, Jr.

Since his birth on March 8, 1764, in Rockbridge County, VA, Samuel McDowell, Jr. was a 

rebellious and idealistic youth. His father was the formidable Samuel McDowell, Sr, a soldier 

who had participated in three wars, the leader of the 

movement to separate Kentucky from Virginia, and 

eventually a federal judge and founding trustee of 

Washington and Lee University.

At the age of 17, young McDowell ran away from his home 

in Rockville, VA and enlisted as a private in General 

Lafayette’s small army of Continental regulars and 

militiamen.185 As a private, McDowell participated in the 

Virginia Campaign of 1781, which culminated in an 

American victory at Yorktown.186 A year after the war

ended and he returned home, McDowell. and his family 

moved to Kentucky. In the interim period between the end 

of the American Revolution and his appointment as a U.S. 

marshal, McDowell participated in numerous military campaigns against Native American tribes 

as American settlers pushed west.

187

 

President Washington appointed McDowell as the U.S. marshal for the District of Kentucky in 

the fall of 1789.188 189 With this appointment, the 25-year-old became the youngest member of 

the U.S. Marshal Service and thus, the youngest overseer of the 1790 enumeration process.

Although he initially brought a limited amount of experience to the position, but he brought an

infectious patriotic fervor that enabled him to thrive in the role. 

190

While the final 1790 census schedules for Kentucky are lost due to the War of 1812, McDowell 

and his deputies (many of whom were probably his relatives) completed their task in June 1791, 

 

185 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of Kentucky: Samuel McDowell Jr.,” 

U.S. marshals Service, last estimated release October 24, 2019, 

https://www.usmarshals.gov/history/firstmarshals/carrington.htm. (Accessed October 24, 2019).

186 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of Kentucky: Samuel McDowell Jr.”

187 Ibid.

188 Ibid.

189“From George Washington to the United States Senate, 24 September 1789,” Founders Online, National 

Archives, last estimated release September 29, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/05-

04-02-0053. (Accessed October 24, 2019). [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, 

vol. 4, 8 September 1789 – 15 January 1790, ed. Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1993, 

pp. 75–80.] 

190 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of Kentucky: Samuel McDowell Jr.”

Samuel McDowell, Jr.

Courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service 
three months before the initial deadline of September 5, 1791.191 192

193 The speed at which the McDowell and his deputies completed the 

enumeration is noteworthy because four months prior, Congress 

authorized Kentucky’s local government to create the administrative 

framework that was essential to it becoming a new state and the 

count would determine the number of Representatives the new state 

would have in Congress.

194

 Kentucky became a state on June 1, 1792 

with an official population of 73, 677 people and was allocated two

representatives.

195 196

Having completed the enumeration of Kentucky’s population, 

McDowell continued to serve as Kentucky’s U.S. marshal, until he 

was replaced by President Thomas Jefferson’s appointee in 1801.197 

For the remainder of his life, McDowell continued to champion the 

idea of serving one’s country among his relatives.198 This idea 

appeared to have resonated after his death on June 20, 1831 

because his grandson, Irvine McDowell, commanded the Union Army during the First Battle of 

Bull Run and served the Union war effort in other capacities after that first disastrous defeat.199 

 

191 Ibid.

192 “Kentucky”. Return of the whole number of persons within the several districts of the United States: according to 

"An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States," passed March the first, one 

thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, pg. 51. PDF. Retrieved 

fromhttps://www.census.gov/content/census/en/library/publications/1793/dec/number-of-persons.htm. 

(Accessed October 24, 2019).

193 Gazette of the United-States. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]), 10 March 1790. 

194 Ockerman Jr., Foster, " Celebrate Kentucky’s statehood; it was a slog," Lexington Herald Leader, May 30, 2017, 

last estimated release May 31, 2017, https://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article153360289.html. (Accessed 

October 24, 2019).

195 “History and Museums: Constitution Square State Historic Site,” Danville & Perryville Kentucky, last estimated 

release September 28, 2007, https://web.archive.org/web/20070928125140/http://www.danvilleky.com/attractions2.php?category=History%20and%20Museums. (Accessed October 24, 2019). 

196 “Kentucky”. Return of the whole number of persons within the several districts of the United States: according to 

"An act providing for the enumeration of the inhabitants of the United States," passed March the first, one 

thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, pg. 51.

197 “History - The First Generation of United States Marshals/The First Marshal of Kentucky: Samuel McDowell Jr.” 

198 Ibid.

199 Ibid.