Thomas E. Bramlette – Adair County, Kentucky

Thomas Elliott Bramlette was born on January 3, 1817, in that part of Cumberland County that is now Clinton County, Kentucky.  He was the son of Colonel Ambrose S. and Sarah (Elliott) Bramlette.  He studied law and was admitted to the bar at the age of twenty.  In September of that year he married Sallie Travis. He was a state legislator, representing Clinton County, before his thirtieth birthday and was appointed Commonwealth Attorney by Governor John J. Crittenden in 1848.

In 1852, after resigning his post as Commonwealth Attorney two years earlier to resume his law practice, Bramlette moved to Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky.  He bought a house, at the time just out of the city limits, situated on a lot adjoining the present post office.  He resided in this structure until 1859 when he purchased a house just off the square.  The Bramlette family lived in this house until he was elected Governor of Kentucky in 1863.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Bramlette accepted a commission in the Federal army and raised the 3rd Kentucky Infantry.  Mrs. Ruth Paull Burdette, in her book “Early Columbia . . .”, relates the following story concerning then Colonel Bramlette:

Sometime during the early portion of the Civil War, Mary, a little daughter of Bramlette, became seriously ill.  While she was ill, Confederates learned that Colonel Bramlette was in Columbia.  A detachment was sent to town to arrest him.  James Baker, then a small boy, saw the Confederates coming and ran to warn the Colonel.  Bramlette could not bring himself to leave the bedside of his daughter and refused to flee.  When the enemy arrived at the house, Bramlette told them that he wouldn’t leave under the circumstances.  After a short conference, the Confederate commander replied that under the circumstances they would not arrest the Federal officer.

Little Mary Bramlette died soon after the aforementioned incident and is buried in the Columbia City Cemetery with a lovely white marble marker at the head of her grave.

Colonel Thomas E. Bramlette resigned from the army in 1862 when President Lincoln appointed him the U. S. District Attorney for this area.

In 1863 Joshua Bell was nominated for Governor of Kentucky by the Union Democrats, but he withdrew from the race.  Bramlette was chosen to take Bell’s place on the ticket.  He ran against Charles Wickliffe and won the race for the highest office in Kentucky.  He had an uphill battle to fight.  Being governor of a border state was a very difficult job and many unpopular decisions had to be made.

Because private raiders committed various crimes in the state after it was under Federal control, Union General Burbridge issued an order in July 1864 stating that he would execute four “outlaws” for every innocent man killed by the raiders.  This led to the execution of several men, most if not all innocent of any crime.  To secure safety for any Confederate sympathizers, whether active or inactive in guerilla type warfare, Governor Bramlette stepped into the picture.

This was only one of the confrontations during the War between Bramlette and the military.

After his term expired in 1867, he moved to Louisville where he started his law practice anew.  He died in 1875 in Louisville and is buried there.