John Breckinridge Castleman

Infobox Person
name = John Breckinridge Castleman

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caption = Statue of Castleman in Louisville's Cherokee Triangle neighborhood
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birth_date = birth date|1841|06|30
birth_place = Castleton Farm, Lexington, Kentucky
death_date = death date and age|1918|05|23|1841|06|30
death_place = Louisville, Kentucky
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John Breckinridge Castleman (June 30 1841 – May 23 1918) was a brigadier general and prominent landowner and businessman in Louisville, Kentucky. He studied law at Transylvania University before the Civil War.

Military career

During the Civil War, Castleman recruited 41 men in his hometown of Lexington, Kentucky, who went to Knoxville, Tennessee to form the Second Kentucky Cavalry company under John Hunt Morgan.

Castleman was promoted to major in 1864. He led guerrillas in the attempted burning of supply boats in St. Louis, and was arrested in October 1864 at Sullivan, Indiana. He was convicted of spying and sentenced to death, but his execution was stayed by Abraham Lincoln. Following the war, Castleman was exiled from the United States, and studied medicine in France. He was pardoned by Andrew Johnson and returned to Kentucky in 1866.

He revived the Louisville Legion, a militia unit, in 1878 and became adjutant general of Kentucky in 1883. The unit became the 1st Kentucky Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, and Castleman was commissioned a colonel in the U.S. Army. His unit participated in the invasion of Puerto Rico, and after the war he was promoted to brigadier general and served as military governor of the island.

Business career

He graduated from the University of Louisville School of Law in 1868, married, and founded an insurance company, Barbee and Castleman, with his father-in-law. The company represented Royal Insurance Company of Liverpool in the Southern United States.

In 1870, Castleman bought a 60-acre tract of land called Schwartz's Wood in what was then the outskirts of Louisville. He intended to build a country estate there, but as Louisville expanded around it quickly, the land became much more valuable as a subdivision. It became the western half of Louisville's Tyler Park neighborhood.

Political career

Castleman never ran for office, but his military and business reputation gave him considerable influence. As a Delegate to the 1892 Democratic Convention, he successfully lobbied for the nomination of Grover Cleveland. After Governor William Goebel was shot in 1900, Castleman was again appointed adjutant general of Kentucky and helped avoid conflicts in the fallout of the assassination.

In Louisville, he had great influence as Commissioner of the Board of Parks for over 25 years, during which time he helped establish Louisville's Olmsted Park system, which spurred development in various parts of Louisville and became one of the city's prized possessions over the next century.

In 1905, he was a key figure supporting Louisville's Fusionist Party, an anti-corruption party. Although the Fusionists never won many elections, they eventually caused reform in Louisville's election system to come about.

Death and legacy

Castleman died in 1918 and was survived by his five daughters. His statue in the Cherokee Triangle neighborhood, the John B. Castleman Monument, became a well known local landmark. He was buried in Cave Hill Cemetery.

References

*cite book|title=Memorial History of Louisville|editor=Johnston, J. Stoddard|year=1896
*cite book|title=History of Kentucky and Kentuckians|author=Johnson, E. Polk|year=1912