eventual nominee was fellow Kentuckian John C. Breckinridge. Kentucky voters elected Boyd the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky in 1859, but he died shortly thereafter. This became significant with the onset of the Civil War. Governor Beriah Magoffin, who supported slavery, secession and states' rights, became increasingly unpopular and distrusted as Kentucky sought to maintain a neutral course between the Union and the Confederate States of America. Unionists held a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Kentucky General Assembly in summer 1861 and frequently overrode Magoffin's vetoes. By August 1862 Magoffin made it clear that he was willing to resign the governorship. However, due to Linn Boyd's death, the person next in line to become Governor of Kentucky was Speaker of the Senate John F. Fisk, whom Magoffin thought unacceptable. After Fisk resigned as Speaker and was replaced by James F. Robinson, Magoffin resigned. Thus, Robinson became governor and Fisk was reinstalled as Speaker of the Senate. Death and burial Boyd died in Paducah on December 17, 1859. He was buried at Paducah's Oak Grove Cemetery. Oaklands, a spacious brick home he had built in Paducah in 1852, no longer exists except as a street name. References 1800 births 1859 deaths Politicians from Nashville, Tennessee Speakers of the United States House of Representatives Jacksonian members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Kentucky Lieutenant Governors of Kentucky Democratic Party members of the Kentucky House of Representatives Farmers from Kentucky