 John Rowan ( July 12 , 1773 – July 13 , 1843 ) was a 19th @-@ century politician and jurist from the U.S. state of Kentucky . Rowan 's family moved from Pennsylvania to the Kentucky frontier when he was young . From there , they moved to Bardstown , Kentucky , where Rowan studied law with former Kentucky Attorney General George Nicholas . He was a representative to the state constitutional convention of 1799 , but his promising political career was almost derailed when he killed a man in a duel stemming from a drunken dispute during a game of cards . Although public sentiment was against him , a judge found insufficient evidence against him to convict him of murder . In 1804 , Governor Christopher Greenup appointed Rowan Secretary of State , and he went on to serve in the Kentucky House of Representatives and the U.S. House of Representatives . 
