George B. Kinkead

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George B. Kinkead (1811–1877) was an American lawyer and Kentucky politician who served as Secretary of State of Kentucky from 1846 to 1847.

Early life
Kinkead was born on September 25, 1811, in Cane Springs, Woodford County, Kentucky. He was the son of John Kinkead and Margaret Blackburn. He studied law at Transylvania University, graduating in 1830.

Career
He started his own law practice in 1833 with Garret Davis. In 1838, Governor James Clark appointed him Commonwealth’s Attorney for Frankfort. In 1846, Governor William Owsley named him Secretary of State, replacing Benjamin Hardin, who contested his removal.

Views
Kinkead supported slavery and the idea of sending former slaves to Africa, but he did not support Kentucky seceding from the Union.

Family
On December 21, 1846, he married Eliza Anderson Pearce at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Louisville. They had fourteen children.

Notable work
In March 1850, Kinkead became attorney for Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. He successfully represented Lincoln in 1855 in a dispute over fees before the Civil War.

Death
George B. Kinkead died on November 11, 1877, in Lexington, Kentucky. His wife Eliza died in 1904.