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members of the Legislature, & it was distinctly
understood that the district was formed for the
benefit of Mr. Montgomery. It was expected he
would be elected without opposition. Mr. Quarles
having made a remark to that effect & that he could beat any man in the district in the presence of my friend Colo. Newelle, he implied
that he did not think so - he believed (he said)
that Majr. Taul of Wayne, could beat him.
Quarles treated the suggestion as perfectly ridicu-
lous - said Montgomery could beat me in my
own county. Colo. N. told me of the conversation
without however any serious expectation of my
offering. My pride was offended, & my ambition
somewhat excited & in a very short time, after
consulting with a few friends, I determined to be
a candidate and immediately set out, on a can-
vass over the district. I prepared & circulated a
short, pithy circular letter, that took well. I
regret that I cannot find a copy of it. The
first places I met Mr. Montgomery was at Rock-
castle County & I at once saw what I had to de-
pend on - an unpleasant electioneering campaign.
Mr. Montgomery was my senior, by as I suppose
about ten years. He was probably born in Lincoln
County, the oldest, I think in the state; at any rate
he was raised there, & was allied by blood & mar-
riage to several of the most wealthy & influen-
tial families in the country, amongst them
the Logans. He was a lawyer of good standing
but not a good speaker - & of unimpeachable cha-
racter & had a good practice in every county in
the district - but he was a cold hearted, unsecure[?]
& rather a repulsive man. Not expecting opposi-
tion, when I met him at Rockcastle Court, where
he was well acquainted, & I an entire stranger
& saluted him respectfully after shaking hands
he turned from me, disdainfully with-
out speaking to me. We had never been inti-
mate, altho' he had practiced law in Wayne from
its organization in 1801 and we had attended