List of Transylvania University alumni

William T. Barry, United States Postmaster General
John C. Breckinridge, Vice President of the United States, graduated 1841
Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, also President of the Confederate States of America; transferred to West Point in 1823
Richard Mentor Johnson, Vice President of the United States
James Speed, Attorney General under Abraham Lincoln, graduated in 1833

David Rice Atchison, Missouri (1843–1855), graduated 1825
Francis Preston Blair Jr., Missouri (1871–1873), studied law in 1841
Jesse Bledsoe, Kentucky (1813–1814)
Lewis V. Bogy, Missouri (1873–1877), graduated 1835
B. Gratz Brown, Missouri (1863–1867), also 20th Governor of Missouri, graduated in 1845
Jesse D. Bright, Indiana (1845–1862)
Alexander Campbell, Ohio (1809–1813)
Happy Chandler, Kentucky (1939–1945), also Governor of Kentucky and Commissioner of Baseball
Jeremiah Clemens, Alabama (1849–1853)
Solomon W. Downs, Louisiana (1847–1853), graduated in 1823
William M. Gwin, California (1850–1855, 1857–1861), graduated with a medical degree in 1828
Edward A. Hannegan, Indiana (1843–1849)
Martin D. Hardin, Kentucky (1816–1817)
Josiah S. Johnston, Louisiana (1824–1833), graduated in 1802
George Wallace Jones, Iowa (1848–1859)
Samuel McRoberts, Illinois (1841–1843)
Lazarus W. Powell, Kentucky (1859–1865), also Governor of Kentucky
William Alexander Richardson, Illinois (1863–1865), graduated in 1831
John M. Robinson, Illinois (1830–1841)
Marcus A. Smith, Arizona (1912–1921), graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1872 and a law degree in 1876
William A. Trimble, Ohio (1819–1821), graduated 1810^[2]
Joseph R. Underwood, Kentucky (1847–1853), graduated 1811
George Graham Vest, Missouri (1879–1903), Confederate, U.S. Congressman, Senator, and prominent lawyer, graduated in 1853.
Richard Yates, Illinois (1865–1871), also Governor of Illinois, studied law

Luke P. Blackburn, 28th Governor of Kentucky, graduated with a medical degree in 1835
Thomas James Churchill, 13th Governor of Arkansas,^[3] studied law at Transylvania University at some time between 1844 and 1846.
Henry Connelly, Territorial Governor of New Mexico, graduated with a medical degree in 1828
Henry D. Cooke, 1st Governor of the District of Columbia (1871–1873), graduated 1844
Thomas Ford, 8th Governor of Illinois, studied law
Beriah Magoffin, Governor of Kentucky,^[4] earned law degree in 1838
Stevens T. Mason (1811–1843), Governor of Michigan 1835–1840, attended circa 1830
Charles S. Morehead, Governor of Kentucky, graduated in 1820
James Fisher Robinson, Governor of Kentucky
Wilson Shannon, 14th and 16th Governor of Ohio

Silas Adams, Kentucky (1893–1895)
Landaff Andrews, Kentucky (1839–1843), graduate 1826
John Edward Bouligny, Louisiana (1859–1861)
William Orlando Butler, Kentucky (1839–1843), Democratic VP nominee in 1848, and U.S. Army major general
James Brown Clay, Kentucky (1857–1859), also U.S. Ambassador to Portugal
David Grant Colson, Kentucky (1895–1899)
John J. Hardin, Illinois (1843–1845)
Guy U. Hardy, Colorado (1919–1933)
Carter Harrison Sr., Illinois (1875–1879), also Mayor of Chicago, graduated with a law degree in 1855
Richard Hawes, Kentucky (1837–1841), also Confederate Governor of Kentucky
James S. Jackson, Kentucky (1861), graduated with law degree in 1845
John Telemachus Johnson, Kentucky (1821–1825)
Nathaniel Pope, Illinois (1819–1821)
George Robertson, Kentucky (1817–1821)
James S. Rollins, Missouri (1861–1865), "Father of the University of Missouri", graduated in 1834
Green C. Smith, Kentucky (1863–1866), also Territorial Governor of Montana, graduated 1849
William Wright Southgate, Kentucky (1837–1839)

Claria Horn Boom, District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky and United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky
Karen K. Caldwell, Chief United States District Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky
John Marshall Harlan, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, graduated in 1853 and was the first justice to have earned a modern law degree.^[5]
Samuel Freeman Miller, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court; graduated with medical degree in 1838
Nancy L. Allf, Judge, Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada
Ninian Edwards Gray, Judge, Kentucky Circuit Courts, also spent time as Attorney of the State

Stephen F. Austin, founder of Texas, graduated in 1810
James G. Birney, abolitionist, politician and jurist
Francis Preston Blair, co-founder of the Republican Party, graduated 1811
Levi Boone, mayor of Chicago, graduated from medical school in 1829
Cassius Marcellus Clay, abolitionist, state legislator, and ambassador to Russia, graduated in 1831
Andrew Jackson Donelson, U.S. Ambassador to Prussia
Thomas Burton Hanly, Arkansas state legislator and judge, CSA Congressman, graduated in 1834
Teresa Isaac, mayor of Lexington, Kentucky, 2002–2006
George W. Johnson, Confederate "governor" of Kentucky and Kentucky State Representative, received three degrees from Transylvania University: an A.B. in 1829, an LL.B. in 1832, and an M.A. in 1833
George B. Kinkead, Kentucky Secretary of State (1846–1847)
Gustav Koerner, U.S. Minister to Spain and Lt. Governor of Illinois, studied law in 1834 and 1835
John Calvin McCoy, founder of Kansas City, Missouri, studied 1826–1827
Daniel Mongiardo, Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky
Steve Nunn, former member of the Kentucky House of Representatives
Robert Smith Todd, member of the Kentucky Senate, father of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln
Susan Tyler Witten, Kentucky state representative^[6]

John Breckinridge Castleman, a Confederate officer who later rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the U.S. Army, studied law there immediately before the outbreak of the Civil War
Carl Rogers Darnall, U.S. Brigadier General credited with originating the technique of liquid chlorination of drinking water
Ethelbert Ludlow Dudley, prominent physician and Union military commander in the Civil War, graduated in 1842 and joined the staff of the Medical School
Basil Duke,^[7] graduated the school of law in 1858. Later married Henrietta Morgan, sister of John Hunt Morgan, in 1861. Basil became a lieutenant in Morgan's Second Kentucky Cavalry. After Morgan's death, he was promoted to brigade commander. He later practiced law in Louisville, Kentucky and served as counsel for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. He was elected to the state legislature in 1869
Richard Montgomery Gano, Confederate General
Albert Sidney Johnston, Confederate General
Arthur D. Nicholson, United States Army officer shot and killed by a Soviet sentry in 1985 while conducting intelligence activities in East Germany
Jerome B. Robertson, Confederate General, Texas politician, graduated in 1835
George Shannon, member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
Joseph O. Shelby, Confederate major general during the American Civil War, graduated 1850

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