Preston Samuel Loughborough Adjutant General of Kentucky: 29 January 1828 - 10 December 1829
Born in Franklin County, Kentucky , in 1802. Kentucky's first native-born Adjutant General. The son of Thomas V. and Elizabeth “Betsy” (Samuel) Loughborough.
Preston S. Loughborough received his early education in Frankfort. He attended Transylvania University where he was a classmate of Jefferson Davis. Loughborough left Transylvania in September 1824, when Governor Joseph Desha appointed him assistant secretary of state under William T. Berry. Subsequently, Barry was succeeded by James C. Pickett, and Governor Desha again named Loughborough to the position of assistant secretary of state.
In 1824, Loughborough began his law practice in Kentucky. He became known as an intelligent man of great industry and a good pleader at the bar.
On 14 May 1825, Loughborough served as one of the managers of the ball held in the home of Captain Weisinger to honor General Lafayette's visit to the city of Frankfort. Loughborough married Miss Ann C. “Nancy” Haggin on 13 September 1827.
On 29 January 1828, Loughborough was commissioned by Governor Desha, a Colonel in the Kentucky Militia, the third Adjutant General of Kentucky. He continued in office until 10 December 1829, when he resigned to accept a position with the U.S. Postal Service in Washington. Loughborough became the first chief Postal Inspector of the United States, serving in that post until 1840.
Returning to Kentucky Loughborough initial re-established his law practice in Frankfort. In 1842, he wrote the legal epic, “Loughborough's Digest of the Statute Laws of Kentucky, with Reference to Judicial Decisions.” In the spring of 1845, Loughborough along with other prominent public figures wrote to Captain Nathan Boone in Missouri to permit Kentucky to return the remains of his parents, Daniel and Rebecca Boone, for interment in the Frankfort Cemetery.
In 1846, Nancy Loughborough died, her death had a profound effect on Loughborough, he moved his law practice to Louisville. In 1848 Transylvania University recognized Loughborough's accomplishments by conferring upon him the LL.D. degree, the doctoral degree of laws.
From 1846 to 1853, Loughborough was appointed as the United States District Attorney for Kentucky. Also during this time Loughborough was hired by the University of Louisville to establish the School of Law for the university.
In 1850, Governor John J. Crittenden appointed Loughborough, along with 3 other prominent Kentucky lawyers to revise the rules of civil and criminal law practice in Kentucky. Loughborough was unable to complete this due to health problems. Loughborough married his second wife on 13 February 1851, Eliza P. Yandell of Louisville.
In late 1851, he was hospitalized. In October of 1851, Loughborough's brother-in-law traveled to Kentucky to bring him to his home in Liberty, Clay County, Missouri. It was thought a change of location and being with his favorite sister might help improve his health. On 2 February 1852, Preston Loughborough took his own life, he was buried on the farm of his sister in rural Clay County, Missouri.