Daniel Carmichael Wickcliffe was born in Lexington, Kentucky, on March 15, 1810. He graduated from Transylvania at age seventeen. He studied law and became an attorney in Winchester.
In 1838, he became the editor and owner of the "Lexington Observer & Reporter" and remained in charge of the newspaper for twenty-seven years. In 1862, he became Secretary of State in the administration of Governor James F. Robinson. In 1865, he retired from journalism.
He was a strong supporter of Henry Clay, belonging to the proslavery wing of the Whig Party. He opposed any emancipationist doctrines in the state constitution of 1849. During the Civil War, he acted with the Democratic Party.
Daniel Wickcliffe married Virginia Cooper of Lexington on November 25, 1844; her father was a Methodist minister in Lexington.
Daniel Wickcliffe died on May 3, 1870. He is buried in Lexington Cemetery, Section R.
References:
"Biographical Encyclopedia," (1878), pg 348;
H. Levin, "Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky," (1897), pgs 680-81;
Obituaries: "Kentucky Gazette," May 11, 1870, and "Kentucky Statesman," May 6, 1870.