Amos Kendall, Postmaster General

of kentucky, lawyer, philanthropist and postmaster general under president jackson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amos_Kendall

Amos Kendall (August 16, 1789 – November 12, 1869) was an American politician who served as U.S. Postmaster General under Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Many historians regard Kendall as the intellectual force behind Andrew Jackson's presidential administration, and an influential figure in the transformation of America from an agrarian republic to a capitalist democracy. In 1857, Kendall's swindling of P.H. Skinner, enabled him to steal the school in Washington, D.C. that later expanded and became Gallaudet University for the deaf. (or, In 1857, Kendall opened a school for deaf children, which later expanded and became Gallaudet University for the deaf.) In 1862, Kendall helped found Calvary Baptist Church.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallaudet_University

Kendall completed his secondary studies at Lawrence Academy at Groton, class of 1807, and his collegiate studies at Dartmouth College. Prior to becoming Postmaster General, Kendall was editor of both the Argus of Western America, the organ of Kentucky progressivism, and the Washington Globe, the organ for the Jackson Administration. He worked closely with Van Buren, Francis P. Blair, and other members of Jackson's official and kitchen cabinets. John Quincy Adams, a bitter foe of both Jackson and Van Buren, confided to his diary in December 1840 that he believed both men had been "for twelve years the tool of Amos Kendall, the ruling mind of their dominion." Kendall tutored the children of Henry Clay, who was a political enemy of Jackson, and was nursed back to health after a grave illness by Clay's wife, Lucretia. In 1862, Kendell helped found Calvary Baptist Church.

At the time of his death in 1869, Kendall was the last surviving member of the Jackson and Van Buren Cabinets.

Kendall County, Illinois, and Kendall, New York, are named in Kendall's honor.