These noted people were born, raised or lived for a significant period of time in the city of Danville, Kentucky.

Name Noted for Michael F. Adams b. 1948 President of the University of Georgia Mary Hunt Affleck 1847–1932 American agrarian poet from Texas and a Confederate advocate Sophia Alcorn 1883–1967 Educator; invented the Tadoma method of communication with people who are deaf and blind William Anderson 1826–1861 U.S. Representative from Kentucky Joshua Fry Bell 1811–1870 U.S. Representative, Kentucky Secretary of State; namesake of Bell County, Kentucky James G. Birney 1792–1857 Abolitionist, politician and jurist James M. Birney 1817–1888 Publisher and U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands William Birney 1819–1907 Professor, Union Army general during the American Civil War, attorney and author Jeremiah Boyle 1818–1871 Lawyer, abolitionist, and brigadier general during the American Civil War John Boyle 1774–1834 U.S. federal judge and U.S. Representative; namesake of Boyle County, Kentucky John C. Breckinridge 1821–1875 U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky, Vice President of the United States, U.S. presidential candidate, Confederate States Secretary of War Robert Breckinridge 1800–1871 Kentucky politician and Presbyterian minister Neal Brown b. 1980 College football coach and former player Samuel D. Burchard 1812–1891 Clergyman Michael Burns b. 1947 Historian and actor Jewel Carmen 1897–1984 Silent film actress William Chrisman 1822–1897 Businessman and banker James Clemens, Jr. 1791–1878 Businessman and banker George B. Crittenden 1812–1880 Career Army officer who served in the Black Hawk War, the Army of the Republic of Texas, the Mexican–American War, and the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War Joseph Daveiss 1774–1811 Lawyer and soldier Todd Duncan 1903–1998 Baritone opera singer and actor Milton J. Durham 1824–1911 Representative from Kentucky Monroe Edwards 1808–1847 Slave trader, forger, swindler John Fetterman 1920–1975 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter John Baptiste Ford 1811–1903 Industrialist and founder of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company Harry Frankel 1888–1948 Minstrel performer and vaudevillian, "Singin' Sam, the Barbasol Man" Helen Fisher Frye 1918–2014 Educator and civil rights activist Speed S. Fry 1817–1892 Lawyer, judge, and U.S. Army officer during the Mexican–American War and American Civil War William Arthur Ganfield 1873–1940 Educator Alfred Goodrich Garr 1875–1944 Pentecostal Evangelist Jordan Gay b. 1990 American football player Hart Goodloe 1875–1954 Surgeon in the First World War Ashley Gorley b. 1969 Songwriter and producer Lewis W. Green 1806–1863 Presbyterian minister and educator Willis Green 1818–1893 U.s. Representative Christopher Greenup 1750–1818 U.S. Representative and Governor of Kentucky Viola Rowe Gross 1921–2012 Teacher, businesswoman, clubwoman, and author Aaron Harding 1805–1875 U.S. Representative from Kentucky John Marshall Harlan 1833–1911 U.S. Supreme Court Justice, "The Great Dissenter" Larnelle Harris b. 1947 Gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist Harvey Helm 1865–1919 U.S. Representative from Kentucky Robby Henson b. 1958 Film director and screenwriter William R. Higgins 1945–1990 U.S. Marine Corps colonel captured and killed in 1988 while on a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Edward W. Hoch 1849–1925 Governor of Kansas Jesse Lynch Holman 1784–1842 Indiana lawyer, politician, jurist, novelist, poet, city planner, and preacher Dennis Johnson b. 1979 Football player Elizabeth Topham Kennan b. 1938 Academic, president of Mount Holyoke College James Kerr 1790–1850 Politician in Missouri and Texas who was active in establishing the Republic of Texas John Kincaid 1791–1873 U.S. Representative from Kentucky J. Proctor Knott 1830–1911 U.S. Representative from Kentucky and Governor of Kentucky Travis Leffew b. 1983 Football player Robert P. Letcher 1788–1861 U.S. Representative, diplomat, and Governor of Kentucky Pierce Lively 1921–2016 U.S. federal judge James Logan 1791–1859 Arkansas pioneer Susan Shelby Magoffin 1827–1855 Diarist Sara Mahan 1870–1966 Progressive era social reformer, early Democratic Party member Maurice Manning b. 1966 Poet Jim Marshall b. 1937 Football player Claude Matthews 1845–1898 Governor of Indiana Charles McDowell, Jr. 1926–2010 Political writer and television panelist Ephraim McDowell 1771–1830 Physician, first to successfully remove an ovarian tumor Samuel McDowell 1735–1817 Soldier and early political leader in Kentucky John Gaines Miller 1812–1856 U.S. Representative from Missouri E. Belle Jackson 1848–1942 Educator and abolitionist Eddie Montgomery b. 1963 Country music artist John Michael Montgomery b. 1965 Country music artist Lottie Moon 1840–1912 Missionary to China John Norvell 1789–1850 Newspaper editor and U.S. Senator from Michigan Theodore O'Hara 1820–1867 Poet and soldier William Owsley 1782–1862 Associate justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals; Governor of Kentucky Don Phelps 1924–1982 Professional American football player Stephen Rolfe Powell 1951–2019 Glass artist Scott Pruitt b. 1968 Oklahoma Attorney General James E. Rogers Jr. 1947–2018 President and CEO of Duke Energy Joe Rue 1898–1984 Major League Baseball umpire Willis Russell 1803–1852 Emancipated slave of Revolutionary War veteran Robert Craddock, founder of first school in Danville for African-American children Alfred Ryors 1812–1858 President of Indiana University, Ohio University; professor at Centre College Hugh L. Scott 1853–1934 Superintendent of West Point, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army in World War I Julia Green Scott 1839–1923 philanthropist, socialite, and businesswoman who served as President-General of the Daughters of the American Revolution Isaac Shelby 1750–1826 First and fifth Governor of Kentucky Jonathan Shell b. 1987 Kentucky politician Thomas A. Spragens 1917–2006 Educator, president of Centre College King Swope 1893–1961 U.S. Representative from Kentucky Albert G. Talbott 1808–1887 Kentucky politician John G. Talbot 1844–1870 U.S. Navy officer Albert G. Talbott 1808–1887 U.S. Representative from Kentucky Jacob Tamme b. 1985 Football player Josh Teater b. 1979 Professional golfer Charles Stewart Todd 1791–1871 U.S. Army officer and U.S. Ambassador to Russia Thomas Todd 1765–1826 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Trey D. Songwriter and composer, born Keith McGuffey Frank X Walker b. 1961 Kentucky's first African-American Poet Laureate Margaret Anderson Watts 1832–1905 first Kentucky woman who wrote and advocated the equal rights of woman before the law DeWitt Weaver 1939–2021 Professional golfer Reed N. Weisiger 1838–1908 Texas State Senator, Confederate cavalry officer Fess Williams 1894–1975 Jazz musician Frances Harriet Williams 1898–1992 author, presidential advisor, activist, organizer for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the YWCA Phil Woolpert 1915–1987 College basketball coach Craig Yeast b. 1976 American and Canadian football player John C. Young 1803–1857 Fourth president of Centre College

See also List of people from Kentucky

References