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Rh harbor, and did not obtain their release until the close of the war. Soon after this they plunged into the Western wilderness as surveyors, and finally settled in Jefferson County, Kentucky, near the site of Louisville. Here they soon became prominent. Alexander Breckinridge was elected to the Kentucky convention of 1787, and then moved away. Robert Breckinridge became an officer in the active and efficient militia, which under the inefficient policy of Virginia, bore the whole burden of protecting the frontier from Indian forays, and rose steadily till he became a general officer. He began his political career in the Virginia House of Delegates, where he represented his county. His next service was in the Virginia Constitutional Convention, where he manfully stood for ratification despite the strong anti-federal sentiments of the district of Kentucky. His colleague from Jefferson County also voted for ratification, as did Humphrey Marshall, of Fayette, the remaining eleven votes being cast against it. His action though unpopular at the time, won him reputation in the future and insured his election to the convention which draughted the first constitution of his State and to the first legislature. Upon the assembling of that legislature he was chosen speaker of the house, which post he held by repeated reelections until he retired from politics at the end of his fourth session. He was thus at the summit of his influence when his brother came to Kentucky, and he left no stone unturned to aid him and further his advancement.