A History of Masonry in Madison County, Kentucky 1812-1913, compiled and 
written by Robert R. Burnam, 1914, p. 52.

DANIEL BRECK, was born in Topsfield, Massachusetts, May 12, 1788.  Was 
sprung from distinguished and Revolutionary ancestry, his father having 
been a chaplain in the Revolutionary Army, serving under Montgomery and 
Arnold at Quebec.  His education was gained by hard work.  Teaching and 
going to school alternately he entered Dartmouth College in 1808.  He 
graduated with high honor from this famous instituition in 1812.  
	Like many other New England youths he was attracted to the 
rapidly growing "Middle West" and determined to cast his lot with the 
people of a State whose growing fame already offered every avenue 
leading to distinction.  Mr. Clay had fairly launched his long career of 
political leadership.  Doctor Ephriam McDowell had startled the medical 
and surgical world by successfully performing an operation for the 
extirpation of an ovarian tumor, the first on record--1800. 
Transylvania University at Lexington had begun to attract the attention 
of educators east as well as west of the mountains.  The beauty of the 
landscape, the fertility of the soil, the desperate struggle necessary 
to win Kentucky from a savage foe, all cast around her a glamour and 
romance wonderfully attractive to those who sought a home.  Thus young 
Breck, allured by such attractoins, wended his way from his far-off New 
England home, traveling by stage, on horseback and boat.  He stopped for 
a while in the County of Bourbon, but about 1814 came to Richmond, where 
for a while he taught a writing school.He had already studied law, and 
here he began his practice.  There are many stories still extant of his 
early career in Madison, all of which illustrated in a marked degree 
both his courage and his "Yankee" wit, as well as his marked ability.  
His solution of a very diffcult arithmetical problem by means of a 
simple algebraic equation surprised an old school teacher and spread his 
fame abroad. 
	As far as the writer has been able to discover he was one of two 
college graduates in the County of his adoption when he settled there.  
He represented Madison County five times in the Kentucky House of 
Representatives and was always a strong advocate of both internal 
improvement and education.  He was one of the original trustees of the 
Madison Male Seminary, being one of those who called a meeting of the 
citizens of Richmond for its organization in 1824.  He served as trustee 
for a number of years of Transylvania University.  He secured the 
charter for the Richmond & Lexington Turnpike and was the main factor in 
having it built.  He forced the building of the bridge at Clay's Ferry 
over the river against the protest of many of the stockholders of the 
turnpike out of its "war" dividends.  He was appointed Judge of the 
Appellate Court of Kentucky by Governor Owsley in 1841 and served until 
legislatd out of the office by the Constitution of 1849. He also served 
one term in the National House of Representatives. 
	He married a daughter of General Levi Todd, one of Kentucky's 
most distinguished pioneers, and reared a large family. A man of 
splendid presence, grave manners, yet wonderfully companionable with his 
associates, he left an impress on his community which still survives.  
During the Civil War he was a positive Union man and a personal friend 
as well as relative by marriage of Mr. Lincoln.  He died February 4, 
1871, and is buried in the Richmond Cemetery.
	He was made a Mason in Richmond Lodge February 10, 1816, 
passed March 16, and raised April 2, 1816.  Was elected Master June, 
1819, after having served a year as Senior Warden, and was reelected in 
June, 1820.  He was the first Master to serve two years and this honor 
was merited by the growth of the Lodge during his first term.  He was 
elected Grand Master of the State August 29, 1827.  His administration 
of the affairs of the Grand Lodge was like unto  his administration of 
the local Lodge, crowned with success.  He was the second Grand Master 
furnished by No. 25.  In 1821 Judge Breck organized what was then known 
as a Mark Lodge and became its Right Worshipful Master.  This Lodge was 
subsequently merged into the Chapter of Royal Arch Masons and his name 
appears first on the roster as High Priest.  These facts manifest his 
interest in the various branches of the Order.  It can be justly said 
hat he was one of the great men furnished by New England to Kentucky 
during the first half of the nineteenth century.

Breck Clay McDowell Todd Lincoln
=
Topsfield-MA Fayette-KY Bourbon-KY

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/madison/breck.d.txt