 He died of a fever the day before his trial in August 1828.Another controversial issue during Desha's tenure was his disdain for Horace Holley, president of Transylvania University.From the time Holley assumed the post of president in 1818, the university had risen to national prominence and attracted well-qualified and well-respected faculty members such as Constantine Samuel Rafinesque, Daniel Drake, Charles Caldwell, William T. Barry, and Jesse Bledsoe.