USA > Kentucky > Hardin County > Elizabethtown > A history of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, and its surroundings > Part 12
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At the death of his father he inherited the old homestead. On the advent of the Geoghegan family he sold them his farm and settled at the folks of Otter Creek, where he built a large stone house and resided in it until late in life. When all his children had married and left him he then sold out, and with his wife, resided with his son John until
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he died. He was rather an extraordinary man, of true patriarchal stamp. He was always regarded as a firm pillar of the church, and during seventy-eight years of his membership he was never under church censure or discipline. He departed this life on the 12th day of December, 1850, in his eighty-ninth year, having been a member seventy- eight years, and forty-five of the time a Deacon, leaving thirteen chil- dren, the youngest upward of forty years of age. Out of his ten sons seven were Deacons in the Baptist Church. Three days before his death he led at the family altar of his son John. His prayer was uttered with great fervency and was protracted beyond the usual length. At the close he had to be assisted from his knees. The family offered to put him to bed, but he would not permit, saying that he wanted to speak of the goodness of God; and he sat in his chair he repeated hymn after hymn from Watts. The family remarked that they had never heard him repeat them before. He said that the Lord had strengthened his memory and brought to his mind hymns that he had learned sixty years before. Like Moses on Mount Pisgah, sight was strengthened to view the promised land. He had often prayed to be released from the pangs of death. A few minutes before his death he exclaimed, "the light! the light!" His daughter-in-law, who was at his bed side, supposing that the light of the window disturbed him, offered to close the blinds. "O, no," said he, waving his hand, "the glory of God filled the house ; he has kept me under the hollow of his hand from a child." Then adjusting himself for burial, closed his mouth and eyes, crossing his arms, with his right hand upon his heart, without a struggle or a groan, and evidently without a pang, like a shock full ripe, was gathered to his father. Thus lived and thus died the last survivor of the old pioneers of the Church at Elizabethtown, a godly man and a shining light.
Abraham W. Vanmeter, son of the last-named, Jacob, was born in Hardin county, two miles from Elizabethtown, April 1, 1789. He resided in Hardin county up to the year 1831, when he removed to Tazwell county, Illinois, where, in 1866, he lost his faithful wife, who for sixty years had been a Christian helpmate in the true sense of the word. Shortly after the death of his wife he sold out and took up residence with his son, Edward A. Vanmeter, a merchant at Burling- ton, Iowa, and resided there in great peace and tranquility until his
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death, on the IIth day of November, 1868, in the eightieth year of his age. He embraced religion at an early age, and was a true pattern of Christian piety, and aided much in building up the church wherever he lived. He was the father-in-law of the Rev. Doctor Weston, an eminent preacher of the City of New York, and was the father of the Rev. Wm. C. Vanmeter, now of the same city, who is known nearly world-wide for his labors in the Five Points in that city, and then in the Howard Mission, in another ward. He has been the most laborious and untiring man in gathering up little cast-off wanderers, snatching them from degradation and vice, and to the number of many hundreds procured genteel homes in the West, and mostly in Christian families ; others were taken care of in the city, clothed, fed and educated.
W. V. Vanmeter, in furthering his plans of benevolence, has visited London and Paris and many cities in Europe. But the scene of his ardu- ous labors has been in the city of New York. A full account of his labors and the stirring scenes through which he passed would make a volume of thrilling interest.
It would require a volume to give a history of all the Vanmeters, but the object of this history will not allow it. They constitute a tribe or nation to themselves, and this number must suffice for that family, and I hope that my friend and relation, Doctor Samuel Van- meter, of Charleston, Indiana, will not take exception to my not saying how he rose to fame and wealth in his profession; he can take care of himself.
CHAPTER XXXV
Among the remarkable men, who at an early date were citizens of Elizabethtown, might be named the late John Morris, Esq. He came to Elizabethtown about the year 1812, when about twenty-three years of age, then an active, stout man. He was an Irishman by birth, and was an excellent hatter, and commenced as a journeyman of the late Hon. Horace Waide, who was also a hatter, and at that period, was an assistant Judge of the Hardin Circuit Court. At the death of Judge Waide, Morris commenced a shop on his own account. He was an industrious honest man, and prided himself on being able to make a hat that would last a careful man four or five years.
In those days Sunday hats were not worn every day, and some hats
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of that description would be kept on hand in tolerable credit for ten years. The fashions did not change so often as they do now-days; they were the bell-crown style, very high, and contained as much ma- terial as is now used in three, and a man could put in the crown two dozen apples, and a half dozen eggs and walk ahead without sus- picion of a cargo aloft. This fashion was found convenient to boys who visited orchards or hens' nests. Morris was a generous, social man, but the Irish blood which predominated in his veins, made him a quick, high-tempered man, and in his youthful days he frequently broke over bounds. He was raised in a Presbyterian family in Cincinnati, and al- though wicked, was taught to hold in high reverence preachers of the gospel, and to pay due respect to religious services. As a striking in- stance of his habits, by some means a coolness existed between him and the Rev. George L. Rogers, a Methodist preacher, so that they were not on speaking terms. His shop was diagonally across the street from Rogers, who was also a wheelwright and turner. While Morris was working a hat in the kettle, preparatory to blocking, some man at the time was in front of the preacher's door, abusing and cursing him in a violent manner. This attracting Morris' attention he stepped to the door and in a very decided manner informed the man, that if he had his hat out of the kettle he would thrash him for cursing the preacher. The man replied that he would wait on him and see who could whip. Morris, in a short time, got his hat out, and stepped into the street with his sleeves already rolled up; they engaged in a fight and Morris chas- tised him by terrible blows and dexterous kicking, until the fellow was completely subdued, and then told to go his way and mind how he cursed a preacher again.
A few years after this Morris married a Miss Mollie Larue, by whom he raised a family of children; and they lived together in great comfort. One of his sons, William L. Morris, studied and practiced law, but afterwards was an able Baptist preacher. Morris being a man of high integrity was appointed a Justice of the Peace, and then Sheriff of the county, and finally elected County Judge. He proved to be a man of fine business habits, and was called upon to act as guardian, administrator and executor of more estates than any other man in the county, all of which he closed to a cent. When he took up an opinion upon any subject, it was next thing to an impossibility
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to move him from it, and the argument of lawyers before him had very little weight. On the trial of some case before him, he had listened with impatience and disgust at the speaking of three lawyers. Young Owen Thomas, the attorney who had the conclusion, arose to speak, when the Judge said, "See here, Owen, you may speak if you like, but I tell you my mind is made up." He said his aim was always for justice and the law ought always to bend to justice.
On one occasion, a man was tried before him for stealing a colt- a witness for the defendant was evidently swearing to downright falsehoods, until the Judge losing all patience said, "See here, my good fellow, you are swearing to a pack of lies-stop right there, and begin on a new platform and tell the truth, or I will leave this bench and give you a thrashing." And thereupon, the fellow being alarmed, commenced again and told an entirely different tale, with something like the semblance of truth. "Now," says the Judge, "that looks a little more like the truth, but you are such a liar, that I have not full faith in your story yet, and I will guess at the matter myself."
On another occasion, a party in the country was out on a coon and opossum hunt, and got on a general drunk, and late in the night laid down in the woods and slept until day. On awaking at daylight, one of the party saw his coffee pot in the ring and asked how it got there, One of the party, a negro man, answered that he had brought the whisky out in it. The owner of the coffee pot went to Squire Morris, and took out a warrant against the negro for stealing his coffee pot. The whole party were arrayed before the Squire, and he patiently listened to all their tales, after which he arose from his seat and re- marked that from their own showing they were all a low, dirty pack of good-for-nothing fellows, and now every one of you forthwith leave my office, or I will kick every one of you out, which was in due time accordingly done.
In 1832, Squire Morris joined the Baptist church, and after this he deserved great credit for the command over his temper ; made a useful member up to his death-he was the most earnest man in his profes- sion-knew no guile, but was truly a matter of fact man, as well in the church as in public life-he was liberal in his contributions and his house was the preacher's home. He married the second time- his last wife was of the Edwards family-was the widow of Isaac
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Adair, and the first and last wife, added much to his domestic com- forts, and they always met his friends in a pleasant hospitable manner. His second wife also died before him. He was born on the 27th day of March, 1789, and died on the 6th day of March, 1865, and his death was a serious loss to the town and church.
Rev. John Pirtle was born in Berkley county, Virginia, on the 14th day of November, 1772; was married to Amelia Fitzpatrick, a native of Hampshire county. He determined at once to come to Kentucky. Here I will take the liberty of quoting a paragraph from Redford's History of Methodism in Kentucky.
"In those days it was the habit of persons who intended coming to this country to rendezvous for more than fifty miles around, at some place appointed, and travel in company with arms in their hands. Mr. Pirtle and his wife, both young and recently married, had come to one of these points of meeting, and found they had mistaken the day-that the company had gone two days before. But as they had determined to come to Kentucky, and had received the blessing of their friends at the home they had wept for at parting, they resolved that they would not go back, they would come to Kentucky, and accordingly he with his rifle on his shoulder, on one horse with a pack under him, and his wife on another horse with a pack under her, traversed the solitary wilderness, and crossed the mountains alone; not on the old wilderness road, but on the old wilderness path, till they came to Crab Orchard. Then every rustle of the leaves or crack of a stick in the deep woods, might well have been taken for the whereabouts of the prowling savage.
He settled in Washington county, Kentucky, and in the year 1799 removed to Elizabethtown, where he taught a school a short time, and acted as deputy clerk for Major Ben. Helm.
I was then quite young, and had an idea that it was the duty of every school master to slash every boy he met, and as I have pre- viously remarked, always passed in double quick on the other side of the street.
Mr. Pirtle removed back to Washington county in 1802. In the year 1809 he connected himself with the Methodist Episcopal church, and became a powerful preacher. He was a man of natural eloquence, and of impressive personal appearance. And the celebrated Barnabas
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McHenry said that he had the best voice he ever heard, and the late Rev. Marcus Lindsay, who was himself an able divine, in preaching his funeral after his (Pirtle's) death in 1826, said he was of the clearest intellect and strongest mind he had ever known.
He was a man of expansive and vigorous mind-well trained and methodical. He had remarkable talents in mathematics and especially delighted in astronomy, and so profound was his knowledge of that abstruse science, that he could make his calculations in it as easily and rapidly (says his son, Judge Pirtle), as he could in arithmetic.
After settling in Washington county the second time, says Mr. Redford, he raised a large family of children, all of whom except one became members of the Methodist church.
CHAPTER XXXVI
In my last number I spoke considerably at length of that remark- able man, John Pirtle. When he removed to this town, his son, the Hon. Henry Pirtle, was a small babe, and as he was once an infant citizen of our town, I take the liberty of saying a few words about him. He was born in Washington county, Kentucky, on the 5th day of November, 1798, and was carried in his mother's arms to Elizabeth- town in 1799. When he approached manhood he studied law under the. Hon. John Rowan, at Federal Hill, Bardstown, Ky., commenced the practice of law at Hartford, Ohio county, and soon after removed to Louisville. After becoming established, he was appointed Judge of the Circuit Court and General Court, and held that office from October, 1826, to January 2, 1832, when he resigned. Again, 1846, he was ap- pointed Circuit Judge, but held the office only one term, and resigned. Gov. Crittenden then appointed him Chancellor of the Louisville Chan- cery Court in March, 1850. He was then elected under the new Con- stitution, and held the place until 1856, was re-elected in 1862, and held this office until 1868. All the time he was Judge or Chancellor he devoted to the practice of law. He was a State Senator from 1840 to 1843, being the only political office he ever held.
In 1846 the law department of the University of Louisville was or- ganized, and he was made Professor. He still occupies the chair, and
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lectures twice a week to two classes, and in that situation he takes great pleasure.
After this history it will be needless to say that Judge Pirtle is a profound lawyer and able jurist, and through a course of many years, has deservedly held the high esteem and confidence of the community, well befitting the descendant of the Rev. John Pirtle, whose advent into Kentucky with his heroic young wife entitled them to a niche in the temple of fame second only to the immortal Daniel Boone.
And as the old house in which he resided in Elizabethtown has be- come classic, I must be indulged in giving a short history of it and its occupants. The lot containing one half an acre was originally pur- chased of the trustees on the 10th day of September, 1798, at the Statutory price of an oath, five shillings. Rawlings hastily put up a hewed log house, about twenty feet square, without a chimney, the timber of which, or most of it, being cut down upon the lot. That was done in 1798-99. In 1799 John Pirtle rented it and moved into it, and lived in it until 1802. After passing through several hands, on the 8th day of March, 1804, it fell into the hands of Samuel Patton, who married a daughter of Major Wells, of Revolutionary fame. Pat- ton lived in it until 1806, during which time he put up a brick chimney, and on the back of the chimney inscribed these letters: "S. P. 1806," and that chimney to this day fixes the locality of the alley running by it.
In 1806 Patton sold it to John Davidson, from Virginia. He resided in it until 1809, and during that time weatherboarded the house and hid the "S. P. 1806"; so that it did not see the light of day for sixty- four years, and then only looked out for one day, and was shut up again. In 1809 John Davidson sold it to his brother Thomas, who only lived in it one year ; and in 1810 he sold it to John Eccles, Esq., who was originally a shoe and boot maker, but was then a lawyer of some note.
Eccles resided in it until the 19th day of February, 1814, when he sold it to Gen. Duff Green, who resided in it until 1817. He has since be- come known world-wide.
In 1817 Gen. Green sold the premises to Elias Rector, of Missouri. Rector never lived in it, but sold the property to the late Hon. Benjamin Chapeze, a distinguished lawyer. He resided in the house until the 14th of April, 1828, when he sold it to Thomas J. Walker, a soldier, who
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resided in it until shortly before his death. The house has had numer- ous tenants in it of short periods. One of them was Montgomery Mason, a hatter. On the 17th day of June, 1835, the present occupant, Dr. Harvey Slaughter, purchased the property of Wathen's executors, and resided in it ever since. The Doctor at various periods, made sev- eral additions and alterations but it still had an antiquated appearance, by no means suited to the Doctor's taste, he being an eminent physician, a literary man, and fond of the poets ; but still his house was on a par with those of most of his neighbors, and he philosophically submitted to its rural appearance, with the majestic locusts before the house, which embosomed the building and lent something of majesty and the grandeur of the feudal times of old England and sometimes pallisad- ing or entrenching himself behind the poet who sang :
"I knew by the smoke that so gracefully curled Above the green elms, that a cottage was near ;
And I said, if there's peace to be found in the world, The heart that is humble, might hope for it here."
So it stood for thirty-five years. But it so turned out, in the course of human events, that in August, 1869, a great portion of the town was burned down; and upon the ruins sprang up, like a Phoenix, new and tasty houses, and many houses, such as Dr. Warfield's, Dr. Short's, Hewitt's, Prof. Heagan's, Judge Cofer's, Capt. Bell's and Commissioner Gunter's, in addition to the fine business houses in the popular part of the town.
The Doctor looked out upon this, it became the last feather on the camel's back, and he determined to stand it no longer, and called in the aid of Architect Turner, and off came the old weather-boarding. And such a remodeling and demolishing of the old place, and such a metamorphosing has not been witnessed in the town for seventy-eight years. The tall windows, weighted sashes, magnificent doors, splendid Venetian blinds, chaste and heavy cornices-the whole matter rear- ranged, renovated and renewed-walls painted a dazzling white, window blinds a heavy drab, sash cherry color, with French glass ; nothing gaudy about it, but presents a sober, chaste and classic appearance.
The Doctor still retains and protects the venerable trees before his domicile with all the sacred care that the ancient Druids did their grand old oaks in their mountain fastnesses.
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Thomas W. Nicholson, a schoolmaster, came to Elizabethtown about the year 1805. He wrote a splendid hand, was a tolerable English scholar, a strict disciplinarian, and understood the use of the birch to perfection. He was rather a dandy for that day, and wore a fine blue cloth coat and ruffled shirt, and buckskin pants of elaborate finish. These pants he regularly covered with yellow ochre on every Saturday, and usually spent half the day drying them, and he considered them the height of gentility. He preserved strict order in his school; and as it was the custom in those days for boys to walk several miles to school, they brought their dinner in baskets, which were all put on a bench, and each boy or girl stood in front of his or her basket. Thomas Kennedy, being the largest, stood at the head, and repeated with solemn face, these words: "Sanctify, we beseech Thee, O Lord, these creatures to our use, and ourselves to Thy service, for Christ's sake. Amen."
Nicholson brought with him a fine black horse. At the end of nine months a report reached the town that the horse had not been fairly obtained. This report coming to Nicholson's ears, he departed one night with his horse, leaving a trunk of clothing and his tuition fees uncollected, and has never been heard of since, now 65 years.
Samuel Stevenson was about the next in order of succession of teach- ers in Elizabethtown. He came about the year 1806, and, on the old system, was a good teacher. He taught about two years quite a large school. His course was mostly spelling, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and geography. He, however, had a class of seven in Latin. I was one of that class; and although I passed inspection in parsing lessons, yet it was all mechanical, and I do not now profess to know anything about it; and I feel confident that the same class, under the improved method of instruction, would have acquired a bet- ter knowledge of the language in three months at Lynnland Institute or Cecilia College, than our class did in two years.
Mr. Stevenson next took up tavern-keeping and then merchandising, and I think served one year in the Legislature. He was a quiet, well conducted gentleman, and a worthy man. He lived in our town per- haps ten years or more. After he left I lost sight of him.
CHAPTER XXXVII
General Duff Green was an extraordinary man, and I very much
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regret that my sketch of him must be very imperfect, and cannot expect to do justice to him; he was an aspiring, ambitious man, and changed his residence so often, and occupied such a conspicuous position in this world that I am not able to trace him.
He was the son of William Green, then of Cumberland county, Ky. When quite a young man, perhaps not fully of age in the year 1811, he came to Elizabethtown and made up a fine school-and perhaps fol- lowed that occupation for about two years-he was a strict disci- plinarian, and in accordance with the custom of that day, made free use of the rod. He was very decisive in his measures, and used no partiality between the children of the rich and the poor-order and discipline at all hazard had to be observed. John L. Helm, the future Governor and distinguished politician was one of his pupils, and on one occasion did violate, or was supposed to violate some of the rules of the school. Mr. Green called him up, and young Helm having already developed some of the firmness which marked his future course, refused to apologize or explain-the consequence was a severe flagellation which was borne without flinching, and was the more severe on account of what Green took to be stubbornness.
Helm bore it in mind and determined in his own mind if he ever reached manhood to return the flogging with interest. It was many years after Green left before they met again. Then matters had changed; Green was high in the world, and the Governor had also attracted much public attention. When they did meet Green was the first to recognize his old pupil, and met him with such open armed cordiality that it was an affectionate embrace instead of a fight. At the time Green came to Elizabethtown I was a boy writing in the clerk's office under Major Ben Helm. Green boarded with the Major and slept with me in the office. I was then in very straightened cir- cumstances, enjoyed the extravagant salary of forty dollars per year and board, but as I was a deputy clerk, I felt some pride in the posi- tion. But my means were so limited I was ill prepared for any- thing but a very scanty wardrobe. But by some means I managed to get a coat of cotton goods rather fancy colored. My father had an orchard near the office. Rather imprudently I visited the orchard with my new coat on, climbed up the tree and filled my pockets full,
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and jumping out, the pockets caught in the forks, splitting my coat, and yet not to the ground-hearing the noise of the tearing, I sup- posed it was a rattle-snake and clapping my feet to the tree I made a desperate effort which severed my coat at the waist, leaving the apples and tail of my coat in the tree. I soon found that I was ruined, and returned to the office in a sorrowful state of mind. Green soon came in and discovered my distress, kindly offered to sell me one of his cotton coats at a nominal price.
Now, Green was nearly two feet taller than I was, but I donned the coat, which as a matter of course gave me the ludicrous appear- ance of a boy going to mill with his daddy's coat on. At supper time Mrs. Helm discovered the unfitness of things, and changed a coat she was making for uncle Ben and gave it to me. I considered my- self a made man.
Shortly after this, date not recollected, Green volunteered in a com- pany called the Yellow Jackets, commanded by Gov. W. P. Duvall, and went on a campaign up the Wabash against the Indians. In an Indian fight Green showed great gallantry and the horse he rode was shot in the neck. Green soon after married Miss Lucretia Edwards, sister of Gov. Ninian Edwards. She was a very handsome and admir- able woman.
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