A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 104

Author: Johnson, E. Polk, 1844-; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 860

USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III > Part 104

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John C. Droege, son of Ignatius and Mary A. (Schmidt) Droege, was born in the city of Covington, Kentucky, on the 13th of Sep- tember, 1858, and was here reared and edu- cated. When but a boy he began to assist in the work of his father's office and he was literally reared in connection with the line of business, in which he is now identified as treasurer of the Licking Rolling Mills Com- pany, of which specific mention is made else- where in this work. He is recognized as one of the representative business men of his native city and here he has well maintained the high prestige of the honored name which he bears. He is a staunch supporter of the principles of the Democratic party and he has given effective service in behalf of its cause. In 1899 he was candidate for state treasurer on the ticket headed by John Young Brown in opposition to the Goebel ticket and this di- vision in the ranks of the Democratic party resulted in victory for the Republican ticket. Mr. Droege married Miss Mabel Noonan, who was born and reared in Covington and who is a daughter of the late John P. Noonan, a prominent and influential citizen of Coving- ton, where he died recently, at the venerable age of eighty-three yars. John C. Droege was the first Democratic alderman elected in Covington and this preferment came to him in the year 1883. Frank A. Droege, another son of Ignatius Droege, was likewise active in political affairs in his home city and county, where he served six years as circuit clerk and for an equal time as chief deputy clerk. He died in Covington.

Frederick J. Droege, president and general manager of the Licking Rolling Mill Com- pany, was born in Covington on the 18th of May, 1856, and he has been identified with the enterprise of which he is now executive head from his youth. He began at the foot of the ladder and learned the business in all its details, so that he is well qualified for the responsible executive position which he now holds. He has been at the head of the busi- ness since the retirement of his honored father,

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in 1897. In politics Mr. Droege is a staunch adherent of the Democratic party and like other members of the family, he is a com- municant of the Catholic church. He mar- ried Miss Emma Reich, who was born in Boone county, this state, and the four child- ren of this union are, Frederick, Jr., Loyola, John and Leo.

THE LICKING ROLLING MILL COMPANY .- Under this title is conducted one of the most important and most venerable of the industrial enterprises of the city of Covington and the concern is the outgrowth of the business established under the title of the Busch & Jordan Iron Company, in the year 1845. Un- der the title noted the enterprise was con- ducted until the death of Mr. Busch, which occurred prior to the Civil war. The name was then changed to the Phillips & Jordan Iron Company and the plant of this corpora- tion was at that time the only iron works west of the Alleghany mountains. Operations were successfully conducted until the finan- cial panic of 1873, when, like many other in- dustrial concerns, the Phillips & Jordan Iron Company met with serious reverses, the re- sult being that Thomas B. Smith was ap- pointed receiver of the company. In 1877 the plant and business were sold, at master's re- ceivership, to Ignatius Droege and thereafter the enterprise was conducted under the title of Worthington & Droege, the name later be- ing changed to Worthington, Droege & Ham- ilton. In 1882, for the purpose of facilitat- ing and expanding the business, the Licking Rolling Mill Company was incorporated un- der the laws of the state of Kentucky, with a capital stock of two hundred thousand dol- lars. The personnel of the original executive corps was as here noted: Henry Worthing- ton, president; Ignatius Droege, vice-presi- dent and treasurer; and Ignatius Droege, Jr., secretary. It should be specially noted that Ignatius Droege, Sr., had been associated with the business, in various capacities, from the time of its organization. He continued to be actively identified with the enterprise until 1897, when he permanently retired and at this time his sons assumed the active man- agement and ownership of the business. In 1907, upon the expiration of its charter, the company was reorganized and reincorporated, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars. Frederick J. Droege became president ; John C. Droege, treasurer ; and William J. Droege, secretary. The personnel of the official corps has since remained unchanged. Within the past fifteen years the capacity of the mill has been practically doubled and its present out- put is about twenty-five thousand tons an-

nually, consisting principally of bar iron for the industrial trade. The products of the estab- lishment are sold over a wide area of country in the west and southwest. The institution gives employment to an average of three hun- dred and fifty men and the payroll has a weekly average of thirty-five hundred dol- lars. Concerning the career of Ignatius Droege, Sr., who was so long and prominently identified with this splendid enterprise, a per- sonal sketch appears on other pages of this work.

GEORGE S. FLEMING .- The prosperity of any community depends upon its business ac- tivity and the enterprise manifest in com- mercial circles is the foundation upon which is builded the material welfare of town and state. But there is power behind the throne, without which all the activity of the crowded thoroughfares of a metropolis would avail nothing were it not for the tiller of the soil, the original producer, in other words the great grower of all things, the farmer. To be a successful farmer is as much as one man ought to expect to be, and in this class we can include George S. Fleming, the sub- ject of our present sketch.

Mr. Fleming was born on a farm adjoining Independence, Kentucky, on April 29, 1853, the son of A. Foster and Minerva (Scott) Fleming, who were both natives of Kenton county and the representatives of that hon- ored and fast dying out class, the pioneer fam- ilies. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Flem- ing was a native of Pennsylvania and came to Kenton in the early days of its settlement, where he was a farmer, following that occu- pation all his life and dying on the home- stead. Our subject's father was a successful farmer for many years and owned and op- erated five hundred acres of land about two miles from Independence, which has been known for many years as Fleming Hill. He was a member of the Masonic order and a stanch Democrat, and he died at the home- stead at the age of fifty-four years, where he was buried, and his wife, also dying there, was laid beside him. They were the parents of eleven children, four of whom are living, our subject being next to the youngest. The oldest, William, served in the Confederate army during the Civil war under General Duke for three years, and was in a number of engagements. Prior to enlistment he was made a prisoner of war and detained at Cin- cinnati for some time, but this did not dampen his ardor as he immediately after his release joined the Confederate forces and died at Vicksburg during the yellow fever epidemic. George S. Fleming was reared at the home-

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stead and received his education at the public schools, staying at home until eighteen years of age, when he married and engaged in farm- ing near Independence. He was successful in all his undertakings and prospered, carry- ing on this business for many years, and, then selling his farm, finally located at Independ- ence in 1896. Here he engaged in business for several years and is now retired from active business life. In politics he is a Demo- crat, and although taking a great interest in the political questions of the day, does not care to run for office. In 1871 Mr. Fleming was married to Mary Alice Riley, a native of Kenton county, Kentucky, and they have had four children, three of whom are living: Ger- trude, married to Albert Stevens; Scott, re- siding in Newport ; and Leola, at home. Ros- coe died at the age of fifteen years.

ELMER ELSWORTH FULLERTON .- One of the younger members of the Greenup county bar and one who has served with all of honor and distinction as county attorney, is well entitled to a place in this chronicle of prom- inent citizens of the old Blue Grass common- wealth. Mr. Fullerton is a native son of Greenup county, Kentucky, his birth having occurred on a farm near Fullerton on the 20th of June, 1874. He is a son of James H. and Mary A. (Tyrell) Fullerton, the former of whom was born and reared in Sciota county, Ohio, and the latter of whom claimed Essex county, England, as the place of her nativity. The mother was reared to adult age in her native land and she emigrated as a young girl to America, making the long and tedious journey in company with an aunt. James H. Fullerton grew up on his farm home in Ohio and he was a man of twenty-five years of age at the time of the inception of the Civil war. He was fired with enthusiasm for the cause of the Union and in 1861 enlisted as a soldier in the Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer In- fantry, in which he served with all of gal- lantry and faithfulness until the close of that sanguinary struggle. He saw a great deal of active service and participated in many im- portant battles marking the progress of the war. He received his honorable discharge in 1865, and at the time when he was mustered out of service he was sergeant of his com- pany. At the battle of Corinth he was wounded in one arm but not seriously enough to necessitate convalescence in a hospital. When peace had again been established he returned to his home in Sciota county, Ohio, and subsquently engaged in the harness busi- ness at Jackson, in the county of the same name. In the spring of 1870, however, he severed his connections in Ohio and removed

with his family to Kentucky, locating on a farm in Greenup county. With the passage of time he accumulated a large estate and be- came exceedingly well-to-do, most of his at -. tention having been devoted to diversified ag- riculture and the raising of high-grade stock. He is now living, virtually retired, in the town of Fullerton, which place was named in his honor. His cherished and devoted wife was summoned to eternal rest on the Ist of January, 1909, at the venerable age of sev- enty-six years. Mr. and Mrs. James H. Ful- lerton became the parents of seven children, all of whom are living in 1911, the subject of this review having been the sixth in order of birth.

To the sturdy discipline of the old home- stead farm Elmer Elsworth Fullerton was reared to maturity and his early educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the public schools of his native place. Deciding upon the legal profession as his life work, he entered the law office of W. B. Grice, of Portsmouth, Ohio, and subse- quently he was matriculated in Ada College, at Ada, Ohio, in the law department of which excellent institution he was graduated, duly receiving his degree of Bachelor of Laws. He was admitted to practice at Greenup, Ken- tucky, in 1898 and in that year he located permanently at Greenup, where he has since resided and where he has built up a large and lucrative clientage. He holds distinctive precedence as one of the leading attorneys in this section of the state and his close adher- ence to the unwritten code of professional ethics has gained to him the unalloyed esteem and admiration of his fellow practitioners.

In politics Mr. Fullerton accords an un- compromising allegiance to the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor and he has long been an active and interested factor in the local councils of that organization. When but twenty-two years of age he was nominated for the office of county assessor but his youth barred him from con- tinuing in the campaign. In the fall of 1901, however, he became candidate for and was elected to the office of county attorney of Greenup county, in discharging the duties of which responsible position he acquitted him- self so creditably that he was elected as his own successor in that office in 1905. He served in all for a period of eight years and since retiring from that position he has been engaged in general practice at Greenup. He is a versatile trial lawyer and a well fortified counselor and has been attorney for many im- portant litigated cases in the state and fed- eral courts.

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In the year 1899 Mr. Fullerton was united in marriage to Miss Pansy Rardin, who was born and reared in Greenup county and who is a daughter of W. J. A. Rardin, who is suc- cessfully engaged in the practice of law at Greenup. Mr. and Mrs. Fullerton have one son, Hobart.

Fraternally Mr. Fullerton is a valued and appreciative member of the time-honored Masonic order and he is also affiliated with various professional organizations of repre- sentative character. He is a man of powerful intellect, tremenduous vitality and unusual executive ability. He is well versed in the minutiæ of the law and a brilliant career is predicted for him.

EDGAR E. HUME, M. D., who was long en- gaged in the practice of his profession in the capital city of Kentucky, is recognized as one of the representative physicians and surgeons of his native commonwealth, and he has gained significant prestige in lines aside from that of his chosen vocation. He has repre- sented Anderson county in the state legisla- ture and as mayor of Frankfort it is conceded that he gave to the municipal government of the capital city one of the most progressive and admirable administrations recorded in its entire history. Further interest attaches to his career by reason of the fact that he is a scion of one of the old and honored families of Kentucky, with whose annals the name has been identified for more than a century. The lineage both in America and Scotland is of distinguished order, as the brief data incor- porated in this necessarily circumscribed arti- cle will sufficiently indicate.

Dr. Hume was born on the old family home- stead in Trimble county, Kentucky, on the 24th of March, 1844, and is a son of Lewis and Myra Douglas (McGee) Hume, the for- mer of whom was a native of Fauquier county, Virginia, and the latter of Trimble . county, Kentucky. Lewis Hume was a son of Charles and Celia (Shumate) Hume, both of whom were born and reared in Virginia, the historic Old Dominion commonwealth and the latter of whom was a native of Culpeper county and of French extraction. Charles Hume was a son of Francis and Elizabeth (Duncan) Hume; and the former was a son of George and Elizabeth (Proctor) Hume. George Hume was known as "Emigrant George," by reason of the fact that he was the founder of the family in America. In 1721 he emigrated from Scotland, his native land, and established his home in Virginia, where both he and his wife passed the residue of their lives and where he became a man of prominence and influence in the community.

The genealogy of the Hume family is au- thentically traced back to the year 968, A. D., - through Malcolm II, king of Scotland, and Ethelbert, the first Christian king of England and a descendant of Alfred the Great. George Hume, the progenitor of the American branch of the family and from whom Dr. Hume is of the fifth generation in line of direct descent, was born at Wedderburn Castle, Berwick- shire, Scotland, and after having been im- prisoned for fighting in the cause of the ex- iled house of Stuart, he was finally pardoned. Soon afterward, in 1721, he emigrated to America and took up his abode in the colony of Virginia, as has already been noted in this context. Charles Hume, grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was the founder of the family in Kentucky, whither he came from Virginia in the year 1807. He first located in Garrard county, whence he later removed to Trimble county, where both he and his devoted wife continued to reside until their death. He was a man of strong mentality and sterling character, and he wielded not a little influence in civic affairs in his locality in the days long past. Rev. Lewis Hume, father of Dr. Hume, was an able and representative member of the clergy of the Christian church in Kentucky, and he labored with all of consecrated zeal and devotion in his high calling for many years. He resided in Spencer county during the youth of his son and later removed to the city of Louisville, where he held a pastoral charge for a number of years.

Dr. Edgar E. Hume received his prelim- inary educational discipline in the common schools of Spencer county and supplemented this by a course in Mount Washington Acad- emy, a well ordered institution in the village of Mount Washington, Bullitt county. He was seventeen years of age when, in 1861, his parents removed to the city of Louisville, and there he was finally matriculated in the medi- cal department of the University of Louis- ville, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1869 and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. After passing eighteen months in professional service in the military hospital in Louisville, Dr. Hume located at Camden, Anderson county, this state, where he was engaged in the active practice of his- profession for the following decade and where he won much of prestige and distinction in his exacting vocation. Dr. Hume subse- quently removed from Camden to Frankfort, where he has since continued to maintain his home and where he successfully followed the work of his profession up to a recent date,

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when he retired, after having given long years of earnest, self-abnegating and effective ser- vice in the alleviation of human suffering. Dr. Hume's preparation for his life work was of a most thorough character, and it may be noted that it included effective post-graduate courses in the Bellevue Hospital Medical Col- lege, in New York city; the College of Physi- cians and Surgeons, representing the medical department of Columbia University at the present time; and the medical department of the University of the City of New York. He is widely known in the ranks of his profes- sion and is identified with many prominent or- ganizations pertaining thereto notably the Franklin County Medical Society, the Ken- tucky State Medical Society, the Kentucky Midland Medical Society, the Society of Ken- tucky Railway Surgeons and the American Medical Association. He has served as pres- ident of each the Franklin County Medical Society, the Kentucky Midland Society, and the Kentucky Railway Medical Association.

In politics Dr. Hume gives strong support and loyal allegiance to the cause of the Demo- cratic party, and while a resident of Ander- son county he represented that county in the lower house of the state legislature, during the general assembly of 1875-6. At the expira- tion of his term he declined a unanimous nom- ination as representative of his district in the state senate. It is the distinction of Dr. Hume to have been one of the best mayors ever called to the head of the municipal govern- ment of Frankfort. He held this office from 1905 to 1909, and gave to the city one of the most businesslike and morally clean adminis- trations in its history. Without borrowing money, selling any of the city property, issu- ing bonds or otherwise extending the credit of the municipality, he met all financial de- mands placed upon it and also compassed sub- stantial public improvements without increas- ing the municipal debt. He has always been an earnest friend of the cause of education and has given effective service in its behalf. At a meeting of the representative educators of the state in Frankfort he was elected chair- man of the committee appointed to visit Mam- moth Cave on the occasion of the assembling at that point of the Kentucky Educational Association and to devise plans for the im- provement of the educational system of the state. This committee subsequently met with the educational association at the designated place, and there was effected the organization of the Kentucky Education Improvement As- sociation. Dr. Hume was chosen chairman of the executive committee of the new organ- ization and he retained this incumbency for a

period of four years, within which he was able to do much to further the work of the asso- ciation and thereby to advance the standard of popular education in the state. He is at the present time a member of the board of trustees of the Kentucky Normal & Industrial Institute, at Frankfort. He is affiliated with the Free & Accepted Masons, and both he and his wife hold membership in the Christian church, in whose faith he was reared.

In the year 1877 was solemnized the mar- riage of Dr. Hume to Miss Mary South, daughter of Samuel South and grand-dauglı- ter of Colonel J. W. South. The two chil- dren of this union are Edgar E., Jr., and Ele- anor Marion. The son was graduated in the Central University of Kentucky, at Danville, and is now a student in the medical depart- ment of the celebrated Johns Hopkins Uni- versity, in the city of Baltimore. The daugh- ter, Miss Eleanor M., is a student at Edge- worth, an excellent school for young women in Baltimore. The family is prominent and popular in the best social life of the Kentucky capital and the home of Dr. Hume is a recog- nized center of gracious hospitality.

ELLIS DUNCAN, M. D .- The family to which Mr. Ellis Duncan belongs has its origin far back in the history of Scotland, when clan fought clan and the land was the scene of bloody strife with its would-be master, Eng- land. He is prominent among the younger members of the medical profession of Louis- ville, and is coroner of Jefferson county. His ability does not seem to be limited with the years of his age or connection with the pro- fession, as a short sketch of his life will show.

Mr. Duncan was born in Worthington, Jefferson county, Kentucky, January 7, 1874. His great-great-grandfather, Robert Duncan, a native of Westmoreland county, Virginia, came to Kentucky in 1678, settling in Nelson county. He was one of five brothers who emigrated from Scotland, they being the sons of William Duncan, a Scotch Presbyterian, whose head was cut off, for being a heretic, in 1665. The fact that they were Scotch Pres- byterians is all one requires who is familiar with that worthy sect as evidence of their firm principles of moral conduct and noble character. Of the five sons mentioned above, Henry was the Doctor's ancestor. Thomas Duncan, great-grandfather of the Doctor was eighteen years of age when he came to Ken- tucky. Ellis, son of Thomas, was the grand- father of the Doctor, whose father was Thomas Green Duncan and was born in Nel- son county, Kentucky. He removed to Jef- ferson county In 1873 and is still living. The mother of the Doctor was Mary R. McClure,

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a native of Logansport, Indiana, the daugh- ter of General Daniel McClure, a West Pointer, who was assistant paymaster general of the United States Army, and was elected secretary of the state of Indiana and died in 1900, at the age of eighty years. He mar- ried Matilda Hite, a sister of Milton Hite, a banker of Martinsburg, Indiana. Mrs. Duncan died in 1893, at the age of forty-three years.

In 1876, when the Doctor was two years of age, his parents removed to Texas, and it was in the public schools of Victoria, Texas, that he received his early educational training. He then entered the University of Texas, at Aus- tin. When he returned to Louisville in 1893, he entered the medical department of the Uni- versity of Louisville, from which he was graduated March 30, 1896, receiving the class prize, which was an appointment as interne to the Louisville City Hospital for one year.

Mr. Duncan served as secretary of the City Hospital from April 1, 1897, until he gave up the position temporarily in 1898 to go as cap- tain and assistant surgeon of the First Ken- tucky Infantry, United States Army. He served in the Porto Rico campaign. Return- ing to Louisville, he accepted the position of superintendent of the City Hospital and held that position until September 1903, when he engaged in the general practice of the profes- sion. On February 1, 1909, he gave up gen- eral practice, giving his attention to the study and practice of surgery alone. During this year he was elected to fill the office of coroner of Jefferson county for a term of four years, taking the office January 1, 1910.

Dr. Duncan is a member of the Jefferson County Medical Society, the Kentucky State Medical Society and of the American Medical Association. He belongs to the Tavern Club, is a Mason of high degree and an Elk. The Doctor married Annie Kinnard, widow of George W. Strother, deceased. Mrs. Duncan was born in Middletown, Kentucky. During the years which have marked the period of the professional career of Dr. Duncan, he has met with gratifying success and though his connection with the medical fraternity dates back for a comparatively brief period he has won the patronage of many of the leading citizens and families of Louisville, and with a nature that can never content itself with mediocrity he has so qualified himself that he is steadily advancing to a most prominent position among the most capable members of the profession in the land. A close and dis- criminating student, he keeps abreast with the times in everything relating to discoveries in the medical science, and his future has a

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 104

Author: Johnson, E. Polk, 1844-; Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1912 Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 860

Author: Johnson, E. Polk, 1844-; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1912
Publisher: Chicago, Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 860