A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 11

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 11

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Mr. Rankin's father, Paschal Hickman Rankin, engaged in the cultivation of the soil and spent his entire life in Henry county, and there was gathered to his fathers. He fol- lowed the approved pioneer custom and was the head of a large household. Of his five sons, four are now living, and of the six daughters, five are deceased.

In his youth Merrel Clubb Rankin lived upon his father's farm, coming close to Nature's heart, and as soon as he was old enough taking his place as an assistant in the manifold duties to be there encountered. He attended the common schools and had the advantage of about ten months' educational training in a college at New Castle, Kentucky. When he was but seventeen years of age he

was deprived of his father by death, and as he was one of the elder members of the fam- ily a large share of the care and support of the widowed mother and the younger brothers and sisters fell upon his shoulders. He was thus brought face to face with the stern re- sponsibilities of life before his time, and when his youthful associates were enjoying the springtide of life. When their fortunes were made securer and the others were old enough to shift for themselves he was able to carve out his own destiny. He has always followed the occupation of an agriculturist and his suc- cess is doubtless largely due to the progres- siveness of his ideas and the fidelity with which he keeps in touch with the latest scien- tific discoveries in his line.

Mr. Rankin has always been a Republican and has given the most loyal support to the party. In 1904 he was one of the prime mov- ers in the organization of the American Society of Equity and also of the Burley Tobacco Society, and he gained prominence in the section by his yeoman service in the work of organizing the farmers and making' convincing speeches in behalf of the cause for which he felt so keenly. He was made a popular and successful candidate for nomina- tion by the Republican State Committee at Louisville in 1907 for his present office of commissioner of agriculture, labor and statis- tics for the state of Kentucky and was elected to this office in November, 1907, for a term of four years, dating from January I, 1908. He takes pleasure in his fraternal re- lations, which extend to the Masons, in which he has attained to the Royal Arch degree, and to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Since the age of sixteen years he has been a member of the Christian church and for sixteen years he has held the office of elder.

Mr. Rankin was married, January 5, 1871, to Miss Isabel Highfield, born in Madison county, Kentucky. She died in 1888 and left two children: James William Rankin, now clerk in his father's office; and Minnie Ran- kin. Mr. Rankin was married a second time, in 1892, the lady to become his wife being Mrs. Sarah E. Robertson, nee Kephart.

GEORGE GROVE SPEER, vice president of the People's State Bank at Frankfort, is a recog- nized authority on banking and finance and is the vigorous exponent of sound commercial principles. He was one of the organizers of the bank which, although it was incorporated no earlier than January 28, 1909, and began business June 23 of that year, already enjoys the reputation of being a substantial and con- servative institution and has met with really remarkable success. The People's State Bank

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has a capital of $50,000, engages in general banking, and its officers are: O. H. Skiles, president ; G. G. Speer, vice-president ; and George Halmhuber, cashier.

George Grove Speer is a native of the Blue Grass state, having been born in Anderson county, March 12, 1869. He is the son of Dr. James William and Susan Mary (Mountjoy) Speer. His father was born in Oldham coun- ty, Kentucky, March 1, 1836, and is the son of James G. Speer, who was born in Virginia February 12, 1809, and died in May, 1909, at Alton, Anderson county, Kentucky, the home of his son, being at the time of his demise over a hundred years of age. He was of Scotch- Irish parentage and followed the calling of a physician. He was the great friend and as- sociate of Abraham Lincoln, both of them sharing the same tastes and even the same birth year. At one time in Springfield Mr. Lincoln and James G. Speer shared the same office, the lawyer and physician preparing side by side for the fray of their respective pro- fessions. Dr. Speer prescribed, when the need arose, for the members of Mr. Lincoln's fam- ily. In course of time he returned from Illi- nois to the south and located in Oldham coun- ty, where he practiced for many years and be- came a prominent figure in the affairs of that section of the state.

In Oldham county Dr. James William Speer was born, reared and educated. In the ques- tion of life work he followed in the paternal footsteps, preparing in the Miami Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he received his degree. In the Civil war he served in the Army of the Confederacy as a member of the famous "Orphan Brigade" and was a brave and gallant soldier. Upon first engaging in the practice of his profession he located in Alton, Anderson county, Ken- tucky, where ever since he has continued to reside and to minister to the ills of suffering humanity, meeting with eminent success. He is a loyal and unwavering Democrat, but has never been lured to office-seeking by the glam- our of honor and emolument. His wife is a native of Alton and the daughter of George W. Mountjoy, and is a member of an old and numerous Anderson county family, distin- guished by wealth and the possession of great tracts of land. This family, the Mountjoys, was originally of the "Old Dominion."

George Grove Speer is the only child of his parents. He was principally educated in the Kentucky Military Institute, from which he was graduated in 1886. He was naturally in- clined to the legal profession and began the study of law at Lawrenceburg under Major L. W. McKee, being ultimately admitted to

the bar. In 1892 he began his practice at Lawrenceburg and continued until 1898, when on account of failing health he was forced to abandon his profession. He thenceforth de- voted his whole time and energy to farming and to the breeding of saddle horses. He stood high in the confidence and esteem of the community and for twelve years held the of- fice of master commissioner-from 1892 un- til 1904. In the latter year he entered the state auditor's office, having charge of the claim department, and holding this position for four years. The assumption of the above- mentioned position necessarily took him to the capital city, and he has ever since resided within the pleasant limits of Frankfort. Mr. Speer has been interested in a number of large business concerns of the city, probably the most important of these being his share in the organization of the thriving People's State Bank. He is a stanch adherent of Democratic principles and policies and takes a decided in- terest in public affairs generally. He is a member of the Christian church. Fraternally he is connected with the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks.

Mr. Speer assumed marital relations April 18, 1894, when he was united in marriage to Miss Hallie B. Hanks, daughter of Joseph and Harriet H. (Taylor) Hanks, of Lawrence- berg, Anderson county. They have one child, a son named William Carrol Speer.

BENJAMIN HALEY POINDEXTER .- The lin- eage of the subject of this review, who is secretary of the Southern National Life In- surance Company of Louisville, bespeaks long and prominent identification with the annals of American history, many representatives of the name showing that intrinsic loyalty and patriotism which led them to take an active part in the great conflict between the states, and others figuring conspicuously in the great questions of the day as represented in polit- ical warfare. Mr. Poindexter has an excep- tionally fine ancestry, which is always a good beginning for any one, and a slight diversion in order to place a short sketch before the reader will not prove uninteresting and will show the stock from which Mr. Poindexter came and demonstrate some of the character- istics which often descend from one genera- tion to another.

The Poindexters are of French Huguenot stock, who left France upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, going thence to the Isle of Jersey, where some of the family still live, thence coming to the new world, settling in Louisa county, Virginia. Among the mem- bers of the family to become prominent in the United States are: United States Senator

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Poindexter, from Mississippi, who was born in Louisa county, Virginia ; Colonel John A. Poindexter (an uncle of Benjamin H.), who served as a colonel in the war with Mexico under his personal friend, General Price, and who went to Missouri upon the breaking out of the war between the states to join General Price, and fought all through the war in the Southern army as a colonel on General Price's staff, dying a few years after the war closed. He became prominent in Missouri politics and at the time of his death was a prospective candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor. The Hon. Miles Poindexter, at present a member of Congress from the state of Washington and an "Insurgent" candidate for the United States Senate, is a cousin to our subject. All the Poindexters still bear the French Huguenot type of features and many characteristics, thus showing the strong and persistent personality of the progenitors. So far as the record at hand shows the orig- inal Virginia Poindexter settler was John, the father of David, and the grandfather of our subject, and the original Kentucky settler, David Poindexter, was born in Louisa county, Virginia, and there married Elizabeth Watts, of the old Virginia family of that name. Coming to Kentucky, he settled in Stamping Ground, where he lived the remainder of his days. He was engaged in the tanning busi- ness at Stamping Ground for many years, and also owned an interest in a Louisville tannery. The father of our subject is Richard Mentor Johnson Poindexter, who was born on the old homestead at Stamping Ground on June 30, 1833, and is still living. He was engaged in merchandising at Stamping Ground for many years, but for ten years has been retired from active business. He married Martha Jane Haley, who was born in Fayette county, Ken- tucky, the daughter of Benjamin Haley, a native of Kentucky, born of Virginia parents. Her brother, the Rev. T. P. Haley, has for many years been a minister of the Christian church, was at one time pastor of the Broad- way Christian church at Louisville, was pas- tor of a St. Louis, Missouri, church and is now honorary pastor of Haley's Memorial Christian church, named in his honor, at Kansas City, Missouri. He married Mary McGarvey, sister to the Rev. McGarvey, for many years president of the Bible College at Lexington, Kentucky. Another brother of Mrs. Poindexter's, the Rev. Henry H. Haley, deceased, was a leading minister of the Chris- tian church.

Benjamin H. Poindexter was reared on the old Poindexter homestead at Stamping Ground, Scott county. He received his edu- cation at Georgetown (Kentucky) College

and in 1878 went to Missouri, where for five years he was engaged in lead mining, and where he still holds important mining inter- ests. Returning to Kentucky, he settled in Hawesville, where in 1890 he was elected county clerk of Hancock county, serving five years. During that period he organized the Bank of Lewisport, remaining the cashier of the same for five years. He then organized and was one of the incorporators of the Me- chanic's Bank and Trust Company of Owens- boro, becoming cashier of the institution and so continued until 1908, when he resigned to accept the secretaryship of the Southern Na- tional Life Insurance Company and removed to Louisville.

Mr. Poindexter married Emma Mason Barron, who was born in Owensboro, Ken- tucky, the daughter of Thomas Mason Bar- ron and the great-great-granddaughter of George Mason of Gunston Hall, Virginia, the adjoining plantation to Mt. Vernon, Wash- ington estate, on the Potomac. He was the author of the Virginia Bill of Rights, and was conspicuous in the framing of the American Constitution. He received grants from Vir- ginia for large tracts of Kentucky lands, and a tract of ten thousand acres lying in Daviess county was among them. The warrant for these lands is still held by the family, and while much of the land has passed into other hands the Mason claim is still valid and no deed has ever been, or can be made, to them without the consent of the Mason heirs. Upon this tract of Daviess county land, Thomas Mason Barron settled at an early date, coming from Virginia and bringing his family and stores, making the entire trip in carriages. Mrs. Poindexter, through her descent from George Mason, is a member of the Daughters of the Revolution, in which she is active, hav- ing been twice a delegate to the national meet- ings and served on different committees.

Mr. Poindexter takes an active interest in the Masonic Order and is a member of Owensboro Lodge, No. 303, F. & A. M., Owensboro Chapter, R. A. M., Owensboro Commandery, K. T., and Kosair Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. In person, in talents and in charac- ter Mr. Poindexter is a worthy of his race, and he has attained to distinction in various lines of life, which is indicative of great men- tal breadth and superior business qualifica- tions.

THOMAS J. MINARY .- If there is any one feature that gives emphasis to the enterprising character of the city of Louisville in this pro- gressive era it is the superiority of the facili- ties provided for rapid transit within her bor- ders, and, judged by the high standard mair.

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tained, the Kentucky metropolis holds rank with the leading cities of the Union. In the providing of such admirable facilities the Louisville Railway Company has accomplished a large and important contribution to the pub- lic utilities of the city, and of this stanch cor- poration Thomas J. Minary is president. The fine modern system of this company is one that will compare more than favorably with those of other cities throughout the Union, and the full appreciation of the efficiency of the service can be gained only by those who have been able to make a comparison between the same and those employed in other cities of the same class and of even far greater pop- ulation. As the head of Louisville Rail- way Company Mr. Minary has shown an ad- ministrative and directing power equal to every emergency and contingency, and his generalship and constructive ability have done much to further the growth and material pros- perity of Louisville, as well as to offer its cit- izens the present admirable facilities within and without the gates of the city. As one of the essentially representative business men and alert and progressive citizens of the state and its leading city, Mr. Minary is consistently given recognition in this publication.

Thomas J. Minary was born in Versailles, Woodford county, Kentucky, on the 19th of August, 1850, and is a son of John S. and George Ann (Stone) Minary, the father a na- tive of Pennsylvania, who came to Woodford county when a young man and remained there the residue of his life, and the latter of whom was a member of the old and well known Stone family, whose name has long been prom- inently identified with the history of this com- monwealth. John S. Minary was one of the pioneer merchants and influential and hon- ored citizens of Versailles, and there he contin- ued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1900. The mother is still living at the ven- erable age of eighty-three, and of their chil- dren five sons and one daughter are now liv- ing.

Thomas J. Minary, whose name initiates this review, gained his early educational dis- cipline in the public schools of his native city and at the age of seventeen years he became a salesman in his father's store, one of the lead- ing mercantile establishments of Versailles, where he continued to be thus engaged until 1869 when, at the age of nineteen years he came to Louisville,-a city in which he was destined to gain distinctive success and marked prominence in connection with business and civic affairs of wide scope and importance. Here he was engaged in the mercantile busi- ness until 1872, when he became secretary of

the Central Passenger Railroad Company, op- erating one of the two pioneer street railways of Louisville. In 1876 recognition of his fine executive powers was given, for in that year he was chosen general manager of the busi- ness of the company. Under his energetic and well directed management large and valuable improvements were made in the properties controlled by the company. More adequate service was provided over existing lines and new lines were extended, besides which im- provements were made in the rolling stock and the various other operative facilities of the system. In 1888 Mr. Minary was elected pres- ident of the company, and of this position he continued incumbent until the following year, when all of the street railway interests of the city were consolidated under the title of the Louisville City Railway Company. Mr. Min- ary became one of the heavy stockholders of the company at the time of its incorporation and its organization, and the effective amalga- mation of all street railway interests in the city was largely promoted through his earnest ef- forts and able presentation of the case to the interested principals. He continued to be an active executive of the new corporation after the same was formed, and in 1901 he was elected president of the same, of which re- sponsible and exacting office he has since con- tinued the able and valued incumbent. He has accomplished a great work in extending and perfecting of the complex system con- trolled by the company, has been animated by distinctive public spirit, and has done all in his power to conserve the interests of the stockholders of his company, while advocat- ing liberality in all extension and equipment work. The citizens of Louisville have a full appreciation of the facilities afforded, and ad- verse criticism can come only from those moved by political motives or lack of knowl- edge.

Mr. Minary has made noteworthy progress during his years of active identification with industrial and civic interests, and his career has been marked by insuperable integrity of pur- pose as well as by broad and liberal policies. His capitalistic interests ramify outside of the corporation just mentioned, and in the field of street railway enterprise he has been a promi- nent figure in other cities than Louisville. At one time he owned a controlling interest in and was president of the Southern Street Rail- way Company, of St. Louis, Missouri, and later he became largely interested in the street railways of Springfield, that state, where he was for a time president of the Consolidated Railway Company. He is a member of the directorate of the German National Bank of

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Louisville, is the owner of valuable realty in the city and other parts of the state, and has other large capitalistic interests of varied and important order.

Mr. Minary is essentially a business man and realizes that his maximum powers are best exercised along avenues of constructive and administrative work. Thus he has never man- ifested aught of ambition for political office, though he is a staunch advocate of the prin- ciples and policies for which his party stands sponsor. He is identified with the Louisville Commercial Club and also holds membership in other civic and fraternal organizations of prominence in his home city, where his popu- larity in both business and social circles is of the most unequivocal type.

On the 12th of June, 1876, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Minary to Miss Amelia Stephens, who was born and reared in Breck- inridge county, this state, where her father, the late James G. Stephens, was a citizen of prominence and influence. Four sons were born of this union, of whom three survive, as follows: James S., of Louisville, Thomas Helm, assistant to his father in the railroad business, and A. D., of Louisville, Kentucky. John S. died at the age of twenty-two.

CARROLL CHAPMAN ENGLISH, M. D., is one of the younger physicians of Louisville, who has met with most gratifying success and se- cured a practice of which many an older phy- sician might well be proud. A native son, his birth occurred in Elizabethtown, Hardin coun- ty, Kentucky, on the 4th day of March, 1878, the son of Wood English, who was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, in 1845, the son of John English, a native of Virginia, who was the Kentucky pioneer of the English family. The mother of the Doctor was Myra Chap- man, who was born in Hartford, Hart county, Kentucky, the daughter of William Carroll Chapman, a native of Kentucky, whose an- cestors are of Virginia stock. The grandfa- ther English was a planter and slave holder and the grandfather Chapman was a mer- chant. For many years the father of the Doc- tor was engaged extensively in agricultural pursuits and live stock dealing, and was one of the largest stock dealers in Kentucky, but has now retired from active business life. Both the English and Chapmans are of the Baptist religious faith.

Dr. English was reared in Hardin county, where he received his preliminary education in attendance at the public schools, and he was prepared for college at Hardin Collegiate In- stitute, after which he entered Georgetown College, where he took a course of study ex- tending over a period of two years. Deter-

mining to prepare himself as completely as possible for his profession, he next entered the medical department of the University of Louisville and was graduated from that insti- tution with the degree of M. D. in April, 1904. Thus, having with study, experiment and ob- servation acquired all that was possible out- side of actual experience to the successful practice of his profession, he then went into the general practice in Louisville, and has demonstrated that his studies were founded upon the rock of the tried experience of those who have studied to win the best results of the day, and that he has been successful has been proven by the results.

In the spring of 1905 he became a teacher in the medical department of the University of Louisville, in charge of the children's clinic, and is still connected with that institution. He was house physician of the University of Louisville for one year. He is a member of the Jefferson Medical Society, the Kentucky State Medical Society and the American Med- ical Association. He is also a member of the Audubon Country Club, the Tavern Club and the Phi Chi Medical Fraternity, and his relig- ious views connect him with the Baptist church.

BARON H. WOODBURY .- The association of Baron H. Woodbury with the active life of Dayton and this part of the state has been of a varied character and he is widely known in the community in which he has made his home for so many years. He is now living retired from active labors and enjoying the compe- tence accruing from previous years of indus- try and enterprise. He is a native Kentuck- ian, having been born at Newport on August 20, 1848, the son of John B. and Evalina (Buchanan) Woodbury, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Maryland. They were married in the city of Philadelphia and shortly after came to Kentucky, locating first in Newport and later in Dayton, which latter place was in that early day known as Jamestown. The father had been extensively engaged in manufacturing in Philadelphia and after coming to Dayton he embarked in the manufacturing business, his particular line being matches, which he turned out in great quantities, remaining at the head of the plant for a number of years. He had the dis- tinction to be the first in this line in the west. He was a student and investigator, his mind having a scientific bent and he was one of the originators of the oil refining industry. He was likewise a pioneer in his realization of the practical benefit to be derived from the refin- ing of cotton seed oil, and he introduced his method in many sections of the south. He

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died very suddenly of pneumonia while en- gaged in that work in New Orleans. His demise was in the year 1879, at which time his age was sixty-seven years, and he was interred in Evergreen Cemetery in Newport. During the Civil war he belonged to the Day- ton home guards. His widow survived sev- eral years and died of apoplexy at the age of eighty-two years at the home of Mr. Wood- bury, although prior to her death she had made her home for several years with a son in Arkansas. She and her husband were the parents of four children, one of whom died in infancy and two of whom survive at the present time.

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 11

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