A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 118

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 118

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JAMES C. BRIGHT .- Energetic, industrious and progressive, James C. Bright is actively identified with one of the leading industries of Shelbyville, as manager of the Farmers' To- bacco Warehouse carrying on a thriving bus- iness. Coming from prominent pioneer an- cestry on both sides of the house, he was born September 15, 1866, in Shelby county, Kentucky, a son of Hon. Newton Bright.

A life-long resident of Shelby county, Hon- orable Newton Bright was born October 23, 1828. He was a zealous advocate of the principles of the Democratic party, and in ad- dition to serving his fellow-citizens in minor offices of trust represented his district in the State Legislature two terms, having been elected in 1894 and re-elected in 1896. He married Dorcas Helm, who was born in Shelby county in 1834, a daughter of Hon. William . S. and Rebecca (Hinton) Helm. Her father spent his four score years of life

in Shelby county, and was also prominent in public affairs, serving as a representative to the State Legislature. Hon. Jephtha, the pa- ternal grandfather of Mr. Bright, who was likewise a life-long resident of Shelby county, was also a member of the State Legislature one or more terms.

For upwards of twenty years Mr. Bright has been associated with the tobacco interests of Shelby county as a member of the Farmers' Warehouse Company, and for the past twelve years has been its manager. He is also a di- rector of the Louisville Warehouse Company, and has probably as good a knowledge of the tobacco trade as any one in this part of Ken- tucky. An able business man, Mr. Bright has acquired property of value, and is a stock- holder in and one of the directors of the Cit- izens' Bank of Shelbyville. He is an active member of the Democratic party, having never swerved from the political faith in which he was born and bred.

Mr. Bright married, May 7, 1896, at New Castle, Kentucky, Lizzie May Turner, a daughter of W. W. Turner, and into their pleasant home four children have made their appearance, namely : James C., Jr .; Turner ; Jeptha ; and Guthrie Helm.

FLOYD DAY .- One of the most highly re- spected and valued citizens of Winchester is Mr. Floyd Day, who is a well known figure in Clark county, and the circle of his friends is an extensive one. He has attained to prom- inence in business life, and his earnest and well-directed labors have been abundantly re- warded in well merited success. Although he and his brothers received an immense amount of land, acquired through their father's exertions, still it depended upon themselves to hold and improve this property.

Floyd Day was born in Breathitt county, Kentucky, December 10, 1854, a son of Will- iam and Phoebe Eleanor (Gibbs) Day. The father was born in Morgan county, Kentucky, August 21, 1821, and died in Breathitt county, Kentucky, January 28, 1884. The mother was born in Breathitt county, Kentucky, and died on June II, 1862. The paternal grand- father of Floyd Day was Jesse Day, who was born in New Run, Virginia, in 1797, and died in Morgan county, Kentucky, April 21, 1883, and his wife, Margaret Caskey, born in Mor- gan county, Kentucky, 1802, died in 1883. The great-grandfather of Floyd Day was John Day, who was born June 30, 1742, in Burke county, Pennsylvania, and received an en- sign's commission from the Commission of Public Safety for the Colony of Virginia, dated October II, 1775, and while he was a resident of Botetourt county, Virginia. He

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served three months in the fall of 1776, under Captain Paxton and Colonel Dickson, as a volunteer ensign, and was appointed an In- dian spy in 1777, in which capacity he served for a year and a half under Captain Cook. A terrible tragedy had come into his life before he had seen any military service. His brother Davis and their mother, who was Susan, the daughter of James Wyley, were killed by the Shawnee Indians, and his two sisters, Sally and Martha, taken prisoners by the same In- dians, and later rescued by a party under Captain Fry, of which Mr. Day was one. Nathan Gibbs was the maternal grandfather of our subject, born October 12, 1793, in Burke county, North Carolina, and died No- vember 12, 1882. His wife, Jane Lipps, was born August 14, 1797, and died April 24, 1867. His father, John Gibbs, was born in Pennsyl- vania March 3, 1755, and died March 15, 1847. He enlisted in the war of 1780 and served three months under Captain Clark and was again called out in 1781 and served for three months under Captain John Couley. John Gibbs was a member of the legislature in North Carolina during the Revolutionary war and came to Kentucky, over the Cumberland Gap, on pack horses. His wife, Hannah Muchmore, who was a cousin of Daniel Boone, was born February 8, 1757, and died March 17, 1850.

The father of our subject, William, was reared on a farm in Morgan county, Ken- tucky, and was educated at private schools. He married Phoebe Eleanor Gibbs on the 18th of June, 1844, and bought land, some of which was slightly improved, and followed farming the rest of his life. He owned ten thousand acres of mountain timber land ; was elected, in 1859, state representative on the Democratic ticket and served two terms. Al- though he took no active part in the war be- tween the states, he left horses and pilots on his place to take the Virginia runaways north. Mr. Day was the owner of a store which was robbed and destroyed several times and on this account he was obliged to leave the coun- try, and return, in 1866, after the war was over. He was successful in farming, stock- raising and lumber dealing. Mr. and Mrs. William Day were the parents of nine chil- dren, of whom four are living: J. Taylor, of Hazel Green; Floyd, our subject, in Win- chester ; John C. M., of Winchester ; and Will- iam, in Breathitt county, all in Kentucky.

Floyd Day was reared in Breathitt county, Kentucky, and attended the common schools during the winter months. He started out in a business line for himself at the age of twenty years and began clerking for his brother, J. Taylor Day, at Hazel Green, Ken-

tucky, at which he continued for two years. He then bought a mercantile business at Jack- son, Kentucky, which he continued for four years, and then consolidated it into Day Brothers & Company for six years, after which he moved to Clay City, Kentucky, in 1890 and went into the stove business. He was made receiver for the Kentucky Mining and Lumber Company, who were in debt to him for logs he had furnished them; this he operated for two years, wound up the business and in 1889 removed to Winchester, Ken- tucky, in 1894, to Jackson, Bullitt county, and in 1899, back to Winchester, where he pur- chased the old exchange government Clark property, a fine estate.

Mr. Floyd Day owns five thousand acres of timber land in eastern Kentucky, besides his interest with his brother, John M. C. Day, in a store at Jackson, Kentucky. Mr. Floyd Day is also interested with his brother in lumber mills at Jackson, Clay City and Beattyville. He is a director of Clark County Bank of Winchester; organized the Jackson Deposit bank (private) in Jackson, Kentucky, in 1890, and of which he has been president since; and is president of the Kentucky Mountain Cen- tral Railroad.

On June 14, 1888, Mr. Day was married to Rosa Lee Kash, who was born in Jackson county, Kentucky, a daughter of M. Kash, a native of Morgan county, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Day have six children : Golden, Mar- garet, Ellen, Rosa, Phoebe J. and Floyd Jr., who are all at home. Mr. Day and the mem- bers of his family are all members of the Christian church. Socially Mr. Day belongs to the Knights of Pythias and the Hoo Hoo Lodge, and in politics is a Democrat.

JAMES A. LEECH of Louisville, was born in Allegheny City, Pennsylvania, June 4, 1843, of Scotch-Irish parentage. His father, An- drew L. Leech, who descended from Scottish parentage, was born in County Tyrone, Ire- land, and married Mary Bell Anderson. Most of the Scotch-Irish were Presbyterians and the elder Leech did not depart from that sturdy faith, nor has his son, as the latter has described himself as "an old blue-stocking Presbyterian," which has long been considered as the most strict division of that old church. While a small boy, James A. Leech enjoyed such educational advantages as Allegheny City afforded. When about fourteen years old, he was brought to Louisville and in the schools of that city, secured all the education he ever had. As he expresses it: "I went to work early; I had to work," and results show that this early and enforced introduction to labor was to his advantage.

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When a mere boy he found employment as a shipping clerk in the wholesale district on Main street. So faithful was he in attention to his duties, that he attracted the attention of older men through whose influence he secured a position on the clerical staff of the Falls City Bank in 1865. Eight years later found him cashier of the Bank of Louisville. In 1882 he was vice president of the City National Bank and subsequently president, which posi- tion he held until his retirement from active business pursuits.

When but twenty-two years old Mr. Leech was a member of the school board of Louis- ville and subsequently served in the general council. Referring to these political instances of his busy career, Mr. Leech smilingly says : "I was the only Republican in either board and had an interesting time," but, he added : "I got everything I asked for."

Mr. Leech, before his retirement from active business pursuits in 1900, was a member of the directories of most of the greater enter- prises of Louisville and his judgment was much valued on each of the boards to which he belonged.

In 1873, Mr. Leech married Miss Caroline Apperson of Mt. Sterling, who, with their one child, Miss Caroline, still survives to brighten the days of his well-spent life.

FRANK MILLER .- The wrong impression prevails that the most interesting and influen- tial personalities are always reflected in the public print. The old adage that "the sea con- tains plenty of fish as big as those which have been caught" holds good in dealing with this question. Modesty and natural aversion to public appearance often confine intimate knowledge of strong individuals to a limited circle of acquaintance, and when such knowl- edge becomes public property it is more by accident than by design, hence the appearance in this book of the following sketch, prepared by a friend and business associate, which is correct, notwithstanding it may want the entire approval of its subject, as being scarcely con- sistent with a life of quiet reserve and well- directed industry.

The reliable, sturdy blood of a Dutch Penn- sylvanian, who came to Kentucky about 1800, and like his ancestor, sought virgin forests in Kentucky, has left a distinct impress on his lineal descendant, Frank Miller, whose rule in life has been unswerving fidelity to ideas and people, hence his career has been neither varied nor checkered.

Thomas Miller and Susan Vernon soon after their marriage in 1844 moved to New Haven, Kentucky, where was born Frank Miller on July 6, 1848. Here also was born his father

and his grandfather. His mother came from an old and well known Hardin county family, who moved from Virginia to Kentucky in 1796. Frank Miller was educated in the Nelson county common schools and in the higher branches at Bardstown College. At an early age, as a subordinate, he became associated with John M. Atherton in business, which relation- ship has never been severed to this day except once, from 1872 to 1881, when he served as teller in a Paducah, Kentucky, bank. During Mr. Atherton's long and successful career as a distiller, banker and capitalist, Mr. Miller was his man of confidence, having complete charge of his office.

Mr. Miller holds a number of important positions in well-known religious, charitable, educational and business institutions, among which may be mentioned deacon and trustee in the Broadway Baptist church, treasurer and trustee of Parr's Rest, trustee of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and vice-presi- dent of the Lincoln Savings Bank.

In 1886 Mr. Miller was married to Miss Eleanor Davison, and the results of that union are: Edmund D. Miller, junior book- keeper of the Lincoln Savings Bank, and John Atherton Miller, a Princeton University junior. Mrs. Miller died in 1895.

JOSEPH CARL .- Senior member of the firm of Carl Brothers, leading contractors and builders in the city of Covington, Joseph Carl was born in Lauterburg, province of Alsace, Germany, on the 4th of December, 1862, and is a son of George and Margaretta (Rieden- ger) Carl, the former of whom was a native of Rhenish Bavaria and the latter of Alsace, France, now a German province. Both were of French extraction and they were reared and married in Alsace. George Carl was a mill- wright and miller by trade and for over thirty years was foreman and grill manager of a mill in Alsace. He died there on the 7th of De- cember, 1896, his wife having passed away in June, 1889. During young manhood Mr. Carl served in the Bavarian army. He entered the service at the age of twenty-one years and continued therein for a period of five years. He was a loyal and patriotic subject and an influential and public-spirited citizen. Mr. and Mrs. Carl became the parents of ten chil- dren, five of whom are living and of this num- ber four are citizens of the United States.

Joseph Carl. the subject of this brief mem- oir, was the first born and he was reared to maturity in his native land, where he was af- forded the advantages of the common schools and where he became a proficient linguist in both German and French. At the age of thir- teen years he became an apprentice to the

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builder's trade, serving three and a half years, and he followed his vocation in Alsace for sev- eral years. In 1886, at twenty-four years of age, Mr. Carl, moved by a spirit of adventure and a desire for a wider field for his endeav- ors, severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and emigrated to America. He proceeded directly to Covington, where he has since maintained his home and where his suc- cess has been on a parity with his well directed efforts. He was employed at his trade in Cov- ington until 1894, when he began contracting and building on his own responsibility and he is at the present time one of the largest con- tractors in the city, having constructed some of the most important buildings in Covington.

Among them are the Eilerman building, Cov- ington City Hall, Farmers' and Traders' Bank building, the Criegler building, the La Salette Academy, the building of the Little Sisters of Notre Dame, the Woodford Apartment build- ing and that of the Union Heat & Power Com- pany and the public schools of the fifth and sixth districts, besides many others in New- port and northeastern Kentucky, including the Cotwell College and dormitories and the power house of the Deaf & Dumb Institute at Danville, Kentucky. In Cincinnati he was the contractor for the Havlin hotel and the cold storage buildings on Walnut Hills. He re- cently completed the magnificent tower for St. Mary's cathedral at Covington. His largest contract was that of the Miami Valley Leaf Tobacco warehouse, at Dayton, Ohio. Thus it can readily be seen that in connection with his work Mr. Carl has done much to improve and beautify his home city and the surround- ing territory.

Mr. Carl is a staunch Democrat in his po- litical proclivities and though never an active participant in local affairs he has ever given his aid and support to all measures and enter- prises tending to further the development of his community. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Knights of St. George and the Knights of Columbus and he and his entire family are devout and zealous members of the church of St. John the Evangelist, in which he served five years as trustee, having retired from this office in February, 1910.

In 1886 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Carl to Miss Mary Schmaltz, likewise a native of Alsace, where she grew to womanhood and where her marriage occurred. Mr. and Mrs. Carl became the parents of seven children, two of whom are deceased, Maggie and Fred. Of the remaining five, Josephine is the wife of Harry Efker, Catherine is the wife of Joseph Meyer, and Joseph George, Mariana Margar-

etta and John William all remain at the paren- tal home.

JAMES MITCHELL .- It cannot be other than pleasing to note in the various personal sketches appearing in this work that there re- main prominently identified with the various interests of Nicholas county many worthy citi- zens whose entire lives have been passed here and whose loyalty is cemented by the ties of native sonship. Among these is James Mit- chell, sheriff of Nicholas county and a success- ful agriculturist, whose birth occurred at Upper Blue Lick Springs December 25, 1860. He is a son of George and Nicholas (Watkins ) Mitchell, both natives of Nicholas county, and both at present residing in Fleming county. The father's birthdate was June 20, 1836. Of the five children born to these good people, three sons survive, the subject being the eldest. Samuel and Harlan, the brothers, are both citi- zens of Fleming county.

Mr. Mitchell's maternal grandparents, Sam- uel and Margaret (Donavan) Watkins, were Virginians, who removed from the older state to Bourbon county at an early date and after experiencing many of the joys and hardships of the Blue Grass pioneers they removed to Fleming county. . Alexander Mitchell, the paternal grandfather, was a native of Bath county, Kentucky, and his wife, Rebecca Beard, was born in Nicholas county, in whose affairs they played a prominent and praise- worthy part. The father of the subject was reared in Nicholas county and pursued the vo- cation of a farmer, and in the year 1865 he removed with his family to Fleming county, where he still resides. It was there that James Mitchell's years from the age of five to twenty were passed and there he received his common school education. In 1882, shortly after the attainment of his majority, he entered the lum- ber business at Blue Lick Springs, Nicholas county, and was successful in the same. Un- til 1903 he owned and operated a saw mill, but at that time he sold out these interests. His identification with public life dates from the year 1905, when he was appointed deputy sheriff of Nicholas county. The conscientious- ness of his services in that office amply recom- mended him and in 1905 mark of the strong hold he had gained upon the popular esteem in the community was given in his election to the office of sheriff of Nicholas county, this oc- curring in the fall of 1909. He took his office January 1, 1910, and has given good and suffi- cient proof of the wisdom of his neighbors. He still makes his residence at Blue Lick Springs. He is a Democrat of the strongest convictions and a lodge man of much popu-

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larity, his affiliations being with the Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias and the Mac- cabees, and he finds great pleasure and profit in these pleasant relations.

Mr. Mitchell laid the foundation of a happy married life when on January 24, 1884, he was united with Miss Margaret Watkins, who was torn in Fleming county, Kentucky, February 14, 1863. She is the daughter of Samuel and Mary (Busel) Watkins, both of whom are de- ceased. The birth of four sons has blessed the union of Sheriff and Mrs. Mitchell, these sturdy young citizens being James H. and Thomas, of Nicholas county, and Howe and Avery, still residing at home.

EDWARD ROWLET RICE .- For upwards of half a century Edward Rowlet Rice was ac- tively and prosperously identified with the agricultural interests of Shelby county, carry- ing on mixed farming with such ability and success that he is now enabled to live retired from business, and is enjoying all the comforts of life at his home in Shelbyville. A son of Anderson M. Rice, he was born May 5, 1838, at Little Mount, Spencer county, Kentucky, of Virginian ancestry.

His paternal grandfather, Rowlet Rice, familiarly known as "Uncle Baldy," was born and reared in Virginia. He served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and soon after its close migrated to Kentucky, locating in Shelby county, where he took up land, and engaged in farming. He was a carpenter by trade, and followed that occupation to a considerable ex- tent, on one occasion falling from a house which he was building, and being severely wounded on the head. He spent the later part of his long life of ninety-six years at the home of his son Anderson, for the last twelve years of his existence being almost helpless. His body was buried near his old home, in the vicinity of Patonia, on the farm of his son Charles. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Gaines. She was a relative of the Gaines families of Lancaster and Danville, and a sister of Mrs. William Trailkill, who died in Shelby county. Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rowlet Rice, six sons lived to years of maturity, as follows: Charles, Ezekiel, David, William, James, and Ander- son. Charles began farming near Patonia, but subsequently sold all of his goods and chattels, including his slaves, and removed to Indiana. Not liking it in that state, he re- turned to Patonia, bought back the slaves he had previously sold, and took them to Mis- souri, where he spent his remaining years. Ezekiel, David and William went to Califor- nia with the gold seekers, and the two younger sons remained on the Pacific coast, but Ezekiel Vol. III-37

returned East, and settled in Missouri. James located on a farm in Anderson county, where his descendants are still living.

Anderson M. Rice was born, September 10, 1810, in Shelby county, near Clay Village, and was reared on the home farm, which was de- voted principally to the growing of hemp and flax, profitable crops. After his marriage he bought the old Doolin estate, in Spencer county, and was there successfully engaged in tilling the soil, and in stock breeding and stock raising, until his death, in June, 1867, when but fifty-seven years of age. A farmer of ability and skill, he was exceedingly forti- nate in his undertakings, and added to his original purchase until he became the owner of one thousand acres of fine Kentucky land, some of the richest and best in the county. He married, in Spencer county, Lydia A. Doo- lin, a daughter of Edward Doolin, who came from Virginia to Kentucky, and settled near Little Mount, Spencer county, where he im- proved a farm which he occupied until his death, when his daughter Lydia was a child. His widow survived him many seasons, pass- ing away on the Doolin homestead at the ad- vanced age of ninety years. Mrs. Lydia A. (Doolin) Rice also lived to a good old age, dying when four score and four years old. Two of her sons, William and James, twins, served in the Confederate Army during the Civil war.

Edward Rowlet Rice belongs to an honored pioneer family, on the Gaines side of the house being a cousin of Harvey Helm, M. C., a Representative in Congress from the Eighth Congressional District of Kentucky. He re- mained on the parental farm until after the death of his father, with whom he was asso- ciated from the age of sixteen years, his father having great faith in the ability and judgment of his son Edward. At the death of his father, Edward was appointed admin- istrator of the estate, and having bought out the interests of some of the other heirs be- came owner of six hundred acres of the home farm. Progressive and thorough in his meth- ods, Mr. Rice managed his property success- fully until 1900, when he sold out, and bought land near Finchville, Shelby county, where he continued as a prominent member of the agricultural community for nine years. He met with noteworthy success as a general farmer, and was for many years an extensive stock feeder, and handled many mules, becom- ing a leader in that line of industry. Dispos- ing of that property. Mr. Rice bought city property in Shelbyville. and in the beautiful residence which he erected on Bland avenue is living retired, his home being the abode of

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peace and plenty. He is a Democrat in poli- tics, and a member of the Baptist church, to which his wife also belongs.

Mr. Rice married, October 4, 1859, Anna MI. Newland, who was born in Shelby county, Kentucky, May 30, 1842, a daughter of James and Susan F. (Ford) Newland. Her mother dying when she was but three years of age, and her father a few years later, Anna M. Newland was brought up by her maternal grandparents, John and Sally (Berry) Ford, farmers living on Otter Branch creek, six miles southwest of Shelbyville, where she lived until her marriage, at the age of seven- teen years. Her grandfather was a slave holder, so that she had no share of the house- hold duties to perform as a girl, instead being waited upon by servants. She was very slight and delicate, and at the time of her marriage she was in such precarious health that her friends thought she could not live six months. She and her husband, however, in spite of all predictions, have trod life's path- way together for fifty-two years. Thirteen children have been born of their union, eleven of whom grew to years of maturity, namely: Edward Lee, of Shelbyville, a carpenter; Ella Nora, who married John Brown, of Kansas, is now deceased; Charles Anderson, a cloth- ing merchant, died in Kansas City, Missouri; Susie, wife of John Fawkes, of Shelbyville; Mattie, wife of Thomas Jewell, of Spencer county ; John Thomas, a carpenter in Shelby- ville ; James, a carpenter, has never married, but lives with his parents, in Shelbyville; Sallie, for seventeen years a teacher in Spencer county, lives with her parents; Younger, of Spencer county ; Mary, wife of John Free- man, a farmer, living near Shelbyville: and Jesse, in the street car service in Louisville.

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 118

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