A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 29

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 29

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in charge of the schools until June, 1895, when he resigned to enter the service of the American Book Company, as their represent- ative in central and eastern Kentucky and this position he still holds. Mr. Dietrich has for many years been connected with the Masonic fraternity in Lodge, Chapter, and Command- ery, and has been honored by the order by election to office frequently.

Mr. Dietrich acknowledged the worth and charm of Kentucky's daughters by marrying one of them-Miss Minnie R. Lander, daugh- ter of Wilson J. Lander, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She became his wife November 28, 1883. She has made his home the ideal "Old Kentucky Home." They have been blessed with five children, Karl, Ruth, Lois, Aime, and Neil; and theirs have been busy and useful lives such as lead to the establish- ment and maintenance of American life and the American nation.

GILES WRIGHT .- In the history of business development and of individual achievement Giles Wright is deserving of prominent and

honorable mention, for from commencing on a small scale, he has caused the development of a lumber business of magnitude in this section of the state and has advanced to a leading position among the successful busi- ness men whose enterprise is leading to the rapid growth and improvement of the coun- try. The great forests of this and adjacent states furnish ample opportunity for repre- sentatives of the lumber industry, and the giant trees converted into building material are now being shipped to all parts of the country.

Giles Wright was born in Lawrence county, Kentucky, January 6, 1867, the son of Cal- vin and Celina (Hilton) Wright, the former a native of Wise county, Virginia and the latter from Carter county, Kentucky. When a young man Calvin Wright in company with his older brother Henry and a younger one named James, came to Kentucky in the early thirties and located on Dry Fork, a branch of Little Fork river, in Lawrence county, Ken- tucky, and engaged in farming, making great improvements, building good homes and be- coming well fixed financially and influential. He died on the homestead in 1872 on August II, at the age of fifty-three years. During the Civil war he was a southern sympathizer but took no active part in the conflict. He was a member of the United Baptists as was also his wife, who is now living at Willard, Car- ter county, Kentucky. They were the par- ents of three children, one son and two daugh- ters, all living, the son being the eldest and

Giles Wright was reared in his native coun- ty until he was thirteen years old, attending the common schools. He began work at this age on a farm and in public works and con- tinued in the same until 1889. In 1890 he en- tered the employ of Leatherber, Slade & Kel- ton, wholesale lumber, at Columbus, Ohio, as buyer and shipper for manufacturing and buying in the markets in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and continued in this business until 1893, acquiring a thorough knowledge of this business in all its departments. He then began the manufacture and wholesale of lumber for himself at Ashland under the firm name of Kitchen & Wright, which firm exist- ed until 1897, when they dissolved partner- ship and Mr. Wright continued until 1902 and then formed a partnership under the name of Giles Wright Lumber Co., B. B. Fan- ning being Mr. Wright's partner in the con- cern, which continued until 1906 and then incorporated into the Wright, Saulsberry Lumber Co., which continued until 1910.

On May 1, 1910, the Wright-Kitchen

J Bank Dye

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Lumber Co. was organized with a paid up capital stock of $75,000 and with the follow- ing officers: Giles Wright, President; J. H. Kitchen, Vice-President and C. J. Kitchen, Secretary and Treasurer. The business has developed from small beginnings to its pres- ent proportions. During its early days it made about $40,000 a year and in 1910 showed an increase of over $200,000 and from shipments of ten cars to sixty or seventy cars per month. It operates an eight foot single band mill at the Ashland plant, cutting thirty-five thousand feet daily, making a spe- cialty of Kentucky oak timbers, length up to forty feet, and is one of the few mills equipped for such work, and employing about fifty men. This company owns timber land in Big Sandy district but buy principally on the market.

In politics Mr. Wright is a stanch Repub- lican and in 1909 was a candidate from his party to the state senate, the 32d senatorial district, but a large opposition majority pre- cluded his election. In social societies, he is a Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge, Royal Arch Chapter, the Commandery and Shrine, all at Ashland. He married on September 27, 1891, Mollie Lee Kitchen, a native of Carter county, Kentucky, and a daughter of Charles Kitchen, of whom a sketch is published else- where in this work. . Mr. and Mrs. Wright are the parents of five children, four of whom are living. Their names are: Lena Mabel, who died at the age of eleven years; Charles K .; Lauretta; Giles Edward; Mollie Lee. Mrs. Wright is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, South.

JOHN DYE .- The lineage of the subject of this review, although of foreign ancestry, be- speaks long and prominent identification with the annals of American history, while repre- sentatives of the name have shown that intrin- sic loyalty and patriotism which has led them to take an active part in the great conflicts through which the republic was established and has been perpetuated.

Jolın Dye, deceased, who was born near Cold Springs, Campbell county, Kentucky, March 23, 1811, was a worthy representative of one of the old pioneer families of Ken- tucky, whose ancestors figured prominently in the early history of America. On the Dye side he was descended from Laurens Duyts, who was born in Denmark in 1610, emigrated to America in company with Jonas Bronk via Holland in the ship "Frie of Troy," which arrived at New Amsterdam in 1639, borough of Bronx, New York city, taking its name from Jonas Bronk. Laurens Duyts had three children baptized in New Amsterdam, the sons

being Jans and Hans. Descendants of Jans took the name of Dies and Deys. Hans mar- ried Marritze Satyrs, by whom he had Janus Deay, who was baptized in 1671. Marritze Satyrs died and Hans Laurens, as he was known, married Mrs. Sarah Fountain, widow of Anthony Fountain, by whom he had among other children, John Dey or Dye, born about 1690. John Dey or Dye settled in Middlesex county, New Jersey, in 1725, bought land there that year and by his will, dated October I, 1750, and recorded in libra E, folio 496, he names his wife Ann, sons John, David, Will- iam, James, Vinson, Joseph and daughters Anne and Catherine. The will of James Dye, dated June 6, 1764, recorded in libra H, folio 427, mentions his brother Vinson and father John Dye, and names his wife Sarah and his sons James, Andrew, David, John and Benja- min and daughters Mary, Rachel, Anne and Sarah. Of the last named children, James, the oldest son, was the father of Isaac Dye, the latter being the father of the subject of this review.

Isaac Dye was born and reared in Middle- sex county, New Jersey, where he married Martha Perrine on February 19th, 1794, and where several children were born. In 1805, in company with his family and that of his fath- er-in-law, he emigrated to New Bethel, Ohio, but not long afterward he located near what is now Cold Springs, Campbell county, Ken- tucky, and engaged extensively in farming, be- ing among the pioneer families of Campbell county. He continued farming for a number of years and then located in Newport and en- gaged in the coal business, which he continued until his death, which occurred in the '50s, his wife having preceded him by several years. They were the parents of eleven children, none of whom are living at the present time.

John Dye, our subject, was reared on the farm near Cold Springs and prior to his mar- riage, when quite a young man, spent several years working on flat-boats on the Ohio, Mis- sissippi, Black and White rivers in Arkansas and elsewhere and, in fact, made his start that way. In the meantime he bought a farm near the old homestead, and on May 28, 1840, mar- ried Mary Ware and engaged in farming the most of his life. He died at the home of his son, J. Frank Dye, in Highlands, back of New- port, in 1885, at the age of seventy-three years, his widow surviving him until 1892 when she died at the age of seventy-three years. They were the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters, of whom two are living at the present time. Of these children, James Israel, the eldest son, who was born April 19, 1844, enlisted in the Confederate army under

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General Humphrey Marshall early in 1863. He was consigned to the Tenth Kentucky Mounted Riflemen, under Captain Ben Bell, was later transferred to the command of Gen- eral John S. Williams then to General Giltner and last to General John Morgan on the latter's last raid in Kentucky and was captured at Mt. Sterling early in 1864 and sent to Johnson's Island. Early in 1865 he was exchanged by request. His eagerness to return to the front induced him to conceal his real disability and through exposure in the hard trip and lack of nourishment and medical attention he lost his health, which resulted in his death in Newport, July 9, 1865, one month after his arrival home. He said he weighed one hundred ninety-seven pounds when captured and one hundred seven when he was released.

John Frank Dye, the second son and fourth in order of birth of the children of John Dye, was born May 23d, 1850. He was reared on the farm in Campbell county and later located in Covington, where he was engaged in the grocery business for several years. After a residence in Chicago, where he was engaged in railroad work, he returned to Kentucky and located in Newport, where in 1884 he organ- ized the Newport Sand Bank Company, with a capital stock of $50,000 for the purpose of mining and shipping high grade moulding sand of superior quality, which was mined from the hills adjoining Newport. Hè was the pio- neer in this line of industry and built up an extensive business, later increasing the capital stock of the company to $100,000 and the busi- ness to extensive proportions, a ready sale being found throughout the United States and Canada and parts of Europe. The Newport Sand stands to-day without an equal in the United States, on acocunt of its strength and fine surface qualities. He was for many years a progressive and successful business man and citizen of Newport, active in promoting the best interests of the city. He married Vir- ginia Boyd, October 15, 1877, by which union the following children were born: Lee Earl, deceased, James Elmer, deceased, Alma My- ra, deceased, John Frank, Jr., Cleveland H., David Dudley and George Wilbur. The moth- er of these children died April 6, 1891, and the father later married Cora Van Duzen, by whom one son was born, E. W. Van.

Mr. Dye was the founder and organizer of The Daylight Building and Savings Associ- ation in 1908, of Newport, of which he was the active head and president until his death, May 19, 1910. He was a member of the First Baptist church, Newport, for many years and active in church work, where he was deacon and superintendent of the Sunday-school many

years. At the time of his death he was a resi- dent of Cincinnati and a member of the Ninth Street Baptist church.

George Washington Dye, the third son of John Dye and fifth child in order of birth, was : born on the homestead in Campbell county October 30, 1853, and reared there. When a young man he became bookkeeper for a whole- sale and retail house in Covington. In 1880 he removed to St. Louis and was in the rail- way business for seven years, where he be- came chief clerk in the auditor's office of the Wabash Railway for several years. In 1887 he was transferred to Chicago, where he con- tinued until 1889, when he accepted the posi- tion of auditor and treasurer of the Jackson- ville and St. Louis Railway, with offices at Jacksonville, Illinois. Ten years later he was promoted to general freight and passenger agent of the same and continued in that posi- ·tion until the road was bought by C. B. & Q. Railway Company in 1904, when he became general agent of the latter, but two years later, in 1906, resigned to accept the position of manager and secretary of the Newport Sand · Bank Company, in which he became a stock- holder. Upon the death of his brother he was elected president and treasurer of the com- pany and still continues in that position. He was married in 1888 to Adelaide Haslett, a na- tive of Illinois, reared and educated in Chi- cago. In politics Mr. Dye formerly was an adherent of the Democratic party but of late years has transferred his allegiance to the re- publicans.

JOSEPH E. WELLS, M. D .- Since 1896 has Dr. Joseph E. Wells been an active practi- tioner in the medical profession at Cynthiana. He has gained wide recognition as a skilled physician and surgeon and stands in the front rank in the medical fraternity in Harrison : county, Kentucky. Dr. Wells was born at Mount Olivet, Nicholas county, now Robert- son county, Kentucky, on the 25th of Octo -. ber, 1860. He is a son of Dr. Riley and Elizabeth (Brown) Wells, both of whom were likewise born in Nicholas county, the father October 5, 1830, and the mother May 17, . 1840. Dr. and Mrs. Riley Wells became the parents of two children-Joseph E., the im- mediate subject of this review; and Mary, widow of Richard Ridgley, of Mount Olivet, Kentucky. Dr. Riley Wells was summoned to eternal rest on the 17th of April, igor, and his cherished and devoted wife, who still sur- vives him, now maintains her home at Mount Olivet.

William Wells, paternal grandfather of him whose name initiates this review, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1800, and he died in the

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Blue Grass state in 1872. He married Miss Matilda Collins and they located on a farm in Nicholas county, where they passed the residue of their lives and where they reared a family. Riley Wells was reared to the in- vigorating discipline of the home farm and after completing the curriculum of the public schools of Carlisle and Flemingsburg he at- tended an Academy in Bracken county, Ken- tucky. Thereafter he became interested in the medical profession and was matriculated in the Eclectic Medical College, in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1858. He initi- ated the active practice of his profession at Mount Olivet and there gained high repute as a skilled physician and surgeon. In his political convictions he endorsed the cause of the Republican party, in the local councils of which he was an active factor, being a mem- ber of the Republican County Committee. He was pension examiner at one time and during the war was offered a position as sur- geon of a regiment; this he refused, prefer- ring to remain at home. His sympathies were with the north. He began life with practic- ally nothing in the way of worldly goods but at the time of his death he left an estate of some eight hundred acres of most arable Blue Grass land. He was president of the Mount Olivet National Bank from the time of its es- tablishment until his death. He was a fine financier, an able doctor and a public-spirited citizen and no one in Robertson county was accorded a higher degree of popular confi- dence and esteem than he. The maternal grandfather of Dr. Joseph E. Wells, of this review, was John Brown, a native of Tennes- see, who came to Nicholas county, Kentucky, as a young man: he was long a prominent farmer and stock-raiser in that county.

Dr. Joseph E. Wells was reared and edu- cated at Mount Olivet, to whose schools he is indebted for his preliminary educational training, later supplementing the same with more advanced study in the University of Kentucky, at Lexington. In 1878, however, he decided to follow the vocation of his fa- ther and accordingly was matriculated in the Ohio Medical College, at Cincinnati, in which well ordered institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, with the de- gree of Doctor of Medicine. Immediately after his graduation he returned to Mount Olivet, where he became associated with his father in the practice of his profession. In May, 1896, however, he severed his connec- tions in that place and removed to Cynthiana, where he enjoys a large and lucrative patron- age and where he stands at the head of his

profession in this section of the state. For eight years after coming to Cynthiana he was a member of the firm of Givens & Wells and for the ensuing eight years he was a member of the firm of Givens, Wells & Moore. In November, 1909, however, the partnership al- liance was dissolved and all three doctors be- gan individual practice. In connection with his life work Dr. Wells is a member of the Harrison County Medical Society; the Ken- tucky State Medical Society, of which he is president in 1911 ; the American Medical As- sociation; the Mississippi Valley Medical Society; the Southern Surgical Society; and the Kentucky Midland Society.

On the 15th of May, 1883, was recorded the marriage of Dr. Wells to Miss Bessie R. Peckover, who was born at Nicholasville, Jessamine county, this state, in 1864. She is a daughter of Dr. E. J. and Jane (Ridgly) Peckover, the former of whom was a well known dentist in Cynthiana, Kentucky, for a number of years. Dr. and Mrs. Wells have one child-Bird Martin, who is now the wife of Dr. C. R. Rice, of Augusta, Kentucky.

Dr. Wells is the owner of considerable farming land in Robertson county, Kentucky. In politics he is a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party, in which he has been an in- fluential factor in this section of the state. He has never aspired to public office of any or- der, preferring to give his undivided atten- tion to the exacting demands of his profes- sion. In the grand old Masonic order he has passed through the circle of York Rite Ma- sonry, holding membership in the lodge, chap- ter, council and commandery, in the latter of which he is past eminent commander of Cyn- thiana Commandery. He is also affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, in which he is past chancellor commander of Quinby Lodge, No. 58; and he is a charter member of Lodge No. 438, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. He and his wife are zealous members of the Christian church, in which he has long been a deacon. Dr. Wells is a man of broad information and great kindliness of spirit, a man whose life has ever been characterized by good deeds and noble thoughts. As a citi- zen he is sincere and straightforward and is well deserving of the high regard in which he is held in Harrison county.

B. T. RIGGS .- As manager of the Crown Jewel Milling Company, at Cynthiana, Ken- tucky, Capt. B. T. Riggs holds prestige as one of the leading business men in Harrison county, having resided in this city for nearly two score years. He was a valiant soldier in the Civil war and is a man whose veracity and altruistic tendencies make him a promi-

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nent and influential citizen. He was born at Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, on the 25th of February, 1839, and is a son of Benjamin and Agnes M. (Wilson) Riggs, the former of whom was born on the eastern shore of Maryland, in 1799, and the latter claimed Falmouth, Pendleton county, Kentucky, as the place of her nativity, the date of her birth being January, 1801. The father was sum- moned to the life eternal in November, 1839, and the mother died at Falmouth, Kentucky, in 1875, at the age of seventy-four years. As a youth Benjamin M. Riggs learned the trade of silver smith and jeweler, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whence he came to Kentucky about the year 1820 or 1822. In 1823 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Agnes M. Wilson, and immediately after that event lo- cation was made at Millersburg, Bourbon county. Subsequently the family home was established at Paris, where Mr. Riggs passed the residue of his life and where he was iden- tified with the work of his trade until his death, in 1839, at the age of forty years. Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Riggs, but four are now living, namely-Julia, who is the widow of Robert Scott, of Falmouth, Kentucky; W. B., who was a Union sym- pathizer during the Civil war and a gallant soldier in that sanguinary struggle, as a mem- ber of the Fourth Kentucky Infantry; he now resides at Covington, Kentucky; Agnes, who is the wife of N. S. Dickerson, of Fal- mouth, Kentucky; and Captain B. T., the im- mediate subject of this review.

In 1841, shortly after the death of her hon- ored husband, Mrs. Riggs removed from Paris to Falmouth, her old girlhood home, and there she continued to reside until her death. She was a daughter of James and Ag- nes (Pickett) Wilson, both of whom were natives of Culpeper county, Virginia, whence they came to Kentucky in the early pioneer days, location being made near Falmouth, where they became eminently well-to-do farmers. James Wilson and a brother saw service in the war of the Revolution and Samuel Wilson was an active participant in the War of 1812.

Captain Riggs was a child of some two years of age at the time of his mother's re- moval to Falmouth, Kentucky, where he availed himself of such advantages as were afforded in the common schools and where he grew to maturity. In 1858, when nineteen years of age, he went to Williamstown, Ken- tucky, where he procured a position as a clerk in a general store. At the time of the incep- tion of the Civil war he was fired with en- thusiasm for the cause of the Union and en-

listed as a soldier in Company G, Eighteenth Kentucky Infantry, on the 10th of Novem- ber, 1861. As a private he began service un- der Captain H. W. Eggleston. December 23, 1861, he was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant and on the 16th of January, 1863, he was made first lieutenant, becoming captain on the 18th of March, 1863. He was taken prisoner by the Confederate forces at Chicka- mauga, on the 20th of September, 1863, and was held in duress at Libby prison for a period of seven months, at the expiration of which he was transferred to Danville, Vir- ginia, thence to Macon, Georgia, later to Charleston, South Carolina, and finally to Co- lumbia, South Carolina. On the 29th of No- vember, 1864, he escaped from the latter place and made his way to the Union army, joining his regiment at Goldsboro, North Carolina, in the latter part of December, 1864. In making his escape from prison he traveled steadily for twenty-two nights out of twenty-three. He participated in the battle of Richmond, Kentucky, Hoover Gap, Tennessee, and Chickamauga, in all of which he saw hard service. He had his clothing cut by bullets many times but was never seriously wounded. . At the close of the war he received his honor- able discharge, being mustered out of service at Louisville on the 18th of July, 1865. When peace had again been established he returned to Williamstown, Kentucky, where he re- mained until the spring of 1870, when he came to Cynthiana, where he was appointed govern- ment gauger, retaining that position until January 1, 1882.

In the year last mentioned Captain Riggs, in company with W. C. Musselman, purchased the Licking Valley Milling Company, which concern was operated for a short time by the firm of Riggs & Musselman. Messrs. Riggs & Musselman conducted the institution until 1888 and upon the death of Capt. Musselman the firm was changed to Riggs, Garnett & Co., concerning the history of which the following extracts are taken from an article which ap- peared in the souvenir supplement of a local paper, under date of November 11, 1905.

"One of Cynthiana's earliest industries was the business conducted in the large and sub- stantial building now occupied by the Crown Jewel Milling Company. * * *

This splendid milling plant, owned and operated by the firm of Riggs, Garnett & Company, in- cludes a large grain elevator, coal yard and public scales.

"The mill has an interesting history. In 1809 the mill building was erected by a com- pany for a woolen factory, and it was so used 11ntil 1818, when General Josephus Perrin

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moved his cotton mill into it and thus occu- pied it until 1825. During these years one story was frequently rented for public meet- ings and entertainments, it having the largest rooms in Cynthiana. It was used for storage for some years and in 1845 John Harmon Frazer bought it for use as a whiskey ware- house. Gray & Cox next purchased the prop- erty, then J. A. Cook & Woolford, then C. B. Cook, in 1865, then Peck & Van Hook, in 1866. Ben Potts entered the firm but he soon sold his interest to J. W. Peck & Company ; after the firm had established a flouring mill, Messrs. Riggs & Musselman purchased the mill, in 1883; and in 1888, after Mr. Mussel- man's death, the firm became Riggs, Garnett & Company.

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 29

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