A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 30

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 30

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"The property was purchased July, 1905, by a stock company, incorporated as the 'Crown Jewel Milling Company,' and the di- rectors selected as Treasurer and Manager, Captain B. T. Riggs, who has been a member of the firm since 1882. Mr. Lark Garnett is president of the company, and J. F. McDaniel, secretary. Messrs. C. D. Linley and John McDaniel, Jr., are bookkeepers, and Mr. C. F. Eichhorn, an experienced man, is head miller."

In addition to his business interests Captain Riggs is president of the board of education, of which he has been a member since 1893. He is an elder in the Presbyterian church, in whose faith he was reared, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and with the Masonic order, in which he holds membership in the lodge, chapter and commandery of the York Rite branch. In politics he has been a staunch Republican ever since his earliest voting days and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen he has done much to advance the general welfare of the community, in which he has elected to maintain his home. He is a man of broad in- formation and deep human sympathy, a man who is generous in his impulses, genial and kindly disposed toward all in trouble or distress.

On the 26th of April, 1866, Captain Riggs was united in marriage to Miss Kate Kerr, who was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, on the 31st of October, 1841, and who is a daugh- ter of John and Rachel (Fry) Kerr, both of whom were likewise born in Fayette county and both of whom are now deceased. Captain and Mrs. Riggs have four children, concern- ing whom the following brief data are here incorporated: Edna remains at the parental home; Kerr T. is lieutenant of the Fourteenth Cavalry at West Point; Catherine Theo re- mains at home; and one died in infancy.

JAMES C. DEDMAN, commonwealth attorney for the eighteenth judicial district, is one of the leading members of the legal fraternity in his part of Kentucky and in every depart- ment of life, one of the most valued factors in the citizenship of Cynthiana. He is the scion of one of the fine old families of the south and by his own fine record upholds the prestige of his race. James C. Dedman was born in Woodford county, Kentucky, near Midway, October 23, 1869, and is the son of Robert Dedman, of Fayette county, this state. The life of the elder gentleman was coincident with that of General Ulysses S. Grant, his birth occurring April 27, 1822, the same day that the great general was born, and his death in August, 1885, a few weeks after Grant died. His wife, Mary Remington, born in Harrison county, Kentucky, in 1839, survived him for more than a score of years, her demise taking place January 17, 1907. They were the par- ents of three children, the subject and a sister, -Bessie, wife of R. E. Lair, of Cynthiana, Kentucky, surviving. By a previous marriage to a Miss Kay, of Fayette county, Robert Dedman became the father of seven children, but one of the number being deceased.

Mr. Dedman's grandfather Dedman was a native of the state of Virginia, who came to the Blue Grass state and located in Fayette county. There his son Robert was reared and received a common school education. While still a young man he decided upon a change of residence and removed to Woodford county where he engaged for six or eight years in the distilling business. He eventually turned his attention to farming, being variously located in Bourbon, Mercer and Woodford counties, and dying in Mercer county. After his death his widow removed to Cynthiana where she lived for the residue of her life.

James C. Dedman was reared amid the pleasant rural surroundings of his father's farm in Mercer county and attended the dis- trict school, supplementing his educational discipline with attendance at the high school of Cynthiana. While still a youth he con- cluded to adopt the profession of law as his own and he began his preparation under Hon. A. H. Word and Judge Kimbrough, noted members of the Kentucky Bar, and then en- tered the Cincinnati Law School from which he was graduated in June, 1892. He immedi- ately located in Cynthiana in the same office he occupies at the present time and there went through the usual experiences of the young lawyer, no matter how briliant and well equipped, while awaiting a clientage. He proved successful and in the fall of 1904 sig-

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nal mark of the confidence he had inspired in the community was given in his election to the office of comonwealth attorney for the eight- eenth judicial district, comprising the counties of Harrison, Nicholas, Pendleton and Robert- son. He first assumed the duties of his office January I, 1905, was subsequently re-elected, and is now serving his second term. He is one of the stanchest and truest of Harrison county Democrats, and has subscribed to the articles of faith of the party since his earliest voting days. He and his wife are members of the Christian church and fraternally he is af- filiated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, No. 438.

On December 2, 1897, Mr. Dedman inaugu- rated a happy life companionship by his union with Mary E. Ashbrook, born in Cynthiana, Kentucky, September 23, 1870. They are the parents of three children, namely: Thomas Ashbrook, born January 12, 1899; Sarah, born October 4, 1900; and Helen H., born Janu- ary 17, 1904.

Mrs. Dedman is a daughter of Thomas Veach Ashbrook, born near Cynthiana, Ken- tucky, August 22, 1828, and died September 30, 1874. He was educated in the district schools of his native county and reared upon a farm, becoming familiar with all the details of agricultural work under the guidance of his father and in the school of practical ex- perience. He continued engaged in this oc- cupation until some few years after the termi- nation of the Civil war, when he removed to Cynthiana and there he and his brother, Felix G. Ashbrook, embarked in the distillery busi- ness, the plant built by them being known as the Ashbrook Distillery Company. They built up a large and flourishing business, which still exists, it being known at the present time under the same name. T. V. Ashbrook was a man of much prominence in his community and he was several times elected mayor of Cynthiana. He was for several years presi- dent of the school board and for years he was an active member of the Christian church. As a farmer, business man, city official, church member and official, and husband and father, he was reliable, honest and true. In politics he was Democratic and very faithful to his party. He had plenty of courage and pluck and when threatened with arrest if he dared to vote at the time of the Civil war, he fear- lessly walked to the polls and cast his ballot. He was placed under arrest with a negro guard, but was soon released.

September 3, 1857, Mr. Ashbrook married Artemesia Belles, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, in which city her birth occurred Feb- ruary 10, 1832. This worthy lady passed on

to her reward October 7, 1904, at her home in Cynthiana, her age at the time of her de- mise being seventy-two years. They were the parents of the following seven children: Sal- lie Veach, residing in Cynthiana; Dorcas San- ders, wife of R. B. Hutchcraft, of Paris, Kentucky ; Felix Sterling, Sudie, Elizabeth and Earl, all deceased; and Mary E., wife of Mr. Dedman. Mrs. Ashbrook was a daughter of John James Belles, who was born October 26, 1781, and died June 5, 1839. Her mother was Dorcas Sanders and she was a daughter of John and Sarah (Grant) Sanders, the latter in turn being a daughter of William Grant and Elizabeth Boone, the latter a sister of the fa- mous Daniel Boone.

William Grant was a son of William Grant I, of Scotland, who married Margery Varnon, of Ireland, a widow with one son. Her father was a rich man with an elegant household and many servants and she, being badly treated at home, ran away to America, where she met the young Scotchman, William Grant, and married him. Young Grant's name was in re- ality Douglas. In the land of the thistle he had had bestowed upon him a grant of land for a deed of bravery and was thenceforth called the "Grant" Douglas, to distinguish him from others of the same name, and when he came to America he assumed the name of Grant. William Grant II was born in Penn- sylvania, in February, 1726, and died in Fay- ette county, Kentucky, in 1804.

Thomas V. Ashbrook's father, Aaron Ash- brook, was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, in 1796 and died in 1855 from cholera in Harrison county, Kentucky. He was married February 18, 1817, his wife, Sallie Veach, having been born in Harrison county, Ken- tucky in 1798, and died November 16, 1851. They were the parents of seven children. Aaron Ashbrook began life in moderate cir- cumstances as a farmer on Indian Creek. He remained there until 1821 when he removed to Mill Creek, Harrison county, and there lived until his death. By thrift, industry and excellent management he accumulated an ex- ceedingly large property and gave to each of his children four hundred and fifty acres, while at his death seven hundred more were divided among them by the terms of his will. His wife, Sallie Veach, was a daughter of Thomas and Jane (Huff) Veach, and Thomas Veach was a son of John Veach, and his wife, Jane Stewart. Aaron Ashbrook's father, Felix Ashbrook, was born in Virginia and died in Harrison county in 1843 at the age of seventy-five years. His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Todd, was born in Mary- land, and died September, 1838, at the age of

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seventy years. Aaron Ashbrook was born, lived and died in the Old Dominion. Felix Ashbrook was one of the valiant soldiers who held the fort at Boonesburg in the war of 1812.

JOHN C. MASON DAY is well known in busi- ness circles throughout the state for succeed- ing in all of his undertakings. He and his brothers inherited large tracts of timber land, but instead of becoming what is known as "land poor," as so many who did the same have become, Mr. Day has emerged a wealthy and influential citizen. The business methods by which he has done this can not fail to in- terest the commercial world.

Mr. Day was born June 3. 1859, the son of William Day, who was born in Morgan coun- ty, Kentucky, August 21, 1821, and who died in Breathitt county, January 28, 1884; the mother of our subject, Phoebe Elleanor Gibbs, was born in Breathitt county, January 30, 1825, and died June 11, 1862. The grandfa- ther was Jesse Day, born at New River, Vir- ginia, January 13, 1802, and he died in Mor- gan county, Kentucky, April 21, 1883. His wife, Margaret Caskey, was born in Morgan county, Kentucky, May 11, 1802, and died in the same county in 1884. The Caskeys were of Huguenot origin. They came to Ken- tucky from New York in wagons, settling first on Flat Creek, near Mt. Sterling, in Montgom- ery county, but moving shortly afterwards to Morgan county, where they located on the Licking river one and one-half miles from West Liberty. The first of the name in Ken- tucky had run away from his uncle John to whom he was apprenticed in New York, and tried to join the Revolutionary army when only twelve years old, but was promptly re- turned to his proud but worried uncle.

When Washington was first inaugurated Margaret Caskey's mother took part in the celebration as a flower girl. She and her mother called on Lady Washington. Owing to the straitened times existing after the Rev- olution, they had little finery in which to adorn themselves, and when telling about it years after, would never fail to describe the pride which prompted, and the difficulty which met her mother in her efforts to make up their homemade silk dresses so as to make a worthy appearance. Another point in the story, as she was accustomed to tell it, was that when they were ushered into the august presence of the first lady of the land, she was quietly knitting in the corner by the fire-place and continued to knit during the whole of the call. They brought with them over the moun- tains china and utensils rarely found in the back woods at that time, some of which are

still preserved with pride by the family, our subject owning a beautiful old fashioned tea- pot.

Mr. Day's great-grandfather, John Day, was born June 28, 1760, in Lunenburg coun- ty, Virginia, and died on July 16, 1837, in Morgan county, Kentucky. He served throughout the Revolution, enlisting first in October, 1776, when only sixteen years of age, and being mustered out for the last time in September, 1781. He served under Col- onels Joseph Cloyd, William Preston and others and took part in a number of engage- ments with the British and Torys in his sec- tion. The last three years he served as spy or Indian ranger, which speaks well for the woodcraft and discretion possessed by a boy of nineteen. Before the Revolution his fam- ily suffered, on one of the inroads of the Shawnee Indians, a terrible massacre, several of them being killed or captured. This made such an impression that the story has been handed down to the present day generation. The wife of this Revolutionary hero, named Rebecca Howe, was a woman of great force of character. She was born October 11, 1765, in Pennsylvania, and died March 17, 1856, while a resident of Morgan county, Kentucky.

Our subject's maternal grandfather was Nathan Gibbs, born October 12, 1793, in Burke county, North Carolina, and died No- vember 12, 1882. His wife was Jane Lipps, born August 14, 1797, and died April 24, 1867. John Gibbs, the father of Nathan, was born in South Carolina March 3, 1755, and died March 15, 1847, a resident of Breathitt county, Kentucky. While living in Burke county, North Carolina, in 1780, he enlisted in the Revolution and served three months under Capt. Clark; and in 1781 he was again called out and served several months under Capt. John Couley. John Gibbs was a mem- ber of the Legislature of North Carolina dur- ing the Revolutionary war and came to Ken- tucky over the Cumberland Gap road bring- ing his household effects on pack horses. His wife, Hannah Muchmore, was a cousin of Daniel Boone, and was born February 8, 1757, and died March 17, 1850.

All of Mr. Day's ancestors above noted were farmers and leading men in their time and section. William, his father, was reared on a farm in Morgan county, and educated at private schools. He married on the 18th of June, 1844, and bought land, most of which was virgin forest. Here he lived and fol- lowed farming until his death, at which time he owned ten thousand acres of timber land. In 1859 he was elected to the legislature of his state on the Democratic ticket and served

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one term. He did not enlist in the war but kept horses and pilots on his place and would send parties who wished to get through to join the Confederate army safely across the mountains into Virginia or Tennessee, where they could achieve their purposes.

Mr. Day was a merchant also and his store and firm was destroyed and robbed several times by Northern troops and sympathizers, on which account he was obliged to leave the country and did not dare return until 1866, after the war was ended. He was successful in whatever he undertook, farming, stock- raising, merchandising, and lumbering. He had nine children: Nathan B., J. Taylor, Margaret, Nancy Jane, Lucinda Caroline, Mary Elizabeth, Floyd, John C. M., and Will- iam. J. Taylor, Floyd, John C. M., and Will- iam are living. On April 16, 1863, William Day married for the second time, Lourana Cope, the daughter of James D. Cope, and left one child, Lewella, the wife of James Hargis of Jackson, Kentucky.

John C. M. Day was reared in Breathitt county, and received his early education in the common schools and later attended the Cumberland College in Virginia. Upon reaching his majority he entered his father's store at Frozen Creek, Breathitt county; and three years later, at his father's death, with his brother, Nathan, continued to run the store for four years, at the end of which time he sold out and went to Jackson, the county seat, and started the firm of Day Bros. & Co., a general merchandise store in which he and his brother Floyd are still interested, and in which they have built up a business of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year. Mr. Day and his brother Floyd own three lumber mills, one in Breathitt county, one at Clay City, and one at Beattyville. They also own ten thousand acres of timber, coal and farm lands. They have built twelve miles of railroad from Natural Bridge to Campton, Kentucky, through some of the roughest coun- try in the world, and will extend it soon to Hazel Green, Kentucky; this is the Mountain Central Railroad of which Mr. Day is vice president and general manager. On January I, 1899, he started the wholesale grocery firm of White & Day in Winchester, Kentucky; eighteen months later he bought out White, then bought out Pearson & Clark, wholesale grocers of Lexington, Kentucky, moved his Winchester stock to Lexington, combined the two stores and later sold his interest to W. J. Goodwin of Bryan, Goodwin & Hunt.

Mr. Day married on January 30, 1887, Mar- garet McLin, who was born at Rose Hill,

Virginia, November 22, 1865. She was the daughter of Capt. John Blair and Mary (Bales) McLin. Capt. McLin was born at Jonesboro, Tennessee, May 1, 1833, and died July 14, 1910, in Virginia. He enlisted in Captain Tip Willet's Company in the 19th Tennessee Infantry in the Civil war and be- came captain before its close. He married on December 15, 1864, Mary E. Bales, who was born in Lee county, Virginia, a daughter of R. M. Bales, who is one of the best families of this section, and she survives him, residing at Rose Hill, Virginia. Capt. McLin was a ruling elder in Mt. Carmel Presbyterian church for years and superintendent of the Sunday-school for twenty-five years. His early life was spent at Jonesboro, Tennessee, as a clerk in a store, and at the close of the war he became a merchant and farmer, in which occupations he spent the remainder of his life. In 1883-84 he served a term in the Virginia Legislature.

To Mr. and Mrs. John C. M. Day have been born four children, William, Mary Elea- nor, Kelly, and Catherine, all still young enough to remain at home. They own a beau- tiful home in Winchester, where they are highly respected by all who know them. Mr .. Day has been fortunate in always being able to secure the esteem and admiration of his numerous employees. He is recognized as one of the leading spirits in commercial and busi- ness circles but is never so busy that he can not grant to those who seek him the courtesy of an interview. Success in business has not changed his kindly nature but made him a broad minded man of kindly spirit and genial temperament. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church, of which he is also a ruling elder.

Mr. Day is the proud owner of a fine collec- tion of guns and hunting implements, and one of his chief delights is to run away from busi- ness worries once each year to the wild woods, where for a few weeks he follows the delights of hunting, the love of which has been bred into him by a long line of ancestors skilled in the craft.

CHARLES DUKE PEARCE .- The field of in- surance is constantly attracting men of enter- prise and laudable ambition, who find in this scope for their dominant qualities, recognizing that the business offers excellent opportunities for advancement. Charles Duke Pearce, whose business career has been one of intense and well-directed activity, is now vice-presi- dent of the Citizen's National Life Insurance Company of Louisville. He is closely asso- ciated with various other business interests

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which have had direct bearing upon the com- mercial and industrial activity and progress of the communities in which he has lived.

Mr. Pearce was born in Maysville, Mason county, Kentucky, March 14, 1856, the son of the late Charles B. Pearce, who for over forty years was one of the prominent bankers of Kentucky. Charles B. was born in Poplar Plains, Fleming county, Kentucky, May 27, 1823, and died May 14, 1905. He was the son of William Pearce, who was a native of New Jersey and the son of Samuel Pearce, who came over from England and settled at Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. Will- iam Pearce was the Kentucky settler, and lo- cated in Fleming county, was twice married and left a large family of children. The mother of our subject was Maria Shultz, a native of Maysville, Kentucky, and the daugh- ter of Christian Shultz, who came to Kentucky from Pennsylvania and married Charlotte Lee, a daughter of General Henry Lee of Vir- ginia, who settled in Mason county, Kentucky. Charles B. Pearce organized the private bank of Pearce & Wallingford, Maysville, of which he later became the sole owner, and converted it into the State National Bank of Maysville, becoming cashier and so continuing for many years.

Charles Duke Pearce attended the Mays- ville private schools and was prepared for college in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended the University of Virginia from 1873 to 1876, then graduated from Columbia Law School, New York city, in 1878. He began the prac- tice of law in Louisville in 1879. In 1881 he became connected with the Avery Manufac- turing Company of Louisville and in 1883 made a business trip around the world for that concern. While on this trip Mr. Pearce made an exhibit of their goods at the India Exposition held at Calcutta and was awarded a gold medal.

On January 1, 1885, Mr. Pearce became vice president and business manager of the Courier-Journal Newspaper Company of Lou- isville, and so continued until 1895. During the month of November, 1895, Mr. Pearce removed his residence to Maysville and in 1900 succeeded his father as cashier of the State National Bank, a position he still holds. He has become identified with several com- panies and business enterprises, including his directorate of the Citizens Life Insurance Company. The Citizens National Life In- surance was organized in November, 1909, and Mr. · Pearce became vice president of the same. The above companies were merged in 1910, Mr. Pearce continuing as vice presi-

dent of the reorganized company, to the man- agement of which he devotes considerable of his time. He is also president of the Mays- ville Water Company, and is completing his fifth term as treasurer of Mason county. Mr. Pearce is a popular member of several social clubs, is a prominent member of the lodge of Elks and was president of the Kentucky Elks Association in 1909. He is also a charter member of the Pendennis club of Louisville.

In 1881 Mr. Pearce married Miss Lizzie, daughter of Colonel W. N. Haldeman, of Lou- isville. She died in 1883, leaving one son, Walter Haldeman Pearce. Mr. Pearce's sec- ond marriage was to Roberta White, daughter of Thomas P. White, a merchant of Louis- ville. To this union two sons have been born: Charles Duke Pearce Jr. and Thomas White Pearce. His life record displays an active connection with many interests which have been directly beneficial to the city and which in their influence have been far reaching and effective. Both his public and private life have been characterized by the utmost fidelity to duty and he stands as a high type of hon- orable citizenship and straightforward man- hood ; enjoying the confidence and winning the respect of all with whom he has been brought in contact in business and in public life.

JAMES T. HIGHLAND .- No story of fiction contains more exciting chapters than can be found in the life records of our subject and his immediate ancestors. Pioneer life, the hardships incident to the struggles necessary in the lives of those who have the determina- tion to wrest from the primal earth their birthright and only to be conquered by a great will, hard work, courage and persistence, are all in the history of these brave men. Space forbids an extended account of these and only a short sketch can be given of what if extend- ed would be a most interesting volume.

James T. Highland, an agriculturist in Montgomery county, Kentucky, was born January 5, 1840, the son of Denman and Su- sanna (Johnson) Highland. The father was born December 19, 1804, and died in April, 1884. He was the son of Denman and Ame- lia Highland, who emigrated from Maryland to this state near the close of last century and settled in Bourbon county, on the waters of Hinkston creek, not far from McGinnis' Ford. They had fourteen children, the sub- ject's father being the sixth at the time of their settlement. The forests were in a state of nature, with scarcely a tree missing, and the cane grew luxuriously and many kinds of wild animals infested the country. It was a beautiful country, but the establishment of homes in this region therefore meant sacri-

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 30

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