A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 44

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 44

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Samuel Ewalt was born and reared in Bour- bon county, and he contributed his quota to the reclamation and development of the home farm, while his educational advantages were limited to the primitive schools of the pioneer epoch. He became the owner of a large and valuable landed estate in Bourbon county and was one of the most successful planters of this section of the state, where he was influential in public affairs. He married Cynthia Pugh December 24. 1817. She was the daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Hunt) Pugh. Joseph Pugh, in Bedford county, Virginia, in the spring of 1777, was commissioned a lieutenant

in the Fourteenth Virginia Regiment, upon Continental establishment. Cynthia (Pugh) Ewalt died September 28, 1833. His second marriage was to Eliza Porter Smith, of Har- rison county, on June 7, 1834. She was born August 27, 1799, and died February 29, 1852. Samuel Ewalt died August 28, 1878.

Joseph Henry Ewalt, the sixth in order of birth of the children of Samuel and Cynthia (Pugh) Ewalt, was reared to maturity on the old homestead plantation and was afforded such advantages as were offered in the com- mon schools of the locality and period. On the 18th of December, 1856, was solemnized his marriage to Sophia M. Spears (born Sep- tember 6, 1838), who died August 27, 1857. On the 10th of December, 1863, he wedded Henrietta Hedges, a daughter of Samuel (see sketch of Joseph Hedges on other pages of this work) and Rebecca (Moran) Hedges, members of well known pioneer families of Bourbon county. Rebecca (Moran) Hedges [born August 26, 1815, died February 9, 1893,] was the daughter of Edward B. and Letitia (Clay) Moran and granddaughter of Samuel and Nancy (Winn) Clay. Samuel Clay enlisted in the Revolutionary war in 1777, when less than sixteen years old, and followed General Greene throughout the cam- paign of the Carolinas.

Joseph Henry Ewalt well upheld the pres- tige of the family name and continued to be numbered among the representative agricul- turists and stock-growers of his native county until his death, which occurred on the 15th of August, 1877. He was a man of strong char- acter and most generous impulses,-direct, kind-hearted and sincere,-and no citizen com- manded a fuller measure of popular confi- dence and esteem. His wife still survives him and has attained to the venerable age of seventy-one years (1910). She resides on the old homestead with her son Joseph H., and this place is endeared to her by the gracious memories and associations of the past. Her husband lived until his death, and virtu- ally his entire life was passed on the ancestral estate, of a considerable portion of which he became the owner. The homestead, as now constituted, comprises two hundred and fifteen acres, and is one of the well improved and valuable farm properties of the county. Joseph Henry Ewalt was a staunch adherent of the Democratic party and ever manifested a lively interest in public affairs, though he never desired or held political office. He was affiliated with the Masonic fraternity. His widow has been a devoted adherent of the Christian church for over fifty years. Con- cerning the four children the following brief

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record is entered: Joseph Hedges, the eldest of the number, was born July 15, 1865, as has already been noted in this context; Rebecca Ann, who was born January 11, 1867, died on the 17th of the following September; Lily, who was born April 20, 1869, died November 15, 1885; and Lettie Clay, who was born De- cember 31, 1870, died April 15, 1874. Thus the subject of this review is the only surviving child.

Joseph Hedges Ewalt found his early expe- riences compassed by the scenes, incidents and work of the home farm, and after duly avail- ing himself of the advantages of the public schools of his native county he continued his studies for three years in the Kentucky Uni- versity, now known as Transylvania Univer- sity, at Lexington. Later he completed an effective course in the celebrated Eastman Business College, at Poughkeepsie, New York, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1884. He then went to the city of Delaware, Ohio, where for the three ensuing years he held the position of bookkeeper for the Delaware Wagon Com- pany, one of the leading industrial concerns of that place. In March, 1887, Mr. Ewalt re- turned to the fine old homestead, and here he has since been actively and successfully en- gaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-rais- ing, in which latter department he has gained special prominence as a breeder of high-grade Short-horn cattle and Southdown sheep. He is progressive in connection with his business activities and avails himself of the best mod- ern facilities in carrying forward the various departments of his farm industry. Everything about the attractive old homestead bears evi- dence of thrift and prosperity, and he has every reason to find satisfaction in the fact that he has not wavered in his allegiance to the vocation under whose influences he was reared, as his success has been of unequivocal order, the while his course has been such as to retain to him the high regard of the commu- nity in which virtually his entire life has been passed.

As a man of strong intellectuality and well fortified opinions, Mr. Ewalt has been influen- tial in public affairs of a local character, and he is ever ready to lend his co-operation in the promotion of enterprises and undertakings that tend to advance the general welfare of the community. Though showing no predilec- tion for official preferment, he clings to the faith in which he was reared and is a stalwart in the camp of the Democratic party. Both he and his wife are members of the Christian church and are earnest and liberal in the sup- port of the various departments of its work.

This review would stultify its consistency were there failure to make special note of the prominent position held by Mr. Ewalt in the time-honored Masonic fraternity, of which he is one of the most influential members in his native state. He has completed the circle of both the York and Scottish Rites, in which latter he has attained to the thirty-second de- gree, being affiliated with the Grand Consist- ory, A. A. S. R., in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. He has not only passed the vari- ous official chairs in each of the four subor- dinate bodies of York Rite Masonry, in which his maximum affiliation is with Cynthiana Commandery, No. 16, Knights Templar, at Cynthiana, Kentucky, but he has also been called to high official station in the state or- ganizations of these bodies. Thus it may be noted that he is at the present time Grand Senior Warden of the Kentucky Grand Lodge of Free & Accepted Masons, and thus in line of advancement to the supreme office, that of Grand Master. He is Past Grand High Priest of the Kentucky Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons; Past Grand Master of the state Grand Council of Royal & Select Masters; and Past Grand Commander of the Kentucky Grand Commandery of Knights Templar. In 1912 he will, in course of regular events, suc- ceed to the exalted office of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of the state, the highest posi- tion in the gift of the ancient-craft Masons of this jurisdiction. Upon his advancement to this position he will be one of only eight per- sons who have served as head of each of the Grand Bodies of York Rite Masons in the state of Kentucky. He is also affiliated with the adjunct bodies, the Order of the Eastern Star and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in which he is identified with Oleika Temple, at Lexington, Kentucky. Mr. Ewalt has been a close and appreciative student of Masonic history, tra- ditions and both the esoteric and exoteric phases of its work, and few are better forti- fied in such knowledge. He holds membership also in the Knights of Pythias and the Ken- tucky Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. Five of his ancestors served in the Revolutionary war.

In the historic home of William Garrard Talbot, at Mount Lebanon, Bourbon county, on the 19th of November, 1903, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Ewalt to Miss Nancy Clay Thomas, who was born in this county on the 17th of July, 1875, and who is a woman of culture and most gracious person- ality, being thus a charming chatelaine of the beautiful home over which she presides.

Mrs. Ewalt is the daughter of Keller and

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Martha (Anderson) Thomas, both of whom were born in Kentucky, the former on the 12th of October, 1845, in Bourbon county, and the latter on the 20th of February, 1844, in Harrison county, both being representatives of old and honored families of the Blue Grass state. Mrs. Thomas died in Bourbon county on the 29th of August, 1902, and Mr. Thomas now resides in the home of his son Henry A., in the city of Pontiac, Michigan. They be- came the parents of five children : Henry A., Anna, William, Nancy Clay and George, and of the number, William and George are de- ceased. Anna is a resident of Bourbon county, the wife of William Garrard Talbot, of whom mention is made on other pages of this work. Mrs. Ewalt is the great-great- granddaughter of Moses Thomas, one of the 1779 pioneers of Kentucky. Keller Thomas, her father, enlisted in the Confederate army at the age of sixteen years and served under General John Hunt Morgan. His daughters, Mrs. Ewalt and Mrs. Talbot, are enthusiastic members of the United Daughters of the Con- federacy. The latter served two years as president of the state organization. Mr. and Mrs. Ewalt have two charming little daugh- ters, Anne Thomas, born October 13, 1904, and Josephine Hedges, born July 4, 1906.

JOSEPH HEDGES .- The Hedges are of an- cient and honorable English lineage, their landed estates and manorial privileges being situated in Wilts, Berks and Gloucester, with London the seat of the younger sons of enter- prise. Sir Philip Hedges, of Gloucester and London, born during the reign of the last Lancastrian king, appears to have been the earliest known ancestor. He was knighted for bravery on the field of battle and died in 1487. His descendant, William Hedges, of Youghal, Ireland, and Gloucester and London, England, was at Wilmington in 1675 and owned property there under the Duke of York's rule, through Governor Fenwick's ad- ministration of South Jersey.

His son, Joseph Hedges, of Gloucester and London, born in 1670, and died in 1732, on Monocacy Manor, Prince George's county, Maryland, was twice married. On January I, 1708, he married Mary Fettleplace, of Kings- wood, Wilts; Issue, Solomon and Charles, born in England. He married second, Sep- tember 8, 1713, Katharine Tingey, of London ; Issue, Joshua, Jonas, Joseph, Samuel, Cath- erine, Ruth and Dorcas, born in America.

Joseph Hedges first located land in what was known as the Marlborough district of Delaware, which was settled by Gloucester people from Marlborough, Bristol and Kings- wood. His sons gained a splendid foothold

in the American colonies: Solomon won dis- tinction; Charles (father of the subject of sketch), aided in driving Indian hordes from Maryland and amassed a fortune; Joshua patented over one thousand acres of land in Virginia in 1743, and Jonas founded Hedges Villa (Hedgesville, West Virginia), in 1746. Among the men who peopled the frontier, con- tributed to the development of the middle west, furnished its social background was Joseph Hedges, of Bourbon county, Kentucky, farmer, Revolutionary soldier and pioneer. He was born in 1743 in Frederick county, Maryland, and was the son of Charles Hedges, Sr., and Mary Stille. In 1770 he married Sarah Biggs, of the same county, and engaged in farming at "Standing Stone" in Maryland, on a tract of four hundred and thirty-four acres owned jointly with his brother Absalom. During the steady progression from discon- tent of a colony to the freedom and independ- ence of a nation, with splendid patriotism he renounced his allegiance to George III. and served his country from September, 1777, to December, 1780, in the companies of Captains Ward and Comb, Regiment of Foot, Conti- nental Troops, commanded by Colonel Oliver Spencer. After the Revolutionary war, in common with many of the settlers on the At- lantic coast, he determined to emigrate to the wilderness of Kentucky, obtaining patents September 1, 1791, for Hedges' Silence, Hedges' Range, Shintaler Gut and resurveys on Fleming's Purchase and Pilgrim's Har- bour, for the purpose of conveying these farms to the purchasers. Early in 1792 he started on the long journey, accompanied by his family and slaves, his brother Shadrach and sister, also several Maryland families,-the Troutmans and others, all traveling in Cones- toga wagons. About twelve miles above Wheeling they visited Mr. Hedges' brother Charles, who settled at Beech Bottom Fort in Ohio county, Virginia, in 1776. While so- journing here they constructed flat boats to complete their journey down the Ohio river, taking their wagons apart to carry them. Upon reaching Wheeling, Shadrach Hedges having been wounded by an Indian, abandoned the trip and his sister returned to Maryland with him. They drifted down to Limestone, now Maysville, Kentucky, three hundred and nine miles from Wheeling, with no especial incident to mark their transit other than the falling overboard of Mr. Hedges' little daugh- ter Jemima and her rescue by her small brother James, who caught her by her floating skirts and pulled her into the boat. Disem- barking at Limestone, they coupled their wagons, hitched their horses and followed the

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Buffalo trail, afterward the State road, to where Paris is now located. Here they pitched their tents for two weeks during very inclem- ent weather, while Mr. Hedges negotiated with Ralph and Mary Morgan for the pur- chase of a choice body of land in the vicinity of Stony Point, near Strode's creek. On March 25, 1792, the sale was consummated, and he started soon afterward the erection of a substantial and comfortable log house of a story and a half, of roomy dimensions, and as- sisted by the slaves planted his first crop on Kentucky soil; but his farming venture the first year was not encouraging, nor for suc- ceeding years. The energy expended in clear- ing a new country and adapting himself to unusual conditions at his age undermined his constitution, and his health gradually failed until the end came in 1804.

He has left a name of prominence in the early annals of Bourbon and the heritage of an honored memory to numerous descendants. His wife survived until 1822, and nine chil- dren have perpetuated the race: John, born in 1771, of fine business ability, accumulated a large estate ; Charles, born in 1773, spent his life at Clintonville; Rebecca, born in 1775, married Mr. McCray, of Middletown ; Joseph, born in 1778; James, born in 1783, of Sharps- burg; Jonas, born in 1785, a farmer of Bour- bon and Clark counties ; Jemima, born in 1790, married Mr. Reid; Samuel, born in 1792, in Kentucky; and Mary, born in 1795, married Dr. Carney, of Ohio.

SARAH HEDGES .- Mrs. Sarah Hedges, nee Biggs, was a characteristic type of the noble pioneer mothers. Of gentle birth and unaccustomed to the ruder condi- tions of life, and of handsome and striking ap- pearance, she numbered among her personal accomplishments that of being a thorough horsewoman and an excellent judge of the qualities constituting fine horses. She was re- markable for her industry, piety and Christian influence, and took an active interest in the Baptist church, with which she had long been associated and to which she was a pillar of strength prior to leaving her native state, as evidenced by the records of Frederick, Mary- land: "July 10, 1790, Sarah Hedges appears among the number of persons who entered into an agreement for the re-organization of a Baptist congregation."

Mr. and Mrs. Hedges had evidently been lured from their desirable Maryland home by glowing representations made by friends who had preceded them to the backwoodsman's paradise, in whose primeval solitude they were destined to rear an interesting family and in- culcate those high principles of domestic

virtue and exalted conceptions of duty which have exerted a powerful influence over the descendants to the present, thus verifying what has often been claimed-that many gen- erations preside at the birth of every individ- ual.

To Mrs. Hedges is due our highest tribute of praise for the noble and active and human- izing part she took in reclaiming the wilder- ness from savagery and converting it into a civilized habitation for man. Her mental strength was indelibly impressed upon her children. Upon her youngest son, Samuel, she especially exerted an influence for up- rightness and worth, and the veneration he bore his mother was an uplifting force throughout life. Not one of the children of her heart and home proved unfaithful to the influence brought to bear by her moral worth, all becoming worthy citizens who left their impress for good upon the community in which they lived. After the death of her hus- band, in 1804, Mrs. Hedges continued to live at the old home with John until 1822, when she entered the higher service. Both are buried in a locust grove within sight of their home.

SAMUEL HEDGES, ESQUIRE, the youngest son of the pioneer, Joseph Hedges, was born June 24, 1792, several months after his par- ents reached Kentucky. Left fatherless at the age of twelve, the responsibility of developing the best qualities within him devolved upon his mother, who was equal to the obligation. On November 8, 1816, he married Mrs. Lucinda Scott, daughter of Reuben Sanford and Frances V. Webb, of Virginia, and grand- daughter of Robert Sanford and William Crittenden Webb, both of Virginia. The chil- dren of this union were William G. Hedges, of Harrison county, Kentucky; Mrs. Matt Stone, Dr. T. W. Hedges, of Cynthiana, and Mrs. Sarah Victor, of Carlisle, Kentucky.

On March 11, 1838, he married Rebecca Barber Moran, born August 26, 1815, daugh- ter of Edward B. Moran, of Virginia, and Letitia Clay, of Kentucky, and granddaughter paternally of William Moran, born in 1748, and Rebecca Barber, born in 1748, of an in- fluential Virginia family, and maternally of Samuel Clay, born in 1761, in Virginia, died in 1810, in Kentucky, and Nancy Winn, of Fayette county, Kentucky. Samuel Clay was a brave Revolutionary soldier, when hardly sixteen years old. He was the second son of Dr. Henry Clay, a pioneer to Bourbon county, Kentucky, from Virginia. Samuel and Re- becca Hedges left four children : Mrs. Henri- etta Ewalt, Lieutenant Joseph E. Hedges, Letitia Clay Hedges and Edward Barber

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Hedges, all of Bourbon county and the only surviving grandchildren of the pioneer in Kentucky.

Mr. Hedges engaged in agricultural pur- suits all of his life, and to some extent in stockraising, being an excellent judge of live stock. He was for many years magistrate of Bourbon county, receiving his appointment in 1833 from Governor Breathitt. In politics he was a Whig. He lived through a period of events decisive in the history of the United States-the wars of 1812, 1840 and 1861 ; in the latter he felt for his beloved southland, in defence of which his son, Lieutenant Joseph E. Hedges, was fighting, although he always contended that "the North with its overwhelm- ing numbers would be victorious."

During the war between the states he occu- pied the unique position of entertaining the "blue and the gray" the same night. The re- cipients of his hospitality were several Yan- kee officers heavily armed and hunting Rebels who stopped for shelter early in the night and were assigned an apartment upstairs, and a poor, half-starved and half-frozen wandering Rebel scout, who presented himself later, ate and then threw himself blanketed on the floor in the light of the cheerful hearth to spend a comfortable night. His host watched the en- tire night that he might sleep undisturbed, and aroused him at an early hour to breakfast and aided him to escape. Our subject's bravery in defending both commands our admiration. Not a thought had he of the dire consequences that may have ensued-of the imminent peril to himself or the conflagration that may have been made of his home. He was providing home comforts for "the stranger within his gates," and throwing around them such safe- guards as his vigilance could conceive.

In appearance Mr. Hedges was well formed, rather stout, broad-shouldered and erect. His broad, full forehead, surmounted by a shapely head well covered with snow-white hair, gave character to his thoughtful countenance. His bearing was unaffected and dignified and a pleasant candor of address inspired respect. His habits were strictly temperate. Was a fluent and original conversationalist and pos- sessed a mind well-stored with useful and varied information, which made him a most agreeable companion. He was uncommonly shrewd and rarely erred in his discriminating and comprehensive judgment of men. Noted for his hospitality, with charitableness, his heart ever beat in unison-with the great master-chord of Christianity-the peace and good-will toward all. He left a busy, well- rounded life gradually-having long passed the Psalmist's allotted span, dying July 3,

1874, at his residence on Cane Ridge, at the great age of eighty-two years.

Samuel Hedges, the subject of this sketch, is the maternal grandfather of Joseph Hedges Ewalt, whose sketch is on preceding pages.

THOMAS HOWARD, SR .- A man's success in life should not be estimated by the position at- tained but rather by the difficulties overcome. The present is eminently a practical age. We live in a busy time and the masses of the peo- ple are chiefly concerned in the affairs of everyday life. Great intellects bind them- selves to the consideration of industrial mat- ters rather than to questions of state-craft, and the sciences which can be utilized in the creation of wealth and the building up of in- dustries receive the greater share of our at- tention. Often the most splendid successes of life will be found to be due much less to extraordinary strength than tenacity of will, and to the abnormal courage, perseverance and the working power that spring from it, or to the tact and judgment which make men skillful in seizing opportunities, and which of all intellectual qualities are most closely allied with character. As a representative of that class of men who have given an enduring char- acter to the industrial make up of the city of Ashland, Mr. Howard is well worthy of con- sideration in this publication.

Thomas Howard was born in county Gal- way, Parish of Grange, Ireland, on February 15, 1847, the son of Michael and Katherine (Manning) Howard, also natives of Ireland, where the mother died May 4, 1864, at the age of fifty-five years. Her husband survived her a number of years and in 1873 came to the United States and made his home with our subject during the remainder of his life, dying in Ashland February 10, 1895, in the eighty- fifth year of his age. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, six of whom were daughters, our subject being the only son and the fifth in the order of birth.

Mr. Howard was reared in his native place, receiving a common school education in his earlier years and later adding to this a sup- plementary schooling when he came to the United States and as opportunity offered. During his early years in Ireland he witnessed many hardships and was reared amid scenes of hard work and strife to pay rent. It was a tortuous and tedious road, obstructed by dif- ficulties not dreamed of in the enthusiasm of boyhood, but the difficulties were surmounted by hopeful courage and persistent work. After the death of his mother in 1864 Mr. Howard left Ireland, at the age of sixteen, going to London. There he secured work in a large nursery and soon became foreman,

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where he supervised the work of eighty men under him, being one of only eight foremen who had that number of men under them. In 1870, on September 24, he made the great turn of his life which directed his whole future, leaving London on a sailing vessel and landing in New York November 6, 1870. He soon after went west and visited a short time in Cincinnati, where he secured employment in construction work on the Kentucky Central Railway, at which he continued for two years. He then came to Ashland, arriving here on August 7, 1872, and he secured a position with the A. C. & I. Railway Company, with which company he remained eight years, and during that time worked in various positions, becom- ing a thoroughly practical railway man. At different times he was track foreman, time keeper in the shops and later became road master.

In May, 1880, Mr. Howard engaged in bus- iness for himself in Ashland and has been very successful. For many years he has practi- cally controlled the bottling and sale of min- eral waters in Ashland and vicinity, and, in fact, all carbonated drinks. In addition to the above he has invested in city property, and owns coal and mineral lands in Kentucky and West Virginia. In politics Mr. Howard was formerly a Democrat, but of late years his sympathies have been with the Republican party. He has been a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians for thirty-seven years at this date. He married on November 14, 1882, Anna Clinton, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States at the age of four years in 1867 with her mother, her father having preceded them in 1865. She is the daughter of Hugh and Bridget (Boyce) Clinton, who have resided in Ashland for a number of years. Mr. and Mrs. Howard are the parents of thirteen children, ten of whom are living. Their names are as follows: Thomas M. Jr., Emanuel J., John P., Katherine, Anna Mary, Bridget Grace, Edward Michael, Cecelia, Nora Winifred and William H. Those deceased are Julia Margaret, Rose Ellen and an infant un- named. Mr. Howard and his family are mem- bers of the Catholic church.

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 44

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