A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 59

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 59

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Religiously, Mr. Tenney is a member and for sixty years has been an elder in the Pres- byterian church, with which he and his wife united when young. He is commander of the J. C. Breckinridge Camp, United Veterans of Kentucky, and is president of the Kentucky Association Sons of the Revolution, Common- wealth of Kentucky.

GEORGE P. CLANCY .- It is decidedly a mat- ter of gratification to the publisher of this work to here accord recognition to the mem- ory of one who was long and prominently connected with the agricultural and industrial affairs of Greenup county, Kentucky, and who during his life time was one of the most loyal and public-spirited citizens in this section of the state. George Pearre Clancy was sum- moned to the life eternal in November, 1898, and his death was uniformly mourned throughout the county by hosts of loving friends and admiring acquaintances.'

In Fleming county, Kentucky, on the 25th of October, 1831, occurred the birth of George P. Clancy, and he was a son of George and Nancy (Arnold) Clancy, the former of whom was born and reared in the state of Virginia, and the latter of whom claimed Maryland as the place of her nativity. George Clancy, Sr., came to Kentucky as a young man, locating

originally in Lewis county, whence removal was later made to Fleming county, where he purchased a farm and established a home. In 1837, however, he severed all connections in Fleming county and settled on the Ohio river in Greenup county, near what is now Russell, where he became again identified with agri- cultural pursuits. He passed the residue of his life in Greenup county and was called to eternal rest in 1845. His widow, whose maid- en name was Nancy Arnold, survived him for a number of years and she died in 1886, at the patriarchial age of ninety years. To Mr. and Mrs. Clancy were born two children,- George P., of this review; and Elizabeth Ellen, who became the wife of E. C. Powell, formerly a merchant at Ironton, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Powell are both deceased.

George P. Clancy was a child of but six years of age at the time of his parents' re- moval to Greenup county, where he grew to years of maturity on the old home farm. His preliminary educational training consisted of such advantages as were afforded in the pri- vate schools of the day and subsequently he pursued a commercial course at Cincinnati, Ohio. As a young man he became interested in the general merchandise business at Hanging Rock, Ohio, and for a period of four years he was general manager of the Bellefont Fur- nace. He made Greenup county his home dur- ing practically his entire life time and he re- sided on the old homestead farm to which he was sole heir. For a short time, on account of the impaired condition of his health, he maintained his home in Florida, where he lived a quiet, retired life.

In the year 1858 occurred the marriage of Mr. Clancy to Miss Emma Mead, who was born on the old Mead estate, near Russell, Greenup county, in 1838. She is a daughter of Henry Armstead and Elizabeth (Powell) Mead, the former a native of Bedford county, Virginia, and the latter of Greenup county, Kentucky. Henry Mead was born on the 3d of October, 1805, and he was five years old at the time of his parents' immigration from the old Dominion commonwealth to Kentucky. His parents were Benjamin and Elizabeth (Brown) Mead, early pioneers in Kentucky, where they passed the balance of their lives. Henry A. Mead waxed strong under the in- vigorating influences of the home farm in Greenup county and after he had attained to his legal majority he became an extensive farmer, one of the wealthiest and most suc- cessful in the county. He owned a number of slaves and in due time acquired a competency. He was a man of unusual integrity and worth, was remarkably strong, both mentally and

1432

HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS

physically, lived a temperate, industrious life, and in all matters touching upon the general welfare he was extremely public spirited. In his political allegiance he was a stanch Demo- crat but he avoided political office. The only office he ever held was that of magistrate un- der the old constitution, prior to 1852, and subsequently it was often said that Squire Mead settled more cases out of court than on the bench. He was an arbitrator between neighbors, as well as an interested counselor and he was a firm advocate of strict justice. He and his family were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, to the various departments of whose work he con- tributed liberally of his time and means. For years he was a member of the old Pond Run church, near his home, and was one of its trus- tees as early as 1858. In later years he gave liberal assistance to the establishment of the Methodist Episcopal church at Russell, when the village was in its infancy, and that edifice is now known as the "Mead Memorial." Mr. and Mrs. Henry A. Mead became the parents of eight children, of whom Mrs. Clancy was the second in order of birth. Mrs. Mead pre- ceded her husband to the life eternal, her death having occurred in 1884, at the age of seventy-one years. He passed into the great beyond on the 7th of June, 1897, at the age of ninety-two years.

Mr. and Mrs. Clancy had one daughter. She is now the wife of Thomas O. de Maro, a native of Lawrence county, Ohio. Mr. de Maro has maintained his home in Greenup county, Kentucky, for the past twenty-three years, in fact, since the time of his marriage. He has the active management of the old Mead estate for Mrs. Clancy, who is passing the evening of her life in her handsome, mod- ern home, known as "Meadow Brook." To the union of Mr. and Mrs. de Maro, were born four children two boys and two girls: Georgia May, born May 21, 1892, James Doyle, No- vember 12, 1893, Margaret Fahey. September 27, 1895. Clancy Mead, October 6, 1900. In his political convictions Mr. Clancy was aligned as a stalwart supporter of the prin- ciples and policies for which the Democrat party stands sponsor and while he had no aspirations for the honors or emoluments of public office he was ever on the qui vive to do all in his power to advance the material and civic prosperity of this section of the old Blue- grass commonwealth. He was a good Chris- tian man and his religious faith was in har- mony with the tenets of the Methodist Epis- copal church South, of which his widow is now a member. He was a man of high prin- ciple and fine moral character and in all the

relations of life he was honest, sincere and straight forward.

CALVIN H. CARNER .- An able and repre- sentative citizen of Greenup county, Ken- tucky, and one who has done much for prog- ress and prosperity in this section of the fine old Bluegrass commonwealth is Calvin H. Carner, the greater part of whose active ca- reer has been devoted to real estate business and agricultural pursuits, of which industry he is an able exponent in Greenup county.

At Ironton, Ohio, on the 21st of June, 1863, occurred the birth of Calvin H. Carner, who is a son of Anthony W. and Henrietta R. (Kittle) Carner, the former of whom was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, and the latter in Scioto county, Ohio. When nineteen years of age, in 1846, Anthony W. Carner accompanied his parents to the state of Ohio, the journey having been made on a raft down the Ohio river from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Location was made in Scioto county, Ohio, near Pine creek. In 1852 An- thony W. Carner became interested in the subject of gold mining and made the thrilling trip to the gold fields of California and worked a short time in the mines. He did not remain in the west for a very long period of time, however, but returned to his home in Ohio, where he engaged in flat-boating on the Ohio river, his principal freight being pig iron from the furnaces in the Ohio valley to the city of Cincinnati. With the passage of time his business developed and eventually he became the owner of a number of steam- boats. During the strenuous period of the Civil war he was captain of a boat which transported Union soldiers down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Captain Carner be- came extensively known and was very pop- ular on account of his liberality and kindli- ness. He contributed in generous measure to every public project and the list of his per- sonal friends was practically coincident with that of his acquaintances. In 1865 he pur- chased a steam ferry boat which he operated between Ironton and the Kentucky side of the Ohio river, and established the family home in Kentucky, near the present site of Russell, buying a large tract of land, most of which is now within the corporate limits of Russell. . After being identified with the ferry business for some twelve years he disposed of it and engaged in the tow boat business, operating the same for a number of years with most gratifying success. In the year 1886 he entered into a partnership alliance with Cap- tain J. M. Kirker and they purchased the same ferry franchise that he had formerly owned, with a larger boat to ply between Ironton and

-----

---

1 1

1433

HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS

Russell, conducting the same for some three years, at the expiration of which it was pur- chased by the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company. In 1889 Captain Carner retired from active participation in the river naviga- tion business and he then turned his attention to his farming operations. He was sum- moned to the life eternal at his home in Rus- sel, in 1893, at which time he was a man of sixty-six years of age. His widow, who sur- vived him for a number of years, passed away in 1898, aged sixty-six years. She was a de- vout member of the Methodist Episcopal church. To Captain and Mrs. Carner were born six children, all of whom are living, in 19II, namely,-Alice M .; Alonzo W., who was married to Nellie Gray of Ironton, Ohio .; Eleanor C., who was married to Thornton Barrett of Scioto county, Ohio; Calvin H., the immediate subject of this review; Eliza- beth B., who was married to Rev. W. J. Cain, of Madison county, Kentucky ; and Eveline, who with her sister Alice and brother Calvin, resides on the old home farm, the residence now situated in the town of Russell.

Calvin H. Carner received excellent educa- tional advantages in his youth, as did also his brothers and sisters. Alice M. has made a specialty of music and is now one of the most talented music teachers at Russell. For a number of years she was interested in the teaching of music at Ironton, Ohio. Mr. Car- ner, of this review, was a small boy at the time of his parents' location in Kentucky and he was reared to maturity in Greenup county. After completing the curriculum of the public schools he pursued a commercial course in a business college at Lexington, Kentucky. Thereafter he was associated with his father in the work and management of the old home- stead farm, on which place he has continued to reside to the present time. He is engaged in real estate business and in the same has been decidedly successful. He is unmarried and with him reside his two sisters, Alice and Eveline. The home which is known as "The Beeches" is beautifully located on the banks of the Ohio river, just opposite the city of Ironton, Ohio, and here is dispensed most gracious and generous hospitality. The sis- ters are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, at Russell, and they are very active in connection with church and charitable work. In his political adherency Mr. Carner is a stalwart in the ranks of the Republican party and while he has not taken an active part in political affairs he has done much in the way of furthering progress and development in this part of Kentucky. He holds a high place in popular confidence and esteem.

LARKIN GARNETT .- A native son of Ken- tucky Mr. Larkin Garnett has ever manifested a deep and sincere interest in public and in- dustrial affairs in this state. At the present time, in 1911, he is a prominent and influential member of the city council of Cynthiana and is president of the Crown Jewel Milling Com- pany. He was born near Poindexter, Harri- son county, Kentucky, on the 14th of March, 1845, and is a son of Larkin and Jane (Ash- brook) Garnett, both of whom were likewise born in Harrison county, the former in 1810 and the latter in 1820. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Garnett five are now liv- ing, namely,-Larkin, the immediate subject of this review; Sarah, who is the widow of James T. Nichols, of Lexington, Kentucky ; Mrs. Elizabeth Cuson, who is a widow and lives in Cincinnati, Ohio; Miss Fannie, who also maintains her home in Cincinnati; and Mollie, who is the wife of Harry Johns and who resides at Lexington, this state. Grand- father Larkin, was a Virginian by birth and he was one of the early pioneers in the Blue- grass state. He married Miss Bell and lo- cated near Garnett, Harrison county, where he was a slave-owner, a prominent stockman and a farmer. The maternal grandfather of him whose name initiates this review was Aaron Ashbrook, a native Virginian and an early settler in this state. Larkin Garnett, Sr., was reared to maturity on the old home plantation, where he early became associated with his father in the work and management thereof. After completing a common-school education he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits and though he had but little with which to be- gin life, at the time of his death he left an estate of some nine hundred acres of land. He never aspired to any public office but was a loyal Democrat in his political proclivities. During the Civil war he with two of his sons, one the subject of this review, were arrested by the Federals and taken to Camp Chase, where they were held in duress for four months, after which they were released. The father was summoned to the life eternal in 1874, at the age of sixty-four years, and his wife, who long survived him, died in 1904, at the age of eighty-four years.

Larkin Garnett, of this notice, passed his boyhood and youth on the same farm on which his father had grown up. He attended the district schools of Harrison county and those at Eminence, Kentucky, until he had attained to the age of eighteen years, at which time he began life as a farmer on a small scale. In 1879 he was elected county assessor and he was the efficient incumbent of that office for four years. In August, 1882, he was honored

1434

HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS

by his fellow citizens with election to the of- fice of sheriff of Harrison county, to which he was re-elected at the expiration of the first term of two years. In 1889 he was again chosen sheriff, serving in all three terms and being elected each time without opposition from either party. At the present time, in 19II, he is a member of the city council of Cynthiana. In the business world he is in- terested in a large grocery, which is conducted under the firm name of Rees, Garnett & Rees and which is managed by a son of Mr. Gar- nett. He is also president of the Crown Jewel Milling Company, concerning the history of which the following brief record is here of- fered. The present plant includes a large grain elevator, coal yard and public scales. In 1809 the mill building was erected by a company for a woolen factory and it was operated as such until 1818, when General Josephus Perrin moved his cotton mill into it, that continuing until 1825. During all these years one story was frequently rented for public entertainments, it having the largest floor space of any building in Cynthiana. After 1825 it was used for storage purposes for a number of years and in 1845 John Har- mon Frazer purchased it for use as a whiskey warehouse. Gray and Cox next became the owners of the property, then Cook and Wood- ford and in 1865 C. B. Cook was sole owner. In 1866 Peck & Van Hook bought it and sub- sequently it was owned by J. W. Peck & Com- pany. After the flouring mill had been estab- lished, Messrs. Riggs & Mussleman became in- terested in the concern and purchased it in 1883. In 1888, after the death of Mr. Mussleman the firm became Riggs, Garnett & Company. In 1905 the property was pur- chased by a stock company and was incor- porated under the laws of the state as the Crown Jewel Milling Company, with a capital stock of thirty thousand dollars. Mr. Gar- nett is president of the company ; Captain B. T. Riggs, treasurer and manager; and J. F. McDaniel, secretary.

Larkin Garnett or "Lark" Garnett, as he is generally known owns and operates a splendid estate of four hundred acres in the vicinity of Poindexter. His attention is devoted to diversified agriculture and for a time he was interested in the breeding of race horses. Al- though he now maintains his home at Cyn- thiana, where he has resided since 1882, the time of his election as sheriff of the county, he is still an active farmer. He has been dealing quite extensively in mules and has other financial interests of prominent order in this section of the state. In politics he ac- cords a stanch allegiance to the principles and

policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and he has ever done all in his power to advance the general progress and develop- ment of his county and state. He has figured prominently in public affairs as a local poli- tician, is a man of brilliant intellect and keen humor-a good story-teller and an interesting joker.

On the 29th of October, 1885, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Garnett to Miss Allie Martin, who was born at Cynthiana in 1855 and who was summoned to eternal rest in March, 1904. She was a daughter of Isaac Martin, who was born in Pennsylvania, on the 13th of September, 1822, and who died at Cynthiana on the 29th of June, 1870. The

mother of Mrs. Garnett was Martha Washing- ton Woodyard, whose birth occurred at Cyn- thiana, on the 22d of February, 1832, and who passed away April 6, 1900. Mr. Isaac Mar- tin grew to maturity in Pennsylvania and he came to Cynthiana in 1849. In the most sig- nificant sense of the word he was a self-made man. He was also self-educated, buying and reading books and possessing a fine library. In his youth he learned the harness maker's trade, to which he was early apprenticed. After coming to Kentucky, however, he en- gaged in the hardware business, in which he. was eminently successful. He was influential in public affairs in Harrison county and was state senator from this district at the time of his death. Through his efforts Battle Grove Cemetery was established and today it stands as a monument to his memory, it being the most beautiful cemetery in Kentucky for a town of the size of Cynthiana. He was a prominent Mason, having attained to the thirty-second degree, Scottish Rite. At the time of his death he was making preparations to go to England to take the thirty-third de- gree. He was past most excellent grand mas- ter of the Kentucky lodge. Shortly after the close of the war he personally raised the sum of five thousand dollars for the Mason widows and orphans in the south. The Martin family consists of six daughters and one son, namely, Lizzie M., who is the widow of A. S. Carter, of Cynthiana: Mrs. Garnett ; Miss Lula, of Cynthiana ; John T., a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Bird M., who is the wife of Orrie Lebus, of Cynthiana: Mattie, who married J. R. Rigg, of Cynthiana ; and Miss I. T., of Cynthiana. Mrs. Isaac Martin was a daughter of Thomas B. and Susanna (Wet- zel) Woodyard, both of Virginia. Mr. Wood- yard was county clerk of Harrison county for a period of 30 years and his death occurred while he was incumbent of that office. To Mr. and Mrs. Garnett were born three chil-

1435

HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS

dren,-Isaac T., who remains at home; and M. Alleen E., who resides in Cynthiana. Aaron died in 1900.

Lark Garnett is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Cynthiana and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. As a business man he is widely renowned for his fair and honorable methods and in the daily walks of life he is kindly, genial and charitable.

HON. HERBERT B. KINSOLVING, of Mount Sterling, is one of the ablest men of Mont- gomery county and Kentucky, whose experi- ence has been broad and varied and embraced marked successes in the law, politics, states- manship and business. Of late his activities have been concentrated on his land and in- vestment business, which includes large deal- ings in Oklahoma and Texas properties. Physically, as well as mentally, Mr. Kinsolv- ing is the type of man whom Kentuckians par- ticularly admire, as he is a present-day repre- sentative of their old-time vigor, vim and stature, standing six feet, four inches and de- veloped otherwise in proportion. As an orator, a public man and a business factor he has al- ways exhibited those virile, aggressive, mag- netic qualities which seem the natural attrib- utes of such a physique. As a Democratic campaigner and an eloquent public speaker, Mr. Kinsolving has had no superior in this part of the State, and no one is more widely known or more highly honored as a citizen. He has made his mark in the law and in the State Legislature and his legal training to- gether with his wide acquaintanceship and attractive personality, guarantee a broad and continuous success for any undertaking in which he may engage.

Mr. Kinsolving is a native of Hartford, Ohio county, Kentucky, born October 19, 1860, and was the only child born to Rev. George W. and Tula ( Benton) Kinsolving. The paternal grandparents were Jefferson and Mary (Ab- ney) Kinsolving, natives of Albemarle county, Virginia, who came to Caldwell county, Ken- tucky, about the year 1849, accompanied by their son, George W. The latter was a gradu- ate of Princeton College, from which he gradu- ated with the degree of A. B., soon afterward being appointed to the chair of languages at the University of Decatur, Illinois. He had already been ordained to the work of the ministry in the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and at the outbreak of the Civil war was appointed chaplain of the Seventeenth Kentucky Infantry. He went with his regi- ment to.the seat of war and from extreme ex- posure contracted typhoid fever ; after a linger-

ing illness of six weeks, he died at Ceralvo, Kentucky, while en route for home, being but thirty-two years of age at the time of his death. His devoted widow, who survived him only until August, 1866, was the daughter of Joseph T. and Matilda J. (Woodward) Ben- ton, of Ohio county, Kentucky, and a faithful and zealous member of the Presbyterian church.

Herbert B. Kinsolving was still in his sixth year when his widowed mother died at the home of her parents in Ohio county, and the young orphan was faithfully and tenderly reared by his grandparents. He attended the local schools until his thirteenth year; served a printer's apprenticeship in the office of the Hartford Journal and subsequently pursued a course in Greek and Latin in the Academy of that place, completing his literary education at the Cumberland University, Lebanon, Ten- nessee, from which he graduated in 1878. Mr. Kinsolving then taught a school in Daviess county, Kentucky, until September, 1879, when he was admitted to the Bar of the State, being then within a month of nineteen years of age. Notwithstanding his youth, he began the prac- tice of his profession, and made such rapid progress in the good graces of both the pro- fession and the public that he was elected county attorney in 1882. Even then he was a Democratic leader and showed how strong was his personal influence by being elected to his official position in the face of a defeat suffered by part of the county ticket.

In 1887, at the expiration of his term as county attorney, Mr. Kinsolving was unani- mously nominated by the Democrats of Ohio county for Representative in the Kentucky Legislature, and after a very active and some- what bitter contest was elected to his seat, although all his associates on the State ticket lost his county to the Republicans by majorities of more than one hundred and fifty. Entering the legislature as one of the youngest members of the House, he entered into the work of the session like a veteran. Among the important bills of which he was the author and which he passed through the house, was that which is now a part of the Kentucky constitution and statutes, making it unlawful for any company, corporation or individual in the State to pay the wages of its employees in anything but the legal tender money of the United States, thereby making unlawful the issue of script or brass checks issued by various concerns which forced laborers to buy their goods at the stores operated by their employers. Mr. Kinsolving also aided in the passage of numerous other laws for the benefit of the people and in oppo- sition to all class legislation.

Vol. III-19

1436

HISTORY OF KENTUCKY AND KENTUCKIANS

In 1884 and 1888 Mr. Kinsolving served as an Elector in the Presidential campaigns of his State. In 1896, he aroused the Tenth Con- gressional district to a high pitch of enthusiasm in favor of William J. Bryan for President ; he supported Bryan in 1900; and in 1903 he made a strong canvass of the state of Ken- tucky for Governor Beckham and the Demo- cratic State Ticket. Such splendid "field serv- ice" as this, in connection with his career as a lawyer and a legislator, has marked him for years as one of the strongest and best qualified men for a seat in congress who could be put forward by his party; and in 1898, being a candidate for the Democratic nomination for congress in the Tenth Kentucky District he stood second among the six candidates who aspired to that honor. Of late years, however, he has partially withdrawn from active politics. and, as stated, virtually devotes his entire time to his business in real estate and investments.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 59

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