A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 66

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 66

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BURTON VANCE .- A representative member of the bar of his native state, Mr. Vance has been engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Louisville for more than twenty years and here he commands a secure place in popular confidence and regard as well as def- inite precedence in his vocation. In both the paternal and maternal lines he is a scion of families long worthily identified with Ameri- can history, and the statement that he is, through several strains, eligible for member- ship in the Sons of the American Revolution, bears its own significance.

Burton Vance was born April 27, 1856, at Sweet Waters, his father's home in Mercer county, Kentucky, and is a son of Morgan and Susan Preston (Thompson) Vance.

Morgan Vance was a son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Brown) Vance, and was born at Union Mills in Jessamine county, Kentucky, the location of one of his father's many enter- prises. Samuel Vance was a son of Samuel and Margaret (Laughlin) Vance, and grand- son of Samuel Vance, whose wife's maiden name was Colville.

Mrs. Susan Preston Vance is a daughter of George Claiborne and Sarah Simpson (Hart) Thompson. George C. Thompson's ancestors of the name were George and Rebecca (Bur- ton) Thompson, Joseph and Sally ( Claiborne) Thompson, Sir Roger and Lucy (Foster) Thompson, John and Rebecca (Claiborne) Thompson, John being a son of Col. William Thompson who was sent to Virginia, at the instance of Governor Berkeley, to suppress the "Bacon Rebellion" in 1678, but, after his ar- rival, formed his own opinion of the issue,

resigned his commission in the British Army and joined the Colonists, among whom eventu- ally he took up his permanent abode.

The blood derived by Mr. Vance from his ancestors of the Revolutionary era was en- hanced, in most cases, by very distinguished services : His great-grandfather Samuel \'ance was a lieutenant at Point Pleasant and a colonel at King's Mountain. His father's maternal grandfather, Morgan Brown, then of Anson, North Carolina, was an officer in the army of the south and took part in the Battle of the Brandywine and in the defense of Charleston. His mother's grandfather, George Thompson, though a British officer at the be- ginning of the revolution joined the Ameri- cans at once, and was of intense and multi- farious activity throughout the war, serving as lieutenant of Fhivanna county, Virginia, commandant at Williamsburg, member of the assembly, aide de camp of General Lafayette, etc., etc. One of his maternal great-great- grandfathers, Nathaniel Hart, was one of the co-partners with Richard Henderson in the company which bought, from the Cherokees, lands constituting the territory subsequently known as Kentucky, and was killed by Indians at Boonesborough in 1782. And another ma- ternal great-great-grandfather, Col. William Preston, after notable exploits in the Colonial Wars, served as lieutenant of Fincastle, sub- sequently Montgomery county, and fought with distinction at Whitsitt Mills and Guilford Court House. It may be put to Col. Preston's credit as a patriot, also, perhaps, that he was the father of two generals, one captain-in Wayne's army-and a colonel, afterwards a governor of Virginia.

Mr. Vance's ancestors were likewise of con- tinnal prominence in colonial affairs. Col. Preston had commanded a company of rangers in the French-Indian war, 1754-1763 ; was one of the first trustees of Staunton and a mem- ber of the House of Burgesses for several terms ; and upon the formation of Botetourt county, he was appointed colonel of militia, coroner, escheator, and county surveyor. He was sheriff, surveyor, and lieutenant of Fin- castle county from the time of its creation, and he was engaged with Cols. Campbell and Christian in their expeditions against the Cherokees in 1776.

Elizabeth Little, paternal-maternal great- grandmother of Mr. Vance, was a daughter of William and Catherine ( Stuart ) Little, and her father was a son of William and Pene- lope (Gale) Little. This elder William Little "was born in Boston of Quaker par- ents," was educated there, so far as the local schools afforded opportunity, and he finally went to Ireland. Thence he pro-

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ceeded to England, where he secured a uni- versity education and where he formed a friendship with Christopher and Edward Gale, two deputies of the lord proprietor of the province of Carolina. They secured him ap- pointment to the office of attorney general and comptroller of that province. He eventually married the daughter of Christopher Gale, whom he subsequently succeeded as chief jus- tice of the province. He died 1734.

The parts taken by Mr. Vance's Thompson and Hart ancestors in the development of the colonies have been indicated already. Of the many others, whose lines were merged in. his Thompson lineage, few if any, were less prom- inently engaged in making colonial history.

Through his great-great-grandmother, Sally Claiborne and her mother, Anne West Fox, he is descended from John West, who following his brother, the 3rd Lord De La Warr, and first governor of Virginia, to that colony, early in the 17th century, himself became governor in 1637. His son John West, Jr .- father of Anne West Fox-succeeded to his eminence in colonial affairs. And, not only through this Sally Claiborne but through her great aunt, her husband's grandmother, Mr. Vance is a descendant of Col. Wm. Claiborne, who was emphatically a man of affairs. He came from England to Virginia in 1621, as surveyor of the colony. In 1628 he was made secretary of state and member of the council of which dual office he continued incumbent until 1637. In 1642 the king conferred upon him a life ap- pointment as treasurer of the colony. He sub- sequently acquired several additional and im- portant titles and made a great fortune, prin- cipally through the medium of extensive tracts of land granted to him by his British sovereign. He died 1676.

The mettle of the breeds is readily trace- able, too, to transatlantic origins: Rebecca Burton, maternal-paternal great-grandmother of Mr. Vance, was a daughter of William and Rebecca (Cobb) Burton. William Burton was a son of Robert and Katherine (Cotten) Burton, and Robert Burton was a son of Will- iam Burton, born in Shropshire, England, who came to America in 1635. He settled in Vir- ginia and his will, probated in 1695 bequeathed ten thousand acres of land. Rebecca (Cobb) Burton was a daughter of Col. John Cobb, and her mother was a daughter of John Addison, admiral in the English navy and a brother of Joseph Addison, the poet and essayist.

Mr. Vance, through his father's mother, is of the tenth generation in descent from An- thony Brown, whose second wife was Geral- dine, daughter of the Earl of Kildare and his countess Elizabeth Grey who was a first cousin of Henry VIII of England.

Likewise through his paternal-maternal great-great-grandmother, Katherine Little, Mr. Vance is a scion of the House of Stuart of Scotland: Her father was Patrick Stuart, Baron Ledcriech, who came to America in 1739, landing at Wilmington and settling in Bladen county, N. C., and he was of the eleventh generation in descent from Murdoch, Duke of Albany, Earl of Fife, and Monteith and Governor of Scotland, whose father was Robert, Duke of Albany, third son of Robert II of Scotland (first of the Stuart Kings) and his Queen Elizabeth Muir.

Not only because he was a consummate em- todiment of the spirit predominantly char- acteristic of Mr. Vance's ancestry, but be- cause he was one of the greatest individual contributors of those energies and efficiencies, from which, in their true development, under the principles of liberty and patriotism which he likewise represented, has come the distinc- tive fame of Kentucky manhood, the follow- ing account of the life of George Thompson, by himself, will be especially interesting in this connection: It was written when he was about eighty years old and the writing was merely incidental to a vindication of the pa- triotism of pioneer Methodists, but it ex- presses the typical soldier, freeman and pioneer with an aptness-has an idiomatic savor of the man and his times, that it would be hard to im- part to other words than his own :

"The writer of this piece was well ac- quainted with Mr. Asbury in '76. So far as I know or believe, there were not more than 10 or 12 Methodist preachers in America. Mr. Asbury stayed many nights at my house. In '76 there was a report in circulation that the parsons of the Episcopal Church, and the Methodist preachers were Tories. The Metho- dist preachers had a conference or general

meeting and Hanover County in Virginia and at Brown's Tavern, was the place of meeting. Mr. Henry Fry, .a very wealthy man, and much respected, was a Methodist. I was also a Methodist, and was an officer in the Army. Mr. Fry and myself lived about 40 miles apart. As an officer I was stationed near to Williams- burg, 60 or 70 miles from the place where the Methodist preachers met. I went to the place of meeting by permit. I there met Mr. Fry and I was present and saw every Methodist preacher take what was called the 'test oath,' swearing allegiance to the United States.

"In 1777 I was the commanding officer at Williamsburg, commanding about 4,000 men. One regiment, 500 in number, were all Metho- dists, and I believe as good Whigs as ever lived. In fact the Methodist doctrine leads to equality and freedom.

"In April 1779 I was elected a member to !

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the Virginia Assembly and served two sessions the Rivanna River, about 60 miles above the in that year. We sat in Williamsburg in the Fall session. In '79 we passed a law and re- moved the seat of government to Richmond. I was elected again in April 1780 a member of the Virginia Assembly. In 1781 I was called on by the. then Marquis Lafayette, now Gen- eral Lafayette, to live in his family as one of his aides. I accepted the offer, and in the fall of this year Lord Cornwallis was taken and all his Army as prisoners in the month of October.

"I failed to tell, when the Revolutionary War commenced I was one of George 3d's captains. I joined the Americans at the very time that Mr. Henry drove Lord Dunmore from Williamsburg. I was appointed an officer by the Committee of Safety before we had an American Governor.

"In the winter of '79-80 I fixed to go to Kentucky and got to Kentucky while the com- missioners were sitting and holding their court at Logan's Station, and I stayed with them in- til 28th April, 1780. This day about one hour by sun they adjourned without day. On Mon- day, first day of May 1780 the land office opened for state warrants at Wilson's Station. I was there and continued there until 7th May 1780 ; then set off for home.

"While I was in Kentucky the people of Fluvanna elected me a member of the Vir- ginia Assembly. I served as a member, and in the Fall of the year 1780 I went to Kentucky and returned home in February 1781. In this year I became an Aide to General Lafayette. In 1783 I was in Watauga, Noley Chucky, Saluda, and 96, and went into Georgia and to Savannah and went to the Oconey and Oak- mulgey, and returned home in the Fall. This trip was 2,002 miles long. In 1785 I was ap- pointed by the governor (Patrick Henry) a commissioner to survey James River and on to the Western Waters. I was at the great Kanawha Falls. On Sunday 12 o'clock 20th May 1790 the Indians made an attack on three boats on the Ohio River, 4 or 5 miles above the mouth of Scioto. One boat was mine and she was not taken; the other two were taken- all the people saved by getting in my boat, which was the smallest in the com- pany but was bullet proof. Sunday 20th May 1792, the middle of the day I got home, being the Shawnee Springs Mercer County. I was in a few months made judge of the Quarter session court, and continued for 10 or 12 years. In the year 1799 I was elected a mem- ber of the Assembly for Mercer County, was then judge of the court. An attempt was made to turn me out of the Assembly as being a judge, but failed.

"I was born in Va., Albermarle County, on Vol. III-21

town of Richmond, on the 12th of Feb. 1748 old style, now, Feb. 7, 1749."

Col. Thompson "fails to tell," too, that while still in his teens-only sixteen, indeed,- his father's death and the law of primogeni- ture, then operative in Virginia, threw him into the world penniless, and that he commenced at once, in a blacksmith shop, the support of himself and youngest brother and the making of the fortune, through which, in his later years, his great homestead in Kentucky, be- came a veritable colony of Thompsons, where, when he wrote the foregoing "piece," the only progeny of his inheriting eldest brother, were among his dependents. He omits likewise, mention of several other important offices he held, as is shown by commissions, signed by Benj. Harrison and P. Henry, successive gov- ernors of Virginia, and still in the possession of his descendants.

Samuel Vance, paternal grandfather of Bur- ton Vance was a native of Virginia, where he was reared and educated and whence he fi- nally removed to Tennessee. In that state he first settled at Clarksville and later at Mem- phis. He was a merchant and a man of large affairs. In addition to conducting a chain of stores along the Cumberland and Ohio rivers, he also owned and operated a line of small steamboats, which he utilized principally for the transportation of supplies for his various mercantile establishments. He was the pioneer in this line of amplified mercantile business in the south and west and was a citizen of prom- inence and influence.

Morgan Vance, father of the subject of this article, inherited in full the energy of his father and before the Civil war not only had developed and sold an immense plantation known as Nonconna, in the southwestern corner of Tennessee, but had established a beautiful home at the headwaters of Shaw- nee Run in Mercer county, Ky., which was destroyed in '62. He was an intense Unionist, raised several companies of soldiers and was especially active in capturing those numerous rebels, who individually or in small bands, at- tempted to return to Kentucky during nominal occupation by the Federals. He was one of the highest officers of the Union League, was personally known and signally relied upon by Mr. Lincoln, and, in consequence of the ac- tivities on his part thus rendered especially effective, suffered not only the loss of all his property but a continual persecution by those in sympathy, overt or covert, with the objects of rebellion. This was worst perhaps, after the formal "cessation of hostilities," and at one time he was set upon by one of those bands of assassins that afterwards were known as Ku-

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Klux-Klansmen. The injuries he received in this attack were the cause of his death, which occurred in June, 1871, in New Albany, In- diana, where he had resided since 1868.

His wife was born at Shawnee Springs, the home of her father, in Mercer county, Ken- tucky and she is living in Louisville now, in her eighty-ninth year. She is held in affec- tionate esteem and distinct admiration by all who come within range of her gracious influ- ence and still brilliant intelligence.

Burton Vance got his earlier education in the schools of New Albany, Indiana, and it was very appreciably supplemented by his studies, under excellent preceptorship, at home. In the spring of 1877, shortly after attaining his legal majority, he began the study of law in the office of Hon. John M. Harlan, now a member of the supreme court of the United States, who was at that time engaged in the practice of his profession in Louisville, Mr. Vance made rapid progress and was ad- mitted to the bar of his native state in 1879. During the intervening years he has been en- gaged in active general practice in the Ken- tucky metropolis, and has gained prominence as a representative member and success as an able practitioner of his professsion. He com- mands a large and important business.

In 1886 he was candidate for the office of county attorney, on the first regular republi- can ticket ever presented in Jefferson county. He is a valued member of the Louisville Bar Association, is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and continues an uncompromising supporter of Republican principles and policies.

JOHN P. HEIDEL .- Senator Depew at one time made use of the following amusing par- aphrase of a familiar quotation: "Some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some are born in Ohio." Mr. Heidel has the distinction of being able to classify himself under the last clause of this epigrammatic state- ment, as he is a native of the fine old Buckeye state, though he has passed the major part of his life in the city of Covington, where he is now numbered among the representative busi- ness men and highly esteemed citizens. Here he is the owner of a large and prosperous cigar-manufacturing business, besides which he has other important local interests in his home city.

John Peter Heidel was born in Scioto coun- ty, Ohio, on the 12th of June, 1860, and is a son of John and Anna (Koefler) Heidel, the former of whom was born in the Kingdom of Bavaria, Germany, and the latter in Tyrol, Austro-Hungary. Both came to America when young and their marriage was solem-

nized at Newport, Kentucky. After their mar- riage they located in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio and the father followed the vocation of a miner for a number of years, at various places. He passed the closing years of his life in Cov- ington, where he died in 1883, at the age of fifty-nine years, having succumbed to an at- tack of smallpox, which was then epidemic. His widow survived him by many years and continued her residence in Covington until she was summoned to eternal rest, on the 21st of June, 1901, at the venerable age of seventy- four years. Of the six children the subject of this sketch was the second in order of birth and of the number three are now living.

John P. Heidel, the immediate subject of this review, passed the first eight years of his life in his native county, where he received his rudimentary education. He then, in 1868, accompanied his parents on their removal to Covington, where he was afforded the ad- vantages of the parochial and public schools. At the age of sixteen years he entered upon an apprenticeship to the trade of cigar-making, in which he became a skilled workman and at which he worked as a journeyman for several years after completing his apprenticeship. In 1884 he was engaged in the manufacturing of cigars in partnership with Frank Gosephol but one year later the partnership was dis- solved and since that time the enterprise has been continued individually by Mr. Heidel, through whose energy and well directed en- deavors a large and prosperous business has been built up, the products of his factory being principally sold in Kenton and adjoining coun- ties. For nearly five years he served as vice- president of the Central Savings Bank & Trust Company of Covington, in the organization of which institution he was associated, in 1905. He is still a stockholder in this institution, in which he recently resigned his office of vice-president, owing to the demands and exactions of his private business affairs.

Mr. Heidel has at all times maintained the attitude of a progressive and public-spirited citizen and has shown a deep interest in all that has touched the welfare of his home city. He is a staunch advocate of the prin- ciples and policies of the Republican party and has been an enthusiastic worker in its cause. Prior to the consolidation of Central Coving- ton with the city of Covington, he served many years in official capacity in Central Cov- ington, of whose council he was a member about eight years, during two of which he was president of that body. He also served as city treasurer of Central Covington for several years. At the present time he is a member of the board of police and fire commissioners of

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Covington. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Knights of Pythias and the United Commercial Travelers and both he and his wife hold membership in the German Lutheran church.

In the year 1881 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Heidel to Miss Margaret K. Eif- ert, who was born and reared in Kenton county and who is a daughter of William Eifert, a na- tive of Hessen, Germany, whence he came to America in 1851, soon afterward establishing his home in Kenton county, where he became a successful farmer and where he continued to reside until his death, in 1900. His first wife, mother of Mrs. Heidel, died in 1868 and he subsequently contracted a second marriage.

JAMES B. CLAY .- A publication of the prov- ince assigned to the one at hand would stultify its own consistency were there failure to ac- cord definite recognition to Hon. James B. Clay, whose character and exalted services lent added dignity and honor to a name distin- guished in the annals of the state of Kentucky and the history of the nation. He was a man of splendid talents, of sublimated personal integrity and of most brilliant intellectuality, the while he stood as a courtly, dignified and affable gentleman of the fine old-school regime, now unfortunately fallen into decadence to a large extent. . He honored and was honored by Kentucky and as a man of national reputa- tion it may well be said that he showed the true elements of greatness. It is impossible to offer within the circumscribed compass of a publication of this nature an adequate review of his career, but sufficient data may and should be incorporated to indicate the man as he was and to thus pay due tribute to the memory of one who stood "four square to every wind that blows," and who left a record of large and benignant accomplishment.

James Brown Clay, the fourth son of Henry and Lucretia (Hart) Clay, was born in the city of Washington, D. C., on the 9th of No- vember, 1817. An epitomized record concern- ing the families from which he was descended may consistently be given in this brief memoir. For an account of the Clay family we are in- debted in part to the Rev. Porter Clay, an uncle of him whose name introduces this ar- ticle. In a letter written to a friend in Frank- lin county, Maine, under date of March 30, 1848, and published in the New York Tribune

in May, 1859, he says: "Your wishes to know something about the history of our family could not be gratified within the limits of a let- ter. The following concise account must suf- fice. Among those who came over to the Virginia plantations were three brothers, sons of Sir John Clay, of Wales, England, who gave them ten thousand pounds each. Their names were Charles, Thomas and Henry. They settled on James river, near Jamestown. Two of them, Charles and Thomas, had large families. Henry had no children. The name Henry has been handed down in both branches of the family with great tenacity ever since. Cassius M. Clay (of whom you have doubt- less heard, for he made considerable stir in the east during the last presidential canvass,) is a descendant of Charles Clay; Henry and myself from Thomas Clay. Thus the two brothers alluded to are the progenitors of all the Clays in the United States. My father, as you have heard, was a clergyman of the Bap- tist denomination. He died in early life, leav- ing seven children,-four sons and three daughters,-all of whom died without child- ren with the exception of Henry and myself. * * * Our father had one brother, Edward Clay, who married at an early period of life and moved to South Carolina, where he raised a large family. Judge Clay, of whom you speak, was one of them, He studied law, be- came eminent in his profession, was appointed a judge, etc., etc."

It may be noted that Rev. Porter Clay, from whose letter the foregoing excerpt was made, was in early life a lawyer, and that he practiced his profession in the town of Ver- sailles, Kentucky. About the year 1816 Gov- ernor Gabriel Slaughter appointed him audi- tor of public accounts for the state, with a salary of three thousand dollars. This office he held for fourteen years. Later in life he became a Baptist clergyman and an evangelist of some note, preaching the gospel of Christ "with his old-time tenderness and power." He died in 1850, as his great brother wrote, "in the full enjoyment of the Christian's hope."

The Rev. John Clay, the grandfather of James B. Clay, was a man of strong character and great ability. From him Henry Clay in- herited his great eloquence. He married Eliz- abeth Hudson, a daughter of George and Eliz- abeth (Jennings) Hudson, of Hanover coun- ty, Virginia. George Hudson was at one time inspector of tobacco. He accumulated a large fortune, part of which he unfortunately lost by security debts.

Lucretia (Hart) Clay, the mother of James B. Clay, was a daughter of Colonel Thomas and Susanna (Gray) Hart, of North Caro-

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 66

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