A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 75

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 75

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Stephen, was the father of our subject, and was reared on the homestead in Lawrence county. Two of his brothers, John and Will- iam, served in a Kentucky regiment during the Civil war from the beginning to the end, and were in many engagements and on the march from Atlanta to the sea. Both were prisoners for a time. The father of our subject, Stephen, lived for many years on the farm in Lawrence county, where he acquired a good estate, which he sold and retired in 1903 to Ashland, dying near that place in 1909, at the age of fifty-six years. His widow. Augusta Hatfield DeBord, survives. She is the daugh- ter of Owen Hatfield, a native of Virginia and an early settler and farmer of Floyd county, Kentucky. He served in a Kentucky regiment in the Union army during the entire period of the Civil war and was made pris- oner, being confined for nearly a year in Andersonville. Stephen DeBord and his wife were the parents of seven children, our sub- ject being the eldest.

Samuel J. DeBord was reared on the farm in Lawrence county, receiving his education at the public school. When he was eighteen years of age he went to West Virginia and was employed by the Freeport Coal Company as a laborer at a dollar and a half a day, later becoming weighman and from that to mine boss at one hundred dollars a month. When the Spanish-American war broke out he se- cured work at fifteen dollars and sixty cents a month with "Uncle Sam," enlisting at Lex- ington. Kentucky, with his brother, Dr. W. M. DeBord, of Ashland, in Company C, Third Kentucky Infantry, and was dis- charged in May, 1899, the service in Cuba be- ing principally on garrison duty in various places, part of the time in the interior of the island. After the war he and his brother es- tablished a grocery in Ashland, which partner - ship continued for several years successfully. Mr. DeBord sold his interest to his brother when he was elected county jailer, on the Re- publican ticket, which party has been sup- ported by several generations of DeBords. He was elected in the fall of 1909, having one of the largest majorities on the ticket, for a term of four years. He has always been in- terested in politics and taken an active part, for several years acting as chairman of his ward at Ashland. He is also interested in social bodies, being a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows and other fra- ternal societies. In the Odd Fellows he is a past grand.

Mr. DeBord on July 5, 1904, married Mollie Carroll, a native of Grayson, Carter county, Kentucky, the daughter of John Car-

roll, a farmer and timberman of Michigan. To Mr. and Mrs. DeBord have been born two children, Walter and Lucille. Mr. DeBord and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and he takes a great interest in the Sunday-school.

WILLIAM ALLISON PATTON .- For a num- ber of years an active factor in the industrial interests of Catlettsburg, William Allison Patton, through his diligence, perseverance and remarkable business ability, has acquired a handsome fortune and has also contributed to the general prosperity through the conduct of several enterprises which have furnished employment to others. Reliability in all bus- iness transactions, loyalty to all duties of cit- izenship, fidelity to the discharge of every duty reposed in him-these are his chief char- acteristics and through the passing years have gained for him the unqualified confidence and respect of his fellow men.

William Allison Patton was born at Penn- sylvania Furnace, Greenup county, Kentucky, February 16, 1848. At the age of eight years he removed with his parents to Catlettsburg, where he has lived ever since. He received his education in the public schools and during President Johnson's administration and while yet a youth made a personal application for a cadetship to the naval academy, but did not succeed in securing an appointment, as they had all been made already. When young Patton was sixteen years old he became a member of Company B, Twenty-second Ken- tucky Volunteer Infantry, in which he served thirty-five days, when the company was mis- tered out at the close of the war. About that time he took a course in the Dickinson Sem- inary, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, after which he served an apprenticeship in the drug business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after clerking a year in Ironton, Ohio, estab- lished himself in the wholesale drug business, in 1869, at Catlettsburg, under the firm name of Patton Brothers, which house has contin- ued successfully ever since. In 1891 Mr. Patton was one of the organizers of the Cat- lettsburg Water Company and has been presi- dent of the same from the beginning and is one of the largest stockholders in the concern. The company owns the works which supplies Catlettsburg, Ashland and Kenova, West Virginia. The water supply is from the Big Sandy river, a mountain stream . having a drainage of four thousand square miles of sparsely settled mountain territory. The water is pumped from the river to a series of four reservoirs having a storage capacity of twenty million gallons. The plant is equipped with improved system for purification and

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has a pumping capacity far in excess of all demands.

Mr. Patton's political sympathies are with the Republican party. He has been a mem- ber of the school board for fourteen years, one of its oldest members; has been a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows for forty years and filled all the positions in the order. He was president of the Catlettsburg Chamber of Commerce for ten years. In 1882 he married Emma Andrews, a native of Catlettsburg and daughter of the late Nelson P. Andrews, a former dry-goods merchant and pioneer business man of Catlettsburg. Mr. and Mrs. Patton have three children : Stanhope, Allene and Adele, and the family are all members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Patton is one of the leading citizens, business men and foremost capitalists of this section of Kentucky. He is a tireless worker and most energetic in everything for promot- ing the interests of this section. While he is conservative and possesses extraordinary judgment in the promotion of his private af- fairs, he has not been backward in making investments for the promotion of the best in- terests for the community. He owes his success to his own efforts, his remarkable ac- tivity and capacity in his manifold duties being phenomenal and so recognized by all.

FREDERICK STUCY .- A man of fine initiative powers and extraordinary ability and one who has ever manifested the keenest interest in public affairs, Frederick Stucy has gained dis- tinctive precedence as a prominent tobacco dealer and banker. He was born at Canton Glauris, Switzerland, on the 23d of March, 1846, and is a son of Henry and Afra (Stone- man) Stucy, both of whom were likewise born in Switzerland, where their marriage was solemnized and whence they emigrated to the United States in 1849, having for des- tination the Swiss settlement at Vevay, Switz- erland county, Indiana. The sailing vessel in which they made the voyage across the Atlan- tic encountered stormy weather and fifty-four days were consumed in the trip. In due time they arrived at New Orleans and after dis- embarking they boarded a steamer and pro- ceeded up the Mississippi river to their desti- nation. Henry Stucy was a stone cutter and contractor by occupation, having been appren- ticed to that trade in his native land. He was identified with this line of enterprise during the major portion of his active business career and was very successful. In 1852 he purchased a farm in Switzerland county, Indiana, and there located his family, follow- ing the work of his trade in Indiana and in Carroll county, Kentucky. He was sum-

moned to the life eternal at Vevay in 1893, at the venerable age of eighty years, and his cherished and devoted wife passed away seven months later, her death having occurred in January, 1894, at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. and Mrs. Stucy became the par- ents of eleven children, one daughter dying in infancy and another at the age of fifteen years. Nine grew to maturity and of the number six are still living (1910).

Frederick Stucy was the sixth in order of birth of the family of eleven children and he was but three years of age at the time of his parents' emigration to the United States. He was reared on the farm near Vevay and re- ceived his rudimentary education in the dis- trict schools of his home county. When six- teen years old he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-fourth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for a period of three months, at the expiration of which he enlisted in Company C, One Hun- dred and Seventeenth Indiana Volunteer In- fantry, for six months. Thereafter he en- listed in Company G, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for one hundred days' service and when this last term of enlistment expired he tendered his services as a member of Company E, One. Hundred and Forty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, for one year. All of the foregoing companies were organized at Vevay, Indiana. Mr. Stucy gave most valiant service until the close of the war and he was honorably dis- charged in August, 1865, being mustered out of the army at Baltimore, Maryland. He had seen active service all the time and was pro- moted from a private to the rank of lieuten- ant. Although he did not participate in any large engagements, he was in the valley of the Tennessee during the one hundred days of continuous fighting. He was not wounded but while in the Shenandoah valley was severely injured by being thrown from his horse, this accident being the result of the saddle girth breaking. He suffered severe bruises and his right wrist and ankle were broken. At that time he was second lieuten- ant and was detailed as ambulance officer of the brigade. In September, 1862, he was cap- tured, together with the entire company, at Shepardsville, Kentucky, by General Mor- gan's command, and that same day the Con- federate forces were themselves captured by Union reinforcements and Mr. Stucy was paroled. After many exciting adventures and most faithful service, and when peace was again established, Mr. Stucy returned to Vevay and attended school for one year. Thereafter he remained on the old honie farm in Switzerland county until his marriage, at

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the age of twenty-three years. He then rented a farm near Vevay and operated the same with eminent success for three years, at the expiration of which period he removed to Ghent, Carroll county, Kentucky. Here he purchased a wharf boat and entered into the general commission business, shipping fruit, produce, and various commodities. He con- tinued to be thus engaged for five years and succeeded in building up a large fruit trade, shipping big consignments to New Orleans and other points in Louisiana. About 1874 he disposed of his interest in this line of enter- prise and became interested in the tobacco business. It has always been characteristic of Mr. Stucy to make an exhaustive study of whatever interested him and when he directed his attention to the tobacco industry his first move was to become fully informed concern- ing the demands of the factories as to kind and quality of tobacco preferred. He set about to fill the demands and furnished a high-grade product. He purchased, re-dried and prepared tobacco on a large scale for a number of years, doing business with many of the largest factories, and he is now one of the best known tobacco men in the Blue Grass state. He sold large quantities of tobacco to the American Tobacco Company for many years and in 1904 confined his business to their market. Soon after the Burley tobacco pool was formed he was urged, on account of his ability and knowledge, to become a mem- ber of the board of directors of that company, and for years he has been most active in the promotion of its interests.

Mr. Stucy has other financial and real- estate interests of broad scope and import- ance. In 1877 he purchased large tracts of land in Texas, which have since increased considerably in value. He was one of the promoters of the Vevay, Indiana, Deposit Bank, served as vice-president of this sub- stantial monetary institution for several years and he has been an active member of its board of directors since its organization. He is also a stockholder, director and president of the Ghent Deposit Bank in his home city. In all of his ventures he has met with the most gratifying success and he has accumulated a competency. His magnificent home at Ghent, overlooking the Ohio river, is one of the finest in Carroll county and is a recognized center of most gracious and refined hospitality.

In politics Mr. Stucy is aligned as a stal- wart supporter of the Republican party in all affairs of national import but in local matters he maintains an independent attitude, prefer- ring to give his support to men and measures meeting with the approval of his judgment.

Though never ambitious for public office of any description he is ever alert and enthusias- tically in sympathy with all measures pro- jected for the general good of the community. In a fraternal way he has passed through the circle of York Rite Masonry, holding men- bership in the Blue Lodge, Free & Accepted Masons; Blue Chapter, Royal Arch Masons ; and DeMolay Commandery, Knights Tem- plars, at Louisville. He is also affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, at Ghent, and both he and his wife are devout members of the Baptist church, to whose charities and benevolences he has been a most generous contributor and in the various de- partments of whose work they have ever been active.

On the Ioth of February, 1870, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Stucy to Miss Anna Golay, a native of Vevay, Indiana, and a daughter of Seldon Golay, who died when Mrs. Stucy was a young girl. He was like- wise born in Vevay, whither his parents em- igrated from Switzerland in the early pioneer days. Mr. and Mrs. Stucy have two daugh- ters, Ella and Estella. One son, the first born, was named Frederick, Jr., and was sum- moned to the life eternal when but four years of age. Ella is the wife of W. J. Rice, a mer- chant in Ghent, Kentucky; and Estella mar- ried J. W. Yager, a banker and agriculturist of La Grange, Kentucky.

EVERETT E. WINN .- Thorough learning in his profession and well directed effort have gained to Mr. Winn definite precedence as one of the representative members of the bar of his native county, and he is established in successful practice at Warsaw, besides which he is at the present time the efficient incum- bent of the office of commonwealth attor- ney for the fifteenth judicial district.

Everett Ellsworth Winn was born on a farm near Warsaw, Gallatin county, on the 16th of March, 1869, and is a son of Thomas. J. and Harriet (Gilbert) Winn, the former of whom was likewise a native of Gallatin county and the latter of whom was born in Harrison county. The genealogy in the ag- natic line is traced back to staunch Welsh origin, and on the maternal side the lineage is of Scotch-Irish extraction. William Winn, great-grandfather of him whose name initiates this sketch, was a native of Culpeper county, Virginia, in which historic commonwealth the family was founded in the Colonial days, and prior to the opening of the nineteenth century he came to Kentucky and located a tract of land in the present county of Gallatin, about five miles distant from Warsaw, the county seat. Here he developed a farm and on the

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old homestead he continued to reside until his death. There was born his son William, next in line of descent to the present common- wealth attorney of Gallatin county. William Winn (II) was here reared to maturity under the scenes and conditions of the pioneer epoch and his entire active career was one of close and duly successful identification with agri- cultural pursuits. He lived to a goodly age and his wife, whose maiden name was Mar- garet Flick, attained to the venerable age of ninety-two years. They became the parents of six sons and two daughters, and of the number Thomas J. is the eldest.

Thomas J. Winn has long been numbered among the representative agriculturists of his native county and for many years he has been extensively engaged in the growing of tobacco, a line of enterprise which was also followed by his father and grandfather. His cherished and devoted wife, who was sum- moned to the life eternal in 1904, was a daughter of William Gilbert, who was born in Ireland, whence he emigrated to America when a young man. He established his home in Harrison county, Kentucky, and was num- bered among the sterling pioneers of that sec- tion of the state. Thomas J. and Harriet (Gilbert) Winn became the parents of two sons and four daughters, and one of the num- ber died in infancy. The other five are still living and the youngest of the number is he to whom this article is dedicated.

Everett E. Winn found his boyhood and early youth compassed by the gracious influ- ences of the old homestead on which he was born, and after completing the curriculum of the local schools he continued his studies in the high school at Patriot, Indiana, a place not far distant from his home. He later en- tered the normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, and later was for some time a student in George- town College, at Georgetown, Kentucky, and · in the meanwhile he had largely defrayed the expenses of his higher educational work by teaching in the public schools during his vaca- tions. He began the study of law under effective preceptorship, and in 1899 he was duly admitted to the bar of his native state. He forthwith opened an office in Warsaw, where he has continued in the active and suc- cessful practice of his profession during the intervening years, which have been marked by very definite and appreciable accomplish- ment and which have given him secure status as one of the well equipped and essentially representative members of his profession in this section of the state.

Mr. Winn has ever given an intelligent and

staunch allegiance to the cause of the Demo- cratic party and in 1894, after the completion of his college work, he was made the party nominee for the office of sheriff of Gallatin county. He was elected by a gratifying ma- jority and was the first to hold this office in Gallatin county under the new state constitu- tion. Upon the expiration of his term he was succeeded by his brother, William N. Winn. In 1901 he appeared as candidate for nomina- tion for the office of county judge, but was defeated in the primary election by only thirty-five votes. In 1903 he was elected to represent his native county in the lower house of the state legislature, in which he served one term and in which connection he made a splendid record as an active and effective worker in the deliberations of the floor and the committee room. He was accorded the unusual recognition of being made a member of the committee on rules, chairman of the railway committee and a member of three other important committees. In the spring of 1909. Mr. Winn was made the candidate of his party for the office of commonwealth at- torney for the Fifteenth judicial district, com- prising the counties of Carroll, Grant, Owen, Gallatin and Boone, and he was victorious at. the polls. He assumed the duties of this im- portant office on the Ist of January, 1910, for a term of six years, and he has the distinction of being the first man elected to this position from Gallatin county. In the primary elec- tion he received all but eighty-four votes, and as a public prosecutor he has made a record for able and efficient service, through which he has added materially to his professional laurels. Mr. Winn is affiliated with the War- saw lodge and chapter of the Masonic fra- ternity and has passed the various official chairs in each. He has maintained an im- pregnable hold upon popular confidence and esteem and his careful observance of profes- sional ethics has gained to him the high re- gard of his confreres at the bar.

In the year 1898 Mr. Winn was united in marriage to Miss Mary Alice Montgomery, who was born in Franklin county, this state. and who is a daughter of Captain James Montgomery, a gallant soldier of the Confed- eracy in the Civil war. 'Mrs. Winn is a prom- inent factor in the best social life of her home city and is a zealous worker in the Christian church, of which both she and her husband are members. Mr. and Mrs. Winn have two children,-Montgomery Ellsworth, who was born on the 16th of July, 1899, and Robinson McConnell, who was born on the 25th of July, 1906.

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OLD CROW DISTILLERY, 1869

OLD CROW DISTILLERY, 1911

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HENRY SCHUERMAN .- One of the most im- portant industrial enterprises of the thriving little city of Carrollton, the metropolis and judicial center of Carroll county, is that con- ducted by the Carrollton Furniture Manufac- turing Company, of which Mr. Schuerman is president, and he is numbered among the essentially leading business men of the state, as the corporation with which he is thus iden- tified as chief executive is one of the most extensive and important in its line within the limits of this commonwealth and one that holds prestige among the best in the entire Union. The company has a large and mod- ern plant, with the best of mechanical equip- ment and necessary adjunct facilities, and the enterprise is one that has contributed materi- ally to the material and civic advancement and precedence of Carrollton.

Henry Schuerman, to whose initiative and administrative abilities has been principally due the upbuilding of the splendid industry just noted, was born in the city of Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 17th of January, 1860, and is a son of Henry and Henrietta Schuerman, both of whom were born in Germany and both of whom were young at the time of establishing their residence in Cincinnati, where their marriage was solemnized. Henry Schuer- man, Sr., was engaged in the manufacturing of furniture in Cincinnati for a number of years and was a specially skillful artisan, as he had learned his trade through a thorough apprenticeship in his native land. Both he and his wife continued to reside in the "Queen City" of Ohio until their death, and their sterling attributes of character gained and retained to them the high regard of all who knew them.

Henry Schuerman, Jr., whose name initi- ates this article, is indebted to the public schools of Cincinnati for his early educational discipline, and he early entered upon a prac- tical and effective apprenticeship in the furni- ture factory of his father, where he acquired the fine technical knowledge and facility that have so signally conserved the success of the enterprise with which he is now identified. For several years he was associated with his father in the management of the latter's fac- tory, and he not only familiarized himself with all technical details of manufacturing but also had opportunity to develop and mature his powers as a salesman.

In 1886 Mr. Schuerman removed to Car- rollton and here became one of the interested principals in the organization of the Carroll- ton Furniture Manufacturing Company, of which he became secretary, treasurer and general manager at the time of incorporation.

The definite success which has attained the enterprise is attested by the fact that in the handling of the business at the present time there is found requisition for a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars. The indus- try had a modest inception, and the original plant afforded only forty thousand square feet of floor space, while the corps of employes numbered only forty persons. The growth of the business has been conservative and sub- stantial, and in the promotion of its interests Mr. Schuerman has brought to bear his splen- did technical and administrative powers, with the result that the industry is now one of the most important and extensive of its kind in the state. The plant comprises large and sub- stantial brick buildings, with an aggregate floor space of one hundred thousand square feet, and the working force now numbers one hundred and sixty-five operatives, besides which six traveling salesmen are retained, to- gether with an adequate office corps. The mechanical equipment is not excelled by that of any furniture factory in the Union, and the annual output has reached an average val- uation of three hundred thousand dollars, with a trade extending into the most diverse sections of the country, as well as into Porto Rico, Mexico and Chili. A specialty is made of the manufacturing of high-grade bed-room furniture, and the products, by reason of their superiority, constitute the best advertising for the concern. The personnel of the official corps of the company is as here noted : Henry Schuerman, president ; H. M. Winslow, vice- president ; W. F. Schuerman, treasurer ; and L. H. Schuerman, secretary. These officers, together with George B. Winslow, constitute the directorate of the company.

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 75

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