A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 76

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 76

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Though essentially loyal and progressive as a citizen and ever ready to lend his aid in the support of measures tending to advance the general welfare of the community, Mr. Schuerman has never permitted the use of his name in connection with candidacy for public office. In politics he maintains an independ- ent attitude, though he favors the basic prin- ciples for which the Republican party stands sponsor. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and both he and his wife hold mem- bership in the Methodist Episcopal church, South.

In the year 1890 was recorded the marriage of Mr. Schuerman to Miss Ruth Winslow, who was born and reared in Carrollton, and they have one son, Henry Winslow Schuer- man.

W. A. GAINES & CO., DISTILLERS .- This large and well known house is located in Frank- fort, Kentucky. It was originally a copartner -.

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ship, being organized in 1868, and succeeded to the business of Gaines, Berry & Co., Distillers, organized in 1867.

The firm of Gaines, Berry & Co. was com- posed of well known citizens of Frankfort, the members being Wmn. A. Gaines, Hiram Berry and Edmund H. Taylor, Jr. This firm became associated in 1868 with the large New York house of Paris, Allen & Co., and the style of the firm was changed to "W. A. Gaines & Co." This firm was composed of the Kentucky members already mentioned, Messrs. Gaines, Berry and Taylor, and the New York members-Sherman Paris, Mar- shall J. Allen and Frank S. Stevens.

In 1870 Mr. Taylor withdrew from the firm and went into business for himself, and at the present time is the president of a large dis- tilling company bearing his name.

WVm. A. Gaines died in 1872, and all the other old members of the firm passed away during the latter part of the last century.

Mr. George H. Allen of New York was admitted as a member of W. A. Gaines & Co. in the year 1870, and Mr. Edson Bradley, also of New York, became a member of the firm in 1882.

The business was incorporated in the year 1887 and has so continued down to the present time. Mr. George F. Berry, a son of one of the former partners, and a citizen of Frank- fort, Kentucky, is an officer and director in the corporation.

The Company owns the OLD CROW dis- tillery and the HERMITAGE distillery. The history of the Old Crow distillery is interest- ing. It is located in Woodford county, on the waters of Glens Creek. A very large lime- stone spring at the distillery was one of the chief reasons for establishing the distillery at that particular place. The name "OLD CROW" is perhaps the best known of any as applied to Kentucky's Bourbon and Rye whis- kies, being first used as far back as 1835. At that date a scientific Scotchman by the name of James Crow settled in Woodford county, Kentucky, and began the making of whiskey. He did not own a distillery, but made whiskey for others, principally for an old distiller by the name of Oscar Pepper, for whom he dis- tilled up to the year of his death in 1856. To Mr. Crow is ascribed the first hand made, sour mash process with the use of spent beer or slop, which, owing to its acidity, caused the term "Sour Mash." After the first distillation of the beer in a copper pot, Crow was careful to again distil it in what is known as a pot doubling still over wood fires; the result being a whiskey that soon attained a high reputation both at home and in adjoining states. It was

the favorite brand of southern planters, many of whom spent their summers in Kentucky, and would take a barrel of the whiskey with them on their return to the south.

It is probable that the whiskey distilled in Kentucky in the first part of the last century was not of the highest quality, owing to the lack of knowledge on the part of the average distiller in the art, as well as the crude ap- pliances in use at the time. Still, it is fair to presume that up to the time of the Civil war some had attained a high degree of excellence. During the Civil war there was comparatively little whiskey made in Kentucky, owing to the unsettled condition of affairs, but the business of distilling advanced rapidly after the war. More attention was given to the scientific part of it, as it was soon apparent to those endeavor- ing to produce a high grade of whiskey that particular attention must be given to the qual- ity of the grain used. None but the best was good enough. Another important feature was cleanliness in the manufacture, and due atten- tion to the buildings and to the storage of the whiskey after it was made, and also to the cooperage.

In 1865 the United States Government im- posed a tax of two dollars per gallon on whis -. key, stocks on hand at that time not to be sub- ject to the tax. This fact laid the foundation of the fortunes of several distillers in the state, who were fortunate enough to carry large stocks at the time.

About the year 1866 a closing out sale was held in Woodford county, to settle the estate of Oscar Pepper, deceased, and at this time several barrels of whiskey made by Crow were sold, and brought high prices. The firm of Gaines, Berry & Co. then determined to keep alive the brand, and to make their whiskey in precisely the same manner as Crow had made his. To that end they leased the old distillery where Crow had distilled during his lifetime, and employed as their distiller one Mitchell who had learned the art under Crow and to whom Crow had imparted his method. This method was adopted by Gaines, Berry & Co. and has been adhered to by their successors down to the present day, and their barrels have always been branded "Old Crow."

This whiskey at once attained a high repu- tation and there was a great demand for it. When their lease expired the old distillery was nearly falling down, and Gaines, Berry & Co. then decided to build their own distillery far- ther down on Glens Creek in Woodford county, where there was a large spring. This location exists until the present time, and it is fair to presume that it will continue indefinitely. From the modest little stone distillery and

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warehouse first used by Gaines, Berry & Co., it has grown to what is perhaps the finest dis- tillery building and warehouses in the world. It is now connected with Frankfort, Kentucky, by the Kentucky Highlands Railroad, which was projected and built by the members of W. A. Gaines & Co. in the year 1907 and was recently purchased by the Louisville & Nash- ville Railroad Company as part of its system.

The Old Crow plant is perfect in all its ap- pointments. The distillery proper is of stone, with concrete floors and roof. The warehouses are of brick, and there are also large grain elevators, slop drying plant, etc., as well as neat houses for its employes situated near the premises, and a model school house nearby for the use of the children. It has all the appearance of a well conducted and well or- dered village.

But it is significant that with the strides made in the business and the improvements in the distillery, etc., the salient features of the process of James Crow are adhered to by this company in the manufacture of its whiskey down to the present day. That is, the mashing in the small tubs, which lie over a given period and which gives to the whiskey the characteris- tic. flavor which is so well liked : the old fash- ioned pot stills used in the distillation, as well as the copper pot doubling stills with wood fires. This process involves additional ex- pense as compared to the ordinary methods of mashing and manufacture, but in this, as in all other matters pertaining to the making of Old Crow whiskey, W. A. Gaines & Co. em- ploys the best methods known in the art with- out regard to expense.

The HERMITAGE distillery was built by W. A. Gaines & Co. in 1868. It is located in South Frankfort, Kentucky, and is very large and complete in every respect. The quality of the whiskey is the highest, both Bourbon and Rye being made there. Besides the distillery building proper, it also has its warehouses, grain elevators, cooper shop and slop drying plant. The same care is exercised in the selection of the grain used, and the mode of mashing in the small tubs, fermenting and dis- tillation in the pot stills over wood fires, is also used at the Hermitage.

Both plants are equipped with an up-to-date bottling plant for the bottling of their whiskies in bond, the trade for which has reached enormous proportions.

For safety against fire the buildings at both plants are equipped with the automatic sprink- ler system.

The product of each distillery owned by W. A. Gaines & Co. is sent to nearly every state

in the Union, besides to Canada and all parts of Europe.

The value of a company like W. A. Gaines & Co. to Frankfort and Woodford county is hard to determine, for aside from furnishing employment to hundreds of employes it pays about ten per cent of the taxes in Woodford county, as well as in Frankfort and Franklin counties.

JOHN H. ALDERSON .- Six miles southeast of the city of Louisville, in one of the most opulent and beautiful sections of Jefferson county, is located the attractive and thriving village of Buechel, the upbuilding of which has been compassed within the past few years. Of this village John H. Alderson is one of the essentially representative citizens and he is also one of the successful farmers and stock- growers of his native county, where he still owns a portion of the old homestead on which he was born, the same lying contiguous to the village just mentioned. Mr. Alderson is presi- dent of the Bank of Buechel, one of the sub- stantial and popular financial institutions of the county, and he was one of the organizers of the same.

Mr. Alderson was born on the old homestead farm near Buechel and the date of his nativity was May 3, 1861. He is the only son of Benjamin S. and Nannie (Seabolt) Alderson, the latter of whom was summoned to the life eternal in 1885 and the former passed away in 1892. Benjamin S. Alderson was born in the city of Richmond, Virginia, and was a member of one of the old and honored families of that historic commonwealth, with whose annals the name became identified in the colonial epoch. He was reared to manhood in his native state and came to Kentucky about the year 1850, having maintained his home in the city of New Orleans for some time prior to this. There he had been engaged in the hotel business and he had also been concerned with steamboat business on the Mississippi river. He married Miss Nannie Seabolt soon after coming to Kentucky, in which state she was born and reared, and in the city of Louis- ville he conducted the old Hotel DeRaine, at the corner of Second and Main streets. About the year 1856 he removed to his farm, having purchased two hundred acres, and his only son still retains a considerable part of this fine old homestead. Benjamin S. Alderson became one of the successful agriculturists and stock- growers of Jefferson county and was a citizen who ever commanded the most unequivocal confidence and esteem, as he was a man of ability and sterling character. Though always ready to do all in his power to foster and sup-

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port measures and enterprises tending to con- thony V. Thompson, Charles J. Fegenbush, and serve the best interests of the community, he never had any desire for public office. He was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Demo- cratic party and during the Civil war his sym- pathies were thoroughly enlisted in behalf of the Confederacy. Both he and his wife As a citizen Mr. Alderson shows a lively in- terest in all that touches the welfare of the community, and though he has had no predilec- tion for public office he accords a staunch alle- giance to the Democratic party. Both he and his wife are members of the Greenwood Pres- byterian church, in Buechel, and their beautiful home is a center of most gracious hospitality. were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. They became the parents of one son and three daughters, and of the number the son, John H., of this re- view, is the eldest; Isora is the widow of Benjamin F. Cottrell and she owns and re- sides upon a portion of the old homestead farm; Florence is the wife of M. L. Conrad, and they reside upon a part of her father's old homestead; and Minnie is the wife of Thomas J. Hale, of Nashville, Tennessee.

John H. Alderson was reared to maturity on the old homestead place on which he was born and after due preliminary discipline he en- tered Cecilian College, in Hardin county, where he continued his studies for two years, after which he was for one year a student in a pri- vate college, at Shelbyville. After the death of his mother he purchased of his father a part of the old home farm and assumed the active supervision of the entire place. By pur- chase of adjoining lands he is now the owner of a finely improved farm of one hundred and forty acres, and here he erected in 1894 his beautiful three-story brick residence, which contains fourteen rooms and which is one of the finest homes in this section of Jefferson county, the same being essentially modern in architectural design and in all equipments. On the Ist of July, 1908, Mr. Alderson became one of the organizers of the Bank of Buechel, which was incorporated with a capital stock of fifteen thousand dollars, all retained by citizens of Jefferson county. All of the stock is paid up and the bank also erected and owns its fine modern building, which is of brick and stone construction, fifty by thirty feet in dimensions and two stories in height. The bank utilized the entire first floor and the appointments of the banking office are of the best order, in- cluding fire and burglar proof vaults of the most approved modern type. The institution has gained a large and appreciative support, is conservative in management and yet ordered along progressive lines. The business is of most substantial order and the personnel of the stockholders and executive corps is such as to well justify popular confidence. Mr. Alderson has been president of the bank from the time of its incorporation ; Louis Diemer is vice-president ; and Jacob G. Hikes is incum- bent of the office of cashier. In addition to the president and vice-president the directorate in- cludes Henry Diebel, Edward W. Elliott, An-

Charles C. Wheeler. The individual deposits of the bank are about fifty-four thousand dol- lars, and the certificates of deposit show an aggregate of about twenty thousand dollars. Total, seventy-four thousand dollars.

In February, 1890, was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Alderson to Miss Katie Long, daughter of Dennis M. Long, a representative foundryman of Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. and Mrs. Alderson have three children : namely : Clifford, Corinne, and Geneva. The only son is now identified with the automobile business in the city of Louisville and the two daughters remain at the parental home. Miss Corinne was for two years a student in Colum- bia Institute, at Columbia, Tennessee.

WILLIAM ROGERS THOMAS .- The name of William Rogers Thomas is everywhere recog- nized as that of a man who bore a conspicu- . ous and most honorable part in every duty devolving upon him, whether personal and domestic or public and in business. He was never known to falter in the performance of any trust or obligation he may have assumed, and his loss is deplored by the community in which he lived, although it is proud of the fact that such a man lived and died amongst them. The best memorial which can be framed of such a man as Mr. Thomas is the publica- tion of a plain and straightforward history of his personal life and character, and in no bet- ter way can this be done than to first give a slight sketch of his immediate ancestors.

William Rogers Thomas was born in Bour- bon county, Kentucky on July 13, 1858, the son of James Mason Thomas and Anne Eliza- beth (Rogers) Thomas. James Mason Thomas was born at Flat Rock, Bourbon county, Kentucky, on the 5th of September, 1833, the son of Esquire David Thomas, a prominent and substantial farmer of that pe- riod, and Lavinia Sims. He had a natural fondness for books and received the rudiments of his education at the Mt. Sterling Academy, under Professor Hugh B. Todd. Mr. Thomas began his long and active business career when he was eighteen years of age and through it all displayed great business sagacity and far- seeing judgment. He was a very prominent and active worker in the Christian church and always threw the weight of his influence in

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favor of religious and educational movements. He operated a large planing mill and lumber yard in Paris, Kentucky, and was the leading promoter of the Kentucky Union Railroad. Later Mr. Thomas became interested in the lumber business in Ford and amassed a large fortune. At his own expense he built several churches and schools in eastern Kentucky and supplied them with pastors and teachers. In politics Mr. Thomas was a conservative Demo- crat and represented his district in the state senate at the time of the memorable Goebel- Taylor contest. He died June 15, 1905. Mr. Thomas married Anne Elizabeth Rogers, only daughter of William Rogers and Catherine Skillman, of Cam Ridge, Bourbon county, Kentucky. Mrs. Thomas survived her hus- band but one year.

Of the children of James M. and Anne (Rogers) Thomas the oldest was William Rogers, the subject of our sketch. He lived in Paris for the first thirty years of his life and moved form there to Estill Springs, of which he was part owner and operator. At the death of his father he moved to Winchester and took part of the Ford Lumber Company, con- ducting the affairs of that large concern with such business sagacity that he added to the large holdings in timber lands in the Ken- tucky mountains. He was a man of great force and decision of character, but gentle and generous withal. No cry of distress reached him that did not find a ready response and he was vice-president of the associated charities. Mr. Thomas married Caroline Hanson, of Paris, Kentucky, a daughter of Colonel Charles S. Hanson and Caroline (Wheeler) Hanson, on October 21, 1885. Mr. Thomas died March 6, 1910, leaving a wife and two children, Hanson and Ethel. His memory is a priceless legacy, not only to his descendants but to the entire community in which he dwelt, and to the territory and state in which he was so long an honored citizen.

Mrs. William R. Thomas came from an il- lustrious line of ancestors. Her grandfather was Samuel Hanson, born in the city of Alex- andria (then a part of the district of Colum- bia), on the 14th day of May, 1786. He came of distinguished Maryland ancestry, being de- scended from John Hanson of Charles county, who held many important positions, among them that of president of the Conti- nental Congress. His statue given by the state of Maryland stands in Statuary Hall in the National capitol. Samuel Hanson removed to Kentucky in the year 1806 and settled in Win- chester, where for more than fifty years he practiced his profession. His fine scholarly attainments, great legal learning and superior

natural abilities placed him in the front rank of statesinen and jurists in Kentucky. He was always a firm and consistent Whig, re- peatedly represented his county in both branches of the Legislature, and at one time filled the office of speaker of the Senate with credit and distinction. The record of the Leg- islature for years bears the impress of his masterly genius, and few men of his time ex- erted a more potent influence upon the policy of the state during the stormiest period of her political history. His wife was Matilda Hick- man, daughter of General Richard Hickman, and granddaughter of Colonel Richard Callo- way. Of this marriage there were thirteen children, six sons and seven daughters. Of the sons, four were engaged in the war of the rebellion, two in the Union and two in the Confederate army. Of the latter was the dis- tinguished Brigadier General Roger Weight- man Hanson, whose brilliant career was cut short at thirty-three years of age, when he was killed at the head of the brigade at Mur- freesboro.

Charles S. Hanson, the third son of Samuel and Matilda Hanson, was born in Winchester, Kentucky. He was educated in his father's profession and took a prominent part in the politics of his county. In the war between the states he took the part of the Union and in 1861 he was mustered into the service as lieutenant colonel of the Twentieth Kentucky Infantry, and in 1863 was promoted to the col- onelcy of the Thirty-seventh Kentucky Mounted Infantry. Later he was placed in command of a brigade and took part in the engagements of Glasgow, Mt. Sterling and Saltville. At the close of the war he settled in Paris and practiced his profession until the time of his death.

Colonel Hanson was a fine disciplinarian, had great decision of character and was a fine and gallant gentleman.

ADOLPHUS L. REID .- Among the essentially representative and public-spirited citizens of Greenup, Greenup county, Kentucky, is Adol- phus Lafayette Reid, who is now living virtu- ally retired from business affairs but who dur- ing his active career gave most efficient service as sheriff and as judge of Greenup county.

At Natchez, Mississippi, on the 13th of. No- vember, 1824, occurred the birth of Adolphus L. Reid, who is a son of Darius B. and Caro- line (Roach) Reid, the former of whom was a native of Connecticut and the latter of whom claimed Kentucky as the place of her birth. The father was reared to maturity in Connecti- cut, where he received a most liberal educa- tion in his youth. When nineteen years of age he left home and after a short sojourn at

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Charleston, South Carolina, and New Orleans, Louisiana, he located at Natchez, Mississippi, where for several years he was principal of the public schools. It was during his residence at Natchez that he met his future wife, whose maiden name was Caroline Roach and who was then on a visit in Mississippi. It was a case of love at first sight and a few years after the marriage had been solemnized, in 1826, removal was made to Greenup county, Kentucky, where the family home was estab- lished on a farm some four miles below the town of Greenup, on the Ohio river. Mrs. Reid was summoned to the life eternal in 1827 and subsequently Mr. Reid wedded Miss Ann Muir, of Bardstown, Kentucky, after which event he removed to Hancock county, Ken- tucky, where he resided until his death, at the age of sixty years. Caroline Roach, mother of him to whom this sketch is dedicated, was a daughter of Micajah and Ruth (Rice) Roach, both of whom were born and reared near Fairfax, Virginia, whence they came to Kentucky in the early pioneer days. For a time Micajah and Ruth Roach resided in the city of Louisville and later they located at Bardstown. Ruth (Rice) Roach was one of the heirs to the estate of Captain George Rice, a Virginian who had large land grants in vari- ous sections of Kentucky. Mrs. Roach re- ceived as her portion lands in Greenup and Lewis counties. Of her children Caroline Roach, mother of the subject of this review, resided on the Greenup county farm and died there in early life. She was the mother of four children, three of whom died in infancy. Adolphus L. being the only one to attain to years of maturity.

Adolphus Lafayette Reid was a child of but one year of age at the time of his parents' immigration from Mississippi to Kentucky and he was reared to adult age on the homestead farm in Greenup county. The mother died when he was a mere child and as he was the only survivor of her family he inherited con- siderable property at the time of her demise. He received his early educational discipline in the subscription schools of the locality and period and after he had reached his legal ma- jority he began to farm. He continued to re- side on and operate his farm in Greenup county for a period of fifty-five years, at the expira- tion of which he took up his residence in the town of Greenup, where he engaged in the general merchandise business. While residing on his farm Mr. Reid was elected to the office of sheriff, which position he filled with all of honor and distinction during the strenuous war times. In 1870 he was elected county judge, serving with all of efficiency in that

capacity continuously for some eight years. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the time-honored Masonic order and in his relig- ious faith he is a devout member of the Methio- dist Episcopal church, South.

Mr. Reid has been twice married, his first union having been to Miss Henrietta Powell, a native of Greenup county, Kentucky, and a daughter of Vincent Powell, representative of an old Blue Grass pioneer family. To this union were born eight children, two of whom died in infancy and two of whom are living at the present time, in 1911. Those who grew to years of maturity were,-Charles ; Lucy C. Brooks, of Parsons, Kansas; Annie; Morris; Edward A., cashier of the Kanawha National Bank at Charleston, West Virginia; and Charles, who died at Wichita Falls, Texas, was clerk of courts there for nearly twenty years and was succeeded in the office by his son. The mother of the above children was called to eternal rest in 1864 and in 1868 was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Reid to Miss At- lanta E. Martin, who was reared and educated in West Virginia, a daughter of James Martin, of Charlottesville, Virginia, and subsequently a farmer and trader in Greenup county, Ken- tucky. This union was prolific of six chil -. dren, all of whom are living, namely,-James Herbert, who is general manager of stores for a large coal company at Slab Forks, West Virginia; Jeanette, who is the wife of W. T. Cole, an attorney and banker at Greenup, con- cerning whose career further data appear on other pages of this work; Emma C., who wedded G. G. Woods, manager of the Sullivan Mines in West Virginia; Dottie, who is the wife of Frank Culver, of Sand Point, Idaho; Homer M., of Ordway, Colorado; and Nannie, who is the wife of Benjamin Powell, of Roanoke, Virginia.

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 76

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