A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 80

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 80

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On December 20, 1878, Mr. Hutchcraft married Mary Fenton Keller. She was born in Paris, Kentucky, a daughter of David and Hannah (Cook) Keller, and granddaughter of Dr. Cook, the first to occupy the chair of med- icine at Transylvania University. Mrs. Hutch- craft passed to the higher life in April, 1906, leaving four children, namely : Mary B., Helen G., Lucy K. and David. David Hutchcraft, the only son, was graduated from the Ken- tucky State University and is now in charge of the Manual Training School at Duluth, Minne- sota.

A. S. CRABB .- Kentucky is one of the ban- ner states of the Union in the maintenance of a stable population. It is a noble state in which to be born, a fine state in which to live, and there is no more peaceful, comfortable country on earth in which to spend the de- clining years of this life than this same old Kentucky. Consequently, although it is no unusual thing to find substantial, contented men and women of middle age and even vener- able years who have always lived near the localities where they were born, the fact is ever worthy of comment in supporting Ken- tucky's claim to pre-eminence as a state of permanent homes and stable people.

Andy S. Crabb, the substantial agriculturist of Henry county, is a fine personal illustra- tion of this admirable trait of his native com- monwealth, for he was born on the farm in Henry county which he still occupies, Jan- uary 22, 1849. His grandfather, Jerry Crabb, died in the county at the age of seventy-five years, and his father, Alex C., was a native of it, born January 25, 1816. Sarah Barnett, as his mother was known before marriage, was a native of Green county, Kentucky, · born in 1827, and she died at the early age of twenty-nine, mother of six children-Wil- liam B .; Mary E .; Edward and John, who died in childhood; Andrew S., of this sketch; and Sallie.

Mr. Crabb was reared on the farm where he has always lived, and has been an indus- trions and successful agriculturist from his youth to the present time, when he finds him- self the possessor of a comfortable and val- uable country homestead of two hundred and

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twenty-three acres. With the faithful assist- ance of his good wife he has reared to useful manhood and womanhood five sons and daughters of the six who have blessed his household. Both parents have also been earnest workers in the Baptist church, of which the husband has been a deacon for a num- ber of years.

Mr. Crabb was united in marriage to Miss Mattie O. Rowland on the 22nd of June, 1875, his wife having been born in Louisville, Kentucky, April 12, 1853, a daughter of George J. and Harriet (Smith) Rowland. They were natives, respectively, of Shelby and Henry counties, the mother born at New- castle. The maternal grandfather, Thomas Smith, was the first president of the Louis- ville and Lexington Railroad, now a part of the L. & N., and he died near Newcastle of cholera in 1850. Children were born to Mr. and Mrs. George J. Rowland as follows : Thomas S .; Mattie O., Mr. Crabb's wife; Clark N., Hallie R., William H., George J. and Fannie P. Mr. and Mrs. A. S. Crabb have become the parents of Rowland R., Mary B., Mattie O., Andrew C., Bessie B. and Jerry O. Crabb.

JEFFERSON D. KISER, M. D .- A man of broad culture and high mental attainments, Jefferson D. Kiser, M. D., of Lexington, holds a noteworthy position among the leading phy- sicians and surgeons of Fayette county, and having made a specialty of diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat has attained a higher de- gree of perfection in that branch of his pro- fession than he otherwise would, and by his skill in their treatment has won a large and remunerative patronage. He was born on a farm in Greenup county, Kentucky, the birth- place, also, of his father, Hiram Kiser.

Henry Kiser, the doctor's grandfather, was born in Virginia and grew to manhood in Nor- folk county, near the city of Norfolk. Ac- companied by his wife, whose name before marriage was Miss Bellamy, he settled in Greenup county, and was there engaged in tilling the soil during the remainder of his life.

Hiram Kiser, reared to agricultural pur- suits, succeeded to the occupation of his im- mediate ancestors and spent his entire earthly life of four score and four years in his native county. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Ann Anglin, was born on a Carter coun- ty farm, about four miles from Grayson, in 1823, and died in 1894, aged seventy-one years. Her father, John Anglin, was born in Vir- ginia, and there married Mary Ann Hanna, and afterward settled in Carter county, Ken- tucky, where both spent the remainder of their

lives, his death occurring at the age of ninety- three years and hers at the age of ninety-two years.

One of a family of seven children, Jeffer- son D. Kiser attended first the district schools and afterwards completed the course of study in. the Greenup High School. At the age of eighteen years he embarked upon a profes- sional career, for several terms teaching school. During that time he began the study of medi- cine with Dr. John Sowards, and subsequent- ly continued at the Kentucky School of Medi- cine, now the University of Louisville, where he was graduated with the class of 1894. The following three years Dr. Kiser was assistant physician to Charles A. Olliver at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia, and in the mean- time he added greatly to his knowledge by at- tending lectures at different medical colleges, making a specialty of the eye, ear, nose and throat, including the Medico Chirurgical Col- lege, and the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Poly- clinic and College for Graduates in Medicine. He subsequently made a special study of the eye and ear in the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat College of Chicago, and likewise of the nose and throat, becoming familiar with the treat -. ment of these delicate organs. Coming to Lex- ington in 1901, he has since built up an ex- cellent practice, his patronage being large and of much importance.

Dr. Kiser married, in 1902, Jennie Butter- field. She and her father, John Butterfield, were both natives of Haverhill, Scioto county, Ohio, his birth occurring there in 1826. Her grandfather, Benjamin Butterfield, was born in 1798, in Boston, Massachusetts, of English lineage, and soon after the war of 1812 was closed he migrated to Ohio, which was then on the western frontier. Buying land in Sci- oto county, he was there engaged in general farming until his death in 1842. He married Mary Powell, who was born in 1795. She was brought up in Ohio, where her parents located when it formed a part of the North West Territory. She preceded her hus- band to the better life, passing away in 1840. John Butterfield was a life-long farmer in Scioto county, and quite successful in the management of his affairs. He died on his home farm in 1895, having nearly rounded out the allotted three score and ten years of man's life. He married, for his first wife, Ellen J. Rankin, who was born in Littleton, New Hampshire, in 1827. She was a daughter of David and Persis (Dannell) Rankin, the for- mer of whom was born in New Hampshire, of Scotch parents, and a sister of Martha Ran- kin, who went to Mexico as a missionary un-

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der the auspices of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, and afterwards wrote a very interesting work entitled "Twenty Years in Mexico." Mrs. Ella J. (Rankin) Butter- field died in 1869, leaving but one child, Jennie, now Mrs. Kiser. Mr. Butterfield subsequently. married Lucy Boynton, and they reared one son, John Butterfield. The Doctor and Mrs. Kiser have one child, Mildred Genevieve Kiser.

The Doctor is identified with numerous fra- ternal organizations, being a member of Lex- ington Lodge, No. I, A. F. & A. M .; of Lex- ington Lodge, No. 89, B. P. O. E .; of Lexing- ton Sub-Court, I. O. F .; of Fayette Lodge, No. 1733, Modern Brotherhood of America; of Lexington Tent, No. 20, K. O. T. M .; and of Henry Clay Camp, No. 11429, M. W. A. In addition to these, Dr. Kiser belongs to the Fayette County Medical Society; the Ken- tucky Valley, the Kentucky Midland, and the Kentucky State Medical Societies; to the American Medical Association; and to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Otol- ogy and Laryngology. He is likewise eye, ear, nose, and throat surgeon for the Chesa- peake and Ohio Railroad Company, also ex- aminer U. S. Pension Department, for the eye, ear, nose, and throat, and was elected county coroner in 1909.

WILLIAM F. BEARD, M. D .- For more than half a century has Dr. Beard been actively engaged in the practice of his profession, and he is at the present time the oldest active prac- titioner in Shelby county, where he commands the highest vantage ground in popular confi- dence and affectionate esteem. His life has been one of signal devotion to his noble and exacting calling and he has long been recog- nized as one of the able and essentially repre- sentative physicians and surgeons of his native state, the family name having been identified with the history of Kentucky for more than a century. The Doctor gave valiant service in the cause of the Confederacy during the Civil war, in which he became surgeon of his brigade, and his entire career has been marked by impregnable integrity and by broad human sympathy and tolerance. He has not been a "doctor for revenue only," but his humani- tarian spirit has prompted him to labor with all of zeal, ability, and self-abnegation in the al- leviation of suffering and distress, without su- bordination of the thought of mere temporal reward of a financial order. Thus it may readily be understood that this venerable phy- sician is known and loved in the community in which he has so long lived and labored, and he is one of the honored citizens of Shelby

county, in whose metropolis and judicial cen- ter, the city of Shelbyville, he has long main- tained his home.

Dr. William Foree Beard was born on the old homestead farm of the family near the city of Lexington in Fayette county, Ken- tucky, and the date of his nativity was Sep- tember 5, 1835. He is a son of Joseph M. and Sarah P. (Foree) Beard, the former of whom was born in Fayette county and the latter in Shelby county. Joseph M. Beard was a son of Joseph and Anna (McAleer) Beard, who emigrated from Londonderry, Ireland, to America in 1800 and who took up their abode in Kentucky soon after their arrival in the United States. Their old homestead farm in Fayette county was that upon which occurred the birth of Dr. Beard, and the property re- mained in the possession of the family for many years. Joseph Beard reclaimed his land to cultivation and developed a fine farm, upon which both he and his wife continued to re- side until their death, when well advanced in years. They were folk of sterling attributes of character and their names merit an endur- ing place on the roll of the honored pioneers of Fayette county.

Joseph M. Beard was reared to manhood in Fayette county, and he became one of the able representatives of the agricultural industry in that county, where he was the owner of a fine landed estate and where he was a citizen of prominence and influence. He served twenty years as deputy clerk of the county and finally he removed to Oldham county, where he purchased a large farm and gained a place of leadership in his community. Beard's Station in that county was named in his honor. He continued to reside on his es- tate in Oldham county until his death,. at the age of seventy years, his cherished and de- voted wife having passed away at the age of sixty-three years. Of their thirteen children nine attained to years of maturity and of the number only three are now living,-Dr. Wil- liam F., whose name initiates this review ; Dr. Eugene F., who is a representative physician of the city of Lexington ; and M. Theresa, who was the wife of Richard P. Gregory, of Old- ham county. Another of the brothers, Patrick C., was preparing himself for the medical pro- fession at the time of his death, which oc- curred in 1848.

Dr. William F. Beard found his boyhood and youth compassed by the environments and influences of the farm, and he waxed strong in mind and body under the discipline involved. He was about thirteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Oldham

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county, where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the common schools and where, in 1855, he began the study of medicine under effective preceptorship. In the following year he entered the medical department of the Uni- versity of Louisville, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1858 and from which he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine. It may be noted that in all the long intervening years Dr. Beard has permitted himself no retrogres- sion in his profession, as he has been a close and appreciative student of its best standard and periodical literature and has thus kept in touch with the advances made in both medi- cine and surgery.

After his graduation Dr. Beard engaged in the practice of his profession at Beard Sta- tion, Oldham county, but on the Ist of Jan- uary, 1859, he established his home at Chris- tianburg, Shelby county, where he continued in active practice for more than thirty years, during which his professional business was ex- tended over a wide territory. In 1890, to fa- cilitate and broaden the scope of his work, the Doctor removed to the city of Shelbyville, which has continued to be his home and pro- fessional headquarters since that time. En- gaged in successful practice for more than fifty years, he has been far more than a pur- veyor of medicine for pelf. He has been a true friend, a dispenser of good cheer, a safe and wise counsellor in all matters affecting the happiness and welfare of the family and the community in which he has lived. He has made of his calling something more than a cold-blooded science, and as exemplified by him it has had to do with mind as well as mat- ter, with mental as well as physical conditions. He lias sedulously observed the highest code of professional ethics and ideals, and his per- sonal integrity and honor have been his chief endowments,-manifest in all his intercourse with his fellow men. Much of his labor has been charity work, and this he has accepted with good grace, by reason of his love for the profession of his choice. His dominating pur- pose has been to alleviate suffering and dis- tress, and his reward has been based upon honest and conscientious service. Where there has been poverty or inability to pay he has found his reward in the consciousness of professional duty willingly performed. He has honored and been honored by the profes- sion which he has dignified by his long and able service, and in many a home in Shelby county his name is held in reverent affection.

The private professional endeavors of Dr. Beard were interrupted when the dark cloud

of civil war cast its pall over the national hori- zon, and he soon gave distinctive evidence of his loyalty to the cause of the Confederacy, as he enlisted in 1862 and was commissioned sur- geon of the Forty-first Alabama Infantry, in the Army of Tennessee. He continued with this regiment until the close of the war and with the same was transferred to Virginia, in the command of General Robert E. Lee. He was on active duty in the arduous campaigns of the commands with which he was iden- tified and lived up to the full tension of the great struggle between the North and the South. About December 1, 1863, he was made senior surgeon of his brigade, an office which he retained until the close of the war. He was with General Lee at Appomattox at the time of the final surrender and there received his parole. He then returned to his home in Shelby county, where he has ever since con- tinued to devote his attention to the work of his noble profession. He is a valued member of the Shelby County Medical Society and the Kentucky State Medical Society, and is also identified with the American Medical Asso- ciation. Two of his sons, Frank M. and Sam- uel L., have likewise adopted the medical pro- fession and are associated with him in prac- tice, the alliance constituting one of the strong- est and most popular of the kind in this sec- tion of the state, as the two sons are able co- adjutors to their venerable and honored father.

In politics the proclivities of Dr. Beard are shown in the staunch allegiance accorded by him to the Democratic party, and he is well fortified in his opinions as to matter of public polity, though he has had no desire for the honors or emoluments of political office. In the Masonic fraternity he has completed the circle of the York Rite and is an appreciative and valued member of the lodge, chapter, coun- cil and commandery in his home city, besides which he was an influential factor in securing to Shelbyville the fine Masonic Home, a state institution. He has served as a member of the Reception committee of this noble institution from the time of its founding. He has ever retained a deep interest in his old comrades of the Civil war and is a member of the United Confederate Veterans' Association, besides which he is a trustee of the Kentucky Confed- erate Soldiers' Home at Pewee Valley. He and his wife are zealous members of the Bap- tist church, in which he has held the office of deacon for thirty years, and both have been instant in good works and kindly deeds. The Doctor is a man of unassuming way, genial, urbane and courtly in his manners, and he well

We& Hobbes

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exemplified the gentleman as well as the phy- sician of the sterling old regime.

In the year 1860 was solemnized the mar- riage of Dr. Beard to Miss Matilda Roberts, daughter of William R. Roberts, a representa- tive farmer of Shelby county, where he was also a large contractor in the construction of pike roads. Mrs. Beard was born and reared in this county, with whose affairs the family name has long been identified. Dr. and Mrs. Beard have six children, concerning whom the following brief data are given: Elliot B. is a lawyer by profession and is engaged in prac- tice in Shelbyville; Dr. Frank M. is associ- ated with his father in practice; Charles F. is numbered among the enterprising and success- ful farmers and stock-growers of Shelby coun- ty; Pryor R. is cashier of the Citizens' Bank of Shelbyville; Dr. Samuel L., as before stated, is engaged in the practice of medicine in partnership with his father and brother; and Miss Iva, a popular factor in the social activi- ties of the community, remains at the parental home.

HON. WILLIAM C. G. HOBBS, a successful and popular attorney of the younger genera- tion in the city of Lexington, has served most efficiently in the Lower House of the State Legislature as a representative of the city of Lexington district and he has also served as president of the Lexington board of aldermen for a period of two years. Mr. Hobbs was born at St. Clair, Hawkins county, Tennessee, on the 6th of April, 1864, and he is a son of Dr. Creed Fulton and Sallie A. (Quary) Hobbs, the former of whom claimed Lee coun- ty, Virginia, as the place of his nativity, and the latter of whom was likewise a native of the Old Dominion commonwealth. Dr. Hobbs was descended from one of three brothers of the name who were born in Wales, whence they emigrated to America early in the eigh- teenth century, establishing homes in the col- ony of Virginia. Mrs. Hobbs traced her or- igin back to staunch Irish stock, her ancestors likewise being early settlers in Virginia. Dr. Hobbs received his preliminary educational training in the common schools of his native county and this discipline was effectively sup- plemented by a course of study in the old Transylvania University, at Lexington, Ken- tucky, in which celebrated institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1857 or 1858, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Later he pursued a course in the medical de- partment of his alma mater and in 1859 his degree of Doctor of Medicine was conferred upon him. He also attended the University of Maryland in 1860, and there received the

supplemental degree of Doctor of Medicine. He initiated the practice of his profession at St. Clair, Hawkins county, Tennessee, and at the outbreak of the Civil war he showed his intrinsic loyalty to the cause of the Confed- eracy by tendering his services as surgeon in the Confederate army. After leaving the army, in 1865, he returned to Hawkins county but the bitter feeling in east Tennessee toward a Confederate soldier caused him to refugee back to luis old Virginia home, at Jonesville, where he continued in the active work of his profession until his death, on the 14th of Oc- tober, 1876, at the age of forty-two years. His wife preceded him to the life eternal by a few months, her death having occurred on the 4th of May of that same year.

William Carroll Graves Hobbs was but twelve years old at the time of his parents' re- turn to Jonesville, Virginia, to whose schools he is indebted for his early educational advan- tages. He was graduated in Franklin Aca- demy, at Jonesville, in 1879, and in 1889 he emigrated to Kentucky, where he became book- keeper for J. C. Curry, at Pine Grove. In June, 1890, he made his advent in Lexington and here entered the law office of Judge Z. Gib- bons, under whose able preceptorship he made rapid progress in his absorption and assimila- tion of the science of jurisprudence. On May 4, 1893, he was admitted to the bar of the state and he immediately opened offices in the city of Lexington, where he has since been engaged in active practice, giving special attention to cases in equity. From an article previously published concerning him is taken the follow- ing statement: "The ease of his manner be- fore judge or jury indicates perfect familiarity with his case and painstaking preparation, and the clear, forcible way in which he presents his arguments carries conviction with it." Mr. Hobbs has served by appointment from the governor as special judge to preside over trials in the circuit courts of different counties on various occasions. In the sessions of 1898 and 1900 he represented the city of Lexington district in the Kentucky state legislature and he served as president of the Lexington board of aldermen for a period of two years, this position carrying with it the office of vice- mayor of the city.

In politics Mr. Hobbs has ever been aligned as a stalwart supporter of the principles and policies for which the Democratic party stands sponsor and he is alert and enthusiastically in sympathy with all measures and enterprises advanced for the general welfare of the city and state at large. In a fraternal way Mr. Hobbs is affiliated with the Independent Order

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of Odd Fellows, being a member of Friendship Lodge, No. 5, in which he holds the position of treasurer. In 1906-7 he was grand master of the Grand Lodge of Kentucky of this organi- zation. He is also associated with the Knights of Pythias and is now, in 1910, serving as president of the board of directors of the Pythian Home of Kentucky.

On the 23d of April, 1890, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hobbs to Miss Emma C. Stevenson, who was born and reared in Brown county, Ohio, and who is a daughter of Joseph A. Stevenson, long a representative farmer of that county but now a resident of Pine Grove, Fayette county, Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs have been born four children, namely, ---- Katie N., who died at the age of three years; Joseph C., born March 11, 1895; William E., who died August 13, 1900, at the age of three years ; and Nanetta, born August 6, 1899. The children attend the public schools of Lexing- ton. Mr. and Mrs. Hobbs are devout mem- bers of the Broadway Christian church and they are prominent and popular factors in con- nection with the best social activities of their home city.

ELI HUSTON BROWN, JR., attorney at law, is a member of the well-known law firm of Brown & Nuckols, of Frankfort, Kentucky. For three terms while a resident of Nelson county, Kentucky, he represented that county in the General Assembly, having been elected in 1899, 1901 and 1903. On May 6, 1899, he was first nominated for the Legislature in a Democratic primary over his opponent, Mr. Y. P. Wells. Thereafter Mr. Brown did not have opposition either for nomination or at the gen- eral election. In the session of the General Assembly of 1904 he was elected Speaker, be- ing nominated in the Democratic caucus on the first ballot over his opponents, Hon. Herman D. Newcomb, of Louisville, Kentucky ; Hon. C. C. Spalding, of Lebanon, Kentucky ; Hon. E. E. Baton, of Falmouth, Kentucky, and Hon. S. D. Rigdon, of Augusta, Kentucky.

Mr. Brown was born in Owensboro, Ken- tucky, and is the son of Eli Huston Brown and Nancy Washington Dorsey. His father was born at Brandenburg, Meade county, Ken- tucky, on the 13th day of November, 1841, and died March 30, 1911 ; his mother was born at Yazoo City, Mississippi, on October 30, 1845, and died December II, 1885. Both branches of the family were of English descent and came from Virginia to Kentucky before 1790; the paternal grandfather, John McClarty Brown, was born May 2, 1799, and was a na- tive of Nelson county of the Blue Grass state. His wife, Minerva Murray Brown, daughter of

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 80

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