A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 82

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 82

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On the 18th of November, 1868, Captain Owens was united in marriage to Anna Weak- ley, of Shelby county, who spent her entire life in this county, near the town of Bagdad.

Mrs. Owens died in 1883. On April 22, 1885, Captain Owens married Sally E. Bayne, sister of Robert L., James and Samuel Bayne, all of Bagdad, and of William Bayne, of Kansas City, Missouri, further mention of the family being made on other pages of this work. To the first marriage two children were born, W. W. and Esther. Esther is the wife of John Hardesty, of Mount Eden, Kentucky, and W. W. is engaged in the brass business in In- dianapolis, Indiana. There were no children by the second union. Captain Owens takes an active interest in the Western Recorder, a publication of the Baptist church at Louisville, Ky. He is a pronounced .Baptist, believing that the Baptist church was instituted by Christ and His Apostles, and that the "gates of hell shall not prevail against it."

JAMES W. McKEE .- The late James W. McKee was one of Harrison county's leading citizens and his benign and noble influence will live after him in the community in which he so long resided. It was said of him at the time of his demise (April 18, 1911) : "A fine man is gone, a gentleman of the old school, whom to know was to admire and esteem, and whose personal friendship was a priceless treasure. He was a man of fine character, widely known for his probity and worth and in his death the community has suffered a se- vere loss. Gentle and tender, just and firm, there are few men whose innate goodness meant so much to a community, whose coun- sel and advice were so valuable, whose life presented so splendid an example."

Mr. McKee was a descendant of a large clan of Scotch and Irish, and many of his forefathers distinguished themselves as war- riors. The first of the family to come to America was John McKee I, who was born in the north of Ireland and came to North Carolina about the year 1755. He served in the Revolutionary war in the cause of inde- pendence, being a private in Captain Van Swearingen's company and Colonel D. Mor- gan's regiment of Continental troops. His first service was from July, 1777, to Novem- ber, 1778, and his second from August, 17-, to February, 1780, and a part of the time he was in the Sixth Carolina Regiment. In De- cember, 1779, he was married to Polly Mc- Coy, and he was killed at Canes' Run skirmish in the Kings Mountain campaign on Septem- ber 12, 1780, by the treachery of a Tory friend. His widow and her young son came to Kentucky over the mountains on horseback a short time afterward and located in Bourbon county. This son, John McKee II, was born October 18, 1780, in South Carolina, and died

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September 10, 1842. He married, April 4, 1803, Elizabeth McClintock, who was born January 13, 1784, in Hamilton county, Ohio, and died September 2, 1864. He built the mills at Ruddles Mills, Bourbon county, Ken- tucky, and operated them all his life.

His son, John McKee III, the father of the subject, was born at Ruddles Mills, Bourbon county, February 6, 1804, and died August 22, 1883. Owing to adverse circumstances he received but a meagre education, and as soon as he was old enough he began working in his father's mills at Ruddles Mills. In 1833 he came to Harrison county and purchased thirty- five acres of wild land, now on Ruddles Mills Pike. He married the first time, on April 10, 1828, Eliza Wilson (daughter James and (Richey) Wilson), who was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, March 8, 1807, and died December 15, 1839. They were the parents of six children, the subject being one, and John Alexander, of Lincoln county, Ken- tucky, surviving. John McKee III married for his second wife, June 24, 1841, Nancy Thorn, who died childless. His third mar- riage, on September 13, 1848, was to Caroline Sweeney, who was born near Sharpsburg, Bath county, Kentucky, September 18, 1827, and died July 20, 1886. To this union one son was born-Miles S., of Harrison county. The father, who began life in very humble circumstances, was thrifty and enterprising and at the time of his death he was the owner of seven hundred acres of fine Blue Grass land. In 1875 he removed to Poplar Hill, one mile east of Cynthiana, adjoining the Battle Grove cemetery, where he died. He was a fine self-made man, thrifty, honest and well' liked by everybody. He was an adherent of the Democratic party and a member of the Presbyterian church.

James W. McKee, the immediate subject of his review, was born in Harrison county on November 26, 1836; was reared upon his father's farm and received his preliminary education in the common schools of his native county, attending until his seventeenth year. For three years he attended Farmers' Col- lege, near Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1856 re- turned home and began life for himself, farm- ing and trading in a small way. He prospered exceedingly and at the time of his death was one of the largest land owners in Harrison county, while for years he dealt very exten- sively in mules. For eight years he served as justice of the peace and it has been generally agreed that he was one of the best officials the county ever knew. At his father's death he purchased the old homestead, known as Pop-

lar Hill, this beautiful old house, with fine grounds and rare historical interest, being sit- uated a short distance from Cynthiana on the Millersburg Pike. During the battle of Cyn- thiana between General Morgan and the Fed- eral troops the Confederate forces were sta- tioned around this house, the Federals being toward the east, and bullet marks are still vis- ible on the east walls. Ten or twelve men were killed in the vicinity of the house at the time of the engagement.

On December 3, 1857, Mr. McKee married Jane M. Turney, daughter of William and Margery (Fearman) Turney, of Bourbon county. She was born April 24, 1838, in Illi- nois. To this union eleven children were born, namely : William, living at Cynthiana; Eliza W., wife of Joseph A. Thorn, of Cynthiana ; John A., deceased; Charles, residing at Little Rock, Arkansas; Julia M., at home; Alice F., wife of M. C. Swinford, of Cynthiana; Mary Elizabeth, wife of W. S. Van Deren, of Cyn- thiana; George L., of Memphis, Tennessee; Frank O., of Harrison county, Kentucky; Jesse M., of Harrison county, Kentucky ; and Turney, of Harrison county, Kentucky. The demise of the worthy wife and mother oc- curred January 6, 1879.

Mr. McKee was a second time married, on September 5, 1882, Miss Anna B. Talbot be- coming his wife. She was born October 22, 1850, in Bourbon county, the daughter of James T. and Elizabeth (Conway) Talbot. Her father was born in Bourbon county, Au- gust 13, 1822, and died February 17, 1899, in the same county. The mother was born in Nicholas county, February 9, 1829, and died October 2, 1887. They were the parents of ten children, equally divided as to sons and daughters, and all of whom survive at the present time. To Mr. McKee by his second marriage one daughter was born-Anna Louise, who resides at home.

Mrs. McKee's grandfather, George Talbot, was born in Virginia and came to Bourbon county in youth. He was the son of Harvey Talbot, who, it is believed, emigrated from England. George and his wife, whose maiden name was Unity Smith and who was born in Maryland, reared a family of nine children to good citizenship. Her maternal forefathers were Virginians who migrated to Nicholas county and engaged in farming throughout their lives.

In his political faith the late Mr. McKee was a Democrat. In religious conviction he was a Presbyterian and one of the most active and honored members of the Cynthiana con- gregation, being the oldest member at the time

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of his death. For many years he held the office of deacon. Fraternally he belonged to the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Early in the spring of 1911 this honored citi- zen was stricken with paralysis and he passed away within a few weeks, being a little more than seventy-four years of age. At the obse- quies his six sons acted as pall bearers. A local publication has paid him the following tribute :

"No man stood higher than Squire James W. McKee. None was there to question any motive of his; to doubt the rectitude of any purpose; to deny him that high respect and esteem that a long career of right living and upright dealing won for him from his fellow men. He will be widely missed from this county, for he was widely known and as widely esteemed. A kind and devoted hus- band and father, a citizen devoted to the best interests of his community, a man who loved his fellow men, the community fully realizes that truly a good man has gone. He lived contentedly on a splendid farm near Cyn- thiana."

ISAAC C. SHROPSHIRE .- Active, enterprising and progressive, Isaac C. Shropshire ranks high among the esteemed and substantial busi- ness men of Cynthiana, where he has a beau- tiful home. He has for many years been inti- mately associated with the advancement of the agricultural interests of Harrison county, be- ing the owner and manager of a magnificent farm of four hundred acres, which he devotes to the raising of grain, stock and tobacco. A son of William O. Shropshire, he was born September 10, 1867, near Clintonville, Bour- bon county, Kentucky, coming from English ancestry on the paternal side of the house.

Abner Shropshire, his great-grandfather, born in Virginia May 13, 1761, enlisted in the Revolutionary army at the age of seventeen years and served as a soldier throughout the remainder of the war. He married Susan Foster, a native of Virginia, and in 1794 mi- grated to Kentucky, locating in Bourbon county in pioneer times. On the farm which he improved from the wilderness he lived and labored and there reared his family of chil- dren, among whom was a son named James Harvey, who was the next in line of descent.

James Harvey Shropshire continued in the independent occupation of his ancestors, and became quite successful in his agricultural op- erations, acquiring title to a large farm. He married Maria Harcourt, of Bourbon county, and they became the parents of eight sons, all of whom they trained to habits of industry and honesty. They were devout members of

the Christian church, and all of their sons be- came active workers and official members of that church.

William O. Shropshire, a life-long resident of Bourbon county, Kentucky, was born De- cember 24, 1837, and died November 10, 1910. Brought up in a rural household, he attended first the district schools, completing his early studies at the Transylvania University, in Lexington. He became a farmer from choice and won distinction in his labors, becoming owner of a well-kept farm of four hundred acres, on which he resided until his death. He was a man of sterling worth and a valued member of the Christian church, which he served as an elder for years and to which his widow, who still occupies the home farm, belongs. The maiden name of the wife of William O. Shropshire was Margaret Cun- ningham. She was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, April 30, 1844, a daughter of Thomas L. Cunningham and the second child in order of birth of a family of six children. Her father, an extensive and prominent farmer, was a noted breeder of Short-Horn cattle. Thomas L. Cunningham married, Jan- mary 4, 1837, Isabelle M. Henderson, who was born in Sandersville Precinct, Fayette county, Kentucky, in December, 1818, while his birth occurred in 1810, in Clark County, Kentucky. She was a daughter of James W. and Betsey (Hill) Henderson, and paternal granddaughter of Thomas Henderson, who came from Pennsylvania to Kentucky in pioneer days, locating in Fayette county, and maternal granddaughter of James and Mar- garet (McCallough) Hill. Her maternal an- cestors were of Scotch-Irish descent and stanch members of the Presbyterian church, belonging to what was known as the old "sec- ular" stock. Of the union of William O. and Margaret (Cunningham) Shropshire five chil- dren were born and reared, as follows: Isaac C., the special subject of this brief sketch; W. Clay, of Fayette county; T. A., of Bour- bon county; Annabelle, widow of A. B. Wal- lace of Bourbon county; and W. H., also of Bourbon county.

Brought up on the parental homestead in Bourbon county, Isaac C. Shropshire obtained a substantial knowledge of the three "r's" in the common schools, and on attaining his ma- jority bought eighty acres of raw land ad- joining his father's farm. Successful in his operations, he soon repaid his father the money he borrowed when purchasing the land, on which he made many improvements. Sub- sequently disposing of that property, Mr. Shropshire came to Harrison county in search

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of a good location, and being pleased with the country roundabout purchased one hun- dred and twenty-five acres of land on Indian creek, near Colville, and immediately assumed his possession. Here he has made improve- ments of value, each year adding to the at- tractions of the place, erecting a commodious residence and substantial farm buildings, his estate being now one of the most desirable rural homes in the county. He has added to the area of his original farm by purchase, now owning and operating four hundred acres of rich and fertile land, on which, in addition to his large annual crops of grain and to- bacco, he makes a specialty of raising cattle for export. In 1900 Mr. Shropshire bought a beautiful residence in Cynthiana, where he and his family have since resided, and on Jan- uary I, 19II, he was elected president of the Farmers' National Bank of Cynthiana. He is a Democrat in politics, but not an office hunter.

Mr. Shropshire married, December 13, 1893, Minnie F. McShane, who was born on Indian creek, Harrison county, August 31, 1868, a daughter of Daniel McShane, Jr., and grand- daughter of Daniel McShane, Sr. Her great- grandfather, Edward McShane, emigrated from Virginia to Kentucky in 1797 or 1798, locating in Harrison county, and on the farm which he purchased died a few months later. Daniel McShane, Sr., was ten years of age when he came with his parents to Kentucky, and he grew to manhood on the parental homestead. Choosing the independent occu- pation of a farmer, he was successfully en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until his death, in 1856. He married, in 1802, Nancy Talbert, a native of Virginia, and they became the parents of six children. Daniel McShane, Jr., was born on Indian creek, Harrison county, April 19, 1832, and died on his farm May 15, 1900. Beginning life for himself with lim- ited means, he was exceedingly fortunate in his operations, becoming the owner of a fine farm of three hundred and eighty-five acres, a large part of which he placed under cultiva- tion. He was a Democrat in politics and was also a trustworthy member of the Presbyterian church and had a host of good friends. His wife, whose maiden name was Mary Martin, was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, Au- gust 31, 1847, and died May 4, 1872, leaving but one child, Minnie F., now Mrs. Shrop- shire.

Edwin Martin, the father of Mary Martin, was a son of Joseph Martin, one of the earlier settlers of Harrison county. He married, in 1833. Mrs. Elizabeth (Waits) McClintock, a

daughter of John Waits and widow of Samuel McClintock, who died in Bourbon county, Ken- tucky, July 14, 1827, two years after their marriage, leaving her with one son.

Mr. and Mrs. Shropshire are the parents of two children, namely: Daniel McShane, born July 6, 1891 ; and Margaret K., born February 16, 1898. Mr. Shropshire is a member of the Indian Creek Christian church, towards the building of which he was a liberal contributor and in which he has served as an elder. Mrs. Shropshire is a member of the Presbyterian church.

CHESTER M. JEWETT, to whose life history we now direct attention, has by earnest en- deavor attained a marked success in business affairs, has gained the respect and confidence of men and is recognized as one of the dis- tinctively representative citizens of Cynthiana. He has that keen discrimination and sagacity in business affairs which when combined with energy and industry lead to success. He is making a splendid success in his chosen pro- fession of law and occupies an office in the Fennell Building, opposite the court house.

Mr. Jewett is a native son of the Blue Grass state, his birth occurring at Oddville, Harri- son county, Kentucky, on February 13, 1874, the son of John B. Jewett, born in Harrison County, January 13, 1843, and Lucy Daniel, his first wife, born in Harrison county, July. 27, 1852, her death occurring July 24, 1884. They were the parents of six children: Atwell A., residence in Cincinnati, Ohio; John Q., residence in Cynthiana ; Claud L., residence in Cynthiana; Lillian, wife of J. E. Wood- bury, residence in Los Angeles, California; Chester M., our subject ; and one child who died. The father married a second wife, Fanny Arnold, and they have two children, Cecil and Carrie, both of whom are at home. John B. Jewett was reared on the farm in his native county, married and started in the mercantile business three miles east of Odd- ville, where he conducted a store and was a tobacco buyer until 1880, when he sold and removed to Cynthiana and entered into the business which he still conducts.

Chester M. Jewett was reared in Cynthiana and attended the common and high schools, and when the time came for him to engage in the active battle of life on his own responsibil- ity he took a position as bookkeeper in a dry goods store. In 1895 he began reading law under his brother, Atwell A., and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1898 and for a year and a half practiced law with his brother, since which time he has practiced alone. Mr. Jewett

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is now serving his third term as city attorney, and previous to his election served part of the unexpired term of Baily D. Berry.

Mr. Jewett is a Democrat and in social or- ders is a member of St. Andrews Lodge, No. 18, F. & A. M., and of the Elks, No. 438. He is an active member of the Cynthiana Baptist church and is a trustee and treasurer of the same and was secretary of the School Board for two years. He was a director in the Har- rison Deposit Bank for four years and at the end of that time resigned, and is now attorney for the National Bank.

Mr. Jewett may be said to be a self-made man, he having been at leisure hours an ex- tensive reader of history and the classics, and his systematic business methods, his sound judgment, his enterprise and his laudable am- bition have all contributed to make his busi- ness career a prosperous one. He has a fine practice and the satisfaction of enjoying the high regard of his fellow men in all the walks of life, and is widely and favorably known in the community in which he lives.

THOMAS DUFF URMSTON .- Among the substantial and prominent citizens of Harrison county there is none more worthy of mention than the subject of this sketch, who is the owner of a fine farm on which he makes his home and wisely recognizes the independence of the farmer's life.

Mr. Urmston was born near Broadwell in Harrison county, Kentucky, March 6, 1872, a son of John Witherspoon Urmston, who was born near Broadwell, Harrison county, Ken- tucky, on November 28, 1836, and died June 22, 1909. He was reared on a farm and re- ceived a common-school education and was a surveyor. His early life was spent on a farm with his father, who was a tanner, and when he was fourteen years old he drove a six horse team from Broadwell to Claysville, hauling hides and finished leather goods from his father's tan yard. In 1857 he went to Mis- souri and started farming on some wild land, but after a few years he returned to Harrison county, with experience only. On August 23, 1864, he married Miss Nannie Gray and rent- ed a farm on Gray's run and soon bought a small tract, besides buying and selling several farms. In 1900 he purchased a farm of eighty-five acres on Leesburg pike, near Broadwell, where he lived until his death. He was a good man and neither he nor his wife believed in hoarding their money nor land and he gave to each of his children as they grew up and started out in life sixty-five acres of land. He was a lifelong member of the Presbyterian church and an elder for years.

To Mr. and Mrs. Urmston were born four children : Lyda, wife of Robert W. Switzer, of Harrison county, Kentucky ; Thomas Duff, our subject; Nellie, wife of Robert Shrop- shire, of Bourbon county, Kentucky; and Stuart R., who married Rector Renaker, is with the mother.

The mother of subject was born on Gray's run, Harrison county, Kentucky, June 8, 1840, and is still living. She is a daughter of James Gray and Mary (Kiser) Gray. He was born on Gray's run April 20, 1804, and died at the age of ninety-three years, and his wife was born in Bourbon county July 18, 1812, and died in 1871. They were the parents of eleven children, seven of whom are living: Our subject's mother ; Mattie, wife of Frank Gray, in Missouri; Miss Lettie, in Harrison county, Kentucky; Addie, widow of Nelson Martin, in Harrison county, Kentucky ; Miss Fannie, in Harrison county, Kentucky ; John K., of Harrison county; and Sarah Lail, widow of George Lail. William Gray, the father of James, was a native of Virginia, who came to Kentucky, located in Fayette county and later returned to Harrison county and married Mary Kiser, a daughter of John Kiser, who was a native of Germany, his wife being Susan Whitehead. The grandfather of our subject was Thomas Duff Urmston. He was born in 1800, near Chillicothe, Ohio, and died at the age of eighty-two years. His wife was Louiza Harcourt, a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, who died at the age of fifty years, in 1853. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom only one is living : William D., of Harrison county, Kentucky. Thomas D., the grandfather of our subject, left home when fourteen years old with his brother Nathaniel and walked to Cynthiana, Kentucky. This brother wanted to be a preacher, and after his brother secured a job he gave him one-half of his wages to enable him to study, which he did and became an old-school Presbyterian minister and preached for several years at Millersburg, later going to Ohio and dying at West Union, that state. Thomas D. Urmston on arriving at Cynthiana apprenticed himself to learn the tanner's and currying trade and after having qualified him- self he worked for a short time for a Mr. Morrison at Cynthiana. In a few years he went to Bourbon county, purchased a small tract of land above Jacksonville, near Harri- son county line, and built a tan yard but found he was in shale rock and could not make his vats hold water, so he sold out and moved to Harrison county in 1832, two miles south of Broadwell, where he built another tan yard

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and established a fine lucrative business. He tanned his leather and made it up into saddles, boots, collars, shoes and harness. He was the owner of a store and tavern and employed a large number of men to make up his goods. In 1857 tan bark became scarce, so he went to the opposite side of Licking river from Claysville and built another tan yard and here he made his vats out of solid rock and piped his water supply from above, and this was probably among the first instances of piping done in central Kentucky. He could here get his tan bark from down the river by flat boat and would haul by six horse wagons hides to Broadwell, where it was made up into finished leather goods, bring it back to Clays- ville, take it by flat boat to Cincinnati, Ohio, sell it and return with merchandise for the store. He built up a large business and was a successful man in finances. He joined the Presbyterian church when a boy and contin- ued in active membership all his life and lib- eral in all things pertaining to the church. He was an old-time Whig in politics, lived an active life, owned a farm when his tan yard and shops were in Harrison county, on which he reared his boys, and was a well read man. He helped to organize Jacksonville Cemetery, where he and his wife are buried. He re- ceived many premiums on his leather goods, which are still in the family.

Thomas D. Urmston, our subject, was named for his grandfather, was reared on the farm and attended the district schools and Professor Lockhart's Academy at Cynthiana. When twenty years old his father gave him the use of fifty acres of land and when he was twenty-one he rented his sister's portion. He prospered in as much that in the fall of 1906 he was able to purchase his present farm of one hundred and thirty-two acres and re- moved to the same. Mr. Urmston has im- proved this farm and now has one of the best in Harrison county, which he has devoted to grain, cattle, sheep, horses and mules. In connection with this farm, he also owns and operates a farm of one hundred and two acres along the same pike ..

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 82

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