A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 85

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 85

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James C. Bayne is likewise cashier of the People's Bank of Bagdad. This institution, founded more than a quarter of a century ago, has a capital stock of thirty thousand dol- lars, and is justly considered one of the sound- est and most business-like banking corpora- tions in the state. Mr. Bayne's native talents, his business integrity and his training and ex- perience admirably fit him for the position of cashier, whose duties he fulfills to the satis- faction of every patron.

Mr. Bayne married Miss Mary Addams, who was born in Mason county, but after the death of her parents, while she was still a

little child, she made her home, until her mar- riage, with her brother, the Honorable William Addams, of Cynthiana.

For the last twenty years Mrs. Bayne has been favorably known throughout Kentucky as an educator, a writer of short stories, and during the last two years as a successful nov- elist. From the Frankfort (Kentucky) Jour. nal we quote the following in regard to Mrs. Bayne's literary work: "Mrs. Mary Addams Bayne is one of the clever and original women of Kentucky, who has found fame with her pen. She possesses striking individuality ; she is full of personal magnetism; and these qual- ities are clearly shown in her writings."

Besides numerous short stories, sketches and educational papers Mrs. Bayne is the author of two able novels,-"Crestlands" and "Bluegrass and Wattle," which books, al- though of recent issue, have already a wide circulation, good sales, and are bringing their author well deserved fame. Mrs. Bayne is now writing her third novel. This, like its two predecessors, deals in a pleasing, racy, finished style with life in Kentucky.

JOHN NAGLE .- Owning and occupying a pleasant homestead on Union and Mt. Zion pike, John Nagle is numbered among the pros- perous and progressive agriculturists of Har- rison county, where the larger part of his busy life has been spent, his father, John Na- gle, Sr., having located here in 1869. He was born June 10, 1859, in Columbiana county, Ohio, coming from excellent Irish ancestry.

John Nagle, Sr., was born in August, 1822, in County Clare, Ireland, where his parents, Thomas and Catherine (Kearns) Nagle, were life-long residents and at one time well-to-do people, possessing considerable property. Leav- ing the home farm in 1848, he sailed for America, a land rich in promise for the poor man, landing in Portland Maine. From there he made his way on foot to Saint John, New Brunswick, while en route stopping to help different farmers thresh grain, using a flail and receiving twenty-five cents a day for his work. He worked in different parts of Maine, among other kinds of labor assisting in the building of a railroad then in prosess of con- struction in the southern part of the state. Going to Washington, D. C., in 1851, he mar- ried in August of that year, and soon after that event settled in West Virginia, where he found employment on a railroad. Coming to Kentucky with his family in 1853, John Nagle, Sr., located at Blue Licks, Nicholas county, and was employed in the building of the Maysville railroad until the company for which he was working failed, and he lost all

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of his savings, never receiving a cent of the money due him. Going to Beaver county, Pennsylvania, in 1856, he worked as a rail- road man in New Brighton for a year. Mi- grating then with his family to Columbiana county, Ohio, he settled west of Lisbon, the county-seat, in the timber, and there, while employed on railroad construction work, met with an accident which very nearly proved fatal and confirmed his decision to give up that kind of labor. In the fall of 1859 he came to Harrison county, Kentucky, locating first at Cynthiana and later in Scott Station, where he assisted in building the Scott Station turnpike.

Subsequently turning his attention to agri- cultural pursuits, John Nagle, Sr., rented the Henry Van Hook farm, which he operated for a number of years. From 1868 until January 6, 1869, he lived in Cynthiana, on the latter date coming from there to Union and Mt. Zion pike, and locating on the rear part of the farm on which his son John is now living, renting the land until 1877. In that year he purchased one hundred and sixty-two acres of it, buying it of William P. Savage, then presi- dent of the Female Institute at Millersburg. In 1885 he bought an additional one hundred acres from Lewis Lebus, and in the spring of 1890 erected on Union and Mt. Zion pike the commodious modern residence now occupied by his son John, and there resided until his death, April 13, 1900. He was a very suc- cessful business man, starting life for him- self without means and acquiring a handsome property. He carried on general farming on an extensive scale and was a large stock raiser, keeping about one hundred head of sheep and about half as many head of cattle. He was a Democrat in politics and a member of the Roman Catholic church, to which his wife also belonged.

John Nagle, Sr., married, August 30, 1851, in Washington, D. C., Nora Lacey, who was born in April, 1820, in County Clare, Ireland, and died April 30, 1897. She was a daughter of Martin and Mary (Consedine) Lacey, who were born and lived and died in that county. She came to America in 1849, and with her sister migrated from Portland, Maine, to Washington, D. C., where she lived until her marriage. Three children were born of their union, as follows: Martin; Catherine, living with her brother John; and John, the special subject of this sketch. Martin Nagle, the eldest child, was born at Blue Licks, Nicholas county, Kentucky, February 3, 1854. He mar- ried Margaret Fitzpatrick, in September, 1893,

and they have three children, Thomas, Mar- garet and Joseph M.

Nine years old when he came with his par- ents to the farm where he now lives, John Nagle received good educational advantages, gleaning his first knowledge of books in the district school at Scott Station, and after- ward attending school at Cynthiana and Zion and Professor Smith's Classical School at Cyn- thiana. He subsequently remained beneath the parental roof-tree, assisting his father in the management of the farm, of which he has now the entire charge. Mr. Nagle operates two hundred and sixty-two acres of land, owned by himself and his sister Catherine, who lives with him, and, as he has never married, takes charge of the farm. A scien- tific and skillful agriculturist, he is meeting with good success in his labors, raising prin- cipally, wheat, clover and tobacco. He has acquired property of value, being . a stock- holder in the Harrison Deposit Bank, the Farmers' National Bank and in the Cynthiana Building and Savings Association. Politically Mr. Nagle is a steadfast supporter of the Democratic party. Religiously Miss Nagle is a member of the Catholic church at Cynthiana.

DAVID N. LAFFERTY .- Persistent in pur- pose, resolute in character, and optimistic in his views, David N. Lafferty, successfully engaged in general farming on Lafferty's pike, has won success in life in spite of the many obstacles that beset his early career, which were legion, mishaps and misfortunes following his footsteps for a number of years. Never giving up, however, but ever looking onward and upward, he finally gained For- tune's smile, and is now seemingly a prime favorite of the capricious dame. He was born on the farm adjoining the one he now owns and occupies August 24, 1857, that homestead having also been the birthplace of his father, John A. Lafferty.

James A. Lafferty, his paternal grand- father, a native of Virginia, came from there to Kentucky about 1802, locating in Harrison county. The country roundabout was in its original wildness, game of all kinds being abundant and the Indians numerous. Buy- ing four hundred acres of land on what is now Lafferty's pike, he erected a log cabin, the first one in this section of Kentucky, and built a barn, which was very commodious in its proportions for those days, and although not a nail was used in its construction it has bravely withstood the ravages of time and weather and is still standing on the farm. He was a man of some means, and as a farmer

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was quite prosperous. He married Susan Smith, who was born and bred in Virginia, and of the three sons and two daughters born into their household Mrs. Lizzie King, of Harrison county, is the only survivor. He died on his homestead about 1865, at a vener- able age.

John A. Lafferty, born on his father's farm on Lafferty's pike, February 14, 1832, was reared to agricultural pursuits. At the out- break of the Civil war he enlisted in the Con- federate army, becoming a bugler in Captain Shawhan's company He was wounded in his first engagement, but recovering from his in- juries served until the close of the conflict. After his marriage he bought land adjoining the parental homestead, and was there profit- ably engaged in farming until his death, Au- gust 29, 1905. He was a Democrat in poli- tics and served as deputy sheriff and high sheriff of Harrison county, being in office eight years all told. Both he and his wife were members of the Christian church. The maiden name of the wife of John A. Lafferty was Frances Elizabeth Henry. She was born April 14, 1839, in Harrison county, Kentucky, where her parents, John H. and Elizabeth (Tebbett) Henry, located on coming to Ken- tucky from Virginia, their native state. Of the twelve children born of their union eight are now living, namely: Judge William T., dean of the law department of the Kentucky University, at Lexington; Sue Ella, wife of H. J. Martin, of Cynthiana; David M., the special subject of this sketch; James, a resi- dent of Bloomington, Illinois; Minnie, wife of Frank McMurtry, of Harrison county ; Pearl, wife of Joe H. Ewalt, of Harrison county ; Meddie, wife of Dr. J. P. Chamber- lain, of Breckinridge; and John A., of Dan -. ville, Illinois.

Attending first the district schools and later the public school in Cynthiana, David N. Laf- ferty completed his early education by taking a course at a commercial college in Lexington. Returning to the parental homestead, he as- sisted in its management until 1879, when, with a cousin, he embarked in mercantile pur- suits, opening a general store at Berry, under the firm name of King and Lafferty. Selling out to his partner at the end of two years, Mr. Lafferty again returned to his early home, and there worked on the farm until 1893. Becoming superintendent and manager in that year of the Robinson Milling Company, at Robinson Station, he retained the position ten years and four months, a good record of serv- ice. Investing his money then in land, Mr. Lafferty purchased eighty-seven acres adjoin-

ing his father's place, on the opposite side of the pike, however, and to the original purchase has since added other land, having now a fine- ly improved farm of one hundred and twenty acres, on which he has put all the improve- ments, which are numerous and substantial, his farm comparing favorably in its appoint- ments with any in the neighborhood.

Mr. Lafferty has been three times married. He married first, in September, 1886, Molly Taylor, who was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, in 1856. She died January 11, 1889, leaving a three-days' old son, Wayne T. Lafferty, who is living with his father. In 1893 Mr. Lafferty married for his second wife Annie Valentine, who at her death, in 1896, left one son, James V., then eighteen monthis of age. Mr. Lafferty married, October 22, 1901, Mary Hayes, a daughter of J. E. Hayes, of Harrison county, and they are the parents of two children, Charles E. and Fannie E. Politically Mr. Lafferty is a Democrat, and socially he belongs to the Grange. Both he and his wife are members of the Breckinridge Christian church.

McHENRY WEBB, M. D .- One of Shelby county's best known citizens and one who has. played many roles in the life of the com- munity is Dr. McHenry Webb, who since 1897 has filled with faithfulness and efficiency the office of postmaster of Simpsonville. He is a veteran of the Civil War and can look back over a most active service in the struggle be- tween the states. Although prepared for the profession of medicine, he has largely devoted his energies to other pursuits and has demon- strated great versatility by acceptably filling many positions. Dr. McHenry Webb was born in the very town which is still the scene of his dearest interests, his birthdate being May 20, 1841. His father, Enoch Webb, was born in Shelby county in 1808, his birthday being upon the same day as the Father of Our Coun- try. The grandfather was Jeremiah Webb, a Virginian, who migrated to Kentucky in pio- neer days and became one of the prominent men of the community in which he took up his home. His death occurred in Shelby county when he was about sixty years of age. Enoch Webb survived until September 15, 1891, after spending a long life as a farmer. The mother, Nancy Webb, was born in Shelby county and was the daughter of James Webb, a native of the Old Dominion. His life was terminated at an early age in the year 1833, the victim of cholera. Mrs. Nancy Webb was born Jan- uary 31, 1821, and died April 7, 1897. She and her husband were the parents of twelve children, nine of whom grew to years of ma-

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turity, as follows: McHenry, Fielding R., Marion C., Florence, Marcellus, Francis L., Enoch L., Imogene and Ella. James Webb, the father of Nancy Webb, had a family of eleven children, and when the first one died the youngest member of the family was in his fifty-second year.

Shelby county is dear to Dr. Webb through the roseate memories of childhood and youth. As he was entering manhood the country be- came plunged in the gloom just preceding the Civil war, when there seemed to be that in the air ominous of coming disaster. In Septem- ber, 1862, he cast all personal considerations to the winds and enlisted, acting as medical cadet in the hospital at Louisville for nine months. He attended lectures meantime and engaged in actual medical practice in the Ken- tucky School of Medicine for a time in 1864. He again entered the army, however, in June, 1864, as acting assisting surgeon, U. S. A., and served until February, 1865.

After the return of peace Dr. Webb prac- ticed medicine in Louisville for a year, and then removed to Christian county, where he was engaged in practice for one year, and in Jefferson county for another. On account of ill health he eventually found it necessary to give up the profession to which he was gen- erally acknowledged to be an ornament, the personal hardships incident upon the practice of a country physician being too great for him. He secured a position as an accountant with John McConnell and continued in such work for eight years, at the end of which time he made a radical change by entering the commercial field and dealing in drugs for four years, in Simpsonville. From this place he went farther afield, locating in Missouri, where at Columbia, that state, he embarked in the same business. His next move was to Adairville in Christian county, and his term of residence at that place was four years, he meantime engaging in the drug business. He was a commercial traveler for eight years. He then returned to · Simpsonville, whose charms and attractions have remained fresh with him in all his wanderings. He established a drug business, which he conducted until 1902, and then sold that to devote his atten- tion to other interests. He was first appointed postmaster of Simpsonville in 1897, and he has held the office in all the ensuing fourteen years. For eight years in the meantime he was also station agent at Simpsonville for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Company. He is loyal to the tenets of the Grand Old party and is ever ready to be at any personal sac- rifice to advance its interests. He is public

spirited and takes a great interest in the ques- tions of the hour. He is a member of the time-honored Masonic order, in whose local ranks he is decidedly popular.

Dr. Webb was first married in the Civil war period, Miss Ellen O'Neal, of Louisville, becoming his bride on January 5, 1864. She was born December 9, 1845, and died in Louisville September 8, 1901. This worthy lady was the mother of six children, Eliza is the widow of Thomas D. Lockout. Nan- nie W. became the wife of Professor S. B. McCoun and died in Simpsonville when only twenty-nine years of age. Gracie is the wife of J. Baxter Kramer, of Louisville. Claude D. is engaged in the coal business at Shelby- ville. Newell H. died when a lad twelve years of age, and one child died in infancy. Dr. Webb was married March 12, 1903, to Mrs. Sarah E. Burleigh, a native of Georgia. Mrs. Webb's maiden name was Moore. Both Dr. and Mrs. Webb are active in church work, affiliating with the Baptist church, to whose good causes they give generous sympathy and support.

JOHN WILLIAM GUDGEL .- A man of excep- tional business ability and tact, with a good knowledge of men and affairs, John William Gudgel, of Shelbyville, has exercised his nat- ural talents in such a practical manner as to achieve success in his various undertakings, being now one of the foremost agriculturists of Shelby county and the leading real estate and insurance agent of Shelbyville. He was born February 4, 1858, in Lawrenceburg, An- derson county, Kentucky, a son of J. M. Gud- gel, whose birth occurred in the same county.

Elijah Gudgel, his paternal grandfather, was also a native of Anderson county, where his parents were pioneers, having settled there on coming to this state from Virginia, soon after the close of the Revolutionary war. Two of his brothers subsequently located in Bath county, Kentucky, where both attained posi- tions of prominence and influence, one becom- ing circuit judge, and the other serving as county judge and a member of the State Leg- islature. Elijah Gudgel married Sarah Bell, a sister of Judge Matthew Bell, once a county judge of Anderson county.

J. M. Gudgel embarked in agricultural pur- suits when young, and was for many years one of the most thriving and prosperous farm- ers in his section of the county, his home farm being but two miles from Lawrenceburg, the county-seat. He was very active in pub- lic affairs, as was his brother Van, who was sheriff of Anderson county, having had the distinction of serving as the first county mag-

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istrate from the Lawrenceburg district, at the same time acting as county judge in the ab- sence of the regular incumbent of that office. J. M. Gudgel was born February 18, 1833, in Anderson county, and died on his home farm May 18, 1896. To him and his wife, whose maiden name was Frances Griffey, one daugh- ter and four sons were born, as follows: Mrs. E. G. Martin, living near Waddy, Ken- tucky; B. F., engaged in mercantile pursuits at Frankfort, Kentucky; E. E., formerly a commercial salesman, died of typhoid fever at the age of thirty-one years; Allie L. died of the same dread disease when twenty-four years old; and John William.

Growing to manhood on the home farm, John William Gudgel acquired a good edu- cation, attending the Lawrenceburg Semi- nary two years. He afterward taught school in Anderson and Spencer counties for twenty years, during the last four years of his peda- gogical career being principal of the schools at Mount Eden, in Shelby county. Giving up his profession, Mr. Gudgel was for ten years commercial salesman for a wholesale grocery at Louisville, during which time his sales amounted, annually, to upwards of one hun- dred thousand dollars, a noteworthy record, his route being in central Kentucky, with head- quarters at Shelbyville. Deciding in 1909 to leave the road, Mr. Gudgel bought the old insurance agency of Hart Wallace & Com- pany, which had been in existence for twenty years, having been established by Mr. Wal- lace and his father-in-law, J. C. Burnett, late cashier of the Citizens' Bank of Shelbyville, who built up an extensive business, making it the leading agency of Shelby county. Mr. Gudgel is constantly increasing his operations and now carries seven leading insurance companies, the Home, of New York; the Hartford; New York Underwriters; New Hampshire Fire; Saint Paul Fire and Marine; Mutual Benefit Life; and the Bankers Surety Company. He is a representative of the more substantial and prominent companies of the United States, writing life, fire and accident policies, his farm policies being the most lib- eral written by any company, while his settle- ments of losses from whatever cause, are prompt and satisfactory.

Mr. Gudgel owns a fine farm of one hun- dred and seventy-five acres, and in addition to operating a fine dairy makes a specialty of growing tobacco, his 1910 crop having ex- ceeded twenty-five thousand pounds. His pleasant home in the east part of Shelbyville was erected by Rev. B. F. Hungerford, a re- tired Baptist minister who preached in Shel-

byville, where he is now living, for forty years.

Mr. Gudgel married, May 21, 1879, Emma L. Gibbs, who was born at Glensboro, Ander- son county, a daughter of Dr. J. C. Gibbs. Dr. Gibbs was graduated from the Louisville Medical College, and was for many years the leading physician of Glensboro, where his en- tire professional life was spent, his death oc- curring there at the age of eighty-seven years. Although they have had no children of their own, Mr. and Mrs. Gudgel have brought up three orphans, giving them the same advan- tages they would to their very own offspring, keeping them until they were married. Mr.| and Mrs. Gudgel were reared in the faith of the Missionary Baptist church and are active workers in the First Baptist church of Shel- byville, Mr. Gudgel having served as superin- tendent of its Sunday-school for ten years in his home town.

Fraternally Mr. Gudgel is a prominent member of the Masonic Order, belonging to Solomon Lodge, No. 5, A. F. & A. M., of which he is past worthy master; to Shelby- ville Chapter, No. 2, of which he is past high ! priest ; to Shelbyville Council, No. 4, R. A. M .; to Shelbyville Commandery, K. T., No. 32; of which he is now recorder; and to ! Louisville Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has also represented his lodge and chapter at the Grand Lodge. He is a member of Fasso Lodge, No. 14, K. of P., in which he has passed all the chairs. A Democrat in politics, he served as school superintendent in Anderson county six years, from 1886 until 1892.

LABAN T. MOORE .- An enumeration of the enterprising men of Kentucky who won recog- nition and success for themselves and at the same time conferred honor upon the state would be decidedly incomplete were there fail- ure to make mention of one of the most promi- nent lawyers and congressmen ever bred in the South. Laban Theodore Moore, whose death occurred on the 9th of October, 1892, long held distinctive prestige in the business and legal circles in the vicinity of Catletts- burg, Boyd county, and he wielded a wide in- fluence for good among those with whom his lot was cast.

Mr. Moore was born in Cabell county, Vir- ginia, on the 13th of January, 1829, and was a son of Frederick William Moore, who was of Dutch descent. The father was born in Stock- holm, Sweden, in 1779, and after an extended tour throughout the European continent came to the United States, in 1809, landing at Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, in which city he be-

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came interested in the manufacture of nails on a large scale. In 1812 was solemnized his marriage to Miss Pamelia Van Horn, a de- scendant of an old historic family of Colonial America, and after the second war with Great Britain removal was made to what is now West Virginia. the family locating in Cabell county in 1817. Frederick Moore was an ac- tive business man and was prominently con- nected with developing industries in that lo- cality in the early days. In 1841 he was elected to the Virginia legislature and was a member of that august body again in 1848. He was summoned to the life eternal in 1872, at the patriarchal age of ninety-eight years. One of his brothers, Laban, was a member of parliament in England and a sister, Rebecca, became the wife of an English nobleman. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Moore became the par- ents of eleven children, namely,-John Ber- nard; William Frederick, who served in the Kentucky legislature prior to the Civil war and who was a contemporary of Thomas F. Marshall and George R. McKee; Laban T., the immediate subject of this review; Fred- erick R .; Henry Halcombe; Sarah, Frances, Mary, Elizabeth, Chattie and Rebecca.

When nine years of age Laban T. Moore was sent to Marshall Academy, in Virginia, and a few years later he became a student in Marietta College, in Ohio, in which excellent institution he was graduated with the degree of Master of Arts. His father holding the opinion common to all Europeans that every boy should learn a trade, young Moore was apprenticed to the tanner's trade, which he pursued with much diligence, becoming an expert laborer in that line. He had an innate longing for a professional career, however, and early manifesting a fondness for law he began the study of that learned profession under the able preceptorship of Rochester Beatty, of Washington, Kentucky. One year later he entered Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky, and subsequently he continued his studies under the guidance of Hon. Richard Apperson, at Mount Sterling, in 1848-9. In the latter year he was admitted to the bar of Kentucky and immediately lo- cated at Louisa, Kentucky, where he rapidly built up a large and representative practice and where he was eminently successful from the start. He early rose to prominence and for many years held a high place in the legal fraternity of the old Blue Grass state. As a speaker he was eloquent, forceful and bril- liant ; and in the knowledge of the minutia of the law he had few peers. He was always ready and willing to help young men just

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 85

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