A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 97

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 97

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Mr. Craig married, October 28, 1886, Eliza- beth Stevenson, who was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, a daughter of the late Judge John T. and Emma M. (Cromwell) Steven- son. James William Craig, the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Craig, was born on the Steadman farm, in Fayette county, Kentucky, November 19, 1895, and is now a pupil in the Lexington High School. While very young, he developed remarkable poetical talent, and was known as the "Child Poet of Ken- tucky." He began expressing his thoughts in poetry when but five years old, and when eight years old a volume of his work, entitled "Childhood Rhymes," was published. In this venture, he accomplished what older poets and authors often fail to do, making it a decided financial success. This little volume of verse is circulated and read in twenty-seven states of our Union, and recognition of his talent has been given in various magazines and periodi- cals on both sides of the Atlantic.

JOSEPH A. STUCKY, M. D .- Prominent among the leading physicians of Fayette county is Joseph A. Stucky, M. D., who has been actively engaged in the profession in

Lexington for upwards of thirty years, during which time he has gained an enviable reputa- tion for his skill in diagnosing and treating diseases and is a specialist on the eye, ear and nose. He has won a large and remunera- tive patronage, his extensive knowledge and genial courtesy inspiring confidence in his patients. A son of Harry Stucky, he was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and comes of pioneer stock, his great-grandfather, John Stucky, having been one of the early settlers of Kentucky.

The Stucky family originated in Switzer- land and was established in America in early Colonial times. John Stucky, mentioned above, was born and bred in Pennsylvania, and came to Kentucky in the latter part of the eiglı- teenth century, settling as a pioneer in Jeffer- sontown, Jefferson county. His son Frederick, the Doctor's grandfather, was there born in 1801. He lived to the ripe old age of ninety- two years. He married Louisa Hite Meyers, who was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, the daughter of a neighboring farmer, and spent his active life as an agriculturist.

Harry Stucky was born September 19, 1827, in Jeffersontown, Kentucky, and was there a resident until 1846, when he settled in the city of Louisville, which was afterward his home. He married Sallie Kemp Sweeny, the daughter of a Campbellite minister. She was born in Jefferson county, Kentucky, December 6, 1835, and is still living. Three children were born of their union, namely : Joseph A., the subject of this brief biography; Thomas Hunt, a well-known and prosperous physi- cian of Louisville, of whom special mention is made elsewhere in this work; and Virginia, wife of Dr. B. C. Frazier, of Louisville. These children are all talented and accomplished and have attained places of note, the sons being successful physicians and the daughter a physi- cian's wife.

Laying a substantial foundation for his future education in the elementary schools of Louisville, Joseph A. Stucky completed the course of study in the Louisville High School. His vigorous mentality and scholarly ambi- tions well fitted him for a professional career, and with that end in view he entered the medi- cal department of the University of Louisville, where he was graduated with the class of 1878. Immediately locating in Lexington, Fayette county, he has since been here actively en- gaged in the practice of medicine. and as he has advanced farther and farther along the pathway of success. his fame has broadened, and he is now justly considered a fine repre- sentative of the medical profession of Fayette county.

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The Doctor is identified with several frater- nal organizations, belonging to Lexington Lodge, No. I, A. F. & A. M .; to Merrick Lodge, No. 31, I. O. O. F .; and to Phantom Lodge, No. 15, K. of P. Keeping in close touch with the modern methods used in medi- cine and surgery, Dr. Stucky is a recognized authority on diseases of the various organs of the human body, more especially of the eye, ear, nose and throat, and is a member of many medical societies, including the Fayette County and the State Medical Societies ; the American Medical Association; the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, and is an ex-president of the American-Rhinological Society, the Amer- ican Laryngological, Rhinological and the Oto- logical Societies, and is likewise ex-president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, Otology and Laryngology.

Dr. Stucky married, in 1881, Nellie Mc- Garvey, a daughter of Rev. Dr. John and Ottie (Carr) McGarvey, and they are the parents of five children, namely: John McGarvey, William Sweeny, Harry Clarke, Lillie, wife of Harold Williamson, and Nellie. Both the Doctor and his wife are valued members of the Christian church, and he is an active worker in its Sabbath-school, and in the Young Men's Christian Association, having served as president of the State Young Men's Christian Association.

DAVID B. TANNER .- Industrious, energetic and progressive, David B. Tanner, living on the Georgetown Pike, in Fayette county, oc- cupies an important position among the active and self-reliant men who are so ably conduct- ing the agricultural interests of this part of the state. He was born November 19, 1840, in Fayette county, a son of William Tanner.

William Tanner was born and educated in Clark county, Kentucky, where his parents were pioneer settlers. Although as a boy he served an apprenticeship at the tanner's trade, he never followed it to any extent, but began his active career on a farm in Clark county. Subsequently locating in Fayette county, he bought land in the Ennis neighborhood, on Nutter pike, and spent the remainder of his life in this and Bourbon counties, passing away at the age of seventy-two years. He married Belinda Dennison, who was born in Bourbon county, of which her parents were pioneers. She, like her mother, whose maiden name was Morrow, lived to a venerable age. Eleven children were born of the union of William and Belinda Tanner, namely: Elizabeth, Ed- ward, Nancy, Lou Ann, David B., Arabella, William, Eliza Frances, Florida, Susan and Margaret. Nine of these children married and reared families.

Having obtained his early education in the common schools, David B. Tanner received a practical training in the various branches of agriculture while young, and when ready to; begin the battle of life for himself hired out as a farm hand at ten dollars a month wages .. Industrious and economical he wisely saved his earnings, and in a few years had a suf- ficient sum to enable him to buy the farm he now owns and occupies. This beautiful farin- ing property lies on the west side of George- town pike, and contains three hundred and seventy-five acres of rich "blue grass" land, which, under his intelligent management, lias been well cultivated. Here he has made im- provements of an excellent character, his buildings being substantial and conveniently arranged, the place being one of the most at- tractive in the vicinity, and he also feeds and deals in stock. His wife has a farm of two hundred acres lying on the east side of the same pike.

Mr. Tanner married, in 1871, Mattie Tarl- ton, a daughter of Calep Tarlton, Jr., and granddaughter of Calep Tarlton, Sr. Calep Tarlton, Jr., married Mary Crenshaw, a daughter of Joel and Millicent Crenshaw, who were early and prominent settlers of Scott county, Kentucky, as were the Tarltons. Mrs. Mattie (Tarlton) Tanner died in 1899, leav- ing one daughter, Mary D. Tanner. Mr. Tanner married, in 1901, Amelia Carrick. She was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, a daughter of John Carrick, and granddaughter of Robert Carrick.

William Carrick, Mrs. Tanner's great- grandfather, was born in the north of Ire- land, and on coming to this country settled first in Virginia, but later migrated to Ken- tucky, and spent the remainder of his long life in Fayette county. Born and brought up in Fayette county, Kentucky, Robert Carrick became owner of a farm lying about nine miles northeast of Lexington, and was there en- gaged in cultivating the soil until his deatlı. His wife, whose maiden name was Nancy Con- ley, was born in Scotland, and with her par- ents came to America, settling in Fayette county, Kentucky, where she grew to woman- hood and married. John Carrick, the father of Mrs. Tanner, began life for himself in early manhood by buying a farm lying about three and one-half miles from Georgetown, towards the north-east, and there lived and labored for eighteen years. Disposing then of that property, he bought land on Lexing- ton pike, in the same county, and there car- ried on general farming with the help of slaves until his death, at the age of fifty-nine years. John Carrick married Nancy Hurst,

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who was born in Fayette county, a daughteras their happy hunting ground, and several of James and Rebecca (Sheeley) Hurst, who owned and operated a farm situated nine miles northeast of Lexington. She died at the age of seventy-two years, leaving eight children, namely : Mary E., Robert Alexander, Nancy James, Amelia Rebecca, wife of Mr. Tanner, Ruth Elizabeth, William Thomas, John Archi- bald, and Lulu Helen. Mr. and Mrs. Tanner are active and valued members of the Berea Christian church, of which he is an elder. He is a Democrat politically, but not an office seeker.

ALBERT GALLATIN BRYAN .- Born and bred in Fayette county, Albert Gallatin Bryan well represents some of the earlier families of the state, the blood of many of Kentucky's pio- neers flowing through his veins. He is like- wise an excellent representative of the more prosperous business men of Lexington, as head of the wholesale grocery firm of Bryan, Goodwin and Hunt carrying on a large and constantly increasing mercantile trade. He is a descendant in the sixth generation from one Morgan Bryan, the emigrant ancestor, his line- age being as follows : Morgan, Joseph, George, Woodson, William Woodson, and Albert Gal- latin. Through the ancestry of Morgan Bryan, Mr. Bryan traces his descent from "Bryan of the Tribute," king of Ireland in the tenth century.

Morgan Bryan was born in Denmark, and as a child was taken by his parents to Ireland, where he spent his days of boyhood and youth. After the death of his parents, he came as a young man to the United States, locating first in Pennsylvania. He subsequently moved with his family to Virginia, settling near Winches- ter. From there he went to Roanoke county, North Carolina, where he spent his closing years. While in Pennsylvania, he met, wooed, and married Martha Strode, whose father was born in Holland, but migrated from there to France and subsequently came to this country and died in Pennsylvania, leaving three chil- dren, Jeremiah, Samuel and Martha. Martha Strode was a lineal descendant of Sir William Strode, a character of historical interest. Ten children were born to Morgan and Martha (Strode) Bryan, and of these one daughter became the wife of Daniel Boone, the famous frontiersman. Joseph Bryan, in company with three of his brothers, William, George and Morgan, Jr., and his brother-in-law, Daniel Boone, came to Kentucky in 1779, locating about five miles northeast of Lexington, where they built a fort known as Bryan's Station, and where he spent, as far as is known, the remainder of his life. Indians then, and for some time after, claimed Kentucky

battles were fought in that neighborhood, at one of which, in 1781, William Bryan lost his life. George Bryan, son of Joseph Bryan, was born, lived and died in Fayette county. He married Elizabeth Prewitt, a daughter of Bird Prewitt, who fought in the Revolutionary War, and they reared several children.

Woodson Bryan, son of George and grand- son of Joseph Bryan, was born in Fayette county, near the ancestral homestead, May 2, 1804, and was reared to agricultural pursuits. Beginning life for himself in early manhood, he bought a farm located on Todd's road, be- tween the Winchester and Richmond pikes, and operated it with slave labor, living there until his death. The estate is still owned by his descendants. He married first, in 1828, Sophia Maddox. She died in 1832, leaving three children, Martha, Albert Gallatin, tlie first, killed in the Mexican War, and William Woodson.

William Woodson Bryan was born August 20, 1831, on the home farm in Fayette county, where he grew to manhood. After his mar- riage he removed to Shelby county, Ken- tucky, purchased land lying about four miles from Shelbyville, and was there prosperously engaged in general farming and stock raising throughout his active career. He is now liv- ing, retired from active business, at the home of a daughter in Shelbyville. His wife, whose maiden name was Sophia Ewing, was born in 1833, in Fayette county. Her father, Samuel Ewing, was born in Fayette county, Ken- tucky, of Virginia ancestry, and married Sarah Bryan, a lineal descendant of Morgan Bryan, through his son. Joseph Bryan. She died in February, :gio, leaving five children, as fol- lows: Albert Gallatin, the special subject of this brief sketch; Roger Hanson, Sally Ewing, Nannie Morgan, and William Bird.

At the age of sixteen years, Albert Gallatin Bryan, having completed his early studies, be- gan work in a grocery and hardware establish- ment in Shelbyville, where he was employed as a clerk for seven years. The following seven years he was commercial traveler for a Louisville house, after which he came to Lex- ington, and for fifteen years was traveling salesman for the wholesale grocery firm of Pearson & Clark. At the end of that time Mr. Bryan, having acquired a thorough knowledge of every branch of the trade, formed a com- pany, consisting of his brother, Roger H. Bryan, W. J. Goodwin, and J. C. Hunt, and. having purchased the entire interests of Messrs. Pearson and Clark, has since built up a very satisfactory business from a financial point of view, as head of the well-known firm

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of Bryan, Goodwin & Hunt. The members of this firm are all men of good business ability and judgment, and as active and worthy citi- zens are held in high esteem.

Mr. Bryan married, in 1880, Mildred Julian Mitchell, a native of Danville, Kentucky, and a daughter of Thomas Mitchell, Jr. Her grandfather, Thomas Mitchell, Sr., was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, and became a pioneer settler of Louisville, Kentucky, where he was for several years engaged in the bank- ing business. Subsequently establishing a branch bank in Danville, Kentucky, he con- ducted it successfully for some time, afterward living there, retired from active business cares, until his death, at the age of seventy-two years. He married Mildred Abbott Julian, who was born in Virginia, a daughter of Charles Julian and granddaughter of John Julian, both natives of Spottsylvania county, Virginia. Charles Julian the first, the great-grandfather of Mildred Abbott Julian, was born in Vir- ginia, of French Huguenot descent, his emi- grant ancestor having fled to England from France on account of religious persecution, he having been a Protestant, and his large estate having been confiscated.

John Julian, grandfather of Mildred Abbott Julian, and great-great-grandfather of Mrs. Bryan, was a surgeon in the Revolutionary war, serving under Washington, who was his intimate friend, and a fellow-member of the same Masonic Lodge. During the Civil war, while Mrs. Thomas Mitchell, Sr., and her son were standing at an open window in their home at Danville, watching a skirmish between the Confederate and Federal forces, she was hit by a stray shot, and instantly killed, falling dead into the arms of her devoted son. Mrs. Mitchell's grandfather, Edward Moore, was a first cousin of Thomas Moore, the poet, and through her great-grandfather, Donald Mc- Donald, was a lineal descendant of King Rob- ert II. of Scotland.

Thomas Mitchell, Jr., was born in Louis- ville, Kentucky, and during his earlier career was engaged in banking. He subsequently ac- cepted a position in the office of the auditor of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and for a number of years was a resident of Shelby- ville. His last days, however, were passed in Louisville, his death occurring in that city in March, 1909, at the age of seventy-eight years. The maiden name of his wife was Hannah Burton. She was born in Mercer county, Ken- tucky, a daughter of Captain John Burton, who fought in the war of 1812, and Lucy (Higgins) Burton, and was of Virginia an- cestry. Five children blessed their union, as follows: Mary, Lucy Burton, Mildred Julian,

now Mrs. Bryan, Sally Hawkins, and Florence Norvel.

Mr. and Mrs. Bryan are the parents of three children, namely : Ruth Mitchell, Albert W., who married Katherine Berry, and has one child, Mary Elizabeth; and Julian Mitchell. Mr. Bryan and his sons are members of the Baptist church, in which he is a deacon, while Mrs. Bryan and daughter belong to the Epis- copal church. Mr. Bryan has served as super- intendent of the Sunday School connected with his church, and as a director in the Young Men's Christian Association. Miss Bryan is a member of Bryan Station Chapter, D. A. R.

EDWARD MONROE NORWOOD .- Successfully engaged in the prosecution of a calling that has done more to advance the prosperity of the nation than any other one industry, Ed- ward Monroe Norwood is devoting his atten- tion to the various branches of agriculture. Fortune has been kind to him throughout his career, his well-improved estate, lying two miles from Lexington, Fayette county, being one of the best in the neighborhood, bearing evidence of his superior ability and judgment in its management. Coming from honored New England ancestry, he was born May 4, 1839, in Wilmington, Middlesex county, Mas- sachusetts, and there remained until about seventeen years old.

Rev. Francis Norwood, his father, was a Congregational minister, and held pastorates in different places in Massachusetts. He was located for a time in Washington, Berkshire county, being later in Westfield, Hampden county, and spending his last years in Beverly, Massachusetts, recently the summer home of President Taft, his death occurring in that city when he was eighty-five years of age. His wife, whose maiden name was Adaline Au- gusta Choate, was born in Beverly, and be- longed to the family from which Rufus Choate, the celebrated lawyer, sprung. She lived to the age of ninety years, and died in the very house in which she was born and reared. To her and her husband ten children were born, a goodly family.

Edward Monroe Norwood had scholarly ambitions as a boy, and after attending the Model School in Westfield, Massachusetts, and Williston Seminary, at East Hampton, Massa- chusetts, he began, when seventeen years old, the study of medicine with Drs. Welsh and Bidwell, in Winsted, Connecticut. After a few months in their office, Mr. Norwood went to Monson, Massachusetts, to study with Dr. S. T. Brooks, superintendent of the Monson State Reform School. Subsequently, when Dr. Brooks became superintendent of the Juvenile Asylum in New York City, he accompanied

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him, and was made assistant superintendent of the institution, a position that he held until just before the Civil war. When war between the states was declared, Mr. Norwood replied promptly to the first call for troops, enlisting as a private in the Twelfth New York Volun- teer Infantry, and served with his command until honorably discharged on account of the expiration of his term of enlistment of one hundred days.

Returning to New York City, he pursued lectures there and graduated from the Medi- cal Department of Columbia College, New York. Then the young Doctor was appointed assistant physician at Blackwell's Island, where he remained about three months. Entering then the United States service as contract sur- geon, he came to Kentucky, and was soon made assistant surgeon of the First Tennessee Vol- unteer Infantry, later becoming surgeon of the Fourth Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, and continuing in service until the close of the war. Having in the meantime married a fair Ken- tucky lassie, Mr. Norwood located on the Newtown pike, near Lexington, where he has since been actively and successfully employed in agricultural pursuits.

In 1863 Mr. Norwood married Priscilla W. Downing, who was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, a daughter of Richard Downing, and into their pleasant home five children have been born, namely : Frank Russell, Rich- ard Downing, who is married, and has one child, Dorothy; Mary, who married Bruce King, and has two children, Norwood and Bruce; Adaline A., wife of William Worthi- ington, of whom a brief sketch may be found elsewhere in this volume, has one son, Wil- liam; and Nellie, the wife of P. P. Bradley, has one son, A. Monroe Bradley. The Doctor is a sincere Christian and a valued member of the Presbyterian church, while Mrs. Norwood, true to her religious training and beliefs, be- longs to the Episcopal church.

JOSEPH FRANCIS LEBUS .- While the subject of this sketch is a farmer at present, he has spent so many years of his life in the pro- fession of teaching that he well deserves a rest from that arduous employment and is entitled to spend the rest of his life in overlooking the fine and prosperous farm upon which he has established a real home.

Joseph Francis Lebus was born on the 26th of October, 1838, six miles west of Lisbon, Columbiana county, Ohio, a son of Seraphin and Anna Maria (Hipscheerling) Lebus. The father was born in Alsace, France, in 1800, and died .in Columbiana county, Ohio, at the age of of sixty-eight years. The mother was born in Switzerland, at the foot of Jura

mountains, in 1803, and she died in 1838. They were married in 1824 and came to the United States in 1826, spent a short time in ' Buffalo, New York, and Pittsburg, Pennsyl- vania, and then located in Columbiana county, Ohio, in 1828. The subject was the youngest of four sons, namely: Andrew, deceased, An- thony, living in Columbiana county, Ohio, Lewis, deceased, and our subject.

The house in which our subject was born was built by his father in the woods and con- sisted of logs covered originally with clap- boards and consisted of four rooms, but before our subject was born, a kitchen was added. The farm consisted of eighty acres, every foot cov- ered with forest trees at the time he purchased it. Adjacent to the house his father built a large barn of logs, which was covered with straw and about a hundred yards from the house flowed a large spring of soft water. When our subject was twelve years old, his father sold his farm for two thousand dollars, after having cleared, fenced and cultivated sixty of the eighty acres.

When young Joseph was six years old, his father sent him to the district school, where he obtained the rudiments of a common school education. Mr. Lebus recalls vividly the fact that he was very reluctant to go to school when he was first sent out from home, but the lady who taught the school was kind and consid- erate to him and presented him a picture of a bird which she had drawn on a piece of paper and after amusing him in various other ways the first week, he formed an attachment for his teacher, became reconciled to the duties and confinement of the schoolroom and ever after during the six sessions that he attended the school, he learned and recited his lessons with pleasure. At the age of fourteen his father sent him to St. Vincent's College, forty miles east of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, near the Pennsylvania railroad. The town of Latrobe, of some five hundred people, being the near- est station and postoffice. This was in 1852, and Mr. Lebus graduated five years later at the head of a class of nine pupils. After leav- ing college, having been informed by his brother Lewis Lebus, then engaged in teach- ing in Harrison county, Kentucky, that there was an opening in Kentucky for teachers, he went early in September, 1857. on a visit to his brother, then at Oddville, and on the 1st * of October of that same year, he made appli- cation as a teacher in an adjoining district and commenced his first school.

Mr. Lebus taught two consecutive sessions in this district, and when vacation came on, he procured employment in a country store in Harrison county. In the following September

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he went to Covington, Kentucky, where he was called to teach in a private school, where the higher branches were being taught. This school, however, proved unsuccessful on ac- count principally of the excitement and agita- tion which spread throughout the country, ow- ing to the general apprehension that the coun- try was verging into an abyss of a civil war. While teaching this school, his brother Lewis informed him that he intended to marry and go to housekeeping and invited him to make his home with him until the excitement spread- ing throughout the country should subside. A short time after going to his brother's, he was solicited by the patrons of the district where he taught his first school, to undertake a private school for the benefit of the advanced pupils in the district, whose education had been neg- lected owing to the general agitation which permeated society everywhere. After the close of the session, when the excitement had somewhat abated, the patrons of the district unanimously solicited him to continue school for the benefit of all the children in the dis- trict, and so prosperous had the school grown that Mr. Lebus continued the school until 1862. On the 17th of July of this year, Gen- eral Morgan made his appearance in Cynthi- ana, Kentucky, accompanied by several thou- sand troopers, and the uproar and general chaos that ensued so demoralized the popula- tion that the schools of Harrison county be- came disorganized and very little attention was paid to educational matters until the close of the war. Not finding employment in his chosen vocation, he returned to the county of his birth in the autumn of 1862, with a view to securing a situation in one of the schools of the county. The bridges and great portions of the Kentucky Central Railroad having been demolished by the forces of General Kirby Smith of the Confederate army, on his march to Cincinnati, Mr. Lebus was compelled to ride on horseback to Augusta, Kentucky, from where he could take a boat to Cincinnati. On his way to Augusta, about three miles north of Claysville, he encountered the army of Gen- eral Morgan, then under the command of Gen- eral Basil Duke, on its way from Augusta to Cynthiana. General Duke, informed him that he had had a severe engagement with the Fed- eral troops stationed in and around Augusta, had defeated them and that the greater portion of Augusta had been burned to the ground. General Duke took along with him about five hundred prisoners whom he had captured dur- ing the battle, but on being informed that a large Federal force was concentrating in Cyn- thiana, for the purpose of marching against

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A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume III, Part 97

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