USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 100
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In the earlier years of his medical career and prior to his active engagement in the practice of medicine, he was a preacher of the Gospel, having been licensed to preach (1848) in the Baptist Church; and while pursuing his studies and for several years after entering the medical profes- sion, he was an ordained minister and the reg- ularly installed pastor of several of the churches of his denomination, preaching in the Baptist Churches in Jefferson and Bullitt Counties and at Jeffersonville, Indiana. He is a life member of the General Association of Baptists and one of the most substantial, earnest and valuable men in that denomination.
His literary pursuits have been systematic and thorough and he has grown in the knowledge of men and affairs as he has grown in years; has contributed his share of work for the medical, religious and literary press, accomplishing all this in connection with and in addition to a very active practice of his vocation, in which, alone, he has been a very busy man.
Of very quiet and retiring disposition, with no attempt at personal display, his work, not yet finished, has been accomplished quietly and with- out the use of the ordinary and even legitimate means of advertising which are so frequently re- sorted to by ambitious men in the profession.
Foremost in the medical profession, prominent in the church with which he has been connected for near half a century, he has well nigh com- pleted a life work upon which he may look back with pride and satisfaction and with the assurance that he is honored and loved by his associates in the institution in which he has labored longer than any other professor; affectionately remem- bered by his patients who have enjoyed his care as the gentle physician, and known and read of all men as the upright, Christian gentleman, whose example is worthy of imitation.
Dr. Ireland was married in 1848 to Sarah E. Cooper, daughter of Levin Cooper of Jefferson County, by whom he had one son, Dr. Henry Clay Ireland. He married (second) in 1859 to Susan M. Brown, daughter of Furtney Brown of
Louisville, and by this marriage has one son, William F. Ireland.
Dr. Ireland's paternal grandparents were na- tives of Scotland, and his father, William Ireland, was a native of Kentucky, who followed agri- cultural and mechanical pursuits, and was one of the most substantial, upright and useful citizens of Jefferson County, where he lived until a short time before his death, when, his wife having died, he went to live with his son in De Witt, Ark., and died there in 1870.
Jane Stone Ireland (mother), whose parents were Virginians of English ancestry, was born in Nelson County, Kentucky. Dr. Ireland is the eldest of the four children of William and Jane (Stone) Ireland.
E DWIN PORTER THOMPSON, educator and author, eldest son of Lewis M. and Mary R. Thompson, was born near Center, Metcalfe County, Kentucky, May 6, 1834. He was left in his twelfth year to the care of a widowed mother, and consequently he was early disciplined in the school of self-reliance, a school that has graduated so many shining examples of American citizenship.
The bent of his mind was strongly intellectual, and inspired by laudable ambition and a genuine love for learning, he has step by step reached a high rank among the scholars of his native state. He was reared on a farm, but after he was nine- teen years of age he was engaged in teaching principally until 1860, when he studied law; but the breaking out of the war between the states prevented his obtaining license at that time. His sympathies were entirely with the South in that fraternal struggle, and feeling that true manli- ness and patriotism called him where his feelings were so warmly enlisted, he entered the Confed- erate army and served until the end of the war in May, 1865. He was twice wounded; was a prisoner for five months, after the battle of Stone River; and after exchange he was promoted to a captaincy on the regimental staff, Sixth Ken- tucky Infantry.
He then engaged in farming; meanwhile and afterward writing the History of the First Ken- tucky Brigade and editing a magazine. But his
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most congenial occupation was that of teaching, and for many years he was president of Owen College, Harrisburg, Owen County, one of the most thorough in its various departments and one of the most ably conducted educational in- stitutions in the state. He has made frequent contributions to periodical literature and is the author of an Academic Arithmetic, written be- fore the war. The History of the Kentucky Bri- gade was a work of great labor, being one of the most complete and valuable among the records of the late war, and for its incident and senti- ment peculiarly gratifying to the survivors of the famous historic body of Southern soldiers called "The Orphan Brigade."
In October, 1888, he was appointed by Gov- ernor Buckner to fill a vacancy in the office of state librarian; in March, 1890, was made pri- vate secretary to Governor Buckner, which place he filled during the remainder of Buckner's term; was elected superintendent of public instruction in August, 1891, which responsible position he filled for four years and four months, discharging the duties of the office with marked ability, and it may truly be said that no other man has done so much for the common schools of Kentucky. He is a genial, sociable gentleman, an engaging conversationalist, and impresses all who know him as possessing unusual qualities of head and heart. In his religious views he is a Baptist.
He married April 22, 1858, Marcella P. Thompson, a daughter of Nathan and Eliza (Stringer) Thompson.
Lewis Morgan Thompson (father) was born in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and was brought to this state by his parents in 1815, when less than three years old.
His mother, Mary R. Thompson, was born and reared at Mt. Airy, the old family seat of her father, Waddy Thompson, in Metcalfe County. Her parents came from Pittsylvania County, Vir- ginia, in 1809.
The following respecting Captain Thompson's present work is taken from the Louisville Times of January 27, 1896:
"The Hon. Ed Porter Thompson, ex-superin- tendent of public instruction, has long been col- lecting material for a work which will be a most
important addition to the annals of Kentucky. Interest in the great struggle of 1861-65 seems rather to increase than diminish as the years go by, and the extraordinary part played by Ken- tuckians is a theme which should receive thought- ful investigation and be put to permanent record before the actors therein have all passed away.
"Capt. Thompson is as seduously engaged in this work on behalf of those who espoused the Southern cause as he was during his term of office in meeting every demand of that position. Though his admiration of these men amounts to enthusiasm, his work will not tend to provoke bitterness or keep alive any feeling of alienation consequent upon the different course adopted by Kentuckians of that period, but will be rather a contribution to the history of the state, by a man of broad and liberal views, which will increase the pride of the whole people in the renown which Kentucky has won upon the battlefields of the Republic. The civil (no less remarkable than the military) history of these men since the close of the war will receive special attention. The work will be in three volumes, denominated 'A History of Kentucky Soldiers in the Confederate Army,' the first of which will be the re-written history of the 'Orphan Brigade,' including Helm's cavalry regiment; the second, of the five infantry regiments whose gallant service has never been put to record, and the third will be devoted to the Kentucky cavalry."
C OLONEL JOHN SMITH HURT, lawyer of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, son of Joshua and Elizabeth (Pebworth) Hurt, was born in Montgomery County, Kentucky, May 21, 1826. He was educated in the common schools of the county and at the academy in Mt. Sterling under Hugh B. Todd and William Raney. He left school at the age of eighteen and went to live with his uncle, Elder John Smith, at Owingsville, Ken- tucky, where he remained until 1846, and at the age of nineteen enlisted for the Mexican War in Captain Turpin's Company, Second Regiment Kentucky Volunteers-a splendid body of men commanded by Colonel McKee-and among numerous other engagements was at the battle of Buena Vista. Henry Clay, Jr., who was Lien
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tenant-Colonel of this regiment, rode a white horse, and seeing that it attracted too much at- tention he brought it to Mr. Hurt to hold, but in the emergency of the terrible contest he remount- ed it and was killed soon after. Colonel Hurt re- turned to Owingsville after the war was over and studied law with Hon. Andrew Trumbo for two years and was admitted to the Owingsville bar. During the gold fever in 1849 he accompanied his brother Elisha to California and remained there two years, meeting with reasonable suc- cess. On his return to Owingsville in 1851 he was elected County Attorney and held that office two terms. He continued to practice law with fair success until 1861, when he immediately en- listed, and recruited a regiment at Olympian Springs for the Union army. This regiment was with General Nelson in the Big Sandy River ex- pedition and in a number of small engagements and skirmishes. In June, 1862, he joined Buell's army near Mumfordsville and moved into Ten- nessee, where his regiment took part in the battle of Shiloh. Returning with Buell's army to Ken- tucky in the fall of 1862; he was in the battle of Perryville in October, 1862, and with General Buell followed Bragg into Tennessee after the battle of Perryville, but was detached from Buell in the winter of 1863 and returned to Kentucky and connected himself with Colonel Walker's regiment of cavalry. They had a slight skirmish with Colonel Cluke's regiment near Mt. Ster- ling and followed that leader as far as Owings- ville when Cluke retired from the state.
Colonel Hurt was attached to Burnside's army in the summer of 1863 and was with him during his expeditions into East Tennessee. He com- manded the Twenty-fourth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry at the siege of Knoxville, when it was besieged by Longstreet and was with General Sherman on his march from Chattanooga to At- lanta. He was in the battle of Resaca, where he commanded a brigade consisting of four regi- ments-the Twenty-fourth Kentucky, Sixty- third Indiana, One Hundred and Third Ohio and a Tennessee regiment-and of the eighteen hun- dred men in his command he lost five hundred and ninety-two. It was his brigade that captured the first line of works at Resaca. He was also en-
gaged at the battle of Kenesaw Mountain near Atlanta and was in the battles around Atlanta, in- cluding the battle of Jonesboro, finally capturing the city.
Upon being mustered out in 1865 he returned to Owingsville and resumed the practice of law. He was a candidate for the Legislature on the con- servative or Democratic ticket August, 1865, but was defeated-because of his advocacy of the re- peal of the expatriation law depriving those who had been engaged on the Southern side during the war between the states, of citizenship-this to- gether with his opposition to the posting of sol- diers at the polls to prevent Colonel Hurt's friends from voting caused his defeat. In 1883 he was again nominated by the Democrats to represent the Ninth District and was again defeated, after which he retired from politics. He removed to Mt. Sterling in 1889, where he now resides and is engaged in a lucrative practice. He was en- gaged in the Rebecca Hamilton will case and in the criminal case of William N. Smoot, the Com- monwealth vs. Adam Trimble, and for the Com- monwealth vs. F. M. Ewing, executor of A. J. Ewing, which involved the sum of $44,000, to- gether with other cases of importance. Col. Hurt has never married.
His father, Joshua Hurt, was born in Spartan- burg District, South Carolina, in 1790. He first settled in Fayettesville, Tennessee, and fought un- der Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. He re- moved from Tennessee to Montgomery Coun- ty, Kentucky, near Mt. Sterling, in 1820; to San- gamon County, Illinois, in 1830 or 1831, and was a member of Lincoln's company in the Black Hawk War. He was a member of the Christian Church and a devoted friend of Elder John Smith, his brother-in-law. He died in Illi- nois in 1831, and after his death his wife returned to her father's home in Kentucky.
He married twice, and the children by his first wife were: Berryman, Rebecca, Alfred, Moses, Elisha and John. He was married (second) in 1823 to Elizabeth Pebworth, and the children by this marriage were: William P., John S., James and Harvey G. Joshua Hurt voted for Jackson because he was a soldier under him, but he was always a Whig in politics.
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Elizabeth Pebworth Hurt (mother) was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1802. She came when very young to Kentucky with her parents, who crossed the Allegheny Mountains in 1803 and settled in Montgomery County, Kentucky, three miles from Mt. Sterling, where her father purchased a small farm and where the descendants of his daughters still live. The name itself has no male repre- sentatives. Elizabeth Pebworth Hurt died in April, 1885. She was a member of the Christian Church.
Of the children of Joshua by his first marriage, first, Berryman, eldest son, was reared in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, and was married three times. First, to a sister of Judge N. P. Reid; second, to Miss True of Fayette County; third, to Miss Ber- ry of Bath County. In 1865 he moved to San- gamon County, Illinois, and died during a visit to Kentucky in 1888.
Second, Rebecca married a Mr. Pendleton, who was assassinated at Flemingsburg in 1835; third, Moses died in early manhood; fourth, Elisha grew up in Mt. Sterling and married Miss Belt of Flemingsburg, who died of cholera in 1833. He afterwards married Miss Lee of Mason County and they removed to Pike County, Illinois, and resided there until his death. He was a farmer, but in 1849 he crossed the plains with his half- brother, John S., and afterwards went into mer- chandising and accummulated quite a fortune. He returned to Pike County, Illinois, and was Captain and Quartermaster in General Grant's army at Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and was wounded at the latter place. He was the Sheriff of Pike County, Illinois, and held the office two terms. Fifth, John was born in Tennessee and reared in Montgomery County, Kentucky. He went to Texas in 1836, and served under General Sam Houston at the battle of San Jacinto. He returned to Illinois and afterwards was Captain of a company in Col. Baker's Regiment in the Mexi- can war. His company captured General Santa Ana's carriage after the General had escaped on one of the mules taken from the carriage. John Hurt went to California in 1850, and returned to Logan County, Illinois, and was Sheriff of that county one term. He married Miss McGraw of that county, and he died in 1856.
The children of Joshua Hurt and Elizabeth Peb- worth (second wife) were: First, William P., who was born and attained manhood in Montgomery County; married Katherine Bruton of Montgom- ery County; removed to Greencastle, Indiana, in 1851; remained there one year and removed to Boone County, Missouri, and became first pro- fessor of mathematics in the Christian Female Seminary, Columbia, Missouri. He afterwards became its President and conducted the insti- tution for about thirty years. He then returned to his farm in Boone County, Missouri, where he now resides.
Second, John S., the principal subject of this sketch; third, James Hurt, was born and reared in Montgomery County, and removed to Mis- souri when twenty-one years of age; married Miss M. McBride, daughter of Chief Justice McBride of Missouri. She died and he then married Julia Howard of Clay County, Missouri, and removed to Kansas City. He owned a ranch on Cimarron River in Colorado, accumulated a fortune and died in 1883. Fourth, Harvey, was born and reared in Montgomery County and married the widow Lee, whose maiden name was Mason. He was a suc- cessful farmer and owned a large farm three miles north of Mt. Sterling. He died in 1893. His widow and children survive.
Colonel Hurt's paternal grandfather moved from Virginia to South Carolina and his family were connected with the Methodist Church. Rob- ert Pebworth (maternal grandfather) was a na- tive of Norfolk, Virginia; and married Anna Mos- ley of that place. His family was of English descent, as were the Hurts.
The Hurt family has a splendid record as sol- diers, citizens, lawyers, business men, educators, philanthropists and ministers of the Gospel. Wherever they have pitched their tents they have been known for their honor and sturdy citizen- ship.
W ATTS PARKER, Judge of the Twenty- second Judicial District of Kentucky, was born February 23, 1848, in the village of Athens, ten miles east of Lexington, Kentucky. His early education was limited to the schools of the village and vicinity, and this education was dis-
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continued before he was fifteen years old. At the age of seventeen he conceived the idea of becom- ing a physician, and to obtain means to enable him to attend medical lectures, he engaged in a small grocery business in his native village and read medicine until he was twenty, attending one course of medical lectures, during this period, at the Miami Medical College. At the age of twen- ty he abandoned the study of medicine, and at twenty-one engaged in a small mercantile busi- ness in Lexington, and there began the study of law. He soon returned to Athens, resumed busi- ness at that place, and there continued the study of law. In August, 1870, he was examined by Chief Justice Robertson for a license to practice law, and a license was granted by Judge Rob- ertson and Judge Peters. Removing to Lexing- ton in 1872, he began the practice of law, at- tended the Law School of Kentucky University in 1872 and '73 and received a diploma of that institution. In 1874 he was admitted to a part- nership with J. R. Morton, and this partnership continued until the latter went upon the bench in 1883.
During this period the subject of this sketch served a term as city attorney, and was at one time a member of the School Board of Lexington. In 1884 he was appointed master commissioner of the Fayette Circuit Court, and this position he held until January 1, 1893. He was a commis- sioner of the Eastern Kentucky Lunatic Asylum for four years, and was president of the Central Bank from its organization until he assumed his duties as judge.
In November, 1892, he was elected judge of the district composed of the County of Fayette, with the county seat at Lexington, the term for which he was elected beginning January 1, 1893, and to continue five years.
He was married to Miss Bettie Burgin, March 7, 1878. Three children, Nellie Burgin, Mary Shepherd and Virginia, are the result of this union. In politics Judge Parker has always been a Democrat.
His parents were John E. Parker of Caroline and Rebecca Shepherd of Spottsylvania County, Virginia. They emigrated to Kentucky in 1832; his mother died in 1855; his father in 1881.
When a mere lad John E. Parker served as a sol- dier in a Virginia regiment in the War of 1812. He was a man of unusual energy, force of char- acter and great courage. He was not prosperous in his business and died poor, but enjoyed the full confidence and respect of his fellow citizens. The subject of this sketch was thrown upon his own resources at an early age. He was named after his grandfather, Watts Parker, a native of Virginia and a soldier in the War of the Revo- lution.
G EORGE ALLISON HOLLAND, an able lawyer of Eminence, Kentucky, son of Wil- liam Allison Holland and Eliza (Van Nuys) Hol- land, was born in Henry County, Kentucky, Sep- tember 8, 1861. He was educated at Eminence College, graduating in 1880, and the next year entered the Louisville Law School, from which institution he graduated in 1882, and was ad- mitted to the bar the same year. During this time he was a reporter for the Louisville Com- mercial and later was connected with the Courier- Journal in the same capacity.
In 1883 he went south and practiced law in Chattanooga - until 1892 and while there was elected Alderman on the Democratic ticket. In 1889 he turned his attention to journalism and from 1889 to 1892 he was editor and proprietor of the Sunday Argus, a political organ published at Chattanooga.
Mr. Holland has always been greatly interested in politics, but too much engrossed in the legiti- mate practice of his profession to care for office. From 1892 to 1895 he traveled with his invalid wife through Mexico and the United States. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church and of the Masonic Fraternity and is a Knight of Pythias.
He was married in 1886 to Jean Neilson Gil- lespie of Chattanooga, daughter of Dr. Joseph and Penelope (Whiteside) Gillespie. She received her education at Vassar College and with her hus- band is a member of the Presbyterian Church. They have no children.
William A. Holland (father) was born March, 1825, in Edinburg, Indiana. He is a Mason and a member of the Christian Church. His wife is
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also a member of this denomination. Mr. Hol- land is a Democrat of the old school. In 1868 he established the "Constitutionalist" at Eminence, Kentucky, and is still owner and editor of that newspaper. It is probably the only paper of its age in the interior of the state that has never changed management since it was first estab- lished.
George B. Holland (grandfather) was the eld- est son of John and Sarah Jones Holland. He was born at Wellsburg, Virginia, May 26, 1806, and married Rebecca French, who was born in Ohio, August 9, 1808. She was the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth French, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania.
John Holland (great-grandfather) was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His father was one of three brothers who came from England and settled re- spectively in Maryland, Virginia and South Caro- lina, from whom are descended the Hollands of those states. The celebrated author, Dr. J. G. Holland, belonged to the Virginia branch.
The Hollands were closely related to the Crouches. The Rev. Ben T. Crouch, a noted Methodist divine, revered and honored by the earlier Methodists in Kentucky, was a first cousin of Rev. George B. Holland. His brother, Dr. John W. Holland of Indianapolis, was noted for his scholarly attainments and professional skill.
Of Mr. Holland's mother's family an old rec- ord says: "The name of Van Nuys was taken from the name of a village in Holland. The Van denotes noble rank. Auk Jansen Van Nuys, commonly written in an old record Jans, whose ancestors' birthplace was Nuys, in Groutgen, Holland, and who came from Amsterdam, Hol- land, in 1651, to New Amsterdam, now New York, settled in Flat Brush in 1669. He was made magistrate in 1673 and in 1674 was a dele- gate from the Dutch towns to confer with Gov- ernor Colve. His first wife was Magdelene Piet- erse, who was interred in the burial ground of the Dutch Reformed Church in Brooklyn (now Fulton Street), and from whom descended among others, upon whom no stain rested, Isaac Van Nuys, who married Vrouchie Quick, whose son, James Van Nuys, served in the War of 1812. He married Tiny Bois, daughter of Denina Bois and
Anna Sebren. Their son, Dennis Bois Van Nuys, married Sally Ann Sams, and their daughter, Eliza Jane Van Nuys (mother) married William Allison Holland, father of George Allison Hol- land.
"Auk Jansen Van Nuys married (second) Eliza- beth Jans, widow of Jacob Clausens.
"Of the Van Nuys family five were assassinat- ed by the British during the Revolutionary War. Their names were: Margareta, Magdalena, Eliz- abeth, Maria and Jacobus, all children of Janache Ankurts Van Nuys.
"Maternal branch: Griffin Jones of Virginia, Welsh by descent, married a lady of Irish descent. From them was descended Joseph Kelly, who was Captain in the War of 1812, and in whose com- pany William O. Butler, afterwards Major-Gen- eral in the United States army, during the Mexi- can War, was orderly sergeant.
"Captain Joseph Kelly married Elizabeth Mal- lory, whose daughter, Parmelia Kelly, married James Sams of Virginia parentage. Their daugh- ter, Sarah Ann Sams, married Dennis Bois Van Nuys and their daughter, Eliza Jane Van Nuys married William Allison Holland of English de- scent.
"On the Rhine is Castle Van Nuys, belonging to Count Van Nuys, who was of this same fam- ily."
The records of the paternal and maternal sides of Mr. Holland's family are very lengthy. On the maternal side is the history showing ances- tors in the Revolutionary War and one uncle, John C. Van Nuys, in the Confederate army.
W ILLIAM SCOTT BARBOUR, deceased, a distinguished attorney-at-law of Ver- sailles, was a son of Philip D. and Fannie B. (Newman) Barbour of Jefferson County, Ken- tucky.
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