Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 13

Author: Gresham, John M., Co., Pub
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago, Philadelphia, J. M. Gresham company
Number of Pages: 726

USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 13

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Mr. McArthur married Mary J. Stricker, daughter of Charles Stricker of Philadelphia. She was born January 18, 1819; died April 6, 1893, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, New- port. They had seven children: Peter, born May 23, 1838; Mary, born April 10, 1840, died June 1, 1865; Alice, born March 4, 1842; Annie, born September 30, 1844; Charles, born June 8, 1847; Ida, born June 1, 1850, died March 17, 1894; and William H., born October 23, 1858.

Mr. and Mrs. McArthur lived happily together for fifty-six years. He is a remarkably well pre- served man; has never worn glasses, his eye- sight never having failed, and now, at the age of eighty-five, he can read the finest print in ordinary use.

His father, Peter McArthur, was born in Ar- gyleshire, Scotland, in 1764. He came to Amer-

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ica in 1784 and located near Georgetown. He was employed as surveyor in central Kentucky and southern Ohio, and was for a long time en- gaged in locating land warrants for soldiers of the Revolution. In 1815 he removed to New- port and kept a hotel. He died in July, 1828, and is buried in Evergreen Cemetery, Newport. He was a cousin of General Duncan McArthur, who was governor of Ohio.

Mary Michie McArthur (mother) was born in Louisa County, Virginia, in 1769. She was first married to William Tompkins, who lived but a short time after their marriage. She was mar- ried to Peter McArthur, December 26, 1800; died September 15, 1853, and is buried in Ever- green Cemetery, Newport. She was of Irish de- scent.

M. V. MONARCH of Owensboro, king of the whiskey trade in Kentucky, known throughout the world as the manufacturer of the famous "Monarch" brand of whiskey, respected and loved by his neighbors and fellow-citizens, charitable toward those who need a helping hand, phenomenally successful in business and possess- ing a magnificent fortune, is a native of the county of which he has been a resident all his life. He is a son of Thomas and Susan. (Daviess) Monarch and was born March 10, 1842. His father was born in Maryland, March 25, 1801. He was educated in Washington County, Ken- tucky and, on reaching manhood, engaged in farming in that county, subsequently removing to Marion County, where he lived until 1832, when he removed to Daviess County and became one of the most popular citizens, and was a prominent farmer until the day of his death, November 13, 1881. In the earlier years of his life, he was a Whig of pronounced convictions, but he did not follow his party until its dissolution. He fore- saw the inevitable, and believing the principles of the Democratic party were more in accord with his views, he was welcomed to the ranks of that party in 1852 and was ever after that a prominent figure in the councils of the local Democracy. He was proverbially kind, generous and honest; a mem- ber of the Catholic Church and an excellent citi- zen. His father was a native of France who came

to America soon after the Declaration of Inde- pendence and was a farmer in Maryland, where he died in 1842.

Susan Daviess Monarch (mother) was born in Washington County, Kentucky, April 13, 1801. She was a lady of great intelligence and decision of character; dignified, yet kind and respectful, and stood by her convictions unflinchingly and impressed those who knew her as a woman who would have filled any station in high life with credit to her sex. She left her impress upon the community in which she lived and died, having done her duty. She survived her husband until May 14, 1889, rounding out a useful and noble life of a little more than eighty-eight years.

Mrs. Monarch's family (Daviess) was a branch of the original English family from which Jef- ferson Davis was descended, although the name was spelled differently, and her people were among the pioneers of Daviess County, which re- ceived their name.

M. V. Monarch inherited many of the fine traits of character for which his mother and her ances- tors were distinguished. Under the immediate direction of his mother, his receptive mind was well trained. He was kept in school until twenty years of age, finishing in Cecilian College in Hardin County in 1865. He began his business career in the same year, buying and selling to- bacco, in which he made a good start. He soon abandoned this, however, and engaged in dis- tilling, operating alone until 1870, when he en- tered into partnership with E. P. Payne. The business of the concern grew into magnificent proportions and the concern was subsequently incorporated as the M. V. Monarch Mercantile Company, with Mr. Monarch as president, a position which he has held continuously until the present time. Messrs. Monarch and Payne were the principal stockholders and owners until the death of Mr. Payne, September 9, 1895, a calamity which did not disturb the business of the corpora- tion to the extent that would have resulted under a partnership arrangement.

In this establishment the famous Monarch whiskey, known all over the world, is manufac- tured under Mr. Monarch's personal supervision; but he is also a large shareholder and owner in

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two other distillery companies, of which he is president, The John Hanning Distillery Company and the famous Sour Mash Distillery Company. He is a large stockholder in the Owensboro Na- tional Bank and has other investments in business enterprises in Owensboro, besides his elegant home and other real estate. He is receiver of the Owensboro, Falls of Rough & Green River Railroad Company, by appointment of Court.

Mr. Monarch is one of the most public spirited men in Owensboro and is identified with all pub- lic measures looking to the improvement of the city and the advancement of society. It is known, moreover, among his neighbors, although he has sacredly guarded the fact as a secret, that he and his estimable wife are most generous in their donations to the cause of charity, while their lib- erality to the worthy poor, in the way of private charity, approaches extravagance. Mr. Mon- arch's home is an ideal one, and his devotion to his family is one of his most beautiful traits. He is known far and wide for his unstinted liberality and his hospitable entertainment of friends and strangers. Handsome in his personal appear- ance, gentle in manner, of kind and pleasing ad- dress, easy of approach, ready to respond to every appeal, or to lend a helping hand in any good work, he is unquestionably one of the best and most popular citizens of Owensboro.

Mr. Monarch was married September 20, 1869, to Elizabeth Ann O'Bryan, who was born De- cember 23, 1844, and was educated in St. Francis Academy in Owensboro. She is a daughter of William O'Bryan and is in hearty accord and sym- pathy with her companion, being a devoted wife and ideal mother. They have a happy family of five children, who are somewhat scattered at pres- ent. Jessie, their first child, died in infancy; Henry Lamar, born May II, 1872, is now in the law department of the Catholic University, Wash- ington, D. C., being the first student enrolled on the books after the inauguration of that depart- ment in this famous institution; Daniel D., born August 14, 1874, is contracting agent for the C. & O. Railroad; Erminie, born June II, 1876, now a pupil in St. Mary College, near Notre Dame, Indiana; M. V. Monarch, Jr., born Sep- tember 14, 1878, is a student in Notre Dame Col-

lege, Indiana; Benita, born May 23, 1881, is at home. It is the purpose of the parents of these young people, whose prospects for a happy future are now so bright, to give them the advantages of a complete and thorough education, so that they may be prepared for whatever may befall them in after life.

Mr. and Mrs. Monarch are members of the Catholic Church. Mr. Monarch voted the Dem- ocratic ticket until the nomination of James G. Blaine for President, at which time he voted the Republican ticket, and has affiliated with the latter party since that date.

JAMES A. M'CANE received his education principally in the Augusta College, and when nineteen years of age he began to teach school, continuing until 1875, when he was appointed deputy clerk of the County Court and served until February, 1882, when he resigned to become a candidate for the clerkship, to which he was elected in August, 1882; again in 1886; again in 1890, and for the fourth time in 1894.

His great popularity and success are due, not only to his efficiency in the transaction of the business of the office, but to his accommodating disposition and pleasing address.

March 18, 1880, he was married to Lizzie B., daughter of P. H. Clayton of Bracken County. She was born April 9, 1860. They have two chil- dren: Harvey Clayton McCane, born April 29, 1882, and Lewie Allen McCane, born March 22, I891.

Samuel McCane (grandfather) was born Jan- uary 30, 1791, in Pennsylvania; came to Ken- tucky early in life and resided in Bracken County to time of his death on February 5, 1864; fol- lowed farming and trading; made several trips with horses and farming products to New Or- leans. Married in Bracken County, September 3, 1818, to Nancy Heaverin. She was born Septem- ber 6, 1795, and died April 8, 1857.

Nancy D. Anderson McCane (mother) was born in Bracken County, September 2, 1827, and is still living with her husband in her native county.

James J. Anderson (maternal grandfather) was born in Virginia, April 10, 1788; came to Mason

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County, this state, while a young man, where he married Nancy D. Allen, April 10, 1815, and soon afterward came to Bracken County, where he died, October 31, 1831. His occupation was farming. His wife, Nancy D. Allen, was born August 17, 1795, and died in Bracken County, February 21, 1866.

Mr. McCane's ancestors for several genera- tions were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church; and in the matter of politics the connec- tion is solidly Democratic.

H ARVEY MYERS, son of Aurelia Bridgman and Aaron Myers, was born in Chenango County, New York, February 10, 1828. When but a boy Mr. Myers left his home and located in the west. By hard work he managed to educate himself, and about the year 1852 located in Trim- ble County, where he taught school and read law. He was admitted to the bar of that county, and, after a few years practice, removed to Covington, where his ability and fidelity were at once recog- nized. He very soon formed a law partnership with Hon. John W. Stevenson, just then elected Governor of Kentucky, and afterwards United States Senator. Though the practice of this firm was great, and the burden of it fell upon Mr. Myers, he found time to prepare and publish the first Code of Practice of Kentucky, known as My- ers' Code, which is held in the highest esteem by the bar of the state. In 1867 he compiled and published a supplement to the General Statutes of Kentucky, known as Myers' Supplement.

In politics he was a Republican; and in 1865 was nominated by the Union party for the legis- lature and elected; but it having been charged that bayonets were used at the polls in his behalf, and investigation satisfying him of the truth of the charges, he declined the office. In declining the office, Mr. Myers said:

"On the day of the election bodies of armed soldiers were placed before and around each vot- ing place in the county, and there remained throughout the entire day. Early in the day, numbers of citizens, while approaching the polls in an orderly and peaceful manner for the pur- pose of tendering their votes, were arrested by the

soldiers and marched away under guard to a prison, and there held in close confinement until the next day, when they were discharged without any charge being preferred against them. In some instances, persons, on coming in sight of the polls, were met by a military officer, told that they would not be allowed to vote, and ordered to depart; and, while obeying the order and depart- ing from the polls, squads of soldiers were sent in pursuit, by whom they were arrested and marched through the streets to prison and confined as stated above. I could not lend my sanction or approval to such a proceeding, as I must have done by accepting this election." This was at that time probably the only instance of declination of office in Kentucky.

He was shot down in his office by a disap- pointed litigant whom Mr. Myers had opposed in the courts, March 28, 1874. At a meeting of the bar of Kenton and Campbell Counties, on the oc- casion of his death, the following resolutions were adopted:

Your Committe directed to report resolutions to this meeting of the Bar of Kenton in respect to a deceased member, our brother, Harvey My- ers, offer these resolutions:

Resolved, That we mourn the loss of Harvey Myers, whose death occurred last Saturday, as one of the saddest events of our times, and we are not able to employ language equal to the expression of the feelings of sadness experienced by his brethren and associates upon this occasion.

2. Harvey Myers had been for twenty years among us, a man in the full vigor of life, of robust manhood and vigorous mind; he had reached the front rank of his profession at the age of forty-six years, and in a large sense of the expression, he was a law abiding and an honest man.

3. Harvey Myers will be remembered among his acquaintances and friends for his virtues in his profession, as a citizen, and as a husband and a father-in all these relations he has left no better man, but an example for imitation and emulation.

4. We ask the president of this meeting to send copies of these resolutions to the courts of this county to be recorded, and a copy to the family of our deceased brother.

5. That we will attend the funeral of the de-

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ceased as a body, and that we will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days.

6. That an invitation is extended to the Bar of Campbell and adjoining counties to unite with us to attend the funeral.

7. That a Committee of Arrangements for the funeral be appointed, consisting of five, to be se- lected from the Bar of Kenton and Campbell Counties.

S IMPSON S. MEDDIS, real estate dealer and agent, of Louisville, Kentucky, was born on his father's farm in Jefferson County, so near the city that it is now in one of the most beautiful suburbs of Louisville. His father, Matthew Med- dis, was a native farmer of Jefferson County, Kentucky, where he spent his whole life. He was born in 1804 and died in 1881.

Godfrey Meddis (grandfather) was a long-time resident of Jefferson County, and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was with General Jackson in the battle of New Orleans, and died in that city from a fever which he contracted while in the service. His ancestors were from Germany.

Apphia Seaton Meddis (mother) was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, in 1817, and is still living in her native county. Her father, George Seaton (grandfather) was a native farmer of the same county, where he died in 1835, aged sixty years. His ancestors were from England.

Simpson S. Meddis left his father's farm when he was sixteen years of age, and was appointed deputy sheriff of Jefferson County, an office which he held under different sheriffs for fifteen years, and from which he retired to engage in the carpet business with his father-in-law, George W. Small. A year and a half later he accepted the position of teller in the banking house of Odor, Taylor & Company, and was with the bank for four years, until it went into liquidation. Mr. Meddis then engaged in the real estate and auctioneering busi- ness, to which he has devoted his entire time ever since.

In 1875 he formed a co-partnership with Charles Southwick, under the firm name of Med- dis & Southwick, a very fortunate business rela- tion, which has continued without interruption for over twenty years, in which time they have bought

and sold real estate of the value of many millions of dollars. They have been in all this time, and are now, the leading men in their business in the city of Louisville. Their long experience, to- gether with their familiarity with property and its value, and their unswerving integrity and strictly honorable methods of business, have won for them the confidence of the people, while their judgment is sought in nearly all real estate trans- actions of importance.

Mr. Meddis' services as auctioneer are in de- mand, not only in his own city and county, but in other parts of the state, and frequently in other states; and not only in sales of realty, but in fine stock sales and other occasions when large inter- ests are involved. His sales are attended with unqualified success on account of his superior knowledge and excellent judgment. His reputa- tion as an auctioneer in large sales is not merely local, but national.

Mr. Meddis married Eliza H. Small, daughter of George W. Small, of Louisville, in 1861, and they have two sons: George S. and Victor N. Meddis.

H ON. HARVEY MYERS, Jr., attorney at law, Covington, was born December 24, 1859. His father, as stated in the foregoing sketch, was a native of Chenango County, New York, a self-made man and a lawyer of great abil- ity and a man of the highest integrity, whose un- timely taking off is mentioned elsewhere.

Young Myers did not experience the difficulties which his father met with in obtaining an educa- tion. The excellent public schools of Covington were open to him, and his father was ambitious in his behalf. He made good use of his opportunities, and after leaving school he studied law in the office of the Honorable Theo. F. Hallam, and was admitted to the bar in 1881, and was a partner of Mr. Hallam for thirteen years.

In 1886 Mr. Myers was elected to the legisla- ture on the Democratic ticket, and was three times re-elected, and in 1889 was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives, and was one of the most popular presiding officers that has ever served in that body.

Although his father was a Republican, Mr. My-

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ers has been for years one of the acknowledged leaders of the Democratic party in Covington and vicinity; and is exceedingly popular with men in all parties, being faithful to the best interests of his city and state. He is one of the most promi- nent attorneys in Covington and has an extensive practice. He is a prominent Mason, and is Ex- alted Ruler of the Covington Lodge of Elks.

Mr. Myers was married November 9, 1888, to Carrie Wells, daughter of H. B. Wells, of Mem- phis, Tennessee. They have four children.

W ILLIAM M. IRVINE, late of Richmond, Kentucky, a successful business man and prominent banker, was a native of the city in which he spent a useful and honorable life. He was a son of Adam and Minerva (Stone) Irvine, and was born June 1, 1825. He was educated at Cambridge University, and was especially pre- pared for the legal profession, but on account of failing health at the close of his collegiate course, necessitating employment in the open air, he be- came a tiller of the soil; was especially interested in fine stock and owned some of the best horses and cattle in the state.

After a few years of life on the farm, his health was improved, and he engaged in the banking business in Richmond, and was for a long time cashier of the Farmers' National Bank. Then president of the Second National. He was then elected vice-president of the First (now Rich- mond) National Bank, which position he held un- til his death, which occurred February 23, 1891.

He owned a fancy farm of two hundred and ten acres near the city, and for ten years prior to his death was engaged in culling and training fine horses, in which he took a deep interest for the pleasure and recreation that the occupation af- forded, as well as for the handsome profits which he derived from his sales.

The suburban home, "Irvinton," in which his wife resides, is one of the most attractive places in the vicinity of Richmond; and there he surround- ed himself and family with every comfort and convenience, providing everything to indicate the sweetness and pleasures of life; and these evi- dences of his thoughtfulness remain in their beauty and freshness, a constant reminder of the

tender and loving husband and father. The premises embrace sixteen acres of ground, upon which there are shrubbery, plants and flowers in their season, and greenhouses in which the choi- cest flowers are propagated for the beautifying of the home in winter, all of which, with the elegance of the surroundings and the interior of the home, tell of the generous and gentle character of a man whose business never occupied his mind to the exclusion of his home and family.

Mr. Irvine was a model business man, highly esteemed for his unquestioned integrity and sound judgment. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church and a liberal supporter of the gospel, and his deportment in business and in all of the affairs of a busy life was in harmony with his religious profession.

He never sought office or public recognition, and would not even accept an office, although fre- quently importuned to become a candidate for po- sitions of trust and honor.

He was married November 3d, 1846, to his cousin, Elizabeth S. Irvine, daughter of Colonel David and Susanah Hart (McDowell) Irvine. Their home was blessed by the birth of five chil- dren, one of whom, Bessie D. Irvine, died of ty- phoid fever October 22, 1883, while attending school in New York. The loss of this lovely and promising child was the greatest sorrow the par- ents were ever called upon to bear. Beautiful and lovely in person, she was a child of unusual bright- ness and intelligence, and gave promise of de- veloping into that charming womanhood for which her illustrious ancestors were so distin- guished. She was sent to one of the best schools in the east in order to give her every opportunity for improving those talents and virtues with which she was so richly endowed.

Adam Irvine (father) was a native of Madison County, a graduate of Old Transylvania Univers- ity, and a man of fine scholarly attainments, a highly honored and universally respected citizen of his county. He married Minerva Stone, a na- tive of Madison County, in 1824, and died about a year later, three months before his son, William M., was born.

Colonel William Irvine (grandfather) was a gal- lant soldier and colonel in the Revolutionary war,

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and in the Indian wars of later years, and was car- ried off the battlefield at Boonesboro with a severe gunshot wound, which might not have proven fatal, but he was thrown across a horse and in that way his injury was aggravated so as to cause his death a few years later.

Christopher Irvine, a son of Colonel William and uncle of William M. Irvine, was a noted In- dian fighter in Kentucky, and followed them into Indiana and Ohio, and was killed by them in the latter state.

Elizabeth S. (Irvine) Irvine, who survives her husband, the late William M. Irvine, is a daugh- ter of David Irvine, granddaughter of Colonel William Irvine of Revolutionary fame, who was also her husband's grandfather. She is a grand- daughter of Dr. Ephraim McDowell and a great- granddaughter of Governor Isaac Shelby; and is a lady of elegant refinement and superior intelli- gence, an honored and worthy descendant of the illustrious people who fought for American inde- pendence and figured conspicuously in the early settlement of the "dark and bloody ground."

She has no children living, having buried five; still occupies the lovely home in which her la- mented husband took so much pleasure and com- fort, her brother, David W. Irvine, living with her.

David Irvine, Sr., father of Mrs. Elizabeth S. Irvine, at the age of nineteen, joined the militia and engaged in the Indian wars and skirmishes of those perilous times. When his father, Colonel William Irvine, Sr., died, David took his place as Circuit Clerk, and this office was held by father and son for a period of forty years. David re- signed eventually, having other business of great- er importance. He married Susanah Hart Mc- Dowell, daughter of the celebrated physician, Dr. Ephraim McDowell.

William M. Irvine's mother, Minerva Stone, was a native of Madison County and a daughter of Colonel William Stone, who was a gallant sol- dier in the Revolutionary war, and an antagonist whom the Indians greatly feared in the early set- tlement of the Blue Grass State.

For more extended history of the McDowells and Shelbys, see biographies of H. C. McDowell and Wallace McDowell Shelby in this volume.

J OHN Y. OLDHAM, M. D., a distinguished physician of Lexington, son of Dr. William B. and Laura A. (Mathews) Oldham, was born in New Castle, Henry County, Kentucky, March 19, 1866. His father was born in Jefferson County, near Louisville, and graduated from the Ken- tucky School of Medicine in 1856, carrying off the highest honors of his class. He was a physi- cian at the Marine Hospital in Louisville for a number of years, and subsequently removed to New Castle, Henry County, where he was en- gaged in the practice of his profession until the time of his death, August 18, 1877.

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Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 13

Author: Gresham, John M., Co., Pub Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago, Philadelphia, J. M. Gresham company Number of Pages: 726

Author: Gresham, John M., Co., Pub
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago, Philadelphia, J. M. Gresham company
Number of Pages: 726