USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 17
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He married Emma L. Keen, daughter of Wil- liam Keen of Cumberland County, and has one son, Samuel Richard Guthrie.
Dr. William A. Guthrie left home when he was thirteen years of age to attend school and since that time he has made his own way in the world, and has laid the foundation for a splendid fortune and fame in his profession. Beginning without means of his own and continuing without help, he has met with marvelous success and is des- tined to become one of the most eminent physi- cians of the state.
C OL. JOHN T. GATHRIGHT of Louisville, son of Owen Gathright, was born in Shelby County, August II, 1841. His father was a native of Shelby County, residing in Shelby and Old- ham Counties until 1858, when he removed to Louisville and was for a while actively engaged in business pursuits, but retired many years be- fore his death, which occurred in 1892, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. He was a mem- ber of the Christian Church and a man of the highest integrity. He was a Whig until 1856, and a Republican after the organization of that party.
John Gathright (grandfather) was a native of Richmond, Virginia; came to Oldham County about the year 1800, and afterwards moved to Shelby County and located on a farm which has
belonged to his family ever since. He died in 1858, at the age of seventy-eight years.
Eliza Austin Gathright (mother), who survives her husband, is also a native of Oldham County. Her father, James Austin, was also a native of Oldham County, a farmer and a soldier in the War of 1812. He took part in the battle of New Orleans, which point he reached by flat boat and, after the war was over, returned to his home on foot. He reached the good old age of eighty- eight years.
John Austin (maternal great-grandfather) was a Virginian of Scotch-Irish descent; a soldier in the Revolutionary war; fought in the battle of Bunker Hill; came to Kentucky soon after peace was declared, and followed farming in Oldham County. He lived to the extreme age of one hundred and nine years.
John T. Gathright came to Louisville when fifteen years of age and completed his education in the high school. After a brief business expe- rience in his father's store, during which he was a lieutenant of militia, he enlisted in the Federal army in 1861 as a private in Company A, Twenty- second Regiment, K. V. I. At the organization of his regiment he declined the office of major in favor of a friend who had given much of his time and money towards the organization of the regi- ment. He was made quartermaster sergeant, however, and was promoted to first lieutenant May 18, and to captain of his company, July I, 1862.
Captain Gathright was with his regiment in all of its engagements under General Garfield and took part in the several campaigns in South- eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee and West Vir- ginia. In the autumn of 1862 he was ordered with his regiment to Vicksburg, and engaged in the first assault upon that city in what was known as the battle of Walnut Hills or Chickasaw Bayou. He was detailed with the left wing of his regiment to lead the assault on the Con- federate works, and out of the two hundred and sixty-six men in his command, over two hundred were killed, wounded or captured; and he was twice wounded, but not seriously. He after- ward assisted in the attack upon Arkansas Post, which resulted in the capture of the post with its
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commander, General Churchill, and six thousand prisoners. He returned to Vicksburg about the time General Grant assumed command of the army of the Mississippi, where he saw active service in the front, and was offered promotion to the rank of colonel on the staff of General Grant by the general in person, but was not able to accept the promotion as his physicians at that time had despaired of his life.
Returning to his home in Louisville, he was made senior colonel in charge of the militia, which was by no means an empty honor at that time.
Col. Gathright was one of the original members of the firm of Harbison & Gathright, the large wholesale house which is still in existence; but sold his interest to Mr. Harbison and engaged in the manufacture of saddlery, making many valu- able inventions which have proven quite profit- able.
He has always affiliated with the Democratic party, which he helped to reorganize after the war, in 1865, being at that time a member of the Democratic City Executive Committee.
In 1879 he was elected State senator from his district, receiving a highly complimentary ma- jority over four competitors. He introduced a number of important measures in the legislature, all of which were for the advancement of the best interests of his city and State, among which were: A bill to abolish the fee system in county offices; a charter for the first trust company organized in Louisville; amendment to the charter of the Louisville & Nashville R. R., by which that com- pany was enabled to perfect its great system of roads in the south to the great advantage of Louisville merchants; assisted in securing a char- ter for the Louisville Southern R. R .; secured the State endowment of the Kentucky Agricul- tural and Mechanical College when it was de- tached from the Kentucky University, etc.
He was one of the promoters of the Louisville, St. Louis & Texas R. R., and has been active ard successful in aiding many other public enter- prises from which he has gained nothing per- sonally.
In 1885 Col. Gathright was appointed surveyor of customs of the Port of Louisville by President
Cleveland, an appointment that was made en- tirely on account of business qualifications and not through political influence. The wisdom of this appointment was verified by the fact that the business of the surveyor's office was increased about four hundred per cent under his adminis- tration.
Col. Gathright was married in 1864 to Sallie Dunlap, daughter of T. G. Dunlap, of Shelby County. He has been a member of the Presby- terian Church since 1866 and an elder since 1869. He is a member of the Louisville Commandery, F. and A. M.
JOHN W. GALVIN, M. D., a popular physician of Louisville, son of Dennis and Catherine (Cowley) Galvin, was born in Cadyville, Clinton County, New York, January 1, 1861. His father is a native of Ireland, who came to America with his parents when he was one year of age and located in Troy, New York, and removed to Cady- ville, his present home, forty-five years ago. He is a farmer and an industrious and intelligent citi- zen, and is highly respected in the community in which he has spent the greater portion of his life. His father was a native of Athlone and died a short time after coming to this country.
Catherine Cowley Galvin (mother) was born in Troy, New York, in 1836, and died in 1869, when the subject of this sketch was eight years of age. She and her husband were members of the Catholic Church. Her father, John Cowley, was a native of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was a resi- dent of Troy, New York, for many years, and died there in 1873.
Dr. John W. Galvin was educated in the High School of Plattsburg, New York, and after com- pleting his schooling went to St. Louis and en- gaged in the manufacture of picture frames, mold- ing and fancy furniture, which he followed indus- triously until 1889, when he came to Louisville and matriculated in the medical department of the University of Louisville, from which he was graduated in 1893. He at once commenced the practice of medicine in Louisville and in the short time in which he has been engaged in the healing art has built up a large general practice.
Dr. Galvin deserves great credit for his ambi-
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tion and for the manner in which he has carried out his purpose to prepare himself for the respon- sible duties of the physician. He is unquestion- ably a self-made man, and he will make his mark in his profession if industry and careful study is any guarantee of success. His practice is already large and he has won the confidence of his pa- tients and their friends by his genial manner and obliging, kindly disposition and the professional skill with which he treats the cases which are intrusted to his care.
Dr. Galvin was married in 1885 to Sallis Tou- cray, daughter of Alexander and Eleanor Tou- cray, of St. Louis. They have one son, Wallace Galvin.
L YNCH GRAY, President of the Farmers' & Traders' Bank of Owensboro, was born in Nelson County, Kentucky, May 28, 1828. His father, Patrick L. Gray, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1800. After obtaining a good edu- cation in the schools of Baltimore he removed, in 1820, to Nelson County, Kentucky, and became interested in farming, an occupation in which there was a wholesome rivalry among the early settlers of Nelson County. He removed to Har- din County in 1841 and followed agricultural pur- suits until 1854, when he died. He lived in the ex- citing political times of Henry Clay and was a Whig to the last. His religious faith was strong and he was an honored member of the United Baptist Church.
James L. Gray (grandfather), a native of Balti- more and a captain at sea, was killed in the War of 1812, when defending his city at the time the British soldiers landed at Chesapeake Bay. The Grays were of English and Irish extraction.
Mary Howlett Gray, mother of Lynch Gray, was born in Baltimore in 1798. She received a fine education in that city before coming to Ken- tucky. She died in 1861.
John Howlett, a native of Baltimore, accom- panied a colony of people who made the journey to Nelson County in wagons, bringing their teams, servants, furniture and other equipments for life in the new country. He married Drusilla John- son. The Howlett family originally came from England.
Lynch Gray was educated in Nelson County and, having removed to Hardin County, he learned the trade of a wagon and buggy maker, in which business he was engaged at West Point from 1847 to 1851, when he removed to Daviess County and continued in the same line of business for three years. From 1855 to 1860 he was en- gaged in farming and stock trading and, retiring from this in 1860, he removed to Owensboro. He took no part in the Civil war, but was in strong sympathy with the south.
He was interested in various enterprises in the city and county until 1876, when, with the co-op- eration of others, he organized the Farmers' & Traders' Bank. Dr. Alfred Dodd Hill was elected president and on his death December 23, 1878, Mr. Gray was elected president, a position which he has held and ably filled for twenty years. The capital stock of this bank is $100,000, and it is one of the most substantial banking houses in the Ohio valley. Mr. Gray is ably assisted in the management of the affairs of the bank by his cashier, G. A. Williams.
Mr. Gray is also interested in a number of other enterprises; is a stockholder and director in the City Savings Bank; director in the Gravel Road Company of Daviess County; and, among other helpful enterprises, is a stockholder in the Female College. He is not in politics, but votes the Democratic ticket and wishes his party suc- cess. He is a leading member of the Baptist Church and a member of the Masonic Fraternity.
Mr. Gray was married October 24, 1854, to Louisa Shoemaker, daughter of Price Shoemaker of Daviess County. She was a native of that county and was born in March, 1830, and died October 22, 1870. She was the mother of two daughters: Mary Sephrona Gray, born July 4, 1855; married A. J. Mitchell of Owensboro, Feb- ruary, 1878, and they are the parents of two chil- dren, Louis A. Mitchell and A. J. Mitchell, Jr. The second daughter, Cynthia Gray, born Jan- uary 6, 1857, married James M. Haynes, a dry goods merchant of Owensboro, February, 1879, and they have one child, Gray Haynes.
Mr. Gray was married a second time to Mary Frances Haynes, daughter of Frank Haynes of Daviess County, February 24, 1877,
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He has risen by his own efforts from a position in the wagon shop of his employer to the presi- dency of a bank which owes its existence to his enterprise, and its excellent standing among the financial institutions of the country to his wise counsel and ability as a financier. There are few self-made men of to-day who have succeeded by honest means in accomplishing as much as Mr. Gray has done.
C HARLES E. GRAHAM of Paducah, clerk of the McCracken County Court, son of Z. C. and Rachel (Ratliff) Graham, was born in Grahamville (named for his father), McCracken County, Kentucky, February 4, 1872. His father was born in Bloomington, Indiana, February 6, 1847, and removed with his father to Paducah, April 3, 1858. He was engaged in farming in McCracken County for some time, and in 1877 he began merchandising in Grahamville, where he is still in business. Mr. Graham's sympa- thies were with the south during the late war, but he was not an active participant in the strug- gle. He is a straight-out Democrat, interested in the success of his party, but has never sought political preferment.
William Graham (grandfather) was born in Monroe County, near Bloomington, Indiana, May 30, 1822, and died in McCracken County, March 5, 1872. He was a merchant in Blooming- ton during the greater part of his life. He mar- ried Margaret Purdy, a native of Wheeling, West Virginia, who is now a resident of McCracken County. She is a daughter of M. A. Purdy, who was born in Providence in the West Indies, of Scotch and French parentage. His wife was a native of Charleston, South Carolina, whose name and antecedents are not now recalled.
Rachel Ratliff Graham (mother) was born in McCracken County, Kentucky, April 18, 1852, and was married April 2, 1871. Her father, Alex- ander Ratliff, was born in Virginia in 1820 and died in 1878. His wife was a native of Kentucky, whose maiden name was Hines. All of these were members of the Baptist Church, and were people of the highest standing in the community in which they lived.
Charles E. Graham attended the common
schools of McCracken County until sufficiently advanced to enter a classical school, when he went to Clinton College, Clinton, Kentucky, and from there to the Smith Commercial College, where he graduated in five weeks. He then engaged in merchandising and in the tobacco business with his father in Grahamville until 1894, when he was elected clerk of the McCracken County Court. His election to this responsible position, when he was only twenty-two years of age, is perhaps the best evidence of his popularity and the highest testimonial of his good character. He has had charge of the office since January, 1895, and has demonstrated his ability to dis- charge its duties in a manner that is highly com- mended by the court and the members of the bar. He is the youngest county clerk in the state, and the office is one of the highest importance, requiring the assistance of two deputies.
Mr. Graham is a Democrat, and even at this early age is something of a politician, having ren- dered valuable services for his party and obtained his reward.
R ICHARD HENDERSON SOAPER, to- bacconist of Henderson, was born in Hen- derson County, Kentucky, February 7, 1836, and is the eldest son of William and Susan Fannie (Henderson) Soaper. He was educated in the private schools of Henderson; Shelbyville Col- lege and Kenyon College, Ohio. No means were spared to give him a thorough collegiate education. Upon his return from college he was given a position in his father's tobacco stemmery and in a very short time he mastered the science of handling the weed, and subsequently acquired an interest in the business. He remained with his father until 1867, when he established a house of his own. His father joined him in this enter- prise a little later and they continued together until his father's death in 1881, since which time he has continued the business in Henderson in partnership with his brother. In 1868 Mr. Soaper established a branch house in Uniontown, with a capacity of five hundred hogsheads per annum: and this, with his Henderson house, he has oper- ated most successfully, buying and shipping about one thousand hogsheads annually, for which the
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principal markets are Liverpool and London. In addition to his large tobacco interests in this coun- try and Europe, Mr. Soaper owns two valuable farms in the river bottom, one of five hundred and twenty-eight acres and the other of four hun- dred and twenty-six acres. These lands are noted for their productiveness of either corn or tobacco. His annual crops are very large, and so well sys- tematized are his farming operations that nothing but an overflow or an unprecedented drouth can prevent him from reaping a handsome income from this source every year.
His plant in Henderson was destroyed by fire February 10, 1894, but it was immediately rebuilt on even a larger scale than before. The present building is 160x75 feet, four stories high, two stories of brick and two of frame, with an L 80x65 feet. An average force of sixty-five or seventy hands are employed in this establishment.
His father, William Soaper, left a large and varied estate and Richard H. was made executor of his will. The property consisted of lands, houses and lots, moneys, bonds, stocks and other possessions, which were to be apportioned among nine devisees. It was a difficult undertaking, but Mr. Soaper settled this great estate without a com- plaint from anyone, another evidence that he is one of the ablest business men of the times.
He has acquired a wide knowledge of men and of the world, together with much valuable ex- perience, by his extensive travels at home and abroad. His career has been characterized by great energy, prudent care, superior judgment and undoubted integrity. He is devoted to his friends, is warm hearted and enjoys social life to the highest degree, but has never married. He is as regular as a clock in his habits, always prompt in keeping engagements and punctual to the minute in his attendance at his office; and with these characteristics it is not strange that he is pointed out by his neighbors as a model business man.
Mr. Soaper was raised a Whig, but he had not reached his twenty-first year, when that party was disbanded and he has never identified himself with any particular party or organization. Hc has no desire for office and would not accept one if tendered him by the unanimous vote of the
people. In politics, church and charity he is free to exercise his own will. He gives with a liberal hand, keeping his own counsel and obeying the dictates of his noble, generous heart.
His father, William Soaper, was born in Lou- doun County, Virginia, April 28, 1795, and was educated in the ordinary schools of that state and in Maryland. He came to Henderson in 1820, and with very limited means engaged in the saddlery business, frequently traveling through the country, but subsequently engaged in pur- chasing and stemming tobacco in partnership with Judge Thomas Fowles. This partnership was dissolved by mutual consent after some years and he continued in the same line of business, with most remarkable success, accumulating a very large fortune. He was married November 2, 1830, to Susan Fannie Henderson, whose natal day was May 9, 1813. Her father, Richard Hen- derson, was a nephew of Richard Henderson for whom the city and county of Henderson were named. Mrs. Soaper's father was married in North Carolina, March 6, 1807, to Annie Alves and came to Henderson in 1812.
T THOMAS SOAPER, one of the oldest and leading merchants of Henderson, second son of William and Susan Frances (Henderson) Soaper, was born in Henderson, Kentucky, Jan- uary 20, 1838. A sketch of his elder brother, Richard Henderson Soaper, with a brief history of the family, is given in this volume.
Thomas Soaper was reared in his native city, attending a private school taught by Professor McCulloch; and in 1856 went to Kenyon Col- lege at Gambier, Ohio, for one year, and then entered Hanover College, where he pursued his studies for another year.
Returning to Henderson in 1857, he was em- ployed as a clerk or salesman in the dry goods house of L. C. Dallam, and in 1859 purchased an interest in the establishment and was asso- ciated with Mr. Dallam, his brother-in-law, for sixteen years in the well-known house of Dallam & Soaper. In January, 1876, he purchased Mr. Dallam's interest, since which time the business has been conducted in the name of Thomas
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Soaper. In 1892 he succeeded Mr. Dallam as president of the Henderson County Bank.
Mr. Soaper is one of the most successful mer- chants of Henderson, a fact which is due to his remarkable ability as a business man, as well as to the reputation he has gained for honesty and sincerity. He is a man of strong convictions, warm in his friendships, but not ostentatious or demonstrative, a genial companion and a tender and devoted husband and father.
He is a faithful and devout member of the Epis- copal Church, in which he was confirmed in 1860. For more than thirty years he has been a member of the church vestry, of which he was treasurer for many years, and has been senior warden since 1876; has represented his church a number of times in the diocesan conventions, and has been one of the foremost men in all matters of interest to the parish; was superintendent of the Sunday school for many years; is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity ; and is a Democratic voter.
In addition to valuable real property in Hen- derson, including his elegant residence, he owns a farm of one hundred and ninety acres of rich bottom land in the county; another one of five hundred acres in the county and one of two hun- dred and five acres in Union County, which farms he cultivates through employes, under the direc- tion of a competent superintendent, the products of which afford a handsome income.
Mr. Soaper was married October 12, 1862, to Cora Cook, daughter of Dr. John B. Cook, for- merly of Huntsville, Alabama, and founder of the Henderson & McDowell Medical Societies. Mr. and Mrs. Soaper have two charming daugh- ters : Bettie Cook and Susan Henderson.
C OL. LORENZO D. HUSBANDS, a lead- ing attorney of Paducah, was born in Christian County, in December, 1823. His father, Harmon Husbands, son of Robert Husbands, was born in Rowan County, North Carolina, in August, 1776. He received the best education that the schools of his time could afford. He re- moved to Christian County in 1805 and was a pioneer farmer and surveyor. He removed to Ballard County in 1845 and died there in 1856. He was a Democrat until 1840 when he became a
Henry Clay Whig. His wife was Sarah Ren- shaw, daughter of a Mr. Renshaw, a farmer, who lived to a great age and died near Port Royal, Tennessee. They had five daughters and four sons, all of whom are deceased except Mrs. Fran- ces O. Lovelace, of Texas, and Col. L. D. Hus- bands, the subject of this sketch.
The progenitors of the family in this country were William and John Husband, wlio came from England and settled in Pennsylvania. The descendants went to North Carolina, where Rob- ert (father) was born. The name was originally Husband, and was changed to Husbands by Col. L. D. Husbands.
Col. L. D. Husbands was educated in private schools, great care being taken in his early train- ing, and commenced reading law in 1845 with James B. Husbands, in Paducah, and was admit- ted to the bar in that city in 1849, and has been a practitioner uninterruptedly for forty-seven years. He was in partnership with Col. G. H. Morrow from 1850 to 1852; with A. Boyd from 1854 until 1861; with William Husbands from 1873 to 1883, and with his nephew, James G. Hus- bands, since 1886.
In 1851 he was elected county attorney of Mc- Cracken County and served until 1855, when he was elected commonwealth attorney to fill out the unexpired term of Hon. Oscar Turner, and held that office for one year; was elected to the legislature from McCracken and Ballard Coun- ties, in 1859, and was present at all of the regular and called sessions during Governor Magoffin's administration, preceding the Civil War, since which time he has not been a candidate for any political or judicial office. He was a member of the City Council of Paducah and of the Board of School Trustees in the early '50's.
Col. Husbands was married the first time in 1851 to Hannah Singleton, who was born in Hines County, Mississippi, in 1834, and died in 1856. She was the mother of one son, Gip, born January 24, 1856, who is a farmer near Paducah. He was again married in 1859 to Mrs. Mary E. Bullock, widow of John M. Bullock, a lawyer, of Hickman. Her maiden name was Mary E. Cook, daughter of John W. Cook, a farmer of Christian County. She was born in Princeton, and was
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educated principally in Bethel Female College, Hopkinsville. They have three children: Cook Husbands is a bookkeeper in the American-Ger- man Bank of Paducah, married Mintie Fowler, daughter of Capt. J. Fowler, February, 1884; while the other children, Dow and Sallie, are un- married. The children were educated in the best private schools and are graduates. Cook Hus- bands attended the University of Virginia, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar and was for a short time associated with his father; was deputy postmaster for four years, under Pres- ident Cleveland's first administration, and was ap- pointed postmaster by President Harrison to fill a vacancy for a few months, on account of his efficiency and familiarity with the office, although he was a Democrat.
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