USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 31
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Henry Pendleton (maternal grandfather) was a native of Louisa County, Virginia, and owned a large plantation in that county, and was one of the most popular and highly respected citizens.
Alexander C. Tompkins was educated in Char- lottesville and in the Albemarle Military Institute,
in which he spent two years, finishing his school- ing at the age of eighteen years. He gave his at- tention to farming for a while betore coming to Henderson, Kentucky, in 1859, where he was similarly engaged until in the spring of 1862, when he returned to Virginia and enlisted in the Twenty-third Regiment Virginia Infantry, in which he served as a sergeant under General Robert E. Lee and took an active part in all of the engagements in Virginia, including the battles of Kernstown, Cross Keys, Port Republic, seven days' battle around Richmond, the second battle of Manassas, the taking of Harper's Ferry and the battle of Antietam. He was transferred to the Second Regiment Virginia Cavalry, commanded by General Fitzhugh Lee, having been promoted to lieutenant. In this regiment he took part in the engagements at Kelly's Ford, Chancellors- ville, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor, and was in a number of battles in the vicinity of Richmond and Petersburg. At Appomattox Court House his regiment cut its way through the lines of the opposing army, and reaching Lynch- burg, disbanded April 10, 1865.
After the war was over, he resumed his former occupation of a farmer in Nelson County, Vir- ginia; and subsequently returned to Henderson, Kentucky, and engaged in farming in that county until March, 1867, when he removed to Daviess County, where he owned a large tract of farming land, which he cultivated mostly in tobacco, and on which he built a large stemmery and prepared tobacco for the European market.
In 1876 he removed to Owensboro and en- gaged in dealing in tobacco on an extensive scale, which proved a fortunate venture and resulted in the establishment of his present large stemmery, which he has conducted with unvarying success. Mr. Tompkins is one of the most popular busi- ness men in Owensboro; of a warm social na- ture, liberal in his views and charitable towards others; generous and public spirited in all mat- ters concerning the city's advancement; fond of his home; devoted to his church and a hustler in business and politics.
Strictly speaking, he is not a politician, but his personal popularity and his splendid business qualifications have led him into official positions,
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rather against his inclinations, and certainly to the detriment of his personal business. In 1882-4 he served as a member of the City Council, and he has been a member of the School Board for eight years. In 1893 he was elected to the legislature by the Democratic party; was re-elected in 1895, and is the present able representative from Daviess County.
Mr. Tompkins was married June 12, 1868, to Elizabeth Mary Venable, daughter of Samuel Lewis and Virginia (Bransford) Venable; she was born November 29, 1844, received a superior edu- cation, and is one of the most refined and highly cultured ladies in Owensboro society. Mr. and Mrs. Tompkins are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in the work of the church they are no less active than he is in the world of politics and business.
T THOMAS H. ARMSTRONG, a merchant of
Augusta, son of James Wesley and Eliza Jane (Marshall) Armstrong, was born in Augusta, Kentucky, November 19, 1858. He was educated principally in the old Augusta College, and after leaving school engaged in the mercantile busi- ness with his father and has continued in the same line until the present time, taking his father's place not only in the wholesale grocery establish- ment, but in the affairs of public interest and in the hearts of the people.
Mr. Armstrong was married February 16, 1886, to Tena Reynolds, daughter of ex-Congressman William Reynolds of Bracken County. Mrs. Armstrong was born in 1858, and was educated under the careful teaching of Professor Bluett of Augusta College, and is one of the most accom- plished ladies of the city in which she resides. Mr. and Mrs. Armstrong have three children: Amy Lee, James W. and Ada.
James Wesley Armstrong (father) was born in West Union, Ohio, February 14, 1822, and was a graduate of the old Methodist College of Augus- ta, and subsequently went to Transylvania Uni- versity and graduated from the law department of that institution, but did not become a practi- tioner. He returned to Augusta and engaged in the manufacture of carriage hardware, and later in the wholesale grocery business, in which he 12
continued until his death. He had a very exten- sive trade and sold goods throughout the north- eastern and central portions of the state in com- petition with similar establishments in larger cities. He was deputy county clerk for a long term of years, and served his city in the Board of Councilmen for four years. He was a Democrat in politics, but his popularity was confined to no party organization.
He had more friends and wielded a greater influence and power in his county than any man who ever lived in it. One of his chief charac- teristics, for which he was loved and honored, was his liberality with his ample means, in be- stowing charity and helping any cause which he believed to be for the general good of the community. He dispensed his charity with a lavish hand, and it was said that he literally threw money away, while he considered that he was laying up treasures in heaven. During the late Civil war, his sympathies were with the southern people, and he contributed large sums of money to help the cause of the Confederacy.
As an instance of his integrity and his loyalty to the South, the following incident is related: He was the patentee of a breech-loading gun for which the Remingtons had made him an offer and he went to New York to close the trade. The contract was drawn up by Samuel J. Tilden, and the consideration to be paid Mr. Armstrong was $150,000 and a royalty of fifty cents on each gun manufactured. After consideration he said it must be stipulated in the contract that no guns should be sold to the authorities of the United States government. Remington said he would not agree to this stipulation, as he thought that would be his only chance of making any money, to which Mr. Armstrong replied that he would not sell guns to kill rebels with, and so the sale was declared off. The authorities on the other side could not purchase his invention for lack of money, and thus, for the sake of principle, he refused a handsome fortune.
There was mourning in many households when James Wesley Armstrong died on the 13th of October, 1877, and the high esteem in which he was held was testified by the presence of the largest concourse in attendance at his funeral
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obsequies that has ever been witnessed in Brack- en County.
William Armstrong (grandfather) was born in Rapahilla, Ireland, March 1I, 1780, and came to America when fifteen years of age, arriving in New York June 22, 1795. There is no record available concerning his brother Johnson and sis- ters, whose names were Mary, Jane and Margaret; but his brother John settled in Maysville and James in Augusta.
On the 4th day of August, 1805, William Arm- strong was married, near Washington, Kentucky, to Sarah Lee, by Rev. Caleb Jarvis Taylor. Sarah Lee was born in Virginia, August 22, 1787, and was closely related to "Light Horse Harry" Lee and General Robert E. Lee of the Confederate army. There were born to William and Sarah Lee Armstrong eleven children, all of whom were born in West Union, Ohio, except the youngest, who was born in Cincinnati:
Johnson, born May 23, 1806.
Mary Ann, born September 29, 1807; married to C. A. Campbell at Cincinnati, September II, 1827, by Rev. Dr. Rooter; married the second time to L. Tomlinson at Ripley, in 1843.
Margaret, born August 26, 1809; married to S. S. Shropshire, by Rev. William Page, March 7, 1827, at West Union.
Jane Lee, born August 23, 1811; married to George Colling, September, 1830, at West Union, by Rev. I. Meek.
Sarah Anne, born June 1I, 1813; married to William Reynolds, at West Union, by Rev. G. W. Walker; married the second time to C. E. Dodd- ridge at Kanawha.
Matilda G., born August 22, 1815; married to Dr. J. P. Hamilton, at West Union, by Rev. G. W. Walker.
William McKendree, born July 15, 1818; mar- ried to Amanda Fitzallen Shaw, at Ripley, Ohio, by Rev. W. M. D. Ryan, August 10, 1843.
Caroline S., born April 1I, 1820; married to G. W. Pegman, at Ripley, Ohio, April 5, 1838.
James Wesley (father), born February 14, 1822; married to Eliza J. Marshall, at Augusta, Ken- tucky, November 18, 1846.
Eliza M., born June 27, 1825; married to Hor- ace Elmaker, October 10, 1843.
Julia O., born February 29, 1828; married E. W. Merriwether, at Augusta, Kentucky, Novem- ber 28, 1844.
William Armstrong (grandfather) was a dry goods merchant in West Union, Ohio, and amassed a large fortune. He was an exemplary citizen and a pillar in the Methodist Church.
Eliza Jane Marshall Armstrong (mother) was born in Augusta, Kentucky, March 1, 1824, and was a graduate of a college or classical school in Sewickly, Pennsylvania. She was one of the organizers of the Baptist congregation in Augus- ta, and was always associated with that church. She was the mother of nine children, eight of whom are living. She was past seventy years of age at the time of her death, August 9, 1894.
Martin Marshall (maternal grandfather) was born in Virginia, September II, 1777, and died in Augusta, September 19, 1853. He was one of the first settlers in Augusta; a lawyer and in every way worthy of the great name of Marshall. He was married March 16, 1803, to Matilda Talia- ferro, who was born in Virginia, September 30, 1787, and died in Augusta, March 1, 1843.
JOHN HELM MALLORY, Mayor of Bowl- J ing Green, Kentucky, son of Robert T. and Sarah (Barner) Mallory, was born in Bowling Green, July 31, 1844. He was educated in the city schools and at the age of seventeen, in 1861, he was employed in a drug store as a clerk and served in that capacity until 1867, when he en- gaged in the drug business on his own account. He very soon established a good reputation and a profitable business, in which he has continued without interruption until the present time. In the spring of 1894 he admitted to partnership Mr. J. H. Barclay, who had been his clerk for seven years, under the firm name of Mallory & Bar- clay, and this house is now, unquestionably, the leading drug store in the Park City.
John H. Mallory is now serving his fifth term as mayor of Bowling Green, having been first elected to that office in 1875; after serving one term was elected for two consecutive terms of two years each, the time of office expiring in 1881. He was again elected mayor in 1893 for a term of two years and was re-elected in 1894
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under the new constitution for four years. His administration of the affairs of the city has been commended in the highest degree by all classes of citizens, a fact which is fully attested by his frequent election to the mayoralty. He has been connected with the city government since 1870, having been a member of the City Council and commissioner of the sinking fund when he was not serving in the higher capacity of mayor.
Mr. Mallory is interested in a number of busi- ness enterprises and is president of the Standard Construction Company of Bowling Green, and is vice president of the Hopkinsville Water Com- pany.
He has been twice married; first in 1866 to Belle Potter, daughter of P. J. Potter of Bowling Green. She died in 1887, and in 1893 he married his present wife, who was Blanche Lawrence of Grenada, Mississippi.
Robert T. Mallory (father) was a native of Vir- ginia who removed to Bowling Green when he was a young man and married Sarah Barner. Both of them died in 1849, leaving their boy an orphan at the tender age of five years. With the aid of kind friends in his boyhood, he was en- abled to secure a good education, and it may be said that he has had to make his own way in the world since he was a mere child. The habit of self reliance formed in youth has served him well in business and in official life, and he is to-day one of the most honored and respected citizens of the city which owes much to him for its growth and prosperity.
ISAAC HERSCHEL GOODNIGHT, attorney at law of Franklin, son of Isaac and Lucinda (Billingsby) Goodnight, born in Allen County, Kentucky, January 31, 1849. His father was born in Lincoln County, Kentucky.
Jacob Goodnight (grandfather), whose wife was a Miss Hoover, was a native of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
Michael Goodnight (great-grandfather), a na- tive of Germany, came to America during colo- nial days, leaving Germany on account of relig- icus proscription. He first located in Virginia and later removed to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and was a member of the Mecklenburg
convention which adopted, in 1775, the first declaration of independence, much of which is engrafted into the Jeffersonian declaration. He had two sons who were soldiers in the Revolu- tion. He moved to Kentucky in 1780, and set- tled at Harlan's Station, now in Mercer County. He was killed by Indians on one of his return business trips to North Carolina. He had twen- ty-four children. His son Isaac was born in the old fort near Harrodsburg, on January 1, 1782, being the first male white child born in Kentucky. This distinction is challenged by the heirs of Judge Logan, who was born at Harrodsburg, December 8, 1786.
Lucinda Billingsby Goodnight (mother) was born in Tennessee and was a daughter of John Billingsby, who came to Kentucky from east Ten- nessee and located in that part of Warren which is now Simpson County. His wife was Mary Doak, whose family was of Scotch-Irish origin.
Isaac H. Goodnight grew to manhood on the farm in Allen County and in 1870, at the age of twenty-one, removed with his parents to Franklin, where he has lived continually since. He was schooled in literature and law at Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee, graduating from that institution in 1873. Returning to his home in Franklin, he read law while performing the duties of deputy circuit clerk and was admitted to the bar in 1874. He soon took rank among the leading lawyers of his section. His ability was recognized by the people of his county and in 1877 he was chosen to represent them in the legis- lature. Although one of the youngest members of that body, he was one of the most useful and active and attracted attention throughout the state. In 1888 he was elected to Congress from the Third district and was re-elected in 1890 and in 1892. After serving three terms, he declined a re-election on account of ill health and because his absence from home was detrimental to his legal business, which is now more remunerative than the compensation of a congressman. His service in Congress was marked by ability. His work on the judiciary committee was especially valuable, he being third on the list of that com- mittee at the time of his retirement.
Mr. Goodnight was united in marriage, March
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12, 1879, to Ella Hoy, daughter of Thomas J. and Lucy Milliken Hoy, natives of Simpson County. The only child of this union is a son, Hoy Goodnight. The home of this excellent fam- ily is one of the finest residences in Franklin, where hospitality, in the old and true meaning of the word, is dispensed in genuine Kentucky style.
Mr. Goodnight has steadily maintained his position at the head of his profession in southern Kentucky. He has thrown aside all political am- bition, and his present aim is to devote his life to his profession, for which he is eminently equipped and to which he is thoroughly devoted.
G EORGE MILTON ELAM, a teacher of teachers, a leading institute instructor, founder and principal of the Blaine Normal School at Blaine, Kentucky, was born in Scott County, Virginia, July 11, 1856. His education was commenced in the common schools of Vir- ginia, after which he went to the high school in Nicholasville, in that state. He then attended Hamilton Institute in Washington County, Vir- ginia, and later the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, and still later Central Normal College, Danville, Indiana, taking the teacher's course, in which he graduated in 1893, also a course in pedagogy, graduating in August, 1894. These different courses were not taken one direct- ly following another, and in the meantime he was following the profession of the teacher, and held teachers' institutes in different parts of the state and in adjoining counties in West Virginia, Vir- ginia, Ohio and Tennessee.
He taught six years in Virginia, commencing in the spring of 1872, when he was sixteen years of age; taught one year in Hamilton Institute, and the remaining time in the common schools. He came to Johnson County in 1879 and was a teacher in the public school for two years. He then removed to Blaine, Lawrence County, where he has been employed as teacher for fifteen years, founding, in the meantime, the Blaine Normal School, an institution which by his industry and skill in training teachers for their profession has proven a great success. A large number of teachers in Lawrence County have attended this
school, deriving great benefit; and many from other counties in the state and from other states have availed themselves of its advantages. It is conceded to be one of the best institutions for the training and education of teachers, and has done more than similar schools for the advance- ment and improvement of the educational system in eastern Kentucky.
Mr. Elam is thoroughly devoted to the cause of education. The same energy and ability ap- plied to another profession or to mercantile pur- suits would undoubtedly bring greater pecuniary results, but he cares not so much for the monetary compensation he receives as for. the good that he may accomplish in the education and enlight- enment of the people of his adopted state.
Professor Elam has filled the office of county examiner with ability for eight years, raising the standard of the qualifications of teachers materi- ally and helping them to attain to that high standard. He was superintendent of the county schools at one time, in which capacity he did much valuable work. He has been quite suc- cessful in all of his professional work, as a man must be who loves his vocation.
His success in establishing a Normal School where one was so much needed, and in training others, making professional teachers of many who had merely taught school as a makeshift while waiting for something better to turn up, is a source of gratification and justifiable pride to him; and for this work he enjoys the esteem and gratitude of all intelligent and worthy citizens of his county.
He is a member of the Methodist Church, a Mason and Odd Fellow, and in all of these he is an active and helpful worker.
Professor Elam was married August 29, 1879, to Rebecca E. Bond, daughter of William E. Bond. She was born in Wise County, Virginia, June 7, 1857. Her education commenced in Virginia and was continued in Kentucky and completed in the high school at Flat Gap, Ken- tucky. She taught school for three years in John- son County, and has been a willing and able help- meet in her husband's life work. They have five children living, and two died in infancy:
William N., deceased; Charley M., Martha,
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George W., deceased; Harry B., Nancy C. and James K. Elam.
William Elam (father) was born in Russell County, Virginia, July 4, 1826; married Nancy Dingus in 1854; was a farmer in Scott County; a member of the Methodist Church and a citizen of excellent repute. He died in February, 1888, and is buried at the old homestead in Scott Coun- ty, Virginia.
Nimrod Elam (grandfather) was born in Rus- sell County, Virginia, where he lived and died. His wife's name was Nancy Easterling.
Nancy Dingus Elam (mother), daughter of George Dingus, was born December 25, 1836, and died June 20, 1890.
S AMUEL B. MILLS, M. D., one of the oldest and most highly respected physicians of Lou- isville, son of William P. and Mary E. (Moore) Mills, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, March 9, 1828.
His father, William P. Mills, was a native of Worcester County, Maryland, who came to Ken- tucky in 1815 and located in Jefferson County, about fifteen miles from Louisville, where he re- sided until about two years before his death, when he removed to Vigo County, Indiana. He belonged to the Maryland militia and did active duty in guarding the coast in the war of 1812, having been called out at the time Washington City was fired by the enemy. He was a patriotic, honorable, and upright citizen, and reached the good old age of four score years and one. His mother was a Miss Porter, sister of Dr. James Porter, who was a student of the celebrated Dr. Rush of Philadelphia and one of the signers of the declaration of independence and also a near relative of Commodore Porter of the United States navy.
William Mills (grandfather), also a native of Maryland, came to Kentucky in 1815, when Lou- isville was a very small town. He participated in the closing scenes of the Revolutionary war. He was a resident of Jefferson County from the time of his arrival with the early settlers until he was eighty-six years of age, when he died. His an- cestors were of English extraction.
Mary E. Mills, mother of Dr. Mills, was a na-
tive of Jefferson County and died at the age of twenty-four years, when the subject of this bio- graphical sketch was two years of age.
Thomas Moore (grandfather) was a native of Delaware, who came to Kentucky very early in the present century and purchased land near Lou- isville, upon which he spent the remainder of his days. He was seventy-six years old at the time of his deatlı.
Samuel B. Mills was educated in the schools of his native county, principally at an academy in Jeffersontown. After completing his literary schooling, he sold dry goods for a Jeffersontown merchant for two years; and in 1850 he began to read medicine in that village under Dr. John S. Seaton, a very able and popular physician, and one of the most cultured gentlemen of that day; and after graduating from the medical depart- ment of the University of Louisville in 1852, Dr. Mills joined his distinguished preceptor in the practice of medicine in Jeffersontown and vicinity. This partnership continued for three years, when Dr. Mills bought his partner out and continued the practice in that vicinity until 1865. From 1861 to 1864 inclusive he was teacher of anatomy, phy- siology and hygiene in a school at Jeffersontown. In 1865 he removed to Louisville, where he was by no means a stranger, and at once secured a lucrative practice among the best people in the city. He has devoted his time strictly to his pro- fessional work, and has never undertaken any- thing that would in the least interfere with his attention to his patients. He was a member of the Board of Health, in which he did faithful and valuable service for many years. For some years he was a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, a medical organization for the regulation of the code of practice in the city; but he is not now a inember of any medical as- sociation. He has for more than forty years been a member of the Christian Church, and for more than twenty years an elder in the church; has for many years been engaged in benevolent enter- prises; has been for twelve years one of the phy- sicians of the Christian Church Widows' and Or- phans' Home of Kentucky, of which he has been a inember of the board from its organization.
Dr. Mills was married in 1854 to Susan Herr,
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daughter of Honorable John Herr, who at one time represented Jefferson County in the Ken- tucky legislature. Mrs. Mills died in 1868, leav- ing two sons and two daughters: Susan M., wife of J. M. Allan of Louisville; Arthur P. Mills; Worden S. Mills; and Eva, wife of Dr. S. S. Foss of Jefferson County.
Dr. Mills was married again in 1892 to Bettie Embry of Louisville, who is a native of Madison County, Kentucky.
R UFUS HUMPHREY VANSANT, of the lumber firm of R. H. Vansant & Company, and a popular business man of Ashland, was born in Morgan County, Kentucky, September 8, 1852.
His father, William H. Vansant, was born in Russell County, Virginia, October 15, 1819, and was educated in Scott County, Virginia. He came to Kentucky when he was a young man and taught school in Morgan (now Elliott) County for five years, and was subsequently en- gaged in stock trading in Eastern Kentucky. He was a man of fine literary attainments, very highly respected for his manly character and sound views upon questions of public interest; was a Union Democrat during the war, and wielded a health- ful influence among his neighbors. He died in Elliott County, April 29, 1870, and is buried near Martinsburg. His father was one of the early settlers in Pennsylvania, who migrated to Mary- land, Virginia and finally to Russell County, Ken- tucky, where he died.
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