USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 32
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Louvisa Hunter Vansant (mother) was born in Greenville, Tennessee, and was educated in Mor- gan County, Kentucky. She was married to Wil- liam H. Vansant December 24, 1841. She sur- vived her husband twenty-three years, and died July 3, 1893.
Benjamin Franklin Hunter (grandfather) was born in Tennessee, in 1800; came to Morgan County, Kentucky, and was a farmer there until his death, in 1875. His wife's name was Eliza- beth Drake, who was born in Tennessee in 1802, and died in Morgan County in February, 1872. The Hunters were descendants of a highly re- spectable English family.
Rufus H. Vansant of Ashland was educated in Morgan County, under the careful and able train-
ing of his father; taught school in Elliott County from 1870 to 1880, inclusive; was deputy clerk of the Elliott Circuit Court from 1880 to 1886, and was elected clerk in 1886, serving until 1892, making twelve years of service in the circuit clerk's office. He was also master commissioner of the Elliott Circuit Court from 1884 to 1895.
During his service in the clerk's office, in 1881, he became interested in the lumber business at Leon, purchasing the lumber taken from the forests along the Little Sandy River. In this way he became an extensive lumber dealer and broker, and in April, 1894, he came to Ashland and es- tablished the firm of which he is the senior mem- ber and the energetic and capable manager.
He is a Democratic voter; held office through his connection with that party; and takes an ac- tive part in the important political campaigns, in which his fine business qualifications and tact make him a leader and a hard man to beat.
He is a Knight Templar and a Shriner, and a member of a lumber association, known as the "Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo."
Mr. Vansant was married December 3, 1879, to Anna V. Hannah, daughter of James W. Hannah of Elliott County. She was born in Kanawha County, West Virginia, September 12, 1862. They have two children living: Mexie, born April 17, 1892, and Harold Henderson, born Oc- tober 5, 1894. One child died in infancy.
JOHN C. SCHROLL, president of the New- port National Bank, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 20, 1845. His parents removed from that city to Newport in 1848, and he re- ceived his education in the common schools of the last named city.
After leaving school he was connected with the Monumental & Building Stone Works, and while interested in that enterprise studied law, attending the Cincinnati Law School for two years, graduating from that institution in 1871. He was duly admitted to the practice of law in the Kentucky courts, and was elected clerk of the circuit, chancery and criminal courts, which offices he held for three terms, or eighteen years; and at the end of the third term, declined further election. In July, 1892, he assisted in the organizing of
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the Newport National Bank, and was elected pres- ident of the new organization. The capital stock of the bank ($100,000) was subscribed in one day, showing the confidence the business men placed in Mr. Schroll and Mr. Waller Overton, who were to be respectively president and cashier. The new bank passed through the trying times of the panic of 1893 without a stain upon its credit, or a doubt in the public mind as to its ability to weather the storm. It is now one of the strong- est and most popular banking houses in the city. Mr. Schroll devotes almost his entire time to the affairs of the bank, and has developed marked ability as a financier.
He has been a leader in the Democratic party, but is now out of politics. He has recently en- gaged in the practice of law with Aubrey Barbour, a young man of marked ability, the firm name being Schroll & Barbour.
Mr. Schroll was married in 1870 to Martha Band of Newport. They have two sons and three daughters: Henry Clay, Thomas Benton, Esther, Mattie B., and Laura. John Randolph, the oldest son, died in 1886, aged fourteen years. Mrs. Schroll and the children are members of the Episcopal Church.
Mr. Schroll's father, Martin Schroll, is a native of Bavaria, but came to Cincinnati when he was quite young, and was married at that place in 1840 to Dorothea Fleckenstein. They removed to Newport in 1848, and Mrs. Dorothea Schroll died in 1854. Martin Schroll, now seventy-six years of age, has retired from the marble and building stone business, in which he was engaged for many years, and is living in Bellevue.
LFRED CARTER HAILEY, County Judge
A' of Boyd County, son of Carter and Eliza- beth (Drury) Hailey, was born in Greenup County, Kentucky, May 4, 1835.
His father, Carter Hailey, was a native of Vir- ginia, who removed to Scioto County, Ohio, in 1794; was in the War of 1812, serving one year as drum major and supervisor of the musicians; re-enlisted the second year of the war in com- pany with Andis Buford Hailey, who afterward went to Louisiana and became a cotton planter. After Mr. Hailey was mustered out of service he
removed to Greenup County, Kentucky, where he was a farmer until his death, December 25, 1838. He was a man of unusual learning for the times in which he lived. His father, John Hailey, was a native of Virginia, who went to Scioto County, Ohio, and was a farmer there until his death.
Elizabeth Drury Hailey (mother) was a native of Scioto County, Ohio, where she received an ex- cellent education. She was a member of the Methodist Church, and was well known and loved for her many good works. She died in Greenup County, February, 1847.
Judge Hailey was the youngest but one of nine children. He was educated in Catlettsburg, and learned the trade of house and sign painting and decorating, which business he followed indus- triously until his election as county judge in No- vember, 1894.
He was a gallant soldier in the Union army, enlisting September 27, 1862, in Company D, Thirty-ninth Kentucky Mounted Infantry, and did duty in the cavalry arm of the service through out the war. His regiment was in the command of General Julius White, for a time and later in General Boyle's command, and still later under Generals S. G. Burbridge and Hobson, and finally under General Palmer. He participated in the battles of King's Salt Works in Virginia, Wari- man's Shoals, Mount Sterling, Cynthiana and others, his regiment being confined principally to service in Kentucky.
He entered the army as a private; was elected first lieutenant by a vote of his company, and later captain; was post commissary on the staff of Colonel G. W. Gallup, who commanded the brigade for eighteen months; on March 2, 1865. he was detailed to take charge of a flag of truce and escort Miss Fannie Breckenridge, now Mrs. John Steele of Midway, Kentucky, and Mrs. J. Stoddard Johnston, to Richmond, Virginia; Miss Breckenridge to see her father, General John C. Breckenridge, and Mrs. Johnston her husband. It required about two weeks to make the journey, and there were twenty-five soldiers in the detail.
Judge Hailey has been an active member of the Odd Fellows' fraternity for thirty-two years, and was chosen Deputy Grand Master in 1886. He is an enthusiastic member of the Grand Army of
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the Republic, and has filled a number of positions of honor and trust in his post. He has always been interested in politics, first as a Whig and later as a Republican. Having no legal educa- tion or experience, his election to the office of county judge was due to his prominence and popularity in his party and to his sound judgment and proverbial honesty of purpose.
He was married January 25, 1857, to Luvina H. Friend, daughter of Charles Friend of Floyd County. Mrs. Hailey was born September 16, 1837, and was educated in Floyd County. They have four children living: William H., born De- cember 29, 1857; Mollie C., born February 5, 1860, wife of Frank Johnson of Gallipo- lis, Ohio; Stella, born May 30, 1868, wife of R. N. Braley of Charleston, West Virginia; Andis Buford, born July 30, 1873, and Curtis H., born 1861, died July 11, 1863.
R EVEREND FATHER EDMUND A. BURKE, pastor of the Annunciation Catholic Church, Paris, was born in the city of New York, June 4, 1850. His father, John Burke, removed to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, in 1854, and later to Boyle County, near Danville, where he was engaged in agricultural pursuits. His wife's maiden name was Ann Donnelly.
Father Burke, after receiving his primary schooling in Danville, entered St. Joseph's Col- lege at Bardstown, and took a classical course of five years. He then prepared for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary's of the West, and was or- dained October 18, 1878.
His first charge was at Florence, Kentucky, which he assumed the same year of his ordination, and remained there for ten years, doing a good work for the church and community.
He then went to Ludlow, where he was sta- tioned for five years, in which time he rendered valuable services; purchasing a fine parochial res- idence; founding the first English speaking Cath- olic school, which he placed in charge of the Sis- ters of Nazareth; erected a church edifice in In- dependence, and accomplished much other impor- tant work in the vicinity of his labors in this field. In 1894 he went to Paris to take the place made
vacant by the death of Father John Redman, who had been in charge of the church six years. Father Redman was an exceptionally fine man and accomplished a good work in his parish, and died in the prime of life, at the age of forty-six years.
The Annunciation Church has a large connec- tion, embracing one hundred and seventy-five families, and has a parochial school in which pu- pils are prepared for college. This is one of sev- eral schools in the diocese that received special mention at the World's Fair Catholic Exhibit of Educational Progress. Father Burke is deeply interested in this school, which is taught by the Sisters of Nazarethı, and has an average attend- ance of about one hundred pupils. The school room in the rear of the church was inadequate to the demands of the growing parish, and Father Burke completed last September a magnificent new school building costing five thousand dol- lars. He is especially diligent in matters of edu- cation, in which he has already attained most satisfactory results.
Father Burke is a man of fine literary attain- ments, amiable in disposition, and a fine speaker. He is an enthusiastic member of the Catholic Knights of America and of the Young Men's In- stitute.
W ILLIAM SLAUGHTER FANT, banker, miller, farmer and all-round business man of Flemingsburg, one of the wealthiest men in northern Kentucky, was born in Fleming Coun- ty, May 21, 1830.
His father, Nelson Fant, was born in Stafford County, Virginia, April 2, 1777; married Mary P. White in 1810; came to Fleming County in 1813, and spent the remainder of his days in that county; was extensively engaged in farming and grain milling; was baptized and received into the Christian Church by Elder John Smith, and was a Whig of decided convictions.
Mary P. White (mother) was born, educated and married in Stafford County, Virginia. She was the mother of four children: Louise, Juliet, James M. and William S.
James Fant (grandfather) was a native and life-
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time resident of Stafford County, Virginia; a farmer and member of the Baptist Church, a man of fine intelligence and splendid character.
Rhoda White (maternal grandfather) was also a native of Stafford County, Virginia; a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and a member of the Baptist Church. He married Mary Ficklen of the same county, in which he lived and died.
William Slaughter Fant, the descendant of these patriots of Revolutionary times, was educated in private schools in Fleming County, and began a most successful business career at the age of six- teen, when he embarked in merchandising in Sherburne as a member of the firm of Garfield & Fant. His partner was a cousin of President Garfield and represented the county in the con- stitutional convention of 1849-50, and was a mem- ber of Congress from Washington Territory. He married Juliet Fant, sister of William S., and was a teacher and preacher in Fleming County, and a very able man.
The partnership of Garfield & Fant continued about two years, and in 1850 Mr. Fant undertook the management of his father's milling business at Sherburne, which at that time was not in a promising condition. He placed it on a good footing, extending the facilities and soon devel- oped into a successful manager. He removed to Flemingsburg in 1869, where he has since been living; but his business has expanded beyond the limits of the county and state, and his various interests are so numerous and extensive that when asked to enumerate them, he admitted that he could hardly do so.
He established a mill at Pleasant Valley, Nich- olas County, in 1867, now in operation; the roller mills at Flemingsburg in 1869; was owner of a mill in Mt. Sterling for a short time; became interested as a large stockholder in, and vice- president of the banking house of Pearce & Fant, in Flemingsburg in 1876; has acquired many hundreds of acres of farming lands in Kentucky, Indiana and Texas; owning many tracts in Flem- ing, Bath and Nicholas Counties, all of which are cultivated under his own management. In Kentucky, his principal crops are grain and tobac- co; in Texas his business is principally stock- raising.
With all of these diversified interests, he keeps them well in hand and unencumbered, so that it will be seen that from a small beginning with his father, whose business affairs were in a bad shape, he has acquired great wealth, which he is unable, and does not care to compute.
Mr. Fant united with the Christian Church at the age of twenty-seven years, and a few days later, in 1858, he was made an elder, in which relation to the church he stands to-day. This fact, together with his well-known business in- tegrity, is a sufficient testimonial of his excellent character.
Politically his affiliations are with the Republi- can party.
Mr. Fant and Susan E. Saunders were united in marriage April 14, 1853. She is a daughter of Oliver and Maria (Burns) Saunders; was born near Sharpsburg, Bath County, April 4, 1832, and received a good education in the best private schools of her native county.
Of their children only four are living: Lula, widow of William Warford, deceased; Nelson, married Mollie Knight, and is living in Flemings- burg; Olive, daughter, living in Flemingsburg; Edwin L., married Susan McMullen and died at the age of thirty-three years. William Saunders Fant, in his twentieth year, is bookkeeper in Flem- ingsburg Roller Mills.
Oliver Saunders, Mrs. Fant's father, was a soldier in the War of 1812.
REEN BERRY SWANGO, Register of the G I Land Office at Frankfort, one of the best known and most prominent men of Eastern Ken- tucky, son of Stephen and Caroline (Trimble) Swango, was born in Wolfe County (then Mor- gan), Kentucky, February 8, 1846. Stephen Swango was a native and a resident of the same county until his death, which occurred in 1877, at the age of fifty-nine years. He was extensive- ly engaged in farming, and was one of the best business men in his section of the state. He was a member and elder of the Christian Church, was kind and liberal to the poor and stood high as a citizen. He was a Democrat of the old school, but not a politician.
Abraham Swango (grandfather) was born in
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that part of Bourbon County which is now Powell County; was a farmer by occupation; and died in 1863 at the old Swango homestead in Wolfe County, at the age of seventy-three years. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and was a soldier in the War of 1812, and was with General Jackson in the battle of New Orleans. His wife, Deborah Ogden, was born in Wolfe County, Ken- tucky.
Samuel Swango (great-grandfather) was born on the farm owned by George Washington, near Mt. Vernon, Virginia, and came to Kentucky in 1785, or about that date, and located on a farm in that part of Fayette County which is now in Powell County, where he continued to reside for about twenty-five years, when he removed to Wolfe County, and died at an advanced age. He married Betsy Banion of Virginia. His father, Abraham Swango (great-great-grandfather), was a native of Germany, who immigrated to this coun- try in the year 1741, when fourteen years of age, with his father, William Swango (great-great- great-grandfather), and located in Virginia, near Mt. Vernon, where his father died soon after his arrival. His mother died during the voyage and was buried at sea. Abraham Swango was a wagon-maker by trade. He married Alsie Pyles, a lady of Irish birth, who resided in the neighbor- hood of Mt. Vernon. He was a lessee on Gen- eral Washington's farm; was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and removed to Kentucky in 1785.
Caroline Trimble Swango (mother) was born in 1817 in the village of Hazel Green, which was then Montgomery County, Kentucky. She now resides at the old homestead, now in Wolfe County. She has been a consistent member of the Christian Church for fifty years.
Green Berry Swango grew to manhood on the farm on which he now resides in Wolfe County and received his education in the common schools, supplemented by a course in Stillwater Seminary in that county, of which institution his uncle was principal. Since leaving school he has always been engaged in farming, and now owns a part of the old homestead, which was originally a tract of fourteen hundred acres. At the early age of fifteen years, in 1861, Judge Swango joined the
Fifth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, known as the "Ragamuffins," under the command of Gen- eral John S. Williams of Mt. Sterling, H. C. Swango, an uncle, being captain of Company I of this regiment. After a service of twelve months the Fifth Kentucky Regiment was disbanded and he re-enlisted in the Tenth Kentucky Cavalry and served until the close of the war. He was wound- ed at the battle of Cynthiana in June, 1864, re- ceiving a gunshot wound in the head, and was left on the field for dead. This was the closest call he had during his long service in the Confed- erate army. Judge Swango had one uncle and four cousins of the same name who were killed in the service of the Confederacy. During the last several months of the war Judge Swango was corporal and second sergeant, but most of the time he did duty as a private soldier.
In the fall of 1865 he returned to his home in Wolfe County, where he settled down to farming, but has been more or less engaged in mercantile enterprises also. He has always taken an active part in politics, and is one of the most influential and prominent Democrats in Eastern Kentucky. He has filled many positions of trust and respon- sibility, having served as school commissioner of his county for two years, justice of the peace for four years and master commissioner of the Cir- cuit Court of his county for six years. In the Legislature of 1877-8 he was chosen doorkeeper of the House of Representatives; in 1882 he was elected county judge of Wolfe County; was re- elected in 1886 and held this office for eight con- secutive years. In the Constitutional Convention of 1890-1 Judge Swango ably represented the Counties of Montgomery, Menifee, Powell and Wolfe, and took a leading part in its deliberations. Besides the many political and other positions which he has held in his county he was chairman of the Democratic Central Committee for eight years. In 1891 he was elected register of the land office of Kentucky, in which office he served until the expiration of his term, January, 1896.
Judge Swango was married in 1869 to Eliza J. Young, daughter of Hugh Young of Tazewell County, Virginia, and they have three sons: James H., Charles S. and John Morton. James H. represented Center College in the state oratori-
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cal contest, and won the first prize. In 1893 he represented the state in the international oratori- cal contest, and carried off the honors, receiving the votes of five of the six judges. In 1891, when only twenty years of age, he canvassed the Tenth Congressional District, making public speeches for the Democrats, and meeting the representa- tives of the Populist and Republican parties in the discussion of the political questions of the day.
Judge Swango, with the assistance of two other gentlemen, organized the Hazel Green Academy, and served as chairman of the Board of Trustees for two years. His children were partially edu- cated in this excellent institution.
W ILLIAM HOPKINSON COX, Mayor of Maysville and one of the leading business men and capitalists of that city, is a descendant of an old and honored English family and is en- dowed with many of the sterling qualities and strong traits of character for which his ancestors have been distinguished for generations. He was born in Maysville, Kentucky, October 22, 1856, and is a son of Elizabeth R. (Newman) and Wil- liam Hopkinson Cox.
George Cox (grandfather) was born in London, England, in 1791. He came to America and after stopping in Cincinnati, Ohio, a short time, re- moved to Lexington, Kentucky, in 1817, and two years later, after having prospected in Cincinnati, Lexington and Maysville, concluded that Mays- ville would eventually be the largest place of the three, and accordingly located permanently in that city. In April, 1819, he opened a retail dry goods store within a square of the present site of the store of his grandsons. It was not long until he had built up a flourishing trade, succeeding be- yond his greatest expectations. He continued in business until he had amassed a splendid for- tune, and was always satisfied with his choice of Maysville as the best city for a business location He died in 1881, in the ninety-first year of his age. The family name was DeCaux, originally, and the ancestors were Normans, tracing back their relationship to William the Conqueror. (See sketch of George Cox in this volume.)
William Hopkinson Cox, son of George Cox, and father of the present mayor of Maysville, was
born in Maysville, and at the age of twelve years began to sell goods in his father's store, and was associated with him as long as his father con- tinued in business, succeeding him after his death. He was for many years vice-president of the State National Bank and was one of the most enterpris- ing citizens, being thoroughly identified with the best interests of the city and enthusiastic in all measures for its advancement. He died in 1885, in the sixty-fifth year of his age; and was suc- ceeded in business by his sons, William H. and George Lissant Cox, now the leading merchants of Maysville.
Elizabeth R. Newman Cox (mother) was born in London, England, and was a daughter of Rev. William H. Newman, an English gentleman and a minister of the Church of England, who came to America early in the present century, and died in 1852.
William Hopkinson Cox, the subject of this sketch, was educated in the private and select schools of Maysville, and at the age of fifteen was thrown upon his own resources, and follow- ing his father's example, he began his business career as a clerk in the dry goods store. He was thus employed until the death of his father in 1885, when he became a joint owner of the estab- lishment with his brother; and, notwithstanding his large investments in many other enterprises, he retains his interest in the house of his father and his father's father, and feels a commendable pride in sustaining its splendid reputation.
During the last ten years Mr. Cox has been extensively engaged in building houses and has probably done more than any other individual citizen in improving the city. The Cox Block, on the corner of Third and Market streets, one of the finest buildings in the city, is an example of his enterprise, and would be an ornament to any city. In the rear of this magnificent structure he has built a block of thirteen handsome residences equal in construction and appearance to the finest dwelling houses in the city.
He is identified with almost every movement for the advancement of Maysville; has been presi- dent of the State National Bank since 1889, sic- ceeding John T. Wilson, deceased; was a direc- tor in the Electric Light & Gas Company, and is a
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third owner of the Electric Street Railway, one of the first lines in that section of the state, an enter- prise which was projected and built by him in con- nection with Robert A. Cochran and Newton Cooper.
Mr. Cox has never had any desire for political preferment, but having the welfare of the city at heart, and desiring to accomplish some changes that were needed in the city government, he yield- ed to the solicitation of his fellow-citizens and accepted the nomination and was elected mayor in November, 1893. As the chief executive of the city he has taken a great interest in its progress, and has brought into requisition the qualifications of an upright and capable business man, greatly to the advantage of the public whom he serves.
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