Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 35

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 35

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Mr. Powell has been twice married, first to Mary Livesay, a native of Virginia, who died in October, 1856. There were four children by this marriage: Elias L., Louisa, Mary and Nancy. His second wife, to whom he was married De-

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cember 17, 1857, was Melinda E. Gibson, daugh- ter of James Gibson, a prosperous and successful farmer of Henderson County, whose father, Ber- ryman Gibson, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution. The children by this union are Martha Christina, Burnett M., Anna B., Adah Lee, Jessie A., Melinda J. and Thomas Hart Powell.

JAMES E. PEPPER of Lexington, one of the best known distillers of fine whiskies in the world, whose brands have probably been more universally advertised than any other of the Ken- tucky distilleries, is a son of the late General Oscar and Annette (Edwards) Pepper, and was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, May 18, 1850.

General Oscar Pepper was also a native of Woodford County, where he was for many years a prominent distiller, in addition to which he owned and cultivated a large farm and was en- gaged in raising fine stock. He was a prominent Democrat and was a general in the Old State Militia. He died in 1865, at the age of fifty-five years. His wife is still living in Woodford County. Her father was a farmer in Fauquier County, Vir- ginia.

Elijah Pepper (grandfather) was a native of Cul- peper County, Virginia, who came to Woodford County, Kentucky, in the year 1780. He erected the first distillery in the state and continued to operate it until he was succeeded by his son Oscar. He was also an extensive farmer and land owner in Woodford County. The Pepper family is an old and honored one whose members were prom- inent in the colonial days of Virginia. The Coun- ty of Culpeper was named in honor of Sir John Culpeper, the progenitor of the Pepper family in America, but the name was changed by Elijah Culpeper to Pepper after his removal to Ken- tucky.

Culpeper County, Virginia, was organized in 1748, its territory embracing the present Counties of Culpeper, Madison and Rappahannock; and there was a long controversy involving the title to several millions of acres of land granted by King James to Sir John Culpeper and others whose rights Sir John had purchased. Lord Fairfax mar- ried a daughter of Sir John Culpeper and became

the owner of the "Northern Neck" of Virginia. The seventh son of Sir John was doubtless the ancestor of the subject of this sketch, who is there- fore a descendant of the English nobility.

James E. Pepper was reared in his native county and after leaving the common schools he went to B. B. Sayre's Institute in Frankfort and was pre- pared for college, but the death of his father made it necessary for him to take charge of the distil- lery, and the college course was abandoned.

After spending three years at home he went to New York City in the interest of the distillery and remained there for ten years. In 1880 he returned to Kentucky and established his present large dis- tillery at Lexington, and began the production of the original and genuine "James E. Pepper" whiskey, which is so favorably known throughout the country. He is one of the third generation of a family famous for the excellence of the whis- key made by the Peppers, but his present estab- lishment is far more extensive than was that of his father and grandfather. The plant covers about thirty-five acres of ground in the suburbs of Lexington and has a capacity of fifty barrels a day, employing an average of one hundred men. He has been in the business for over twenty-five years, and has spent a mint of money in perfect- ing his distillery, but has now the finest plant of the kind in the state.

In addition to his whiskey interests Mr. Pepper owns a large and well stocked farm about one mile from the city limits of Lexington, known as "Meadowthorpe," where he makes his home, and is deeply interested in breeding thoroughbred run- ning horses. This is one of the most highly im- proved and expensive farms of its size in the state. His residence alone, built in the colonial style, cost $40,000, and his stables are perfect horse pal- aces. The buildings and premises are supplied with electric light, gas, hot and cold water, and every modern convenience that experience could suggest or money could buy. He takes great de- light in his horses, among which are some of the most noted runners of the Blue Grass section.

Mr. Pepper was married in 1890 to Ella Offutt, a member of the well known family of that name in Shelby County.

Mr. Pepper, as the representative distiller, was

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called upon to prepare an article for that magnifi- cent publication, "One Hundred Years of Ameri- can Commerce," which is from the house of D. O. Haynes & Co., of New York, and of which Chaun- cey M. Depew, LL.D., is editor-in-chief. Mr. Pepper's article, entitled, "American Distillers," deals with the development of the distilling indus- try in a general way, without laudation of any or even the mention of his own product. There are one hundred articles in the work on the history and development of all our great national indus- tries, each one being written by a representative of the branch of trade or industry in which he has had experience, and it is indeed a high honor to have been invited to contribute to its pages.

Among the contributors are Philip D. Armour, who describes the development of the great meat packing industry; Thomas T. Eckert, president of the Western Union Telegraph Company, who writes of telegraphy; Charles H. Cramp, of ship- building; Levi P. Morton, of American banking; Ohio C. Barber, of the manufacture of matches; Francis G. du Pont, of the manufacture of pow- der; Albert A. Pope, of bicycles; William Stein- way, of pianos; Charles L. Tiffany, of jewelry; Charles H. Taylor, editor of the Boston Globe, of journalism; Levi C. Weir, president of the Adams Express Company, of the express business; Fred Pabst, of brewing, and so on through one hun- dred distinguished names.

M ORRIS CAMPBELL HUTCHINS, Judge of Mason County, and a well-known Re- publican politician of Northern Kentucky, was born in Maysville, Kentucky, April 12, 1842, and is descended from Revolutionary patriots. His father, Morris A. Hutchins, was born in Casa- novia, New York, October, 1799, and his mother, Eveline (Campbell) Hutchins, was born in Aber- deen, Ohio, in 1807. Her grandfather, Matthew Campbell, was a native of Scotland, who belonged to the clan of the Campbells, whose chieftan was the Duke of Argyle. Matthew Campbell's father, Sir Colin Campbell, was the second son of one of the Dukes of Argyle, and his mother, Mary Montieth, was the daughter of a Scottish nobleman. Matthew Campbell was the pioneer of Aberdeen, Ohio, which village he laid out about

the beginning of the Revolution. He located a section of land opposite Maysville, in Ohio, and was one of the twenty-five pioneers who laid out the city of Cincinnati, as is evidenced by the cen- tennial history of that city. He was a cousin of James Campbell, who commanded the Ameri- cans at the battle of King's Mountain, in which he defeated the British. James Campbell, brother of Matthew, was a colonel under General Wilkinson, in the War of 1812, as well as in some of the previous Indian wars. The Campbells who settled in Washington County, Pennsylvania, and in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, were de- scended from two brothers of ducal descent; from the one who settled in Pennsylvania Judge Morris C. Hutchins is in direct line.

Evan Campbell (maternal grandfather) was born in Scotland; emigrated with his father, Sir Matthew Campbell, to America; married Amanda Byers, and died at Aberdeen. He was a large landholder and owned several ferry boats on the Ohio River running between Maysville and Aber- deen.

Benjamin Hutchins (grandfather) was born in the state of New York and was a son of Samuel Hutchins, who was a native of Connecticut and a member of the first legislature of that state. He subsequently removed to Western New York and served as major in the war of the Revolution. Benjamin Hutchins married Jerusha Bradley, whose mother, Anne Morris, was a daughter of Amos Morris, a cousin of Gouverneur Morris and Robert Morris, of Revolutionary fame. A sister of Benjamin Hutchins, Marie, became the wife of Rev. Thomas J. Ruger, who was rector of the Episcopal Church at Janesville, Wisconsin. They were the parents of Major General Ruger, now of the United States army, who succeeded General Scofield in command at Chicago.

Morris A. Hutchins (father) settled in Mays- ville in 1822, and was engaged in the lumber business until the time of his death, May 2, 1873, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. He was a delegate to the national convention which first nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency, and for supporting and voting for Abraham Lin- coln in 1860 he was hanged in effigy in Maysville. He was a man of wealth and prominence and of

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eminent worth. He took a leading part in the opposition to slavery and was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Judge Morris C. Hutchins was educated prin- cipally in the Ohio Wesleyan University. At the breaking out of the Civil war he was the first man in Mason County to volunteer in the Union army, and was sworn into service in Woodruff's Second Kentucky Regiment as a private. In No- vember, 1861, upon the recommendation of Gen- eral Rosecrans, he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant, and assigned to Company I, Sixteenth Kentucky Infantry. In September, 1862, he was promoted to first lieutenant, and subsequently to captain of his company. He was continuously in active service until August 3, 1865, and participated in twenty-two battles dur- ing the war, and was for many months detailed on the staff of the First brigade, Third division, Twenty-third Army Corps. At the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, he was slightly wounded and was specially mentioned by his general for his bravery and his valuable services in that en- gagement. In 1866 he returned home and en- tered the office of the Honorable W. H. Wads- worth as a law student, where he remained for two years, and in 1868 was admitted to the bar. In 1872 he was elected mayor of Maysville, and was re-elected. After leaving the mayor's office he was a member of the City Council, and was ap- pointed master commissioner of the Mason Cir- cuit Court, serving in that office for four years. In 1880 Judge Hutchins was a delegate to the Republican national convention, and was one of the immortal "306" who voted thirty-six times in that convention for General Grant. President Arthur appointed him postmaster at Maysville, and he filled that office most acceptably and gave universal satisfaction. In the August election of 1894 he was nominated by the Republicans for the office of County Judge, being pitted against Thomas R. Phister, one of the most popular Democrats of the county. Judge Hutchins was easily elected and bears the distinction of being the first Republican who has ever held an elective office in Mason County. Judge Hutchins was married in 1870 to Lydia Frances Dimmitt of Maysville, daughter of Ezekial Dimmitt, Esq.

They have two children, a son and a daughter: Dimmitt C., a graduate of the Ohio Wesleyan University, class of 1895; and Essie C. Judge Hutchins is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, being a Knight Templar, and is also : member of the military order of the Loyal Legion, of which ex-President Benjamin Harrison was the commander in 1894.

W ILLIAM D. BRENT, City Attorney of Covington and a prominent young mem- ber of the Kenton County bar, is descended from the old and honored Brent family of Central Ken- tucky. His parents were John D. and Elizabeth Garvin Brent, who lived in Woodsonville, Hart County, at the time of his birth, December 18, 1852. His father, Captain John D. Brent, was born in Hart County, June, 1826. His education was obtained in the common and private schools, and after reaching his majority he was engaged in general merchandising in Hart County until 1856, when he removed to Louisville and became the proprietor of the Ninth street tobacco ware- house. He entered the Union army in 1861 as cap- tain of Company K, Fifth Kentucky Regiment, which was under the command of Colonel Buck- ley, and was afterward transferred to General Buell's staff. Captain Brent took part in the bat- tles of Shiloh, Perryville, Chickamauga and other important engagements.

Having resigned his commission in the army on account of ill health, he removed to Covington in 1864 and engaged in the wholesale dry goods business in connection with the house of Pearce, Tolle & Holton, with whom he remained until 1887. In 1880 he was elected a member of the City Council of Covington and served two years. He affiliated with the Democratic party but was not active in politics; was a member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Christian Church. He was not engaged in business for some years before his death, which occurred October 21, 1895. His remains were taken to Bowling Green for interment.

Joshua Brent (grandfather), a Virginian, came to Kentucky in 1783, and settled in what is now Hart County. He was a lieutenant in the com-

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mand of Colonel Richard Johnson and General Shelby. He was a plantation farmer and for many years was postmaster of the village of Mon- roe, in Hart County. He was a Whig in the best days of that party; was connected with the Chris- tian Church and with the Masonic order. He died in 1863, and is buried on the old Brent home- stead. His wife, Rebecca Worley, was born in Fayette County in 1785, and was one of the most intelligent and highly cultured women in Ken- tucky. She lived to be ninety years old and died in 1875.

Captain John D. Brent married a daughter of Valentine Garvin in 1847. She was born in Hart County, in the month of September, 1829, and is still living. Valentine Garvin (grandfather) was born in Rockingham County, Virginia, in 1794; removed to Hart County when he was a mere boy and became a prominent planter and slave owner, at one time owning about one hundred slaves. He was an extensive tobacco grower and was one of the most prominent politicians of his time, being an enthusiastic Henry Clay Whig, and in later years a Democrat. He was twice elected to the Kentucky legislature in the early history of the state, and also served as a magis- trate for many years. His mother, Barbara (Maggard) Garvin, lived in the fort at Harrods- burg in 1780, and her mother, Kitty Baufman, was also in the fort. Mary Brawner (maternal grandmother) was a native of Charles County, Maryland, and was closely related to the Taylor and Maddox families, who were among the most prominent people of that state. She was a daugh- ter of Isaac Brawner and Ann Maddox Taylor, the latter being a daughter of Robin Taylor. General Smallwood, whose arm was shot off in the battle of Brandywine, was also related to the Taylors, and was a distant cousin of the sub- ject of this sketch. Charles Carroll, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was also a relative.

William D. Brent attended the ordinary dis- trict schools and was graduated from the Coving- ton high school in 1872. He taught for one year in the same institution and at the expiration of that time went to Lexington, Virginia, and en- tered the Washington and Lee University, and

was graduated from that well-known university in the class of 1875.

After his return to Covington he entered the office of John Fisk as a student at law, with whom he remained seven years, having been admitted to the bar in 1877. He then formed a partnership with Robert B. Fisk, with whom he was asso- ciated for three years. He was a member of the City Council from 1879 to 1882, when he was elected city clerk and served in that capacity for two terms. He was next elected magistrate, and before the expiration of his term of office, he was elected city attorney, of which office he is the present incumbent.

Mr. Brent was married September 15, 1883, to Mollie Belle Chandler, daughter of Lewis Chand- ler of Cincinnati, Ohio, who was born in 1861; educated in Cincinnati and Grand Rapids, Mich- igan; died March 27, 1889, and is buried at Bowl- ing Green.

JOHN F. KIMBLEY, M. D., Surgeon-Gene-

ral of Kentucky, one of the oldest physicians and most substantial citizens of Owensboro, was born in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, Septem- ber 24, 1823.

His father, Frank E. Kimbley, a native of Louisville, went to Muhlenberg County in 1792, and there married Elizabeth Valandingham, a member of a distinguished Virginia family. They had six children, of whom the subject of this brief biography was the youngest.

John Kimbley (grandfather), a Hollander, emi- grated to the United States some time prior to the Revolution, in which he did faithful service for his adopted country. His coming to Ken- tucky was at a very early date, as may be in- ferred from the fact that he was a resident of Corn Island, below Louisville, and assisted in the cultivation of the first crop of corn ever produced in Kentucky.

Dr. Kimbley was educated in private schools in Muhlenberg County. When twenty years of age he began the study of medicine at his home, and subsequently attended a course of lectures in St. Louis, and practiced medicine for some time before finishing his professional studies in the Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia,

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from which he was graduated in 1849. He had established a good practice in Daviess County before taking the course in Philadelphia, which he resumed with increased confidence and success upon his return. He had accumulated consider- able property, including a large number of slaves, before the beginning of the Civil war, and lost heavily as a result of that conflict.

He was a strong Union man and volunteered his services to help put down the rebellion. He was appointed surgeon of the Eleventh Kentucky Infantry, and during the three years and four months of active service in the field, he held various positions of rank in the Cumberland and the Ohio and Tennessee divisions and was one of the chief surgical operators on every battle- field in which his command was engaged. He received the highest commendations of his su- perior officers for faithful and efficient service. He served as medical director of the Cavalry Corps under Brigadier-General Sturgis, whose order relieving him from duty in that command was as follows:

"Headquarters Cavalry Corps, "Paris, Kentucky, April 9, 1864.

"The Eleventh Regiment Kentucky Volunteer Infantry having been permanently detached from this command and J. F. Kimbley being surgeon of that regiment, he is hereby relieved from duty as medical director of the Cavalry Corps and will report to his regiment commander for duty. The general commanding cannot, however, thus sum- marily sever his official connection with Surgeon John F. Kimbley without expressing his deep re- gret for the necessity which compels him to lose from his staff so estimable a gentleman, and one who has administered the medical department with so much energy, zeal, and ability.

"By order of Brigadier-General Sturgis."

His service in the army was a heavy sacrifice personally, and the loss of his slaves by the eman- cipation proclamation-which showed no partial- ity for Union men-together with other losses incident to the war, rendered it necessary for him to begin at the bottom to rebuild his for- tune. He soon recovered his valuable practice and has held his high position in the profession and in the confidence of the people, and after

more than thirty years of peace he can look back over the past without regret for the gallant part he took in the war or for the temporary loss which it entailed. He became a Republican at the outbreak of the war and heartily supported every measure of that party during the struggle and in the disquietude of the days of reconstruc- tion, and although firm, positive and outspoken in his political views, he is highly respected for his fidelity to his convictions and honesty of pur- pose.

Dr. Kimbley is now well advanced in years, but his interest in and his devotion to his pro- fession have never waned. He is still a diligent student of medical science, and readily adopts the new discoveries which promise relief to the suffering, but is not easily carried away by new and untried doctrines and methods. He is a member of the Kentucky State Medical Society and of the Daviess County Medical Society and is a subscriber to the leading medical periodicals of the day. He is a member of the Filson Club, and a valuable contributor to the history and early reminiscence of Kentucky through that so- ciety of honorable citizens of the state. Dr. Kim- bley's life has been wholly devoted to his pro- fession, and his remarkable success and the high position which he enjoys are due to his faithful- ness to his patrons, his industry, energy and zeal in the arduous labors of the family physician.

His first wife was Emily C. Windsor, a native of Kentucky, who died in 1852. His second wife was a Mrs. Stout, who was his companion for six years and died in 1860. His present wife was Mrs. Sarah Ray Stubbins, a daughter of ex-Gov- ernor Ray of Indiana, whose classical education was received in Oxford (Ohio) Female College and in Europe, where she gave particular atten- tion to the study of the German and French lan- guages. She is a lady of unusual literary attain- ments and has imparted much of the large fund of information of which she is possessed to her sons, who, after careful study in private schools, she accompanied to Europe and assisted them in the study of foreign languages.

Hugh Kimbley, the eldest son of Dr. and Mrs. Kimbley, is studying medicine in the University of Louisville. Frank R. Kimbley, their second

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and youngest son, is in the class of '97 in Yale College. They are exemplary young men, of more than ordinary intelligence, who attained dis- tinction in their classes. Dr. Kimbley has seen something of the world himself, having traveled extensively in this country and visited Europe several times. He is now surgeon-general of Kentucky, with the rank of colonel, on the per- sonal staff of Governor Bradley.

R OBERT FRANKLIN RIVES, the wheat king of Kentucky, was born December 7, 1837, on the state line between Kentucky and Tennessee. His father, Robert Rives, was born in Warren County, North Carolina, near the Vir- ginia line, December 16, 1803. He was a son of William and Catherine (Turner) Rives, natives of Dinwiddie County, near Petersburg, Virginia. Catherine Turner was a daughter of Stephen and Susan (Hanover) Turner of Amherst County, Vir- ginia. William and Catherine Rives (grandpar- ents) had ten children, whose names were: Stephen; Thomas; Nancy, whose husband's name was Mabry; William; Sallie, whose husband's name was Moss; Polly, who married Watkins; Robert (father); James; Rebecca, who married Southall, and Susan, who married Cunningham.

Robert Rives (father) was married in 1825 to Rebecca Vaughn, daughter of Susan (Vincent) Vaughn, who was a first cousin of Thomas Jef- ferson. They had four children: William Vin- cent, the eldest son, reared a large family, all of whom are dead except Ophenia (Crews); Charles Jefferson, second son, married Annie Brockman, a granddaughter of the distinguished John Mc- Dougal of Scotland, and had four children: Noyal, Nebraska, Jennie and Robbie, a daughter who married a Mr. Cayce; Susan, the third child and only daughter, married Thomas Adams, and was the mother of four children: Robert, Rebecca, Charles and Thomas. Robert F. Rives, the subject of this sketch, is the youngest child. His father died August 5, 1885, at the venerable age of eighty-three. His life was an honor to his country, and he transmitted to his large posterity that most priceless heritage known to mankind- an unspotted name.

Robert F. Rives began to solve for himself the

problem of life at an early age. When nineteen he superintended his father's farm. At the be- ginning of the Civil war he was among the first to offer his service to the southern cause. In April, 1861, he joined the Fourteenth Tennessee Infantry, Company L; and, after drilling with that regiment for two months, he was taken ill with fever and was disabled for infantry service.

After the fall of Fort Donelson in February, 1862, he enlisted in Company A, First Kentucky Cavalry, near Murfreesboro, Tennessee; and, after serving six months, his company's time ex- piring, he joined General Morgan's command. He was a good soldier and was in some severe conflicts. He accompanied General Morgan in his raid through Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio; his battalion led the advance all through the raid and fought more or less every day. The closest call he ever had was when the gun- boats at Buffington Island interfered with their crossing, and a large body of Federal cavalry swooped down upon them, and he, with two hundred others, swam the Ohio River, and thus made their escape. They marched through West Virginia to Abingdon, Virginia, and reached the army in time to take part in the battle of Chickamauga. He was in many cavalry fights and, although he had his horse shot under him, he escaped wounds or prison. He was with that captain who, when news came of Lee's sur- render, said: "Boys, we have fought a good fight, and now it seems to be over. We are going home. Go home and bring up your children to love our South and, though you may have noth- ing else to leave them, you can leave them the heritage that they are sons of men who were in Lee's army."

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Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 35

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