Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 4

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

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KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

safety vaults of the highest order, providing security against burglary, fire or accident.

Mr. Ingram gives his whole time and undivided attention to the business of the Trust Company, and is not interested in politics. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias and of the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order, and enjoys a high social position in the best families of Henderson.

Wyatt H. Ingram (father) was born in Hen- derson in 1832 and is a prosperous farmer and one of the most respected and substantial citi- zens of the county. He married Kate Milton, who was born in Lexington in 1832, and they had three sons and four daughters: Loulou, wife of J. A. Priest, President of the Henderson Trust Company, and a prominent business man of Hen- derson; J. Milton, an architect in Palo Alto, Cali- fornia, who assisted in the design and construc- tion of the great Stanford University buildings; Annie, wife of Dr. C. B. Watts of Chicago; Marie L., Wyatt H., Matie F. and Bushrod T. Ingram.

Wyatt Ingram (grandfather) was born in Orange County, Virginia, in 1783, and came to Kentucky with his father and to Henderson County in 1803. His father, William Ingram, died in 1806, when Wyatt Ingram was twenty- three years of age, and the estate being insolvent, the burden of the support of a large family fell upon the son. He paid his father's debts, divided the property equally between the children and paid the expense of educating his brothers and sisters out of his own pocket. He was married December 8, 1813, to Jane McGready, daughter of Reverend Joseph McGready, the great Pres- byterian revivalist of 1800.

Wyatt Ingram shipped produce to New Orleans, building his own flat-boats on Green River, floating them to Henderson, and after loading them would float them to New Orleans, sell his stock and boat and return home on foot. He walked from New Orleans to Henderson as many as thirteen times, having the proceeds of his cargo securely belted about him. The tedious journey with its hardships and dangers in those early times required courage of a high order.

His reputation for integrity and square deal- ing, for his kindness and helpfulness to others was known far and wide. He was one of the

most influential men of his day, a leader in all pub- lic enterprises, and gave liberally of his means for the public good. He left a large and valuable estate, consisting mostly of farm lands in the county and realty in the city. He died December 15, 1850, and a plain slab marks his resting place in Fernwood Cemetery. He said: "If I have done any good it will be found out; no need to emblazon it at my grave."

There were seven children born to Wyatt Ingram and Jane McGready: Frank, Emily, Louisa, William, Wyatt (father), James and Jane. Of these Frank died when young; Emily mar- ried Robert D. Letcher and died several years later; Louisa married Honorable John W. Crock- ett, and died, leaving one son, Wyatt Ingram; William is bookkeeper in the City of Louisville; Wyatt is a farmer in Henderson County; James organized and commanded a company in the Confederate army during the war, and died since; Jane is the wife of Dr. Ben Letcher.

H ENRY BASCOM ASBURY of Augusta, prohibition candidate for State Treasurer in 1895, was born in Bracken County, February 28, 1834. He received a good common school edu- cation and after leaving school he settled down to the quiet life of a Bracken County farmer, which occupation he continued until 1890, when he re- moved to Augusta and became interested with F. A. Neider in the wholesale manufacture of car- riage hardware, in which business he has contin- ued until the present time.

In the Prohibition State Convention held in Louisville, June, 1895, he was nominated for elec- tion to the office of State Treasurer. This honor was conferred by his party, not only as a recogni- tion of his valuable services in the party, but on account of his unquestioned integrity and other qualifications for a position requiring the services of a strictly honest man. Mr. Asbury has taken quite an active and aggressive part in the battle for prohibition, and is a recognized leader in the affairs and counsels of his party; and unlike most politicians, he very consistently combines his poli- tics with his religion, having been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since he was fifteen years of age.

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

Mr. Asbury has been twice married. His first wife was Tolitha B. Hitch, daughter of Maria (Cra- mer) and Archie Hitch. She was born October 22, 1839, died November 8, 1885. His present wife, whom he married February 26, 1892, was Minnie Hollis, daughter of B. O. Hollis, a resi- dent of Bracken County, near Brookville. By his first marriage there were three children born : Tay- lor Asbury, born December 20, 1860, now a farm- er in Bracken County, near Germantown, married Estella Byar; Nina Mai, born May 22, 1866, studied medicine under Dr. J. M. Patterson of Augusta, graduated from the Cleveland Medical College of Homoeopathy in 1892, married E. Sherman Stevens of Ohio, with whom she was sent as a Missionary to Japan by the Christian Church; and Jessie J., born March 16, 1877. Henry Bryan, born October 2, 1893, is the only child of the second marriage.

J USTUS J. HETSCH, postmaster of Newport, and publisher of the Kentucky Journal, one of the best known and most popular men in his city, was born in Newport, Kentucky, September 2, 1851. He enjoyed all of the advantages of the excellent city schools, graduating from the New- port High School and then taking a classical course of five years in Baldwin University and German Wallace College of Berea, Ohio, graduat- ing with distinction in 1869.

He was inclined to a professional career and be- gan the battle of life as a teacher in the public schools of Newport and was thus employed for three years, when he resigned to engage in the newspaper and printing business; was made pres- ident of the Newport Printing and Newspaper Company which was organized in 1872, and has been its president until the present time.

In 1876, during the memorable Tilden cam- paign, his company established the Kentucky Journal, a vigorous Democratic newspaper, which at once became popular throughout Kentucky on account of the aggressive and progressive posi- tion it assumed in national and state politics. Dur -- ing the nineteen years of its healthy existence. the Journal has lost none of its popularity and has maintained a circulation and patronage that few papers in the state have ever enjoyed.

Mr. Hetsch has been and is a Democrat "in sea- son and out of season," and the valuable services which he has rendered his party, personally as well as through the medium of the Journal, have been recognized not only in local affairs but through- out the state. In recognition of his services and of his ability as a party leader, his friends secured his appointment by President Cleveland as Post- master of Newport, and he took charge of the postoffice July 6, 1893. He has greatly improved and facilitated the business of the office to the en- tire satisfaction of the public, and is one of the most accommodating and efficient postmasters Newport has had since it became a city.

Mr. Hetsch served his county for six years as Courthouse Commissioner. He has held other public positions of trust, and is a member of a number of benevolent orders, including Masons and Knights Templar, in each of which he is en- thusiastic and popular.

He was married November 30, 1892, to Anna S. Reichel, a most estimable lady of Newport.

C TWAY W. RASH, a former druggist and a well-known business man and farmer of Henderson, son of Benjamin L. and Agnes J. (Nisbet) Rash, was born in Hopkins County, Ken- tucky, January 30, 1850. His father was also born in that county in 1819, where he still resides and is now retired, having been a farmer nearly all his life. He is an elder in the Christian Church, in which he has been an active and influential office- bearer for many years. His father was Stephen Rash, who was a well-known resident of Hop- kins County for many years.

Agnes J. Nisbet Rash (mother) was born in Hopkins County, where she resided during her whole life, and died January 1, 1877. Her father, James Nisbet, was a Virginian by birth, who came to Hopkins County when he was a child in company with his father, James Nisbet, Sr., who was a native of Virginia and a soldier in the Revolutionary war. They were both well-to-do farmers in Hopkins County, where they lived and died and were buried.

Otway W. Rash was favored with an excellent common school education, remaining on his father's farm until he was seventeen years of age.

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

He then engaged as a clerk in the drugstore of N. M. Holeman, then in Madisonville, now pro- prietor of Dawson Springs. Two years later, in 1869, he was employed in the drugstore of J. B. Johnston in Henderson, and after one year's service with him, was similarly employed with George Lyne for four years; and, on the first of August, 1874, he embarked in the drug business on his own account. He continued in this until 1889, when he sold out and has for the past three years been engaged in the tobacco business, put- ting up strips for the English market, and is in- terested in several business enterprises of con- siderable magnitude. He is a director of the Planters Bank and is a member of the Henderson Board of Education. He steadily adheres to the faith of his father and mother, and is a member of the Christian Church.

Mr. Rash was married December 14, 1871, to Sallie E. Robertson, daughter of Alexander Robertson of Henderson County; and they have three sons living: James R., Otway W. and Ben- jamin Campbell Rash, who will no doubt follow the splendid example of their father and will be- come useful and highly respected citizens.

G I USTAVUS HOLZHAUER, deceased, a popular druggist and high'y e 'ucated gen- tleman of Newport, was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, August 2, 1847. He was educated in the city of Stuttgart, where he studied the Latin, French and English languages. After leaving school he served an apprenticeship of three and a half years in a drug store and was employed as a clerk in the store for six months.

In July, 1866, when nineteen years of age, he came to America, locating at Madison, Indiana, where he was employed as a drug clerk for two years, when he removed to Newport and was similarly engaged until 1870, when he embarked in the drug business on his own account, and con- tinued in that business for more than twenty-five years until his death, November 22, 1895, since which time the business has been conducted by his son, Louis P. Holzhauer.

Besides having the leading establishment of the kind in the city, Mr. Holzhauer was financially interested in a number of other enterprises. He

was a stockholder and director in the Newport National Bank, of which he was one of the or- ganizers; a director in the Covington Mutual Fire Insurance Company; a member of the Board of School Trustees, representing the Fifth Ward; president of the Lincoln League Club; and was quite prominent in local Republican politics.

He was frequently urged by influential citizens, without regard to party politics, to become a candidate for office, particularly for the Mayor- alty of Newport; but he had no personal ambition for office, being interested in politics from a con- viction of duty and with a view to securing the best men for offices of trust. There was none of the selfish nature in his political work which characterizes the latter day politician.

Mr. Holzhauer was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, and a member of the Newport Lodge and Newport Commandery of Free and Accepted Masons, in both of which he was a useful and influential worker and a liberal helper of others.

Mr. Holzhauer was married in 1872 to Amelia Kauther of Cincinnati, Ohio. He had one son and three daughters: Louis P. Holzhauer, who, until his father's death, was in charge of Ingram & Company's Chemical Laboratory, Detroit, Michigan. The daughters are Edna, Irma and Clara.

Mr. Holzhauer's father was a flour miller in Germany, and was in comfortable circumstances. He and his wife died in Wurtemberg.

E. E. ABBETT, Deputy Internal Revenue Col- lector, Covington, son of Henry J. and Mary J. F. (Gill) Abbett, was born in Warsaw, August 20, 1855. Henry J. Abbett was born January 27, 1811, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He served an apprenticeship with a cabinet maker and received his education at night schools; removed to Carrollton, Kentucky, where he sub- sequently read law with Judge Winslow. He re- moved from Carrollton to Warsaw, where he practiced law successfully for many years; repre- sented Gallatin County in the State Legislature in 1845; was afterward County Attorney and served for two terms as County Judge. He continued his practice until 1880, when, on account of ill

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

health, he retired and lived quietly until his death in 1889. He was president of the Warsaw De- posit Bank from its organization to the time of his death, a period of about fifteen years. Dur- ing the war he sympathized with the South and adhered to the principles of the Democratic party; was a prominent Odd Fellow and a charter mem- ber of Kentucky Lodge No. 39. He was quiet in manner and a man of sterling character. His father, Jonathan Abbett, was born in Pennsyl- vania, August 11, 1775, and died August 21, 1821. His wife was Eliza H. McDowell. William Ab- bett (great-grandfather), wedded Catherine Cun- nard.

Mary J. F. Gill Abbett (mother) was the daugh- ter of William Gill, and was a native of Virginia; born in 1825; removed to Fleming County, from thence to Gallatin County, where she and Henry J. Abbett were married, April 27, 1841. She now resides in Warsaw, and is in the seventy-first year of her age. Her father was also a native of Vir- ginia, a miller by trade, and a major in the War of 1812. Her maternal grandfather, Samuel Roundtree, was a major in the Revolutionary War.

E. E. Abbett was one of five children of Henry J. and Mary J. F. Abbett. His primary education was received partly in private schools, and in 1873 he attended the Kentucky Military Institute in Franklin County. In 1874 he studied in the Ohio Medical College, preparing for the medical pro- fession, which idea he relinquished and came to Covington as division deputy under Collector George H. Davison, which position he filled for two years, when he was promoted to the chief deputyship and held this important position until July, 1889. In 1893 Mr. Abbett became chief deputy collector of internal revenue of the Sixth district under Collector Davezac, and at present occupies this position. Previous to his accepting his present place, Mr. Abbett held the office of County Superintendent of Public Schools in Gal- latin County, which office he resigned to accept the deputyship under President Cleveland's first administration. On December 10, 1878, Mr. Ab- bett was united in marriage to Nannie Chambers, a daughter of Dr. A. B. Chambers of Gallatin County, and they have four children: Anna G.,

born January 25, 1880; Harry, born August 29, 1884; Edward B., born October 20, 1888; Leon G., born November 4, 1891.

C HARLES BARRINGTON SIMRALL, a

distinguished corporation lawyer, son of John W. G. and Mary Barton Simrall, was born in Madison, Indiana, February 18, 1843. The Simrall family came originally from Scotland in the early part of the eighteenth century and set- tled in Pennsylvania, from whence they moved to Virginia, and were later among the earliest set- tlers in Kentucky, as early as 1776.

On his mother's side Mr. Simrall is descended from the French Huguenots, who fled from France on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They came to America about 1687, and settled in South Carolina and Georgia.

Mr. Simrall was for several years a student at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and completed his general education in Tubingen, Germany. On his return from Europe he entered the Cin- cinnati Law School, from which he was graduated in 1867, and at once began the practice of his chosen profession in Cincinnati.

He is attorney for the following railroad com- panies: The Cincinnati Southern, for which he has been the general attorney for Kentucky since 1869; the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company, the Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific Railroad Company, and the South Covington & Cincinnati Street Railway Company, besides various banks and manufacturing companies. He is the vice-president of the German National Bank of Covington, and is connected as director in various other corporate enterprises. He has made corporate law a specialty, and devotes his time almost exclusively to that branch of the practice.

Mr. Simrall is a Democrat in politics, but has never participated actively therein.

He is a member of the Masonic Fraternity, and belongs to the First Presbyterian Church of Cov- ington.

In 1868 Mr. Simrall was married to Isabella Downing Price, daughter of John and Josephine Downing Price of Covington.

Mrs. Simrall was educated at Daughter's Col-

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

lege, Harrodsburg, Ky. They have six daugh- ters.

Though Mr. Simrall's practice is for the most part in Cincinnati, he has resided in Covington for over forty years, of which place he is a promi- nent citizen, having been much interested in municipal affairs and the bettering of the condi- tion of the city.

REV. JAMES OSGOOD ANDREW VAUGHT, pastor of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, Versailles, is the son of Wil- liam P. and Ann L. (Gragg) Vaught. His father was a native of Wythe County, Virginia, and came with his parents when a child to Kentucky and located near Somerset. In 1865 he removed to Harrodsburg, where he now resides. He was a farmer and a local preacher in the Methodist Church, but is now retired, being seventy-three years of age.

Andrew Vaught (grandfather) was a native of Wythe County, Virginia. After removing to Kentucky he resided in or near Somerset until he died at the age of ninety-five. The Vaughts came to this country about the year 1780, and they have been prominent in the Methodist Church for over one hundred years. Rev. S. K. Vaught (uncle), who died a few years ago, was one of the most distinguished ministers in the Methodist Church in West Virginia.

Ann L. Gragg Vaught (mother) is a native of Pulaski County and is now in her sixty-sixth year, and a mother in the Methodist Church.

Elisha P. Gragg (grandfather) was a native of Pulaski County, where he resided until the time of his death in his seventieth year. His father was a native of Virginia, but removed to Ken- tucky about 1790.

The Graggs are of English descent, and, like the Vaughts, have been Methodists for over one hundred years.

Rev. James O. A. Vaught was born in Somer- set, February 9, 1847. He received the best edu- cation the schools of Somerset could afford and then went to Harmonia College, Russellville, In- diana, and graduated in 1870. In the following year he entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Among the principal

places where he has had charge are Clarksburg and Point Pleasant, West Virginia; Ashland, Catlettsburg, Paris, Newport, Millersburg, Rich- mond, Harrodsburg and Versailles, Kentucky, to which last named place he came in 1895. This is one of the leading churches in the state. Bishop Kavanaugh was married in Versailles and spent thirty years of his life there.

Mr. Vaught and Annie E., daughter of C. S. Ulen of Catlettsburg, were married in 1873. They have one son and four daughters living: Anna Louise, Kate H., Stephen K., Sarah H., Mattie M. Miss Kate H. Vaught, second daugh- ter, is Professor of Sciences in Millersburg Female College.

G EORGE LEE WILLIS, editor of the Frankfort Capital, is the son of Rev. Jack- son S. and Mary J. (Long) Willis. His father was a native of Madison County and moved to Shelby County when a young man, where he re- sided until the time of his death in 1883. He was a minister in the Christian Church and a preacher in Shelby County for forty years. Dur- ing the war his sympathies were decidedly with the Southern people, and he narrowly escaped arrest on account of his fearless expression of opinion.

Henry Willis (grandfather) was a native of Virginia, who removed to Kentucky with other members of his family and located in Madison County about the beginning of the present cen- tury. He was a farmer on an extensive scale. He belonged to an old Virginia family of English descent.

Mary J. Long Willis was a native of Shelby County. She died in 1870, aged forty-eight years.

Alexander Long (grandfather) was a farmer in Woodford and Shelby Counties, and died in Shelby County at the age of seventy years.

George L. Willis was born in Shelby County August 4, 1862. He received a good education, and in 1886 went to Louisville, where for five years he was engaged in the different newspaper offices as reporter, city editor, telegraph editor, etc., and in December, 1889, he was sent to Frankfort as legislative correspondent for the Courier-Journal and the Evening Times. He

JUDGE W. E. ARTHUR.

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

filled this position acceptably until January, 1894, when the Weekly Capital was converted into a daily newspaper, and he was chosen editor. The Capital is the successor of the old "Kentucky Yeoman," which was established in 1840. It is a local newspaper, the state official paper, and, like its editor, Democratic in politics.

Mr. Willis was married in December, 1892, to Ruth Stanton, daughter of Major Henry T. Stan- ton, Kentucky's poet laureate.

M ALCOLM YEAMAN, a successful lawyer and respected citizen of Henderson, was born in Hardin County, Kentucky, March 9, 1841. His father, Stephen Minor Yeaman, was born in Meade County in 1799. He removed to Hardin County, where he was engaged in farm- ing until his death in 1854.

Malcolm Yeaman's mother, Lucretia Helm, was born in 1809. She survived her husband until 1886, retaining the full vigor of a bright intellect to the last. She was a life-time member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was a beloved and exemplary Christian woman. The education of the younger members of her large family devolved upon her after her husband's death, and she devoted herself to this work with a result that was exceedingly gratifying to her in her declining years. Her eldest son, John H. Yeaman, was a minister in the Baptist Church, who died soon after entering the ministry. George H. Yeaman, an eminent lawyer, served two terms in Congress from the Second Ken- tuck District, and was for six years United States Minister Plenipotentiary to Copenhagen, subse- quently locating in New York in the practice of law, where he now resides. William Pope Yea- man is one of the leading Baptist ministers in Missouri. Harvey Yeaman was a brilliant lawyer in Henderson, who removed to Louisville, and subsequently to Colorado, where he died. Mal- colm Yeaman was the fifth son. Caldwell Yea- man, who studied law with his brother Malcolm, went to Colorado and soon took rank among the leading lawyers of that state; established a num- ber of successful business enterprises and for several years filled the office of Circuit Judge, and now resides in Denver. Mary Lucretia Yea-

man, the only daughter and the youngest child, died when she was just blooming into young womanhood.

Malcolm Yeaman read law with his brother, George H. Yeaman, in Owensboro, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1861, and since 1863 has de- voted his whole time to the practice of his profes- sion in Henderson. He has adhered to his purpose to resist the temptations to gain wealth or fame by any other than the legitimate pursuit of his chosen profession.

Although a democrat, he has not sought poli- tical preferment; and being a man of business ability might have made money in many of the avenues that are always open to men of judgment and moderate capital, but the allurements of wealth and the honors of office have not been permitted to turn him aside from the higher pur- pose to be a successful lawyer, faithful to those who entrust their cause to his keeping and up- holding the high standard of his honorable call- ing. With such a purpose kept steadily in view, Mr. Yeaman has attained success in an eminent degree, and has won the confidence and esteem of the intelligent people in the enlightened com- munity in which he lives. He is an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and a citizen in whom all who know him have the utmost confidence.

Mr. Yeaman was married in 1861 to Julia Van Pradells Moore, daughter of Dr. John R. Moore, for many years a leading physician in Louisville, who removed to Pettis County, Missouri, a short time before the Civil war. They have still living four sons and two daughters: Rev. Marion V. P. Yeaman, a minister in the Presbyterian Church; Lelia, wife of W. J. Marshall, Jr., of Henderson; Dr. Malcolm H. Yeaman, a physi- cian just entering the practice; Harvey Yeaman and James M. Yeaman, who are studying law, and Julia, now in school. Their oldest son, John Rochester, was, with several companions, drowned in Puget Sound in May, 1893.

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Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 4

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