Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 6

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 6

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He was not a soldier in the Civil war, but he helped to defend his town and was one of the three hundred and thirty citizens of Cynthiana who gave Gen. Morgan his first fight when he undertook to raid the town. He was opposed to the rebellion. Mr. Ward has been married three times. First to Ellen V. Moore of Harri- son County, September, 1846. She died in 1848, leaving one daughter, Mollie M., now the wife of George T. Gaddy of Woodford County. His first wife's grandmother was a cousin of Gen.

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

William Henry Harrison, for whom Mr. Ward cast his first presidential vote, and his last one against Benjamin Harrison, his grandson. His second marriage was to Elizabeth Ware of Cyn- thiana, December 31, 1857. She died in 1865, and on the 28th of April, 1868, he married Helen H. Lair of Cynthiana, and by this union he has three sons and two daughters: Bertie M., wife of Judge W. T. Lafferty of Cynthiana; Harry R., Catherine, Paul S., and Ashley F. Ward.

Although he is now past four score years, Mr. Ward is still actively engaged in the practice of his profession, and has lost none of his reputa- tion as one of the leading lawyers of the state. He is a prominent member of the Christian Church, and is Superintendent of the Sunday School, and teacher of its Bible class.

He enjoys the confidence and respect of the profession with which he has been prominently identified for over fifty years; of the community in which he has lived all his life, and of the church in which he has been a leading spirit, and in the Sunday School in which he holds the position usually surrendered to younger men. His years have apparently had no effect upon his vitality, and his arduous labors only serve to keep him young.

C HAPEZE WATHEN, a descendant of an old and honored family of Kentucky and a distinguished lawyer and popular citizen of Owensboro, was born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, February 10, 1858. His father, Bene- dict Wathen, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, August 15, 1801, and came to Kentucky with his parents when he was quite young. He received his primary education in Washington County; graduated from the Medical Department of Transylvania University and located at Hardins- burg, Breckinridge County, where he was a lead- ing practicing physician for many years. Later he bought a farm, on which he spent the closing years of a useful life. This farm was known as Mount Merino, and upon it Dr. Wathen and his brother Richard, who was also a physician, es- tablished a high grade literary school, which they

conducted, greatly to the advantage of the com- munity. The matrimonial alliances of these two brothers were of a very unusual nature, in that they married four sisters. Benedict married Eliza- beth Chapeze, and after her death married her sister, Eulalie Fleget Chapeze (mother); while Dr. Richard Wathen first married Susan Chapeze, a sister of Benedict's two wives, who died, and then he married Mary Chapeze, another sister; and thus four sisters were the wives of two brothers. The Wathens are descendants of English parentage.

Eulalie Chapeze (mother of Chapeze Wathen) is a native of Bardstown, Kentucky; was edu- cated principally at St. Catherine Academy in Washington County and is now living in Breck- inridge County in the seventy-first year of her age.

Benjamin Chapeze (grandfather) was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and received his education in the Catholic schools. When he came to Ken- tucky he followed farming for a while, studying law in the meantime. His pursuit of legal knowl- edge was made under difficulties, taking his books and notes to the field with him and studying at odd times. He was duly admitted to the bar in 1815 and located in Shepherdsville, where he prac- ticed for two years; then went to Elizabethtown and was there two years. In 1820 he removed to Bardstown and practiced in Nelson, Meade, Hardin, Bullitt, Breckinridge, Spencer, Washing- ton and Marion Counties, where he had a large clientele and was exceedingly popular on account of his splendid ability, unquestioned integrity and great force of character. He was known as "the Honest Lawyer," a very rare compliment in those days. He was very much of a gentleman-neat in dress, courteous and genial in manner and of fine personal attractions. He cared little for poli- tics, but was twice an "Old Court" representative of Nelson County in the Legislature and a col- league of Ben Hardin. He afterward affiliated with the Jackson Republicans, who were called Democrats, and who, in Kentucky, had been for the most part, "New Court" men. In 1828 he was a presidential elector on the Jackson ticket, and was more or less prominent in state and national politics during the remainder of his bril-

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

liant career. In September, 1839, he defended a man charged with murder in Elizabethtown and, after speaking for two hours, he was overcome by exhaustion. The doctors were called and ad- vised bleeding, and the little strength he had left was thus taken from him and he died nine days later, September 26, 1839. He died in the full confidence of the Catholic religion. Benjamin Chapeze was married May 7, 1812, to Elizabeth Shepherd, daughter of Adam Shepherd, an early settler, who was the first man who ventured to live outside of a fort in Bullitt County. The town of Shepherdsville, on Salt River, was named in his honor.

Dr. Henry Chapeze (great-grandfather) was a native of France, who came to America during the Revolution, and held the post of surgeon in the patriot army and after the war he married Sarah Kenny, a lady of Irish birth, and located in Bardstown, where he died in 1810.

Chapeze Wathen, a worthy descendant of a noble ancestry, was educated at St. Joseph Col- lege, Bardstown, and in the law department of the University of Louisville, from which latter institution he was graduated in March, 1881. He located in Brandenburg, and, after practicing alone for four years, was then associated with J. M. Richardson for eight years. He was Com- monwealth Attorney of the then Sixth now Ninth Judicial District, from August, 1886, until 1893, this long term having been made possible by the new Constitution, and his excellent service for the state called forth the highest praise from the people.

In the spring of 1893 Mr. Wathen removed to Owensboro, a city in which he was by no means a stranger, his reputation as a dignified and cap- able lawyer and an elegant, courteous gentleman having preceded him. He found many friends, and has made many new ones in his new home, and has also found a field of labor quite con- genial to his taste.

Mr. Wathen was married January 15, 1891, to Mary Fairleigh, daughter of James Fairleigh of Brandenburg. They have two daughters, Jane Murray and Eulalie. Mr. Wathen is a member of the Catholic Church and Mrs. Wathen is a Pres- byterian.

ELIJAH DUDLEY WALKER, the leading lawyer of Hartford, son of Richard Logan and Mahala (Harris) Walker, and a descendant of one of the families whose names embellish the early history of the state, was born in Hartford, Kentucky, January 29, 1827. He received his literary training in the private schools of his native town, and began the study of law with Rob- ert J. Smart in Independence, Missouri, when he was sixteen years of age, remaining there about twenty months. He was admitted to the practice of law in Missouri at the age of eighteen, but re- turned to Kentucky and read law with John H. McHenry (see biographical sketch) and was ad- mitted to the Kentucky bar in 1846, when nine- teen years of age. He began his brilliant career as a lawyer in Hartford 1849, and will soon have completed a half century of professional work, having made a name and fame that extends be- yond the borders of his state.

He was elected to the State Senate in August, 1857, and was the youngest member of that body. After serving one term of four years he declined a re-election, preferring to devote himself exclu- sively to his profession. He has, however, given much of his time to the furtherance of the inter- ests of the Democratic party, his most recent ser- vice in that capacity being on the platform com- mittee in the convention of 1895, which nom- inated P. Wat. Hardin for Governor.

While Judge Walker's professional career has been marked by signal success, having been prom- inent in hundreds of cases, many of which have been of historic interest, and, while a record of his experiences as lawyer, judge, legislator and cit- izen would serve as an object lesson for ambitious young men, and would be of deep interest to the legal profession in Kentucky, it is the purpose of this sketch to place on record a brief history of the families of which he and his wife are worthy and honored descendants. It has cost him an effort to keep out of politics, his name having been mentioned for Governor and United States Senator under circumstances which would have fired the ambition of almost any other man who would have grasped the opportunity, and, with only a little effort, reached fame and national dis- tinction.

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

Judge Walker was married August 17, 1857, to Elvira English, whose interesting ancestry is given herewith. They have five children: Mahala Logan, Lizzie Crutcher, Lulu Dix, Lida and Robert Dudley. Of these Mahala Logan mar- ried J. Edwin Rowe, Commonwealth Attorney of Owensboro, and they have three children: Ella Walker, Bessie R. and Lula E.

Lida Walker married A. J. Casey of Owens- boro, April 17, 1894, and has one child, named Walker.

Robert Dudley Walker is studying law with his father. The other children are at home.

Lizzie Walker has attracted attention as a writer of verse, whose songs are adding so much to the literary treasure of the south. Following litera- ture for the love of it, she has become an inspira- tion, not only to her own circle of friends and the people of her locality, but also to a wide circle of admiring readers. She inherits her literary talent directly from her mother, who is accomplished, brilliant and versatile, and whose literary ambi- tion is merged with all the mother's pride in her daughter. Her ancestors were people of culture, some of whom possessed marked talent in litera- ture. Her talent shone forth brightly even in early girlhood, and in school she was first and brightest, and she won the medal of honor in the Latin class in one of the best colleges in the south. Returning to her home in the freshness and en- thusiasm of young womanhood she took to song as the form of literary expression best suited to her genius. Her poems at once rose to public notice and favor and were much admired. In every line of her work there is a delicacy and re- finement and a sort of natural classicism that ap- peals strongly to the sympathy and admiration of the reader. The following lines are selected at random as an illustration of her work, in which the reflective element enters rather more than would be expected of one so young and joyous:

""Tis well that life hath much of gladness, Knoweth something, too, of sadness, Bringeth hope for each to-morrow, Sendeth comfort, oft, for sorrow; Giveth while it taketh pleasure, Teacheth man his soul to treasure; Showeth as the days go by How to live, how to die. 'Tis well-'tis well."

Miss Walker is a beautiful young lady of medium stature, an open eye and a spiritual face, large blue eyes as clear as the lake or the sky above it; dark hair, easy address, with perfect self-possession and a dignity of carriage that im- presses her friends with the sense of

"A soul at ease and beautiful."

The Walker home at Hartford, which has long been in the possession of the family, is the ideal and type of that "Southern home where social and domestic virtues have so grown, flourished and blossomed as to make the name redolent with all the memories and musings which cluster around the word home in its best and most ele- gant estate." The above quotation is from the pen of the distinguished historian, Dr. John Clark Ridpath, in his review of Miss Walker's poems.

JUDGE WALKER'S ANTECEDENTS-THE WALKERS.

Richard Logan Walker (father) was a native of Washington County, Kentucky, and was edu- cated in the schools of that county. He removed to Hartford about the year 1820 and engaged in merchandising and farming, shipping the product of his farm and that of others to the Ohio River in wagons and thence by flatboat to the New Orleans market. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was sheriff of Ohio County from 1820 to 1827, and for one term subsequently. The date of his marriage to Mahala Harris is not given. He died in 1857, and she survived him until 1860 and died, and is buried by his side at Hartford. They had five children: Nathan Harris, Richard Logan, Sallie Ann, Elijah Dudley and William L. D.

William Walker (grandfather) was a native of Fairfax County, Virginia, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married Polly Logan, a member of a distinguished family of Virginia.

MRS. ELVIRA ENGLISH WALKER'S ANCESTRY- THE HYNES FAMILY.

William Hynes came from Coleraine, Ireland, Londonderry County. When he came to Ameri- ca he worked in the printing office with Dr. Ben- jamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1745.

Thomas Hynes, son of William, came from

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

Maryland to Kentucky in 1779. A younger brother, Colonel Andrew Hynes, came with him. Thomas Hynes' wife's name was Abigail. They came down the Ohio River, and landed wliere Louisville now stands. There was only one house there, the fort built by General George Rogers Clark in the spring of 1779, after he had cap- tured a number of British forts in the summer of 1778 and spring of 1779. Clark had but one hun- dred and seventy-five men, and for seventeen days they were up to their waists and chins in water at Vincennes in February, 1779.

Thomas Hynes and his wife, Abigail, and five children passed in a short time from the fort to the falls of the Ohio to a fort on the north bank of Salt River, about three-fourths of a mile above Shepherdsville. They had nine children: Han- nah, Andrew, William R., Sally, Polly, Nancy, Thomas, Rachel and Elizabeth. Thomas Hynes, the father of the above named children, fought in the Revolutionary war, and was a captain under General George Washington.

After Thomas Hynes moved into the fort on Salt River he bought, in 1785, of Jacob Myers the upper half of said Myers' four hundred acre pre-emption on Salt River, including the site of the fort. The deed from Myers to Thomas Hynes is recorded in deed book No. I in the clerk's office of Jefferson County. In 1788 he moved to Nelson County, on Lick Creek, about four miles from Boston. Thomas Hynes died in 1796 in the thirty-fifth year of his age at the above mentioned place. Abigail Hynes died in Nelson County December 4, 1821, in the seventy-fifth year of her age.

The children of Thomas and Abigail Hynes married as follows:

William R. married twice; his first wife was a Miss Lawrence, by whom he had seven children; his second wife was a Miss Chenault, by whom he had twelve children, and among the number was Rev. Thomas W. Hynes of Bond County, Il- linois.

Sally Hynes, Mrs. Walker's grandmother, mar- ried William Crutcher, and had six children.

Polly Hynes married R. C. Slaughter.

Colonel Andrew Hynes, Jr., died in Nashville, Tennessee, January 21, 1849. Mrs. Mary J. Mc- 3

Reary of St. Louis and Mrs. Lavinia Gay are among his children.

Colonel Andrew Hynes was one of the trustees appointed by an act of the Virginia Legislature in 1780 to lay off the town of Louisville; and in deed book No. I, in the Jefferson County Court, will be found many deeds made by him. He was one of the delegates from Nelson County to the constitutional convention in 1792. He laid off Elizabethtown, and it was named for his wife Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Crutcher, youngest child of Sally and William Crutcher, married Robert English of Hardin County, Kentucky. She had three chil- dren, Elvira, Horace and Emma.

Many of the above facts are taken from papers written by Judge William R. Thompson, son of Polly Hynes, who married Volen Thompson. These facts were written by Judge Thompson only a short time before his death, which oc- curred in 1893. He was a member of the third constitutional convention of Kentucky. The original from which these extracts are taken is in the hands of Mr. Robert Duvall, Nolin, Hardin County.

C HARLES KENNEDY WHEELER, at- torney at law, Paducah, Kentucky, son of James and Elizabeth (Watkins) Wheeler, was born in Christian County, near Hopkinsville, Ken- tucky, April 18, 1863.

His father was born in London, Middlesex County, England, April 11, 18II, and was edu- cated at Oxford College. He came to America when about seventeen years of age, and was first employed as clerk to Judge Black of the South Carolina Supreme Court. He subsequently studied medicine and attended Transylvania Uni- versity at Lexington and was a graduate of the medical department of that institution. After practicing for one year in Paris, Kentucky, lić removed to Talladega, Alabama, where he fol. lowed his profession until 1840, when he removed to Christian County, Kentucky, purchased a farm and retired from the active practive of medicine.

Dr. Wheeler was twice married; first in Paris to Miss Metcalfe, a relative of Governor Metcalfe;

KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

and second to Elizabeth Watkins of Appomattox County, Virginia.

He was one of the most scholarly men of his day and his hospitable home was the resort of many of the most influential men of the south. He was a Whig during the life of that party, and afterward was welcomed to the councils of the Democracy. He was a Mason of high degree, and a member of the Episcopal Church, in which faith he died March 17, 1886.

James Wheeler (grandfather) was born in Lon- don, England, and was a man of means, who had no special occupation, and would have been known as a capitalist had he lived in this country nearly a hundred years later. His wife's name was Susan Kennedy, in whose remembrance the middle name of the subject of this sketch was given.

Elizabeth Watkins Wheeler (mother) was born in 1821, in Appomattox County, Virginia, four miles from the place where General Lee surren- dered to General Grant in 1865. She was educat- ed in private schools in Richmond and was a lady of fine accomplishments, in every way a suitable companion for her intelligent and scholarly hus- band. She is now living in Christian County, Ken- tucky, in the home which was noted for hospital- ity in the time of Dr. Wheeler's great popularity.

Joel Watkins (grandfather) was born in Ap- pomattox County, Virginia, on the day of the birth of the Republic, July 4, 1776. He received a fine education in the University of Virginia. His wife's maiden name was Dolly Jones, a native of the same county. He was a wealthy Virginia planter, and owned a great many slaves, and was one of the most influential men of his day. The day of his death is not remembered, nor is that of his wife's, but she survived him some twenty years and died at the old homestead.

Samuel Watkins (great-grandfather) was a cap- tain in the Revolutionary war.

The Watkins family is one of three families in the United States who received the title to their land from King George, it having descended from the oldest son in each family. They originally came from England.

Charles K. Wheeler received an academic edu- cation at Stewart College, Clarksville, Tennessee,

graduating when seventeen years of age. He then entered the law department of the Cumber- land University, Lebanon, Tennessee, and was graduated in 1880. He began the practice of law very soon thereafter, and, with the exception of a period of five years when he was in partnership with Judge Campbell, has been alone in the prac- tice of his profession ever since, and has enjoyed a very liberal share of the business of the Paducah bar. He is devoted to his work and seldom turns aside to indulge in politics. He is one of the most brilliant men in the profession; and being one of the finest speakers on the platform as well as on the forum, his services are in demand by his party in all important political campaigns, and he wields great power through the medium of his splendid oratory.

He was assistant elector in the Presidential cam- paigns of 1884 and 1888, on the Democratic ticket. He is a member of the Democratic State Executive Committee from the First Congres- sional District, and takes a leading part in the councils of his party, but is not an office seeker. He was elected, however, to the office of Corpor- ate Counsel of Paducah in 1892, the duties of which position are strictly in the line of his profes- sion.

Mr. Wheeler was married October 10, 1888, to Mary K. Gutherie, daughter of J. J. Gutherie, of Paducah. Mrs. Wheeler was born in Paducah February -, 1870, and was educated in the best schools of the city, subsequently taking a musical course in the Cincinnati College of Music, and in addition to other accomplishments is a musi- cian of rare talent. They have two children, James and Mary, and the happy family is domi- ciled in one of the loveliest homes in Paducah.

J OHN A. STRATTON, the well-known and highly successful real estate dealer of Louis- ville, was born in Henry County, Kentucky, Feb- ruary 24, 1854.

His father, Elisha B. Stratton, was born near Richmond, Virginia, and came to Kentucky about the year 1820. He first located in Trimble County and subsequently removed to Henry County, where he was a farmer and stock raiser. During the war he was a speculator, and after his removal

1198642 KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.

to Louisville in 1863 he was for a while engaged in a brokerage business, and became interested in the large trunk manufacturing establishment, which is now known as the Chilton-Guthrie Com- pany. He was a leading member of the Baptist Church, and being a man of fine intelligence and of pure mind and upright character, he was fre- quently called upon to preach the gospel. He died in 1878 at the age of sixty-eight years.

William Stratton (grandfather) was a native of Virginia, where he lived and died. The family, of English descent, came to America during the seventeenth century, one branch settling in Mas- sachusetts and another in Virginia.

Mary Antle Stratton (mother) was a native of Henry County, and died there when John A. Stratton was only six years of age. Her father, John Antle, a native of Virginia, was one of the pioneers of Kentucky and took part in the Indian fights which occurred in the early part of the cen- tury. He was a long-time resident of Henry County, and died there in 1858.

John A. Stratton was about nine years of age when he removed to Louisville with his father. He attended a private school taught by Honor- able Albert S. Willis in the county and subse- quently attended the Louisville public schools. At the age of sixteen he became a partner with his father in the firm of Stratton & Snodgrass in the manufacture of trunks, but sold out a year later and returned to school. He abandoned his studies a year later on account of failing health, and engaged in the manufacture of hemp brushes in partnership with Smith & Rammers. For two years he was traveling salesman for the firm, at the end of which time he bought out his partners, and for a short time conducted the business alone; but he was compelled to abandon the work on ac- count of its injurious effect upon his lungs.

He traveled extensively for a year recuperat- ing his health, and as out-door exercise seemed to be essential to life, his physician employed him as collector. He undertook other collections, in- cluding house rents, and his business grew until he found himself one of the leading real estate agents of the city. In this his success was phenomenal. He carefully studied and familiarized himself with the values of real property, studied the laws re-

lating to the same, and by his unerring judgment, business sagacity and industry soon established a reputation as a safe man to handle the property of others.

In the time he has been in this business he has made more sales and negotiated larger deals than any other agent in the city. His fee in a single transaction at the usual percentage to agents amounted to $20,000. He has been em- ployed to divide, adjust and settle some of the largest estates in Louisville, and in almost every important suit at law involving the value of realty he is called as an expert and eminently fair wit- ness.

He foresaw the advance in Louisville property some years ago and made many valuable deals for his clients and for himself. He is a fine real estate lawyer, and can give his attorney points in matters pertaining to his particular line of busi- ness. A man of means and large liberality, he is prominent in all matters in which public-spirited citizens seek to promote the growth and prosper- ity of the city, and exerts all of his energies to that end. He is a large stockholder in a number of enterprises in the city.

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Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 6

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