USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 65
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R OBERT BENJAMIN LANCASTER, banker, distiller, miller and a leading citizen of Lebanon, son of Benjamin and Ann (Pottinger) Lancaster, was born in Marion County, Ken- tucky, May 26, 1835.
His father was born in the same county in 1799; educated in the local schools; was a farmer and devoted his entire attention to agricultural pur- suits; married Ann Pottinger of the same county; died in 1839, and is buried at St. Charles, Marion County.
John Lancaster (grandfather) was born in Maryland and came to Hardin Creek Catholic Settlement in 1788. He was a man of superior capabilities and extraordinary strength of char- acter; a recognized leader in the community and was first in every movement for the material prosperity of the people. He was married in 1790 to Catherine Miles, daughter of Philip Miles of Pottinger Creek Settlement. Their children were: Joseph B., married Anna Blair; Raphael, married Caroline Carter, niece of Reverend Charles Car- ter of the arch-diocese of Philadelphia; Philip Henry, married Catherine Hagan; John, married Mary Hayden; Benjamin, married Ann Pottin- ger (father and mother); Ellen, married Judge A. H. Churchill; Ann, married E. B. Smith; James Madison, priest; William, married Mal- vina Churchill; Catherine, married Leonard A. Spalding, brother of Archbishop Spalding of Bal- timore.
John Lancaster (grandfather) represented Washington County in the Kentucky Legislature
from 1799 to 1802, and again in 1820. He amassed a large fortune for the times in which he lived. His death occurred in the spring of 1838.
Family tradition says that the first of the name of Lancaster who came to America was John- a son of a Lancastershire landlord of the same name-who offended his father by marrying Fan- nie Jarnigan, a portionless Irish girl. The young man and his wife came to America and settled on the lower Potomac in a locality then known as "Cob Neck," where they reared a family. One of their sons, Raphael Lancaster, married Eleanor Bradford, whose mother was a Darnell, sister of the mother of Dr. John Carroll, first bishop, and subsequently archbishop, of Baltimore. Two of Raphael Lancaster's sons, John and Raphael, re- moved from Maryland to Kentucky in 1788, John (grandfather) settling on Hardin's Creek, as be- fore stated, and Raphael near Bardstown.
Ann Pottinger Lancaster (mother) was a daughter of Samuel Pottinger and a Mrs. Logan, whose maiden name was Caldwell. The Pottin- gers came to Kentucky from Virginia in 1781.
Robert B. Lancaster, the subject of this sketch, was educated in St. Joseph College, Bardstown, and was engaged in farming near that place, and also in distilling until 1860, when he removed to Lebanon and was employed in merchandising until the beginning of Civil war, in which he took no active part, being absent in Brazil.
Returning after the war he again engaged in farming, and was at different times the owner of some of the finest horses in Kentucky. Among others were Marion C., Longbow, Trafalgar, Emma Mc, Lizzie Hayden, Bettie Magruder, Zuma and Linna.
In 1874 he established the Maple Grove Distil- lery Company near Lebanon, of which he is sole proprietor; is also the owner of the S. P. Lan- caster Distillery Company at Bardstown. In 1886 the firm of W. Q. Emison & Company, wholesale liquor dealers and distillers, was organized, Mr. Lancaster having a half interest in the company; has been a director in the Citizens' National Bank of Lebanon for ten years and president since 1891; was one of the promoters of the local telephone exchange of Lebanon, and is a director in the company; has been president of the Springfield
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& New Market Turnpike Company for twelve years; is president of the Lebanon Roller Mill Company, and has other large business interests in the city and county; is not prominent in poli- tics, but is a Democrat in favor of bimetallism; is a leading member of the Catholic Church, and very generous in his charities, and a most worthy and highly honored citizen.
Mr. Lancaster was married May 7, 1867, to Mary T. Abell, daughter of John and Mary Jane (Spalding) Abell, and she was the mother of six children: Mary J., wife of T. A. Mattingly of Lebanon; Annie E., Joseph S., Benjamin H., married Rose Brown of Lebanon; John A. and Mary T.
Mr. Lancaster was married a second time, June 22, 1881, to Sally Dougherty of Louisville, and by this marriage he has one son, Robert B. Lan- caster, Jr.
JOHN D. CARROLL, a leading attorney at law and distinguished politician of New Cas- tle, son of Anthony J. and Eliza (Collins) Carroll, was born in Oldham County, Kentucky, in 1854.
His father was a native of Ireland; came to Kentucky in 1848, and soon thereafter located in Oldham County, near Buckner's Station, where he resided until his death in 1867; he was a man of strong common sense, excellent judgment and fine business capacity and at the time of his death and for several years prior thereto, was engaged in the business of farming and railroad building. In 1852 he was married to Eliza Collins, who died in 1885. Mrs. Carroll was highly esteemed as a good Christian woman, was devoted to her home and family, and enjoyed the love and respect of a large circle of friends. Four children now living -John D., Thomas, Charles and Anthony J .- were the result of this union.
Few men have risen from humble surroundings in childhood to such prominence in public life and in the legal profession, in both of which re- lations John D. Carroll is one of the first men in Kentucky to-day. Modest and unconscious of his own worth, unwilling to speak of his achieve- ments, a mere outline of his life is all that can be given in this brief sketch.
He attended school in La Grange, and this is all
that can be said of his early education. But he was studious and ambitious, and followed his limited opportunities in the school room by a careful course of reading and study of the higher branches, improving his time to the best advan- tage while performing manual labor on his father's farm, on which he worked from 1869 to 1875. Fol- lowing his inclination he began the study of law regularly in 1875 with Judge William Carroll of New Castle, now circuit judge; was admitted to the bar in 1876 and began the practice of his profession in New Castle; was a law partner of C. M. Harwood of Shelbyville-one of the finest lawyers in the state-until his death in 1882; was then associated with R. W. Masterson, an excel- lent attorney, now residing in Carrollton, Ken- tucky, and has recently been associated with Hon- orable Joseph Barbour, late judge of the Superior Court.
In all of these professional relations he was eminently successful and soon became known as a leading lawyer of his section; and as a matter of course he became a leader in Democratic poli- tics; was elected to the Legislature in 1881 and again in in 1883, serving four years, in which capacity he made himself known throughout the state; was a member of the Constitutional Con- vention of 1890-1, to which he was elected with- out opposition, and in which he further distin- guished himself as a man of superior ability; was appointed in 1891 by Governor John Young Brown as one of three commissioners to revise the laws under the new constitution-a just com- pliment to his superior knowledge and fitness for the work in hand; subsequently, in conjunction with Judge Joseph Barbour, he prepared the Ken- tucky statutes, which is the only compilation of the statute laws in use in Kentucky, and is in- valuable to the profession. He is also the editor of Carroll's Kentucky Codes of Practice, a work that has been received with great favor by the profession. However, his public services have been merely incidental to his labors in the legiti- mate pursuit of his vocation, in which he excels and to which he is earnestly devoted.
His leadership in his party was recognized by his selection in 1892 as chairman of the Demo- cratic State Central Committee, in which capacity
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he served faithfully and with signal ability until 1895.
He is a prominent and helpful member of the Odd Fellows fraternity, with which he has been associated since 1876.
Mr. Carroll was married in 1894 to Harriet Hunter Sanford, daughter of Lewis M. Sanford, whose sketch will be found in this volume. Mrs. Carroll was born in Henry County, Kentucky, and was educated at St. Mary's College, South Bend, Indiana.
H ENRY CLAY, the son of a Baptist clergy- man of respectable standing, was born in Hanover County, Virginia, on the 12th of April, 1777. His father died when young Henry had attained his fifth year, and the care of superin- tending his education devolved on his widowed mother. She appears to have been a lady of ster- ling worth, singular intelligence and masculine vigor of intellect.
The boyhood of Henry Clay was furnished with few of those facilities for obtaining a literary edu- cation, which are now accessible to almost all. His mind was left to develop its powers and at- tain its growth through the force of its own in- nate energies, with but little aid from books or competent instructors. Those rich treasures of intellectual wealth, which are to be found in well selected libraries and properly organized schools, were to him a sealed fountain. The extent of his boyish attainments in literature con- sisted of the common elements taught in a country school of the most humble pretensions. Even these slender advantages were but sparing- ly enjoyed, and the future orator and statesman was compelled, by the straitened circumstances of his family, to devote a considerable portion of his time to manual labor in the field. The subse- quent brilliant achievements of that master mind derive increased luster from the contemplation of the obstacles thus early interposed to its prog- ress, and no more honorable testimony can be offered to the ardor, energy and invincibility of that towering intellect and imperial spirit, than the severe trials which at this period it encoun- tered, and over which it triumphed. It is probable that this early familiarity with the sternest reali-
ties of life contributed to give to his mind that strong practical bias, which has subsequently dis- tinguished his career as a statesman; while there can be no doubt that the demands thus continual- ly made upon his energies tended to a quick de- velopment of that unyielding strength of charac- ter which bears down all opposition, and stamps him as one of the most powerful spirits of the age.
At the age of fourteen he was placed in a small drug store in the city of Richmond, Virginia. He continued in this situation but a few months, and in 1792 entered the office of the clerk of the High Court of Chancery. While in this office he attracted the attention of Chancellor Wythe, who, being very favorably impressed by his amiable de- portment, uniform habits of industry, and strik- ing displays of intelligence, honored him with his friendship, and employed him as an amanuen- sis. It was probably through the advice of Chan- cellor Wythe that he first conceived the design of studying law, and he has himself borne testimony to the fact, that his intercourse with that great and good man exercised a decided and very salutary influence in the development of his mental powers, and the formation of his character.
In the year 1796, he went to reside with Robert Brooks, Esq., attorney-general of Virginia. While in the family of this gentleman his opportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the profession to which he had determined to devote his life, were greatly improved, and he appears to have culti- vated them with exemplary assiduity. The year 1797 seems to have been devoted by Mr. Clay exclusively to the study of his profession. It is worthy of remark that this was the first year in which his necessities permitted him to pursue an uninterrupted system of study, and so eagerly did he avail himself of the privilege, and such was the ardor and vivacity of his mind that near the close of the year he obtained from the Virginia Court of Appeals a license to practice. Of course the acquisitions made in the science of law, in the course of these irregular and broken efforts to master that intricate and complex system, were somewhat desultory and crude, and it is not the least striking evidence of the wonderful resources of Mr. Clay's genius, that he was enabled, not- withstanding these disadvantages, to assume so
HENRY CLAY.
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early in life a high rank in his profession, at a bar distinguished for the number, ability and pro- found erudition of its members.
When Mr. Clay entered upon the duties of his profession, the Lexington bar was noted for tal- ent, numbering among its members some of the first lawyers that have ever adorned the legal pro- fession in America. He commenced the prac- tice under circumstances somewhat discouraging, and as appears from his own statement, with very moderate expectations. His earliest efforts, how- ever, were attended with complete success; his reputation spread rapidly, and, to use his own language, he "immediately rushed into a lucra- tive practice." This unusual spectacle, so rare in the legal profession, is to be ascribed mainly to Mr. Clay's skill as an advocate. Gifted by nature with oratorial genius of a high order, his very youth increased the spell of that potent fascination which his splendid elocution and passionate elo- quence threw over the public mind, and led the imagination a willing captive to its power. It was in the conduct of criminal causes, especially, that he achieved his greatest triumphs. The latitude customary and allowable to an advocate in the defense of his client, the surpassing interest of the questions at issue, presented an occasion and a field which never failed to elicit a blaze of genius, before which the public stood dazzled and as- tonished.
A large portion of the litigation at that day in Kentucky grew out of the unsettled tenure by which most of the lands in the country were held. The contests arising out of those conflicting claims had built up a system of land law remark- able for its intricacy and complexity, and having no parallel in the whole range of the law of real property. Adapted to the exigencies of the coun- try and having its origin in the necessities of the times it was still remarkable for its logical con- sistency and sound principle. Kentucky, at that day, could boast some of the most profound, acute and subtle lawyers in the world.
In 1803 he was elected to represent the County of Fayette in the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. He was re-elected to that body at every session until 1806. The impression made upon his associates must have been of the most
favorable character, since, in the latter year, he was elected to the Senate of the United States to serve out the unexpired term of General Adair. He was elected for one session only.
During this session Mr. Clay, as a member of the Senate, had occasion to investigate the extent of the power of Congress to promote internal im- provements, and the result of his examination was a full conviction that the subject was ciearly within the competency of the general govern- ment. These views he never changed; and profoundly impressed with the policy of promot- ing such works, he at the same session gave his cordial support to several measures of that char- acter.
At the close of the session Mr. Clay returned to Kentucky and resumed the practice of his pro- fession. At the ensuing election in August he was returned as the representative from Fayette to the Legislature. When the Legislature assem- bled he was elected speaker of the house. In this station he was distinguished for the zeal, energy and decision with which he discharged its duties. He continued a member of the Legislature until 1809, when he tendered his resignation, and was elected to the Senate of the United States for two years, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resig- nation of Mr. Thurston.
The principal matters which came before the Senate during Mr. Clay's second term of service, related to the policy of encouraging domestic manufactures; the law to reduce into possession, and establish the authority of the United States over the territory between the Mississippi and Perdido Rivers, comprehending the present States of Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and the question of a re-charter of the Bank of the United States.
At the session of 1810-11 the question of a re- charter of the Bank of the United States was brought before the Senate, and became the sub- ject of a debate, noted in our congressional his- tory for its intemperate violence and splendid dis- plays of eloquence. On this occasion Mr. Clay was found opposed to the re-charter of the bank, and maintained his views in a speech of great ingenuity and power.
When, at the expiration of the term of service
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for which he had been elected, Mr. Clay retired from the Senate, he left behind him a character for general ability and sound statesmanship which few men of the same age have ever attained.
In 1811, the same year in which he retired from the Senate, he was elected by the people of the Fayette district to represent them in the House of Representatives of the United States. In 1813 he was re-elected, and continued a member of the House until he was sent to Europe as one of the commissioners to negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain. During the whole of this period he filled the speaker's chair in the House, having received the high and unusual compliment of being chosen to that responsible station the first day on which he appeared in his seat in Congress.
Mr. Clay consequently presided over the Twelfth and Thirteenth Congresses, and partici- pated largely in those measures adopted to vindi- cate the honor and assert the rights of the coun- try against the usurpations and aggressions of Great Britain. He gave a warm and hearty co- operation in all those efforts that were made to put the country in a state of defense, and contributed as much, if not more, by his sleepless energy and unrivaled eloquence, to infuse a proper spirit into the deliberations of Congress, than any other man. His speeches on the subject of our difficulties with Great Britain exhibit some of the most brilliant specimens of parliamentary eloquence extant, and their effect at the time in arousing the country to a sense of its wrongs, and a determination to redress them, is said to have been unequalled. As strange as it may sound in the ears of the present generation, there was a large and respect- able party at that period, both in and out of Con- gress, which was averse to war with Great Britain, and disposed .to submit to almost any outrage rather than distract her efforts to put down the power of Napoleon, then in the midst of his ex- traordinary career. It was in opposition to what he considered the parricidal efforts of these men that the transcendent genius of the Kentucky statesman displayed its most brilliant, powerful and commanding attributes. He was the life and soul of the war party in Congress-the master spirit around whom all the boldness and chivalry of the nation rallied in that dark hour, when the
gloom of despondency hung heavy on every brow, and the generous pride of a free people drooped under the withering sense of the un- avenged insult that had been offered to the na- tional honor. In 1814 he resigned his place in Congress to accept an appointment as commis- sioner and minister plenipotentiary to Ghent. At this period the control which he had acquired in Congress was unlimited. In the house it was probably equal to that he had obtained a few years before in the Kentucky Legislature.
In 1814, having been appointed in conjunction with Messrs. John Q. Adams, James A. Bayard, Albert Gallatin and Jonathan Russell, a commis- sioner to meet commissioners appointed on the part of Great Britain, he proceeded to Europe. On the sixth of August the plenipotentiaries of both nations met in the ancient city of Ghent, pre- pared to proceed to business. The plan of this sketch does not require, nor would it admit, of a detailed account of the negotiations, extending through several months, which finally resulted in a treaty of peace between the two nations. These are to be found related at large in the public his- tories of the time, and to them we refer the reader for a full knowledge of those transactions. Let it suffice to say that on this, as on all other occa- sions, Mr. Clay mingled controllingly in the de- liberations of his distinguished colleagues, and exercised a very commanding influence over the course of the negotiation. There is, indeed, rea- son to believe that, but for his firmness and tact, the right to the exclusive navigation of the Mis- sissippi River would have been surrendered for a very inconsiderable equivalent. His colleagues in the negotiation have always borne the most honorable testimony to the ability and compre- hensive knowledge displayed by Mr. Clay in those memorable transactions, and he returned to the United States with a reputation materially en- hanced.
He found upon his arrival in Kentucky that during his absence he had been nominated by his friends and elected to Congress; but as there arose doubts as to the legality of his election he resigned, and the canvass was opened anew. This resulted as the previous vote, in his being returned by an overwhelming majority. He was re-elected in
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succession to every Congress that assembled until the session of 1820-21, when he retired to repair the inroads made in his private fortune by his long devotion to public affairs. During this period he was thrice elected speaker of the house, and pre- sided over the deliberations of that body during the whole period which intervened between 1815 and 1821.
On his re-entrance into Congress Mr. Clay was called to defend the treaty, in the formation of which he had participated so largely, against the animadversions of his old enemies, the Federal- ists. That treaty was made the subject of un- bridled criticism by those who had opposed the war, and with the magical astuteness of hatred they discovered objectionable features in every clause. In the course of the discussions which thus arose he had frequent occasion to review the origin, progress and termination of the war, which task he performed with masterly ability, exposing the inconsistency and malignity of his adversaries to deserved odium. He met them at every point, and never failed to make their rancorous virulence recoil on their own heads with tremendous effect.
During the time of this, Mr. Clay's second incumbency in the House of Representatives, many questions were presented for its delibera- tion of surpassing interest, and closely touching the permanent welfare of the republic. The finances of the country were found to be in a condition of ruinous embarrassment; the nation was deeply involved in debt and the little money left in the country was being continually drained away to pay for foreign importations. It was in this gloomy conjuncture of affairs that the session of 1815-16 opened, and Congress was called to the arduous task of repairing the breeches which thus yawned in the public prosperity. In all those measures recommended by Mr. Madison's admin- istration, with a view to the accomplishment of this end, Mr. Clay heartily co-operated. Among other things, he gave his support to a proposition to reduce the direct tax of the United States. He advocated, as has been already stated, the incor- poration of a United States bank.
The recognition of the South American repub- lics by the government of the United States, a measure which was almost entirely attributable
to the indefatigable exertions, personal influence and powerful eloquence of Mr. Clay, while it shed lustre on the Monroe administration, surrounded the brow of the great statesman with a halo of true glory which grows brighter with the lapse of time.
At the session of 1816-17 the subject of the Sem- inole war was brought before Congress, and Mr. Clay, in the course of his speech on that occasion, found it necessary to speak with some severity of the conduct of General Jaickson. This was the origin of that inveterate hostility on the part of the old general towards the great Kentuckian, the consequences of which were deeply felt in after years.
The only remaining measure of importance with which Mr. Clay's name is connected in the history of those times, was the great and exciting question which arose on the application of Mis- souri for admission into the Union. Probably at no period of our history has the horoscope of our country's destiny looked so dark and threatening. The Union was convulsed to its center. An uni- versal alarm pervaded all sections of the country and every class of the community. A disruption of the Confederacy seemed inevitable-civil war, with its attendant horrors, seemed to scowl from every quarter, and the sun of American liberty appeared about to set in a sea of blood. At this conjuncture every eye in the country was turned to Henry Clay. He labored night and day, and such was the excitement of his mind, that he has been heard to declare that if the settlement of the controversy had been suspended three weeks long- er, it would have cost him his life. Happy was it for America that he was found equal to the emergency, and that the tempest of desolation which seemed about to burst upon our heads was, through his agency, permitted to pass away harm- less. At the close of the session of Congress in 1821, Mr. Clay retired, and resumed the practice of his profession. He did not again enter Con- gress until 1823.
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