USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 74
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Thomas Todd (great-grandfather) was born in King and Queen County, Virginia, January 23, 1765. He was the youngest son of Richard Todd, who was descended from one of the most remark- able families in the colonies, his ancestors being among the early emigrants from England. Thomas Todd's mother was Elizabeth Richards. His father died when Thomas was eighteen years of age, leaving a considerable estate, which, by the laws of primogeniture, descended to the eldest son, William, but was swallowed up by mortgages and debts inherited. Thomas Todd received a good education, mainly through his own efforts; served as a substitute for six months in the Revo- lutionary war, and often referred to the incident in after life as the first opportunity he ever had of making any money. He afterward served in the cavalry in that war on his own account; came to Danville, Kentucky, in 1786 and was the guest of Judge Harry Innes and a teacher in his family while studying law. He was appointed clerk of the Federal Court prior to the admission of Ken- tucky into the Union, and was clerk of the Court
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of Appeals after that event, until December, 1801; was appointed judge of that court by Governor Garrard; was appointed chief justice by Governor Greenup; was appointed judge of the United States Circuit Court, embracing Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee, by President Jefferson, and con- tinued in that office until his death, February 7, 1826. He married Elizabeth Harris, who died in 18II, having borne him five children: Harry Innes, John Harris, Charles Stewart (who was minister plenipotentiary to Russia under Presi- dent William Henry Harrison), Elizabeth Hanna and Ann Maria Starling.
He married (second) the widow of George Steptoe Washington (nephew of General Wash- ington), whose maiden name was Lucy Payne, a sister of the wife of President Madison. There were three children by this marriage: James Madison, William Johnston and Madisonia. The Todds were originally from Ireland.
Jane Davidson Todd (mother) was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, September 19, 1821. She was educated in the schools of her native place and became the wife of Harry I. Todd, August 20, 1839. As before stated, she is now living with her son, Mayor Todd, in Louisville, and is a devout member of the Presbyterian Church.
Colonel James Davidson (maternal grand- father) was a native of North Carolina, and a twin brother of Michael Davidson. They came to Ken- tucky and were farmers and prominent men in Lincoln County. Each was elected to the Legis- lature-sometimes one would be in the Senate and the other in the House, and in the next terni their positions in the Assembly would be reversed. James was finally elected state treasurer; was in the War of 1812; married Harriet Ballinger, daughter of Joseph and Jane Logan Ballinger. He died May, 1860, and she died in 1861. Jane Logan Ballinger died January, 1851. Her mother was Janet McClure, and her father was John Logan of Revolutionary fame, for whose brother Logan's Fort was named.
George Davidson (maternal great-grandfather) was a captain in the Revolutionary war. He came to Lincoln County, Kentucky, from North Carolina, while his brother William went to Ten- nessee. Davidson County-in which Nashville,
the capital of the state, is situated-was named in his honor. The Davidsons are of Irish and the Logans of Scotch descent.
Judge Harry Innes, Mayor Todd's great-grand- father, was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of the District of Kentucky, October 13, 1782, by General Benjamin Harrison, then governor of Vir- ginia; and in 1789, under the first judiciary law of the United States, was appointed United States judge for the District of Kentucky by President Washington, which position he held until his de- mise, September 20, 1816. July 18, 1792, Governor Isaac Shelby, "by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed said Harry Innes chief justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky," which he declined. He was born January 15, 1752, in Caroline County, Virginia; son of Rev. Robert Innes, who was a native of Scotland and a minis- ter in the Episcopal Church. Judge Innes held many offices and performed public services which were of the highest importance to the people of Virginia and to the new State of Kentucky.
L UCIUS P. LITTLE, a well-known author and able attorney at law of Owensboro, son of Douglass Little, was born on his father's farm in the southern part of Daviess County, Kentucky, February 15, 1838.
His father was a native of what was then Ohio County, Kentucky, but in the part afterwards em- braced in Daviess County. He was at various periods of his life engaged in farming, black- smithing and wagon making and in the latter days practiced law. He held the offices of con- stable, justice of the peace, and county judge and was in office over twenty years and died in 1877. His father and mother, grandparents of Lucius P. Little, were natives of South Carolina, where they were married in 1798. They, with Judge Little's great-grandfather, George Little, emi- grated from South Carolina to Kentucky in 1802. George Little was a native of Scotland, whence he came to America before the Revolutionary War, and during that time he served as a private in the Colonial army. He was a life-long cripple in consequence of a severe wound received in battle.
Judge Little's great-grandmother was a daugh-
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ter of Alexander and Mary (Handley) Douglass, both of whom were natives of Scotland. His mother's maiden name was Martha Wright, daughter of John and Katherine (Weatherford) Wright of Charlotte County, Virginia. She came to Kentucky with her parents in 1820, and still lives in her eighty-fifth year.
Judge Little was the eldest of seven children, and his early years were spent on the farm where he was born and in the small towns of Rumsey and Calhoun. He attended school in these towns, but never enjoyed the advantages of collegiate training. When sixteen years of age he became a deputy clerk, remaining three years in the clerk's offices in Daviess and McLean Counties.
At the age of eighteen he began the study of law and in 1856 and 1857 attended law school at Cumberland University, Lebanon, Tennessee. He began the practice of his profession at Calhoun in 1857, in his twentieth year, continuing there until 1860; was appointed deputy United States marshal and took the census in McLean Coun- ty in 1860. In the close of that year he re- moved to Louisville, and after practicing in that city for twelve months he went to California in 1861 and remained there a year, employed in a conveyancer's office. Returning to Kentucky in 1862 he spent some months in recruiting for the Confederate army, for which offense he was arrested by the United States authorities and imprisoned, first at Bowling Green, and then at Frankfort. Securing release, he went to Mexico in the fall of 1863, but returned to Ken- tucky in the spring of 1864 and after some time resumed his law practice at Calhoun.
He removed to Owensboro, February, 1867; where he has ever since resided. He was a can- didate for Circuit Judge in 1874 and defeated; was again a candidate in 1880 and elected; and was re-elected in 1886. After serving twelve years on the bench, he resumed the practice of law in Owensboro in 1893, and is known as one of the leading lawyers in Kentucky.
Judge Little is much inclined to literary work and is a frequent contributor to the magazines and newspapers, his work always being acceptable. His most pretentious work, "Ben Hardin," pub- lished in book form in 1887, is a volume of rare
merit and deep interest, and has had an extensive sale. It is a book that should be in the library of every Kentuckian.
He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and is a Knight Templar Mason.
Judge Little has been three times married: First, to Lizzie Freeman of Woodford County, April, 1868; second, to Louise Holloway of Hen- derson County, October, 1875; and third, to Fan- nie Beach of New Jersey, January, 1889. He has eight living children.
R OBERT CARTER RICHARDSON, one of the senior attorneys of Covington, and an author of distinction, son of Samuel Q. and Mary H. (Harrison) Richardson and a descendant of some of the most distinguished patriots of Revo- lutionary times, was born in Louisville, Kentucky, May 18, 1826. His parents died when he was quite young, but he received a good education, graduating from the academical department of Transylvania University in 1846; and after read- ing law with Judge George Robertson of Lexing- ton, graduated from the law department of his alma mater in 1848, and was admitted to the bar in Lexington.
He removed to Covington in 1850, and has been engaged in the practice of his profession in that city-his present home-for forty-six years; and during all that time has been regarded as one of the most successful and honored members of the bar.
He was a member of the Legislature from Ken- ton County from 1855 to 1859, and was succeeded by John G. Carlisle; was superintendent of pub- lic instruction from 1859 to 1863; register in bankruptcy from 1872 to 1883, and has been prominently identified with the public affairs of his city, county and state and the national gov- ernment during all of the years of a busy and use- ful life. While yet a minor he served one year in the Mexican war in Cassius M. Clay's company, Colonel H. Marshall's regiment, as sergeant, and for a time as acting sergeant major. During the Civil war Mr. Richardson was an uncompromis- ing Union man and had command of two com- panies of home guards.
Mr. Richardson was married in 1859 to Marie
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Louise Harris, daughter of Colonel Henry C. Harris, who was for fourteen years a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives and Sen- ate. He was a lawyer of eminence in his profes- sion; was a Southern sympathizer during the war; made one or two races for Congress; married a Miss Davis of Virginia.
Samuel Q. Richardson (father), a distinguished lawyer, was a native of Fayette County, Ken- tucky; located first in Cincinnati, Ohio, then in Louisville, and finally in Frankfort, Kentucky, where he had a large practice in the Appellate Court. He died in the forty-fifth year of his age.
John Crowley Richardson (grandfather) was a native of Virginia and was ensign in a Baltimore regiment in the Revolutionary war.
William Richardson (great-grandfather) was born in Baltimore, and was colonel of a Mary- land regiment in the Revolutionary war. The progenitor of the Richardson family in this coun- try came from England in 1680, or about that time, and settled in Baltimore. The descendants have always been distinguished for their patriot- ism, loyalty and good citizenship.
Mary H. Harrison Richardson (mother) was born on the old Harrison estate in Virginia. Her father, Robert Carter Harrison, was a cousin of President William Henry Harrison, and a nephew of Benjamin Harrison, who was one of the sign- ers of the Declaration of Independence and gov- ernor of Virginia. The mother of Robert Carter Harrison was Susannah Randolph. She was a sister of Jane Randolph, who married Peter Jeffer- son, and was aunt of President Thomas Jefferson.
Mr. Richardson is also an author of distinction, his name appearing in Allibone's Dictionary of Authors, published some time since in Phila- delphia.
C HARLES STEWART BELL, Sr., born August 14, 1825, now resident at Lexing- ton, Kentucky. A beautiful, a sweet and gentle yet a forceful life it has fallen to my lot to sketch, as the setting sun falls across it with mellow glow, and the twilight is modestly, yet wistfully, to come and fold the good man to its heart. I write of such a man, without an enemy, though placed in such position that another would have scores of
them. He has held his own with sturdy strength, through every storm, without engendering ani- mosities; he has been true to every trust-true to his God, his neighbor and himself, and faithful always. He has not found a man to speak one idle word against his character. Old as he is, with a long, a busy and a useful life behind him, there is no spot, nor smirch, nor stain upon his name. Shame has not known him nor disgrace abided in his house. Of him it might in truth be said:
"Sweet are the thoughts that savor of content, The quiet mind is richer than a crown; Sweet are the nights in careless slumber spent, The poor estate scorns Fortune's angry frown. Such sweet content, such mind, such sleep, such bliss, Beggars enjoy when princes often miss.
The homely house that harbors quiet rest, The cottage that affords no pride nor care,
The man that 'grees wi' country music best,
The sweet consort of Mirth, and Music's fare,
Obscured life sets down a type of bliss:
A mind content both crown and kingdom is."
The modesty and accuracy of his mind could not be better shown than in his own sketch of his family, which is reproduced almost literally as written by him for the purposes of this article. It is as follows:
My ancestors were natives of Annandale, Dum- fries-shire, Scotland. The natives of Annandale were a warm-hearted race, proud of the common tie which binds them to their grand historic dale, and with feelings of attachment for the "glorious heritage of name and fame bequeathed to them by their forefathers."
My grandfather, William Bell, married Agnes Irving; they were born and lived in Annandale, near Annan. He was a descendant from the three connected Bells of Middlebie, Allenbie and Blackethouse, and was noted as a good farmer in his day. They had six children, four sons and two daughters.
My grandfather on my mother's side was John Moffat. He married Elizabeth Brown; they were also born in Annandale, near Lockerby, and had five children, two sons and three daughters. He was a mercantile man. Both families were Pres- byterians. My father, George K. Bell, was the son of William and Agnes I. Bell, and married
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Sybella Moffat, in 1820. They had twelve chil- dren, nine sons and three daughters. After they were married they lived at Hillside, near Locker- by. From there he removed to Jardine Hall, in the parish of Applegarth, and resided there for several years. In 1838 he took charge of the woods and forests on the Marquis of Queens- berry's estates, and upon the resignation of James Stewart, Esq., as factor on the estates, he suc- ceeded to that position, and continued to hold it until his death, which took place on the 26th of April, 1873, at Cummertrees House at the age of seventy-six years. My mother died on the 26th of October, 1873, at the age of seventy-four years.
I was born at Clughfoots, near Hillside, parish of Dryfesdale, August 14, 1823, and received most of my education at the School of Sandyholm, in the parish of Applegarth. I was fond of botany, and at the age of fourteen years wanted to follow horticulture. As soon as Sir William Jardine, the naturalist, knew of my wish he got his gar- dener to make a place for me in his gardens at Jardine Hall, and after working two years in them I went to the nurseries of Thomas Kennedy in Dumfries, then the largest in the south of Scot- land, to learn something of nursery work. After remaining some time in these nurseries, a situa- tion was offered me in the gardens of the Duke of Beccleugh, at Drumlanrig Castle, which were then undergoing some improvements, as it was expected that Queen Victoria would stop there on her way from London to Edinburgh, this being her first visit to Scotland. The gardens of Drum- lanrig were then considered amongst the finest in Scotland. After remaining about two years at Drumlanrig, in the different departments of the gardens, I went to Liverpool in England, and was employed some time in the large nurseries of William Skirving.
While living in Liverpool I concluded to visit the United States, and sailed from Liver- pool early in June, 1842, arriving in New York on the 6th day of July, not then eighteen years of age. I remained in New York City and vicinity and in Dutchess County, New York, for about a year, occasionally visiting some of the noted places on the banks of the Hudson River when not employed. In November, 1843, I sailed from
New York to New Orleans, and spent part of the winter there, and then went to Mobile, Alabama. From there returned to New Orleans and took passage by steamboat for Cincinnati, Ohio, arriv- ing at that city in June, 1844, where I soon found employment with a florist in his greenhouses. While there I was engaged to come to Lexington, Kentucky, by Henry Duncan, Esq., who was hav- ing greenhouses and vineries built for growing the fine varieties of foreign grapes at his then beauti- ful residence, Duncanan.
I arrived in Lexington on the 28th of Novem- ber, 1844. On the 17th of February, 1846, I mar- ried Margaret Bunyan Smith,. in Chillicothe, Ohio. Her father's name was William Smith and her mother's name Helen Scott. Her paternal grandfather was named William Smith. He was born, lived and died at Newstead, a village in Rosburyshire, Scotland. He married Margaret Bunyan in January, 1787. They had a family of three sons and four daughters. William, the old- est, my wife's father, was born in November, 1787, at Newstead. He was a direct descendant from John Bunyan, the author of the Pilgrim's Prog- ress, a book which, next to the Bible, is more read in Scotland than any other. He had two uncles named Robert and Andrew. One was a surgeon in the British navy, and the other an "ensign." Her mother's name was Helen Scott. She was born February 2, 1792, near Hawick, Scotland. Her father's name was John Scott, and his wife's name Mary Riddle. They moved to a farm at Merton, near Abbotsford. Her father and his son were elders in the same church. Her uncle, John Scott, had a position in the office of Sir Wal- ter Scott. They were distant relations of Sir Walter Scott's. William Smith and Helen Scott were married near Hawick, but left there in 1819 or 1820, and went to Dumfries-shire. He was em- ployed for about twenty-two years at Drum- lanrig in superintending the home farms and improvements on them for the Duke of Bec- cleugh. In the spring of 1842 he sold his prop- erty near Hawick, and emigrated to the United States with his family. They arrived in New York from Scotland August 4, 1842. From there went to Circleville in Pickaway County, Ohio, and in March, 1843, he purchased a farm in Ross
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County, Ohio, near Chillicothe, where he lived until November 18, 1852, when he died, his wife following him February 13, 1857. They had twelve children, all born in Scotland.
On the first of April, 1849, I was chosen super- intendent of the Lexington Cemetery, and from that date until September 1, 1866, continued to be superintendent. From September, 1866, to Sep- tember 1, 1867, I was superintendent for the A. and M. College on the farms of Ashland and Woodlands, then the property of the Kentucky University and A. and M. College. When I left the A. and M. College it was my intention to have gone more extensively into the nursery and florist business and to devote my whole time to it, but when it became known to the trustees of the cemetery they made me a proposition to again take charge of the cemetery, and I again became superintendent of it on September 1, 1867, and have continued up to the present time (1896).
On the 24th of July, 1885, my wife died, in the sixty-fifth year of her age. At an early age she joined the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, and continued to be a member of that church until her death.
We had five children, four sons and one daugh- ter: George K. Bell, born December 28, 1846, now agent for the Adams Express Company in Lex- ington, Kentucky; John Moffat Bell, born March 16, 1848, now cashier of the First National Bank of Lexington, Kentucky; William Smith Bell, born November 9, 1852, now a florist in Lexing- ton; Charles Stewart Bell, born January 15, 1855, now in the wholesale fruit and commission busi- ness in Lexington, Kentucky; Ellen Scott Bell, born December 3, 1849, was graduated at the Sayre Female Institute in Lexington, and mar- ried T. V. Munson June 27, 1870.
Mr. Munson was born near the village of Astoria, Fulton County, Illinois, September 26, 1843. His father, William Munson, was a New Englander, his mother a Kentuckian. He took a full course in Bryant and Stratton's Busi- ness College of Chicago, getting his diploma in 1864. In 1866 he entered Kentucky University, taking the full scientific course, and graduated as B. S. in 1870. He was at once elected adjunct professor in the sciences. This position he held 28
one year, when too long continued hard study in the schoolroom weakened his health, so that he chose to give up teaching for the pursuit of horticulture. He started a nursery in Lincoln, Nebraska, in 1873, and in 1876 he moved to a better location at Denison, Texas, where he now has a fine nursery, well stocked, of over one hun- dred acres. In 1888 he was honored by the Re- public of France, which conferred upon him the title of "Chevalier du Merite Agricole," and pre- sented him with the diploma and decorations of the Legion of Honor, for valuable information on the native grapes of North America, especially as to resistant stocks, and such as will grow well in dry, chalky soils. Only one other such decoration was given an American, Thomas E. Edison re- ceiving that.
It is amongst the species of native grapes that he has achieved during twenty years of experi- mentation some most remarkable results in hybridization. This work he is still pursuing, and only future generations will be able to fully appreciate the broadening he has given to Ameri- can viticulture. He has now associated with him his eldest son, William Bell Munson, in the man- agement of his business, finding himself over- loaded with the management of it.
"In May, 1895, the trustees of the cemetery granted me a leave of absence for two months to visit Scotland. I sailed from New York on June 8, 1895, and was absent nearly two months, never having been back to Scotland since I left there early in the spring of 1842, after an absence of fifty-two years. On visiting my old home I found all that was left was outside, the old trees, the grass, the house; but inside all was changed by time and death."
A life history, told in such simplicity, need not be classed as uneventful. To be born, to marry, to become a parent and to die is but the common lot of man; but to start like the trickling rivulet from mountain mosses on the cliffside, to form misty cataracts and limpid pools in the descent, to broaden into a meandering brook and fertilize the fruitful fields, to become part of the broad- breasted river which turns the whirring wheels of factories and bears its white-winged commerce to the sea and yet retain the purity and gentleness of
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mountain dew, is not the heritage of every man. To this man such a life has been-a life of useful- ness, of gentleness, of grace and peace.
The Scotch race exhibits its sturdy tenacity in nothing more than its adherence to the idea of home, and its capacity for founding and perpetu- ating the family. Its favorite doctrine of predes- tination makes its people look upon the rooftree as especially the gift of God, and the Scotsman considers the corner stone of his dwelling as hav- ing been laid in the mind of the Almighty before the foundation of the world. To have about him a family of strong and brave children, self-reliant and devout, is the crowning glory of the old man as he looks into the setting sun.
But with all his sublime faith in the Higher Power he does not forget works, which are the fruit of faith. No matter how poor, he must strive to be better off in this world's goods; no matter how humble, he must seek to rise higher, so that in his old days he may be able to stretch a helping hand to the son, perhaps, of the man who helped him in his youth. Industry and per- sistent effort bring him to the front in every clime, and when he thinks his betterment demands it, he does not hesitate to leave his much beloved land behind him, turning his face toward a new soil where growth is rapider and skill and energy in more demand.
Such reasons brought Charles Stewart Bell to this country in 1842, a youth in years, but a mature man in experience. The instinct for home life, for cherishing and developing, for training the young in strength to resist rough blasts and flourish in rocky soil, is innate with his race and makes of the Scotchman the best nurseryman in the world. He makes the plant, as well as the child, thrifty and self-reliant. With four years' apprenticeship in the best gardens of his native land, with strong arms, stout heart and willing mind the young man found no difficulty in secur- ing work. From the Gulf to the Ohio he wrought faithfully, studying with apt mind the changing conditions of soil and climate. Until he reached Lexington he had not realized his gardener's ideal. Here he paused, and his heart said to itself, "Eureka! I have found it."
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