Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 80

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

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farmer of Trigg County until the time of his death, which occurred February 12, 1853. He was a faithful member of the Christian Church, a Mason and an honored citizen.

Cornelius Crenshaw (grandfather) married Nancy Kent in Halifax County, Virginia, and came to Trigg County, Kentucky, in 1819. He was for many years a member of the United Bap- tist denomination, but afterwards associated him- self with the Christian Church and was noted for his piety and good works. Before coming to Kentucky he had served in a Virginia company in the War of 1812, in which he was a commissioned officer stationed at Norfolk, Virginia.

Mary Frances Walden Crenshaw (mother) was a sister of Dr. J. C. Walden of Maysville, whose sketch and ancestry will be found in this volume.

Robert Crenshaw was raised by his uncle, Thomas Crenshaw, and educated under the teach- ing and direction of Professors A. J. Wyatt and G. P. Street. At the age of twenty he began the study of law under Judge Thomas C. Dabney. He commenced the practice of law in 1868. In 1872 he was elected County Attorney for a term of four years, during which time he also held the office of School Commissioner; and in 1884 was elected County Judge, and this office he filled during the wholc term with great credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. On leaving the bench he resumed the practice of law, in which he has had a successful and brilliant career.

He has sometimes indulged in politics for the sake of his friends and the political weal, but has sought no favors outside of his legal profession. He has occasionally gratified a propensity for newspaper work by lending his aid to the local journals, and his writings have been much quoted.

In 1894 a vote was taken in Trigg County on the question whether whisky should be sold in the county, and Judge Crenshaw was selected as Chairman of the Executive Committee to canvass the county in the interest of the Prohibition party, which won the contest by over five hundred ma- jority, an achievement of which he is very proud and for which he is greatly honored by the Chris- tian people of his county. And this one incident is a fair index of the character of the man. He undertook a task which was by many consid-

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ered unpopular and one in which few men could hope to succeed; but the magnitude of the under- taking nor the jeers of the enemies of temperance, nor the opposition of so-called business interests could not deter him from throwing the whole force and weight of his influence against a so- cial wrong and in favor of the best interests of so- ciety.

Judge Crenshaw was married in 1877 to Minnie Dabney, daughter of Judge Thomas C. Dabney, the subject of the foregoing sketch, and it is hard- ly necessary to add that she is one of the most in- telligent women of the state of Kentucky. She lias made a name in literature and is a frequent contributor to literary and religious journals. Judge and Mrs. Crenshaw have a happy family of six children: Susanne Moore, E. Rumsey, Dab- ney H., Robert, John W. and Albert.

IJ JOHN FRANKLIN HAGER, leading attor- ney-at-law of Ashland, son of Henry G. Ha- ger, and grandson of Daniel Hager, Sr., was born in Floyd County, Kentucky, March 16, 1853. His mother died in 1856, and at the age of eleven years he went to Ashland and for two years attended the private school of J. B. Powell; was one year at school in Catlettsburg and another year at Ma- sonic Academy, Louisa, Kentucky. In his boy- hood, when not in school he was a knock-about hand on Big Sandy River steamers serving as cabin-boy, cook, watchman and "cub" pilot. At the age of fifteen he was employed by his uncle, S. P. Hager, a general merchant at Paintsville, and remained there for four years except a part of one year when he attended the public schools at Paris, Ill. At the age of nineteen he was ap- pointed deputy clerk of the Magoffin Circuit Court, receiving one-third of the fees for his serv- ices, at the same time reading borrowed law books and qualified himself for examination for license, to practice law, which he obtained at West Lib- erty, November 13, 1873, being then under twen- ty-one years of age. He soon returned to Ash- land and became a partner with John W. Hamp- ton in the practice of law, succeeding as Hamp- ton & Hager, the law firm of Ireland & Hamp- ton, Mr. Ireland having been elected Judge of the Sixteenth Circuit. This partnership continued

until 1880, when Mr. Hampton removed to Texas, since which time Mr. Hager has been engaged in a large practice alone at Ashland.

He served as Commissioner from Kentucky un- der appointment of Governor Buckner at the cele- bration of the Centennial of the Federal Consti- tution at Philadelphia in September, 1887; as Commissioner from Kentucky at the Centennial Exposition at Cincinnati in 1888; as Railroad Commissioner from May, 1888, to August, 1891, resigning the latter position several months be- fore the expiration of his term. He was one of the Commissioners in charge of the State Treas- ury after the defalcation and flight of Treasurer J. W. Tate; was twice elected city attorney of Ash- land, in 1878 and 1886, and with that exception has never been a candidate for or held an elective office. His law practice is worth many times the salary of any office within the gift of the people of the state.

Mr. Hager was married December 22, 1881, to Margaret Elizabeth Maupin and their family con- sists of three sons and two daughters, Gerald, Adele, Richard Buckner, Margaret Maupin and John F. Hager, Jr.

W ILLIAM ELLIOTT, a leading tobacco- nist of Henderson, Kentucky, son of H. Clay and Elizabeth (Palmer) Elliott, was born in Daviess County, Kentucky, August 14, 1857. He was educated in the public schools of Henderson, and after leaving school he began the business of stemming tobacco and preparing it for the Eng- lish market. In 1892 he built a large stemmery, which was burned May 1, 1895, with a loss of about $50,000. He subsequently bought the old Shelby property and equipped it thoroughly, in which he continued his business with only tem- porary interruption, and in which he has been re- markably successful. He is a man of great en- ergy and push, of more than ordinary enterprise and of reliable business judgment.

He is interested in some of the leading business enterprises of the city, particularly the Farmers' Bank, a branch of the Farmers' Bank of Ken- tucky, at Frankfort, which has a capital of $360,- 000, the largest capital held by any bank in the state outside of the city of Louisville. Mr. Elliott

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is Vice-President of the Henderson branch of this strong financial institution. He has served six or eight years as trustee of the public schools, and has always taken a deep interest in the cause of education and in the moral and religious welfare of his city, being a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church and for fifteen years superintendent of the Sunday school. Mr. Elliott has performed well his part as a good citizen, voting according to the dictates of his conscience and using his in- fluence in behalf of men and measures for the best interests of society.

He was married December 29, 1879, to Mary Nunn of Henderson; and the result of this union is a happy family of four children.

Mr. Elliott's father was a native of Nelson County, who removed to Daviess County after his marriage. His mother was a native of Wash- ington County, Kentucky, and was a daughter of Robert Palmer, and granddaughter of the emi- nent jurist, Ben Hardin.

Dr. William Elliott (grandfather) is now living in New Haven, Nelson County, where he prac- ticed medicine for many years, and is now ninety- seven years of age.

Robert Palmer (maternal grandfather) was a resident of Springfield, Washington County, Ken- tucky, and his mother was a daughter of Ben Har- din. (See Collins' History, p. 646.)

C OLONEL THOMAS B. FORD, Circuit Clerk of the Franklin County Court, is a son of Harbin H. and Ann M. (Brooks) Ford, and was born in Owen County, Kentucky, Feb- ruary 7, 1841. He is descended from an old Eng- lish family of early settlers in Virginia. He is a grandson of William Ford, who was born in Orange County, Virginia, and removed to Ken- tucky in 1816 and located on a farm near Lex- ington, where he died in 1820. Harbin H. Ford (father) was also a native of Orange County, Virginia, and removed to Kentucky in 1830, or about that time, locating in the vicinity of Lex- ington, where he made his home for several years, when he removed to Owen County and purchased real estate to the amount of about one thousand acres, and was at the time of his death one of the largest land owners in the county. He was an 30

officer in the War of 1812, a member of the Baptist Church and a conscientious Chris- tian gentleman. He died in Owen County. His wife, Ann Brooks, was of Irish origin, whose ancestors settled in this country about the time of the Revolution. She was born in Washington, D. C., in 1802, and died at Frankfort, Kentucky, in 1881. She was a devout Christian, a woman of strong character and was a communicant of the Baptist Church.

Colonel Thomas B. Ford lived with his parents on a farm in Owen County until in his fourteenth year, when he removed with his mother to Frank- fort, where he attended Sayres Academy, a school in which many of the most eminent men in Ken- tucky were educated. Upon leaving this insti- tution he read law and in 1862 was admitted to the bar. He practiced law most successfully for several years, and in 1874 was elected to the office of county attorney, which he held for four years. After the expiration of his term as county attor- ney, he was chosen superintendent of public schools, and in 1880 was re-elected to the same office. During his incumbency of this office the schools of Franklin County showed much im- provement and the school fund of the county began to largely increase. In 1878 Colonel Ford was appointed clerk of the United States Court, which office he filled most capably and acceptably, continuously for a period of thirteen years, and which he resigned in 1891. In 1892 he was elected circuit clerk of Franklin County, which office he now holds. Colonel Ford has always taken an active interest in local and municipal affairs, and has been a member of the city council and served two terms as school trustee. He is a member of W. G. Simpson Lodge No. 472, F. & A. M., of Owen County, Dexter Lodge, K. of P., of Frankfort, and Frankfort Lodge No. 28, I. O. O. F. Colonel Ford and his sister still own the old homestead in Owen County. In 1881 he was united in marriage to Mamie Elliott, daughter of Benjamin T. Elliott of Frankfort, and they have one son, Elliott Ford. Not the least among Colonel Ford's accomplishments is his success in the field of literature. His talents in this line have been very versatile, as evidenced by his many well-known publications: "The Deadly

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Blow," "The Governor's Daughter," "Norma Norton's Vow" and "The Perilous Plot;" and among his best known stories which have been published in "The Saturday Night" are "My Violin," a poem which has been much admired, as has also his opera, entitled "Lena," which was set to music by Professor Mauer; also his drama, "The Three Turks." Colonel Ford justly de- serves the recognition he has received. He is at present the president of the Southern Literary Association, and is taking an active interest in the development of literature in the South.

M cHENRY RHOADS, the efficient superin- tendent of the city schools of Frankfort, and one of the leading educators of the state, was born in Muhlenburg County, Kentucky, July 27, 1858. He grew up on a farm in his native county and in 1876 entered the West Kentucky College, and after a four years' course was grad- uated from that institution in 1880. After com- pleting his studies, he became a teacher in the preparatory department and was subsequently assistant teacher in Natural Sciences in this col- lege. At the end of three years he severed his connection with this institution and in 1883 was elected vice president of the Hartford College, where he remained eight years. During the last five years of his stay at Hartford he was editor and part owner of the Hartford Herald. In the fall of 1891 he was elected to his present position, superintendent of the city schools of Frankfort. Since he took charge the schools of the city have greatly improved and increased in attendance un- til it is now necessary to employ a corps of twen- ty-two teachers. In 1887 Mr. Rhoads married a Miss Ree Crawford, a daughter of Benjamin F. Crawford of Millwood, Grayson County, and they have two sons, Crawford Carlisle and Wayland.

McHenry Rhoads is a son of Absalom J. and Tabitha R. (Dennis) Rhoads. His father was born in Muhlenburg County in 1816. He was a prosperous farmer, a good citizen and a member of the Baptist Church. He died in his native county, February 21, 1888.

Solomon Rhoads (grandfather) was a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Kentucky and set- tled in Muhlenburg County long before that

county was organized. He was a farmer and dis- tiller, and married Rachel (Boone) Johnson, a third cousin of Daniel Boone. His death oc- curred in that county at the age of sixty years.

Henry Rhoads (great-grandfather) was born in Germany in 1737, and at the age of seventeen years he landed in this country, and became one of the earliest settlers in what is now Muhlenburg County. He was a member of the first legislature under the state government and named his coun- ty in honor of John Peter Muhlenburg. Henry Rhoads was a man of considerable prominence and influence, and was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war.

Mrs. (Dennis) Rhoads (mother) was also a native of Muhlenburg County, where she lived until September 26, 1883, and died in the fifty- second year of her age. She was a daughter of Abraham Dennis, a native of South Carolina, who removed to Muhlenburg County when he was a young man, where he followed farming until the time of his death. His ancestors were from Ireland.

JOHN T. HODGE, a prominent and brilliant כ young attorney of Newport, Kentucky, was born near Florence, Kenton County, Kentucky, March 28, 1863. He is a son of Gen. George B. Hodge, a sketch of whose part in public affairs is appended.

John T. Hodge was educated in the public schools of Newport; read law with W. H. McCoy of Cincinnati; graduated from the Cincinnati Law School in 1887; was third in his class of one hundred and eighteen and received the de- gree of LL.B. He remained in the office of his preceptor until August, 1890, when he opened an office in Newport and was successfully engaged in practicing law until 1893, when he was ap- pointed master commissioner, of which office he is the present incumbent.

Mr. Hodge is an active politician and a leader in the Democratic party, which has honored him with positions which demand the services of a man of good judgment and of great executive ability. "He has twice been chairman of the Dem- ocratic county executive committee; was chair- man of the Second legislative district committee

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for one term; is now chairman of the Newport Democratic committee; recently succeeded Hon. Harvey Myers as central committeeman; took a prominent part in the Democratic convention of 1895; was a Democratic candidate for elector in the presidential campaign of 1892, receiving thirty-five more votes than any other electoral candidate in his county, and in all of these posi- tions has proved himself a man of great strength of character, a brilliant speaker and a leader of acknowledged ability.

Mr. Hodge was married April 4, 1891, to Vir- ginia Lee Lovell, daughter of Howard L. Lovell of Covington. They are members of the Episco- pal Church.

Mr. Hodge's father, Gen. George Baird Hodge, was born in Fleming County, April 8, 1828, and was educated at Maysville and in the Navy School at Annapolis, Maryland. He was midshipman in the United States navy in 1845; served as mid- shipman through the Mexican war; resigned in April, 1850; in 1853, at the age of twenty-five, he was the Whig candidate for Congress; made a brilliant, but unsuccessful campaign; then began the practice of law in Newport; was a member of the Kentucky house of representatives from 1859 to 1861 and was chairman of the committee on federal relations, when the celebrated resolution declaring the neutrality of Kentucky was passed, May 16, 1861; was candidate in 1860 for elector at large on the Breckinridge and Lane ticket; entered the Confederate army as a private soldier, September 23, 1861 ; was a member of the pro- visional government of Kentucky in 1861; mem- ber from Kentucky of the Confederate provis- ional congress, 1861-62; member of the first per- manent Confederate congress, 1862; and when not attending the sessions of congress continued to serve in the army; was made captain and assistant adjutant-general of Gen. Breckinridge's division, 1862; promoted to major for distin- guished gallantry at the battle of Shiloh, April, 1862; was made colonel, 1864, and brigadier gen- eral of cavalry the same year, and was in com- mand of the military district of Mississippi and Louisiana at the close of the war, 1865.

Gen. Hodge resumed the practice of law in Newport in 1866; was candidate for presidential

elector at large on the Greeley and Brown ticket in 1872, and received the highest vote cast, and was president of the electoral college which met in Frankfort, December 4, 1872. He was an able lawyer, a shrewd politician, a beautiful and forceful writer, a ready, eloquent speaker and was prominently mentioned as a candidate for governor in 1874, but at that time he removed to Longwood, Orange County, Florida, and made that his home until the time of his death in 1892.

His son, John T. Hodge, has inherited his talent in a remarkable degree and has laid the foundation for a brilliant career.

JOHN H. BARRET, a prominent business man and capitalist of Henderson, is a son of the late John H. Barret and Susan D. Rankin.

His father, for whom he was named, was born in Louisa County, Virginia, February 4, 1818; died in Henderson in 1890. He (father) received a good education in his native county, and fol- lowed the plow and endured the hardships and performed the rough labors incident to the life of a farmer's boy, but he was dutiful, obedient, energetic and thoughtful, and developed a sound judgment, exhibiting traits which qualified him for the higher responsibilities which he assumed later in life; and at the age of seventeen he left the parental roof in Virginia and joined his elder brother, Alexander Barret, who had gone to Hen- derson, Kentucky, about two years before. It was in December, 1835, that he accepted employ- ment with his brother, who was then engaged in purchasing and stemming tobacco. He soon be- came a valuable assistant to his employer, and was with him about four years, when, having married Susan D. Rankin (December, 1839), he formed a co-partnership with his brother-in-law, James E. Rankin, and engaged in the sale of dry goods, which continued until 1852, when the firm dis- solved by mutual consent, Mr. Barret having been tendered a partnership with his brother and for-

mer employer in the tobacco business. This business relation of the brothers continued until the death of Alexander B. Barret in 1861. The settlement of an estate of between three and four million dollars devolved upon the surviving part- ner as executor of his brother's will, and this he

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accomplished within five years; hundreds of lega- cies were paid off, accounts settled, books bal- anced and the estate divided without a jar, and this was considered "one of the most brilliant and successful financial and business achievements known to the business world."

The great stemming interest was carried on in the meantime by the surviving partner, John H. Barret, who eventually associated with him his sons, John H. and James R., and his son-in- law, James F. Rankin, the firm being known as John H. Barret & Co. For some years prior to his death (1890), the senior member of the firm took no active part in the details of the business of his firm, except by counsel and advice.

He was a leading spirit in the promotion and construction of the Evansville, Henderson & Nashville Railroad; the city authorities placed $300,000 worth of its bonds in Mr. Barret's hands as custodian, without security; he purchased the first locomotive for the road with his own money; was one of the organizers of the First National Bank; was mainly instrumental in establishing the woolen and cotton mills, in both of which he was a large stockholder; owned and cultivated hundreds of acres of land in Henderson County, large tracts in Hopkins and Breckinridge coun- ties, and four thousand, eight hundred acres in Delta County, Texas, upon which he cultivated cotton and corn and was largely engaged in stock raising; had branch tobacco stemmeries in Uniontown and Owensboro; was a liberal sup- porter of the cause of religion, giving liberally to all denominations and all charitable organiza- tions; was a Mason, but seldom attended his lodge; was no politician or office seeker, but was interested in the election of good men to office; a man of warm personal attachments and gen- erous impulses, but not effusive, he was a good and true friend and a generous enemy. His death was a public calamity, and there was mourning in many households where his kindness had en- deared him to the humble, and his exemplary life had commanded the love and respect of the whole community.

He was married December, 1839, to Susan D. Rankin, a woman of affectionate disposition, even temper, strong, good sense, active benevolence

and earnest piety. Their three children, John H., James R. and Susan, were quite young, when their mother died in 1851. Mr. Barret was mar- ried again in 1852, to Mary Augusta Haddock of Smithland, Kentucky, and all of his four chil- dren by this marriage died in infancy. Upon the death of Mr. Barret in 1890, his sons, John H. and James R., and son-in-law, James E. Rankin, continued the business-in which they had been interested-under the old firm name of John H. Barret & Co., the subject of this sketch taking the place of his father as senior member of the firm.

Peter Straghan Barret, farmer, and his wife, Matilda (Wilson) Barret (grandparents of John H. Barret, Jr.) were natives of Louisa County, Virginia. John Barret, his paternal great-grand- father, and Henry Pendleton, his maternal great- grandfather, were born, lived and died in Virginia.

Susan D. Rankin Barret (mother) was a daugh- ter of Dr. Adam Rankin, an eminent physician of Henderson, whose first wife was Elizabeth Speed, daughter of Captain James Speed and Mary Spencer. She was born in Virginia, Feb- ruary 7, 1774, came to Kentucky in 1782, and from that date until she was grown her life was spent amid the trials, dangers and privations in- cident to early Kentucky history. She was mar- ried to Dr. Adam Rankin, one of the pioneers of Henderson, to which place they went soon after their marriage, and his name is connected with the earliest events of that place. For many years he was prominent as a physician and public- spirited citizen, and no man stood higher in the estimation of his fellow men. The distinguished naturalist, Audubon, made his home with Dr. Rankin while he was sojourning in Henderson, and these two were personal friends.

An interesting sketch of the Speed family, of which Mr. Barret is a descendant, will be found elsewhere in this work.

John H. Barret, the principal subject of this sketch, attended the Henderson schools; was pre- pared for college in the celebrated school of B. B. Sayre at Frankfort, and graduated from the University of Virginia at Charlottesville in 1861. From that time he was associated in business with his father until the death of the latter in

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1890, when he became senior member of the firm, as before stated.

The great tobacco stemmery was established about 1830and has grown considerably during the sixty years of its existence. The present building covers an area of 230x60 feet, is four stories high, and its average annual output is 800 hogsheads, and this, together with the product of the branch houses, goes to the markets in the United King- dom of Great Britain.

Mr. Barret is also president of the Henderson Woolen Mills, manufacturer of Kentucky jeans and jeans pants, a stockholder and director in the Henderson Cotton Mills; director in the Hen- derson National Bank, and the Ohio Valley Bank and Trust Company, and has interests in other enterprises of more or less magnitude. His busi- ness relations are virtually the same as were those of his father, and his reputation as a business man and citizen is that of a worthy successor to his honored father.

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Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 80

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