USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 87
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108
Mary Francis Ellerbe, wife of the lawyer, Chris- topher P. Ellerbe, resides at Ferguson, Missouri, and in common with the other members of her family is endowed with mental qualities of a high order, and a distinctly attractive personality.
The father of Governor Francis was John Broaddus Francis. He was born in Madison County, January 21, 1819; educated in the same county; was deputy sheriff for three years and sheriff for four years of Madison County. After- wards engaged in the mercantile business in Rich- mond. Later moved to Lincoln County and farmed; moved to Missouri in 1882, near St. Louis; died November 27, 1894, and was buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery at St. Louis. He was a Whig and a very enthusiastic politician, but loved his home so well that he did not care for office for himself. His zeal was in the interest of his party, and for the advancement of his friends. An upright, honorable gentleman of the old school, of stainless life and actuated by courteous, kindly impulses. The father of John Broaddus Francis was Thomas Francis, born in Henrico County, Virginia, in 1787; came to Kentucky when very young, and served in the War of 1812. His wife, Mary Broaddus, was the daughter of Edwin Broaddus, sixth in descent from the Edwin
505
KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.
Broaddus who came from Wales. He located on Silver Creek, Madison County, Kentucky; was the oldest magistrate in the county, and high sheriff; died in March, 1864. His wife died in I862.
Thomas Francis, the grandfather of John Broaddus Francis, was born near Richmond, Virginia, at Bottomme Bridge; married Miss Bottomme.
The mother of Governor Francis, Eliza Cald- well Francis, was born in Richmond, Kentucky, February 27, 1830; educated at the school of the Rev. John Brown-the Madison County Female Seminary; was married December 5, 1849; is a devoted member of the Presbyterian Church. Her father, David Irvine Rowland, was born in Botetourt County, Virginia, November 12, 1802; came to Madison County in 1804; was a shoe manufacturer in Richmond, Kentucky, and a member of the Presbyterian Church. He was buried near Richmond. Her mother was Mehala Hogg Tyree, daughter of James Tyree and Mary Goddin of New Kent County, Virginia. She was born December 12, 1802; educated in Virginia, and married in Richmond, Kentucky; died April 20, 1868. Mrs. Francis' grandfather, Robert Rowland, married Francis Irvine, daughter of David Irvine and Jane Kyle. Both lived near Lynchburg, Virginia. Francis Irvine was the sister of William and Christopher Irvine, those incomparable men whose characters and services are indelibly impressed upon the history of Ken- tucky, and one of the ten Irvine sisters, who, im- bued with the pioneer spirit of Scotch-Irish ances- try, at different times left their comfortable home in Virginia and journeyed on horseback through the wilderness to their adopted home in Kentucky, enduring all manner of hardships and exposed by day and by night to the attacks of savage foes, animal and human.
They intermarried with the prominent families of Kentucky, and in every instance were the an- cestresses of influential and distinguished pro- geny. The influence of the descendants of David Irvine and Jane Kyle forms an interesting and instructive chapter in the history of Kentucky and sister states. The names of the ten pioneer Irvine women were: Mary Irvine Adams, Mada-
lene Irvine Pittman, Amelia Irvine Hockaday, Elizabeth Irvine Talbott, Sallie Irvine Goggin, the celebrated Goggin family of Virginia; Marga- ret Irvine Pace, Jane Irvine Curle, Frances Ir- vine Rowland, Anna Irvine Goggin, Sophie Ir- vine Fox.
The last named was the mother of the late Judge Fontaine Talbot Fox of Danville, Ken- tucky. No words here can add to the fame of that revered and distinguished citizen. His mem- ory is embalmed in the hearts of his associates on the bench and at the bar of Kentucky. Jane Ir- vine Curle was the ancestress of William Boyd, who married a sister of Governor Francis.
The Curles were men of broad public spirit. In the early days in Kentucky gave largely of their private means to enterprises for the public weal. Contributed $10,000 to secure the inde- pendence of Texas.
They were of English descent and owned an im- mense estate at Curles Neck, situated in a bend of James River, Virginia, noted as being the high- est point on that river reached by the British during the Revolution, and was also just above the point to which McClellan retreated after his defeat near Richmond. Archibald Curle and Jane Irvine, his wife, the ancestors of William Boyd, were stanch Presbyterians. Mrs. Sophie Boyd, granddaughter of Archibald Curle and mother of William Boyd, is a widow and resides in Louis- ville, Kentucky. She is the mother of four sons who are successful business men, and two inter- esting daughters, Mrs. James Mahon and Mrs. Lily Stark. The ancestors of David Irvine were Scotch-Irish. From the time of Robert Bruce, when a part of the royal forests of Drum were awarded William de Irvine in consideration of valuable services, in every succeeding era of Scotch history we come upon honorable mention of the family. The military spirit dominated them. We read of their valor on many a hot- ly contested field. Captain Christopher Irvine commanded King James' Light Horse at the bat- tle of Flodden. Alexander Irvine, twin brother of the ancestor of the Kentucky branch, closed the gates of Londonderry in the face of another King James and his flushed army, thereby securing civil and religious liberty to the British Empire.
506
KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.
"In view of the stupendous results of this in- trepid action," says the Edinburg Review, "Alex- ander Irvine is justly entitled to be called, if not the greatest, certainly one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen." In the American Revo- lution General William Irvine played a conspicu- ous part and many of his Irvine kinsmen served under him. In the early days in Kentucky the brothers, William and Christopher Irvine, and Christopher, the son of William, performed prodi- gies of service for the state.
In the war between the states, a number of the descendants of David Irvine were engaged, in rank from private up to general. It is to his mother, Eliza Caldwell Irvine Rowland, that Gov- ernor Francis owes his success in life. Mrs. Fran- cis is a rare woman. As clearly as a signet makes an impression upon a sheet of white paper, she has impressed upon her children the intellectual- ity and strongly marked characteristics of a re- nowned ancestry. Governor Francis is a young man yet, and his friends predict for him still greater successes, and higher public responsibili- ties.
AMES DAVID LANDRUM, physician, of J Mayfield, son of James and Nancy Walden Landrum, was born in Barren County, Kentucky, October I, 1822. He was educated in Christian County; studied medicine under Drs. Shelton, Mckinney and Lindsay; also at Physio-Medical College, Cincinnati, entering there in 1848 and graduating in 1853. His first partner was Dr. L. D. Shelton in La Fayette, Christian County; later in Mayfield, from 1877 to 1892, he was as- sociated with Dr. John L. Dismukes; was ad- mitted to membership in the American Medical Association in 1859, and is a charter and life member of Graves County and West Kentucky Medical Societies, and is President of the May- field Medical Club (1896).
In 1850 Dr. Landrum was a first degree Ma- son and in 1864 was Grand Master of Grand Lodge of Kentucky, and in 1895 took the thirty- second degree, and is the oldest man in Kentucky, and it may be in the country, to take that degree. At the same time his son, William L. Landrum, and his grandson, W. T. Landrum, also became
Masons of this high degree, the latter being the youngest to obtain that honor in the United States.
Dr. Landrum joined the Christian Church in 1839 and for the last twenty-five years has been an elder; is one of the three living charter members of that church in Mayfield. During the Civil War Dr. Landrum was contract surgeon with General Grant from March to September, 1862, when he resigned; was elected State Senator in 1863 as a Union man, and served until 1867. Since that time he has held no office and has practiced medi- cine in Mayfield, yet he is a great temperance worker, and an ardent Republican.
Dr. Landrum was married (first) in 1850 to Catherine Robbins, and she was the mother of five children, of whom are: William L., general agent for the Southern States of the Panly Jail Building and Manufacturing Company of St. Louis; Thomas J., of the firm of Bray & Land- rum, clothing manufacturers of Louisville; and John W., secretary and general manager of Graves County Water and Electric Light Com- pany.
Dr. Landrum's second marriage was to Mrs. Mary Virginia Fisher Anderson, widow of Cap- tain Anderson of the Confederate army. She was educated at the school of Enos Campbell, Hopkinsville.
Dr. Landrum is essentially a leader, whether in professional, church or political affairs. For fif- ty-six years he has been an earnest, conscientious and untiring worker in his church. He has the love of his fellow-citizens, who recognize in him one of the highest types of American manhood.
James Landrum (father) was born in Amherst County, Virginia, and educated there; was a farmer in Virginia, and on coming to Barren County, Kentucky, in 1809, followed the same pursuit. From there he removed to Christian County, where he died in 1841. He was a mem- ber of the Primitive Baptist Church.
Thomas Landrum (grandfather) died at Am- herst Court House, Virginia, at the age of ninety- six years. He was in the Revolutionary army, and his son James fought in the War of 1812. They belonged to the famous Scotch-Irish race. Nancy Walden Landrum (mother) was born in
507
KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.
King William County, Virginia, and died in Graves County, Kentucky, in 1863, at the age of sixty-two years. She married James Landrum in 1814. She was a member of the Primitive Bap- tist Church. Her father, William Walden, was born in England and moved to King William County, Virginia, and subsequently to Kentucky, and was a wealthy farmer. He disinherited his daughter, Mrs. Landrum, because of her mar- riage. He married Nancy Anne Rhodes, of the famous aristocratic Rhodes family of Virginia.
D OCTOR NEWTON PORTER, M. D., a dis- tinguished physician and Baptist minister of Eminence, son of Eli Porter and Martha Ball, was born in Henry County, Kentucky, January 17, 1816, and was reared in the same county. Dr. Porter being the seventh son, the old tradition probably induced his parents to christen him "Doctor," and that is his name as well as his title.
He attended the common schools of the neigh- borhood in which he lived until his fifteenth year, when, on account of his father's death and the ne- cessity of his assistance in the support of the family, he was compelled to leave school. He then commenced to educate himself systematically, and before he was sixteen years of age began to teach school, and taught for sixteen years alto- gether in the vicinity in which he resided.
At one time he thought seriously of turning his attention to the profession of law, but was influ- enced and dissuaded from this course by friends who thought him better fitted for the medical pro- fession. When twenty-three years of age, while engaged in teaching, he began the study of medi- cine under the instruction of Dr. N. Green of Car- rollton. His method of study for twelve years was thorough and careful, and although he was compelled to practice on account of the impor- tunities of friends, he would not allow himself to be considered fully equipped as a physician until he believed that he could conscientiously do so. Dr. Porter attended Georgetown College for a short time, but he is mainly self-educated.
He went to Louisville in 1847 and entered the Kentucky School of Medicine in 1850; graduated in 1851 with high honors, being chosen valedic-
torian of his class and selected for that honor by a unanimous vote, but he magnanimously re- quested that one of the students whom he espe- cially admired be given the honor in place of him- self, which request was granted. He began the practice of medicine in Eminence, Henry Coun- ty, Kentucky, and was for many years the lead- ing obstetrician of the state.
He was elected President of the State Medical Society in 1867, and delivered the address be- fore that society at Danville, in April, 1868, and this address was published in the state reports. He was also for a number of years a member of the American Medical Association, but when he gave up the active practice of medicine in 1883, he withdrew from that society.
He joined the Baptist Church at the age of thir- teen, and in 1841 was ordained minister of that denomination. From 1847 to 1848 he was pastor of the East Baptist Church at Louisville, and sub- sequently pastor at various times of the following churches: Fox Run Church at Eminence; Bal- lardsville Church in Oldham County; Hopewell Church in Henry County; Indian Fork Church in Shelby County; Christiansburg Church in Shel- by County ; the Baptist Church at Frankfort, and others at other places. During his long and ac- tive service for fifty-five years as a minister of the Baptist Church, he took part in the ordination of thirty-three ministers, aided in forming the con- stitution of six churches, preaching during that time on an average of once a week, and per- formed the marriage ceremony and the initial rites of church membership for hundreds of per- sons.
He is a man of the most remarkable energy, as is evidenced by the fact that while in the active service of the church he was also actively en- gaged in the practice of medicine. As a writer he is comprehensive and strong, his specialty be- ing controversial religious themes. He is also a reviewer of marked ability, possessing the subtle acumen and logical discrimination that fits him for the work.
For a number of years he served as secretary of the Baptist ministers' state meeting; was Presi- dent of the Board of Trustees of Eminence Col- lege for several years; President of the Eminence
508
KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.
Male and Female Seminary in 1862, till it ceased to be a school, and also President of the Board of Town Trustees at the same time. From 1867 to 1873 he was President of the Eminence and Shel- by Turnpike Company, and at the same time a director in the Eminence Bank. He was Master of Eminence Lodge, Free and Accepted Masons, for about ten years ; was clerk of the Sulphur Fork Baptist Association for nine years, and has been for fifteen years and is now moderator of the same; is also moderator of the Fox Run Baptist Church at Eminence and has been, for forty years, excepting intervals of a few years when absent; was surgeon for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, between La Grange and Frankfort for several years and served in the United States army as Assistant Surgeon dur- ing the Civil War; not leaving his home but at- tending all detachments of the army, large and small, that located at Eminence, including the prisoners of war who were brought there.
Dr. Porter has always been a leader in any en- terprise for the promotion of the welfare and best interests of the community in which he lives.
His has been a record of almost unparalleled usefulness, a long, stainless, honorable life, spent in the fear and love of God and in the service of his fellow-men, and he is known and respected as he well deserves, as one of the bulwarks of Christianity of his day and generation.
He married (first) Mary E. A. Rees of Henry County, daughter of Thos. F. Rees, a native of Henry County. She died in January, 1852. By this marriage he had four children: Larmer, Joseph, Mary and Albert. He was married (sec- ond) in 1852 to Miss Keziah Scott, who is the mother of one child, Chitron Scott.
Eli Porter (father) was born in Culpeper Coun- ty, Virginia, in 1772, and died on October 24, 1832. He emigrated to Kentucky, arriving in Henry County on Christmas Day, 1814. He was married in June, 1800, to Martha Ball, who was born in 1783 and died in August, 1833. There were fourteen children by this marriage, eleven of whom were sons.
Samuel Porter (grandfather) was born, lived and died in Culpeper County, Virginia. He was an old field school teacher. His father, great-
grandfather of Doctor Newton Porter, was a native of Wales, and emigrated from Wales to Culpeper County, Virginia.
The Porters are connected with the most dis- tinguished families of Kentucky. Henry Clay's mother was a first cousin of Eli Porter and ex- Governor Porter is also a near relative. The grandfather on the maternal side was John Ball, a native of England, who emigrated to Fauquier County, Virginia, and was a planter and known as "a Virginia gentleman." He served in the Revolutionary War as a Captain.
S TANLEY MILWARD, Treasurer of the city of Lexington, was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, February 14, 1868, and is a son of W. R. Milward and Belle (Bright) Milward. He at- tended school at Lexington, made rapid progress and, when only twelve years of age, entered the State Agricultural and Mechanical College, tak- ing the business course and graduating in 1885. He was first employed with the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad Company in Lexington, but re- signed to join his father who was engaged as funeral director and embalmer, in which business he is still engaged as those duties do not interfere with those of the important trust placed in his hands by the people.
That he is something of a politician is evi- denced by the fact that in November, 1895, he was elected, as a Republican, Treasurer of the city of Lexington for a term of four years, over the popu- lar Captain S. G. Sharp, who for twenty-eight consecutive years has held office, both state and municipal. In fact, Mr. Milward is the only Re- publican ever elected or appointed to that office in Lexington.
He was married October 16, 1889, to Miss Bes- sie Featherston, daughter of C. F. Featherston and Annie Beasley. They have two children: Annie, born 1892, and Margaret, born 1894.
Mr. Milward is quite a prominent man in various secret societies; belongs to Merrick Lodge, No. 31, I. O. O. F .; has filled all the chairs of the subordinate lodge and is now Grand Con- ductor of the Grand Lodge of the state, and Spe- cial Deputy Grand Master of the Twentieth Dis- trict; also a member of Bethesda Encampment
509
KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.
i
and Rebecca Lodge, I. O. O. F. He is very prominent in K. A. E. O. circles and was Charter Excellent Senator of Fayette No. 262, when it was organized at Lexington; has membership in the Improved Order of Red Men and A. O. U. W. and Maccabees; is very much interested in his lodge work and is naturally proud of the high offices he has held.
W. R. Milward (father) was born in Lexington, Kentucky, February 5, 1842, and is a son of Joseph Milward and Eliza Young. He enlisted in the Federal army in the fall of 1860 and was Colonel of the Twenty-first Kentucky Volunteer Infan- try; served throughout the four years and after the close of that conflict returned to Lexington and engaged in the furniture and undertaking business with his brother, J. U. Milward. Mr. Milward is a member of the A. O. U. W. and R. of T .; is a Republican in politics and has always been active in the ranks and councils of that party in Lexington. He is a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and an interested worker in religious fields.
Arabella Bright Milward (mother) was born in Louisville, Kentucky, August 19, 1845, and is a daughter of Dr. John W. Bright, a very promi- nent physician of that city many years ago. Mrs. Milward is a thoroughly practical woman, a great reader and an able writer; is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church; was married to W. R. Milward. April 10, 1867. They have four children: Stanley, W. R., Jr .; Anne Bell and John Bright.
W ILLIAM HERNDON, a distinguished lawyer of Lancaster, son of Elijah and Ann (Crosthwaite) Herndon, was born January 10, 1843, in Irvine, Estill County, Kentucky, and was educated at a select school in Estill County; was a deputy clerk of the court under his father, studying law at the same time and was admitted to the bar in 1868. He entered the Union army in September, 1861, as a private in Company B, Eighth Regiment, Kentucky Infantry; was wounded at Dobyn's Ford or Ferry in 1862, and in January, 1863, was permanently disabled at Stone River and honorably discharged from serv- ice, having participated in other battles, After
the war he attended school in Estill County and taught school there; was made postmaster at Ir- vine and served for several terms and was also employed in the Revenue Department, all of which positions he resigned.
In 1878 he resumed the practice of law in Lan- caster with James H. Anderson, now of Louis- ville, with whom he was associated until 1889, since which time he has practiced without an of- fice associate.
Captain Herndon was City Attorney from 1878 to 1880 and declined to qualify after re-election; was appointed in 1881 to serve as United States Commissioner, but resigned in 1884; elected Commonwealth Attorney of the Eighth Judicial District, composed of eight counties, in 1886, for a term of six years, and has been a delegate to all but one of the Republican State Conventions, since he began the practice of law at Lancaster. Both he and his wife are Presbyterians. He is a Mason, Knight of Pythias and a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He is the leader of the bar at Lancaster and one of the most promi- nent Republicans of that district. A highly cul- tured man, he is socially one of the most popular citizens of Lancaster.
Captain Herndon married Helen Kinnaird, daughter of William H. Kinnaird of Lancaster, July 3, 1873. They have five children, four sons and one daughter: Horace, educated at Center College, Danville, Kentucky, and at Miami Uni- versity, Oxford, Ohio; William Leslie, Ben D., Lewis and Annie Christian.
Elijah Herndon (father) was born in Winches- ter, Kentucky, January 8, 1812, and educated there; was a farmer in early life and was sub- sequently engaged in the mercantile business at Irvine for many years; was Sheriff of Estill Coun- ty three terms, first under the constitution previous to 1850, and after that he held the office by elec- tion; was then clerk of the Estill Circuit Court. Mr. Herndon was a Baptist and was a leading Whig politician in his county, and, after the war, a leading Republican. He died from the result of sunstroke, November 7, 1876.
William Herndon (grandfather) was born in Charlotte County, Virginia; came to Winchester, Kentucky, in 1800; had been a planter in Vir-
5IO
KENTUCKY BIOGRAPHIES.
ginia, but was not engaged in any business in Kentucky ; married Katherine Winn. He and his wife both died in 1850. They had five children: John Patrick Henry, George, Elijah, Elizabeth and Sallie.
Jacob Herndon (great-grandfather) was a na- tive of Charlotte County, Virginia, and was of Welsh extraction.
Ann Crosthwaite Herndon (mother) was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky, January 9, 1815, and was educated in Cynthiana and Paris, Kentucky. She died in Platt County, Missouri, while visiting a son, October 20, 1892, and is buried there.
JAMES DEE SIMPSON, secretary and treas-
urer of the Mayfield Woolen Mills, son of David M. and Susan J. (Hamilton) Simpson, was born in Humphrey County, Tennessee, February 15, 1856; was educated at Murray Institute, Mur- ray, Kentucky, and Neophogen College, Cross Plains, Tennessee, and graduated in 1875 with the degree of A. B., finishing in 1877; then engaged in mercantile business at Farmington, Kentucky, with C. H. McDonald. The firm of Simpson & McDonald continued for about two years, when he sold his interest and removed to Mayfield and with Frank Bray and G. O. Duncan, engaged in the retail dry goods business for three years. In 1887 he bought a one-third interest in the May- field Woolen Mills, and, with the exception of two years, when he was in Arkansas, he has been with that company as secretary and treasurer since its organization.
He is a Democrat in politics, and in religion both he and his wife hold to the Universalist be- lief. He is a man of sterling business qualities, proving the advantage that accrues from culture and training in mercantile enterprises, as well as in professional life.
He was married October 2, 1878, to Fannie J. Cochran, daughter of J. C. Cochran of Farming- ton. Their only child, Clarence D., is sixteen years of age, and in the West Kentucky College at Mayfield. He is an athlete and lowered the world's record for his age last year for rapid cycling for all distances from one-twelfth of a mile to five miles.
David M. Simpson (father) was born in Ohio,
March 17, 1812; when thirteen years of age he removed to Humphrey County, Tennessee, and became a planter in that county and removed to Graves County, Kentucky, in 1866 and lived there until 1879, when he removed to Clay Coun- ty, Arkansas, and engaged in planting; was first a Whig and then a Democrat in politics, and in religion a Baptist. He is now living in Arkan- sas at the age of eighty-four years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.