USA > Kentucky > Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky > Part 9
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special feature of Oral Surgery, and has made a reputation in his county and state and throughout the United States as a dental surgeon who has few equals in the profession and no superior in the country.
From 1875 to 1879 he was lecturer on Oral Surgery in the Ohio College of Dentistry at Cincinnati, and during that period was President of the Kentucky State Dental Association. In 1881 he was elected Professor of Physiology in the Central University at Richmond, which posi- tion he holds at the present time. In 1882 the Hospital College of Medicine of Louisville con- ferred upon him the degree of M. D. and elected him lecturer on Oral Dental Surgery, which office he held for several years.
He was editor of the dental department of the medical journal, "Progress," which was published for several years in Louisville. In 1887 he found- ed the Louisville College of Dentistry, as the dental department of Central University is known, and served two years as dean of the faculty and six years as president of the college. The increas- ing labors and responsibilities of these positions, together with the imperative duties of a growing practice, caused a temporary impairment of his health, and he was on that account compelled to resign the office of president of the Dental Col- lege, accepting the honorary appointment of Emeritus Professor of Oral and Dental Surgery, in which relation to the College he stands at present. During his active work in that institu- tion in Louisville he conducted an oral surgical clinic semi-weekly, in which many operations were performed and a number of new appliances were used which were original with Dr. Smith.
In 1891 he was elected president of the Rich- mond Board of Health, and in 1895 was elected Health Officer of that city, a position which he is filling with great acceptance to the public.
Dr. Smith is a member of the Kentucky State Dental Association, of which he served a term as president; a member of the American Dental Association; a member of the Kentucky State Medical Society; of the American Medical Asso- ciation; of the Northeast Kentucky Medical As- sociation; Censor of the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, and a member of
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the Practitioners' Club of Richmond. He a valued contributor to the pages of is the leading dental journals of the country. With all of his duties, professional and official, Dr. Smith is a prominent figure in social life; is Past Commander of Richmond Commandery No. 19, Free and Accepted Masons, and was the first Captain-General of the Commandery; is a leading member of the Presbyterian congregation of Rich- mond; was also one of the originators of the Century Club, and was its president for three years; and in all movements for the advancement of his city and the enlightenment of his fellow men, he is usually found in the front ranks, an industrious worker, a willing helper and a leader in whom his neighbors place the highest confi- dence.
Dr. Smith and Bertha O'Donnell Cecil Miller, daughter of James C. and Mary (Poe) Miller, of Louisville, were united in marriage November 8, 1881. Mrs. Smith is a lineal descendant of John O'Donnell, who was quartermaster-general in the Revolutionary war, also a descendant of the distinguished Poe and Byrd families of Virginia, and is regent of the Richmond Chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution. She is a woman of superior intelligence, fine literary attainments and rare personal beauty and amiability. She pre- sides over their home with tact, and the doctor ascribes much of his success in later years to her helpfulness and popularity. Doctor and Mrs. Smith have two children living: Elliott Poe and Bertha Evelyn Byrd. Another son, named A. Wilkes Smith, died in infancy.
"Westover Terrace," the beautiful home of Dr. Smith, situated in the outskirts of the city, is so called for the ancestral home of the Byrds of Virginia. It is a model of convenience and archi- tectural beauty, and was designed and constructed by Dr. Smith, whose versatility of genius, indus- try, energy and faithfulness to every duty would have insured him success in any calling.
T THOMAS EDWARD MOSS, ex-attorney general of Kentucky, was born in Greens- burg, Green County, Kentucky, March 14, 1839. His parents were Thomas S. T. and Judith Campbell Bullock Moss, His father was a native
of North Carolina and was a resident of Greens- burg from 1808 until his death in 1851. His grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. The Moss family is of Scotch origin, and the progeni- tor of the family in the United States located in Massachusetts, where, tradition says, there were seven brothers, six of whom spelled the name "Morse," and one spelled it "Moss."
Judith Campbell Bullock Moss (mother) was born in Perryville, Kentucky. Her father was a native of Virginia.
Thomas E. Moss was about fourteen years of age when he removed with his widowed mother from Greensburg to a farm in Hickman County, near Columbus, Kentucky. His father left a small estate and a large family and his mother needed his assistance on the farm, so that he re- ceived but a meager education, but after remain- ing on the farm for two years, he attended the Columbia College in Adair County one year. He then attended school and studied under private teachers until 1858, and in 1859 entered the law department of the University of Louisville, from which he was graduated in March, 1860, receiving a diploma to practice law.
The night after President Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for troops, Mr. Moss left his home and joined the Second Regiment Ken- tucky Infantry, C. S. A., as a private soldier, mus- tered in at Camp Boon, notwithstanding he had recruited most of a company of which he should have been captain. He was made sergeant major and later adjutant of the regiment. His com- mission stated that his promotion was for gallant conduct on the field. Mr. Moss denies that there was any occasion for such recognition, but since he received more wounds than any other man in his regiment, it is probable that his superiors were justified in securing his promotion for meritorious services. The surrender at Hartsville was made to him, the commander of the opposing forces delivering his sword to Mr. Moss.
He was wounded, left on the field and captured at the battle of Murfreesboro; was sent to Fort Norfolk and there sentenced to be hung in retalia- tion for the deeds of others; was placd on board the steamer "Maple Leaf" and ordered to Fort Delaware, and during the voyage he got up a
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mutiny and overpowered the commander and guards; landed the boat and escaped with his fel- low prisoners. He rejoined the army and con- tinued in the service until the close of the war.
Returning to Hickman County, he found all of his mother's lands in possession of squatters from Tennessee. He soon left there and went to Paducah, where he began the practice of law in partnership with Judge Bigger. The firm of Bigger & Moss continued without interruption until the election of Mr. Moss as attorney general in 1875. He served his state in that capacity for four years-during the administration of Gov- ernor McCreary-after which he served two or three terms in the legislature, in which he dis- tinguished himself by his superior knowledge of public affairs and by his active work in behalf of his constituents.
Mr. Moss was married February 28, 1871, in Covington, Kentucky, to Margaret Bright, daughter of the distinguished Senator Jesse D. Bright of Indiana. They have three children: Mrs. Mary Wheat, Jesse Bright and Thomas E. Moss, Jr.
S AMUEL ALEXANDER PIPER, President of the First National Bank of Maysville, son of Samuel Calvin and Eliza A. (Smith) Piper, was born in Nicholas County, Kentucky, December 8, 1828. His father, Samuel C. Piper, was born in Nicholas County in September, 1807, and was educated in the common schools of his county and became a farmer in connection with trading in which he operated extensively. He was one of the most popular men in the county, being scrupu- lously honest and square in all his dealings. He was in the prime of life in the best days of the old Whig party, and was steadfast in his adherence to the principles of that political party. He was a faithful member of the Presbyterian Church and his life was consistent with his profession. He died in 1873 and is buried at Carlisle, Kentucky. His father, Samuel Piper, was a native of Penn- sylvania, who moved to Kentucky in the early history of the state.
Eliza A. Piper (mother) was born in Bourbon County, August 20, 1809; was married in Sep-
tember, 1827; died April 12, 1870, and is buried at Carlisle.
Alexander Smith (grandfather) was one of the most progressive and influential farmers of Bour- bon County. He was a Captain in the War of 1812.
Samuel A. Piper enjoyed the usual training in the common schools in connection with his duties on the farm, and for some years after reaching his majority he was a farmer, and was quite suc- cessful in that vocation, giving considerable at- tention to financial matters; and when the Wells & Mitchell Bank was organized in Maysville in 1873 he was prominent among the five men who were interested in the enterprise. In 1880 this bank was reorganized and the name changed to First National Bank, and Mr. Piper was made one of the directors. In 1890 he was elected president of the bank, a position which he has filled with great credit alike to himself and the institution over which he presides. Prior to his election to the presidency of the bank he had been engaged for a short time in dealing in grain in Maysville, which has been his residence since May, 1893.
Mr. Piper was married September 6, 1855, to Ellen Fitzgerald, daughter of David Fitzgerald. She was born in Mason County in 1832, where she was given a fine education. Her father was a soldier in the War of 1812, and afterward moved to Mason County and was an extensive farmer and land owner.
Two daughters were born to S. A. and Ellen A. Piper: Annie E. was born October 27, 1862, mar- ried January 20, 1881, to S. A. Shanklin, and has had three children; James Alexander, born March 14, 1883, died May 12, 1887; Ellen F., born March 7, 1889, and Agnes Virginia, born April 15, 1892. The second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Piper, Mollie Ryan, was born January 26, 1865; married Peter P. Parker November 8, 1888; has two children: Preston Piper, born November 21, 1889, and Samuel Alexander, born August 8, I891.
Mr. Piper is an elder in the Central Presbyter- ian Church of Maysville, and before removing to that city had been an elder for twenty years. His ancestors as far back as he can trace them were of the Presbyterian faith,
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JOHN D. WALKER, Vice President and Sec- J retary of the Blue Grass Tobacco Company of Lexington, and one of the most enterprising and successful business men of the Blue Grass capital, was born in Brookville, September 13, 1850, where he enjoyed the ordinary advantages in the way of schooling. He was employed with his father for a few years, and learned the car- penter's trade and was engaged in building and painting for three or four years, and then aban- doned this work to engage in the manufacture of wooden stirrups, and in the two years that he was thus occupied he built up a good trade, which he disposed of and embarked in the drug business, which he continued until 1876. Being an active, wide-awake citizen, he involuntarily drifted into local politics and served in various city offices until 1882, when he was elected sheriff of Bracken County, serving two years, and was then marshal of the county for two years, having by special act of the legislature the same jurisdiction as that of sheriff. During this term of office, he began buying and shipping tobacco, and this led him to Cincinnati, where he was engaged in tobacco brokerage for two years.
In 1885 he took the road for P. J. Sorg of Middletown, Ohio, one of the largest manufac- turers of plug tobacco in the country. In 1886-7 he traveled for Overby Wells Tobacco Company, manufacturers of chewing and smoking tobacco (now of Lexington, formerly W. T. Overby & Co. of Paris, Kentucky), and in 1888 he was one of the organizers of the Blue Grass Tobacco Com- pany and was elected Vice President and Secre- tary of the company, a position in which he has rendered efficient service, building up an extensive trade in twist and plug tobacco of high grade.
Mr. Walker was very active and successful as a Democratic politician in his native county, but has devoted his whole time to his business in the Blue Grass Tobacco Company since he became a citizen of Lexington.
He was married in 1880 to Jennie Freeze, daughter of G. P. Freeze of Brookville. He is a steward in the Hill Street Methodist Church, and a member of the Knights of the Ancient Essenic Order, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Improved Order of Redmen.
His father, Jacob Walker, was a native of Lex- ington, who removed to Bracken County and made his home in Brookville until the time of his death in 1868. He was a merchant and acted as Postmaster of Brookville for many years prior to the war under Democratic administrations. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and a man of very decided opinions and great force of character who was highly respected and admired by his fellow-citizens.
John Walker (grandfather) was a native of Vir- ginia and a distinguished minister in the Chris- tian Church, who died of cholera in Bracken County in 1844. He was of German and Scotch- Irish origin.
Melissa Hamilton Walker (mother) is a native of Bracken County and is still a resident of Brook- ville. Her mother, Elizabeth Hamilton, was a native of Bracken County and died in the seventy- fifth year of her age.
L ORENZO D. PEARSON, the oldest and deservedly the most highly respected under- taker of Louisville, was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, January 27, 1810; and is still engaged in business with his sons, giving them his counsel and support and the benefit of his long experi- ence, a business which has certainly made him friends in thousands of households in Jefferson County. Few men have chosen an occupation to which they were better suited than has Mr. Pear- son. Always kind, affable, gentle in his manner and sweetly sympathetic in his disposition, he has often come as a loving friend into the house of mourning and performed the kindly offices of the undertaker in such a manner and with such delicacy as to lessen the sorrow of those who have been bereft of their friends and loved ones. In the half century or more in which Mr. Pearson has served the community he has entombed enough bodies to people a great city, were they alive. He has witnessed the sorrow of thousands of mourners, and in all of his experience in the performance of his sacred duty, no man can say that he ever failed to appreciate and respect the grief of those whom he served. This slight tribute by one who has known him intimately for a third of a century is given from a
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sense of justice in behalf of a man who has performed a difficult duty for his fellow man as faithfully and as sacredly as the minister who is expected to console the bereaved in the presence of death.
Lorenzo D. Pearson came to Louisville when he was about twenty-one years of age. He had learned the trade of the cabinet-maker in Shelby- ville, but his schooling had been limited, so he took up his studies for a few months before set- tling down to his work in the shop. But he did not have the means to continue this and he worked at his trade for two years, and then found employ- ment with J. V. W. Smith, the leading undertaker in Louisville at that time, and after remaining with him for fifteen years Mr. Pearson began busi- ness on his own account in 1848. In the interven- ing years he has been one of the most active and successful business men in the city, to which he came without means when it was little more than a village and has risen steadily until he has ac- quired a competency, and by his energy, ability and uprightness has become one of its most hon- ored and useful citizens.
Mr. Pearson was married in 1842 to Mary Ann Duhurst, daughter of John Duhurst, formerly of Philadelphia, but at that time a resident of Louis- ville. He has six children now living, three sons and three daughters: Emma L., wife of Nathan Steinberg; Edward C., Lorenzo D., Jr., Kate, Leila A., wife of R. F. Pelouze, and George E., all of whom reside in Louisville. His sons are in business with him and are carefully sustaining the reputation of their esteemed father.
Mr. Pearson is a son of Peter and Susan (Crow) Pearson. His father was a native of South Caro- lina, and removed to Shelby County, Kentucky, when a young man and engaged in farming. While assisting in the building of a log house in 1813 he was accidentally killed by a log rolling over him. His father was a native of England, who came to America about one hundred years ago and lived and died in South Carolina.
Susan Crow Pearson (mother) was a native of Garrard County, Kentucky, and died in Louis- ville, in 1872, in the eighty-fifth year of her age. She was almost a life-time member of the Metho- dist Episcopal Church, and her son has not de-
parted from the faith in which he was brought up.
John Crow (grandfather) was a native of Ire- land, who came to America and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, after which he was a farm- er in Garrard and Jessamine Counties, Kentucky, and died in Shelby County when over one hun- dred years old.
R EV. CHARLES BOOTH PARSONS, D. D., was born in Enfield, Connecticut, July 23, 1805. His father died in 1820, and Charles being the eldest of four children, he left home at a tender age and found employment as an errand boy in a New York store. He was induced to join an amateur dramatic company and soon took a leading place in their amusements. On one occasion he played the part of Sir Edward Mor- timer in the "Iron Chest," and one of the city papers compared the young actor to the elder Kean, who was one of the leading actors of that time. This stimulated Mr. Parsons' ambition, and he shortly afterward accepted an offer to join a theatrical company in Charleston, South Caro- lina. His success was immediate and almost un- paralleled, and in the fifteen years of his life upon the stage he was one of its most brilliant stars of the time. His success was at its height, and his prospects for the future most promising, when a change came over him which turned his talents into another channel. The following extract from his autobiography, "Pulpit and Stage," gives a thrilling account of his conversion:
"There was to be a communion in the Presby- terian Church which I had been attending in the afternoon of the Sabbath, to which the preacher invited all to attend who felt interested in that ordinance, whether they were professors or not. They might show by their presence that they de- sired to honor the feast, though they might not be entitled to participate in it at the present time. It was a stormy afternoon, but I determined to at- tend. When I arrived at the church I took a seat back, and, by accident, on the left hand. It might have been providential. It so happened, too, that I was the only person present who was not entitled to partake of the sacred elements. The preacher very touchingly alluded to the circumstance in his prayer, the full force of which fell upon my heart-
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the isolated stranger who was on the left of the fold, who had come through the storm to be a spectator to the feast. He prayed that this stranger might be converted and be admitted to the fellowship of the righteous through the Spirit of God. My heart said 'Amen,' while a flood of tears I could not restrain attested, to myself at least, the sincerity of my feelings. I retired to the hotel after service, and locking myself in my room knelt down by my bedside overwhelmed with agony of mind and almost the victim of de- spair. The prayer of the poor publican was up- permost in my mind, and I exclaimed aloud, 'Lord, be merciful.' What was that? A voice close to me seemed to say: 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou hast eternal life.' I raised my head and gazed around the room, but saw no one. I then looked under the bed, thinking some one of my friends perhaps in order to play me a trick had concealed himself there. But all was vacant and silent. Again I addressed myself to my prayer, and again seemingly the same re -. sponse was made. 'Surely,' thought I, 'this is the Lord and so I will receive it.' My heart beat heavily and seemed to labor to keep life within me. My tongue faltered, but faith helped me to ejaculate: 'Lord, I do believe; help thou my unbelief.' A flood of light flashed through the room; I sank down in rapture upon the floor, my heart grew joyous and I was a converted man."
Previous to his conversion he had made pro- fessional engagements for nearly a year in ad- vance, which, after anxious thought and earnest prayer, he concluded it was his duty to fulfill, and he did so, knowing it would subject him to un- charitable criticism. At length he bade farewell to the stage forever; and being filled with a new purpose and inspired by high aims, he devoted himself to the study of the Scriptures with great earnestness. He soon became a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and after the usual probation period was admitted to the travel- ing connection September 15, 1841.
He preached with most happy effect for two years in the Jefferson circuit and in 1843 was ordained a deacon by Bishop Morris. He then preached at Frankfort two years. On the 14th
of September, 1845, he was ordained elder by Bishop J. Soule and was clothed with the full power of a minister. He was sent to St. Louis in charge of the Fourth Street Church, and while there the degree of Doctor of Divinity was con- ferred upon him by the Board of Curators of St. Charles (Missouri) College. Having returned to Kentucky, he was invited to preach the dedication sermon of a large church in St. Louis, and in 1855 he was called to the pastorate of that church. He found a small membership, but his two years of earnest labor resulted in an increase in the membership of over five hundred. In 1857-8 he was presiding elder of the East Louisville district and was subsequently appointed pastor of the Walnut Street Methodist Church, which was erected under his pastorate. He was assigned to that congregation a number of times. He was again called to St. Louis, serving a third term in that city.
In the celebrated disagreement among the Methodists Dr. Parsons was appointed one of the peace commissioners, and after the division be- tween the North and the South, he cast his lot with the South branch of the church, remaining until the troubles culminated in war between the sections, when, true to his convictions, he returned to the Mother Church, where his views were in harmony with those with whom he was associated. The latter years of his life were spent in the min- istry of the Methodist Church (not South), of which the membership in Louisville was quite small. His preaching, however, always attracted large audiences and his unflinching loyalty to his country made him a tower of strength in the church that was composed of a handful of loyal people.
In 1868 he went to Pittsburgh to dedicate a church, and on reaching the wharf on his return to Louisville his lower limbs were stricken with paralysis. During his protracted illness which followed every available means was used to re- store him to health, but the disease was of a pro- gressive character and terminated in his death December 8, 1871.
All through life Dr. Parsons maintained an exalted character. Even when engaged as an actor it was impossible to know him without
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being impressed with the marked propriety and dignity of his conduct. As a minister he was one of the most able and eloquent in the pulpit. He possessed in an eminent degree all of the requisites of a true orator-great emotions and passions, genius, fancy, imagination, gesture, atti- tude, intonations and facial expression-all were employed to accomplish the mighty purpose of a heart that was burdened with the responsibility of saving souls. His words well chosen and his thoughts inspired by a holy purpose and clothed in purest diction, commanded the attention and admiration of every hearer. He was a true and loyal citizen, a devoted husband and an affection- ate father, who faithfully discharged his whole duty in every relation in life.
Dr. Parsons was married to Emily C. Oldham, who survives him, and is still a resident of the City of Louisville. She was born in Jefferson County in 1813. Her parents, William and Eliza- beth (Field) Oldham, were natives of Jefferson County. Her maternal grandfather, Reuben Field, a native of Culpeper County, Virginia, came to Kentucky before the close of the last cen- tury. He was a prominent pioneer in the early settlement of the state, and served in the war for American independence.
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