Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 96

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

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Orla Coburn Richardson (father) was born March 13, 1807, in Whitehall, on Lake Cham- plain, New York, and came to Meade County, Kentucky, with his parents in 1809. He re- ceived only a limited education, but was a man of great natural ability and strength of character, and, like his son, was always a farmer and near- ly always in office, as Magistrate, Sheriff and Representative in the legislature. He was a very

popular man, and was particularly noted for his hospitality and charity. His house was always open to friend and stranger, and the ragged beg- gar was never turned away without some evi- dence of Mr. Richardson's kindness or generosity. He died June, 1882, having passed his seventy- sixth year.

He was twice married, first to Hannah Fulton of Meade County; and second, to the widow Rob- erts, nee Mary Shacklette, daughter of General Ben Shacklette. Mr. Richardson's children by his first marriage were David F., Mary, Orla D., Sarah, Hannah and Eliza; by his second mar- riage there were two children: Gus W., the sub- ject of this sketch, and Julia, who was married November 5, 1868, to Benjamin S. Clarkson.

David M. Richardson (grandfather) was born in Vermont, September, 1765, and died in Meade County, September 15, 1832, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. He was a highly educated man; was a merchant in early life and, closing out busi- ness, he traded his small stock of goods for a tract of land in Meade County and removed to Kentucky in 1809.

Mary Shacklette (mother), who first married John Roberts, being left a widow with a farm and a large family, developed remarkable business ability and was a woman of more than ordinary accomplishments. As the wife of Orla Richard- son and the mother of three sets of children, in- cluding stepchildren, she was loved and respect- ed by all of them and she filled a large place in the social affairs of the neighborhood. She died in June, 1876.

General Ben Shacklette (grandfather) came to Meade County from Pennsylvania about 1800 and won his military title in one of the Indian wars. He was a successful farmer and was the first Sheriff of Meade County. He was born in Pennsylvania, but was of French origin.

O RVILLE MONROE WOOD, Mayor of Carrolton and the leading merchant in that city, son of William Wood and Mary S. Ander- son, was born in Gallatin County, Kentucky, July 3, 1852.

His father, now a resident of Carroll Coun- ty, is a native of Mercer County, Kentucky; re-

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moved to Gallatin County in 1845, and thence to Trimble County in 1859 and finally to his present home in Carroll County, in 1892. He has been actively engaged in farming nearly all his life; has been a member of the Baptist Church for over fifty years and has always enjoyed the respect and confidence of his neighbors.

David Wood (grandfather) a native of Virginia of English descent, spent most of the seventy-five years of his useful life in farming and was a resi- dent of Carroll County for twenty years prior to his death. He was a devout member of the Baptist Church and was noted for his devotion to religious principles.

Mary S. Anderson Wood (mother), now resid- ing with her husband in Carroll County, was born in Gallatin County in 1829. Her father, Richard Anderson, was a native of Virginia, who came to Kentucky when he was a young man and died in Carroll County in 1885, aged seventy-seven years. He was an intelligent farmer and like the Woods he and his house belonged to the Bap- tist Church. His son, Rev. James O. Anderson, who died a few years ago in Kansas City, was one of the most eminent divines in that denomi- nation. The Andersons belonged to an old fanı- ily of prominence of Virginia.

Orville M. Wood was reared and educated principally in Trimble County, remaining on his father's farm until 1879, when he engaged in mer- cantile business in Trimble County, continuing there, however, but one year when he removed to Prestonville, Carroll County, where he was en- gaged as a merchant until 1891, sold out and re- moved to Carrollton, and in 1891 formed a part- nership with M. L. Downs under the firm name of Downs & Wood-in a general fire insurance agency. This firm was dissolved in November, 1891, when Mr. Wood purchased the store of W. L. Smith, who was the oldest merchant in the place, since which time he has given his attention to the business of this establishment, now the leading store of the kind in Carrollton.

In November, 1893, Mr. Wood was elected Mayor of the city for a term of four years and as- sumed the duties of that office in January, 1894. This election was a deserved compliment to Mr. Wood's ability and integrity as a business man

rather than a political triumph, for he has not sought or cared for prominence in politics.

He is a prominent Mason and a Knight of Pythias, and has not forsaken the church of his father and mother and his grandfathers.

Mr. Wood was married February 3, 1873, to Esther J. Robinson, daughter of Samuel Robin- son of Wetzel County, West Virginia, and has one son, named Gideon G. Wood.

H ENRY L. MARTIN, President of the Citi- zens' Bank of Midway, was born in Wood- ford County, June 5, 1848, and is a son of Jesse and Margaret T. Martin.

He entered the Confederate army before he was fourteen years of age and was a daring scout in Morgan's command, and proved a brave soldier, who was entrusted with many important missions by the military authorities. His brilliant record as a soldier was the index to his successful busi- ness career and his political record is one of which to be proud.

He gained a national reputation as a repre- sentative of the Louisiana Bounty Bureau, secur- ing the sugar bounties, and in that was instru- mental in achieving one of the most pronounced legislative victories in the history of the coun- try. The payment of the bounty meant the re- habilitation of the credit of the sugar producers, and enabled them to make another effort to re- cover from the results of former legislation. This bounty appropriation would have failed, notwith- standing the representatives in Congress who were friendly to the measure, if it had not been for the splendid supplemental work done by the Bounty Bureau, and the indefatigable individual efforts of such men as Henry L. Martin. A New Orleans paper in speaking of the work of the public-spirited citizens in this connection says:

"In according the praise in this connection it cannot be looked upon as invidious to say that Mr. Henry L. Martin is entitled to the highest praise for his splendid work in Washington. He made his first trip to that city in connection with the movement to secure the eight-tenths of a cent bounty appropriation, about December 15, 1894, and while he has returned to the city several times since he remained only a short time, and it

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may be said that he has been on the ground watching the legislative battle ever since it began. And he has not been simply watching the con- test, but has been taking a most active and po- tent part.

"To his efforts may be attributed directly the splendid work of Senator Blackburn, who so ably handled on the floor of the Senate the bounty amendment offered by the appropriations com- mittee, and whose tact and parliamentary re- sources were such as to thwart the opposition of even such wily, able and experienced Senators as Gorman, Brice and Harris, and while Senator Blackburn was one of the champions in the fight for according equity and justice to the sugar pro- ducers, Mr. Martin was untiring in his labors with influential men in Congress, and his large ac- quaintance, pleasing address and forceful, concise and convincing manner of presenting the grounds upon which the appropriation for the payment of the bounty were based went a long way toward dispelling doubt and making converts."

Mr. Martin made his first political race in 1893 when he was elected to the Kentucky Senate by the Democrats of the Twenty-second District, embracing Woodford, Scott and Jessamine Coun- ties. When the Legislature assembled he was appointed on some of the most important com- mittees and was made Chairman of the Finance Committee-one of the most responsible in the Senate. His services in that body have shown a very high order of ability. Although the un- faltering personal friend of Senator Blackburn, he must not be set down as a free silver advo- cate.

Mr. Martin has a very extensive acquaintance in Kentucky and is well known in the South and throughout the country; and his reputation is that of a clear-headed business man of great men- tal activity, with a directness of purpose which insures success in his undertakings for himself and for his friends and the public. He is a gentle- man of culture and literary tastes, and his home bears every evidence of elegance and refinement.

Mr. Martin was married (first) in 1871 to Katie Brooks of Scott County, who was the mother of four children, who survive. He was married (second) in 1886 to Lulie T, Stephenson, daugh-

ter of John T. Stephenson, of Maury County, Tennessee. She was educated in Columbia In- stitute, graduating in 1880 with the highest rank in her class.

Mr. Martin is the President of the Citizens' Bank at Midway, near which place he has a beautiful and attractive home and valuable farm, where he resides and where blooded horses are bred. He also owns a large stock farm near Co- lumbia, Tennessee, and is engaged in the live stock business in New Orleans, being senior member of the firm of Martin, Thompson & Com- pany. He is also largely interested in the David sugar plantation in St. James Parish, and has been very successful in all his commercial under- takings, as well as in his political aspirations and public services.

TAMES B. M'CREARY of Richmond, ex- governor of Kentucky and member of Con- gress since 1884, was born in Madison County, Kentucky, of pioneer ancestry. He graduated from Center College at the age of eighteen, studied law and graduated with the honors of a class of forty-seven in the Law College of the University of Tennessee in 1859, and began a lucrative law practice at Richmond; aided, in 1861, in recruiting the Eleventh Regiment, Ken- tucky Cavalry, for the Confederate army; was elected major, promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and served until the close of the war, serving with Morgan mainly, and with General Breck- inridge latterly; was married June 12, 1867, tc Kate Hughes of Fayette County; was delegate to the National Democratic Convention that nominated Seymour and Blair; elected to the leg- islature for three consecutive terms, 1869-71-73, and was speaker of the house during his second and third terms; was elected governor of the state in 1875 for a term of four years; and was elected to Congress in 1884, receiving a ma- jority over his Republican opponent of 2,146 votes, and has been re-elected for each succeed- ing term. Gov. McCreary is remarkable for his wise and systematic methods of administration in both public and private affairs, and for the silent force of sagacious intelligence with which he has conducted the large and complex interests which

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have been under his charge for many years. Be- sides his law practice and much voluntary atten- tion to current enterprise, he operates a large farm in Madison County and another in Alabama.

While speaker of the house, such was the just- ness and fairness of his decisions that not a single appeal was taken in four years. As gov- ernor his administration was orderly and suc- cessful, and yet without demonstration of effort. The most turbulent wars of factions in the mount- ains were suppressed when the local authorities were defied and powerless. Gov. McCreary adds to natural abilities of a very high order the ad- vantages of a scientific and classical education. He is a lucid, forcible and attractive public speaker, of entertaining conversational powers and most winning and genial temper. Perhaps no man in Congress has more readily and dili- gently attended to the requests and wishes, not only of his district constituents, but of the entire state. Of handsome face and form and cour- teous bearing, his presence always attracts and pleases, while acquaintance improves the first im- pression. No public character of Kentucky has had a steadier outgrowth of reputation and ad- vancement, and none has won more affectionate admiration or provoked fewer enemies. His future is promising, and should he remain in political life he is almost sure to follow the line of promotion open to him. (Smith's History of Kentucky.)

S PEED FAMILY, THE. It will be more con- venient to present the members of this nu- merous family by giving the ancestry common to all and then a brief sketch of those who have been most prominent.

JOHN SPEED, English historian, geographer and antiquarian, was born at Farrington in the County of Cheshire, in the year 1552, in the time of Edward VI. This was sixty-eight years before the Mayflower brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock. Walter Raleigh was born in the same year, and Shakespeare one year later.

His son, John Speed, was born in 1595; was a graduate of Oxford and an eminent physician,

and was the author of a number of publications and a play which was acted in the theaters. He had two sons-John and Samuel; the latter was installed Canon of Christ Church, May 6, 1674, and was afterwards Vicar of Godalmin in Surrey County, where he died January 22, 1681. His brother John was born at Oxford, elected scholar at John's College in 1643, but was ejected for political reasons and afterwards restored. He took the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1666 and practiced at Southampton as late as 1694. His son, James Speed, from whom all the Speeds in this country are descended, left Southampton, England, and settled in the eastern part of Vir- ginia. He was born September 28, 1679, and came to America in 1695. He found his way to the County of Surrey on the south side of the James River, opposite the site of Williamsburg. He married Mary Pulley, September 6, 1711, and died March 15, 1719, aged thirty-nine years; she died June 3, 1733, aged forty. They had four sons: James, born June 16, 1712; John, born February 5, 1714; William T., born February 19, 1716, and Thomas Speed, born February 28, 1719. James and Thomas are lost sight of. John and William left records which show that they enjoyed such educational advantages as were common in those days, and are evidence that they had good training in their youth. Their parents had impressed upon their minds correct ideas and principles of virtue and morality and true am- bition, which became an inheritance to them and their posterity.

John Speed, second son of James Speed and Mary Pulley, lived in Mecklenburg County, Vir- ginia; married Mary Taylor, a widow whose maiden name was Mary Minstay, October 6, 1737. They lived together forty-five years; she died July 1, 1782; he died March 8, 1785. He was a man of large wealth and one of the most substantial citizens of Virginia; very prominent in the Episcopal Church, worshiped in a church built by him and known as "Speed's Church." Yet, in a letter to his son, Captain James Speed, who lived in Kentucky, he wrote of his approach- ing death; his health was impaired; "and, above all, I have a wounded spirit. I know I am going to leave this country, and where am I going? Not

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to Kentucky. God only knows; I do not. This is my grief."

John Speed and Mary (Minetry) Taylor had seven sons and four daughters: John, born April 3, 1738; James, born March 4, 1740; Henry, born March 28, 1742; Sarah, born February 14, 1743; Lewis, born January 25, 1745; Martha, born August II, 1748; Joseph, born May 27, 1750; Lucy, born April 11, 1752; Mathias, born June 18, 1754; a son died in infancy and Mary died young.

Four of these brothers served in the Revolu- tionary War, and perhaps others: John, James, Lewis and Mathias certainly did. Lewis died of his wounds; James was shot through the body at the battle of Guilford C. H., North Carolina, March 15, 1781. He was never able to walk or stand erect afterwards, and in his old age he used a sled for going about. His son, Judge John Speed, writing in1 1828, says: "I was born pre- vious to the Revolution; my father was one of the patriots of that day who shed his blood for lib- erty and equal rights. In my youth I heard him and others of our fathers recount the oppression they resisted, the hardships, the privations they encountered and endured for their own, but more especially for our sake."

Captain James Speed, second son of John and Mary Taylor, married Mary Spencer December 10, 1767; and removed with his family to Ken- tucky in 1782, settling about four miles from Danville, and there lived, and died September 3, 18II.

His children were Thomas, born October 25, 1768; Mary, born June 8, 1770; John, born May 17, 1772; Elizabeth and James (twins), born Feb- ruary 7, 1774; Henry, born August 15, 1777; and Julia, who died in infancy.

Captain Speed was well educated; was a writer of some note and was one of the earlier judges of Kentucky. He owned slaves which he brought from Virginia, acquired large tracts of land and was involved in a number of land suits; he was a member of the Kentucky Conventions of May, 1785, and August, 1787; a member of the Political Club, and of the Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge, which were composed of the most enlightened men of the state. He was a

candidate for delegate to the Constitutional Con- vention in 1792 and was defeated because he was an Emancipationist. His grandson, James Speed (Attorney-General United States), was beaten for the same office in 1849 for the same reason. From his letters to the Governor of Virginia and to members of his family it is seen that he was a man of great influence in public affairs and kind- ly affectionate to his family. An account of his children and their descendants says that Thomas was the ancestor of the Bardstown family; John was the ancestor of the Louisville family; Mary married William Smith of Madison County, and was the mother of Colonel John Speed Smith and grandmother of General Green Clay Smith, who died in 1895. Her daughter married Tom Fry and was the mother of General Speed S. Fry and his brothers and sisters. Elizabeth married Dr. Adam Rankin, whose descendants are in Hender- son. James and Henry have no descendants liv- ing.

Major Thomas Speed, first son of Captain James Speed and Mary Spencer, was a resident of Kentucky from 1782 until his death in 1842. He was a representative in Congress and in the Legislature, and a Major of volunteers in the War of 1812. A sketch of his life would present a his- tory of Kentucky through a most interesting period. He early displayed an aptness for learn- ing and when still a youth was associated with men of mature years who were leaders in public affairs in the society at Danville called the Po- litical Club, and must have possessed unusual and even extraordinary qualifications to be in- vited to join them at so early an age. He was made secretary of the club, and the records of that society were preserved through his care. His grandson, Thomas Speed, clerk of the United States Court of Louisville, has written a valuable book for the Filson Club, giving a full history of the Political Club. Major Speed was also sec- retary of the Kentucky Society for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge, an account of which is given in Collins' History. He was connected with the office of Colonel Christopher Greenup, clerk of the General Court, which he left in 1790 and engaged with his brother John in merchan- dising. They had stores in Danville and Bards-

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town. He was first married at Bardstown, De- cember II, 1796, to Susan Clayton Slaughter; and after her death he married Mary McElroy Allen, widow of Robert Allen. He was appointed clerk of the Bullitt and Nelson Circuit Courts. In 1817 he was elected to Congress and he made the trip on horseback by a route of eight hun- dred miles; was an omnivorous reader and an ex- cellent writer, and frequently contributed to the National Intelligencer, published at Washington; was a friend and correspondent of Henry Clay. In 1821, 1822 and 1840 he was in the Kentucky Leg- islature. He was a refined, dignified and culti- vated man, graceful and polished in manners, charming in conversation and pure and spotless in character. He died near Bardstown, February 20, 1842, and his wife died one year later.

Thomas Spencer Speed, oldest son of Major Thomas Speed, was born near Bardstown, Au- gust 30, 1814. In March, 1861, he removed to Daviess County ; and ten years later returned to his native place and remained there until his death, March 16, 1892. He received an academic education at St. Joseph's College; sickness pre- vented his preparation for the ministry. He lived a retired life. He was an Emancipationist, and was glad when his own and other slaves were set free. His home was always open to his friends; was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, and his chief characteristic was his sincerity and devoted adherence to what he believed was right. A total abstainer, he would not use whisky even for medi- cine. He was fond of reading and was a great student of the Bible. He gave each of his chil- dren a good education, and was able to help them in their studies. He was married twice. First to Sarah Whitney Sparhawk, who was a native of New Hampshire, and a teacher in the Female Academy at Bardstown, of which Rev. Nathan L. Rice was principal. She died in 1842. The chil- dren of this marriage were: John James, died in childhood; William O., born September 8, 1839; and Thomas, born November 26, 1841. He was again married in 1846 to Margaret Hawkins at Crawfordsville, Indiana. There were five chil- dren of this second marriage: Spencer Haw- kins, Austin Peay, Horace, Richard Canby and Louisa J. Speed.

THOMAS SPEED, son of Thomas S. Speed Bardstown, was born November 26, 1841. He was educated in Center and Hanover Colleges; joined the Union army in 1862 as a private; was niade First Lieutenant and then Adjutant of the Twelfth Regiment, Kentucky Volunteer Infantry, and also served on brigade staff. The principal engagements he was in were the siege of Knox- ville, Bean's Station, the various battles of the At- lanta Campaign, Columbia, Franklin, Nashville, taking Fort Anderson and Wilmington, North Carolina. After the war he studied law at the Michigan University and in the office of James Speed (Lincoln's Attorney-General), with whom he began to practice and was associated with him in law practice till the death of General Speed in 1887, after which he was in partnership with James Speed's son John, with whom he was as- sociated until July 9, 1892, when he (Thomas Speed) was appointed clerk of the United States District and Circuit Courts at Louisville, an office which he has filled until the present time with marked ability. He is a writer of great force and clearness, and has written and compiled a volume entitled, "Records and Memorials of the Speed Family," from which the foregoing ancestry is taken in greatly abridged form. While this book was designed for the perusal of the numerous members of the Speed family, the ancestors of Thomas Speed were so prominent in state and na- tional affairs, the memoirs are full of interesting facts and incidents in which every Kentuckian would be deeply interested. It is a volume of over two hundred pages, and is not in the book market.

He wrote an article on the battle of Franklin which was published by the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion; also "The Wilderness Road," a Filson Club publication; and the "Po- litical Club," published by the Filson Club, of which he is secretary. Mr. Speed is a valued con- tributor to the newspapers and periodicals upon political and historical subjects and his fund of in- formation, with a ready command of pure English, enable him to write with ease and fluency, while his articles bear the stamp of truthfulness and re- liability.

In his official capacity as clerk of the United

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States Courts, he has the legal training and ex- perience as a lawyer which are so essential to the understanding of his duties, and the keeping of the records of the courts is a kind of work for which he is qualified in an eminent degree. He has many of the chief characteristics of his il- lustrious ancestors, and is one of the present gen- eration who have so faithfully sustained the good name of the Speed family.

Thomas Speed was married in 1870 to Lucy Madison Buckner; and they have two children: James Buckner, a graduate of Rose Polytechnic Institute, and a skilled electrical and mechanical engineer, now assistant superintendent of the Louisville Electric Light Company; and Mary Whitney.

Austin P. Speed, second son of Thomas S. Speed and Margaret Hawkins, was educated in Owensboro, studied civil engineering and assist- ed in locating the Louisville & Cincinnati Short Line Railroad, under the distinguished engineer, General St. John. He has been for many years in the coal business in Louisville, a member of the firm of Byrne & Speed; is a fine business man and is a director in several corporations in which he has investments, particularly the Ohio Valley Telephone Company. He married Georgia Mc- Campbell of Louisville, daughter of William Mc- Campbell, a well-known and prominent merchant of Louisville, and niece of the late J. H. Mc- Campbell, secretary and treasurer of the J. M. & I. Railroad Company. They have one son, Good- win Speed.

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Biographical cyclopedia of the commonwealth of Kentucky, Part 96

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