Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 34

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II > Part 34

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In May, 1844, the national whig convention nominated Mr. Clay as a candi- date for president of the United States. The nominee of the democratic party was Colonel James K. Polk, of Tennessee. The canvass was probably one of the most exciting ever witnessed in this country. In addition to the old issues, a new one was formed on the proposition to annex the republic of Texas to the American union. This question, intimately involving the exciting subject of slavery, gave to the presidential canvass a new character and an unforeseen direc- tion. It would be out of place here, although not without interest and instruc- tion, to trace and analyze the causes which operated to defeat the whigs. Suffice it to say, that Mr. Polk was made president. Texas became one of the United States. War ensued with Mexico; and the armies of the United States swept the fertile provinces of that sister republic from the mouth of the Rio Grande to the western base of the Rocky mountains. Governments were abrogated, and new ones established in their place, by the fiat of subordinate militia officers ; and throughout the whole extent of that rich and beautiful region, scenes were enacted which carry the mind back to the days of romance, and revive the memory of those bloody national tragedies which have crimsoned the pages of European and Asi- atic history.

Defeated for the Presidency, with apparently no chance to ever reach that high place, Mr. Clay resolved to remain in private life. He had spent more than forty years in public service. He had nearly lived out the years allotted to man. All the honors his State could bestow had been lavished upon him. He commanded alike the love of his friends and the respect of his foes. Dur- ing the period of his retirement, Ashland, his home, was visited by thousands of persons from all sections of the country, and even from abroad, who came to testify their admiration or esteem for the statesman and the patriot. Now and then he appeared professionally in court, at the solicitation of an old eli- ent; but most of his time was devoted to casual visitors, or to the enjoyment of the society of his friends. In 1847, Mr. Clay joined the Protestant Episco- pal Church of Lexington-thus consummating a purpose he had cherished for years.

A year before the Presidential election of 1848 the two great political par- ties began preparations for the contest. No one could conjecture who were to be the chiefs of the opposing forces. There were dissensions in the Whig party, and Mr. Van Buren's defection threatened to disrupt the Democracy. He did finally accept the nomination of the " Free Soilers" for the Presidency, which brought disaster on the Democratic party. The Whigs would not unite on Mr. Clay. They had followed his fortunes with singular devotion, but the exigencies of the party were great-so great, indeed, that its dissolution seemed imminent. In the national contests, he had often led to defeat-never to vic- tory. They determined to sacrifice him for success, and ventured upon the

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fatal policy of expediency. Gen. Zachary Taylor, already famous for other achievements in Mexico, had won the battle of Buena Vista against im- mense odds; and he who before that war was scarcely known beyond army circles became the object of popular adoration. The opponents of Mr. Clay's nomination concentrated on Taylor, who received the nomination of the Whig Convention held in Philadelphia in June, 1848. Mr. Clay, probably, was not surprised at the result, but he was keenly affected by the action of a portion of the Kentucky delegation, who, at a critical moment, abandoned him, and cast their vote for Gen. Taylor. They were accused of treachery by the dis- appointed and incensed adherents of Mr. Clay, who himself believed that he was betrayed. The occurrence led to a temporary alienation of friendship between Mr. Clay and a life-time friend who had been one of the chief actors. But Mr. Clay's resentment was of brief duration, for they met subsequently with the usual cordial greeting.

Mr. Clay's political career now seemed to be closed, and he desired to give the remainder of his life to his family and friends. But this reasonable expec- tation was not to be realized. The condition of the country had become peril- ous. The attitude of the North, and its threatened encroachments on the South and its institutions, together with the fiery character of that people, presaged evil, and an appeal to arms was discussed by the people and politicians of both sections. The country once more required the services of the great pa- cificator. He had calmed the storm raised by the Missouri question; his wis- dom had averted the civil war proffered by the Nullifiers. It was believed he could again tranquilize and restore peace and harmony to the country. He yielded to the dictates of patriotism, and his State returned him to the theater of his past glories. He took his seat in the Senate in December, 1849, and shortly afterwards submitted a series of propositions for "an amicable arrange- ment of all questions in controversy between the free and slave States growing out of the subject of slavery." These propositions were: "To admit California as a State, without any restriction as to slavery ; that as slavery does not exist by law, and is not likely to be introduced in any part of the territory acquired from Mexico, that Congressional legislation therein is inexpedient; defining the boundaries of Texas, and paying her a certain sum of money to relinquish her pretensions to a portion of the territory of New Mexico; that it is inexpedient to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, while that institution existed in Maryland, without her consent, without the consent of the people of the Dis- trict, and without just compensation to the owners of slaves within the District; that it is inexpedient to prohibit the slave-trade in the District; the rigid en- forcement of the fugitive slave law; and that Congress has no right to prohibit the trade in slaves between slaveholding States, that belonging exclusively to the States." This "Omnibus Bill," so called, failed; but its provisions were subsequently adopted seriatim, excepting that the trade in slaves was prohib- ited in the District of Columbia. This last great act of Mr. Clay's life accom- plished its object. Once more the country was tranquil and quiet, and peace was restored.

Mr. Clay occasionally afterwards participated in the discussions that arose on general legislation. His last parliamentary struggle was on a " River and Harbor Appropriation bill," which was lost, for lack of time, in the closing hours of the session of 1850-51. The next summer he spent at home, and returned to Washington, the following winter, in feeble and broken health. He was in his seat but a few times, when his illness assumed such a charac- ter that he was entirely confined to his apartments. While suffering severely from a cough, with intervals of difficult breathing, he was waited on by Kos- suth, to whom he expressed his sympathy for the Hungarians in their strug- gle for liberty, but avowed his aversion to the United States interfering in European strifes. He sunk gradually, under the ravages of disease, and, on June 29, 1852, calmly breathed his last-his son Thos. H., his favorite serv- ant, and Ex-Gov. James C. Jones, of Tennessee, only being present. The cus- tomary honors and eulogies were paid by both bodies in Congress. His mortal remains were brought to Kentucky, where they now repose in the cemetery in Lexington, Ky., surmounted by a noble monument-fit testimonial to his great ness and worth.

ASHLAND (RESIDENCE OF HENRY CLAY, 1852), NEAR LEXINGTON

MASONIC HALL, LEXINGTON, KY.

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Mr. Clay was married, in 1799, to Lucretia, daughter of Col. Hart, of Lex- ington, Ky., with whom he lived happily for fifty-three years. She was uncon- trolled mistress of Ashland, and dispensed there an elegant hospitality. Eleven children were born to them. Of the six daughters, two deceased in very early life. Susan, the eldest, died several years after her marriage to Martin Duralde, a merchant of New Orleans; Ann Brown married James Erwin, also a merchant of New Orleans, and died there in 1835-having outlived all her sisters. Lu- cretia, when about fourteen, died of consumption, the result of a severe cold taken when returning from a dancing party, in company with two young lady friends from Tennessee, who also died from the same cause. Eliza died, at Lebanon, Ohio, while accompanying her father in his carriage, on his way to Washington City. The eldest son, Theodore Wythe, born in 1802, lost his reason in his young manhood, from an accidental blow on the head with an ax in the hands of a negro boy, and died, in 1869, in the Insane Asylum at Lexington, of which he had been an inmate for forty years. Thomas H. (born in 1802), appointed Minister to Guatemala by President Lincoln, died 1871. Henry (born IS11) was killed at the battle of Buena Vista, in 1847, while gallantly leading his troops as lieutenant-colonel of the 2d Kentucky regiment. James B. (born 1817) was Charge d'Affaires to Lisbon in 1849; declined the Spanish Mission tendered by President Fillmore; Member of Congress 1857-59; died in Canada, 1863. John M. (born 1821), farmer, and raiser of fine stock, in November, 1873, was still living, near Lexington.

Ashland, for 'fifty years the home of Mr. Clay, after his death became the property of his son James B. Clay. On his decease, it was purchased for the use of the Kentucky University.

The house where Henry Clay was born was destroyed by fire, from an ac- cident, in December, 1870. It was situated on a small tract of ordinary land, near the old Slash Church, in Hanover county, Va .- and it was from the fact of his frequent trips to a mill in the neighborhood that the great American commoner obtained the sobriquet of the "Mill Boy of the Slashes." The build- ing was an old-fashioned, one-story frame, with sloping roof, very large chim- neys at either end, and a shed-room against one chimney.

Col. WILLIAM DUDLEY, well known in American history, from the bloody and disastrous defeat sustained by the Kentuckians under his command, at fort Meigs, during the late war, was a citizen of Fayette county. He was a native of Spottsylvania county, Virginia, and emigrated to Kentucky at an early age. He was for many years a leading magistrate of Fayette county, and was much respected by all who knew him. In the north-western campaign of 1813, under General Harrison, he held the command of a colonel in the Kentucky troops, and on the 5th of May was sent, at the head of a detachment, to spike a battery of cannon which had been erected by the British army, at that time besieging fort Meigs. He succeeded in spiking the guns, but attempting to follow up his ad- vantage, by attacking some troops in the vicinity, was surrounded by the Indians and defeated with terrible slaughter. Colonel Dudley was shot in the body and thigh, and thus disabled. When last seen, he was sitting in the swamp, defend- ing himself against the Indians, who swarmed around him in great numbers. He was finally killed, and his corpse mutilated in a most shocking manner.

Rev. HORACE HOLLEY, LL.D., was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, Feb. 13, 1781; died of yellow fever, July 31, 1827, aged 46; graduated at Yale Col- lege, 1803; studied law for awhile in New York, but relinquished it to study theology, with Dr. Dwight, in New Haven-where he embraced the Hopkin- sian views, but not from his preceptor ; as a Unitarian minister, was ordained pastor of the Hollis street church, Boston, in March, 1809. Here he remained for nine years, greatly beloved and admired, until his call to Lexington, where he thought a wider field for utility and distinction awaited him. En- dowed with a handsome person and a dignified and attractive presence: being tasteful and elegant, with great conversational powers; possessing a musical voice, a most refined eloquence, and a magnetic personal influence; gifted with a ready command of beautiful language ; a clear Jogical mind ; generous and elevated, but mistaken views; warm affections and great benevolence

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and good-will to his fellow-men; combined with unusual energy, promptness, and industry, and fine administrative and executive ability, his influence in the promotion of the cause of education was soon felt in Lexington, and all over the West. During a most brilliant career, in which he threw away his opportunity for the greatest good, he raised up enemies to his course and teachings, involved himself in hopeless troubles, resigned his presidency in 1827, and shortly after died in the midst of a terrible storm at sea, scarcely more violent but more immediately fatal than the stormn at Lexington from which he was fleeing. He left there many friends and admirers, who still believe he was wronged and persecuted.

DR. BENJAMIN WILKINS DUDLEY, the most eminent of Kentucky surgeons, was born in Spottsylvania co., Va., April 12, 1785; died Jan. 20, 1870, of apoplexy, aged nearly 85 years; when just a year old, his parents emi- grated with him to Kentucky, to a point 6 miles east of Lexington ; he was educated at Transylvania University; graduated in medicine at Philadelphia, 1806 ; practiced in Lexington for several years, and as early as 1809 was appointed to the chair of anatomy and surgery at the first full organization of Transylvania medical school; in 1810, went to Europe, spending four. years under the instruction of the greatest professors in London and Paris; was honored with a degree, which constituted him a member of the Royal College of Surgeons; met with the singular misfortune of losing his books and instruments and a cabinet of rare minerals, by the burning of the cus- tom house at London; returned to Lexington, and in 1818, at the re-organi- zation of the medical department of Transylvania University, again accepted the chair of anatomy and surgery, which he honored for forty years, and maintained a laborious practice for over fifty years. While his most remark- able success was in lithotomy-his operations for stone in the bladder num- bering 192 in 1847, and before his death reaching 260, of which only two or three were fatal-yet upon the eye, perforating the cranium for the relief of epilepsy, and in chronic affections of the urethra and bladder, his operations were numerous, successful and brilliant, and many of them original in their character.

DR. JOSEPH BUCHANAN, a philosopher, mathematician and mechanical inventor, was a Kentuckian by adoption, although born, Aug. 24, 1785. in Washington co., Va., and settled in Tennessee from 1795 to 1804; in 1803, in nine months he mastered the Latin language ; in 1805, finished his ednca- tional course at Transylvania University, and began the study of medicine under the celebrated Dr. Samuel Brown ; went to Philadelphia, but poverty prevented him from remaining to complete the course of medical study and graduate-so that, in 1808, he walked all the way to Lexington, in 27 days. So indomitable was his energy and so remarkable his powers of study, that in spite of adverse circumstances he continued his medical studies, and prac- ticed; and in 1809, in his 24th year, was appointed professor of the institutes of medicine, in Transylvania Medical School. He was the author of " The Philosophy of Human Nature," 8vo., 336 pages, published in 1812. Shortly after, he abandoned the medical profession, studied the Pestalozzian system of instruction, and spent some years in Pestalozzian teaching in Kentucky. In 1817, he studied law, and afterwards delivered a course of lectures to a private law class. About that time, he assisted in editing the Lesing- ton Reporter, and afterwards the Palladium at Frankfort, the Western Spy and Literary Cadet at Cincinnati, and projected the Focus at Louisville in 1826, which he edited until his death in 1829. [For a more elaborate and elegant sketch of his life and inventions, see Collins' History of Kentucky, 1st edition, 1847, pp. 559-60.]

DR. CHARLES CALDWELL, distinguished as a medical professor and as a vigorous and voluminous writer, was the son of an Irish officer who had emigrated to this country ; born in Caswell co., N. C., May 14, 1772; died July 9, 1853, in Louisville, Ky., aged SI years. At the age of 14, he was a fine classical scholar, and opened and taught in succession two grammar

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schools until he was 17; then commenced the study of medicine, and grad- uated at the leading medical school in Philadelphia; distingnished himself during the yellow fever epidemic of 1793; was U. S. surgeon in the whisky insurrection in western Pennsylvania; in 1795 translated from the Latin Blumenbach's " Elements of Physiology ;" in 1814, succeeded Nicholas Bid- dle as editor of the Port Folio, at Philadelphia; in 1816, edited Cullen's " Practice of Physic," while filling the chair of natural history in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania; delivered the first course of clinical lectures ever delivered in the Philadelphia Almshouse (now Blockley Hospital) ; in 1819, published his "Life and Campaigns of Gen. Greene," the most valuable of his biographical writings; the same year removed to Lexington, Ky., and accepted the chair of medicine and clinical practice in Transylvania Medical School; in 1820, made a tour in Europe, to purchase books and philosoph- ical apparatus for that institution; in 1837, broke off his connection with that school, and was a leading spirit in forming a new school in Louisville, in which he filled the same chair for twelve years ; in 1849, in consequence of a misunderstanding with the trustees, he was removed from office. He continued to reside in Louisville, and wrote his autobiography. He had previously written " Memoirs of Rev. Horace Holley, LL.D .; " and during his life wrote a remarkable number of contributions to medical journals, etc., in all over 10,000 pages. He was the first prominent champion of phrenology in the United States. [See a more full sketch in Collins' Ken- tucky, original edition, pp. 558-9.]

Prof. ROBERT PETER, M.D., one of the most distinguished of the living chemists of America, was born Jan. 21, 1805, in Launceston the capital of Cornwall, England ; emigrated, with his father and family, about 1821, to Baltimore, and thence to Pittsburgh, where he learned the business of drug- gist and apothecary. Here was developed the natural taste and talent which made the man; he read, and applied his reading-venturing upon chemical experiments of an intricate and daring nature, which kept the proprietor uneasy lest his store should be set on fire or blown up by them, but of which he availed himself for profit, whenever something novel and useful was turned out. He established a Botanical society ; contributed largely by his pen to The Hesperus, a literary quarto; read lectures on the various branches of natural science before the Pittsburgh Philosophical Society, in 1828-29; was a member of the Philological Institute of that city; in 1828, attended, by special invitation, a session in the Rensselaer Scientific Institute, at Troy, N. Y., and was honored with the title of lecturer on natural and demonstrative science ; in 1830-31, delivered experimental lectures on chem- istry in the Western University of Pennsylvania, and also to the Mechan- ics' Institute, and to private classes.

In 1832, the late Rev. Benj. O. Peers, then principal of the Eclectic Insti- tute, Lexington, Ky., induced Mr. Peter to visit that city, and deliver a course of chemical lectures in that Institute. Shortly after, Rev. Mr. Peers was elected president of Transylvania University, and Mr. Peter, professor of chemistry in Morrison College. In 1834 he received the degree of Doc- tor of Medicine; in 1838, was chosen professor of chemistry and pharmacy in the Transylvania Medical School, (which chair he filled with distinction until the close of that school, just before the outbreak of the civil war); in 1839, with his colleague, Prof. James M. Bush, visited Europe, to procure additions to the library, anatomical museum, and the apparatus of the med- ical school-seeing and hearing there many of the celebrities of London and Paris ; in 1850, aided in establishing the Kentucky School of Medicine in Louisville and became one of its professors, but resigned after three years ; from 1854 to 1861, (when the survey was broken off by the war,) had the chemical department of the geological survey of Kentucky under the late Dr. David Dale Owen, principal geologist-performing the greater part of the chemical work, including 1124 chemical analyses of minerals, ores, soils, waters of springs, ete., and contributing 1721 pages of special report of his chemical labors to the four quarto volumes of official reports, and superin tending the publication of the whole ; in 1860, aided in the Arkansas survey, furnishing 271 chemical analyses in 433 pages of the report, and also in the

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geological reconnoissance of Indiana, giving 38 analyses of soils; in 1861-65, was employed as A. A. Surgeon, U. S. A., in the military hospitals at Lexing- ton, and much of the time was senior surgeon in charge; in 1865, was chosen professor of chemistry and experimental philosophy in the Kentucky Univer- sity at Lexington, into which the old Transylvania University had just been merged-which position he still worthily tills, giving during nine months in the year experimental lectures to classes both in the college of arts and in the State agricultural and mechanical college, and riding in and out daily from his home-farm, eight miles distant. Dr. Peters, for nearly 45 years, has employed his pen most energetically and ably upon valuable articles for agri- cultural, scientific and medical journals-some of the latter being quoted by and incorporated into the greatest English medical and surgical publications of a recent date.

Gen. JOHN HUNT MORGAN-distinguished as the greatest partisan ranger (perhaps excepting Gen. Francis Marion, ) of all American wars-was born, June 1, 1825, at Huntsville, Ala. His father, Calvin C. Morgan, (a Virgin- ian by birth, and a relation of Gen. Daniel Morgan, of the Revolutionary war,) was a merchant there; his mother, the daughter of John W. Hunt, a leading merchant of Lexington, Ky. In 1829, they removed to a farm near the latter place. John was the eldest of six sons, of whom five devoted them- selves to the cause of the South : Calvin C. Morgan, who always acted as agent in Kentucky for his brother John ; Col. Richard Morgan, on the staff of the great Gen. A. P. Hill, as adjutant-general; Maj. Charlton Morgan, in his brother's command (formerly representing the U. S. government abroad); and Lieut. Thomas Morgan, also in his brother's command, and twice cap- tured. A cousin was one of the bravest private soldiers in the same command.

John H. Morgan's first war experience was as first lieutenant of Capt. Oli- ver H. P. Beard's company, of Col. Humphrey Marshall's regiment of Ken- tucky cavalry, in the Mexican war; and his first battle experience, of the terribly-in-earnest type, at Buena Vista, Feb. 22 and 23, 1847, with his men dismounted and fighting as infantry. In 1857, he was made the first captain of a volunteer infantry company, the Lexington Rifles, which became prom- inent for its drill and efficiency, and was afterwards incorporated into the " state guard." Sept. 20, 1861, having determined to link his fortunes with the South, he succeeded-although a Federal regiment was encamped within a mile, with orders to next day seize the armory and guns of Capt. Morgan's company-in eluding their vigilance, and escaping with all his guns and a number of his men towards the Confederate lines. After a few weeks' serv- ice, his company was regularly organized as Co. A, of Morgan's Squadron ; and the dashing independent service to which his life was henceforth devoted began. We have not space to follow him in all his brilliant and dangerous exploits-generally successful and forward, but often of the hurriedly retro- grade kind. A tolerably full outline of the leading movements of his troops, all through the war, will be found in the Annuls, between pages 95 and 160, ante, at the dates when they occurred.

April 4, 1862, he received from Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston his commis- sion as colonel, and positive encouragement that his field of action would be enlarged, his force increased, and his desire to act independently gratified. The victory at Hartsville, T'enn., in Dec., 1862, brought him a long-ago-won and long-delayed commission of brigadier-general, which Gen. Hardee urged should be that of major-general at once; but President Davis could only overcome by slow degrees what seemed an unreasonable prejudice against Kentuckians-possibly because he was too rigid a disciplinarian to encourage the brilliant independence of Morgan's men and inovements. May 17, 1863, the Confederate congress (see page 118) recognized the invaluable services of Gen. Morgan, in a handsome resolution of thanks. His great raids through Kentucky were in July, 1862, August and September, 1862, December, 1862, and June, 1864. His wild raid or ride from Tennessee, across Kentucky, and through the southern part of Indiana and Ohio. to his capture in Colum- biana co., Ohio, was in July, 1863. His imprisonment in the penitentiary at Columbus lasted only four months ; his escape was as startling as it was ingenious ; and on Nov. 23, 1863, he was again working his way south ward.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 34

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1654

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654