USA > Kentucky > Trigg County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 20
USA > Kentucky > Christian County > Counties of Christian and Trigg, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 20
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The Thirty-fifth Kentucky Mounted Infantry, commanded by Col.
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
E. A. Starling, was also largely composed of Christian County troops. It was organized at Owensboro, September 25, 1863, and afterward mus- tered into the United States service October 2, 1863. Its first field of operation was in Southern Kentucky, between Green River and the Cum- berland, which at the time was much infested with guerillas, and small bands of Confederates who were recruiting men and horses. In the sum- mer of 1864 it was assigned, with others, to the command of Gen. E. H. Hobson, under whom it was engaged in many skirmishes with the Con- federate Gen. Adam Johnson. In September of this year it took part in the first campaign against Saltville, Va., under Gen. Burbridge, and from thence returned to Louisville via Lexington, where, December 29, 1864, it was mustered out of service. After the war Col. Starling was killed in a political canvass for the sheriffalty of the county, and after his death the following obituary notice of him appeared in one of the Hop- kinsville papers:
Edmund Alexander Starling .- An account of the death of Col. Star- ling from assassination was published last week. He was descended from families of mark and distinction in Virginia and Kentucky. His rela- tionship extended through many of the large families in both of these States, the McDowells, McClungs, Irvines, Bufords, Marshalls, Prestons, Birneys, McGavichs, Shelbys, Sullivants, etc., all of whom have pro- duced men of character and position. He was no unworthy representa- tive of his family. Born in Kentucky on the 22d day of November, 1826, when a youth he moved to Columbus, Ohio, where in the office of his brother, Col. Lyne Starling, he acquired those exact and comprehen- sive business habits which characterized him through life. From. there he went to New York, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits with emi- nent success until the defalcation of a partner in the house caused him a loss of the greater part of his acquired capital. He was then appointed Indian agent, and was sent to the tribes on Puget Sound, and the reports of the department of the Government having supervision of such matters show, what the modest reticence of Col. Starling never revealed, that he discharged his duties with scrupulous fidelity and with exceeding ability. After his arduous and responsible services incident to such a position, he removed to Hopkinsville, where he had spent his earliest days and had received the rudiments of his education, and where his mother and many of his immediate family resided. For many years he was the business partner of his brother, William Starling (now deceased), and during the war commanded the Thirty-fifth Regiment of Kentucky Mounted Infan- try Volunteers in the Federal service.
Since the war he married Miss Annie L., youngest daughter of the late Dr. John McCarroll, of Hopkinsville, and led, with his devoted wife
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
and in the bosom of his family, that quiet and retired life which his tem- perament best fitted him to enjoy.
Col. Starling was an undemonstrative man, though strong and faith- ful in his friendships. He was pre-eminently kind-hearted and charita- ble, and no worthy, distressed person ever left him empty-handed. There are many in this community among the lowly who rise up and call him blessed, and many others still who will miss his kind and cheering words of advice and sympathy. He was a man of the most refined tastes, and exhibited the greatest fondness for books, music, paintings and flowers. And no one who ever met him in social life, or sat with him at his hospit- able board, could fail to be impressed with the ease and dignity of his manners, and with the generosity and kindness of his nature.
But, best of all, Col. Starling was a Christian in the true sense of the word. He was the son of Christian parents who, faithful to their trust, instructed him early in life in Bible truth, as formulated in the doc- trines and standards of the Presbyterian Church, of which they were members. While quite young his father died, and he was left with his widowed mother, to whom he was devotedly attached. It was not until after her death, which occurred in the year 1869, that he united with the First Presbyterian Church of this city. Several years after uniting with the church he was elected and installed a Ruling Elder. He filled up the measure of his days with active Christian work, and made the Chris- tian life his chief concern. It seemed to be his great effort to make up in the activity of his last years for the long years of his earlier life which he had failed to devote to the service of the Master. He said to the writer- of this sketch, in speaking of this, that he had never, in all his wanderings, been able to shake off the impressions of the Christian in- struction given him by his mother in the days of his youth. The regu- lar services of the church, the prayer meeting, the Sunday-school, and all church work commanded his most earnest interest and loving service. From the beginning of his Christian life, he resolutely laid aside all ani- mosities, and the question, What is my duty ? had its answer in its ful- fillment.
Among others who deserve mention in this connection is the name of Dr. William Randolph, who became Surgeon of the Seventeenth Kentucky Cavalry under Col. Burge, and was afterward promoted to duty on Gen. Hugh Ewing's staff. He died of erysipelas while in service at Russellville, Ky., June 5th, 1865. Dr. Randolph was a Christian gentleman and an accomplished surgeon.
A prominent citizen of Hopkinsville relates that since the war, in a conversation with Gen. T. L. Crittenden, at Louisville, that distinguished officer paid a just tribute to the gallantry of two of Hopkinsville's brave
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
soldiers, by saying : Lieut. Edward Kelly and private Isaac Walker were two as gallant men as were to be found in the army.
Dr. R. M. Fairleigh, whose position as surgeon of the Third Ken- tucky Cavalry was so ably filled through the entire war, though not originally a Christian County man, has been for years one of her honored citizens. An extended sketch of the Doctor is given in the biographical department of this volume.
There were many others who deserve mention, but time and space forbid further trespass upon the reader. This chapter is closed with a graceful tribute to one of Christian County's most gallant and illustrious representatives on the Federal side-the brave Jackson. It is from the State Biographical Encyclopedia, and will doubtless be read with a thrill of patriotism by his many friends and admirers.
Gen. James S. Jackson .- A lawyer, soldier and politician, was Gen. Jackson. He was born September 27, 1823, in . Fayette County, Ky., and was the son of David Jackson, a farmer, and Juliet Sthreshley of Woodford County, Ky. He was thoroughly educated, and graduated in letters at Jefferson College. He studied law, and graduated from the Law Department of Transylvania University in 1845. When the war with Mexico began, he volunteered and served for a time as a Lieutenant ; but having had an "affair of honor " with Thomas F. Marshall, who belonged to the same regiment, and fearing court-martial, he resigned and returned home. He soon after located in Greenup County, and in 1849 was a candidate for election to the last Constitu- tional Convention, but was defeated. He subsequently removed to Chris- tian County, and in 1859 was candidate for Congress on the Know- Nothing ticket, but was again defeated. While residing at Hopkinsville, in 1861 he was elected to the Thirty-seventh Congress from the Second District. While serving in Congress, President Lincoln tendered him the command of a regiment, and, accordingly, October 1, 1861, he took command of the Third Kentucky Cavalry, and his regiment was mustered into service December 13, in the same year. Immediately after organization his regiment was used on scout duty in Southwestern Ken- tucky, a section of the State then under the control of the Confederates. He was subsequently assigned to the division of Gen. T. L. Crittenden ; was engaged with his regiment on the field of Shiloh ; was at Corinth and Iuka, Miss .; at Florence and Athens, Ala .; and at the latter place his regiment passed into the command of Col. Eli H. Murray, the present Governor of Utah Territory, and himself promoted Brigadier-General Au- gust 13, 1862. From Decherd, Tenn., at the head of his brigade he commenced the pursuit of Bragg, who was then advancing into Kentucky. At New Haven, Ky., he assisted in the capture of the Third Georgia
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
Cavalry ; and fell, valiantly fighting, at the head of his brigade in the battle of Perryville, October 4, 1862. This was the first engagement of importance in which he had participated after his promotion, and he was thus cut off in the beginning of a career that promised unusual brilliancy. Gen. Jackson was a man of many peculiar, marked and admirable traits. He was distinguished for his graceful form and almost feminine beauty of countenance. He had the manners of a Chesterfield, and was one of the most knightly soldiers who ever drew a sword on the battle field. Of his death Col. Forney wrote: "To die such a death and for such a cause was the highest ambition of a man like James S. Jackson. He was the highest type of the Kentucky gentleman. To a commanding person he added an exquisite grace and suavity of manner, and a character that seemed to embody the purest and noblest chivalry. He was a Union man for the sake of the Union ; and now, with his heart's blood he has sealed his devotion to the flag. He leaves a multitude of friends who will honor his courage and patriotism, and mourn his untimely and gallant end."
From his earliest days Gen. Jackson was a politician ; and although undoubtedly possessed of great ambition to rise to eminence, his great love of justice and his warm nature led him to espouse a cause for its own merits ; and his love of country led him to buckle on the sword in a cause for which he sacrificed his life. He began his political career in the ranks of the Whig party, and, passing through the Know-Nothing ex- citement in his State, in the final division of party ranged himself with the National Republicans. He was brave, and his warm impulses may have led him into rashness; yet he never sought personal difficulty. In 1846 he was led to fight a duel with Samuel Patterson ; but this, like his affair in Mexico, terminated harmlessly. His remains were deposited in the cemetery at Hopkinsville, March 24, 1863, after having lain in a vault in Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, since October 8, 1862. Gen. Jackson was married February 22, 1847, to Miss Patty Buford, who, with their four children, survives him .- Tydings.
NOTE .- The foregoing chapters comprise our history of the county at large, and in those that fol- low, cities, towns and civil divisions will be particularized. No extended mention has been made thus far, with two or three exceptions, of parties yet living, but of those only who have passed from the stage of action. In subsequent pages appropriate notice will be given to all so far as is possible; and as far as space will permit .- ED.
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HOPKINSVILLE CITY AND PRECINCT.
CHAPTER VIII.
HOPKINSVILLE CITY AND PRECINCT-THE TOWN SITE-BARTHOLOMEW WOOD-OTHER EARLY SETTLERS-JAMES PURSLEY, DR. STEELE, MAJ. LONG, PETER CARTWRIGHT, CAPT. WOOD, ETC .- TOPOGRAPHY OF HOP- KINSVILLE PRECINCT-ITS BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT-WESTERN LU- NATIC ASYLUM-LAYING OUT THE TOWN OF ELIZABETH-THE NAME CHANGED TO HOPKINSVILLE-GEN. HOPKINS-EARLY MERCHANTS AND MECHANICS -- GANT, THE HATTER-TWYMAN, THE BRICKLAYER-TAV. ERNS-GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT-THE POSTOFFICE-CITY PRESS- COMMUNICATION OF JUDGE LINDSAY-MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES- BANKING-THE BUTTER COMPANY-GENERAL BUSINESS-FINE BLOCKS ,, RESIDENCES, ETC .- LOAN ASSOCIATION - CITY GOVERNMENT - FIRES ETC., ETC.
T THE founding of Hopkinsville dates back into the last century. Its earliest settlement was made without regard to its ever becoming a town or city, but was more the force of accident than of any pre-arranged or definite plan. The beautiful site, with the fertility of the surrounding country and the abundance of game, arrested the attention of an old hunter, who saw in all these attractions an eligible place for a home, and he halted upon the banks of the placid little stream and at once proceeded to rear his lone cabin "afar from the busy haunts of men." This was not less than ninety years ago, and from this settlement properly dates the history of Hopkinsville, and the magisterial district in which it is located.
Cities are generally founded with regard to some great commercial advantage, either as seaports possessing deep harbors adapted for trade with foreign countries ; as manufacturing depots convenient to labor and fuel or water-power; or as agricultural centers in the heart of fertile regions where the products of the soil must be exchanged for those other commodities necessary for human comfort, enjoyment and health. If to any of these conditions Hopkinsville owes its birth, it is to the latter, for certainly no finer country lies out-of-doors, than that surrounding the thriving little city. This, added to the accident of its early settlement by the pioneer-Bartholomew Wood-may have prompted the founding of a town here, or at least have contributed largely to that end.
Bartholomew Wood .- The first settler upon the site of Hopkinsville was Bartholomew Wood, more familiarly known among his friends and acquaintances as "Bat Wood." Just when he came to Christian County
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN COUNTY.
no one knows; why he came, perhaps he did not know himself. It is related of his settlement, that when on his way to Kentucky, with no definite point in view, he was so favorably impressed with the abun- dance of game in this locality, that he stopped and built himself a cabin. Hefigured conspicuously in the early history of Hopkinsville and of Christian County, and at one time owned a vast amount of land around the embryo city. He was a man of strong, practical common sense, but rather deficient in book learning; a rough diamond and marvelously adapted to the period in which he lived. In his buckskin hunting shirt and leather breeches, he hunted and trapped a great deal, and enjoyed himself as only a hunter could. He belonged to that sturdy class of pioneers whose iron frames had been hardened by exposure, whose mus- cles were toughened by exercise and toil, and whose bodies seemed invul- nerable to disease and pain. The wilderness, with its wild beasts and savages, was their element. They sported with danger, and if need be met death with fortitude and composure. To such men, Kentucky in a measure owes her present glory and greatness. Bartholomew Wood was originally from North Carolina, and emigrated to Tennessee soon after the Revolutionary war. Some years later and prior to the close of the last century he came to Kentucky, but in what year is not known. He was here when the county was organized, and donated five acres of land for public buildings. He entered a great deal of land in his own name and in the names of his children. The following is told of his land spec- ulations : He had entered a body of land in the name of one of his daughters, who afterward married Levi Cornelius. After her marriage Mr. Wood went to her to transfer the land back to him, but her husband would not allow her to do it. In spite of all arguments and importunities, Cornelius held to the land, and finally sold it to Young Ewing.
Mr. Wood had a family of several sons and daughters. The names of his sons were Bartholomew, Hardin, Carter, William and Curtis, the latter the only one now living. He is a man over eighty years of age, and is a resident of the county. One of his daughters married Levi Cornelius, as already stated ; another married William Roberts, and one or two were still single when the old man moved back to Tennessee, which he did some years before his death. Most of his children went with him, except Bartholomew, but after the death of their father they came back here, and many descendants are living in the county to-day, among whom is the son already mentioned (Curtis), and Dr. Wood of Hopkinsville, a son of Bartholomew, Jr., and a grandson of the old pioneer.
The original cabin of Mr. Wood stood near the corner of the present Nashville and Virginia Streets. Where the latter street now is was then a marsh or lagoon for quite a distance back from the river. This lagoon
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HOPKINSVILLE CITY AND PRECINCT.
was covered with innumerable ducks and wild geese, and is said to have been one of the strong arguments which induced Bartholomew. Wood to settle here, that he might enjoy the shooting of them, as well as other game to be seen everywhere in the most plentiful profusion. Much more will be said of Mr. Wood in the progress of this chapter, as he is so insep- arably connected with early Hopkinsville that we meet with his finger- marks in almost every page of its history. Among other early settlers of the immediate vicinity, and what comprises the present Precinct of Hop- kinsville, so far as can now be obtained, are the following: Benjamin Eggleston, John Pursley, John Gibson, Dr. Moses Steele, Thomas Long, Jeremiah Foster, William Nichol, Francis M. Dallam, John Clark, Young Ewing, James H. McLaughlan, Judge Benjamin Shackelford, Benjamin York, Dr. A. Webber, Samuel A. Miller, Capt. Harry Wood, Samuel Finley, Solomon Cates, Peter Cartwright, Nehemiah and Jeremiah Cra- vens, Harry K. Lewis, Thomas Allsbury, Gideon Overshiner, James Bradley, William Clark, Joshua Cates, Henry Allen, Carter Wood, John Carnahan, the Boyds, Samuel Allen, William R. Tadlock, William Pad- field, Mrs. Bell, Larkin Akers, Laban Shipp, Matthew Patton, Rev. James Nichols, George Campbell, John H. Phelps, Nicholas Ellis, and others perhaps whose names have long since been forgotten. It is utterly im- possible at this late date to get the names of all the early settlers up to 1810-15, as many have passed away, and there is no one here who remembers them.
Capt. Harry Wood was a noted man, and may be considered one among the earliest settlers in this portion of the county. He came from South Carolina some time prior to 1800, and settled the place two miles north of Hopkinsville, now owned by Col. S. M. Starling. Capt. Wood was a large and powerful man, a great hunter, and carried with him wher- ever he went a long rifle. Many stories are told of him, some of which may be taken with allowance. We relate one as we heard it, without vouching for the truth of it at all. It is said that his father was killed by Tories, a squad of nine, in South Carolina, and Capt. Harry vowed vengeance upon them for the deed. When the war was over he armed himself with the long rifle above described, and set out upon the trail of the Tories, and as he discovered one of them he dropped him, until he had, according to the regular yellow-back literature of the day, cut eight notches in his gun stock. In his wanderings and search for his father's murder- ers, he came to Christian County, about the time or a little prior to its organization. He used to drink sometimes to excess, but it is said would never remain in Hopkinsville until dark, always striking out for home a little before night-fall. He finally died, and was buried on the place where he settled ; his wife sleeps beside him, only a few rods from the house in
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HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN . COUNTY.
which Col. Starling now lives. He was of a different family from Bar- tholomew Wood, and not at all related to the pioneer of Hopkinsville. Capt. Harry Wood had a son named Franklin, another named John H. and one also named Lemuel and another named Carter. All are now gone ; even his sons were old men when first remembered by the oldest citizens now living. Solomon Cates was an early settler here, but was no relation to Joshua Cates so extensively mentioned in a preceding chap- ter. Solomon was poor and obscure, and never looked any further be- yond than from one meal to another. He was a good worker, but never accumulated any property, not even a home.
John Pursley was a character, and also a very early settler. The Baptist Church of Hopkinsville was organized at his house. He was quite a land trader, and by some " hocus pocus " became possessed of con- siderable landed estate; there are vague hints that he sometimes was just a little sharp in his real estate speculations. Be that as it may, he has long since passed to an account of his stewardship. He was very large and fleshy, with a corporeal rotundity that Falstaff would have envied, and which Judge Long declares made him sit a horse with as much grace as a bag of sand. He spoke with a drawling tone and a peculiar accent which rendered his conversation a source of great amusement to the boys. He was very illiterate, but shrewd and keen in a trade, and usually got the best end of the bargain. John Gibson lived near where the Insane Asy- lum stands, and was a very early settler. He was a quiet man, attended strictly to his own business, and possessed very little notoriety in any way. He was born in Virginia in 1777, and died here in 1844. John Wilcox- son came here perhaps about 1817, and died but a few years ago. John Long came from South Carolina in 1804 and settled about three miles from the present city of Hopkinsville. He was a great hunter, and it is said killed 272 deer in one winter shortly after he came here. Thomas Long, a son of his, is still living in the county, an old man now eighty- eight years of age. He says when his father came here Hopkinsville was "like Walker's cow, of no age at all," consisting of the court house, a blacksmith shop, a tavern and a few cabins.
Dr. Moses Steele was a very prominent physician in the early history of Hopkinsville, and was a brother-in-law to Judge Rezin Davidge. He had several sons ; one of them, Moses Steele, Jr., was a physician like his father, and died some years ago. Another son, John Alexander, was also a physician, and died in New Orleans in 1847. Rezin Steele, another son, and the only one now living, resides in Trigg County. Benjamin Eggleston came from Virginia, and was one of the early tavern- keepers in Hopkinsville. He died in 1819, and his family, after remain- ing here a number of years, returned to the Old Dominion from whence
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HOPKINSVILLE CITY AND PRECINCT.
they came. Samuel A. Miller was an early merchant, and was a son-in- law of Dr. Edward Rumsey. Harry K. Lewis built a mill in an early day, a little north of Hopkinsville. He did not have the best of standing among the people. It is said he would cut timber wherever he found it, regardless of whose land it might be on. He had a saw-mill in connec- tion with his mill, and to supply it made inroads upon timber whether he had a legitimate claim upon it or not.
John Clark was the first Clerk of the County Court, and was called "Black " John to distinguish him from several other John Clarks in the county. The Clarks were numerous, and there was " Pond River" John Clark, "Sinking Fork "John, and several other Johns, and each of neces- ity had a sobriquet peculiar to himself. "Black " John was of a swarthy complexion, and hence his name. He was stern and imperious, and what he purposed had the will to perform. William Clark was a deputy in the Clerk's office at the time of his death. Nicholas Ellis was a plain farmer, and lived some four miles south of Hopkinsville in the southern part of the present precinct. George Campbell came about 1816, and was originally from Ireland. He came from Virginia to Christian County. Dr. Alexander P. and George V. are his sons. John H. Phelps was an early settler and one of the early Circuit Clerks of the county.
Peter Cartwright, the eccentric old Methodist preacher, a kind of second edition of Lorenzo Dow, was an early settler in Christian County, and lived near where the asylum now is. His father came from Virginia to Logan County in 1793, and settled near the Tennessee line. After Peter became a minister he settled near Hopkinsville, where he lived un- til his removal to Illinois. He is so well known, and there has been so much written about him that it would almost seem superfluous to say any- thing of him in this chapter. A few words, however, may not be wholly uninteresting. He belonged to that old school of pioneer ministers, whose sermons were measured by their length, and the brimstone odor of the awful thunderbolts they let fly at the heads of the poor frightened, cred- ulous congregations. Mr. Cartwright was a God-fearing, good man in his way, but could picture hell so vividly that the startled sinner in his imagination could see the fiery billows roll along, one after another, hear the ponderous iron doors open and creak upon their rusty hinges, and the rusty bolts slide back and forth as the lost and doomed were shut into the seething lake of burning brimstone. Among other things written of him is the following : "Mr. Cartwright belonged to the Church militant, fought gallantly for his religious dogmas, and had the rare good fortune to conquer in all his battles. Baptists, Reformers, Unitarians, New Lights, Universalists, Mormons and Shakers, all fell under the blows of his battle-ax. Nor did it fare better with the blackguards, ruffians and
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