USA > Kentucky > Christian County > County of Christian, Kentucky : historical and biographical > Part 7
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WILBUR F. RANDLE was born in Jefferson County, Ill., June 22, 1838. His father, Peyton Randle, was born in 1798 in North Caro- lina, and principally reared in Montgomery County, Tenn., and was a son of Osborn and Mary Randle (nee Davidson). Peyton came in his early manhood to Hopkinsville, Ky., and was here married to Miss Mary L. Grant, a second consin to Gen. U. S. Grant. She was a daughter of Joshua Grant and Henrietta (McNeil) Grant, and was born in 1808, in Christian County, Ky. Peyton Randle was by trade a blacksmith, with which trade he combined general farming. In the year 1833, he removed to Jefferson County, Ill., where he made a residence of about eleven years, and in which time W. F. Randle was born. The family, in 1844, removed to Arkansas, settling in Lawrence County, where they remained about six years, and where Joshua Grant (then a member of the family) died in 1845. From Lawrence County they went to Phillips County, where the parents spent the remainder of their lives. The mother, Mary L., died April 9, 1860, and Peyton Randle on the 13th of March, 1864. Wilbur F. was the seventh of a family of eleven children, beside whom but three are living, viz .: Angus P., Sarah A. (widow of A. J. Huff), and Mary C. (widow of C. J. Wilson), all of Hopkinsville. Wilbur F., through his boyhood, followed the fortunes of his father's family in Illi- nois and Arkansas, and in 1861 entered the Confederate Army, the fort- unes of which he shared through the war, with the exception of one year, during which time he was disabled. From the close of the war until 1869, he followed farming in Arkansas on the old homestead ; then re- moved to Paducah, Ky .; thence, in 1870, to Hopkinsville, where he en- gaged in mercantile business, at which he is still engaged. He was mar- ried to Miss Mattie, daughter of Dr. John E. and Rebecca (Hubbard) Park. Mrs. Randle was born in 1843. in Georgia, and for several years has had the management of the Union Telegraph Office of Hopkinsville. Mr. Randle is a member of the I. O. O. F. and Knights of Honor.
REED RENSIIAW Was born in Knox County, Tenn., February 7, 1807, to Jolin and Nancy (Reed) Renshaw. John Renshaw was born in Rowan County, N. C., and was there reared, educated and married.
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He removed to Knox County, Tenn., and subsequently in 1808, to Chris- tian County, Ky., and settled on Brush Fork, of Tread Water in Hamby Precinct. In 1818 removed to Missouri, and while he was here on busi- ness in September, 1822, died. Ile was a farmer. His wife, subject's mother, was born in Rowan County, N. C., and died in this county in 1848. They were the parents of eight children of whom Reed, our sub- ject is the only surviving child. IIe was one year old when his parents came to the county, and here was reared until his parents removed to Missouri, and there was educated. In 1826, after the death of his father, he returned to Christian County with his mother, and soon after engaged in farming on his own account in Hamby Precinct, and in 1839 removed to Bainbridge Precinct, where he remained until 1875, when he came to Hopkinsville, where he now resides. In 1827 he married Miss Lueetta Clark, a native of the county. She died November 23, 1883. She was the mother of eleven children, of whom cight are now living, viz .: Finas II., Luretha A., Eliza, James C., Saphrona, Amanda C., Adelia E. and Joseph R. Mr. Renshaw has been a member of the Universalist Church since 1842, is an active member of the order A. F. & A. M., and is a Republican in politics.
JOIIN T. RICKETTS was born June 1, 1830, in Christian County, Ky., and is a son of the late Hezekiah Ricketts, of this county. IIeze- kiah was born in Maryland, in 1789, and there grew to manhood and was married to Miss Sarah Pool, with whom he emigrated to Christian .County, Ky., about 1816. They settled a few miles south of Hopkins- ville, where they passed their long and useful lives. They were both members of the Methodist Church of that pioneer period, when elegant church cdifices with their cushioned pews, grand furniture, pulpits sup- plied with men of pronounced literary ability, were things unknown or very uncommon ; when the choir with its organ accompaniment was not to be found to entice the multitude to the house of God. But instead, these original founders of Christianity performed their service from deeper motives, being prompted only by a desire to sce the cause of right prevail. Ilezekiah and Sarah Ricketts lived to see their labors blessed, and the influence of their pious examples is still seen and felt. They died at a ripe old age : Ilezekiah on the 29th of October, 1873, and the Hopkins- ville Press thus speaks of him: "In the death of Mr. Ricketts, this com-
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munity has been deprived of one of those links which bind us to the honor, the glories and the cherished memories of the period of the past. He came from Maryland to this State in 1816, and settled in this county where he has since resided, and been widely known and highly esteemed for his many excellent traits of character. IIe served with credit to him- self and his country, as an officer in the war of 1812-14, and has sinee devoted himself in a quiet and unobtrusive way to the maintenance of himself and family. Ile was a kind, affectionate, and fond father, a gen- tle husband and a pleasant neighbor." His wife, who was born July 28, 1802, died July 14, 1877. These parents had a family of eight children, viz .: George W., who died at the age of sixty-one years, in Trigg County ; James E., died in Henderson County ; John T .; Casandra, wife of M. Lewis; Mollie E., wife of Alexander Wright; Matilda, deceased wife of Parker Wright; Berlinda, wife of William P. Nichols, of Texas; and B. M. Rieketts. John T., the third of this family, spent his entire life in the immediate vicinity of his boyhood. In his earlier life he was appointed to the office of Deputy Sheriff, serving for four years, ending in 1852. Ile was married February 3, 1857, to Miss Mollie, daughter of Elijah Cravens. She was born in this county in 1838, and died on the 25th of December, '1875, leaving three children : Essie, wife of Scott Means; James E. and Elijah Ricketts. On the 3d of July, 1876, he was married to Miss Carrie Means, daughter of Y. J. Means, of this county. She was born in Christian County, August 10, 1849. They have two children, viz .: John T., Jr. and Ella Ricketts. Both Mr. and Mrs. Ricketts are honored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is a member of the Chosen Friends. Mr. Ricketts has devoted his life to agriculture and stock, combined with general trading, and is regarded as one of the most substantial men of Christian County. IIe was also for ten years engaged in merchandising, during which time he held the position of Postmaster.
JUDGE ALEXANDER D. RODGERS was the son of David Rodgers and L. (Jackson) Rodgers; he was born in Jackson, Miss., January 30, 1825; his father, who was a member of the State Senate of Missis- sippi at the time of his death, left his son, the subject of this sketch, together with his widowed mother, in straitened circumstances, and they removed to Kentucky soon after that event. Here, with a very incom-
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plete education, the boy found himself confronted with the problem of life. Bright, energetic and determined, he bravely faced the difficulties of his position, the hardships of poverty, and went to work at a trade. After serving faithfully at his apprenticeship, he found, soon after reach- ing his majority, that the introduction of machinery, the establishment of factories, had rendered the profits of his trade so scanty and meager, that he determined to carve out for himself another career. Before he was quite twenty-two years of age, he married Mary E. Underwood, and had other responsibilities in addition to his widowed mother to call forth his energies ; he first served as Constable, and then, after a most exciting contest with an older and popular citizen, which is still well remembered in Ilopkinsville by some, he was elected Town Marshal by one majority. In the meantime, with the advice and encouragement principally of that quiet and unpretending, but generous-hearted gentleman, Hiram A. Phelps, who gave him the free use of his library, he studied law. After practicing law and being fully prepared for the duties of the position, he came before the people of old Christian in 1854 as a candidate for County Judge, and was triumphantly elected. This period probably dates his connection with the more publie history of our county, and in order to correctly estimate his official services, a recurrence to the facts then ex- isting is necessary. Our new Constitution had but shortly before gone into operation. The first County Judge, William V. Bernard, had been elected only for a short term, and Judge Rodgers was his successor. The many questions arising from the new Constitution and the laws reg- ulating the powers and duties of the County Judge, had not as yet been fully and definitely settled by judicial decision. The people were unused to the new system. In addition to his duties as Judge of the Quarterly Court, his jurisdiction embraced the important subjects of the probate of wills, the care and guardianship of the orphan infants of the county as far as to require full and proper security for the management of their estates, the settlement with executors, administrators and guardians, and a control and supervision, in conjunction with the Court of Claims, of all county expenditures. The young Judge maintained the dignity and per- formed the duties of his responsible office so satisfactorily, that when he came before his constituents for re-election in 1858, only one objection in a warm contest was urged against his official action : he had adopted the
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1 maxim, that in county improvements the best was the cheapest, and had given all his influence to the erection of the stone bridge on the Madison- ville road, in the edge of town. This was attacked as an unwarrantable · expenditure of the people's money, but Judge Rodgers assumed his full responsibility, faced the issue fairly and squarely, and defended his action so successfully that he was re-elected with a party majority against him. He continued to perform the duties of his office, honorably to himself and acceptably to the public, until the end of his term in 1862, when the laws being silent amid the din of arms, and the State being under military control, he retired to private life. He was preparing to go into business to support his family, when he sickened, and died in Hopkinsville on the 16th of January, 1865. Private eulogy may be considered out of place in the history of our county, but the writer, who was intimate with him from his early boyhood until the time of his death, may be pardoned for saying that Judge Rodgers was true as steel to his friends ; and they re- ciprocated his faithfulness, and even now often experience a feeling of sadness at the recollection that he was so untimely cut off, in the full pride and vigor of his manhood.
PROF. J. W. RUST, who is a remarkable exemplification of success attained under great difficulties, is one of the most prominent Baptists in Kentucky, his native State. Born in Logan County, February 14, 1819, he developed in early life a fondness for books, although working on a farm until he was fifteen years of age. With a few months' schooling at a time, in all thirteen months, in addition to private application, he learned to read, write and cypher. Without friends to help or money to sustain him, he determined to qualify himself to teach, and such was his porsistency, energy, tact and sagacity that, by the time he had fairly reached manhood, he had earned a reputation as a teacher, which was re- warded with the unsolicited honor of A. M. by two respectable colleges ; and for nearly forty-seven years his success as a teacher has been invari- ably great and gratifying. From 1864 to 1868 he was President of Bethel College at Russellville, and during his administration the college attained its greatest patronage. As editor of the Western Recorder, he became a power among his brethren. Although not a minister, he has done much to encourage the spread of Gospel ; as a Sunday school work- er, he has been very useful ; nor has any one done more than he to keep
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Baptist interests before the public. For several years he was Secretary of the General Association of Kentucky, and is now President of Bethel Female College, at Hopkinsville, Ky., which, under his care, is in a flourishing condition. He is still exerting a good influence in behalf of education and Sunday-schools, being President of the Sunday-school Con- vention of the Bethel Association. President Rust is an extraordinary man in many respects, and of great versatility of talent, having succeeded admirably in every sphere of labor it has been his lot to occupy. He is an excellent educator, and was a superior editor. No man is more uni- versally popular in his native State, Kentucky. In 1881 the honorary degree of LL. D was conferred on him by the Southwestern Baptist University at Jackson, Tenn. A ready writer and fluent, forcible speaker, Dr. Rust has made an impression for good wherever he has lived, and his life presents many studies of interest and encouragement to the young.
ANDREW SEARGENT, M. D., is a native of the State of Texas, and is the youngest of four living children born to John G. Seargent and Susan (Colier) Seargent. John G. was born in 1818, in Buckingham County, Va., and in the year 1830, with his father, Andrew H. Seargent, removed to Christian County, Ky. John G. Seargent was the only son of Andrew H. Seargent, and had three sisters, viz .: Mrs. M. L. Steger, widow of William Steger ; Mary, deceased, wife of Joseph Radford, and the mother of Mrs. Dr. J. P. Thomas; Elizabeth, deceased, wife of Uriah Major. John G. Seargent continued a resident of this county, living near Beverly, until 1850, when with his family he emigrated to Texas, where the subject of this sketch was born August 16, 1858. His father and his two elder brothers there espoused the cause of the Confederacy and at the elose of the war removed to Kentucky. Susan Seargent was born in Lincoln County, Ky., in 1821, where both she and her husband are now living. The early education of Dr. Seargent was obtained in the schools of Stan- ford, Ky. He read medicine with Dr. J. P. Thomas of this county, and in 1879 entered the Louisville Medical College, from which, in 1881, he graduated with the highest honors of his class for general proficiency. He was then elected to the position of Resident Physician of the Louis- ville City Hospital, where he practiced with credit to himself for one year. In 1882 he came to the city of Hopkinsville, Ky., and formed a partnership with Dr. W. M. Fuqua, which has since terminated. Though
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his residence here has been brief, his ability as a physician is acknowl- edged, and he has succeeded in establishing a very desirable practice. He is an active member of the State Medical Association and the order of Knights of Pythias, and is a regularly appointed Medical Examiner of Pension Claimants. In November, 1883, he was united in marriage with Miss Lizzie C., youngest daughter of Dr. D. J. Gish, of Hopkinsville. Both the Doctor and his estimable wife are members of the Hopkinsville Christian Church.
ELIJAH G. SEBREE, JR., lawyer, and Attorney for Christian County, is a native of Todd County, Ky., where he was born April 30, 1857. Ile is a son of Elijah G. Sebree, a prominent planter of that county, and was, therefore, reared under the influence of farm life and meantime had the advantages of a good private school. When sixteen years old he entered Bethany College of West Virginia, from which he graduated in 1877. Soon after he engaged in clerical work in the office of the Clerk of Henderson County, Ky., in connection with which he pur- sued the study of law. He'entered the Law Department of the Louis- ville University, in October, 1878, graduated from that institution and was admitted to practice in March, 1879. He immediately began the practice of the law in Hopkinsville, and has been successful in establish- ing a good practice. In August, 1882, he was elected to the office of County Attorney, the responsibility of which he discharges with ability and general acceptance. Though a young man, he displays unusual tal- ent, wielding a marked influence politically, which is enjoyed by the Re- publican party. Mr. Sebree was married in Henderson, Henderson County, Ky., October 5, 1881, to Miss Marguerite Banks, daughter of David Banks of Henderson, where she was born in 1862. They have one son named Elijah G. Sebree.
DR. CHARLES SHACKELFORD was born November 23, 1817, in the town of Hopkinsville, where he has spent his entire life, with the exception of one year. He is the son of Judge Benjamin and Frances P. (Dallam) Shackelford, who were among the earliest and most respected settlers from Virginia and Maryland. The subject of this sketch was ed- ucated in his native village, at the old Christian Academy, under the faithful and efficient instruction of James D. Rumsey. In early life he stud- ied law under his father, but, becoming dissatisfied, forsook the profession
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and entered a dry goods store as clerk. From 1840 to 1847 he engaged in the business for himself, and while so engaged diligently prosecuted his studies as a physician. Abandoning in 1847 the mercantile business, he devoted himself exclusively to the study of medicine under Dr. David Glass for two years, in the meantime superintending the management of his farm near the town. Beginning the practice of medicine in the year 1851, he was actively engaged therein for a period of over ten years. At the breaking out of the war between the sections, he was appointed the first Provost Marshal (C. S. A.) of Christian County. Ile was after: ward appointed Assistant Commissary under Maj. Dallam, with whom he served until the army left for Fort Donelson in 1862. Upon the advent of the Federals into Hopkinsville, he was arrested and sent off to prison, where he was held a few weeks and then permitted to return to his family. In early life he was a Whig, but later became a Democrat of the most pronounced type. In 1843 he was married to Jane C., daughter of Ed- ward and Eliza G. (Madison) Worthington. She was born in Mercer County, Ky., September 7, 1821, and died in Hopkinsville 1854, leaving three children; named respectively Lucy, Edward W. and Eliza M. In May, 1855, Dr. Shackelford married his second wife, Laura J. Cook, daughter of William Cook, of Virginia. She was born in Bedford County, Va., in 1829, and died in Hopkinsville, April, 1861, leaving two chil- dren, Laura Otey and Benjamin. The former became the wife of James Rives, Jr., and died at the residence of her husband in 1882, and the lat- ter died in infancy. In 1872, January 2, he married IHenrietta, widow of Col. John Cogburn, and daughter of Rev. Dr. Phillip P. Necly, a noted minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mrs. Shackelford was born July 13, 1845, in Columbia, Tenn., and is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. The Doctor is a member of the Episcopal Church.
FIDELIO C. and EVELINA J. SHARP. In the chapter on the carly bar of Hopkinsville, mention is made of Fidelio C. Sharp, whose portrait appears elsewhere in this volume. While we feel that no words from our pen can portray even a faint outline of his active and useful life or add any luster to the already brilliant picture engraved on the memory of friends yet living ; still we deem it just that some further mention be herein made, hoping that some may read and emulate his noble example. The only definite information we possess regarding the ancestry of
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Fidelio C. Sharp is that he was a son of Thomas Sharp, who emigrated from England prior to the Revolutionary war, settling in Virginia. He esponsed the cause of the Americans in that war, and gallantly fought for independence, at the noted battle of King's Mountain. In 1787, in company with Cols. Madison and McDowell, he emigrated to Kentucky, settling in the then wilds of Logan County. In Virginia he had married Jean Maxwell, whose parents were stanch adherents of the "Scottish Kirk," and whose separation from the parent land was the result of their desire to enjoy, untrammeled, the faith of their fathers. Fidelio C. Sharp was one of the family of eight children, including three daughters, born to these parents. Ile was born in Virginia, February 22, 1784, and was consequently but a mere lad when the family removed to Kentucky. Born of such sturdy ancestry, and reared under the influences of pioneer life, he acquired, naturally, a love of liberty, and spirit which breathed forth the inspirations of independence. Of his early education we only know that what he obtained was self-acquired, and while his progress was necessarily slow, he was nevertheless laying a foundation deep and wide, whereon to build, in future years, a character which should serve as a land- mark for the generations to follow. The study of law, to him, was natu- ral and easy ; he enjoyed the help of no instructor. save his books, which were obtained singly as necessity required, and read, often by the light of the midnight fire. He soon became noted as a land lawyer, a reputa- tion he sustained through life; but it is of his private life we wish more fully to speak. He was gentle and kind to all, yet, with an unflinching tenacity, adhered to what he deemed to be right-faithful and honest in the small as well as the great affairs of life, and no man could lay the charge at his door, that he betrayed a trust or forfeited his word. We quote from his published obituary, " He was the friend of order, of peace, of morality, and piety." " He admired and loved our political institu- tions, and most earnestly and prayerfully hoped for the perpetuity of the Union." " Col. Sharp became the friend of literature. His conversation was marked by a strong reasoning faculty and close observation. He reviewed things around him with no ordinary mind. He conversed with equal interest upon the objects of nature, and the actions of men." " In domestic life he was the kind husband, the indulgent father and humane master. To render the family circle happy was to him a chief object.
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As a neighbor he was kind, free from reproachful remarks, and liberal in his charitable distributions." He became a resident of Christian County in 1819, and two years later contracted a marriage with Evelina J. Johnson, by whom he reared a family noted for their honor, culture and true citizenship. Col. Sharp was for many years a faithful consist- ent member of the Presbyterian Church, in the faith of which he trust- fully died on the 29th day of September, 1852. Mrs. Evelina J. Sharp (nee Johnson), was a remarkable adaptation to a remarkable husband. She was born in the year 1800, was highly educated at Frankfort, Ky., and removed to Hopkinsville in 1818, and was at the time of her death, perhaps, the oldest inhabitant of that city. Not only was she an old and honored citizen, but she was in many respects one of the most re- markable women in the State of Kentucky. Inheriting the talents of her father's family, coupled with a fine education, she was fitted to adorn any circle, and would have been recognized as a leader in any commu- nity. Her long association with her distinguished husband, also gave to her advantages and enabled her to display capabilities of a very high order. In strength of character, resolute and inflexible devotion to princi- ple, she stood pre-eminent. Her devotion to her family, to her church, to her section, was evidenced by tireless ministrations, and the works of her hands and her heart were ever liberally supported by contributions from her purse. During the late war she was tireless in her efforts to relieve suffering, ministering to the wants of the sick soldiers, not only visiting the hospitals daily, with baskets laden with delicacies, medicine, etc., but actually filling her own commodious house with the convalescent. For many years she was a zealous member of the Presbyterian Church of Hopkinsville, and probably the most liberal contributor to its support. She made many liberal donations to educational institutions, and was al- · ways ready with her means to sustain those enterprises which received the sanction of her ripe judgment. She possessed a large estate, and though she had a large family of children and grandchildren, such was her executive ability and business sagacity that she yearly increased her income. Until near her death she managed her own business, taking a lively interest in affairs of a public character. Like the ripened sheaf she was cut down in the fullness of her day, with a record replete with no- ble deeds. She died on the 7th of February, 1881. She went to her
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