USA > Kentucky > Historical sketches of Kentucky : embracing its history, antiquities, and natural curiosities, geographical, statistical, and geological descriptions with anecdotes of pioneer life, and more than one hundred biographical sketches of distinguished pioneers, soldiers, statesmen, jurists, lawyers, divines, etc. > Part 46
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Honorable JOHN BROWN .- The present high rank that Kentucky occupies in the Union, is but a continuation and expansion of the impulse first given by those who rescued the land from the dominion of the savages. No country was ever settled by men of more distinct character from the great mass, and the infu- sion of those traits was so common to the population of the early emigrants, that it will take centuries to eradicate it from their descendents. More of the gal- lant officers of the American revolution, and their no less gallant soldiers, found a retreat in Kentucky, than in any other part of America ; and they brought with them to the west, the young men of enterprise and talent and courage who, like Sidney, were determined to "find or to make" a way to distinction. Among the pioneers of Kentucky, no one acted a more conspicuous part than the gentleman whose name is at the head of this notice, and a brief sketch of his life is not only appropriate, but indispensable, to a work having for its object an elucidation of the history of the State.
Mr. Brown was born at Staunton, Virginia, on the 12th day of September, 1757. He was the son of the Rev. John Brown and Margaret Preston. His father was eminently distinguished as a Presbyterian minister of piety and learn- ing, a graduate of Princeton college, and pastor for forty-four years of the church at Providence meeting house in Rockbridge. The mother was a woman of re- markable energy of character and vigor of mind-the second daughter of John Preston and Elizabeth Patton, and sister of William Preston, of Mrs. Breckin- ridge, Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Howard, from whom are descended the Prestons, the Breckinridges, the M'Dowells, the Harts, and many other distinguished fe- males in Kentucky and Virginia. The children were reared in the hardy nurture of the western borderers, and having no patrimony in expectancy, were habitua- ted to depend on their own energies for success in life. A good education was all that they could look for, and this was carefully bestowed. John, being the eldest, was sent to Princeton, at which place he was a student when the Ameri- can army made its memorable retreat though the Jerseys. The college was bro- ken up, and he joined the troops and crossed the Delaware with them, and re- mained with the army under Washington for some time as a volunteer. He sub- sequently was a member of a volunteer company from Rockbridge, which com- pany was under the command of the Marquis de Lafayette. He completed his education at William and Mary college-assisted the celebrated Dr. Waddill for two years as a teacher in his school-read law in the office of Mr. Jefferson, and removed to Kentucky in 1782, arriving directly after the battle of the Blue Licks ; and from that date to the period of his death he was a citizen of the western country.
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From the commencement of our political history, Mr. Brown was called to act a prominent part. He was elected a member of the Virginia legislature from the district of Kentucky, and was, by the legislature of that state, appointed a. repre- sentative to the "old Congress," in 1787, and also in 1788. In 1789 and 1791, he was elected by the people of Kentucky a representative to the first and sec- ond Congress, under the present constitution. After Kentucky became a state, he was three times consecutively elected a senator in the Congress of the United States, and continued in the senate until 1805, when he retired to private life. It was his fortune as a politician, to live to be nearly, if not the very, last survi- vor of the old Congress; and he was the first member of the Congress of the United States ever sent from the great valley of the Mississippi ! He came to it in his youth, and it was a vast and dangerous wilderness-he lived to see it un- der the dominion of eleven powerful and independent sovereignties, teeming with a population of more than seven millions of people, and holding the balance of power in the national confederacy. Coming into public life at the close of the Revolution, he was brought into an intimate association with many of. the most prominent actors of that eventful period, and enjoyed the personal friendship of General Washington, Mr. Adams, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe. General Washington honored him, in conjunction with General Charles Scott, Benjamin Logan, Harry Innis and Isaac Shelby, with important commissions of a military trust, with power to enlist men, commission officers, and carry on war at home and abroad. He was the projector of several of the military expeditions into the Indian countries, and accompanied one of the most successful of them as a volunteer, lending the influence of his example to enforce his official exhorta- tions. He was a most distinguished actor in all the events that attended the admission of Kentucky into the Union, and the securing for the west the naviga- tion of the Mississippi; and the efforts of no one individual contributed more to bring about those results. In the celebrated controversy between Mr. Jefferson and Colonel Burr for the presidency, he, then a senator from Kentucky, advoca- ted the claims of Mr. Jefferson with zealous ardor. Mr. Jefferson pressed upon him, during his administration, the acceptance of several highly important and lucrative offices, all of which he declined. The intimacy and friendship which existed between them, commencing while he was a student in the office of that world-renowned statesman, continued without interruption throughout life. When Mr. Monroe became president, he also addressed him a letter, wishing to know in what manner his administration could testify its regard for his character and early public service; but he declined all preferment. With the public men of the west, he was on terms of the most endearing friendship. With General George Rogers Clark, Governor Shelby and Governors Scott and Madison, and with Judges Innis and Todd, and Colonels Nicholas and Breckinridge, and their illustrious associates, he held the most confidential intercourse, and their attachment, com- menced in periods of danger and under circumstances of trial, never wavered. This eminent man-eminent as a patriot, as a statesman and citizen-lived to the advanced age of 80 years, and died at his residence in Frankfort on the 29th of August, 1837. His accomplished wife, the daughter of the Rev. John Mason, of the city of New York, and sister of the Rev. John. M. Mason, both distin- guished divines, survived him but a few months.
Honorable JAMES BROWN, a brother of the Honorable John Brown, was a dis- tinguished lawyer in Kentucky, and a cotemporary at the bar of the Honorable Henry Clay, (both of whom married daughters of Colonel Thomas Hart), and also of George Nicholas, Mr. Murray, John Breckinridge, and others, and was distinguished, even in such competition, as an able lawyer and eloquent speaker. He was appointed first secretary of state of Governor Shelby. Upon the pur- chase of Louisiana, he removed to New Orleans, was associated with Mr. Liv- ingston in the compilation of the civil code, was several times elected to the . senate of the United States, and subsequently received the appointment of min- ister to France, in which capacity he resided many years in the city of Paris, admired for his ability as a diplomatist, and beloved for his munificent hospitality. He died in the city of Philadelphia in 1836,
Dr. SAMUEL BROWN, also another brother of the Hon. John Brown, was a graduate of Edinburgh, and very distinguished for his medical writings, and for
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many years filled, with great credit to himself and usefulness to the institution, the chair of professor of theory and practice of medicine in the Transylvania University. He died in Alabama.
Dr. PRESTON W. BROWN. the youngest of the brothers, was a graduate of the ' school of medicine in Philadelphia, and favorably known to the profession as a successful practitioner of medicine in Kentucky. He died in Jefferson county in 1826.
Governor GEORGE MADISON Was born in Virginia, about the year 1763. His career was one of distinction in arms as well as the cabinet. He was one of the soldiers of the American revolution. Before he was of age, whilst yet a boy, he threw himself in the ranks, and with a gallant bearing passed through the scenes of his country's first and great struggle for independence. He was also engaged in the battles which were fought by the early settlers of Kentucky with the Indians of the north-western territory. At the head of his company, Captain Madison was wounded at St. Clair's defeat in 1791 ; and he was again wounded in the attack upon the camp of Major John Adair, by the Indians, in 1792. Ma- jor Adair, in his report of that battle to Brigadier General Wilkinson, speaking of Captain Madison, whom he had ordered to take a party and gain the right flank of the enemy, says :- " Madison's bravery and conduct need no comment ; they are well known." This was his reputation in military life -- to speak in fa- vor of his courage was considered superfluous-all who saw him in the field, both men and officers, knew him to be brave-that knowledge came, as if by in- tuition, to all who beheld him-his looks, his words, his whole demeanor on the field, were emphatically those of a soldier. No hero ever shed his blood in the cause of his country more freely than George Madison'; when called into her service, there seemed no limit to his patriotism, no bounds to his zeal in her be- half. It did in truth appear as if he considered himself -- all be had, and all ho could do-a freo gift, a living sacrifice, to be offered up on the altar of his country.
Having passed through two wars with honor and distinction, and having set- tled permanently in Kentucky at a very carly period, he was soon called npon to take part in the civil administration of the State. On the 7th of March, 1796, he was appointed by Governor Shelby auditor of public accounts, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of William McDowell, which office he held for more than twenty years. During the whole of this period, his official duties, and his position at the seat of government, threw him in constant personal intercourse with persons from every quarter of the State; and the influence which he thus acquired, and the universal confidence and love with which he inspired all who knew him, were so unbounded throughout Kentucky, that there was no office within the gift of the people which he could not easily have attained, without the slightest solicitation.
In the summer of 1812, a requisition was made on the State of Kentucky to aid in an expedition against Canada and the Indians of the north-western terri- tory, who, at that time, were in alliance with the British. In obedience to the call of the government, Colonel John Allen raised a volunteer regiment of Ken- tuckians, and George Madison, then auditor of public accounts, accepted the of- fice of second major under him, at the earnest solicitation of Captains Hickman, Ballard and others, who had served with him in previous canipaigns against the Indians, and knew, therefore, how to appreciate his skill as an officer. At the memorable battle of the river Raisin, which occurred in January, 1813, in which that regiment suffered so severely, and in which Colonel Allen, Captains Simp- son, MeCracken, Hickman, and a host of others fell, Madison behaved with ex- emplary firinness and courage. He was in inunediate command of the force that stood within the pickets, and by his calm and collected bearing, and his desper- 'ate resolution, exacted terms of capitulation from General Proctor, the commander of the British and Indians, by which his men and all the wounded were to be thrown under the immediate protection of the British commander, and saved from the violence of savage cruelty. Accordingly, Madison and such of the Americans as were able to march, were removed to Malden, whence he and the other officers were sent to Quebec. The non-commissioned officers and privates
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were shortly afterwards discharged on parole, and permitted to return to the I'ni- ted States. In consequence of the shameful violation by Proctor of the terms of capitulation entered into with Madison-in permitting the Indians to massacre our wounded men left at the river Raisin-a retaliation was apprehendel. and Madison and our other officers were kept in confinement at Quebec as hostigres.
In the year 1916, having resigned his office as auditor of public accounts, Major Madison was urged from every section of the state to become a candidate for gov- ernor. So loud and so general was the call made on him, that he consented to run. Colonel James Johnson, who had distinguished himself at the battle of the Thames, was announced as the opposing candidate. Colonel Johnson had not. however, been engaged very long in the canvass, before he found it impossible to resist the popularity of Major Madison. He accordingly retired during the very heat of the canvass, and declined the race, declaring that it was utterly futile for him or any body else to run against a man so universally popular and beloved, as he found his opponent to be. He was not, however, permitted to enjoy very long the high honor conferred upon him by the State with such marked distinction. He died on the 14th day of October, 1816, and left a whole people to mourn over his loss with a sorrow as deep as was the love which they had borne him.
Col. SOLOMON P. SHARP .- In a work designed to perpetuate a knowledge of the remarkable events that have transpired in Kentucky, and the memory of dis- tinguished men who have given renown to the State, the name of Colonel Sol- omon P. Sharp deserves a conspicuous place. It was the fortune of this able man to illustrate, by his own career, the noble tendency of our republican insti- tutions, and to teach to his youthful countrymen the important lesson that each may, and must be. the architect of his own fortunes, and that there is no station to which the humblest may not aspire. He was born of a parentage that brought him no aid but that which an unsullied name can give. His father had been a soldier of the Revolution, and one of the gallant but obscure borderers wiro gained the memorable victory at King's mountain. The war being over, he moved from Washington county, in Virginia, first to the neighborhood of Nashville, Ten- nessee, and in a short time afterwards to the vicinity of Russellville, Kentucky. It was at the latter place that Colonel Sharp grew up to manhood, having been but a very small child at the period of his father's removal to the Green river country. At that early day, that region was almost a desert, and but few advan- tages were possessed by the young for mental improvement. The simplest rudi- ments of education were all that even the most favored could expect, and even these were only to be obtained by alternate interchange between the labors of the farm and the employments of the school room. Still, such was the nursery of many of the most distinguished men of Kentucky ; and in that school they ac- quired a vigor of constitution and independence in thought, action and speech, that gave them throughout life, a force of character which enabled them to leave their impress on the times in which they lived.
Col. Sharp, at the early age of nineteen, had, in the midst of innumerable and, to any but a brave spirit, insurmountable difficulties, gained admittance to the bar. He entered the profession unknown, without the influence of friends or fortune. his sole dependence being on his own energies. But, in a short time, he stord forth before all observers as a youth of uncommon promise, and, in his earliest professional efforts, he displayed powers of reasoning, of research and of eloquence that drew upon him the admiration and esteem of the whole community. As a reasoner. his powers were remarkable, clear, discriminating and logical ; in debate. he had few equals and no superiors. His style of speech was of the conver-4- tional order-plain and concise-he was always understood : and those who heard him, felt that they were taking part in unravelling the propositions which he sought to make manifest. He seldom turned aside from his subject, unless to relieve the mind from the tenseness of the argument; and when this was beers- sary, he never lacked a playful sally or happy illustration to suit his purpose. Without any thing like redundancy, he never hesitated for a word, and was strictly fluent from the force of his own thought, and he never became excited that he had not a convinced and sympathising auditory.
At the earliest period permissible by the constitution, he was elected a member of the Kentucky legislature, and on the political theatre displayed talents of such
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rare order that, at twenty-four years of age, he might have been considered one of the first public men in Kentucky. He was again and again honored by a seat in the legislature, until, by the general voice of the district in which he lived, he was transferred to the Congress of the United States, and for two successive terms, embracing the most interesting period of the administration of Mr. Madi- son, he occupied the very front rank among the most eminent politicians of that day. He was the room mate and intimate friend of the Hon. John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina ; and stood side by side with him, in the support of the admin- istration of Mr. Madison. The high estimation in which he was held by that distinguished statesman, is attested by his having been heard to declare, more than once, that " he was the ablest man of his age that had ever crossed the mountains."
Enticing as were these early political honors to a youth of honorable ambition. and holding out, as they did, the prospect of still further advancement, Col. Sharp relinquished them all with cheerfulness, in order that he might devote himself with more assiduity to the labors of his profession. Having married the daughter of Colonel John M. Scott, of Frankfort, and his reputation as a lawyer being commensurate with the State, he determined to remove to the seat of goy- ernment, where the supreme court of the State, and the federal court of the dis- trict of Kentucky held their sessions. Before these two distinguished tribunals -- distinguished for the great learning of the presiding justices, and the unsur- passed ability of the lawyers who practiced before them, Colonel Sharp was the acknowledged equal of the most eminent, and acquired a practice as extensive and lucrative as any practitioner at the bar, and the docket of the court of appeals of that day, shows his name to almost every litigated case, from the first day of his location in Frankfort.
He was selected by Governor Adair as peculiarly qualified for the important office of attorney general, and he discharged its duties to the perfect satisfaction of the country. This was the highest honor of the legal profession that a prac- titioner could enjoy, and there was but one step more for legal ambition, and that was a seat upon the bench. He did not attain the age when lawyers, in full practice, are willing to retire and leave the field of active and profitable labor to younger competitors ; but there is no question. judging of the future from the past. that he would have been called to occupy a distinguished place in the highest courts of judicatura, at a little later period.
It was in the midst of a career like this. fruitful of honors, of public useful- ness and domestic happiness, that he fell by the hand of an assassin, on the night of the - November, 1825, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. The peculiar atrocity of the deed created a thrill of horror throughout the land, for it was at- tended with circumstances of most fiend-like barbarity. The legislature, of which Colonel Sharp was at that time a member, being in session, offered a reward of three thousand dollars for the detection and apprehension of the murderer, and passed resolutions testifying the public condolence and sympathy with the afflic- ted family, and the great loss the State had sustained in his untimely death.
ISHAM TALBOT was born in the county of Bedford, and State of Virginia, in the year 1773. While quite a youth, his father emigrated with his family to Ken- tucky, and settled near Harrodsburg, in Mercer county. The means of acqui- ring an education. at that early day, were necessarily limited, and each individual in the pursuit of knowledge, had to rely, in a great degree, on the resources of his own intellect and will. Young Talbot was sent to the best schools of His- rodsburg ; but he acquired, without the ait of teachers, a respectable knowledge of the ancient and some of the modern languages.
On arriving at manhood, he studied law with Colonel George Nicholas, and commenced the practice of his profession in the town of Versailles. in Woodford county. He soon afterwards removed to Frankfort, and entered the lists when Clay, and Daveiss, and Bibb, and Bledsoe, and Rowan adorned the bar; and public opinion of that day and this, has regarded Mr. Talbot as one of the bright- est in that galaxy of illustrious names.
In 1812, he was elected to the senate of Kentucky from the county of Frank- lin, which office he continued to hold until his election, in 1815, to the senate of the United States, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Jesse Bled-
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sor. In 1820, he was re-elected to the senate, and served in that body till the 4th of March, 1825. Mr. Talbot's career in the senate is a part of the history of our common country, and the reports of the debates of that body bear ample proofs of his eloquence and patriotism. He died at Melrose, his residence neat Frankfort, on the 21st of September, 1837.
Hon. HARRY INNES. The subject of this sketch was born in 1752, in Caroline county, Virginia. His father, the Rev. Robert Innes. of the Episcopal church, was a native of Scotland, and married Catharine Richards, of Va .. by whom ha had three sons. Robert, Harry, and James. The eldest was a physician, and Harry and James read law with Mr. Rose. of Va. Harry was a schoolmate of the late President Madison. James was attorney general of Virginia, and one of the most eloquent debaters in the convention which adopted the present constitution of the United States. During the administration of President Washington, he was deputed to Kentucky as a special envoy to explain to Governor Shelby and the legislature, the measures in progress by the government of the United States to secure the navigation of the Mississippi.
In 1776-7. whilst the lead mines became objects of national solicitude and pub- lic care for procuring a supply necessary to the revolutionary contest, the subject of this sketch was employed by the committee of public safety in Virginia, to superintend the working of Chipil's mines. His ability, zeal and fidelity in that employment, commanded the thanks of that committee. In 1729. he was elected by the legislature of Virginia a commissioner to hear and determine the claims to unpatented lands in the district including Abingdon. That duty he performed to public satisfaction. In 1783, he was elected by the legislature of Virginia, one of the judges of the supreme court for the district of Kentucky, and on the third day of November of that year, he entered upon the duties of his commission at Crow's station, near Danville, in conjunction with the Hon. Caleb Wallace and Samuel M'Dowell. In 1787, he was elected by the legislature of Virginia, at- torney general for the district of Kentucky. in the place of Walker Daniel. who fell a victim to the savage foe. In 1755. he entered upon the duties of that office. in which he continued until he was appointed. in 1787. judge of the court ot tho United States for the Kentucky district, the duties of which he discharged until his death. September, 1816.
Upon the erection of Kentucky into an independent state in 1792, he was offered. bat declined, the office of chief justice. He was president of the first electoral college for the choice of governor and lieutenant governor under the first constitution, In April, 1790, he was authorized by the secretary of war, (General Knox.) to call out the scouts for the protection of the frontier; and, in 1701, he was associated with Scott, Shelby. Logan and Brown, as a local board of war for the western country, to call out the militia on expeditions against the Indians, in conjunction with the commanding officer of the United States, and to apportion scouts through the exposed parts of the district. In all these responsible capacities the conduct of Judge Innes was without reproach, and maised him, most deservedly high, in the public esteem, and received the repeated thanks of General Washington for the discharge of high trusts. As a judge. he was patient to hear, diligent to investigate and impartial to decide. These quali- ties were especially requisite in his position as the sole judge, until 1807. of the court of the United States for the district of Kentucky, whose decisions were final, unless reversed by the supreme court of the United States.
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