USA > Kentucky > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Kentucky, together with sketches of its cities, villages, and townships, educational religious, civil military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, biographies of representative citizens, and an outline history of Kentucky > Part 11
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Wm. Anthony, lawyer, was a member of the Legislature from this county during the war. He was learned, refined, able and witty. He stood firm on the side of the Union all through the war. As a lawyer he was of course shrewd and ready. He conld with wonderful ease, yet perfect politeness, entrap any crooked wit- ness whom he might be called upon to examine. He died somne years ago.
J. D. Atchison, attorney at law and cx-County Superintendent of Schools was born in this county Dec. 31, 1852. His father, Austin Atchison, was born in Virginia in 1807, and was of Scotch parentage. He was a farmer in good circumstances, until 1865, at which time he lost his slaves and other property. He died in 1875. Mr. Atchison's mother, Lney (Moseley) Atchison, was a native of Kentucky and died in 1865. His parents were married in 1850. Owing to defective vision he did not learn to read until ten years of age, at which time he attended a county school one month, having procured a lens which enabled him to see sufficiently well to study. He was very small and sickly until six- teen years of age; he then again attended a county school. All of his leisure time had been spent in hard study, but a want of proper books was a great obstacle to his progress. A friend, E. H. Bryan, gave him great assistance in the sciences. In 1868 Prof. W. Alex- ander established Oakland Seminary, near the farm of Mr. Atchi- son's father, and at once took great interest in J. D., who was his pupil four years. He attended the school only during a part of the winter session, but took private lessons during the entire year. At the age of twenty Mr. Atchison borrowed money of his father, with which to buy suitable clothing, and started out to take care of himself. He went to Henderson County, where he was en- gaged nearly a year in teaching school, for which he was paid sixty dollars a month. With a part of this money he repaid his father, and te remainder he spent in the pursuit of his studies at school, where he organized a club, and " oached " at an expense not ex- ceeding $1.25 per week.
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In 1874 Mr. Atchison accepted a professorship in West Ken- tucky College, at South Carrolton, Ky., which position he held two years. He was thus again associated with his former precep- tor, Prof. Alexander, who held the first position in the school. When quite young Mr. Atchison had determined to study law, and in 1876 he resigned his position in the school and commenced the course of study in his chosen profession. Partly from poverty, and partly from a fixed principle that every one ought to acquire knowledge by his own efforts, he determined not to enter a law school. He came to Owensboro, and in June, 1876, entered the law office of Hon. W. N. Sweeney, where he remained four years. He was admitted to the bar in March, 1877, and in May, 1879, he was married to Miss Blanche Hermon, of Muhlenberg County, Ky., one of his former pupils. In 1880, when Judge James Stuart's term as Circuit Judge expired, he and Mr. Atchison formed a co- partnership, which still continues under the firm name of Stuart & Atchison. For a number of years Mr. Atchison was School Commissioner of Daviess County.
R. C. Barrett is an attorney at law, resident at Whitesville.
Hon. George M. Bibb. Although but a few years a resident of Daviess County, yet the prominence of Judge Bibb entitles him to a special notice in this chapter. He was born in Prince Edward County, Va., Oct. 30, 1776, and was the son of Richard Bibb, an Episcopal clergyman of great learning. His earliest recollections were of the struggle for American Independence, which began at his birth. He was well educated, a graduate of Hampton Sydney and also of William and Mary Colleges, and in his latter days was the oldest surviving graduate of each. Studying his profession with that distinguished lawyer, Judge Venable, he practiced in Virginia a short time, and removed to Lexington, Ky., in 1798, and was soon numbered among the ablest and soundest in a State already prominent for great lawyers. Jan. 31, 1808, he was ap- pointed one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals by Governor Greenup; and by Judge Scott, its Chief Justice, May 30, 1809, but resigned in March, 1810; and again, by Governor Desha, was appointed Chief Justice the second time Jan. 5, 1827, but resigned Dec. 23, 1828.
Judge Bibb was twice elected to the U. S. Senate, -first in 1811, but resigned in 1814, and second in 1829, serving the full term of six years. During the war of 1812, he, in the Senate, and Wi. iam Lowndes and Jc. C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, and Henry
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Clay, in the U. S. House of Representatives, formed what was called the "War Mess" of the Madison administration-fromn having supported the war and the President with such great talent, vigor and zeal. He settled in Frankfort in 1816. From 1835 to 1844 Judge Bibb held the important position of Chancellor of the Louisville Chancery Court, but resigned to become Secretary of the Treasury in the cabinet of his old colleague in the U. S. Senate, President Tyler, holding it to the close of his Presidential term. Thenceforward, until his death, April 14, 1859, he practiced law in the courts of the District of Commons, most of the time in the position of chief clerk in the departinent of the U. S. Attorney General, but really doing the duties now required of the Assistant Attorney General, an office established for the very labors per- formed by him.
Judge Bibb was a profound scholar, and a great mathematician, as well as a most eminent jurist. He had an iron frame and an ardent temperament; was capable of great endurance and labor, and liable to great bursts of indignation when roused. IIe married a daughter of General Charles Scott, who bore him twelve children. In 1832 he married again in Washington City, his second wife bearing him five children. ITis brother, Jolin B. Bibb, was a member of the Kentucky Legislature, and in the Stato Senate 1830-'34. Judge Bibb died April 14, 1859, aged eighty-three years.
Baker . Boyd, born Ang. 9, 1836, in Shelby County, Ky .. is a son of William G. and Jane (Ligget) Boyd. His father was a native of Virginia, born Oct. 14, 1783, and moved to Shelby Connty. Ky., when nineteen years of age. He was Sheriff of Shelby County twenty years under the old Consti- tution. He represented his district in the State Lower House and Senate ten years. IIe was married three times. Ilis first wife was Agnes Shannon, born Sept. 1, 1787. To them were born three children-Samnel L., born Sept. 4, 1806; Mehitable, Feb. 2. 1808; Martha Ann, Oet. 29, 1809. His second wife was Mary Newland, born April 18, 175. They had two children --- William Wallace, born April 23, 1815, and John Newland, Jan. 23, 1817. His third wife was Mrs. Jane ( Ligget) Newland. Her first husband was William Newiand, and to them were born two children -- JJames L. and Ann Maria. Eight children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Boyd-George Washington, born Dee 8, 1-20. mar. ried Emily Moore, of Ballard County. Ky., and had three sons ---
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John, Ligget and Henry; Celeste, born July 30, 1822, married Green Stewart, and had the following children: Wallace, Clarence, Digges, Boyd, John, Charles, William, Jennie, Sallie, Celeste; Columbus, born Dec. 12, 1824, married William H. Digges, Sept. 4, 1846, and had one son, William II .; Christopher C., born Sept. 6, 1826; Robert L., born Sept. 18, 1828, married Margaret Mc- Clarty, and had four children -- J. Allen, Charles L., Henry D. and Mary L .; Jane, born Sept. 17, 1828, married James L. McClure, and had five children-Ligget, Logan, William, Jennie and James; Henry C., born Ang. 14, 1833, died Sept. 11, 1864; Baker, subject of this sketch. William G. Boyd moved to Hancock County and lived about thirty years. In 1860 he moved to Breckenridge County, where he died in 1863. When about twenty years old, Baker Boyd entered the county and circuit clerk's office of Brecken- ridge County, under Joe Allen, Clerk of the county, and remained there two years. He began studying law with Ben Monroe, United States Judge of the State of Kentucky, who was at the same time teaching a law school in Frankfort. After studying a year he was licensed to practice by two judges of the Court of Appeals, and established himself at Hawesville, Ky. Eight months later, in 1860, he removed to Blandville, where he remained till the break- ing ont of the war. In 1861 he went to Camp Cheatam, near Nashville, and joined Company A, First Tennessee Regiment, Rock City Guards. After the battle of Perryville he was promoted to Third Lieutenant and then First Lieutenant of his company. Dur- ing the war he was transferred to Company B, Seventh Kentucky Regiment, being First Lieutenant of the company. At the battle of Nashville he was captured by the Federal forces, and the follow- ing day taken to Johnson Island, across Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie, and confined till the close of the war. He then returned to Hawes- ville and remained about a year, when he moved to Hardinsburg and formed a partnership with Alfred H. Payton, and continned in practice there till August, 1868, when he was elected Common- wealth Attorney for the Fourth District, comprising the counties of Hardin, Meade, Grayson, Breckenridge, Hancock, Ohio and Daviess, which position he held six years. In 1868 he moved to Owensboro. He was married in October, 1868, to Celia V., daugh- ter of Thomas M. and Penelope ( McFarland) Barron. Her mother was a daughter of John H. McFarland. Her father was a native of Virginia, and died in Daviess County in 1867.
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Henry P. Broadnax, the first Circuit Judge, 1815-'22, was an upright and impartial judge, and one of the most remarkable men of his day. During the last year or two of his judgeship, his sal- ary was paid in about $600 or $800 worth of corn. Those were "the primitive and honest days of the Republic. " The judge used to wear short breeches, with knee buckles, and plaited hair, tucked with a comb.
W. Lindsea Burton, attorney and counselor at law, is a native of Daviess County, and is now practicing his profession in Owens- boro. He is a well-educated, Christian gentleman, a strong advo- cate of temperance, and no lover of card-playing or novel-reading. His maxims of life, of his profession, and of liberal education are of the highest order.
John Calhoon was a prominent lawyer, a Circuit Judge, and a member of Congress. He was far superior to any other man of his time in this part of the country.
Wilfred Carico is an attorney. Office in Court Row. He also is a native of this county, and has passed all his life here.
W. W. Chambers is a member of the Daviess County bar and a resident of Owensboro.
Colonel Martin Hardin Cofer was born in Hardin County, Ky., April 1, 1832. He was raised on a farm, and his education was such as the common schools of that day afforded. Early in life he determined to enter the profession of law. He was married in 1853, and shortly afterward removed to Illinois, where he resided three years. He studied his profession when not engaged in active business, and at the age of twenty-four was licensed by the Su- preme Court of that State to practice. He commenced his labors at Elizabethtown, Ky., and acquitted himself wellin his first efforts. He made steady progress, and at the beginning of the civil war had a very large practice. In 1860 a military company was organized at Elizabethtown, and he was chosen its Captain. During this year he was the Southern Rights candidate for the Lower House of the Legislature, having openly avowed his principles and determined to stand by them. His competitor, Hon. B. R. Young, who had been a member of Congress, was a man of ability and great popularity. Colonel Cofer and Dr. Young entered upon the can- vass in July, and after an exciting contest, the Union candidate was elected by a majority of only ninety votes. His next step was to enter the Confederate service. He was authorized, in connection with Major Thomas Hays, to raise a battalion of six companies, of
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which he was to be Lieutenant-Colonel. Only five companies were obtained, and in November these were consolidated with other companies that formed the Sixth Regiment. He was elected Lieu- tenant Colonel of this command, and took rank from the ;. o November. He participated in every engagement of his regiment up to th 30th of August, 1864, except that of Murfreesboro, and was severely wounded at Shiloh. He was promoted to Colonel Sept. 30, 1863. The day before the first battle of Jonesboro he was made Provost Marshal General of the Army of Tennessee. Colonel Cofer was a man of excellent judgment; was rarely known to draw a conclusion from a false premise, and in all his relations bas maintained hmself as an honest, upright gentleman.
Frank F. Conway, the present Circuit Clerk, is a native of Vir- ginia, born Nov. 22, 1837. When he was eleven years of age his father died, and he was sent to New Albany and educated. In 1859 he graduated in medicine at Louisville, and began practice as a phy- sician at Oakford, this county; but in the course of fourteen years his health failed, and he relinquished his profession, since which time he has been the popular and efficient Circuit Clerk of Daviess County. His first vote for President was for John C. Brecken- ridge.
Hon. A. D. Cosby was a Representative to the Legislature 1851-'3, and Senator 1857-'61.
V. T. Crawford, in 1868 (and possibly other years), had an office in Court Row, as a lawyer.
Thomas Alexander Craycroft was born in Washington County, Ky., Jan. 8, 1833; reared in Meade County, and completed a course of study in the English branches at St. Mary's and St. Joseph's colleges in this State. He afterward taught school awhile and read law, and graduated at the Louisville Law School in the spring of 1858. He located at Lebanon, Ky., where he was elected County Attorney and served two years. In February, 1860, he opened a law office in Paraclifta, Ark., and practiced till the close of the war. While there he was elected Commonwealth's Attorney and recruiting officer for the Southern army. In 1860 he was Assistant Donglas Elector for Arkansas.
In May, 1866, he came to Owensboro, where he has resided ever since, in the practice of law. Was four years City Judge, and was member of the Legislature one term-1877-'8. In 1881, in part- nership with Geo. V. Triplett, he established the Saturday Post, and continued as one of the editors and proprietors until January,
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1883. His editorial ability is of a high degree. His tastes, indeed, incline him more to literature and politics than to law. In polities he is a Jeffersonian Democrat, and is opposed alike to abolitionism and secessionism.
Judge Craycroft was first married in January, 1857, to Miss Lucy Hopkins, of Owensboro. In May, 1860, he married Mrs. Mary Graves, of Marion County, Ky. His children are Benjamin and Lucy-both by his second wife.
Warner Crow, Sheriff 1829-'31, was one of the oldest settlers of Daviess County, and is the father of Joshua G. Crow, a well-known citizen of Murray Precinct. See sketch in the history of that pre- cinct.
Samuel R. Crumbaugh, Collector for the Second Internal Reve- nue District of Kentucky, is now temporarily a resident of Owens- boro, having his principal office near the northeast corner of the public square. [This is Owensboro's present custom-house. ] His district comprises thirty-two counties. He is a native of this State; graduated at the Military Academy at Annapolis, Md .; spent two years in scientific studies in London, Eng., and several years as Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, the last two in the col- lege at Hopkinsville. He is a tall, soldierly looking gentleman, with a massive chest and square shoulders, and carries himself very erect. He wears a heavy mustache and goatee, and is probably thirty-five or forty years of age. A few years ago he married a very wealthy woman at Elkton, and afterward moved to Hopkinsville, where he has a handsome residence. He is a rising politician, and at present the Republicans talk of placing him at the head of the State ticket at the next election.
John Daveiss, Sheriff 1831-'3, was the brother of the next inen- tioned.
Colonel Joseph Hamilton Daveiss or "Jo Daveiss," as he was popularly known , who gave his name to Daviess County, was one of the most remarkable men of his day. He was born in Bedford County, Va., March 4, 1774. His parents were natives of Virginia; his father of Irish, and his mother of Scotch, descent. When young Daveiss was five years old the family removed to Kentucky, then an almost nnbroken wilderness, and settled in the immediate vicinity of the town of Danville, then in Lincoln County. An incident, which occurred in the journey to Kentucky, illus- trates the character of his mother. In crossing the Cumberland River, Mrs. Daveiss was thrown from her horse, and had her arm
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broken. The party only halted long enough to have the limb bound np, with what rnde skill the men possessed, and pursued their route, she riding a spirited horse and carrying her child, and never ceasing her exertions to promote the comfort of her com- panions when they stopped for rest and refreshment. Daveiss was sent to school as occasion allowed. He attended grammar schools taught by a Mr. Morley, and a Dr. Brooks, and made considerable advances in a knowledge of the Latin and Greek languages. At school he evinced unusual capacity, always being at the head of his class. He was particularly remarkable for his talent for decla- mation and public speaking. The sudden death of a brother and sister recalled him from school, and he returned home to assist his father in the labors of the farm. There is a tradition that young Daveiss was not particularly distinguished by his devotion to agricultural pursuits, frequently permitting the horses of his plow to graze at leisure, in a most unfarmer-like way, while he, stretched supinely on his back on some luxurious log, indulged in those delicious dreams and reveries so sweet to young and aspiring ambition.
In the autumn of 1792 Major Adair, under Government orders, raised some companies of mounted men, to guard the transpor- tation of provisions to the forts north of the Ohio River. Daveiss, then in his eighteenth vear, volunteered in the service. On one occasion, when Major Adair was'encamped near Fort St. Clair, he was surprised early in the morning by a large body of Indians, who, rushing into the camp just after the sentinels had been withdrawn from their posts, killed and wounded fourteen or fifteen of the men, and captured and carried away about 200 head of horses. These were taken within the Indian lines and tied. After the whites had sought shelter in the neighborhood of the fort, young Daveiss, dis- covering his own horse at some distance hitched to a tree, resolved to have him at all hazards. He accordingly ran and cut him loose, and led him back to his companions amid a shower of balls. This exploit nearly cost him his life. A ball passed through his coat, waistcoat, and cut off a small piece of his shirt. His horse was the only one taken out of the 200. When his time of service ex- pired, he returned home, and spent some time reviewing his clas- sical studies. He ultimately concluded to study law, and entered he office o the celebrated George Nicholas, then the first lawyer in Kentucky. Daveiss entered a class of students, consisting of Isham Talbot, Jesse Bledsoe, William Garrard, Felix Grundy, William Blackbourne, John Pope, William Stuart, and Thomas
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Dye Owings, all of whom became distinguished at the bar, and noted in the public history of the country. Nicholas was pro- foundly impressed with the striking indications of genius of a high order manifested by Daveiss while under his roof. His opinion of the strength of his character and the firmness of his principles was equally as exalted, and at his death, which occurred a few years after, he appointed him one of his executors. As a student he was laborious and indefatigable. He accustomed himself to take repose on a hard bed; was fond of exercise in the open air, and was accustomed to retire to the woods with his books, and pursue his studies in some remote secluded spot, secure from the annoy- ance and interruption of society. In connection with his legal studies, he read history and miscellaneous literature. His mind, therefore, when he came to the bar, was richly stored with various and profound knowledge, imparting a fertility and affluence to his resources, from which his powerful and well-trained intellect drew inexhaustible supplies. He began the practice of the law in June, of the year 1795. The following August he was qualified as an attorney in the Court of Appeals. In his first case he had for an antagonist his old preceptor, over whom he enjoyed the singular gratification of obtaining a signal triumph. Daveiss settled at Danville, and soon commanded a splendid business in all the courts in which he practiced. On the abolition of the District Courts and the substitution in their place of the Circuit Court, he removed to Frankfort. He had been appointed United States Attorney for the State of Kentucky. In the year 1801 or 1802, he visited Wash- ington City, being the first Western lawyer who ever appeared in the Supreme Court of the United States. He here argued the cele- brated case of Wilson versus Mason. His speech is said to have ex- cited the highest admiration of the bench and bar, and placed him at once in the foremost rank of his profession.
During this trip he visited the principal cities of the North and East, and formed an acquaintance with many of the most distin- guished men of America. In 1803 he was united in marriage to Anne Marshall, the sister of John Marshall, the Chief Justice of the United States. Miss Marshall seems to have shared none of the qualities of her celebrated brother. After residing at Frank- fort for a few years, he removed to Cornland, the farm on the Ohio a mile and a half above Owensboro. His residence here was a hewed log house, which is not now remaining. He lived here till 1809, and then removed to Lexington, where he resumed the practice of law. While acting as attorney for the United States,
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he acted as prosecutor against Aaron Burr in his famous trial of treason. He had noticed the movements of this person for some time before the prosecution was begun. Satisfied from his obser- vations that he had some unlawful design in view, he caused him to be apprehended and brought before the court. Burr's project was to revolutionize the Western country, establish an empire, with New Orleans as the capital, and himself the chief. July 24, 1806, General Dayton, one of Burr's firmest adherents, wrote to General Wilkinson in cipher, " Are you ready? Are your numerous asso- ciates ready? Wealth and glory! Louisiana and Mexico !! " From a failure of evidence, as is well known, the prosecution was aban- doned, although the whole plot was finally discovered. In the fall of 1811, Colonel Daveiss joined the army of General Harrison in the campaign against the Indians on the Wabash. He received the command of major. On the 7th of November, 1811, in the celebrated battle of Tippecanoe, he fell in a charge against the Indians, made at his own solicitation. He survived from 5 o'clock in the morning till midnight, retaining to the last the full com- mand of his faculties. The personal appearance of Jo Daveiss was commanding and impressive. His bearing was grave and dignified. His manner was bland and courteous to those he loved, but haughty and repulsive in the extreme to those he disliked, He was nearly six feet high, with a form athletic and vigorous. He was eccentric in his habits, allusion to which may be found else- where. At the great trial of Aaron Burr, at Richmond, it is said he made his appearance in a suit of buckskin. As an orator he had few equals and no superiors. Competent judges unite in declar- ing that he was the most impressive speaker they ever heard. In conversation he was unequaled, and the life of every circle in which he was thrown.
Dr. John D. Ogden, of Owensboro, has the original brief, in manuscript, which Jo. Daveiss prepared and presented in a land suit from this county, in 1805 or '6, before the Supreme Court of the United States. This was the first argument ever presented before that body by an attorney from any section west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is related that when the case was about to be called, Mr. Daveiss was present, dressed in buckskin, with a squirrel cap, and was eating a piece of ginger-cake. It was whispered among the high-toned gentry of the court that the rough little Westerner would be so ignorant of the Virginia rules of procedure that he would soon be frustrated. When the case came up he
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