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 12
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stepped forward and represented that he was the United States District Attorney for Kentucky. This was at first regarded merely as a joke; but during the whole course of the proceeding the only interruption made by the bench was simply to announce that the proposition which Mr. Daveiss was about to establish was already admitted by the court!
John Allen Dean, formerly acting Commonwealth's Attorney, was born in Breckenridge County, Ky., Dec. 14, 1852; raised on a farm; gradnated at Kentucky University at Lexington in June, 1874, and in the Law Department of the Louisville Univer- sity in March, 1876, and opened an office over the Planters' Bank in Owensboro; had his office in several other buildings, and is now on St. Ann street, opposite the court-house. In 1878 he married a daughter of Dr. Josiah Hale.
N. H. Decker was admitted to the bar here, but did not practice law in this circuit. He has been teaching public school in Waco, Texas, and is now following the profession of law. He is a prom- ising young man.
John P. Devereux, Circuit Judge in 1851, went to Kansas City in 1859, entering the railroad business and becoming very promi- nent in the development of the " New West." In 1866 he removed to St. Louis, Mo., where he was commissioner of the land department of the Union Pacific Railroad Company until 1876, when he returned to Kansas City as the attorney of the company. In 1878 he moved to Denver, Col.
Judge John P. Deverenx came here from Virginia, married Miss Mason of this county, practiced as an attorney for a number of years, was Circuit Judge, and in -- went West, etc. He was a noble man, both in appearance and manners.
William T. Ellis, born in Daviess County, Ky., July 24, 1845, was a son of Luther L. and Mary M. (Kallam) Ellis, natives of Shelby and Daviess counties, Ky. His father died in March, 1855, and his mother in March, 1856, leaving two children-William T. and J. W. Ellis, now of Masonville. William T. was reared and educated in Daviess County. Before he was sixteen years old he enlisted in the Confederate army, in the First Kentucky Cavalry; was mustered in Oct. 5, 1861, and served during the war, surren- dering April 21, 1865. At the close of the war he was a non- commissioned officer, in command of scouts. After the war he returned home and attended school the rest of the year 1865 and 1866, working during vacation to pay his board and tuition. The
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latter part of 1865 and till the spring of 1867 he taught school near Whitesville in connection with his studies. During the years 1867-'69 he read law during his leisure time while engaged in teaching. In the spring of 1869 he received his license to practice law, and entered Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass. Re- turned home in the spring of 1870, and in August of that year was elected County Attorney of Daviess County, and re-elected in 1874. In 1876 he was Democratic elector for this district on the Tilden and Hendricks ticket. Feb. 11, 1871, he formed a partner- ship with William T. Owen, under the name of Owen & Ellis, which is now one of the prominent law firms of the county. Oct. 20, 1871, Mr. Ellis married Alice, daughter of C. R. Coffey, who died a little more than a year later. Nov. 2, 1876, he married Mattie B., daughter of Dr. W. F. Miller, of Louisville, Ky.
George F. Ellis was born near Knottsville, Daviess Co., Ky., Nov. 11, 1856. When he was four years of age his parents moved to Owensboro, where he was reared and educated. He attended the Kentucky University at Lexington three years, graduating in June, 1876. He returned to Owensboro and studied law during the summer with Owen & Ellis, teaching during the winter. He was admitted to the bar at the June term of 1880. In May, 1878, he married Josie Newton, a native of Carolina County, Va., born July 1, 1861. They have one child-Muriel, born Jan. 23, 1882. Mr. Ellis is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Joshua G. Ford, Representative to the Legislature 1875-'7, was editor of the Southern Shield. See chapter on the Press of Daviess County.
Robert Frey, attorney at law, office in the Savings Bank building, was County Surveyor in 1874. He is a young man of considerable energy.
Clinton Griffith was a Representative to the Legislature for two terms, 1869-'73. He is a wealthy farmer, living in the southern suburbs of Owensboro.
William R. Griffith, deceased, was born Feb. 28, 1794, in Mary- land, and was brought, by emigration of the family, to Ohio County in 1805. He was the first County Clerk of Daviess, which office he held for many years; and he was widely esteemed for his many excellent traits, and possessed abilities of no common character. He recorded the first deed ever made in the county, which transfer was made June 12, 1815, of 100 acres of land, by Adam Jourdan to Moses Gwyn, for the consideration of $350. This tract of land
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is said to be still in cultivation, but has not enhanced much in value. He afterward studied law and was admitted to the bar. His practice was successful and his business, largely consisting in. land claims, was straightforward and reliable. In some portions of the latter business he was in partnership with Phil Triplett. Mr. G. was a Whig in his party affiliations. He died in December, 1848; two of his children survive,-Daniel M. and Clinton, both well-known citizens of Owensboro.
William R. Griffith, grandson of the above, and son of Clinton Griffith, is an attorney at law, now practicing in Owensboro. Office, with Weir, Weir & Walker.
T. B. Hardin, a native of Springfield, Washington Co., Ky., was an attorney at law in Owensboro from 1864 until 1872 or '3, in partnership with G. W. Ray, when he returned to Springfield, and is there now. He is probably over fifty years of age.
Joseph Haycraft was born in Hardin County, Ky., where he received most of his education; studied law with Judge M. H. Cofer, and graduated in the Law Department of the Louisville University in 1861; was First Lieutenant in the Confederate army; practiced law with Judge Cofer at Brandenburg; was Common- wealth's Attorney 1875-'6; for the last four years he has been in Owensboro in partnership with R. W. Slack.
S. H. Haynes was a lawyer in Owensboro in 1868. Office, over the Deposit Bank.
O. H. Haynes, attorney at law, is a native of this county, which has always been his home. He graduated at the Louisville Law School, and was admitted to the Bar in 1876.
George F. Haynes, son of F. W. and Cassandra (Miller) Haynes, was born in Boston Precinct, Daviess Co., Ky., May 7, 1854. The parents of George F. were both natives of Ohio County, and were both descendants from Old Virginia, but settled in Kentucky at the beginning of the present century. F. W. Haynes came to Daviess County in 1836, and settled in the forks of Panther Creek, and in 1854 moved to Boston Precinct, where he engaged in farming, and at the time of his death owned a farm of more than 400 acres. George F. Haynes grew to maturity on the farm, and at the age of seventeen attended school at Horse Cave, in Heart County, Ky. In the fall of 1857 he began teaching a term of school, lasting five months. He continued teaching five months each year for four years. Dec. 31, 1877, Mr. Haynes came to Owensboro and entered the County Clerk's
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office, as deputy, serving in this capacity until 1880, when he re- ceived an appointment of Master Commissioner of Daviess County Circuit Court. For many generations the Hayneses have been strict adherents of the Baptist school of morals, and under thie influence our subject was rearcd, having joined this church many years ago.
Ben. Hardin Helm was the son of Governor John L. Helm, and was born in Hardin County, Ky .; graduated at the West Point Military Academy, and in the law department of the Louisville University; in 1855 was a member of the Legislature; in 1856, Commonwealth's Attorney for this Judicial District; married a daughter of R. S. Todd, of Lexington, Ky .; in 1861 he entered the Southern army as a Colonel and was promoted Brigadier General. Sept. 20, 1863, at the battle of Chickamauga, he was killed. Many testimonials were given of his patriotism, integrity and good judgment. He was buried in the Atlanta cemetery.
Captain Samuel E. Hill, from Hartford, Ky., has just located in Owensboro, commencing in partnership with Colonel McHenry. The Hartford Herald speaks of him in the very highest terms.
Christopher D. Jackson is one of the very few old settlers now living. He was born on the old Hartford and Bardstown road, nine miles north of Hartford, in what is now Ohio County, Dec. 13, 1797. His father was Christopher D. Jackson, a native of Virginia, and was born in Prince William County and removed with his parents to Botetourt County, Va., when four years old; then moved to Danville, Boyle Co., Ky., and then to Hartford, Ohio Co., Ky., then a fort. He was married here to Miss Catherine Rhodes. They were members of the Baptist church. They had a family of fourteen children; nine girls and three boys lived to be men and women. Christopher D. was the third son and fifth child. He was reared on a farm near Hartford. He married Miss Camilla L. Shanks, Nov. 1, 1827. She was born in Kentucky. About a month after his marriage in December, 1827, Mr. Jackson moved to Da- viess County, Ky., where he has since resided. At that time there were 625 whites and 518 blacks in the county over sixteen years old. Since that time a part of the connty has been given to Mc- Lean and Hancock counties. Mr. Jackson had some 200 acres of land, and four negroes, one of which is still living with him. He also had some $1,200 and a team of horses. He first settled on a part.of his present farm in Masonville Precinct, and has resided on this farm ever since. He and wife had four children-J. Han-
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ibal, died, aged one year and ten days; Josephine, died, aged nearly seventeen. James S. married Miss Susan Haws, a daughter of Albert Haws, who was elected three times to Congress from this district. James S. Jackson and wife had five children, fonr living -Christopher, who married Anna Kroh; Adelle, married James Hickman, M. D., and resides in Owensboro; Albert G., married Laura Terrell; Nina is unmarried. Samuel Jackson died aged six years. Mrs. Jackson died in 1837. Mr. Jackson is now in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and is hale and hearty for a man of his age. He owns a fine farm of 3,000 acres in one tract where he re- sides. He also owns 418 acres in Vanover Precinct and 100 acres in Knottsville Precinct. Mr. Jackson is the largest landholder in the county and the wealthiest man in the county. He is one of our self-made men; he is well read; he has a large library of his own which contains many valuable books. He is a Mason and a member of the Sugar Grove Lodge, A. F. & A. M. Mr. Jackson gave the two acres of land on which the Sugar Grove church is built. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace nineteen years and was Sheriff of the county two years under the old State Consti- tution. His brother, Julius C. Jackson, was in the battle of New Orleans, war of 1812. His wife was a cousin of Senator Me- Creery. He has always been a strong supporter of the Democratic party. He is of English, Irish and German descent; his great grandfather, Henry Rhodes, on his mother's side, came from Hol- land and settled with William Penn in Pennsylvania. His great grandfather on his father's side was Christopher Jackson, who was born in England, son of an English father and French mother. He and two brothers came to America soon after the landing of the Pil- grims; Chistopher settled in Virginia, one in Maryland, and one in South Carolina. Mr. Christopher D. Jackson, father of subject of our sketch, was a second cousin of old Hickory Jackson, President of the United States.
Alfred B. Johnson, editor of the Owensboro Gazette, between 1852 and 1856, was also a member of the bar.
James L. Johnson, father of Philip T., was born in Livingston County, Ky., Oct. 30, 1818. Hc secured a good education in the common schools of that county, and in 1886 came to Owensboro. He at first studied under the instruction of George Scarborough. an excellent teacher, now living at Vineland. N. J .. whose school was then the best in this part of the State. After quitting school he was employed for two years in the office of Cirenit and Conuty
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Clerk, those positions then being filled by John S. McFarland. While in the Clerk's office he began the study of law under the di- rection of Hon. Philip Triplett, one of the first and most distin- guished lawyers of Daviess County, and at that time a member of Congress. In 1841 Mr. Johnson was admitted to the bar, and opened an office in Owensboro, in connection with James Weir. The firm was successful in the practice of law, and Mr. J. at the same time took a prominent part in political affairs. He was a Whig and a warm admirer and supporter of Henry Clay. In 1844 he was elected to the Legislature; served one term and returned to Owensboro, where he resumed the practice of law. In the Presi- dential campaign of 1848 his name appeared on the electoral ticket. The following year he was elected to Congress for the Dis- trict in which Daviess County was embraced. He took his seat in December, 1849, and was thns a member of the celebrated Thirty-first Congress, or Compromise Congress, which passed the memorable compromise resolutions of lIenry Clay, who was then a Senator from Kentucky. This Congress also has the reputation of being the longest ever held, not adjourning its session till Octo- ber, 1851. While serving his term as member of Congress, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Harriette N. Triplett, the daughter of Philip Triplett, his old preceptor at law. On returning to Owensboro, Mr. Johnson again took up his profession. A few years subsequently he gave up the active practice of law and de- voted his attention more closely to agricultural pursuits. During the late war he held Southern sentiments. In 1869 he received the appointment from the late Governor Thomas E. Bramlette, as Judge of the Judicial District in which Daviess County is included. He held this position for the unexpired term of Judge James Stuart.
George W. Jolly, born in Breckenridge County, Ky., Feb. 22, 1843, is a son of John B. and Rachel (Hardin) Jolly, both natives of Kentucky. He was educated in Hardinsburg, Ky., his tutor being Rev. R. G. Gardiner. He enlisted in the war of the Re- bellion, serving in the Union army. He was licensed and admitted to the bar in 1867, and has since been actively engaged in his profession. He removed from Hardinsburg to Owensboro in 1877. In 1880 he was one of the Garfield electors. He has the largest collection of law books in Owensboro. He was married in February, 1871, to Sue Henderson, daughter of P. J. Henderson, of Breckenridge County. They have four children, two sons and two daughters.
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Jasper B. Karn, City Judge, Owensboro, is a son of Christo- pher and H. A. (Bristow) Karn, both natives of Daviess County. His grandfather, who was also named Christopher, was of German parentage but a native of Pennsylvania, and moved from there to Shelby County, Ky., and in 1819 came to Daviess County, settling in what is known as the forks of the creek, where he purchased about 3,000 acres of land and lived till his death. His wife was Leah Boone, the great niece of Daniel Boone. They reared a family of six children, four sons and two daughters, all of whom married and settled on the tract of land purchased by their father. Christopher Karn, Jr., died in 1878. His widow is still living. They reared a family of seven children, three sons and four daughters, Jasper B. being the eldest son. He lived at home till nineteen years of age, when, having acquired a good common- school education, he began teaching school, which he followed at intervals till 1869. In August of that year he came to Owensboro and commenced the study of law in the office of Sweeney & Stewart, and was licensed to practice by Martin H. Cofer in March, 1870, still remaining, however, in the office of Sweeney & Stewart till the fall of that year. In 1872 he began the practice of law in Owensboro. In April, 1876, he was unanimously elected by the Council, City Attorney; served one term, and in 1878 was again elected to fill a vacancy. In April, 1882, he was elected City Judge. In 1878 he formed a partnership with G. W. Ray, which continued till 1880. May 30, 1876, he married Sallie L., daughter of J. P. Fuqua. She died Dec. 13, 1881, leaving two children- Eva and Virga, the latter now deceased.
Wm. P. Kent, a young and rising lawyer of Owensboro, is a native of Wythesville, Va., and is of the seventh generation of a family who have owned and resided upon the lands which their ancestors reclaimed from the forest and the Indians. He graduated as Ph. B. at William and Mary College in 1876, and in 1880 he graduated in law at the same institution. He has chosen Owens- boro for his residence on account of its future prospects as a city.
Thomas Landrum, Sheriff 1851-'5, executed the death sentence upon Mr. Richardson, for murder. He died a year or two ago, in McLean County.
Lucius P. Little. Short and simple are the annals of the pion- eer. To the unsteady hand of tradition we owe most of that which yet remains of all that was said and done, achieved and suffered, by those who came to Kentucky as the red man departed. Their 9
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very names are being blotted out from the memories and records of men. Deserving a better fate than this, the name of George Little is here set down. He was born in Scotland about the year 1735. The particular locality of his birth is now matter of conject- ure. The patronymic has long been known in different parts of that country. The station in life of this particular stock in the old country, as well as its history, are both unknown. As tradition eagerly transmits the faintest suspicion of exalted rank, and as it has not done so in this case, the presumption is against its exist- ence. All hopes of ancestral connection with those twin roots of British nobility-the Danish buccaneers and Norman plunderers -are thus forever blighted. For this deprivation Scotia's own bard has furnished the consoling couplet-
Rank is but the guinea's stamp ; A man's a man for a' that.
This unpedigreed lot is indeed to be preferred, even if it were possible to trace a lineage to that ancient and noble house, ante- dating all modern nobility -- founded by the worthy baron alluded to in Charles Dickens' History of Martin Chuzzlewit, as the Lord Nozoo. In early manhood he emigrated from the old to the new world. His first. known place of residence in America was at Newberry, in the colony of South Carolina. His pursuits were agricultural, and he was so engaged at the rupture between the colonies and mother country. What his previous political senti- ments had been is unknown, but he was opposed to the war that ensued. Without fortune or political influence, he asked no more of Government than liberty to pursue, unmolested, his private affairs. Possibly his attachment to the mother country, or kindred left behind, influenced his opinions. A dissenter from the established church, he early joined the Wesleyan movement, which before the Revolution had a considerable membership this side the Atlantic. His religions faith-embracing the doctrine of submission to the powers that be-may have colored his political views. However this may be, when war came and the colonial Government required his services, heenlisted in the American army. His military exploits had no chronicler. No record of the nature and duration of his service snrvives. Nothing more is certainly known than that in an en- gagement between the American forces and a detachment of the enemy under Tarleton's command he received a bullet wound in the hip. As the result of this he went to his grave a cripple. The ball was never extracted. Independence and peace finally came,
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and great rejoicing at the result. But the sturdy Scot still per- sisted that rebellion was a mistake, and died nearly forty years after with his opinion unchanged. He remained in South Carolina until the end of the century. He had married before the Revolu- tion, and his children were born before or during that war. Some time after the war-how long can not be stated-his wife died. His children, five daughters and five sons, reached manhood and womanhood, married, and sought homes of their own. His old home was thus broken up.' Age and infirmity approached, avant courier of the beginning of the end. On the termination of the Revolutionary war, the exploits of Daniel Boone in the wilderness beyond the mountains were borne by rumor from his old home on the Yadkin to the four winds. Alluring accounts were afloat of the new country-beautiful and fertile, and watered by a river that rivaled the charms of its shores by its own grace and majesty. To the young and adventurous this prospect was irresistible; to all it was inviting. Jonas and John Little, two of his sons, decided to try their fortunes in this new Utopia. With their families they turned their backs on civilization and their old home in South Carolina, and started on their journey. Their father accompanied them. Their first halting place was in Barren County, in this State. Here they settled in 1802. Jolin Little, becoming dissat- isfied, removed to Tennessee, where he resided until old age. Hc went thence to Texas, and shortly afterward died. George Little and his son Jonas remained in Barren Connty two years. They then removed to and settled a few miles north of the Long Falls of Green River, in what was then Ohio County. The town of Vienna at that point on the river had maintained its fitful fortunes from its establishment in 1785. It succeeded a fort or block house erected there some years before. In 1848 it was supplanted by the present town of Calhoon. George Little engaged at such farming as sup- plied the wants of that primitive day. He had never acquired any considerable means, and was dependent on his own exertions- when the time for toil had about passed for him. The Ohio County Court exempted hin from poll tax " on account of bodily infirmity," but not improbably intended in part a patriotic recog- nition of his sufferings for his country. These last years were comparatively uneventful in local affairs in this region. Society was primitive, business limited, and mostly in the farming way. The muster day and the religious meeting were about the only
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occasions when people assembled together. The pioneer necessa- rily lived much alone-
--- exempt from public haunts ; Finding tongues in trees, books in running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
The war whoop of the Indian had scarcely ceased to echo around the settler's cabin. Indeed, the Ohio River bounded the Indian country on the south, which reached the great lakes to the north, and stretched from the Muskingum to the boundless west. Bear hunting was still good, deer abundant, and the wolf and panther still lingered. Many years after the death of his first wife he inter- married with Mary Douglass, widow of Alexander Douglass. . Her maiden name was Handley. She was a native of Scotland, whence she came in childhood. In early life she married Douglass, of South Carolina. By him she bore several danghters, one of whom (Betsy) married Jonas Little. In 1784 or '5 Douglass came to Ken- tucky in company with his brother-in-law, Captain John Handley. The latter was a surveyor. Their purpose was to examine the country, and survey and locate lands with a view of ultimate set- tlement. They returned to South Carolina, and on arriving in that State they separated to go to their respective homes. Doug- lass never reached his destination, being mysteriously murdered. Time has never unraveled the mystery of his death. After the death of George Little, his widow married Edward Atterbury, of Daviess County, who died in 1824. Mary Atterbury survived several years, ontliving most of her generation. From youth to old age she was noted for beauty, the grace of her manners, and the rare charm of her colloquial powers. She died in a green old age, and was laid to rest by the grave of her second husband. She was sister of the well-known pioneer, Captain John IIandley, and also sister to Rachel, wife of Anthony Thomson, the first Justice of the Peace in all this region. On the first of February, 1815,- the same year in which Daviess County was established,-George Little made his will. He left the bulk of his small estate to his wife. Shortly after-having reached fonrscore-he departed this life, or, in the quaint words of his will, he gave his soul into the hand of Almighty God that first gave it, and resigned his body to the earth, " believing that at the general resurrection " he would receive it again. His mortal remains were interred in the Anthony Thomson graveyard (now in McLean County) where his dust awaits the final summons. In personal appearance lie was stoutly built,
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