USA > Kentucky > Henderson County > History of Henderson County, Kentucky > Part 66
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ROBERT DIXON, son of Robert Dixon and Mary Ann Clay, was born in Henderson County on the thirteenth day of October, 1843. His father was a successful farmer until a few years prior to his death, he removed into the city and embarked in the tobacco business on Lower Main Street. Subsequent to this, a few years, the father purchased the lot, corner of First and Elm Streets, and built the large three-story brick livery stable with two stores attached, and commenced the livery business on a large scale. He caused the third story of this immense building to be elegantly floored, and opened therein the first roller skating rink in Henderson. Mr. Dixon soon after died and the subject of this sketch succeeded to his business. Mr. Dixon was a man of great influence, fine intelligence and wonder- ful firmness of character. The maternal ancestors of our subject were William Clay and Amelia Townes. His paternal ancestors were Captain Hal Dixon and Mary Johnston. They were pioneers to this part of Kentucky and reared large families of children. Our subject was educated at the Sayer Institute at Frankfort, Ky., and at the University of Toronto, Canada. On the first day of December, 1864, Mr. Dixon married Miss Alice Young, daughter of Judge Milton Young, a strong-minded, noble woman. Unto them six children have been born, Nannie, Maria, Alice, Mary, Emma and Robert. Nannie married Hon. John L. Dorsey.
Mr. Dixon has served, and is now serving, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public and High School Boards of the city.
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For a number of years he has been annually elected a member of the Board of Directors of the Henderson Fair Company and has done more, perhaps, than anyone else to build up that institution Cer- tainly he has contributed more to the raising of fine stock in the county than any one citizen of it. He has expended a large amount of his means in this direction, and is to-day the owner of some of the finest blooded horseflesh in the entire State. He is the owner of the largest livery and sales stable in the city and gives his whole time and attention to that particular business. He is of that class who attends strictly to his own business and none other ; is a hard worker and enjoys a liberal patronage. He is a Democrat, and, when the spirit moves him, is a to-be-feared factor in politics. He was raised a Presbyterian but was never much of a churchman. He was never much of an admirer of secret societies, consequently has never joined any Lodge.
THE EAKINS FAMILY .- The paternal head of the Eakins family, as regards Henderson County, was a man of thrift, energy and great agricultural enterprise. He was a most successful farmer, long headed, far seeing and a hard worker.
JOHN EAKINS, of whom we speak, was born in Rutherford County, North Carolina, on the seventeenth day of November, 1789. At the age of eighteen years he emigrated to the wilds of Kentucky, and set- tled in Henderson County, upon a piece of land purchased by him in what is, or was known as the Horse Shoe Bend, above and opposite the City of Evansville, Indiana. At that time that territory was a dense cane-brake, inhabited by wild animals, including the bear. He had not been here long before he became enamored of Miss Sally King, a resident of the same territory, whom he married. Miss King was a daughter of Esq. Elijah King, a leading pioneer, a highly respected and deserving citizen of the new country, and one whose advice was most frequently sought and most willingly given. The daughter was born in Washington County, Kentucky, on the second day of August, 1795,and with her parents came to this, county. Mr. Eakins was a farmer all of his life, and as before said, a very success. ful one. He never held an office, from the fact he was never an applicant for one. He was always in political faith a Democrat, firm and unflinching, and never throughout his life voted contrary to his faith. By the marriage of Mr. Eakins and Miss King, there were twelve children born, five of whom are living at this time. Mr. Ea- kins' ancestors were born in Ireland, and were buried on Morris Island in front of Charlestown, South Carolina. John Eakins died
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March 26th, 1868. Mrs. Eakins' parents were English people. She died July 13th, 1880.
FELIX G. EAKINS, son of John and Sallie (King) Eakins, was born in Henderson County on the tenth day of April, 1829. He was raised on a farm, and for twenty years worked with unflinching zeal for the parental head. At the end of that time, the young man, embued with a noble ambition, backed by a solid education, deter- mined to stare the world in the face and fight life's battles "on his own hook." To this end, therefore, he emigrated to the Lone Star State, and there engaged in surveying, having secured a deputyship in Robertson Land District, which embraced at that time all of the State of Texas lying west of the Trinity River. He remained there until the year 1851, when he returned to his home and was married to Miss Matilda D. Weaver, daughter of Littleberry and Eliza Weaver, then living in the Town of Henderson. He returned the same year to Texas, and followed his chosen profession, surveying, until 1853, when he again returned to Kentucky. He began farming, coupling with it surveying, serving as deputy to D. N. Walden and Robert S. Eastin, both of whom during his deputyship were County Surveyors, elected and qualified. This he continued up to and in- cluding a part of the year 1862. The hounds of war had been turned loose, the tocsin had sounded its solemn to-arms, and, being a south- erner to the manor born, he felt it his duty to go. So in the month of August of that year Mr. Eakins was sworn in a Confederate soldier, and was elected First Lieutenant of Company G., Tenth Regiment, Kentucky Cavalry. He soon, thereafter, participated gallantly in engagements had at Madisonville, Owensboro and Uniontown.
In October, 1862, he was wounded in a skirmish at West Franklin, Indiana; was captured, and confined in a hospital at Henderson until April, 1863. He was then sent to Johnson's Island, Lake Erie, where he was detained only a few weeks and was sent on exchange. He was exchanged at City Point, Virginia, and from there went by the way of Richmond and Lynchburg, on to Chat- tanooga, Tennessee, from thence via Tullahoma and McMinnville to Salt Lick Bend, on the Cumberland River, where he rejoined his regi- ment. His regiment was a part of the Second Brigade, attached to Morgan's forces, and was commanded by Colonel Adam R. Johnson. There was no " rest for the weary," for no sooner had he rejoined his regiment than the bugle called each man to his saddle. Kentucky was invaded, via Glasgow and Columbia, and at the latter place a considerable skirmish was had with the old veteran, Colonel Frank
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Woolford, in which Woolford was worsted. Morgan pushed ahead in the direction of Green River, to a point known as Green River bridge, and arrived there on the fourth day of July, 1863. This place was guarded by one thousand veteran Union soldiers, a strong stockade and two line of breastworks, under command of Colonel Moore ; a flag of truce from Morgan was sent to Moore demanding a surrender, but this Moore declined, giving as his reason, that it was a day too dear to the hearts of his countrymen-it was the anniversary of the Decla- ration of Independence-and to entertain such a demand at that time, would be to turn his back completely upon his country. "Call some other day, gentlemen, and I will be pleased to talk with you," was his reply. This, then, was the signal for a bloody assault, and a bloody one it was too. The Second Brigade of which our subject was a sol- dier, was ordered to charge; the charge was made, and the Unionist were driven from their line of intrenchments back into the stockade. Here they made a determined stand, and owing to the rough and rug- ged surroundings, obstacles and all else operating against the attack- ing party, there was a quick slaughter of not less than seventy-five men. The Confederates then withdrew, and crossed Green River about one and a half miles below the bridge. The command then passed on to Lebanon, where it encountered General Manson and about three hundred Federals, who gave battle from sunrise in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon, fighting from houses and whatever else could be found in the way of protection, but finally Manson surrendered. From Lebanon Morgan passed through the State, striking the Ohio River at Brandenburg, Mead County. Here two steamers were cap- tured and the troops transported across the Ohio River onto Indiana soil. This crossing was effected July, 8th, 1863, Company G. being the last company put over, and this after midnight. This was Morgan's celebrated raid through Indiana and Ohio. After crossing the Ohio, and all things in readiness, the line of march was taken up at daylight, the Second or Johnson's Brigade bringing up the rear of the command, and Company G. bringing up the rear of the brigade. Between three and four o'clock that afternoon the command came in sight of Corydon Indiana, a small place defended by some four thousand militia and soldiers, protected by rifle pits, and hurriedly made breast works. Company G. of the Tenth Kentucky, Lieutenant Eakins, was ordered from the rear to make the attack, which they did in fine style, beating the enemy in about fifteen minutes. From there Morgan passed un- molested through the State and entered the State of Ohio at a point called Harrison. Cincinnati was given the go by, only a short distance
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to the right. That night the command rode one hundred miles on to Vernon, where there was had a skirmish with General Manson. Mor- gan drew off, and proceeded on until the evening of July 26th, until the Ohio River was reached at Cheshire, where he hoped to cross into Virginia. Here an attack was made by General Shackelford, in com- mand of a large force of Federals, whom the Confederates fought un- til about dark. Being entirely out of ammunition, and not hearing from the Commanding General, who had left some time before on another expedition, the little band to which Lieutenant Eakins was then at- tached, sent in a flag of truce, proposing to surrender. Seven hundred and twenty men surrendered, and were taken by boat to Cincinnati, where they were kept in prison for three or four days. One hundred and eighteen officers, including Lieutenant Eakins, were then for- warded to Johnson's Island, a place familiar to the Lieutenant, who had been there before. Lieutenant Eakins remained upon the Island until August, when he was sent with others to the Western Penitentiary, Alleghany City, Pa., where he remained until March 1864, when he with others was sent to Point Lookout Maryland, where he remained until July, when he was sent to Fort Delaware, an Island in Delaware River, between the States of Delaware and New Jersey. August 1st, 1864, Lieutenant Eakins with six hundred others was taken from Fort Delaware and sent to Morris Island. in front of Charleston, South Carolina, and placed in a stockade, between Fort Waggoner and Battery Gregg, under the cover of the Federal guns. The stockade in which he was confined contained just one acre of ground. He and his co-prisoners remained there under the fire of the Confederate guns for forty days ; fortunately none of the shells struck inside of the inclosure. While none of the prisoners were wounded by friendly guns, some of them were struck from the guns of the guard, which was composed of a Massachusetts Negro regiment. Lieutenant Eakins and his friends were given a dainty diet ; for in- stance, one "hardtack-a cracker about two inches square, half inch thick, one ounce of meat, not of the best, and a half pint of bean soup twice a day. He remained at this place forty days and was then sent down to Fort Pulaski, on one of the Tyber Islands, in the Savanah River, with no change of rations until January 1st, 1865, at which time he was given ten ounces of unsifted meal once a day. On that he lived from the first of January to February 1st, at which time there came an order for his immediate exchange with others, and for them to be put on full army rations. On the fifth of March, he was taken on board of a vessel and sent to Norfolk, Virginia. From that place,
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and for some unaccountable reason, he was sent again to Fort Dela- ware. Lieutenant Eakins and his comrades were nothing more than skeletons, and as sad a story as it may seem, fully three hundred died of starvation during their incarceration in Federal prisons, although the story goes, that Uncle Sam fed well his enemies as he did his friends. Lieutenant Eakins was at Fort Delaware at the time of the surrender and was held a prisoner until June, 1865, when he and four hundred and twenty-five others were released after having taken an iron-clad oath. He arrived home on the seventeenth day of June, 1865, since which time he has rested in the bosom of a happy family, following farming and surveying for a livelihood.
JOSEPH WILLIAM EAKINS, son of John and Sally King Eakins, was born in the year 1840, in the County of Henderson, and was edu- cated in the schools of Henderson and at Franklin College, near Nash_ ville, Tennessee. His life has been devoted to agricultural pursuits, and to-day he is the possessor of one of the best regulated farms in the county, lying a mile or more below Geneva, on the Smith's Mills Road. He grows tobacco, corn, wheat and grass, and deals largely in stock. He is strictly a business man, bringing to bear at all times a well defined and well matured system of thought and action, that enable him not only to meet the demands made upon him, but to lay by a handsome interest for the so-called rainy day. He is a reader, fond of books, and as a writer, is well known by local writers as one well up in all he undertakes. On the twenty-fifth day of June, 1867, Mr. Eakins married Miss Sallie Powell, of this county, a most estima- ble and loving wife, who gave to him as the fruits of that union six children, Willie King, Sallie, Bettie, Joe Barnett, and Mary, daugh- ters, and Robert Donald, a son. Mary, the youngest daughter, died when she was only four months old. His is a happy household, a bright blooming family of children, shedding a halo of sunshine around the parental head. Mr. Eakins joined the Confederate army when quite young at Camp Coleman, Uniontown. He was captured at Morganfield, Union County, October 21st, 1862, brought a prisoner to Henderson, and there released. He is a man of positive character, but liberal in his views, and humane in disposition. His attachments are strong, yet, he is firm in the right as he holds it, and nothing can swerve him. He is personally popular in his neighborhood, so much so that he has been called upon oftentimes to serve his precinct in the capacity of magistrate. This he has done simply as a duty he felt he owed as a citizen, and not as an office seeker. As an official he has always been looked upon and regarded as one of the safest and
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most painstaking. His term of service dates from 1879, and continues to this day. He was never a member of the church, yet he holds to the faith handed down by the Saints. He is a member of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows, and also of the Knights of Pythias.
JOHN FRANCIS LOCKETT. - The young gentleman and official, whose name heads this article, was born in Henderson County on the fifth day of December, 1856. He is the eldest son of Rev. P. H. Lockett, who was born in this county June 21st, 1832. His mother is Ella Eakins, daughter of John Eakins, an early comer to Henderson County. She was born May 5th, 1834.
The father of our subject studied law when quite young, and, upon being licensed to practice, was regarded by those who knew him best among the most brilliant young attorneys of his day. He was a Whig in politics and followed the changes of that great old party up to the war, when he cast anchor with the Democratic party and has remained faithful ever since. In the exciting political days, a few years prior to the war, he took an active interest, and, upon more than one occasion, met, upon the rostrum, the great speakers of the opposing party. Met them, yea, more, successfully, and to the great delight of his hundreds of friends who flocked around him to give him cheer. In the year 1866 he was elected Judge of his county, and this office he held for three successive terms, up to and including a part of the year 1882. During the latter years of official life, he devoted a great part of his leisure time to the study of theology and frequently preached. He was always a pleasing speaker, an intelligent thinker and reasoner, and, in all, a most lovable man. Upon his defeat for a re-election in 1882, he went to the pulpit, and it was not long before he was called to the pastorate of the Baptist Church at Trenton, Ky., where he yet resides with a loving family and is beloved by all Chris- tian people,.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was Captain Francis Lockett, one of the noted men of this part of Kentucky. Captain Lockett was a native of Mecklenburg County, Virginia, and, at one time, wrote a popular treatise on the Culture of Tobacco. He immi. grated to Henderson County when this was scarcely more than a howling wilderness. Once here, he soon became a leader of men, and his counsel and good advice most frequently sought by his neigh- bors and those who knew him only by reputation. He was a Captain of militia in Virginia; a Captain of men in social and business life in Kentucky. He represented, during the years 1815, '16 and '17, the Counties of Henderson, Hopkins and McLean, in the Lower
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House of the Legislature. He was then . elected State Senator and served till 1819, and was succeeded by the late Governor Archibald Dixon. The maternal grandfather was John Eakins, whose biography will be found elsewhere in this history.
John Francis Lockett, the subject of this sketch, was a pupil of the Henderson Public and High Schools during the superintendency of that finished teacher and disciplinarian, Prof. Maurice Kirby. To know that the young man was a persevering student, guided by a master mind, is to know that he gained an education worthy of himself. This is all true ; few young men have started upon life's journey better equipped fundamentally At an early age he determined to make law a study and then to make his living practicing it. To this end, therefore, he assiduously applied himself, and, in the due course of time, was licensed to practice. Like his father, he proved a graceful, pleasing speaker. He, too, has fought and won political battles on and off of the rostrum. His voice has been often heard, not alone in the prosecution of or the defense of his client's rights, but oftentimes in behalf of the Christian religion and its blessed ally, temperance. In every field he has proven his metal, tempered with that of his opponent. For three years up to and including August, 1886, he served his city as Prosecuting Attorney. In August, he was elected County Judge and has entered upon the discharge of his official duties. That he will prove himself a most excellent official the writer has no doubt.
On the fourteenth day of April, 1881, in the City of Henderson, Judge Lockett married Miss Minnie Jones, a highly accomplished lady, one, in every way, deserving her husband's love. Three chil- dren have resulted from this union-John, Alvin and Hickman. The eldest, John, a bright, promising child, was stricken with diptheria and died at the age of three years. The maternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Lockett was Augustine Eastin, a Baptist preacher, who came from Virginia to Kentucky at the time Boonesborough and Bryant's Station were established by the very early pioneers At one time he was arrested and confined in the Richmond, Virginia, Jail for preaching to the British Soldiers, and, for persisting in speaking the word of God to those men, was threatened to be shot. Her maternal grand- father was General Zachariah Eastin, who was born in Virginia January 11th, 1777.' General Eastin enlisted as a Colonel in the War of 1812, and fought at Tippecanoe and River Rasin, in fact, was throughout the campaign with Generals Shelby, Medcalf and Desha and Colonel Richard M. Johnson, of Tecumseh fame. While engaged
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in this campaign, he was commissioned Brigadier General, which position he held up to 1824, when he resigned on account of some misunderstanding between himself and General Dasha. General Eastin came to Henderson in 1843, settled and died here some years afterwards.
John Francis Lockett, the subject of this sketch, in politics has always been recognized as a warm, unflinching Democrat. In religion a firm, consistent Baptist from his thirteenth year, at which time he was baptised and received into the church. He is a member of Ivy Lodge, Knights of Pythias, made one in 1885.
JOHN THOMAS RUBY was born in Henderson County Octo- ber 19th, 1846, and was educated from the Common Schools of the State. The place of his birth is now in Webster, that county having been formed in 1860 from a portion of Henderson, Hopkins and Union. Mr. Ruby's paternal grandfather, John B. Ruby, was one of the earliest settlers in the Green River country. His maternal grand father was Joseph Fuquay, also one of the earliest settlers, and in very early times, well known in the town of Henderson, he being, for a long time, the proprietor of the leading hotel here. His father was B. S. Ruby, born in what is now Webster County, in the year 1809. His mother, Lockey Fuquay, born in the same county in the year 1814. They were married in the year 1837 and four children were born unto them-Mary, Judith, Delia and John T., our subject. All four of the children are living and married. The father of our subject followed farming all of his life. The subject of this sketch was raised to a farmer's life, but, upon attaining to his majority, engaged in merchandising at Vandersburg, Webster County, and pursued that calling for ten years. On the twenty-second day of July, 1869, he married Miss Alice Orr, of Webster, and four children live to bless the parental household, Maude, a young lady of great beauty and personal charms, Ed. Bayne, Clint. and Ashby. In October, 1877, Mr. Ruby removed with his family to Henderson and embarked largely in the purchase and sale of stoves, tinware and general house hold goods. His trade has increased, and additions have been made to his stock until to-day his great three-story Main Street emporium resolves itself into a miniature exposition, being literally packed with necessary household goods and fancy articles charming to the eye. In addition to a varied assortment of stoves of all designs and make, he manufactures largely tin, sheet iron and copper ware.
By dint of industry and close application, Mr. Ruby has built for himself a large trade, one of which he is justly proud. In religion he
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is a member of the Christian or Reformed Church, having attached himself to that denomination in 1874. He is a Prohibitionist of the strictest type, and is an indefatigable worker in the temperance cause, not that he fears for himself, but that he may benefit his race. In this Mr. Ruby is sincere ; he is no croaker, no radical ; he feels for the frailties of man, and, in place of dealing in abuse, he deals gently, encouraging the unfortunate to better ways and a happier life. He is guided by sympathy alone. In politics he holds it a right to vote as he chooses, at all times selecting, as his judgment dictates, the best man. He is an open, frank, Christian gentleman. He is popular with every one, and wields an influence second to none when he chooses to exercise that power. There are few better posted men and few that can defeat him in any enterprise, political or otherwise, when he takes a part to win. He was never an office seeker himself, although he has done magnificent work in behalf of several of his friends. He has served, with credit to himself, as Trustee of the Public School, but only for a short term.
GEORGE EDWARD BELL .- There are few men living, per- haps, whose lives have been so varied and yet around whose name and character clusters more evidences of the " well done, good and faithful," than are to be found associated with that of the subject of this sketch. Few men have gone out into the world, scantily equipped as he was, to meet its frowns and face its arrogant demands, who can sit down, at his age, in a comfortable home, surrounded by a happy family, and know that he is the possessor of a sufficiency, not only to keep the wolf from his door, but know that he is assured against that same world in his old, old age. George Edward Bell was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, on the second day of August, 1822. His father was William Bell, a cooper by trade and a farmer. He was a soldier in the War of 1812 and '14, under General Stricker, and earned an honorable distinction in offering himself a living sacrifice in defense of his country. William Bell married, in Baltimore County, Achsah Smith,unto whom were born eleven children, namely : Hannah, Mary, George E., William, Abraham and Isaac, (twins), James (who died in infancy), Joseph, Emry, Kenneth and Caleb. Of this number, only two are living at this writing, the subject of this sketch being one of that number. The paternal grandfather was Edward Bell, a Scotch-Irishman by birth. His maternal grandfather was Adam Smith, of German origin. Both of these gentlemen were farmers in Maryland and both of them died and were buried in that State.
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