USA > Kentucky > Fayette County > Lexington > History of Lexington, Kentucky : its early annals and recent progress, including biographical sketches and personal reminiscences of the pioneer settlers, notices of prominent citizens, etc., etc. > Part 26
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In the spring of 1832, he was appointed commonwealth's attorney, and, in the fall of the same year, he married the eldest daughter of the distinguished artist, Jouett. He was elected to the Kentucky legislature in 1836, and there exhibited talents of so high an order that he was sent as representative to Congress the next year. He entered Con- gress an obscure young lawyer; he left it famous, and ac- knowledged as one of the great men of America. He burst upon his countrymen like a meteor long in darkness, and at once took his own place. His genius and his marvelous
343
RICHARD H. MENNIFEE.
1839.]
eloquence were upon every tongue. At the height of his sudden and deserved fame, he removed to Lexington, and measured his strength at the bar with the greatest legal minds of the state. Business rushed to him; wealth was at his door, and the future seemed ready to repay him for the bitter past. In the fall of 1840 he was engaged in a case of great magnitude, in which Clay and Wickliffe were both employed against him. He exerted himself to the utmost and accomplished wonders ; but his mind and body, powerfully overtaxed, never recovered their natural tone. He sank from that time, and died, "with all his blushing honors thick upon him," at the early age of thirty-two. Mr. Mennifee's residence was on the Harrodsburg turnpike, the same now occupied by John B. Huston, and formerly by John C. Breckinridge.
344
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1840.
CHAPTER LXIII.
Prosperity of Lexington-Trade and Manufactures-Capital Invested-Captain John Fowler.
BY the year 1840, Lexington had almost recovered from the effects of the adverse circumstances that had caused her decline, and was again prosperous. The Lexington and Ohio Railroad was in active operation. Seven turnpikes ended in the city, and there were six lines of stages run- ning, severally, to Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, Mays- ville, Richmond, and Owingsville. Six newspapers were published, viz : Kentucky Gazette, Observer and Reporter, Intelligencer, Independent Press, Christian Preacher, and Transylvania Journal of Medicine .* Seven associations of skilled mechanics were in existence, and were entitled the Lexington Typographical Society, Union Society of Jour- neymen Saddlers and Trunk-makers, United Society of Cabinet-makers, Hatters' Society, Tailors and Cordwainers' Society, and Master Carpenters' Association. There were in the city eighteen rope and bagging factories, with a cap- ital of $1,300,000, and employing nearly a thousand men ;} three wholesale dry-goods and china houses ; fourteen retail dry-goods establishments; nine wholesale and retail gro- ceries ; five saddler shops; twelve blacksmith shops; one insurance office ; twelve restaurateurs; one portrait painter; three dentists; one native sculptor; ten tailor shops ; one bookbinding establishment; four printing offices; ten tav- erns; eight barber shops; two renovating establishments ; three coach repositories; thirteen doctor shops; nine livery stables; two carriage-making establishments; two book- stores, two gunsmith shops; six silversmiths; one silver
*Observer and Reporter.
+Directory.
345
PROSPERITY OF LEXINGTON.
1840.]
plater; three clothing establishments; four tin and copper- smith shops; eight mantua-making houses; two exchange offices ; three cigar factories; three confectioneries; two commission stores ; nine boot and shoe stores ; three leather stores; two comb factories; three upholstering and mat- tress makers ; one morocco factory ; one truss maker; one lottery office; two auction stores; four drug stores; one machine shop; a large number of carpenters ; one looking- glass manufactory ; one Bible depository ; nine law offices ; two bath houses; one brush factory; one wheelwright ; five woolen factories-four driven by steam ; two steam cotton mills; one steam flouring mill ; one extensive iron and brass foundry ; one large wholesale iron warehouse; three tan- yards; one marble yard ; six brickyards, manufacturing about five million bricks annually ; five hatteries, one of them employing forty or fifty hands, and carried on by steam; and one large brewery, producing about fifteen hundred barrels of malt liquor per year.
The capital invested in the city was : In wholesale dry goods, $200,000; in retail dry goods, $1,200,000; in whole- sale groceries, $450,000; in retail groceries, $150,000; in manufacturing establishments, banks, etc., $12,000,000. Total, $14,000,000.
Captain John Fowler, a greatly beloved and respected citizen of Lexington, died August 22, 1840,* at the ad- vanced age of eighty-five. Captain Fowler commanded a company in the Revolutionary war; was the first member of Congress elected from this district, and was for many years postmaster in Lexington. He was one of the best types of the true old Virginia gentleman, and was noted for his mental culture, generosity, refinement, and gen- tleness. A large procession of military, firemen, benev- olent orders, and citizens, followed him to his last resting- place in the old Episcopal Cemetery.
*Old Gazette.
346
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1841-45.
CHAPTER LXIV.
John W. Hunt-Thomas M. Hickey-Grand Jury sent to Jail-Financial Distress-Thomas F. Marshall-His Ca- reer and Character-The Clay and Polk Contest-Grand Demonstrations-Daniel Mayes-Removal of the "True American"-C. M. Clay.
JOHN W. HUNT, father of F. K. Hunt, died in Lexington, August 21, 1841, aged sixty-eight years. Mr. Hunt was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He came to Lexington at an early day and engaged in the manufacture of hemp, at which he accumulated a fortune. He married Miss Catha- rine Grosh. Mr. Hunt was for a long time the president of the old Insurance Company, the first bank chartered in Kentucky, and was a liberal patron of the Orphan Asy- lum. He was a man of rare business capacity, sterling integrity, and decision of character. He died greatly esteemed and respected by his fellow-citizens.
On the 27th of December, 1842, Thomas M. Hickey, another prominent citizen, departed this life. Judge Hickey was born in Lexington of Irish parentage, in Oc- tober, 1797, and rose to position and usefulness by his own energy and ability. He was educated at Transylvania University, studied law with Judge Haggin and was his partner in practice for some time. In 1828, he was ap- pointed judge of the circuit court by Governor Desha, which position he held for about ten years. He was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of Oliver Keene, and his second the widow of William T. Barry. His mind was specially adapted to close legal investigations, and as a judge he was remarkable for his clear head and fine reasoning powers. An amusing incident is connected with the judge. On one occasion, while the grand jury, of
347
THOMAS F. MARSHALL.
1841-45.]
which Mr. Benjamin Gratz was foreman, was making ex- aminations in regard to the existence of gambling-houses in Lexington, two of the witnesses refused to testify. The jury informed the judge of the fact and refused to proceed in the matter unless the witnesses were compelled to answer questions put to them. The judge construed the action of the grand jury as contempt of court and sent them all to jail, where they were kept for a day or two, much to the amusement of the citizens, who nevertheless justified them in their course.
In 1843, Lexington felt the full force of the financial troubles which had been growing in intensity for many years. Bankruptcies multiplied, all improvements were suspended, the court dockets were cowded with lawsuits, and heavy sacrifices of property were incurred by forced sales under execution. It was only after much suffering that business again became settled and prosperous.
That great and brilliant orator and erratic wonder, Thomas F. Marshall, was long identified with the bar and city of Lexington. In 1843, his law office was on the first floor of the Press building, on the corner of Short and Market streets.
Thomas F. Marshall, son of Dr. Lewis Marshall, was born in Frankfort, Ky., June 7, 1801,* though his father's home place was in Woodford county, Ky. His early edu- cation was conducted by his mother, after which he was trained by some of the best classical scholars, including his father. He was never sent to college. His intense appli- cation to books and study prostrated his health, and it was not until he was twenty-five that he was able to commence his favorite pursuit-the law. After studying for two years under Hon. John J. Crittenden, he was licensed to practice, and settled down in Versailles, the county seat of Wood- ford; and, in 1832, as the friend of Henry Clay, was sent for the first time to the legislature, where he at once ex- hibited his astonishing gifts. Impelled by a restlessness which never left him, he removed to Louisville in 1833, intending to devote himself to his profession ; for he was,
*Barre.
348
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1841-45.
to use his own expression, "steeped in poverty to the very lips." But he was soon again in political life, and twice represented the city in the legislature.
In 1837, he ran for Congress against Mr. Graves, the regular Whig nominee, and was, of course, beaten by an immense majority. He returned at once to Woodford, was elected the next year to the legislature, was rejected as ineligible for want of a full year's residence, but was elected again without opposition, and the next year also. During all this time he was the staunch advocate in debate and with his pen of the slave law of 1832 .* He was elected to Congress from the Ashland district without opposition in 1841. He spoke often in Congress, though but two of his speeches were fully reported. Disgusted with the manner in which his first speech was reported, with characteristic irritability he insulted the reporters, and ordered them "not to attempt again to pass upon the public their infernal gib- berish for his English." The reporters revenged them- selves by ignoring his speeches and squibbing him in their letters from Washington. At this session, Mr. Marshall would not support the Whigs in several important meas- ures, and both voted and argued against Mr. Clay's bank bill. He contended that the party had departed from its princi- ples, and ridiculed the Tyler administration on the floor, say- ing that when the history of the country was written, that administration might be put in a parenthesis and defined from Lindley Murray, " a parenthesis to be the clause of a sentence inclosed between black lines or brackets, which should be pronounced in a low tone of voice, and might be left out altogether without injuring the sense."
In 1843, he publicly announced his resolution not to sup- port Mr. Clay for the presidency,; and from that time he either acted with the Democratic party or in some other connection opposed to the Whigs. In 1845, he ran for Congress, but was beaten in the Whig stronghold by Hon. Garrett Davis. Subsequently he raised a troop of cavalry and served in the Mexican war. He edited the "Old
*Barre.
+Id.
349
THOMAS F. MARSHALL.
1841-45.]
Guard" in 1850, in opposition to the present constitution ; opposed the American party in 1855, and removed to Chicago in 1856, but returned the same year ; sojourned in Lexington, and canvassed so energetically for Mr. Bu- chanan as to again almost destroy his health.
Mr. Marshall spent the most of his time in Lexington during the late war, and from its commencement warmly advocated the cause of the South. So strenuously in fact, that he was, at one time, under arrest in Lexington. The ex- citements of the war and his own imprudences told rapidly on his shattered constitution, and Mr. Marshall died of disease of the heart and lungs, at his old home in Wood- ford, on Thursday, September 22, 1864.
In person, Mr. Marshall was tall, very erect, and well proportioned. In the latter part of his life, the hair upon his expansive forehead was thin, his beard heavy, and his fine eyes as full of lustre and of fire as of old.
"Tom " Marshall fought more duels, and said more good things than any great man of his day. Had he been tem- perate, had he been true and just to himself, and to the high and noble faculties vouchsafed to him by God, he would have fulfilled all the loftiest expectations entertained of him. He would have been one of the master spirits of this country. He was a fine scholar, and his knowledge of the languages in particular, he always kept up. He was thoroughly grounded in the principles of law, and was a very giant at the bar. He was as great a writer as he was a speaker, as the pages of the "Old Guard" will show. His information was immense, and his knowledge of the world's history and of the political history of the United States was simply wonderful. Contrary to a popular fallacy in regard to both himself and Mr. Clay, his speeches were the result of hard study and labor, and not of extempore inspiration.
His eloquence was full of glowing and tropical magnifi- cence and luxuriance, and he painted word pictures upon the minds of men, as Raphael painted upon canvas. While he rarely moved the deepest feelings of the heart, he never failed to excite almost idolatrous admiration. He was
350
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1841-45.
sometimes low when he should have been lofty, and often grotesquely humorous, when he should have been great. He was a wild, wayward, and wonderful man of talent and genius. Prentice, his great contemporary, who knew him so well and who resembled him in so many particulars, sums up the character of Thomas F. Marshall in these few, but eloquent words : " The people seemed to think, and so did he, that his greatest powers were wit, humor, fancy, poetry, and eloquence. He had all these, but his chief power was none of these. It was argument, logic-stern, inexorable cast-steel logic. His other powers, great as they were, served but as adornments of the limbs of his giant logic. No orator had greater resources in debate. They were inexhaustible, and rendered him unconquerable. Men think of him and muse upon him as he appeared to them in the long past, and they fancy themselves gazing upon a bright star seen through a golden haze."
The political events of the summer of 1844, in Lexing- ton, will long be remembered by all who participated in the desperate struggle between Clay and Polk, in that memorable presidential campaign. Whigs and Democrats labored faithfully night and day for their standard-bearers, and barbecues, torch-light processions, pole-raisings, and mass-meetings seemed destined to never end. The grand- est political demonstrations ever witnessed in Lexington took place in July, of this year. On Saturday, the 20th, an immense procession of Democrats, with music, banners, polk-stalks, military companies, and game "roosters," erected a lofty hickory pole, after which the assembled concourse was addressed by those distinguished orators, John Pope and Thomas F. Marshall.
The Whigs were not to be thus outdone. The Clay clubs of Fayette organized a grand tableaux procession, which marched the next Saturday, with flags flying, drums beating, and men screaming, "Hurrah for Clay !" In this brilliant display, every branch of industry in the county of Fayette and city of Lexington was appropriately repre- sented in wagons decked for the occasion. The chief
351
CASSIUS M. CLAY.
1841-45.]
feature of the day was the presentation of banners to the Clay clubs by the Whig ladies of the community.
Daniel Mayes, long a citizen of Lexington, judge of the circuit court, and professor of law in Transylvania Univer- sity, died in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1844. He married the widow of Charles Humphreys. In pure law argu- ments and clear analysis, Judge Mayes had no superior at the Lexington bar of his day.
On the 18th of August, 1845, at a great meeting, in Lex- ington, of the best citizens of Central Kentucky, irrespect- - ive of party, it was resolved that the press and materials of the " True American," an anti-slavery newspaper con- ducted in Lexington by Mr. Cassius M. Clay, should be sent beyond the confines of the state. A committee was accordingly appointed, which proceeded immediately to safely box up the articles, and ship them to Cincinnati, after which, Mr. Clay was notified of the address of the house to which they had been sent subject to his order, with all charges and expenses paid. Mr. Clay subsequently obtained a judgment for $2,500 against two of the com- mittee, which amount was paid by citizens of Fayette and adjoining counties. The office of the "True American" was located on Mill street, in the rear part of the building now known as Whitney's drug store.
Cassius Marcellus Clay is a son of General Green Clay, and was born in Madison county, Kentucky, October 19, 1810. He was a student at Transylvania University, but graduated at Yale College, in 1832. He has represented Madison and Fayette each in the legislature. In 1839 he removed to Lexington, and on June 3, 1845, issued the first copy of the "True American," devoted to the overthrow of slavery in Kentucky. He commanded the "Old Infantry" in the Mexican War, was captured at Encarnacion, and was a prisoner for some time. On his return home, he was presented with a sword. Subsequently, Mr. Clay was min- ister to Russia. Mr. Clay is dauntless and unfaltering in whatever he believes is right. He resides at present in Madison county, Kentucky.
352
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1846.
CHAPTER LXV.
War with Mexico-Rolls of Beard's and Clay's Companies- Incidents- W. Mentelle.
THE trouble between the United States and Mexico, growing out of the annexation of Texas, resulted in a dec- laration of war by the Federal Congress, May 11, 1846, and a call for fifty thousand volunteers. Hardly a week after these exciting events, a great war-meeting was held in Lexington, and the organization of a number of com- panies was commenced. Only two companies, however, were perfected, and these were only accepted on condition of going as mounted infantry. The following are com- plete lists of the officers and men belonging to the com- panies, which were commanded respectively by Captains Oliver H. P. Beard and Cassius M. Clay, and were attached to Colonel Humphrey Marshall's regiment :
CAPTAIN BEARD'S COMPANY .- Oliver H. P. Beard, cap- tain ; John H. Morgan, first lieutenant; Lowry J. Beard, second lieutenant; T. L. Campbell, first sergeant; A. S. Jouett, second sergeant; N. B. Scott, third sergeant; Ed- mund Protzman, fourth sergeant; C. F. Coppage, first cor- poral; Richard Adams, second corporal; Isaac Smith, third corporal; S. O. Berry, fourth corporal; James W. Forsee, first musician, Thomas Bryan, second musician; Isaac Sheppard, blacksmith; James F. Megowan, Calvin C. Morgan, William Weigart, John M. Lowe, James M. Taylor, Edward McCarty, Lawrence Daly, R. P. Whitney, Henry Bitterman, Henry Parrott, Abner Hudgins, James B. Harris, Edward Long, Samuel P. Bascom, George Hampton, A. B. Weigart, Henry Carty, G. W. Carter, Hervey Cummings, H. I. McIntyre, John Dishman, W. W. Bayles, M. W. McCracken, James Mahoney, William Bow- man, Ezekiel Twaits, Henry Fox, R. H. Jeter. James Wait,
353
WAR WITH MEXICO.
1846.]
C. Jackson, M. Barrone, C. Jones, William Rainey, B. Castleman, S. R. Patterson, John Gallegher, A. G. Morgan, J. J. Levasy, J. W. Levasy, Robert Anderson, James Moore, Christopher Tempy, William Thomas, G. W. Runyan, S. E. Roberts, George M. Gorham, James G. Martin, William Fitzpatrick, David Sheppard, James Leonard, John Wise Carver, Sylvester Conover, Samuel Byles, Joseph J. Pat- terson, Thomas O'Haver, Thomas T. Hawkins, G. W. M. Delph, William Twaits, Samuel Pigg, Eli Estill, John Shel- ton, G. B. Williams, J. B. Callaghan, James G. Burch.
CAPTAIN CLAY'S COMPANY .- C. M. Clay, captain ; Jesse Woodruff, first lieutenant; Geo. M. Brown, second lieuten- ant; James B. Woodruff, first sergeant; Enoch Bryan, sec- ond sergeant; Robert C. Richardson, third sergeant; Sam- uel F. Wilmott, fourth sergeant; S. Lanckhart, first corpo- ral ; J. M. Friday, second corporal; W. H. Mullay, third corporal; James Schooley, fourth corporal; W. D. Rad- cliffe, farrier; Geo. Mason, musician. Privates-Alfred Argabright, Wm. Beaver, Ambrose Burton, John W. Bell, Henry C. Beaver, David Barry, A. G. Bryan, A. C. Bryan, James Bailey, Geo. W. Benjamin, S. L. Barkley, Hubbard Buckner, Dempsey Carroll, David Curtis, Nathan- iel Crouch, B. A. Chapman, J. C. Currie, W. Duke, Charles C. Ellis, Richard L. Ellis, John C. Faulkner, John J. Finch, Henry M. Gaylord, R. M. Gaines, Jr., John Galla- gher, Wm. Glass, Henry H. Hillox, Wesley Holley, Har- rison Igo, James S. Jackson, Henry C. Jackson, David C. Jones, G. Lanckhart, John W. Letcher, John McMain, James McGuire, James H. Miller, Thomas Maupin, C. E. Mooney, J. L. Merchant, Lewis H. Nicholson, W. S. Pren- tiss, Thomas Powell, James Poindexter, J. J. Phillips, Sam. E. Rogers, Wm. Ragin, John Richardson, Lewis H. Red- man, Wm. Smith, Alexander Sumk, Geo. W. Snyder, Henry Seesill, Wm. Shaw, John Stafford, Geo. Step, John H. Simpson, Charles Taylor, Jos. Thornton, Jackson Tay- lor, James M. Taylor, Thomas Weigart, Thomas White, Jackson Yarbour, Alfred Young.
On the 4th of June, the volunteers started for Louisville, having accomplished their organization and equipment in
354
HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1846.
less than two weeks. On the day the soldiers bade adieu to Lexington, to which many of them were destined never to return alive, they gathered at Morrison College and were addressed by Professor McCown, and each man was presented with a Bible. The reply to the address was made by the adjutant of the regiment, E. M. Vaughn, who after- ward fell so heroically at Buena Vista. The solemn and affecting farewell ceremonies concluded with prayer by the Rev. J. H. Brown, of the Second Presbyterian Church.
On the 9th of June, at Louisville, the companies were mustered into service by the celebrated Colonel George Croghan, and on the 4th of July following, they embarked on the steamer "Bunker Hill" for Memphis, from which place they went overland to Little Rock, and through Texas to Camargo, on the Rio Grande, when they entered Mexico. There we leave them to rejoin them again in our next chapter.
Waldemarde Mentelle, an early resident and greatly re- spected citizen of Lexington, died June 26, 1846. He was born in Paris, France, in 1769; his father was a member of the French National (scientific) Institute, and was the author of a geography. His family adhered to the cause of their unfortunate sovereigns, Louis XVI and his brave and beautiful queen. Mr. Mentelle and his accomplished wife fled from France at the commencement of the Reign of Terror to escape the savage mob then in power, and, coming to America, settled in Lexington, where they lived until the day of their death. Mr. Mentelle was for many years connected both with the old United States Bank and Northern Bank, and is still well remembered as one of the most amiable, polite, and cultivated gentlemen of the old school. He preserved, to his latest days, all the virtues and manners of the ante-revolution Frenchman.
355
BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA.
1847.]
.
CHAPTER XLVI.
Battle of Buena Vista-Incidents-The Charge on Marshall's Regiment-Lexington's Dead-Return of the Volunteers- Welcome Home-Honors to the Slain.
THE volunteers from Lexington did not reach Mexico until after the battle of Monterey, owing to unavoidable delays incident to army organization and the error of going by land. No incident worthy of special mention occurred before the battle of Buena Vista, except the capture by the Mexicans of Captain C. M. Clay and ten of his men, at Encarnacion. Lieutenant Jesse Woodruff then took the captain's place and commanded the company from that time until its return home. The Encarnacion prisoners were only released after a long and dreary confinement.
Both of the Lexington companies had a large and glorious share in the bloody and gallantly contested battle of Buena Vista, which occurred on the 22d and 23d of February, 1847, and to their share in the fight we confine ourself. Marshall's regiment occupied the post of honor on the ex- treme left of the line, on a plateau which had a ravine both in the front and rear of the command. The men dis- mounted and fought as infantry. It was in this position that Marshall's regiment was charged upon by an over- whelming force of Mexican lancers and hussars. We give Captain Beard's account* of the scene which ensued :
" The enemy came rushing down the hill like so many devils, cursing us, and crying no quarter! As soon as we reached our horses we made for the plain, and when we turned the foot of the mountain, we discovered about four thousand lancers at full speed trying to cut us off. It beg-
*Letter in Observer and Reporter.
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HISTORY OF LEXINGTON.
[1847.
gars all description to relate what followed. We had a deep ravine to cross, with rugged banks to climb, and only one could pass at a time. In ascending, my horse reared back and threw me within fifty yards of the enemy. I succeeded in reaching the opposite bank, however, but was compelled to witness the murdering of six of my best men, without being able to render them any assistance, viz : A. G. Morgan, Clement Jones, Nathaniel Ramey, William Thwaits, Henry Carty, and William Bayles, all of whom died with their faces to the enemy. They fought with desperation, until, overpowered by superior numbers, they were run through with the enemy's lances." In this terri- ble charge, Adjutant E. M. Vaughn, of Lexington, and private Thomas Weigert, of Captain Clay's company, were killed. Two other gallant sons of Lexington died upon this sanguinary field. The brave Colonel William R. McKee fell badly wounded, but struggled heroically until over- powered by the enemy, who stabbed him to death with their bayonets as he lay upon the ground. Lieutenant- colonel Henry Clay, or "Young Henry," as he was com- monly called, having been wounded, was being borne from the field by a detachment of his men-by whom he was greatly beloved-when a discharge of grape-shot from the enemy's batteries killed three of the men, and inflicted another and mortal wound upon him. He commanded his men to leave him and save themselves. They did so. A moment more, and a Mexican lance pierced his bosom, and his heart's blood sealed his devotion to his country.
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