USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume I > Part 2
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CHARLES MAYFIELD MEACHAM.
Prominent among journalists, newspaper editors and publishers of Kentucky, is Charles Mayfield Meacham. He was born in Gracey, Kentucky, June 14, 1858. He is descended from an old and prominent Kentucky family. The first ancestor of the Meacham family of whom there is any reliable information, was William Meacham, who lived in Chatham county, North Carolina, prior to the Revolutionary war. It is uncertain whether the name is of Irish or English origin, but more probably the latter. The progenitor of the family in America came to this continent at a very early date.
William Meacham was born about 1720, and was an old man when American independence was declared. His wife was named Elizabeth, called Betsy, and they reared a large family of children, among whom there were William, Joseph, James, John, Jesse and George. Of these William, Joseph, James, John and George went west from North Caro- lina, and their descendants are both numerous and well scattered throughout the states. Joseph and William married sisters, whose name was West. Joseph and John about 1792 came to Kentucky and settled in Christian county, but later John removed to Montgomery county, Tennessee.
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Joseph was about forty or forty-five years old when he settled in . Kentucky. His eldest son, Edmund, who came with him, had married Miss Richardson. Joseph was probably born about 1750. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He reared a large family, eight sons and one daughter, namely, Edmund, Willis, Jeremiah, Andrew, Joseph, West and Wyatt (twins), Jonathan and Sinah. Edmund was twice married. His second wife was a Calvin. He has many descendants in Christian county, Kentucky. Willis was a Baptist preacher. Jeremiah was married three times and had thirteen children. Andrew was also a Baptist preacher but years ago removed to Illinois. Joseph was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in 1794. He moved to Illinois and died there about 1845. West died in childhood. Jonathan lived to be a young man and married, but died without issue. Sinah, the daugh- ter, married Mr. Spurlin, but died without issue.
Wyatt Meacham, son of Joseph and Molly (West) Meacham, was a twin brother of West Meacham. He was born in Christian county, Kentucky, in 1798. In 1817 he married Ellen Robinson, a daughter of Abner Robinson, and granddaughter of James Robinson, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. To Wyatt and Ellen Meacham were born three children, two sons and one daughter. He died in 1876 and she in 1878. Their descendants all reside in Christian county, Kentucky.
Their oldest son, Rev. Abner Winchester Meacham, was born in this county, February 13, 1818, and died at his home in Gracey, Ken- tucky, December 1I, 1902. He was ordained as a Baptist minister in 1838, and in 1898, after sixty years spent in the ministry, he retired from active work. He married Marian Lander in 1855 and settled at Gracey, Kentucky. He reared six children, namely: Robert T., born in 1856 and died in 1883; Charles Mayfield Meacham, the immediate
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subject of this sketch; Mollie H., who married T. E. Bartley; James Parrish Meacham; Victoria, who married T. J. Baynham; and Lander Meacham.
Charles M. Meacham was educated in the schools of Hopkinsville, receiving a fair high school education. He studied law, and in 1879 was admitted to the bar, but about that time he became involved in news- paper work, and soon became owner and publisher of the Kentuckian, of Hopkinsville. He gave up the practice of law after a brief time that he might give full time to newspaper work. Since 1883 he has published and edited the Kentuckian as a semi-weekly paper. As a journalist he has gained an enviable reputation but no more so than as an "after-dinner speaker." He is enjoyed both as a writer and speaker because of his wit and humor. In 1893 Mr. Meacham was president. of the Kentucky State Newspaper Association, and for some eight or nine years has been the Kentucky national committeeman of the National Editorial Association.
He has long been prominent in the Democratic party, but has held none other than minor offices. He is a Master Mason, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Baptist church. In 1883 Mr. Meacham married Miss Lizzie E. Tandy, and they have three sons, Rodman Y., Charles M., Jr., and Ralph Tandy Meacham.
ISAAC BURNETT.
Isaac Burnett, deceased, was one of the prominent attorneys of western Kentucky. A brief sketch of his life and ancestry is as fol- lows :
Isaac Burnett was born in Trigg county, Kentucky, January 13,
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1838, and died in Hopkinsville, Christian county, same state, December 21, 1889. His father, Dr. Isaac Burnett, was a native of Virginia, born in Essex county ; was married in that state to Martha Garnett, daughter of General Garnett, of the well known Garnett family of Virginia; and after his marriage came to Kentucky and settled in Christian county where he established an extensive practice and became a prominent factor in the pioneer settlement. He and his wife had a family of six children, who grew up to occupy honored and useful positions in life : Henry C., who was honored by his constituents with a membership in the senate of the Confederacy; Robert, a lawyer; James, a soldier in the Confederate army, was killed in battle at Fort Donelson; Isaac, whose name introduces this sketch; Lucretia, widow of Judge George Cook; and Jennie, wife of Dr. James Allison, of Indiana.
In his native state Isaac Burnett was reared and educated. He chose the law for his profession, pursued a course of study in the law department of Cumberland University at Lebanon, Tennessee, gradu- ated in due time and then entered upon the practice of his profession, with office at Hopkinsville. He soon gained high standing in the legal profession, which he maintained up to the time of his death.
Ile married, July 3, 1866, Miss Virginia Ritchie Poindexter, a native of Christian county, and a daughter of Major John Poindexter. John Poindexter was a Virginian, born in 1793, of French Huguenot descent; earned his title of major in the war of 1812; in 1831 moved west to Kentucky and settled in Christian county, where he became the owner of a large tobacco plantation, fifteen hundred acres in extent, and he owned slaves to the number of three hundred. Politically he was a Democrat, in all public matters he took an active interest, and few men in his locality were better known or more highly esteemed
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than he. He died at the ripe old age of eighty-four years. His wife was before marriage Miss Elizabeth Graves, and she, too, was a native of Virginia. They were the parents of six daughters and five sons, Mrs. Burnett being the youngest of the family and the only one now living. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Burnett are two, a son and daugh- ter, John P., engaged in the manufacture of shoes at Columbus, Ohio, and Ritchie, wife of Julian B. Adoue, of Louisville, Kentucky.
JEFFERSON DAVIS PRYOR, M. D.
Jefferson Davis Pryor, M. D., of Mayfield, was born in Graves county, Kentucky, July 5, 1861, and is a son of James Calvin and Emma (Goodwin) Pryor. James Calvin Pryor was born in Logan county, Kentucky, February 3, 1820; became an early settler of Graves county, and to farming devoted his active years. His father was James Pryor, also a native of Logan county, Kentucky, and was a son of Jonathan Pryor, who settled at Pryorsburg, Graves county, Kentucky. He was of Irish lineage and by occupation a farmer. His son James settled about six miles east of Mayfield on Panther Creek. He was a farmer. Ile married a Miss Phelps. The Pryors are numerous in Graves county.
The mother of Dr. Pryor was born in Henry county, Tennessee, March 9, 1826, and removed with her father, Jesse Goodwin, to Ken- tucky when she was a girl. Her mother bore the maiden name of Sukie Butler.
Dr. Pryor was reared on the farm. In the Graves county schools and Clinton College he received a fair literary education, and then took up the study of medicine. In 1890, he graduated in medicine from the
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University of Louisville, and since his graduation he has practiced his profession in Mayfield. He has met with pleasing professional success. He is a member of the Graves County Medical Society, of the South- western Kentucky Medical Society and of the Kentucky State Medical Association. Politically he is a Democrat, and fraternally a Mason, Knight of Pythias and an Odd Fellow. He is also a member of the Missionary Baptist church. He was married June 22, 1895, to Miss Annie Watts, daughter of Mr. N. B. Watts, of Mayfield.
JUDGE RICHARD J. BUGG.
At the bar and on the bench Judge Richard Jackson Bugg has gained for himself a reputation as a most able lawyer, of comprehensive understanding of the principles of jurisprudence. Appointed by the. governor to fill out an unexpired term on the circuit bench, he was nom- inated at the next regular primary election of his party in May, 1903, and was elected at the November election following, and is therefore the present incumbent in the office, which stands as the conservator of human rights and liberties, of life and happiness.
Judge Bugg, now a resident of Bardwell, was born in Blandville, Ballard county, Kentucky, July 16, 1862, and is descended from one of the old families of Virginia. His great-grandfather, Zachariah Bugg, was a native of Mecklenburg county, Virginia, whence he removed to Tennessee, settling near Gallatin, where he resided through a long period. He died at an advanced age, and thus passed away, one of the prominent and influential residents of that region. His son, Richard Bugg, the grandfather of the judge, was born in Sumner county, Ten- nessee, and on leaving his native state took up his abode in Trigg county,
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Kentucky. He married Miss Prudence Chappell, a native of Chris- tian county, this state, and for some years they resided in Trigg county.
Zachariah Wesley Bugg, the father of Judge Bugg, was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, in 1828, but was reared in Trigg county, Kentucky, and when a young man left that county with his mother, who was then a widow, and went to Ballard county. In the latter county his mother died, when well advanced in years. Her children were Zachariah Wesley, Richard D., James W., Ann and Mary. Zachariah W. Bugg acquired the greater part of his education in Gallatin, Tennes- see, and after studying law for some time was admitted to the bar at Blandville, Kentucky. He then located for practice in that place, con- tinuing to make his home there until the county seat was removed to . Wickliffe, at which time he became a resident of the latter city, spend- ing his remaining days there. He was an able lawyer, and during his active connection with the bar was retained as counsel for the defense or plaintiff in almost every case of importance tried in the courts of his district. He won considerable renown by reason of the capable manner in which he handled the legal business entrusted to him, and in all walks of life he was uniformly respected and admired. He was an ardent Democrat, and both he and his wife were consistent members of the Christian Church. He served for one term as county attorney of Bal- lard county, but other than that never held or desired public office. He married Mary A. Jackson, who was a native of Woodford county, Ken- tucky, and she died in 1902, at the age of sixty-eight years. To them were born three children who reached mature years, namely : Mrs. Lucy B. Coffee, a widow, residing in Wickliffe; Richard J., and Zachariah W., a druggist of Wickliffe.
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In the schools of Blandville and in the Kentucky University at Lexington, Richard J. Bugg acquired his literary education, and then, determining to follow in the professional footsteps of his father, he became a student in the law department of the University of Louisville, where he was prepared for practice, mastering a thorough course of study. In 1885 he was admitted to the bar, and at Bardwell entered upon the practice of the law, where he soon won a large clientage, rising to prominence in his profession. As a lawyer he has had the success that might naturally be looked for where close application and immense power for work are united to mental strength and quickness, an extraor- dinary memory and an unappeasable appetite for the activities of the profession. Ilis fidelity to his clients' interests was proverbial, yet he never forgot that he owed a higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. His diligence and energy in the preparation of his cases, as well as the earnestness, tenacity and courage with which he defended the right as he understood it, challenged the highest admiration of his asso- ciates, and thus it was that he gained a reputation that made him the natural selection when it became necessary for the governor to appoint some one to fill out the unexpired term of the circuit judge of the First judicial district. At the next regular election he became the regular nominee of the Democratic party, and was elected to the position which he is now so capably filling.
In 1888 Judge Bugg was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Coil, and their union has been blessed with three children : Mary, Alice and Virginia. The judge and his wife are members of the Christian Church, and he is a Master Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. On the bench his services have met the most sanguine hopes of his many friends, and have given excellent satisfac-
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tion to the bar and general public. His decisions indicate strong men- tality, careful analysis, a thorough knowledge of the law and an unbiased judgment. A judge on the bench fails more frequently, perhaps, from a deficiency in that broad-mindedness which comprehends the details of a situation quickly and that insures a complete self-control under even the most exasperating conditions, than from any other cause; and the judge who makes a success in the discharge of his multitudinous deli- cate duties is a man of well-rounded character, finely balanced mind and of marked intellectual attainments. That Judge Bugg is regarded as such a jurist is a uniformly accepted fact.
JUDGE JOSEPH 1. LANDES.
Judge Joseph I. Landes, a prominent attorney of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, was born in the same town, January 3, 1836, and is the de- scendant of an honorable family on both the paternal and maternal sides. The Landes family is of German descent and originated in the state of Pennsylvania, whence they emigrated to the valley of Virginia, and it was here that Daniel Landes, the grandfather of Judge Landes, was born, as was also Daniel's son, Isaac. Daniel moved from Botetourt county, Virginia, in 1805, to Kentucky, where Isaac Landes was reared and educated. He began his career as a clerk in Greenville, Kentucky. He came to Hopkinsville about 1820, and was in the mercantile business in that town up to 1857, when he engaged in capitalistic enterprises for a time, but finally returned to merchandising, and death met him while he was still in that occupation, in 1870. For many years he was accounted one of the leading business men of that part of the country. He was a member of the Presbyterian church. His wife was
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF
Susanna Kelly, a native of Bourbon county, Kentucky, where she was born in 1803, but was reared in Christian county, where she was brought as an infant. Her death occurred in 1873. Her father was Joseph Kelly, of Irish stock, and was born in Maryland, September 29, 1764. He married, in Fairfax county, Virginia, Elizabeth Sum- mers, who was a native of that county and four years his junior; she was of Scotch descent. Mr. and Mrs. Kelly came to Bourbon county, Kentucky, later to Christian county, where he died in 1859 and she in 1857. Isaac Landes and wife had five children : Susanna, born in 1830, died in 1840; Catharine E., born June 8, 1828, is the widow of James Rutherford and lives in Hopkinsville; Benjamin D., born in 1834, is a farmer of Logan county, Kentucky; Joseph I. is the next; and Samuel J., born in 1843, lives in Greenville, Kentucky.
Joseph I. Landes was reared in Hopkinsville, and was educated in the high schools of the state and in the University of Virginia. He early took up the study of law with one of the leading lawyers of Ken- tucky and completed his course in the law school of the University of Virginia, being licensed to practice in 1858. He was admitted to the bar and began his practice in Hopkinsville in 1859, and this has been the scene of his efforts to the present time. He was County Attorney from 1862 to 1866; Judge of Hopkinsville City Court from 1870 to 1874; and in 1893 was elected to the Kentucky Senate from the sixth senatorial district, and served two terms, resigning his place as legislator to accept the appointment of Judge of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, which had been tendered him by Governor Bradley because of the vacancy occasioned by the death of John R. Grace. Judge Landes filled this position until his successor was elected by the people in 1896, since which time he has been steadily engaged in the regular
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practice of his profession. At the present time he holds the position of Referee in Bankruptcy for the District Court of the United States, for the Western District of Kentucky, comprising the counties of Christian, Caldwell, Crittenden, Hopkins, Lyon, Trigg and Webster.
Judge Landes has been a member of the Presbyterian church since boyhood, and has been superintendent of the Sunday-school since 1865, and Ruling Elder of the First Presbyterian Church since 1867, and has been active in all the affairs of religious work. He is a Mason and has been Master of his Lodge, and was High Priest of his Chapter. He was married April 27, 1865, in Columbus, Ohio, to Mary, the eldest daughter of Dr. Frances Carter, of that city. She was born in Illinois, but was reared and educated at Columbus. . There are no children of this union.
JUDGE JAMES BREATHITT.
Judge James Breathitt, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, has for years been a prominent factor in public affairs in his county and state. He was born in the town in which he lives, September 4, 1852, the fourth son of John W. and Catherine (Webber) Breathitt, and received his early education here. Choosing the law for a profession, he pursued a course in the law department of Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, after which he opened an office and commenced practice in Hopkinsville. In 1878 he was elected city attorney, for a term of two years; in 1881 was elected a representative to the Kentucky state legis- lature, from Christian county, and again in 1885 was elected to this office. At the close of his second term as representative he was elected judge of the circuit court. As showing his great popularity in the district, we state that Judge Breathitt is a Republican, and was elected
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF
judge by a Republican majority of four hundred and seventy-nine votes in a district that has a Democratic majority of three thousand. He served one term of six years, giving evidence of excellent ability as a judge. Since his retirement from the judgeship, he has devoted his time to the practice of law. For three years Judge Breathitt had for partner John W. Payne, and for four years he was in partnership with Henry J. Stites, son of Hon. John Stites, during which time he was connected with many noted cases. For six years Judge Breathitt has been attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad Company. Also he is attorney for the Bank of Hopkinsville. His interest in politics dates back for more than a quarter of a century, and his high standing both as a lawyer and a leader in Republican politics has been fairly won. His party again chose him, in 1903, as its candidate for judge of the cir -. cuit court, but the election had not occurred at the time of the writing hereof.
Judge Breathitt was married, in 1889, to Lydia Thompson, daugh- ter of George V. and Lydia ( Ellis) Thompson, and a native of Chris- tian county, Kentucky. They are the parents of four sons and three daughters, namely : James, Jr., John W., Elizabeth, Edward, Louise, Julia A. and Robert F. Both the Judge and Mrs. Breathitt are identi- fied with the Methodist Episcopal church, and he holds membership in the Knights of Pythias order and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
ALEXANDER CAMPBELL.
Alexander Campbell, city tax collector of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, has been a resident of this place for more than three decades and is well known here. Mr. Campbell was born in Mercer county, Kentucky,
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April 15, 1834, son of James and Catherine (Bradshaw) Campbell. James Campbell was a native of Virginia, born in 1775; came from his native state to Kentucky in 1800 and took up his abode in Mercer county, where he worked at his trade, that of carpenter, and also en- gaged in farming. He was a devoted member of the Baptist church, in which for more than half a century he filled the office of deacon. By his first wife, who was a Miss Lewis and a native of Kentucky, he had two children, and by his second wife, who was Catherine Brad- shaw, a native of Virginia, he had five sons and six daughters. He died in 1863, at an advanced age, and after his death the home farm went into the hands of his son Benjamin.
Alexander at the age of fifteen left home and went to Independence, Missouri, where he was living at the time the war of the rebellion came on. He enlisted in the First Missouri Volunteer Cavalry, was made captain of his company, and shared its fortunes until 1865. He was in the battles of Lexington and Pea Ridge. The most of his soldier life, however, was spent in scouting expeditions. Returning to Ken- tucky at the close of the war, Mr. Campbell located in Jessamine county, but went back to Missouri in 1869 and settled in Lafayette county. In 1871 he again returned to Kentucky, this time to settle in Christian county, and here he has since remained. In 1855 Mr. Campbell married Miss Ardenia Hockensmith, daughter of Dr. Newton Hockensmith, of Independence, Missouri. She died in the fall of 1866, leaving two chil- dren, namely : Lee W., now living in Kansas City, Missouri, and James, who died aged six years.
Mr. Campbell was married in Jessamine county, Kentucky, in 1867, to Miss Sally Hill, a native of Kentucky, who died four years later, leaving him with a little son and daughter, Katy, who died aged four
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years, and Thomas C., who now lives in Chillicothe, Missouri. In 1871 Mr. Campbell wedded Miss Elizabeth Graeme McCarroll, also a native of Kentucky, she being a daughter of Dr. John McCarroll, a prominent physician of Hopkinsville, now deceased. And the fruits of this mar- riage are two children, Alexander and Graeme.
Mr. Campbell affiliates with the Democratic party and is a worthy member of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Campbell is city tax collector and has held many other offices, including that of magistrate and com- missioner of the Western Kentucky Asylum for the Insane.
HON. JESSE C. GILBERT.
Hon. Jesse C. Gilbert, deceased, was born in Marshall county, Ken -. tucky, in the year 1831. His father was Joel Gilbert, who, in 1818, re- moved from North Carolina, his native state, to the state of Kentucky, and settled near the present site of Benton, Marshall county, Kentucky. Hle married Miss Tempa Grace, who bore him a family of ten children, of whom the subject of these memoirs was the seventh in order of birth. The parents were pioneers of Marshall county in the real sense of the term, and spent the rest of their days near the place of their original settlement in that county. The mother died in 1834, and the father in 1852.
Jesse C. Gilbert was born and reared the son of a pioneer farmer, and the scenes of his youth and early manhood were such as came to others of his day and time. Nothing unusual came into his experi- ences, but from an early date he possessed a fondness for books. He acquired a fair acadamic education, and, desiring to become a lawyer, he entered the law office of Philander Palmer, one of the ablest lawyers
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of Kentucky, at that time, and under whose guidance he continued to read law until his admission to the bar in 1855. He was elected clerk of the Marshall county courts when he was only twenty-two years of age. Later he was elected county attorney, and in 1861 he was elected to represent his county in the legislature. Ten years later he was elected state senator from the second senatorial district, and in the state senate he served to 1875.
In 1874 he removed to the city of Paducah, where he continued to re- side and practice law to the time of his death. He gained a large and lucrative clientage; won the reputation of being a profound lawyer, elo- quent advocate and speaker, and gained the respect of all who knew him. In 1858 he married, in Benton, Miss Azelia Barry, who survives him and still resides in the city of Paducah.
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