USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume I > Part 25
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His parents were George and Hannah ( Stansbury ) Beeler. His father was a native of Tennessee, born in 1783. He came to Kentucky when a young man, and here married Hannah Stansbury, a native of Butler county, Kentucky. He resided in Jefferson county, Kentucky, and was a farmer by occupation. He was sixty-seven years of age at the time of his death, which occurred in 1850. His wife preceded him in death some twenty years.
Dr. George Beeler was reared on the farm, and in youth attended the local schools. In 1851, when about twenty-one years of age, a friend and former instructor of his, Professor Simon Snyder, accepted a pro- fessorship in Clinton Seminary, and was accompanied to Clinton, Ken- tucky, by young Beeler, who was further educated in the seminary. Here he continued his studies until January, 1853. When he came to Clinton it was only to attend school, and he had no intention of mak- ing the place one of permanent residence. But predilection led him to study medicine, and he began his preparations for the medical profes- sion under the preceptorship of Dr. John F. Ray, of Clinton. Later he went to Louisville, and further pursued his studies under Dr. Robert
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Breckenridge, professor of materia medica in the University of Louis- ville, and became prepared to enter Transylvania University, of Lex- ington, in the medical department. He graduated in 1855, with the degree of M. D., and, returning to Clinton, practiced a few months. In the fall of that same year he entered the Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, where he graduated in March, 1856. Again return- ing to Clinton, he began his professional career in earnest, after having thoroughly prepared himself for the profession. He soon gained a large and remunerative practice, and for years stood foremost in his profession, his practice extending far beyond the borders of his own county and even that of Kentucky. Much of his professional service in latter days was that of consultation.
Hle was twice president of the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Society, and was also vice-president and later president of the Ken- tucky State Medical Association. Of the American Medical Associa- tion he was also a member, and for years a member of the state board of health, serving up to the time of his death. He was also local sur- geon for the Illinois Central Railroad. He was a constant student, and kept abreast of the advancements in his profession. He possessed rare qualities of heart and mind, and such was his skill and knowledge, his generosity and his kindness, as to not only inspire confidence in his ability to heal the sick, but also to gain and hold the esteem and high regard and devotion of all who knew him. In personal appear- ance he was "fine looking," about five feet ten inches in height, weigh- ing over two hundred pounds, with a noble face, and was a fine specimen of physical manhood.
Dr. Beeler was united in marriage to Miss Viola Whayne on the 18th of November, 1856. She was a daughter of Mr. Coleman
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Whayne, a pioneer resident of Ballard county, Kentucky, and in that county she was born. She died in Clinton in 1894, aged fifty-six years. She bore her husband eleven children, as follows: Blanch, widow of Rev. J. W. Higbee, now residing in Clinton; Love, recently deceased, was the wife of James L. Moss, of Clinton; Jennie, widow of John M. Samuels, now residing in Clinton; Lizzie, who died at the age of sixteen years; Ola, who died at the age of ten years; George Frederick, a physician and surgeon of Clinton ; Maimie, wife of J. M. Porter, of Clinton; Wyatt, who died at the age of seven years; John 'Moorman, a physician and surgeon of Clinton; Dean, who died in infancy ; and Anna, who died at the age of twenty-one years.
Dr. Beeler and wife were almost life-long members of the Chris- tian church, and he was also a member of the Masonic order. To his church he was a liberal contributor, and to the construction of many Christian church buildings in Hickman county and surrounding coun- ties he gave liberally of his means. He was loved and honored, and lived an exemplary life.
GEORGE FREDERICK BEELER, M. D.
George Frederick Beeler, M. D., son of the late Dr. George Beeler, whose biography appears above, was born in Clinton, Kentucky, September 10, 1866. He was reared in his native town, and there received his early scholastic training, and at the Kentucky State Me- chanical and Agricultural College, at Lexington, his literary education was completed. Under his father as his preceptor, he first studied medi- cine, and then attended the University of Louisville, where he gradu- ated March 3, 1891, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. Subse- quently he took post-graduate courses at the Kentucky School of Medi-
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cine at Louisville and at the New York Polyclinic. He began his practice of medicine in Clinton, and has continued here, gaining and holding a lucrative practice. Dr. Bedler is a member of the Southwestern Ken- tucky Medical Society, of the Hickman County Medical Society, of the Kentucky State Medical Association, and is local surgeon for the Illinois Central Railway.
Dr. Beeler has never sought political preferment ; nevertheless he is an ardent Democrat. He is a member in the order of Knights of Pythias, also he is a member of the Christian church. In 1891 he married Miss Carrie Sublette, an accomplished lady, whose father years ago resided in Clinton, but afterward in Mabama, in which state Mrs. Beeler was born. The home of Dr. and Mrs. Beeler is brightened and gladdened by three children, one daughter and two sons.
JOHN MOORMAN BEELER, M. D.
John Moorman Beeler, M. D., son of Dr. George and Viola ( Whayne) Beeler, was born in Clinton county, Kentucky, December 31, 1874; educated in Marvin and Clinton Colleges, Western Kentucky College and Kentucky University, graduating from the last named in- stitution in 1895. In the fall of the same year he entered the Univer- sity of Louisville, and there graduated in medicine in 1898, since which time he has been in the practice of his chosen profession in Clinton. Ile is a member of the Hickman County Medical Society, of the South- western Kentucky Medical Society and of the Kentucky State Medi- cal Association.
In 1900 Dr. Beeler married Miss Minnie Taylor Cresap, daughter of Hanson M. Cresap, Esq., of Clinton, Kentucky.
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THADDEUS G. KLAPP.
Thaddeus G. Klapp is one of the most successful business men and farmers of Hickman county, and by reason of the success he has achieved and the reputation he has established for himself deserves creditable mention in a work of local biography, such as it is our present task to compile.
Mr. Klapp was born in North Carolina, November 6, 1844. His parents were Daniel Monroe Klapp and Arlene ( Robertson) Klapp, both natives of North Carolina. The name Klapp is of German origin. About 1845 our subject's parents removed from North Carolina to Missouri, and lived in the latter state about two years. They then came to Kentucky and settled in what is now Carlisle county, where . they afterward lived and died. They had but one son, Thaddeus G., but five daughters were born to them.
Thaddeus G. Klapp was reared on the farm and given a fair edu- cation for his day. He was in his teens when the Civil war came on. In March of 1864 he enlisted as a private in Company D, Third Ken- tucky, a mounted infantry regiment, and served in the Confederate army till November, 1864. At the battle of Harrisburg he was wounded.
Returning from the field of battle, young Klapp resumed the du- ties of farm life, and not long thereafter married. In 1867 he mar- ried Sarah W. Fraser, a daughter of Daniel Fraser, a native of Vir- ginia, of Scotch descent, his grandfather, Daniel Fraser, having come from Scotland, and was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Klapp was born October 30, 1846, in Calloway county, Kentucky, where her father was a pioneer settler.
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To Mr. and Mrs. Klapp have been born the following children : Daniel 1., born August 17, 1868; Dilar Wilmoth, born in June, 1870; Samuel F., born March 17, 1872; James M., born March 16, 1874; Maud F., born August 14, 1877, married James F. Shelby; Thad- . deus S., born November 6, 1880; Hattie, born April 24, 1885, married W. W. Nall; Algie J., born January 9, 1890.
Mr. Klapp has followed farming and milling, together with the operation of threshing machines. His life has been an active and suc- cessful one, and he is held in high esteem by a wide circle of acquaint- ances. In 1880 Mr. Klapp became a resident of Hickman county. Previously he had resided in what is now Carlisle county, then a part of Ballard county. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and in church faith is a Methodist.
DANIEL I. KLAPP.
Daniel I. Klapp, the oldest of eight children born to Thaddeus G. and Sarah W. (Fraser) Klapp, was born in what is now Carlisle county, Kentucky, on the 17th of August, 1868. He received a fair common school education. He has continued in manhood to make his home with his parents, and with his father has been and is now inter- ested in farming and milling. Like his father, he is a Democrat in politics, and holds membership in the Methodist church. His frater- nal affiliations are with the Knights of Honor and the Fraternal Union. Hle is an enterprising young man, and is respected by all who know him.
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THOMAS MCKNIGHT WATKINS.
Thomas MeKnight Watkins has passed the fifty-third milestone in life's journey, and, notwithstanding the fact that he began his busi- ness career with no capital other than willing hands and noble ambi- tion, he is to-day one of the most prosperous farmers of Hickman county, Kentucky, and is counted among the representative men of his county.
Mr. Watkins was born in Calloway county, Kentucky, September 10, 1850, and is a son of Benjamin and Cinthia A. (Jones) Watkins, both of whom were born and reared in Calloway county. Our subject's paternal grandfather was Pleasant Watkins, and his maternal grand- father was Douglas Jones, the latter coming from North Carolina.
On a farm in Calloway, Thomas MeKnight Watkins was reared, and in his youth had scarcely any school advantages. When he was twenty years of age he could hardly do more than read and write his name. When eighteen years of age Mr. Watkins engaged his services to a farmer for the wages of one hundred dollars per year, and when he became twenty years of age he had saved sufficient of his wages to enable hin to further educate himself, a thing he much desired to do. He had never attended school, and at the age of twenty years he is found attending his first school. Evenings and mornings and on Sat- urdays he worked to pay his board. His difficulties were many, but he was determined to overcome them. Diligently he applied himself to his studies in the schoolroom, and at night, all the time busy with his studies. Such was his progress that after nine months of close application to his studies he had sufficiently advanced to secure a teacher's certificate. Securing a school, he taught, and then attended
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school at Benton, Kentucky, where he last attended school, completing his education under the able instruction of Professor Hamlin. Hle continued teaching for about nine or ten years, and then turned his attention entirely to farming, in which he has industriously and pru- dently conducted his efforts, meeting with commendable success. He owns a good and well improved farm of ninety-three acres, and is to- day a prosperous farmer.
Meanwhile Mr. Watkins has not been unmindful of character- building. In all his business relations he has dealt justly with his fel- low-citizens, whose full confidence and respect he has gained. In poli- tics he is a Democrat, and fraternally he is a Master Mason, and both he and his wife are consistent Christians and are members of the Mis- sionary Baptist church.
In 1876 Mr. Watkins was united in marriage with a most estim- able lady, Miss Fannie B. Finch, a daughter of Jarrett and Martha ( Robertson) Finch. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Watkins has been brightened and blessed by the birth of the following children: Lena Salone, Ruth Latta, Gordie, Milton M. (deceased), Letcher A., Emma E., Thomas B. and Fannie Vava.
JOSEPH J. GRACE.
Joseph Johnson Grace, who is now serving for the second term as county clerk of Ballard county and makes his home in Wickliffe, is numbered among Kentucky's native sons, his birth having occurred in McCracken county, on the ist of January, 1857. His parents were Milton Bluford and Aurelia Ann (Cook) Grace, also natives of this state. The father was born in Christian county, and the mother's
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birth occurred in Livingston county. She was twice married, her first husband being Edward D. Grace, a brother of her second husband. By her first marriage she had two children, and by the second union eight children were born. The parents of our subject lived successively in MeCracken, Graves, Marshall and Ballard counties, and the father devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits. He died in Ballard county in 1876, at the age of fifty-seven years, and his wife passed away in 1899, at the advanced age of seventy-seven years.
The common schools afforded Joseph J. Grace his educational priv- ileges, and he was reared in the usual manner of farmer lads, his time being taken up with his studies and the work of the fields, and presum- ably some hours of play and recreation were intermingled with the duties which fell to his lot. He remained upon the farm until twenty- five years of age, at which time he decided to leave the plow and enter commercial circles. He embarked in merchandising at Hinkleville, and there continued in business for fifteen years, meeting with fair suc- cess in his undertakings. In 1897 he again changed his occupation, being called to public service by election to the office of county clerk. He served so acceptably and faithfully in that capacity that at the end of a four years' term he was re-elected, in 1901, and is the present incumbent. He will have been in the position for eight years when his present term expires, and there has never been a more reliable and capable officer than he.
In Ballard county, on the 18th of February, 1891, Mr. Grace was . united in marriage to Miss Ann Thomas Landrum, who was born in Tennessee. They have one son, Herbert Hobson. The parents are con- sistent and active members of the Methodist Episcopal church, South, and in his social relations Mr. Grace is a Master Mason, living a life of
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harmony with its teachings. . His political allegiance has always been given to the Democracy, and it was upon the ticket of that party that he was elected to the office which he is now so acceptably filling.
JOHN D. PERRYMAN.
John D. Perryman, one of the successful farmers of Hickman county, Kentucky, was born in Sevier county, Tennessee, January 26, 1834. He is the son of Jacob and Nancy ( Anderson) Perryman, both of whom were born in Tennessee. The maternal grandfather bore the name of John Anderson, and this is the extent of Mr. Perryman's knowledge of his ancestral history.
Jacob Perryman was a farmer and miller, and made his home in Tennessee, becoming quite successful. In politics he was a Whig, while in religion he was a Baptist, and died at the age of fifty years. His wife survived him some twenty years, dying aged sixty-five years. About 1850 she and her children removed from Tennessee to Mc- Cracken county, Kentucky. Five children were born to her, namely: Anna, who died at the age of thirty-five years; William R., who died aged forty-five years; Sarah, who died at the age of ten years; John D .; and James H.
John D. Perryman was a youth when his widowed mother removed to McCracken county, and there he grew to manhood. When a young man he went to Missouri, and there resided and farmed till 1888, when he came to Hickman county. He has always farmed. He began life with limited capital, but by means of industry, enterprise and fru- gality he became a very prosperous man. He is a Democrat in politics, but has never sought office. For a number of years he has been a Mas-
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ter Mason. No citizen of Hickman county is more highly esteemed than he.
In 1864 he was married in Mississippi county, Missouri, to Miss Mary E. Watts, who was born in Union county, Kentucky, January 27, 1845. Her father was Williams Watts, born in England, while her mother was Sarah E. (Thompson) Watts, born in Kentucky. Two children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Perryman, namely : Harry, who married Ada Bazzell, of Hickman county, Kentucky; Mattie, who married J. B. Simpson.
EDWIN D. WALLER.
Edwin D. Waller, of Fulton, was born in Shelby county, Ken- tucky, November 17, 1877, and is a son of William E. and Belle (Oli- ver) Waller. The father was born in Spencer county, Kentucky, in the year 1846; was in early life a teacher, and later a Baptist minister, but he died in early manhood, being about thirty-two years of age at the time of his death. He was a son of Ambrose Waller, also a native of Spencer county, Kentucky. Ambrose was for considerable time a successful merchant of Louisville, Kentucky. He also had large landed possessions in Spencer and Shelby counties, Kentucky. His death oc- curred in 1902, when he had passed the ninety-second milestone in life's journey. His was a well rounded and useful career, and by all who knew him he was highly respected.
The mother of Edwin D. Waller was born in Shelby county, Ken- tucky, in the year 1852. Her father, Horrace Oliver, was also a native of Shelby county, Kentucky, and in early life farmed and in later life practiced law. He also served as magistrate, and was esteemed for
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his many excellent traits of character. He died in 1862, when about fifty-two years of age. Mrs. Waller now (October, 1903) resides in Fulton, Kentucky. She bore her husband only two children, one daugh- ter and one son, named Willia and Edwin D., respectively.
Edwin D. Waller received a fair education in his native county, and after farming a short time turned his attention to engineering and electricity. For a time he was employed in the operation of an electric light plant at Morganfield, Kentucky. In 1900 Mr. Waller came to Fulton, and has since been superintendent of engines and electrical machinery for the electric light plant of Fulion.
Mr. Waller is a pleasing gentleman in manner, and is a popular young man. Politically he is a stanch Democrat, and he is also a mem- ber of the Baptist church.
DON JUAN MCALISTER.
Don Juan Me Alister, magistrate and farmer, is a representative of the most excellent people of Hickman county. He comes of a family much respected and long established in the Jackson Purchase. His father, Marcus Lafayette Me. Mister, was born in Hickman county, Kentucky, in the year 1826, and died here in 1872, at the age of forty- six years. In 1852 he married Mary .A. Hicks, who was born in Jessa- mine county, Kentucky; in the year 1832, and is still living in Hickman county. Her father, John Hicks, also was born in Jessamine county, Kentucky, whence he removed to Hickman county, where he prospered as a farmer and lived many years, and died in 1896, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, respected by all who knew him. He reared a family of nineteen children, of whom eight are still living.
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To Mark (or Marcus) and Mary A. Mc. Wister were born the fol- lowing children : Margaret, who died aged. nine years; Cordchia, wife of C. C. Byrd, a farmer of Hickman county; John W., now residing in Arkansas; Samuel A., one of Hickman county's farmers : James F., also a Hickman county farmer; Laura L., the wife. of J. E. Wheeler, a farmer and resident of Arkansas; Lou L., a farmer of Hickman county and a twin brother of our subject, Don J. ; and Thomas II., the youngest, is also a farmer of Hickman county.
Don J. McAlister was born in Hickman county, Kentucky, March 12, 1867. He was reared on the farm and educated in the country schools and at Marvin College, at Clinton, Kentucky. When he left college he engaged, in 1890, in school teaching, but two years later he took up farming, in which he has since been successfully engaged. Ile . is a Democrat, and was elected to the office of magistrate in November, 1902. Both he and his wife are members of the Cumberland Presby- terian church.
In 1890, Mr. McAlister married Miss Emma E. Burrow, a daugh- ter of Jacob T. and Melvina A. (Woodall) Burrow, the father now deceased, and the mother yet living. These parents were born in Carroll county, Tennessee, whence they removed to Dwyer county, Ten- nessee, and then to Hickman county, Kentucky, about 1878. In the latter county the father died in 1897, aged about sixty-five years. They had the following children: Alvin, Emmerson, William, Ida, Lucy, Charles W., Maggie, Emma E., Ernest and Lydia. Of them the fol- lowing are deceased: Ida, Maggie and Lydia.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. McAlister has been brightened by the birth of three children, namely: Cecil, Emmett and Jodie.
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