USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume I > Part 5
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Mr. Shelbourne is well known in Carlisle county and western Ken- tucky, where the circle of his friends is almost co-extensive with the circle of his acquaintance.
TION. LUCIAN B. ANDERSON.
Hon. Lucian B. Anderson was born in Graves county, Kentucky, June 23, 1834. His father was John Anderson, a pioneer of Graves county, its first clerk of county and circuit courts, and a most worthy citizen. Lucian Anderson gained a fair common school education ; was a deputy under his father and later under his brother, Ervine An-
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derson, in the office of clerk of county and circuit courts; studied law, and in 1845 was admitted to the bar. To the practice of law as a profession he devoted his time until 1879, when he retired from the profession. In 1851 he was elected county attorney, but soon after- ward resigned the office: in 1855 he was elected to the state legislature, and served one term. In 1863 he was elected to Congress. In Congress he served one term, and while a member of Congress he voted for the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery throughout the United States, which was adopted January 31, 1865. by the house of repre- sentatives. This act of his is worthy of note, in consequence of his being southern born, reared and educated, and a representative of a slave state in Congress. He became a Republican in politics and in 1864 was a delegate to the Republican National Convention, which renominated President Lincoln.
October 22, 1856, Lucian Anderson and Ann R. Lockridge were united in marriage.
GEORGE F. CATLETT.
George F. Catlett, the editor of the Princeton Icader published at Princeton, Kentucky, was born in Morganfield, Union county, this state, on the 17th of March, 1868, and is a son of Robert P. and Adelle ( Rucker) Catlett. The father was born in Morganfield, Ken- tucky, February 22, 1840, and died in Princeton, this state, on the 18th of August. 1888. His father was George F. Catlett, Sr., one of the early settlers of Union county, and later a representative mer- chant of Morganfield, where he spent his last days. His birth had occurred in Virginia, whence he came to this state, and for many years was accounted one of the enterprising and valued citizens of his
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locality. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Joshua Rucker. who became an early settler of Caldwell county, Kentucky, and lived and died here. It was his daughter, Adelle, who became the wife of Robert P. Catlett. She was born in Princeton on the 8th day of July, 1845. Soon after their marriage they began their domestic life in Morganfield, where they resided continuously until 1875, and then removed to Princeton. While in the former place the father carried on agricultural pursuits, and at Princeton he established a confectionery store, which he conducted with success until his life's labors were ended in death. In his political affiliations he was a Democrat and fraternally was connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Both he and his wife held membership in the Presbyterian Church and lived in harmony with its teachings, so that their upright lives gained for them the respect, confidence and good will of all with whom they were associated. Mrs. Catlett still survives her husband and is yet living in Princeton. By her marriage she became the mother of seven children ; Nannie R., has been successfully engaged in teaching in the public schools for eighteen years, and for four years served most acceptably as superintendent of the schools of Caldwell county, having been the only lady ever elected to that position in this county. She is now teaching in the public schools of Princeton and is the owner of the Princeton Leader and the Clinton Democrat, the latter paper being published in Clinton, Kentucky. George F. is the second of the family. Robert M., a railroad employe, is residing in Paducah, this state. Joshua R. is the publisher of the Clinton Democrat. Eliza- beth is a teacher in the graded schools of Princeton. Necie is a teacher in the public schools of Caldwell county. Samuel O. is a printer in the office of the Leader at Princeton.
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George F. Catlett was educated in the schools of Morganfield and of Princeton, and in 1886 began learning the printer's trade in the latter place. He is now the publisher of the Princeton Leader, and is a well known representative of journalistic interests in this part of the state, having devoted his entire life to this work. The Leader is well conducted, and is a neatly edited sheet devoted to the best interests of the community, to the dissemination of local and general news and to the advocacy of the Democratic party. In 1883 Mr. Cat- lett was united in marriage to Miss Laura Williams, of Princeton, and they have a pleasant home and many friends there.
GEORGE ROCK. .
George Rock, the veteran shoe merchant of Paducah, has resided in this city since 1858. Mr. Rock was born in 1835, in Hesse-Darm- stadt, Germany, the second of three children born to John and Bar- bara Rock. His father died in Germany, in 1848, and the following year, the mother and her three children, Elizabeth, George and John, left the fatherland and came to the United States. They located in Cleveland, Ohio.
In that city George Rock served a three years' apprenticeship at the trade of shoemaking. To shoemaking and dealing in shoes he has since devoted his business life. Learning his trade, he became a journeyman somewhat after the manner of custom in his native land. To Louisville, Kentucky, he drifted, and there worked for some time. In 1857, he opened a shop of his own in the village of Lafayette, Christian county, Kentucky, but the following year he came to Padu- cah, where he has led a remarkably successful business career beginning
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as the proprietor of a small custom shoe shop, now conducting one of the largest shoe establishments of western Kentucky, and ranking among the wealthiest merchants and citizens of the city of Paducah. From a poor young man of a humble trade he has risen in the business and commercial world, and for many years Mr. Rock has held con- spicuous rank among merchants of the flourishing city of Paducah, to the material upbuilding of which he has by no means been a small contributor. His store is one of the many excellent business houses of which the citizens of Paducah justly boast, and his residence is among the largest and handsomest of the city. Much credit is due Mr. Rock for the success he has achieved in life, and his success should be an inspiration to the young man who has no capital nor favorable circumstances with which to begin the solution of life's busi- ness problem.
In 1856, Mr. Rock was married in the city of Louisville to Miss Catherine Seigel, and into his home eight children were born. Mr. Rock and family are communicants of the German Evangelical Church, and for years he has been a member of the Masonic order. He has never sought political preferment, for his business has required his full time and attention, and besides he has preferred to lead the life of a business man only. Well and favorably known, Mr. Rock stands among the most respected citizens of Paducah, and justly entitled to mention in a work of biography devoted to men who have been identi- fied with the founding, growth and development of his city, county and state.
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MEMORIAL RECORD OF
LOUIS A. BOLI, JR.
The term "captain of industry," which has become a familiar one in the parlance of the day, may well be applied to Louis Alexander Boli, Jr., a gentleman whose marked business ability and enterprise have built up one of the largest industrial concerns of western Kentucky and one which materially increases the prosperity of this region, paying annually thousands of dollars to its employes. Honored and respected by all, there is no man in this part of the state who occupies a more enviable position in industrial and financial circles than he, not alone by reason of the splendid success he has achieved, but also because of the honorable, straightforward business policy he has ever followed. Far-sighted, energetic and enterprising, he forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution, and at the same time he has ever main- tained a business policy that will bear the closest investigation and scru- tiny.
Mr. Boli is one of Ohio's native sons, his birth having occurred in the city of Hamilton, on the 29th of May, 1871. His parents, Louis Alexander, a native of Indiana, and Carrie ( Buckle) Boli, a native of Ohio, lived in Hamilton, Ohio, during the boyhood of their son Louis. In 1890 the father removed to this state and became owner and operator of the business carried on under the name of the L. A. Boli Wood Stock Company, which was the predecessor of the Suwanee Spoke & Lumber Company. He continued the operation of the plant until 1896, when, in January, the new company was formed, Mr. Boli, Sr., accepting the vice-presidency, but retiring from the active management of the busi- ness in order to enjoy a well earned rest. He then returned to his old home in Ohio, where he is now living.
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1. A. Boli, Jr., was reared in his native city and is indebted to its public school system for the educational privileges which he enjoyed, being a graduate from the Hamilton high school, which fitted him for a practical and successful business career. Coming with his father to Kentucky when nineteen years of age, Mr. Boli became associated with him in business, and in connection with the Wood Stock Company he received the training which well qualified him for the active manage- ment of the extensive business now under his control. On the Ist of January the Suwanee Spoke & Lumber Company was formed, and on the 22d of February, L. A. Boli, Jr., assumed charge. The officers of the company are S. N. Leonard, president, and also president of the Farmers' Bank of Eddyville: L. A. Boli, Sr. vice president ; L. A. Boli, Jr., secretary, treasurer and general manager; and W. C. Lady, super- intendent. The practical training which he had received under the direction of his father, and the comprehensive knowledge which he had gained concerning timber, its uses and the capabilities of manufacture enabled him to make the new enterprise a profitable one from its incep- tion, and for three years the business was successfully conducted. The plant was then destroyed by fire, but the energy and enterprise of the management was undaunted by the calamity, and within a few months a larger and superior plant took the place of the old one. It is now one of the finest manufacturing plants to be found in the south. Situated on the right bank of the Cumberland river, the wharfage and docks for receiving timber are unexcelled. The Ilinois Central, by spur tracks, enter the grounds, affording excellent shipping facilities for the manu- factured product. The company owns its own steamer and fleet of barges, and collects its raw material from the inexhaustible forests on the banks of the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers and along the line of
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the Illinois Central Railroad. The company spends thousands of dol- lars annually for material and labor, thus adding directly to the wealth of the state. The reputation of the Suwanee spokes has long since be- come international. The product is shipped to every state in the Union and exported to every country of Europe. For years the export trade has been a specialty with this company, and in 1898 they were awarded a contract to supply the British artillery with spokes for use in con- structing their artillery pieces. The annual output of the spoke depart- ment reaches the enormous amount of five millions. There is also a large business done in the lumber department, and in this connection the company handles a large supply of finished doors, glazed sash, moldings and every item of material used in the construction of a modern house.
The energy and business capacity peculiar to the people of his native state are fully exemplified in Mr. Boli, who has infused his northern zeal into southern resources, with the usual result-success. He is familiar with every detail of his great manufacturing plant, and finds much pride in being able to personally direct the most minute detail of his business. Improvement and progress are thoroughly instilled into his very nature, and every piece of machinery about the vast plant is of the latest im- proved and scientific make.
A man of resourceful business ability, Mr. Boli has extended his efforts into other lines. He was one of the organizers of the Kuttawa Mercantile Company, which was formed June 1, 1902, and of which he is the president. The company conducts a department store, in a large and handsomely appointed building, carrying a large stock of goods. Mr. Boli is also the secretary and treasurer of the Cumberland Towing Company and a stockholder in many other institutions of the
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city, his business sagacity being a desirable factor in the conduct of enterprises of importance. .
In 1892, in Hamilton, Ohio, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Boli and Miss Maud Gwinner, and to them have been born two chil- dren, Louis Gwinner and Lois Rebecca. Mr. Boli is a prominent Mason, having attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he has passed all the chairs in the blue lodge and royal arch lodge and in the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He belongs to the Baptist church, and is deeply and helpfully interested in all that pertains to the welfare of the city, being at the present time a member of the board of education. His name is a synonym for business integrity and commer- cial enterprise, and he belongs to that class of representative American men who, while promoting individual success, also advance the general welfare.
LAWRENCE B. ANDERSON.
Lawrence B. Anderson, formerly a general insurance agent of Mayfield, now of Paducah, is a native of Graves county, Kentucky, born February 1, 1860. Mr. Anderson is a son of Ervine and Eliza ( Lockridge) Anderson. llis father was the first white child born in Graves county, Kentucky, after the organization of the county. The date of his nativity was January 21, 1820. He was the son of John and Rebecca (Davenport) Anderson.
John Anderson, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in what is now Albermarle county, North Carolina, and there was reared and educated. He then as a young man came to Kentucky, at a time when the Jackson Purchase had not yet been organized into counties. He was then a married man, having married Miss Rebecca
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Davenport, in North Carolina. 'He cleared up his farm, and in 1821, just as Graves county was formed, he was elected clerk of the county and circuit courts. At that time the present offices of county clerk and circuit clerk were united. He continued in this office until his death in 1842. He studied law and practiced irregularly ; was a man of great natural ability, and stood very high in the esteem of his fellow citizens. He served in the war of 1812, and was a Whig in politics.
On coming to Kentucky he first settled in Caldwell county, Ken- tucky. The following is the copy of a record made in his own writing : "Emigrated from Caldwell county, Kentucky, to the district of country west of the Tennessee river, and settled on Mayfield creek in the woods, two and a half miles north of the present site of the town of Mayfield. We had to make our way through the woods from the Tennessee river and were three days on the route, encamping in the woods at night and threading our way through the thicket by day. We arrived on the 27th of October, 1819, at our place of future residence, and pitched cur camp. I built cabins and cleared land, and resided at that place until December, 1824, when, the county of Graves having recently been organized, and myself appointed clerk of the county and circuit courts, I moved to the town of Mayfield." Here he ever afterward lived.
Ilis son Ervine served as his deputy in the office of clerk of the county and circuit courts, to which office he was afterward several times elected, and was serving therein when the Civil war came on. During the war he began the practice of law. With the change of the Constitution he was again elected county and circuit clerk; was a representative of his county in the legislature in 1871-72, and con- tinued to practice law until his death, July 11, 1876. He was a Cum- berland Presbyterian, a Mason and a Democrat.
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Eliza (Lockridge) Anderson, the mother of our subject, was born in Graves county, Kentucky, May 8, 1829, and was married to Ervine Anderson, October 15, 1844. To the marriage were born nine children, four sons and five daughters, namely: Lawrence B., John, Wiley, Annie, Amelia, Edith, Emily, Albert and Hester. The mother of these children was a daughter of Robert D. Lockridge, born in Lexington, Kentucky, November 5, 1805. He married Elizabeth Buchanan, of Logan county, in 1827. He was a physician and died in Graves county in 1876. He was a son of Robert Lockridge, who was a pioneer of Murray county, Tennessee, whither he removed from Lexington.
In Mayfield, Lawrence B. Anderson was educated. He first taught school and then took up the practice of law, having been admitted to the bar in 1886. In 1890 he was elected county judge of Graves county, and made a good officer in that position, leaving which he took up the insurance business. Subsequently he served as commissioner of insurance for the state, having only recently retired from this posi- tion. Mr. Anderson is and always has been a Democrat in politics. Fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias, and he and his wife are mem- bers of the Baptist Church. He was married, August 11, 1888, to Miss Daisy D. Bollinger, daughter of J. F. Bollinger, of Mayfield.
In every official relation Mr. Anderson has been indefatigable in the discharge of duty, and by reason of his integrity and fidelity, has won the esteem and confidence of the public, and to-day he stands as a representative of the many excellent men to whom the great state of Kentucky sets claim.
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GEORGE M. STEELE.
George M. Steele, a blacksmith and horseshoer of Hopkinsville, Ken- tucky, was born in Fleming county, this state, February 26, 1849. His father, Martin Dawson Steele, also a native of Kentucky, was born in Clark county, December 4, 1812, and when a young man located in Mays- ville, Mason county, this state, where he learned the trade of black- smith. Subsequently he moved to Washington, in the same county, which continued to be his home for about forty years. In 1872 he located in Hopkinsville and engaged in the manufacture of plows, and to him belongs the destinction of having made the first iron plow ever manufactured in the state of Kentucky. He was thrice married. In Lewis county, Kentucky, he married his first wife, Nancy Means, a native of this state, who died a few years later, leaving him with two sons, William and George M. By his second wife, who was Amanda Mefford, he had one daughter, Elizabeth, who is now the wife of George W. Bowles, of Christian county, Kentucky. Both these wives died in Mason county, and for his third companion Mr. Steele wedded Mary Knight, who bore him two sons, Robert and Archie. M. D. Steele died in Hopkinsville, at a ripe old age, respected by all who knew him. Politically he was in early life a Whig, and religiously his views harmonized with the teachings of the Christian church, of which he was a worthy and active member, serving as deacon and elder.
George M. Steele learned the trade of blacksmith in his father's shop, in Mason county, and subsequently became a partner in the business with his father, in Hopkinsville, continuing as such while his . father lived, since which time he has been alone in business. Mr.
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Steele is recognized as one of the best horseshoers of Kentucky, and does a large business in this line.
Mr. Steele was married in 1896 to Ada Kennedy, a native of Todd county, Kentucky, born in 1861, daughter of U. C. Kennedy, also a native of Todd county. Mrs. Steele was reared in Christian county. They are the parents of two children, namely : Martin W., born December 15, 1897, and Elizabeth A., born November 23, 1899, both in Hopkinsville. Mr. Steele is a member of the Presbyterian church. For twelve years he has been identified with the order of Knights of Pythias, and politically is a supporter of the Democratic party.
JOHN H. SPALDING.
The Spalding family, of which John H. Spalding is a member, has been identified with Kentucky for many years, several generations of them having been born here. John H. Spalding was born in Warren county in 1844, son of Charlie and Annie (White) Spalding. The father was born in 1813 and died in 1897, and his remains were interred in the Spalding burying ground in McCracken county. He was a well known farmer and respected citizen, and always took a com- mendable interest in public affairs. In 1883 he was constable of Mc- Cracken county. His wife, also a native of Kentucky, was born in Warren county. She died in 1862, at the age of fifty years. The grandfather of John H. Spalding was also named Charlie. He was born and lived and died in Kentucky, living an active, useful life and attaining ripe old age. Mr. Spalding's maternal grandfather was Jack- son White. He, too, was a native of Kentucky; passed his life here, and at the time of his death was one hundred years old. The names
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of the brothers and sisters of Mr. Spalding are as follows: Charles; James M .; Jonathan ; Elgie S .; Edward B .; Linsey; Rex; Sallie E., wife of Wesley Griffin, a farmer of Indian Territory; Willie, wife of Andrew Holt, a farmer of Carlisle county, Kentucky; Tommy E., wife of Jacob Craig, a well known business man of Alva, Oklahoma ; Ethel, wife of Phinas Humphreys, a wealthy farmer of McCracken county ; Enola, wife of John Chatman, a farmer of McCracken county ; Nannie, wife of Taylor Murphy, a farmer of McCracken county ; and Susan, wife of Richard Hart, a farmer of McCracken county.
His parents moved to MeCracken county, from Warren county, when John H. Spalding was quite small, and in the country schools of McCracken county he received his education. A youth in his teens, he left school in 1862 and entered the Confederate army, the fortunes of which he shared until 1865, participating in numerous engagements, including the battles of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, in 1862; Helena, Arkansas, July 4, 1863, and Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, in 1864. In. the last named battle he was wounded. At the close of the war Mr. Spalding returned to McCracken county and settled down to farming, and the next year was married. He has ever since been engaged in agricultural pursuits, making a specialty of raising fruits and vege- tables.
Mr. Spalding was first married, in 1866, to Miss Anna Hunt, and two children were born to them: Ella, now the wife of Mack Harris, a prosperous farmer of MeCracken county ; and Bernice, who is now the wife of Mack Edwards, a miner of Hopkins county, Kentucky. The mother of these children having died in 1876, Mr. Spalding married, in 1878, Miss Addie Wilson, and the children of this union are Harold and Melvin. After the death of his second wife he married Miss
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Josie E. Morgan, in 1881, and their children are: Genie and Roy. Mr. and Mrs. Spalding are members of the Baptist Church, and he affiliates politically with the Democratic party.
JAY WILLINGHAM.
Jay Willingham is an efficient county officer, now filling the posi- tion of sheriff of Carlisle county, and the trust reposed in him is well merited, for he is most faithful to his duty and loyal to the obliga- tions which devolve upon him. He was born in what is now Hickman county, at Spring Hill, Kentucky, on the 4th day of March, 1850, and is a son of Thomas T. and Sallie (Reese) Willingham, the former a native of Henderson county, Kentucky, while the latter was born near Murray, Tennessee. The paternal grandfather of our subject, Jarrett Willingham, became an early settler of what was then Ballard but is now Carlisle county. He cast in his lot with the early settlers in the vicinity of Cunningham and was there connected with agricultural pur- suits for many years, dying at an advanced age. The maternal grand- parents of our subject were James and Rebecca Reese, who came from their native state of Tennessee to Kentucky, establishing their home near Spring Hill in Hickman county. In their family were the following named: James, Joel, John, Sallie and Betsey, all of whom are now deceased.
Thomas T. Willingham was reared in Carlisle county, and after arriving at years of maturity wedded Miss Sallie Reese, whose birth occurred in Hickman county. They took up their abode near Spring Hill, where they lived for thirty years, and on the expiration of that period they came to Carlisle county, settling in its western district near
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