USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume I > Part 9
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William Lindsay Mosby was reared upon a farm and acquired his literary education in the public schools of Carlisle county and in Milburn Academy. He began the study of medicine when seventeen years of age, under the direction of Dr. John R. Owen, of Arlington, Kentucky, and afterward matriculated in the Missouri Medical College of St. Louis, where he was graduated in the class of 1883. He has since . pursued post-graduate work in the same school and also in post-graduate schools of St. Louis and of Chicago. His first year's practice was spent at Arlington, Kentucky, and in October, 1884, he came to Bardwell, where he has since lived. He is a member of the Carlisle County Medical Society, of which he has served as president. He also belongs to the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Society, to the Kentucky State Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the International Association of Railway Surgeons, being entitled to membership in the last named organization because he is local surgeon for the Illinois Central Railroad. For years he has been a member of the county board of health and has been medical examiner for a number of insurance companies. His private practice is extensive, and from the beginning of his resi- dence here his patronage has steadily increased and is now of a most important character. He is well versed in the science of medicine in its
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various branches, and his large business is indicative of the confidence reposed in him by the public.
, In 1885 was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Mosby and Miss Mattie Pauline Petrie, a daughter of Dr. J. S. and Lucy A. (Henderson) Petrie, formerly of Cairo, Illinois, but now of Bardwell, Kentucky. Her parents were both natives of Kentucky, her father having been born in Todd county and her mother in Ballard county. Mrs. Mosby was also born in Ballard county, and by her marriage has become the mother of two children : William Eugene and Hazel Petrie. Both the Doctor and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is connected through membership relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His political support is given to the Democracy, but he has no time or inclination to seek public office, preferring to devote his energies to his chosen calling. His deep interest in his profession arises both from a love of scientific research and of his fellow men. His sympathetic nature and genial manner, combined with his broad and comprehensive knowledge, have won him distinction as a most able prac- titioner.
ABRAM HOGANCAMP.
No history of Carlisle county would be complete without mention of Abram Hogancamp, for he is one of its most venerable citizens, and his residence here covers a long period, antedating that of most other pioneer settlers. He can remember when the deer roamed through the forests in large numbers, and when many kinds of lesser game were to be had in abundance. When he settled here trees were uncut, the rivers and creeks unbridged, and the work of improvement had scarcely been begun.
ABRAM HOGANCAMP.
MRS. ABRAM HOGANCAMP.
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Mr. Hogancamp was born in Neville ( formerly Nevilville), Ohio, on the 6th of September, 1819, a son of Martinus and Mary ( Boone) Hogancamp, the former a native of the state of New York, and the latter of Vermont. The Hogancamp family is of German descent, and the first of the name in America settled in New York. The mother of our subject was of English descent, and was a grandniece of Daniel Boone, the original pioneer and explorer of Kentucky, who opened up this great state to the advance of civilization. After their marriage Mr. Hogancamp's parents removed from New York to Ohio, and still later came to Kentucky, settling in Campbell county, taking up their abode there when Abram Hogancamp was only a few weeks old. The father was a hatter by trade, but also engaged in farming, and for many years thus provided for his family. In 1833 the family decided to remove to western Kentucky, and started down the Ohio river on a flatboat, intending to settle at Paducah. Just below Cincinnati, the father being in ill health, left his family and returned to the latter city for medical treatment, and died there. The family, accompanied by the mother's brother, came on down the Ohio to their destination. They found that Paducah was but a' mere hamlet, containing only three houses. They made their way to Putney's Bend, where they arrived on the 9th of March, 1833, and they settled in what is now the western portion of Carlisle county, once a part of Hickman county and later a part of Ballard county. About eight or ten years later the mother married George W. Reeves, who lived in the locality in which she made her settlement. She remained a resident of this county until 1863, when she passed away, being about seventy-two years of age at the time of her death. By her first marriage she had nine children who reached years of maturity, and Abram Hogancamp, who was the second in
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order of birth, is the only one now living. By her second marriage there were no children.
Abram Hogancamp was about fourteen years of age when his mother came to western Kentucky, and thus he has lived here for many years, covering more than two-thirds of a century. Since that time he has been dependent upon his own resources for a living, and that he has prospered in his undertakings is indicated by the fine farm which he owns. When about twenty-five years of age he became a pilot on the Mississippi river, and followed that calling until 1890, for forty-five years. He became a well known figure on the river, known to the owners of many vessels and their crews, and a feeling of safety was with all those who knew that Mr. Hogancamp was at the helm. He came to know the river in all its sinuous turns, as the farmer boy does the country lane which he daily traverses. At length he determined to leave the river altogether, and in 1890 gave up piloting and returned to his farm, and has since devoted his time to farming only. Throughout the intervening years he had continued to make Carlisle county his home, settling on his present farm in 1843. It is pleasantly situated about two miles from Bardwell, and for over sixty years has been his place of residence. When he took up his abode here it was in the midst of the dense forest, at a point where there was a splendid "deer stand." Then deer and other wild animals and game were very plentiful, and venison was a very common dish upon his table.
In 1840 Mr. Hogancamp married Miss Susan Hoagland, who died fourteen months later, and in 1842 he wedded Miss Patsy Jane Moyres, who has been to him a faithful companion and helpmate on life's jour- ney. She was born in what is now Carlisle county, on the 13th of March, 1822. Iler father, Jolm Moyres, was among the first settlers
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of this locality, coming here from the vicinity of Bowling Green, Ken- tucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Hogancamp have been born eight children : William Martinus, Adella Frances, Joseph E., George W., Lucretia, John, Anna and Robert T. All except the youngest, who resides in California, are yet residents of Carlisle county, residing in the vicinity of the parental home.
Mr. Hogancamp is certainly one of the revered patriarchs of this community, and yet he bears his age lightly, and in vigor and in inter- ests seems a much younger man than one who has reached the eighty- fourth milestone on life's journey. He is widely known throughout all his section of country as "Uncle Abe." In his youth he had very few advantages, educational or otherwise, and, not wishing his children to be deprived of such opportunities, he lias enabled them to attend school and acquire good educations. Mr. Hogancamp has found in his wife a most helpful and able companion. In the early days she carded, spun and wove the wool into clothing for the family, and with her hus- band met all the hardships and difficulties of pioneer life. As the years passed, through their industry and economy, they gained a handsome competence and Mr. Hogancamp is now the owner of five hundred acres of valuable land. In early life he gave his political support to the Whig party, and on its dissolution became one of the stanch advocates of the Democratic party. Both he and his wife are devoted members of the Missionary Baptist Church, and he has taken a very active part in church work. He has ever been a man of strong force of character, fearless in defense of what he believes to be right, and he has com- manded the respect of those who have regard for upright character and fidelity to principle. Among the portraits appearing in this Memorial Record are those of our worthy subject and his wife.
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HON. JAMES DEMPSEY WHITE.
Hon. James Dempsey White, ex-judge of the court of appeals of Kentucky, was formerly a resident of Bardwell, but now makes his home in Frankfort. This state has always been distinguished for the high rank of her bench and bar, and prominent among the able lawyers of the present generation who have won honor and fame, and at the same time have honored the state to which they belong, is Judge White.
A native of Hickman county, Kentucky, he was born in 1831, a son of the Rev. Willis White, who was a native of North Carolina, and on coming to Kentucky located in Caldwell county. Subsequently he made his home in Hickman county, and still later in Ballard county, whence he afterward returned to Hickman county, settling in Clinton, the county seat, where he served as superintendent of schools. He was for many years a prominent minister of the Baptist church, and was no less active and distinguished in the cause of education, thus leaving the impress of his individuality upon the intellectual and moral progress of the communities in which his lot was cast. He was the founder of the Baptist college at Clinton, known as Clinton College, and it became a power for good as a means of Christian education in this part of the state. Rev. White spent his last days in Clinton, where his memory is yet honored and cherished, remaining as a blessed benediction to those who knew him. His wife was a most estimable lady, and was no less ardent as a follower of the Baptist church than he.
It will thus be seen that it was amid the refining influences of a cuitured Christian home that Judge White was reared. His parents desired that he should be well fitted for the duties of life, and it was
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the son's privilege to gain a good literary education in his youth. He then turned his attention to the study of law, and after sufficiently mastering the principles of jurisprudence was admitted to the bar, locat- ing, just prior to the Civil war, at Blandville, Kentucky, where he entered upon his professional career, which has been one of pleasing success. In 1870 he was elected to fill out an unexpired term as common pleas judge, and in 1873 he was regularly elected to the office for a full term. On the expiration of that term, in 1879. he resumed the private practice of law in Blandville, where he continued to reside until 1891, when he changed his place of residence to Bardwell, the county seat of the then recently organized county of Carlisle.
In politics Judge White has ever been an ardent Democrat, and in 1880 was chosen a presidential elector, voting for Hancock and English. . Throughout the entire period of his manhood he has been active in poli- tics, regarding it the duty as well as the privilege of the citizen to express his preference on political matters, and thus advance what he believes to be the welfare of county, state and nation. In 1896 Mr. White became the choice of his party for the candidacy for judge of the court of appeals from the first appellate district, and was elected in the fall of that year to fill out an unexpired term. He served for six years and one month in the office, and since his retirement from the bench has made his home in Frankfort, where he now has a large pri- vate practice. Few lawyers have made a more lasting impression upon the bar of the state, both for legal ability of a high order and for the individuality of a personal character which impresses itself upon a com- munity.
Judge White has been twice married. He first wedded Mary Ellen Coil, a native of Virginia, who died in 1875. For his second wife he
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chose Mrs. Mary A. Utterback, noe Juett. There are no children by the second marriage, while of the first union four were born : William T., a lawyer of Wickliffe, Kentucky; Willis J., a lawyer and manu- facturer of Bardwell; Florence, the wife of W. A. Stephens, a mer- chant of Bardwell, and Samuel Jacob, also of the same city.
Judge White is a Knight Templar Mason and also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and his life exemplifies the prin- ciples of these noble fraternities. His career has been one of activity, of success, and, above all, beyond reproach. He is a man of excellent traits of character, brave and manly, sincere and outspoken, gentle in manner, yet firm in the discharge of his duty. He has gained a high place in the profession by hard work and by evidencing his ability to fill the positions with which the people have entrusted him.
WILLIS JOSHUA WITTE.
Willis J. White, the second son of the Hon. James Dempsey and Mary Ellen (Coil) White, was born in Blandville, Kentucky, July 14, 1865, and was there reared and educated. Under his father's direction, having completed his literary course, he took up the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1800. Since 1889 he has resided in Bard- well, where he began his professional career, and from 1897 until 1901 he was county attorney of Carlisle county. While he is a successful practitioner, he is also interested in other business, and since 1900 has been an active stockholder in the Bardwell Heading & Stave Company, of which he is the president. This enterprise has met with marked success. Socially he is connected with both the Masonic fraternity and with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
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BENJAMIN T. HUEY.
Benjamin Thomas Huey, who is now serving as circuit clerk for Carlisle county and makes his home in Bardwell, was born on a farm in this county, April 23, 1871, his parents being Jeremiah and Martha Priscilla (Bennett ) Huey. His paternal grandparents were John and Leticia (Brandon) Huey. The grandfather was born in Kentucky and was an early settler of what is now Carlisle county. He is now deceased, but his widow is still living at the advanced age of ninety- four years. She celebrated the anniversary of her birth on the 9th day of April, 1903. She is still hale and hearty, and lives in Carlisle county. She was born in Tennessee, a daughter of William Brandon, an early settler of what is now Carlisle county, where he lived for many years. Mrs. John Huey was the mother of three sons and a daughter: Wil- liam, now deceased ; Susanna, the widow of John M. Hobbs and a resi- dent of Carlisle county ; Jeremiah and James, both deceased.
Jeremiah Huey, the father of our subject, was born in Carlisle county, Kentucky, October 4, 1845, and passed away here on the 6th of January, 1902. His wife, who is still living in this county, was born here May 2.1. 1817, a daughter of John Bennett, a native of Vir- ginia. To Mr. and Mrs. Jeremiah Huey were born ten children : Ella, Letticia, John W., Benjamin T., Barbara Susan, Dixie D., Rhoda J., Maybelle, Lizzie and Emma D .. all of whom are yet living. The father of this family was a farmer by occupation, and thus provided a com- fortable living for his wife and children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Huey were members of the Missionary Baptist church, and in its faith reared their children, who have also become members of that denomination.
Upon the home farm Benjamin T. Huey was reared, and there
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remained until twenty-one years of age. He gained a fair education, attending the district schools until thirteen years of age, and after he had reached his majority he spent five years in teaching and attending school alternately. In the fall of 1897 he was elected circuit clerk of Carlisle county, as the Democratic candidate, and in the spring of 1903 was made the candidate of the party for re-election, having no opposi- tion. He has always been a stanch supporter of the men and measures of the Democratic party.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Huey is a Master Mason, and he also holds membership relations with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married in 1898 to Miss Mary Terry, a daughter of W. H. and Mary Terry, of Carlisle county, where Mrs. Huey was born. Mr. and Mrs. Hey now have two children : Horace Thomas and Henry Jeremiah. Having always lived in this county, they are well known and occupy an enviable position in social circles where true worth and intelligence are received as the passports into good society.
DR. JOSEPH W. THOMPSON.
Dr. Joseph W. Thompson, deceased, was for years a leading physi- cian and surgeon of the city of Paducah, where he was esteemed for his professional knowledge and skill and beloved for his many sterling traits of character as a man.
He was born in Graves county, Kentucky, June 27, 1838, and was descended from one of the oldest and most highly respected families of the Jackson Purchase. His grandfather, Moses Thompson, settled in Graves county about 1825, and was one of the first associate judges appointed to preside over the courts of that district. He was a farmer by
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occupation, but a man of more than ordinary mental ability for his day. Ile died in Ballard county, Kentucky, at the home of his son. Augustus Thompson, in 1844. He was the father of twelve children, including eleven sons, who inherited not only the mental strength of their father, but the native energy of their mother, who is said to have been a remark- able woman for the day in which she lived. She was one of the found- ers of the Christian church in western Kentucky, and was noted for possessing a degree of refinement and lady-like culture rarely seen among people of the new country. Of their sons, Augustus was born in But- ler county, Kentucky, in 1815, and removed with the family to Graves county, where, in early life, he began the practice of medicine, having prepared himself for the profession in the Cincinnati Medical College. He married, in 1837, Miss Susan M. Grundy, and reared three sons, of whom the subject of this sketch was the eldest. He died in the prime of life of cholera in the latter part of June, 1849. His wife, who was born in 1817, died in Ballard county in February, 1869. A biography of her youngest son, George C. Thompson, appears elsewhere in these volumes.
Dr. Joseph W. Thompson was principally reared on the farm and in Ballard county. He received a fair literary education, and at the age of eighteen years began the study of medicine under Dr. G. Stovall, of Ballard county, and in 1857 entered the Medical College of Nashville, Tennessee, whence, in 1858, he went to the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in March of 1859. Hle then located in Ballard county, where he successfully practiced till 1861, when he entered the Confederate army as surgeon of the Third Kentucky Regiment. In this capacity he served for two years, and was afterward placed in charge of Forrest's Hospital, at Lauderdale Springs,
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Mississippi, remaining there two years and until the close of the war. Immediately after the close of hostilities Dr. Thompson located in Paducah, where he continued to reside and to practice medicine till he passed away in death. He rose to a front rank in his profession ; was a member of the Medical and Surgical Society of Paducah, of the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Society, of the Kentucky State Medi- cal AAssociation and the American Medical Association, and was also a Mason and a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
February 17, 1867. Dr. Thompson married Miss Victoria H. O'Brien, a native of North Carolina. She is still living in Paducah. In the death of Dr. Thompson there passed away a beloved physician, a good citizen and one whom everyone who knew him highly re- spected.
J. R. SMITIL.
J. R. Smith, wholesale grocer of Paducah, was born in Wadesboro, Kentucky, March 26, 1837. He began his business career, which has been a very successful one, on very limited capital. He was a poor man, but by reason of industry, energy and honest business methods he suc- ceeded in every undertaking, and his entire business career has been crowned with brilliant successes, and to-day he is not only among the oldest business men of Paducah, but one of the wealthiest and most prominent of all western Kentucky.
Hle commenced his business life with his brother, Joseph Smith, in Murray, Kentucky, in the year 1852, and there learned those busi- ness habits and methods which have enabled him to accumulate a for- tune and also rise high in the commercial world. Mr. Smith came to Paducah in 1870 and embarked in the wholesale grocery business, in
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which he was successful from the start and unto this day, the style of the firm now being J. R. Smith & Son. He has contributed much to the material welfare of the city of Paducah, where no man is held in higher esteem than is he.
Mr. Smith is the fifth in a family of seven children born to An- drew and Eliza (Curd) Smith, who were early settlers of Calloway county, Kentucky, where they lived many years and were universally respected by all who knew them. In Calloway county Mr. Smith married Mary E. Orr, who was born in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana.
C. C. THOMPSON.
The lumber business of McCracken county and western Kentucky has a well known representative in C. C. Thompson, of Cecil, who has been identified with this locality for a number of years. Mr. Thomp- son is a native of New York state, and was born in the year 18.45. His father, Charley C. Thompson, was an Englishman by birth, who early in life came to this country, and in New York married Miss Mar- garet J. Young, a native of the Empire state. Moving westward, they located in Ohio, and in that state the subject of our sketch was reared and educated. Before he completed his schooling, however, he left Ohio and went to Michigan, where he engaged in the lumber business and where he resided until 1889. He came to MeCracken county in 1889 and has since been engaged in the same business here, being suc- cessful in conducting operations and gaining a wide acquaintance and the confidence and respect of the people among whom he has done busi- ness.
In 1865 Mr. Thompson married Miss Clara Hamlin, and they are
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the parents of two daughters, namely: Rose J., wife of Bernard Ful- lerton, a well known lumber dealer of Mississippi, and Lotta M., wife of C. P. Holt, a bridge contractor and prominent citizen of Paducah, Kentucky.
JOSEPH W. BECKER, M. D.
Joseph W. Becker, M. D., was born at Smithland, Livingston county, Kentucky, December 23, 1825, and died at Paducah, Kentucky, in the year 1890. He was a son of Joseph and Catherine ( Hagey) Becker, the father a native of Canada and the mother a native of Ten- nessee. The home of the parents continued at Smithland till the son was about seven years of age, and thereafter till 1844 the family resided in Paducah.
In this latter city the youth of Dr. Becker was spent. He received a fair literary education, and then took up the study of medicine. The celebrated Dr. Gross of Louisville, Kentucky, was his preceptor. Later he attended medical lectures in New York and Philadelphia. He began his professional career at Metropolis, Illinois, to which place his parents had removed from Paducah. Here he practiced till the year 1856, when the family returned to the city of Paducah. For over thirty years thereafter he was actively engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Paducah. For a long time he and the late Dr. Reuben Sanders were associated partners in the practice of medicine.
Dr. Becker gained professional prominence soon after he entered upon his career as a physician and surgeon. For years he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, but a few years before his death he en- deavored to retire from the active practice.
Ile was possessed of a broad and thorough knowledge of the
JOSEPH W. BECKER.
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science of medicine, and in the application of his knowledge was a most .skillful practitioner. He was a trusted and beloved physician. In manner he was kind, considerate, genial and generous. Hle is yet and long will be held in affectionate memory by those who knew him.
Dr. Becker not only rose to a high rank in his profession, but also gained prominence as a progressive and public-spirited citizen. He amassed a fair estate, but not by means of speculation, nor by oppres- sion of his fellow man. He was charitable, and ever gave aid to those he deemed worthy of help. He led a consistent christian life, and was an exemplary member of the Episcopal church, to which he gave loyal support and liberally of his means.
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