USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume II > Part 10
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Captain Elmore has always been an ardent believer in Democratic principles, and has represented his county in both branches of the state legislature, where he proved a steadfast and able defender of the in- terests of his constituency, and identified himself with the progressive element of the state's lawmakers. Ile was sent as a delegate to the
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state constitutional convention, which, during its work in 1890-2, framed a new fundamental law for the state, and he succeeded in embodying several sections in the new instrument that have been of great interest to the state. Captain Elmore is a believer in the Missionary Baptist church, and is chairman of the Democratic county committee.
He comes of an English family, which. carly settled in the south, and his paternal grandfather was born in Georgia. William and May (Reynolds) Elmore, his parents, were born in South Carolina and Alabama, respectively, and the following children were born to them: Elizabeth, Thomas J., Robert H., Richard, Stephen H., May, Carrie, Lon and Lee-all deceased except Thomas J., Stephen H. and Lee, the latter being a resident of California.
Prior to Mr. Elmore's removal to Kentucky he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Ophelia Weems, December 19, 1865, of Holmes county, Mississippi. She was a lady of fine literary attainments and great strength of character, and was an excellent wife and mother till death took her away in 1897. Eight children were born to this marriage, viz .: Carrie, Bettie B., Eleanor P., Kate C., Oscar, Beulah, James M. and Thomas J., the three last deceased.
ROBERT S. COLEMAN, M. D.
Occupying a prominent position both as a leading physician and representative citizen of Caldwell county, Kentucky, is Dr. Robert S. Coleman, of Princeton. He was born in Stewart county, Tennessee, March 8, 1830, and traces his ancestry back to England. Several generations of the Coleman family, however, have lived and died in this country. Dr. Coleman's grandfather, Robert S. Coleman, and his
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great-grandfather, also named Robert Coleman, were born in Cul- peper county, Virginia. William H. Coleman, his father, was a native of North Carolina, born in Rockingham county, whence, about the year 1818, he moved to Tennessee and settled in Stewart county, where his life was passed in agricultural pursuits, and where he died in 1850. He was a personal friend of David Crockett, and voted for him on one occasion, this being the only time when his vote was not cast with the Democratic party. In Stewart county, Tennessee, William II. Cole- man married Miss Polly Gatlin, daughter of Rev. Ephraim Gatlin, a Baptist minister, and the only son of James Gatlin. The Gatlins are of German origin. Ephraim Gatlin's wife was a Miss Bruton, whose father, George Bruton, was a native of Scotland, born of Scotch-Irish parentage. William H. and Polly Coleman had an only child, Robert S., whose name graces this sketch.
Robert S. Coleman was reared in his native county, assisting his father with the farm work, and attending school about three months each year. He was about twenty years old when his father died, and after his father's death he remained on the farm with his mother umtil his marriage and for some time thereafter. His mother died in Callo- way county, Kentucky. In 1860 her moved to Henry county, Tennes- see, where he continued farming until the liberation of the slaves. In the meantime, while engaged in farming, he had taken up the study of medicine, to which he devoted his leisure time. Then he went to Nashville, Tennessee, and took a medical course in the university, where he graduated in 1862. Shortly after his graduation he entered the hospital service in the Confederate army, with which he remained until September 24, 1863. On that date he was captured. He was paroled at Fort Heiman, returned home and did not again join the army, as he
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was never exchanged. He engaged in the practice of medicine, in part- nership with his former preceptor, Dr. A. J. Weldon, at Buchanan, Ten- nessee, with whom he was associated in business for a period of six years, at the end of which time Dr. Weldon moved to Paris Landing, Tennessee. Dr. Coleman remained at Buchanan, conducting a suc- cessful practice, until 1872, when he removed to Murray, Kentucky, and from there, in 1887, he came to Princeton. All these years he has been actively engaged in the practice of his profession and has gained high standing in the medical fraternity. Dr. Coleman is president of the Caldwell County Medical Society, ex-president of the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Society, and has membership in other medical organ- izations. Also he is on the Princeton board of health, having been a member of the same since its organization.
Dr. Coleman's father was a Mason, and he, too, has for years been identified with this time-honored organization. He is a member of Clinton Lodge No. 82, F. & A. M .; Murray Chapter No. 92, R. A. M. ; and Paducah Commandery No. 1I, K. T. Also he is a member of the Knights of Honor and of Jim Pierce Camp, U. C. V.
Dr. Coleman was married November 7, 1856, to Miss Fannie Williams, born in Henry county, Tennessee, in 1837, daughter of John 11. and Annie ( Williams) Williams. Sons and daughters to the num- ber of six have come to bless their home, and with one exception all are still living. William C. died in Henry county, Tennessee, at the age of four years. The others have grown up to occupy useful and honored positions in life; J. R. Coleman, M. D. is a practicing physician of Paducah, Kentucky, and a sketch of his life will be found on another page of this work; James HI. Coleman is a prominent attorney of Murray, Kentucky; Thomas E. Coleman is a merchant of Princeton,
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Kentucky; Mary is the wife of Dr. Van A. Stilley, of Benton, Ken- tucky; and Fannie is the wife of Singleton D. Hodge, an attorney of Princeton.
EDMUND H. DANIEL.
Edmund H. Daniel belongs to a pioneer family of Princeton, Ken- tucky, where he was born and reared, and has for many years been a useful and respected citizen. Mr. Daniel was born September 8, 1829, son of Alsop Y. and Mary M. ( Harris) Daniel, both natives of Cul- peper county, Virginia, the date of the father's birth being October 30, 1790. The parents left their Virginia homes early in life to come to Kentucky, and it was in Princeton, in 1826, that they were married. The father was by trade a coach-builder. He died January 13, 1841. in Princeton.
Edmund H. Daniel was an energetic boy, and at an early age showed a disposition to do something for his support. At the age of nine years he started out peddling ginger cakes. From this humble beginning he worked his way up; clerked in a confectionery store, learned the candy and baker's trade, and was thus employed five years ; went to Eddyville, Kentucky, and for some time clerked in his uncle's dry-goods store. Returning to Princeton, he clerked in a dry- goods store for August May, later in a saloon and grocery for T. J. Johnson, and still later was in the employ of A. Denney. December 28, 1864, he engaged in business in partnership with his brother, R. T. Daniel, with whom he was associated five years, doing business in the old Calvert block. He then bought the lot on which his present business place is located, and in the winter of 1869-70 erected the build-
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ing which he has since occupied, and where he has conducted a suc- cessful business during this period of more than thirty-three years.
Mr. Daniel has been a Democrat all his life, but in the local elections he votes for the best man regardless of political views. Fraternally he is a Mason, having identified himself with the Masonic order forty years ago, and remained a member in good standing in the same ever since.
February 15, 1850, Mr. Daniel married Miss Manerva Perry, a native of Caldwell county, Kentucky, and a daughter of W. P. Perry, a farmer of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Daniel have no children of their own, but have reared and educated seven children.
LEOPOLD FRIEDMAN.
Leopold Friedman, deceased, was born in Germany in the year 1829. He was given a liberal education, in the best schools of Ger- many, and at the age of twenty-six left his native land for America, to seek his fortune and a home. ITis father was one of the largest wine merchants of Nuremberg, Germany, but the young man, possessing a good education, and noble ambitions, set out to battle for himself. Upon his arrival in this country, he entered the wholesale dry-goods business in the city of Louisville, Kentucky. When the Civil war came on, this concern having large business relations with the south, suffered heavy losses, by reason of the ravages of the war and the extreme financial depression prevailing at that time. Consequently, at the end of the war, Mr. Friedman found himself with very little resources, but still pos- sessing that spirit of aggressiveness and ambition, and he again became
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active in business affairs as a member of the firm of Griff & Co., which soon gained a large volume of business, and enjoyed a heavy trade of enormous profits.
Having been a wine merchant in his native land, he now turned his attention to a form of business akin to that of his youth. Accord- ingly, he established a vinegar factory in Louisville, which proved suc- cessful. In 1878, being influenced by his son, Joseph L., who had pre- ceded him to Paducah, Kentucky, in 1875, Mr. Friedman came to this city and connected himself with the company under the style of Joseph L. Friedman & Company, and it soon gained a profitable business, manufacturing a vinegar that became famous for its high quality. Mr. Friedman remained in charge of this business till his death, which occurred in 1886. His son, Joseph L. Friedman, who had meanwhile . been connected with him, assumed full control on his father's death, and successfully conducted the enterprise till 1890, when it was sold to the company now operating it, under the name of the O. L. Gregory Vinegar Company.
Mr. Leopold Friedman was highly esteemed by all who knew him. He was genial, kind and considerate; in business dealing, he was fair and just. To his family, he was kind and generous, and in his death there passed away a good citizen, an excellent business man, a faithful friend, a beloved husband and father. Long will he be held in affectionate memory. His good wife survives him, and is well known in Paducah, her friends being numerous. Perhaps no lady of the city is more generously loved and respected than she. She possesses many excellent traits of character, and is both an educated and cultured lady. In her early life, she was noted for almost unsurpassed beauty, grace,
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and refinement that solicit admiration and reverence. She possesses marked religious sentiment, her religion being that of the Hebrew faith.
JOSEPHI L. FRIEDMAN.
Among the representative and enterprising citizens and men of business affairs in Paducah, there is none more conspicuous than he whose name introduces this personal memoir. Mr. Friedman was born in the city of Louisville, Kentucky, on the 14th day of April, 1857, a son of the late Leopold Friedman and Louise ( Weil) Friedman. Hav- ing received an excellent education in the schools of Louisville and in Cecilian College, Mr. Friedman, at the age of eighteen years, came to Paducah, Kentucky, where he accepted a clerical position in a clothing store. In 1878 he induced his father to come to Paducah and establish a vinegar factory, under the style of Joseph L. Friedman & Company, and thereafter, till the death of his father in 1886, he was associated with the latter in the manufacture and sale of vinegar, and from then he continued to manage the business till 1890, when, to an advantage, lie sold, and the manufactory has since been conducted by the O. L. Gregory Vinegar Company.
In 1890, Mr. Friedman entered into a partnership with his brother- in-law, Mr. Keiler, for the distilling and wholesaling of liquor, under the firm name of Friedman, Keiler & Company. They operate a distillery in Nelson county, Kentucky, and are the second largest distillers and wholesalers of liquor in the state. Their famous brand is known as "Brook Hill," and their volume of business has steadily increased from the beginning. Taking into consideration that the firm began business only thirteen years ago, and to-day stand second among the many
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like concerns of the state, the firm has met with remarkable success. This success has been well merited by reason of the splendid business management together with fair dealing.
Besides active connection with this firm Mr. Friedman is also promi- nently identified with many other business enterprises of Paducah, among which there might be mentioned the Paducah City Railway Com- pany, of which he is a director; the City National Bank, of which he is vice president; the Palmer House Company, which owns the Palmer House and the Kentucky Theater, and in which company Mr. Friedman is the president; the Smith & Scott Tobacco Company, of which he is a director; and in addition to these he holds interest in other minor forms of business. The business interests are mentioned to show our subject's prominence in business affairs. He has a spirit of enterprise and progression well worthy of emulation. His remarkable success places him among the most active and sapient business men of western Ken- tucky.
In 1886 Mr. Friedman was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Keiler, a lady of rare accomplishments. Their home is celebrated for its generous hospitality, and both Mr. and Mrs. Friedman belong to the highest circles of Paducah society. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason, and also a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of Honor. In these orders he is popular, but no more so than he is with all who know him. While politically Mr. Friedman is a stanch Democrat, he has never sought political preferment. Instead, he prefers the life of a purely business man, and his has been a successful career in that field of activity.
But in the affairs of life, where man meets man in everyday rela-
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tions, he has shown his noble character. Among his hosts of friends he is esteemed for his genial spirit and also for his brotherly helpful- ness in crises. He never fails to respond to requests for charity, and this makes one of the spheres of his activity. Such a personage as Mr. Friedman is a distinct ornament to the community, one of the pillars which uphold the structure of society and give it stability. Hon- esty and integrity in business and personal life, loyalty to friends, free- handed generosity and kind-heartedness in his dealings with all, are characteristics which increase his esteem among men and widen his beneficent influence with each succeeding year of life.
WILLIAM HENRY RICH.
More than twenty-five years of active business life in Princeton, Kentucky, entitles William Henry Rich to rank with the pioneer mer- chants of the town. Mr. Rich is a native of Kentucky. He was born in what was then Caldwell but now Lyon county, near Eddyville, Decem- ber 28, 1845, and on the paternal side traces his ancestry to England. Several generations of the family, however, have been residents of this country. His grandfather, William Rich, and his father, Jesse Rich, were natives of Tennessee. In an early day the family moved from Tennessee to Illinois and shortly afterward came to Kentucky, where Jesse Rich was reared and where he engaged in agricultural pursuits on a farm near Eddyville, in Caldwell county. He died in the prime of life, at the age of thirty-seven years. The mother of our subject was Julia Ann Holesapple before her marriage. She was a native of Caldwell county and a daughter of one of the pioneers of that county, who had moved to this state from Virginia. He was of German origin.
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Jesse and Julia Ann Rich were the parents of five children, all of whom reached adult age, namely: William Henry; Mary Jane, deceased; James M., who resides on the old Rich homestead four miles west of Princeton; Sarah E., wife of Andrew George, a resident of Caldwell county, Kentucky ; and Nancy Jane, widow of James Holloway, also a resident of Caldwell county.
William Henry Rich was reared on his father's farm, receiving his education in the common schools near his home, and when a young man began teaching school, intending to follow teaching for a liveli- hood. Two terms, however, were sufficient to convince him that some other occupation would be more congenial to his taste, so he turned his attention to teaming, and the next five years was occupied in hauling goods from Eddyville to Princeton. Next he engaged in merchandising . at Dulaney, Kentucky, where he was in business three years, and whence, in 1877, he came to Princeton. His first business venture here was in a meat market, which he ran for a year and a half. Then he bought a half interest in a stock of groceries and liquors, soon afterward pur- chased the other half, and in January, 1880, took in as partner a Mr. Miller, and the firm became Miller & Rich, and continued as such until October 15, 1885, when Mr. Rich bought his partner's interest and three months later closed out the liquor department of the business, adding in its stead a stock of confectionery. Later he added hardware, and still later harness and saddles, and has since run a general store, carrying all these lines of goods and doing a prosperous business.
During his long residence here Mr. Rich has always taken an active interest in public affairs, has served as a member of the city council, and for five years was city clerk. He is a Democrat politically. Fraternally
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he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is secretary of the lodge at Princeton.
While a resident of Dulaney Mr. Rich was married, in 1875, to Miss Josephine E. Selles, daughter of Reuben and Emily Selles, of Caldwell county, Mrs. Rich having been born in that part of Caldwell county which is now Lyon county. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Rich, two died in infancy. The others are Ida Lee, wife of P. A. Steele, a conductor on the Illinois Central Railroad; and Charles S., who is associated in business with his father.
JOSEPH WILLIAM RIGLESBERGER.
Joseph William Riglesberger, a very prominent citizen of Paducah, Kentucky, and well known throughout McCracken county, was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, January 20, 1873, and is a son of Frank Rigles- berger, who was born in Baden Baden, Germany, September 15, 1851, the eldest son of the seven children born to Andrew and Catherine (Am- buscher) Riglesberger, natives of the same place.
Frank Riglesberger was educated in Germany, but had few ad- vantages of acquiring a knowledge of English; in spite of this, about May 17, 1870, he left his native land for America, and from New York went direct to Piqua, Ohio, and there remained one month working as a laborer in a stone quarry. Thence he came to Shelbyville, Shelby county, Indiana, and became apprenticed to the carpenter trade for his uncle, John Riglesberger, with whom he served for two years. In 1876 he engaged in farming in Shelby county, and continued there until 1881, making a success of his agricultural ventures, but in the later years he moved to Morristown, Indiana, and established a sawmill with a
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capital of five thousand dollars. From this beginning he worked up his business until he employed from twenty-five to thirty men, and had an annual output of nearly 2,500,000 feet of lumber, his market being principally among eastern factories.
On October 20, 1872, Frank Riglesberger was married to Phoche Yarling, who was born February 14, 1853, a daughter of Philip and Catherine ( Mohr) Yarling, both natives of Germany. The children born to this marriage were as follows: Joseph .W., Frank W., Katie, Emma, Maggie, Allie M., Charles and Henry, all of whom are living. After a long and successful career in Morristown, in 1889 the father moved his plant to Paducah, Kentucky, greatly enlarging his facilities until he became one of the most extensive lumber manufacturers in the state. He was not destined to enjoy the results of his work, for he died eight years after he came to Paducah. His wife is still living.
The business was then bought and the property and mills were leased by his sons Joseph and Frank, who operate the establishment under the firm name of J. W. Riglesberger & Brother. Joseph William Riglesberger, after leaving school, worked for his father in the sawmill, thoroughily learning every detail of the business. He was married in Paducah to Miss Mary Cornilland, of that city, who has borne him three children, as follows: Louis, Joseph and Lucile. He is a well known Democrat, and was elected alderman in November, 1902, the duties of which office he is, still ably discharging.
Frank Riglesberger, the junior member of the firm of Riglesberger & Brother, was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, in 1875. He was mar- ried to Miss Anna Dittman, of Paducah, in 1898. Both these young men are highly respected in the community and are recognized as leading factors in the commercial activity of Paducah. Their business, already
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large, is steadily increasing, and they lose no opportunity of enlarging their fields of operation. They have just completed a new saw and planing mill, which began operations the first of January, 1904. It is a great deal larger and better equipped than it ever has been. Their lumber sales for the year 1903 were six million feet.
JOHN BOYD SLEETH.
John Boyd Sleeth, who is better known in Paducah as Captain Jack Sleeth, was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, November 21, 1826, and died in Paducah, Kentucky, March 12, 1895. In early life he left home to engage in boating, and readily found employment on one of the many boats which in those early days plied along the Ohio river. Finally he reached Paducah, Kentucky, and there took up his residence.
In 1845 a telegraphic system had been established at Paducah, and the entire country was excited over the freely expressed opinion of Professor Morse relative to a cable. Mr. Tal. Shafner was actively engaged in experiments as to the possibility of such a feat, endeavoring to connect St. Louis and Nashville by means of an overhead wire across the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. Mr. Sleeth was employed by Mr. Shaf- ner, who afterwards played so important a part in the laying of the Atlantic cable, and assisted in stretching the telegraphic wire from one side of the river to the other, the center support being a tall staff at- tached to the top of a large hickory tree standing on an island separating the mouth of the Tennessee river from the Ohio. The weight of the wire caused it to sag so at flood stages of the waters that the taller- stacked steamers would catch and pull down the wire. Young Sleeth, who had some knowledge of the principles of insulation, conceived the
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idea of laying an insulated wire across the river bed. His idea was re- ceived with considerable skepticism by Mr. Shafner and others, but finally Mr. Shafner consented to make the attempt. With an ample supply of the wires then used for telegraphic lines on hand, the work of laying the first submarine cable began, and the result came after nearly a year. The wire chosen for use as the cable proper was one strand, and it was stretched along the float and wrapped first with canvas such as was then used for roofing steamers, and which had been thoroughly soaked in hot coal tar pitch. The covering process was continued until the wire was about half an inch in diameter and then it was guarded by a wire of a smaller size, this being placed parallel, as is now the custom. It was then wrapped by loose coil with another wire of the same size. The number of wires laid parallel to the cable outside of the canvas insulation was eighteen. The cable was made in sections . and joined before being laid. This cable was over a mile long and when laid was reeled off from the end of a large "broadbow" boat in tow of a steamer craft. It worked successfully for several weeks; then the pitch became water-soaked and failed to operate successfully, and the cable was abandoned, but the idea had proved practical, the dif- ficulty lying in the poor insulation. Some months later Mr. Field sent a representative to Paducah to see Mr. Sleeth, and an offer was made him to continue his investigations and enter into a partnership. As Mr. . Sleeth was then in very moderate circumstances he was forced to de- cline this very flattering offer. He resumed boating, soon after being made captain of a Tennessee river steamer. He never patented his cable or made any attempt to do so, but abandoned it entirely after the first failure. Nevertheless he gave to the world the demonstrated idea that it was possible to connect by a link of wires distant lands, separated
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