USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume II > Part 12
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Eli G. Boone was reared at Paducah, and was educated in the excellent schools of this city. At the age of seventeen he began his business career in the capacity of clerk in a grocery store, and was thus employed for eleven years. Mr. Boone then embarked in a real estate business, later adding an insurance department, and has met with very satisfactory success. Like his father he is identified with the Democratic party, and has served in a number of the local offices. In 1885 he was city assessor, and in 1895 was tax collector. For eighteen years he has been a member of the board of education.
In 1898 Mr. Boone was married to Miss Mattie Vaughan, who was born in McCracken county, Kentucky, and is a daughter of S. C. Vaughan, a retired citizen of Paducah. For twelve years Mr. Boone has been an active worker in the Christian church. He holds fraternal relations with the orders of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Honor.
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WILLIAM VALENTINE OWEN, D. D. S.
There is no family of Paducah better and more favorably known than the Owen family, of which the subject of this sketch is a member. Dr. Owen was born in Paducah, September 27, 1877, and is a son of Robert and Ella (Johnston) Owen. The father, too, was born in the city, his parents being the late Valentine and Bettie ( Walters) Owen. Valentine Owen was a native of Virginia, but left that state as early as 1818, going west, where he secured and settled on land in southern Illinois, bordering on the Ohio river, opposite Paducah, of which city he subsequently became a founder, and resided there until his death in 1872, his wife surviving him for two years. He acquired much real estate in Paducah, in which city he erected the first brick residence. He was a carpenter by trade, and many of the early buildings of the city were put up by him. This worthy pioneer of Paducah and his wife were born in that portion of Virginia now comprising the state of West Virginia. When they made their trip west, they came with wagons and horses to the Ohio, down which they floated on a flat-boat. In politics he was an old-line Whig. Ten children were born to him, five sons. and five daughters. One son, Adolph, became a steamboat- man, but in 1861 enlisted in the Confederate army and served in the war until he was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. James and Robert Owen are owners and operators of the steamer Bettie Owen, a ferry or transfer boat at Paducah. Brack Owen is a well known capitalist of this same city. Of these brothers, Robert Owen is the father of our subject and one of the prominent business men of Paducah.
Dr. Owen was born, reared and educated in Paducah. He was graduated from the Indiana Dental College at Indianapolis in 1899,
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since which time he has practiced his profession in Paducah with marked success. Being a skilled dentist he has gained a good practice, and is one of the popular young men of the city where he has spent his entire life and is so well and favorably known.
EPHRAIM RUDOLPH.
Ephraim Rudolph, who died at Paducah, June 12, 1903, was one of the oldest and best known residents of McCracken county. He was born within six miles of Clarksville, Tennessee, April 26, 1813, a son of John and Mollie ( Stailey) Rudolph, both natives of North Carolina, where they were reared and married. They then moved to Montgomery county, Tennessee, and lived until their deaths. They had ten children, of whom Ephraim was the youngest. The father was a farmer, and our subject was reared upon the farm, obtaining a very limited education. Ilis marriage took place in Montgomery county in 1831, when he was eighteen years of age, to Catherine Carter, who was born near Murfrees- boro, Tennessee, and died in MeCracken county, Kentucky, in 1886. To this marriage were born the following children, namely : William Andrew, deceased; Mary Jane, who married Rev. John D. Kirkpatrick ; Thelbert Michael, of Paducah; Lean Elizabeth, who married C. J. Rudolph, a farmer of McCracken county; Margaret Adaline, widow of Henry Phelps, of McCracken county.
In 1840. Mr. Rudolph came to McCracken county, Kentucky, set- tling ten miles southwest of Paducah, but in 1867 he moved to a farm ten miles southeast of Paducah, where he made his home till death. He settled here in the woods and cleared off a good farm, and was one of the oldest pioneers in the county. For a number of years he voted the
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Democratic ticket, but was later a Prohibitionist. Ile was a devout member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church from the time he was eighteen years of age, and was a ruling elder the greater portion of that time. He was a man very highly esteemed in the neighborhood, and a fine type of the pioneers of long ago.
DAVIS JEFFERSON FOSTER, M. D.
The medical profession of Paducah has a worthy member in the subject of this sketch, Davis Jefferson Foster. Dr. Foster was born in Davidson county, Tennessee, February 26, 1831, son of William Sanders Foster and Nancy Jane ( Walker) Foster, both natives of Ten- nessee, the former of Smith county and the latter of Davidson county. . William Foster, the Doctor's grandfather, was also a native of Tennes- see, the Foster family having emigrated at a very early day to that state from the Old Dominion. During the war of 1812 William Foster en- listed, went to the front and served gallantly, but was brought home sick of disease contracted in the army and died a few days afterward, leaving a widow and two children, William S., and Isaac C., aged re- spectively four and two years. With her helpless little ones, the brave widow faced the struggle of life, and brought up her children under trying circumstances. William S. grew to manhood and married in Tennessee, and settled on a farm in Davidson county, where he passed the rest of his life and where his death occurred at the age of eighty-three years. His wife was eighty-two at the time of her death. She bore Mr. Foster four children, and by a former husband she had three children.
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Davis Jefferson Foster was reared on his father's farm and gained a fair education in local schools and academies. At about the age of twenty-three years he left the parental home and went to Farmington, Graves county, Kentucky, where he began the study of medicine in the office of his brother-in-law, Dr. James Henry ; going thence to the Uni- versity of Tennessee at Nasliville, where he graduated in 1859. After his graduation he opened an office and put out his shingle in Cuba, Graves county, Kentucky, and for six years was engaged in practice there. The next eleven years he was located at Wallonia, Trigg county, Kentucky, removing thence to Mayfield, Graves county, Kentucky, where he spent the following nine years, and in 1880 he came to Paducah. All these years he has been in active practice, and has met with the suc- cess which his honorable methods and carnest efforts have merited. Both as a physician and citizen he enjoys the confidence and respect of the people of his city, where he has spent more than two decades. Dr. Foster is a member of the Paducah Medical Association, the South- western Medical Society and the Kentucky State Medical Association.
Of Dr. Foster's political views, it may be said that he was born and reared a Whig and that he later became a Democrat, to which faith he still adheres. He has, however, never been active in politics, never having sought or filled office. During the year 1861 he served as a private in the First Tennessee Cavalry. Dr. Foster is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
In 1862 Dr. Foster married Miss Harriet Ann Richardson, who died in 1894, and in 1897 he married Virginia Catherine Richardson, her sister. By his first marriage he has four sons living, viz .: James A., William H., Richard O. and Albert M. The third born, Robert, died at the age of eighteen months.
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DR. JOHN N. TODD.
Dr. John N. Todd, a prominent physician and surgeon of Fredonia, Caldwell county, Kentucky, was born in Rutherford county, Tennessee, December 22, 1859, and is a son of J. H. Todd, a native of Tennessee. The Todd family is of English-Scotch ancestry. The father was reared in his native state, becoming a teacher and farmer, and in 1861 located in Webster county upon a farm. His custom was to teach in the winter and farm during the summer months. He was married in his native place to Mary Nichols, a native of Tennessee. They had eight children, as follows: William C., Thomas, Joseph, Frank and Claude, all de- ceased; Lillian married George Valiner, of Webster county ; Laura mar- ried George Bell, of Illinois; and Dr. Todd was the eldest of the family. All the children were born in Kentucky except our subject.
When Dr. Todd was about fourteen years of age he left home to live with Dr. Jefferson Holmen, in Clay, Kentucky, with whom he later studied medicine until he was twenty-one years of age. At that age he began to practice medicine, going to Shady Grove, Kentucky, and there remained until 1898, and then moved to Fredonia, where he now conducts a very flourishing practice.
Dr. Todd was first married in Webster county, in 1879, to Molly Moore, a native of Webster, and she bore him two children, namely : Annie, who married John Kemp, of Shady Grove; and Verna. In 1888 Mrs. Todd died, and in 1889 Dr. Todd married Eliza Fox, of Hopkins county, Kentucky, and to this union one child was born, Lockett. Her death occurred in 1896, and in 1898 he was married to Nellie Lowery, the daughter of Mahlon B. Lowery, a farmer of Caldwell county. Mrs. Todd was born within sight of Fredonia. Dr. Todd, like his father
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before him, is a Democrat, and is a member of the Kentucky Medical Society, the Southwestern Medical Society and the Caldwell County Medical Society. He is a member of the Baptist church, and has long been connected with the Masonic fraternity. Throughout the entire county Dr. Todd is well and favorably known, and is a man of sterling integrity, careful and conscientious in his work and a man who makes many friends.
GEORGE W. OLIVER.
George W. Oliver, one of the successful young attorneys of Pa- ducah, Kentucky, was born on a farm in Marshall county, Kentucky, August 2, 1860, and is a son of James N. and Mary E. (Bowerman) Oliver. The father was born in Hickman county, a son of William W. Oliver, a West Virginian, who moved to Caldwell county, Kentucky. The mother was born in Buchanan county, Kentucky, a daughter of Michael Bowerman. James N. Oliver has followed farming all his life, and now resides in Marshall county, aged sixty-three years. From 1861 to 1865 he was in the Confederate army, and was a gallant and brave soklier. In politics he is a Democrat. His wife is also living, and to them were born children at follows: William Mike, attorney-at-law and partner of our subject, although a resident of Benton, Kentucky; Sarah A .; George W .; Lander K .; and one who died at the age of two years.
George W. Oliver was reared upon his father's farm, and in the county schools he gained his primary education. At the age of eighteen years he commenced teaching school, and so continued until he was twenty-nine years, in the meanwhile studying law. Although he was ad- mitted to the bar, he did not actively engage in that profession until
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1898, when he opened an office with his brother at Benton, but the following year he located in Paducah, and has an excellent business.
In politics he is a Democrat, while fraternally he is a Master Mason and a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His religious affiliations are with the Christian church, in which he is an active worker. Mr. Oliver is a self-educated man, and has gained his present position of responsibility through earnest endeavor directed along legiti- mate channels.
JAMES EDWARD MORGAN.
James Edward Morgan, one of the oldest and best known resi- dents of Paducah, Kentucky, was born in Bedford county, Tennessee. His parents were Hugh and Mary (Marchbanks) Morgan, natives of North and South Carolina, respectively. They were married in Bed- ford county, Tennessee, but left that locality in 1834 and settled six miles south of Paducah, where they engaged in farming, the father's life occupation, until the latter's death in 1846. The family moved into town in 1848, and there the mother died in 1862. There were seven children in the family, but only our subject and a sister are now living:
James Edward Morgan spent his early life upon a farm and work- ing at the carpenter's trade, but in 1854 he erected a livery stable on Market street, now Second street, and has continued to engage in the livery and feed stable business ever since, although at times he has branched out in other directions. For eight years he was engaged in a saddlery business, and for about two years more operated a grocery. In 1901 he purchased a wagon yard and conducts it in connection with his livery establishment, making a success of both enterprises.
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Mr. Morgan has never married, during his earlier life- devoting himself to his widowed mother and now to his sister. In politics he is a Republican, and, during the exciting period antedating the Civil war, he was an ardent abolitionist. Mr. Morgan is known all over the county, and much respected as well as esteemed, for he is a man of sterling traits of character, always ready to assist those less fortunate than himself, although the world knows but little of his charities.
MONROE NANCE.
In Troup county, Georgia, Monroe Nance was born on the 23rd day of March, 1835. Paternally Mr. Nance is of Welsh descent. His grandfather, Joseph Nance, was a Virginian, and one of a very large family of children. His father was twice married and was the father of twenty-seven children, two of whom were named Reuben and two named Sally. Twenty-five of them grew to manhood and womanhood. The family were not only remarkable because of its large membership, but also because of individual worth and honor.
The parents of our subject were Clement and Malinda (Ledbetter) Nance, natives of Virginia and Georgia, respectively. They were mar- ried in Georgia, whence they removed to Tennessee and later to Ken- tucky. They had ten children, of whom Monroe was the oldest and Thomas Milton the youngest, the former being the subject of this sketch, which is followed by a personal mention of the latter. The father was a cabinet-maker by trade, and was of a roaming and un- settled disposition. Rather late in life he left home to seek a more de- sirable place of residence and employment, and thereafter no trace of him did his family gain. When fifty six years of age his wife was
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called away in death. She was buried in Camp Beauregard graveyard at Water Valley, Kentucky. She was an ardent Methodist, a woman of force of character, a dutiful wife and kind and affectionate mother and friend. Her father, Ephraim Ledbetter, was a native of Georgia and a soldier of the war of 1812. He participated in the battle of New Orleans under General Jackson, winning honors for gallant conduct. .
When Monroe Nance was eight years old his parents removed to Trigg county, Kentucky, and six years later to Marshall county, this state. He received a common school education, and then took up the carpenter's trade, at which he worked from 1854 to 1875. He came to Paducah in 1868, and since that date has resided in this city. In 1875 he embarked in the undertaking business, in which he has continued with success, having interred more than fifteen thousand per- sons, and during the twenty-eight years he has been in the business he has held the highest esteem of the public. No business man of Paducah is better or more favorably known than Mr. Nance. Though he began the battle of life a poor youth, and when he took up his busines career he had limited capital, Mr. Nance has prospered in business, now pos- sessing a desirable competence. While he is a stanch Democrat, he has never been active in politics, and though for some fifteen years he served as county coroner he has never sought political honors or pre- ferment.
Mr. Nance is a Knight Templar Mason, prominent in the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows; Ancient Order of United Workmen and Knights of Honor, and formerly a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity. He is also a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, to which he gives loyal support and contributes liberally.
In the year 1859 Mr. Nance married Miss Clio Grubb, a native
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of Franklin, Kentucky. To Mr. and Mrs. Nance were born the fol- lowing named children : Guy, Lee, Joseph, Edward, Samuel, Clement, Hattie, Ada, Monroe and Nellie.
Guy, Lee and Samuel reside in California; Joseph is living in the state of Washington; Edward and Monroe are employed in Paducah; Hattie is at home ; Ada is the wife of A. E. Wood, of Davenport, Iowa; and Nellie is the wife of Dr. C. H. Warner, of Paducah.
THOMAS MILTON NANCE.
Among the most successful life insurance men of Kentucky there are few who have surpassed the achievements of T. M. Nance, of Pa- ducah. Mr. Nance was born in Graves county, Kentucky, in the year 1858. His parents were Clement and Malinda ( Ledbetter) Nance, of whom mention is made above in the biography of Mr. Monroe Nance.
Mr. T. M. Nance was reared and educated in Hickman county, Kentucky, and was a student in Clinton College, Clinton, Kentucky. Ile left school in 1882 to enter a lumber and timber business at Colum- bus, Kentucky. After a successful career in that city, in 1892, he came to Paducah and engaged in the insurance business, representing the Pru- dential Insurance Company as local manager for five years. In 1899 he accepted a position with the Mutual Benefit Insurance Company, of Newark, New Jersey, and in 1901 won the first prize and received a medal for the best class and largest insurance business in the state of Kentucky. He is now manager of this company for western Ken- tucky, and is well known throughout his district. He is a Democrat in politics, but has been too much occupied with private affairs to take an active part in local events. His religious home is in the Methodist
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Episcopal church, South, and he has always been a liberal contributor to that body. Fraternally he is a member of the Odd Fellows of Pa- ducah, and is popular among his fellow members.
In 1886 Mr. Nance was married to Miss Emma Austin, of May- field, Kentucky, who died in 1889, leaving one child, Etta. In 1892 Mr. Nance married Miss Lulu Faker, a native of Mayfield, Kentucky, and a granddaughter of Squire John Eaker, formerly the oldest pioneer of Graves county, and one of its best business men. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nance, Lucien Clyde. Both Mr. and Mrs. Nance are highly respected by their large circle of friends, and the success which has attended the efforts of Mr. Nance is well merited.
JESSE GOODWIN GRIFFITH.
Jesse Goodwin Griffith, deceased, and for many years one of the leading producers of the fragrant weed for which the state of Ken- tucky is famous, was born in Graves county, this state, November 9, 1846, the son of Jasen and Betsie (Colley) Griffith, both natives of Kentucky. The other children of these parents were: Martha, who became the wife of Art Nichols, a farmer of Texas, but both are now deceased; William Griffith, who was engaged in farming in Graves county, but his death occurred in Arkansas; Millie Ann, the widow of Marion Batts, who followed farming in Tennessee; Eli Griffith, a farmer of Hickman county, Kentucky; Sanath Griffith, who became the wife of Calvin Dodson, and died in Graves county.
Mr. Griffith received his education in Graves county, and then began farming. He was successful, and was the owner of two hun- dred acres of land in Graves county, the principal product raised being
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tobacco, in great quantities and of excellent quality. He was known throughout the western part of Kentucky, and was highly respected. His death occurred at the age of forty-two years, May 20, 1889.
ITis wife, whom he married February 6, 1879, and who is still living, was Miss Ellen Jenkins, the daughter of Dr. George and Hannah ( Yandle) Jenkins, the former a well known physician of Graves county, but both are now deceased. Mrs. Griffith's brothers and sisters are: William Jenkins, a farmer in Graves county; Thomas, who also fol- lowed farming in this county, but his death occurred in Missouri; Henry, a farmer in Graves county; George, who died in 1865, at the age of sixteen years ; Samuel, the proprietor of a grocery store at Farm- ington, Kentucky; Matilda, the wife of George Usher, a farmer in Idaho; James, who died in 1864, aged six years; and Martha, the wife of Riely Turnbow, a farmer in the state of Washington. The living children of Mr. and Mrs. Griffith are as follows: Clara, James Albert, Alfus and Samuel. One son, George, is deceased. Mrs. Griffith is a member of the Christian church, and Mr. Griffith gave his political sup- port to the Democratic party.
ANDREW BURGOYNE COLLEY.
Andrew Burgoyne Colley, one of the most extensive tobacco-raisers of Graves county, has lived in this county all his life, and has made a reputation for energy and business ability by the success which he has attained by his efforts. The talents that he received when he began life he has put to good use, and his prosperity results from his good management and thrifty industry. He has been an influential citizen of his community, and in whatever way he has touched the public
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life of his county he has displayed the same enterprising qualities which have been characteristic of his private life.
Mr. Colley's grandfather, David Colley, was a native of Virginia and of Irish ancestry, while his grandfather on his mother's side was of German lineage. His parents were Isaiah and Eliza M. (Happy) Colley, the former a native of Trigg county, Kentucky, and the latter born near Lexington, Kentucky. Isaiah Colley was a farmer, and in politics was first a Democrat, then joined the Whigs and later the Re- publicans. He was a member of no church, but attended the worship of the Christian denomination. He died in 1863, at the age of sixty- five, and his wife survived him till 1900, when she passed away at the age of eighty-seven. Their nine children were as follows: Granville G., William M., deceased, Benjamin F., Christopher C., Andrew B., Theodore T., deceased, John C., Samuel E. and Mary.
Andrew B. Colley was born in Graves county, August 27, 1845, and received his educational training in the schools of Farmington. He was equipped with a capital of fifteen hundred dollars on beginning life, and he devoted it to farming. He has materially increased his property, and is now the owner of one of the finest farms in the county, contain- ing four hundred acres of land and improved to the point that it can be compared with any farm and can be taken as a model and representa- tive place. Ile operates it himself, and devotes nearly all of it to the culture of tobacco. His. annual crop averages from forty to forty-five thousand pounds, of excellent quality and commanding the best prices on the market. He has devoted himself to a thorough study of the conditions affecting this important branch of Kentucky farming, and is as well posted a tobacco man as can be found in western Kentucky.
Mr. Colley belongs to the minority party in Kentucky, but zealously
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supports Republican principles. He and his wife are consistent mem- bers of the Christian church. In 1873 he was married to Miss Annie Overbey, who was born near Farmington in Graves county and edu- cated there. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Colley : Merritt O., who was a prominent lawyer in Mayfield until his death, which occurred June 19, 1901; Lubie G., a physician; Carl B., de- ceased; Toma J. ; and Mary G.
GEORGE C. THOMPSON.
George C. Thompson, president of the American-German National Bank, of Paducah, is numbered among the most sapient business men and best known and popular citizens of this city.
Mr. Thompson was born February 7, 1849, at Blandville, the former county seat of Ballard county, Kentucky. His parents were Augustus and Susan (Grundy) Thompson. His father was a son of Moses and Nancy Thompson, and was born in Graves county, Ken- tucky. He was a school teacher during his younger days, but later studied medicine at Louisville and after receiving his medical diploma began his career as a physician at Blandville, Kentucky. Hle. soon rose to a high rank in his profession, and for several years enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, but during the dreadful scourge of cholera in the year 1849 he fell victim to that pestilential disease, dying when only thirty-five years of age. His widow survived him many years. She was a daughter of Joseph and Lucy Grundy, natives of Nelson county, Kentucky. For some six years after her husband's death she continued to reside in Blandville, then removing to Columbus, Kentucky, she resided there one year, and then took up her residence on the old Joe
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