USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume II > Part 17
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years, and she now lies buried in Graves county, the family burying ground. In his political affiliations Mr. Howard has been a life-long Democrat, and on its ticket his fellow citizens have honored him with many positions of honor and trust. Ilis religious connections are with the Christian church in Hickman county.
JAMES CHESTER DEAN.
James Chester Dean, county judge of Hickman county, was born in White county, Georgia, June 16, 1863, a son of James M. and Celia (Stephens) Dean, both natives of that commonwealth. In early life the father followed merchandising, but as the years passed by turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, and is still engaged in that occu- pation in White county.
James Chester Dean, the youngest of his parents' children, was reared to the life of a farmer boy, and his literary education was received at Emery College of Oxford, Georgia, in which he graduated in 1886. In that year he came to Clinton, Hickman county, Kentucky, and became an instructor in Marvin College, of which in 1891 he was made first joint principal and four years later, in 1895, became president, with full charge of the college, in which important position he con- tinued until 1898. In that year he resigned his position and imme- diately entered upon the practice of law at Clinton. He was admitted to the bar in May, 1898, although he was prepared to practice the profession when he came to this city, but continued its study while en- gaged in educational work. In 1901, on the Democratic ticket, he was elected the county judge of Hickman county, assuming the duties of that important office in 1902 and is the present incumbent. Judge Dean
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has mounted the ladder of fame by his own unaided efforts, having throughout life battled earnestly and energetically, and is truly a type of the progressive spirit of the age. While a student in Emery College he also taught in the public schools during the summer months, thus earning the means by which to further pursue his studies.
The marriage of Judge Dean was celebrated in 1891, when Miss Rosa Mallary became his wife, she being also a native of Georgia. In his fraternal relations the Judge is a member of the Knights of Pythias, and his religious views connect him with the Methodist church, in which he has served as superintendent of the Sunday-school.
WILLIS R. MOSS.
Among those who have attained distinctive prestige in the practice of medicine at Clinton stands Dr. Moss, who is a man of scholarly attainments and who has made deep and careful research into the science to which he is devoting his life. He is a native son of this city, where his birth occurred on the 31st of October, 1867, his parents being Luther C. and Laura B. (Hales) Moss. The father was born in Greensburg, Green county, Kentucky, January 22, 1829, and his death occurred in Clinton, this state, January 7, 1898. In his young manhood he came to Hickman county, settling on a farm near Columbus, in which city he engaged in the milling business and was operating a mill at the time of his enlistment in the Confederate army, becoming second lieutenant of Company K, Second Kentucky Infantry, serving throughout the en- tire period of hostilities.
At the close of the Civil war Mr. Moss returned to Hickman county, and in 1866 married and located in Clinton, where he engaged in
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a mercantile business with his father-in-law, Thomas Hales. Later he became associated with James L. Moss, a nephew, in the agricultural implement business, under the firm name of L. C. and J. L. Moss, which relationship was maintained for about sixteen years, when Mr. Moss retired on account of failing health. He gave his political support to the Democratic party, and served as postmaster under Cleveland's first administration. His religious views connected him with the Presby- terian church, in which he served as a deacon, and in his fraternal rela- tions he was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His widow still resides in Clinton. In their family were the following 'children: Willis R., whose name introduces this review; Fred, de- ceased; Ida M., the wife of C. B. Hillard; Effie, deceased; Luther C., a dentist of Clinton; Nettie D., deceased; Thomas H., also a dentist in Clinton; and Robert B., at home with his mother. Mrs. Moss is a member of the Baptist church. At the death of Luther C. Moss a local paper said of him: "Columns would scarcely contain a fitting tribute to his character. His epitaph is engraved upon the hearts of his neigh- bors, and no monument could reach higher than his unselfish life. The memory of him will linger long in the hearts of the people who knew him and appreciated his sterling Christian virtues and his great human heart."
Dr. Willis R. Moss was reared in Clinton and received his lit- erary education in Clinton College. He pursued his medical studies in the University of Louisville, in which he graduated in 1893, and since that time he has followed the practice of his profession in this city. Ile is a member of the Southwestern Kentucky State Medical Associa- tion, the American Medical Association, and the Hickman County Med- ical Society, being president of the last named.
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In 1894 Mr. Moss was united in marriage to Miss Adah B. Dun- navent, of Clinton, and they have one child, Mary Lavinia. In his fra- ternal relations the Doctor is a Master Mason and a member of the Knights of Pythias, and his religious views connect him with the Metho- dist Episcopal church.
JOHN C. YATES, M. D.
John C. Yates was born at Pryorsburg, Graves county, Kentucky, the 16th of November, 1866, a son of John M. and Arena ( Prince) Yates. The father was born in Tennessee, as was also his father, Tirah Yates, while the mother was a native of Weakley county, Tennessee, and was a daughter of Joshua Prince, of that commonwealth. Mr. and Mrs. Yates were married in Graves county, Kentucky, where the father still resides and follows agricultural pursuits. The mother was called to the home beyond in November, 1900, passing away at the age of fifty-six years. During the Civil war Mr. Yates served as a Confed- crate soldier, was a Democrat in his political affiliations, and both he and his wife were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church.
John C. Yates was reared to the life of a farmer boy, and received an academical education. When eighteen years of age he began the study of medicine, under the preceptorship of Dr. John L. Dismukes, of Mayfield, and later became a student in the University of Louis- ville, in which he was graduated in 1892. For six and a half years thereafter he was engaged in the practice of medicine at Bellerton, Hick- man county, and on the expiration of that period located in Fulton, where he has gained an enviable prestige as one of the most able and successful practitioners of medicine in the community. Ile is a niem-
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ber of the Southwest Kentucky Medical Society, and his political sup- port is given to the Democracy, while his religious views connect him with the Methodist church.
On the 24th of December, 1900, Dr. Yates was united in marriage to Stella D. Hornbake, a native daughter of Kentucky.
ROBERT A. HICKS.
Robert A. Hicks, who is numbered among the leading medical practitioners of Paducah, Kentucky, was born in Trenton, Tennessee, on the 12th of July, 1869, being a son of Dr. Robert A. and Mary E. ( Herbert) Hicks. The father was a native of Jackson, Madison county, Tennessee, where his father was one of the early pioneers, removing there from Virginia, where the ancestors of the family had settled during the early history of the United States. Robert A. Hicks, Sr., was the second in order of birth in a family of nine sons, all of whom were Confederate soldiers, and he was reared and received his literary education in Jackson, Tennessee. Choosing the practice of medicine as his life work, he graduated from the Medical College of Macon, Georgia, also the Eclectic Medical College of Cincinnati and the Homeo- pathic Medical College of Missouri, at St. Louis. Being thus well equipped to enter the profession of his choice, he located at Trenton, Tennessee, where for more than thirty years his name was a household word in many of the best homes of the community. In 1892, when fifty-seven years of age, his life labors were ended in death, but his wife survived until 1901, when she joined him in the home beyond, passing away at the age of sixty years and in the faith of the Baptist church,
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of which she was long a worthy and consistent member. Dr. Hicks gave his political support to the Democratic party. In their family were three children : Mamie, the wife of O. B. C. Freeman, an attorney of Trenton, Tennessee; Robert A .; and Thomas Cecil, a physician of Mem- phis, Tennessee.
Robert A. Hicks, Jr., spent the period of his boyhood and youth in Trenton, Tennessee, the place of his nativity, and his literary educa- tion was received in the University of Tennessee, at Knoxville, from which institution he was graduated in 1888, with the degree of A. M. Also choosing the healing art as his occupation through life, he became a student in the medical department of the University of Tennessee, at Nashville, from which he was graduated in March, 1890, and for two years thereafter was engaged in practice with his father. In 1892 he graduated at the Hahnemann Medical College and Hospital of Chicago, the following year being spent as a physician in the Hahnemann Hos- pital, and for the following three years he was a practitioner at Rome, Georgia. Since 1896 Dr. Hicks has been a member of the profession at Paducah, where his career as a physician and surgeon has been at- tended with marked success. His promptness, his sympathetic nature and his generosity are his well known characteristics, and those who know him esteem him highly. While a resident of Rome Dr. Hicks served as president of the Tri-State Homeopathic Medical Society and was a member of the state board of medical examiners of Georgia. He now holds membership relations with the Southern Homoepathic Medical Society and the Kentucky State Homeopathic Society, of which he is vice president.
In 1892 Dr. ITicks was united in marriage with Margaret Thomas, of Knoxville, Tennessee, and they have had five children, three of whom
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are living, namely: Robert N., Walton N. and Margaret Elizabeth. . Both he and his wife are members of the Episcopal church, in which he has served as a member of the vestry for three years.
CHARLES KENNEDY WHEELER.
Charles Kennedy Wheeler, ex-congressman and member of the firm of Wheeler, Hughes & Berry, one of the leading law firms of western Kentucky, is one of the state's most honored sons. Besides his hon- orable public career as a member of the principal law-making body of the republic, he is one of the keenest and most able of the younger lawyers of the state, having begun practice before the legally required age and with a special license from the state. He has been connected . with the bar of Paducah for over twenty years, and has had a rapid rise to prominence.
Mr. Wheeler was born in Christian county, Kentucky, April 18, 1863, on his father's farm near Hopkinsville. He is the youngest of a family of twelve children, and was reared on a farm until he was ten years of age, after which he lived in Hopkinsville. He attended the mili- tary academy in that city, and is a graduate of the academic department of the Southwestern Presbyterian University, at Clarksville, Tennessee, and of the law department of the Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee. In the summer of 1880 he was licensed by special legislation to practice law in Kentucky, being then the youngest licensed lawyer in the state. He located in Paducah, and from 1886 to 1890 was associated as partner with Judge James Campbell. He has confined his practice to common law and equity cases, and has appeared as counsel in many im-
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portant suits. In 1902 he formed a partnership with D. H. Hughes, and the firm of Wheeler and Hughes is one of the strongest in western Kentucky, and enjoys a large and lucrative practice. Mr. Wheeler possesses a keen and analytical mind for solving legal difficulties, and is an orator of ability. He has always continued a diligent student of the law, and his careful preparation of cases has been one of the strong elements of his success. For several years he was corporation counsel for the city of Paducah, serving from 1894 until 1896, when he was called to higher duties.
Hle has always been interested in public affairs, but the press of business has not allowed him the participation which he would desire. During several years he labored for the success of the Democratic party, and was a member of the Democratic state executive committee, and was the Democratic presidential elector for his congressional district in 1892, casting his vote for Grover Cleveland. Not until the fall of 1896 did he allow his name to be used in connection with an office which would call for much time and attention. In November of that year he was elected a member of Congress, and was re-elected in 1898 and 1900, but declined to become a candidate in 1902. In 1902 he was the un- successful candidate for election to the United States senate. He made an excellent record during his terms as a national legislator, and helped push some important measures. During his three terms he was con- tinuously a member .of the nayal committee, which in late years has been one of the most important of the house committees. With the years of greatest usefulness still before him, Mr. Wheeler has a large share of his personal history and achievement still to write.
In 1888 Mr. Wheeler was married to Miss Mary Guthrie, a daughter of John J. Guthrie, a merchant of Paducah. They have three children,
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James, Mary and Charlott. Mr. Wheeler is a member of Grace church, Protestant Episcopal, and affiliates with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
HON. CHARLES ANDERSON.
The life history of few men of the nation have touched along so many lines of usefulness as that of Governor Charles Anderson, and yet there have been few men who have sought to figure in as limited extent in the public eye as did he. Ilis service was never promoted by the hope of public reward or honors, but was the outpouring of a kindly spirit, deeply interested in mankind and the highest development of the race. Material improvement, intellectual and aesthetic culture and moral progress all felt the stimulus of his efforts. His nation received his loyal support during the darkest hours of its history, and there stands to-day in Kentucky one of its most beautiful towns as a monument to its founder, Governor Charles Anderson.
Governor Anderson was born at Soldier's Retreat-his father's homestead,-in Jefferson county, Kentucky, on the Ist of June, 1814. This house, erected by his father, stood on land allotted to him by the state of Virginia in recognition of his services as a colonel in the Con- tinental army in the war of the Revolution.
The ancestral history of the family is traced back to Robert Ander- son, who was born in Scotland and was of pure Scotch descent. He and his brother David came to America in 1665 and settled in the colony of Virginia at New Kent Court House. His son was Robert Anderson, second, of St. Peter's Parish, and his grandson was Robert, third, who purchased an estate which was known as "Goldmines," and thus he
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came to be called "Robin of Goldmines." He wedded Elizabeth Clough, a maiden of the Virginia colony. Among their children was Richard Clough Anderson, the father of the Governor. He was born at the family home, Goldmines, in Hanover county, January 12, 1750 (O. S.), and was commissioned a captain of the Virginia militia in his early manhood. He served with distinction in the Revolutionary war, rising to the rank of colonel, and for his services was granted by the Virginia house of burgesses a tract of land in Kentucky, where he afterward established his home, calling his estate Soldier's Retreat, a home such as gained for the state her reputation for hospitality. It was here that the noted Revolutionary patriot passed away, October 16, 1826. As sur- veyor general of the state he established offices in Louisville, and from the year 1783 or 1784 he made his home continuously in this state. He was twice married, his first union being with Miss Elizabeth Clark, a sister of General George Rogers Clark and General Lewis Clark. Of this marriage four children were born. The eldest of these was Richard Clough Anderson, Jr., who was elected to congress in 1817, at the same time with Henry Clay. He was our first minister to the United States of Colombia, and died en route from Bogota to Panama to attend the first Pan-American-Panama Canal Congress in 1826. For his second wife Colonel Anderson chose Miss Sarah Marshall, an own cousin of his first wife and of Chief Justice Marshall. They became the parents of thirteen children, of whom Governor Anderson was the youngest son that reached adult age.
Governor Anderson began his education under the direction of a private tutor, and by the time he was six years of age had made con- siderable progress in Latin. He was only twelve years of age at the time of his father's death. When a youth of fifteen he became a student
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in the Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, where he was graduated with the class of 1833, being then nineteen years of age. Desiring to make the practice of law his life work, he was the first of a thousand students who studied law in the office of Judge Pirtle, of Louisville. He also read law in Cincinnati, and then entered upon the practice of his pro- fession in Dayton, Ohio, where he soon afterward entered into partner- ship with Judge Joseph Crane. Later he removed to Cincinnati, where he formed a partnership with Mr. Rufus King, and in both cities he enjoyed a large and lucrative patronage. He was always a deep thinker, a profound reasoner and logical in argument, and he won success in his chosen calling. His broad mind, keen sensibilities and strong sympathy, however, caused him to give considerable time and attention to the study of various questions relative to the political, social and economic conditions of the country and to its intellectual progress. He was known as one of the early political leaders of Ohio and served in the state senate in 1843-4, leaving the impress of his individuality and patriotic spirit upon the legislation enacted during that period.
There is no one man to whom Ohio owes more for the establish- ment of her school system upon a firm and progressive basis. When opposition was sharp and bitter, his efforts in its defense were never relaxed, and his energy and eloquence in its behalf were potent efforts for good, producing results that are still enjoyed by the entire school population of the state. This alone would entitle him to distinction and the gratitude of his race, and yet he performed many other works equally commendable and that render him one of the benefactors of mankind. He it was who suggested the establishment of the first home in America for the volunteers of the Civil war, that at Dayton, Ohio, and, as the result of his idea and his labors in this regard, there are now
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scattered throughout the country these homes of the brave boys in blue who stood as the defenders of the Union cause.
Governor Anderson was a man of keen insight, with marked recog- nition of possibilities, and he looked beyond the exigencies of the mo- ment to the possibilities of the future. He saw what railroad-building would mean to the country, and while in the Ohio senate he became the originator of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad, and, after his removal to Kentucky, he was one of the three men most influential in the building of the Elizabethtown & Paducah Railroad, now the Louisville division of the Illinois Central Railroad.
After residing in Cincinnati from 1845 until 1858, Governor An- derson removed to the south. He left Ohio because of ill health, and, ere he said goodby to his fellow citizens, his brethren in the legal fra- ternity held a banquet in his honor.
Going to San Antonio, Texas, he secured a large body of land near that city and there engaged in the breeding of horses and cattle, in which business he was engaged at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war. He had watched with interest the progress of events in the south, and never attempted to disguise his love of country or his loyal devotion to the Union cause. In fact, when secession was advocated and encouraged by the people of Texas, he valiantly defended the Union cause and made a number of speeches in defense of his opinions that so incensed southern sentiment that he was arrested and imprisoned. However, from the camp in which he was imprisoned, by reason of some outside aid and the inattention of his guards, he escaped, fled to Mexico, whence his family had preceded him, and thence sailed to New York. Immediately afterward he went to Dayton, Ohio, where he was tendered an appointment as colonel of the Ninety-third Regiment
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of Ohio Volunteers. This he accepted, and with his regiment, fully recruited, armed and equipped, left Dayton for Kentucky, August 20, 1862. He was in command of his regiment at Stone River, the first important engagement in which he participated, and on the 21st of February, 1863, he was wounded, his injuries unfitting him for fur- ther field service and thus forcing him to resign. He was a man of unflinching courage in the face of danger, and his own bravery inspired his men to deeds of valor. He won the love of his soldiers, whom he never needlessly exposed to danger, but when duty called never failed to lead them into the thickest of the fight. On leaving the army Colonel Anderson rejoined his family in Dayton, and soon afterward, at the solicitation of the Republican party, he accepted the nomination for lieutenant governor of Ohio and was elected in 1863. Upon the death of Governor Brough he succeeded to the office of governor, and filled out the unexpired term with marked capability, safely guiding the ship of state through troubled waters.
After his retirement from office Governor Anderson returned to his native state, becoming a resident of Eddyville in 1866. He pur- chased a large tract of land near the town and superintended important and extensive agricultural interests. About 1874 he laid out the town of Kuttawa, and in 1877 he took up his abode there.
While in college Governor Anderson had formed the acquaintance of Miss Eliza J. Brown, and in 1835 they were married. They became the parents of six children, of whom three survive, the only surviving son being Colonel Latham Anderson. The daughters are Miss Kitty and Mrs. Belle Skinner, the latter of Waynesville, North Carolina, and the former still living at the family home in Kuttawa. The mother was born in Dayton, Ohio, October 20, 1816, and died in Kuttawa,
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November 19, 1901. £ She was a daughter of Henry and Catherine ( Patterson) Brown. Her father was a native of Virginia and went to Kentucky as private secretary to Governor Preston.
In his political affiliations Governor Anderson was first a Whig and afterward a Republican, and in his religious connections he was a Presbyterian. His labors, however, benefited people of all races, nation- alities, creeds and beliefs. He was a man of the broadest sympathy and humanitarian principles, and his activity seems to have touched upon almost every department of labor that has benefited mankind. He always continued his efforts in behalf of education, and he became active in prison reform associations. He was also a zealous factor in southern commercial conventions, greatly desiring the business development and material upbuilding of the south, which he loved so well. He was a man of intense artistic temperament, evinced in the love of all forms of art, and, being a passionate lover of nature, the practice of landscape gardening was his favorite pursuit. This was manifest not only in the external decorations of his own home, and he was also instrumental in the founding of park cemeteries and public parks. It may justly be claimed that he was the originator of the park-cemetery idea, for which America bears the palm among all nations, for in 1845 he suggested and outlined the plan for Woodland cemetery, near Dayton, Ohio. He has left a monument to 'his genius in landscape architecture, of the natural style or school, in the adaptation of his plan of the town of Kut- tawa to its naturally lovely surroundings, and in the system of parks, including Cemetery Park, with which he has munificently endowed the town. Living in the midst of ideally beautiful surroundings, Governor Anderson spent the evening of a happy, useful and honorable life, pass-
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