USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume II > Part 2
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BEDFORD FORREST BURTON.
From a humble position in the business world Bedford Forrest Bur- ton has steadily worked his way upward, directing his energies in those channels through which prosperity comes. An analyzation of his life record shows that energy, close application and mastery of the work entrusted to him have been the salient features in his career. He is
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now cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Wickliffe, and is also successfully engaged in dealing in real estate.
Mr. Burton was born on a farm in Daviess county, Kentucky, September 20, 1867, and is descended from one of the old families of Virginia. His great-grandfather, Bassett Burton, was a native of Vir- ginia, whence he removed to Kentucky, and in this state Addison Burton, the grandfather, was born, reared and spent his entire life. Richard B. Burton, the father of our subject, was born in Daviess.county, Ken- tucky, where he is still living at the age of sixty-seven years, his entire life having been devoted to farming. In early manhood he wedded Miss Margaret S. Pate, a native of Ohio county, Kentucky, and a daugh- ter of Dr. Mason Crawford and Charlotte ( Miller) Pate. Mrs. Burton passed away in 1901, at the age of sixty-five years, respected by all who knew her. She was the mother of four sons, one of whom had died in infancy. The brothers of our subject are Jefferson Davis Burton, a farmer and school teacher of Daviess county, Kentucky, and Alverdie P. Burton, also a farmer of Daviess county.
On the home farm Bedford F. Burton spent his boyhood and youth, assisting in the labors of field and meadow. The sun shone down upon many a field which he plowed and planted, and when not engaged with the work of cultivating the soil he attended the public schools, acquiring a good, practical English education. When twenty-three years of age he left home, and for three or four years was engaged in painting and paperhanging at Newbern, Tennessee, and Wickliffe, Kentucky, having resided continuously in the latter city since 1892. In May, 1896, he accepted the position of bookkeeper in the Bank of Wickliffe, and was connected with that institution for three and a half years, three years of which time he served as assistant cashier. On the 20th of March,
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1902, the Farmers' Bank of Wickliffe was organized and opened for business, and Mr. Burton became cashier, in which capacity he has since served. The success of the bank may be attributed in no small degree to his efforts, for his thorough understanding of the business has been an important factor in the control of the institution, and his obliging manner and unfailing courtesy have secured many patrons. In connection with Charles Wickliffe he is also engaged in operating in real estate under the firm style of Burton & Wickliffe, and they have handled considerable valuable property and negotiated many important realty transfers.
In 1899 Mr. Burton was united in marriage to Miss Minnie E. Rich, a daughter of Jesse A. Rich, of Ballard county, Kentucky, and they now have one child, Winnie Goebel. Both Mr. and Mrs. Burton have a wide circle of friends in Wickliffe, and the hospitality of the best homes of the city is freely accorded them. While Mr. Burton has never sought or desired office, he always keeps well informed on the political issues of the day, as every true American citizen should do, and votes in the measures which he believes will affect the weal of the nation. Hi support is ever given to the Democracy, and his social relations connect him with the Masonic fraternity. There have been no exciting chapters in his life history, but his record proves the force of determina- tion and honorable effort in the business world, and shows that the world is not slow to acknowledge worth and merit.
JAMES R. ALLEN.
James R. Allen, the well known farmer near Mayfield, Graves county, Kentucky, is himself a North Carolinian, and is one of that ceaseless stream of emigrants who have been born in the rich Old North
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state, and have afterward crossed the mountains to the wider fields of the states of the Mississippi valley. His father was James Allen, who was born in North Carolina in 1814, and afterward moved to Tennessee, and in 1865 came to Marshall county, Kentucky, where he resided till his death in 1884. His wife was Linda Russell, born in North Carolina in 1817, and she died in 1880. The children of these parents were : Joel Allen, who is a well-to-do merchant of Clear Spring, Kentucky ; Cable, in the tobacco business in Mayfield; John, a farmer of Graves county, who died in 1887 at the age of forty-seven; Sallie, the wife of Dr. Shelton, of Boydsville, Kentucky; Margaret, who died at the age of thirty-six.
James R. Allen was born to these parents in North Carolina in 1862, and was educated in the public schools of Marshall county, Ken- tucky. When he left school he began farming in Marshall county, and in 1887 came to Graves county, where he has carried on agricultural pursuits ever since, and his five hundred and seventy-five acres of well tilled land place him in the front rank of the farmers of the county. He is an adherent of the old Democratic party, and attends to the duties of the good citizen with commendable earnestness. In 1887 Mr. Allen married Miss Nellie Tryee, and the children who were born to them are May, Celcie, John, Ruth, William, James, and Dewey.
JAMES M. TARTT.
The Tartt family, like many in Kentucky, had its origin across the mountains in North Carolina, where grandfather James Tartt was born, being of the sturdy Irish stock which settled a large part of that state. He came to Tennessee in early life and was a prominent farmer of
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Henry county. He was married in that county and reared three children : Thaddeus C. Tartt, a farmer of Nacogdoches, Texas; Martha V., the wife of John Wade, a timberman of Olive, Tennessee; and Penbrook S. Tartt. The last named, the father of James M. Tartt, was born in Henry county, Tennessee, in 1835. He was educated in the schools of Paris, Tennessee, and then engaged in the drug business in that city, until 1861, when he came to Graves county, Kentucky; for the follow- ing twenty years he farmed, and in 1881 moved to Wingo, Graves county, and from that time till his death in 1902 conducted a hotel. He was a stanch Democrat all his life, and belonged to the Methodist church.
Penbrook S. Tartt married Susan S. Morse, who was born in Graves county, Kentucky, in 1837. Her father was Mark Morse, a native of Caldwell county, Kentucky, and of English descent; carly in life he moved to Graves county and settled near Brush Creek church. Mr. Morse married Emma Willingham and reared a family of five girls, all of whom are living but one: Mary is the wife of Dr. A. B. Beadles, the first physician of Wingo, and he died in 1875 at the age vi tity; Emily, who became the wife of Porter Campbell, a business manof Fulton, Kentucky, died in 1893 at the age of fifty-eight ; Frances Is the wife of James Emerson, a farmer of Graves county; Georgia is the wife of Alfred Crews, a hotelkeeper of Wingo; and Susan S., who has survived her husband and is still living at the age of sixty-six, having become the mother of two children, Anna W. Dodson and James M. Tartt.
James M. Tartt was born in Graves county, Kentucky, in 1867, and after finishing his education in the Wingo schools, clerked for about three months in the grocery store of E. T. Stephenson; he was next employed in the same capacity in the Frost & Slaughter dry-goods house,
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and in 1891 he went to Mayfield and worked for R. E. Smith in the same business till 1892, when he returned to Wingo and engaged in the grocery business, the firm being known as Plumbee & Tartt. In 1894 he bought his grandfather's farm and engaged in farming for two years ; in 1896 he was elected cashier of the Bank of Wingo, and at the present time fills this office and also conducts a grocery store.
In 1891 Mr. Tartt was married to Miss Della C. Myatt, the daugh- ter of A. M. and Rachel Myatt, of Graves county. In politics Mr. Tartt is a Democrat, and is a member of Landrum Lodge No. 448, A. F. & A. M., of Mayfield. He is one of the younger, but one of the very capable and energetic business men of Graves county, and enjoys the respect of all his associates.
JAMES R. LEMON.
James R. Lemon was born on the 10th of April, 1848, in Guilford county, North Carolina, near where the battle of Guilford Courthouse was fought during the Revolutionary war, and seven miles from Greens- boro, the county seat of Guilford county. He was the first child born to Joseph G. and Demarias A. Lemon, the former of whom was born in 1818 and the latter in 1833, both natives of North Carolina. It was in the year 1855 that these parents left their home in their native state in search of a new home in what they called the "west." This journey of over eight hundred miles in a two-horse wagon, with three small children, was accomplished in seven weeks, and they landed at Birming- ham, Marshall county, Kentucky, about Christmas time in the year 1855. Marshall county was then almost a wilderness with but few settlements scattered about, and this consequently afforded their children but poor
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opportunities for receiving an education. For several years after arriv- ing in this state the parents were renters, and thus drifted froni one neighborhood to another.
It will thus be seen that the son, James R. Lemon, received few opportunities to prepare himself for future usefulness. He was reared to farm life, and attended the public schools of his neighborhood, which were very poor at that time, until 1870, but during that period he de- voted every hour possible to the study of such books as his parents were able to furnish him, and when he had reached his twenty-second year he was regarded as the best scholar in the community. It was in the same year that he visited Henry county, Tennessee, and during his sojourn there among relatives taught a three months' school, for which lie received fifty-six dollars. Returning thence to his humble home in Kentucky, he there remained until March 27, 1870, when he entered the ' Marshall County Seminary, located at Benton, Kentucky, and under the preceptorship of Professor A. Pomroy, an able educator. Attending the spring and summer session, he then went into the country and taught a fall school in his home district, after which he again entered the seminary, there remaining until April, 1871, when the institution was disbanded and the students drifted into various portions of the country. From that time until the following September Mr. Lemon was employed as a clerk in a general store at Briensburg, after which he taught another school, and at the expiration of that period returned home. In August, 1872, he again entered the schoolroom, at Briensburg, where he taught until the spring of 1873, and on the 13th of March of that year he was married to Miss Cora A. Wilson, of Benton, by whom he had three children, Clay G., Luna E. and Maud S., all yet living.
In 1874 Mr. Lemon embarked in the drug business in Benton, in
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partnership with his father-in-law, Dr. J. K. Wilson, but shortly after- ward the latter died, and he then continued the business in his own name until 1880, when he formed a partnership with W. A. Holland. By this time young Lemon was becoming quite prominent for his busi- ness ability and the success which attended all his efforts, and in 1880 he was appointed by Colonel Sam Gaines, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, as census supervisor of Marshall county. In the following year, 1881, he was employed by Patrick & Wilson, wholesale stationers at Evans- ville, Indiana, as traveling salesman in western Kentucky, southern Illinois, western Tennessee, southeastern Missouri and Arkansas, which position he held for five years, and was considered one of the most successful salesman on the road. On the 17th of November, 1884, he enlarged his drug interest in Benton by buying out all competitors and becoming the junior partner in the well known firm of Starks & Lemon; thus continuing until October 13, 1890, when he purchased the interest of his partner and conducted a successful business in his own name. On the 20th of March, 1885, his wife died, leaving him with three small children, and on October 6 following he was married to Miss Lucretia C. Thompson, the youngest daughter of Mrs. Martha Thompson, and the two children of this union are still living, Scott T. and Bryan T. Lemon.
At this time Mr. Lemon was taking a prominent part in politics and the management of the finances of several enterprises. In March, 1886, he was appointed by Governor J. Proctor Knott, of Kentucky, a member of the state board of equalization, with headquarters at Frankfort, to fill out the unexpired term of C. C. Coulter, deceased. To this position he was elected at the November election of 1886, over several competitors, and received a three thousand majority. He was
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one of the most prominent members of the board and did much for his constituents in reducing taxation. In 1892 he was appointed master commissioner of Marshall county by D. G. Clark, judge of the common pleas court of that district, which position be held until his resignation in 1803. From 1873 for two years be held the position of postmaster at Old Briensburg, for seven years served in the same position at Ben- tom under the administrations of Grant and Arthur, and was again ap- poimed at Benton, May 6, 1893, mole Cleveland's administration. which position he held for nine yous, and was considered one of the Ist of postmaster. In tog Mr. Lemon formed a stock company at Pa- ducab, Kentucky, under the name of the Lemon-Gregory Hat Company, being the prime mover in establishing a wholesale hat house in that city, and was president and general manager of the company until it discontinued business in 1899. He was also always fond of the news- paper business, being considered a natural journalist, and on the ist of May, 1890, became editor and proprietor of the Benton Tribune, soon making it one of the leading county papers in western Kentucky. Hle was a strong Democrat, and as a matter of course his paper was Democratic. In 1895 he became part owner of the Paducah Register, serving as vice president of the company until 1896, when he disposed of his interest.
In 1898 politics in Kentucky became very warm, when the lamented Senator Goebel was a candidate for governor. At this time both papers in Paducah bolted the Democratic ticket, and he, together with W. W. Martin, of Eddyville, threw themselves into the breach and established the Kentucky Leader, which was the only paper that supported the Demo- cratic ticket that year. He disposed of his interest in that paper in 1899. On the 17th of April, 1901, he went to Mayfield, Kentucky,
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and formed a copartnership in the newspaper business with W. K. Wall, a prominent young lawyer and city attorney, and established the May- field Daily and Weekly Messenger, which was not long in becoming Graves county's greatest newspaper. Mr. Lemon has always taken a lively interest in both state and local politics, and believes it a political crime to depart from his party's ticket. He is a member of the Christian church, is an Odd Fellow, a Mason, a Knight of Honor, and also a member of the Golden Cross and the Maccabees. His life has ever been an active one in business. He has been strictly temperate, having never drunk, used tobacco or gambled, always honest in his dealings and punc- tual to comply with his contracts. He has never been an office-seeker or been politically ambitious, although he has held several positions, and twice in his life has been a candidate. He is one of the best known men in the western part of the state, and has perhaps traveled more than any other man in the section.
ARCHIBALD DIXON PURDY, M. D.
Archibald Dixon Purdy, M. D., of Kuttawa, was born on a farm in Hopkins county, Kentucky, April 28, 1854, and was reared in his native place. He left home when fourteen years of age, with thirty cents in his pocket, and walked to Union county, Kentucky, where he hired himself out to a farmer by the day, earning sufficient to purchase a hundred-acre farm in Hopkins county, to which his mother, brother and sister later moved. He attended school at Charleston, Hopkins county, Kentucky, and then clerked for M. M. Lynch for several months. The latter helped him during his youth and took an interest in the plucky lad. By teaching the young fellow earned enough to continue his own
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studies, and meanwhile worked upon the farm. Finally he began the study of medicine, and entered the University of Tennessee and was graduated from the medical department in February, 1882. Imme- diately thereafter he located in Kuttawa, and has since made it his home, building up a large and paying practice. He is a member of the Lyon County Medical Society, of which he is vice president ; and mem- ber of the Kentucky State Medical Association. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, and is very active in the order. In politics he is a Democrat.
In 1886 he married Miss Ida Hopkins, of Paducah, Kentucky, the accomplished daughter of John W. Hopkins, Esq. Three children have been born of this marriage, two living and one deceased, namely : Archibald; John, deceased; Mary Irwin.
Dr. Purdy owns about twenty-six thousand acres of land, and is largely interested in farming. Being a strictly self-made man, the suc- cess which has attended him is all the more remarkable and creditable, and he has also gained a host of warm personal friends.
WILLIAM POLLITT MCCLAIN.
William Pollitt McClain is a native of Henderson county, Ken- tucky, and makes his home in the city of Henderson. His father, William McClain, of Scotch ancestry, was an agriculturist, who located in Maryland in colonial days. The first of the name to come to Ken- tucky sought a home in Henderson county during the pioneer epoch in the history of the state. Here the family acquired extensive real estate holdings and owned large numbers of slaves to cultivate their lands; but when the Civil war liberated the negroes, the owners were left in
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an impoverished condition. The mother of our subject, Mrs. Virginia McClain, was a daughter of James B. and Elizabeth (Cabell) Pollitt, the former a merchant and one of the most enterprising business men of Henderson. The Cabells were a leading family of Buckingham county, Virginia, and removed from the Old Dominion to central Ken- tricky. They were also related to the Bolling family of Virginia.
Mr. McClain, of this sketch, began his education in the schools of Henderson and afterward entered the Notre Dame University of South Bend, Indiana, where he was graduated with honor in the class of 1870, receiving the degree of A. B. He then entered the law depart- ment of the University of Virginia, and on the completion of the pre- scribed course was graduated at that institution in 1873. He took up his residence in St. Louis, Missouri, where he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court and engaged in practice there until 1875, when he returned to Henderson, where he has since been actively engaged in the active prosecution of his chosen profession.
In 1880 Mr. McClain was elected city attorney and served until 18Si when he resigned to accept the office of county attorney, to which he was called by the vote of the people. For fourteen consecutive years he acted in that capacity, with the approval and unqualified approbation of a constantly increasing constituency. He so upheld the majesty of the law and administered the criminal code that he gained the respect and confidence of the people, as is well indicated by his long retention in office. He has been an active factor in the campaigns of the Democ- racy and is an ardent and consistent adherent of its principles and a fearless and able advocate of his belief before the people. In 1894 he was urged by his friends to enter the race for the Democratic nom- ination for congress and made a brilliant canvass. He defeated his
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home opponent, a lawyer of acknowledged ability and experience, but lost the nomination in the convention in a triangular contest. His law practice is large and lucrative, and he has a distinctly valuable clientage. His practice has been general and he is a forceful and successful advocate and a safe and judicious counselor, equally able in civil or criminal practice.
Mr. McClain was married in 1882 to Miss Mary Maury Garland, daughter of Dr. Richard Garland, a native of Virginia and a practictioner of medicine in Henderson. Ile was reared in the Presbyterian church but with his wife attends the Episcopal church, of which she is a member. Mr. McClain belongs to no societies ; he is a man of domestic tastes and finds his greatest pleasure at his own fireside, dispensing the hospitality for which the southern homes are so justly noted. His scholarly attain- ments and his culture, combined with a courteous, genial manner, make him a favorite with many friends. He is a man of broad scholarship. recognized as a ripe student, not alone in the law but also in general lines of thought and investigation. In personal appearance he is of fine physique, has a musical and harmonious voice and possesses a per- sonal magnetism which on the platform or in the court room attracts his hearers, while his logical arguments and carnest utterances never fail to carry conviction.
ROBERT H. HODGES.
Robert II. Hodges, one of Hickman county's most succesful farmers, was born in Hickman county, Kentucky, September 12, 1864, and is a son of Eli and Martha J. (Bard) Hodges. His father was born in eastern Tennessee and his mother in what is now Fulton county, Ken-
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tucky. The Hodges family came originally from South Carolina and is of English origin. The maternal grandfather of our subject was William Bard, but we know little of him.
Robert HI. Hodges was reared and educated in Hickman county, and began farming before he had attained his majority, and has con- tinued in this pursuit ever since. For the past ten years he has also dealt more or less extensively in live-stock, buying and shipping to the St. Louis markets. His farm consists of one hundred and eight acres of fine land, which he keeps in a high state of cultivation. When he began his business career he had one hundred and forty dollars as capital, but by industry, energy and good management he has gained his present prosperous position. In politics he was a Democrat until four years ago, when he became a Socialist. In religious matters he is a Cum- berland Presbyterian and contributes generously towards the support of the church.
In 1889 he was married to Miss Mattie Kendall. She was born in Ilickman county, Kentucky, October 15, 1869, and is a daughter of George and Mary ( Hannon) Kendall. Her father and mother were born in Hickman county, Kentucky. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Hodges was William Kendall, who was born in Virginia and came of English descent, while the maternal grandfather was James Hannon and was born in Trigg county, Kentucky, and came of Irish parentage. George Kendall, the father of Mrs. Hodges, was a carpenter by trade, and worked at his craft until 1883, when he decided to devote his entire time to farming, a calling he had followed in connection with his trade. In politics he was a Democrat and later a Populist. His death occurred April 25, 1902, when he was sixty-six years of age. His wife is still living at the age of sixty seven years, residing on the old homestead.
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Six children were born to them, namely: James; Nannie, Mrs. Rufus Neely ; William; Mattic, Mrs. Hodges; Joseph; Robert. Mr. and Mrs. Hodges have seven children, namely : Herschel, Ethel, Nannie, Horace, Harry, and Mary and Milton, twins.
THOMAS R. STONE.
Thomas R. Stone, a successful and well known farmer of Hickman county, Kentucky, was born in that county October 28, 1851, and is a son of James A. and Sarah A. (Gwyn) Stone, the former of whom was born in Todd county, Kentucky, while the latter was born in Sum- ner county, Tennessee. The paternal grandfather, Thomas Stone, was born in Rockingham county, North Carolina, and was of Scotch an- cestry. The maternal grandfather, Jolm Gwyn, was born in the same county and state, but came of Welsh ancestry, and he participated in the war of 1812 under Andrew Jackson and was in the battle of New Or- leans. Thomas Stone was educated at Richmond, Virginia, and taught school until his health failed, when he became a farmer. He was justice of the peace for the Clinton district from 1851 to 1871, and then declined to serve any longer.
James A. Stone was a wagon-maker by trade, but did not follow his calling to any great extent, making farming his chief business in life. From the time he was ten years of age he lived in Hickman county, Kentucky, his parents having come here in 1838. He was one of the stanch Democrats in that locality. His death occurred July 15, 1901, when he was seventy-one years of age, and he died firm in the faith of the Methodist church. The mother is still living, aged seventy- eight years, and makes her home with our subject. Six children were
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