USA > Kentucky > Memorial record of western Kentucky, Volume II > Part 22
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JEREMIAH T. WILLINGHAM.
Jeremiah T. Willingham, one of the well known men of Graves county, is a native of this county and has lived in the state all his life, so that he is an out and out Kentuckian in all that term implies in the way of business shrewdness, generous hospitableness and ability to en- joy life in all phases and under all conditions. Mr. Willingham has followed both mercantile and agricultural pursuits, and is denominated as a.hustler in whatever he undertakes. He is a thorough business man in demeanor and action, makes his efforts count in every direction, and handles his affairs with an independent energy that brings returns. He has also been a citizen of the highest reliability and public spirit, and he has the honor of being one of the youngest veterans of the Civil war in the state.
Mr. Willingham is of English ancestry, and his parents and grand- parents on both sides were of Virginia birth. He was born in Graves county, Kentucky, July 11, 1849, and is a son of John C. and Eliza- beth J. (Shelton) Willingham, the former a son of Isaac Willingham, and the father of the latter was a Baptist minister. Mr. Willingham was reared in Graves and Calloway counties, receiving his education
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in the latter, and as soon as he reached the proper age he engaged in farming on his own account, having been used to that line of work from childhood. On January 2, 1863, when he was not yet fourteen years old, he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company D, Sixteenth Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry. This company was afterwards consolidated and became Company M, Sixteenth Kentucky Cavalry, and in this Mr. Willingham served till the close of the war, when he re- turned home with all the honors and privileges of a veteran, although he was still a boy. Mr. Willingham after a time gave up farming and embarked in the mercantile business at Jordan Station, Fulton county, Kentucky, where he carried a general line of dry goods, groceries, etc., and conducted a successful trade for twelve years. In 1892 he located on a farm in Fulton county, and was there until 1899, at which date he returned to his native county of Graves, and has since resided on a beautiful farm of one hundred and sixty acres four and one-half miles from Mayfield. This is a valuable piece of property, and his progres- sive methods of cultivating it make it profitable and one of the model farms of the vicinity.
Mr. Willingham follows the political trend of the state, and has always voted the Democratic ticket. In 1870 he was united in mar- riage to Miss Lucy Scearce, who was born in Fulton county, Kentucky. Eight children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Willingham, as fol- lows : Margaret E., Esther May, Edward E., Maud, John E., Myrtle, Robert F. and David W. Mr. and Mrs. Willingham are noted for their generous hospitality among a people who possess this virtue in a marked degree, and they are held in high esteem by all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance.
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MEMORIAL. RECORD.OF
HENRY PRESTON SIGHTS, M. D.
Henry Preston Sights, M. D., of Paducah, is one of the native sons of Kentucky whose careers have reflected honor upon the grand old state where they were born. Although born of one of the old and respected and substantial families of Kentucky, and with an honored ancestry reaching back many generations in the history of our country, lie began life relying almost entirely on his own inborn elements of strength to carry him to the goal of his ambitions. From a drug clerk he became interested in medicine, and a little more than a decade ago he was given his degree of Doctor of Medicine, since which time he has been rising rapidly to the front rank of Kentucky physicians. In ad- dition to a private practice of magnitude, he has filled one of the im- portant public positions in his profession, and has in many ways been identified with public affairs in his community. He has a thorough mastery of his profession, gained from broad study before he began practice and from post-graduate courses in one of the foremost schools of the country. Thus fortified with technical preparation he possesses the sympathy and broad-mindedness which make the ideal physician, and the work which he has done among his patients has not only been honorable to himself but has partaken of the nature of world-charity, a factor in the alleviation of human suffering and the assisting of a fellow creature to increased happiness in life.
Dr. Sights traces his ancestry back to some of the early settlers of America, and has just cause for pride in the worthy part the va- rious generations performed from colonial days to the present. Jacob Sights, in the fifth generation removed, was a native of the colony of Pennsylvania, and bore a gallant part in the Revolutionary war, and
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the maternal great-grandfather of Dr. Sights was also a patriot sol- dier, so that members of the present generation are entitled to mem- bership in that great order of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. David Sights, a son of Jacob Sights, was the father of Preston Sights, a paternal grandfather of Dr. Sights. James J. and Annie R. (Sanderfur) Sights, the parents of Dr. Sights, are both natives of Henderson county, Kentucky, where they are still living and where the former has all his life been engaged in agricultural pursuits. Both the Sights and Sanderfur families were early settlers of Hender- son county.
Dr. Sights was born on a farm in Henderson county, Kentucky, near the village of Niagara, October 28, 1864, and is the second of his father's family of five sons. He was reared on the home farm, re; ceiving his early education in the schools of Niagara and Corydon. He became a drug clerk in Henderson and later a druggist in Corydon, altogether spending about six years in the drug business. This ex- perience in the drug store paved the way for him in the medical pro- fession. He entered the medical department of the University of Louis- ville, and graduated in 1893, after which he was for two and a half years engaged in practice in Henderson. He was then appointed by Governor Bradley as first assistant physician for the Western Kentucky Hospital for the Insane, at Hopkinsville, a position which he creditably filled for nearly four years, from 1897 to 1900. In October, 1900, he came to Paducah, and in the short time he has resided here he has established a good practice and enjoys the confidence and respect of all who know him. In addition to the course in Louisville, he has taken three post-graduate courses in the New York Polyclinic.
Dr. Sights has identified himself with and takes a lively interest
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in various medical associations, being a member of the American Med- ical Association, Kentucky State Medical Association, McCracken County Medical Society and the Southwestern Kentucky Medical So- ciety. He has been initiated into the mysteries of Free-masonry, and is a worthy member of that ancient order. In politics he is a Demo- crat, and his religious views are those of the Christian church.
In 1886 Dr. Sights married Miss. Virginia Niles, of Cairo, Ken- tucky, and they are the parents of two children, Warren and Ethel. Mrs. Sights was born in Henderson county, Kentucky, and is a daugh- ter of the Rev. A. A. Niles and Mary ( Phillips) Niles. Her father is a native of Indiana and is a prominent minister of the Baptist church, and her mother was born in Virginia and is related to the well known Swope family of the Old Dominion.
ROBERT B. PHILLIPS.
Robert B. Phillips, a prominent business man and citizen of Padu- cah, Kentucky, is a native son of this city, where his birth occurred on the 29th of June, 1864, his parents being Charles H. and Mary (Nolan) Phillips, the former a native of Louisville and the latter of Paducah. When a young man the father left Louisville and came to this city, where for a time he was employed as bookkeeper for the John Sherer wholesale grocery firm, but at the outbreak of the Civil war he put aside all personal considerations and offered his services to his loved southland, and was made an officer on General Tillman's staff. After the struggle had ended Mr. Phillips took up his residence in Cairo, Illinois, where he served as auditor for the C. & V. Railroad Com-
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pany, but on account of failing health he finally returned to Louisville, the city of his nativity, and there his life's labors were ended in death.
After the death of his father Robert B. Phillips returned to Pa- ducah with his mother, being then twelve years of age, and here he attended school for one year. At the age of thirteen he began work in the store of F. & W. H. Picke, and afterward, for nine years, was an employe of Fowler, Lee & Company. Going thence to New York, he entered an importing dry-goods house, and later that of Sylvester, Bell & Company, engaged in the same line of trade, working in the capacity of traveling salesman for the last named firm, and in that manner obtained a thorough knowledge of the dry-goods business. Several years thereafter Mr. Phillips returned to Paducah, and during the first year here managed a large dry-goods store. In 1894 he pur- chased an interest in the Ellis & Rudy dry-goods establishment, with which he has ever since been connected, and the firm of Rudy, Phillips & Company now holds a conspicuous place among the leading retail stores of Paducah. Mr. Ellis retired from the firm in 1896. In this establishment is found a complete line of dry-goods, shoes, carpets, cloaks, suits and millinery, and Mr. Phillips devotes his entire atten- tion to the dry-goods department, while Mr. Rudy looks after the shoe business. Mr. Phillips is numbered among the young, progres- sive and enterprising business men of Paducah, and in addition to his large mercantile interests is also connected with many of the leading institutions of this city, being a member of the commission firm of George C. Wallace & Company; is president of the Alden Knitting Mills Company, which gives employment to two hundred operatives; is treasurer of the Paducah Commercial Club; and is a director of the Paducah Textile Company. The commission firm of George C.
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Wallace & Company gives employment to seven traveling salesmen and are southern mill agents for many of the large mills in the south. They sell to the jobbers and large retail firms in only the larger points.
The marriage of Mr. Phillips was celebrated in 1894, when Kathryn Webb became his wife, she being a native of Tennessee. One child has come to brighten and bless their home, Joseph Becker Phil- lips, who was born on the 8th of December, 1900. Fraternally Mr. Phillips is identified with the Masonic order, holding membership re- lations with Plain City Lodge, No. 499, and both he and his wife are members of the Broadway Methodist Episcopal church.
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CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS COLLEY.
Christopher Columbus Colley, one of the prominent farmers of. Graves county, Kentucky, is of the second generation which has been born and bred in this, one of the thriving counties of western Kentucky. During his life of more than sixty years he has enjoyed a creditable degree of worklly prosperity, and as a citizen, friend and head of a household has won the esteem of all with whom he has come in con- tact.
Mr. Colley is a son of Isaiah and Mary E. (Happy) Colley, the former a native of Caldwell county, Kentucky, and the latter born near Nashville, Tennessee. David Colley, the paternal grandfather, was a native of Virginia and of Irish descent, while the maternal grand- father was of German ancestry. Isaiah Colley was a prosperous farmer of Graves county, and he lived near the village of Farmington until his death, which occurred in 1861, when he was about sixty years old. In politics he was first a Whig, then a Democrat, but was of inde-
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pendent views at the time of his death. His wife survived him until 1875, when she was seventy years old. They had the following chil- dren : James G., William M., deceased, Benjamin F., Christopher C., Andrew J., Theodore T., deceased, John C., Samuel E. and Mary N.
Christopher C. Colley was born in Graves county, Kentucky, Au- gust 30, 1840, and was reared and educated in this county. He has been acquainted with farming pursuits since an early age, and he has continued successfully in this line of endeavor to the present time. He owns a fine farm of two hundred and sixty acres, which is well im- proved and equipped with excellent buildings and all necessary facili- ties, and he takes a commendable pride in keeping his premises in first- class condition.
Mr. Colley votes the Democratic ticket, and the religious views of himself and his wife are those of the Christian church. In +868 he was married to Miss Eliza M. Williams, who lived only one year after her marriage, and left one son, Charles II. In 1875 he married Miss Sabra Flood, who was born in Graves county and has become the mother of the following children: Lee T., Lannus, deceased, Louis, deceased, and Alonzo.
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JAMES M. FINLEY.
James M. Finley, one of the most highly esteemed citizens of McCracken county, a man noted for his kind neighborliness, his in- tegrity of character and his exemplary life, was born November 26, 1828, in Fleming county, Kentucky. He is a son of Samuel B. and Mary (Purdham) Finley.
Samuel B. Finley was born at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and was
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a son of Major John Finley, a resident of that state, although of Scotch- Irish descent. Major Finley was a Revolutionary patriot and an offi- cer in the patriot army, and was afterward made the officer who made the first land survey that was recorded in the state of Kentucky. The mother of James M. Finley was born in Mason county, Kentucky, and was a daughter of Jonas Purdham, of German descent. Samuel B. Finley was one of the old pioneers of the state of Kentucky, having settled in Fleming county at an early date, where his life was spent in agricultural pursuits. In politics he was a Whig. He was an active member in the Presbyterian church until his death in 1842, aged forty- two years. His widow survived him nineteen years, dying in 1861, aged fifty-nine years. Their children were: John S .; David T .; Eliza- beth, deceased; Martha J., deceased; Mary J .; Margaret, deceased, and James M.
James M. Finley was born and reared in Fleming county on the first government survey that was made and recorded in Kentucky, near what is known as Upper Blue Licks land office. He received the best education afforded by the schools of the time and locality, and grew to manhood sturdy and strong from the healthful outdoor life and exer- cise he found on the farm. For a short time he engaged in 'merchandis- ing at Sherburne, in Fleming county, Kentucky, but he then settled down to farming. This has been his main occupation in connection with stock dealing, although for four years, from 1856 to 1860, he was engaged in freight across the plains, for Water, Russell & Co., who were government contractors. His route extended from Leavenworth, Kansas, to Denver and Fort Laramie. Some of his recollections of those days are intensely interesting and give the listener a better idea of the courage and bravery of that band of freighters than could be
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obtained from many books. Mr. Finley now resides on a well situated farm of eighty acres, on the Benton road, a few miles from Paducah, McCracken county. It is well cultivated and improved and shows that its owner is a capable and practical farmer.
Until within eight years, Mr. Finley was identified with the Demo- cratic party, but he now supports the Populist party, believing the principles advocated by it superior to all others. He is a member of the Presbyterian church, and is liberal in his contributions to its support. Mr. Finley is the only one living of the three charter members of the Fleming county lodge of Royal Arch Masons.
In 1848 Mr. Finley was married to Miss Miranda Ricketts, who was born in Fleming county in 1832. She passed out of life in 1880, aged forty-eight years. The children born to them were: Thomas C., who was sheriff of McCracken county at the time of his death in 1882; John S .; George C .; Marshall T .; Elizabeth P .; Mittie, deceased; and James E., deceased.
JOHN C. GALLOWAY.
John C. Galloway, one of the successful farmers of Graves county. Kentucky, was born in this county on the 13th of August, 1845, and in the paternal line is of Irish descent. His grandfather, John Gallo- way, was born in Murray county, Tennessee. He is a son of Samuel S. and Adaline (Gillerland) Galloway, the former also a native of Murray county, and the latter of Alabama, and in their family were the following children : John C .; Mamie, the wife of Charles Humph- reys, a farmer of Graves county; William T., also engaged in agricul-
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tural pursuits in this county ; Thomas L., deceased; Nathan L., familiar- ly known as "Nick," and engaged in farming in Graves county ; Lucy, the wife of Thomas Watkins; and Alfred B., commonly called "Bud." All are living on farms in Graves county.
John C. Galloway was reared to years of maturity in his native county, receiving his education in the public schools of the neighbor- hood. He early engaged in farming and tobacco dealing, but is now devoting his entire time and attention to agricultural pursuits, owning and operating a fine farm of two hundred and ninety acres, all of which is well improved, and on which he has excellent barns and a beautiful home. He is justly regarded as one of the leading farmers of his lo- cality. In his political affiliations he is a stanch Democrat, and his religious connections are with the Missionary Baptist church, to which he gives liberally towards its support, and of which his wife is also a valued member.
In 1876 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Galloway and Miss Nellie Jenkins, the latter of whom was born in Graves county, Ken- tucky, July 7, 1854, a daughter of J. L. and Mary ( Yandell) Jenkins. Her father was born and reared in Owen county, this state, while her mother's birth occurred in Tennessee. They took up their abode in Graves county, near Sedalia, and there Mr. Jen- kins passed away in death in 1872, at the age of fifty-two years. His widow still survives and makes her home in Mayfield. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Galloway, namely : Robert F., Addie (deceased), Vernon, Marshall and Brown. The family are highly es- teemed in the neighborhood in which they reside, and are kind, hos- pitable people, with a wide circle of friends.
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THOMAS L. GALLOWAY.
In the death of Thomas L. Galloway Graves county lost one of its most prominent and useful citizens. He was identified with the agri- cultural interests of this section of the state throughout the period of his business career, and his life was filled with good deeds and kindly thoughts, while all who knew him entertained for him the highest regard by reason of his upright, honorable life. Mr. Galloway was born in Graves county in 1858 and was a son of Samuel S. and Adaline ( Giller- land ) Galloway, natives respectively of Murray county, Tennessee, and Alabama. In the paternal line the family is of Irish origin, and the grand- father of our subject, John Galloway, also claimed Murray county, Tennessee, as the place of his nativity. .
Thomas L. Galloway enjoyed the educational privilege afforded! by the public schools of his native county, and his entire life was spent in the tilling of the soil. In 1886 he was united in marriage to Miss Susan E. Cross, a native of Graves county, and prior to her marriage she was a teacher in the public schools. This union was blessed with seven children, namely: Roscoe, T. Z., Lora, Samuel. Lillie (deceased). Curtis and Lady T. On the 3d of November, 1902, the loving hus- band and father was summoned into eternal rest, at the'age of forty- four years, three months and twelve days, respected and honored by all who knew him. When the final summons came he was resigned and · ready, administering comfort and giving advice to his life-long com- panion and children, and departed this life with faith and Christian courage. Mrs. Galloway is a worthy member of the Primitive Baptist church.
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JAMES HENRY POWELL.
James Henry Powell, orator, lecturer and lawyer, and son of Laz- arus W. Powell, was born in Henderson county, Kentucky, on the 8th of April, 1839. He was provided with excellent educational privileges, attending the best private schools of his native county, after which he continued his studies in the Sayre Institute at Frankfort, where he remained for five years. His collegiate course was obtained in the Uni- versity of Virginia, where he remained three years, being graduated with honor in the class of 1859. He seemed instinctively to turn to the profession of law, and surely he was intended by nature for this calling, his splendid oratorical gifts and strong, analytical and compre. hensive mind ably fitting him for law practice. Ile began study in his father's office and after six months was admitted to the bar.
From the beginning of his career as a legal practitioner his efforts have been attended with success. He has mastered the science of juris- prudence, and his deep research and thorough preparation of every case committed to his care enables him to meet at once any contingency that may arise. His cause is fenced about with unanswerable logic and his arguments are strong, clear, decided and follow each other in natural . sequence, forming a chain of reasoning that his opponent finds very difficult to overthrow. His delivery is graceful, his voice clear and ring- ing, and his eloquence carries all before it; it is not the adornment of words or flowery phrases, which often obscure the thought, but the elo- quence born of the occasion and inspired by a sense of true justice of human rights and liberties.
On the 21st of October, 1862, Mr. Powell was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ann Alves, second daughter of Robert A. and
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Mary (Gayle) Alves, a lady of culture and refinement, and they have had seven children, namely: Robert A., Lazarus W., Henry J., John WV. Stevenson, Johnston Alves, Harriett Jennings and William Gayle.
For several years after his marriage Mr. Powell gave his attention exclusively to his law business, and then entered the lecture field, where for some time he labored in the interests of temperance alone. His logic, his earnest, impassioned utterances and his convincing arguments made him an able champion and he was recognized as one of the strong- est advocates of that noble cause among those who are devoting their lives to its advancement. Later he prepared and delivered other lec- tures of high literary merit on various subjects, traveling throughout the greater part of the United States and Canada and receiving high encomiums from the people wherever he went. Humor and pathos, wit and drollery have attracted his hearers, swaying them with the emotions which he portrays until tears of one moment are chased away by the smiles of the next. "He is a master of the art of rhetoric and his broadly cultured mind is a vast storehouse upon which he draws without seeming exhaustion of its contents. He closed his career on the lecture platform with his work in behalf of the Lee Monument Association, under the authority of the governor of Virginia, and upon his return home once more took up the practice of law.
Mr. Powell served for two years as prosecuting attorney for the city and was then elected county attorney, also serving in that capacity for two terms. In 1880 he was elected commonwealth's attorney for the third judicial district of Kentucky; on the expiration of his six year's term was re-elected, and again in 1892 was the choice of the peo- ple for a third term in that office. What higher testimonial of his fidel- ity to duty could be given than this second re-election, whereby he will
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have been retained in office for eighteen years? With a keen appreciation of the dignity of the law, and with the knowledge that justice is largely in his hands, making him the protector of the lives and liberties of his fellowmen, he defends the right with an earnestness and courage that challenges the admiration of all. Though he meets in forensic combat the ablest members of the bar of the district, he has won their highest respect and confidence by his extreme fairness. He cares not for the laurels, if they must be won by debasing himself, debauching public morality or degrading the dignity of his profession, but stands as the defender of the weak against the strong, the right against the wrong, the just against the unjust. Connected with many important cases, he has gained a reputation as a brilliant and learned lawyer which ranks him among the best in the state. Among the most prominent addresses . in the courts perhaps none attracted more attention than that in which he conducted the prosecution of the murderer of Abbie Olliver. The courtroom was crowded to its utmost capacity, until by order of the judge the doors were closed. A local paper, in writing of the event, said : "His clear, silvery voice filled the auditorium with a flood of elo- quence, and in the packed courtroom every ear hung upon his words as they came rushing like a torrent from his gifted tongue. His invective was scathing in the extreme, and he handled the evidence as only a master can, while his reference to the poor murdered girl was such a commingling of beauty and pathos that stout-hearted, brave men shed tears. Such was the effect of the speech that it was impossible to sup- press the applause, which shook the building."
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