The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 114

Author: Armstrong, J. M., & company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Cincinnati, J. M. Armstrong
Number of Pages: 946

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Devotrely your Gu. D. Prestar

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the soul-refinement and sadness of Mr. Prentice's life may be seen in the following stanzas, selected from one of his most beautiful poems :

"WRITTEN AT MY MOTHER'S GRAVE.

" The trembling dew-drops fall Upon the shutting flowers; like souls at rest The stars shine gloriously ; and all, Save me, are blest.

And I could love to die ; To leave untasted life's dark, bitter streams ; By thee, as erst in childhood, lie, And share thy dreams.

And must I linger here, A lonely branch upon a withered tree, Whose last frail leaf, untimely sere, Went down with thee ?

Oft, from life's withered bower, In still communion with the past I turn, And muse on thee, the only flower In memory's urn.

Where is thy spirit flown ? I gaze above-thy look is imaged there ; I listen-and thy gentle tone Is on the air.

Oh, come, while here I press My brow upon thy grave; and, in those mild And thrilling notes of tenderness, Bless, bless thy child !"

DAIR, GOV. JOHN, Soldier, was born in South Carolina, in 1757. At an early age, he entered the army as volunteer during the war of the Revolution, and was taken prisoner by the British. In 1786, he came to Kentucky and settled in Mercer County. He ranked as a major, and was a brave and efficient officer in the border war on the North-western frontier, serving in many engagements with the Indians. In 1792, at the head of a body of mounted volunteers from Kentucky, he fought a desperate battle with the Indians, near Eaton, in Preble County, Ohio. In that engagement, George Madison, afterwards Governor of Kentucky, Colonel Richard Taylor, the father of President Taylor, and many others, were wounded. He was subsequently involved in the Burr treason, and was rendered, for a time, somewhat unpopular; but it was afterwards gener- ally believed that his action, in reference to the plans of Burr, was founded upon his understanding that our Government contemplated war with Spain, and was not at all based upon dishonorable motives. In 1813, he went out in the second war with England; was an aid to Governor Shelby; was engaged in that capacity in the battle of the Thames; was highly complimented for his bravery during that campaign; afterwards was ap- pointed Adjutant-General. of Kentucky, by Governor

Shelby, with the rank of brevet brigadier-general, and in that capacity commanded the Kentuckians in the bat- tle of New Orleans. The controversy which he held with General Jackson, brought forth by the imputations cast upon the conduct of the Kentucky troops by Jack- son, again established him in great favor in Kentucky, and largely influenced his election to the office of Gov- ernor of the State, in 1820. He was elected chief execu- tive, over Judge Logan, Governor Desha, and Colonel Butler, and discharged the duties of that office with great ability, establishing himself in the respect and con- fidence of the people, and taking position among the most worthy and patriotic Governors of the State. He was elected to represent Mercer County in the Lower House of the Legislature, in 1793; was frequently re- elected, and was several times chosen Speaker of that body ; was elected to the United States Senate, in 1825; was elected to the Lower House of Congress in 1831, and served one term. He was a brave, vigilant soldier, a man of large, patriotic views, and occupied a high place among the pioneers of the West. Governor Adair died May 19, 1840.

NDERSON, HON. RICHARD CLOUGH, JR., was born August 4, 1788, in Louisville, Ken- tucky, and was the son of Richard C. Ander- son and his wife Elizabeth (Clark), a sister of the celebrated General George Rodgers Clark. His father served gallantly throughout the war of the Revolution; was a member of the first Presi- dential Electoral College after the admission of Ken- tucky to the Union; and represented Jefferson County in the Legislature. Richard C. Anderson, Jr., gradu- ated at William and Mary College, Virginia; studied law, under Judge Tucker, in that State; returned to Kentucky, and commenced the practice of his profes-

sion, in which he soon rose to eminence; served several years with distinction in the Kentucky Legislature; was elected to Congress in 1817, serving four years; took an active part in the debates, his published speeches giving him considerable notoriety over the country; was Chair- man of the Committee on Lands, during the Sixteenth Congress ; declined re-election ; again became a member of the State Legislature, and was chosen Speaker of the House; in 1823, was appointed, by President Monroe, Minister to the Republic of Columbia; in the following year, negotiated the treaty between this country and that Republic ; in 1826, became Envoy Extraordinary to Panama; on his way to the place of embarkation, died at the village of Turbaco, July 24, 1826, and was suc- ceeded in his mission to Columbia by President William Henry Harrison. At the time of his death, he was en- gaged in writing a history of the Republic of Columbia

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and its political institutions; but, besides this, he left little more than his journal of travels, confining his time with great energy to his professional pursuits, and hav- ing little leisure for literature. Both his public and pri- vate life were marked by great purity; and it has been said that few more upright and able men have flourished in Kentucky.

ARSHALL, GEN. HUMPHREY, Lawyer and Soldier, son of John J. Marshall, and grandson of Humphrey Marshall, the Kentucky histo- rian, was born January 13, 1812, at Frankfort, Kentucky. He graduated at West Point Mili- tary Academy, in 1832, and entered the army as second lieutenant ; soon after resigned ; studied law ; was admitted to the bar in the Spring of 1833; in the following year settled at Louisville, Kentucky ; in 1836, was elected to the City Council; was soon afterwards elected to the command of a company of volunteers, designed for service on the frontier of Louisiana; in 1837, was defeated by Judge S. S. Nicholas in a race for the Kentucky Legislature; rose rapidly to distinc- tion in his profession ; in 1846, became Colonel of the Kentucky Cavalry Regiment for service in Mexico ; dis- tinguished himself in leading the charge at Buena Vista ; was nominated for the State Senate, in 1847, but de- clined to make the race ; engaged in farming in Henry County; in 1849, was elected to Congress; was re- elected, in 1851, defeating Gov. David Merriwether; under President Fillmore, was appointed Commissioner to China, which was immediately raised to a first-class mission ; on his return, was elected Representative in the Thirty-fourth Congress, defeating Colonel William Preston ; in 1856, was a member of the American Na- tional Council at New York; in 1857, was re-elected to Congress, defeating Mr. Holt, and served in the Com- mittee on Military Affairs; in 1859, was re-nominated, but declined to make the race, being unwilling to support the platform; again returned, with distin- guished success, to the practice of his profession, in connection with Senator James Cooper, at Washington City; in 1860, canvassed Kentucky in favor of the elec- tion of John C. Breckinridge; soon after retired to his farm, in Henry County, Kentucky; in September, 1861, became a brigadier-general in the Confederate army, and was placed in command in Eastern Kentucky ; in 1862, was engaged against General Garfield, at the forks of Middle Creek, Floyd County, Kentucky, both armies claiming the victory ; in May, 1862, he surprised Gen. Cox, at Princeton, Virginia, and, by that action, res- cued the Lynchburg and Knoxville Railroad; in the Spring of 1863, entered Kentucky with a considerable force of cavalry, but failed in the purpose of his expedi- tion ; soon after, resigned his commission in the army,

and, in the Summer of 1863, located in Richmond, Vir- ginia, for the practice of his profession ; was elected by the Kentuckians to the Second Congress of the Confed- erate States, serving on the Committee of Military Af- fairs; was re-elected, and held the position until the evacuation of Richmond; commenced the practice of law in New Orleans, in 1865; in the following year, was unconditionally pardoned, and settled in Louisville, in the practice of his profession, which he continued until his death, March 28, 1872. He was a brave man ; was undoubtedly one of the most able lawyers of Ken- tucky ; and one of the most distinguished members of a family celebrated in the history of Kentucky and Vir- ginia.

ARSHALL, HON. THOMAS A., Lawyer, was born January 15, 1794, in Woodford County, Kentucky, and was the son of Humphrey Marshall, the historian. He graduated, with distinction, at Yale College; studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1816; in 1827, was elected to the Legislature from Bourbon County; in 1831, was elected to Congress, from the Paris and Mays- ville district ; from 1835 to 1856, and for a short time in 1866, was one of the Judges of the Court of Appeals; and from 1847 to 1851, and from 1854 to 1856, also dur- ing a part of 1866, Chief-Justice of Kentucky ; having removed to Lexington, in 1836, he was elected pro- fessor in Transylvania Law School, and held that posi- tion until 1849; subsequently located in Louisville, and, from 1863 to 1865, represented that city in the Legisla- ture. He was a man of fine intellect, of superior ability in his profession, was exceedingly popular, and ranked among the first men of his State. Judge Marshall died April 16, 1871. In 1816, he married Miss Price, of Lexington, a niece of Mrs. Henry Clay. Among their distinguished sons are, Col. Thomas A. Marshall, of Illinois ; and Judge Charles Marshall, of Paducah, Kentucky.

LLISON, FINIS McLEAN, Lawyer, was born March 4, 1829, in Muhlenburg County, Ken- tucky. His father, John A. Allison, was a native of the same county; was of Scotch- Irish descent; and followed agricultural pur- suits throughout his life. His mother's maiden name was Watkins, and she was a native of Washing- ton County, Kentucky. Mr. Allison was raised on a farnı, and received a common English education. At the age of fifteen, he became deputy clerk in the Muh- lenburg County and Circuit Courts, holding the position until 1849. In the mean time, having studied law, he was admitted to the bar in the Fall of 1850, and entered

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upon the practice of this profession. In 1852, he went to California, and engaged for some time in gold mining ; but, in 1854, he returned, and resumed the practice of his profession, at Morgantown. In 1856, he was elected Clerk of the County and Circuit Courts of Butler County, continuing in that position until 1865, when he again re- sumed the practice of the law. In 1867, he was elected to the State Senate, from the counties of Muhlenburg and Christian, serving until 1871. In that year he was appointed by Gov. Leslie as Inspector of Tobacco at Lou- isville; but soon after resumed his professional business, at Greenville, Kentucky. In politics, he is a Democrat, and has taken an active interest in the affairs of his party. Mr. Allison was married, August 1, 1849, to Julia A. Burks, and has six living children. His son, Finis H. Allison, is a physician of McLean County; and another son, John Allison, is a practicing lawyer at Greenville.

OPE, HON. PATRICK H., Lawyer, was born March 17, 1806, in Louisville, Kentucky, and was the oldest child of the distinguished Wor- den Pope. He received a fine literary educa- tion, graduating at St. Joseph's College, Bards- town, Kentucky, and was valedictorian of his class. In 1827, he began the practice of the law in his native city, and, although the Louisville bar was repre- sented by some of the ablest men in the profession, he soon rose to distinction. He was offered the position of Secretary of State under Gov. Breathitt, but declined. In 1834, he was elected to Congress, where he distin- guished himself for his statesman-like ability and oratori- cal powers. In 1836, he was elected to represent Jeffer- son County in the State Legislature. But, while barely approaching the prime of life, and at a period when his superior ability began to display itself in the affairs of his country, he died, May 4, 1840. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, and a firm believer in the great doctrines of Christianity. In politics, he belonged to the Jackson school of the Democracy. He was a man of fine social qualities; possessed uncommon ability as a speaker; was an admirable conversationalist; was distinguished for his integrity of character ; stood among the first lawyers of his section; was universally admired; and was greatly beloved in his own family. Mr. Pope was married, July 17, 1827, to Sarah L. Brown, daugh- ter of James and Urith Brown, of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Their son, Worden, lost his life at the age of nineteen, in Walker's expedition to Nicaragua, and their other children are, Elizabeth T., wife of Dr. Will- iam H. Galt; Urith, wife of J. Fry Lawrence ; Ellen E., wife of Dr. John Thruston; and Mary A., wife of George Nicholas.

ONES, HON. THOMAS LAURENS, Lawyer, was born January 22, 1819, on his father's estate, " White Oak," in Rutherford County, North Carolina. His father, George Jones, was a native of Orange County, Virginia, of Welsh- English descent ; and was an extensive planter. His mother, Elizabeth Mills, was a daughter of Col. Wm. Mills, also of English extraction. He received his preparatory education at Spartanburg, South Caro- lina, where his father long resided, and at Columbia College, in that State; subsequently entered Yale, and graduated at Princeton College, in the class of 1840, under the presidency of James Carnahan; graduated, after two years' study, in the Law School of Harvard University, Massachusetts; traveled two years in Eu- rope; read law with. James L. Pettigrue, of Charleston, South Carolina; was admitted to the bar at Columbia, South Carolina, in 1846; and, in the following year, entered on the practice of his profession in New York City. In 1849, settled in Newport, Kentucky, where he has since resided. He early engaged in politics; in 1853, was elected to the Kentucky Legislature ; has been a delegate to many State and National Conventions; was elected to the Fortieth, Forty-first, and Forty-fourth Congresses, as a Democrat, and has achieved a national reputation. He was originally op- posed to secession, was also opposed to coercion, and warmly sympathized with the South during the civil war, and was the first member of Congress to favor general amnesty. He is a man of scholarly attain- ments; chivalrous and honorable in his principles; is a finislied, elegant, and popular speaker; is pleasing and attractive in manners; is a man of fine address and diplomatic skill; and is one of the most polished and successful members of the Democratic party in Kentucky. He is a member of the Episcopal Church, and takes an active interest in its affairs. Col. Jones was married, September 12, 1848, to Miss Mary K. Taylor, the accomplished granddaughter of Gen. James Taylor, and daughter of Col. James Taylor, of Newport, Ken- tucky. They have three children-James Taylor Jones, Elizabeth Mills Jones, and Laurens Jones.

ETCHER, GOV. ROBERT P., Lawyer, was born in Goochland County, Virginia. When but a youth, he came to Kentucky with his father, and, after serving in the war of 1812, studied law, under Hon. Humphrey Marshall, and practiced in Garrard County until 1840; he frequently represented his county in the lower branch of the Legislature, and, in 1822, was elected to Con- gress; was re-elected, and served, with credit to himself and honor to his country, for twelve years; was again

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elected to the Legislature, and, in 1838, was Speaker of the House. In 1840, he was elected Governor of Ken- tucky, and administered the affairs of the State with great ability, and acceptably to the people; and, in 1849, was appointed Minister to represent our Govern- ment in Mexico. In 1853, he made another race for Congress, in the Lexington district, but was defeated by John C. Breckinridge. He died January 24, 1861, at Frankfort, Kentucky. Gov. Letcher was an able law- yer, distinguished for his patriotism and devotion to the best interests of the country ; and his large experience and great sincerity of character made him one of the most widely influential and valuable public men of his day.

OLFE, HON. NATHANIEL, was born Octo- ber 29, 1810, in Richmond, Virginia, He was finely educated, graduating at the University of Virginia, from which he received the de- gree of A. M. He studied law, and began its practice at Louisville, Kentucky. From 1839 to 1852, he was Commonwealth's Attorney ; was elected to the State Senate, from Jefferson County, in 1853; was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, from Louisville, in 1859, and re-elected in 1861; and was defeated in a race for Congress in 1863. He prac- ticed his profession with great success, not only in a pecuniary sense, but gained a reputation of being one of the most able and eloquent criminal lawyers in the country. Mr. Wolfe died July 3, 1865.

ALLAGHER, WILLIAM DAVIS, Editor, Au- thor, and Poet, was born in August, 1808, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father was one of the refugees from English vengeance on account of the rebellion in Ireland, in which he was a participant. His father died when he was young, and, in 1816, his widowed mother, with her family of four sons, emigrated to Cincinnati. W. D. Gallagher spent several years on a farm near that city, and passed his Winters in a desultory way in the country school. At the age of twenty-one, he began to learn the printing business, and, while an apprentice, began his career as an author by publishing a small paper, the "Literary Gazette." From that time his pen was hardly ever idle, he becoming a contributor to many newspapers. In 1827, he carried on a friendly contro- versy with the poet, Otway Curry; in 1828, wrote a series of letters, from Kentucky and Mississippi, to the "Cincinnati Chronicle," edited by Benjamin Drake, who revealed the name of the author, and, from that time, his writings, as contributions to the journals,

were usually over his initials; in 1830, became editor of the " Backwoodsman," at Xenia, Ohio, and was one of the champions of Henry Clay; in the following year, took editorial charge of the "Cincinnati Mirror," which became the leading literary journal of the West; con- tinued in that position for five or six years; in 1836, became editor of the "Western Literary Journal and Monthly Review," which was discontinued in 1837; in 1835, he published a pamphlet called "Erato No. I," which met with great success; subsequently, wrote "Erato No. II," and "Erato No. III," containing many of his beautiful poetic- productions; next became asso- ciated with his brother John in the management of the "Ohio State Journal," a daily Whig paper, at Columbus; at that time acquired considerable distinction as a correspondent for the "Cincinnati Gazette," under Charles Hammond; in 1838, became, with Otway Curry, editor of the "Hesperian," a monthly miscellany of general literature; conducted its second and third vol- umes alone; it took a high rank among the literary productions of the country; in 1839, he became one of the editors of the "Cincinnati Gazette," and con- tinued in that connection until 1850; and, in 1841, he edited "The Poetical Literature of the West," a volume of selections from the writings of all the poets of the Mississippi Valley. In 1850, he left the " Ga- zette," and accepted a confidential, position in the United States Treasury Department, under his friend, Hon. Thomas Corwin, and at that time substantially abandoned journalism; in 1852, was offered an interest in the "Cincinnati Commercial," and the position of its editor-in-chief; in 1853, purchased an interest in the " Louisville Courier," but, in the following year, not finding the editorship agreeable or profitable, sold out ; at that time, became very active in organizing the " Kentucky Mechanics' Institute," and was its first presi- dent ; was greatly influential, with a few others, in estab- lishing the "South-western Agricultural Society ; " in 1860, was a member of the National Republican Con- vention at Chicago, replying to the address of welcome to the Kentucky delegation ; advocated the election of Mr. Lincoln ; was always an opponent of the institution of slavery, and brought on himself a considerable storm of ill-will and opposition prior to the initiation of the great rebellion ; after withdrawal from the "Louisville Courier," he wrote some for various papers, and for a time edited the " Western Farmers' Journal," in Ken- tucky ; under Secretary Chase, he occupied the same position he had done under Mr. Corwin ; in. 1862, was appointed Collector of Customs for New Orleans, by President Lincoln, but was unable to assume the duties of his office, owing to the state of the country; was then placed in charge of the " limited commercial in- tercourse " the Government held with the borders of the States in rebellion, with his headquarters at St. Louis,

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his district extending from Dubuque to Helena, and |of the days of "lang syne." What could be more rendered great service to the Government; in the joyous and beautiful than- early part of the Summer of 1863, was appointed Surveyor of Customs at Louisville, Kentucky, and " A song for the early times out West, And our green old forest home, Whose pleasant memories freshly yet Across the bosom come ! A song for the free and gladsome life, In those early days we led, With a teeming soil beneath our feet, And a smiling heav'n o'erhead ! placed in charge of the Government disbursements, serving in that capacity until the close of the war, annually passing through his hands about eighty-two millions of dollars; was subsequently appointed special agent for the Treasury Department ; was, for a time, Pension Agent, at Louisville; and was again special Oh, the waves of life danced merrily, And had a joyous flow, In the days when we were pioneers, Fifty years ago !" agent in the Treasury Department. Since 1850, when not employed under the Government, or as editor, he has been engaged on his beautiful little farm, situated on the Cincinnati and Louisville Short Line Railroad, In addition to this stanza, from his "Fifty Years Ago," or "Song of the Western Pioneer," the following rare gem, which was set to music by W. C. Peters, is selected : about sixteen miles from Louisville, chiefly in cultivat- ing fruits, dreaming dreams of the life to come, and in enjoying, with philosophic resignation, his very moder- ate share of the goods of this world. He has always "OH, THINK NOT LESS I LOVE THEE! taken an active interest in internal improvements, and in every thing looking to the prosperity of the West, and " Oh, think not less I love thee, That our paths are parted now ; For the stars that burn above thee, Are not truer than my vow. As the fragrance to the blossom, As the moon unto the night, Our love is to my bosom Its sweetness and its light. the section where he has resided during the greater part of his life ; all charitable institutions have ever found in him a warm friend ; has also been greatly devoted to the cause of popular education, and, for his zeal in that direction, the Western College of Teachers offered him a vote of thanks, in 1839. His prose writings have been Oh, think not less I love thee, That thy hand I thus resign- extensive, covering almost every department of thought; but it is as a poet that Mr. Gallagher is most widely In the heav'n that bends above thee, I will claim thee yet as mine. Through the vision of life's morning Ever flitted one like thee- known. The larger part of his poetical writings have not been published, and most of his published pieces have been "scattered to the four winds." One of his And thou, life's lapse adorning, Shalt hence that vision be." accomplished daughters undertook, several years ago, to collect all his poetic productions for publication in a permanent form, but finally abandoned the attempt. His most considerable and, probably, most valuable poem is " Miami Woods"-commenced in 1839, and finished in 1856. Several others are quite extensive, and are divided into different parts or periods. His " Civile Bellum," or war poems, many of them, had a wide circulation, and many of his separate picces, as, "The Laborer," "Truth and Freedom," "The Promisc of the Present," "A Hymn to the Day that is Dawn- ing," "Western Pioneers," etc., were long ago placed among the most beautiful pocms of the language; and those, with scores and scores of others of great beauty and purity, have placed their author among the first of Amcrican poets. Mr. Gallagher was married, in 1830, to Miss Adamson, of Cincinnati. They have had nine children, of whom one son and four daughters are now living. It is not easy to select the best of Mr. Gal- lagher's poetry. If one gcm is taken, a hundred equally bright are left. As long as the English language lives, and long after the "old pionecrs" have ccased to tread the carth, his "Song of the Western Pioncer" will be dear to the refined heart and the lovers of the memories

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 114

Author: Armstrong, J. M., & company, pub Publication date: 1878 Publisher: Cincinnati, J. M. Armstrong Number of Pages: 946

Author: Armstrong, J. M., & company, pub
Publication date: 1878
Publisher: Cincinnati, J. M. Armstrong
Number of Pages: 946