The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 118

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

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business pursuits. He always took an active interest in local and national politics, and was selected, in 1847, to represent his county in the Legislature, and was several times re-elected; and, during the session of 1857, was elected Speaker of the House, taking a conspicuous and active part in the acts of that body. When the civil war broke out, he conscientiously took sides with the South, and was elected member of the Confederate Pro- visional Congress, which assembled at Richmond in 1862. He was a delegate from Kentucky to the Dem- ocratie National Convention, at Baltimore, in 1860, and was one of the nine Kentuckians who voted for Stephen A. Douglas. In 1866, he went to Louisville, and be- came a partner in the widely known house of Glover, Clark & Co., continuing in that connection until 1875, when the firm of White & Co. was organized, on the corner of Tenth and Main Streets, which has taken posi- tion as one of the leading tobacco houses of that city. He is one of the most energetic, active, successful, and reliable business men of the country; stood deservedly high in his profession ; took a front rank among the pub- lic-spirited and valuable men of Southern Kentucky ; and, for many years, has been one of the most substan- tial citizens of Louisville; and belongs to a family dis- tinguished in medicine and politics ; his father was sev- eral times elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, and served, for several terms, as Clerk of the House; his uncle, Major White, was, for eighteen or twenty years, State Senator. Dr. White was married to Miss Nancy F. Clark, of Cumberland County, Kentucky, daughter of James Clark, a well-known merehant of Burkesville. They have three sons and one daughter. His son, W. P. White, is a physician of Louisville, and is now Surgeon-General of Kentucky. His son, D. P. White, is engaged in the business house of his father, at Louisville.

AYLESS, REV. JOHN CLARK, Clergyman, was born January 7, 1819, in Louisville, Ken- tucky. While a tender infant, his mother died, and he was placed under the care of his grand- mother, with whom he remained until he was six or seven years old, when she, too, was taken away by death. She was a very pious woman, and took great pains to impress his young mind with the impor- tance of religion. Many years after, he wrote of her : " I have often thought of her prayers in my behalf, and blessed God for them; for, although I was too young, when she died, to appreciate her solicitude for me, yet I have not failed to experience their efficacy since." While under her influence he showed a great fondness for books, and aptness to learn, and, after her death, he was sent to school-first to Salem, and next to Bloomington, Indiana. In 1831, he was placed in a

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school nine miles from Louisville, taught by Mr. Robert N. Smith, a faithful, conscientious teacher, who took great interest in those committed to his care. He soon discovered, in his new pupil, a mind of extraordinary power; and, under his skillful management and patient instruction, the old fondness for learning was soon re- vived, and after the first few weeks, which were weeks of trial, he took his stand at the head of his classes, and maintaincd that position while he remained in the school. After leaving this school, he studied for a short time with a teacher in Louisville, and, in May, 1836, entered the Freshman Class at Centre College. He applied him- self to study with great diligence, and soon gained dis- tinction. He graduated in September, 1836, with honor. He joined the Presbyterian Church, at Danville, and was baptized by the Rev. John C. Young. He began at once to preach. He endeavored to put his hand to every thing by which he thought he could be useful- teaching in Sabbath-schools, holding meetings for exhor- tation and prayer, distributing tracts, and talking with the impenitent. One of his early fond desires, was to preach the Gospel to the heathen. This purpose he cherished long after entering the ministry, and was only prevented from carrying it out by the condition of his health, which, during an active and useful ministry of thirty-four years, was never good. He entered Prince- ton Seminary, in June, 1837, and remained there until September, 1838, when he was compelled by the state of his health, to take another season of rest and recrea- tion. He returned to Princeton, in August, 1839, and remained until he completed the course, in the Spring of 1841. His low state of health, during these years, occasioned frequent seasons of spiritual depression, so great at times that he had serious thoughts of giving up the ministry. He was licensed by the Presbytery of Louisville, at Mulberry Church, September 23, 1841. After filling some presbyterial appointments near Louis- ville, he was sent to Cloverport and vicinity, where he remained for a year. He spoke of his first efforts at preaching as being "painful in the extreme." His year at Cloverport was one of affliction as well as labor. The great trial of the year was, that the state of his health did not permit him to carry out his cherished plan of becoming a missionary to the heathen. He was then invited to supply the Church at Jeffersonville, In- diana, which he accepted, and soon after received a call to become pastor. He remained in Jeffersonville two years, and, in addition to the care of the Church, was one year chaplain to the penitentiary, by appointment of Gov. Samuel Bigger. In 1844 or 1845, he removed to Covington, Kentucky, where he succeeded in building up a flourishing Church, and in sending out a colony to organize the Second ( now Ninth Street) Church, in that growing city. Here he labored about ten years, when his health compelled him to leave the city. In

1854, he moved to North-eastern Kentucky, and took charge, for a part of his time, of what was then known as the Bethesda Church, on the ground now occupied by the thriving city of Ashland, in Boyd County. In the same year, the first lots were sold in the new town. Many of the old members of the Church sold out their farms and moved away, so that the work here was al- most like beginning a new enterprise. In 1855, the name of this Church was changed from " Bethesda" to "The First Presbyterian Church of Ashland." It soon became a flourishing, self-sustaining Church. But his labors were not confined to one field. At the same time he was laboring to awaken an interest on the subject of education among the people, and to establish a school of high grade for the education of his own and his neighbors' children. In this he was also successful, and " Beech Grove Academy" remains as one of the first schools in that part of the State. He himself gave in- structions in the higher branches, but the school was conducted for the most part by competent teachers em- ployed by him. He saw the spiritual desolation of that vast region, and felt it to be his duty, as the only one in the field, to give all possible attention to all the Pres- byterian organizations in that part of the Presbytery, as well as in the contiguous parts of West Virginia. The field he now supplied embraced the counties of Boyd and Greenup, in Kentucky ; and Wayne and Cabell, in West Virginia. Wherever it was practicable, preaching points and Sabbath-schools were established. The iron furnaces were made centers of work. In 1856, he or- ganized the Church in Catlettsburg; and, in 1859, in Greenupsburg. These, with Ashland, Greenup Union, and the Western (now First) Church, Huntington, West. Virginia, made five organized Churches that were under his oversight, and each one was a center of mission work. He was relieved of the work in Greenup County, in a great measure, in 1863, and in Catlettsburg and West Virginia in 1865, though he did a great deal of mission work in West Virginia after that. Probably the most important work of his life was among the children. He always had some scheme to induce them to learn the Scriptures. When unable to go, as was sometimes the case, to preach to them, he would write instructive arti- cles to be read to them. Many of these appeared in the "True Presbyterian." Many readers will remember the "Gable-end" letters, and "Thoughts for the Thought- ful Youth on G --- and M- Rivers." He also made use of the local papers. His residence in Ashland in- cluded the trying times of the war. He endeavored to put a copy of the Scriptures in the hands of every soldier, whether Confederate or Federal. This course brought upon him the censure of a large class along the border, who thought it the minister's duty to preach "loyalty" instead of Clirist. But he regarded him- self as the servant of the Great Master. The Ash-

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land congregation were, in the main, in full sympathy with the Northern Assembly, while his convictions led him to remain with the Synod of Kentucky. He was in most hearty sympathy with the stand taken by the Synod, though he was providentially prevented from attending its meetings; and he was anxious for the union with the Southern Assembly long before that union was consummated. He defended the course of the Synod in addresses, in letters to the local papers, correcting misrepresentations, and in a number of able articles in the "Free Christian Commonwealth." In April, 1866, he severed his connection with the Ashland Church, and continued his work as an evangelist, as he was able. In 1867, in the hope of being more useful, and, at the same time, that his health would be benefited by the change, he bought a mountain farm, in Carter County, two and a half miles from Grayson, the county- seat. Here, his friends hoped he would, for a time at least, rest and recruit his health. But the call for mis- sionary work was too urgent to be resisted. There were some ten or twelve Presbyterians to be found scattered through that large county, but no organized Church. He went to work at once, looking out suitable places for establishing centers of usefulness. He sought the co-operation of every professor of religion of any de- nomination, and, wherever one could be found compe- tent to take charge of a Sabbath-school, there a school was established, and supplied with papers, books, and Testaments. These points he visited with as much reg- ularity as possible-preaching, encouraging the chil- dren, and teaching them to sing the songs of Zion. He possessed the gift of song, and was particularly fond of singing the children's hymns. Here, too, he endeavored to arouse the people on the subject of education. He was not permitted to carry out the plan he had formed of founding an academy in that community, but his work in behalf of the cause of education was not with- out good results. He gathered the few scattered Pres- byterians together, and partially organized them into a Church. Such was the condition of his health during the last five years of his life, that he was not able to travel about very much during the Winter months ; but, while thus confined to his house, he still had upon him daily, " the care of all the Churches," and furnished the various Sabbath-schools with instruction through messengers sent to them. Thus he lived and labored to the end. During all this time, he received some small pecuniary aid from Ebenezer Presbytery, and a few dollars from the people. Long before his death, he knew that the end was coming, and began to pre- pare himself for it calmly. His children and friends ministered to his wants, sang to him the songs of Zion, and surrounded his last days on earth with the bright memories of his life. He died May 23, 1875, at his mountain home, in Carter County, Kentucky. He was

a man of extraordinary intellect, and was one of the best scholars and most thoroughly read men of his Church ; especially did he excel in his exact and exten- sive knowledge of the English language; possessed fine conversational powers; had a ready flow of wit; was always interesting in his conversation; was well in- formed on current topics; and was, consequently, use- ful at all times among his neighbors in advising them on business points; did much in advancing the agri- cultural and fruit-growing interests of his communities; in many useful ways worked himself a place in the hearts of his people, even those averse to the work of the ministry. His teachings in the pulpit and in pri- vate life were of the most practical and exalted kind; he possessed that kind of piety which opposed notoriety and display ; had little respect for title or social customs of distinction; was singularly humble in his life; his daily walk was in keeping with his high moral and re- ligious teachings; his charities were constant, and always to the full extent of his ability, he considering it one of the greatest objects and pleasures of life to supply the needy, to comfort the distressed, to alleviate mental and moral suffering, to lift up the fallen; to make plain, ex- alted, and happy the pathway of life to all men. His motto was "Jehovah-jirah;" and to his God and his fellow-man he gave his life. Who shall measure the good he did? Eternity alone may tell it. He left five children, all but one of whom were with him at the time of his death.

HITAKER, COL. AQUILLA, Kentucky Pio. neer, was born in Baltimore County, Maryland, in 1755. He first visited Kentucky in 1775; in 1779, brought his family to this State and settled near the Falls of the Ohio, in the neigh- borhood of Sullivan's Station; in 1783, he moved to the neighborhood of Shelbyville, and there resided for many years. His brother, John Whitaker, was killed by the Indians while clearing the grounds for his home, near the present town of Shelbyville. Colonel Whitaker was actively engaged in various expeditions against the Indians, under George Rogers Clark, as lieutenant and captain ; commanded expeditions from Boone's, Wells', and other stations, against the savages ; in 1781, at the head of fifteen men, pursued a body of In- dians who had entered Jefferson County, and, overtaking them at the Falls of the Ohio, after being surprised and nine of their number killed or wounded while attempt- ing to cross the river, with the few remaining men furiously attacked the Indians, killed over twenty of them, and put the rest to flight, in one of the most des- perate conflicts fought in the early days of the State. He ranked as major under Gen. Thomas Barbce, in

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1794, against the Indians, Captain Bland Ballard com- manding a company in his battalion, and took a con- spicuous part in the successes against the Indians on the Maumee and Miami. Around him were such men as Col. John Allen, Capt. Bland Ballard, Gen. Ben Logan, George Rogers Clark, and others of the noble race of hardy men who laid the foundation of the new State. He was a man of medium stature ; possessed great strength and energy; was a bold and daring leader ; possessed a high degree of military skill ; was character- ized for sound judgment and great integrity; was fond of adventure and solitude, and, after Kentucky became too populous to suit his inclinations, emigrated with a part of his family to the wilds of Western Florida, and there died in 1824. He was one of the most hardy, active, influential, and valuable of all the early pioneer men of the West. Col. Whitaker was married twice. From his first marriage there were born seven sons and two daughters; and from his second, four daughters and five sons.

¿LOVER, WILLIAM E., was born November 28, 1801, in Mason County, Kentucky. At the age of sixteen, he went to Louisville, and apprenticed himself to learn the blacksmith trade, at the same time devoting much of his at- tention to studying the general features of engine building, and other branches of mechanical industry. He subsequently filled the position of engineer, for sev- eral years, on a steamboat. In 1833, he left the river, and engaged in blacksmithing in Louisville. In 1836, in connection with L. McDougall and William Inman, he purchased the foundry of Shreve Brothers, and, from that time, began his connection with one of the most valuable interests in the country. In 1838, they built the engines for the steamers "Diana" and "Edward Shippen," and, from that date, Louisville began to take a prominent position in engine-making and steamboat- building. In 1840, he built the first gas-works in Louis- ville, and, for a great number of years, his house was one of the most successful and influential iron manufactories and. machine works in the country. Before the outbreak of the civil war, he closed up his manufacturing interests and entered largely into the tobacco business, in which he was successful, as in his former enterprises. He was, for many years, a member of the City Council; filled the position of trustee in the University of Louisville; was

an officer in various business co-operations; and also served in the Lower House of the Legislature. He was a man of sound judgment and great business skill; was one of the founders of the business prosperity of Louis- ville, and stood very high in the confidence of the peo- ple. He died October 1, 1873. Mr. Glover was twice married, and left five sons and two daughters.

COTT, SAMUEL S., M. D., Physician, Sur- geon, and Politician, was born December 12, 1820, near the village of Poplar Grove, Owen County, Kentucky, and was taken by his par- ents to Gallatin (now Carroll) County, near Ghent. His father, Robert M. Scott, resided during most of his life in Carroll County, and followed the business of manufacturing flour and lumber; and was a man of fine natural ability and of wide influence. Carroll County continued to be his home, except for short intervals, until he was nearly twenty-five years of age. His grandfather Scott was a native of the north of Ireland, and emigrated from Belfast about 1790, set- tling at Lexington, where he taught school for some time. He served as a lieutenant in Wayne's campaign against the Indians in the North-west. His grandfather Garvey enlisted in the army, and served through the Revolutionary War, being present at the surrender of Yorktown. Dr. Scott was kept in the best schools of the country until his sixteenth year, when, through the friendship of George N. Sanders, he secured a cadetship at West Point; but about that time met with an acci- dent, maiming one of his hands, rendering him ineligi- ble. At the age of seventeen, he began to clerk in the store of his uncle, John C. Lindsay, at Ghent; and, while engaged in that capacity, frequently met Lewis Sanders and his son, George N. Sanders, and heard them discuss politics with the Whig leaders, and there laid the foundation of his attachment to the famous dogma of State Sovereignty. In 1844, he was with George N. Sanders on the committee of correspondence on the sub- ject of Texas annexation, appointed at a meeting held at Ghent. That affair, in which he was one of the act- ors, became the turning-point in the lives of several dis- tinguished politicians, and to some extent gave a new aspect to the political organizations of the country. In February, 1850, Col. Theodore O'Hara wrote him from Washington City, to know how many men could be re- cruited in Carroll County, to aid in an expedition to lib- erate Cuba, at the same time communicating to him the plans which had been arranged by Gen. Lopez, himself, and others concerned in the scheme. He at once es- poused the Cuban cause, and, with the aid of Major William llandy (afterwards Dr. Handy), he raised two hundred and twenty-five men, with whom they embarked for New Orleans, on April 4 of that year. Those, with twenty-five others, made the Kentucky regiment in the first Lopez expedition. Theodore O'Hara was its colo- nel; John T. Pickett, its lieutenant-colonel ; and T. T. Hawkins and William Handy were its majors. Dr. Scott was senior surgeon. The recruiting was conducted in great secrecy, none of the men knowing that they were not going to California. On the coast of Yucatan, they were joined by Lopez, with the rest of the expedi- tion. They shortly after landed the whole force, in the

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night, at Cardenas. At the first fire of the sentinel, O'Hara was wounded, and carried to the rear. But, after a short contest, the garrison and governor were surrendered to Lopez. But, being repulsed during sev- eral engagements of the day, they re-embarked, on the following night, on the "Creole," and, in a deplorable condition, landed at Key West. The expedition, al- though one of the most daring and exciting in the an- nals of modern warfare, had for its result the usual fate of such adventures. At the opening of the civil war, his principles led him to take the side of the South. In 1860, as the result of a correspondence with William L. Yancy, that noted Southern leader came to Kentucky, and delivered a speech at Flor- ence. He used every exertion to induce Kentucky to go with the South, and, failing in his purpose, went to recruiting for the Confederate army, raising the greater part of Capt. A. S. Medari's company of Col. Roger Hanson's regiment. He served as a pri- vate in that company for several months, but was en- gaged most of the time in recruiting, up to the Fall of 1861. He finally reported to Dr. David Yandell, Med- ical Director at Bowling Green, and was appointed sur- geon to one of the hospitals there ; but was soon after made surgeon of Major Phifer's battalion of Arkansas cavalry. While acting in that capacity, he was elected, without his knowledge, as member of the famous "Council of Ten," the Legislative body of the " Pro- visional Government" of Kentucky, to fill the place of Gen. George B. Hodge. He remained with the "Coun- cil" until after the battle of Shiloh, still holding his position in the medical service. He was subsequently ordered to Eastern Kentucky, and became surgeon of the Fourth Kentucky Cavalry, under Humphrey Mar- shall, with which he remained, in the capacity of sur- geon, brigade surgeon, surgeon of division, and, for a time, medical director of the department of South-west Virginia and East Tennessee, until Col. Giltner marched to Mt. Sterling to surrender, in 1865. He then, with a small party, joined Gen. Breckinridge, in North Caro- lina, and was among the last to surrender. He then returned to Kentucky, and resumed the practice of his profession. He studied medicine, and graduated in the medical department of Transylvania University in 1842, and began the practice of his profession at Ghent, in the following year. In 1853, he also attended lectures at the Medical College of Ohio, and graduated. He has mainly engaged in the active duties of his practice, his long army experience making him one of the best surgeons in his State, and his long gencral medical prac- tice has placed him among its most reliable and thorough physicians. IIc has, for many years, resided in Boone County, at Florence; and, although still giving his attention to his profession, devotes much of his time to the care of his farm, and has always been more or less

interested in stock-raising. In politics, he is one of the straight-out, old school Jeffersonian Democrats, and, in 1877, was one of the Electors on the Tilden ticket, re- ceiving nearly two hundred more votes than any district candidate for Elector in the State. In 1877, he was a candidate for one branch of the Legislature, but grace- fully retired from the field to make way for another. He is a man of great strength of character; never abandons a cause he once espouses ; is naturally a leader, and is one of those men who would always come to the surface in great public emergencies. In person, he is over six feet in height; powerfully built ; is scholarly in his habits, careless and off-hand in manners and dress, and is a fine specimen of his type of independent man- hood. Dr. Scott was married, at New Liberty, Ken- tucky, November 1I, 1845, to Evelyn F. O'Hara, eldest daughter of James O'Hara, Sr., and sister of Judge James O'Hara, of Covington, Kentucky. They have had three sons and one daughter. Their oldest son, Charles, served in the Confederate army, and died . in 1872. Their other living son, Robert Scott, is a druggist at Williamstown, Kentucky.

LARKE, HON. JOHN B., Lawyer, son of John and Mary (Blades) Clarke, was born April 14, 1833, in Bracken County, Kentucky. He was raised on the farm, completed his education at Augusta College, and began the study of the law, in 1852, under Judge Joseph Doniphan, at Augusta. In the Spring of 1854, he was admitted to the bar, and, in the following year, commenced practice, still remaining in the office of Judge Doniphan. But, during this year, he removed to Brookville, in the same county, where he has since resided. He has represented nearly every criminal case in his county for fifteen years; and, besides being one of the most successful criminal case lawyers in the State, his general law practice has become large and lucrative. In 1858, he was elected county attorney, and held the position four years. In 1867, he was elected to the State Senate from his dis- trict, consisting of the counties of Bracken, Pendleton, and Grant, and held the position four years. In 1874, he was elected to Congress, from the Tenth Congres- sional District, time expiring March 4, 1874. In this Congressional term, he served on the Committees of Revolutionary War Claims and of Patents; and he so faithfully and honorably represented his constituency, and maintained the dignity of his position throughout the heated partisan contests of the House, that, in No- vember, 1876, he was re-elected to the same place, rep- resenting, as before, the Tenth Congressional District. He was Chairman of the Democratic County Executive Committee, from 1862 to 1874; and was, for cight years,

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 118

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