The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 13

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

USA > Kentucky > The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century > Part 13

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UCKNER, JAMES MERRY, Commission Mer- chant, was born August 20, 1840, in Davidson County, Tennessee, near Jackson Hermitage. His father, James Buckner, was a native of Virginia, and was of English origin. He was a Baptist minister, and a gentleman of great literary talent. His mother's maiden name was Minerva Cook, a sister of Judge Cook, of Tennessee, who was Judge of the Supreme Court of his State, and a man of great culture and learning. James Merry Buckner en- countered many impediments in his early pursuit of knowledge; but managed to procure a fair education, considering the scanty facilities to which he had access. The time of his youth was divided between labor on a

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farm, and the devotion of as much as could be spared, to obtaining an education in the common-schools of his neighborhood. At the age of thirteen years, he took a trip to Mississippi, and remained there for a period of three years, employing his time chiefly in hunting, and prospecting through the country. Upon his return to his home, in 1856, he resumed his studies, entering Mount Juliet Academy. When sixteen years of age, he left Tennessee, at the request of a relative in Kentucky, to accept a position as clerk in a dry-goods store. He arrived in Kentucky, and commenced upon the duties of his situation, and was so faithful to the interests of his employers, that he was rewarded, from time to time, with an increased compensation. After remaining in this house for three years, as clerk, he had accumulated sufficient capital, to enable him to enter into business upon his own account; and, in 1859, he went to Cadiz, Trigg County, Kentucky, and established himself as a mer- chant. Having great business tact and enterprise, he was successful in his undertaking, and was soon rapidly advancing to prosperity. But the war coming on a short time after this propitious beginning of his career, business was paralyzed, and the community was in such a condition of disturbance incident to the great inter- necine conflict, as to make it impossible to carry on any regular occupation ; and he was, therefore, compelled to sell out his store, and abandon business for the time be- ing. He now directed his attention to speculation in tobacco, and all the different agricultural staples grown in his locality. In this, he met with success, becoming an extensive operator in his line; and, in the Spring of 1864, went to New York City, where he continued this business. About this time he received an offer from his former employer, to take an interest in a wholesale dry- goods house, to be established at Evansville, Indiana. He accepted this proposition, and the house was accord- ingly opened. He continued in the dry-goods trade until the Fall of 1867, when he went to Paducah, Ken- tucky, and engaged in the tobacco business. He pur- chased an interest in the tobacco warehouse of T. M. Hall, a well-known merchant of his town, the firm name being changed to Hall, Buckner & Co. With his characteristic energy, he set about to increase the trade of this house, and to obtain, for Paducah, the reputation of one of the leading tobacco markets of the West. After a time, another partner, Mr. T. F. Terrell, was admitted to the firm, which was thereafter known as Hall, Buckner & Terrell. Their business soon assumed large proportions, and, to accommodate the rapidly in- creasing trade, they erected a capacious warehouse, the largest and most complete of its kind to be found in the town. When he first became a member of this firm, the sales of the house amounted to about five or six thou- sand hogsheads per annum; but, since he entered the business, the sales have reached the large figure of four-

teen thousand five hundred hogsheads in a single year. He, being the youngest among the partners of the house, does the greater part of the traveling and buying, and the great success of this firm is largely due to his sound judgment and untiring energy. He shows the greatest liberality, and is active in his encouragement of every movement for improving the tobacco trade of his sec- tion. He was married, at the age of nineteen years, to Miss Elizabeth Torrian, daughter of William Torrian, of Christian County, Kentucky, and had one child by this marriage. He lost his first wife, and was again mar- ried, in 1871, to Miss Betty Murell, only child of S. F. and Mary Murell, of Paducah; and two children are the issue of this union. He is an honored member of the Christian Church. He is a member of the order of Ma- sons, in high standing. Mr. Buckner, though yet a young man, has risen to a degree of success seldom reached by one of his years.

ALDEMAN, WALTER W., Editor, was born April 27, 1821, in Maysville, Mason County, Kentucky, and is the son of John and Elizabeth Haldeman. His father was of Swiss origin, but both of his parents were Pennsylvanians by birth, and, early in the century, settled at Louisville, Kentucky, where he began life as clerk in a grocery. He was educated chiefly in the Maysville Academy, and had, for schoolmates, General Grant, Thomas H. Nelson, Henry W. Wadsworth, and several others, who have since become prominent in the affairs of the country. In 1840, he became book-keeper in the office of the "Louisville Journal," and was for several years intimately associated with George D. Prentice. In 1844, he became proprietor of the "Daily Dime," which he published for a few months, in the same year converting it into the "Morning Courier," which he established on a permanent foundation, in a city which has been fatal to newspaper enterprises, and continued its publication with success, making it a great source of power in the State, until the breaking out of the civil war. In September, 1861, the publication of the "Courier," in Louisville, was prohibited; but, following the fortunes of the Confederacy, the paper was soon after published at Nashville, and, after the fall of that city, at various other points within the Confederate lines. In December, 1865, he resumed the publication of the "Courier " in Louisville, again meeting with ex- traordinary success. In 1868, he, with Mr. Watterson, of the "Louisville Journal," conceived the bold plan of uniting the rival papers; and in one day the union was effected, and the people of Louisville astonished at the appearance of the "Courier-Journal," which has, under their management, undoubtedly taken the lead

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among newspapers of the South, and is one of the most ably edited, and most spirited papers published in the United States. Shortly after the union of the "Courier" and "Journal," the old " Louisville Demo- crat" was also merged into the new paper. The "Courier-Journal" building is probably the finest news- paper office west of the Alleghany Mountains, the structure being finally completed in May, 1876, by the placing of the Prentice statue over the main entrance. Mr. Haldeman's life has been characterized by great perseverance, energy, and enterprise; his whole career having been marked by comprehensiveness of mind, and superior, far-reaching business ability; in manners he is extremely genial, and few men in his profession are more favorably and extensively known. He is strictly upright in all his dealings, and wholly identified with the interests of his section ; is liberal and public-spirited, and Louisville has few more worthy and useful citizens. Mr. Haldeman is the oldest member of the daily press of Kentucky, and is one of the oldest and most success- ful newspaper men of the country.

LAUGHTER, HON. GEORGE CLAYTON, Lawyer and Farmer, son of Judge James Slaughter, was born in 1792, near Bardstown, in Nelson County, Kentucky. His ancestors were English, and some of their descendants are still men of title and wealth in England. Some of them emigrated to Virginia, at a very early day, and planted the family, which became prominently identified with the history of several States, and some- what conspicuous in the affairs of the nation. His father was a Virginian, was a worthy and valuable man; in the early days of Kentucky, acquired a large land estate, and was one of the wealthy citizens of Nelson County. (See sketch of Dr. Harvey Slaughter.) George C. Slaughter studied law with Judge John Rowan, and was admitted to the bar, but never practiced his profes- sion, preferring the pleasures of literature, and not need- ing the emoluments of office or business. In the latter part of his life, he conducted a large farming interest, but probably never worked on the farm himself. He was a fine writer, and was ranked, by many, as the equal of George D. Prentice, as a poet. He was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, in 1837; and, at the expiration of his term, was elected to the State Senate; was re-elected for several terms, and held the position until his death, in 1848. He filled the place with great dignity, and with such satisfaction to his constituents that he was never defeated in a political race. He was an orator, and a man of fine bearing and great rcctitude of character; enjoyed the highest confidence of the people of his county, and stood very

high in the legislative body of which he was long a member. He lived in celibacy, was refined and stately in his habits, and, in a very high degree, maintained the traditionally fine manners and scholarly character of his honorable old family.

LAUGHTER, HARVEY, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, son of Judge James and Margaret (Gray) Slaughter, was born in 1803, on Cedar Creek, in Nelson County, not far from Bards- town, Kentucky, and is a member of one of the distinguished families of the United States and England. The ancestors of this family were followers of the fortunes of William the Conqueror, and, on ac- count of their fidelity to his cause, were ennobled, "Invicta fidelitatis premium" placed on their coat-of- arms, and large estates entailed upon them. Three members of this family are noblemen in England; their chief seats are Hartfordshire, Gloucester, and Worcester, and the beautiful device, bearing the family coat-of- arms, is looked upon with considerable pleasure by Dr. Slaughter, as indicating an honorable origin, which has not been tarnished in America, Two brothers came to America, and settled in Virginia, during the early days of that colony, and from them came the English Slaugh- · ters of Virginia and Kentucky, many of whom were sol- diers in the Revolutionary War. From Culpepper, alone, there were seven officers of the Revolutionary army; and it is said that twenty-seven of their descendants par- ticipated in the first battle of Bull Run, in the late civil war, seventeen of whom were either killed or wounded. Three brothers, James, Robert, and Thomas Slaughter, emigrated from Virginia, and settled in this State, in its territorial days. Robert was a rich, influential farmer, of Nelson County, which he represented in the Legisla- ture, in 1798 and 1799. Thomas was a merchant ; set- tled at Russellville, and was, for several terms, State Senator, and Jackson Elector. Judge James Slaughter was born in Culpepper County, Virginia, and came to this State, with his young wife, Margaret Gray, in 1787, and settled in the unbroken forests of Beech Fork, in Nelson County, where he lived for sixty years, and raised, and finely educated, a large and respectable fam- ily, some of whom became prominent in the public serv- ice. He was one of the magistrates appointed for Nel- son County, by the convention which framed the Consti- tution of Kentucky, in 1792 ; in 1795, he was elected to the Legislature, and served one term; was, for a long time, a special judge under the old system of courts, and was one of the most valuable and worthy men of his section of the State. He was a fine business man, stoically temperate and exact in his habits ; was a model of thorough moral discipline, never deviating from the

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path of rectitude; was practical and tolerant in his views; and, although he and his wife were both raised in the Episcopal Church, after waiting many years, and no opportunity arising for them to enjoy the privileges of their favorite Church, they united with the Baptist Church, in their neighborhood. Judge Slaughter was a cousin of Gov. Gabriel Slaughter, and, like him, dis- played in his life the frank and noble simplicity of man- ner characteristic of their family. He died December 25, 1846, at the age of eighty-two; his wife having died September 21, 1838, aged seventy. They lived fifty-two years in marriage. Their son, Dr. Harvey Slaughter, was liberally educated, chiefly at Bardstown, once the seat of some of the finest schools of the State. He studied for his profession at Bardstown, under the celebrated Dr. Burr Harrison, and, after attending lcc- tures in the medical department of Transylvania Uni- versity, at Lexington, began to practice medicine, in Hardin County, in 1829; was induced, during the same year, to locate in Elizabethtown, where he enjoyed a large and lucrative practice, until failing health caused him to retire from the profession, to a great extent, in 1875. For forty-five years, he practiced med- icine at Elizabethtown, and took the position of leading member of his profession in that part of Kentucky. He was the first President of the Hardin County Medical Society; and, outside of his pro- fession, was every-where prominent in the interests of the community, serving for many years as Presi- dent of the Elizabethtown Board of Trustees. He has never sought public office of any kind, and has not been a politician ; yct he is a speaker of ability, and has often been forced to exercise his powers in this di- rection before the people. Religiously, he is Episco- palian, as have been all of his family. He owned a large farm in Nelson County, which he superintended for ten years, and now owns a farm in Hardin, to which he has devoted a great deal of attention, in a thoroughly scientific way, and especially in the direc- tion of horticulture, being able to exhibit some as fine specimens in that line as any man in the country. In person, he is tall and slender, and of commanding and attractive presence. He is a man of fine education and decided refinemement of taste and manners; is a fine writer, and is one of the most thoroughly read and ac- complished men of his section. Dr. Slaughter was mar- ried, in 1832, to Miss Eliza Harrison Wood, of Hart County, a member of one of the old valuable families of that county, and a lady of uncommon culture and re- finement. They have reared no children, having lost their only child in early infancy. The Wood family, of which she is a member, is nearly related to Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of the Declaration of In- dependence, and father to Gen. William Henry Harri- son. Mrs. Slaughter is also nearly related to Judge R.

A. Buckner, of Lexington, Kentucky, and to Gen. Thomas Wood, of Dayton, Ohio, and is first cousin to Gen. Simon B. Buckner, of Kentucky. Col. James Slaughter, of Revolutionary memory, and father of Judge James Slaughter, of Kentucky, commanded a regiment at the battle of Great Bridge, said to have been the first engagement of the Revolution fought in Virginia; and his oldest son, Philip, then a boy of sev- enteen years, served throughout the war, finally rising to the rank of captain. Young Philip was the companion of Lieut. John Marshall (afterwards Chief-Justice), suf- fered with him through the dreadful Winter at Valley Forge, and fought with him at Brandywine, German- town, and Princeton, and remained his warm friend through life. Capt. Philip Slaughter died in 1849, in his ninety-second year. Hon. George C. Slaughter, third son of Judge Slaughter, and brother of Dr. H. Slaughter, was one of the most polished and scholarly gentlemen, of the old school, in Kentucky; was long in public life; was led by his high sense of honor and gal- lantry, in his younger days, to fight a duel, in which he was wounded. He died in 1848, and his remains re- pose at "Sugar Grove," the old family homestead, in Nelson County. (See sketch of Hon. George Clayton Slaughter.) Philip Slaughter, the oldest brother of Dr. Slaughter, was a thrifty farmer; a man of considerable talent; served one term in the Kentucky Legislature, having only six votes cast against him at the polls; was extremely popular, but had great aversion to office-seek- ing and public life; was a man of fine social qualities, pleasing manners, and great purity of character. He died about the age of seventy.

LLEN, COL. WILLIAM BARRET, Lawyer, Author, and Historian, son of Capt. David Allen, was born May 19, 1803, near Greens- burg, in Greene County, Kentucky. His great- grand-parents came to this country from the County of Armagh, in Ireland, and settled in Virginia. His grandfather and grandmother were both Allens, and were related by blood. His grandfather re- sided in Albemarle County, and was a blacksmith and manufacturer of cutlery ; he participated in the Revolu- tionary War, and was a bitter opponent of the British aggressions on the just rights of the colonies. He ac- cumulated considerable property, and, when the war was over, started with his family to seek a home in the wilderness of Kentucky, but took sick and died on the way. The family finally came to Kentucky, in 1787, and settled in the territory then embraced in Lincoln County. They subsequently settled in Greene County, and were conspicuous in the affairs of that county, and in the Indian troubles that still, for many years after

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their arrival, disturbed the country. James Allen, one of the family, and uncle of William B. Allen, was a lawyer; filled many positions of trust in his community ; commanded a regiment under Gen. Hopkins, in the war of 1812, in his campaign against the Indians of Northern Illinois; afterwards commanded a brigade under Gov. Shelby, and participated in the battle of the Thames, under Gen. Desha, and was killed, by a fall from his horse, November 25, 1836. David Allen, his father, was a farmer by pursuit; had little ambition in the way of public offices, and quietly occupied himself on his farm, until the breaking out of the second war with Great Britain, when he volunteered at the call of Gov. Shelby, and commanded a company of mounted rifle- men. The exposures and sufferings of the campaign were too great for his constitution, and, although he survived the war, he never recovered from its effects, from which he died, November 14, 1817, at the age of forty-three. Two years previously, his wife had died. They left six children, of whom William Barret Allen was the oldest. He received his education chiefly under Rev. John Howe, at Athens Seminary, in Greensburg ; but also passed some time in the school of Dr. James Priestly, near Nashville, Tennessee. He became a fair Latin and Greek scholar, and was thoroughly versed in the natural sciences. After leaving school, he spent some time in reading history, and, after teaching a short time, began the study of the law under Samuel Brents, and, before reaching his majority, was licensed to prac- tice. He had previously received the appointment of postmaster at Greensburg, in 1823. In 1828, he was appointed one of the justices of the peace for the State, and resigned his charge of the post-office; in 1829, he was elected to the Legislature, by a large majority, re- ceiving all the votes of his own town except three; and served throughout his term with distinction, declining to be re-elected, devoting himself to his professional du- ties. In 1829, he was appointed attorney for the Bank of the Commonwealth, located at Greensburg; in 1834, was one of the editors of a political and literary paper, advocating the doctrines of the Whigs; in 1835, became clerk in the Greensburg branch of the Bank of Ken- tucky ; from 1839 to 1857, was cashier of that institu- tion ; was appointed Master in Chancery for Greene County, in 1843; soon resigned that position ; wrote and spoke against the revision of the State Constitution, in 1848 and 1849 ; was many years Colonel of the.Sixteenth Regiment of State Militia, and has long been prominent among the Masons. After twenty-three years' absence from the bar, he again began the practice of the law, in 1858; in 1862, was elected County Attorney for Greene County, without opposition; was re-elected in 1866, serving two terms of eight years; in 1866, was reap- pointed Master Commissioner for his county, serving several years; and, in 1874, was appointed Government

storekeeper, a position which he still holds. He has been an extensive and exhaustive reader, and is one of the most scholarly and best informed men of his section of the State. His writings have been quite varied and voluminous ; besides essays and numerous miscellaneous articles for the newspapers, etc., he wrote a small work on Grammar, a small work on Chronology, unpublished ; his " Kentucky Officers' Guide and Legal Hand-book," and his " History of Kentucky," published; he also now has in press a small work on the doctrines of faith and life, from a Presbyterian stand-point, His "History of Kentucky" was issued in 1872 ; is written in a free and entertaining style, from material long in pro- cess of collection, and must take its place among the valuable works of Western history. Religiously, he is Presbyterian. In his personal, business, and social habits, he has always been a model of propriety, and reaps the good results in his advanced age, having fine vigorous health, seldom or never having been sick. He has been one of the most upright and useful men of his part of the State. Col. Allen has been three times married, February 26, 1823, to Miss Jane Pope Helm, the accom- plished and beautiful daughter of Hon. Charles Helm, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky; she died, leaving three children. November 1, 1836, he was married to Mrs. Huldah Wilcox, of Dorchester, Massachusetts, a lady of great culture and piety ; she died in 1855, leaving sev- eral children. In the following year he was married to Miss Millie N. Baker, of Columbia, Kentucky. By this marriage he has one living child.

CHRISTIAN, COL. WILLIAM, Pioneer, Farmer, and Soldier, was born about 1743, in Augusta County, Virginia; was educated at Staunton; served in command of a company; was on the frontier during Braddock's war, and was a brave and efficient officer. After peace with the In- dians, he settled in Botetourt County, and became col- onel of militia; was decidedly military in his tendencies; in 1774, he raised three or four hundred volunteers and marched to join Col. Lewis, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha; arrived too late to participate in the battle, but was present at Dunmore's treaty with the Indians, which followed; was a member of the General State Convention of Virginia, in 1775; in the following year was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Virginia Reg- iment, of which he soon after became Colonel; com- manded an expedition against the Indians on the fron- tier; concluded a peace; resigned his commission in the regular service, and took charge of the militia as a colonel, keeping down the disturbances arising through- out the country from the infatuated and ignorant Tories, rendering great service to the cause of the colonies.

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At the close of the war for independence he was, for several years, a member of the Virginia Legislature. He emigrated to Kentucky with his family in 1785, and settled in Jefferson County, where he again became active in the early Indian troubles of the country, and was distinguished for his valor, intelligence, and patriot- ism. In 1786, a body of Indians crossed the Ohio into Kentucky, committing depredations in his own locality. He raised a company of men and started in pursuit, overtaking the Indians twenty miles from the river. A desperate fight ensued, in which he was killed, but the Indians were totally routed or destroyed. His death was, undoubtedly, a great loss to the new country, as he had already been mentioned in connection with the office of first Governor of Kentucky, although he was no politician, and had taken little part in the debates concerning the new State. Col. Christian married a sister of Patrick Henry.

AMPBELL, REV. DUNCAN ROBERTSON, LL. D., was born August 13, 1814, in Perth- shire, Scotland. His father was a farmer, and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. He pre- pared for college, and entered the University of Edinburgh, where he prosecuted his academic and theological studies with a view to entering the Chris- tian ministry. After leaving the University, he spent some time in London as an evangelist, under the direc- tion of the Free Church Board; was then ordained, and installed over a Presbyterian Church in Scotland, where, a question of conscience in reference to the discharge of his pastoral duties having arisen, a review of the Scrip- tural basis of the constitution and polity of the Presby- terian Church led him to withdraw his connection from that denomination. In 1842, he came to the United States, and settled in Richmond, Virginia, where he united with the Baptist Church, receiving immersion at the hands of Rev. Dr. Jeter. He was ordained to the ministry in the Baptist Church; soon after visited Mis- sissippi, where he resided three years, laboring to great advantage for the Church; in the Fall of 1845, visited Kentucky, holding a series of meetings with the Baptist Churches of Frankfort and Georgetown; was called to the pastorate of the Georgetown Church, holding the position until 1849; in 1846, was elected to a vacancy in the Board of Trustees of the Georgetown College, becoming, at once, an earnest and efficient worker in the cause of education; soon took rank, also, among the leading Baptist ministers of Kentucky, being as- signed to a responsible position in the Board of the General Association; in 1849, was appointed Professor of Hebrew and Biblical Interpretation in the Western Baptist Theological Institute, then located at Coving-

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 13

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