The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 135

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

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walks of a city life. With no other capital than a well- knit frame and a willing heart, he came to Stanford, Kentucky, where he soon found employment with Martin A. Stemins, a respectable tanner of that town, now a resident of Paris, Kentucky. He remained working under this man, in the tanning business, for nine months, and in a short time had acquired a practical knowledge of the business in all its de- tails. After leaving Mr. Stemins, he entered into part- nership with Henry Myers, in the tanning business ; Mr. Myers investing fourteen thousand dollars in the concern, while Mr. Murphy gave his services. This firm did a thriving business, and its members were rapidly advancing to prosperity, when, in 1859, it met with a serious check to its progress, in the death of its honored senior partner, Mr. Myers. At the time of this unexpected bereavement, the partners had, by their industry and business sagacity, accumulated the sum .of sixty-eight thousand dollars. Mr. Murphy was ap- pointed the administrator of the deceased partner's estate, and faithfully discharged his duties, in a man- ner satisfactory to all concerned. After this, he con- tinued to carry on the former business in his own name, at the same time he began to invest largely in real estate, purchasing several large farms and other prop- erty in and about the town of Stanford. In 1862, he decided to retire from the business in which he had been so long and successfully engaged, for upwards of twenty years, to remove to one of his farms near the town. Here he set about with his characteristic energy to make a success of his newly chosen occupation, and soon be- came one of the most extensive and successful farmers of his county. He grew rapidly into popularity and influence, and in a short time was considered one of the most prominent and leading men of his county. In 1859, he with Joseph McAllister and H. S. Wethers were the incorporators of the Deposit Bank of Stanford, and, a few years later, it was chartered as a National Bank, with Mr. Murphy as its president, which position he has occupied since its incorporation. As an instance of the high esteem and regard in which he is held by the community, he secures the respect of all parties con- cerned. He has always been public-spirited, and has been one of the most active promoters of the internal improvements of his county; aiding, with his influence and means, the establishment of railroads, turnpikes, and other improvements. He was married, in 1846, to Miss Pauline Myers, the daughter of his employer and partner in business, and had nine children, of whom six are now living. He lost his first wife in 1865, and was remarried, to the widow of Mr. J. Johnson, of Frank- fort, Kentucky. His two daughters, Elizabeth and Tab- itha, arc married; and his other children remaining with him are named, respectively, William H., J. H.,

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John S., and Nora C. Murphy. Mr. Murphy's present high standing in the community has been achieved solely by his own untiring energy and perseverance. Coming to the town a penniless and friendless boy, he embarked in business, and, by his industry and integrity, rapidly advanced in prosperity, and has finally become one of the most popular and leading citizens of his town, and is very highly respected and esteemed by a large circle of acquaintances.

OHNSTON, PHILIP PRESTON, Lawyer, was born at Shiloh, King George County, Virginia, April 4, 1840. His family, of Scotch-Irish de- scent, had lived in the same county for many generations, and followed the occupations of farmer, merchant, and mechanic. He was the youngest of several sons, and received such educational advantages as the crippled resources of his father en- abled him to give; and, at an early age, left his home to be the builder of his own fortune. From the avoca- tions open to young men without fortune or influential friends, he chose that of marble cutter; and entered, as an apprentice, with the well-known firm of Bevan & Sons, of Baltimore, and finished his apprenticeship with Hugh Sisson, of that city. Mr. Johnston has always preserved the most friendly and agreeable relations with these gentlemen ; and looks back with gratification to the four or five years of patient, disciplined application which made him a skilled workman, and gave a sense of confidence, independence, and security. The splen- did and inexpensive advantages offered to young men in Baltimore, for self-improvement, were not wholly neglected by him during his stay in that city. In 1861, after having finished his apprenticeship, he left the workshop for the military camp, to carry out a well- matured resolve, the proper time for the execution of which had been somewhat impatiently awaited. His first military duty was performed with the Baltimore City Guards. The sentiment of Maryland, at the time, was overwhelmingly Southern ; and it was then believed that she would be one of the Confederate States, and the principal battle-ground ; but, while the authorities hesitated, and talked about constitutional rights, a cor- don of steel had been silently drawn around the little State. Her young men then left their homes in the hands of the invader, to join the Southern army, John- ston among the number. He was formally mustered into the service at Richmond, Virginia, in May, 1861; and his, with other companies from Maryland, was soon after formed into the First Maryland Infantry Regi- ment, Col. George II. Stuart commanding. Hc served as a private in this command, participating in the first battle of Manassas, and other minor engagements, until

May, 1862; when he (being in the service as a Mary- lander, and, consequently, exempt from the operations of the conscription act ), with other Marylanders who had enlisted for one year, was discharged. The same month he re-enlisted, in Gen. J. E. B. Stuart's Horse Artillery, under Capt. John Pelham, of Alabama. In this command, he held every position, from private to major commanding the battalion. During the four years' service, he had no furlough, except two given by the enemy; the first from his artillery, the second on the 8th of May, 1864, in Spottsylvania County, Virginia, when his battery was charged by Grant's infantry. The small cavalry support, which, with the battery, awaited the shock, was ordered to retire soon after the action commenced, having received considerable damage without being able to inflict much on the en- emy. The charging column numbered several thousand. Maj. James Breathed (Gen. Fitz Lee's Chief of Artil- lery ) was present, a man of unsurpassed courage, who had learned to fight under Pelham, and shared his fame. The leaden hail from over five thousand mus- kets had wounded a number of the artillery-men and horses, while the artillery in turn had opened many fatal gaps in the blue line. The enemy, however, quickly closcd them up, and rushed on, hoping to capture the pieces; to prevent this, after fighting the guns to the last moment, the order was given to re- tire one gun at a time, commencing on the right. The maneuver was executed with deliberation until the time came for the left gun to move; while in the act of start- ing it, the two lead-horses were killed, and two of the three drivers shot down. Almost at the same moment, Capt. Johnston received a musket ball in his right shoul- der. Major Breathed, whose horse had been killed un- der him, commenced cutting the dead horses loose with his saber. Before he succeeded, the last driver was shot from his team, and the two middle horses killed. That solitary gun, with every thing around it either killed or wounded, except one single man and the two wheel- horses, was now the target for an army. Breathed's courage rose equal to the occasion. With more than mortal energy, he separated the living horses from the dead, mounted one of them, and drove the gun safely from the field, followed by the audible curses of the dis- appointed enemy. The desperate conflict had accom- plished its purpose. The Confederate infantry had come up and formed behind the hill, in the rear of where the battery stood, and its line opened to let the hero pass through with his gun, and closed up to receive the mad- dened Federals, who charged heedlessly on. In the Fall of 1864, Capt. Johnston was recommended by Gen. Ju- bal A. Early-under whom he had fought for several months in the valley of Virginia-for distinguished gal- lantry and efficiency, and soon after received his com- mission as major of artillery; after which he was as-

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signed to duty with Major-General Lomax, as chief of the artillery of his division, where he served until the close of the war. In the course of his military career, he had won expressions of approval, on the field, from such distinguished soldiers as Early, Breckinridge, and Lomax ; fought with the gallant Pelham, under Stuart; received promotion at their hands, and was honored with their friendship. At the close of the war, he went to Texas, and engaged in trade with satisfactory success; left there, in the Spring of 1867, and located in Lex- ington, Kentucky, and commenced the study of law, under Col. W. C. P. Breckinridge, and graduated from the law college of Kentucky University, in the class of 1868. He has practiced law, in a desultory way, at the Lexington bar, ever since. In 1870, after a warm con- test, he was elected city attorney-a position, at that time, of considerable pecuniary value. In 1873, he was given the Democratic nomination for Representative, from Fayette County, in the Kentucky Legislature, but was defeated by Col. Prall, his Republican opponent. In 1877, he received, without opposition, the nomina- tion of the Democratic party for State Senator, and was elected by a majority of between twelve and thirteen hundred votes. In 1870, he married Miss Chiles, of Fayette County, and is now the father of three boys.

AMPBELL, COL. CHURCHILL GIBBS, Mer- chant, is of a family of Scotch descent, who settled in Virginia before the Revolution; and was born May 3, 1824, in Culpepper County, Virginia. His uncle, Col. William Campbell, was an officer of the Revolution, and com- manded at the battle of King's Mountain. His father, John Campbell, was a farmer of Bourbon County, Ken- tucky, for many years, where he died, at the age of seventy-nine. His mother was Miss Frances Green, through whom he is related to the Pendletons and Greens of Virginia. He received a good education in the county schools; at the age of twenty-four, joined a company that was raised in Bourbon County, to serve in the Mexican War, of which he was elected first lieuten- ant, and Col. W. E. Simms captain; and was placed in the Third Kentucky Infantry, which re-enforced Gen. Scott, in the City of Mexico. After twelve months' service, peace was declared; and he returned to Bour- bon County, and entered into the dry-goods business, in Millersburg; started, in January, 1853, to California; but, when three days out, the ship in which he sailed was wrecked, in the Caribbean Sea. He made his way back to New York, intending to embark on the next ship that went out; but, meeting a friend, Edward Lam- bert, a large silk merchant of New York, accepted a position with him as salesman; remained there two

years; then went to Philadelphia, where he established himself in the wholesale notion business; in 1858, came to Versailles, Kentucky, where he started and carried on a retail dry-goods store till 1862. After Bragg's en- try into Kentucky, he raised, in one day, a company of one hundred and eighteen men; joined the regiment un- der Gen. Buford, and was with the force that covered Bragg's retreat; was with Gen. Buford in the battle of Murfreesboro, or Stone river; in March, Buford being sent South, he was assigned to Gen. Morgan's command, and was with him in all his raids, including the raid into Ohio and Indiana; was with Morgan and his sev- enty officers in the Ohio Penitentiary; while there, had a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism, and was ad- vised to take the oath of allegiance, and save his life; but he refused, and, in October, 1864, was exchanged, and sent to Richmond as beyond hope of recovery ; was able, however, to again enter the service, January I, under Gen. Duke; was promoted to the rank of lieu- tenant-colonel, and served as such till the close of the war, when he was paroled, at Washington, Georgia; re- turned soon after to his business, at Versailles, where he has since remained. He was a brave soldier, and is a man of high and honorable principles; and, as an in- stance of his integrity of character, and conscientious conduct in the army, it is related that, while Gen. Duke was stationed at New river, he was sent out to obtain a supply of horses; and, while on the expedition, his own horse, worth one thousand dollars, was stolen; he, how- ever, executed his commission, delivered the horses, re- taining one, for which he gave his note of hand, paya- ble at Versailles on sight, and has since redeemed it in full. He is an active member of the Christian Church, and a man of worth and influence in his community.

ARRIS, WILLIAM FRANCIS, son of William A. Harris, was born January 4, 1837, in In- dianapolis, Indiana. He received a good En- glish education, but, his father dying when he was six years old, he was early compelled to start in life on his own responsibility. In 1852, he went to Lexington, Kentucky, where he began clerk- ing in the dry-goods house of T. W. White & Co., previously having taken a course of commercial in- struction in Cincinnati. In 1856, he returned to In- dianapolis, remaining in the dry-goods business until the following year, when he commenced railroading in the employ of the Bellefontaine Railroad Company. In 1861, he became agent for the Louisville & Nash- ville Road, and removed to Louisville, Kentucky. At the breaking out of the civil war, he was appointed quartermaster in the Federal army, serving chiefly at Louisville, but a part of the time at Nashville, at Pitts-

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burg Landing, and at Huntsville, Alabama, resigning at Louisville, after three years' service. He then became Superintendent of the Louisville Transfer Company, also of the Memphis and Nashville Transfer Companies. In 1869, he commenced the ice business in Louisville, and soon after engaged, under the style of Payne, Harris & Co., in the manufacture of sleeping cars, and is now Director of the Pullman Southern Car Company. With all these corporations he is still actively connected. For the first two years, he conducted the ice business alone, but, after some changes, he finally united with John P. Cromie, under the style of Northern Lake Ice Company, of which he is president. He is also President of the Louisville Transfer Company. Although actively en- gaged in his own extensive business, he has taken a lively interest in the affairs of the city, and is one of the most enterprising, active, successful, and valuable business men of Louisville. He is a man of great ex- ecutive and shrewd financial ability. Starting without means, he has risen rapidly, and taken a position among the leading business men of the city. Mr. Harris was married, September 23, 1863, to Miss Mary Daugherty, of Lancaster, Ohio. She died in January, 1875.

AN WINKLE, JOHN SALLEE, Lawyer, was born March 8, 1829, in Wayne County, Ken- tucky. He is a descendant of a Dutch family, who migrated with Gov. Stuyvesant, in 1647, from the Netherlands, to New York. His grandfather, Abraham Van Winkle was a promi- nent citizen of Wayne County; he held the offices of sheriff and justice of the peace of that county for a con- siderable period of his life. His father, Micajah Van Winkle, was a respectable and intelligent farmer of his county, of more than mediocre ability, who was also chosen to the offices of sheriff and justice of the peace of his county. John's academic education was received in his native county, at the town of Monticello; and, after completing his education, he commenced the study of the law, in that place, in the office of his brother, the late Hon. E. L. Van Winkle. After passing through the necessary study, he graduated in the law depart- ment of the University of Louisville, and was licensed and admitted to the bar, in 1854, and opened an office in his native town. He remained in Monticello in the pursuit of his profession until 1863, when he removed to Danville, Kentucky, which place continues to be his residence up to the present time. His first step in pub- lic life was made in 1861, when he consented to run for the State Legislature as Representativc. Hc was elected, and served creditably for a term of two years. He was appointed Secretary of State, in 1866, under Gov. T. E. Bramlette's administration, and, when he received the

appointment, he removed to Frankfort. At the expiration of his term of service in this office, he returned to Dan- ville to resume the practice of his profession. Here his ability and legal tact soon placed him in the front rank of the legal profession of his town; and, with his many estimable qualities, he became one of its prominent and leading citizens. In youth and early manhood, he was identified with the old Whig party in politics, and, on its dissolution, was associated with some of the organiza- tions which sprang out of its dismemberment, in oppo- sition to the Democratic party; and so continued until the civil war, during which he was a decided conserva- tive Unionist, but did not take up arms, because of feeble health, and the fact that much of that period he was a member of the Kentucky Legislature, where the delicacy of the duty performed, and gravity of respon- sibility which rested on each member, were quite as onerous to the individual, and perhaps important to the country, as those of a soldier in the field. He was mar- ried, in 1858, to Mary Buster, daughter of Gen. Buster, of Monticello, Kentucky. He lost his first wife, and was remarried, in 1867, to Miss Louisa T. Dillon, and has a family of five children. Mr. Van Winkle comes through a long and eventful career of public life with a character absolutely without blemish and above re- proach ; in his profession, he has won the admiration of all with whom he has been brought in contact ; public- spirited and of unquestioned integrity, he has been an honor to the community.

ETCHER, JOSEPH P., M. D., was born June 6, 1807, at Lancaster, Garrard County, Ken- tucky, and was the eighth child of Benjamin Letcher and his wife, Mary Robertson. His father was a native of Goochland County, Vir- ginia; and followed agricultural pursuits, and was also Clerk of the Circuit Court for Garrard County, Kentucky, from the formation of that county, in 1796, until his death, in 1823. He was related to the distin- guished families of his name in Virginia, from which State he emigrated in 1786. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a native of Rockbridge County, Vir- ginia, and daughter of William Robertson, who was one of the first delegates from Mercer County, Kentucky, to Virginia, when this State was a part of the Old Do- minion. She was sister of Chief-Justice George Robert- son, one of Kentucky's most distinguished men. Dr. Letcher was liberally educated, at Lancaster Academy, and in other good schools of the country. While pur- suing his literary studies, he engaged, more or less, in assisting his father in the dutics of the clerkship of the Circuit Court, and for four years acted as deputy clerk. He read medicine, and, in 1838, graduated from the

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medical department of Transylvania University. He was engaged actively in his profession, at Lancaster, until 1844. From that time until 1867, he practiced at Nicholasville, and, in the latter year, located at Lexing- ton, where he has since resided, actively engaged in the duties of his profession. He has never sought nor held public office of any kind. He cast his first Presidential vote for John Quincy Adams, and his last for Bell and Everett, and was identified with the Whig party until its dissolution. He is now a Democrat. During the war he was an ardent Union man. Religiously, he is a Presbyterian.

9 EWCOMB, HORATIO DALTON, Merchant and Manufacturer, son of Dalton Newcomb, a distinguished farmer of Massachusetts, was born August 10, 1809, at Barnardston, near Springfield, Massachusetts. He received a good practical education, and, after working on his father's farm for a time, he taught school in his native State, but, being dissatisfied with his prospects in that direction, took the agency for a book, and traveled through several of the States, finally locating at Louis- ville, Kentucky, in 1832. He engaged, for a while, as clerk in a small business house; afterwards, in various mercantile enterprises, by which he accumulated some means; entered the commission house of E. E. Webb ; was soon after admitted to partnership, and began a ca- reer of remarkable mercantile success. In 1837, he went into the liquor business; and subsequently establishcd a large grocery trade, with his brother, Warren New- comb, under the style of H. D. Newcomb & Bro., be- coming one of the largest grocery establishments in the West. In 1863, his brother retired from the business, and a few years afterwards died in New York, a mill- ionaire. The house soon became Newcomb, Buchanan & Co., devoting themselves entirely to operations in whisky. In 1850, after the projection of the Cannelton Cotton Mills, at Cannelton, Indiana, by J. C. Ford, Hamilton Smith, and others, when the enterprise was on the eve of failure, he came forward with a large secured capital, placing the establishment on a sure foundation, and, although his commercial interests were valuable, a great part of his fortune was made in his connection with the Cannelton Mills. In 1856, in connection with his brother, Dwight Newcomb, he leased the Cannelton Coal Mines, from which he re- tired after several years' successful operation. In 1871. having amassed a large fortune in the legitimate chan- nels of trade, he abandoned active commercial pursuits for his own interests, and devoted himself, with great energy, to the cause of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and was its most influential and substantial friend. He took large stock in the road; worked

hard for its success, loaning his own credit for the establishment of that of the company; for sixteen years was one of its directors; at the death of Hon. James Guthrie, in 1859, became its president ; as such carried the road through its financial embarrassments ; and, for some time, bore the financial burdens of the company. Mainly through his great business ability and inexhaustible resources, the Louisville and Nash- ville Railroad was made the most successful and pow- erful railroad enterprise in the South. While actively engaged in business pursuits, he never lost sight of the interests of the city. After the burning of the Galt House, through his instrumentality, chiefly, the present magnificent hotel was built. He was one of the organ- izers of the Louisville Board of Trade, and was its first president ; erected some of the finest buildings, and was variously concerned in most movements of importance to the city of Louisville. He was a man of marked peculiarities, as well as marked talents. He was a clear- sighted financier, steady and self-confident rather than aggressive, at all times conservative and safe; was valued among his acquaintances for his liberality and kindness of disposition ; his tastes were always upward, and, although not ostentatious in his patronage, he was con- cerned in all art and public improvements ; possessed of extraordinary gifts, he had few equals in the business world, and the withdrawal of such great resources as he possessed, was a loss to his adopted city. He died of apoplexy, at his house in Louisville, in 1874, and prob- ably left behind him no enemies, for he was a man sin- gularly without malice. Mr. Newcomb was twice mar- ried ; first, in 1838, to Miss Cornelia W. Read. The only remaining child of this marriage is H. Victor Newcomb, of Louisville, Vice-President of the Louis- ville and Nashville Railroad. In 1871, he was married to Miss Mary C. Smith, eldest daughter of John B. Smith, of Louisville, a lady who has ever been distin- guished for her beauty of person, and brilliancy of mind and manners.

USSELL, JAMES ALEXANDER, Lawyer, was born October 1, 1815, at Russellville, Ken- tucky. His family was of Scotch origin, his father, David N. Russell, removing to this country in 1808; he engaged chiefly in agricul- tural pursuits, but, in 1821, took up his resi- dence at Russellville ; was a man of fine mind, and ex- erted a considerable influence in his community. James A. Russell received his education at Elkton, in the seminary conducted under the auspices of the Presby- terian Church ; and at the age of nineteen he began the study of the law, under the Hon. F. M. Bristow, and, in 1837, was admitted to practice, in connection with his preceptor. He continued in that relation until 1840,

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 135

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