The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 2

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

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he disappeared from his seat in the Senate; and finally, without warning or struggle, he breathed his last, at seventeen minutes past eleven o'clock, June 29, 1852, at his lodgings in the National Hotel at Washington City. Every respect was shown his memory at the National Capital, and on the long and circuitous journey to his former home at Lexington, Kentucky, where the remains were finally interred July 10. A fine monument has been erected by the State to his memory. Not only sim- ilar monuments were built in various parts of the coun- try, but in the hearts of his countrymen his great deeds and noble life are forever enshrined. Probably no public man in this country had ever taken so deep a place in the respect and confidence of the people. Not only his deeds, but also his remarkably happy personal manners and fascinating address, as well as his fine, manly, tall, erect, dignified, and commanding form, endeared him to the people. His whole person, including his attractive features, his piercing gray eyes, and strong, intellectual countenance, made him exceedingly prepossessing, and no little was added to the charm of his presence by the melody and beauty of his voice. He was without as- sumption; was frank, open, and communicative, and, above all, his great uprightness and integrity of character gained for him the implicit confidence of his friends and countrymen. Few men possessed more of the elements of true greatness, or enjoyed with less personal pride the flatteries and genuine displays of affection from an ad- miring people. He was not only one of the greatest and purest of American statesmen, patriots, and lawyers, but was also one of the most sincere, true, and exemplary of men in his private life and character. In April, 1799, Mr. Clay married Lucretia Hart, daughter of Capt. Na- thaniel Hart, of Lexington, Kentucky. She was born in 1781, at Hagerstown, Maryland. They had eleven children-six daughters and five sons. Four of their daughters died young. Susan Hart Clay, then Mrs. Duralde, of New Orleans, died at the age of twenty. Ann Brown Clay, born in 1807, married James Erwine, of New Orleans, and died in 1845. Thomas Hart Clay was born in 1803, and lived to a good age. Henry Clay, Jr., was born in 1807, graduated at West Point, studied law, married, entered the army, and fell, gallantly lead- ing his men, in 1847, at the battle of Buena Vista. John M. Clay, the youngest child, was born in 1821, and educated for the law. ' The other sons were Theodore W. Clay and Hon. James B. Clay. (See sketch of the lat- ter.) It is with regret that it is found necessary to state that Mr. Clay was engaged in three "affairs of honor," so called-one with Col. Joe. H. Daviess, one with Hum- phrey Marshall, the historian, and lastly with the eccen- tric John Randolph, of Virginia. Probably no man was ever induced by popular sentiment or the evils of the times to engage in any act which he more utterly detested and deplored.

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ICHOLAS, COL. GEORGE, Lawyer, Soldier, and Jurist, was probably born in James City County, Virginia, about 1743. His father, Rob- ert Carter Nicholas, was a distinguished lawyer of that State; and was treasurer of the Virginia Colony, member of its Council, and of the House of Burgesses. Col. Nicholas served in the Revolutionary War; subsequently practiced law in Charlottesville, Albe- marle County ; was a member of the Virginia Convention, assembled for the consideration and adoption of the Con- stitution of the Federal Union ; was an earnest and influential advocate of the Constitution in that Conven- tion; was a member of the Virginia Legislature from Albemarle County, and had taken rank among the first men of that State long prior to his removal to Kentucky. It does not clearly appear that he permanently settled in Kentucky before 1789, but it is, perhaps, certain that he made a trip to this State in the former year, and not unlikely in 1787, and practiced his profession in the "General Court of the Kentucky District." He settled in Mercer County, near Danville, and was a member, from that county, of the Constitutional Convention which met at Danville in 1792, and formed the Consti- tution under which Kentucky was admitted into the Union. Although that Convention was composed of the best and most able men then living in the State, it has been claimed that he was the particularly bright lumi- nary of them all. He had, in Virginia, figured con- spicuously in a similar convention, associated with such men as Madison, Randolph, and Henry, and was soon established in the confidence of the people of Kentucky, largely influencing the State in the course taken in the politics of 1798. He was the first Attorney-General of Kentucky, under Gov. Shelby, appointed June 15, 1792, serving five or six months only. He spent the last years of his life in Lexington; and, in 1799, became the first law professor in Transylvania University. He was the law preceptor of many Kentuckians who became emi-' nent in their profession, among them such men as Da- veiss, Rowan, Martin D. Hardin, Barry, and Robert Wickliffe. He lived for several years in Bath County, and while there was largely interested in the manufac- ture of iron. Nicholas County was named in honor of him. He was a man of great virtue and many noble traits of character; was universally beloved throughout the State; and was one of the most distinguished men and lawyers who figured at any time in the early history of Kentucky. He died at Lexington in 1799. Col. Nich- olas was married to Mary Smith, of Baltimore, Mary- land, sister of General Samuel Smith, Brigadier-General in the Revolutionary War, originally a merchant of Bal- timore, once mayor of that city, and many times elected to both branches of Congress; also sister of IIon. Robert Smith, Secretary of Navy under President Jefferson, and Secretary of State under President Madison. Their

youngest daughter is now living, and is the widow of Judge Richard Hawes, late the most noted citizen of Bourbon County. The late Judge Samuel Smith Nicho- las, of Louisville, was their son. (See sketch of Samuel Smith Nicholas.)

HELBY, GOV. ISAAC, Farmer, Soldier, and Patriot, son of Gen. Evan Shelby, was born December II, 1750, near the North Mountain, a few miles from. Hagerstown, Maryland, where his father and grandfather had settled on their emigration from Wales. He received quite an ordinary English education, and, like his father, was reared to labor, and taught the use of firearms and the pursuit of game. He learned surveying, and at the age of twenty-one settled in South-western Vir- ginia, where he engaged in farming, and feeding and herding cattle. He was a lieutenant in his father's command in the battle fought at the mouth of the Kanawha, October 10, 1774. In that engagement the officer in command, was killed, when his father, Gen. Evan Shelby, took command of the troops, and both his father and himself were conspicuous in the battle. He first came to Kentucky in 1775, and was employed as a surveyor by Henderson & Co., who had established a land office in that territory under their purchase from the Indians, but in the following year he returned to Virginia, having been appointed captain of a minute company; in 1777, was appointed, by Gov. Henry, of Virginia, as commissary of supplies for militia defending different parts of the frontier; was in the commissary department of the army for several years, and supplied some of the expeditions against the Indians on his in- dividual responsibility. In the Spring of 1779, he was elected to the Virginia Legislature from Washington; in the same year was commissioned major by Gov. Jef- ferson, in the escort to the commissioners for determin- ing the line between Virginia and North Carolina. By that survey his own land was found to be within the boundary of North Carolina. He was then a citizen of that State, and was soon after made colonel of the new county of Sullivan, formed by the territory added to the State by the expedition. In 1780, he came to Kentucky to look after the lands located for himself on his former visit. On his return home he was requested by Gov. Charles McDowell to furnish all the aid pos- sible, and march to check the progress of the British, then overflowing the South. He soon gathered a con- siderable force, and displayed great skill in conducting his retreat after two brilliant engagements, against great odds, at Cedar Spring and Musgrove's Mill. He origi- nated the pursuit of Ferguson, which terminated in the - battle of King's Mountain, October 7, 1780, in which

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

he was one of the commanders, and in which the brave . and impious Ferguson was killed, and new zeal added to the Republican cause. On account of this battle the Legislature of North Carolina voted thanks to him and other officers, and ordered a sword to be presented to each; which resolution was carried out in his case in 1813, when he was leading his troops from the State of which he was then Governor to participate in the second war with Great Britain. In the Fall of 1781, he served under Gen. Marion, and during that campaign the British post at Fairlawn surrendered to him. He was at that time a member of the North Carolina Leg- islature, and attended its sitting in the Winter of 1781, highly commended by Gen. Marion. In 1782 he was again a member of the Legislature, and was appointed one of the commissioners to settle the pre-emption claims on the Cumberland river, and lay off the lands allotted the North Carolina soldiers, south of Nashville. He re- turned from that service, and in the Spring of 1783 settled in Kentucky on the first pre-emption granted in the State, and on which he continued to live until his death. At Boonsborough he married Susannah Hart, second daughter of Captain Nathaniel G. T. Hart, one of the land proprietors called Henderson & Co., and one of the early distinguished settlers of Kentucky. He was a member of the various conventions held at Dan- ville, looking to separation from Virginia; was a mem- ber of the Convention of 1792, which framed the Con- stitution by which Kentucky was made a State; and in May, 1792, was elected the first Governor of the State, serving four years with great distinction, both as to State and National affairs. At the close of his guberna- torial term he retired to his farm, where, as in public affairs, he was distinguished for his judgment and suc- cess. He was several times chosen Presidential Elector, and voted for Jefferson and Madison. In 1812, he was again elected Governor, and, after sending supplies and aiding in every possible way to put the army of the North-west in a good condition, the Legislature re- quested him to lead the additional troops of the State. Accordingly, four thousand men rallied to his call in thirty days, with their own horses, and with them he marched to the aid of Gen. Harrison. Although his authority as Governor ceased after crossing the Ohio at the head of his volunteer army, yet he was regarded by Gen. Harrison as the senior General of Kentucky troops, the two divisions of his force being commanded by Gens. Henry and Desha. The Legislature of the State and the Congress of the Nation expressed their sense of his gallant and patriotic conduct, and Congress voted Gen. Harrison and himself each a gold medal on account of the victory of the Thames. Throughout the war he was active in his devotion to the Government, using great exertion for the defense of the country in the North, and at the same time sending troops to the

aid of Gen. Jackson at the South. In 1816, at the ex- piration of his term of office, he again retired to his farm; and although in the following year President Madison offered him the position of Secretary of War in his Cabinet, he declined. In 1818 he was commis- sioned, with Gen. Jackson, to treat with the Chickasaw Indians. This mission was conducted with satisfaction to the Government, and was his last public service. Gov. Shelby's career was marked by great wisdom, justice, economy, and skill; and he was one of the best Governors, and one of the most able, upright, patriotic, and valuable men Kentucky has ever had. In 1820, he was attacked by paralysis, which disabled his right leg and arm, but his mind remained unimpaired to the last. He died July 18, 1826. For this event he was pre- pared, being a member of the Presbyterian Church, and having lived a Christian life conscientiously and faith- fully. He had a vigorous constitution, was symmetrical in person, agreeable in manners, of dignified bearing; was a man of great natural ability, and his great energy and perseverance were largely instrumental in making him one of the first and most successful men of his times.

AGOFFIN, GOV. BERIAH, Lawyer and Farmer, was born April 18, 1815, at Harrods- burg, Mercer County, Kentucky. His ancestry were Scotch-Irish; his father, Beriah Magoffin, was a native of the County of Down, Ireland; a successful merchant, and was President of the Commonwealth Bank of Kentucky, at Harrodsburg. His mother was of Scotch-Irish origin, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of Samuel McAfee, one of the early set- tlers from Virginia, of Kentucky, and cousin of the late historian and statesman, Gen. Robert B. McAfee. (See sketches of the McAfees.) Gov. Magoffin received a liberal education, graduating at Center College, Dan- ville, in 1835, under the Presidency of Rev. John C. Young. He studied law under the direction of his brother-in-law, Charles M. Cunningham; graduated in the law department of Transylvania University, under Judges Robertson and Mayes; and entered upon the practice of his profession at Jackson, Mississippi, in 1838, in partnership with Judge Harney, a relative of Gen. Harney ; was very successful from the first, in his pro- fession, and while in Mississippi was elected reading clerk for the State Senate, in the Winter of 1838-39. After two years of lucrative and honorable practice in that State he returned to Kentucky and settled at Harrodsburg, on the estate inherited from his father, where he has since resided. After returning home, lie was associated in practice with his law preceptor, whose death soon after left him in control of a large and valu- able business, which he carried on with exceptional

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

professional and pecuniary success. When first com- mencing practice at Harrodsburg, he received the appointment of Police Judge from Gov. Letcher, and was one of the few Democrats ever favored with an appointment from a Whig administration. In 1844, 1848, 1852, and 1856, he was Democratic candidate for Presidential Elector, either for his district or the State at large, and was elected in 1856, casting his vote for Buchanan and Breckinridge. In 1850 he was elected to the State Senate without opposition ; was Chairman of the Committee on the Court of Appeals ; and was author of the bill regulating the present public-school system of the State; in 1851, was offered the nomination for Congress, but declined ; in 1855, was candidate for Lieutenant- Governor against the Know-Nothings, but was defeated ; in 1859, was elected Governor, by a majority of 8,904 votes, over the Whig candidate, Hon. Joshua F. Bell, and served as Governor through the most eventful and exciting period of the State's history, until, finding his views and acts at utter variance with the dominant party in the Legislature, he resigned, August 18, 1862, and retired to his home in Mercer County. He was author of the Feeble-minded Institution, established near Frankfort, in the success of which he took the deepest interest, and recommended, in a message to the Legislature, a stringent law for the prevention of the marriages of first cousins. He was at no time a Seces- sionist, and, after making some bold and able efforts to avert the war and lay the foundation for a permanent peace settlement between the sections, and failing in this, favored armed neutrality for the State, and issued his proclamation to that effect. In this he was undoubt- edly actuated by the highest sentiments of regard for the safety and welfare of the people, both of the State and nation, firmly believing in the supremacy of the State government over its own affairs. He is one of the most able men who has ever filled the gubernatorial chair of Kentucky. In 1848, he was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, at Baltimore ; was also delegate, for the State at large, to Cincinnati in 1856, and at Baltimore in 1872, and to Charleston in 1860. In 1867, he was elected to the Legislature from Mercer County, without opposition, and favored every measure for the improvement of the State; but, differing widely from his party, in favoring negro testimony in the courts, and accepting the Constitutional Amendments and the changed state of affairs in the country, has been but lit- tle connected with politics, and has not sought office since his voluntary retirement in 1862. He has been very successful in business, and is probably the most wealthy Kentuckian who has been much in public life. He is a man of great honor and dignity of character, and genial and attractive in his social manners. Governor Magoffin was married, in 1840, to Anna N. Shelby, daughter of Isaac Shelby, and granddaughter of Gov.

Isaac Shelby. Of their ten children, three boys and three girls are living. One of their sons is a prominent citizen of Minnesota, and now member of the Legisla- ture of that State, from Ramsey County.

'ALDWELL, HON. ISAAC, Lawyer, was born January 30, 1824, near Columbia, Adair County, Kentucky. His parents, William and Anne Caldwell, were Virginians, the fathers of both having served in the War of the Revo- lution. They were both persons of great breadth of character, possessing many intrinsic virtues, which they endeavored to impress upon their chil- dren. His mother's maiden name was Trabue, of French-Huguenot descent. His father was of Scotch- Irish descent, and, after removing to Adair County, became Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts, continuing to hold the latter office for forty years, de- clining to run for the office under the new Constitution. He was a systematic, intelligent, and thorough business man; and under him he received the greater part of his most valuable education. He remained in school till his fourteenth year, and, after writing some time in his father's office, spent three years in Georgetown College, at Georgetown, Kentucky. He selected the law for a profession, and at once entered upon its study; was ad- mitted to the bar, and immediately began practice at Columbia, Kentucky, having received great assistance in his legal preparation from Judge Z. Wheat, of Co- lumbia. In 1848, he became a partner of Judge Wheat, practicing in that connection for several years. In 1851, he became associated with his brother, Hon. George A. Caldwell, continuing to practice with great success till the death of his brother, in 1866. In 1852, they re- moved their office to Louisville, where he has since re- sided. He rose rapidly into favor among the members of the bar, and acquired a wide-spread reputation for learning and talent, and soon took a position as one of the most able and successful lawyers of Louis- ville. He is known as one of the first criminal lawyers of the State, and probably has few superiors in any branch of his profession. He is an indomi- table worker, an exhaustive thinker, and a man of cool judgment; prepares his cases with consummate tact, and presents himself in the advocacy of his causes with a dignity and force which command respect and secure success; and is unflinchingly honorable in his practice, scorning fraud and hypocrisy. Without a great ambition to attain eminence, he has risen step by step to a position not only of great distinction in his profession, but also as one of the most public-spirited, influential, and valuable men in his community. In 1870, he took a prominent part in the contest before the

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

Legislature on the provisions of the Cincinnati South- ern Railroad, acquitting himself with great credit. In the same year he was engaged as attorney for the State, in the discussions of the Civil Rights Bill of 1866; and he has conducted some of the most important cases be- fore the highest courts of his State, and also the Su- preme Court of the United States. In 1875, his friends 'in the Legislature announced him as their candidate for the United States Senate, but he withdrew from the contest. In 1876, he was made Elector for the State at large ( 1 the Democratic ticket. In politics he has always been a Democrat, having taken an active inter- est in the local organizations and affairs of that party. He is President of the University of Louisville, an in- stitution in which he has taken a great interest. He is a man of fine social qualities, of great physical and mental vigor, and yet takes life with all the ardor of youth. Mr. Caldwell was married, January 20, 1837, to Miss Kate Smith, of Louisville. They have. six living children.

ROWN, HON. JOHN, Lawyer, son of Rev. John Brown and Margaret Preston, his wife, was born September 12, 1757, at Staunton, Virginia. His father was a distinguished minister of the Presbyterian Church, a man of great piety and learning, graduate of Princeton College, and pas- tor, for nearly half a century, of a church in Rockbridge County, Va. His mother was second daughter of John Preston and Elizabeth Patton, and sister of William Pres- ton, and related to the families from which sprang the Prestons, Breckinridges, McDowells, Harts, and other families distinguished alike in Virginia and Kentucky. He was put in school at Princeton, and when the college was broken up he joined the troops under Washington ; crossed the Delaware with them, remaining as a volunteer for some time. He was afterward a volunteer under La- fayette. He completed his education at William and Mary College; read law with Thomas Jefferson; came to Kentucky in 1782 or 1783, and chiefly remained in that State during his life. He took prominent part in the poli- tics of the State; was elected member of the Virginia Leg- islature from the District of Kentucky; was sent by the Legislature of Virginia to the Old Congress; in 1789 and 179I was sent to Congress by the people of Kentucky ; after Kentucky was admitted as a State, he was three times, consecutively, elected United States Senator, re- tiring to private life in 1805, and was the first member of Congress from the Western Country. He projected several expeditions against the Indians, accompanying one as a volunteer; was a prominent actor in the events preceding the admission of Kentucky as a State; in se- curing to the West navigation of the Mississippi, and was one of the most able and valuable of the early set-

tlers of Kentucky. He was the friend of Jefferson, and was urged by him to accept public position, which he declined. He was also urged by President Monroe to enter the public service, but persistently declined. He made his appearance in Kentucky under favorable aus- pices, being pronounced a classical scholar, and his father and many of his relations lending him their own great popularity ; besides, he had attained a portly figure and looked able to meet any emergency in a new country. He set himself down for the purpose of making a for- tune ; he was a lawyer of ability, and business increased rapidly, and he soon arose to a high degree of popu- larity. He attained great eminence in his profession, and took high rank among the first men of his day. He died August 28, 1837, at his residence in Frankfort, Ky. Mr. Brown was married to the daughter of Rev. John Mason, of New York City ; she survived him but a few months. Marshall, the historian, accuses Mr. Brown of intriguing with the Spanish Government, and of being decidedly anti-federalistic, at least of having a kind of patriotism which might be suspected. Mr. Marshall was a fascinating writer, but a strong partisan.

ROWN, HON. JAMES, Lawyer, son of Rev. John Brown and Margaret Preston, and brother of the distinguished lawyer, John Brown, was born September 11, 1766, in Virginia. He was educated at William and Mary College; came to Kentucky and settled at Lexington in 1789; com- manded a company of Lexington riflemen in Gen. Wil- kinson's expedition against the Indians in 1791; was the first Secretary of State of Kentucky, under Gov. Shelby ; removed to Frankfort, Ky., when the government was established there; moved to New Orleans; was twice elected to Congress from Louisiana ; otherwise figured prominently in its affairs; was Minister to France from 1823 to 1829, residing in the city of Paris; was a diplo- matist of ability ; was admired for his great hospitality, legal attainments, and learning, and died suddenly in Philadelphia, April 7, 1835. He was contemporary with Henry Clay, and was his brother-in-law, both marrying daughters of Col. Thomas Hart.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 2

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