The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 21

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

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tion. His career as Clerk began when Kentucky was threatened with civil strife, in consequence of the bitter animosities which prevailed among the people in regard to the "New" and the "Old Court," and when such eminent jurists as those who appointed him Clerk com- posed the bench of the "Old Court." In 1862, he was elected Judge of the Franklin County Court; and; on Wednesday, March 24, 1869, died at his home, in Frankfort, Kentucky. From 1840 to the hour of his death, he was a consistent, earnest, and faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and an officer of the same for twenty-eight years. In April, 1825, he married Miss Emeline Weisiger, who died, in the year 1840, deeply regretted by a large circle of relatives, friends, and acquaintances. She left four children : Lucy, now Mrs. Evans; Emma, now Mrs. Blanton; and Daniel and Helen Swigert; all of whom are - worthy people, and occupying good social position. In May, 1842, he again married, an estimable widow, Mrs. Re- becca Johnson, by whom he had three sons-Jacob, Jr., Samuel, and Joseph. Jacob and Joseph are in copart- nership, and conducting, at this time, a very successful business in Frankfort, their native city. Samuel, a graduate of West Point, is an officer in the United States army. Their mother, who was one of the best of women, and dearly beloved by all who knew her, died in the year 1862, occasioning by her demise a void in many hearts and memories, which can never be filled. Mr. Swigert was, for about forty years, an active Mason; and, as such, never forgot the three great moral and religious duties which arc so strictly enjoined upon every member of the craft, ever faithfully to observe and inculcate, to God, his neighbor, and himself: to God, in never mentioning his Holy Name but with that reverential awe which is due from a creature to his Creator, ever esteeming him as his chief good; to his neighbor, in performing towards him all good offices, ever remembering the golden rule of doing unto others as you would that others should do unto you; to him- self, in avoiding all those vices and irregularities which Masonry so especially eschews, and against which she so perpetually warns. Inspired by love to God, and uni- versal good will to man, he was never known to refuse an appeal for aid to a fellow-creature. All the tender- ness of his nature ever went out in sure response to the cries of distressed humanity. With him, one kind act was but an unvarying prelude to another. It was a pe- culiarity of his warm and impulsive nature, to manifest an especial interest in all poor but worthy young men, whom he found struggling to rise in the world. Fre- quently would he place his name, his counsel, and his purse at their command; and sometimes apparently run risks to the verge of calamity. And now, not a few prominent business men could be named, of whom it can be truthfully said, they owe much of their present worldly

position to his kind heart, good advice, and timely as- sistance. Never able to refuse to indorse for others, as many times he should have been, his self-sacrificing gen- erosity consumed for him no mean fortune. His death, though anticipated, from his advanced age, was the oc- casion of profound sorrow throughout the whole section of country where once he lived. Of him it was said: "This venerable man has been, from his youth, above all mean acts; above every thing incompatible with the loftiest integrity. On the escutcheon of his character rests no stain ; he was a man in whose principles you could repose complete confidence. His words were bonds; his oaths were oracles; his love sincere." His remains now rest in the beautiful cemetery overlooking Frankfort; and a splendid monument to his memory, placed there by loving hands and warm hearts, attests the sacred spot where reposes, in darkness and silence, the moldering dust of departed worth. Within the same sacred grounds, and within but a few yards, also rest the remains of Crittenden, Letcher, Morehead, and other statesmen, who were friends and associates of his in life. It can be truly said :

" Such graves as these are hallowed shrines, Shrines to no code or creed confined ; The Delphian vales, the Palestines, The Meccas, of the mind."

ALL, COL. EDWIN GILBERT, Manufac- turer, was born November 4, 1829, at West Point, Hardin County, Kentucky. His father, James Ward Hall, a native of Maryland, was, for many years, a merchant of West Point. The subject of this sketch was sent to the schools of his native town and the schools at Henderson. When fifteen years old, he left school, worked four years in the employ of Robert Clark, of Henderson, and afterwards for Clark & Jones; in 1849, he inade an over- land trip to California, returning, in 1851, with a better knowledge of men and things, acquired by this trying and dangerous venture. Early in 1852, he started in the dry-goods business, in which he remained till 1856, when he engaged as book-keeper, with the firm of Hugh Kerr & Co., tobacco stemmers; became, in 1857, their general manager; and, in 1859, was admitted to the firm, remaining till the close of the business season of 1862. In 1860, was nominated for Mayor of Hender- son, and, although the city was, in politics, under the control of an opposing majority, he received almost double the number of votes cast for his three compct- itors. In 1862, he defeated the nominee of the Amer- ican party for the same office, which he resigned in the ensuing August. He then went South, to join his for- tunes with the cause of the Southern Confederacy ; was

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elected captain of a company ; served under Col. R. M. Martin for several months; then, for some time, under Col. Woodard, of Hopkinsville; and, during the re- mainder of his service, under Colonel (afterwards Gen- eral) Adam Johnston. He was in the fight at Clarks- ville and Fort Donelson, and also several skirmishes. He served in the Morgan campaign in Kentucky, during the Winter of 1862-3; was sent to Huntsville, Alabama, for drill service in the Conscript Bureau ; was ordered to service with the Tenth Kentucky Regiment ; was, soon after, commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth Kentucky Cavalry, and only missed serving through the famous but unfortunate Morgan raid by being upon special detail duty, with twenty men of his regiment. After returning from the war, he moved to Chicago, Il- linois, and, with William O. George, formerly of Ken- tucky, under the firm name of George & Hall, carried on a wholesale grocery till 1869, when he returned to Louisville, purchased the extensive cracker manufactory of J. M. Dake, now known as " The Falls City Bakery," and, under the firm name of "Hall & Hayward," has since carried on the manufacture of crackers and candies; having a capacity for converting one hundred and twenty-five barrels of flour into crackers daily, and pro- ducing thirty thousand pounds of candy per week. Col. Hall has always been identified with the Democracy, casting his first and last votes for the nominees of his party for the Presidency. He is a prominent Mason ; has been identified with the order some twenty-six years, and holds many honorable and important offices in the order. He is a member of the Christian Church, attending service at the Christian Church, on Fifteenth and Jefferson Streets, Louisville, and has been deacon and elder in this Church. Col. Hall was married, in July, 1852, to Elizabeth R., daughter of Philip T. Allen, of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, and is the father one child. He is a worthy and esteemed citizen, active and at- tentive to business, mild and courteous in his manners, and devoted to his friends.

ITHGOW, HON. JAMES L., Ex-Mayor of the city of Louisville, and one of her most promi- nent merchants and citizens, was born Novem- ber 29, 1812, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His father was a plane-maker, who died within a year after the birth of the subject of this sketch. His widow returned to the home of her par- ents, but their death, a few years later, left her alone with her young child. What little education could be afforded him, was received at the schools of his native city, before he reached his twelfth year. When four- teen, he was apprenticed to learn copper and tin-smith- ing. Young as he was, he applied a willing hand and

heart to his task, filled with a manly ambition to make the future yield him honor and position. In 1832, hav- ing become of age, he left his mother and home, to join the ranks of those who sought their fortunes in the West. Locating in Louisville, he became an employe of Bland & Coleman, remaining with them some time, till he was called home to his mother's death-bed. Re- turning to Louisville, which he now regarded as his home, he concluded to enter business for himself, as the promise of success was unusually fair. In October, 1836, with Allen S. Wallace as his partner, and under the firm name of Wallace & Lithgow, he began the copper, tin, and sheet-iron business, on Market Street. Each of the firm put in four hundred and eighty-four dollars. In 1840, they lost, by fire, twenty-five thou- sand dollars; but, by the next day, completed their arrangements for the immediate continuation of busi- ness. By their activity and integrity, they speedily recovered all they had lost. In 1844, they built, on Sec- ond Street, a stove foundry, and warehouse, entering heavily into this branch of manufacture. In 1857, this warehouse was burnt to the ground. Soon afterwards, they rebuilt their foundry, at the corner of Main and Clay Streets. Iron hollow-ware, mantels, grates, marble- ized mantels, and enameled grates formed the heaviest department of their trade. Fourteen tons of pig-iron were daily melted for stove manufacture, this being the largest establishment, of the kind, in the State of Ken- tucky. From little beginnings and small capital, the firm advanced to immense business interests, when, in 1861, the senior member, Mr. Wallace, died. Together, during a period of twenty-five years, they had met busi- ness reverses, and, by brave energy and application, had overcome every obstacle. It is evident that the death of the senior partner, in such a firm, was, indeed, a serious injury. During one year succeeding Mr. Wal- lace's decease, James L. Lithgow carried on the business in his own name. In 1862, he formed a partnership with C. O. Smith, James L. Smeiser (his sons-in-law), and Vincent Cox, under the firm name of J. L. Lith- gow & Co. In September, 1871, they removed from the old stand, at the corner of Third and Main Streets, to an elegant and commodious business house, No. 71 Main Street. In the Spring of 1872, the firm began the erection of a handsome building on their old location. This building cost over two hundred thousand dollars. During the building of the same, came the money panic of 1873, and the immediate shrinkage of values in all manufactured articles. These three causes combined to bankrupt the firm. Having called a meeting of his creditors, Mr. Lithgow, in few words, surrendered all his assets, and his wife's dower claim upon his extensive property, together with all the property previously given to his daughters, and at that time owned in fee by them. Few circumstances in any man's life can show a greater

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degree of uncompromising integrity than manifested by the course of Mr. Lithgow. In 1834, he was President and chief director of the old Merchants' Fire Company, a volunteer fire organization, numbering in its ranks many of the subsequently most prominent citizens of Louisville. He was, at one time, one of the Directors of the Louisville and Frankfort Railroad, and also a Director of the Elizabethtown and Bardstown Railroad. In 1865, he was elected to the Presidency of the North- ern Bank of Kentucky. He served several terms as Councilman and Alderman; in 1866, was a member of the City Charter Convention ; and was, the same year, by an overwhelming majority, elected to fill a vacancy in the office of Mayor of the city of Louisville., In 1843, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, under the ministry of the Rev. H. H. Kavanaugh, now one of the Bishops of the Methodist Church, South, and has ever since been a member of the same congregation. He has filled all the lay offices in the Church, and been a frequent representative in the various Conferences of his denomination, where he contributed much, by his judicious counsels, to the intelligent action of these rep- resentative assemblies of the Church. He was married, in November, 1837, to Hannah Cragg, a lady of English birth, who came to Louisville in her youth; by her he had eight children, six of whom are now living. Mr. Lithgow is a man of large and liberal views. Generous, courteous, and hospitable, he has endeared himself to an unusually large circle of friends and acquaintances. His energy, ability, and integrity have made him one of the most prominent and useful citizens of Louisville. He has long been well known in his adopted city, and fcw have there attaincd stronger or wider claims upon the regard of their fellow-citizens.

"KIN, BVT. BRIG .- GEN. JAMES ADAMS, Deputy Quartermaster-General, United States Army, Chief Quartermaster Department of the South, was born August 31, 1819, at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His father, James Ekin, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland; his mother, daughter of Col. Stephen Bayard, of the Revolutionary army, was born in Elizabeth, Alleghany County, Penn- sylvania. His father was engaged in the commission business. His early education was in the academy of the Rev. James Stockton, D. D., at Alleghany City, Penn- sylvania, and under William Moody, at Columbia, Ohio; and, although attending college, he never completed his collegiate course. When he had reached the years of manhood, he entered upon mercantile life, and was en- gaged in stcamboat and ship building at Elizabeth, Alle- ghany County, Pennsylvania, building several of the finest steamers on the Western waters, continually giving em-

ployment to a large number of skilled mechanics and other workmen. He held no public position, except the one deemed most purely honorable among our American people, director of the schools in the community in which he resided. He had always been affiliated with the Dem- ocratic party till the repeal, in 1846, of the tariff act of 1842; and has, subsequently, been a Whig and Repub- lican. He was a member of the Free-soil National Con- vention, and the Republican National Conventions, of 1856 and 1860. But the most important part of his career has been in connection with the army. On the 25th of April, 1861, he was commissioned, by the Gov- ernor of Pennsylvania, as Regimental Quartermaster of the Twelfth Pennsylvania Volunteers, which was in the hun- dred-day service, and in guarding the Northern Central Railway, from the city of Baltimore, along a distance of forty-five miles, to the Pennsylvania line. This regiment was mustered out, August 5, 1861; and, on the ensuing 7th, he was commissioned by the President as Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, United States Volunteers, and assigned to duty at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; on March 13, 1863, he was ordered to Indianapolis, taking charge of the same department there; on the 2Ist of December, 1863, his commission was vacated, and he was commissioned Captain and Assistant Quartermaster, United States Army (regulars) ; was ordered to turn over the business of his office to the most convenient officer, and report without delay for assignment to duty at Wash- ington City, District of Columbia; December 29, 1863, relieved Lieut .- Col. C. G. Sawtelle, Assistant Quarter- master, United States Army, as Chief Quartermaster of the Cavalry Bureau ; February 24th, 1864, was appointed, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, Chief Quartermaster of the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and temporarily detached from duty as Chief Quar- termaster of the Cavalry Bureau; August 6, 1864, un- der the act of Congress of July 4, 1864, for the bet- ter organization of the Quartermaster's Department, was assigned to duty in charge of the First Division of the Quartermaster-General's Office, with the tempo- rary rank of colonel, to date from August 2, 1864; March 8, 1865, was appointed Brevet Brigadier-General United States Volunteers; April 19, 1865, was detailed as a member of the command to escort the remains of President Lincoln from Washington, D. C., to Spring- field, Illinois; May 9, 1865, was detailed as a member of the Military Commission, appointed by paragraph 4 of Special Orders, War Department, No. 211, May 6, 1865, for the trial of the assassins of President Lincoln ; June 28, 1865, received three brevet appointments, as major, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel, in the regular army, for " faithful and meritorious services during the war," to date from March 13, 1865 ; July 17, 1866, was commissioned brevet brigadier-general in the regular army, to rank as such from March 13, 1865; December

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I, 1866, was appointed deputy quartermaster-general, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, United States army, under the act approved July 28, 1866, to rank as such from the 29th of July, 1866; on the Ist of April, 1870, relieved from duty in the Quartermaster-General's office, under general orders, War Department, No. 15, for that year; on the 23d of April, 1870, was assigned to duty under general orders No. 6, headquarters Department of Texas, as chief quartermaster of that department; April 29, 1872, relieved from duty under general orders No. 8, headquarters Department of Texas; May 8, 1872, an- nounced as Chief Quartermaster Department of the South, in general orders No. 34, headquarters Department of the South, Louisville, Kentucky; December II, 1872, an- nounced as Chief Quartermaster Division of the South, on the staff of Major-General McDowell. Such is the career, to the present date, of Gen. Ekin, in an arm of the military service of the gravest importance to both the general government and its armies. Gen. Ekin united with the Associate Reformed Congregation of Bethesda, in Elizabeth Township, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, in the Fall of 1842; was a trustee of the congregation ; in 1858, the Associate Reformed Church and the Associate Church were united, forming the present United Presbyterian Church. He was married September 28, 1843, to Diana C. Walker, and has five children, three of whom are now living. Gen. Ekin is a gentleman of high integrity, firm and decided in his opinions and actions, but of a kind disposition and great suavity of manners. In personal appearance he is tall, dignified, and imposing. His present position in the army calls for a service that is necessary and valuable, and but little known outside of military circles.

LARK, JUDGE . BEVERLY LEONIDAS, Lawyer, was born at Winterfield, Chesterfield County, Virginia, on the IIth of February, 1809. In 1823, he moved with his parents .to Christian County, Kentucky; and, in 1827, to Simpson County. After acquiring a fair educa- tion, he commenced the study of law, reading under James W. Davidson, and, in 1833, attending the lec- tures of Judge Robertson. During three sessions of the Legislature, he represented Simpson County; and, in 1849, was a member of the Convention which framed the present Constitution of the State of Kentucky. He represented the Third Congressional District of Ken- tucky in. 1847, serving one term. He was Elector for the State at large, on the Pierce ticket, in 1852. He became a candidate and made the race for Governor, in 1855, during the Know-Nothing excitement; and, although he reduced the Whig majority in his State from twenty-five to thirty thousand votes, was defeated

by four thousand votes, by James S. Morehead. He was appointed Minister to Gautemala, Central America, and left Kentucky, in 1858, on this mission. He died in Guatemala, in 1860, at fifty-one years of age. In 1827, he was married to Maria L. Clark; and, after her death, in 1851, to Zenobia Turner, daughter of John G. Turner, of Gallatin, Tennessee. In religion, he was a Roman Catholic, and died in that faith, and was buried at the Cathedral in Guatemala, where his remains lay until 1868, when, by an act of the Legislature of Ken- tucky, they were brought to Frankfort and interred, and a suitable monument erected to his memory. Judge Clark was learned in the law, and an able and eloquent speaker-said to be one of the best in the State; and had the confidence of the people to as great extent, per- haps, as any man of his day.

ENNETT, WILLIAM, Superintendent of the Louisville Manufacturing Company, is a son of Daniel Bennett, a carpenter, of some standing in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, and was born in that city, on the 25th of May, 1837. He received his early education in what were termed the Lancastrian Schools, and, at an early age, was placed in a book-store, to earn his own living. He soon afterwards obtained a position in the warehouse of the noted geographical publishing house of A. Keith Johnson, and finally served an apprenticeship in the car- penter's trade. After several years of work and experi- ence as a journeyman, he emigrated to this country, landing at New Orleans, whither his father had pre- ceded him a few years. Remaining there but a short time, he went to Louisville, Kentucky, where he found employment for two years in the Kentucky Foundry. During the following year, he followed his trade, and for the next four years was occupied as salesman in a prominent dry-goods house. During all this time, Mr. Bennett made continual efforts to establish himself in business on his own account, his ambition never allowing him to forget that that was the ultimatum of all his efforts, when the proper occasion presented itself. In 1864, he found a partner, and opened an establishment for the manufacture of agricultural im- plements. After meeting with considerable success for some time, a fire on his premises swept away all his stock, and left him almost ruined. He was soon, however, again engaged; this time, in the manufacture of furniture, with John Dickinson; which partnership lasted until 1868, when a new one was formed, under the name of Bennett Bros. & Co. This firm carried on a most prosperous business, until his old enemy, fire, once more leveled the whole establishment to the ground. Rebuilding on the site now occupied by them, corner of

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Ninth and Lexington Streets, they have now the largest concern south of the Ohio, covering an area of two acres. Here they manufacture all kinds of furniture, which is shipped to all parts of the country. Mr. Ben- nett is one of the most quiet and unassuming men; re- served in his friendships, but strong in his attachments; fulfilling all his obligations promptly, whether of a busi- ness or social character; loved by his associates, and up- right in all his transactions. He has, for many years, been a member of the Christian Church, of Louisville, and faithful to his highest convictions; married in 1865, to Miss Maria, daughter of James W. McGee, of Louisville; they have four children.

9 GOODLOE, HON. WILLIAM CASSIUS, Law- yer and Editor, was born in Madison County, Kentucky, in 1841. He was the third son of D. S. Goodloe, who was engaged in mercantile pursuits, and was descended from a line of dis- tinguished Virginians. His grandfather, mater- nally, was Col. J. Speed Smith, an officer in the war of 1812, and, subsequently, a distinguished lawyer and member of both branches of the Legislature, as he was also of Congress. His great-grandfather was Gen. Green Clay, who commanded a brigade in the North-western eampaign, and joined his forces with those of Gen. Har- rison, relieving the latter, who was besieged by the Brit- ish, in Fort Meigs. He was educated at Transylvania University, and was in the Senior Class in the Spring of 1861, when he withdrew, to accompany his uncle, Cas- sius M. Clay, to St. Petersburg, Russia, to which place he had been sent by President Lincoln. While there, he acted as Secretary of Legation, until the Summer of 1862, when he returned and entered the Union army, and was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General of Vol- unteers, by President Lincoln, having previously been appointed aid-de-camp to the Governor of Kentucky. In January, 1864, he withdrew from the army, and com- menced the practice of law in Lexington, Kentucky. On January 1, 1867, he commenced the publication of the " Kentucky Statesman," a Republican newspaper, of which he was owner and principal editor. Through its influence, he was largely instrumental in placing the Republican party of the State in full accord with the Northern wing, for it was only in the latter part of this year, that the Kentucky Republicans placed themselves squarely on the National Platform. In the same year, he was defeated in the race for the Legislature. In 1868, he was elected as a delegate to the National Con- vention, at Chicago, that nominated Gen. Grant for the Presidency ; was made one of the secretaries of the Con- vention, and was appointed on the committee to notify the candidates of their nomination. In 1871, he was

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 21

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