The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 26

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

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RELAND, JUDGE WILLIAM WALLACE, Lawyer, was born June 12, 1835, in Gallatin County, Kentucky. He was the fifth of eight children, whose parents were James B. Ireland and Sallie (Lancaster) Ireland. His father was born in Scott County, Kentucky, in 1797, and principally followed agricultural pursuits through life, and was the son of John Ireland, who early emi- grated to this country, who was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and also in the war of 1812, was an Irish rebel, and had fought England on his native heath. Sallie Lancaster, his mother, was a daughter of Reuben Lancaster, a farmer of Scott County, Ken- tucky, and one of the early settlers of that county from Virginia. The subject of this sketch worked on the farm, and attended school of Winters, until his seven- teenth year. In 1852, he entered the preparatory de- partment of Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana, and graduated in the Summer of 1856. During his at- tendance at the University, his limited means compelled him to teach, for the purpose of defraying his current expenses. Immediately after graduating, he commenced teaching in Boone County, and continued this occupa- tion until the Summer of 1861. In the mean time, he had used all his leisure in reading law, under the direc- tion of Col. J. J. Landram, of Warsaw. In the Fall of 1860, he was admitted to the bar, and, in the following Fall, entered upon the practice of the law at Verona,

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Boone County. In the Spring of 1863, he removed to Falmouth, Pendleton County, where he has since re- sided, controlling a large and valuable legal practice. His first law partner, at Falmouth, was the famous Judge O. D. McManama. In March, 1866, he was appointed County Judge of Pendleton County, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge James I. Hudnall. In the following August, he was elected to the same of- fice by the people. In 1870, he was re-elected, without opposition. He went out of office in 1874, after having discharged its duties for nearly nine years. He has been prominently connected with the town government and the various interests of the community. He was origi- nally a Whig, but since the dissolution of that party, has acted with the Democrats. During the rebellion, his sympathies were with the South. He was a delegate to the Convention which met at Frankfort, in 1863, and which was dispersed by order of the Government. At the age of fifteen he joined the Christian Church, and has since continued his connection with that body. He is of fine personal appearance, over medium height; modest and unassuming, with no effort at display in his manners ; of known integrity of character, and of great industry and energy ; and is a fine instance of one of the popular self-made men of the State. Judge Ireland was married, August 30, 1859, to America J. Anderson, daughter of Joseph Anderson, a pioneer farmer of Boone County, Kentucky.

cKEE, HON. SAMUEL, Lawyer, was born November 4, 1833, in Montgomery County, Kentucky. James McKee, his father, was a farmer, and a native of that county; a colonel of militia; was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, in 1837; in 1857, was elected to the State Senate; and, while a member of that body, died in 1860. His grandfather, Samuel McKee, was a soldier in the Revolution, a Virginian, and came to Kentucky, about 1783. His mother was Miss Sallie Wilkerson, of Montgomery County, Kentucky, whose mother came to this State from North Carolina, with Daniel Boone and others. The subject of this sketch was raised on a farm, and attended school of Winters. In 1853, he entered Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, and, after attending a regular course, graduated in 1857. He then entered the Law School at Cincinnati, and graduated in the following year; and at once began the practice of his profession, at Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, where he soon established a fine business. In 1862, he entered the army, as Captain in the Fourteenth Kentucky Union Cavalry. March 21, 1863, he was captured in battle with Morgan's forces, at Mt. Sterling, and taken to Rich- mond, Virginia; where he remained, in "Libby Prison," until exchanged by especial arrangement, brought about

by Gen. B. F. Butler, April 30, 1864. The time of his regiment having expired, he then returned home, and resumed the law practice. In that year, he was Assist- ant Elector for the Ninth Judicial District, on the Republican ticket. In 1865, he was the nominee of the Republican party for Congress, in that district, and was elected over J. S. Hurt, of Bath County. At the expiration of his term, he again made the race, and was successful, serving through the Fortieth Congress. In 1869, he was appointed, by President Grant, as United States Pension Agent, at Louisville, and removed to that city, where he has since resided. In about two years after receiving this appointment, he resumed his practice at the bar. In politics, he has always been a radical Republican, in the purest sense of the term, adhering to and defending his opinions when it was barely safe, and certainly not politic, to do so in Ken- tucky. He is unpretending, and unaggressive, but is ever ready to defend himself; is brave, generous, and reckless of consequences in the defense of his convic- tions, or in his sympathies and friendships. He is a ready, vigorous, and forcible speaker, and an earnest, energetic, and able lawyer; is of a most active, restless temperament, and is never idle. He is of light' build, tall, and perfectly erect; and of uncommon vigor and elasticity of body and mind. Since boyhood, Col. McKee has been a member of the Christian Church. He was married, October 5, 1859, to Miss Sophia Brain- erd, of Oxford, Ohio, daughter of Rev. E. Brainerd, a prominent Presbyterian clergyman of that State. They have four children.

ALDWELL, PROF. CHARLES, M. D., son of Lieutenant Charles Caldwell, was born May 14, 1772, in Caswell County, North Carolina. His father was a native of Ireland, supposed to be of French extraction, and a descendant of the younger branch of the Colville family. His mother was said to be a descendant of Col. Murray, who acquired great renown during the famous siege of London- derry in 1688. Dr. Caldwell had obtained a fine classical education, and taught two grammar-schools, before he was seventeen years of age. He then read and graduated in medicine in Philadelphia, under Rush ; gained some dis- tinction as a practitioner in that city ; but soon turned his attention almost wholly to literary work, and gained a wide-spread reputation as a writer. In 1814, he became editor of the "Port-folio," in Philadelphia; in 1816, edited Cullen's " Practice of Physic;" was at that period Professor of Natural History in the University of Pennsyl- vania; delivered the first course of clinical lectures ever given in Blockley Hospital, Philadelphia ; in 1819, came to Lexington, Kentucky ; in the same year became l'ro- fessor of Medicine and Clinical Practice in the Medical

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College of Transylvania University ; filled that position and resided in Lexington about sixteen years; made a trip to Europe, and gathered, in Paris and other cities, the books that formed the first medical library of Transylvania University ; advocated removing the med- ical department of the University to Louisville; was greatly instrumental in the organization of the Louis- ville Medical Institute, and was for many years an active member of its faculty. Dr. Caldwell believed in phrenology, and was its first considerable defender in this country. His published writings, including his contributions to medical and other journals, were quite numerous and extensive. In 1819, his "Life and Campaigns of Gen. Greene" was published. He wrote the "Memoirs of Rev. Horace Holley, LL. D.," and his own autobiography. He died at Louisville, in July, 1853. Although his success in society was emi- ment, and his colloquial powers exceptional, he was not a social man, the tone of his mind and his pursuits alike rendering him unfit and unwilling for promiscuous asso- ciation. He was proud, and bore the appearance of per- sonal vanity, but was singularly candid and confiding to those whom he considered his friends. While not being a man of the world, his manners were distinguished by the courtesy and polish of the gentleman of the former century ; was a man of temperate and orderly habits, but was more of a theoretical philosopher than a prac- tical worker, his strong faith in the fundamental doc- trines of Christianity exercising a salutary influence over his life and actions. He was of tall, commanding figure, dignified and imposing in presence, and took, at once, the position of a leader, which was generally conceded to him without opposition. Dr. Caldwell was twice married. His first wife was Miss Eliza Leaming, of Philadelphia, in which city she died, in 1834. His second wife was Mrs. Mary Barton, daughter of Chief- Justice Warner, of Delaware, to whom he was married in 1842, and who now resides in Louisville. His only son (by his first wife) was Thomas Leaming Caldwell, of Louisville, who died, January 20, 1875.

OHNSON, HON. MADISON CONYERS, Law- yer, Banker, and President of the Law School of Kentucky University, was born December 21, 1807, in Scott County, Kentucky. He is a member of one of the most important and dis- tinguished families of Kentucky; brother of George W. Johnson, and son of Maj. William Johnson, who was born in Orange County, Virginia; at the age of three years, about 1781, came with his father, Col. Robert Johnson, to this State, and settled in what is now Scott County ; was a brother of Col. Richard M. Johnson ; followed agricultural pursuits ; was a major in

the war of 1812; was ordered, while rendezvoused at Cincinnati, to make a forced march with his battalion to the aid of Gen. Harrison, then besieged at Fort Meigs; reached that fort, and fought gallantly with his com- mand, on the arrival of the rest of the brigade, in the sortie that raised the siege. When Gen. Harrison be- came President, he visited Lexington, and, during his stay in that city, sent for the subject of this sketch, and mentioned his great joy at seeing Maj. Johnson emerge from the woods with his command, coming to his relief at the sorest need he had ever felt. Maj. Johnson died, in 1814, at his home in Scott County, while still a young man, his oldest son then not being over ten years of age. Madison C. Johnson's mother was Elizabeth Payne, daughter of Henry Payne, one of the early Vir- ginian settlers of Fayette County, who had been a lieu- tenant in the Revolutionary army, was first elected to the Kentucky Legislature in 1814; was re-elected, in 1819, serving two terms, and was one of the early Asso- ciate Judges of the Court of Sessions. Mr. Johnson was liberally educated, graduating at old Transylvania Uni- versity, in 1823, at the age of fifteen, taking the val- edictory honor in a class of thirty-three. In the same year, he commenced reading law at Frankfort, under Martin D. Hardin, a celebrated lawyer of his day ; graduated in law, at Transylvania University, and was admitted to the bar, in 1825; continued his legal stud- ies until he was of age; in 1828, entered upon the prac- tice of his profession at Lexington, where he has since resided, and earned the reputation of being one of the most able lawyers, and probably the first, now living in Kentucky. He cast his first Presidential vote for An- drew Jackson, after which he went into the Whig party, where he remained until its dissolution. He voted for John Bell, in 1860, and was a Union man during the great civil war. He has since been identified with the Democratic party, but is not a politician, only twice allowing himself to be drawn into any thing like a par- tisan contest. In 1853, he was elected to the Legisla- ture, and was again elected, in 1857, serving four years in that body ; was chosen by the Legislature, in 1850, as one of the Commissioners who prepared the present Code . of Practice; since 1858, has been President of the North- ern Bank of Kentucky, having been one of its directors from 1837; and has been prominently identified, as stockholder and director, with the Cincinnati, Lexington, and Louisville Railroad, and various other corporations, for twenty years. Was long connected with the Board of Trustees of Transylvania University, and, in 1865, when that famous old institution was merged into Ken- tucky University, he became president of its law depart- ment, and has since continued to fill that position. His life has been one of great activity and industry, and of unapproachable integrity ; his personal, social, and pro- fessional habits have been models of fine deportment; is

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Mr Conyers Johnson.

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not only remarkable as a profound jurist, but also as one of the most successful financiers of the State, and is a man of admirable bearing, fine physical stature, and great strength of character. Mr. Johnson was married, December 23, 1828, to Miss Sallie Ann Clay, daughter of Gen. Green Clay, and sister of Hon. Cassius M. Clay. December 23, 1829, she died, and he has never married again.

LLAN, HON. CHILTON, Lawyer and Legis- lator, son of Archibald Allan, was born April 6, 1786, in Albemarle County, Virginia. While he was a child, his father died. In 1797, his mother moved to Kentucky. His educational advantages were meagre; from his fifteenth to his eighteenth year, he was apprenticed to a wheel- wright; spent his leisure hours in reading and study ; by considerable self-denial and effort, obtained a year's tuition under the Rev. John Lysle, a Presbyterian clergy- man and teacher of some distinction at that time; stud- ied law, and, although receiving some assistance from his friend, Gov. James Clark, of Winchester, he mainly educated himself for the legal profession; was admitted to the bar in 1808, and began the practice of his pro- fession at Winchester, Clarke County, where he remained during his life. He was successful as a lawyer from the commencement of his practice ; and, by his great per- sonal popularity and unusual skill and success, soon put himself in comfortable circumstances, pecuniarily. He was elected to represent Clarke County in the Legisla- ture in 1811; was again elected in 1815; was re-elected in 1822, in 1830, and in 1842; in 1823, while a member of the Lower House, was elected, without opposition, to the State Senate, and served four years; during this pe- riod, he became a conspicuous figure in the controversy on the Old and the New Court; one of his speeches be- came of considerable importance in the great contest, and was distributed in pamphlet form over the State; in 1831, he was elected to Congress, and re-elected in 1833 and in 1835, serving as Chairman of the Committee of Territories, and as member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. At the end of his last Congressional term, he desired to quit public affairs, and retire to private life ; but, in 1837, was induced to become President of the State Board of Internal Improvements; after holding this office one year, resigned; and, although appearing but once more, in 1842, in public life, he was greatly inter- ested in the exciting contest over the present State Con- stitution, writing several papers in opposition to some of its features, and strongly supporting an independent ju- diciary. He was a man of broad and well-defined opin- ions on all subjects, and was undoubtedly statesmanlike in his views. He acted on the principle, throughout his life, that popularity, obtained in any other way than by

the advocacy and practice of truth, was not worth pos- sessing, and unworthy of a man. He was a lawyer of great ability, and a man of rare virtues.

TEWART, JUDGE JAMES ELLIOTT, Law- yer, was born October 1, 1832, in Lawrence County, Kentucky. He was raised on a farm, and received his education in the private schools taught in the neighborhood. After clerking a year or two in a store, he began reading law under Judge J. M. Rice, in 1853; in the Fall of the following year, was admitted to the bar, and soon after located, for the practice of his profession, at Paintsville, Johnson County. Although without means, and com- mencing under very unfavorable circumstances, he was successful from the first, and continued his residence at Paintsville until 1871, when he returned to his native county, and has since resided at Louisa. In 1859, he was a candidate for the Legislature, for the counties of Floyd and Johnson, but was defeated by forty-two votes. In 1868, he was elected Commonwealth's Attorney for the counties of Floyd, Lawrence, Carter, Johnson, Ma- goffin, Floyd, Pike, and Martin, and served six years ; and, in 1876, was elected Judge of the Criminal Court for the same counties for the term of four years, again defeating his former opponent, John M. Burns, by five hundred and seventy-eight majority. He has never been very active in political affairs, but has always acted with the Democratic party. Religiously, he is attached to the Southern branch of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is prominently connected with some of the popular social organizations of the day. Judge Stew- art's parents were poor, and early left him to shift for himself; commencing life without money, with a limited education, and among strangers, his success has been very flattering. He is now not only in the enjoyment of comfortable circumstances, but is one of the most in- dustrious, energetic, and able lawyers in his section of the State, occupying a high position in the esteem of . the members of his profession, and in the confidence of the people of his district. He was married, January II, 1860, to Miss Cynthia F. Mayo. They have four living children-three boys and one girl.

- CBRAYER, SANFORD, Merchant, was born May 10, 1806, in what is now known as Anderson County, Kentucky, and is of Scotch-Irish origin. His grandfather, McBrayer, emigrated from the north of Ireland ; his grandmother, McBrayer, came from Scotland ; and both were among thie early settlers of Kentucky, being with those who occu-

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pied Harrod Station, in 1775. His mother was a Black- well, whose parents came from Virginia, first settling at Versailles, Kentucky, and afterwards removing to An- derson County. At an early age, he entered upon the life of a merchant. Shortly after the monetary crisis of 1837, he removed to Harrodsburg, where he remained the greater part of his life, actively engaged in mercan- tile pursuits; and few men, away from the great com- mercial centers, have been so successful, without the aim of merely amassing wealth. He was public-spirited, and generous in the use of his means; was characterized by great moral integrity ; and was known as one of the most upright and conscientious, as well as the most suc- cessful, merchants of the country. From 1862, until his death, he was President of the Commercial Bank of Harrodsburg, and, at the head of that institution, ac- quired a reputation for prudence, judgment, financial ability, and business honor. For many years, he served as Master Commissioner of the Mercer Circuit Court, distinguishing himself there, as in other positions of trust. He was a man of genial habits, large-hearted, and unselfish, and was one of the most valuable men of the community. He lost his life by the burning of the steamer " War Eagle," May 15, 1870.

RIGHT, THOMAS B., M. D., President of the Warren Deposit Bank, and of the Water- works Company of Bowling Green, was born June 30, 1806, in Warren County, Kentucky. His father, Josiah Wright, was a native of Virginia, of English ancestry; moved to Ken- tucky early in the century, and became one of the prominent farmers of Warren County. The subject of this sketch, after receiving a good education in the private schools of the country, spent several years in teaching. In 1833, he entered Transylvania Medical College at Lexington, and, in the Spring of 1835, grad- uated in medicine. He at once opened an office in Bowling Green, where he established a large, reputable and lucrative practice, and became one of the first physicians in his section of the State. In 1869, when the increasing necessities of the city made it desirable to build a water-works, he was made president of the company, and superintended the entire construction of the works, to their completion, in the following year. He gave his attention to the details of the work in every sense, and the result was so gratifying as to call upon him the highest praises of the community. For this work he accepted no pecuniary compensation, and, doubtlessly, saved the people several thousand dollars in his management. During the construction of the works, he was elected Mayor of the city, and filled the position with like honor to himself. He had previously

served three terms as member of the Town Council. As a final acknowledgment of his services to the city, he was handsomely complimented by a vote, giving him a full supply of water, free, for life. In 1871, he estab- lished the banking-house known as Warren Deposit Bank, and his acknowledged financial and executive ability, great integrity of character, and universal favor with the people, were sufficient guarantees for its suc- cess. He has been president of this bank since its foundation. Besides his public and commercial inter- ests, and a large, responsible, and honorable medical practice, he has been a very successful farmer, and · has established the reputation of generally producing greater yields than the average farmer. He is a man of great breadth of character, proverbially honest, and of marked ability; and occupies a deservedly high place in the confidence and respect of the community, in which he has been a prominent and valuable actor for many years. For thirty-five years he has been a member of the Methodist Church, and has taken great interest in the cause of religion, as in every thing else that he has espoused. He would be a valuable man in any com- munity, and would have been able to make his mark in any business or position of life. Dr. Wright was mar- ried, in 1836, to Miss Andromache Loving, daughter of John Loving, and sister of Judge William V. Loving. They have four living children; their son, Dr. A. C. Wright, being a physician of Bowling Green; and their son, D. W. Wright, a lawyer of the same place.

BRISTOW, HON. FRANCIS MARION, Law- yer, was born August 11, 1804, in Clarke County, Kentucky, and died June 10, 1864, in Todd County, where he lived the greater part of his life. His parents were Americans; his father, Archibald Bristow, was a minister of the Baptist Church, and was a member of an old and respected family of this State. He received a thorough education, both English and Latin, and studied law, but, during a long and active career, divided his atten- tion between his profession and farming. In 1831, he was elected to represent Todd County in the Legisla- ture; was re-elected in 1834; was elected to the State Senate in 1846, and probably re-elected to that branch of the Legislature; was a member of the last Constitu- tional Convention, in 1849; in 1853, was elected to Congress for the unexpired term of Presley Ewing; and, in 1859, was elected to the Thirty-sixth Congress, serv- ing on the Committee on Agriculture. He was a mem- ber of the memorable Peace Congress, which met at Washington, with the view of averting the impending war. He attained great distinction as a lawyer through- out Southern Kentucky ; and, as an able man and upright

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politician, had a national reputation. He belonged to the old Whig party, whose principles he never aban- doned ; and, when the civil war broke out, took the side of the Government, remaining an earnest, unflinching Union man to the end of his life. He was a man of high moral character, which, added to his great ability as a lawyer, and his known integrity as a business man, gave him great influence in the community. He was not what may be styled a brilliant orator; but, if he dis- played any lack in that respect, compensated for it by his earnestness of manner, learning, and natural force of character. Probably no lawyer in Southern Kentucky had more followers in his profession, and especially many of the present generation of lawyers in Todd County received their legal training in his office. When the civil war was fairly inaugurated, and its evils were felt over the country, his voice and presence were every-where felt, allaying local tempests and ameliorat- ing the common calamities of the times. He was a member of the Methodist Church, and throughout his life, by his example and precept, did much good in the cause of Christianity. His wife was Emily E. Helm, daughter of Benjamin Helm, of Elizabethtown. He left four children. His son, F. H. Bristow, is now one of the leading lawyers of Southern Kentucky, and Gen. B. H. Bristow, of Louisville, former Secretary of United States Treasury, is his son.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 26

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