The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 29

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

USA > Kentucky > The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century > Part 29

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

candidate, and was elected by the enormous majority of forty thousand votes over his Republican opponent, Gen. Hobson, receiving the largest majority ever given any candidate for any office in the State up to that time. He has always been a consistent Democrat, and, as early as 1850, was elected to the Legislature, for one term, by . that party. He is regarded as one of the ablest jurists in Kentucky. In manners, he is unpretending, polite, dignified, and polished. As a District Judge, he was re- garded as sound, fair, and fearless, and on the Appel- late Bench, his opinions were highly esteemed by the bar, and quoted as of the first weight. He has been a hard student throughout his life, and can lay fair claim to fine scholarship. He writes with much ease and grace, and at the same time with great force and power. He is not aggressive in debate, but is so fair and logical, as not to excite enmity or reproach. He is of pleasing appearance, attractive and agreeable in conversation, and in many respects such a man as to gain the esteem and confidence of a chivalric people, deservedly standing high in the community in which he has always lived. In 1868, he was elected Director of the Farmers' Bank of Kentucky, still occupying that position. He is now actively engaged in the practice of law, at Frankfort, and stands very high before the Court of Appeals, rank- ing among the first men of his profession in the country. In 1843, Judge Duvall married, in Georgetown, Miss Virginia Holtzclaw, daughter of a prominent merchant of that place. They have had thirteen children, of whom eight are now living.

ISK, HON. JOHN FLAVEL, Lawyer, was born December 15, 1815, in Genessee County, New York, and is the son of Dr. David and Abigail Fisk. His education was commenced in the common-schools of New York, and fin- ished at Cary's Academy, College Hill, Hamil- ton County, Ohio, in 1840. He began life as Principal of the Germantown Academy; was afterwards Principal of the Mason Academy, Mason County, Kentucky ; be- gan the study of the law, under the Hon. Frank Hord, at Maysville, Kentucky ; finished his professional studies at the Law School of Covington, conducted by Gov. James T. Morehead and Hon. James Pryor ; has since re- sided in Covington, and has been in full practice for thirty years in Northern Kentucky, figuring in some of the most important legal cases, and taking rank as one of the lead- ing lawyers of the State; has taken an active part in all local matters looking to the interest of his community ; is a Director in the First National Bank of Covington; in the Covington and Cincinnati Bridge Company; the Covington Gas-light Company ; Highland Cemetery Com- pany; Kenton Insurance Company; Covington Law Li-

165

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

brary; and has been for several years President of Odd- fellows' Hall Association; has been a member of the Covington School Board, and served as its President ; was attorney for the city of Covington for two terms ; was attorney for Kenton County for two terms; was . State Senator from 1857 to 1865; and was Speaker of the Senate, and ex-officio Lieutenant-Governor of Kentucky, in 1862 and 1863. Until 1853, he was a Whig ; sided with the Democrats against the Know-Nothings, and voted for Stephen A. Douglas in 1860; being then in the Kentucky Senate, aided, in what was known as the Union Democratic party of Kentucky, in the support of the Government against the rebellion; and voted once for Abraham Lincoln, and twice for Gen. Grant. He stands not only as one of the most able and successful lawyers of Kentucky, but also among the most attractive and brilliant orators of the country. He is a member of the Fifth Street Christian Church of Covington, and is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for that corporation. Mr. Fisk was married, October 14, 1842, to Elizabeth S. Johnson, of Cincinnati, and has seven children, all liv- ing ; three of whom are married, and his oldest son, Charles Henry Fisk, has been his law partner since 1868.

ONKS, JOSEPH, Merchant, was born in Bolton, Lancastershire, England, February 14, 1811. He received a liberal English education, which was finished after his removal to this country, with his parents, at Lexington, Kentucky. His father conducted the business of manufacturing bagging and rope, in that city, which was the center of a large hemp district. He was employed with his father in this business, in Lexington, Louisville, and afterwards in Hancock County, on the river, until the death of this parent, in 1831. After this event, he went to Louis- ville, and engaged in the liquor business, as a member of the firm of E. Talmage & Co., until 1840, when it was conducted under his name alone. For a short time, Mr. W. H. Walker was his partner, and then, for a space of five or six years, he carried on again for him- self, his store being on Main Street, between Fifth and Sixth, and afterwards, between Sixth and Seventh Streets. In 1848, he took A. Zanone into a partnership, which, after a lapse of five or six years, was dissolved. About 1859, he admitted his son-in-law, Mr. Charles Cobb, into a share in the concern, which continued until 1872, when Mr. Cobb entered into a partnership with Mr. Muldoon, the sculptor. About this time, Mr. Monks desired to retire from active business life, and allowed his trade to decrease gradually, spending his time, since, in quietly settling up the affairs of the establishment. He has led an active business life, and, for the last two or three years, has been President of the Mutual Insurance Com-

pany, of Louisville. During 1844-5, he was a member of the City Council, and has been a Director of the Jefferson Savings Institute, Franklin Bank, First National Bank of Kentucky, and the Louisville Mutual Insurance Company-of the latter, for a space of twenty years. In 1835, he was married to a Miss Harriet Rees, daugh- ter of James Rees, of Cincinnati, and they have had seven children, four of whom, Ellen, the wife of Charles Cobb, of the firm of Muldoon, Walton & Cobb; Annie, wife of Robert F. Nock, a lawyer of Louisville; Thomas H., a farmer of Pewee Valley; and Charles H., of Louisville, still survive. Mr. Monks is a fine-looking old gentleman, with the air of contentment about him; his life and business characteristics are those of the old English style, slow and sure. He is very modest in his demeanor, and possesses a temper that is not easily ruffled. His integrity and correctness are a matter of record in the business annals of Louisville, in which city he still continues to reside, a useful and respected citizen.

LACKBURN, CARY B., M. D., was born April 29, 1838, in Woodford County, Kentucky, and is the only child of Dr. Luke P. Blackburn, of Louisville. He received his early education in Natchez, Mississippi, and afterward at col- lege in Frankfort, Kentucky, where he gradu- ated, in 1858. He immediately began the study of medi- icine with Dr. D. Gross, of Philadelphia, and graduated in 1861. During the scourge of yellow fever in Natchez, in 1865, he nobly aided his father in attending those af- flicted with that terrible disease. He also figured ex- tensively in the late civil war, first as a lieutenant, and afterwards as lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. He also served, for a time, as surgeon. He returned to Kentucky, in 1868, and resumed the medical practice at Louisville, where he has established a successful busi- ness, and taken an active and honorable position in the profession. Religiously, he was originally an Episco- palian, but, since the war, has connected himself with the Catholic Church. He is a member of the Ken- tucky State Medical Society ; belongs to several social organizations; is a man of unexceptional personal and professional habits, and an enterprising and valuable citizen.

DAMS, HON. GREEN, Lawyer, was born Au- gust 20, 1812, in Barboursville, Knox County, Kentucky. He was raised on a farm; read law, and entered into that profession; was Deputy Sheriff of Knox County, in 1832 ; was elected to the State Legislature, in 1839, and re-elected; served in Congress from 1847 to 1849,

166

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

and was a member of the Committee on Engraving ; was Presidential Elector, in 1844 and 1856; in 1859, was elected to the Thirty-sixth Congress, serving on the Committee on Post-offices and Post-roads; in 1861, was appointed, by President Lincoln, Sixth Auditor of the Treasury; and, in 1875, was appointed Distributing Clerk, in the House of Representatives, at Washington.

RETLOW, RICHARD, M. D., was born No- vember 27, 1811, in Southampton County, Vir- ginia. His ancestors were of English origin. He received a good education ; studied medi- cine under Dr. Plumer, of Richmond, Indiana; attended lectures at the Ohio Medical College, where he graduated, in 1837, and, in the same year, be- gan the practice of medicine in Richmond, Indiana; in 1843, he located at Covington, Kentucky, where he has since resided, actively and successfully engaged in his profession. He aided in organizing the Covington and Newport Medical Society; has been several times delegate to the National Medical Association, and the State Medical Society; has taken an active interest in every thing looking to the advancement of his profession, and is one of the oldest, most successful, and honorable practitioners now in active life in the State; and has not only been prominent and useful as a physician, but has been one of the most benevolent and valuable citizens of Covington. He has long been identified with the Presbyterian Church, and has been active in his chari- ties. Dr. Pretlow was married, in 1837, to Elizabeth A. Lynch, of Lynchburg, Virginia. She died in 1867. In 1869, he was married to Cassandra H. Prague, of Hamilton County, Ohio. He has three children by his first marriage.

ILGHMAN, GEN. LLOYD, was born in 1817, in Maryland; obtained a fine education, and graduated at West Point Military Academy, in 1836. He entered the army, as Lieutenant in the First Dragoons; soon after resigned his commission; engaged in engineering, until the commencement of the war with Mexico; was aid to Col. Triggs, at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma ; served in other capacities during that war; resumed his business as civil engineer; was engaged on the Panama Railroad; afterwards on the Baltimore and Ohio, Cum- berland Valley, Pennsylvania Central, East Tennessee, Virginia and New Orleans, and Ohio Railroads; from 1854 to 1861, was engaged on railroad surveys in Arkan- sas and Texas; was subsequently commander of the "State Guards," in Western Kentucky; in 1861, en- tered the Confederate service, with a considerable force

of Kentucky recruits; organized the Third Kentucky Regiment, at Clarksville, Tennessee; was promoted brigadier-general ; and, while in command of the de- fenses on the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, was captured at Fort Henry, and imprisoned at Fort War- ren; after one year, was exchanged, and again entered the army, and was killed in the battle of Champion Hill, on the Big Black river, May 16, 1863. He was a brave and skillful officer.

UVALL, HON. WILLIAM P., Lawyer, was born in 1784, in Virginia, and in that State re- ceived his education. When a young man, he. came to Bardstown, Kentucky, where he stud- ied law under Judge Brodnax, and commenced the practice of his profession. He was soon after appointed Attorney for Hardin County ; in 1812, was elected to Congress without opposition ; in 1822, was appointed Governor of Florida, by President Mon- roe, and reappointed by Adams and Jackson; and, in 1848, he moved to Texas. He died in Washington, Dis- trict of Columbia, March 19, 1854. Gov. Duvall married the daughter of Colonel Andrew Hynes, the founder of Elizabethtown, in Hardin County, which he named after his wife Elizabeth. Two of his sons, John and Burr H., participated in the war between Texas and Mexico, in which the latter lost his life.

ERGUSON, DAVID, was born July 20, 1842, in Louisville, Kentucky. His father was a native of Ireland; came to this country many years ago, and settled in Louisville, where he was engaged, during his life, as a grocer and baker. David Ferguson received a good edu- cation, in the schools of Louisville, and, when he was sixteen years of age, began business as a clerk for J. M. Moore & Co. ; afterwards spent two years in the mill of Ferguson & Smith. He was then engaged for himself, successfully, in the flour commission business for several years, after which he moved to New Orleans; but, in the course of two years, returned to Louisville, and joined his father, becoming executor of his estate at his death. He was subsequently a member of the firm of S. G. Henry & Co., in the auction and commission business, in Louisville, for a number of years. He was first elected Councilman from the Twelfth Ward, to fill a vacancy, and, at the end of the term, he was elected by the people to the same office. At this time he be- came a candidate for City Receiver, and was elected by a large majority; at the expiration of his term, was re-elected without opposition, and still fills the position

167

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

with credit to himself. He is a member, in fine stand- ing, in several of the popular social organizations of the day, stands universally high in the community, and is a man of undoubted integrity of character. Mr. Fergu- son was married, December 11, 1866, to Miss Esther R. Waterman, daughter of Robert Waterman, of New Orleans, Louisiana.

ENDALL, HON. AMOS, Lawyer and States- man, was born August 16, 1789, in Dunstable, Massachusetts. He entered Dartmouth College, and graduated at the head of his class, at the age of twenty-two; studied law, and in the Spring of 1814, located at Lexington, Kentucky, where he engaged for some time as a tutor in the family of Henry Clay ; removed to Georgetown, where he became postmaster, and editor of the paper. Displaying great powers as a writer, he soon became one of the editors of the " Argus of Western America," at Frankfort; was the friend and earnest advocate of General Jackson, and eventually became one of the most powerful leaders in the Democratic party; in 1829, was appointed Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, by President Jackson; was sub- sequently made Postmaster- General and a member of the Cabinet, serving during the latter part of President Jackson's administration, and the greater part of Van Buren's; resigned, in 1840, to aid in the re-election of Van Buren ; declined the foreign mission, under Presi- dent Polk; in 1845, became the manager of Professor Morse's interest in telegraph lines; became very wealthy, and made large donations to Churches and charitable institutions, being himself the founder of the Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, at Washington City. He began to prepare his " Life of Andrew Jackson," which was left unfinished at his death; and was considered one of the most able political writers of his day. He died November 12, 1869, at Washington City.

INZER, JOHN, Tobacco Manufacturer, was born in Canton Berne, Switzerland, in 1838, and came to America, in 1852, with his father's family, landing in Louisville on the last day of that year. In connection with his father and his brothers, Benjamin, Frederick, Rudolph, and Nicholas, he began work in a tobacco factory, at a. trifling weekly salary. In 1862, several years after the death of his father, he took charge of a branch factory ; and soon after, in connection with Mr. Roberts, bought the fixtures, and operated the factory, with varying suc- eess, until 1866, when the partnership was dissolved, and the new firm of the "Five Brothers" was organized, his other four brothers becoming active members of the

firm. They began cautiously, and with great industry, turning their own hands to every department of their business. They finally grew into public confidence, and, a few years after the close of the civil war, had estab- lished one of the largest trades in their line in Louis- ville, and taken a prominent position in the great tobacco interests of the country. The increasing demands of their trade made it necessary for them to increase their facilities, and their present factory is considered one of the most completely built, commodious, and well-operated establishments of the kind in the country; and the pro- prietors, from most humble circumstances, have not only accumulated considerable property, but also stand among the most enterprising and valuable business men of Louisville. In their private and social life, they bear the same reputation which has characterized their busi- ness career. They are all married, and are members of the Lutheran Church.

RIMBLE, HON. JOHN, Lawyer and Judge, was born December 4, 1783, in Clarke County, Kentucky, where his father, William Trimble, had settled in 1780. He received a good edu- cation, and, at the age of nineteen, became Sec- retary to Robert Evans, Governor of Indiana, and in that capacity resided at Vincennes for two years; studied law under George Nicholas; practiced his pro- fession in Paris, Kentucky, from 1807 to 1816; in that year removed to Cynthiana, and was appointed Circuit Judge ; resigned that office in 1825, and immediately aft- erwards was appointed Judge of the Court of Appeals, by Governor Desha ; resigned, and in the same year was elected member of the Legislature; was re-elected in 1833 and 1835; was a member of the Democratic party, and by his advocacy of the Charleston and Cincinnati Railroad, gained the violent opposition of the party lead- ers. In 1826, he was offered the Judgeship of the United States for the District of Kentucky, by John Quincy Adams. Judge Trimble was an able lawyer, and a man of noble qualities. He died July 9, 1852.

COWDEN, RANSOM T., Civil and Mechanical Engineer, was born in Cincinnati, April 28, 1837. His father, Theodore R. Scowden, at- tained a national reputation as a civil and mechanical engineer, having been employed on many of the largest undertakings in the coun- try. Among them, may be mentioned the Cincinnati, Cleveland, Newport, and Louisville water-works; the Louisville and Portland Canal, the largest in the world, around the falls of the Ohio, in which undertaking he

I68

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

was chief engineer ; and many others of less note. He is, also, consulting engineer for the Virginia City Bonanza silver mines. R. T. Scowden received the usual educa- tion afforded by the public-schools, and Woodward High-school, of Cincinnati; and, when arriving at. the age of nineteen years, went to Cleveland, Ohio, as an employe in the office of the city engineer, where he re- ceived his first lessons in practical engineering. After two years of close study, he left that office, to accept a position on the staff of engineers of the Cleveland water- works, under the immediate supervision of his father. On the appointment of his father as chief engineer of the Louisville water-works, he accompanied him to that city, where he remained until the completion of the Louisville and Portland Canal, in the construction of which five years were consumed. The next work in which he was engaged, was the extension of the Cincin- nati water-works, which occupied the space of two years. He was then called to Parkersburg, West Virginia, to plan a system of sewerage, and water-works, and also to establish the grades of the streets of the entire city. On the completion of that duty, he was appointed chief engineer of the Sewerage Board of Cincinnati. After discharging the duties of this office for some two years, he resigned, to take charge of the construction of the greatest steel works in the country, at Cleveland. The panic of 1873, however, caused this work to be sus- pended. Returning to Louisville, he formed a partner- ship with J. W. Rutherford, during which business connection, he went South and took immediate charge of the water-works at Atlanta, Georgia. He was next elected city engineer of the city of Louisville, which position he still occupies. Mr. Scowden's career has been one of great success and brilliancy ; and his serv- ices are always in demand. He is very thorough in every thing he undertakes; possessed of many_valuable business traits; and is systematic and accurate in all his transactions. Personally, he is very courteous and gentlemanly, carrying about with him an easy grace, which belongs to true superiority. A deep scholar in his profession, lie is in every sense qualified to grapple with large enterprises.

HITE, ROBERT LEWIS, Merchant, was born in Orange County, Virginia, May 10, 1829. His father, Henry P. White, was a farmer of Virginia, and also a native of Orange County, moving, however, to Kentucky, in 1832, and settling in Todd County, where he died, in 1869. R. L. White received his education in the best schools of his native county. At the age of nineteen, he went to Clarksville, Tennessee, and engaged as sales- man in the dry-goods house of Hart & Kennedy, re-

maining three years. In June, 1850, he went to Nash- ville, and became a partner in the wholesale dry-goods establishment of Gardner & Co., and continued success- fully until the outbreak of the war, and the disturbed condition of the country, made it unsafe to carry on a large business in that locality. Leaving Nashville, in 1863, he went to Louisville, and established his present business at No. 225 West Main Street, his efforts being again crowned with more than ordinary success. Since its foundation, his business has steadily increased. He is a director and a large stockholder in the Louisville Banking Company, and, for many years, has had a large interest in the city railway system, and acts as one of the directors. In politics, though desiring no prom- inence, he takes an active interest. He is firm in his convictions, and exercises his influence and his vote in favor of the Democratic party. He is a consistent and useful member of the Presbyterian Church, under the ministry of the celebrated Stuart Robinson, and his lib- erality is a matter of great gratification and service to the Church of his choice. In 1854, he was married to Miss Rosalie W. Ward, daughter of Dr. Ward, of Ten- nessee, which union has been blessed with five children. His son, T. Wells White, was educated as a physician, at Shawnee, Tennessee, and . also at Charlottesville, Virginia, but was obliged to abandon this profession, on account of the failing of his eyes, and is now following mercantile pursuits in Louisville. The names of his other children are Sallie P., Libby, Rosalie W., and Al- bert White. Mr. White enjoys the unbounded confi- dence of a large circle of friends, which he has earned by his strict integrity, justice, and uniform kindness of disposition. He is largely connected with the growth of the city of Louisville and its permanent institutions. His nature is rich in affection, and the dispensation of charity is one of his leading characteristics. He is, in every way, a valuable citizen of the city of his adoption,

ART, CAPT. NATHANIEL, was born in 1734, in Hanover County, Virginia, and, at an early age, was taken, by his mother, to North Carolina. In 1770, he commanded a company in the suppression of the insurrection in North Carolina, against the State Government; was afterwards one of the organizers of the company of which Colonel Henderson was president, which made the treaty, at Watauga, with the Indians, and were the original proprietors of Kentucky, under the name of Transylvania. In 1775, he took up his residence in Kentucky, near Boonesborough, but did not bring his family to that territory until 1779. He was one of the most energetic, useful, and valuable men among the early pioneers of the State. In August, 1782, he was

169

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

killed and scalped by a small party of Indians. His widow only survived him two or three years. Their descendants still reside in this State.

AVE, PROF. ROBERT CLIFTON, President of South Kentucky Female College, was born February 13, 1843, in Orange County, Virginia. His ancestors came from England, and settled in Virginia at an early day, many of them be- ing men of prominence in that State; and his father, Robert P. Cave, was a farmer of the Old Do- minion. Until his fifteenth year, he attended the best schools of his native county, and, when thoroughly prepared, entered Bethany College, under Alexander Campbell, where he completed a thorough classical and scientific education. At the breaking out of the civil war, he entered the service of the Confederacy, and served actively in the army until the surrender. After the war, he was ordained a minister in the Disciples' Church, and preached in Orange County till the Spring of 1872, when he removed to Lexington, Ken- tucky, and took the editorial management of the "Apostolic Times," the organ of the Christian Church. in Kentucky. He resigned his connection with that paper in the Fall of 1875, and, in the following Spring, was elected President of South Kentucky Female Col- lege, at Hopkinsville, and has since remained at the head of that institution. He is a man of great energy and executive ability; is a fine writer; is independent and determined in his adherence to his principles; is modest, and courteous in his manners; is a fine speaker; is able in the pulpit, and ranks among the leading scholars of the State. Prof. Cave was married, in 1863, to Miss Fannie Daniel, daughter of William T. Daniel, of Orange County, Virginia.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 29

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