The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 31

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 31

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Materia Medica and Therapeutics. He took high rank at once, in a faculty composed of able and experienced teachers; some years later, was transferred to the Chair of Theory and Practice, on the resignation of Professor Austin Flint ; in 1867, was restored to his former chair; delivered a course of lectures in Materia Medica and Therapeutics during the Winter of 1867, at the end of which he sent in his resignation. At this time his eyes had failed him, and he was forced to have the operation of iridectomy performed, by Dr. Agnew, of New York. He was taught, in early life, that he must work, and the lesson was never lost on him. He had a frail physique, but worked incessantly, and was known repeatedly to say that he had not lost an hour in the whole year. He had an uncommon memory, never carrying any helps to that faculty ; was never known to forget, or fail to fill, an appointment, notwithstanding he com- manded, for more than forty years, the largest general practice done by any one man in the city of Louisville; was endowed with remarkable powers of observation; had fine reasoning faculties; was patient, painstaking, and thorough ; had great courage under trying circum- stances ; inspired his patients with unbounded confidence toward himself; his whole mind was engaged in his calling; was eminently a man of peace, and kept out of the way of medical gossip and scandal; never allowed his personal feelings to enter into his business; had lit- tle time for authorship, being wholly occupied in his laborious practice; and made his last professional call, March 13, 1875, and was never again seen on the street. His religious creed was brief, and was expressed in these words: "Fear God, and do your duty to the sick." He lived a brave, blameless, and useful life, and died, at his home in Louisville, June 13, 1875. Dr. Rogers was married, January 29, 1839, to Miss Mary E. Thrus- ton, daughter of one of the most brilliant lawyers and politicians of the State. Her mother was the daughter of Hon. Fortunatus Casby, also a member of one of the oldest and most influential families of Louisville. They had ten children, of whom six survived-one son and five daughters.

OCKER, RICHARD WEAVER, Lawyer, was born October 14, 1853, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. He is the son of Richard W. and Margaret Ann (Shanks) Hocker, both natives of the same county, and members of old, hon-

orable pioneer families from Virginia. He re- ceived a thorough education, in the best schools of his native county; chose the law for his profession; and be- gan reading, in the Winter of 1874, under the super- vision of Thomas P. Hill, of Stanford. In the follow- ing year, he was admitted to the bar; and, in January, 1876, entered on the practice of his profession, at Stan-

ford, in partnership with his brother, Jesse Shy Hocker. In 1876, his firm became attorneys for the corpora- tion of Stanford. In 1875, he was delegate to the State Gubernatorial Democratic Convention, and was a warm supporter of the nomination of Hon. James B. McCreary.

BORING, FRANKLIN, Lawyer, was born May 3, 1798, in Barren County, Kentucky, and is believed to be the first white child born in that county. His father, Gen. John Goring, participated in the war of the Revolution; served under Gen. Wayne in the Indian wars; and was at the battle of the Thames, in the war of 1812. He was eight years in the State Senate, and also served in the Lower House of the Legislature. His family were of French Huguenot origin, and his pater- nal ancestor settled in the District of Columbia, during the seventeenth century. Franklin Goring, received his education chiefly under Rev. John Howe, and Dr. Ben- jamin Thurston, and commenced merchandising at Glasgow. In 1819, he began the study of the law, under his brother-in-law, Judge J. R. Underwood, and, in the following year, received his license to practice; also, attended law lectures at Lexington, under Wm. T. Barry; soon after, was appointed attorney for Bar- ren County ; held the office fifteen years; resigned, and was elected to the Legislature by the Whigs, in 1831 ; was re-elected, in 1834; from 1842 to 1848, was law- partner of Hon. John Bell, of Nashville, Tennessee ; returned to Glasgow, and entered into partnership with Hon. John R. Rogers; was long the leading criminal lawyer of his section of the State; in 1855, he associated himself with the late Chief-Justice, Wm. Sampson, at Louisville; continued, in connection with A. M. Gazley, until 1864; from 1861 to 1865, remained in New York; and, after the war, resumed the practice of his profession at Glasgow. Mr. Goring was married in 1818, to Louise Frances Underwood, sister of Judge J. R. Underwood; and, in 1841, to Frances Boardman; and, in 1872, to D. B. Campbell. He has three children.

ARNABY, HON. WILLIAM SHARP, Law- yer, was born December 20, 1821, in Fayette County, Kentucky. His father, James Dar- naby, was Surveyor of Fayette County for thirty years; was, for a time, Deputy Sheriff ; a Kentuckian by birth, of Virginia parents. His mother was Ellen Sharp, daughter of Richard Sharp, of Fayette County. William Sharp Darnaby received a good education in the best private schools of the country ; served eight years as Deputy Surveyor of

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Fayette County; at the age of twenty-two, commenced the study of law, with Samuel R. Bullock, of Lexington; attended two courses of law lectures at Transylvania University; graduated in 1846; in the following year, entered upon the practice of his profession, at George- town, where he has since resided ; was County Attorney of Scott County for twelve years, serving two terms be- fore, and one after, the war; was elected to the State Senate, in 1857; was, from the first, a strong sympa- thizer with the cause of the South; accompanied Bragg's army; was appointed aid to Provisional-Governor Hawes, with the rank of colonel; and, at the close of the war, returned to Georgetown, and resumed the practice of his profession, in which he has taken a leading rank in Central Kentucky. In politics, he is a Democrat of the States Rights school. Col. Darnaby was married, in 1859, to Miss Fannie H. Lindsay, daughter of James M. Lindsay, of Scott County. In 1872, he was again mar- ried, to Miss Elizabeth Wheeler, of Hampton, Virginia.

ILLIAMS, GEN. JOHN S., Lawyer, Soldier, and Farmer, was born, July 18, 1820, in Mont- gomery County, Kentucky. His grandfather, Rolla Williams, of Welsh descent, was a Rev- olutionary soldier, and his father an officer in the war of 1812. He received his preparatory education at Houston Seminary, Bourbon County, Ken- tucky, and afterwards graduated at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. He studied law with Major Thomas Elliott, in Paris, Kentucky, and commenced the prac- tice in 1843, in that town. He served as captain in the Mexican War, under Gen. Scott, on the southern line of operations; highly distinguished himself at Cerro Gordo, on account of which he received the title of Cerro Gordo Williams, which has since been indissolubly attached to his name; and was immediately promoted to the Colonelcy of the Fourth Kentucky Regiment of Infantry, of which he had commanded the only com- pany that appeared in the battle of Cerro Gordo. At the close of the war, he returned to his profession, pros- ecuting it with great energy; but, having landed posses- sions, he afterwards devoted himself chiefly to the pur- suit of agriculture, in which he has been eminently suc- cessful. In 1861, he made a race for Congress, but was defeated. In the great civil war, he raised a Confeder- ate regiment, early espousing the cause of the South, and served throughout the entire conflict. In 1863, was promoted for gallant conduct and made Brigadier- General. He was voted a resolution of thanks by the Confederate Congress, for his signal defeat of the Fed- eral forces under Gen. Burbridge, at Saltville, Virginia, in the Fall of 1864. He has traveled extensively in Europe, Asia, and Africa, spending several years in

Europe, devoting himself to the study of the laws, languages, and literature of the Continental nations. He is a thorough Democrat; takes an active part in all political contests; enjoys the confidence of his party ; and is one of its leaders in the State. Having few equals as a public speaker, he, in 1875, made a most active canvass for Governor and United States Senator, but was defeated by peculiar political combinations against him. In 1876, he was Elector for the State at large, on the Tilden ticket. Twice elected to the Ken- tucky Legislature, he served in that body with distinc- tion. He is a man of massive head, powerful frame, and well-trained voice, filling the ideal of a Kentucky stump orator; has great faith in the people; bears re- verses with admirable and wonderful equanimity; is a man of strong positive elements of character; and is re- markably successful in gathering followers and friends. General Williams has been twice married: on April 18, 1843, to Miss Ann P. Harrison ; after her death, to Mrs. Henrietta Hamilton. His only child is the wife of Col. J. H. Holloway, of Clarke County, Kentucky.

ELL, THOMAS CLELLAND, Lawyer, was born August 29, 1838, in Anderson County, Kentucky. His father, John B. Bell, was of Scotch-Irish descent, and a native of Culpep- per County, Virginia, from which he removed to Kentucky in 1804, settling in Mercer County. His mother, whose maiden name was Derr, was also a Virginian, of German extraction, and her birthplace was within one hundred yards of the celebrated Natural Bridge, Virginia. His father died when he was only eight years old, and his future was to be determined by his own efforts. He found employment as a farm hand during the Summer months, attending school in the Winters, till his fifteenth year, when he took charge of a school himself, and continued teaching, with intervals of study, till 1856; he then attended Transylvania Uni- versity, at Lexington, for one year, after which he en- gagcd in teaching five years, four of which were spent in Salvisa, Kentucky. During these five years he applied himself assiduously to the study of law, and, in 1863, began practicing at Harrodsburg, where he has since re- mained, and has become one of the leading lawyers of his section, his practice extending to Boyle and Anderson Counties, to the Appellate and Federal Courts, and em- bracing some of the most important litigations before the courts. In 1862, he was elected County Surveyor, holding the office four years; in 1866, was elected County Attor- ney; and, in 1872, was Democratic delegate, from the Eighth Congressional District, to the Baltimore Conven- tion.

He has always taken an active part in politics, though not an office seeker; was raised a Whig, but since

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his majority has voted the Democratic ticket, siding with the Union Democracy during the war. He has been an active earnest member of the Baptist Church since his twenty-first year, and occupies a high place in the esti- mation of society, and the members of the bar. He is a hard student, with a sound, logical mind, and handles

· a case with a persistent, indomitable energy, usually bringing success to his causes. He was married, Sep- tember 15, 1859, to Sallie M., daughter of Dr. W. G. Conner, of Salvisa, Kentucky.

EYTON, HON. SAMUEL O., M. D., was born in 1804, in Bullitt County, Kentucky. He re- ceived a good education ; settled in Hartford, Ohio County; spent two years in business ; studied medicine, and graduated, in Transyl- vania University, in 1827. In 1835, was elected to the State Legislature; was elected to Congress, in 1847; was re-elected to the Thirty-fifth, and also to the Thirty-sixth, Congresses, serving, during his last term, as a member of the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. He died, in January, 1870, at Hartford, Kentucky.

OHNSTON, JUDGE GEORGE W., Lawyer and Politician, was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, in 1807. His great-grandfather emi- grated from near Dumfries, Scotland, before the Revolution, and settled in the Colony of Virginia, on the Rappahannock river. His grandfather, Philip Johnston, and Thomas Johnston, father of the subject of this sketch, were born in Vir- ginia, and removed to the State of Kentucky, about the year 1800, and settled first in Fayette County; and, about the year 1802, removed to Shelby County, and settled on a tract of land they had purchased, near Shelbyville, upon which they resided until their death. Thomas Johnston, his father, was a farmer, and for several ses- sions represented the people of Shelby County in the State Legislature; and, while serving as a member, died, in Frankfort, in February, 1814. He was in the war of 1812 ; commanded a company of mounted volunteers at the battle of Mississinaway, and a battalion at the battle of the Thames. George W. Johnston received a good education, partially under the instruction of the Rev. John F. Crowe, in the best private schools afforded in that day, and in the academy at Shelbyville, Kentucky. Soon after leaving school, he entered the office of the Shelby County Clerk, where he remained actively en- gaged for three years; afterwards writing for some time in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court. He then began the study of daw, under John Logan and D. W. | a boy.

Wilson, of Shelbyville; after a thorough preparation, ex- tending over several years, was admitted to the bar, and began the practice of his profession in Shelbyville, where he continued with great success until 1851, in the mean time filling various local offices; such as Deputy Sheriff, County Attorney, and President of the Board of Inter- nal Improvement. Soon after becoming eligible, he was elected, by the Whig party, to represent Shelby County in the Legislature, serving in that capacity for two suc- ceeding sessions ; was elected, without opposition, to the State Senate, and served one term; was elected member of the Convention of 1849, which framed the present Constitution of the State; in the following year, was again elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, and was elected Speaker, serving during that session; was candidate for the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, but was defeated by Jacob Swigert, who had held the office by appointment; and, in 1851, removed to Louisville, where lie engaged actively in the practice of his pro-' fession. In 1854, he was elected Judge of the City Court, to which position he was continuously re-elected for eleven years, when he resigned, and was elected, with -- out opposition, as Judge of the Jefferson Circuit ; and, after remaining on the bench for three years, on account of failing health, he mainly retired from active business. In May, 1875, he accepted the office of Justice of the Peace for the Fifth District of Louisville. Since 1846, he has been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and has been actively identified with the Masons and other social orders. Judge Johnston has been twice married, and has one son and two daughters; his married daugh- ter being the wife of Judge Charles Pelham, of Wash- ington City.

ITTER, HON. BURWELL C., was born Janu- ary 6, 1810, in Barren County, Kentucky. He received a good English education, and has de- voted himself to agricultural pursuits. He was a member of the State Legislature, in 1843 and 1850; was Presidential Elector in 1864; in 1865, he was elected a Representative from Kentucky, in the Thirty-ninth Congress, serving on the Committees on Agriculture and Expenditures in the Treasury De- partment.

EWITT, COL. JAMES W., Merchant and Soldier, was born August 27, 1827, at Kana- wha, Virginia, and was the son of Capt. James Hewitt, of the firm of Hewitt, Norton & Co., Cotton Factors and Commission Merchants, of New Orleans, Louisville, New York, and Liver-

pool. His father removed to Louisville when he was He was educated in that city, and at the Mili-

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tary Institute, near Frankfort. He married Miss Belle Key, of Louisville, and went into the commission busi- ness in St. Louis, afterwards in New York; in the latter city, became a Captain in the Seventh New York Regiment ; at the commencement of the war, resigned his place in that regiment, and entered the Confederate army as Major of the Second Kentucky Infantry, of the First Brigade; at his own expense, partly equipped his regiment ; was wounded at Fort Donelson, where he commanded the right wing of his regiment; was as- signed to staff duty under Generals Breckinridge and Preston; rejoined his regiment after it was exchanged, having himself escaped being captured at Donelson; was engaged at Hartsville; was promoted lieutenant- colonel in December, 1862; commanded his regiment at Murfreesboro, Jackson, Chickamauga; was wounded at Murfreesboro; and fell in the desperate charge on the morning of September 20, 1863, at Chickamauga. He was a brave and skillful soldier, and a man of great force and worth of character.

LAY, HON. JAMES B., Lawyer and Agricul- turist, was born November 9, 1817, in Wash- ington, D. C., and was the son of the distin- guished statesman, Henry Clay. He received a classical education at Transylvania University, and at the age of fifteen entered a counting- house in Boston, where he remained for a few years. He afterwards settled on a farm near St. Louis, Missouri, but, at the age of twenty-one, returned to Kentucky. He studied law, and graduated in the Law School of Lexington, and, until 1849, was associated with his father in practice; in the same year, was appointed by President Taylor, Charge d' Affaires, to Lisbon; in 1851, again took up his residence in Missouri, but, in 1853, at the death of his father, became proprietor of the Ashland estate, and returned to Kentucky; was elected to Congress, in 1857, serving one term, and being a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations; and was a member of the Peace Convention, in 1861, at Washington City. Mr. Clay died January 26, 1864, at Montreal, Canada.

ICHART, WILLIAM SHARP, Farmer, was born May 26, 1819, in Montgomery County, Kentucky. His father was of Scotch-Irish descent, and moved from Pennsylvania to Ken- tucky, in 1812, and, in the same year, married Miss Martha Sharp. Though trained only in the ordinary schools of the day, his fondness for books has enabled him to amass considerable information. He has, from early youth, followed agricultural pursuits,

living in Bourbon County until thirty-three years of age. When eighteen years old, he became a captain of mili- tia; rose, by regular graduation, and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, commanding the Forty-second Regi- ment, Fifteenth Brigade. In politics, he was an Old- line Whig until 1860, when he joined the Democratic party, and was a candidate for the Legislature, in 1861, on the neutrality ticket. He was elected to the Legis- lature, in 1869, and served the people faithfully. He has been a magistrate in his county for six years. He has long acted as elder in the Hinkston Presbyterian Church, devoting his declining years to repairing the waste places of his neighborhood, taking in all the political, religious, and agricultural questions agitated in his county, and is a man of mark, and influence. Mr. Richart was married, October 13, 1840, to Miss L. Smith Crouch. They have eight living children.

EAN, JAMES, SR., Farmer, was born May 9, 1800, on Strode's Creek, Clarke County, Ken- tucky, and died, on the anniversary of his birth, in 1873, at his home, in Montgomery County,

near Mt. Sterling. His father came from the Shenandoah Valley, in the early days of Ken- tucky, and acquired a large landed estate. James Bean received a good English education, and was at one time a fine surveyor. In 1820, in company with his brother John, he first appeared in Montgomery County, and took possession of a tract of land, given him by his father, consisting of one hundred acres, then an unbroken forest. There the two brothers lived; cut away the heavy timber; opened a large and productive farm, which they increased to more than five hundred acres, valued now at over one hundred dollars per acre; and on this farm, it is said, the first blue grass was planted in Montgomery County. They traded largely in stock, his brother, who died in 1840, usually making yearly visits to the South, connected with their stock interests. He was long a magistrate in Montgomery County, and was, for twenty years, Director in the Farmers' Bank, Mt. Sterling. Many years ago, he was captain of the militia of the county; was an active and prominent local politician ; and belonged to the old Whig party until its dissolution, and never relinquished its principles during his life. He was, for forty years, a member of the Christian or Disciples' Church, in which he was, in a large sense, a pillar. 'Squire Bean, as he was familiarly known throughout the country, was an honest, just, and upright man, whose word was never questioned, and who was universally distinguished for his great integrity of character. He was broad, generous, and hospitable in his manners; liberal in his charities; participated, actively and zealously, in the social and business inter-

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ests of his community; and was one of the most widely known, generally esteemed, and valuable citizens of Montgomery County. He was twice married : first, Oc- tober 25, 1838, to Mary Smith, daughter of Thompson Smith, and niece of Enoch Smith, one of the four first settlers of Montgomery County; four children, from this marriage, are still living. On April 3, 1850, he was again married, to Annie Poyntz, of Scott County, Ken- tucky, who, with her six children, survives him.

ERRIN, G. H., M. D., Retired Physician and prominent citizen of Cynthiana, Kentucky. He is the son of Josephus and Elizabeth Perrin, and was born November 9, 1794, near the Crab Orchard, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. His parents had twelve children, of whom he was the second. He is a Kentuckian, out and out, having been born, and, with a slight exception, spent his long life within her boundaries. His paternal grandfather, Josephus Perrin, Sr., removed from Charlotte County, Virginia, in 1784, and, with his family, settled near the Crab Orchard, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. This was long before the organization of the State, and during the most perilous times of the "Dark and Bloody Ground," and while every male settler was compelled to act in the double capacity of farmer and soldier. The mother of Dr. Perrin was also a Perrin ; her father, George Perrin, having been a farmer in Charlotte County, Virginia, and, in 1784, removed with his family, and settled in Edgefield district, South Carolina. He raised a family of eight children, of whom the mother of this subject was the eldest daughter. George Perrin was of unblem- ished character, of a mild and amiable disposition, and lived and died a highly honored member of the society in which he resided.' Both these Perrins, together with two other of their brothers, entered variously into the army during the Revolution, and were soldiers through- out the entire war for independence. The father of Dr. Perrin, Josephus Perrin, Jr., accompanied his father and family to their new home in Kentucky; and, although young, soon became conspicuous among the new settlers for his activity and boldness in aiding to expel the roving bands of Indians who, from time to time, made incursions into the new settlements. After the defeat of Gen. Harmar, at the battle of Chillicothe, he aided in raising a company of volunteers, and, as first lieu- tenant, marched with his company to the aid of Gen. St. Clair, and was actively engaged in the battle that terminated in his inglorious defeat. Some years after, having married, in March, 1799, he removed with his family to Harrison County, and located on the south fork of Licking, about eight miles below the town of Cynthiana, the country, at that time, being almost an un-

broken wilderness, and there cleared an opening-a farm, upon which he reared his large family, and upon which he resided until his decease, in his seventy-third year. He early took an active part in the affairs of his county, and soon ranked among the most prominent of its citizens. Being of an ardent temperament, he en- gaged actively in the politics of his State, and, for over twenty years, served his county in the Legislature of the Commonwealth, having been repeatedly elected to the Senate and Lower House, and took an important part in the proceedings. His private character was unblemished, and no man ever stood higher than he for honesty and integrity of character ; and, during his long and not un- eventful life, he was one of the most noted and valuable men who figured in the history of his county. The subject of this sketch remained on his father's farm until in his sixteenth year, and in the mean time had the advantage of the common country schools of his neighborhood. During 1811 and 1812, he attended a select-school in Scott County, under Rev. Thomas Smith. In 1813, he entered Transylvania University, at Lexington, in which institution he remained until he completed his classical, literary, and medical education. In 1814, while the war with England was still in prog- ress, he left the University, and volunteered for a six months' tour in the army, joining the Sixteenth Regi- ment, and shortly marched with it to join the Army of the North-west, at that time commanded by Gen. Mc- Arthur. He was in no general engagement, but had frequent encounters with the Indians. The war with England having terminated, in the Winter of 1815, his military life at once came to a close. On leaving the army, and when receiving an honorable discharge, he was highly complimented by his commander, Gen. Gratiot, for the efficient manner in which he had dis- charged the very onerous duties of such a campaign. In compensation for military service then rendered, he has long been in reception of a pension from the Govern- ment. In the Spring of 1815, he returned to his home in Kentucky, and, not long after, he again returned to Transylvania University, and there remained until he completed his medical education; and the last year of this term he was a private student of the Professor of Anatomy in the Institution, the justly celebrated Benja- min W. Dudley. Upon having received a pressing in- vitation from his relations in South Carolina, late in the Fall of 1817, he commenced the practice of medicine in Edgefield district, and continued to practice for eight years acceptably, in one of the most intelligent and cul- tivated communities to be found anywhere within the boundaries of the United States. At the end of that time, in consequence of the unhealthiness of the climate, and his own health having been completely broken down, he determined to move back to Harrison County, in which he had been raised, and settled in Cynthiana.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 31

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