The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 32

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 32

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Eng d by Homer Lee & Co.N.Y.

I.A.Derin Bon November Mh 1794.

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Because of the feeble state of his health, consequent upon his residence in the South, he was unable, for some two years, to engage, but to a limited extent, in the practice, but, so soon as his health was restored, he gradually acquired a large and lucrative practice, which he retained until near 1840, when, in consequence of the laborious duties of his profession, his health again failed him; and, having accumulated a competency for life, he forever abandoned medical practice. In No- vember, 1819, he was united in wedlock with Miss Arabella, daughter of Mr. John Edwards, of Bourbon County, Kentucky, who was an extensive farmer, and who gained no little renown, during the war of 1812, for his tact and skill in organizing and drilling the many companies of volunteers, and preparing them for the duties of the campaign. Both her grandfathers, at a very early day, emigrated from Virginia, and located in Bourbon County. Her paternal grandfather, Col. John Edwards, upon the organization of the State, was elected, by the Legislature, one of the two Senators first sent by the State to the Congress of the United States. Her maternal grandfather, Col. James Garrard, had, for- tunately, become the possessor of a patent that had been located on ten thousand acres of the richest land in Kentucky, and which secured to him a large fortune for life; he was eight years Governor of Kentucky. With his lady, who still remains to him, Dr. Perrin has lived a happy life of more than fifty-seven years; both of them, long years ago, became members of the Prot- estant Episcopal Church, and have ever since remained consistent communicants of the same; and he, by his extensive charities and large liberality, was among the most efficient members in originating, and placing on a permanent basis, the Church of the Advent, Cynthiana. Having no taste for it, he never engaged in politics; was a Whig, and voted with that party until its dissolu- tion; in the late unpleasantness between the Northern and Southern States, he sympathized strongly with the South; and, during the war and since, has uniformly voted with the Democrats; his first Presidential vote was for James Monroe, and his last for Samuel J. Tilden. Having hitherto led a very active life, and being a man of more than ordinary energy, he could not reconcile himself to lead a life of inactivity ; so, after his retire- ment from the practice of medicine, he engaged actively in agricultural pursuits, and by his untiring application, soon became one of the model farmers of his county. He took great delight in the raising of fine stock, and was among the first farmers who introduced into his county the very justly highly prized and valuable short- horned Durhams; and he bred them extensively, fre- quently competing successfully, at the different fairs, with the most approved breeders of Fayette and Bourbon Counties. He then, for some twenty years, enjoyed the pleasures of a farmer's life, and has frequently been

heard to say, that these years were by far the most pleasant and happy of his life. But, on the close of the war between the Northern and Southern States, he, with a large number of Kentuckians, suffered heavy pecuniary losses by the emancipation of the negroes, and, being advanced in life, he determined to bring to a close his agricultural life as a farmer. He conse- quently sold his splendid farm, of nearly five hundred acres, lying adjoining Cynthiana. Not long afterwards, he purchased a handsome place, surrounded with finely improved grounds, within the chartered limits of Cyn- thiana, and on which, with his estimable lady, he now re- sides, enjoying otium cum dignitate, highly esteemed and respected by all who know him, as a gentleman and a Christian. Dr. Perrin has been noted for his sober and correct habits; for vigor of intellect; for high, moral bearing; for purity of thought and language; for simple, modest, and unpretending manners; and, for the con- sistency of his religious life. In consequence of his failing health, he believes himself nearing the end of his long life, and feels that, to the best of his ability, he has discharged his duty to his country and to his fellow- men, and that, henceforth, for the few days that may be spared to him, he has determined, with the blessing of God, to devote himself to the improvement of his spiritual condition, and so endeavor to secure for himself a peaceful exit from this world, and a happy and blissful reception in the world to come.

ODD, COL. JOHN, Lawyer and Soldier, was a native of Pennsylvania. He was educated under his uncle, Rev. John Todd, in Virginia ; studied law, and entered upon its practice at Fincastle, in that State; visited Kentucky, about 1775, and located a fine body of land in Fayette County; afterwards returned to Virginia; but finally removed to Kentucky. He accompanied Gen. Clark in his expeditions against Kaskaskia and Vin- cennes; was placed in command at Kaskaskia ; was ap- pointed colonel, with the powers of governor, in the county of Illinois, under an act of the Virginia Legisla- ture, in 1777; enlisted a regiment of volunteers for frontier defense; was subsequently appointed to the command of a regiment raised by Virginia, in 1779; in 1780, was a delegate to the Legislature of Virginia, from the county of Kentucky; again engaged in the govern- ment of the county of Illinois, visiting Kentucky sev- eral times a year, his family residing in the fort at Lex- ington. He was one of the leaders in the celebrated battle of the Blue Licks, and fell among the many brave who offered up their lives in that fatal rencounter. His wife (who was a Miss Hawkins), and their daughter, survived him, and his daughter became the wife of

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Robert Wickliffe, Sr. Col. Todd was a man of admi- rable personal appearance, splendid talents, of irre- proachable private and public life, and was one of the most universally beloved and valuable among all the early adventurers to the West.

RAVES, HON. WILLIAM JOURDAN, Law- yer, was born in 1805. He studied law, and took a high rank in his profession. He served as a member of the Kentucky Legislature, and, from 1835 to 1841, was in the Lower House of Congress. In 1848, he was a candidate for Governor, in the convention that nominated Hon. John J. Crittenden. He was a man of uncommon talents, and stood very high in the State. He engaged in a duel, in 1838, at Bladensburg, Maryland, with Jonathan Cilley, in which the latter was killed. Mr. Graves died Sep- tember 27, 1848, in the city of Louisville.

ROUTMAN, COL. FRANK, Lawyer and Farmer, was born January 22, 1820, in Bour- bon County, Kentucky. His father, Peter H. Troutman, and his ancestors, for generations, were chiefly farmers. His mother was Miss Catharine Giltner, and a direct descendant of George and Jacob Giltner, of Prussia, who were warm partisans of Frederick the Great, and figured con- spicuously during the Seven Years' War. Both the Trout- mans and Giltners emigrated to this country at an early day, and not only took an active part in the war of the Revolution against Great Britain, but also in the war of 1812. The subject of this sketch was reared on a farm, in Bourbon County, obtained a substantial .education, and, having selected the law for a profession, studied under the direction of Judge George Robertson, of Lex- ington, and, in 1845, received his license to practice from Judges Buckner, of Lexington, and Simpson, of Win- chester. After practicing a few years, in Paris, he abandoned the' profession entirely, and returned to the more active life of the farm. But this was not until he had gained considerable reputation as a lawyer. He was attorney for the Kentucky plaintiffs in the fugitive slave cases, prosecuted in the United States Court, at Detroit, in 1848, 1849 and 1850; in which they attempted to recover the value of the slaves forcibly withheld by citi- zens of Michigan from seizure. In these causes he was successful over the strong defense of many able lawyers arrayed against him. In 1851, he was elected to the Lower House of the Kentucky Legislature, and served two years. He was member of the Committee on Judi- ciary and the Revised Statutes, and was Chairman of the

Committee on Banks. A few years ago he removed from Bourbon County to his present home, near Eminence, and is now extensively engaged in farming in Kentucky, and cotton planting and levee building in Louisiana. He is largely engaged in raising fine sheep, and, in connec- tion with this enterprise, has made several trips to Eng- land, importing some of the finest breeds from the herds of that country. He is an earnest advocate and supporter of a liberal system of internal improvements of his county and State, and a liberal system of public- schools; is president of several turnpike companies, and is a Director in the National Bank of New Castle, and variously associated with the interests of the community. At the commencement of the rebellion he was a promi- nent member of the Democratic party, and, although his interests and sympathies were with the South, he was at no time an advocate of secession. He has for many years been a member of the Christian Church; is a Ma- son, Odd-fellow, and Granger; is an active, persevering and successful business man ; has been twice married. His first wife died, in 1859, while on a tour in Europe. His present wife was Miss Anna Dicken, daughter and only heir of the late Geo. D. Dicken, of Henry County, Kentucky, whose maternal relations were the Caldwells and Davies, of Central Kentucky. Her mother was Miss E. H. Evans, and descended from the Hickmans, Pullums, and Hollidays, (Virginians), who were among . the early settlers of Kentucky. Mrs. Troutman was educated at the school of Rev. Stuart Robinson, at Frankfort, Kentucky; a woman of warm sympathies, rare culture and capacity, both social and intellectual. By this marriage he has three children-two sons and one daughter.

ERKINS, BENJAMIN THOMAS,' Lawyer, was born December 24, 1818, in Todd County, Kentucky. His father, a farmer, was a native of the State and died in that county. The early education of the subject of this sketch was obtained in the schools of that section of the country; and, although he had not the benefits of a collegiate course, yet, by diligent application and ambi- tion for self-culture, he finally acquired a good educa- tion. In 1839, in fulfillment of the hope of his boy- hood, he began the study of the law in the office of Hon. F. E. McLean, a distinguished lawyer, who had been a member of Congress from that district. Here he remained one year and was then admitted to the bar. He was at once elected County Prosecutor, and served six years. He was then elected Clerk of the Circuit and County Court, and served as such for twenty-three years. Within the last two years of his term he formed a partnership with his son, who is one of the ablest young lawyers of Todd County, and the firm has since

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been doing the largest and most successful practice in the county. During the war he was a strong Union man, and, by personal endeavor and public speeches, largely aided the cause of the Government. His influ- ence upon public opinion was largely felt. He acted as commissary and quartermaster, and also recruited a large number of soldiers, under a commission which he held from the Government. In his own county, he enlisted one hundred and one men, and altogether some five hundred. He paid out many thousand dollars of Government money, and always had the perfect confi- dence of his men and the Government. In 1864, he was a delegate, from his district, to the National Demo- cratic Convention, at Chicago, which nominated Gen. George B. McClellan for President, and has always since been a consistent advocate of the principles of the Dem- ocratic party. He united with the Christian Church in 1840, and, during his long connection with that denom- ination, has aided in every possible manner in support- ing and advancing its cause. In 1842, he married M. J. Porter, daughter of Samuel Porter, a respected and worthy farmer of Todd County, and has four children, all grown up and married, who fill, with credit and honor, their individual positions in society. His oldest son is county clerk and master commissioner of the county. His younger son, Benjamin, is his partner, and stands very high in the ranks of his profession. In all his long career as a public officer and law practitioner, Mr. Perkins has ever given the fullest satisfaction, and holds a strong position in the respect and esteem of his fellow-citizens.

RR, JOHN, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born January 26, 1807, in Jefferson County, Ohio. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth (Wilson) Orr, both natives of Washington County, Pennsylvania .. He was the eleventh of a family of twelve children. His father mainly followed agricultural pursuits; was of Irish Presbyterian parentage; moved to Kentucky in 1812; settled in Bracken County ; was engaged in the war of 1812; and died in 1835. His mother, Elizabeth Wilson, was the daughter of Archibald Wilson, one of the hardy pioneers of Western Pennsylvania, who was killed by the Indians in the early days of the Republic. Dr. Orr had com- pleted his education, mainly at Augusta College, when he was nineteen years of age. He chose the profession of medicine; and, in 1826, began his preparation, under Dr. George W. Mackie, of Augusta, one of the most widely known and valuable physicians of Northern Ken- tucky. After three or four years spent in thorough study and preparation, he graduated in the Medical Col- lege of Ohio, at Cincinnati, in 1831. In that year, he located at Alexandria, in Campbell County, and entered

upon the practice of his profession. His practice was very laborious, during many years extending to New. port, Falmouth, and even Richmond. Soon after his first settlement to practice, his successful treatment of "milk sickness," permanently established his reputation throughout the country. For nearly half a century, he practiced medicine at Alexandria; met with great suc- cess, and occupied a high and venerable position in the profession. He educated to the profession of medicine two of his sons, who are now engaged in successful practice : Dr. Thomas Spillman Orr, of Augusta; and Dr. Edward Buckner Orr, who now fills the place so long occupied by his father at Alexandria; both young men of decided talent in their profession. Although Dr. Orr was not associated with any Church organiza- tion, he was a man of exceptional personal and social habits; of unapproachable integrity ; of strong sympa- thetic nature; of broad, generous, liberal feelings; uni- versally esteemed, and almost immeasurably useful. He was a man of magnificent physique, of great powers of endurance, and possessed of many admirable traits. He was a Democrat in politics during the last fifteen or twenty years of his life, and, during the civil war, was in sympathy with the South. He had previously been identified with the Whig party. Dr. Orr was twice married; in 1832, to Miss Rebecca A. DeCourcey, daughter of William DeCourcey, a farmer, of Campbell County, and several years Senator in the Kentucky Legislature; she died, in 1841, leaving four children ; and, in 1845, he was again married, to Maria Spillman, daughter of Henry E. Spillman, a farmer of Campbell County. By this marriage, he also had four children. His daughter, Mary J. Orr, is the wife of Hon. R. Tar- vin Baker; Lucy Florence Orr is the wife of W. W. White, a merchant of Alexandria; and Emma Elizabeth Orr is the wife of Thomas P. Makibben, a lawyer of New York. Dr. Orr died suddenly, on the first day of the new year, 1877, at his home in Alexandria, while sitting in his chair, enjoying apparently perfect health.

ANDALL, HON. WILLIAM H., Lawyer, was a Kentuckian by birth. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1835; in 1836, was appointed Clerk of the Circuit and County Court of Laurel County; held that position until 1851; held the office one year, by elec- tion, under the new Constitution; was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs; was re-elected to the Thirty-ninth Con- gress, serving on the same committee, and that of pub- lic buildings. He was a delegate to the Loyalists' Con- vention at Philadelphia, in 1866, and became one of the leading men of his section.

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HEAT, JUDGE ZACHARIAH, once Chief- Justice of the Court of Appeals, and Lawyer, was born July 26, 1806, in Bourbon County, Kentucky ; son of Zachariah and Elizabeth Ken- nedy Wheat, Virginians, who emigrated to this State at a very early period in its history. He was raised on a farm, and educated in the private schools of the country. Although he had learned the saddler's trade, in 1828 he began the study of the law with Cyrus Walker, at Columbia, Kentucky ; and, in the following year, was admitted to the bar, and at once commenced practice in Adair and adjoining counties, residing at Co- lumbia. In 1832, he was appointed Commonwealth's Attorney, by Gov. Metcalfe, and held the office through his and several successive administrations. He finally resigned; but was reappointed to the same position, by Gov. Letcher, and held it at the time of receiving the appointment as Circuit Judge, in 1848, from Gov. Crit- tenden. He served as circuit judge until the adoption of the new Constitution ; and, under it, was elected by the people, without opposition, to the same office. At the end of his term, he declined re-election, and resumed the practice of the law. In 1856, he was elected to the Court of Appeals, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Chief-Justice Crenshaw. At the expiration of his term, in 1858, he made the race for re-election, and was defeated. He again resumed his profession at Columbia, where, with the exception of a few months spent in Lou- isville, he remained until in 1861. He then removed to Shelbyville, where he has since engaged in his pro- fession, with his usual popularity and success. He was originally a Whig; and, during the existence of the Na- tive American party, became a staunch supporter of its principles; and since, has been a Republican of the most earnest stamp, firmly supporting the National Govern- ment during the rebellion. Religiously, he is a Baptist. He is a man of splendid personal habits; extremely lib- eral in his dealings with men ; rarely collecting a fee by action of law, and usually sharing the loss with an un- successful client, by omitting his fee ; obstinately adheres to his conscientious convictions, at any risk; and has made it a rule of his practice to prevent men from insti- tuting hopeless or groundless causes. Without pretense to oratory, he is a speaker of more than ordinary ability. He is over six feet in height, perfectly erect, and still of admirable bearing. Judge Wheat has been three times married : first to Mary A., oldest daughter of Judge Ben Monroe. From this marriage he raised two daughters: Cynthia, the wife of Judge R. B. Mayes, of Yazoo, Mis- sissippi; and the present State Librarian, Mrs. Cornelia Bush, one of the most intelligent and spirited women in the State. His second marriage was to Margaret A. Fra- zer, of Columbia. In this union there were no children. His third marriage was to Ann M. Logan, now living, daughter of Dr. Ben Logan, of Shelby County, and

granddaughter of Gen. Ben Logan, who was distin- guished in the early history of Kentucky. They have one son, now in Centre College.

OWLER, CAPT. JOHN, was born in Virginia in 1775, and died at Lexington, Kentucky, August 22, 1840. He commanded a company in the Revolutionary War, and was the first member of Congress from the Lexington dis- trict ; was, for many years, postmaster of Lex- ington, and was a refined, cultivated, generous, and good man; and died most highly and universally esteemed.

NDERSON, HON. JAMES WALLACE, Law- yer, son of Ambrose Yancey Anderson, and Nancy B. ( Pogue) Anderson, was born Novem- ber 15, 1825, in Knox County, Kentucky. His father was a Tennesseean by birth, and a farmer; but was for some time sheriff of Knox County ; was for many years a magistrate in that county, and for several years County Judge; was of Scotch-Irish origin, and related to the Yanceys of Alabama. He died in 1856. Nancy B. Pogue, his mother, was a na- tive of Whitley County, Kentucky; daughter of John Pogue, a Pennsylvanian, and a soldier in the war of 1812. The subject of this sketch remained on the farm until his sixteenth year; from that to his twentieth he spent in the best private schools in the county, and, in 1845, began reading law with James Hays, a leading lawyer of Barboursville ; in the following year, entered the law department of Transylvania University, and graduated in 1847. He immediately began practice, in partnership with James Hays, at Barboursville. In 1863, he removed to Flemingsburg, in Fleming County, where he has since resided, in the practice of his pro- fession, with the skill and success that marked his long professional career in Southern Kentucky. In 1856, he was elected Judge of Knox County, without opposition, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of his father. This office he resigned. In 1861, he was elected to the Legislature, without opposition, and served through five of the most important sessions in the history of that body. During all of these, he was conspicuous for his opposition to the secession of the State, and, also to its untenable and ridiculous neutrality in the contest ; and labored with all his energy to throw the State into its proper attitude, on the side of the National Government. And it is probable that the Kentucky Legislature, at no time in its history, was ever composed of a more cautious, safe, and able body of men than this that thwarted the purposes of secession, and saved the State from utter

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ruin. Since residing in Flemingsburg, he has mainly given his time and energy to his profession ; consenting, however, with reluctance, in 1870, to be the candidate for the State Senate, on the Republican ticket, in a known Democratic county and district. Religiously, he is associated with the Christian Church; and, is a man of exceptionally fine personal and professional traits; strongly devoted to his opinions and convictions, but without aggressiveness or display; and stands to the front in his profession, and as a useful member of the community. Mr. Anderson was married, November 19, 1851, to Miss Carrie S. Morgan, a native of Fleming County, and daughter of Daniel Morgan, of Fauquier County, Virginia, who settled in Fleming County at an early day ; was a farmer; and, for a matter of twenty years, represented the county in the Senate and House of Kentucky.

OORE, HON. THOMAS P., was born in 1795, in Charlotte County, Virginia; he was an officer in the war of 1812; was elected several times member of the Kentucky Legislature; was a member of Congress, from Kentucky, from 1823 to 1829; was Minister to the Republic of Columbia, in 1829; was a lieutenant-colonel in the regu- lar army, during the war with Mexico; and was a mem- ber of the last Constitutional Convention, in 1849. He was a fine public speaker, a brave soldier, a man of fine talents, and would have filled with honor almost any position in life. Col. Moore died July 21, 1853, at his residence, in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

NDREWS, HON. LANDAFF WATSON, Dis- tinguished Lawyer of North-eastern Kentucky, was born February 12, 1803, in Fleming County, within one mile of Flemingsburg. He was the seventh of ten children, and his parents were Robert and Martha (Dougherty) Andrews. His father was a native of Franklin County, Pennsylvania ; emigrated to Kentucky in 1792, and resided, for a while in Woodford County ; but, in 1794, permanently settled in Fleming County, which was then a part of Mason, one of the nine original counties, embracing the whole territory of the State. There he lived until his death, in 1840. He was a farmer, merchant, tanner, and mil- ler; was of Scotch-Irish extraction ; and was a promi- nent and valuable man in his section, which he reprc- sented in the Legislature at an early day. The mother of this subject was a native of the same county in Penn- sylvania, and of the same nationality. She died in Fleming County, in 1816. The subject of this sketch passed his boyhood on the farm, and at his father's tan-

yard, usually spending a few months each Winter in the old log school-house of the neighborhood. During his sixteenth year, he prepared for college, at Washington, Mason County ; and, in 1820, entered Transylvania University, at Lexington ; where, after four years in a thorough course of study, he graduated, in a class of thirty-three, in July, 1824. In the same year, he began reading law, and prepared for the profession under Judge W. P. Roper, then Circuit Judge of his district ; and, on January 4, 1826, Judge Roper and Silas Robins, two Circuit Judges, signed his license, and he at once entered upon the practice of the law, at Flemingsburg, where he has always resided. In 1828, he was appointed County Attorney for Fleming County, and held the office until 1839, being reappointed annually. In 1834, he was elected to the Legislature by the Whigs, and was again elected to the same body in 1838. In 1839, he was elected to represent what was then called the Ninth District, in the Twenty-sixth Congress of the United States; and, in 1841, was re-elected, from the same district, to the Twenty-seventh Congress, and served five sessions of four years. In 1857, he was elected, as an Independent, to the State Senate, serving the term of four years; and, in 1861, was elected to the Lower House of the State Legislature; but resigned, during the following year, to assume the duties of Cir- cuit Judge of the Tenth, now Fourteenth, Judicial Dis- trict, to which he had been elected. At the expiration of his term, in 1868, he resumed his practice at the bar. During his last service in the Legislature, the great rebellion was inaugurated, and every influence possible was brought to bear to draw Kentucky into the mael- strom of secession. He was one of the most watchful and determined opponents of this movement, and was largely instrumental, with other discerning, able, and patriotic members of the State Legislature, in prevent- ing Kentucky from taking the suicidal step of secession. Since the palmy days of politics, when the best men of the communities were made to represent the people in their legislative assemblies, probably no more reliable and able body of men ever composed the Legislature of Kentucky than that which wisely thwarted the pur- poses of disunion. He was a determined supporter of the National Government throughout the rebellion, and has since been an independent Democrat, yet, during the existence of Whiggery, he was a successful advocate of the principles of that party, with a decided penchant for independence at all times, and especially in local in- terests. Religiously, he is not attached to any Church, but has strong predilections for the old Associate Re- formed ( Presbyterian), the Church of his ancestry. Judge Andrews still has a large and valuable legal prac- tice, and, at seventy-thrce, exhibits a wonderful degrce of physical and mental activity and preservation ; a fine specimen of the old school gentleman; and deservedly

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 32

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