The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 34

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 34

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ELSON, JOHN H., Lawyer, was born August 22, 1801, in Campbell County, Kentucky. His parents were Covington and Thirra Nelson, both natives of Spottsylvania County, Virginia. His father was a farmer by pursuit; came to Kentucky in 1760; first settled in Fayette, but, in 1795, removed to Campbell County, where he died, in 1840. His mother was the daughter of John Hayden, one of the early Virginian settlers of Fayette County. John H. Nelson was educated in such schools as the country afforded during his boyhood, and, at the age of twenty-three, began to read law at Falmouth, under Ed- ward Holden. He soon after temporarily abandoned the study of the law, and, from 1825 to 1850, was engaged in the lumber business, merchandising, and other pursuits; during 1833, commanding a steamboat on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. In 1850, he was

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admitted to the bar, and at once entered upon the prac- tice of the law, in Campbell County. He was for eight years Justice of the Peace in that county ; in 1854, was elected Judge of the County Court ; held the position four years; and was elected to the State Senate, in 1853, but was fraudulently prevented from taking his seat in that body. In politics, he is a Democrat, although his first Presidential vote was cast for Henry Clay. He is a member of the Christian Church, and has been distin- guished throughout his long, busy life, for his deep sense of justice, his great integrity, and many sterling traits of character. Mr. Nelson was married, June 20, 1827, to Miss Maria Sallee, daughter of Abraham Sallee, a farmer of Bracken County, Kentucky. One of their sons, R. W. Nelson, is a lawyer of Newport, and mem- ber of the Kentucky Legislature.

ODD HON. THOMAS, Lawyer, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, was born January 23, 1765, in King and and Queen County, Virginia, and was the son of Richard and Elizabeth (Richards) Todd, his ancestors being among the early emigrants from England. Judge Todd received a thorough education, and obtained a good knowledge of surveying. In 1786, he came to Kentucky, and resided for some time in the family of his old friend Judge Innes, where he studied law, and at the same time was a tutor in his family. He made his first effort as a lawyer at the Madison Court- house, and rapidly rose to distinction in his profession ; was appointed Clerk of the Federal Court of the District of Kentucky, holding that position till 1792; was appointed Clerk of the Court of Appeals, holding that office until 1801; was appointed fourth Judge of the Court of Appeals, by Gov. Garrard; in 1806, was ap- pointed Chief-Justice by Gov. Greenup; in 1807, was appointed Associate-Justice of the United States, for the new circuit established by Congress, and composed of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio. In that high position, to which he was appointed without any knowledge on his part, and under the most flattering circumstances, he continued until his death. He possessed, to an eminent degree, the esteem of his friends, and the confidence of the people ; and his deportment and ability on the Bench, as well as his great benevolence, and many social vir- tues, gained him universal veneration. His opinions greatly influenced the actions of the State authorities, and his decisions, while on his circuit, were seldom changed at Washington. He died February 7, 1826. Judge Todd was married, in 1788, to a niece of William Stewart, one of the early adventurers to Kentucky, who fell in the disastrous battle of the Blue Licks. Only two of his children, a son and a daughter, survive him.

His son, Col. Charles S. Todd, became one of the most distinguished citizens of Kentucky. (See sketch of Col. Charles S. Todd.) In 1811, his wife died, and, in the following year, he was married to the widow of Major George Washington, nephew of Gen. Washington, and sister-in-law of President Madison. From this marriage, a daughter and two sons survive him.

ONTGOMERY, JAMES, Lawyer, and one of the leading men of Elizabethtown, was born October 7, 1846, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His father, William W. Montgomery, was of Irish descent, but was born in Hardin County, where his own father had settled, after his ban- ishment to America, for participancy in the rebellion of 1798. The subject of this sketch began his education at Georgetown, and graduated at Centre College, Dan- ville, in 1861, and at once commenced the study of the law. In the Fall of 1862, he went into the army as a common soldier, in the command of John Morgan, and remained until the close of the rebellion. He was, therefore, with Gen. Morgan in all his raids; was one of the one hundred who escaped by swimming the Ohio, at Belmont; and was with Morgan at the time of his death, at Greenville, Tennessee. During Morgan's im- prisonment, he was in the battle of Chickamauga, under Gen. Forrest. He remained with Basil Duke until the surrender, and went with him to Carolina, and followed the fortunes of the Confederate President to Washing- ton, Georgia. In 1865, he was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Elizabethtown. In 1866, he was ap- pointed County Attorney for Hardin County, to fill a vacancy. In the following year, he was elected by the people to the same office, which he held for four years. In 1875, he made the race for Circuit Judge, but was defeated; was for some time Director of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, and has been prominently con- nected with the business interests of the community, in which he is one of the most reliable, successful, and solid lawyers. Mr. Montgomery was married, April 20, 1870, to Miss Ella Slack, daughter of James Slack, of Elizabethtown.

EARNE, JONATHAN D., Banker and Mer- chant, was born August 7, 1829, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. His father, Cannon Hearne, was a native of Kentucky, a millwright and farmer, and is said to have built the first tread-

wheel horse mill ever erected in that State. J. D. Hearne attended the schools of his native county, and, after having learned the carpenter trade, finished his education in one of the academies of the country.

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At the age of twenty, he entered a store at North Mid- dletown, and, after clerking two years, purchased and carried on the business for some time; was engaged for four years in the general dry-goods trade, at Paris; in 1863, located in Covington, and, soon after, went into the wholesale boot and shoe trade, in Cincinnati, Ohio, continuing, with slight interruption, for thirteen years ; engaged largely during the greater portion of that time in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and, with W. G. Rogers, was the first to utilize the prison labor at the City Work-house, in which they successfully carried on their factory for three or four years. In 1870, he was elected President of the Covington branch of the Farm- ers' Bank of Kentucky; afterwards organized the Cov- ington City National Bank, which took the place of the Farmers' Bank; and, since 1876, at which time he re- tired from the shoe trade, has devoted his attention ex- clusively to the duties of his office, in connection with the interests of that Bank. In 1872-73, he was a mem- ber of the Covington Council, and has taken an active interest in all matters relating to the public welfare. In politics, he was originally a Whig, and, during the war, was a Union man and a Republican. He has long been an active worker in the Methodist Church; was one of the promoters and organizers of the Greenup Street Church; is one of the Trustees of the Cincinnati Wes- leyan College; is Treasurer and member of the Board of Education for the Kentucky Conference; is a mem- ber of the Board of Church Extension; and has been actively identified with the temperance and other worthy movements of his Church. Mr. Hearne was married, March 16, 1852, to Emily D. Myers, daughter of Isaac M. Myers, of Garrard County, Kentucky.

EAGER, MICHAEL MOORES, Lawyer, Edi- tor, and Clerk of the County Court, of Flem- ing County, was born May 1, 1833, in Bath County, Kentucky. His father, Jacob Teager, was of German extraction, but a native of Ma- son County, Kentucky, and was a farmer. His mother was Louisa (Moores) Teager, born in Bath County, and daughter of Michael Moores, who came from Virginia to this State, soon after the war, in which he participated. An uncle of Louisa Moores, Silas Har- lan, was killed in the battle of the Blue Licks. The subject of this sketch worked on the farm during boy- hood, and usually only attended school of Winters. But, when he had reached his eighteenth year, he was quali- fied to teach school, to which he turned his attention for several years, in Lewis County. He spent the greater part of 1854, in Antioch College, at the Yellow Springs, Ohio. In the following year, he became deputy in the office of the Clerk of the County and Circuit Courts, in

Lewis County, and was so occupied for a year or two. He then resumed teaching ; but, in the Fall of 1859, went to Flemingsburg, and began to read law under Judge J. M. Alexander. In the Spring of 1860, he was admitted to the bar, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession, at Flemingsburg. In September of 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company B, Second Battalion of Kentucky Confederate Rifles, under Capt. G. W. Jack- son, and served until the close of the war. He partici- pated in the battles of Chickamauga and Shelbyville; was in Wheeler's raid on Murfreesboro, and many other engagements of less note. When the war was ended, he returned to Flemingsburg, and resumed his legal prac- tice. In 1866, he became deputy clerk of the Fleming County Court, by appointment of the Court, and filled the position until 1868. From 1868 to the Fall of 1870, he served as deputy clerk in the Circuit Court for that county ; and, in 1870, was elected Clerk of the County Court of Fleming, and was re-elected in 1874. Since 1870, he has been one of the editors of the " Flemings- burg Democrat." He has always been a Democrat in politics. Religiously, he is associated with the Christian or Disciples' Church. Mr. Teager was married, May II, 1871, to Miss Irene Emma Stealey, of Jeffersonville, Indiana.

ILLIAMS, CHARES EDWIN, Physician and Surgeon, was born July 1, 1800, in Montgom- ery County, Kentucky, a few miles north of Mt. Sterling, and is the youngest and only sur- ' viving son of Raleigh Williams, one of the early pioneer farmers of Kentucky, and, accord- ing to family tradition, a descendant of Roger Williams. His mother was a Lutrelle, a French Huguenot family. He was educated in the High-schools of Mt. Sterling and Winchester, and, at the early age of eighteen, be- gan the study of medicine and surgery, with Dr. John Mills, of Winchester; and, after several years of close application to his professional studies, under that excel- lent physician, and a year's practice in the malarial districts of Alabama, he attended the medical lectures at old Transylvania University, at Lexington, and after- wards settled regularly, as a physician and surgeon, in Bourbon County. For thirty years, he devoted himself to his profession, in that and the adjoining counties, ac- quiring distinction by several important surgical opera- tions, and especially by his successful treatment of female diseases. His heroic and humane attentions to the sick, during the fearful ravages of the cholera, in 1833, even making a hospital of his own house for such as were homeless or forsaken, won for him a wide-spread reputa- tion. He attached himself to the Christian Church, under the ministry of Alexander Campbell and John Smith, in 1827; and, for many years, filled various

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offices in the congregation, in which he was always, as far as his profession would allow, an active and useful member. He was, in 1823, made a Mason, in Lodge No. I, at Lexington, the oldest and most honored of the Masonic bodies in the State. In 1822, he married Arabella Dodge, of Winchester, who died January, 1832, leaving three children : John Augustus, now Presi- dent of Daughters' College; Mary Dorcas, the wife of Regent Bowman, of Kentucky University ; and Arabella, the wife of Robert Hawes Buckner, of Missouri. In October, 1834, he married Louan Bush Morrow, daugh- ter of Col. Robert Morrow, of Bath County, and a niece of Judge Robert Trimble, of the Supreme Court of the United States. Only one child, of this marriage, Charles E. Williams, Jr., is living. In 1852, Dr. Williams, in a measure, relinquished the practice of his profession, and moved to Columbia, Missouri, to take charge of the domestic department of Christian College, a popular school for ladies, that had rapidly grown into favor un- der the presidency of his son. In 1856, they jointly bought the Greenville Springs estate, near Harrodsburg, Kentucky; and, returning with his son to his native State, energetically and successfully co-operated with him in the establishment of Daughters' College, in which institution he has now, for twenty years, filled the important position of domestic head and physician. In- flexibly honest in every relation of life, sensitive to every touch of honor, faithful to every trust and friend- ship, frank, perhaps to a fault, in expression, of strong feeling, marked sometimes by severity, especially to- wards those who had lost his respect, but deeply affec- tionate and confiding towards all whom he esteemed, bountifully generous to the poor and the afflicted, whom he never stinted or forgot, he is now, at nearly eighty years of age, a well-preserved specimen of the old-fashioned Kentucky gentleman, exemplifying the stern but honest and robust virtues of an age that is passing away.

ORTON, JONATHAN BUSH, was born in Clarke County, Kentucky, December 15, 1821. His grandfather came from Virginia in 1775, and settled in Clarke County; and, in 1847, married Tabitha Tinsley, of Virginia, and had a family of eight children, the oldest of whom, George Morton, is the father of Jonathan Morton. His mother's name was Sarah Waggoner, a member of a family of wealth in Virginia. His father and mother lived on his grandfather's estate, in Clarke County, and raised a family of six children, of whom he was the youngest. He received a fair education in the primary branches and was then sent to Franklin College, Tennes- see, from which place he went to Lexington to the Transylvania College, then under Professors Green and

Dodd. In August, 1849, he embarked in the drug business in Lexington, in which he has since continued. In 1863, he added a department for the sale of books and stationery. In 1849, he became a member of the Christian Church, and has ever, with his means and sympathies, aided the religious growth and prosperity of the city, as well as fostering its temporal welfare. He was married to Sarah Frances, daughter of Jacob and Caroline Embry, of Fayette County, and became the father of five children; namely, George, Annie, Mattie, Jennie, and Jonathan. Mr. Morton is a man of sound business and moral principles, and his life has been a notable example of rectitude, and he has wielded a pow- erful influence for good ; strictly temperate in his habits, moderate and liberal in his views, successful in life, attentive to business, and very social in his habits and taste, he has the respect and esteem of his many friends and the community, in which he has long been a valu- able member.

YRNE, JOHN P., Manufacturer, was born in Washington County, Kentucky, October II, 1825. His father, Lawrence Byrne, was a na- tive of Ireland, and settled in Kentucky, in 1818. J. P. Byrne received an ordinary educa- tion in the common-schools of Louisville, and, at the age of about fifteen years, commenced work, as a salesman, in the store of Henry Dent. Remaining there but a short time, he engaged with Messrs. McHarry & Holland in the cement and flour milling busi- ness, and continued until the death of Mr. McHarry, in 1858; he then went to Missouri, and, after a sojourn there of about three years, to the Rocky Mountains, in Montana, and was present at the first election held in the Territory. In 1865, he returned to Louisville, and resumed his old business in the cement mill, carried on by James F. Irvine, which, in the following August, was purchased by the Louisville Cement Company, of which he was appointed Superintendent. In 1871, he built the elevator, known as Byrne & Speed's, the only one in Louisville, for elevating coal from flats in the Portland Canal to his store-house. This house is fitted up with the most modern conveniences for loading coal, complete in every respect, and a credit to the city. His partner in this business is Mr. J. B. Speed, and the con- cern does the largest coal business in the city. From 1871 until 1873, he was connected with the Louisville Steel Works, and, in 1877, with Mr. R. Mckenzie, in the manufacture of chains and cables, in the same build- ings. During 1852-53, he was a member of the City Council, and, since 1866, of the Board of Aldermen. Mr. Byrne's life has been one of activity, and he has been long known to the people of Louisville. In 1858, he was married to Catharine Cooper, daughter of Will-

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iam Cooper, a citizen of Louisville, and is the father of four children. Mr. Byrne is a man of great shrewdness, and possesses a large fund of common sense. He is a living exemplification of what may be attained by per- severance, industry, and uprightness of character.

ARBOUR, MAJ. PHILIP NARBOURNE, was born in 1817, near Bardstown, Kentucky, and was raised at Henderson. He graduated at West Point Military Academy, in 1834; entered the army as second lieutenant in the Third Infantry ; was afterwards made first lieutenant, and served as regimental adjutant until 1845; was brevetted captain for gallant conduct in the defense of Fort Wagoner, in Florida; was brevetted major, in 1846, for gallantry in the battles of Resaca de la Palma, and Palo Alto; and was killed, on September 19, in that year, while storm- ing the breastwork at Monterey. He was a man of talent, possessed many admirable qualities, and was a brave, valuable officer.

UFORD, GILES Y., Farmer, Merchant, Trader, and one of the most widely known business men of Southern Kentucky, was born in 1827, at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father, George Washington Buford, was a na- tive of Barren County, Kentucky; but early moved to Louisiana, where, by his own exertions, he became one of the wealthiest men in the country. He was an extensive sugar planter, and one of the most successful traders on the Mississippi. He was also largely concerned in the business and social affairs of the country. The Bufords were of English origin. The subject of this sketch lost his mother when he was one year old, and was brought to Barren County, and raised by his uncle, Rev. John H. Baker, a Baptist minister of that county. He received a good education in the schools of Glasgow, and commenced life for himself, on the farm. He soon began to trade extensively in to- bacco, and subsequently in stock and pork, and became one of the most considerable and successful traders in his part of the State. During the last year or two of his life, he established a grocery in Glasgow, with which he met the same success that usually attended his efforts in other direetions. He was a man of great integrity of character, and, to the fullest degree, enjoyed the con- fidence of the community. In his dealings with men, he was scrupulously just, and in business, and socially, he maintained an unblemished reputation. His princi- ples and feelings were of the broadest and most gener- ous kind, and gained for him universal respect. Ilis

ability and success in business enabled him to be one of the most useful and influential men of his county. He died August 3, 1876. Mr. Buford was married, in 1847, to Miss Amanda J. Jones, daughter of James Jones, a farmer of Barren County, Kentucky. They had seven children, of whom five are now living.

INCAID, JAMES D., M. D., son of John D. and Mary ( Hyde) Kincaid, was born June 5, 1822, in Greenbrier County, Virginia. His educational advantages were limited; besides the country school, he attended Lewisburg Academy for a time. At the age of sixteen, he left school and the farm, and went into a store as a clerk. After spending two or three years in this way, at Lewis- burg and White Sulphur Springs, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Thomas Creigh, of Lewisburg, Vir- ginia. In the Winter of 1842, he took a course of lec- tures in the University of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, after which, he was licensed to practice medicine; and, in 1843, located at Gauley Bridge, Fayette County, Vir- ginia, and commenced a successful practice, which he continued until 1846, when he removed to Guyandotte, Virginia, and remained there one year. Late in the Fall of 1847, he came to Kentucky, and located where Catlettsburg now stands, his first house being built be- fore the town was established. He has since resided in Catlettsburg, and has been identified with all of its in- terests since its foundation. In his profession, he has been eminently successful, and has been one of the most useful and valuable members of the community. He is a member of the Eastern Kentucky Medical Society; is prominent in some social orders, and an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. During the war of the rebellion, he acted as post-surgeon, and was a Union man. He was an "Old-line Whig," but, after the death of that party, he fell into the Republican ranks, and now he is independent in his political ac- tions, but associated and acting with the Democratie party. In 1846, Dr. Kincaid was married to Miss Leonora F. Chapman, of Guyandotte, Virginia. They have three living children-two daughters and a son.

OWLER, CAPTAIN LITTLETON AUGUS- TUS, Ship Chandler, is of English descent, and was born at Princeton, Kentucky, February 26, 1828. His father, Judge W. P. Fowler, is a native of Tennessee, and has achieved great distinction at the bar. The early educa- tion of Capt. Fowler was of a limited character, but, by self-application and hard study, he has acquired a

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fine knowledge of the English branches. At the age of fifteen years, his ambition and independent views in- duced him to seek employment, which he found at the commission house of Fowler & Norton, Cairo, Illinois. Remaining there for two years, in the capacity of a clerk, he, at the expiration of that period, went into the steamboat business, continuing until the outbreak of the war, when he left it as a captain. Joining the Confederate forces, as a private in Gen. John Morgan's command, he participated in all the noted raids of that officer, until 1862, when, being captured at Lebanon, Tennessee, he was confined at Camp Chase, Ohio. At the expiration of six months, however, he was ex- changed, and accepted a position on the staff of Major- General W. W. Loring, in which he continued until the termination of the war. After being engaged in the shipping business in Apalachicola, Florida, for the space of one year, he returned to Paducah, Kentucky, and resumed the steamboat business, in connection with that of merchandising, as a member of the firm of

Fowler, Lee & Co., and was successful. During this time, he commanded boats in the Evansville and Cairo Mail Line. In 1872, he abandoned his river interests to attend to those on land, and is now at the head of one of the leading houses, of his line, in Southern Kentucky. In 1866, he married Miss Laura Saunders, daughter of Dr. R. Saunders, of Paducah, Kentucky, which marriage has been blessed with two children.

NNES, HON. HARRY, was born in 1752, in Caroline County, Virginia, and was the son of the Rev. Robert Innes, an Episcopal clergy- man. His father was a native of Scotland, and his mother, Catharine Richards, was a Virginian. His brothers, Robert and James, became dis- tinguished men in that State. Harry Innes studied law, and, in 1777, was employed by the Virginia Committee of Safety to superintend Chipel's lead mines, to secure supplies for the army ; was elected by the Legislature of Virginia as a Commissioner to settle unpatented land- claims ; in 1783, was elected one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, for the District of Kentucky, and, in that year, in conjunction with Judges Wallace and McDowell, held the first Court, near Danville; in 1787, was appointed Judge of the United States Court, for the District of Kentucky, and continued to hold that position until his death, which occurred in 1816. In 1792, he declined the office of Chief-Justice of Ken- tucky; was President of the first Electoral College, under the first Constitution, for the choice of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor; was appointed in 1790, by the Secretary of War, to organize the defense of the frontier; in the following year, was member of the Local War

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 34

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