The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 4

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

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RECKINRIDGE, HON. JOSEPH CABELL, Lawyer, was born July 14, 1788, in Albemarle County, Virginia, and was the second child and first son of Hon. John Breckinridge and his wife, Mary Hopkins Cabell. His mother was the daughter of Col. Joseph Cabell, of Buckingham County, Virginia. (Sce sketch of Hon. John Breckinridge.) At the age of fourteen he was placed under the tutelage of Dr. Archibald Alexander, afterwards a distinguished professor of theology at Prince- ton; in 1804, entered Princeton College, remaining until the death of his father, in 1806; returned to Princeton in 1808, and graduated with honor in 1810; after graduating, studied law, and entered upon its practice at Lexington, Ky. ; served as a major on the staff of his relative, Gen. Samuel Hopkins, during the war of 1812; in 1816, was elected to the Lower Housc of the Legislature, without opposition ; in 1817, was re- elected and chosen Speaker; in 1818, was again a mem- ber and Speaker, and, at the age of thirty, occupied a most enviable position as a lawyer, orator, and politician ; in 1820, was appointed Secretary of State under Gover- nor Adair, and removed to Frankfort, engaging, at the same time, in the practice of his profession. He died Sept. 1, 1823, a victim to an epidemic fever; and thus was lost to his family, friends, and country, before the prime of life, Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, a man, who, from his first appearance in public life, had steadily grown in the affection and estimation of the people, and whose noble character and genuine talents promised, in any sphere, to reflect honor upon the State. In person, he was about middle height, with a symmetrical form, his whole appearance being graceful and manly. For a number of years he had been connected with the Pres- byterian Church, and was one of the founders and ruling elders of the second church of that denomina- tion in Lexington. Mr. Breckinridge was married to Mary Clay Smith, daughter of Rev. Samuel Stanhope Smith, President of Princeton College. She was a granddaughter of John Witherspoon, and a lineal descendant of John Knox, and with five children, four daughters and one son, survived her husband. One of their daughters died without children; Mary married Dr. Thomas Satterwhite, a well-known physician of Lexington, who was killed by being thrown from his horse. They have but one living child, Dr. Thomas P. Satterwhite, a physician of Louisville; Frances married Rev. John C. Young, who was for twenty-seven years President of Centre College. She left four daughters, all of whom are now living and married ; Caroline mar- ried Rev. Joseph J. Bullock, and died leaving a large family ; and their son was Gen. John Cabell Breckinridge. (See sketches of other members of the Breckinridge fam- ily, and of Dr. Thomas P. Satterwhite, and portrait of the distinguished son, Gen. John C. Breckinridge.)

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

RECKINRIDGE, REV. JOHN, D. D., was born July 4, 1797, at Cabell's Dale, Fayette County, Kentucky, and was the son of Hon. John Breckinridge and his wife, Mary Hopkins Cabell. He received his early education in the best schools of Kentucky, and graduated with high honor- at Princeton College, in 1818. His father dying when he was nine years of age, he was raised by his mother; was designed for the profession of the law, but united with the Presbyterian Church while at Princeton College, and chose the ministry; entered the Theological Seminary at Princeton, and in due time was licensed and ordained; in 1822, acted as Chaplain of the Lower House of Congress; from 1823 to 1826, was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Lexington, Kentucky; from 1826 to 1831, was pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church in Baltimore; from the latter date until 1836, was at the head of the Presbyterian Board of Education; became Professor in the Theological Sem- inary, Princeton, New Jersey, in 1836; from 1838 to 1840, was Secretary and General Agent for the Church Board of Foreign Missions; at this time, wrote volumi- nously ; became exceedingly popular as a preacher, plat- form speaker, and controversialist; carried on a debate with Archbishop Hughes on Catholicism; and, failing in health, spent the Winter of 1840 in New Orleans, and while there was elected President of Oglethorpe Uni- versity, in Georgia; he died August 4, 1841, at Cabell's Dale. He was a man of extraordinary powers; gentle and refined in manners, yet ardent, intrepid, and vigor- ous; was universally admired, and was one of the most popular ministers of his Church; was an orator of rare force and magnetic influence; was above middle stature, and possessing great activity and strength, and in his personal, social, public, and private character was a man of matchless excellence. Mr. Breckinridge was twice married-first, to Margaret Miller, daughter of Rev. Samuel Miller, a distinguished professor of Prince- ton College, and afterwards to Miss Babcock. He left but one son, Judge Samuel M. Breckinridge, now a dis- tinguished lawyer of St. Louis.

RECKINRIDGE, REV. ROBERT JEFFER- SON, D. D., LL. D., was born March 8, 1800, at Cabell's Dale, Fayette County, Kentucky, and was the son of Hon. John Breckinridge and his wife, Mary Hopkins Cabell. He was taught in the schools of his State under Thompson, Wil- son, Kean O'Hara, and Brock, popular teachers of that day, and at the age of sixteen entered Princeton Col- legc, where he remained two years; spent one Winter at Yale, but graduated in the Fall of 1819 at Union College, Schenectady, New York, then under the presidency of the

famous Dr. Samuel Nott. After returning to Kentucky, spent three years in the management of his mother's and his own farm, and in a wide course of reading; in 1824, began the practice of the law in Lexington, in partner- ship with Charleton Hunt; espoused with great warmth the "Old Court" and "Anti-Relief" side in politics, and was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature in 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828; during the session of 1828, was attacked with a severe illness, from which he never recovered, his long subsequent life being full of physi- cal weakness and pain; in 1831, ran as an independent candidate for the Legislature, in advocacy of gradual emancipation and the abolishment of Sunday mails, but withdrew before the close of the election; in 1828, was grand orator of the Grand Lodge, as his brother Cabell had been before him, and as his nephew, John C. Breck- inridge, was afterward, nearly every member of the Breckinridge family having been connected with the Masonic order; joined the Presbyterian Church, and, in the Spring of 1832, was licensed to preach; went to Princeton, and, after pursuing his studies in the Theo- logical Seminary for a few months, became successor of his brother, Rev. John Breckinridge, as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, Maryland; in 1831 and 1832, had been a member of the General As- semblies, and had become a prominent leader of what was known as the Old School wing of the Church ; was the author of the "Act and Testimony," and, under his lead, the Assembly of 1837 passed the celebrated acts which settled the controversies for thirty years; soon after settling in Baltimore, engaged in an exciting con- troversy with the Catholics and Universalists ; in 1835, was one of the founders of a monthly magazine, of which he soon became sole owner and editor, which, under the name of "The Spirit of the Nineteenth Century," was published for nine years; through his efforts the Bible was introduced into the public-schools of Baltimore; and the colored people of Maryland presented him with a gold snuff-box, in gratitude for his efforts in defeating a bill designed to prevent free colored people from resid- ing in Maryland. For thirteen ycars he continued his connection with the Church in Baltimore, in addition to his various arduous labors, excepting one year, 1836, which he spent as a delegate from his General Assembly to the Protestant Churches of Europe; while in Scot- land, held a debate on American slavery, continuing two weeks, at Glasgow, with the notorious George Thompson, and out of that debate sprang his famous letter to Dr. Wardlow, on slavery. In 1841, was elected Moderator of the General Assembly; in 1845, became President of Jefferson College, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, only remaining in that position two years, his enfcebled constitution being unable to bear the severity of the climate; resigned in 1847 to become pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Lexington; in the same year

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

was appointed, by Gov. Owsley, Superintendent of Pub- lic Instruction ; was reappointed by Gov. Crittenden, and in 1851 was elected by the people; and resigned both positions in 1853, to become Professor of Theology in the Seminary at Danville, of which he was chief founder; and to him is largely due the establishment and growth of the common-school system of education in Kentucky; in 1849, was a candidate for the Constitu- tional Convention as an Emancipationist, but, after one of the most spirited contests on record in the history of the State, was defeated; he was one of the original stockholders, and directors of the State Agricultural So- ciety, and took an active interest in the formation and maintenance of every public enterprise. He delivered the oration at the laying of the corner-stone of the monument to Mr. Clay, at Lexington ; opposed with great ability, but unsuccessfully, the loan of county aid for building railroads, and was a successful farmer and breeder of thoroughbred cattle; and, in 1856, received three prizes for agricultural essays. He delivered scores of sermons, speeches, and lectures yearly, and contrib- uted constantly to secular and religious papers, partici- pating freely in all the controversies of the day. His open letters to Dr. Wardlow in 1837, Charles Sumner and William A. Seward in 1856; and upon the Ameri- can question in 1855; to General John C. Breckinridge in 1860; on the temperance question in 1862; and upon the revision of the Bible in 1858, were extensively copied and read throughout the country. In the late war he espoused the cause of the National Government with great intensity, and with pen and voice exerted his ut- most capacity in support of the Administration; and published a magazine called the "Danville Review," as his special organ ; was delegate to, and temporary Chair- man of, the Republican Convention which met at Balti- more in 1865, and there refused to permit the nomi- nation of Andrew Johnson, as candidate for Vice- President, to be made unanimous, on account of his distrust in him ; and his great moral and intellectual worth gave strength to the cause of the Government, not only in his own State but abroad, and during the great conflict he rose to his greatest height as a writer, statesman, and patriot. He was a man of indomitable will and unquestioned courage ; profound and sincere in his convictions ; of ardent, intense nature ; possessed a singu- larly quick, active intellect ; was possessed of quick im- pulses; was a warm and generous friend, and probably not always a just enemy; fought with all his power, and forgave with absolute completeness when he professed to forgive. His only published books are "Travels in Eu- rope," "Knowledge of God Objectively Considercd," and " Knowledge of God Subjectively Considered;" but his various sermons, published essays, articles, and letters, would make many volumes. His information covered every department of knowledge; his memory was almost

perfect, and his capacity for labor, with an enfeebled body, was apparently without limit ; asa debater he never met his superior; was for thirty years the acknowledged leader in every Church court in which he sat, and was as formidable before the people as on the floor of a delibera- tive body ; had all the personal gifts of the genuine orator, and was undoubtedly the most powerful member of the Breckinridge family. In his personal manners, habits, and tastes, he was plain, simple, frugal, and severe; but as a friend and host, was indulgent and exceedingly at- tractive, having uncommon conversational powers, and a free, unaffected hospitality, certainly displaying himself to as great advantage among his friends, and at his home, as in his great contests before the people. His children were his companions, and were treated by him as equals, and he gave them his confidence, his paternal affection being of the most tender and forbearing nature. In stature he was nearly six feet, erect, active, graceful, and muscular; but toward the close of his life, his con- tinned bad health and incessant labors bent his frame somewhat, and gave him the appearance of feebleness; but, to the last, he maintained his great mental vigor, and displayed all the noble traits of his life. In 1869, he resigned his professorship in Danville Seminary, and, after two years of continual suffering, died, December 27, 1871, in Danville, Kentucky, his last words being, "More light." Dr. Breckinridge was twice married; first, March II, 1823, to his cousin, Ann Sophronisba Preston, daughter of General Frank Preston, of Virginia, and granddaughter of General William Campbell. She

died in 1844, leaving a large family. In 1847, he was married to Mrs. Virginia Shelby, daughter of Colonel Nathaniel Hart, of Woodford County. Dr. Breckin- ridge left seven children, four sons and three married daughters. His oldest daughter, who most resembled him in person, character, and intellect, married Will- iam Warfield, a well-known, successful, and influential farmer and breeder of fine cattle in Fayette County. His second daughter married Rev. William C. Handy, now a Presbyterian minister of New York, and his youngest daughter married Dr. Theophilus Steel, who was a colonel of cavalry in the Confederate army, and is now a physician in the city of New York. (See sketch of Judge Robert J. Breckinridge, his oldest son.) And his second son, Colonel William C. P. Breckinridge, LL. D., was born August 28, 1837, near Baltimore, Mary- land; graduated at Center College, and in the law school of Louisville; entered the Confederate army as a captain, under General John H. Morgan; rose to the rank of Colonel of the Nineteenth Kentucky Cavalry,

and the command of a cavalry brigade; was for two years editor of "The Lexington Observer and Reporter," and is now a member of the Lexington Bar, and one of

the law professors in Kentucky University. Major Joseph C. Breckinridge, the third son, was born January

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

15, 1841; was educated at Centre College and the Uni- versity of Virginia; entered the Union army in 1861, on the staff of General George H. Thomas; was ap- pointed Lieutenant in the Second Regular Artillery, United States Army, having been since in that regiment, and is now in command of Fort Foote. John R. Breck- inridge, the youngest son of Dr. Breckinridge, was mur- dered at Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1874, while a law student in Cumberland University. His living sons are married men, with families.

RECKINRIDGE, REV. WILLIAM LOUIS, D. D., was born in July, 1803, at Cabell's Dale, Fayette County, Kentucky, and was the son of Hon. John Breckinridge and his wife, Mary Hopkins Cabell. He was educated at Transylvania University. He entered the Pres- byterian ministry, and his first pastorate was at Mays- ville, Kentucky. He was, for a time, professor in Centre College; for twenty-three years was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Louisville; accepted the Presidency of Oakland College, Mississippi, but resigned to become President of Centre College; en- feebled by ill health and old age, he resigned his place at the head of that institution, and retired to his farm in Cass County, Missouri, which he called Cabell's Dale, in memory of his Kentucky home; afterwards preached constantly, but had no regular charge. He was Mod- erator of the General Assembly in 1859. He was a man of admirable personal and social traits; an orator of great ability; a man of wide charities, of great candor and transparent honesty; a genuine Christian, and one of the most learned, able, and valuable men in the Presbyterian Church. He died December 26, 1876, at his home in Missouri. Dr. Breckinridge was twice mar- ried; first, at the age of twenty, to Miss Frances Pre- vost, granddaughter of Dr. Samuel Stanhope Smith. She died after removing to Missouri, and not long. before his death he was again married to the widowed daughter of Judge Christopher Tompkins. Dr. Breck- inridge had a large family, of six sons and two daugh- ters. His second son, Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge, was considered one of the most brilliant and talented men of his name; was at twenty-one elected Professor of the Medical College, Louisville; at twenty-four was nomi- nated by the Democratic party for Congress, but de- clined to enter politics; was Division Surgeon under Gen. Hood; was afterward Medical Inspector on the Staff of Gen. Lee; after the close of the war, removed to Texas, and died in the thirty-eighth year of his age, almost at the outset of a brilliant career. Thus early passed away one of the most able, learned, and pious of a noble old family.

RECKINRIDGE, JUDGE ROBERT JEFFER- SON, Lawyer, was born September 14, 1835, in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the oldest son of Dr. Robert J. Breckinridge. He received his education at Center College, Danville, and in the University of Virginia, graduating in the latter institution in 1852, when Dr. Gessner Harrison was President. After leaving college, he spent two or three years in the service of the United States Coast Sur- vey, resigning that position in the Fall of 1854; soon after, began the study of the law, at Danville, under Gen. Boyle and Hon. W. C. Anderson; in the Spring of 1856, graduated from the law department of Transylva- nia University, and engaged in the practice of his pro- fession at Lexington, until the commencement of the civil war. He raised a company of men for the Con- federate service, and it became the second company in the Second Kentucky Infantry at Camp Boone; served with his regiment until 1862; and soon after was elected to the Confederate Congress; shortly afterward resigned his seat, and again entered the army as colonel of cavalry ; in the Spring of 1864, was captured, and retained as prisoner of war in the Ohio Penitentiary and at John- son's Island until the close of the great conflict. He then settled on a farm near Stanford, in Garrard County, engaging also in the practice of his profession. In 1873, he went to New York City, with the view of practicing law, but soon after returned to Kentucky, and settled at Danville. In 1876, he was elected Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the Boyle District, consisting of seven counties, and is now discharging the duties of that office. In politics he is a Democrat. He is a man of fine attainments; is able as a lawyer, and possesses many of the admirable and brilliant quali- ties of his distinguished family; is possessed of great breadth and strength of character, and is distinguished for his many amiable and generous traits. Judge Breck- inridge was married in 1856, to Miss Kate Morrison, daughter of M. B. Morrison, of Lexington, Kentucky. They have two children.

ELL, THEODORE S., M. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born in Lexington, Kentucky. He received a limited early education, but, after having entered earnestly upon the work of life, became an ardent and exhaustive student, and has long been considered one of the most thor- ough scholars and able writers of Kentucky. He learned the tailor's business, and for a time, by work- ing at his trade, supported his mother's family, his father having died when he was quite young. He finally began the study of medicine, and, after attend- ing one course of lectures, was made librarian of the

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

University of Louisville, with a small salary. In the Spring of 1832, he finished his regular medical course, and received the degree of M. D. in the medical de- partment of the University of Louisville. About that time he began the study of the French language, and soon mastered it without a teacher. In the same year of his graduation, he removed to Louisville and entered upon the practice of his profession for a time, in con- nection with Dr. William N. Meriwether. He soon took a prominent position in his profession, and was distinguished as an able writer. His articles in the "Journal," on "The Value of Railroads to Louisville," were the first on the subject ever published in that city. His articles on "Public-schools" were copied through- out the country, and he not only became a favorite writer for the "Journal," but, in the absence of Mr. Prentice, took editorial charge of that paper. In 1837, he took an active part in the movement to transfer the medical department of Transylvania University to Lou- isville. In 1838, in connection with Drs. Henry Miller and L. P. Yandell, Sr., he edited the "Louisville Medical Journal," and at a later period the "Western Medical Journal," he being, for a long time, sole editor of the latter. He has won considerable favorable noto- riety as a debater and controversialist. In 1861, he was elected President of the Kentucky Branch of the United States Sanitary Commission; had charge of one of the hospitals established in the city, and devoted much time, during the war, to the suffering soldiers of both armies. He has given much attention to the fine arts, and by his writings, and otherwise, has done a great deal toward the ornamentation of the city, and has, for nearly fifty years, been identified with almost every val- uable movement. Louisville owes to him the first tele- graphic connections with other cities. Since the estab- lishment of the State Institution for the Blind, in 1842, he has been a member of its Board of Trustees, and, for eleven years, was President of the Board. In 1857, he was elected Professor of the Science and Art of Medicine, and Public Hygiene, in the medical depart- ment of the University of Louisville, which position he has since held with distinction. He has been connected with almost every movement of importance to the pro- fession, and probably no man in Kentucky has done more in elevating the standard , of medical practice. His medical writings are numerous and valuable, and many of his opinions have become standard authority in medical theory and practice. He has been eminently successful in his profession, and stands not only as one of the first practitioners, but also as one of the most accomplished writers and medical teachers of the coun- try. He is yet engaged with great activity, and is not only one of the most useful men in his community, but is also one of the most remarkable self-made men of his day.

RAZER, OLIVER, Artist, was born February 4, 1808, at Lexington, Kentucky. He studied under Jouett ; subsequently remaincd four years in Europe, among the great masters and old works of art ; on his return to America, achiev- ed considerable reputation as a portrait-painter ; in the latter part of his life his sight failed him, rendering him unable to use his pencil. He was a man of fine taste, and superior literary culture. He dicd April 9, 1854, and his remains lie in the cemetery at Lexington. Mr. Frazer was married to Martha Mitch- ell, daughter of Dr. Alexander Mitchell, of Frankfort, Kentucky.

HITLEY, WILLIAM, was born August 14, 1749, in Augusta County, Virginia. He came to Kentucky between 1775 and 1780, on an exploring expedition, and subsequently removed his family to this State. He was engaged in several desperate contests with the Indians, and accompanied Bowman and Clark in their expeditions; organized and led an expedition against the Nicka- jack towns, south of the Tennessee river; defeated the Indians and laid waste their country; made several peaceful missions to the Cherokee Indians; and, in 1813, - when far advanced in life, went as a volunteer with the Kentucky militia, under Gov. Shelby, and fell, October 8, of that year, in the memorable battle of the Thames. He was a man of great courage, of powerful build, and had greatly endeared himself to the people of the new country, who yet hold his memory in profound respect.

ICKLIFFE, GOV. CHARLES ANDERSON, Lawyer, was born June 8, 1788, in Washington County, Kentucky, and was the youngest child of Charles and Lydia Wickliffe. His mother was a sister of Col. John Hardin. Governor Wick- liffe received a good English education, mainly under Dr. Wilson, at Bardstown, and Dr. James Blythe, President of Transylvania University. He studied law under his cousin, Martin D. Hardin, and settled at Bardstown for the practice of his profession. He vol- unteered at the commencement of the war of 1812, and was, for a time, Aid to General Winlock ; in the same year, was elected to the Legislature from Nelson County ; was re-elected in the following year; again entered the army, and served as Aid to General Caldwell at the battle of the Thames; was again elected to the Legis- lature, in 1820; from 1823 to 1833, without intermis- sion, served in Congress, from his district; served in the impeachment trial of Judge Peck, and made one of the ablest addresses delivered before the Senate on that

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 4

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