The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 44

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

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absolutely without show or affectation ; is honest to the last degree in his convictions, and unflinching and de- termined in their support; is generous and brave to a fault; is quick in forming his conclusions, and as ready in their execution ; is of undoubted integrity of char- acter, every-where commanding the respect of friends and opponents. In person he is about five feet eight inches in height, compactly built, weighing a hundred and eighty pounds, and with a dark complexion, ani- mated brown eyes, and exceedingly attractive features. In 1865, Col. Jacob was again married, to Miss Laura Wilson, of Lexington, Kentucky, a lady of great refine- ment and worth of character. They have three sons and one daughter.

"OSBY, JUDGE FORTUNATUS, Lawyer, was born December 25, 1766, in Georgia. At an early age he moved to Louisa County, Vir- ginia; graduated at William and Mary Col- lege, at the age of nineteen; studied law; married Mary Fontaine, then sixteen years of age, daughter of Capt. Aaron Fontaine; and removed with his father-in-law's family to Kentucky, settling at Harrod's Creek, nine miles above Louisville, in the Spring of 1798. He soon after opened his office in Louisville, and began the practice of the law, still living in the family of his father-in-law, where his young wife remained the head for six years, her own mother having died before they left Virginia. Mr. Cosby finally set- tled, with his young family, in a log cabin in Louisville. He was successful in his profession, and was soon able to put up the second house ever built out of brick in that city. In July, 1810, he was appointed, by Governor Scott, to the position of Circuit Judge, in place of Judge Ormsby, and held the position for several years, earning the reputation of being a profound lawyer, and an able, learned, and impartial judge. In practice, his success was only limited by his ambition, and the time at his disposal; and, had he been avaricious, devoting himself to the accumulation of property, he could have been immensely rich. He had great ability for amassing wealth, and at one time, owned a great part of the land on which Louisville now stands, amounting to several thousand acres, but he was large-hearted, and gave away many of his fine opportunities, as well as much of his acquired means, for the comfort and benefit of his friends, and the general good. Being a fine scholar and a brilliant conversationalist, his society was every- where sought, and he was the companion and friend of most of the prominent men of his section, among whom was the great statesman, Henry Clay, although he was politically opposed to Mr. Clay. His home was not only attractive by his own fine qualities, but also by the wisdom and many virtues of his noble wife. Judge

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Cosby died, after a short illness, October 19, 1847, at a very advanced age, greatly admired and esteemed by all who knew him, and was considered one of the most able lawyers who had flourished at Louisville, and as a man of pure and blameless character. He had seven chil- . dren, six of whom attained their majority.

OSBY, FORTUNATUS, JR., Poet and Scholar, son of Judge Fortunatus Cosby and his wife, Mary Fontaine, was born near Harrod's Creek, Jefferson County, Kentucky, May 2, 1801. He was partly educated at Yale College, but grad- uated at Transylvania University, then the great school of the West. He studied law, but did not prac- tice that profession. In early life, he manifested an in- clination for literary pursuits, and became one of the best read men of his day. He was a versatile and grace- ful writer, an able teacher, a discriminating critic, and a man whose ready intelligence and elegant conversation made him the life of every circle. For many years he conducted a female school of high reputation; and, later in life, served as a trustee, and afterwards as superintend- ent of the public-schools of Louisville. At all times his pen was active; and the magazines and papers of the day contained many of his poems, and literary and art criticisms. In 1847, he edited the Louisville "Exam- iner," a paper devoted to the cause of gradual emanci- pation in Kentucky. He was the friend of George D. Prentice ; and his contributions were not only welcomed to the columns of the "Journal," but were generally in- troduced with flattering commendations. He was for several years employed in one of the Government de- partments at Washington; and, in 1861, received the appointment of Consul to Geneva, Switzerland. Of all the gifts in the power of President Lincoln, that was the one he would have chosen for himself; and doubtlessly the good President had in view his refined tastes and cul- ture when he appointed him to that romantic retreat. Both at home and abroad, he was the companion and friend of men of distinction in letters and at the bar. He was a man of bright mind and unblemished charac- ter; was essentially retiring in his nature; cared little for popular favor, his feelings hardly running with the masses ; his society was the few, and his world was his books; was too sensitive to contend with the world; was an exhaustive reader, seldom allowing any thing to es- cape him, from the most trivial to the most abstruse pro- duction; was not distinguished for wit or humor, but enjoyed greatly the humorous side of literature; was amiable and gentle in temper and habits; and only lacked ambition to place him among the first scholars and writers of his times. Mr. Cosby was married, in 1826, to Miss Ellen Blake, a lady of great refinement and

beauty, with whom he lived happily until her death, in 1848. He had seven children of that union. The old- est, Robert Todd, was a poet of some ability, and died in 1853; George was educated at West Point, but be- came a general in the Confederate army ; Frank C. is an officer in the United States navy ; the oldest daughter, Ellen, is the accomplished wife of John S. Carpenter; and Mary, whose first husband was Col. Lucius Rich, C. S. A., who was mortally wounded at Shiloh, is now the wife of Thomas Bradley, of Washington City. Mr. Cosby died June 15, 1871, and left no published collec- tion of his poems. The following, which has been errone- ously attributed to some other author, is one of his finest and most widely circulated poetic productions:

"THE MOCKING-BIRD.

"Bird of the wild and wondrous song, I hear thy rich and varied voice Swelling the greenwood depths among, Till hill and vale the while rejoice. Spell-bound, entranced in rapture's chain,

I list to that inspiring strain ;

I tread the forest's tangled maze The thousand choristers to see,

Who, mingled thus, their voices raise In that delicious minstrelsy ; I search in vain each pause between- The choral band is still unseen.

'Tis but the music of a dream, An airy sound that mocks the ear ; But hark again ! The eagle's scream, It rose and fell distinct and clear. And list, in yonder hawthorn bush, The redbird, robin, and the thrush. Lost in amaze, I look around, But still that rich, aerial sound,

Like some forgotten sound of old, That o'er the heart has held control, Falls sweetly on the ravished soul.

And yet the woods are vocal still, The air is musical with song ; O'er the near stream, above the hill, The 'wildering notes are borne along ; But whence that gush of rare delight ? And what art thou, or bird or sprite,

Perched on yon maple's topmost bough, With glancing wings and restless feet ? Bird of untiring throat art thou,

Sole songster of the concert sweet ; So perfect, full, and rich each part, It mocks the highest reach of art !

Once more, once more that thrilling strain ! Ill-omened owl, be mute, be mute ! Thy native tones I hear again, More sweet than harp or lover's lute ; Compared with thy impassioned tale, How cold, how tame the nightingale ! Alas! capricious in thy power, Thy "wood-note wild " again is fled ;

The mimic rules the changeful hour, And all the 'soul of song' is dead. But, no; to every borrowed tone He lends a sweetness all his own."

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OSBY, ROBERT TODD, Poet, oldest son of Fortunatus Cosby, Jr., was born at Louisville, Kentucky, in 1827, and died July 4, 1853. He was wholly devoted to literary pursuits, and gave every spare moment of his life to reading, and communing with nature. At an early age, he evinced a great talent for poetry and painting ; before reaching his majority, became a welcome contributor to the " Louisville Journal ;" wrote many beautiful ballads and exquisite poems ; possessed a handsome person, and refined and attractive manners. The following lines were written by him after he saw that his days were few on earth, and while waiting to go:

"'Tis coming fast, 'tis coming fast, The time when I shall die ; I feel Death's cold hand on my brow, His damp in mine eye! There is a weariness of soul Clings round me like a shrond,

The gloom of coming death steals o'er, Like the shadow from a cloud !

And, oh, upon the sunny sky Stretching so far away, And the cool green woods with their music sighs, And the fountain's mossy play,

I often gaze, and wonder if Another Summer's sun Will come, and glad me with its ray, Ere yet my life is done !

There is a loveliness so dear In every glorious thing,

In the fair young flowers just bursting forth, In the fresh and green-robed Spring ; And the pure blue vault, like an angel's home, That rests o'er all on high-

My heart grows sad to think how soon I'll lose them when I die!

And the gentle eyes in whose soft depths I love to gaze so well,

And the music voices 'round me now With their liquid fall and swell- I shall lose them all; like a bubble burst, I shall pass from all I love, And die-oh, may the flowers be bright And the sky be blue abovel

For the earth hath been a dark, dark home, With but few bright, sunny gleams To light the dim and dreary gloom With the radiance of their beams ! And when I die-may the sky be clear, That my spirit may float away, To the farthest realms where a thought can go, Unfettered by mortal clay 1

And there where grief can never come, In those pure, free fields of air, Away from earth and its heartless ones, Its fevers and its cares, The spirit may find no spell to turn All happiness to woe, And feel the bliss above the clouds It never knew before."

ACHEN, HON. WILLIS BENSON, Lawyer, Farmer, and Manufacturer, was born April 5, 1810, in Caldwell County, Kentucky. His father, Henry Machen, was a farmer of that county for many years; was a native of South Carolina, and came to Kentucky in 1809. His mother, Nancy Tarrant, was also a native of South Car- olina. On his father's side, his family claim Huguenot, English, Scotch, and Irish blood. W. B. Machen ob- tained a good education in the schools of his native county, and in Cumberland College, at Princeton, Ken- tucky. After spending some years in manufacture of iron, at Livingston Forge, and in mercantile pursuits at Eddyville, he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1844. In 1849, he was elected member of the last Constitutional Convention ; in 1851, abandoned a very successful law practice, and moved to his farm; was elected to the State Senate in 1853; was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature in 1856, and was re- elected in 1860. In 1862, he became member of the Confederate Congress, and was again elected in 1864, serving in that body until its dissolution. He subse- quently spent some months in Canada, and has since chiefly devoted his attention to the interests of his farm. In 1872, he was elected, by the Legislature, to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Garrett Davis, in the Senate of the United States. He has been an earnest, active, and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, since 1838. He is a man of strong convictions, and is ever ready to maintain them ; has been distinguished for his integrity ; and is a man of decided ability and large popularity in his part of the State. Mr. Machen has been three times married: first, to Miss Margaret A. Lyon, daughter of Hon. Chilton Lyon; afterwards to Miss Eliza W. Dobbins; and, in 1859, to Miss Victoria Theresa Mims, daughter of Col. John H. Mims.

RONAUGH, GEORGE W., M. D., Physician, was born September 24, 1821, in Jessamine County, Kentucky. His parents were William G. and Rebecca Bronaugh; the former a Vir- ginian by birth ; the latter, a native of Fayette County, Kentucky. His father came to Jessa- mine County at an early day ; followed farming as a business, mainly; was magistrate and sheriff of the county ; was an active participant in the war of 1812; and died in 1851. His mother was the daughter of John Spears, who came from Virginia before the organ- ization of the State; for a while occupied Carpenter's Station, in Lincoln County; afterwards located in Fay- ette; was identified with the early Indian troubles of the times. George W. Bronaugh was educated chiefly at Bacon College, at Harrodsburg ; in 1839, began to read

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medicine with Dr. C. H. Spilman, of Jessamine County ; graduated from the medical department of Transylvania University, in 1842; located, for the practice of his profession, at Brooklin, Jessamine County ; from 1843 to 1851, practiced in Woodford County; in 1851, at Keene, in Jessamine; from 1852 to 1865, practiced in Madison County; from 1865 to 1873, at Crab Orchard; since, has resided at Stanford, where he has established a large professional business, and obtained the reputation of be- ing one of the most able and successful physicians of the country. He is a member of the Kentucky Central Medical Society, and of the Lincoln County Medical Association ; and is deeply devoted to his profession, to which he gives his entire time and energy. Dr. Bron- augh was originally a Whig in politics, and gave his first Democratic Presidential vote, with considerable re- luctance, to Horace Greeley, and has since been identi- fied with the Democratic party. During the great civil war, he was a Union man. He is a member of the Christian or Disciples' Church. In 1851, he was mar- ried to Mary Eliza Munday, daughter of Reuben Mun- day, a farmer of Madison County.

LLIS, WILLIAM G., son of William Ellis, one of the pioneer farmers of Kentucky, was born in 1797, in Fauquier County, Virginia. His par- ents settled in that part of Campbell County, west of the Licking river, which was, long sub- sequently, formed into Kenton County. Other members of the Ellis family came to Kentucky at an early date, and located in different parts of the State, becoming variously identified with its early history, and some of them are now prominent in its affairs. John G. Ellis, Sr., who died recently in Covington, at the age of eighty-six, belonged to the second generation of the men of this name who settled in Kentucky. He was a min- ister of the Disciples' or Christian Church ; was a post- master under John Quincy Adams, and was an adjutant and a judge advocate in the old military organization of the State. He was born in 1790, and belonged to the branch of the Ellises long distinguished residents of Fau- quier County, Virginia; as did William G. Ellis, who, although having limited educational advantages, became one of the early friends of the public or free school system of the State, and was one of the most able speakers and thoroughly well informed farmers of Ken- ton County. He held the office of Justice of the Peace for many years, and was at one time Sheriff of Kenton County ; was, for a number of years, School Commis- sioner for that county; was bitterly opposed to the people subscribing their money for the building of the Covington and Lexington Railroad; and the vote of the county, adversely to the movement, was, to a great ex-

tent, owing to his public speeches and efforts against it. He took an active interest in all the affairs of the county, and occupied a high place in the estimation of the com- munity. He was a ready and intelligent speaker, and had a large stock of information, which he could turn to advantage on any occasion; stood high in some of the social organizations of the day; was an active member of the Christian Church, and one of the most valuable men of his county. In politics, he was a Democrat. He died May 4, 1858. His wife was Miss Susan Arnold, a member of one of the old prominent families of Ken- ton County. He left a family of ten children, one of whom, Alexander C. Ellis, was long circuit and county clerk of Kenton, and is now a lawyer of Covington; and others are influential and prominent citizens of the county.

OTTER, PLEASANT, J., Banker, son of Fred- erick Potter, was born March 29, 1820, on his father's farm, near Bowling Green, Kentucky. His father was a Virginian by birth, came to 10 Kentucky while very young, and settled in the wilderness, in that part of the State where he ever afterwards resided, following agricultural pursuits during his life. He belonged to a family noted for its iron constitution and longevity; accumulated a large es- tate by honest dealing, good management, industry and economy, and died, at the advanced age of eighty-four, leaving a large and respected family. His mother was the daughter of Jesse Kirby, a pioneer farmer of War- ren County, a Revolutionary soldier, who lived to the age of ninety-five, dying universally respected and lamented. Pleasant J. Potter was raised on the farm and inured to its hardships, receiving such early educa- tional advantages as the country then afforded. At the age of twenty-one, he entered college at Bowling Green, where he completed his education. He made himself thoroughly acquainted with surveying, and, shortly after leaving college, went to McCracken County, where he served for some time as Deputy Surveyor. He returned to Bowling Green; married Miss Julia F. Hill, daughter of W. Hill, a prosperous farmer of Warren County ; settled on a farm south of Bowling Green, engaging un- interruptedly for fifteen years in agricultural pursuits and surveying ; in 1858, was elected Sheriff of Warren County, after a sharply contested race; at the close of the term, was re-elected without opposition, giving great satisfaction to the people of the county, in the discharge of the duties of that office. In 1860, he was elected to the Legislature, and was one of the most active and efficient members of that body, making himself especially useful to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, an en- terprise to which he has always been warmly devoted. For several years he has been extensively engaged in

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the banking business, at Bowling Green, in connection with J. H. Vivion-this institution being considered one of the soundest and best-managed banking-houses in the State. He has taken an active and prominent part in all public enterprises looking to the development of his city and section. He has been influential in es- tablishing agricultural fairs, in bridge building, and establishing good roads; was Commissioner of the Bow- ling Green Water-works, from its organization until 1876, when he resigned; has long been Commissioner of the Warren County Sinking Fund, handling the funds of the people with great credit to himself; has been for years a leading Director in the Louisville, Nashville, and Great Southern Railroad; is a heavy stockholder in that road, and is President and leading stockholder of the Bowling Green Woolen Mills. Although he is yet little turned of the prime of life, he has amassed a large for- tune, with which he is liberal and generous to a fault. He is social, courteous, unassuming, and agreeable in manners, and in his home exhibits much refinement and open-handed hospitality; and, although not a member of any Church, is a man of exemplary habits, and a patron of all good causes; and is, altogether, one of the most useful and valuable citizens of Warren County. His large family, consisting of six daughters and three sons, are now valuable members of society ; the oldest daugh- ter being the wife of Mayor John Mallory, of Bowling Green; his third daughter is the wife of Samuel Kirtly; one of his daughters is the wife of E. P. Faulconer, a farmer of Boyle County ; and his son, James E. Potter, is married, and engaged in his father's bank.

RENT, JAMES H., Lawyer, was born August II, 1842, in Paris, Bourbon County, Kentucky. His parents were Hugh Innes and Margaret Taylor (Chambers) Brent, and he was the fifth of their family of six children. His father was a Bourbon County man by birth; and was a farmer, merchant, and banker, and a son of Hugh Brent, who came from Prince William County, Virginia, and settled in Bourbon County, at a very early day. He was of English ancestry, and died at Paris, in 1845. Margaret Taylor Chambers was a native of Mason County, in this State, and daughter of John Chambers, one of the pioneers of Mason County, from New Jersey, who was a major in the war of 1812, and aid-de-camp on the staff of Gen. Harrison. James H. Brent received a liberal education, graduating at Yale College, in 1861. In the Fall of 1862, he entered the Confederate army as a private, in Company A, Fifth Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry, and remained in the service until the close of the war, chiefly with his own regiment. He was en- gaged in the battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, and

Mission Ridge; and in the series of battles from Mis- sion Ridge to Atlanta, and, also, many skirmishes and lesser engagements. 'In the Spring of 1864, he received his first promotion, becoming first lieutenant of his com- pany, and, from that time until the end, mainly acting as its commander. He was wounded but once, during the war, and that, slightly, in the right leg, by a "bush- whacker," in North Carolina. At the close of the war, he began reading law at Paris, and chiefly prepared for his profession under R. T. Davis, of that place. In 1867, he was admitted to the bar, and at once entered into practice, at Paris, where he has since continued his profession, with great success, and attained the position of one of the first lawyers of Central Kentucky. He is a Democrat, but has never been much of a politician. Mr. Brent was married, October 16, 1866, to Miss Eliza- beth B. Chambers, a native of Mason County, and daughter of Francis Chambers, deceased, formerly a lawyer of Cincinnati.

OUETT, MATTHEW HARRIS, Kentucky Painter, was born April 22, 1788, in Mercer County, Kentucky, and died in Fayette County, August 10, 1827. He was named after Matthew Jouett, his uncle, who became distinguished in the early history of Kentucky ; returned to Vir- ginia, served as captain in the Revolutionary War, and died after its close. His father was Capt. John Jouett, an officer in the Revolutionary War, in which he dis- tinguished himself for great daring; and was presented a sword by the Legislature of Virginia; came to Ken- tucky, and settled in Mercer County, in 1782; married Sallie Robards, August 20, 1784; was a delegate, from Mercer County, to Virginia Legislature, in 1787 and 1790; was a member of the Convention at Danville, in 1788; was elected, from Mercer County, to the Ken- tucky Legislature, in 1792 ; was subsequently sent to the Legislature from Woodford County, in 1795 and 1797; and some time afterwards took up his residence in Bath County. He was a man of fine qualities, genial in dis- position, remarkable for hospitality; and was the friend of Clay, Joe Daviess, and most distinguished men of Kentucky in his day. Matthew Jouett was carefully cd- ucated ; studied law, acquiring his profession with rare ease; and was thought, by his friends, to have a brilliant prospect before him. But his heart was not in his pro- fession. He began to paint without a master, and in a new country, where art was comparatively unknown, art taste wholly undeveloped, and art genius unapproached ; and, only dreaming of the great masters of Europe, and their works, he became one of the first artists of the Western World. In 1812, he entered the army, and served through one campaign in the North-west. In

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1816, he spent six months in Boston, under the instruc- tion of Gilbert Stuart. He began painting at the age of twenty-five; and, although having universal ability as an artist, his work was confined chiefly to portrait paint- ing, which was noted for richness of coloring and strong character portrayal, placing him, no doubt, among the first artists of Europe in that line. He was an artist by temperament, and in all the sympathies and peculiarities of his mind ; was genial in his disposition ; was a fine conversationalist ; and was universally admired. His portraits of Clay, Crittenden, Morris, Lafayette, Sheiby, and Horace Holley, and others, remain as among the best of his productions.

ENEFEE, HON. RICHARD H., Lawyer, was born in 1810, near Owingsville, Bath County, Kentucky. He was poor, and taught school in early life, to obtain means for the prosecu- tion of his professional studies. In 1836, he was elected to Congress, by a small majority, over Judge Richard French, a Democratic politician of high standing. At this time he had established a wide- spread reputation; and in Congress he took the front rank among the able debaters for which that body was then remarkable. At the expiration of his Congressional term, he settled in Lexington, for the practice of his pro- fession ; and soon rose to distinction, as one of the most able and eloquent lawyers of the State. But his brilliant career was prematurely terminated by his death, Febru- ary 20, 1841. Mr. Menefee was doubtlessly one of the most promising men who had ever risen in Kentucky. Born in obscurity, struggling against adversity, probably no man attained eminence so rapidly in his profession, and attracted to himself so soon the admiration of his fellow-men. Col. Thomas F. Marshall, in his address on the life and character of Mr. Menefee, before the Law Society of Transylvania University, April 12, 1841, says, that he was the slave of honor, not the drudge of ava- rice. It was independence that he sought-independ- ence for himself and his nestlings. For one short year his delicate frame sustained the fiery energies of his mind. His last effort at the bar was his greatest. Ambition has been called the last infirmity of noble minds. He was ambitious. But he yearned after that imperishable fame which shines through far generations, and with an in- creasing light, over the memory of great and glorious talents, exerted in the cause of justice and mankind. This ambition was the master passion of his soul. He appeared to men as destined from his birth for great ac- tions. He must have appeared to himself to be marked for an unusual career. There was an unsparing integrity in his mind; a concentration of the whole soul upon his pursuit ; a haste, a rapidity, as though he feared the sun

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 44

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