The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 45

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 45

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of life should go down ere he reached the summit of his genius. He might have felt that the seeds of early death were implanted in his constitution, and by this was ever spurred forward in his gigantic strides. At all events, he would not spare himself. When he was ap- prised that the hour was approaching, "Brief summons," was his reply ; and he settled himself to die with dignity and honor. Richard H. Menefee was a man of the rarest talents, and the most commanding character; a man whose moral qualities were as faultless as his intellectual constitution was vigorous and brilliant ; a man to whose advancing eminence there seemed no limit but the Con- stitution of his country, had not the energies of his mind proved too mighty for the material elements that in- closed them.

OWLAND, A. A., M. D., was born in Simpson County, Kentucky, May 26, 1834, and was one of three children, two sons and one daughter, of Finis Ewing Rowland and his wife, Louisa Rowland. The eldest of the three children, William P. Rowland, is now a resident of Simpson County ; the sister, Mrs. S. M. Lauler, died, near Georgetown, Texas, in the year 1853. Dr. Row- land received a liberal education, in part under the in- struction of the efficient and well-known Prof. B. W. Vineyard, in the academy at Franklin, Kentucky, and in part in the Cumberland University, at Lebanon, Tennessee, which institution he entered when he was about seventeen years of age, and in which he con- tinued pursuing a select course of studies, until his medical advisers insisted that he should return to his home in Kentucky, which he did, but still continued his studies. After leaving college, he, in company with his parents, brother, and sister, removed from his native State, to the western part of Texas, in the year 1853; where he engaged, for a time, in surveying, and other out-door exercise, which enabled him, in a short while, to fecl sufficiently strong to commence the study of med- icine, for which profession he had, from an early period in life, entertained a decided taste. He, therefore, in the year 1855, entered the office of Drs. Starly and Alston, in the town of Springfield, Texas, where he re- mained until the Spring of 1856, when he returned to his native State, and entered the office of the celebrated physician and surgeon, Dr. David W. Yandall, of Louisville, who assigned him a liberal share of the char- ity practice in the Stokes Dispensary, before he had fin- ished his first course of lectures. In the mean time, his parents had returned to Kentucky, and settled in Critten- den County. Through the instrumentality of his father, he was induced to spend the following Summer at home, where he could quietly pursue his studies until the next regular course of lectures; being called upon, in a short

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time after returning home, to do somc practice, he yielded, and very soon found himself in the midst of an extensive and lucrative business-so much so, that when the time arrived to return to Louisville to graduate, the neighborhood were unwilling to give him up, and pre- vailed upon him to postpone his return for another year; hence, he did not receive the second course of lectures until the Fall of 1860. After graduating, he received many kind invitations to locate in Louisville, but, for a time, at least, preferred returning to his former field of labor. While in the midst of an extensive practice of both medicine and surgery, the war broke out, and he, being impelled by love for his country, pre- sented himself at once for professional duty, at the headquarters of Gen. A. S. Johnston, then in com- mand of the Confederate forces at Bowling Green, Kentucky; upon which he was assigned duty at Nash- ville, Tennessee, by Medical Director Dr. D. W. Yandall, and assisted in the organization of Meredith Hospital, where he remained until the evacuation of that city by the Confederate forces. During his stay in Nashville, he stood an examination before the Board of Medical Examiners, and was commissioned as surgeon in the Confederate States army. After the fall of that city, he accompanied Gen. Johnston's forces to Corinth, Mis- sissippi. At the battle of Shiloh, he was on the field and in the hospital, engaged in caring for the wounded. Two days thereafter he was elected, by Medical Direc- tors Yandall and Crowell, for the staff duty, and or- dercd to report to Gen. John B. Villipique, in command at Fort Pillow. He was also at Port Hudson, Louisiana, at which point Gen. Villipique died of yellow fever. Dr. Rowland was afterwards selected to serve on the staff of Gen. Frank Gardner, who succeeded Gen. Villi- pique, and continued on his staff until the fall of Port Hudson. He was, in 1863, united in marriage to Miss Maggie V. Perkins, daughter of Dr. James Perkins, of East Feliciana Parish, Louisiana; was then ordered to report to Gen. John C. Breckinridge, who was then en- gaged in the fight at Jackson, Mississippi. Owing to his now rapidly declining health, Gen. Breckinridge would not receive him, but, with other friends, advised him to resign; being unwilling to do so, asked such service as he might be able to perform, was therefore ordered to Demopolis, Alabama, to take charge of and reorganize the medical department of the Vicksburg army. His health now failing to such an extent as to compel him to abandon the idea of farther field service, was after- wards ordered to Columbus, Mississippi, where he pre- sided as chairman of medical examining boards, from there to Macon, Mississippi, in which capacity he was acting when the war closed; after which time he went to Clinton, Louisiana, where he remained a short time, returning to his native State in the Summer of 1865, and commenced the practice of his profession at Princeton,

where he met with an extensive practice, both in medi- cine and surgery. In 1867, he was induced to locate at Guthrie, where he now resides, enjoying a fine country and town practice. Dr. Rowland has had two children : the oldest a girl, Donna, was born February 17, 1870, and died June 25, 1874; the second child, a boy, Don, was born May 30, 1875. He is a man of deep and earnest piety, a well-balanced temperament, affectionate in disposition, kind and social in his bearing, devoted to his profession, prompt in the discharge of duty, and very liberal in his religious views. His house is ever open, not only to his own, but the ministers of all Christian denominations. He is an elder in the Cum- berland Presbyterian Church, and takes pleasure in the advancement and upholding of the cause and kingdom of the Divine Redeemer.

MITH, RIGHT REV. BENJAMIN BOS- WORTH, D. D., Episcopal Bishop, was born June 13, 1794, in Bristol, Rhode Island. He graduated at Brown University, in 1816; was ordained deacon in the following year ; priest, in 1818; was a rector, in Virginia, from 1820 to 1823 ; in Middlebury, Vermont, from 1823 to 1828; was editor of the " Episcopal Recorder," from 1828 to 1830; had charge of Christ Church, Lexington, Kentucky, for the next seven years; in the mean time, June II, 1832, was elected Bishop, and consecrated, in St. Paul's Church, New York, at the same time with Bishops McIlvaine, of Ohio, and Meade, of Virginia, he obtain- ing precedence ; was Superintendent of Public Instruc- tion, in Kentucky, from 1840 to 1842, and lectured throughout the State in the interests of the schools; and, since 1872, on the death of Bishop Hopkins, has been the senior Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States.

ORTON, JOHN P., Publisher, was born March 4, 1807, in Lexington, Kentucky. He was educated at a Lancastrian school in Lexington, and at Transylvania University. At the age of sixteen, he was thrown on his own resources for a livelihood, and at once began as a clerk in a book-store in Lexington; and, by his industry and integ- rity, soon won a place in the esteem of his employer and the community. In 1825, he went to Louisville, where he at first acted as agent for W. W. Worseley, in the book trade, and finally took charge of the publishing business of that gentleman. In 1826, they started the " Focus," and he became a partner, at the same time having an interest in the book-store. In 1829, the firm

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became Morton & Smith. The " Focus " was continued with vigor and success, until the death of its editor. The "Focus" was subsequently united with the " Louis- ville Journal," and, as the "Journal and Focus," was edited by George D. Prentice. From 1832 to 1838, this house gave their attention largely to job printing and book selling, and gradually opened up an entirely new field of business in the South-the publication of school-books. They began by publishing a speller, primer, and almanac; year by year adding to their resources, they took - hold of other educational works demanded in their section, and have become the largest, and, in fact, the only, house in the South engaged in the publication of school-books of all kinds. The house of Mr. Mor- ton now competes successfully with the school-book publishing firms of Cincinnati, Boston, and other North- ern cities. Some of their publications, as Butler's Grammar, Barker's Chemistry, and the American Prac- titioner, have had wide circulation over the whole country. He publishes several medical, and other jour- nals of the State, also, "Home and School," a monthly magazine, aiming at the culture of sound theories, and practical methods of teaching children at home, and in school. He is largely engaged in the manufacture of blank-books, and has a large bindery connected with his extensive business, in which he keeps employed several hundred hands. Mr. Morton is one of the oldest actively engaged citizens of Louisville, and has probably been longer in business than any merchant of his city. He commenced at the age of eighteen, in the publishing business, and has been exceptionally success- ful, and recently has thrown the burden of business on younger shoulders, but still keeps on the harness himself, with rare vigor and cheerfulness. He is a man of genial, pleasant manners, of fine business ability, undoubted integrity of character, and a man of fine morals' and great social worth.

ONES, REV. JOHN, D. D., was born April 18, 1830, near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were of Welsh extraction, and their families have long been noted for their indus- try, uprightness, and piety. His grandfather was prominent in the Welsh Calvinistic Meth- odist Church, and it is probable that in his house in Manchester, England, where he had removed for the purposes of trade, was founded the first Welsh Church of that city. His father, when young, made several visits to the United States, and finally settled near Philadelphia, where he died, in 1876, at the age of eighty-four. Dr. Jones began his education in the com- mon-schools, passed through the Philadelphia Central High-school; spent some time in a private school in

Philadelphia ; and graduated at the University of Penn- sylvania, in 1851. He afterwards entered Princeton The- ological Seminary, where he graduated, in 1854. In the same year, he became pastor of the Old School Presby- terian Church, of Scottsville, New York, having been invited to that position before completing his theological studies; remained three years in charge of that Church ; was pastor of the Wyoming Presbyterian Church, Ncw York, for three years; was appointed Principal of the Genesee Synodical Academy, located at Genesee, New York, under the care of the "Synod of Buffalo," now the " Synod of Western New York,"' and held that po- sition twelve years. While there, Hamilton College, New York, conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. In 1862, he spent a short time in the army, under the Christian Commission. In 1874, he became pastor of the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, in Louisville, Kentucky, and still remains there. He has recently been appointed Regent for the Kentucky In- firmary for Women and Children, and elected Secretary and Treasurer. He has three times represented his Presbytery in the General Assembly of the Church ; has been Moderator of the Synod and Presbytery, and long acted as clerk in those bodies; was for a time Corre- sponding Secretary of the Wyoming County Bible So- ciety, of New York, and has always taken a great inter- est in the charitable works of his Church. He was married, March 1, 1855, to Miss Minerva A. Chatham, of Seneca Falls, New York.

,ALFUS, JACOB WATTS, was born July 18, 1795, near Danville, then in Lincoln County, Kentucky, and was descended from an ancient, honorable German family. His father, Freder- ick Henry Kalfus (sometimes spelled Kalbfus), emigrated to America in the latter quarter of the last century, and, settling in Maryland, afterwards removed to Kentucky, and purchased land near the present town of Danville; and then married Anna, daughter of Adam Von Fisher, also a native of Ger- many. Jacob W. Kalfus was reared on the farm; vol- unteered as a soldier in the war of 1812; participated in several engagements, and was present at the battle of New Orleans. At the close of the war, he started in life for himself; worked for a time in a flouring mill, at . the falls of the Ohio ; subsequently engaged in trading, in flat-boats, between Louisville and New Orleans; after the introduction of steamboats, he became a successful river pilot; abandoned the river, and embarked in the grocery trade, in Louisville, where he became one of the most energetic, public-spirited, and valuable citizens, for many years taking a leading interest in every thing tend- ing to improve the city ; was frequently elected a member

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of the Council and Board of Aldermen ; was for many years President of the Mechanics' Banks; a Director of the Louisville and Lexington Railroad ; accumulated a handsome estate; was distinguished for his integrity and justness of dealing with his fellow-men ; in the latter part of his life, he became a member of the First Presbyterian Church, of Louisville, and was one of the most highly esteemed and valued of all the old citizens of Louisville. He died July 16, 1873. Mr. Kalfus was twice married; first, in 1833, to Anna Southern, daughter of William Southern, and his wife, Jemima Fisher Southern ; and, of their children, Southern and Adeline Eugenia are yet living. In 1842, he was again married, to Miss Mary Shelburne, daughter of James Shelburne, of Spencer County, Kentucky. She died in 1862, leaving one son, James S. Kalfus, of Jefferson County.

ODD, JAMES MULHERIN, Farmer, and Sol- dier of the war of 1812, was born July 17, 1795, in a fort near Nashville, Tennessee. His parents were Scotch-Irish; his grandfather, a Scotch Dissenter, to escape persecution from the Established Church, left Scotland, and set- tled near Belfast, in the north of Ireland, where he died. His father subsequently came to America, and settled in Pennsylvania, where he engaged in farming, and, at intervals, taught school, until the commence- ment of the war of independence, when he enlisted in the army, and served under Washington, participating in many of the hard-fought battles of the Revolution ; and his wife was Jane Buchanan, aunt of President James Buchanan, and sister to John Buchanan, the famous Indian fighter of Tennessee. The Buchanans were Scotch-Irish. His father, with some of the Bu- chanans, emigrated, after the war, to South Carolina; but many of their neighbors being Tories, and not agree- able to their strong Whig proclivities, they soon after crossed the mountains, and settled near Nashville, Ten- nessee, where, of their family of eight children, six were born in a block-house; and there his grandfather Buchanan was shot and killed by the Indians, while reading his Bible at the gate of the fort. While living this long fort life, surrounded constantly by savages, his mother had many opportunities of displaying her great strength of character, as well as genuine bravery, and many admirable womanly traits. During some conflicts with the Indians, she loaded the guns, molded the bullets, and cared for the wounded, she being the only doctor in the fort. Long after the dangers of pioneer life were over, his parents removed to Ohio, where they passed the rest of their lives. James M. Todd received a common English education, his father having refused the offer of his uncle, William Buchanan, to cducate

him with his cousin, who afterwards became President the United States. When the second war with England began, he served frequently as scout in Indian expeditions, and subsequently volunteered, under Gen. McArthur, going to the relief of Fort Meigs; afterwards was a vol- unteer in the expedition to Green Bay, as a ranger ; but the declaration of peace soon after terminated his mil- itary career. After the war, he spent some time in In- diana, finally settling at Columbus, in that State, where he worked at the carpenter trade without having served an apprenticeship. On account of the unhealthy climate, he returned to Ohio, with the intention of settling per- manently on some land left him by his father; but, shortly afterwards, was appointed administrator of an estate lying in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, in the in- terest of which he visited this State, where he formed some attachments, and settled on a farm in Shelby County. In politics, he remained with the Whig party until its dissolution, casting his first vote for John Quincy Adams. During the rebellion, he was firmly and unconditionally attached to the cause of the Union. From early life, he has been a member of the Presby- terian Church; and has been one of the most active, use- ful, upright, and valuable men of Shelby County. Mr. Todd was married, November 18, 1823, to Miss Mary Porter, only daughter of his first Kentucky friend, William Porter, and his wife Ellen; and they are now living on the same farm on which they were married. They have raised a family of nine children, most of whom are now living, and are valuable members of so- ciety; and their son, Dr. O. D. Todd, is now one of the leading physicians of Henry County, Kentucky. His wife has long been a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is now living, at the age of seventy-six. Mr. Todd is one of the few remaining soldiers of the war of 1812; and, although over eighty-one years of age, still possesses remarkable vigor both of mind and body.

LLIS, ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, Lawyer, son of William G. and Susan Arnold Ellis, was born August 6, 1830, in Kenton County, Ken- tucky. His father and grandfathers, on both sides, settled in Kenton County when it was yet a wilderness, and were among the most worthy, valuable men of the early days of the Commonwealth. (See sketch of Wm. G. Ellis.) A. C. Ellis received a thor- ough education in the private schools of the country, and as a pupil of Prof. Mead, at Covington. He began to teach school at an early age; and, after pursuing that avocation for several years, took a thorough course of select study in Cincinnati. In 1856, he had charge of a flourishing school in Bourbon County; and, in the Fall of the same year, received the appointment of Deputy

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Clerk for the Kenton Circuit Court, occupying the posi- tion for nine years. In 1858, he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of his father as Commissioner for the Public-schools of the county; was elected Clerk of the County Court of Kenton County, in 1866; was re-elected in 1870, serving eight years; commenced reading law in 1856; continued his legal studies during his service in the Clerk's office of the Circuit Court ; and was admit- ted to the bar in 1862, but did not engage in active prac- tice until after retiring from the office of County Clerk, in 1874. He has since pursued, with flattering success, the practice of his profession, at Covington. In 1865, he was elected member of the Board of School Exam- iners for Covington, still holding that position; in 1870, was elected member of the School Board ; was re-elected in 1872, serving four years; and, in 1867, was elected member of the City Council, but resigned before the expiration of his term. He is a man of admirable personal appearance; of exceptional personal and pro- fessional habits; is a cautious, energetic business man ; has a high sense of personal and professional honor; and occupies a fine position at the bar. He has always been a Democrat in politics; and, since his twentieth year, has been a zealous member of the Disciples' Church. Mr. Ellis was married, July 8, 1859, to Mrs. Kate Here- ford, née Blackburn. They have six living children.

OUETT, COL. GEORGE P., Physician and Sol- dier, was born in Fayette County, May 2, 1813, and was killed in the battle of Chaplin Hills, Perryville, Kentucky, October 8, 1862, gallantly fighting for the preservation of the National Government. He was the son of Matt. H. Jouett, the distinguished Kentucky artist, and inherited much of the art taste of his lamented father. He grad- uated, at an early age, at Transylvania University ; studied medicine with the distinguished surgeon, Ben. W. Dudley, and graduated with honor in the medical department of Transylvania University. He practiced medicine for several years with great success, but was finally induced by his brother-in-law, Richard H. Mene- fee, to enter the legal profession, where Mr. Menefee thought his education and his great natural ability would make him shine with pre-eminence among men. But the untimely death of Mr. Menefee made it necessary for him to embark in mercantile pursuits, for the support of his mother, brother, and sister. For many years he was connected with the steamboat interests of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, being part owner and officer of the steamer "Baltic" when the rebellion broke out. He took up arms for his country, and, with Col. Curran Pope and Major Campbell, organized the Fifteenth Kentucky Regi- ment, of which he afterwards became lieutenant-colonel,

and was with his regiment at the time of his death. He was a man of high literary culture, refined taste, and was naturally adapted to literary and art pursuits; was a writer of great power; was skilled in music, poetry, and painting ; and, during his leisure hours, cxecuted several fine pieces of sculpture, which so excited the admiration of Joel T. Hart as to induce the sculptor to urge him to follow art as a profession. From boyhood he had ex- hibited decided genius in his art productions; this tend- ency his mother resisted, unwilling that her son should struggle with poverty, as his father had done; and every means was used to prevent his pursuing a life which doubtless would have resulted in a world-wide reputa- tion. He was a man of wonderful capacity for making friends; unselfish, brave, sensitive to the suffering of others; an enemy to the oppressor, and the champion of the oppressed, under all circumstances; and, withal, was exceedingly modest and retiring in his habits; and, being deficient in self-esteem, always failed to appreciate his own powers and natural gifts. Probably no citizen of Kentucky, who fell in the war of the rebellion, was more sincerely lamented.

cCLUNG, JUDGE WILLIAM, Lawyer, was one of the early settlers of Kentucky, and one of her most respected and influential citizens. In 1793, he was a member of the Legislature from Nelson County ; from 1796 to 1800, was a member of the State Senate; settled in Mason County at an early day, and there continued to reside during his life ; was, for many years, Judge of the Dis- trict, then of the Circuit Court, and died while holding his position on the bench, about 1815. He stood very high as a lawyer, and was noted for his great incorrupti- bility and fairness as a judge, as well as for his integrity as a citizen. Rev. John A. and Col. Alexander McClung, both distinguished men, were his sons. (See sketch of Rev. John A. McClung.) His wife was a daughter of Col. Thomas Marshall, and sister of Chief- Justice John Marshall. She died in 1858, at the age of eighty-four, having survived him many years.

ORTER, HON. THOMAS P., Lawyer, was born July 7, 1821, at Richmond, Madison County, Kentucky. Three brothers of this name, who had followed the fortunes of the house of Camp- bell in the Highlands of Scotland, came to this country at an early day, one of them settling in Pennsylvania, another in Tennessee, and the other in Virginia; and from them sprang the Porters of these States, most of whom have been prominent in the affairs of the country. His father, Charles C. Porter, a

The. C. Porto

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native of Virginia, emigrated with his parents to Ken- tucky, early in the history of the State, settling, for a time, in Bourbon County ; afterwards remaining in Mad- ison County, until the subject of this sketch was thirteen years old, when he purchased a farm in Bourbon, to which he removed his family. Thomas P. Porter received a thorough education at Richmond, and in the schools of Bourbon County, and at the age of nineteen entered the law department of Transylvania University, where he graduated in the Spring of 1842; soon after locating in Versailles, in Woodford County, for the practice of his pro- fession, where he has since remained, with the exception of a few months spent in Louisville, in 1874 and 1875. He established a fine law practice, and, for the last twenty-five years, has been interested in almost every important law case occurring in his district, long occu- pying the position of one of the most able and successful lawyers of Central Kentucky. In 1853, he was elected, by a large majority, to represent Woodford County in the Legislature; in 1857, he became the candidate of the Democratic party for the State Senate, and, although the Democracy had a minority in the district of six hundred votes, and the learned and popular Dr. Lewis Marshall opposed him in the race, after a most exciting contest he was elected, by thirty-nine votes. In the session of 1859, he was elected Speaker of the Senate, to fill the place made vacant by the sickness of Hon. Lynn Boyd, who had just been elected, on the Demo- cractic ticket, as Lieutenant-Governor. The elect Lieu- tenant-Governor, Boyd, dying December 17, 1859, he at once honorably resigned the Speakership, and, on December 21, was unanimously elected permanent Speaker of the Senate ; presiding over that body during the regular, and many called, sessions, incident to the perilous times preceding the outbreak of the civil war, and remaining, ex officio, Lieutenant-Governor of the State, until the adjournment of the Legislature, sine die, in 1861. He was, in the following April, nominated as a member of the projected famous Border State Con- vention. After having canvassed the eastern portion of the State, the purpose of the Convention not being favorably received by the Government, and the Presi- dent having called on Kentucky for troops, the nomi- nees withdrew, and the proposed Convention was con- sidered impracticable. He now became a candidate for re-election for the State Senate, as the nominee of the Southern sympathizers, but was defeated. At this time, on account of his Southern proclivities, he was compelled, for a time, to leave the State, remaining for a few months at Nashville and New Orleans ; and, although he returned home and resumed the practice of his pro- fession, he remained one of the extreme Statcs Rights men of the country. But his own State decided to re- main in the Union, and, being unwilling to participate in a struggle against his State, he took no active part in

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 45

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