The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 46

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

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the great contest. During the early days of the war, with other friends of the South in his section, he under- went many hardships and discourtesies incident to the times. His career in the Legislature was most honora- ble, and his presidency of the Senate was characterized not only by great ability and skill, necessary for the times, but by the great fairness and impartiality with which he filled the position, drawing from that body resolutions highly gratifying and complimentary. At the close of his services as its presiding officer, as a mark of personal respect, and as indicating the high value put upon his official conduct, he received from that body, through the hands of his old political adver- sary, Gen. Rousseau, a beautiful and costly gift. He is passionately devoted to his profession; takes great interest in his cases, never allowing his clients to lose by his inattention or want of exertion, making their causes his own ; conducts all his business and professional transactions on the highest principles of honor; appears to great advantage in the court ; is a clear, comprehen- sive, logical speaker; indulges in few useless or fanciful flights, dealing directly with the strong facts in his case ; has the faculty of utilizing every point of evidence and circumstance to his benefit; conducts his causes with great adroitness, seldom allowing a weak or strong point for or against him to escape his attention; and in every way shows himself equal to any emergency. He is a man of dignified carriage, and, displaying great ease of manners, is unknown to disagreeable familiarity. Strongly self-reliant, with great diversity of talent, and of undoubted social qualities, he ranks as one of the first lawyers of the State, and one of the most able members of his party. Governor Porter has been twice married ; first, in 1846, to Miss America McAfee. By this marriage he has one daughter, who is now the wife of W. H. Craig, a prominent merchant, of Louisville. In 1848, he was again married, to Miss Susan V. Han- cock, daughter of Wm. Hancock, of Woodford County. By this marriage there is living only one child, the ac- complished Jessimine Porter, now a pupil of Emille Gramonte, of New York.

ICHARDSON, HON. ROBERT, Lawyer, was born May 18, 1826, in Louisville, Kentucky, and is the son of Samuel Q. Richardson, a na- tive of Virginia, of English ancestry, and at one time a distinguished member of the Frank- fort bar. His mother was Mary H. Harrison, daughter of Robert Carter Harrison, of Virginia, and a relative of President Harrison. Robert Richardson re- ceived a thorough education, graduating with distinc- tion at Transylvania University, in 1846, under Bishop Bascom. He served one year in the Mexican War, under

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General Taylor, subsequently studied law at Lexington, under Judges Robertson and Woolly, and located in Covington, where he has since resided. He was twice elected to the Legislature, representing Kenton County from 1855 to 1859. In the latter year, he was elected Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky, and served in that capacity four years. He was a member of the Border Slave State Convention, which met at Frankfort, Kentucky, in June, 1861. During the war he took an active stand on the side of the Union, and was, for a time, engaged in the army of Northern Ken- tucky. He took position, politically, with the party denominated the Union Democracy, and used his influ- ence to maintain the authority of the Government in the State, and to thwart the purposes of secession; he afterwards became identified with the National Repub- lican party, and still supports its principles. He is a writer of ability, and has contributed largely to the news- papers and periodicals, and his Report, as Superintendent of Public Instruction in Kentucky, was favorably no- ticed as one of the finest productions of its kind. He assisted, by the earnest solicitation of the publishers of "Appleton's American Encyclopædia," in the prepara- tion of their articles on the history of Kentucky. He is a fine French, Greek, and Latin scholar; is a speaker of great terseness and beauty of language; has splendid talents as a lawyer; is wide, generous, open, and free in his manners; broad and unprejudiced in his views; and is one of the most extensively and thoroughly read, able, and learned lawyers of Kentucky. He is a mem- ber of the Presbyterian Church, and takes an active in- terest in every valuable movement in his community. Mr. Richardson is married to Maria Louisa, daughter of Col. A. C. Harris, a distinguished member of the Cov- ington bar, who represented Floyd County for sixteen years in the Legislature. They have four children.

IBB, JOHN B., was born October 27, 1789, in Prince Edward County, Virginia, and is the son of Major Richard Bibb, an officer in the Revolutionary War, who was a man of good education and high standing ; a practical busi- ness man, of great integrity, and fine, im- posing appearance. He sent thirty of his slaves to Li- beria, and, at his death, manumitted all the rest (above sixty), and made some provision for their support. One of his nephews, William Bibb, was United States Sen- ator from Georgia, who had two sons, who each became Governor of Alabama. Major R. Bibb had three sons and three daughters. His son, Robert Bibb, Jr., was a successful merchant ; one of his daughters married Mr. Gabriel Lewis, one Mr. Thomas S. Slaughter, and one Dr. B. Roberts. The brother of John B. Bibb was the

distinguished George M. Bibb, United States Senator from Kentucky, Chief-Justice of the Court of Appeals, Chancellor of the State of Kentucky, and Secretary of the Treasury under President Tyler. (See sketch of George M. Bibb.) His mother was Lucy Booker, and some of her family were men of distinction in Virginia. John B. Bibb came to Kentucky with his parents in 1798; his father remaining in Fayette County, near Lex- ington, for a year or two, and afterwards purchased and carried on salt-works, in Bullitt County, for some time. He finally settled in Logan County, where he lived until his death. J. B. Bibb was educated in Kentucky, mainly under Dr. Priestly and the celebrated Joshua Fry. He studied law under Judge Broadnax ; was ad- mitted to the bar, in 1814, and entered upon the prac- tice of his profession at Russellville. In 1816, he re- tired from the bar, from ill health, and never resumed the practice. In 1813, he volunteered, under Gov. Shelby, serving, in his expedition to Canada, as Brigade Major of the Fourth Kentucky Volunteer Brigade, being present at the battle of the Thames, and now, in com- mon with other old soldiers who served in the war of 1812, receives a pension from the Government. In 1827, he was elected to the Legislature, from Logan County ; in 1831, was elected to the State Senate, serv- ing four years. Although never afterwards engaging actively in politics, he has kept thoroughly posted with the events of the day. He was always a Whig; during the late civil war, strongly supported the Union. He is a man of great integrity of character ; kind and benevo- lent in his feelings; liberal, but one of those prudent men who never go beyond their means; modest and unassuming in manners, and possesses fine social quali- ties ; but, in consequence of deafness, has, for years past, withdrawn from general society. Mr. Bibb was married, in 1831, to Sarah P. the daughter of Gen. Samuel Hopkins, an officer of the Revolution, and, at one time, Congressman from the Henderson district, Kentucky. (See sketch of Gen. Samuel Hopkins.) She was a woman of fine colloquial talents and natural good sense, and was distinguished, throughout her life, for her great piety and fine social qualities. Mr. Bibb re- moved to Frankfort, in 1856, where he now resides.

cCREERY, HON. THOMAS C., Lawyer and Agriculturist, was born in 1817, in Kentucky. He received his literary education at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky. He studied law ; but subsequently devoted his attention largely to agricultural pursuits. He was a candidate, in 1852, for Presidential Elector, but was unsuccessful ; was visitor to West Point Academy in 1858; was again a candidate for Elector in 1860, and, being successful,

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cast his vote for Breckinridge and Lane; in 1868, was elected United States Senator, in place of Hon. James Guthrie, who had resigned; at the expiration of his term, was re-elected, now occupying a seat in that body, serving on the Committees on Foreign Relations, Indian Affairs, Civil Service, and Retrenchment. In politics, he is a Democrat; is a speaker of great eloquence and force; and is one of the most popular and able men of his section. He resides at Owensboro.

INDSEY, HON. THOMAS N., Lawyer, was born in 1808, in Campbell County, Kentucky. His father was an Irishman by birth, and his mother came of a family of Nobles long resi- dent in Virginia. He received but little educa- tion, part of which was obtained in one session at Augusta College, at Augusta, Kentucky, under the presidency of Martin Ruter. He studied law with Richard Southgate, at Newport, Kentucky, and entered upon the practice of his profession in that place, in 1832; and, in 1835, removed to Frankfort, where he has since resided. He was engaged in hotel-keeping, and in various other pursuits there, for several years, but, finally abandoning these, resumed the practice of the law, in which he has been reasonably successful. He held the office of Commonwealth's Attorney for the dis- trict in which he lived, from 1845 to 1848; represented Franklin County in the Legislature, being first elected in 1843; was elected to the State Senate in 1850; was re-elected in 1855; was a member, from Franklin County, of the Convention of 1849, which framed the present Constitution of the State; in 1868, was elected President of the Farmers' Bank of Kentucky, at Frankfort, and held the position till the Spring of 1876, never, however, entirely abandoning the practice of his profession. He had a great deal to do with starting the navigation of the Kentucky river, and in keeping up the old railroad from Lexington to Frankfort, one of the first roads built in the United States. He is now the oldest lawyer, but one, at the Frankfort bar; a bar noted at different periods for its able men. Until the breaking out of the civil war, he was a member of the Whig party; but has since been identified with the Democracy. He has written a great deal for the public press, and, before the opening of hostilities between the sec- tions, he censured the conduct of both conflicting parties. Many of his articles were published in the Democratic papers, gaining a wide-spread circulation, and finally bringing him to the notice of the military authorities, during the great excitement in Kentucky attending the first years of the war, and they silenced him; since which time he has taken no very active part in political matters. He was distinguished in his pro-

fessional career for his devotion to the cause of his clients, and the straight-forward integrity of his practice, and was, throughout his active business life, character- ized for his safe financial and executive ability. He accumulated considerable property, and, after making a liberal provision for his children, would be enabled to pass the remainder of his days in quiet retirement; but, being yet possessed of much of the vigor of youth, he prefers to keep the harness on, and hopes to be yet of much service to his fellow-men. Mr. Lindsey was mar- ried, in 1834, at Frankfort, to Isabella P. Weisiger, youngest daughter of Daniel and Lucy Weisiger. From this marriage he has reared several children. He was again married to Mrs. Louisa Applegate, daughter of Major Robert Benham, one of the well-known early in- habitants of Frankfort, and is now a widower.

ICE, REV. NATHAN L., D. D., Presbyterian Clergyman, was born December 29, 1807, in Garrard County, Kentucky. His father was a farmer in moderate circumstances, and unable to give his children more than a quite ordinary education; in addition to this, he spent one year under the celebrated teacher Joshua Fry; and, in his seventeenth year, began to teach school; in 1824, entered Centre College; was soon after appointed teacher = in the preparatory department, where he remained four years, studying at his leisure; joined the Church in 1826; studied theology with Rev. Gideon Blackburn, President of Centre College ; was licensed to preach in 1828; was ordained in 1833; in 1829, entered Princeton Seminary ; returned to Kentucky in 1832, and was set- tled, for nine years, as pastor of the Church at Bards- town ; from 1841 to 1844, was pastor of the Church at Paris; during these years, preached on all great occa- sions over the State; from 1844 to 1853, was pastor of Central Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati; in 1853, took charge of the Second Church, St. Louis; in 1857, took charge of the North Church, Chicago; in 1861, became pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, in New York, the most influential Church of the denom- ination in the country ; resigned, in 1867, on account of failing health, and retired to a farm in New Jersey; on return of health, took charge of Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, and performed the duties of that po- sition until his death, June 10, 1877. In 1836, he estab- lished, at Bardstown, "The Western Protestant;" during his residence at Cincinnati, edited "The Presbyterian of the West;" and, in Chicago, edited " The Presbyterian Expositor." His published works were, " Romanism, not Christianity," "God Sovereign, and Man Free," " Phrenology and Mesmerism," "Discourses on Slavery," "The Doctrine of Justification," "History of the Sab-

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bath," "Relations of Science and Revelation," and two works on Baptism. He established Bardstown Female College, under the control of the Presbytery of Louis- ville, with a view to counteract the influence of the Catholic schools of that region, and, while residing there, had his celebrated controversy with the Catholic clergy; in 1842, accidentally met Rev. John Waller, of the Baptist Church, in a debate, at Nicholasville; in the following Summer, met the same controversialist at Georgetown; but all of these contests were over- shadowed by his celebrated debate at Lexington, with Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, Virginia. This debate lasted sixteen days, excited universal interest throughout the country, was attended by a great number of edu- cated men, and presided over by Henry Clay, Justice George Robertson, and Hon. John Speed Smith. These, and his other debates, were published in book form. He also wrote and debated a great deal on slavery; and his writings, if not directly supporting the "peculiar institution," were designed to mollify bitter discussions on the subject, in the Church and throughout the coun- try. In 1855, he was Moderator of the General Assem- bly of the Church; was several times Professor of Theology, in its educational institutions, and filled that chair in Westminster College, of which he was President at the time of his death. He was one of the most able, zealous, and useful ministers of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and one of the first pulpit orators, and most accomplished and successful controversialists, of the country. Dr. Rice was married, in 1832, to Miss Catharine P. Burch, daughter of Rev. James K. Burch. They had seven children, and their youngest son is now Professor of English Literature in Westminster College, Missouri.

EVIS, MILTON, M. D., Physician, was born December 13, 1816, near Mt. Zion, in Bracken County, Kentucky. His parents were Robert and Elizabeth (Devoss) Tevis; the former a na- tive of Baltimore, Maryland, and the latter a Pennsylvanian. He was the seventh in a family of eleven children, most of whom settled in Indiana, and became prominent in the affairs of that State. Three of his brothers are clergymen in the Methodist Church, two are lawyers, and two others are physicians; one of them, Fletcher Tevis, was defeated in a race for the Governorship of Indiana, by only one vote. His father was a son of Reason Tevis, an officer in the Revolution- ary army; came to Kentucky at an early date; and set- tled in Bracken County, where he followed mechanical and agricultural pursuits, and died in 1850. His mother was a daughter of John Devoss, an early Bracken County farmer. Milton Tevis was raised on the farm, and edu- cated in the country schools. He chose the medical pro-

fession ; and, in 1831, began a course of study under Dr. William Keith, of Augusta. In 1836 and 1837, he attended medical lectures at Transylvania University ; and, in 1837 and 1838, in the Medical College of Ohio, at Cincinnati, where he graduated in the latter year. He at once entered upon the practice of his profession, near Augusta, and soon made a fine practice, and met with great success. In 1860, he removed to Brooksville, the county seat, where he has since resided and con- tinued the practice of his profession, with his usual skill and success. He is an independent in politics. He cast his first Presidential vote for Martin Van Buren, and his last, before the commencement of the war of secession, for Bell and Everett. During the war, he was an ardent and unflinching Union man. He is associated with the Methodist Church, which he joined at the age of six- teen. He is a man of unexceptional personal, social, and professional habits. Dr. Tevis has been twice mar- ried : in 1849, to Mary Ann Barker, a native of Pendle- ton County, and daughter of John H. Barker, a farmer of that county, who, for a number of years, represented his county in the Legislature. She died in 1856. I the following year, he was married to Martha E. Jett, daughter of John J. Jett, a prominent farmer of Bracken County.

EE, COL. PHILIP, Lawyer and Soldier, was born October 22, 1832, in Bullitt County, Ken- tucky, and was the third son of Wilford and Margaret Lee. His father emigrated, at an early day, from Virginia, and was a member of the distinguished family of that name in the "Old Dominion." Col. Lee was educated at St. Jo- seph's College, Bardstown, where he graduated at the age of eighteen. He graduated in law at the University of Louisville, in 1852; entered upon the practice of his profession ; in the following year, was elected to repre- sent Bullitt County in the Legislature; was re-elected in 1855; in 1856, was candidate for Presidential Elector on the Fillmore ticket; was Elector on the Union or Bell and Everett ticket, in 1860; won a high reputation as a public speaker in these canvasses. In 1861, he espoused the cause of the South ; opposed "neutrality; " recruited a company of young men, and assisted in organizing Camp Boone, on the Tennessee border; his company was organized as a part of the Second Kentucky Confederate Infantry ; at the head of a hundred men, made the first raid of the war into Kentucky, on the line of the Lou- isville and Nashville Railroad; was engaged at Fort Donelson; was captured there; was a prisoner for six months; was in every engagement in which his regi- ment took part, but one, during the war; was promoted lieutenant-colonel after the battle of Chickamauga; was several times wounded; was made colonel of his regi-

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ment, on the fall of Col. Moss at Jonesboro, and held that position until the close of the war. At the close of the war, he resumed the practice of his profession at Bardstown. He removed to Louisville in 1876, and at once took a prominent place at the bar of that city. In 1868, he became the candidate of the Democracy of the Ninth Judicial District for Commonwealth's Attorney, and, after a heated contest, was elected; was re-elected, without opposition, in 1874; and distinguished himself as one of the most able men who had filled that position in his district. He died at Louisville, in 1875. He was a man of heavy muscular frame, fine eye, and an open, manly, beaming countenance; was a daring and able officer; and not only stood high as a soldier among sol- diers, but was universally admired and esteemcd in his profession, and as a citizen. Col. Lee was married, June 23, 1866, to Belle B. Bridgeford, the accomplished daugh- ter of James Bridgeford, of Louisville, and one of the leading stove-founders of the country.

ALLARD, PALESTINE POWERS, Revenue Collector, was born April 27, 1820, in Madison County, Kentucky. He was the seventh child of James B. and Frances Ballard, both natives of Albemarle County, Virginia, the latter a daughter of James Jarman and Frances Dabney. His father came to Kentucky in 1803, followed agricul- tural and mercantile pursuits, and was related to Bland Ballard, who was a distinguished pioneer and Indian fighter of Kentucky; he died February 14, 1858. Pal- estine Powers Ballard received a thorough education, and, at the age of twenty, was appointed a Constable of Madison County. In 1843, he was appointed one of the Justices of the County by the County Court; in 1849, was elected to represent Madison County in the Legislature, serving one term; in 1854, was elected Sheriff of the County; re-elected in 1856; from 1861 to 1865, was post-master of Richmond; was several years Provost-Marshal of Richmond during the civil war; from 1849 to 1854, was also engaged in farming; in 1868, was appointed Assistant Assessor of Internal Rev- enue for the Eighth Kentucky District; and, when that office was abolished, he became Assistant Collector of Revenue for the same district, and has since held the position. He was School Commissioner of Madison County for several years; has been identified with the various interests of the county for thirty-six years; and has been one of its most conscientious, energetic, and valuable men. He cast his first Presidential vote for Gen. Harrison, and his last, preceding the war of the rebellion, for Bell and Everctt, and was a Whig; during the war, he was a fearless, determined Union man, and has since been a Republican. Mr. Ballard is a member

of the Christian or Disciples' Church. He was married April 16, 1840, to Miss Mary A. Francis, a native of Madison County, and daughter of Thomas Francis, a farmer of that county.

RABUE, COL. ROBERT PAXTON, Lawyer and Soldier, was born January 1, 1824, at Co- lumbia, Adair County, Kentucky, and was the son of Daniel Trabue, Jr. ; and his mother was the daughter of Capt. Robert Paxton, who commanded & company of Kentuckians, at the battle of New Orleans, in the war of 1812. The Tra- bues settled in Kentucky before the organization of the State; Col. Daniel, his grandfather, in Woodford County ; and many of the family have been distinguished men in the country. Robert P. Trabue received a good educa- tion ; studied law under Judge Zachariah Wheat, then re- siding at Columbia, and under Judge Thomas B. Monroe, at Frankfort ; began his profession at Columbia ; served as first lieutenant and acting adjutant in Col. John S. Williams's regiment, in the war with Mexico ; settled in Mississippi ; resumed the practice of his profession in that State and Louisiana; was authorized by the Con- federacy to raise a regiment in Kentucky ; recruited and became Colonel of the Fourth Kentucky Confederate Infantry ; commanded the First Kentucky Brigade at Shiloh ; continued in command of the brigade for some time afterwards; was recommended, by Gen. Breckin- ridge, for promotion to the rank of brigadier-general ; his nomination was never acted upon, owing to the vast number of that rank in the Confederate army ; again succeeded to the command of his brigade at Murfrees- boro, on the death of General Hanson, exhibiting great skill and bravery ; and was again strongly recom- mended to the permanent command of his brigade, but, , while on a visit to Richmond, took sick and died Feb- ruary 2, 1863. He was a man of great energy and cour- age, and possessed first-class military ability ; was of fine personal appearance and bearing, and a man of many noble qualities. Col. Trabue was married, in Natchez, Mississippi, to Miss Hibernia Inge, daughter of Dr. Inge, of that place.

ARNON, HON. THOMAS W., Lawyer and Politician, was born January 8, 1818, at Mil- lersburg, Kentucky. He was the fourth child of Benjamin and Sarah Varnon ; the former a native of Delaware, and son of John Varnon, who settled in Bourbon County in 1792; and the latter a native of Baltimore County, Maryland, and daughter of Thomas A. Thompson, a Revolutionary

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soldier, who settled in Bourbon County, Kentucky, in 1792. Thomas W. Varnon was raised on the farm, and received his education in the private schools of the

country, attending them mainly of Winters: From 1836 to 1840, he was clerk in a store at Millersburg ; in the Winter of 1839, attended a course of law lectures at Transylvania University; in the Summer of 1840, was admitted to the bar at Paris, where he soon after- wards entered upon the practice of his profession; in January, 1842, was appointed Commissioner in Bank- ruptcy for Bourbon County, by Judge Monroe; per- formed the duties of that office until 1846, when he re- signed and removed to Stanford, Lincoln County, where he has established a large legal practice, taken a posi- tion in the front rank at the bar of that section, and be- come largely identified with the political and other in- terests of his community. In 1850, he was first elected to represent Lincoln County in the Lower House of the State Legislature ; was re-elected, in 1863, in 1865, and 1871, to the same body; and, in 1873, was elected to the State Senate. Mr. Varnon cast his first Pres-

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 46

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