The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 49

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 49

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RADDOCK, COL. WILLIAM B., son of Wm. Craddock, a farmer of Hart County, Kentucky, whose parents were Virginians, was born De- cember 31, 1834, in Hart County, Kentucky. He received his education in the schools of his native county; and, at the age of twenty, was appointed Deputy Sheriff, holding the position two years. He then engaged in mercantile business, con- tinuing with success, until 1861, when he became Sheriff of Hart County. At the breaking out of the war he entered the Federal service as a private; was soon after appointed Lieutenant and Regimental Quartermaster in the Thirteenth Kentucky Infantry, serving in that capacity for some time; when he recruited a battalion of the Thirtieth Kentucky Infantry, and was appointed lieutenant-colonel, and held his commission until the close of the war. He saw service in Kentucky, East Tennessee, and West Virginia, and participated in many important scenes of the war. He again resumed mercantile pursuits in his native county, also, engaged in farming, and trading in live stock; and, since the organization of the Granger movement in the State, has had charge of the store and business of the Grange at Munfordsville, as general superintendent. He is a man of fine executive and business ability, of known integrity of character; is noted for his quiet determination in pursuing what he regards to be right; is conscientious and earnest in the support of his convictions; and takes an active interest in every thing relating to the public welfarc. He has, for some time, been Treasurer of the Sinking Fund for Hart County; and was, for several

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years before his election as treasurer, one of the com- missioners of the Sinking Fund for that county; and has, for some years been Treasurer of the Sinking Fund of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; for many years, he has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and, in an unostentatious way, bears his share of the responsibilities of his Church, and is ever ready to lend a helping hand to any good cause. For many years, he has been prominently identified with some of the social orders, and is one of the most useful and valuable men of his community. Before the war, he was identified with the old Whig party, and since that time has been a Republican; was a delegate from the Third Congressional District of Kentucky, to the National Union Convention, which met in Philadelphia, in 1866; was also a delegate from the district to the National Convention in Philadelphia, in 1872, that nomi- nated Gen. Grant the second time for President. Col. Craddock was married, February 24, 1874, to Miss Mary E. Richardson, daughter of A. J. Richardson, one of the first farmers of Hart County.

LLIOTT, EBENEZER NEWTON, A. M., Teacher and Clergyman, was born November 2, 1805, in Chester District, South Carolina. His parents were Ebenezer Elliott and Esther Gaston, both natives of the same district, and both belonging to old and valuable families in the history of that State. Both his grandfathers, Daniel Elliott and William Gaston, were soldiers in the great struggle for independence, and served under Gen. Marion. The Gastons were of Norman-Huguenotic ex- traction ; the Elliotts, of Scotch. Ebenezer Elliott, his father, settled in Preble County, Ohio, in 1806; was a farmer; participated in the war of 1812; and died in 1844. The subject of this sketch was raised on his father's farm, and prepared for college in the neighbor- hood schools, and in the academy of Rev. John Rey- nolds. In 1825, he entered Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio; graduated in 1829; in the Summer of this year made some geological surveys in Indiana, and was prob- ably the first to discover coal and iron in abundance in the interior of that State; in the same year he was ap- pointed Principal of the Rising Sun Academy ; held this position three ycars ; in 1832, was married to Mrs. Ann M. Willis, who had six children, and, with his large family, located at Bloomington, Indiana ; and was, for four years, Professor of Mathematics and Natural Science in Indiana State University ; this position he rc- signed in 1836, and became President of the college at Clinton, Mississippi ; in 1838, settled on a farm in Boone County, Kentucky, and devoted himself to farming and educating his family; afterwards organized, and carried

on for some time, a private school in Newport; in 1842, was elected Professor of Mathematics and Natural Science in Augusta College; filled the position four years; from 1846 to 1850, occupied the same position in Georgetown College; from 1850 to 1852, was principal of the scientific department of Oakland College, Missis- sippi; was then President of Planters' College, Port Gibson, until 1861 ; in this year entered the Confederate hospital service as a surgeon ; was at Bowling Green, Nashville, and many of the principal battle-fields of the South and West, and served throughout the war; in 1867, he was President of Ghent College, Kentucky ; was then two years at the head of Carroll Seminary, at Carrollton ; was associated with a publishing-house, in Louisville, as a partner; and, in 1871, took charge of Washington Scientific School, in Mason County, which position he now holds. He was licensed to preach, by the Presbyterian Church, in 1843, and has continued to perform the duties of the ministry, but, it is believed, without assuming regular pastoral charge, permanently, over any Church. In 1833, his Alma Mater conferred on him the degree of A. M. ; in 1849, he had conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Philosophy; and, subse- quently, that of LL. D. Professor Elliott has probably always been a Democrat in politics; has been a man of great energy and perseverance, marked by strong and admirable mental and physical traits, which are remark- ably preserved at his advanced age.

SILL, REV. JAMES MARSHALL, Clergyman, son of George Gill, was born April 1, 1827, in Davidson County, Tennessee. His family was of Scotch origin, emigrating to South Carolina at an early day in the history of the colonies. He was liberally educated, graduating at Cum- berland University in 1856, having taken full literary and theological courses. He was at once elected Presi- dent of the Cumberland Female Academy; in 1857, took charge of Green River Academy, at Elkton, Todd County, Kentucky; in the following year, was made pastor of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, in the same town, still continuing in that charge. During this period he has occasionally given his attention to teach- ing, but has chiefly devoted himself to the duties of the ministry, laboring with great earnestness and success in the cause of Christianity. He has frequently been a Commissioner to the General Assembly of his Church ; and, in 1876, was chosen Moderator of the General As- sembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of the United States, which met in that year at Bowling Green, Kentucky; and, in that capacity, gave great satisfaction ; and has, in every way, been one of the most prominent and efficient ministers of his denomination in Southern

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Kentucky. Mr. Gill was married, in 1855, to Miss Nannie L. Woodward; and, after her death, was mar- ried, in 1861, to Miss Mattie M. Bristow, daughter of the distinguished F. M. Bristow, and sister of the Ex- Secretary of the United States Treasury.

OWARD, CAPT. THOMAS H., Farmer, was born September 26, 1839, near the town of Minerva, Mason County, Kentucky. IIis par- ents were Alfred Soward and Mary Prudence Howard; the former a native of Mason, and the latter of Bracken County, Kentucky. His grandfather, Richard Soward, came from Maryland at an early day ; first settled at Bryant's Station ; served as a captain through the war of 1812, and for meritorious conduct was promoted major. Thomas H. Soward re- ceived his education at Augusta College, in Bracken County; in 1858, taught school five months, at Berlin, in that county ; then served eighteen months as deputy, in the office of the clerk of the county; and, in 1860, began reading law in the office of Judge Joseph Doni- phan, at Augusta. In the following year, he entered the United States army, as a private in Company S, Second Kentucky Union Cavalry, and served until the close of the war ; was promoted second lieutenant of his company, for meritorious conduct in the field; by rec- ommendation of Gen. Sheridan, was promoted First Lieu- tenant of Company B, of his regiment ; was subsequently promoted to the command of his company; participated in the campaigns and leading engagements of the armies of the Cumberland and the Ohio; and was aid to Gen. Sheridan in the battle of Stone river. When the war closed, he returned to Mason County, and has since been actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has never sought or held a public office, and is an Independent in politics. Religiously, Captain Soward is connected with the Baptist Church.

AYS, COL. WILLIAM H., Lawyer, was born August 26, 1820, in Washington County, Ken- tucky. His parents were William and Eleanor Hays; the former, a native of Virginia, and a farmer by pursuit; the latter, a native of Wash- ington County, Kentucky, and daughter of Da- vid Burcham, a Virginian, who settled at an early day in that county. His grandfather, William Hays, came to Kentucky, in 1779, and took refuge at IIarrod's Sta- tion, but subsequently settled in Washington County, and was one of the early Methodist preachers of the State. William HI. Hays was educated in the best sc- lect schools of his native county, and, in 1843, began to

read law, at Elizabethtown, under James W. Hays. He attended law lectures, at Glasgow, Kentucky; was admitted to the bar, in 1845; in the same year, entered on the practice of his profession, at Springfield, Ken- tucky. In 1851, he was elected County Judge of Wash- ington County; was re-elected, in 1854; in 1861, was elected to the State Legislature; in the same year, en- tered the United States army, as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry; in 1862, be- came colonel of the regiment, on the resignation of Col. John M. Harlan; served three years, and participated in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Atlanta, Jonesboro, and others; in 1865, was appointed, by Gov. Bramlette, Inspector-General of Kentucky ; performed the duties of that office eight months ; resigned, and went into oil speculation on the Cumberland river; in 1867, returned to Springfield, and resumed the practice of the law. Col. Hays is a man of splendid professional attainments, an energetic and successful business man, of fine personal and social habits, and known integrity of character. He was always a Whig, and cast his first Presidential vote for Henry Clay, and, in 1860, voted for John Bell. He has never been married.

LLEN, COL. R. T. P., was born September 26, 1813, in Baltimore County, Maryland, and is the son of Richard N. Allen and his wife, Sarah Hughes, whose ancestors emigrated from Ireland, during the rebellion of '98. Hc was appointed to West Point Military Academy, by President Jackson, in 1830, and graduated, with honor, in 1834. He was assigned to the Third Ar- tillery, but first served with the Topographical En- gineers, at Washington; in the Winter of 1836, joined his regiment, and took part in the Seminole War, in Florida; at the close of the campaign, resigned his commission in the army; accepted the appointment of civil agent for the harbor constructions in Lake Erie, under the direction of the Topographical Bureau ; in 1838, resigned that office, and accepted the position of Professor of Mathematics and Civil Engineering in Alleghany College, Meadville, Pennsylvania; in 1841, removed to Lexington, Kentucky, and occupied the same chair in Transylvania University, then under the presidency of Bishop Bascom; resigned, in 1845, having purchased the place known as Franklin Springs, six miles south of Frankfort, and opened there, in the fol- lowing Spring, the Kentucky Military Institute, having a charter from the State as a military school; conducted the institution with success, until 1848, when he passed it into the hands of the Board of Visitors; went to Cal- ifornia as agent for the Government in the establishment of the mail service, in that State and Oregon; was re-

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moved from office by President Fillmore; returned to Kentucky, and again took charge of the Military Insti- tute; in 1854, retired to his farm in Franklin County ; in 1857, went to Texas, and established Bastrop Military Institute, which he conducted with success, until the Winter of 1865, excepting two years during the war, when the school was suspended; served in the Confederate army in 1863 and 1864, as colonel of infantry; received two wounds at the engagement at Milliken's Bend, where he lost one third of his regiment, in killed and wounded, and was disabled from active duty, afterwards commanding the prison camp, near Tyler, Texas; in 1865, returned to Ken- tucky, purchased the Military Institute, and became its superintendent, conducting it until 1874, giving place to his son, Robert D. Allen, its present Principal. He has since resided on his farm, near the Institute, devoting his attention to its cultivation, and largely occupying his mind on various mechanical inventions, on which he has obtained patents from the Government, the most.im- portant of which are his type-setter and type-distributer. In 1837, he became minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, in 1844, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Col. Allen was married, about 1834, to Miss Julia H. Dickinson, of Tennessee. Their youngest son is now a lawyer in Texas.

UST, PROF. JACOB WARD, President of Bethel Female College, was born February 14, . 1819, in Logan County, Kentucky. His father and mother, Jacob and Martha Rust, were Vir- ginians, emigrated to Kentucky, and settled near the Elk Ford of Red river. Jacob W. Rust, owing to the poor circumstances of his parents, received a limited early education, but by great perse- verance, became one of the most thorough self-made scholars of the country .. He commenced teaching in 1837; from 1840 to 1844, was Principal of Mount Car- mel Academy; was subsequently in charge of the Acad- emy, at Springfield, the Clarksville (Tennessee ) Female Academy, and Lafayette Female Institute ; was also, for a time, a professor in Bethel College, at Russellville; was afterwards appointed to his present position ; has been one of the most successful educators in the State, and ranks among the first men of his profession. In the Fall of 1869, he became editor of the "Western Re- corder," and, with Rev. R. M. Dudley, was joint pro- prietor and editor until 1871, making for himself a rep- utation as one of the most ready and solid writers of the country. In addition to his newspaper work, he has written a number of valuable essays on religious, scien- tific, and literary subjects, which have attracted consid- erable attention over the country. He has been for

many years clerk of the Church District Association, and of the General Baptist Association of the State, and is one of its most efficient and active members of the Baptist Church. Mr. Rust has been three times married: first, to Miss Catharine Mahone, of Butler County ; afterwards, to Miss Mary O'Brien, of Tennes- see ; and, lastly, to Miss Mattie Grinstead, of Todd County.

EILEY, EDWARD, Lawyer, was born March 10, 1820, in Campbell County, Kentucky. His parents were William and Elizabeth (Morin) Reiley; the former a native of Washington County, Pennsylvania, and of German extrac- tion ; and the latter of Culpepper County, Vir- ginia, and of Irish and English origin. His grand- father, John Reiley, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War; emigrated to Kentucky, in 1789, landing at Lime- stone, now Maysville, but afterwards removed to Fayette County, on the Elkhorn. William Reiley, his father, yet . living, was a mechanic and farmer; was, for several years a member of the Legislature of Kentucky ; was, for some time, a magistrate in Campbell County, and was intimately connected with the early history and sub- sequent prosperity and growth of that county. His grandfather, Edward Morin, was also a soldier in the Revolution, and one of the early pioneers of Bourbon County. Edward Reiley was raised on the farm, where he worked until he came of agc. He attended the neighborhood schools, several good select schools, and, for a time, Clermont Academy, in Ohio. He chose the law for a profession ; but, in 1845, began teaching school, and was thus employed for several Winter terms, while preparing for practice, having read law, in Cincinnati, with Adam N. Riddle, Esq. In 1850, he was admitted to the bar at Cincinnati, and at once entered on his pro- fession, at Independence, Kentucky. In 1854, he re- moved to Covington, and, after a successful practice of six years' duration, he changed his residence to Canton Station, on account of impaired health. In 1867, he located at Alexandria, in Campbell County, where he has since resided, actively engaged in his profession. He was elected County Attorney for Kenton County, serving a year; and, in 1854, was elected County Judge of Kenton County, and served four years. Judge Reiley is a Republican in politics, and, during the war of the rebellion, was known as an earnest, unflinching Union man. Yet his first Presidential vote was given for James K. Polk, and his last, preceding the war, to Stephen A. Douglas. He is a man of fine personal and social habits, and of great integrity of character. He was married, November 9, 1854, to Mary J. Reddick, a native of Kenton County, and daughter of William J. Reddick, a farmer of that county.

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YTLE, JOSEPH A., Merchant, Farmer, and Judge, was born December 25, 1822, in Lincoln County, Kentucky. His parents were Robert and Rhoda Lytle; the former a native of West- ern Pennsylvania, and the latter of Lincoln County, and daughter of David Walker, a farmer, and a Virginian by birth. His grandfather, Nathaniel Lytle, was a soldier in the Revolution, and early settled in Fleming County, this State; his father, Robert Lytle, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and followed agricultural pursuits, mainly in Garrard, and afterwards in Lincoln County, where he died, in 1849. Joseph A. Lytle was raised on the farm, and attended the Winter schools of the country. At the age of six- teen, he went to learn the blacksmith trade, but, after a year or two, abandoned this and attended school for some time, at the Stanford Academy ; he was then en- gaged for a while as a teacher in Lincoln and Rock Castle Counties; in 1842, he entered a store at Mt. Vernon, as a clerk, where he remained till 1846; in that year, started business for himself at Stanford, and was engaged in general merchandising, with great success, until 1872. From 1852 till 1871, he was postmaster of Stanford, receiving his first appointment from President Fillmore, and his last from Gen. Grant, continuing through the administrations of Pierce, Buchanan, Lin- coln, and Johnson. In 1872, he retired to his farm, and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits; but, in 1874, he was elected Judge of Lincoln County, and compelled to give his time, partially, to the duties of that office. His first Presidential vote was cast for James K. Polk, and his last, preceding the civil war, to Stephen A. Douglas. He has since been a Republican, and during the war was ardently devoted to the cause of the National Government. He has long been iden- tified with the leading interests of his county; has been a successful and valuable business man, and one of the most respected and useful citizens. Mr. Lytle was mar- ried, May 2, 1849, to Elizabeth J. Maddox, a daughter of John Maddox, of Lincoln County.

GIDDINGS, REV. ROCKWOOD, Clergyman, was born August 8, 1812, in the State of New Hampshire, and, after a life only too short to fulfill its many grand promises of future good, died in the twenty-seventh year of his age. He was the son of William Giddings. In boyhood, he cared nothing for those sports which captivated his companions, but was greatly given to lonely studies and wanderings, from which peculiarities his playmates called him " the young parson." Ile received a classical education, under Dr. B. F. Farnsworth, at the New Hampton Literary Institute, preparatory to entering

college. During these early years he gained the regard of all, while his unusual talents interested his many friends. In 1829, he entered Waterville College, over which the venerable Jeremiah Chaplin, D. D., presided, 'and, in 1833, graduated. Having in his youth embraced the Christian faith, been baptized, and united with the Baptist Church, he now hesitated as to whether he ought not to adopt the ministry ; however, he declined a license to preach, which the Waterville Baptist Church had tendered him, being not yet sure in the calling to such responsible duties. He went to Virginia, began the study of medicine, then went to Warsaw, Kentucky, and there completed his medical studies. He had hcre become widely known, highly esteemed, and popular, and for many reasons had determined to locate in those parts, when an elderly physician in the State of Mis- souri, who desired to retire from a large and lucrative practice, offered him his practice at terms highly satis- factory and tempting. But he heard a louder call, from the Great Physician, and, in a letter to a friend, he said : "I can not go to Missouri, unless to preach the Gos- pel." He was shortly afterwards ordained, and preached his first sermon in the Shelbyville Baptist Church, and was immediately called to the pastorate, which, in the Winter of 1835, he assumed. This Church had been for some years without a pastor, and was therefore weak and inefficient. But, under the loving faith and energy of the new pastor, there came a new order of things, and his three years' pastorate was a brilliant one to the Church. In the Fall of 1838, he was elected President of the Baptist College at Georgetown. This institution was without a faculty or endowment, with the Board of Trustees composed of three different sects, with rival colleges springing up near it, and with several past inef- fectual efforts to reorganize its affairs ; the full difficulties of the position were well understood by him, but he determined to throw all his ability into the work of restoring that important adjunct of his Church in Ken- tucky. His congregation offered him great pecuniary inducements to remain, and obtain a substitute for the college management; but, finding him unchangeable in his determination, they raised several thousand dollars, as a part of an endowment fund for the College, and he departed to assume his new charge. Before his fervid eloquence, the old prejudice existing against "educated ministers " faded away, the vacant chairs in the faculty were filled, additional ground purchased, a new college edifice built, students soon gathered within the walls of the College, and the results of capable management were fully manifest. The nearest rival college was soon removed, and, within eight months, the President had secured eighty thousand dollars in unconditional notes, for the endowment of the College. One half of this, he set about securing in cash. IIe undertook wide journeys, ministering also, in all places, to the spiritual

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needs of the Baptists in the State. But his ever delicate constitution could not stand all the trials and shocks, and, in the midst of a sermon, in the month of October, 1839, he sank in the pulpit, and was carried to Shelby- ville, only to have his earthly trials and triumphs ter- minated by speedy death, on the 29th of October, 1839. During his ministry at Shelbyville, he married Mary, daughter of Joel Hansborough, of Shelbyville. Their happy union was early blighted by her death, one year later. She was his chosen and meet companion, and her loss, at such an early date, was a severe suffering to him. In the grounds of the College, over which for so short a time he so ably presided, the Trustees of the College erected to his memory an obelisk of Kentucky marble. In appearance, Rockwood Giddings was prepossessing ; of manly stature, with dark hair and eyes, his counte- nance expresscd benevolence and firmness. Of great judgment, prudence, dignity, and affability, he was the guide and counselor of his younger Christian followers, while to the aged brethren, he was in truth, as their pastor, "the staff of their support."

EANS, HUGH, Banker and Iron Manufacturer, was born October 14, 1812, at Spartanburg, South Carolina, and is the son of John and Ann (Williamson) Means. He received most of his education in Ohio-at West Union, Ripley, and other schools. He commenced his business life in a store with his brother, Thomas W. Means, at West Union, Ohio; and, after two or three years, joined his brother at Union Furnace, in 1831; first becoming store-keeper, and afterwards assisting in their sales of iron. In 1835, he went to Greene County, Alabama, and engaged in merchandising with his elder brother, James W. Means, who died in 1854, at Ironton, Ohio. In 1837, he returned to Ohio, to aid in settling up the affairs of his father's estate, and, after merchandising for a short time at Portsmouth, remained on the farm until 1847; when, in connection with James W. Means, John Culbertson, and William Foster, he commenced building Buena Vista Furnace, in Greenup (now Boyd) County, Kentucky. In the following year, the furnace was put in operation, and subsequently he disposed of his inter- est to Thomas W. Means, who had long previously ob- tained a controlling influence in the furnace. In 1848, he built a house at Catlettsburg, Kentucky, and removed to that place. He was one of the original charterers of the Bank of Ashland, and was its President from the time of its organization until its affairs were wound up, in 1872. He has been President of the Ashland Na- tional Bank since its foundation. As a member of the Kentucky Iron, Coal, and Manufacturing Company, he was one of the owners, organizers, and builders of the

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 49

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