The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 58

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

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URROWS, REV. J. LANSING, Clergyman, was born in New York in 1814, and is the son of Captain Samuel Burrows, who commanded the American ship "Privateer," in the war of 1812, making many successful cruises against the enemy; commanded the first steamboat which ran from Pittsburg to New Orleans, after the close of that war; and died of yellow fever, at Mobile, in 1822. His mother was a Lansing, of the old Knicker- bocker stock, descended from one of the first Dutch families. While a boy, he became a ward of his grand- father, Nathaniel Burrows, of Bucks County, Pennsyl- vania, who educated him with great care. He was prepared for college, at Germantown, by Rev. Dr. Jump- kin; afterwards studied under Dr. Nott, and subsequently at Andover, Massachusetts. In 1835, he was ordained a minister of the Baptist Church at Poughkeepsie, and at once became assistant pastor of a Church in New York City. In 1836, he removed to Kentucky, and was, for a time, assistant teacher at Shelbyville ; con- ducted a female school at Elizabethtown for some time; and afterwards organized the Baptist societies at Owens- boro and Henderson, serving both as pastor. In 1840, he became pastor of Sansom Street Church, Philadel- phia, remaining until 1844. In that year, a colony of the Church built the Broad Street Baptist Church, of which he remained the pastor for ten years. In 1854, he was called to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church, of Richmond, Virginia, remaining in charge for twenty years, and took a leading part in all the affairs of that Church in the State. He was Superin- tendent of the Baptist Memorial Enterprise, having for its object the endowment of the college at Richmond, and the erection of a monument to the memory of the

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early Virginia Baptists, conducting the financial inter- ests of the enterprise with great success. During the late war, he participated with the people in their suffer- ings, and was every-where present in every good word and work. In 1874, he returned to Kentucky, and was in- stalled pastor of the Louisville Broadway Baptist Church, where he has since remained, actively and earnestly en- gaged in his pastoral duties. He has written quite exten- sively on the history and other matters connected with his Church, and many of his fine discourses have been pub- lished. He is a man of broad views; exceedingly social and genial in his manners; is a preacher of great ability; and not only stands high in his own denomination, but is held in high esteem universally, as one of the most conscientious, learned, and strong men of his Church.

'ULBERTSON, HON. WILLIAM WIRT, Iron Manufacturer, Soldier, and Legislator, son of Samuel and Mary A. ( Kennedy) Culbertson, was born September 23, 1835, in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. His father was a merchant, and became an iron manufacturer in Ohio and Ken- tucky; was prominently identified with the iron interest of these States; and, besides being a thorough business man, was eminently characterized for his moral, relig- ious, and social worth. He died in 1865, in Adams County, Ohio. The Kennedys and Culbertsons were of Scotch origin, and emigrated to America as early in the history of the country as 1700. Mary A. Kennedy, his mother, was the daughter of a Quaker merchant, of Philadelphia. W. W. Culbertson received his education from private tutors, and in the best schools of Ironton, Ohio. He early became a clerk in his father's store, at Greenup Furnace, in Greenup County, Kentucky, his father subsequently removing to West Union, Ohio. He had now become greatly attached to furnace life, and, soon leaving West Union, became store-keeper at Clinton Furnace; book-keeper at Vinton Furnace (in which his father then had an interest); and, subsequently, manager at Ohio Furnace, Scioto County, Ohio. In 1861, at Ironton, he raised a company composed of men of both sides of the Ohio, and, as its captain, went into the Twenty-seventh Ohio Infantry, it taking the posi- tion of Company F, the same as that of his brother, Capt. K. R. Culbertson, in the Ninety-first Regiment. His first action was at Lexington, Missouri, and next with Gen. Pope, at Blackwater, in that State. He was at the siege of Corinth; in the battle of Iuka; in the second battle of Corinth; left Memphis, Tennessee, with Sherman's column, for Chattanooga; was mustered out in the Spring of 1864, having enlisted for three years, been nearly all the time in active service, and engaged in many important scenes of the war. He returned from

the army, and immediately took charge of Pine Grove Furnace, first remodeling, and then putting it to work, at an actual increase of fifty per cent over any for- mer yield. But he had established his reputation before the war, in this direction. During his connection with the management of Ohio Furnace, the actual production and business of the furnace increased fifty per cent, with a great reduction in the cost per ton. And at Vinton Furnace, new when his connection with it began, he made a similarly fine record. In the Winter of 1864, he and his brother, Capt. K. R. Culbertson, took charge of Buena Vista Furnace, Kentucky, and spent twenty-five thousand dollars in putting it in fine working condition, in which its yield was greater and better than in any other furnace in the Kentucky Hanging Rock region. This furnace is now owned by Culbertson, Means, and Culbertson, and he is its general financier and superin- tendent. He is now engaged, with his brother, in build- ing the new furnace, "The Princess," located ten miles from Ashland, on the Lexington and Big Sandy Railroad, and also owned by Culbertson, Means, and Culbertson. He is one of the stockholders in the Norton Iron Works, and is one of the proprietors of Cherokee Iron Works, in Alabama. In "The Princess," it is designed to manu- facture iron from native ores with stone coal, and without the admixture of foreign ores, this being a radical de- parture from the former methods. He first introduced the Davis Hot Blast, at Ohio Furnace, and he was mainly instrumental in the change of the form of the furnace, pro- ducing an average of between fifteen and sixteen tons a day, instead of eight or nine, as formerly done. This change in the form, the application of the blast, and other improvements, he has carried to a high state of perfection in other furnaces; and, by his freedom from old customs, iron superstitions, his fine judgment, and great energy, has chiefly been the means of work- ing a revolution, in the last fifteen years, greatly . to the benefit of the iron interests of the coun- try. He is a stockholder in the Big Sandy Packet Company, running the line of boats from Cincin- nati to Huntington, and other lines from Cincinnati up the Ohio. He built and started the ferry at Ashland, which was originally designed more as an accommodation to the people than an investment for profit, but has turned out to be, in addition, a valuable investment to the owners. In 1871, he removed to Ashland, and has since been connected with most matters of interest to the town, serving in the Council, and otherwise being prominent in its affairs. In 1871, he was the Republican candidate for the Lower House of the Legislature, representing the counties of Boyd and Carter. The vote resulted in an apparent tie, and was left to the lot of the Sheriffs (one Democrat and one Republican) of the two counties, who disagreed, and both candidates went up to the Legislature with

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certificates of election. The House treated it as a contested case, and, although the Committee found a majority of one for him, they assumed the existence of three illegal votes in his favor, so giving the seat to his Democratic opponent. In 1873, two weeks before the election, he became the Republican candidate for the State Senate, and was elected, over Hon. K. F. Pritchard, of Catlettsburg. In 1876, he was a delegate to the Cincinnati Convention, that nominated Gen. R. B. Hayes for the Presidency. He is a man of most energetic, active temperament ; of great strength of character ; pursues his purpose unfalteringly ; holds to a principle, once determined upon, to the last; is without show or demonstration; wishes great latitude himself, and accords the same to others; is a most active and valu- able citizen; is naturally a business man ; and is, doubt- lessly, one of the foremost iron men of his section. Capt. Culbertson was married, February 23, 1865, to Miss S. J. Means, daughter of Thomas W. Means, the celebrated iron manufacturer, of Hanging Rock, Ohio. She died in 1874.

CHURCHILL, HON. ARMISTEAD HENRY, was born near Louisville, October 19, 1796. His parents were Virginians, of English origin; the Churchills, emigrating as early as 1672, settled in Middlesex County, on the Rappa- hannock river. His grandfather, Armistead Churchill, came to Kentucky, in 1785, and settled at the falls of the Ohio. His mother was Penelope Pope, whose family settled about the Falls, and many of them became quite prominent in the affairs of the State. His father, Henry Churchill, was a farmer, but many of the Churchills, like the subject of this sketch, have been influential in the State, and risen to considerable conse- quence. Our subject, for many years, attended the neighborhood schools, chiefly in Louisville. At the age of seventeen, he was sent to Transylvania University, at Lexington, where he remained two and a half years, then commenced the study of law with his uncle, John Pope, of Lexington. In February, 1818, at the age of twenty-one, he received his license, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice at Elizabethtown, where he has since resided. He practiced with great success and growing popularity until 1832, when he was elected to the State Senate. But in that body he served only one session. February, 1833, he was appointed Circuit Judge for the Thirteenth Judicial District of the State, and resigned his position in the Senate, to which he had been elected for four years. This office he held for nearly fifteen years, with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the community. Owing to failure of health, to the regret of his friends, he resigned, in 1847. In office, he was characterized for great fairness and

urbanity, dealing out justice on every hand regardless of state or standing. He was always an Old-line Whig, and, when the war came on, placed himself on the side of the Union, and maintained his position through all the vicissitudes and trials of the times. Although one of the most positive and decided men in all his princi- ples and notions, his great native courtesy, and deference for the opinions of others, prevented his appearing dif- ferent from his neighbors, in whose troubles and misfor- tunes he deeply sympathized. In politics as in every thing else, he is a man of decided and unwavering principle, without show or offense. As in public, his private life is marked by the same exactness and purity, having every-where, through a remarkably long public and social career, a stainless record. His fondness for home has given him great opportunities for mental cul- ture, and his long term of official life gave him unlim- ited facilities for observing human nature, and doubt- lessly few men now live in the country who have been so generally well informed. He has not only been a moral but a religious man, devoting much of his time to the interests of the Episcopal Church, to which he be- longs, and in which he is, in a certain sense, the sum and substance, at least in Elizabethtown. He has been con- cerned in most of the affairs of interest that have oc- curred in his community for over a half century ; and now, at the uncommon age of eighty, lives in fine health and great comfort, surrounded by friends and bearing only honors with him along the smoothly running cur- rent of time. He is a man of fine address, affable man- ners, and dignified bearing; stands erect, over six feet in height, his whole figure being commanding and admirable. Few men of such great age in all the land may justly claim such a combination of mental, moral, and physical traits. Judge Churchill was four times married : May 7, 1818, to Elizabeth Crutcher, of Eliza- bethtown, Kentucky ; August 7, 1835, to Mrs. Maria H. Blanton, daughter of Achilles Sneed, of Frankfort, for many years Clerk of the Court of Appeals; December 29, 1845, to Miss Mary Ellen Lancaster, daughter of John Lancaster, of Marion County; November 3, 1851, to Mrs. Anna M. Forde (née Miss Sthreshly), of Louis- ville. His last wife is now living. He has but two living children : Mary Ellen, living at home; and Mal- vina, who is the wife of Judge Lancaster, of Elizabeth- town.

LASS, OWEN, M. D., Physician and Banker, son of Robert and Sarah (Owen) Glass, was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, January 5, 1799. His parents were natives of Prince Ed- wards Court IIouse, Virginia; and emigrated to Kentucky about 1796, and settled on a farm in Shelby County. The subject of this sketch received his

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education in the schools of that county, and, at the age of eighteen, began the study of medicine, under Drs. Moore and Nuckols, of Shelbyville. In 1820, he went to Henderson, and renewed his professional studies with Dr. Levi Jones. In 1822, he graduated in Transylvania University, and at once began a lucrative practice at Henderson. As a physician, he was very successful, and established and held the largest medical practice of the day in his community, until failing health compelled him to entirely abandon his profession. In 1850, on the organization of the Henderson branch of the Farm- ers' Bank of Kentucky, he was elected its president, and continued to fill the position until his death, December 29, 1859. He was an accomplished and successful phy- sician, adding luster and respectability to his profession ; an energetic and valuable business man; and was long an officer in the Presbyterian Church of Henderson, where he is still remembered as a worthy and exemplary Christian. Dr. Glass was three times married : Septem- ber 10, 1822, to Miss 'Martha J. Terry ; April 9, 1840, to Miss Lucy J. Barbour; February 6, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth H. Dixon.

EBB, HON. BENJAMIN J., Editor and Pub- lisher, was born in Bardstown, Nelson County, Kentucky, February 25, 1814. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, but emigrated to Kentucky about 1790. Both of his parents were of English extraction, and his mother was descended from one of the early Catholic families who came with Lord Baltimore to Maryland. The subject of this sketch was educated at St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, and, after the death of his father, at the age of sixteen, entered the office of the Louisville "Jour- nal," to learn the printing business, under the famous George D. Prentice. After completing his apprenticeship, he remained a year or more, as a journeyman printer, in the "Journal " office. In 1836, he became the editor of the " Catholic Advocate," of Bardstown, Ken- tucky. In 1841, he removed to Louisville, and there continued the publication of the "Advocate" until 1847, when he left that paper, and connected himself with Henry J. Peters, in the business of publishing music. In 1848, under the firm name of Peters, Webb & Co., they commenced the manufacture of pianos, and in this business he still continues his interest. In 1855, he first became known as a writer, outside of his con- nection with the "Catholic Advocate." In that year, he wrote a series of letters, addressed to George D. Prentice. These letters brought him into general notice, by their opposition to the Know-Nothing party of that day, and his defense of his fellow-Catholics from the groundless assaults of the Know-Nothings. These let-

ters at first appeared in the Louisville "Journal," but were afterwards published in book form, and passed through several editions. In 1867, he was complimented by his fellow-citizens, without opposition, with a seat in the State Senate; and, in 1871, was again elected to the same position, and served out his term. During his mem- bership in the Legislature, he distinguished himself by his speeches in opposition to the Louisville Metropolitan Police Bill; in favor of the law giving negroes the right to testify in the courts of the State; in favor of a more stringent law for suppressing Ku-Kluxism in the State ; in opposition to the continuance of the lottery franchise to the Public Library of Kentucky. He has written much for the newspaper press of Louisville, and was chief editor of the "Guardian," a religious journal, es- tablished in that city, in 1858; was also joint editor of the "Catholic Advocate," resurrected in Louisville, in 1869. In 1868, he received a commission from the Legislature to prepare the biographies of Governors L. W. Powell and John L. Helm. These biographies were published at the expense of the State, and were received with general commendation, forming a monument to the judgment and literary ability of the author scarcely less to be envied than that which they were designed to build up for the preservation of the memories of two of our most worthy and able State executives.

ROWN, HON. GEORGE N., Lawyer and Mer- chant, son of Richard and Frances ( Haney) Brown, was born September 22, 1822, on the present site of Huntington, in Cabell County, West Virginia, and is of English origin. He spent some time in Marshall Academy, and in the schools of the county, and finished his education in Augusta College, at Augusta, Kentucky. He studied law with Judge James M. Rice, at Louisa, Kentucky ; and, in December, 1844, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice at Pikeville, Kentucky, where he remained until 1860, when he removed to Catlettsburg. In 1849, he was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, representing the counties of Floyd, Pike, and Johnson. In 1852, he was elected Attorney for Pike County; was re-elected, and held the position until 1860. In 1870, he was appointed, by the Legislature, as one of the Commissioners of the Big Sandy river im- provements, for the expenditure of $75,000; and, in 1874, as the regular Democratic candidate, made the race for Circuit Judge of the Sixteenth Judicial District, but was defeated by Judge William Ireland, of Ashland, the Independent candidate, in one of the most exciting canvasses ever made in Eastern Kentucky. Mr. Brown was originally a Whig, but, since 1855, has been a Democrat. Besides carrying on his legal practice, he

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has been, for several years, most successfully concerned in mercantile interests, and has been prominently con- nected with the business affairs and improvements of the town. For many years he was President of the town Board of Trustees; and is now President of the Ashland Pike Company; and is one of the most energetic, liberal- spirited, and useful men in the community. Mr. Brown began his profession without means, in one of the most unfavorable localities of the State, and, by rare business tact and ability, great perseverance and honesty, has be- come wealthy. He is unpretentious in all his habits; is a friend to the poor, to the town, and to every good cause ; and makes no show of his interest ; is enthusias- tic, however, in any cause, and gives it force by his advocacy ; and is himself of umblemished reputation, in private and before the world. Mr. Brown has been twice married; in 1847, to Miss Sophia Cecil, daughter of Thomas Cecil, of Pike County. They had four children, all living. In 1857, he was married to Miss M. J. Poage, of Greenup County. They have four liv- ing children. One of his sons, Thomas R. Brown, is a lawyer of Catlettsburg; Margaret is the wife of Rev. John D. McClintock, of Columbus, Mississippi; and his daughter Nannie F. is the wife of A. L. Martin, a lawyer of Prestonburg.

HULTZ, CHRISTIAN, Merchant, Trader, and Manufacturer, was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, February 10, 1787. When about eighteen years of age, he came to Ripley, Ohio; but soon after located at Maysville, Kentucky. He was naturally disposed to be a trader, and early ran away from home to commence business for him- self. He at once began trading in whisky, hogs, and any thing he could turn to advantage, and was remark- ably successful from the first. His business in Maysville was chiefly conducted on the street and at his residence, having no store or office. Although he manufactured whisky for a short time successfully, yet really his first ostensible business in Maysville was flour-making, hav- ing one mill in that place, and buying the productions of all the mills for fifty or a hundred miles around. In 1835, he started a bagging manufactory in Maysville; and, several years afterwards, originated the scheme of buying up and controlling the entire bagging interests of the nation. He then had an extensive commission house (that of Shultz & Hadden) in New Orleans, and through that he attempted to carry out the vast scheme; but, after having involved a million and a half dollars, and some of his factors throughout the States failing, he finally abandoned the adventure, when its fulfillment was almost within his grasp. His adventures were often on an astonishingly large scale, embracing in a single

transaction a half million dollars. He was one of the originators of the Maysville and Lexington pike, and was director in the company during his life. He went side by side with A. M. January and others in the pub- lic improvements of his day; and to him, and some of his Maysville contemporaries, Kentucky largely owes the origination of, and first impetus given to, public im- provements in the State. Although not a member of any Church, he was a patron of all Churches, and a sup- porter and advocate of all public and private morals. He was, politically, an "Old-line Whig;" and, when the war of secession began, like most of the solid old heads of the country, he became an earnest supporter of the Union, and a leading worker in the ranks of the great National Republican party. He lived to see the successful end of the great struggle in favor of his country ; accumulated a fortune; was of immense service to the community and State in which he lived; and died, much beloved, at Maysville, July 26, 1867. He did business on a grand scale; and was, doubtless, one of the most virtuous, generous, and useful men Maysville ever had; and probably no man in that community ever died more regretted. He was, likely, of German origin, as his name probably indicates; a man of fine appearance, over the average size, and of great force of body and will. His educational advan- tages were limited, but his native ability carried him through a successful life. February 22, 1816, Mr. Shultz was married to Charlotte, daughter of Gen. Henry Lee, of Mason County, Kentucky. Four of their children are now living. Their son, Richard H. Shultz, resides in Monmouth, Illinois; one daughter is the wife of Charles B. Pearce, Esq., of Maysville; and the others are wives to J. B. Pointz, and J. S. Chenoweth, of Mason County.

PILMAN, JAMES, Merchant and Banker, was born, March 7, 1830, in Culpepper County, Virginia, and is the son of George and Eliza- beth (Norris) Spilman. His parents were both Virginians. His father followed agricultural pursuits, and moved, with his family, to Kenton County, Kentucky, in 1843. James Spilman received a good English education, and, at the age of seventeen, began clerking in a store in Covington, where he has since resided, and taken a position among its most en- terprising and successful business men. In 1871, he organized the German National Bank, which is still under his management. From 1862 to 1871, he was a Director in the Northern Bank of Kentucky; was City Treasurer in 1856, '57, and '58; has been actively iden- tified with the best interests of his community; is an earnest working member of the Presbyterian Church, and is one of the most influential and enterprising mem-

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bers of the community. Mr. Spilman was marricd, March 4, 1845, to Arabella S. Chowning, daughter of John Chowning, of Harrison County, Kentucky. He has five children.

HORNTON, GEORGE W., M. D., son of Dr. George A. and Frances Thornton, was born March 2, 1815, at Alexandria, Virginia. His father was a prominent physician of that city. His mother was a daughter of Col. John Thorn- ton, of the Revolutionary army, and his wife, Jane Washington, a niece of Gen. Washington. Dr. Thornton was educated at Kenyon College, Ohio. He graduated, in medicine, at the University of Penn- sylvania, in 1836; in the following year, located, for the practice of his profession, in Kanawha County, Virginia; in 1851, removed to Newport, Kentucky, where he has since resided. He has never been a politician; has given his entire attention to the du- ties of his profession ; has established a large and val- uable practice, and been an earnest, careful, and suc- cessful physician. He has always been prominently connected with the local medical organizations, and is universally esteemed, professionally and as a citizen. Dr. Thornton was married, December 8, 1846, to Mar- garet Hamilton, of Virginia, and daughter of George Hamilton, an extensive farmer of that State. Their son, R. H. Thornton, is now a promising young phy- sician of Newport.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 58

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