The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 63

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

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ENNEDY, HON. FRANKLIN, Lawyer, was born November 3, 1817, near Paris, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. His father, Jesse Kennedy, was a native of the same county, and was a far- mer. Jesse Kennedy represented Bourbon County, for several terms, in the State Legisla- ture; was, for many years, Justice of the Peace in the county ; was commander of a brigade of pack-horses in the war of 1812; was a prominent citizen of the county, and died in 1863. His grandfather, Thomas Kennedy, was one of the early Maryland pioneers to Kentucky ; lived, for a time, in the fort at Boonesborough, and finally, after the cessation of the Indian troubles, settled in Bourbon County. y. F. Kennedy's mother was Polly (Waugh) Kennedy, a native of Fairfax County, Vir- ginia. He was raised on the farm, and inured to its hardships. His education was liberal, and was obtained chiefly at Bacon College, at Harrodsburg, Kentucky. In 1842, he commenced reading law, and prepared for his profession under Thomas Elliott, at Paris. In 1844, he was admitted to the bar, and entered upon the prac-

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tice of his profession at West Liberty, Morgan County. After three years of successful practice in the mountains, he returned to Paris, and associated with Judge Richard Hawes, who became the rebel Provisional Governor of Kentucky, during the late civil war. In 1859, he re- moved to St. Louis, where he engaged in his profession until 1866; he then returned to Kentucky, and resumed his profession at Paris, where he has since resided, and where he is justly distinguished for his ability and fidelity as a lawyer. He was elected to represent Bour- bon County, in the Legislature of the State, in 1849, and was re-elected, in 1853, serving two terms. He is now a Democrat in politics, but was, originally, an "Old-line Whig," and voted for all the Presidential candidates of that party, until its dissolution. In 1860, he voted for Bell and Everett. Mr. Kennedy is a Univer- salist, and a bachelor.

OBEY, REV. THOMAS WILLIAM, D. D., Professor of Ancient Languages in Russellville College, was born September 15, 1809, at Fort Hill, North Providence, Rhode Island. He was baptized into the Baptist Church, at Bris-

tol, Rhode Island, in 1837. After spending some time at Brown University, under the presidency of Dr. Francis Wayland, he graduated at the Columbian College, Washington City, in 1844. In 1841, he was licensed to preach, by the Lebanon Baptist Church of Lancaster County, Virginia; August 4, 1846, was ac- cepted, by the Board of Foreign Missions, as a mission- ary to China; on August 25, of the same year, was or- dained in Washington, by a called council of E Street Baptist Church, and sailed, with his wife, for China, March 11, 1847; and, arriving there in the following June, proceeded to his station at Shanghai. On account of ill health of his wife, he returned to America in 1850, and, soon after, became pastor of the Raleigh Baptist Church; and during this time, for two years, was editor of "The Biblical Recorder." In 1853, he accepted the pastorate of Yancyville and Trinity Churches, in Cas- well, North Carolina; in 1858, was pastor of Sumter- ville and Jones Creek Churches, in Sumter County, Ala- bama; in 1859, was elected Professor of Theology in Harvard College, at Marion, in that State; in 1868, re- moved to Paducah, Kentucky; and, in September, 1870, entered upon his duties as Professor of Ancient Lan- guages, at Bethel College, Russellville, Kentucky. After the war broke up the college at Marion, Alabama, he took the Professorship of Belles Lettres, in the Judson Female Institute of that city; was also engaged in teach- ing at Paducah ; and, since 1870, besides attending to his duties in the college, has devoted much time to preach- ing the Gospel. His wife, the daughter of Rev. Addi-

son Hall, of Virginia, died during their residence at Yancyville, North Carolina. Mr. Tobey has recently made a donation of several thousand dollars to the in- stitution of which he is an honored professor; and, be- sides being one of the most earnest and able ministers of his Church, is one of the first teachers of the country.

AMPBELL, HON. EDWARD P., Lawyer, was born October 21, 1832, in Caldwell County, Kentucky. His father, Samuel Campbell, was long a farmer of that county, of Scotch origin, and a native of Pennsylvania. E. P. Camp- bell received a liberal education, graduating at Cumberland College, Princeton, Kentucky, in 1854. He studied law with George B. Cook, of Princeton, and commenced practice at that place, in 1856. In 1865, he removed to Hopkinsville, where he has since resided, engaged actively in a large and successful professional business. In 1860, he was elected Commonwealth's At- torney for the Second Judicial District, and held the position eight years; in 1871, was elected to the State Senate, and, after two years' service in that body, re- signed to give his undivided attention to the increasing demands of his profession. During the darkest days of the war, he stood firmly by the cause of the Govern- ment, and has since been identified with the National Republican party. In 1872, he was nominated by his party as Presidential Elector for the State at large, but business engagements prevented his accepting. Mr. Campbell was married, in 1858, to Miss Caroline E. Taylor, daughter of Dabney Taylor, of Jefferson County, Kentucky. They have five children.

ORTON, MARMADUKE BECKWITH, Banker, was born September 13, 1796, in Louisa County, Virginia. His father was William Jor- dan Morton, a Virginia farmer, who came to Kentucky in 1815. His grandfather was Joseph Morton, an Englishman, who came to America before the Revolution ; and, although taking no part in the war, was for seven months held as a prisoner. He had only one son, William Jordan Morton. The subject of this sketch had but little school education, owing nearly all his knowledge of that character to subsequent observation and personal studies. He was raised, as a farm- er's son usually is, to hard labor. In 1819, he entered the Clerk's office in Logan County, Kentucky, as deputy, and served as such until 1829. He, meanwhile, also performed the duties of Justice of the Peace. From 1830 to 1850, he was Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts of Logan County, Kentucky. In October, 1850,

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he entered the Southern Bank of Kentucky, at Russell- ville, which had just been started, as cashier, and held that position until 1863, when its affairs were closed out. He then became a partner and cashier in the banking house of Nimrod Long & Co., at Russellville, where he has ever since remained. He united with the Methodist Church in December, 1826, and has, for more than fifty years, taken an active part in the affairs of that Church, and Ied a life consistent with his long religious profes- sion. He at one time owned fifty slaves, none of whom did he ever whip, and so highly was his kindness toward the slave race regarded by them, that no less than one thousand of them applied to him to buy them, and so bring them into his kind mastership. He was married, in 1827, to Miss Nancy Caldwell, and again, in 1838, to Miss Elizabeth Colwyn; by his first mar- riage, he had three sons, and, by his latter union, one daughter. Of his sons, Daniel Morton, who was a phy- sician, is dead; William Morton, a farmer, married a daughter of Judge C. Warren, who was also niece to Judge Hise ; David Morton is a minister of the Gospel, in Montana Territory; and Nancy, his daughter, mar- ried James H. Bowden, an able lawyer of the Logan County bar, who represented the county in the Legisla- ture one term. Marmaduke B. Morton is now an aged man, has lived more than sixty years in Logan County, a valued citizen, respected and estecmed by all; his honesty and integrity proven by many years of dealing and intercourse with his fellow-citizens, and his Chris- tian character and charity shown by the many and con- sistent acts and positions of his life. He has filled many public and official positions of trust, and always with fidelity and capability, and even now, in his old age, continues a career of wide responsibility.

ATTS, JOHN R., was born January 14, 1843, at Bardstown, Kentucky. His father, Elijah . S. Watts, followed mercantile pursuits; was a Kentuckian by birth, and of Virginia parents. His mother was Elizabeth Picksley, a native of Kentucky. His parents had twelve children, and he was their seventh child. Ile received a good En- glish education, having spent four years in St. Joseph's College, at Bardstown. At the age of sixtcen, he began business in Louisville; and, on the breaking out of the war, entered the service of the Government, under Gen. John M. Harlan; and was actively engaged in that com- mand, partieipating in the battle of Chickamauga, and various other engagements, until wounded in a skirmish at Chattanooga. On again entering the army, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the Thirty-seventh Kentucky . Mounted Infantry, serving under Gen. Bur- bridge; but was soon after eonnceted with the court, or

Judge-Advocate's, department, where he remained until the close of the war. Hc subsequently entered the house of Brinley, Dodge & Hardy, afterwards Hewitt, Field & Co., in Louisville, where he remained seven years, estab- lishing for himself a fine business reputation. In 1872, in connection with Samuel R. Chambers, he commenced business for himself, as commission merchant and dealcr in agricultural implements. He was successful from the start ; and the growth of their business made it neces- sary to seek more commodious quarters, in their present place on Main Street. They have established the largest trade in agricultural implements that has ever been car- ried on in Louisville, and their house has gained a high commercial position in that city. Mr. Watts was mar- ried, in 1867, to Miss Sallie C. Balmforth, daughter of James Balmforth, a business man of Louisville.

ORRIS, COL. JOHN DABNEY, Farmer, Law- yer, and Soldier, son of Richard Morris, a dis- tinguished lawyer of Virginia, was born Janu- ary 28, 1816, in Hanover County, Virginia. His ancestors were English and Welsh. His education was chiefly under the direction of private tutors at home, until his seventeenth year, when he entered the University of Virginia, at Charlottesville, and graduated in 1834. 1Ie soon after began the study of law, in the office of Judge Lomax, at Fredericksburg, Virginia. In the following year, he was licensed to practice, and, in the same year, located in Madison County, Mississippi, where he began business, but, in a few months, went to Texas, to join in the revolution. He entered the Texan service as a private; was ad- · vanced to a lieutenant-colonelcy; was engaged in the battle of San Jacinto; subsequently, was, with the famous Hays Texas Rangers, in other engagements; and was mustered out, at the close of the war of Texan independence. When the war closed, he settled in San Antonio, Texas, and resumed the practice of his profes- sion, with great success. He became Commonwealth's Attorney, and, in 1846, was elected to Congress from that State. At the expiration of his term, he was re- elected, and served out his second term. In 1842, he was sent as a commissioner to Mexico, to negotiate con- cerning the border difficulties; in 1844, he returned to Kentucky, to look after his inheritance; and has since remained in this State, residing chiefly near Hopkins- ville; in 1849, he was a member of the Convention, at Frankfort, for the framing of a new Constitution for the State; at the commencement of the war, he joined the Southern side, and was sent by the Confederacy to New Orleans, to take charge of some of its financial interests there; after the fall of Fort Donelson, he joined the army of the West, as a private; was afterwards sent to

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West Virginia; served on the staff of Gen. John S. | Williams; was colonel of a cavalry regiment, and par- ticipated in many important battles of the war; 'was twice a prisoner; once sentenced to death, but finally exchanged, by the special application of Jefferson Davis; and, at the close of the war, returned to Christian County, where he has since remained, engaged in farm- ing and the practice of law. He is a fine lawyer; but his circumstances render his professional efforts of less concern to himself, and enable him to take life easily. He has rare executive ability, is extremely social and genial in his manners, is broad and liberal in his views and practices, is of decidedly fine appearance, is greatly attached to his family and friends, and is a universally esteemed and valuable member of the community. Col. Morris was married, in 1845, to Miss Margaret Lewis Merriwether, daughter of Dr. Charles Merriwether, of Albemarle County, Virginia. They have two children : Richard E. Morris is a merchant of Memphis, Tennes- see; and their daughter, Mary, is the wife of Thomas M. Barker, a farmer of Christian County.

AYLOR, LEONARD W., M. D., was born February 22, 1823, in Lexington, Kentucky. His grandfather, Leonard Taylor, was a Vir- ginian, and a soldier in the Revolutionary War; emigrated to Kentucky about 1790, and settled at Harrod's Fort, now Harrodsburg, in Mercer County, where he afterwards became a successful farmer, and remained during his life. Leonard Taylor, his father, was born at Harrod's Fort, in 1794, and became one of the most active, successful, worthy, and influen- tial merchants, and one of the most esteemed and valua- ble citizens of Lexington, where he died in 1865. The subject of this sketch received his education at Lafayette Seminary, then in charge of the venerable Beverly A. Hicks; and, soon after leaving school, began the study of medicine, in the office of Dr. Lloyd Warfield, then one of the leading physicians of Lexington. After three years' study with Dr. Warfield, he entered the medical department of Transylvania University, attended two full courses of lectures, and graduated in 1845, receiving the degree of M. D. In the Winter of the same year, he commenced practice in Carrollton, Carroll County, Ken- tucky, where he remained for twenty-eight years, in ac- tive and successful practice, more than realizing, in every sense, the most sanguine expectations of himself and friends; his practice extending over a vast territory in the vicinity of his home, and bringing in a large number of patients from abroad. In 1873, he removed to Louisville, Kentucky, with a view to lessening his heavy country professional work; and here his former good fortune, and many of his former patrons, followed

him. Dr. Taylor was married, in 1849, to Miss Mary F. Malin, daughter of Judge Joseph Malin, of Vevay, In- diana. They have five sons and one daughter, all living.

ELM, HUBBARD D., Farmer and Politician, was born February 21, 1822, in Newport, Ken- tucky. His parents were Francis T. and Sallie B. Helm; the former a native of Virginia, the latter of the District of Columbia. His father was a son of William Helm, a captain in the Revolutionary army; was a midshipman in the navy, during the early part of the war of 1812; was afterwards transferred to the army, with the rank of lieutenant ; came to Kentucky in 1817, and located at Newport ; was the first Mayor of that city ; was, for fifteen years, Deputy Clerk of Campbell County ; was, for a number of years, postmaster of Newport; and died in 1872. His mother, Sallie B. Mckinney, was the daughter of Col. John McKinney, a native of New Jersey ; an officer in the Revolutionary War, afterwards in the regular army, and was stationed at Newport, Kentucky, in 1816. Hubbard D. Helm was educated in Cincinnati, and in the schools of his native county; and, at man- hood, turned his attention to farming, to which he has since largely given his energies. In 1856, he was first elected Sheriff of Campbell County ; re-elected in 1858; again elected in 1864, and re-elected in 1866, 1868, and 1870; was Master Commissioner of the Chancery Court of Campbell County, from 1860 to 1862; and, in 1869, was admitted to the bar, but has never practiced law. In politics, Mr. Helm has always been a Democrat of the straitest school; and has been a power in his party, at times absolutely controlling the politics of his county. In 1860, he voted for Stephen A. Douglas ; but, during the civil war, stood on the side of the South in principle and sympathy. Religiously, he is connected with the Catholic Church.

ITHIAN, WASHINGTON, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born January 8, 1825, in Sa- lem County, New Jersey. His parents were Joel and Sarah Dick (Sinickson) Fithian. His father, Dr. Joel Fithian, was a native of New Jersey ; in 1831, moved to Oxford, Ohio, and followed the medical profession through life. His mother was daughter of Thomas Sinickson, of New Jersey ; and members of both families were officers or soldiers in the war of the Revolution, and were among the early set- tlers of New Jersey. The subject of this sketch received a liberal education, mainly at Miami University, at Ox- ford, Ohio, where he graduated in 1845. In that year,

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Oliver P. Hill

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he began the study of medicine ; prepared for his pro- fession under his father, at Oxford; attended lectures regularly, and graduated in the Ohio College of Medi- cine, at Cincinnati, in 1848. In the same year he located at North Middletown, Kentucky, and entered upon the practice of his profession. He established a valuable and successful practice at North Middletown, and remained there fifteen years. In 1864, he removed to Paris, where he has since resided, after a short stay, in the preceding year, at Shelbyville. He has held no political offices; has given his time and energies to his profession, to which he has been greatly attached, and in which he occupies an enviable position. He is a . member of the Licking Valley Medical Society; has contributed with his pen to the medical literature of the day ; and has, by his practice and life, been an advocate of the most elevated standard for the noble profession. In politics, he is an independent. His first Presidential vote was cast for Gen. Taylor, and he voted with the Whig party during its existence. At the election pre- ceding the war, he voted for Bell and Everett. During the rebellion, he was an earnest Union man, and was several months a surgeon in the Federal army. Relig- iously, he is associated with the Methodist Church; and through life has been distinguished for his great integ- rity of character, and his exceptional personal, social, and professional habits. Dr. Fithian was married, Sep- tember 18, 1850, to Lucinda Hutchcraft, a native of Bourbon County, and daughter of Reuben Hutchcraft, farmer of that county.

ILL, OLIVER PERRY, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, son of John and Malinda Hill, was born March 2, 1814, in Garrard County, Ken- tucky. Both of his parents were natives of the same county. Malinda Pollard, his mother, was the daughter of Absalom Pollard, one of the early settlers of Garrard County, and member of a family long distinguished in the history of Virginia. His father was a substantial farmer, and son of William Hill, a Virginian pioneer, who went out in the war of 1812, and died, in 1814, from sickness contracted in the serv- ice. Dr. Hill remained on the farm until his twenty- first year, in the mean time acquiring a fair education in the select schools of the county. In 1835, he began to read medicine at Lexington, under the direction of Dr. William Pawling; after a thorough preparation, he attended lectures and graduated in medicine at Tran- sylvania University, in 1838; in the same year, located, for the practice of his profession, in his native county ; now resides at Lancaster; established a large and valu- able practice ; stands in the front rank of his profession ; has been eminently successful, and stands deservedly

high in the community, professionally, and as a valuable citizen. He has never sought political preferment in any way, devoting his energies to his profession, in which he has always taken a deep interest. In 1860, he voted for Bell and Everett, the anti-war or Union candidates for President and Vice-President of the United States, but is now identified with the Demo- cratic party. His first Presidential vote was cast for Martin Van Buren. Dr. Hill was married, July 5, 1838, to Miss Elizabeth Edna Salter, of Garrard County, and daughter of Michael Salter, a soldier in the war of the Revolution, and one of the pioneer farmers of that county.

HOMAS, EDMUND PENDLETON, Lawyer, was born in Shelby County, Kentucky, May 9, 1798. His father, Roland Thomas, brother of John P. Thomas, for many years Treasurer of Kentucky, also brother of Edmund Thomas, the first Register of Kentucky, was once Clerk to the State House of Representatives, and Clerk of the County and Circuit Courts of Henry County from 1799 to 1827, the time of his death. His mother was Kate Johnston, niece of Judge Edmund Pendleton, of Virginia, and of John Taylor, of Caroline County, Vir- ginia. The subject of this sketch was a classmate, at school, in Frankfort, with Thomas F. Marshall, and Judge White, of Florida. At the age of fourteen, his public career began, as deputy in the Circuit and County Courts of Henry County, and, in that capacity he served until 1827, when he was appointed Clerk of both courts, and continued without interruption to hold the office, until 1862. In the Winter of 1824, he was Assistant Clerk of the State Senate. In 1862, on leaving the office he had filled so long, with such great credit to himself, and so acceptably to the people, he commenced the practice of the law. For nearly fifty years he had been in the best of law schools, and now commenced practice with an uncommon experience, and a fund of information which might not be gathered in the entire life of the average lawyer. In 1866, he was again elected Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts, and remained in the office until 1874, now having held the office several years over half a century, and presenting an instance of one of the most remarkable official careers on record in the history of the country. During much of his official life he was a farmer, and was probably one of the most extensive and successful in the State. He sowed the first blue grass ever put out in the county of Henry. In farming and 'stock-raising, as in every thing else, he exhibited great judgment and taste, and here too, as elsewhere in his remarkable career, the spirit of romance and poetry pervaded his life and work. On entering the legal profession proper, in 1862, he was as-

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sociated with Judge William S. Pryor, now of the Court of Appeals; and afterwards with Judge Samuel De Haven; and, lastly, with Judge George C. Drane, of the Circuit Court. During his long official career, he never drew a bond, or issued a process, that was suc- cessfully assailed, and so methodic was his whole life that he could now enter the Clerk's office and find any paper on file without index or alphabet. He was Sheriff of Henry County, in 1820 and 1821, and has been largely identified with all matters of importance in the county for three-quarters of a century-whole genera- tions of business men having come and passed away during the active business period of his life. But prob- ably, after all, his greatest work was done in the Church. When there were but twelve persons in the county be- longing to the Disciples' Church, he espoused its cause, in 1830, and, by his own personal efforts, and his great liberality in the use of his means, it has risen to be by far the most powerful Church in the county, now numbering one thousand four hundred and fifty members. He has made several fortunes and spent them, mainly for the Church and the community. So largely has his liber- ality influenced his whole life, that, in his business, he has never attempted the collection of a fee-bill by placing it in the hands of an officer for that purpose. He has found time in his long business life to cultivate his lik- ing for literature and science, having read over a vast field; and, above all, to enliven and enrich his great native taste for the beautiful and noble in the open book of nature, and to keep his own spirit in harmony with the unwritten music and poetry of creation. He is an orator of great magnetic force and uncommon beauty of diction, with a splendid presence, and an earnestness that is overpowering. In the ministry, he would have been a Whitefield, a Williams, or a Spurgeon. This is but a brief sketch of one of the most remarkable men of the country, whose life has been mixed of strange, uncommon, noble, and generous elements, and yet not always free from eccentric and daring freaks; a man whose whole life is an interesting study. Standing two inches over six feet high, he is as full of vivacity as the ordinary business man of fifty; with great powers of physical en- durance and mental activity, hardly ever having had a pain, or been afflicted with an ill usually falling to the lot of man. In politics, he is a Democrat, and still takes an active interest in political affairs, and is alto- gether one of the most remarkable men living in Henry County. Mr. Thomas was marricd, February 19, 1819, to Miss Mary S. Johnston, daughter of Major Thomas Johnston, who represented Shelby County, for several years, in the State Legislature, and was a major in the war of 1812. They have had eight children, five of whom are now living. Edmund, their son, is assistant Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts of Louisville, and a man of splendid business and social attainments.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 63

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