The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 64

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

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LAUGHTER, GOV. GABRIEL, was born in Virginia, in 1767, and, while a boy, came to Kentucky, and located in Mercer County. He commanded a regiment of Kentucky troops in the battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815 ; was elected Lieutenant-Governor in 1816, and, after the death of Gov. Madison, occupied the Gubernatorial chair until the end of the term. He appointed John Pope Secretary of State, and, owing to some prejudices then entertained towards that gentleman, the question of re-election of a Governor on the death of an incum- bent of that office was agitated over the State; but he maintained his position, and, after the resignation of Mr. Pope, until the close of his term, performed the duties of Secretary of State himself. He was a member of the Baptist Church; was generally a delegate to its conventions; and was one of the most influential and valuable members of that denomination. Gov. Slaugh- ter died on his farm in Mercer County, in 1830.

TEVENSON, REV. EDWARD, Clergyman, son of Thomas and Sarah Stevenson, was born October 3, 1797, in Mason County, Kentucky. He received a limited education, but became familiar with the English branches, and made some progress in the study of Latin. He early united with the Methodist Church, and soon felt it his duty to preach the Gospel, delivering his first sermon in his father's house; from that period, became a leader in his community. Although possessing a fine personal ap- pearance, and great powers as an exhorter and singer, his defective education prevented his joining the Conference until he was twenty-three years of age. He was ad-

mitted on trial in 1820, and appointed to the Lexington Circuit, with Nathaniel Harris and Samuel Demint. In 1821, he was stationed on the Greenbrier Circuit ; in the following year, to the Bowling Green Circuit. At the Conference of 1823, he was appointed to the Bowling Green and Russellville Station, his reputation already preceding him, at every point, as one of the most powerful preachers in the country; and, from the time of his advent in Russellville, Methodism made rapid progress. In 1824, he was appointed to Russellville only ; and now, taking rank among the first ministers of his connection, was appointed to the most important stations in the State, ministering for the Churches at Lexington, Frankfort, Shelbyville, Maysville, and Louis- ville, making for himself every-where a warm place in the affections of the people. In 1834, he was stationed at Mount Sterling, Kentucky; and, while in charge of that Church, became quite a controversialist, de- fending the doctrines of his Church, with great ability, against the advance of the new religious movement,

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headed by Alexander Campbell. From Mount Ster- ling, he returned to Lexington; and was afterwards stationed at Danville, and Harrodsburg. In 1839, he was stationed at Hopkinsville; the following year, at Russellville; and, in 1841, was placed in charge of the Hopkinsville District, extending to the mouth of the Cumberland river and to the Tennessee line. He passed over this extensive field, preaching with all the animation of youth and the fervor of the early apostles, being received every-where with the greatest delight ; and, during his four years' residence in that district, eleven hundred members were added to the Church. He next took charge of the Brook Street Station, in Louisville, and, in 1853, was Presiding Elder of the East Louisville District. At the General Conference, in 1846, he was elected Secretary of the Missionary Society, and also Assistant Book Agent; took charge of the Book Concern of the West, then lo- cated at Louisville; and, in 1854, when the Southern Methodist Publishing House was located in Nashville, Tennessee, he was elected as the principal Agent. Al- though uneducated to business habits, he managed the affairs of the agency with great skill, meeting the hearty approbation of the Church ; but, feeling no longer able to serve the Church in that capacity, was relieved, by his urg- ent request, in 1858, being appointed in that year, by the General Conference, to the Presidency of the Russellville Collegiate Institute, presiding over its affairs with satis- faction until his death. Born and reared in the South, during the great civil war his sympathy was with that section, and he shared with his friends the calamities of the times. He was a member of the General Confer- ence, in 1836; again, in 1844; was a member of the Convention at Louisville, in 1845; of the General Con- ference of 1846, and of every succeeding Conference un- til his death. Mr. Stevenson was twice married. His first wife died in 1839, and his second survived him. He died July 6, 1864, in Russellville, Kentucky.

LAY, HON. BRUTUS J., Agriculturist, was born July 1, 1808, in Madison County, Ken- tucky. He was educated at Centre College, Danville; and, in 1837, settled in Bourbon County, where he has since engaged exten- sively in farming, and in raising choice breeds of cattle, being one of the most extensive fine-stock breeders in Central Kentucky. In 1840, he was elected to the State Legislature; was elected President of the Bourbon County Agricultural Society, about the same time, and still holds that position ; in 1853, was elected President of the State Agricultural Society; after scrv- ing four years, was re-elected, and, at the expiration of the second term, declined re-election ; was again

elected to the Legislature, in 1860; was elected to the Thirty-eighth Congress, serving as Chairman on the Com- mittee of Agriculture, and as member of the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions.

IRTLE, REV. JOHN, Clergyman, was born November 14, 1772, in Berkeley County, Vir- ginia; and, after marrying Amelia Fitzpat- rick, came to Kentucky, remaining for a short time in Washington County ; and, in 1799, removed to Elizabethtown, where he taught school, and acted as deputy clerk for Major Benjamin Helm. In 1802, he returned to Washington County; and, in 1809, joined the Methodist Church, and became a powerful preacher. He was a man of natural elo- quence, and impressive personal appearance. He was a man of expansive and vigorous mind, well trained and methodical ; and was one of the most able among the early ministers of the Methodist Church in Kentucky, as well as one of the most useful and valuable citizens. He died in 1826.

RELAND, J. ALEXANDER, M. D., was born September 15, 1824, in Jefferson County, Ken- tucky. His paternal grand-parents were both natives of Scotland. His father, William Ire- land, was a Kentuckian by birth; followcd agricultural and mechanical pursuits; was one of the solid, upright, and useful men of Jefferson County, and died in 1870. His mother, Jane Stone, whose par- ents were Virginians, of English ancestry, was a native of Jefferson County, Kentucky. Of the four surviving children of William and Jane Ireland, the subject of this sketch is the oldest. He received a good English edu- cation, with a fair knowledge of Latin and Greek; and, at the age of seventeen, commenced the study of · medi- cine, in the office of Dr. James M. Pendergrast, in Jef- ferson County; subsequently continued his studies at Louisville, under Drs. Bullitt and Cummins; attendcd lectures, in the Winter of 1845, in the medical depart- ment of the University of Louisville; graduated in the Kentucky School of Medicine in 1851, and immediately entered upon the practice of his profession in the city of Louisville. In 1854, he removed to his farm in the country, continuing there in the practice of medicine until 1864, when he was elected to the Chair of Obstet- rics and Diseases of Women and Children in the Ken- tucky School of Medicine; removed to Louisville, and filled the position to which he had been appointed until that institution was merged into the University of Louis- ville, being elected at that time as Professor of Clinical Medicine in the University. Upon the re-establishment

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of the Kentucky School of Medicine, he was again placed in the Professorship of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women and Children, which position he resigned on the occasion of his election to the Chair of Diseases of Women and Children in the Louisville Medical College, in 1870, and has since filled that place. In 1875, he was elected to the same chair in the Kentucky School of Medicine, which he also still continues to occupy. In 1876, he was a delegate from Kentucky to the Inter- national Medical Congress at Philadelphia; and, at the last meeting of the Kentucky State Medical Society, of which he is a member, he was appointed a delegate to the American Medical Association. He is a member of the Medico-chirurgical Society, and has taken an active interest in the local and State organizations of the profes- sion. In 1848, he was licensed to preach in the Baptist Church, and, although actively engaged in the pursuit of his profession, was, for many years, regular pastor for several Churches in his denomination, preaching for the Church in Jeffersontown, Jefferson County, for one year ; serving as pastor of the Baptist Church in Jeffersonville, Indiana, for some time, and, also preaching for other Churches in Bullitt and Jefferson Counties for several years. He is a life-member of the General Association of Kentucky Baptists, and is regarded as one of the most substantial, earnest, and valuable men of his Church. During his active professional labors, he has found some time for literary pursuits, and has written some for the press, both religiously and in connection with his profession; and, although a man void of any disposition for personal display, and of quiet and unassuming habits, few men in his profession have done more hard and successful labor, and few physicians en- joy, deservedly, a more wide-spread reputation in his section of the State, and especially in that branch of the medical profession relating to the diseases of women and children ; and, in the Church, in which he has been a member for thirty-five years, he has been a most active worker, and a pillar of strength. He is a man of fine personal appearance, above six feet in height, and weighing over two hundred pounds, and of fine bearing; exceptional in all his professional, social, and personal habits; agreeable and attractive in his manners; broad and liberal in his treatment of men ; free from personal and selfish enmities; possesses a wide, manly charity ; takes active interest, not only in every thing relating to the good and advancement of his profession and the Church, but also of the community at large; and is one of the most straight-forward, valuable, unostentatious, and useful men of Louisville. Dr. Ireland was married, in 1846, to Miss Sarah E. Cooper, daughter of Levin Cooper, of Jefferson County, and by this marriage had one son, Henry Clay Ireland, a graduate of two Col- leges of Medicine, and now residing in Jefferson County, with his father. In 1859, he was again married, to Su-

san M. Brown, daughter of the late Furtney Brown, of Louisville, and, by this marriage, has one son, William F. Ireland.

RAPNALL, PHILIP, M. D., was born Janu- ary 4, 1773, in Baltimore County, Maryland, where his father, Vincent Trapnall, was a farmer. The Trapnalls came from England, where many of them have long been ministers of the Established Church. His grandmother was a Vincent, and many of her family were also minis- ters of the Established Church : William Vincent, Bishop of London; Philip Vincent, Bishop of Durham; and Admiral Vincent, a naval officer, were his relations. Dr. Trapnall received a thorough literary education, and graduated in medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, in the Spring of 1796. He practiced medicine at Ha- gerstown for two years, with great success; and, in 1800, removed to Kentucky and located in Harrodsburg, where he established a large practice, and became one of the most widely known and valuable members of his profession in the State. He had a wide range of prac- tice, extending to neighboring towns, and even to Louisville; and, although contemporary with Ephraim McDowell, Louis Marshall, Pindall, and Ridgeley, he took a front rank in his profession. He performed a great number of surgical operations, but left no record of any important cases, and was distinguished for his want of a hobby, devoting himself with great delight to general practice. He accumulated a large library, which he generously divided among his young friends after retiring from professional life, about 1818, when he took up his residence on his farm. He was a member of the Legislature from Mercer County, from 1806 to 1810, and was a prominent and active member of that body; in 1812, was defeated for Congress by Samuel McKee, of Lancaster; in politics, was a warm partisan, even after retiring from active life, and was an uncom- promising Whig. He was a member of the Episcopal Church; was a warm sectarian; was an able champion of Episcopacy, and was exceedingly well posted in the history and doctrines of his Church. He wrote many articles in defense of his Church, which were replied to by Dr. Clelland. He devoted himself, the remainder of his life, to agricultural pursuits, near Harrodsburg. He was a man of striking person and manners. He was over six feet in height, and remarkably straight, and was noted for his dignified carriage. He possessed great firmness, honesty, and purity of life; was ardently attached to his friends ; was an implacable enemy ; and, although marked by many peculiarities, he was sur- rounded by friends ; and was one of the most noted and able men of his day. He died, January 31, 1853, as he had lived, with an unshaken confidence in the great

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faith of his life. Dr. Trapnall was married, in 1806, to Miss Nancy Casey, daughter of Peter Casey, of Mercer County, Kentucky, a lady of fine intellect and culture, who was a helpmeet to him, and with whom he lived forty-five years, and raised a large and respectable family.

COLLINS, HON. RICHARD, Lawyer and Mer- chant, was born June 3, 1797, in New Jersey, and was the son of Rev. John Collins, a minis- ter of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He studied law, and practiced that profession from 1818 to 1832, in Hillsboro, Ohio; he served in both branches of the Ohio Legislature; ran for Congress, in 1826, but was defeated; removed to Maysville, Ken- tucky, in 1832, and for the next twenty years engaged successfully in mercantile pursuits; was elected to the Kentucky Legislature, in 1834, 1844, and 1847; was, for many years, President of the Maysville City Council ; from 1850 to 1853, was President of the Maysville and Lexington Railroad; and, in the latter year, removed tc Clermont County, Ohio, where he died, May 12, 1855. He was a fine writer, a brilliant and attractive speaker, a man of fine executive ability, and endowed with admi- rable social qualities, and could have filled with honor almost any position in life. Mr. Collins was married to Mary Ann Armstrong, eldest daughter of John Arm- strong, long one of the most influential business men of Maysville, Kentucky. One of his sons, John Armstrong Collins, was born at Hillsboro, Ohio, in 1824; raised at Maysville, Kentucky; graduated at Miami University; practiced law in Cincinnati; in 1849, located at Lake Providence, Louisiana; and died, at New Orleans, June 10, 1850.

ING, HON. EDWARD RUMSEY, Lawyer, was born December 16, 1843, in Owensboro, Kentucky, where his father, J. M. Wing, was for many years a merchant. His mother was Emily Win, the daughter of James Win, long known as one of the most enterprising men of the Green river country. Her relative, Hon. Edward Rumsey, for whom the subject of this sketch was named, was one of the most gifted men of his time. Edward R. Wing received his rudimentary education in his na- tive town, and at the age of fifteen was placed under the care of his kinsman, Edward Rumsey, and, under the tuition of J. K. and W. K. Patterson, in Greenville Academy, and, in 1859, entered Centre College, at Dan- ville, where he graduated with distinction, in 1861. At a very early age he evinced a remarkable capacity for public speaking, and distinguished himself by his ability as a debater during his college days. He entered the

Federal army as aid to Gen. James S. Jackson, and was by the side of that gallant officer when he fell, on the field of Perryville. After completing a course of law study with the late Judge George Robertson, of Lexing- ton, he settled in Louisville, and engaged in the practice of his profession. He rose rapidly to prominence, and, in 1868, was the nominee of the Republican party for State Treasurer; and, although suffering from ill health, made a spirited canvass, which brought him into general notice, and especially attracted the attention of the Government, at Washington, on account of which he was soon offered the position of Minister to Ecuador, and, in May, 1870, entered upon the discharge of his duties, at Quito. The labors of his office were not onerous, leaving him abundant time on his hands, in which he devoted himself with great energy to the study of international and constitutional law, and, by way of recreation, to the classic cssayists and historians of England and America. For some time the condition of his nervous system was a great source of apprehen- sion to his friends, and he suffered a partial paralysis before his departure for South America, but it was hoped that his youth and generally good condition would outgrow the unfavorable symptoms. When on the eve of returning to the United States, he suddenly expired, on the morning of October 5, 1874. His social qualities were of the highest order; his exuberance and vivacity lent a great charm to his presence; his solid attainments, and his ambition to be great, gave promise of a distinguished future ; was open-hearted, generous, and manly ; was a vigorous and eloquent speaker, and a lawyer of great brilliancy. During a re- cent session of Congress, an appropriation of one thou- sand dollars was made by the Government to remove his remains from Quito to his native State. Mr. Wing was married, in 1865, to Louisa, daughter of Robert W. Scott, a distinguished agriculturist of Franklin County, Kentucky. He left no children to inherit his reputation.

YLER, REV. BENJAMIN BUSHROD, Clergy- man, was born April 9, 1840, in Macon County, Illinois. His father, Rev. John W. Tyler, was a native of Kentucky, and for many years a Baptist preacher, of Fayette County, but, in later life, became a member of the Christian Church, in which he labored for many years, and, al- though now old, and waiting for the call to the cver- lasting kingdom, still he has his hand and heart in the good cause. Elder B. B. Tyler has been a student of the Scriptures from early childhood, and the absorbing dream of his youth was to become a minister of the Gospel. Hc was baptized into the Church, August I, 1859, under his father, and soon after entercd Eureka

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College, Illinois, with a view to completing his literary studies before entering the ministry. After leaving col- lege, at the commencement of the war, although design- ing to further prepare himself by teaching for a time, circumstances immediately led him to preaching, and he was soon engaged in conducting a successful meeting at Litchfield, Illinois. At the close of the meeting he was engaged to preach in the counties of Montgomery and Macoupin, in one of which Litchfield, the scene of his first trying ministerial experience, was located. He at once engaged, with great earnestness, in the work before him, adding three or four hundred to the Church during the year. September 4, 1861, he was ordained at Eureka, Illinois. After completing his engagements with the Churches of his native and adjoining counties, he was engaged for some time as an evangelist, chiefly in Illinois. In the Winter of 1864, he located at Charleston, Illinois, and divided his time between that and the Church in Kansas, Edgar County, for one year, and subsequently devoted all his time to the interests of the Church at Charleston, meeting with great success, until 1868. In that year, he made a most successful trip as an evangel- ist, to the State of New York, attended the semi-annual Missionary Convention at Baltimore; preached in Wash- ington City, Portland, Boston, New Brunswick, Nova Seotia, and other points in the East and the British pos- sessions; and, returning home, accepted, in 1869, the pastoral charge of the Church at Terre Haute, Indiana, where he remained until 1873, when he was called to accept the pastorate of the Church at Frankfort, Ken- tucky, filling the position with great ability and satisfac- tion to his people, until May, 1876, when he took charge of the First Christian Church of Louisville, where he is now stationed. He was one of the most active and valuable men who ever was pastor of the Frankfort Church, and was not only exceedingly popular with his own people, but also stood deservedly high in the estimation of the general public, and, although one of the youngest men of his Church who has held such important trusts, he is undoubtedly one of its most accomplished, able, and eloquent ministers. Mr. Tyler was married, December 25, 1862, to Miss Sarah A. Burton, daughter of J. R. Burton, of Eureka, Illinois.

ARCUM, HON. THOMAS D., Lawyer, and State Register of Lands, is a native of Law- rence County, Kentucky, where he was born December 17, 1840; his father, Stephen M. Marcum, a Kentuckian by birth, belongs to one of the oldest pioneer families of Kentucky, coming here from Virginia, and is now a resident of Cassville, West Virginia, where he is engaged in gun manufacture. His mother was Jane Dameron, and was

born in Kentucky. He acquired his early education in the common-schools of his native county. In August, 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Fourteenth Ken- tucky Infantry, United States Volunteers, under the com- mand of Col. Laban T. Moore; was shortly after made second lieutenant, and then promoted to a captaincy, and served on the staff of Gen. White, and afterwards on the staffs of Generals Gallup and Strickland, for a period of two years. His first engagement was at Middle Creek, Kentucky, under Gen. Garfield; was then as- signed with his regiment to Gen. George W. Morgan's command, at Cumberland Gap; served with him in East Tennessee, in the campaign of 1862; returned with him to Greenupsburg, on the Ohio river; was called to duty in various parts of Kentucky till 1864, when he joined the forces under Gen. Sherman ; assisted in his eampaign, and continued under his command till the surrender of Atlanta; then, being attached to the Twenty-third Army Corps, was sent to Tennessee; and, after the battle of Franklin, returned to Kentucky, where he remained till mustered out. During his service, he participated in many of the engagements of the South-west, including Lost Mountain, Altoona Pass, Kenesaw Mountain, Jones- boro, and the battle between Atlanta and Decatur, July 22, 1864. At the close of the war, he engaged in mer- cantile business, taking a partnership in two different firms-one at Cassville, the other at Louisa, Ken- tucky. He soon afterwards began the study of law, was admitted to the bar in Lawrence County, and, in a short time, became a successful lawyer. In politics, he is an earnest, active Democrat, having done good service as a campaign orator in all political contests since the war; was a member of the first Democratic Convention held in the State after the war, and has been a delegate to all the State Conventions of the party since, and is one of the most active and influential workers in the ranks of the Democracy in the State. In 1875, he received the nomination of his party for Register of the Land Office; was elected, and now holds that posi- tion, manifesting, in the discharge of his duties, that high degree of order, integrity, and punctuality, which has marked his course throughout an unusually active and successful career. He was married, January 19, 1865, to Miss Mary Bromley, daughter of John Brom- ley, a prominent merchant of Cassville, Virginia.

HOMPSON, JAMES BRAXTON, Lawyer, third son of Lewis M. and Mary R. Thompson, was born near Center, in what is now Metcalfe County, Kentucky, December 13, 1838. His parents were descended from two families of the Thompsons of Virginia, between whom, as has always been supposed, no kinship existed. His

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grand-parents emigrated to Kentucky early in the present century. Left, when little more than seven years old, to the sole care of a widowed mother-his father having died early in 1846-his educational training was confined to such schools as were then accessible in that county, and to that home reading and study which he found leisure to avail himself of during a busy child- hood. He early manifested a poetical genius of no com- mon order; and, after the age of sixteen, he contributed much, in both prose and verse, to various periodicals- some of his best work appearing in the "Southern Lit- erary Weekly." He published no volume, as his lit- erary productions were but the results of leisure hours during a few stirring years; but his fugitive pieces, prose and verse, and some political speeches made dur- ing the Presidential campaign of 1860, and the begin- ning of troubles in 1861, have been collected, and will be published for private distribution among his friends and relatives. He was a member of the Old Presby- terian Church, but liberal in his religious views. He obtained license, after a due course of reading, and commenced the practice of law in Edmonton, Kentucky, in 1860, and began at once to rise in his profession. Of handsome appearance, agreeable manners, and un- blemished morals, he won the respect of all, the cordial esteem of many, and the warm affection of those more nearly connected with him. He was bold without being aggressive; courageous without bravado; candid, yet considerate of feelings; full of scorn for cant and affectation of every kind, yet tolerant of the natural weaknesses and follies of mankind. To his friends, he was faithful; to his family, loyal in every fiber of his nature; and to himself, true. He enlisted in the service of the Confederate States in 1861, impelled by both a sense of right and that spirit of chivalry which naturally inclines to the cause of the weak. In 1862, while Bragg was in Kentucky, he recruited a company of cavalry, and was on his way from Glasgow, alone, Sep- tember 29, 1862, to the place of rendezvous, to take com- mand, preparatory to moving southwards, when he was set upon by a band of bush-whackers and murdered.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 64

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