The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 7

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

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

lived until 1841. Although the operation was success- ful, it was not until seven years after, when he had per- formed two other similar operations, that he published an account of them, in the "Eclectic Repository and Analytical Review," of Philadelphia, in October, 1816. In the same journal, in 1819, he reported two more cases, and criticised his critics. In 1822, he made a trip to Tennessee, where he operated for ovarian tumor in . the case of Mrs. Overton, near the Hermitage, in which

he was assisted by Mrs. Priestly and Gen. Jackson, for which he charged five hundred dollars, and received a check from the husband of the subject for fifteen hun- dred dollars. It is not quite certain how often Dr. McDowell operated in ovariotomy, but thirteen cases are known, eight of which were successful. He had little care for his present or posthumous fame, and only through the solicitation of his partner, Dr. James Mc- Dowell, and believing that his successes might be a source of pleasure to his preceptor, Dr. Bell, he was led to report his operations to the profession. He was ex- ceedingly original and independent in his modes of med- ical practice, often resorting to methods of treatment which were astounding to the profession at a much later date. He always had a number of students, and had a pri- vate dissecting-room in an old building at Danville. He was a man of fine culture, and had an excellent medi- cal library, to which he constantly added every new work issued by the profession. He gave largely towards the foundation of Centre College, and was extensively charitable and public-spirited. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and was active in its charities. He was about six feet high, of rather commanding ap- pearance, somewhat florid complexion, and in his young days was regarded as quite handsome. Dr. McDowell was married, in 1802, to Sarah Shelby, daughter of Gov. Isaac Shelby, They raised a family of two sons and four daughters, three of whom survived him, and his wife survived him ten years. He died of inflammatory fever at Danville, June 20, 1830, and was buried on the estate of the Shelby family, six miles south of Danville, where only a sandstone slab, bearing the name of Ephraim McDowell, marks the resting-place of one of the most distinguished surgeons in America.

ESHA, GEN. JOSEPH, Soldier and Agricultur- ist, was born December 9, 1768, in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. In 1781, his father emi- grated to Kentucky, but soon after removed to Tennessee. In 1792, Joseph Desha permanently settled in Mason County, Kentucky, and, in 1794, was a volunteer under General Wayne, serving in his Indian campaigns with great credit; and, from his earliest appearance in the West, took aetive part in the

border Indian wars. He represented Mason County for many years in the Legislature, at the commencement of the present century. In the war of 1812, he was com- missioned Major-General, and commanded a division at the battle of the Thames. From 1816 to 1819, he was a member of the Lower House of Congress, and earnestly acted with the Republican party of that day. In 1824, he was elected Governor of Kentucky, and served four years, administering the affairs of the Government with great vigor and efficiency. At the expiration of his term of public life, he retired to his farm in Harrison County, where he spent the remainder of his life. Gov. Desha died October II, 1842, at Georgetown, Scott County.

ESHA, GEN. LUCIUS, Prominent Agricultur- ist and Politician of Harrison County, son of Gov. Joseph Desha, was born April 25, 1812, in Mason County, Kentucky. His parents had thirteen children, of which he was the twelfth. His mother was Peggy (Bledsoe) Desha, a na- tive of Loudon County, Virginia; was daughter of Isaae Bledsoe, who was an early and distinguished pioneer of Tennessee, and was killed by the Indians; and was mar- ried to his father in Sumner County, Tennessee, in 1789. The Deshas were of French extraction, and were refu- gees among the Huguenots to this country, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, first probably stop- ping in Wales, and finally settling in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania. The subject of this sketch was brought up on the farm, and early inured to hard labor; but his education was quite liberal, being obtained in the best schools of his times in the country. After finishing his education, in 1830, he chose farming pursuits, to which he has ever since mainly devoted his time and energy; the farm on which he now resides being one of the most finely improved and productive in Harrison County. In 1844, he was elected to represent Harrison County in the Legislature, and was re-elected for three consecutive terms. He was a member of the Conven- tion of 1849, which formed the last, or present, Consti- tution of the State. In 1851, at the first election under the "new Constitution," he was again elected to the Lower House in the State Legislature, and served one term, and, in 1861, was re-elected to the same branch of that body. During the war of the rebellion his sym- pathies and principles were with the South; and, not- withstanding he took no part in the great conflict, yet for several months he was one of the numerous civilian prisoners from the border at Camp Chase, in Ohio. He has always been a Democrat, and cast his first Presiden- tial vote for Gen. Jackson, and his last, before the war, for John C. Breckinridge. He has been a delegate to four Democratic National Conventions: in 1844, at Bal-

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

timore, where James K. Polk was nominated; in 1856, at Cincinnati, where James Buchanan was the nominee; at New York, in 1868, nominating Horatio Seymour; and, finally, at St. Louis, in 1876, where Samuel J. Tilden was nominated for the Presidency of the United States. In 1876, he was one of the three prominent candidates for Congress before the Democratic Conven- tion for the Sixth Congressional District, held at Cov- ington. For a number of years he was a brigadier- general, and afterwards a major-general, in the old State militia service; and for over half a century has been one of the most prominent farmers and politicians in his section of the State, and one of the most substantial and valuable citizens of his community. Gen. Desha has been twice married; in 1832, to Julia A. Moore, of Harrison County, who died in 1839; and, in 1840, to Eliza Moore, sister of his first wife, and daughter of Moses Moore, a farmer of that county, from Virginia.

cDOWELL, HERVEY, M.D., Prominent Physi- cian of Cynthiana, was born April 15, 1835, in Fayette County, Kentucky. John I .. and Nancy (Vance) McDowell, his parents, were both na- tives of the same county. His father was a farmer, and went out with the Kentucky troops in the war of 1812. His grandfather, James McDowell, was an ensign in both wars with England; emigrated from Rockbridge County, Virginia, and settled in Fay- ette or Mercer at a very early day. His great-grand- father, Col. Samuel McDowell, was at Braddock's de- feat; was a colonel in the Revolutionary war; was the first Circuit Judge of Kentucky, when the State was a Judicial District of Virginia; was a member from Mercer County, with Samuel Taylor, Jacob Froman, George Nicholas, and David Rice, of the first Constitutional Con- vention, which met at Danville, in 1792; and was distin- guished as Chairman of that Convention, which framed the Constitution under which Kentucky was admitted to the Union, and was one of the most able and valuable men known in the early history of the State. Nancy Vance, his mother, was a daughter of James Vance, a farmer, of Fayette County, originally from the north of Ireland. The subject of this sketch was mainly raised on the farm, usually attending the Winter schools of the neighborhood until his sixteenth year. In 1851, he went to a select school in Louisville; afterwards attended school in Lexington; spent some time in the Western Military School at Drennon Springs, Henry County ; and, finally, in 1856, graduated at the Military School, near Frankfort. In the Fall of the same year, he began the study of medicine at Lexington, under Drs. Skillman and Dudley, and soon after attended a course of lectures in the medical department of Transylvania University.

In 1857, he continued his studies, under Dr. Joseph Nash McDowell, at St. Louis, who was then Professor of Sur- gery in the Missouri Medical College, in that city. In the following year, he graduated at that institution, and soon afterwards located at Cynthiana for the practice of his profession. In 1861, he raised Company F, Second Kentucky Infantry, under the Confederate Col. Roger W. Hansom, and accompanied the regiment until the close of the war; saw service in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina; and was engaged in the battles of Fort Donelson, Harts- ville, Murfreesborough, Jackson, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Dalton, Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Jonesborough, and the battles around Atlanta. After Atlanta, his regiment was mounted and covered the retreat before Sherman's march to Savannah. After the battle of Chickamauga he was promoted to major, for gallant service on the field; at Jonesborough, he was promoted, for meritorious conduct, to the lieutenant- colonelcy of his regiment. He was wounded at Atlanta, at Resaca, twice at Murfreesborough, and twice at Fort Donelson. At Fort Donelson, he was taken prisoner, and remained at Camp Chase and Johnston's Island for six months, and was exchanged at Vicksburg, in September of 1862. In 1865, he returned to Cynthiana; in the fol- lowing year, attended another course of lectures in the Missouri Medical College, and remained in St. Louis in active practice until 1869. In that year he returned to Cynthiana, where he has since resided, and established a large and valuable medical practice. Dr. McDowell is a Democrat in politics. Religiously, he is associated with the Presbyterian Church (the Church of his ancestors). He was married, in St. Louis, Missouri, October 26, 1869, to Miss Louise McDowell, a native of Sumter County, Alabama, and daughter of Judge Alexander Marshall McDowell, a planter of that county, and grandson of Judge Samuel McDowell, of Mercer County, Kentucky.

LLIOTT, HON. JOHN MILTON, Lawyer, and Associate Judge of the Court of Appeals, son of John Lloyd Elliott and his wife, Jane Ritchie, was born May 16, 1820, on the bank of the Clinch river, in Scott County, Virginia. His father, John Lloyd Elliott, whose ancestors emigrated from Scotland to this country in 1600, was a farmer by occupation, and a man of considerable influ- ence, serving in both branches of the Kentucky Leg- islature for several years. His mother, Jane Ritchie, was a native of Virginia and a relative of Thomas Ritchie, former editor of the Richmond "Enquirer." Judge Elliott received a very good academic education, and, in 1842, began the study of law under Col. Henry C. Harris, of Prestonsburg, Kentucky; was admitted to

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

the bar in 1843, and immediately began practice in Prestonsburg, where he resided for twenty years, with great success in his profession. In 1847, he was elected to the Legislature, from Floyd County; in 1853, was elected to Congress, from the Sixth District; re-elected in 1855 and 1857; was a second time elected to the Legislature, in 1861, from Floyd and Johnson Counties, but soon after left his seat and joined the Confederate army, under Gen. John S. Williams; in 1862, was elected to the Congress of the Confederate States, where he remained throughout the war, after which he re- turned to Kentucky, settling in Bath County; in 1868, was elected Circuit Judge of the Thirteenth Judicial District, for six years; when this term expired, removed to Catlettsburg, and, in 1876, was elected Judge of the Court of Appeals, for the First Appellate District of Kentucky, and now holds that honorable position. In politics he has always been a Democrat; in character is brave and manly; sincere and outspoken to a fault; gentle in manners, yet firm in the discharge of duty; is a brilliant speaker and close debater; is a man of fine talents; has gained a high position in his profession, and justly stands among the first lawyers and judges of Kentucky. In 1848, Judge Elliott was married to Miss Susan J. Smith, daughter of Wm. M. Smith, of Pres- tonsburg, Kentucky.

ALL, REV. JOHN WORTHAM, Clergyman and Educator, was born January 19, 1802, in Orange County, North Carolina, and is the only son of Thomas and Sarah Wortham Hall. His father was one of the most distinguished teach- ers of that State. J. W. Hall received his early education under his father, and afterward entered Har- peth Academy in Tennessee, where he graduated, in 1834, under Rev. Gideon Blackburn. He afterward continued his theological studies under Dr. Blackburn for three years, and entered into the ministry as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Murfresborough, Tennessee ; was for eleven years in charge of the Church at Gallatin ; while in charge of that Church, established a flourishing female college ; subsequently moved to Ohio, and was for twelve years pastor of Third Street Preshyterian Church, of Dayton; from 1854 to 1866, was President of Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and, under his administration, that old institution acquired its greatest degree of celeb- rity, and for the last ten ycars he has been Superintend- ent of the Public-schools of Covington, Kentucky. He has published a large number of pamphlets and literary addresses, some of which have passed through several editions, and established for him a reputation among the most scholarly writers of the country. He has been distinguished for his finished oratory, and is one of the

most able ministers of the Presbyterian Church. He is a Hebrew, Greek, and Latin scholar, and, as such, has probably few superiors in the country ; and, with his scholarly attainments, and his success as a teacher, he deservedly stands among the first educators of the West. He has devoted himself with great liberality to every good cause, and has given the greater part of his life toward the advancement of the best interests of man- kind. Dr. Hall was married, December 18, 1828, to Catharine Presley Thornton, of Paris, Kentucky. He has two living children, a son and a daughter. His son, John W. Hall, Jr., is now Principal of the High- school, of Covington.

RTHUR, HON. WILLIAM EVANS, Lawyer, was born March 3, 1825, in Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents were natives of Baltimore, Mary- land. His grandfather, Rev. William Arthur, was a minister of the Presbyterian Church ; graduated in the University of Edinburgh, set- tled in Baltimore, afterwards removed to Pennsylvania, and finally died at Zanesville, Ohio. His father, Will- iam Arthur, was educated for the law, but entered life as a merchant, and died at the age of thirty-three, at Covington, Kentucky. William E. Arthur, having a good education, commenced the study of law, in the office of Hon. James T. Morehead and Hon. John W. Stevenson, and, in the Summer of 1850, was admitted to the bar, and at once entered upon the practice of his profession, at Covington. In 1850, he became the con- servative candidate for Commonwealth's Attorney, for the Ninth Judicial District, and was elected over his popular opponent, E. H. Phelps, serving for six years, and establishing for himself a reputation as one of the most accurate, punctual, painstaking, and able lawyers of the country. In 1860, he was Presidential Elector on the Breckinridge ticket; in 1862, at the expiration of his term of office, he again actively resumed his private practice; in 1866, became Democratic candidate for Judge of the Ninth, now Twelfth, Judicial District, consisting of Kenton, Campbell, Bracken, Robertson, Pendleton, and Harrison Counties, and was elected, but, after serving two years with distinction on the bench, resigned, and again returned to the active practice at the bar. In 1870, he became Democratic candidate for Congress in the Sixth District, and was elected over the Republican candidate, Hon. Thomas Wrightson, serving in the Forty-second and Forty-third sessions of Con- gress. Mr. Arthur was married, in 1855, to Ada, third daughter of the late Hon. W. W. Southgate, of Coving- ton, Kentucky ; and, after the death of his wife and chil- dren, was again married, in 1861, to Etha, a sister of his deceased wife. They have two children.

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

ENDERSON, WILLIAM W., M. D., Physi- cian and Surgeon, was born August 20, 1822, in Fayette County, Kentucky, and is the son of James W. and Elizabeth Hill Henderson. He finished his literary education in Transylva- nia University, under President Davidson; be- gan the study of medicine in 1841; graduated in the medical department of Transylvania University, in 1844, and in the same year located at Crittenden, Grant County, where he established a large and successful business, and became one of the most popular practi- tioners in the country. In 1863, he removed to Coving- ton, where he has since resided, actively engaged in his profession. He is a member of the State Medical Society; of the American Medical Association; belongs also to the Covington and Newport Medical Society, having served as its President, and several times repre- sented it in the State Society, and the American Medical Association. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity ; has been, since 1842, actively identified with the temperance cause, and has long been a prominent member of the Presbyterian Church. He is a man of large benevolence; devotes himself to every good cause in his community ; makes no display of his good deeds; is large-hearted; exceedingly frank and open in his dealings; stands deservedly high in his profession, in which he has been exceptionally successful, ranking among the first physicians of the State. He is uncom- monly attractive in manners; is nearly six feet in height, and of decidedly fine personal appearance; is a man of admirable social and personal habits; is very popular in his profession, and is undoubtedly one of the most useful and valuable citizens of Covington. Dr. Henderson was married, December 19, 1844, to Susan H. Parish, daughter of Edmund Hockaday Parish, of Bourbon County, Kentucky. She died, in 1864, without children. October 30, 1871, he was married to Sarah V. Bright, daughter of Hon. Jesse D. Bright, formerly of Indiana, but, at that time, a citizen of Covington. They have two children.

EAD, HON. WILLIAM BROWN, Lawyer, was born December 14, 1820, in Hardin County, Kentucky. His ancestors were of English descent, the family coming to this country about one hundred years ago, and set- tling in Virginia. His father, Louis Read, came to Kentucky when very young, and followed the occupation of a farmer, in Hardin County. He was one of the most intelligent and influential men of his county, and held the position of magistrate of Hardin and Larue Counties for a period of forty-five years. He was also chosen Sheriff of these two counties, having

filled a term of two years in each one, in that capacity. His mother's maiden name was Ellis M. Brown; also from Virginia, being a native of Stafford County, of that State. William Read's early education was ac- quired in the common-schools of his neighborhood, and was confined to the plain rudimentary branches taught in the primitive country schools of those early days. At the age of twenty-two, he commenced the study of medicine; but, finding it not suitable to his inclinations, abandoned its study to take up the one more congenial to his tastes, of law. Having chosen this as his pro- fession, he entered upon its study at the age of twenty- seven, in the office of William L. Morris, Esq., in Hod- genville, Kentucky. After two years' study, he was li- censed, and admitted to the bar, commencing his prac- tice in October, 1849, in his native county. His emi- nent talents soon placed him among the leaders of the bar of his county; and he rapidly secured an exten- sive practice, and advanced in popularity among all classes of citizens. Being so well known by his fellow- citizens, and possessing great ability and learning, he was soon called upon to act as their representative in the councils of the State and nation. His career of pub- lic service was begun very early in life; when only six- teen years of age he held the position of Deputy Sher- iff of Hardin County, under his father. In 1857, he was elected to the State Senate, and served for a term of four years; and, having proven an able and faithful servant of his constituency, was honored with a re-elec- tion at the expiration of his first term. About this time, he also served in the State Senate for thirteen sessions, called "irregular sessions." In 1863, he was the Dem- ocratic candidate for Lieutenant-Governor, on what was known as the "Whickliffe ticket." This canvass was one of the most exciting in the history of the State, but resulted in his defeat, owing to the presence of Federal troops. In 1870, he became a candidate for Congress, from his district, and was elected by a majority of six thousand over his competitor; and, in 1872, was re-elected to his seat in that body without opposition. He was a delegate to the memorable Democratic Convention, held in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860. He voted for James Guthrie, of Louisville, during the balloting, fif- ty-eight times ; and when the Convention adjourned to Baltimore, was appointed Assistant Elector for the State at large, for Stephen A. Douglas, and voted for him in the Convention. He was appointed delegate at large for the State, to the Chicago Convention, held in 1864. He has been a life-long Democrat, and is a zealous ad- herent of his party principles. He was married to Miss Sally Kennedy, daughter of Thomas Kennedy, a re- spectable farmer, of Hardin County, Kentucky. He is an active member of the Methodist Church; and is a generous supporter of all movements relating to the welfare of his Church, and the public in general. He

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

is a forcible and eloquent public speaker; and, with his powerful logic and earnest eloquence, rarely fails to im- press upon a jury the superior merits of his cause. Mr. Read has had considerable experience in public life ; and, in every trust reposed in him, has met with the unqualified approbation of all classes of citizens. His character is above reproach; benevolent, unostentatious, and possessing a pleasant disposition, he has won the highest esteem of all by whom he is surrounded. He is a man of commanding personal appearance; stands six feet three inches in height, and is admirably built.

ETCALFE, GOV. THOMAS, was born March 20, 1780, in Fauquier County, Virginia. His father was a captain in the Revolutionary War, and, in 1785, emigrated to Kentucky, finally settling in Nicholas County. Thomas Metcalfe received an ordinary English education, and at the age of sixteen was apprenticed to his brother as a stone-mason, and subsequently followed that trade for a number of years. In 1812, he was elected to the Ken- tucky Legislature from Nicholas County, and was sub- sequently re-elected for several years; in 1813, raised a company of volunteers, and fought gallantly at Fort Meigs. In 1818, he was elected to Congress, and was continually re-elected, serving in that body until 1828; in the latter year, was elected Governor, as the candi- date of the National Republican party, defeating Major William T. Barry ; and his administration was character- ized by wisdom and prudence. In 1834, he was elected to the State Senate from Nicholas and Bracken Counties, serving until 1838; served for several years as a member and President of the State Board of Internal Improve- ments, and, subsequently, filled the unexpired term of Hon. John J. Crittenden in the United States Senate. He died of cholera, August 18, 1855, at his home in Nicholas County. Gov. Metcalfe was one of the most valuable men that ever lived in Nicholas County; was possessed of uncommon intellect and force of character, and was one of the most naturally eloquent men of his day. In honor of him, Metcalfe County was named.

OSS, WILLIAM PARKS, Prominent Lawyer and Banker, of Carlisle, son of Greenberry and Martha M. (Parks) Ross, was born August II, 1825, at Carlisle, in Nicholas County. His father was a Bourbon County man by birth, but settled in Nicholas County, in 1818, where he lived until his death, in 1859, and was a tailor and farmer. The grandfather of this subject, Samuel Ross, was a Marylander, of English extraction, and settled in

Bourbon County at an early day. Martha M. Parks, his mother, was a native of Nicholas County, and daugh- ter of James Parks, Sr., who emigrated from Pennsylva- nia about 1790, and settled in Nicholas County, where he lived until his death, May 6, 1836. He was of English origin ; was a merchant and trader; represented Nicho- las County in the Legislature, and was State Senator, for one term, from the district of which his county was a part. The subject of this sketch worked on the farm, and attended the best schools of the country a consider- able portion of the time, until his twenty-first year, when he turned his attention to teaching. During the same year, 1846, he began reading law, and prepared for the legal profession at Carlisle under Fitch Munger, a prom- inent lawyer of that town. In 1848, he was admitted to the bar, and entered on the practice of his profession at Carlisle, where he has since resided ; established a large and successful practice ; taken a fine position at the bar, and become one of the most valuable business men of the community. In 1851, he was elected the first County Judge of Nicholas County under the workings of the "New Constitution." He has never held a political office, strictly speaking. He is a stockholder in the Deposit Bank, of Carlisle, of which he has been President since 1870. He belonged to the old Whig party of the State until its dissolution, since which he has been an inde- pendent, in politics. During the rebellion he was an ardent Union man. Religiously, he is connected with. the Presbyterians, and is an elder in that denomination, and prominent in the affairs of his Church. He is a man of fine personal, professional, and social habits; of great integrity of character, and is one of the most substantial and useful men in his community. Mr. Ross has been twice married. In February, 1853, to Miss Columbia Neal, daughter of Jno. Neal, a farmer of Nicholas County. She died in 1857, leaving one child. In 1862, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Davis, a native of Woodford County, and daughter of Jno. W. Davis, a farmer of that county.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 7

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