The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 74

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

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mander, Gen. Benjamin Hardin Helm; conducted him- self with great bravery, and was, after that battle, promoted brigadier-general; commanded an important position at Mission Ridge; afterwards, for a time, com- manded the division of Gen. Bate; was almost con- stantly and dangerously engaged, but was only once slightly wounded during the war; was ordered, in Sep- tember, 1864, by Gen. Hood, to mount his command, and, although the resources of the country were drawn upon in every possible way, he was unable to accom- plish the task, only part of his brigade being mounted, and with that he served the cause to the last. He was an officer of great merit; served, with remarkable single- ness of purpose, in the cause he espoused; and was greatly esteemed by his associates in arms. After the smoke of war passed away, he was again elected to the Legislature; was elected to the Forty-first Congress for an unexpired term, and was re-elected to the succeeding Congress, serving on the Committee on Accounts.

THEY, HON. ROBERT A., Mayor of Coving- ton, was born, December 19, 1825, in Lexing- ton, Kentucky. His father, Presley Athey, was a native of Loudon County, Virginia, and by pursuit a carpenter and builder. Mayor Athey received a good education in the academical department of Transylvania University, under Bishop Bascom. He studied law under Chief-Justice Robert- son, graduating in Transylvania Law School in 1845, and has since followed that profession. Represented Fayette County in the lower branch of the Legislature in 1850 and 1851; was member of the Lexington City Council in 1849; was City Attorney of Lexington for 1849 and 1850; was County Attorney, for Kenton County, in 1864 and 1865, having located in Covington in 1855; was City Attorney in 1866, 1867, and 1871; and was elected Mayor, August, 1874, for a term of four years. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is one of the most active, enterprising, able, and valu- able citizens of Covington. He has been twice married, his last wife being the daughter of N. B. Stephens of that city.

LLEN, PROF. JAMES LANE, Lawyer, Cler- gyman, and Educator, was born in Fayette County, Kentucky, on the 3Ist of December, 1821. His father, John Allen, was a man of strict integrity and considerable influence, edu- cating his children to the best of his ability. He was of English descent, his ancestors having settled in Virginia, and afterwards removed to Kentucky. James Lane Allen, on his mother's side, is related to Gen. Lane,

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of Virginia, a famous officer of the Revolutionary War. He was educated at Transylvania University, while it was under the presidency of Dr. Lewis Marshall, and graduated in 1841. He then studied law, under the tutorship of his half-brother, Madison C. Johnson, at Lexington; and graduated in the law department of Transylvania University, in the Spring of 1843. He removed to St. Louis, and practiced law for nearly two years; and then went to Texas. The Mexican War breaking out about this time, he joined the United States forces, and became a lieutenant under Capt. Ben McCul- loch, later Gen. McCulloch, the famous Texan Ranger. He was engaged in the storming of Monterey; after the surrender of which, he returned to Texas, and be- came a prominent member of the first Legislature of that State, and was sent as a delegate to the Na- tional Democratic Convention, at Baltimore, which nominated Gen. Cass for President. After the death of his father, which occurred in 1848, in Fayette County, Kentucky, he returned to his native State, and resumed the practice of law at Lexington, where he resided until 1854. He went to Europe and spent a year, with the view of general improvement; and, upon his re- turn, in 1855, was united in marriage to the eldest daughter of John McCraw, of Lexington, and removed to Missouri, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1863. The war being in progress, he was, owing to his Southern sympathies, imprisoned; and, upon his release, obliged to leave the State. He returned to Lex- ington, Kentucky, and, after a short residence there, went, with his father-in-law, to Canada, where he re- mained until the close of the war. In 1865, he took charge of a female school at New Castle, in Henry County, which was under the control of Z. F. Smith, and afterwards taught in the school of Prof. Mullins, at Lexington. He was appointed cashier of the bank at Eminence, Kentucky, which position he resigned in 1868, and removed to Danville, where he still lives. While a resident of Eminence, he was brought forward as a candidate for Congress, but was defeated, after a sharp contest, by Hon. Boyd Winchester. He married his second wife, the oldest daughter of Hon. Joshua F. Bell, on the 7th of November, 1867. He filled a pro- fessorship in the Danville Collegiate Institute; and, be- ing a member of the Christian Church, he was, upon the urgent solicitation of many of the prominent mem- bers of that denomination, induced to devote himself to the ministry, and has now a charge at Lancaster, Ken- tucky. In 1876, upon the burning of the Caldwell Female Institute, in which his services were engaged, he was induced by friends to organize the institute now known as the Bell Female Seminary, already a popular and flourishing school. His accomplished wife brings a wealth of talent to his aid, as co-principal, and is the heart and soul of the institution. She was very care-

fully educated by her father, and inherits largely his distinguished talents. Prof. Allen has two sons, chil- dren of his first wife.

OWAN, HON. JOHN, JR., Lawyer, was born at Frankfort, Kentucky, February 9, 1807, and was the son of Judge John Rowan, of Penn- sylvania, who was among the early settlers, and one of the most distinguished lawyers of Ken- tucky. (See sketch of Judge Rowan.) He at- tended school in Nelson County; and at Nashville, Tennessee, under the direction of the celebrated Dr. Priestly, and finished his education, and graduated from St. Joseph's College, at Bardstown, Kentucky. He then entered upon the study of law at Lexington, and com- pleted his studies at Transylvania University, from which he graduated, in 1832. After his graduation, he commenced the practice of law at Louisville, but, having no taste for the profession, abandoned it after a few years. On February 10, 1835, he was married to Miss Rebecca B. Carnes, daughter of Major P. A. Carnes, of Baltimore, Maryland, and was the father of ten children, eight of whom still live. His eldest son, William, served as lieutenant, and then as captain, of a company of Kentucky volunteers, among the first that left for the Confederate army. Soon after his marriage, he moved with his wife to Mississippi, and settled on a plantation near Vicksburg ; but, his wife not liking the climate, he sold out and returned to Kentucky, and cultivated the old farm in Nelson County. In 1848, he was elected to the Legislature. In the same year, he was appointed, under the administration of President James K. Polk, United States Minister to Naples, Italy, whither he re- moved with his family. During his residence there, which continued until 1852, he was very popular, and discharged his duties in a manner that elicited the un- qualified approval of the Administration. At the expi- ration of his term, he returned to his rural residence, in Nelson County, Kentucky. In 1835, he was engaged in a so-called affair of honor, with Thomas F. Marshall, and, in the duel that ensued, shot his opponent in the hip. Politically, he was a staunch Democrat, of the Jeffersonian school, and, in his race for the Legislature, was triumphantly elected, without regard to politics. But he had no taste for the life of a professional politician, and, although solicited to be a candidate for Congress, Governor, and numerous other positions of honor and trust, he declined. On the sixteenth day of August, 1855, he died, at his residence in Nelson County, cut off in the prime of his life. The announcement of this mourn- ful intelligence inflicted deep sorrow throughout the country. He enjoyed to an eminent degree, the love and friendship of all who formed his acquaintance. His

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accomplished and courtly manners rendered him fit to fill the highest station in society. His handsome and striking appearance made him conspicuous among men, as his mental endowments proclaimed him a superior. He was the ideal of the chivalrous Kentucky gentleman.

WEN, GRANDERSON P., Architect and Builder, was born May 3, 1818, in Washing- ton, D. C., and died, June 12, 1873, at Emi- nence, Kentucky. His father, Edward Owen, moved from Loudon County, Virginia, to Ken- tucky, in 1823, locating for a time in Harrison County ; afterwards resided in Shelby, and, in 1849, set- tled in Henry County. Granderson P. Owen had only a limited education ; early exhibited great mechanical ingenuity, and, after reaching manhood, engaged mainly as a builder and contractor, and was one of the first mechanics who flourished in that part of Kentucky. He was, also, interested for many years in farming, and, by his untiring energy and good practical common sense, succeeded in accumulating a fortune. He was one of the first settlers of Eminence; participated in every movement for its improvement; took an active part in every thing looking to the welfare of his community ; was generous in the use of his means; was a man of kind and genial manners; was long a member of the Christian Church, and labored faithfully to advance its interests ; and was, in every way, one of the most use- ful and valuable men of Henry County. Mr. Owen was married, in 1844, to Miss Mary T. Thomas, of Shelby County, Kentucky ; and, of their five children, three, with their mother, are now living; one of them being the wife of W. L. Crabb, a prominent young business man of Eminence, Kentucky.

ORTON, JOHN GORDON, Banker, was born June 8, 1822, in Hopkins County, Kentucky. His grandfather settled in that county in 1790, and his father was a prominent farmer, and judge of that county. John G. Morton, re- ceived a good English education, in the best schools afforded in his native county. At the age of twenty-two, he entered into mercantile business in Mad- isonville, and was soon after appointed postmaster of that place. He also served as sheriff of the county; after- wards, dealt largely in tobacco, and in 1866, started a private banking business in Madisonville, which he has since continued. He has acquired, by perseverance and fine business ability, a handsome estate; takes an active interest in matters relating to the welfare of his com- munity; is broad and charitable in his dealings with

men, and has been noted for his uprightness of char- acter. Mr. Morton was married, in 1846, to Miss N. E. Young, daughter of C. C. Young, of Hopkins County. They have six children.

OUNG, HON. JOHN D., was born September 22, 1823, in Bath County, Kentucky. He re- ceived a good English education ; from 1843 to 1847, was Sheriff of his native county; served three years previously as deputy ; was for some time deputy United States Marshal; was a judge of probate from 1858 to 1862; was re-elected in 1866, but resigned in the following year; was elected to the Fortieth Congress, but was refused his seat, and was re- elected to the Forty-third Congress, serving on several committees.

LARK, GEN. GEORGE ROGERS; Soldier, was born November 19, in Albemarle County, Virginia. He engaged as a surveyor while a' young man, and little is known of his early ed- ucation. He commanded a company in Dun- more's War, at the close of which he was offered a commission in the British army, which he de- clined. In 1775, he came to Kentucky on his first visit, and, in the following year, returned to this State, for the purpose of making it his permanent home; and was, in a very prominent sense, the founder of Kentucky. For the purpose of bringing about some satisfactory con- nection with the Government of Virginia, he induced the settlers in Kentucky to hold a convention at Har- rodsburg, then Harrodstown, and was there chosen, in June, 1776, with Gabriel Jones, as members to the Assembly of Virginia. They proceeded to Virginia, where he placed before Governor Henry the wants of the frontier settlement, and finally succeeded in convey- ing. to Kentucky a considerable amount of gunpowder for the defense of the stations, his successful negotia- tions leading to the establishment of the new Territory, with a representation in the Government of Virginia, and giving it a judicial and military establishment. He soon saw the necessity of reducing the British posts at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, deeming their existence a great source of insecurity to the Kentucky border. In 1778, after having sent spies to reconnoiter their posi- tions, he submitted his plans to the Governor of Vir- ginia, and received directions to proceed to the defense of Kentucky and the conquest of the British post at Kaskaskia, the commandant at Fort Pitt being ordered to supply him with munitions and equipments. He or- ganized his expedition, marched at its head, and, on the night of the 4th of July, 1788, captured the fort with-

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out shedding blood. He soon established himself and his government in the favor of the French inhabitants, some of the gentlemen of that post accompanying the expedition under Major Bowman to Cahokia, farther up the Mississippi river, and took possession of that town under the huzzas of the people, for freedom and the Americans. He subsequently effected the reduction of Vincennes, by the aid of the Catholic priest, M. Gibault, and soon saw the American flag floating on the ramparts of the old fort, and the far western border of Virginia comparatively secure from British disturbance. He next turned his attention to establishing friendly relations with the various Indian tribes in that region, and in this most arduous undertaking displayed inexhaustible resource and tact, succeeding far beyond his most sanguine expectations. In 1779, Governor Hamil- ton, of Detroit, recaptured Vincennes, but made no attempt at further conquest. Soon after hearing the news of this misfortune, General Clark set to work organizing a force for the purpose of marching against Vincennes; and again, on February 24, 1779, the fort was surrendered, and on the following day the Stars and Stripes were hoisted, under a salute of thirteen guns. Soon after this occurrence, he established his head- quarters at Louisville; in 1780, built Fort Jefferson, on the Mississippi; during that year, an expedition under Col. Byrd, consisting of six hundred Indians and Cana- dians, having captured Ruddell's and Martin's Stations, in Kentucky, and carried off the inhabitants and spoils towards Canada, he organized a force of one thousand men; attacked the Indians, defeatcd and dispersed them, laying waste their gardens and fields; in 1780, he went to Richmond, and laid before the Government his plan for the conquest of Detroit; succeeded in organizing a force of two thousand men, which rendezvoused at the Falls of the Ohio, in the following Spring, and he was raised to the rank of brigadier-general, but his attention was turned to defensive operations. His heart was placed upon conquest in the North, and the necessities which forced him to abandon his scheme greatly reduced his energy and diminished his influence. After the dis- astrous battle of the Blue Licks, in 1782, he again made a desperate effort to rouse the people from despondency, and, in September, assembled one thousand riflemen at the mouth of the Licking river, and marched on the Indian towns on the Scioto and Miami; the Indians fly- ing before them, their towns were every-where reduced to ashes; and from that time no formidable body of sav- . ages invaded Kentucky. In 1786, at the head of one thousand men, he again entered the Indian territory, but the expedition, proving unfortunate, was abandoncd. Several years afterwards, M. Genet, the French Minister, undertook to organize an expedition against the Spanish possessions on the Lower Mississippi. Gen. Clark ac- cepted a commission as major-general in the French

army, but, before the scheme was put into execution, a revolution occurred in France, and his commission was annulled. He long suffered from ill health, and,, sev- eral years before his death, was deprived of the use of one limb by paralysis. He died in February, 1818, and was buried at Locust Grove, near Louisville. He was a brave soldier, and was one of the most able and useful men who flourished in the early history of the West. Gen. Clark was never married.

ALLARD, ANDREW JACKSON, Lawyer, Legislator, and Clerk of Courts. This gentle- man, a native Kentuckian, and now aged sixty- one years, is the son of James Ballard, who, about the year 1780, in company with his father and his brother, Bland Ballard, the noted In- dian fighter, emigrated to Kentucky, and settled on a farm in Shelby County, which he cultivated until his death, and then left as an inheritance to his children. Upon this farm, Andrew Jackson Ballard, the subject of our sketch, was born, and in the schools of its vicinity received his elementary instruction. His more advanced studies were pursued at the seminary in Shelbyville, when Latin and Greek formed a part of the course. In 1835, he quit school to read law, under the auspices of the Hon. George M. Bibb, attending, in the mean time, one session of the Transylvania University, at Lexington, Kentucky. In 1837, having passed the necessary exami- nation, he was admitted to the bar, at Louisville, Ken- tucky, where he commenced the practice of law, which he continued until 1862-a period of twenty-five years- when he retired to fill an appointment in the United States Courts. In 1842-3, he represented the city of Louis- ville in the Legislature, discharging all his duties faith- fully, and, at the end of the term, received at the hands of the Whig party, of which he was a warm adherent, a gratifying indorsement, by way of a renomination, which he respectfully declined. In 1846, soon after the breaking out of the Mexican War, he tendered his serv- ices to President Polk, but his offer, coming too late, failed in securing his appointment. His commission, however, had been issued, in the hurry and bustle of the moment, and sent to the President for signature, when, upon examination it was discovered that the position intended for him was already filled by a prior applicant. From 1862 to 1870, he served as Clerk of the United States Circuit and District Courts for the District of Kentucky, a position to which he was called when he retired from the practice of the law. In 1871, he became the principal political editor of the "Louis- ville Daily and Weekly Commercial;" and, in the memorable campaign of Gen. John M. Harlan, the Re- publican nominee for Governor of Kentucky, which oc-

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curred during the period of that editorship, gave to that gentleman, through the columns of the "Commercial," a most cordial and unqualified support. Much of his life has been devoted to the preparation of newspaper literature. When William W. Wallace was editing a paper at Louisville, he contributed to its columns many valuable sketches of Kentucky's most eminent lawyers, among which were notable ones of Judges Rowan and Bibb. Since 1872, he has devoted most of his time and attention to his family and property; and, within the past five years, has visited Europe twice. In 1875, he united with the Protestant Episcopal Church, and is a member of Christ Church, Louisville, at this time. On the 27th of April, 1848, he married Miss Frances Ann Thruston, the only daughter of Charles M. Thruston, and grand-niece of Gen. George Rogers Clark; and, on her mother's side, the granddaughter of Col. Samuel Churchill, of Jefferson County, Kentucky. To this mar- riage, there have been born four children, of whom three only are living: namely, Charles Thruston, a grad- uate of Yale College, and cashier in the office of the Internal Revenue Collector at Louisville; Samuel Thrus- ton, a Junior at Cornell University; and Rogers Clark, a Freshman at Yale. In April, 1874, at Mentone, France, while on their tour, he had the misfortune to lose by death his only daughter, Miss Abby Churchill, a Junior at Vassar College. He has two brothers and a sister, all of whom live in Kentucky; one brother, Will- iam Harrison Ballard, who resides upon and owns the old homestead, where they were born; another, the Hon. Bland Ballard, who resides at Louisville, and is Judge of the United States Courts for Kentucky, holding from original appointment by President Lincoln ; and a sister, Mrs. Pauline W. Collings, who resides at Owensboro, Kentucky. Like most Kentucky gentlemen, Mr. Bal- lard has been a remarkable "whist player" in his day, and was rarely, if at all, excelled in his State. For the past fifteen years, however, he has scarcely played a game. For over forty-two years, he has been a resident of Louisville, in all of which time he has had the full confidence and approbation of his fellow-citizens there, and occupied a commanding social position among them. Always a close observer of persons and things, he has ever been a shrewd calculator of values in business mat- ters, which fact, his present happy worldly condition amply attests. A man of excellent conversational pow- ers, entertaining and instructive, sensible and dignified, he has, by his easy and affable manners, drawn about himself a circle of warm personal friends, without, in the slightest degree, engendering that undue familiarity which is the ever sure attendant of diminished popular appreciation. Courteous, kind, and considerate in his bearing toward others, and charitable, where charity is deserved, he is, and has always been, in every sense of the term, a worthy, exemplary citizen.

ODD, HON. ROBERT S., Banker, was born in 1792. He was for many years Clerk of the Kentucky House of Representatives; was elected to the Legislature from Fayette County, in 1841; was re-elected, and, in 1845, was elected to the State Senate, serving four years, and was a candidate for re-election at the time of his death; was President of the Lexington branch of tlie Bank of Kentucky, from its establishment to the end of his life. He was one of the most distinguished and useful men of Fayette County, and died July 16, 1849. Among his surviving children is the widow of President Abraham Lincoln.

GRAHAM, REV. ROBERT, President of Bible College, in the University of Kentucky, was born August 14, 1822, in Liverpool, England. His parents were Episcopalians, and he was consequently brought up in the communion of the Established Church. At the age of fourteen, during a Methodist revival at Alleghany City, Pennsyl- vania, he was led to doubt the doctrinal position which he occupied; and, although not experiencing the heart- change, which was considered an essential, was admitted to the Methodist Protestant Church on probation; but was still unsatisfied with his position. In 1838, he be- came acquainted with the congregation of Disciples, or Christians, in Alleghany City, and, after a thorough review of his religious belief, was, in February, 1839, immersed by the pastor of that Church. At the time of his union with the Disciples' Church, he was engaged in learning the carpenter's trade in Pittsburg, and had very little time to devote to literary pursuits. In Janu- ary, 1843, he entered Bethany College, and in the fol- lowing year began to preach for the Church at Dutch Fork, seven miles from Bethany, continuing to serve that congregation for three years. He graduated, in 1847, with the first honors of his class, delivering the Latin Salutatory, and engaged for several months subsequently in collecting for Mr. Campbell, over the South-western States, and, during that time, assisted John T. Johnson in a meeting at Fayetteville, Arkansas, which resulted in establishing a Church at that place, over which he soon after became pastor. In January, 1849, he re- moved, with his family, to Fayetteville, and there finally established Arkansas College, an institution which was carried on with great success until the opening of the civil war. In the Fall of 1859, he came to Kentucky, and became Professor of Belles Lettres and History in Kentucky University, at Harrodsburg; resigned his po- sition in 1860, and returned to Fayetteville, Arkansas, with a view to becoming General Agent of the Southern Christian Missionary Society, but the war prevented the

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carrying out of the plans of the Society. In the Fall of 1862, he took charge of the First Christian Church, of

Cincinnati, where he labored with great acceptance until 1864, when he resigned, and removed to Santa Rosa,

· California, preaching for the Church there, and teaching in the academy for one year; spent some time in San Francisco, and succeeded in establishing a Church in that city; in January, 1866, was elected presiding officer in the College of Arts, and Professor of the School of English Language and Literature, in Kentucky Univer- sity, at Lexington, Kentucky; and, in the Fall of the following year, entered upon his duties in that institu- tion, with which he has since been actively identified. He has a finely balanced organization, with perfect in- tellectual and physical harmony; is a fine extemporane- ous preacher, and, on any great occasion, is capable of exercising wonderful power over an audience; possesses a strong sympathetic nature, and has great influence in the social circle; is a man of uncommon strength of character, great executive skill, and of exceptional ability to influence and lead the people. Mr. Graham was married, in December, 1844, while a student at Beth- any College, to Miss Maria Thornley, of Alleghany City; and, of their nine children, four are living.

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 74

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