The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 76

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

USA > Kentucky > The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century > Part 76

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ERRIWETHER, WILLIAM A., son of Da- vid Merriwether, was born May 26, 1825, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, nine miles from Louisville. His father was a Virginian by birth ; came to Kentucky at an early day, and throughout life followed agricultural pursuits. William A. Merriwether received a good education in the private schools of his native county. In 1845, he commenced farming in Floyd County, Indiana, where he remained until the breaking out of the war with Mexico, when he enlisted in the army, and served under Gen. William O. Butler. At the close of the war, he resumed farming in his native county, in the mean time studying law and medicine; but probably with no design of pur- suing either profession. From 1861 to 1864, he served as Deputy United States Marshal, and, from 1864 to 1869, was United States Marshal; from 1870 to 1876, he was Clerk of the United States Court, at Louisville; since which time he has been actively and successfully engaged in the real estate business. Up to the com- mencement of the rebellion he was a Democrat in poli- tics, but since that time he has been identified with the

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Republican party. He belongs to the Manuel Reform Episcopal Church ; is senior warden, and one of its most active, zealous, and valuable members. He is a man of attractive social qualities, fine personal appearance, and one of the most energetic, persevering, and enterprising citizens of Louisville. Mr. Merriwether has been twice married : first, in 1856, to Miss Lillie Morrell ; after her death, he was married, in 1864, to Miss Julia D. Tryon.

ELM, GEN. BENJAMIN HARDIN, Lawyer and Soldier, was born June 2, 1831, in Hardin County, Kentucky, and was the son of Gov. John L. IFelm, a member of one of the distin- guished families of Kentucky, and himself one of the most distinguished men of the State. (See sketch of Gov. John L. Helm.) His mother was Lucinda Barbour Hardin, related to the Barbours, and daughter of Hon. Benjamin Hardin, probably the most noted member of the Hardin family, and one of the most able lawyers of his day in Kentucky. Gen. Helm began his education at Elizabethtown; at an early age, entered the Kentucky Military Institute, near Frankfort; after a short stay there, entered West Point Military Acad- emy, where he graduated, in 1851 ; was brevetted Sec- ond Lieutenant in the Second Regular United States Cavalry; served for several months on the frontier of Texas; was compelled, by protracted illness, to return home for recovery ; was induced by his father to resign his commission, although greatly devoted to the army; studied law with his father; graduated from the law department of the University of Louisville, in 1853; after spending several months at Cambridge, entered into practice with his father; subsequently, was for some time associated with Judge M. H. Cofer, at Elizabeth- town; was elected to the State Legislature from Hardin County, in 1855; in the following year, was elected Commonwealth's Attorney for his district; removed to Louisville in 1858; was there associated in business with his brother-in-law, Hon. H. W. Bruce, and made a fine record as a lawyer, although greatly preferring a mili- tary career. In 1860, he was appointed Assistant In- spector-General of the State Guard, and was active in organizing that force; was slow to abandon the old flag; went to Washington to see Mr. Lincoln, with a view of re-entering the regular army; before receiving the com- mission promised by the President, circumstances oc- curred, which, in his judgment, made it advisable to join the South; went to Montgomery, Alabama, and offered his services to the Confederacy ; in the mean time, had been commissioned major in the regular army, agreeably to the promise of Mr. Lincoln, but, of course, did not accept ; in September, 1861, was appointed Colonel of the First Kentucky Confederate Cavalry; covered the

retreat of the Confederates from Bowling Green; in Feb- ruary, 1862, was brigaded with the Kentucky infantry at Murfreesboro, under Gen. Breckinridge; was pro- moted brigadier-general in March of that year; was, about that time, assigned to the command of the Third Brigade of the Reserve Corps; in the following July, took command of the Second Brigade of that corps; was wounded in an engagement on August 5; after re- covery, took charge of the post of Chattanooga; sub- sequently, was placed in command of the Eastern Dis- trict of the Gulf Department ; in February, 1863, took charge of the Kentucky Brigade in Breckinridge's Di- vision ; was actively engaged in the arduous campaign soon after passed through by his brigade; and, in the great battle of Chickamauga, fell, mortally wounded, September 20, 1863; and, at midnight of that day, breathed his last. His remains were interred at Atlanta. He was a brave and able officer, was a soldier by choice, and gave his life for the cause he believed right, although an apparently long and brilliant career seemed to open before him in the service of the Union and the old flag. In person, he was six feet in height, and had a well-pro- portioned and manly figure; had attractive and genial manners, and was a man of generous, broad, and noble feelings. Gen. Helm was married, in 1856, to Miss Emily Todd, daughter of Robert S. Todd, of Lexing- ton, and sister of the wife of President Lincoln.

RIM, JOHN MATTHEW, M. D., was born in 1842, in Wurtzburg, Bavaria; and is the son of John Krim, for thirty-four years a blacksmith and veterinary surgeon of Louisville, Kentucky. John M. Krim received a good education, in the select and public schools at Louisville, and at St. Mary's College, Bardstown. At the age of sixteen, he entered a drug-store in Louisville, where he con- tinued for three years, when, in order to complete his chemical studies, he went to Germany, remaining several years in his native town, and at Heidelberg and Vienna, under the direct care of the distinguished chemists, sur- geons, and physicians, Bauburger, Scanzoni, Lougbeck, and others. Ile also traveled through a great part of England, France, Italy, Switzerland, and this country, with a view to furthering his professional knowledge. In 1862, he returned to Louisville, and, after devoting sev- eral years to a thorough study and practice of pharmacy, completed his medical studies, and received the degree of M. D., from the University of Louisville, in 1869, and at once entered upon the practice of medicine at Louisville; rising rapidly, now occupies a high position in his profession. He is a member of the State Medical Society ; member of the Louisville College of Phar- macy; of the United States College of Pharmacy ;

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and has been, for several years, connected with the city Board of Health. He has also been a member of the School Board for several years, and, as such, served as Chairman of the German Committee. He has writ- ten considerably for the medical journals, especially on subjects relating to medical pharmacy, minor surgery, and the diseases of children. Dr. Krim was married, May 3, 1870, to Kate Fischer, daughter of John Fischer, a retired capitalist of Louisville. She died January 22, 1875, leaving one child.

cHENRY, COL. JOHN H., Lawyer, was born February 21, 1832, in Hartford, Ohio County, Kentucky. (See sketch of his father, Hon. John Hardin McHenry.) He received a fine literary education, spending three years in West Point Military Academy. In 1857, he gradu- ated in law at the University of Louisville, and prac- ticed his profession in Owensboro, until the commence- ment of the war. He raised the Seventeenth Kentucky Union Infantry, and, October 1, 1861, had the first en- gagement with the rebels fought on Kentucky soil. His regiment participated under Gen. Grant at Fort Donelson, and on the field of Shiloh, and subse- quently was consolidated with the Fifth Kentucky under his command. In 1862, when President Lincoln issued his first proclamation on the subject of emancipation, he, taking issue with the Government, published an order to his regiment which resulted in his dismissal, and he left the service, with the regrets of his men and compan- ions in arms, and the highest testimonials of respect from his superior officers. In 1863, he made a race for Congress, but was defeated ; after which he resumed the practice of the law, at Owensboro, in which he has since continued actively and successfully engaged. Colonel McHenry was married, in 1868, to Miss Josie Phillips, of Louisville, niece of Judge Bland Ballard.

RAHAM, CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, M. D., was born October 10, 1787, ncar Dan- ville, in what is now Boyle County, Kentucky. His father was a native of Virginia, and of Scotch origin ; his mother was Irish. While hc was a boy, his father settled at the Beach Fork, in Nelson County, where he learned the use of the gun, and became one of the most expert riflemen in the back- woods of the West. At the commencement of the second war with England, he had acquired a meagre education, and had started in the silversmith business, which he sold out in order to raise money for the equipment of a com- pany of soldiers, at Springfield, Washington County.

He was in several engagements of the war, and was once or twice wounded, and was also a prisoner several times in the hands of the Indians. He, subsequently, went to Texas, for the purpose of offering himself as a soldier in the war for Mexican independence. He after- wards studied medicine under Dr. Benjamin W. Dudley, and graduated at Transylvania University. During the Black Hawk War, he acquired a large lead interest at Galena, Illinois. As early as 1819, he began his career in connection with the history of Harrodsburg. He kept for thirty-two years the Harrodsburg Springs, and was identified for nearly half a century with the growth and prosperity of Mercer County. The Presbyterian Female College, and the Christian Baptist Female Col- lege, at Harrodsburg, largely owed their existence to him. He also aided munificently to establish old Bacon College, at Harrodsburg, and, in fact, was a leader of every public improvement of advantage to that com- munity. In 1852, he sold his celebrated property at Harrodsburg, as a site for the Western Military Asylum. He afterwards traded in Mexico, and engaged in busi- ness successfully in various parts of the West and South, accumulating a large fortune, which he has with un- stinted hand devoted to many of the best charities of the country. He was surgeon to the expedition under Col. Gray, which made the first survey of the Southern, Atlantic, and Pacific Railroad, but has devoted little of his long and eventful life to the practice of his profes- sion. Besides a vast number of articles, on various sub- jects, which he contributed to the journals, his pub- lished works of importance are, "Man from his Cradle to the Grave," "The True Science of Medicine," and the "Philosophy of the Mind." For many years, he has devoted much of his time to the collection of a cabinet of Natural History for the State. He is a mem- ber of the Methodist Church, and, during a great part of his life, has devoted himself to the best interests of his fellow-men. At his great age, he is still full of vigor. He resides at Louisville, and is engaged with much of his former zest in every good word and work.

OCKE, HON. WILLIAM, Lawyer, was born July 16, 1815, in Grainger County, East Ten- nessce. He was the only child of Sterling Cocke, by his first marriage ; and is a grand- son of Hon. William Cocke, who was one of the first United States Senators from Tennes- see, and who continucd to represent that State, in that branch of Congress, for twelve years, from 1796. 1Ie received his education at East Tennessee College, Knox- ville, which he entered in 1829, and where he remained until 1834. After leaving college, he began business as a merchant, in Rutledge, Tennessee, where he remained

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two years. He then began the study of law, with his uncle, Hon. John Cocke, of Rutledge; in 1838, was admitted to the bar; in 1840, was elected Clerk of the Grainger County Circuit Court ; and re-elected in 1844. In August, 1845, he was elected to the Lower House of Congress, to represent the Second District of East Ten- nessee, as a Whig, by a large majority, over both a Whig and a Democrat; and was again elected in 1847, receiving a majority of twenty-eight hundred votes over his Democratic opponent. He came before the people for re-election in 1849, but was defeated, owing to his opposition to the policy of the Democratic Administra- tion during the Mexican War. In 1849, he resumed the practice of law, which he has since continued with some slight interruptions. In 1848, he was a member of the Whig Convention, which met in Philadelphia, and was a friend to the nomination of Gen. Taylor. In 1856, he was elected to the State Senate, of Tennes- see. At the commencement of the civil war, he was an ardent friend of the Union, using his utmost exertions to prevent Tennessee from seceding; but, when Mr. Lincoln issued his first call for troops, he espoused the cause of his section, and was a friend of the South until the close of the war. In 1862, he was appointed Clerk of the Supreme Court of Tennessee, which office he held until the Fall of 1863, when he took refuge in Shelby, North Carolina, until the close of the war. In 1865, he removed to Ashville, North Carolina, and re- sumed the practice of law; and, in 1872, located at Winchester, Kentucky, where he has since resided. Since 1832, he has been a member of the Presbyterian Church; and, since 1840, has been an elder in his Church. He is a man of refined and elegant manners, and has enjoyed the benefits of high social and public positions during a life well spent in the public service. He is now on the decline of life; but, being possessed of a good constitution, he has every prospect of long life and a green old age. Mr. Cocke has been twice married : January 15, 1835, to Miss F. Cocke; and, in 1871, to Miss Amanda M. Grigsby, of Clarke County, Kentucky.

EAMAN, HON. GEORGE H., Lawyer, was born November 1, 1829, in Hardin County, Kentucky. He studied law, and was admitted to practice in his twenty-third year, beginning liis profession at Owensboro, Daviess County; in

1854, was elected judge of that county, and, from that time until 1858, devoted his attention to the law, acquiring an extensive and valuable practice; in 1861, was elected to the State Legislature; in 1862, un- dertook to raise a regiment for the Union army; but, on the resignation of James S. Jackson, was elected his successor in the Thirty-seventh Congress, serving on the

Committee on Military Affairs; was re-elected, serving on the same committee; and, in 1865, was appointed Minister Resident to Denmark by President Johnson.

WIGERT, PHILIP, was born December 27, 1798, in Fayette County, Kentucky. His father, John Swigert, with his family, emi- grated, at an early day, from Maryland to Kentucky, and settled upon a tract of land then belonging to Gov. Isaac Shelby, twelve miles south-east of Lexington, where the subject of this sketch, the third of nine children-five sons and four daughters-was born. His family, both paternal and maternal, was of German origin. His father's means were limited, and in consequence he was unable to afford his children favorable opportunities for education. But, to a considerable extent, the early energy and ambition of young Philip supplied. the lack of ampler means upon the part of his father. By working industriously upon the farm during the Spring and Summer months, he was enabled, from his savings, to attend the ordinary neighborhood schools during the Fall and Winter, and thus acquire some knowledge of the substantial elements of a fair English education. At the age of sixteen (1815), he removed from the farm to Versailles, in Wood- ford County, and entered the office of John Mckinney, . deceased, a brother-in-law of the late Gov. J. J. Crit- tenden-the then Circuit and County Court Clerk-as a deputy. He was received into the family of Mr. Mckinney, and, by both himself and wife, treated with the kindness and attention usually shown to a son. Here he remained until 1823, in the mean time obtain- ing a license to practice law, and filling the positions of a Notary Public and Justice of the Peace. In 1823, he was clected, without personal application, or even knowledge that the position was vacant, to a clerkship in the State Bank of Kentucky, of which powerful in- stitution the late John Harvie was then president. He at once removed to Frankfort, and entercd upon the discharge of the duties of his new position. Soon after his removal to Frankfort, he married Miss Jane Watson, daughter of Dr. John Watson, a distinguished physician of Woodford County, who had been professionally ed- ucated at Edinburgh, Scotland. Of this marriage, eight children were born, of whom one only, Mary, wife of Rev. J. R. Hendrick, at present a highly esteemed citi- zen of Frankfort, now survives. Mr. Swigert retained his connection with the Bank of Kentucky for some years, in various positions of high responsibility. He was, at one period, intrusted with the difficult and im- portant duty of winding up the business of a number of its branches, located in distant parts of the State, re- moving their funds and papers to Frankfort ; a trust he

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discharged with great skill, fidelity, and courage, to the entire satisfaction of both officers and stockholders, as also to the relief of many unfortunate debtors to the bank. Upon the completion of this arduous business, he engaged for several years in farming, in the vicin- ity of Frankfort. About this time he was appointed a United States Deputy Marshal, and again removed to Frankfort. In 1829-30, he became Sheriff of Franklin County ; on October 23, 1830, he was appointed Circuit Court Clerk of the county, which office he continued to hold, by judicial appointment or popular election, for many successive years, voluntarily retiring from its duties in 1862; from 1830 to 1870 he was, from time to time, actively and successfully engaged in various branches of private business; was an extensive United States Mail contractor ; a large manufacturer of bagging and rope; a prosperous commission and forwarding, as also dry-goods, merchant ; was heavily interested in the construction, ownership, and management of steam- boats; a large stockholder in the Frankfort Woolen and Cotton Mills, taking a leading part in their inauguration and active management ; and, for some years, was a joint lessee, with the late Col. William R. McKee, of the Lexington and Frankfort Railroad. He was, at one time, a Director in the Frankfort Branch Bank of Ken- tucky ; subsequently became the active man in organiz- ing the Farmers' Bank of Kentucky; was made one of its first Directors, and succeeded the late John H. Hanna in its presidency, upon the resignation of that gentleman. This position he held several years. Upon his withdrawal from his connection with the Farmers' Bank, he became chiefly instrumental in the establish- ment of the Deposit Bank of Frankfort, and upon its or- ganization he was elected President by the unanimous vote of its stockholders, which position he retained until his death. He also served as Mayor of Frankfort for twenty years. During his mayoralty, permanent gas and water works were introduced, the large and elegant Cap- ital Hotel built, and other useful public improvements in- augurated, by the municipal enterprise of the city. He was, for many years, Vice-President of the State Agri- cultural Society, and ever took a lively interest in agri- cultural and horticultural pursuits. In the later years of his life he became much interested in stock-raising, and conducted successfully the best improved and appointed large farm in Franklin County. In 1861, he was elected, by the Legislature, Chairman of the State Board of In- ternal Improvement, of which system he had long been a zealous and efficient friend, and held the position for two years, with excellent results to the State and people. In 1864, he was nominated by a unanimous vote of his party convention, and elected by a large majority of the popular vote, to represent the counties of Franklin, Woodford, and Anderson, in the State Senate. He served his full term of four years, with honor to himself

and advantage to his constituents. As a legislator, he was prompt, attentive, and sagacious, liberal, prudent and firm, rarely participating in public debates, but constantly exercising a quiet but potent influence in shaping the substantial business of legislation and policy of the State. He occupied various other minor official or quasi-official trusts, among others that of Secretary of the Military Board of Kentucky, during the most or whole of the late civil war-always with credit to him- self .. He was, for fifty years, in one position or another, an active, influential, and distinguished member of the Masonic Order, being chosen successively to fill many of the highest offices of the brotherhood, several of the most important and honorable of which he retained, by an annual re-election, to the close of his life. He con- stantly studied to promote the interests of the Order, and to discharge the functions of the many high honors it showered upon him, with an ardor, a watchfulness, and a singleness of purpose, which seemed to have had their birth in the very spirit of devotion itself. Nor were the Masonic Order, or the people, among whom he had so long lived, unmindful of his great services and the many distinctions with which they had repeatedly chosen to honor him, upon his death; which occurred at his residence in the city of Frankfort, December 31, 1871. Delegates from many lodges and councils of the Order, in all accessible parts of the State, attended his funeral in large numbers. He was buried in Frankfort's beautiful cemetery, which he had aided in founding and embellishing, amid one of the grandest pageants and most imposing ceremonials of the mystic brotherhood ever wit- nessed, upon a similar occasion, in Kentucky. The cit- izens of Frankfort and Franklin County were not be- hind his Masonic brethren in their last sad testimonial of respect to their deceased fellow-citizen. By procla- mation of the Mayor, observed by common acquiescence, all business in the city was suspended during the day; the people, of all classes and both sexes, attending the funeral and burial services in great numbers. The univer- sal expression evinced a deep sense of public and personal loss. Mr. Swigert had been for many years previous to his death deeply interested upon the subject of religion, and died in the full fruition of a Christian's hope. Though never aspiring or elevated to the most exalted official stations of the State, he was long recognized as a power of no ordinary weight in the politics of Kentucky. An ardent Whig, a zealous American, a firm Unionist, he was an active and prominent participant in all the leading party movements of his day. By his zeal, cease- less energy, and attention to details, and his political acumen, combined with his remarkable faculty of organ- ization and executive talent, he contributed in a very large degree to the varying successes of each of those great political organizations. In the exciting State con- test of 1855, resulting in the election of Hon. Charles

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S. Morehead as Governor, and the temporary triumph of the American or Know-Nothing party, he was, as Chairman of the State Central Committee, perhaps one of the most conspicuous figures in the canvass. By his untiring energy, indomitable will, and great fertility of resource, supplementing the extraordinary personal pop- ularity and great abilities of Gov. Morehead, the two virtually saved the party from defeat that year. But not even such a rare combination of talent and energy, of personal popularity and political sagacity, of zeal and determination, could stem the slowly gathering tide of public opinion. The next year, in spite of the great efforts, the wise plans, and the almost perfect organiza- tion of Mr. Swigert and his political associates, the State went Democratic, and cast its electoral vote for Buchanan and Breckinridge. This, perhaps, may be considered the most trying period of Mr. Swigert's life. At no other time did he occupy so commanding a position to the public eye; attach to himself so numerous, powerful, and devoted a following of political and personal adher- ents; array against himself so strong, heated, and acri- monious a body of opponents; or display, in a public field, that rare faculty of organization, unsurpassed ex- ecutive capacity, and great tenacity of purpose, with which nature had endowed him, and which made him, during the greater part of his life, a marked and often courted figure among the leading men of his State. In person, Mr. Swigert was rather small of stature, thin and sinewy, his whole appearance indicating a highly nerv- ous temperament; in manner, he was commonly unob- trusive, dignified, and affable; but in moments of ex- citement the ordinary demeanor of the man changed in an instant, and he then became quick, fiery, and demon- strative. As a citizen, he was enterprising, public-spir- ited, and liberal, contributing freely of his time, means, and ability, to whatever measures he deemed beneficial to the common public interests ; as a business man and public officer, he was sagacious, prudent, methodical, and indefatigable, broad in his plans, keenly alive to details in their execution, and faithful under all circum- stances to his engagements. He knew the full value of time, squandered idly no moment of it, and was always punctiliously prompt to his appointments-busi- ness, political, or social. In his private relations he was most exemplary; a kind and devoted husband, a pru- dent but affectionate and indulgent father, and a warm and steadfast friend. Of the large fortune he amassed, much was at different times generously devoted to the comfort and advancement of the less fortunate members of his family connection ; while to many of the deserv- ing poor, especially to younger men struggling against adverse fortune, with laudable ambition to rise in life, he was known as a genuine and timely benefactor. With his peculiar temperament, through a life so long, diversified, and eventful, it would be idle to say that he

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 76

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