The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 91

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

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YLE, JOEL REID, Editor and Publisher, was born in December, 1764, in Rockbridge County, Virginia. He received a good education, and removed to Clarke County, Kentucky, in 1800; engaged for several years in teaching in that county ; married and located in Paris, where he became an assistant in the school of his brother, Rev. John Lyle; purchased the "Kentucky Herald," the second paper published in the State; in 1808, es- tablished the " Western Citizen," at Paris; continued as its editor and publisher until 1832, when his son, William C. Lyle, succeeded him, and was its editor and publisher until 1867. Joel R. Lyle was a writer of ability, and exerted a large influence among the early newspaper men of the State. He was a man of high, upright principles ; and was, for over a quarter of a century, a leading and active officer of the Presbyterian Church.

EYNOLDS, DUDLEY SHARPE, M. D., Sur- geon, Oculist, and Aurist, was born at Bow- ling Green, Kentucky, on the 31st of August, 1842. His parents were the Rev. Thomas Reynolds and Mary Nichols. His father was the eldest son of Dr. Admiral Reynolds, de- scended directly from the distinguished Irish family of that name, who figured conspicuously in the annals of science and letters. Rev. Thomas Reynolds has been a Baptist missionary, in Indiana and Kentucky, for more than thirty years, and enjoys great popularity as a pul- pit orator. Dudley S. Reynolds was named for the late distinguished Prof. Benjamin Winslow Dudley, of Lex- ington, one of the greatest surgeons of his time. At an early age, Dudley Reynolds manifested a fondness for books. He was educated in various private schools and by private tutors, finally taking a course of French and Latin under W. Alman. In 1862, he studied medicine, for which he exhibited a great fondness. The distracted condition of the country at that time interposed obsta- cles to the successful prosecution of his studies; and he at once engaged as a newspaper correspondent. An occa- sional letter from Nashville to the "Louisville Daily Journal" made for him a warm friend in the person of the late George D. Prentice. On the seventh day of May, 1865, he was married to the accomplished Miss Mary Frances Keagan, of Louisville. She had graduated at Nazareth Academy, near Bardstown, Kentucky, in 1862, and was considered very talented. She died of chronic pneumonia, in Louisville, on the second day of March, 1876, a devoted wife and mother, a model Christian, beloved by all who knew her. Just after his marriage, he engaged in a grain speculation, in Nashville, Ten- nessee, which resulted unfavorably. On the 3d of August, 1866, he left Nashville, moving to Louisville,

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wherc, in March, 1868, he graduated in the medical department of the University of Louisville, and at once began the practice of his profession in that city, .with great success. In 1869, he became a member of the Louisville College of Physicians and Surgeons, organ- ized in 1838, under a charter granted by the State Leg- islature, and embracing all the medical and surgical talent of Louisville in its membership; and contributed largely to the support of the college, taking an active part in its discussions. In April, 1869, he was made Chief Surgeon to the Western Dispensary, on Four- teenth Street, where he at once began the establishment of a successful course of clinical medicine and surgery ; and soon made himself popular by his benevolence, and devotion to the practice of his art. He became a mcm- ber of the Kentucky State Medical Society, in 1871, and, at each annual meeting since that time, has taken a prominent part in the Society's deliberations, always making some literary contribution to the volume of transactions. In the beginning of 1872, being over- worked as a general practitioner, he entcred exclusively into ophthalmic and aural practice. His friends ad- vised him against this step, as they thought it would not be possible for any one to find enough practice, in that department, in so small a city as Louisville, to earn a living. He persisted in his determination, visited the principal cities of the East, made the acquaintance of most eminent specialists, returned home, and began a remarkably successful career as an oculist and aurist. In 1872, he represented the State Medical Association in the meeting, at Philadelphia, of the American Medi- cal Association, an organization composed entirely of delegates from other medical societies. He made many friends among the profession at this meeting; and, upon returning home, the delegation from the Muskingum County Medical Society, of Zanesville, Ohio, made him honorary member of their association. In 1874, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Little Rock, Arkansas, made him an honorary member of their body. In May, 1874, the Commissioners of Public Charities made him surgeon to the eye and ear department of the Louisville City Hospital. In the Summer of 1874, the Curators of Central University, located at Richmond, Kentucky, established the medical department of the University in Louisville, and appointed him Professor of Ophthalmology and Otology, where he is now a popular teacher. He has produced no literary work of a perma- nent character, though he is a very frequent contributor to the medical serials published in Louisville, Nashville, and Philadelphia. He conducted the first systematic investigation of the cause of blindness, in January, 1873, the result of which was afterwards published in the "American Practitioner." He has invented several important instruments, and enriched the profession by several devices in surgery ; and now enjoys a fine private

practice. In March, 1875, when medical politics led to bitter partisan strifes, breaking up the old College of Physicians and Surgeons, he undertook the organization of a new society. In this, he was successful. In two days he had ninety-six names. He declines to hold office; but the Louisville Academy of Medicine recog- nizes him as its founder, and is now the most harmoni- ous and important medical association in the State. Dr. Reynolds has three children.

OSTWICK, HENRY, was born November 14, 1827, in Hartford, Connecticut, and is the son of Isaac Davis Bostwick, of that State. He re- ceived a good education in the common-schools of New England, and, at the age of sixteen, was apprenticed to the printing business with Elihu Geer, publisher of the " Hartford Daily Jour- nal;" remained in that office six years; went to New York City, and was engaged for some time with the Har- per Brothers, and C. A. Alvord; in 1858, took charge of the printing department in the house of W. B. Smith & Co., Cincinnati; remaining in that position for eight years; and, in 1867, he commenced insurance business in Covington, Kentucky, in connection with C. H. Fechter. In 1873, was appointed, by Judge Ballard, Clerk of the United States Circuit and District Courts, of Covington, and was also made United States Commis- sioner, which position he still holds. During the civil war, he took an active part in organizing the Forty- first Kentucky Union Regiment, and served for some time in one of its companies. He has been, for eight years, a member of the Covington Board of Education, and is a member and officer in the Presbyterian Church, and is probably one of the most prominent Masons in the State, having been presiding officer of all the Ma- sonic bodies of Kentucky, and is also an officer of the General Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of the United States, and is prominently connected with vari- ous other social orders. Mr. Bostwick was married, in 1852, to Anna Lehman, and has three children by that marriage. In 1874, he was again married, to Mrs. Frances Strader, widow of M. V. Strader, late surgeon in the United States army.

GREEN, THOMAS MARSHALL, Editor, son of Judge John Green and Mary Keith Marshall, was born November 23, 1836, in Lincoln (now Boyle) County, near Danville, Kentucky. His father was a native of Lincoln County, born in 1787; studied law under Henry Clay ; was a member of the Kentucky Senate for two or three terms;

Eng. & Ptd by Homer Lee & Co. N.Y.

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was several terms a member of the Lower House; was author of the law of 1833, prohibiting the importation of slaves from other States to this; was aid-de-camp to Gov. Shelby, in his campaign of the war of 1812; was Judge of the Circuit Court, and dicd while holding that office, in 1838 ; was a man of fine intellect, of high stand- ing in the Church and in society, and of great integrity of character; he was first married to Sarah Fry, daugh- ter of the celebrated teacher, Joshua Fry ; and his sec- ond wife, who is still living, with her son, in Maysville, was the daughter of Capt. Thomas Marshall ( brother of Chief-Justice John Marshall), an officer in the Revolu- tionary army, who was the first Clerk of Shenandoah County, Virginia; came to Kentucky in 1790; was the first Clerk of the Court of Mason County; and was a member, in 1799, from that county, to the second Con- stitutional Convention. Thomas M. Green was edu- cated at Centre College, graduating from that institution in 1855; in 1866, went into the printing office of the "Commonwealth," at Frankfort ; in the following year, was Presidential Elector for the State at large, and made an active canvass for Fillmore and Donaldson; in the same year, became editor of the "Commonwealth ;" held that position until 1860; in the Fall of that year, he bought the " Maysville Eagle," and has since resided in Maysville, as the editor and publisher of that paper. In 1868, he was one of the successful Presidential Elect- ors, on the Democratic ticket, and is a conservative Democrat in politics. He is a fine speaker, an able and versatile writer; and, under him, the old " Eagle" has risen to its greatest height. Mr. Green was married, April 24, in 1860, to Miss Nannie Butler, niece of Gen. William O. Butler, and daughter of Pierce Butler, a brilliant lawyer of Louisville, who was several times elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, served one term in the State Senate, and died, at Louisville, in 1850.

ATTERSON, PROF. JOHN THOMAS, Presi- dent of Hocker College, was born December 22, 1826, in Winchester, Kentucky. His pater- nal grandfather was a Scotchman, and, prior to the Revolution, settled in Virginia. Ilis grand- father was one of the early pioneers from that State, settling in Madison County while it was yet a wilderness. His ancestry, on his mother's side, were of French origin; his maternal grandfather being among the first settlers of Kentucky from Virginia, and also the builder of the first hewed log house in Montgomery County. His maternal grandmother, whose name was Orea, was an inmate of one of the early forts, which stood a long siege during the French and Indian wars. His grandfather, Thomas Patterson, married a Miss Har- ris, and, of their ten children, his father, Jacob S. Pat-

terson, was the third son ; and the subject of this sketch is the oldest in a family of ten children. His father having met some misfortunes in business, his efforts to obtain an education were surrounded by many difficul- ties, not the least of them being a sentiment unfavora- ble to book learning. He set out with great pertinacity to obtain a thorough education, with a view to becom- ing a professional teacher; and in the best schools then organized in Clarke County, and under some of the best scholars of the time, he obtained a fine classical educa- tion; and at once projected and began the erection of an educational institution, and, in 1853, built and put in operation what is known as the Patterson Female Insti- tute, which he still owns, situated at North Middletown, in Bourbon - County, Kentucky, designed for young ladies ; arranged on a most liberal plan, having a thor- ough collegiate curriculum, and being most delightfully situated in the center of the finest region of the State ; and was conducted by him uninterruptedly with great success for twenty-two years. In the Fall of 1876, he accepted the Presidency of Hocker Female College, to which he had been called by the trustees of that insti- tution, beautifully situated in the outskirts of Lex- ington, one of the best appointed, most completely equipped, and well-conducted educational establishments in the country, and under the supervision of the Chris- tian Church. On taking charge of Hocker College, the Board of Managers announced that he had just passcd through a successful course of twenty-two years in the management of an institution of which he was the founder and owner, and during that time had educated many of the most intelligent ladies in North-western Ken- tucky, and had now abandoned his own institution, in the height of its prosperity, to enter the more extended field of usefulness offered by the superior facilities of Hocker College. Under his able management, the insti- tution has already made advanced strides, and he is using all his energy to make it a source of pride to its friends, and an honor to the cause of education throughout the country. He has always taken an active interest in public and political affairs, and, for the last ten years, was prominently identified with the operations of the Democratic party in Bourbon County, serving as a dele- gate to the conventions of the party, and participating actively during the heated contest for Governor, in 1875. He belongs to the old school of the Democratic party, and takes an active part in politics, with a view simply to do his duty as a citizen towards the establishment of just and righteous principles of government. His ambi- tion has been to succeed as a teacher. He has acquired a considerable reputation, few men being more generally known throughout the State, and few teachers being more popular and successful; being a thorough scholar, passionately devoted to his profession, energetic, pro- gressive, and liberal in his views, he has taken a front

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rank among the educators of the country. He has been a member of the Christian Church for many years; was long one of its elders; and has always taken the most active interest in its welfare. He has been prominently identi- fied with several popular social organizations; is a man of earnest and decided convictions; of exceptional per- sonal and social habits; and, throughout his active ca- reer, has been a persistent advocate of every public good. Prof. Patterson was married, in 1851, to Miss Lou Ragan, daughter of William Ragan, of Montgomery County, Kentucky, a woman of great refinement and culture, who has been a source of strength by his side, having been, for twenty-two years, Matron of Patterson Institute, and now occupying the same position in Hocker Female College. They have three children; their son, William Patterson, being a lawyer of Bath County.

OOD, GEN. JOHN B., Soldier, was born June 29, 1831, at Owingsville, Bath County, Ken- tucky. He commenced his education at Mt. Sterling, and graduated at West Point Military Academy, in 1853. Hc served in the Fourth Regular Infantry for a year or two in Cali- fornia; was attached to the Second Cavalry, under the command of Albert Sidney Johnston, in 1855, on the western frontiers of Texas; the following year, was wounded in a fight with the Indians; became cavalry instructor at West Point; resigned his commission in the year 1861 ; entered the Confederate army as a lieu- tenant ; was soon after advanced to captain of cavalry, and fought at Great Bethel; in September, was promoted colonel of infantry ; in the Spring of 1862, was made brigadier-general; distinguished himself at Gaines's Mill, and was promoted major-general ; was afterwards made lieutenant-general, for gallant conduct at Chickamauga and other places; took command of the Army of the Tennessee, in July, 1864; fought the battles of Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin, and Nash- ville; and, in January, 1865, by his own request, was relieved from charge of the army; published his report of the Atlanta campaign, and returned to his home in Texas.

UNDLEY, WILLIAM A., M. D., Physician, third son of Joel and Susan Hundley, was born March 28, 1822, in Jefferson County, Kentucky. His father was a farmer; his mother, a Miss Cordwell, of Virginia, one of the early settlers of Jefferson County. The subject of this sketch attended the country schools in Winter, working on his father's farm the remainder of each year, until his seven- teenth, when he attended a good school at Mount Wash-

ington, Bullitt County, Kentucky, for four years. He began the study of medicine with Dr. Johnson, at Mount Washington ; two years later, he attended one course of lectures at the Kentucky School of Medicine, at Louis- ville; he then went to practicing, at Uniontown, Kentucky; shortly after, he attended his second course of lectures at Louisville, graduating in 1852. In April of that year, he began the practice of medicine at Louisville, which he continued until his death. As a physician, he was well-read, skillful, and unusually suc- cessful; his gentle kindness won him the hearts of his patients. He was four years physician at the City Hos- pital; and, for fourteen years, attended St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, free of charge. He was a Master Ma- son in one of the Louisville lodges. He joined the Meth- odist Church, South, at Mt. Washington, in 1843; was class-leader in the Shelby Street Methodist Church for twelve years, and very devoted in all his Church rela- tions. He was an earnest student in his profession, fond of writing upon medical subjects, and a close student of the Holy Bible. On the 26th of October, 1844, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. William Chid- sey; by this marriage, he had twelve children, seven of whom he lived to see grown. Dr. Hundley died at Louisville, May 23, 1873, of apoplexy, although he had been sick three years preceding his deccase. IIe was a man of broad, generous feeling, sacrificing the mere con- sideration of money to the fulfillment of such principles.

AVEISS, COL. JOSEPH HAMILTON, Lawyer and Soldier, was born March 4, 1774, in Bed- ford County, Virginia, and was the son of Jo- seph and Jean Daveiss, both natives of Virginia, and of Scotch-Irish descent. In 1779, his par- ents came to Kentucky, and settled in Lincoln County, near Danville. He was educated under some of the first teachers of Kentucky, and became a fine Greek and Latin scholar, early exhibiting uncommon powers as a speaker. In 1792, he served under Major Adair against the Indians, and proved himself to be a daring soldier. He studied law under George Nicholas, in a class with Jesse Bledsoe, John Pope, Felix Grundy, and several others who became distinguished in the his- tory of the country, and entered on the practice of his profession, in 1795, in his first case, triumphing over his learned preceptor. He continued to reside in Danville until the abolition of the District Courts; at that time, removed to Frankfort, having been appointed United States Attorney for Kentucky; and, while serving as at- torney for the Government, conducted the trial of Aaron Burr for treason. In 1802, he went to Washington City to appear in the case of Wilson against Mason, and was the first Western lawyer to come before the Supreme

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Court of the United States. He, subsequently, removed to Owensboro, having a large estate in Daviess County. In 1809, he located in Lexington, where he resided until his death ; and, for many years, was engaged in almost every important case which came before the courts. In 1,811, he entered the army, under Gen. Harrison; was ap- pointed major of cavalry; and, although occupying that position, fell pierced by three balls while fighting on foot, in a charge made at his own solicitation, in the bat- tle of Tippecanoe, expiring at midnight on the day of the battle, November 7, 1811. He was a man of great courage, and was ambitious for military fame; was six feet in height, of fine personal appearance, and im- pressive bearing; was one of the ablest lawyers in the country, and was unsurpassed as an orator. His death caused profound sensation at Lexington, and was deeply felt throughout the State. In politics, he was a Whig or Federalist. Col. Daveiss was married, in 1803, to Miss Annie Marshall, daughter of Col. Thomas Mar- shall, and sister to Chief-Justice John Marshall.

ANDERS, LEWIS, Agriculturist, and one of the distinguished business men of Kentucky, was born August 9, 1781, in Spottsylvania County, Virginia. Mr. Sanders never studied a profession, but throughout his active life fol- lowed business pursuits, engaging in farming, stock-raising, and manufacturing; and, although decid- edly a man of the world in his manners, was greatly devoted to all the industrial and useful arts. He gave his attention, at an early day, to improving the breed of sheep, horses, and cattle, and, as early as 1816 or 1817, imported to Kentucky, from England, the first of the now famous Durham or Short-horn stock of the State. He was mainly instrumental in forming a company for the purpose of making importations and improving the stock of the State, even, to a considerable extent, advan- cing the means for carrying out the enterprise; and brought over a pioneer herd of Durhams. In any cir- cle of men or women, however accomplished, he was the recognized superior, without making any pretensions. His knowledge was various and valuable, reaching to every interest in life, and always available for the edifi- cation of others. He was fond of discussing political matters. He was a Democrat in his creed, his discourse, and his intercourse; the same easy and attractive man in all companies. He expended large sums to develop Kentucky. At Lexington, he introduced the woolen cloth industry, and built the mill, which probably still stands. About 1796, John James Dufour, the pioneer wine-grower, came from Switzerland, and found his way to Lexington, Kentucky; and, although that place was then, to a great extent, the seat of culture and refine-

ment in the West, and was made famous by the pres- cnce of such men as Clay, Rowan, George Nicholas, Col. Thomas Marshall, Jesse Bledsoc, Wickliffe, Joe Da- veiss, Gen. Wilkinson, and others, none of them appre- ciated, as did Lewis Sanders, the importance to the country of the grape culture. Dufour started a vineyard near Lexington, but it was not successful. Through the encouragement of Mr. Sanders, he brought a small col- ony, composed chiefly of his own family and relations, from Switzerland. But the little colony running short of funds at Pittsburg, and Dufour not being able to supply them, Mr. Sanders met them there with great kindness, and conveyed them to Lexington. And no man watched their progress with greater solicitude than did he, or saw with deeper regret the failure of the efforts to make grape culture of great value to his adopted State. These people afterwards established themselves on the Ohio, at Vevay, in Switzerland County, Indiana; and, although the great staples of the Ohio Valley have long ago taken the place of the grape, not even the descendants of the Dufours ever forgot the kindness of Lewis Sanders, their first American friend. Mr. Sanders expended an im- mense amount of money on the breed of blood-horses in Kentucky. He established race-courses, and bred and trained many famous sires and sons of the turf. To him, as the beginner, Kentucky owes much of her unrivaled fame for the best race-horses in the world. In his old age, he sat down at his splendid homestead farm, in Carroll County, called "Grass Hills," and made the peach, as well as stock, his crop. He succeeded per- fectly, by his skill and assiduity, in growing the best article, and protecting the tree from its foes. Person- ally, he charged himself with the care of his orchard, and wielded the knife, which he held to be the only means of stopping the worm. His vast old mansion at "Grass Hills" was never finished-probably for the want of time, but to some extent, no doubt, from the habit, especially of the old-time Southern farmer, of leaving his house forever half complete. But there he lived, and his hospitality was always to the fullest ex- tent -- there was no lack of completeness about that ; and his enlarged views and genial manners gave un- told attractiveness to the place, and left upon his friends and guests impressions of the fine old days of the past that would endure for all time. Although devoted so variously to business pursuits, he gave much of his time to reading, and especially in connection with the history of his country. His opinions were considered of great importance on almost every sub- ject. He sometimes assembled his neighbors to dis- cuss public affairs. He took an active part in the Texas annexation movement of 1844, and at his house near Ghent the movement really had its origin; and from this movement came the nomination of Mr. Polk, who favored annexation, and the Mexican War. Just

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 91

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