The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 95

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

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TONE, JAMES KIRTLAND, Builder, son of Humphrey Stone and his wife, Hannah Blood, both natives of England, was born June 28, 1834, in Westmoreland County, Penn- sylvania. In 1851, he came to Newport, Ken- tucky, where he has since resided. He learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, at which he worked for several years, as a journeyman. He then com- menced carrying on the business for himself, and is now one of the most extensive and successful builders in Newport. He has been several times elected to the City Council, serving in that body from 1862 to 1873; was one of the first Trustees of the Newport Water- works; was one of the most cautious, laborious, and

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valuable members of the Council; and has been, for years, intimately identified with the improvements and most movements of interest to the people of his adopted city. He is a Republican in politics, and, in 1872, was the candidate of that party for the Legislature, but was defeated by thirteen votes. In 1876, he received an appointment on the staff of Gov. James B. McCreary. He is a zealous and valuable member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a leader in his Church, in his party, and in the affairs of the town, entering with all his energy into any cause he espouses; is a business man of fine ability, and is always at work; is of undis- puted integrity ; and one of the most restless, energetic, active, and universally useful citizens of Newport. Mr. Stone was married, in 1857, to Miss Annie Lock, a native of England.

GRUBBS, THOMAS HENRY, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born July 1, 1820, in Rus- sellville, Kentucky. His father, Col. Thomas Grubbs, was a Virginian; moved to Kentucky at a very early period in the settlement of the State; and was a builder and contractor; and long a prominent man in Russellville. The subject of this sketch graduated at Russellville Seminary, in 1840. He chose the medical profession, and took his first course of lectures in the University of Louisville, after which he began practice, and continued, with great suc- cess, until 1856, when he graduated, receiving the de- gree of M. D., at the University of Nashville. He then resumed practice at Russellville, where he has since re- sided, and established a large and lucrative practice, and taken rank among the leaders of his profession in the State. In 1858, he was admitted to membership in the American Medical Association. During the war, he accepted the position of Post Surgeon to the United States General Hospital, at Russellville. In this service he received liberal remuneration and the highest com- mendations. Since his first step in the profession, his success has been marked. He did not sit down and wait a year or two for a beginning, but began at once. He has performed many difficult surgical operations, and has been distinguished in some special lines, as well as in general practice. He is a man of fine manners and admirable bearing; broad and liberal in his opinions; and gathers around him every-where golden opinions and friends. He has been a hard student, and is a scholar rather by persevering effort than by natural in- clination. He is a fluent speaker, and could have dis- tinguished himself at the bar. He is a writer of some ability, and has contributed somewhat to the medical literature of the day. Dr. Grubbs was married, in 1850, to Miss Martha Duncan, only child of Capt. R. C.

Duncan, an officer in the war of 1812, and yet living as one of the worthy farmers of Logan County, Kentucky. They have three children, their daughter being the wife of W. S. Wilson, a prominent business man of Louis- ville; and their two sons being now at college.

RITTENDEN, GEN. GEORGE BIBB, Lawyer and Soldier, son of Hon. John J. Crittenden, was born March 20, 1812, in Woodford County, Kentucky. He was educated at West Point, where he graduated, in 1832. After serving one year in the army, he resigned, and commenced the study of law under his father at Frankfort, and subsequently continued the study in Transylvania Law School. He emigrated to Texas, and, in 1842, while en- gaged in the Texan army, was captured by the Mexicans on the Rio Grande. He was imprisoned in Matamoras and the City of Mexico for nine months. After being released, he returned to Kentucky. In 1846, he re- ceived an appointment as captain of mounted riflemen, and served during the Mexican War, under Gen. Scott, participating in all the battles from Vera Cruz to the capture of Mexico. After the close of the Mexican War, he returned to the regular army, serving on the frontier until the breaking out of the civil war, in 1861, when he resigned, and entered the Confederate service as a briga- dier-general; was promoted to the rank of major-general a few months afterwards, and commanded the army at the battle of Fishing Creek ; soon after, resigned his com- mission of major-general, and continued to serve during the war as a volunteer. At the dissolution of the Con- federate Government, he returned to Frankfort, where he has since resided.

ELM, HON. JOHN LA RUE, Lawyer, and once Governor of Kentucky, was born July 4, 1802, at the old "Helm Place," near the summit of Muldrough's Mountain, one mile and a quarter from Elizabethtown, Hardin County, Kentucky ; and was descended from a family among the most respected and influential in the Old Dominion. His grandfather, Thomas Helm, emigrated from Prince William County, Virginia, in 1780, with William Pope, Henry Floyd, and Benjamin Pope, and settled where Louisville now stands, in Kentucky. In the following year, he settled near Elizabethtown, on what has long been known as " Helm Place," and there erected a fort. He was a bold, adventurous man, with habits and tastes well suited to a pioneer life. Thomas Helm was a large man, weighing over two hundred pounds; while his wife, Miss Jenny Pope, a near relative of the Popes who had

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settled about the Falls of the Ohio, was a little person, hardly weighing eighty pounds. But she was a woman of great spirit, with a singularly active and vigorous body and mind, and was one of the most remarkable of the pioneer mothers of Kentucky. One of their sons, George Helm, father of Gov. John L. Helm, was born in 1774, and was, consequently, six years old when his parents brought him to Kentucky. He took an active part in redeeming the wilderness, and spent his life mainly as an agriculturist, but was prominent in all affairs of interest to the new country. He was elected to the Legislature in 1813, and was once or twice re- elected ; at various times holding almost every office in the gift of the people of his county. He became in- volved in his business affairs, and, hoping to recover his broken fortunes, made a trip to Texas, in 1821, where he died the following year. In 1801, he was married to Rebecca La Rue, whose parents were John La Rue and his wife Mary Brooks, who had emigrated from the Shenandoah Valley, in 1784, settling in Hardin, now La Rue County, near the present village of Hodg- ensville. Her mother, Mary La Rue, was one of the most remarkable women who figured in the early history of Kentucky, and was considered a great beauty. But she was a most active and useful woman. She studied medicine, and was wonderfully successful in actual prac- tice, being of great service to the early settlements, when there were but few physicians in the sparsely

settled country. Her usefulness, in this direction at

least, ceased after the death of Mr. La Rue; her second husband, a Mr. Enlow, considering that such life was unsuited to her "sphere." This accomplished and valuable woman had thirteen children. Her old-

erick County, Virginia, and was brought, while an est child, Rebecca La Lue, was a native of Fred-

infant, to Kentucky, where she married George Helm,

and was the mother of nine children, some of whom still survive, and one of whom was John L. Helm, who lived with his parents and grand-parents until he

was sixteen years of age, attending school a great

part of the time. One of his teachers was the Dem-

ocratic politician and editor, Duff Green. In 1818,

he entered the office of the Circuit Clerk of Hardin

County, at Elizabethtown ; and, while a deputy in that

office, under the now vencrable Samuel Haycraft, he commenced the study of the law. In 1821, he entered

Tobin; was admitted to the bar, in 1823, and soon es- regularly on the law study, in the office of Benjamin

tablished a lucrative law practice, paid his father's debts,

and sccured the old "Helm Place," where he lived during his life, except one year spent in the village of

torncy for the new county of Meade; in the following Elizabethtown. In 1824, he was appointed County At-

ycar, he first appeared in politics, in the contest between the "Old Court" and "New Court " parties; was the

candidate, for the "Old Court Party," for the Legisla- ture, in 1826, and elected; in 1828, was re-elected ; and was continuously re-elected up to 1838; was Speaker of the House, in 1835, and was subsequently five times elected Speaker of that branch of the Legislature; was the Whig candidate for Congress, in 1838, but was de- feated by Hon. Willis Green; was again returned to the Lower House of the Legislature, in 1839; with an in- terval of two years, remained in the House until 1844; in that year, was elected to the State Senate; in 1848, was elected Lieutenant-Governor of the State, on the ticket with Hon. John J. Crittenden; held that position until 1858, when he became Governor, by Mr. Critten- den accepting the position of Attorney-General in the Cabinet of President Fillmore; his term of office ex- pired in September, 1851 ; he resumed his legal practice and the care of his farm at Elizabethtown; in 1854, was elected President of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad; conducted the affairs of that road with great success until 1860, when he resigned. He received the ap- pointment of Commissioner of Claims for California, from President Fillmore, but the Senate did not confirm the appointment. In 1855, he acted with the Know-Nothing party; and, when the great civil war began, although opposed to secession, was also opposed to the war policy of the Government; was chairman of the meeting, held in Louisville, January 8, 1861, which declared in favor of the neutral plan for Kentucky; and was classed among the sympathizers with the rebellion, under- going, with others, many of the troubles and indignities of the times. In 1865, he was again elected to the State Senate, serving on the Committee of Federal Re- lations. This was his third term in the Senate, and really his last public service. He was nominated by the Democracy, at Frankfort, February 22, 1867, as their candidate for Governor, and was elected, over Judge William B. Kinkead, the Union or Conservative candidate, and the Republican candidate, Col. Sidney Barnes. He was inaugurated in the presence of the retiring Governor, Bramlette, the officers of the Govern- ment, and the leading men of his party, on his death- bed, at "Helm Place," near Elizabethtown, September 3,

1867; and was barely able to sign the commission of his Secretary of State, Col. Samuel B. Churchill, at his bed-

side. But the great political contest through which he had just passed was too much for his health; he was never to appear before the people again. He died five days after his remarkable inauguration, September 8, 1867, and was buried in the family burying-ground, on " Helm Place." Although he was not connected with any Church, he was a Christian in faith, and had all his life been an humble believer. He was long in public life ; served his people with great fidelity ; was a lawyer of uncommon ability ; was not a " spread-cagle " orator, but was a speaker of great power and influence; had a fine

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voice and easy manners; was ardent and impulsive in his nature; had great physical strength and power of endurance; was bold and fearless in his advocacy of his principles ; was long an element of great strengtlı in his party in the State; and was one of the most noted and able men of Kentucky. Gov. Helm was married, in 1830, to Lucinda B. Hardin, eldest daughter of Hon. Ben. Hardin, of Bardstown. She possessed many of the fine traits of her father, being a lady of great influ- ence and worth. They had twelve children, some of whom, with their mother, still survive. Their daugh- ter, Lizzie B. Helm, married Judge H. W. Bruce, of Louisville. (See sketch of their son, Gen. Ben. Hardin Helm.)

ROWN, HON. JOHN YOUNG, Lawyer, was born June 28, 1835, in Hardin County, Ken- tucky. He graduated, in 1855, at Centre Col- lege, Danville; studied law, and entered upon the practice of that profession; in 1859, was elected to Congress, but, being under age, de- clined to take his seat; in 1867, was elected to the For- tieth Congress, but, in the following March, his seat was refused by the House; was re-elected to the Forty-third - and Forty-fourth Congresses, serving on various com- mittees; and is now a member of that body. He resides at Henderson, on the Ohio river, and, although not yet in the prime of life, is one of the most able lawyers and first men of his State.

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AULKNER, COL. JOHN KAVANAUGH, Farmer and Soldier, was born December 27, 1838, in Garrard County, Kentucky. His father, John Faulkner, was a Virginia farmer, who emigrated to this State in 1780, locating in Garrard County. He was a major in the war of 1812, and was elected to the Lower House of the Kentucky Legislature in 1810; again served in the same branch of the Legislature in 1834; was elected to the State Senate in 1812, and was continuously re-elected for twenty years. He died in 1838. His mother was a native of Tennessee, and daughter of William Kav- anaugh, an early pioneer and farmer of that State, and a soldier of the war of 1812, who lost his life by drown- ing in a bayou while on active duty in the army. Col. Faulkner was raised on a farm, and received his educa- tion at Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, graduating from that institution in 1858. After completing his education, he traveled some, and, in 1859, returned to Kentucky and began life as a farmer in his native county. In 1862, he raised a battalion for the Seventh

Kentucky Federal Volunteer Cavalry, and was given the position of major, and remained in the service until the close of the war. He was actively engaged in the battles of Chickamauga, Stone River, the battles near Nashville, and numerous lesser engagements. He was promoted lieutenant-colonel in 1862, and colonel in 1863. He was rendered unfit for active service by a wound in the hip, received in the battle of Franklin, and, while off duty, was elected Representative from Garrard County to the Kentucky Legislature, and served a portion of the sessions of 1863, 1864, and 1865. At the close of the war, in 1865, he returned to his native county, and again resumed farming. In 1874, he was elected Circuit Court Clerk of Garrard County. He is a Republican in politics, voting first for Bell and Everett, at the Presidential election in 1860. He is a man of fine habits, and has been noted through life for his integrity of character and exalted patriotism. Col. Faulkner was married, September 7, 1859, to Miss Bettie Bell, a native of Sangamon County, Illinois, and daughter of James Bell, a farmer and trader of that county, but a native of Boyle County, Kentucky.

OLT, WILLIAM HENRY, Lawyer, was born November 29, 1842, near Sharpsburg, Bath County, Kentucky. His parents were of En- glish ancestry, and emigrated from Connecticut to Kentucky many years ago. His father was a farmer and school-teacher, who died, leaving him an orphan when eleven months old. He received his early education in the common-schools of Bath County ; afterwards attended Twinsburg Institute, Twinsburg, Ohio, and Fort Edward Institute, Fort Edward, New York; and, May, 1862, graduated at Albany University with the highest honors of his class, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Laws; and upon leaving the University was presented with a highly commendatory letter, by Amos Deam, Amasa J. Parker, and Ira Harris, Pro- fessors in the Law College, commending him to members of the bar, as a young man of great legal acquirements, and one who would rise to eminence in his profession. He was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of New York, sitting at Albany, May 5, 1862. In June, 1863, he began the practice of law at Mt. Sterling, Ken- tucky, and, during thirteen years of practice, has never but once failed, for a single day, to attend the Circuit Court of his county while in session. He is an occa- sional newspaper contributor. He is Past Grand of the I. O. O. F., and now Deputy District Grand Master. He is a man of fine intellect and untiring industry. His manner of speaking is forcible and impressive, and, when addressing a jury or a large audience, readily carries con- viction to the minds of his auditors. Endowed with

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good natural ability, and being not yet in the prime of his life, we may safely predict great success for him. He has been repeatedly solicited to become a candidate for office, but has always declined, preferring to pursue the practice of his profession, and now, at the age of thirty- four, occupies a high position at the able bar of which he is a member. Mr. Holt was married, October 19, 1864, to Miss Sarah A. Roberts, of New Jersey, but formerly, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and of Quaker parentage.

RIDGEFORD, JAMES, Stove Manufacturer, was born November 6, 1807, in Jefferson County, Kentucky. After acquiring a limited educa- tion, he was apprenticed, at the age of thirteen, to learn the tin, copper, and sheet-iron busi- ness, serving five years; in 1829, he began in Louisville, and, after continuing with great success for eighteen years, bought the interest of his last partner, and his large business has since been carried on under the name of Bridgeford & Co. In 1842, hc began the manufacture of stoves, and now ranks among the first manufacturers in that line throughout the country. He is a man of broad and liberal views, taking expansive notions of trade; and, having great faith in the business advantages of Louisville, has taken an active part in every thing looking to its material development. He has frequently been a member of the City Council; director in numerous incorporated business companies; has been President of the Second National Bank, and has every- where been identified with the growth of the city; is a man of great energy, is distinguished for his uprightness of character, is quiet and unpretending in manners, is universally esteemed, and ranks among the most useful and successful citizens of Louisville.

INN, WILLIAM HARVEY, Lawyer and Farmer, was born January 20, 1836, near Bry- an's Station, Fayette County, Kentucky. His father was a farmer, and a Virginian by birth, both parents having emigrated from that State towards the close of the last century. William H. Winn received a thorough English education, and, at the age of seventeen, entered the office of the Clerk of Clarke County, at Winchester, and served as Deputy Clerk of Clarke County for nearly ten years. In 1859, he was made Secretary of the State Agricultural Society, holding that position for two years. He was, also, for some time Secretary of the Clarke County Agricultural Society. In the mean time he studied law, under the direction of Judge James Simpson, at Winchester, and, in 1863, removed to Mt. Sterling, where he has since

resided, actively and successfully engaged in his pro- fession. He served for some time as Treasurer of the Montgomery County Agricultural Association; was for a time Director in the Farmers' Branch Bank, in Mt. Sterling; and is now Directer in the Mt. Sterling Na- tional Bank. In 1870, he was elected Judge of Mont- gomery County, serving four years; was re-elected, in 1874, and still holds that position, with great credit to himself. Besides attending to the duties of his office, he has engaged extensively in farming; and has, by his persevering efforts, gathered a considerable fortune. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and takes an active interest in every thing relating to the welfare of his Church. He is also largely identified with the various movements of interest to his county, and is one of its most enterprising and valuable citizens. He occupies a fine position at the bar ; and, as a judge, has won the highest respect of the members of his pro- fession. . He is a man of fine manners; broad and gener- ous in his views; is of undoubted integrity, and justly occupies a high place in his community. Judge Winn was married, May 29, 1861, to Miss Sarah E. Grubbs, of Montgomery County, Kentucky. They have five children-three sons and two daughters.

- ONROE, JUDGE THOMAS BELL, Lawyer, was born October 7, 1791, in Albemarle County, Virginia, and was the son of Andrew Monroe, a near relative of President James Monroe. His mother, Ann Bell, was of Irish descent. His parents located in Scott County, Kentucky, as early as 1793. Judge Monroe acquired some knowledge of books, and, after reaching manhood, settled in Barren County. In 1816, he was elected to the Legislature; in 1819, began to study and practice law, never having read a law-book until he had announced himself as ready to practice; removed to Frankfort in 1821; in the Winter of that year, attended lectures, and graduated in the law department of Transylvania University; was Secre- tary of State one year, from September, 1823, under Gov. Adair; became reporter of the decisions of the Court of Appeals, by appointment from Gov. Desha, in 1825, and published Monroe's Kentucky Reports, in seven volumes; from 1833 to 1834, was United States District Attorney ; in March, 1834, was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for Kentucky, by Andrew Jackson, and held the office over twenty-seven years; and, in 1861, he abandoned his office and home, and fled to within the Confederate lines. As a judge, his decisions were of the highest order, being seldom reversed, and his long term of office was characterized by learning, justice, fairness, and great honor. He be- came a professor in the University of Louisiana in 1848;

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spent several Winters in New Orleans, in discharge of his duties with that institution; afterwards filled the Chair of Civil, International, and Criminal Law in Tran- sylvania University; was also Professor of Rhetoric, Logic, and History of Law at the Western Military Academy, at Drennon Springs; taught a law class at his own home, near Frankfort; had conferred upon him the degree of LL. D., by the University of Louisiana, Centre College, and Harvard University. He was early a supporter of the doctrines of Mr. Jefferson ; but, after becoming a judge, ceased to take an active part in poli- tics; after his sons had all taken a stand with the South, he followed them; and, at Nashville, in 1861, took the oath of allegiance to the Confederacy; remained at Can- ton, Mississippi, with his family, until after the fall of Vicksburg; remained at Marietta, Georgia, for a time, earnestly engaging in the care of the sick, and such other duties as he could perform; in 1864, went to Rich- mond, and attempted to practice law; soon became weary of the strife, and returned to his family, at Abbe- ville, South Carolina; and, after the surrender of Gen. Lee, went to Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he spent the remainder of his days, never having an opportunity again to see his beautiful home in Kentucky. Judge Monroe died December 24, 1865, while an exile from home. His wife was Eliza Palmer Adair, daughter of Gov. John Adair. His son, John A. Monroe, died at Frankfort in 1873. (See sketches of his sons, Major T. B. and Capt. Ben J. Monroe.)

ONROE, CAPT. BENJAMIN JAMES, Lawyer and Soldier, was born August 7, 1836, at his father's residence, called "Montrose," near Frankfort, Kentucky, and was the fifth son of Judge Thomas B. Monroe. He was educated under the care of his father, and at the Sayre Academy, and in the Western Military Academy, at Drennon Springs, then conducted by Bushrod Johnson, who afterwards became a Confederate general. In the latter institution, he graduated, and received the de- grees of A. B. and LL. B. He also studied law under his father, and was admitted to the bar at Frankfort. In 1858, he located in Leavenworth, Kansas; his fine manners and knowledge soon gained him friends, and brought him a good practice; but, far West life not being congenial to him, in a year or two he returned to Kentucky, and resumed practice in Frankfort. He was, soon after, sent on professional business, in the interest of John H. Morgan & Co., of Lexington, to New Mex- ico; reached home when the war had been fully inaugu- rated, and when Kentucky was halting as to her course in the great conflict ; soon after, began recruiting men for the Confederate army; was finally made Captain of : stitution, he was several years Sheriff of Scott County,

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The Biographical encyclopaedia of Kentucky of the dead and living men of the nineteenth century, Part 95

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