USA > Kentucky > Boyle County > Danville > The Political Club, Danville, Kentucky, 1786-1790. Being an account of an early Kentucky society from the original papers recently found > Part 4
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The occupation of most of George Muter's life was that of a judge, and when he left the bench in 1803 he was old and poor. The legislature, in recognition of the debt of gratitude the State was under to so faithful a public servant, granted him a pensiou of $300, to be paid to him annually during the remainder of his life. The act recited the services he had rendered his country, both civil and military, his age and withdrawal from public life without a competency, and the injustice of leaving a faithful public servant to struggle with penury. The succeeding legislature, moved by fear that the precedent would destroy the fabric of the Commonwealth, repealed the generous and gracious act. But it is a pleasant reminiscence of the times that the Governor, Christopher Greenup, vetoed the repealing act. The veto message was strong and earnest, citing the case of Clarinda 8
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Allington, who had been a prisoner among the Indians, and received a pension, not for public services but simply because of hier distressed condition; that Judge Mnter's claims were stronger, being for his distinguished civil and military services all through the pioneer period. The repealing measure was passed over the veto. But Governor Greenup had done all that was in his power to befriend his old Political Club brother.
When Thomas Todd was appointed Justice of the Supreme Court he requested his friend Judge Muter, who had no family, to reside in his home. The offer was accepted. Judge Muter's estate, which consisted of revolutionary claims, went by his will to the family of Thomas Todd.
COLONEL ABRAHAM BUFORD.
Abraham Buford was of Virginia lineage, and was born and reared in that State. Having received a good education, his early life was spent in military service. In the battle of Point Pleasant, October 10, 1774, when General Andrew Lewis signally defeated the Indians under their chief, Cornstalk, Lieutenant Abe Buford fought with the body of Virginia volunteers commanded by his cousin, Thomas Buford. His experience and talents caused him to be placed in command of a
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Virginia regiment in the Revolutionary War, through which he served and participated in many engagements. At the close of the struggle, like many others, he sought his fortune in the western country. He settled in Ken- tucky prior to 1783, and in that year was surveyor of Lincoln County by appointment. He became the owner of large tracts of the finest Bluegrass lands, and in 1788, while a resident of Danville, he married Martha McDowell, daughter of Judge Samuel McDowell. Thus he was associated with his distinguished father-in-law not only in The Political Club but in the public meas- ures for founding the State of Kentucky. .
The eldest son of Colonel Abraham Buford. Charles S. Buford, married first a daughter of Governor John Adair. A daughter of this marriage was Pattie, who married General James S. Jackson, member of Congress and a distinguished Union officer, who fell at Perryville. Her brother Henry married Miss Marshall, and their son is Judge Humphrey Marshall Buford, of Lexington, Kentucky. Colonel Abe Buford's second wife was a daughter of Doctor Basil Duke. Their son Lewis was a major in the Union Army. Their daughter Susan married Major Edson, Professor at West Point, and another daughter, Henrietta, married Thomas F. Barbee, a grandson of Joshua Barbee, who was a member of The Political Club.
Another son of Colonel Abe Buford, William S., married a daughter of Chief Justice Robertson. A daughter of Colonel Abe Buford married James K. Duke, brother of Charles S. Buford's second wife. Their daughter Charlotte married Reverend Mr.
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Strahan. Another daughter, Pattie, returned to the Buford name by marrying General John Buford, U. S. A., whose father was a cousin of Colonel Abe Buford. General Jolin Buford served with marked distinction in the Army of the Potomac. Another daughter married General Green Clay Smith, of Kentucky, who served his country in the Mexican War and Civil War. A son, William Duke, son of James K. Duke, served in the Mexican War, and on the Confederate side in the Civil War. General Abraham Buford, of the Confed- erate Army, was a descendant of the same Virginia family to which Colonel Abraham Buford belonged.
ROBERT DOUGHERTY.
Robert Dougherty belonged to a family of that name which came to Kentucky with the earliest of the pio- neers. He founded Dougherty's Station, which was about one and a half miles from the site of Danville, on Clarke's Run, and doubtless resided at that place during the existence of the club. In later years he removed to Barren County, and was in 1800, 1801, 1802, 1807, and 1814 the representative from that county in the State Legislature. In ISOS he was in the State Senate. Others of the name, presumably brothers or near relatives, came to Kentucky at the same time with Robert. Their names appear among those of the first pioneers at Boonesboro, Harrod's Station, and Mayslick.
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CHRISTOPHER GREENUP.
Christopher Greenup possessed noble traits of char- acter and performed eminent services for his State and country. He was born in Virginia in 1750. He served in the War of the Revolution with the rank of colonel. Upon its close he removed to Kentucky in 1783. He was a lawyer and began practice in the District Court. He had also learned surveying, and his name is con- nected with the first effort toward an historical and geographical account of Kentucky. Indorsed upon the map made by John Filson, and published with his history of Kentucky in 1784, is this dedication :
"While this work shall live may this inscription remain a monument of the gratitude of the author to Col. Dan. Boone, Levi Todd, Jas. Harrod, Christo. Greenup, Jno. Cowan, and Wm. Kennedy, Esq., of Kentucky, for the distinguished assistance with which they have honored him in its composition, and a testimony that it has received the approbation of those who he justly esteems the best qualified to judge of its merits."
In March, 1785, he was appointed clerk of the Dis- trict Court. He was a member of the early conventions, and an elector for Governor and Senator under the first constitution in 1792. From 1792 until :797 he was a member of the National Congress, being, together with Alexander D. Orr, the first to represent the State in
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that body. In 1804 he was elected Governor without opposition. The Palladium said editorially at the time:
"The election of this gentleman to the first magistracy of the State by a unanimous vote is a strong evidence of the satisfaction he has given in the many high offices to which he has been previ- ously called by the voice of his fellow - citizens."
When he took the oath of office lie said:
"Having at an early period of iny life formed the strongest predilection in favor of a republican government, having also shared in part the toils, dangers, and difficulties experienced by all those wlio joined in the glorious cause which secured to the United States her liberty and independence, seeing the unparalleled progress which our citizens are daily making in the arts and sciences, together with the great extension of the agricultural and commercial interests, and the astonishing increase of population in the short time the United States has become a nation, all combine to convince me that a republican form of government is capable of and does afford more lasting security to the lives, liberties, and property of the governed than any other. . . . To my apprehension such a government is a government of the people under such an organization as they shall. from time to time, ordain and establish, and where every freeman not legally dis- qualified has directly or indirectly a voice in the administration."
In such words did Governor Greenup in IS04 express the sentiment, uttered sixty years later by Abraham Lin- coln, "A government of the people, by the people, and for the people." In the same year in an address to the legislature he said :
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"But a few years ago Kentucky was a wilderness: now science, civilization, commerce, and all the arts which facilitate and sweeten human intercourse exist and are cherished and promoted. The Commonwealth presents the pleasing spectacle of an industrious and law-abiding people."
In 1805 he vetoed an act repealing the charter of the Kentucky Insurance Company, and said in his veto message that he regarded the charter as in the nature of a contract which could not be impaired; thus reach- ing the same conclusion as that reached by the Supreme Court of the United States fourteen years later in the Dartmouth College case.
The Burr conspiracy occurred during his adminis- tration. The secrecy of the movements of Aaron Burr in that extraordinary event is well illustrated by the fact that in the same month (November, 1806,) that Burr was at Lexington, Kentucky, pushing his schemes, Gov- ernor Greenup felicitated the legislature on its assem- bling, that no extraordinary event had occurred during the year, which had been "marked only by the roll of the seasons and the resulting avocations of men."
In his next message he showed how the machinations of designing men had been happily frustrated without bloodshed. It has been already stated in the sketch of George Muter that Governor Greenup vetoed an act of
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the legislature repealing the act which gave a pension to Judge Muter.
After his teri expired as Governor he represented Franklin County in the legislature. He accumulated wealth, and for many years was a director in the old Bank of Kentucky. He was popular, and had the con- fidence and love of the people. One of the counties in Kentucky bears his name. He died April 27, ISIS.
His wife died October 22, ISo7. The obituary in the Palladium tells of hier virtues and graces, and that she was forty-two years of age, but it fails to mention who she was or when married. Among the papers of The Political Club, however, are some small fragments of paper containing resolutions in the handwriting of Mr. Greenup. On the opposite side are fragments of a letter in the same handwriting. From these and a letter which is yet entire, it can be determined that Mr. Greenup was married in the year 1787, in Virginia.
JUDGE SAMUEL MCDOWELL.
Samuel McDowell was the eldest son of Captain John McDowell, of Virginia, and grandson of Ephraim McDowell. The latter was a Scotch-Irish patriot in the times of the English Revolution of 1688. Afterward crossing to America he settled in Pennsylvania. Captain
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John McDowell was born in Pennsylvania, but moved to Virginia in 1737, his son Samuel being then two years of age. The connection of the McDowells with the most prominent families of Virginia, and their serv- ices in both civil and military affairs, is historic.
Samuel McDowell was well educated in youth, one of his instructors being the distinguished Doctor Archi- bald Alexander. When twenty years of age he became a soldier in the French and Indian Wars, and was in the battle of "Braddock's Defeat." In 1774 he served as captain in "Dunmore's War," and fought in the battle of Point Pleasant. He was a colonel in the War of the Revolution, and, with his regiment, served under Gen- eral Green at the battle of Guilford Court House, and throughout Green's campaign against Cornwallis. Pre- ceding the Revolution Samuel McDowell and Thomas Lewis represented Augusta County in the convention of 1775 at Richmond, and protested against government by any ministry or parliament in which the people were not represented. These two members were delegated to address to George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Ben Harrison, and the other delegates from Virginia in the Continental Congress, a letter of thanks and approval of their course; in response to which letter they received a communication which shows the high appreciation of themselves personally by those distinguished men.
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In 1776 Samuel McDowell was a member of the cele- brated convention which was held at Williamsburg and there proclaimed the rights of man and instructed the delegates to the Continental Congress to declare the Colonies free and independent .* Samuel McDowell, therefore, brought to the deliberations of The Political Club, and into the Kentucky conventions, an experience that was directly applicable and of the utmost value.
Immediately upon the close of the Revolutionary War, attracted by the fame of the Kentucky lands, he journeyed to the west with his family over the Wilder- ' ness Road and took up his residence in Fayette County, as surveyor, in 1783. In that year at Harrodsburg he presided over the first District Court held in Kentucky, the other judges being John Floyd and George Muter. He then removed to Mercer, the county in which Dan- ville was situated. He was accorded the distinction of being made the president of all the early Kentucky con- ventions except the first and the last. That he should have been selected to preside over these seven important
*"To that body were chosen more than one hundred and thirty of the ablest and most weighty mien of Virginia. They were the choice of the free- helders of Virginia, and the majority were men of independent fortune or even opulence. It was afterward remembered that of this grave assembly the members were for the most part men of large stature and robust frames, and that a very great proportion of them lived to exceeding old age. They were to decide whether Virginia demanded independence, and if so they were
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deliberative bodies is a striking testimonial to his char- acter. He was one of the first District Judges, as we have seen. In every position he held he was respected for his ability and reverenced for his personal high qualities. He lived to be eighty-two years of age, and died at the residence of his son Joseph, near Danville, IS17.
When quite young Samuel McDowell married Mary McClung. Her nephew, William McClung, was a member of The Political Club. His brother John married Elizabeth Alexander, of Princeton. The descendants of Judge McDowell were numerous and unusually distinguished. Four of his sons served in the Revolutionary War.
Major Jolin McDowell, the eldest, was with Washington at the crossing of the Delaware, at Valley Forge and Yorktown. He was also a major in the War of 1812. He was frequently in the Ken- tucky Legislature, and a member of the convention which framed the second Constitution of Kentucky. His wife was his cousin, and their son married a daughter of Governor Shelby. His de- scendants also intermarried with the Marshalls and Logans, and some of them served with distinction in the Confederate Army in the Civil War.
Colonel James McDowell, the next son, married Mary Paxton Lyle. He served in the Revolution with two of his sons, and in the War of 1812. His descendants intermarried with the Campbells, McPheeters, Paxtons, Moores, Picketts, McClungs, Clays, Riggses,
to establish a commonwealth, and in making this decision they moved like a pillar of fire in front of the whole country." (Bancroft's History United States, Volume S, page 377.)
Bancroft also says, speaking of this convention: "The county of Augusta represented the necessity of making the confederacy of the United States more perfect, independent, and lasting ; and of framing an equal, free, and liberal government that might be the test of all future ages. (Ibid., page 376.)
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and Andrewses; Doctor Hervey McDowell, of Cynthiana, Kentucky, Doctor Thomas E. Pickett, of Maysville, Kentucky, and Honorable W. A. Sudduth, of the Louisville Bar, are among them.
Judge William McDowell, the third son, was a member of the club, and a sketch of his life will be given.
Judge Samuel McDowell, of Mercer County, the fourth son, served in the War of the Revolution and War of 1812. His wife was Anna Irvine, of the noted Irvine family. Their descendants are very numerous, intermarrying with the Starlings, Sullivants, Ballards, Prestons, and Clays.
Abram Irvine McDowell, one of his sons, was the father of General Irvine McDowell, U. S. A., Colonel Jolin McDowell, and Colonel Malcomb McDowell, all soldiers in the Civil War, the former the Commander of the Army of the Potomac.
Doctor William A. McDowell, another son, was the father of Mrs. Judge Bland Ballard, of Louisville. Judge Ballard was appointed Judge of the United States District Court for Kentucky by Mr. Lincoln in 1861, and served with great distinction until his death, eighteen years after. The brother of Mrs. Bland Ballard is Major Henry Clay McDowell, who served in the Civil War. He married Annette Clay, daughter of Colonel Henry Clay, who fell in the Mexican War, the son of the great Henry Clay. Major Henry Clay McDowell and his accomplished wife now own and reside in the home of Henry Clay, "Ashland." His brother is Major William McDowell, of Louisville.
The eldest child of Judge Samnel McDowell, of Mercer, and Anna Irvine married William Starling. They removed to Hopkinsville. Kentucky. Their children were Colonel Sam Starling, Colonel Lyne Starling, and Colonel Edmund Starling, all of whom attained their rank by service in the Union Army. William Starling, of Hopkins- ville, was also their son.
Colonel Joseph McDowell, of Danville, fifth son of Judge Samuel McDowell and Mary McClung, served in the War of 1812. His
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wife was Sarah Irvine, sister of the wife of his brother Samnel. General Henry B. Carrington. U. S. A., who served with distinction in the Civil War, is their grandson. Other descendants intermarried with the Sullivants, Davidsons, and Reeds. The wife of E. L. Davidson, of Louisville, is a granddaughter.
Doctor Ephraim McDowell, sixth son of Judge Samuel McDowell and Mary McClung, achieved a world-wide fame as a surgeon, which need not be dwelt upon here. He died in 1830. His wife was a daughter of Governor Shelby. Their children intermarried with the Halls, Youngs, and Irvines.
Caleb Wallace McDowell, seventh son of Judge Samuel McDowell and Mary McClung, married his kinswoman, Elizabeth McDowell. Their descendants intermarried with the Chrismans, Scotts, Halls, and Bells. A granddaughter niarried Governor L. E. Parsons, of Alabama.
Mary McClung, daughter of Judge Samuel McDowell and Mary McClung, married Judge Caleb Wallace, whose distinguished career has been ably presented in one of the Filson Club Publications by the Reverend William H. Whitsitt. Her twin sister, Magdalen, married Andrew Reid, a prominent Virginian. Their daughter married General Andrew Moore, member of Congress and United States Senator, whose home was at Lexington, Virginia. A grand- daugliter married Professor James White, of Lexington, Virginia, whose daughter is the wife of Helm Bruce, of the Louisville Bar.
Another daughter of Judge Samuel McDowell and Mary McClung, Martha, married Colonel Abe Buford, a member of The Political Club, who has been mentioned.
Another daughter, Mary, married Judge Alexander Keith Mar- shall, a brother of Chief Justice Marshall. Their children and descendants formed alliances with the Andersons, Bufords, Paxtons, Harbesons, and Marshalls.
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JUDGE WILLIAM MCDOWELL.
William McDowell was a worthy son of his distin- guished father, Samuel McDowell. He was born in Virginia, 1762, which made him twenty- four years of age when The Political Club was organized. He served in the Virginia militia during the Revolution. He was well educated in the best schools in Virginia, and became an accomplished lawyer and able judge. He came to Kentucky with his father in 1783. He was a representa- tive from Kentucky in the Virginia Assembly in the year 1787. He became the first auditor of Kentucky by the appointment of Governor Shelby, and for a number of years he was a member of the State Senate. He was a man of the highest character, and of splendid ability. He married Miss Margaretta Madison, of Virginia, a niece of President Madison. Their son Samuel became an active and useful member of the Kentucky Legislature from Warren County. Their daughters all married prom- inent men, one of them being the wife of Honorable James G. Birney, the "Liberty" candidate for the pres- idency in 1844. Another married D. Brashear, and a daughter of this marriage became the wife of Joseph Sullivant, of Columbus, Ohio.
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JOHN BROWN.
Honorable John Brown was one of the most eminent of the early Kentucky statesmen. He enjoyed the per- sonal friendship of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Madison. He was born at Staunton, Virginia, in 1757, being the son of Reverend John Brown and Margaret Preston. He received the most thorough education in youth, and served in the War of the Revolution under Washington and Lafayette, having left Princeton College to join the army. He afterward read law in the office of Thomas Jefferson, and in 1782, when twenty-four years of age, removed to Kentucky, arriving immediately after the battle of Blue Licks. He was a prominent figure in Kentucky until his death, at the age of eighty, in 1837. He was a member of the Virginia Legislature from Kentucky, and also a member of the early conven- tions. In 1787 and 1788 he was a member of the old Congress. In 1789 and 1791 he was the representative from Kentucky in Congress under the Federal Consti- tution. After Kentucky was admitted into the Union he was made United States Senator three consecutive terms.
Beside his services in a civil capacity, lie, in conjunc- tion with General Charles Scott, General George Rogers
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Clark, Colonel Benjamin Logan, Judge Harry Innes, and Colonel Isaac Shelby, executed the most important military trusts, taking part in various campaigns for the defense of the State. "With General George Rogers Clark, Governor Shelby, and Governors Scott and Mad- ison, and with Judges Innes and Todd, and Colonels Nicholas and Breckinridge, and their illustrious asso- ciates, he held the most confidential intercourse, and their attachment, commenced in periods of danger and under circumstances of trial, never wavered." ( Collins.).
His wife was a daughter of Reverend John Mason, a noted Pres- byterian minister of New York. His strong characteristics descended to his children and grandchildren. One of his sons, Judge Mason Brown, of Frankfort, Kentucky, was distinguished as a lawyer and judge, and in connection with Judge Monroe, of Frankfort, made the well known compilation of Kentucky laws. Judge Mason Brown was twice married: first, to Judith A. Bledsoe, daughter of the famous lawyer and orator, Jesse Bledsoe; second, to Mary Yoder, daughter of the pioneer, Jacob Yoder. One of his sons was Hon- orable B. Gratz Brown, who was a candidate for Vice-President of the United States in 1872. Another son was Colonel John Mason Brown, who was a prominent officer in the Union Army in the Civil War, and afterward a leader of the bar in Louisville.
Colonel John Mason Brown was an honored and beloved mem- ber of the Filson Club, and one of its originators. His accomplish- ments were of the highest order. He had a fondness for the study of the history of his own State, which he gratified even while engrossed with an unusually large law practice. His knowledge of Kentucky history was very great, and he has left as monuments
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of his devotion to its study not only the "Political Beginnings of Kentucky" but also many pamphlets, including the "Battle of Blue Licks" and "Early History of Frankfort." His death in ISgo, at the age of fifty-two, was profoundly lamented throughout Kentucky and the country.
The resolution of the Louisville Bar said: "Descended from ancestors whose fame had been honorably blended with the civil and military glory of the country, he proved himself worthy to bear the name he had inherited. To a commanding person and captivating manner he added a mental culture and force of character which threw a charm around the circle in which he moved."
The "Salmagundi Club," of Louisville, of which he was presi- dent, said in its memorial: "He had labored for many years in finding out and giving to the world what Kentucky pioneers accom- plished in the field of thoughit and action. In his life and character he bore an honorable ambition, and a large achievement which was the accumulated heritage of many generations. In his profession he stood among the foremost. As a scholar and writer hie attained distinction. He was everywhere throughout the land recognized as a man who belonged to the public, and whose services might at any time be demanded in exalted station. In his life in this community every deserving movement or undertaking for the last score of years was helped in direction by his wise counsel and bore the impress of his helping hand. In his death it is the uni- versal feeling that this community has suffered an irreparable loss."
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