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 5
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The establishment of the system of public parks at Louisville is largely due to Colonel Brown's influence. He was one of the originators of the scheme, and prepared the bill for the legislature.
Another son of Honorable John Brown was Orlando Brown, of Frankfort, Kentucky, who, as a lawyer and citizen and a writer of rare merit, occupied a position of great prominence and usefulness.
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JAMES BROWN.
James Brown was a brother of Honorable John Brown. His ability as a lawyer caused him to be asso- ciated with those who were the mnost eminent before the Kentucky courts-Clay, Nicholas, Breckinridge, and others. His wife was a daughter of Colonel Thomas Hart and sister of the wife of Henry Clay. He was the fifth Secretary of State, being appointed by Governor Shelby. Upon the purchase of Louisiana, in 1803, he removed to New Orleans, where he and Mr. Livingstone prepared the Civil Code of Louisiana. He was elected to the Senate of the United States from Louisiana several successive terins, from 1812 to 1823. In 1823 he was appointed Minister to France by President Adams, and filled that high office for ten years. He died in Philadelphia in 1836.
CAPTAIN JAMES SPEED.
Captain James Speed was born in Virginia in 1739. His father was John Speed, of Mecklenburg, who was also born in Virginia, and whose father came to Virginia from England in 1695. Captain James Speed was one of a family of six brothers, all of whom served in the Revolutionary War, one being killed in the battle of
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Guilford, North Carolina, where Captain James Speed received a shot through his body while leading his command in the battle. At the close of the Revolution- ary War he removed with his family to Kentucky and settled near the spot where Danville was afterward built. When a member of the club he was a little under fifty years of age, and had the gratification to have with him in the club his oldest son, Thomas Speed, who was its secretary. He had not studied law, but his great intelligence and strong practical wisdom caused him to be selected in 1784 judge of one of the first courts established in Kentucky. He was a member of the early conventions, and prominent in all the efforts for State establishment.
He never recovered entirely from the wound received at Guilford, not being able to hold himself erect. Hav- ing received a classical education, he taught his own children after coming to Kentucky until schools were provided. It was said of him by Judge Bibb and others who knew him well that he was a natural lawyer, and his papers, which have been preserved, give evidence of that fact. For his military services he received large grants of land, and he became the owner of other tracts by purchase.
The wife of Captain James Speed was Mary Spencer, of Virginia. His eldest son, Thomas, was a member of The Political Club, and
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its secretary. A sketch of his life will be given. The second son, Jolin, settled near Louisville about 1795, and was known as Judge John Speed. He was the father of Honorable James Speed, of Louisville, Attorney-General of the United States in the Cabinet of Abraham Lincoln, and of Joshua F. Speed, Mr. Lincoln's friend in Illinois. Their brothers, William, Philip, and J. Smith, were valued citizens of Louisville, and the sisters were Mrs. James D. Breckinridge, Mrs. Austin L. Peay, Mrs. B. O. Davis, and Mrs. Adams, all residents of Louisville.
One of Captain James Speed's daughters, Mary, married William Smith, of Virginia. Their son, Colonel John Speed Smith, of Mad- ison County, Kentucky, was an able lawyer, and one of the most enterprising and valuable citizens of the State. Colonel Jolin Speed Smith was the father of General Green Clay Smith, distinguished as a soldier in the Mexican War and Civil War; twice a member of Congress, Governor of Montana Territory, and in 1876 Prohibi- tion candidate for the presidency of the United States.
A daughter of Colonel John Speed Smith married General D. S. Goodloe, of Lexington, and a son of this marriage was the brilliant young statesman of Lexington, Colonel William Cassius Goodloe. All of the descendants of Colonel Jolin Speed Smith are people of the greatest excellence in that portion of the State.
Colonel John Speed Smith's sister Elizabeth married Thomas Walker Fry, a son of Joshua Fry. A daughter of this marriage, Mary, was the wife of Reverend L. W. Green, D. D., son of Willis Green, a member of the club. Another daughter married Colonel Thomas Barbee, of Danville, whose father was a member of the club. A son of Thomas W. Fry and Elizabeth Smith Fry was Doctor Thomas Walker Fry, a fine physician. Another son was General Speed S. Fry, who was an oficer in the Mexican War and a noted Union General in the Civil War.
A daughter of Captain James Speed, Elizabeth, married Doctor Adam Rankin, of Henderson, Kentucky, an intimate friend and
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associate of the great naturalist, Audubon; his descendants bearing the name Rankin, and also the Johnsons and Riveses, are prominent and useful citizens of Henderson.
MAJOR THOMAS SPEED.
Thomas Speed was born in Virginia and came to Kentucky with his father, Captain James Speed ( also a member of the club), in 1782. As shown by the min- utes of the club, he was one of the first members, and was made tlie secretary. Although quite young, being the youngest man in the club, the records which were kept by him show that he was well qualified to be asso- ciated with the older and more experienced members .* His handwriting was remarkably excellent, and it is to his careful habits of business that the preservation of the records of the club are due. He continued to reside in Kentucky as long as he lived, and died at his home near Bardstown in IS42. His life was one of singular purity and excellence, and he received many evidences of the high estimation in which he was held. For many years he held the office of Clerk of Bullitt and Nelson Circuit Courts. A number of times he repre- sented his county in the State Legislature. He was a
* Many evidences of his unusual precocity are found among his papers, in letters from Honorable John Brown, George Muter, Christopher Greenup, Thomas Todd, Judge Innes, and many others, all of which show that he was a man of affairs before he was twenty-one years of age.
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major in the War of ISI2. In ISI7 he was elected to Congress. His early education was the best that could be obtained in Virginia and at Danville, and, having a taste for letters, he accomplished himself by reading and became a student and writer. His papers, which he carefully preserved, show correspondence with all the distinguished men of his time, and that he was a mem- ber of various historical societies. He wrote accounts of events in Kentucky which were published in the local papers, and was a regular contributor to the National Intelligencer.
The first wife of Major Thomas Speed was Susan Clayton Slaughter. An only daughter of this marriage died young. His second wife was Mary McElroy, of the pioneer McElroy family which settled in Kentucky at Lebanon. One of her sisters was the wife of Reverend James Blythe, another married General James Allen, another Felix Grundy. Major Thomas Speed purchased land and made his home near Bardstown in 1794, and there resided until his death in 1842. He left two sons: the younger was Doctor J. J. Speed, of Louisville; the elder, Thomas S., inherited the old home near Bardstown, and resided there until his death in 1892. He was the custodian of the old desk which contained the papers of The Political Club. He was the father of the present writer.
WILLIS GREEN.
Willis Green was born and reared in the Shenandoah Valley. He was the son of Duff Green and Anna Willis.
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He married Sarah Reed, daughter of John Reed and Sarah Wilcox. This marriage was at Danville in 1783. He came out to Kentucky a few years before that date as a surveyor, and located his home on a beautiful body of land near the site of Danville. The name "Wave- land," which he gave to his homestead, is still borne by it.
Willis Green was a representative from Kentucky in the Virginia Legislature, and also a member of several of the early conventions. For inany years he was clerk of the court at Danville. He was a man of strong characteristics, which have been inherited by his descend- ants.
Seven children of Willis Green lived to maturity, the eldest, Duff Green, born in 1784. He became a lieutenant in the United States Army, afterward graduated as a physician, and was a surgeon in the War of 1812. He married a niece of Simon Kenton. His son, Doctor Willis Duff Green, is now a physician in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Another son is Judge William H. Green, of Cairo, Illinois. Two daughters of Doctor Duff Green reside in Bloomington, Illi- nois, Mrs. McElroy and Mrs. Harvey.
The second son of Willis Green was John, known as Judge John Green. He was born in 1787, studied law with Henry Clay, was three times in the State Senate and as often in the Lower House. He served in the War of 1812 on the staff of General Isaac Shelby. He became Judge of the Circuit Court, and died while holding that office in 1838. His first wife was Sarah Fry, daughter of Joshua Fry. The eldest born of this marriage was John Reed Green, who
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died nineteen years old. Second, Willis Green, who married a daugh- ter of B. B. Smith, Bishop of Kentucky. Third, Ann Peachy, who married Reverend Robert A. Johnson. Fourth, Sally A., who married John Barclay, of Danville. Her daughter Mary married Reverend William R. Brown, and another daughter, Jessamine, married E. W. C. Humphrey, of the Louisville Bar. Fifth, Reverend Joshua Fry Green, who married Harriet Booker, daughter of Major William Booker, of Washington County, Kentucky. Sixth, Susan, who married Honorable James Weir, of Owensboro, Kentucky. Their daughter Belle married Honorable Clinton Griffith, of that place. Seventh, Reverend William Lewis Green, who married Susan Weir, sister of Honorable James Weir.
Judge John Green married, second, Mary Keith Marshall, daughter of Chief Justice Marshall. Two sons were born. First, Thomas Marshall Green, who first married Ann Eliza Butler, and afterward Pattie Craig, of Danville. Second, John Duff Green, who married Illa Triplett.
The youngest son of Willis Green and Sarah Reed was Lewis Warner, well known as Reverend Lewis W. Green, D. D., whose eminent career is thus summed up by Reverend E. P. Humphrey in an address in 1883: "Doctor Lewis W. Green was the first President of Center College, then a professor thierein; afterward successively pastor in Baltimore, professor in Hanover College, President of Hampden Sidney College, President of Tran- sylvania University, and six years at the head of Center College; everywhere equal to his great opportunities, he was one of the most eloquent men of a generation in Kentucky abounding in eloquent men." Doctor L. W. Green married Mrs. Mary Lawrence, the mother of Fry Lawrence, of Louisville. She was the daughter of Thomas W. Fry and granddaughter of Joshua Fry. A daughter of Doctor L. W. Green, Julia, married Honorable Matthew T. Scott, of Lexington, Kentucky, and resided at Bloomington, Illinois. Another daughter, Letitia, married Honorable Adlai E. Stevenson,
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a native of Christian County, Kentucky, a lawyer and statesman of Bloomington, Illinois, and Vice-President of the United States.
The eldest daughter of Willis Green and Sarah Reed, Letitia, married James Barbour, a Virginian by birth, a merchant in Dau- ville, and a major in Barbee's Regiment in the War of 1812. James Barbour, of Maysville, is their son. Another son is Reverend Lewis Green Barbour, D. D., of Central University, Richmond, Kentucky, whose sons are Doctors Philip and Jolin F. Barbour, physicians of Louisville. A daughter of Major James Barbour married Mr. Vick, of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Another daughter, Martha, married a Presbyterian minister, and their son, Reverend B. Lewis Hobson, now a professor in McCormick Theological Seminary at Chicago, married a daughter of E. W. C. Humphrey, of the Louisville Bar.
Another daughter of Willis Green and Sarah Reed married Doctor Ben Edwards, an eminent physician of St. Louis, brother of Governor Ninian Edwards. Doctor Ben Edwards had a large family. His son, Willis Green Edwards, was educated in medicine in this country and in Paris, and rose rapidly to prominence, being professor in the Medical College of St. Louis. His other sons were Benjamin, Pressly, Cyrus, and Frank. His daughter Sarah married General Lewis W. Parsons. Another daughter was the mother of the wife of Robert L. Todd, a lawyer and banker of Columbia, Missouri, a grandson of General Levi Todd, of Kentucky.
Willis Green's third daughter, Martha Eleanor (who was called Patsey), married Doctor William Craig, an accomplished gentleman, educated at Washington College and at Transylvania and the Phil- adelphia Medical School. He was a surgeon in the War of 1812, several times in the Kentucky Legislature, and President of the Branch Bank of Kentucky at Danville. A son of this marriage was Lewis Green Craig, who died unmarried. Another son is Reverend Willis Green Craig, now a professor in the McCormick Theological Seminary at Chicago; he was the presiding officer of the Pres-
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byterian General Assembly at Washington in 1893. A daughter, Letitia, married Doctor George Cowan, of Danville, and their son, Doctor Harry J. Cowan, is now an accomplished physician of Danville. Eliza Craig died unmarried. The youngest daughter of Doctor William Craig was the brilliant Pattie Craig, of Danville, now the wife of Colonel Thomas Marshall Green.
STEPHEN ORMSBY.
Stephen Ormsby was one of the first members of the club. He was then about twenty-eight years of age. He came to Kentucky from . Philadelphia. He was born in Ireland, though he belonged to an English family of distinction and ancient lineage. He was an accomplished gentleman, educated for the bar, and possessed literary culture and taste. During the existence of the club he removed to Louisville and became Judge of the Circuit Court. From ISHI until IS17 he was in Congress. Dur- ing the War of IS12 he served as an officer on the staff of General Armstrong.
Judge Ormsby died in 1844, aged eighty-five. His home was about nine miles east of Louisville, on a farm of fifteen hundred acres. At his splendid country seat, which he called "Moghera Gloss," pronounced "Morra Gloss," he dispensed a famous hospitality.
The following resolution is found among the papers of the club without date. It shows the estimate the
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members had of their brothers, Stephen Ormsby and George Muter, and is worthy of preservation :
"WHEREAS, The Honorable George Muter and Stephen Ormsby, Esq., members of this club, have given information that they are about to remove from this neighborhood, and having expressed their desire of still continuing to be members, as it will often be convenient to give their attendance; therefore,
" Resolved, That the club, as a mark of esteem for the said George Muter and Stephen Ormsby, having experienced their aid in discussing the subjects that have been debated in club, does consent to their continuance as members thereof."
GENERAL MATTHEW WALTON.
Matthew Walton was born in Virginia, and became an officer in the Revolutionary Army. He was a brother of George Walton, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Soon after the conclusion of the war he removed to Kentucky, and at once became a com- manding figure among the pioneers. He was a member of the convention held at Danville in May, 1785, and a member of two of the succeeding conventions. In the Virginia Convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States he was a inember from Kentucky. In 1790 he was a member front Kentucky of the Virginia Legislature. He was also in the Convention of 1792, which framed the first Constitution of Kentucky. In
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1792 he represented the County of Nelson in the Ken- tucky Legislature. Washington County being formed in 1792 out of part of Nelson, General Walton after that date represented the new county, in which he then resided. In 1795 and 18OS lie was a member of the legislature. From ISoo to ISO3 lie was in the State Senate, and from IS03 to ISo7 he was the representative from his district in Congress. His great popularity is shown by his having been kept so steadily in public service. General Walton was a man of great refinement and culture. He had large possessions and lived in elegant style, having built for his home one of the first large brick residences erected in Kentucky. At one time he owned nearly two hundred thousand acres of land. He died in 1819 .*
Representatives of the Walton family are numerous. Doctor C. J. Walton, a physician of Munfordville, Kentucky, was a surgeon in the Union Army in the Civil War, and afterward filled the office of Pension Agent at Louisville for four years by appointment of President Harrison. Reverend J. B. Walton is a professor in Center College, Reverend R. A. Walton is a Presbyterian minister in Georgetown, Kentucky, Judge Matt Walton is a lawyer in Lex- ington, and his brother is a lawyer in Washington City.
*Judge James S. Pirtle, of Louisville, states that he often heard his father (Chancellor Pirtle) talk of General Walton and his family. They were near neighbors of the father of Chancellor Pirtle in Washington County. These accounts represent General Walton as a man of large landed interests and great wealth otherwise. He lived in fine style at a splendid country seat,
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THOMAS ALLIN.
Thomas Allin was a Revolutionary soldier, having served on the staff of General Nathaniel Greene. He came to Kentucky very soon after the close of the war, and resided at Harrodsburg. He was a clerk and also a surveyor. He was a member of the Convention of 1799, which framed the second Constitution of Ken- tucky. His descendants have filled stations of honor in the history of the State. The offices of Circuit and County Clerk at Harrodsburg have been held by mem- bers of the Allin family from the beginning of the Commonwealth until the present day. The descendants of Thomas Allin have always been leading citizens of Mercer County.
PEYTON SHORT.
Peyton Short was an elector under the first consti- tution, and was one of the first Senators of the State, representing Fayette County from 1792 to 1796. He ยท was born in Surrey County, Virginia, in 1761, being . twenty-five years of age at the organization of the club. and it is said used the first carriage brought to Kentucky. His wife was a lady of great refinement and unusual accomplishments. After the death of General Walton she married General John Pope. A fine monument at Spring- field, Washington County, now marks her resting - place and that of General Pope.
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He was the son of William Short and Mary Skipwithi, she being a daughter of Sir William Skipwith, of England. Peyton Short and his brother William were educated at William and Mary College. Peyton came to Kentucky in 1785 with General Charles Scott. His letters slow that he came down the Ohio River in preference to coming through the wilderness. Landing at the Falls, he made his way to Lincoln County, and stopped at Danville. He wrote in great praise of the beauty and fertility of the country. In 17SS he married Maria Symmes, eldest daughter of John Cleves Symmes, whom he met two years before at the house of General James Wilkinson. The youngest daughter of John Cleves Symmes afterward, in 1795, married General William Henry Harrison. William Short, brother of Peyton, was Secretary of the Legation when Thomas Jefferson was Minister to France under the Congress of the Confederation. Afterward, in 1792, he was sent to Spain to negotiate concerning the navigation of the Mississippi. Subsequently he was appointed Minister to France by President Washington. Peyton Short lived continuously in Kentucky, owning large tracts of land in various sections. He died in IS25.
Children of Peyton Short and Maria Symmes leaving families: First, John Cleves Short, who married, first, his cousin, the daugh-
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ter of General William Henry Harrison and Aun Symmes, and, second, Mary Ann Mitchell. Their children reside in Hamilton County, Ohio. Second, Charles W. Short. Third, Ann Maria.
Peyton Short was married the second time to Mrs. Jane Churchill. A daughter of this marriage, Jane, married James Weir, senior, of Greenville, Kentucky. Another daughter, Elizabeth S., married James Breathitt, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and their son was Major John Breathitt, conspicuous as a gallant Union officer in the Third Kentucky Cavalry. Another daughter, Sarali C., married Edward H. Green, of Hopkinsville, Kentucky.
Charles W. Short, above mentioned, was a distinguished physi- cian. He married Mary Henry Churchill. Their children leaving families were: First, Mary C., who married William Allen Richardson, of Louisville, and their daughter, Mary C., married Jolin F. Henry, of Louisville. Second, Doctor William Short married Catherine Ma- tilda Strader, and their children reside in Louisville. Third, Sarah E. married Doctor Tobias Richardson, of New Orleans. Fourth, Lucy R. married Honorable Joseph B. Kinkead, of Louisville; their children reside in Louisville.
Ann Maria, above mentioned, married the celebrated Doctor Benjamin Dudley, of Lexington, Kentucky.
WILLIAM KENNEDY.
William Kennedy was a member of the Convention of August, 1785, and also a member of the Convention of 1787. In the latter the five members from Mercer County were all members of The Political Club: Samuel McDowell, Harry Innes, George Muter, William Ken- nedy, James Speed. In 1792 he was one of the electors
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from Mercer County under the first constitution. Four of the eight electors from that county had been mem- bers of the club: Christopher Greenmp, Harry Innes, Samuel McDowell, William Kennedy. As has been stated in the sketch of Christopher Greenup, William Kennedy is named upon Filson's map of Kentucky as one of the six pioneers to whom Filson expressed his gratitude: Daniel Boone, Levi Todd, James Harrod, Christopher Greenup, John Cowan, and William Ken- nedy. Filson says his map had received the approbation of these men, whom he "esteems the best qualified to judge of its merits." William Kennedy came to Kentucky at a very early day, being with a company at Georgetown in 1776, but from the fact that he was afterward called General William Kennedy it is presumable he returned and bore his part in the Revolutionary War.
Evidence of his enterprise is found among the "old papers," where the club papers were found, in the plan of a town which he laid out on Green River and called Kennedysville. At what point on the river the town was, the plat does not show.
The descendants of General William Kennedy are numerous and reside in the central part of the State, but the author has not been able to learn definitely about them.
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WILLIAM McCLUNG.
William McClung, known as Judge McClung, was a native of Virginia and son of John McClung and Elizabeth Alexander. He was a member of the early conventions, and afterward a member of the State Senate from Nelson County. He was twice appointed on the bench: first, he was appointed by President Adams one of the sixteen Circuit Judges provided for by an act of Congress, about the close of that administration. The act was repealed, which ended this appointment, but subsequently he was appointed Circuit Judge by Gov- ernor Christopher Greenup.
In 1793 he married Miss Susan Marshall, who was a sister of Chief Justice John Marshall. Their son, Jolin A. McClung, born in 1804, was educated for the bar and became a successful practi- tioner. He subsequently became one of the most eloquent minis- ters of the State of Kentucky. He was the author of "McClung's Sketches of Western Adventure," which was first published at Maysville, Kentucky, in 1832, and afterward passed through several editions.
This is one of the most readable books upon the subject . of western adventure, containing excellent sketches of Boone, Kenton, Logan, and others. Collins in his History of Kentucky makes liberal excerpts from it. The "Outline History" in Collins' valuable work was written by Jolin A. McClung. He was the author also of a romance entitled "Camden." John A. McClung lost his life by drowning while bathing in Niagara River above the Falls.
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Another son of Judge William McClung was Colonel Alexander Keith McClung, of Mississippi. The mother of Judge William McClung, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Alexander, was the aunt of the distinguished Doctor Archibald Alexander, of Princeton Theological Seminary.
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