History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 94

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 814

USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 94

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speeches is illustrative of the man as well as the period when it was delivered. In 1868, in a case pending before the Federal Court at Louis- ville, where the validity of an act of the Ken- tucky Legislature was questioned on the ground that it was in violation of the Fourteenth Amend- ment to the National Constitution, he said:

If I stood here the advocate of the negro, I might insist that the wealth and comforts of the State have to a large ex- tent been created by his labor ; and may I not say his unre- quited labor? For, as a rule, labor brings to the laborer means of his own ; but the negro, after generations of toil, stands before us to-day as empty as the singgard-poor to almost nakedness, and practically friendless-without land, without money to buy tools to work with, without a shelter he can call his own, without education. his ambition, spirit, and hope even, fettered by the memories and effects of slavery. I could plead for him that he is a human being with God-given feelings and capacities; I could show how he is despised by the thoughtless and oppressed by the lawless ; and I could invoke for him from this court the protection of a just and impartial administration of the law, before which the rich and the poor, the white and the black, stand equal. But this is a controversy between white men. I stand here the advocate of justice and the Constitution. Where justice reigns under the Constitution, oppression is now unknown to any class or color. I would not have violated that equality in the social compact which the Constitution proclaims and seeks to guard. I would strike down the hand that would tear the now perfect bandage from the eyes of Justice. To- day the right of equal protection belongs to all, without dis- tinction of race or color. It is now the office of the courts to enforce an equal law, and justice is too sacred to be con- fused by the illusions of color or awed by the frowns of prejudice.

HON. WILLIAM FONTAINE BULLOCK.

Among the noteworthy citizens of Louisville, few have shared a larger degree of popular es- teem than Judge William Fontaine Bullock. His prominence was fairly won, and has long been due to the purity of his private character, to the fidelity with which he has often served the public interest, and to the learning and wisdom that have distinguished him as a member of his chosen profession. Judge Bullock was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, January 16, 1807, and is a son of the late Hon. Edmund Bullock, who represented that county for sixteen years in the General Assembly of the State, having re- peatedly presided as the Speaker of the House and of the Senate. The parents of Judge Bul- lock possessed moral, intellectual, and social traits that were distinctly impressed upon his own character, and on a leaf in the family Bible

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may be found the following graphic portrayal of them, written by himself, a number of years ago:

My father, Edmund Bullock, the oldest son of Edward and Agnes Bullock, was a native of Hanover county, Vir- ginia. He was descended from a stock distinguished for in- tegrity. His education was as thorough and accurate as the times would permit. In early life, he emigrated to the "Dis- trict of Kentucky," where he soon acquired a high standing, based upon his exalted merits as a man and as a citizen. In all his dealings he was faithful and just, and in his inter- course with his fellow-men he was polite, noble, and gener- ous. He was soon called into public life and was, for many years, a leading member of the Legislature of Kentucky. He was Speaker at different times of both branches of that body, and, in that capacity, won for himself a high reputa tion. He was alike remarkable for his dignity and urbanity of manners and for his stern and unbending sense of justice. Throughout a long life he lived above reproach-a noble specimen of an honest man. He died in the eighty-ninth year of his age, in peace with God through faith in Christ.

My mother, Elizabeth, was the second daughter of Aaron Fontaine, who was the youngest son of the Rev. Peter Fontaine, and was born in Virginia in 1754. The Rev. Peter Fontaine came from England lo America in 1715, and was soon thereafter installed as rector of one of the oldest parishes of the Episcopal Church in the State of Virginia, He was the son of Rev. James Fontaine, who fled from France to England upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685. He was a Huguenot of noble birth and of the most indomitable energy, and was especially distin- guished for his heroic devotion to his Protestant faith. My grandfather was a noble scion of such a stock. I never saw my mother. She died at my birth. My knowledge of her is derived from my father, who, to the close of a long life, never ceased to cherish her memory and to impress upon my heart the highest appreciation of her lovely character.

Having acquired in the rural schools of Fay- ette county the elementary principles of educa- tion, Judge Bullock entered Transylvania Uni- versity, at Lexington, from which institution he was graduated in 1824. Four years later, hav- ing reached the period of manhood, he removed to Louisville, entered into the practice of law, and began that career of usefulness, in both public and private life, which has been fruitful of various substantial results. After closely and successfully following his profession for ten years, he was elected, in 1838, to represent Jefferson county in the General Assembly, and was the youngest member of the House in which he served. His services in the Legislature-em- bracing three terms-were signalized by the passage of several measures of which he was the author, and which have proved to be of inestim- able value to the State. In 1838 he introduced into the House, and was chiefly instrumental in passing, the act creating the common school system of Kentucky. He made the only argu-

ment that was delivered on the floor of the As- sembly in support of the measure-an argument that engaged widespread attention, and that abounded in convincing facts and manly elo- quence; and he is now properly hailed as the "father" of that system of popular instruction in the State, the blessings of which have been multiplying for forty years. Following his edu- cational bill, in 1841, Judge Bullock prevailed upon the Legislature to appropriate $10,000 for the purpose of creating in Louisville the Ken- tucky Institution for the Education of the Blind -an institution that has greatly grown in im- portance, and now ranks high among similar in- stitutions of the land. To the growth of this institution, of which from the start he was, as now, a trustee, he has ever given a zealous care, sparing neither time nor labor to promote its beneficent mission. In addition to his services as a trustee of this institution, Judge Bullock has been for years the President of the American Printing House for the Blind, which possesses a world-wide reputation, being recognized every- where as the best-governed and most complete establishment of the kind, whether in Europe or in America. In 1878, Congress appropriated $250,000 as an endowment fund for this institu- tion, thereby giving it the recognition of the General Government; and the bill providing for the appropriation, having been drawn by Judge Bullock, will remain as an imperishable evidence of his wisdom. One of the noteworthy things done by him during his legislative career was the preparation of the memorable report which, in 1842, he submitted to the Legislature, suggesting certain reformatory methods for the treatment of the inmates of asylums for the insane. The report furnishes an important chapter in the his- tory of the subject of which it treats, and is an enduring monument to the industry and care of its author. It supplied the State authorities with various suggestions that were promptly adopted, and which led to marked improvements in the management of the asylums for the insane of Kentucky.

Pursuing a strong natural bent, Judge Bullock has played a conspicuous part as a popular ora- tor. A devoted personal friend and an ardent political admirer of Henry Clay, he long ranked among the most attractive and effective Whig leaders in a period when the hustings offered

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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.

in Kentucky a high arena for intellectual con- flict, and an exciting theater for brilliant displays of eloquence. In view of the close relationship to Mr. Clay, he was befittingly chosen to deliver the oration that was uttered in the presence of a vast assemblage in Louisville, May 30, 1867, on the occasion of unveiling the life-size statue of the great statesman-the handiwork of Joel T. Hart-which now adorns the rotunda of the Court-house. Referring to the oration, the Louis- ville Journal of May 31, 1867, then edited by George D. Prentice, said:

It transcends the expectations of those who expected most from its very distinguished author. It is as just and true as it is eloquent. It bears no trace of extravagance or of exag- geration. It is a discriminating and profound analysis of character by one who is too true and proud either to wrong or to flatter mortal man.

But it is chiefly as a lawyer and jurist that Judge Bullock has evinced his highest powers. During the last forty years he has ranked aniong the foremost members of the Louisville Bar. The records of the courts show that he has been an unusually successful practitioner, often mak- ing great and triumphant arguments before judges and juries, and always exhibiting marked ability in the management of his cases. He has been justly styled one of the most courteous and yet most formidable antagonists in the forum. For twelve years, dating from 1849, he was a member of the law faculty of the University of Louisville, in which capacity he displayed much learning and skill as a teacher, and inspired his students with a love of the science which he taught. For ten years, from 1846, he occupied the bench as judge of the Fifth Judicial Court- first by an appointment from the Governor until 1851, and then by virtue of a popular election under the new Constitution of Kentucky. As a judicial officer he was universally respected by the people and by the bar, being conscientious, courageous, firm, and enlightened in the dis- charge of duty. Though now in the seventy- sixth year of his age, he continues in the prac- tice of his profession, retaining an extraordinary degree of intellectual and physical vigor. As late as February, 1882, he appeared before the Court of Appeals in the celebrated case of the Louisville Bridge company vs. the City of Louis- ville, being the attorney for the former corpora- tion. He delivered, in behalf of his client, an elaborate argument, embracing comprehen-

sive and difficult problems of law, and the decp learning which he exhibited has been seldom equalled in the presence of that tribunal. His argument is reputed to have been worthy of the best days of Kentucky's ablest lawyers.

GEORGE BABER.

HON. JOHN W. BARR.

The Hon. John Watson Barr, long a promi- nent attorney in Louisville, and at present Judge of the United States District Court of the Dis- trict of Kentucky, is himself a native of the State, born in Woodford county, on the 17th day of December, 1826. His parents were William and Ann (Watson) Barr, both of old families in that region. He was by them of Irish and English descent. The mother's parents were from Vır- giania to Kentucky at an early day; the father of William, Thomas Barr, was an immigrant from Philadelphia as early as 1787. William Barr died June 5, 1844, in Mississippi; his wife, mother of the subject of this sketch, died at the old home in Versailles, Kentucky, September 18, 1829. John was trained at the public schools of his native place, and finally in that of the Rev. Lyman Seeley, a somewhat celebrated Bap- tist divine and teacher, whose removal to enter the active labors of the ministry broke up the school, with which young Barr's formal educa- tion in the elementary schools closed at the age of seventeen. Some years afterwards he read law in the office of Messrs. Woolley & Kinkead, of Lexington, both of them eminent lawyers of the time; and then matriculated at the Transyl- vania University, in that city, as a member of the Law Department, and was graduated in 1847, after attendance upon two courses of lectures. He settled in Versailles a few months subse- quently, and, alone, opened an office for law practice in his native place. Remaining here until 1854, be determined to seek a larger and more hopeful field; and in that year went to Louisville and formed a partnership with Joseph B. Kinkead, Esq., who is still in practice in the city, and is the subject of a notice elsewhere in this chapter. The firm name was Kinkead & Barr. After the dissolution of this partnership, about 1863, Mr. Barr practiced alone for several years, and then joined his professional interests

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with those of John K. Goodloe, Esq., under the name and style of Barr & Goodloe. Another change occurred in 1871, in the admission to the partnership of Alexander P. Humphrey, since Judge Humphrey, who had been connected with the office for a time. The firm was now Barr, Goodloe & Humphrey, which endured until the appointment of Mr. Humphrey to the Chancel- lorship in ISSo. Two months afterwards, April 16, 1880, Mr. Barr was appointed by President Hayes to the judicial position he now occupies, in place of the late William H. Hays, who died in office, after a short term; and the vigorous, prosperous firm of Barr, Goodloe & Humphrey was thoroughly disintegrated. Judge Barr had never cared to enter public life before, except as he might be connected with it through his pro- fessional relations, and as he was called at times to brief service in the Common Council of the city, to fill vacancies. While member of the Council he drafted the law for the creation of the Board of Sinking Fund Commissioners, under which, upon its enactment by the Legislature, he was elected a Commissioner, was made Presi- dent of the Board, and was the main instrument in its organization and earlier operations. He may, indeed, be regarded as the father of the scheme represented by the Board, but resigned his connection with it several years ago, after it had been brought into good working condition.

Judge Barr was married in Louisville, Novem- ber 23, 1859, to Miss Susan, oldest daughter of Colonel Jason and Josephine (Preston) Rogers, of that city, the mother herself a daughter of Major William Preston. Mrs. Barr departed this life in Louisville on Christmas Day, 1871. They had seven children-five girls and two boys, as fol- low: Anna, Caroline, Susan, Josephine, Eliza, John Watson, and Jason Rogers Barr, all of them still residing in Louisville, John W., however, be- ing an under-graduate at Princeton College, and two of the daughters at school in Manhattanville, New York.

An old and intimate professional associate of Judge Barr has kindly contributed the following character sketch :

From the beginning of his professional life Judge Barr gave evidence of the mental charac- teristics for which he is now remarkable, to wit: great perseverance in the pursuit of professional knowledge, unusual calmness of mind, sound,

cool, and impartial judgment, love of truth and justice, tireless pursuit of the real merits of his cases, and industrious, careful, and discriminating investigation of all the law upon the questions involved in them. Whilst engaged in the active practice, his reputation as a wise counselor con- tinually grew, and when he quit the bar to oc- cupy the bench, he stood in the foremost rank of the bar of Louisville, and probably held the highest rank at the bar as a safe, discreet, and wise adviser. Indeed he was more and more sought after by those having complicated trans- actions to settle and questions involving intricate legal propositions, until he came to have a very large and active employment in this character of practice.

He was so patient in investigating and unrav- elling the difficulties of his professional engage- ments, and so clear and practical and so well in- formed upon the nicest legal questions involved, that his conclusions were accepted with unusual confidence and gave entire satisfaction to his clients, and were received with great respect by opposing counsel. We have spoken of his calm- ness of mind, his impartiality and love of truth. We know of no one more conspicuous for mental integrity. His mind was always faithful to truth and right and justice, and in these respects he en- joyed a most enviable reputation with his profes- sional brethren. Probably his most prominent mental characteristics were integrity and sound- ness of judgment. His opinions and conclu- sions were clear, accurate, and most generally correct.

We should not forget other prominent traits of his character. He has always been a man of great industry, "esteeming others as bet- ter than himself," and through all of his life and work he has shown a spirit of profound venera- tion and respect for holiness, a supreme regard for honorable deeds and honorable lives. He is a man of the largest liberality. He enjoys his own and never quarrels with the opinions of others, no matter how widely he may differ from and earnestly oppose them. His is a most generous and benevolent nature. His hand is ever outstretched to help the needy and to give confort to the suffering. It is remarked very often that Judge Barr has never accepted the deference which the community has constantly offered him. He has not permitted his fellow-

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citizens to confer upon him the honors they would. He has constantly declined prominence, and the judicial honors he now wears were never asked for by him, and actually came to him through the recommendation of friends, which he discouraged. As a judge he has shown him- self calm, temperate, possessed in an eminent degree of the judicial temperament, industrious, vigilant, careful, painstaking, courteous, and accomplished in the law. His elevation gave universal gratification. His appointment is re- garded as one of the most fortunate and fit made by Mr. Hayes. He enjoys the unreserved con- fidence of the Bar and litigants, and his frank and unrestrained courtesy honors the National judiciary, inspires regard for the Government he serves well, and gives pleasure to all whose business brings them into the court.

We should have said in another place that Judge Barr is a man of the most refined nature, always pure and chaste, and singularly quiet in his manners. He acquired a fine reputation in Louisville for financial ability by reason of his " connection with the Sinking Fund of the city, of which he was for several years the leading spirit, and which he placed upon a successful basis before he retired from its administration.

JUDGE HENRY J. STITES.

In 1808 a large family connection, consisting of the Ganos and Stiteses, then living in Eliza- beth City, New Jersey, and all of the Baptist per- suasion, determined to move West, and to locate a colony in the Ohio Valley. As at that period there were no turnpikes, nor even wagon roads, across the mountains, they were compelled to pack their household goods over the Alleghanies on horses to Pittsburg, then a small town at the head of the Ohio. There they bought and equipped a flat boat, and on it embarked for Cin- cinnati, also then a small town, opposite the mouth of the Licking river, which, after many hardships and dangers, they reached in safety. At this point a number of the colonists deter- mined to settle, being averse to going into Ken- tucky, because of the existence in that State of slavery. Others, however, captivated by the glowing accounts of the region about Lexington, resolved to locate in the Blue Grass section, and

made their way to Georgetown, in Scott county. Among these was Dr. John Stites, an accom- plished physician, a graduate of the Edinburgh Medical School, and a middle-aged widower. Not long after his location in Scott county, the Doctor intermarried with Mrs. Ann Johnson, the widow of Captain Henry Johnson, a Revolu- tionary soldier, who had emigrated with his fam- ily from Louisa county, Virginia, to Kentucky.

In a little while after the marriage of Doctor Stites, his son Abram Stites, who had remained in New Jersey to complete his studies as a law- yer, also came to Kentucky, and soon after his arrival married Miss Ann Johnson, the daughter of his stepmother. Of this marriage came a large family, and among them the subject of this sketch, Henry J. Stites, who was born in Scott county, Kentucky, in 1816.

In 1818 his father, with his family, removed from Scott to Christian county with Colonel Robert P. Henry, to pursue his profession as a lawyer ; and in a few years was appointed Clerk of the County Court of Christian, an office " which he held for more than twenty years.

His son Henry was, at an early age, sent to school in the town of Hopkinsville, and his first teacher was Dr. Buchanan, a man of science, father of Dr. Joseph R. Buchanan, of Louisville, also noted for his scientific attainments. Both of them are duly noticed in our chapter on med- ical men. His last teacher was James D. Rum- sey, celebrated in that region as a most success- ful instructor. Young Stites was an apt and in- dustrious pupil, and stood well in his classes but, because of the comparatively straitened cir- cumstances of his father and the large family then dependent on him for support, became restive and anxious to earn his own living and to that extent to relieve his father, who was desirous that he should continue at school. At length, overcome by the earnest importunities of the son, his father placed him with a most excellent gen- tleman of fine business habits, George Ward, Esq., to learn the business of a retail merchant. His term of service was four years, "for his victuals and clothes." Henry served his time faithfully, and at its expiration was tendered and accepted a partnership with his friend and fel- low-clerk, to whom he was much attached, Mr. L. D) Holeman, who had capital. Stites had none, but he had energy and the purpose to suc-

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ceed. They were both young men, and made a successful business. In 1837 the financial crash occurred, which played havoc with even the best business men of the country. But this young firm, though largely in debt, weathered the storm and came out unscathed in their credit. The severe ordeal of that year, however, and his hor- ror of debt, determined him to adopt some other calling, whereby he could make a living without incurring heavy pecuniary obligations and the hazards of commerce.

He selected the law ; and although for several years he continued business as a merchant, and with success, he devoted every leisure moment he could spare from his business to the study of law and to fit himself for the bar. Early in 1841 he obtained his license, and was admitted to the bar. He formed a partnership with Mr. Phelps, of Hopkinsville, also a young man and now a prominent lawyer, and for some years they en- joyed a lucrative practice. The Eastern mer- chants who knew Stites as a trader, gave him their business as a lawyer, and contributed not a little to his success in his new calling.

Within a few months after his admission to the bar, Mr. Stites was married to Miss Mary Jane Sharp, daughter of Dr. M. Sharp, of Chris- tian county, and niece of the distinguished lawyer and statesman of Kentucky, Hon. Solomon P. Sharp, who was assassinated at his residence in Frankfort, while extending the hand of hospital- ity to the murderer. With this charming and es- timable wife Judge Stites led a happy life for more than thirty years, when she fell gently asleep, beloved by all who knew her.

In 1848 Mr. Stites, though then but little over thirty years of age, was nominated as Presiden- tial Elector on the Cass and Butler ticket, and made a vigorous and thorough canvass of his district for the General. Though always an ar- dent and zealous States-rights Democrat, this was the only political contest in which he ever took part as a candidate.

In 1850 the present Constitution went into effect, and in May, 1851, an election for judicial and ministerial offices occurred throughout the State. At this election Judge Stites was chosen, by a handsome majority, to the office- of Circuit Judge in the Second Judicial District, in which there was a decided majority politically opposed to him, political questions at that time

being, to a great extent, ignored in the selection of such officers. In 1854 the term of Hon. E. Hise, then Chief Justice of the State, expired, and he declining to be again a candidate, Judge Stites was urged by prominent friends of both political parties to become a candidate for the vacancy in the Court of Appeals. It was urged that he should continue to hold the office of Cir- cuit Judge whilst a candidate for the higher po- sition, and that, in the event of his defeat, he could hold on to the former. This he refused to do, saying that in his opinion it would be im- proper whilst Judge to be a candidate for another and higher judicial position. In the meantime two distinguished gentlemen, opposed politically to Judge Stites, had become candidates for the same office, but with the understanding, as it was said, that in the event a Democrat sought the place, one would withdraw, and thus give the other the advantage of the Whig majority in the District of several thousand votes.

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History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I, Part 94

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co. Number of Pages: 814

Author: Williams, L.A., & Co., Cleveland
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Ohio : L. A. Williams & Co.
Number of Pages: 814