USA > Ohio > History of the Ohio falls cities and their counties : with illustrations and bibliographical sketches, Vol. I > Part 97
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Judge Pirtle was a public-spirited citizen, and assisted in the advancement of the interest of the community on all oc- casions, particularly in enterprises looking to the relief of the unfortunate and the education and cultivation of the people. To him is due the honor of having first suggested in a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury about 1830, that the United States had the right and ought to establish hospitals on the Western rivers for disabled steamboatmen, and others engaged in navigating those waters, and the suggestion was followed by the building of the hospitals at Louisville and at other points. He was the President of the old Kentucky Historical Society, and was among the last to give up hope of its success, and even in its dissolution he preserved rever- entially the precious document which had been committed to his care, the journal of General George Rogers Clark of his renowned expedition. This he afterwards edited in an intro- duction, when by his permission it was published by Rob- ert Clarke as part of his series of histories of the Ohio Valley. The sentiment and motive which made him value this document so highly, was but a part of his devoted pat- riotism-a feeling which in him was' as deep as his nature, and partook of the love which a son feels for his mother, that
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
made him love all the records of his country's glory and to reverence the deeds and characters of her great sons.
He was a member of the Unitarian church, and a firm be- liever in the Christian religion. He studied theology as he studied law, and was deeply learned In the history of Chris- tianity. For several years he taught a class of young men in the Sunday-school with the same ample learning and research with which he taught his law students. He wrote, as Chair- man of a Committee of the Western Unitarian Conference, a little book called Unitarian Views, which is a strong, lawyer- like argument in favor of Unitarianism. The teachings of his pious parenents had been engrafted on a nature naturally inclined to religions thought and devotion, and he accepted, after deliberate examination for himself, the truth of revealed religion. Unobtrusive in his views, and conscious of the diffi- culties of belief, he was charitable to the doubts of others, and liberal to those who differed with him in faith. Bigotry he was incapable of. With his private life this sketch cannot deal. But one whose public walk was so blameless we may be sure was admirable in the domestic relations.
After his term of office expired in 1868 Judge Pirtle re- turned to the Bar, but appeared in court only a few times. His health had become impaired, though his mental energies were vigorous. Finding that he was not strong enough to continue his active duties as a teacher, he in 1873 resigned his chair in the law school and was made Emeritus Professor of the same chair, that his name might remain connected with the school while he lived. In the quiet of his home, with the companionship of his beloved wife, to whom he was married in Louisville in 1829, and of his children and grand- children, and with the society of friends and of his books, keeping up his studies and abreast of the times, the rest of his days were passed peacefully and happily, darkened only by sorrows incident to life, suffering sometimes from severe attacks of illness in the decline of health, he descended the vale of years until his life closed March 28, 1880. The members of the profession of the law at the meeting held to commemorate the life and public services of Judge Pirtle united in the expression of veneration for his character and admiration of his talents and learning, not in mere formal phrases, but in heartfelt, earnest words glowing with affec- tion and brilliant with the light of truth. He was a man whose virtues adorned the human race, and whose intellect and learning elevated the profession of the law which he so dearly loved.
GEORGE ALFRED CALDWELL
was born in Adair county, Kentucky, on the 18th day of October, 1814, and died in the city of Louisville on the 17th of September, 1866. His parents, William and Anne Cald- well, were Virginians, and their fathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary army. William Caldwell was of Scotch-Irish extraction, and Anne, whose maiden name was Trabue, was of french-Hingnenot descent. William Caldwell was for forty years, from the establishment, in 1801, of the county of Adair, Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts of the county, but resigned the circuit clerkship in favor of the appointment of his son Junius in 1841, and continued to hold the county clerkship until the first election under the constitution of 1850 -- in May of 1851-when he retired from office, declining to be a candidate. He was one of the few old clerks of the State holding their office, for good behavior, which practically meant for life, who favored the new constitution and the
making of clerkships elective; but he declined the candidacy on the ground that he was too old to run and had held office long enough. He was twice married, and raised ten children, of whom George Alfred was the eldest son. William Cald- well was brought up in Kentucky, about five miles from Danville, in what is now the county of Boyle, at a time when the means of education in Kentucky were very indifferent, and had but little advantage of what is called school educa- tion. But he was a self-educated man, with an indomitable fondness for books and a thirst for knowledge. He possessed a small but select library, in which there was no book that he had not read again and again. He was a man the most familiar with English and American history of any that the author of this sketch has ever known. Alfred the Great was his favorite English character; George Washington, take him all in all, was his model of an American patriot; after these two he named his eldest son George Alfred. Plutarch's Lives, Rollins Ancient History, Gibbon's De- cline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Johnson's Lives of the British Poets, the British Encyclopaedia, and the Lives and Writings of Franklin and Jefferson-books like these, making a small and compact library of one hundred and fifty or two hundred volumes, were his daily companions for fifty years in all his leisure moments, and the reading of books of this class was his recreation. In politics he was a Jeffer- sonian. He knew intimately all that Jefferson had ever written, and was an absolute disciple of Jefferson's teachings.
George Alfred, with the advantages of such a father and the best education that the schools in Kentucky could afford, commenced life a gentleman and a scholar. Admitted to the bar in 1837 in his native county, in that and the adjoining counties he rapidly acquired practice, position, and character as a lawyer. In 1839, the first year when he was eligible to the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of Kentucky, he was elected as a member of that body without opposition by the unanimous consent of the people of his county. In the following year-1840-occurred the great campaign known as the "Log Cabin and Hard Cider " cam- paign, in which Harrison was elected President over Van Buren. The Whig party were carrying the country and es- pecially Kentucky by stormn, and he had opposition, but car- ried his county in a fierce contest that will never be forgotten by any man who was a voter in that day in the county of Adair; and when the General Assembly met at Frankfort in the following December, he found himself, among the one ' hundred and thirty-eight members, one of nine Democrats in the two Houses; such had been the overwhelming triumph of the Harrison campaign in the State. Jeffersonian Democracy was absolutely a part of the education and nature of George Alfred Caldwell. It had been instilled into him by his father. He believed it on conviction. It was congenial to his nature and mode of thought, and he .lived and died an undoubting believer in States Rights Democracy. In 1843 he was elected to the Congress of the United States from the district in which he lived, then the Fourth Congres- sional District of Kentucky, and at Washington he found that he was the youngest man in the House of Representa- tives.
In 1845 the Whig party, still the dominant party in Ken- tucky, as a State and party necessity determined to defeat him, and brought out against him Joshua F. Bell (of Dan- ville, then in the Fourth district), the most popular orator at that time in the Whig party in the State; and the resulting contest between Caldwell and Bell was the feature in Ken- tucky politics in the year 1845, and attracted the attention of the whole State and the politicians in many other portions of
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
the country. And he who may travel through any of the eleven counties then forming the Fourth district of Ken- tuckv, meeting the old citizens who lived in the district at that time, will find that there is no political episode so vivid in their memory as the canvass between Caldwell and Bell in 1845. The Whigs had a majority of fifteen hundred in the district. Bell was the idol of his party; Caldwell of his. Every man, woman, and child in the district took interest in the contest. The elections in Kentucky then lasted for three days-Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Such was the organization that each party had complete returns on Tues- day at a central point in the district. On the first day's vote Caldwell was found to be thirty-five ahead in the district; the Whigs, however, fell back on their reserve force and majority, and came out a few votes ahead on the last day, and Bell re- ceived the certificate. But such was the enthusiasm of the Democratic party that after the election the county of Lin- coln offered a barbecue to the district, and it went from county to county, and through the months of August and September the Democrats were given barbecues over the dis- trict, claiming the victory, although Bell was elected.
In 1846, when war became rife between the United States and Mexico, the subject of our sketch, who had advocated the annexation of Texas, which was the subject of the war, applied to the State Government of Kentucky and to the Government of the United States for an appointment in the United States Army in its contest with Mexico, already under the command of General Taylor on the Rio Grande and ad- vancing into Mexican territory. Mr. Polk sent him a com- mission as quartermaster with the rank of major, which was not what he wanted; yet he accepted it, and went into Tay- lor's line, where he saw some service more than quarter- masters often have the privilege of taking part in.
During the winter of 1846-47 General Taylor sent him back to the United States to purchase horses for the service, which duty he performed in the cities of Louisville and St. Louis. Before he returned to Taylor's army he received a commission from the United States Government as major of the line in the Voltigeur regiment, one of the ten new regi- ments added by special act of Congress to the regular army to serve during with the war with Mexico. Of this regiment, the first and only Voltigeur regiment ever connected with the United States army, Colonel Andrews, a venerable officer of the United States army, was made colonel, Joseph E. John- ston, since so conspicuously known by his prominent connec- tion with the Confederate army and his position of Congress- man from Virginia, was made lieutenant-colonel, and George Alfred Caldwell the major. In service with that regiment Major Caldwell was in active duty in all of the movements of the American army under the command of General Scott, after the battle of Cerro Gordo to the capture of the city of Mexico and until the close of the war. He saw much active service and received many compliments from his superior officers, and particularly for his brilliant and distinguished service at Chapultepec, for which he was breveted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, whence the title by which he was afterwards known. The regimental colors under his im- mediate command were the first American colors planted upon the walls of the Mexican stronghold of Chapultepec. So fierce was the conflict in which that part of the regiment under him was engaged that two or three of his color-bearers were shot down with the colors in their hands, and it fell to the third or fourth to actually plant the colors upon the walls of the captured citadel. These colors are now in the keeping of his brother, Mr. Isaac Caldwell, of Louisville, at his residence, where they are draped over an oil portrait of the subject of
this sketch-one of Healey's master-pieces. They came into the possession of Colonel Caldwell accompanied with the following note from his old superior and beloved officer, Joseph E. Johnston, dated at Louisville, where Colonel John- ston was then stationed in the engineer service of the United States army :
LOUISVILLE, April 1, 1854.
DEAR COLONEL :- I send by the bearer our old colors. You may remember that at our dispersion I took possession of them. It has since occurred to me that as most if not all our honorable marks were received while they were under your command, your claim is far bet- ter than mine to the ownership, and besides I want to keep before you a memento of our former association.
As ever,
Colonel Caldwell. J. E. JOHNSTON.
This old and battered and bullet-riddled flag and the fore- going note from General Johnston were always greatly cher- ished by Colonel Caldwell. His attachment for his old superior was an exceedingly warm one. He believed him to be the foremost man in the United States army, and never faltered or doubted in that belief.
After his return from Mexico in the fall of 1848, he had time before the Presidential election to make a partial can- vass of his old district in favor of the Democratic candidate in the Presidential contest of that year then pending. He did not support General Taylor, his old commander in the first year of his service in the Mexican war, but was true to his allegiance to the Democratic party and supported Cass. In 1849 he again became a candidate for Congress, and beat the regular Whig nominee of the district by a very large majority.
His district was then conceded to him, and it was the uni- versal opinion that he had but to say, in 1851, that he desired a re-election, but his health had failed ; he was conscious of a shattered constitution from maladies contracted in his cam- paigns in Mexico, and from his exciting political contests ; and he deliberately decided to desist from following the career of a politician, and to remove to Louisville, where he had long desired to live, and devote himself, for the rest of his life, to the profession of the law. Having determined upon this, his course formed an exception to the ordinary life of politicians, in this, that he carried out his purposes and rid his mind of the distracting interests of politics, became a close student of his profession, and, in a few years, acquired the position of the leading lawyer at the Louisville. bar, and the position of perhaps the most beloved man amongst those of his own profession who has ever practiced in that city. His style as a speaker was modest yet confi- dent, chaste yet sufficiently ornate, winning, and convincing. His manners were of faultless courtesy, alike pleasing to the court, to the jury, to the parties, to witnesses, and to the members of his own profession, from the oldest and most distinguished down to the youngest and least known. It was his singular good fortune to have always all the young mem- bers of the bar in love with him, and he is remembered and spoken of to-day, by those who were boys in the practice when he was in the zenith of his career, as the model lawyer and gentleman.
In this close and intense practice as a lawyer, it is not to be understood that he lost interest in the affairs of his coun- try. He was a true patriot, and a true lover of the constitu- tion and Union of the United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He did not fail to keep up with what was going on in the government of his country. On the con- trary, he took the most sincere and lively interest in what he considered the welfare of the Government and the people. And, although not in politics or a candidate for office after 1851, he was often referred to and consulted by his party in
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
party movements and emergencies, as an authority and coun- sellor, as a safe thinker and advisor, as a true Democrat and ardent patriot. Without solicitation on his part he was often called upon as delegate to State and National conventions in the fourteen years of his residence in Louisville. When called to these services he did not decline them, but per- formed them, returning at once, when the service was accom- plished, to the practice of his profession.
Amongst the devoted friends and admirers of Colonel Caldwell was Professor Harney, the distinguished editor of the old Louisville Daily Democrat. On the day succeeding his death that paper published an obituary attributed to Professor Harney's pen, from which we take these extracts:
After the war, Colonel Caldwell removed to this city. Here, with a junior brother, he has been engaged in the practice of his profes" sion. He gained the first rank at the bar, both as an advocate and counsellor. He was thoroughly learned in the law. It was his de- light, his solace, his amusement, his business. During his residence here he obtained the largest practice ever had in the city, and was also possessed of the finest reputation for ability, eloquence, and acumen. Few men were so chaste in their style of oratory. He had studied thoroughly the masters of old English, which knowl- edge, superadded to his thorough acquaintance with the ancient classics, gave him a force and vigor and clearness of expression which few possessed.
Into the sacred arcana of Colonel Caldwell's private relations we shrink from obtruding. He was a bachelor, large-hearted, gener- ous, genial, cordial, and amiable-unostentatious in his charities and ever distributing with a liberal hand his large income. Simple and unaffected in his manners, unpretending to absolute timidity, save when duty called him, he lived the object of love on the part of a large kindred, of admiration from friends, of respect and reverence from the whole commonwealth.
To the Democratic party he was a bulwark and a tower of strength, his last service being in their national conventions, where he always was a leader.
Such was the beautiful, consistent, heroic, patient, brave, and hon- orable life of George Alfred Caldwell. From his grave will arise the sweet and savory incense of thousands of grateful hearts who have known him but to love him. Kentucky will weave for him the chap- let and build for him the monumental pile worthy of his long and honorable career, while we who knew him will thank God that be- yond the tomb there is a resurrection for the great and good, as was George Alfred Caldwell in all the relations of life.
ISAAC CALDWELL.
The bar of Louisville has been greatly distinguished from the early years of its history for integrity, learning, genius, and industry. Names distinguished throughout the country for eloquence and profundity of knowledge are on its rolls. It has furnished to the State, Senators and eminent judges of the Appellate Court ; to the country foreign ministers, a Su- preme Judge, an Attorney- and Solicitor-General, and two Secretaries of the Treasury ; among its members have been numbered Governors of States and men distinguished in National politics, but not a few of its greatest ornaments have remained in honorable obscurity, unknown to the fame their modest virtues deserved but would not seck. The courts have been schools of learning and eloquence ; the able bar has made an able bench, and the ability of the judges has incited the lawyers to the highest exertions of their own power.
The gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch may be taken as a representative of the lawyers who to-day sustain the ancient reputation of that bar. The his- tory of his life is the history of the life of a lawyer ; the
achievements which have given him the admiration of his fellow-citizens, have been in the work of the practicing lawyer, undeviated from his course by the temptations of fame or the desire for the applause of the multitude. In his life we see the complete illustration of the power of steady purpose, triumphing over obstacles, and receiving the re- wards which await native capacity, combined with assiduity. Many men make the profession of the law but a means for obtaining entry into public life and subordinate their studies to political ambition. Lawyers of great attainments have done this, and men of transcendent powers have sometimes found a political career not inconsistent with severe applica- tion to the study and practice of the law ; but these instances are rare and may be explained by the fact that the attach- ment to the law was stronger than the passion for political strife.
The life of Isaac Caldwell exhibits no such aberration from the line of professional labor. He has proved steadfastly loyal to the inclination which first prompted him to under- take the arduous pursuits of a lawyer, and has been consistent in his ambition to win the honors and remunerations found in labors at the bar. We are indebted to a member of the bar who has known him intimately for the following brief sketch and estimate of his life and talents :
Isaac Caldwell was born near Columbia, Adair county, Kentucky, on the 30th day of January, 1824. A sufficient account of his parentage is embodied in the biography of his brilliant brother, the late George Alfred Caldwell, elsewhere in this volume.
He received, until his fourteenth year, the education which a good village school in those days afforded, then, for three years, wrote in the office of his father, who was then, as for many years, Clerk of the Circuit and County Courts in Adair county. The three succeeding years he spent as a student at Georgetown, Kentucky. He was singularly fortunate in thus combining a liberal academic education with the prac- tice, invaluable in after years, which his constant contact, during three most susceptible years, with the law and prac- tice of Kentucky, in its formal. application; still more for- tunate, in that he was surrounded with the best formative in- fluences of a refined and Christian home.
After his return from college Isaac Caldwell studied law for about two years, and, in March, 1847, was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice at Columbia, Kentucky. He studied at home without the assistance of an instructor, save that one winter he was a member of a small class of law students whom Hon. Zachariah Wheat, afterwards a judge of the Court of Appeals, daily questioned in their studies, and from these examinations and the explanations of the in- structor he derived much benefit. During the first year he had more success than beginners in the practice of law usu- ally have, from his knowledge of the law and his acquaint- ance among the people of his county. In January, 1848, Judge Wheat offered him a partnership, which was accepted, and for several years they practiced law in Columbia and on the circuit successfully together, and with mutual satisfaction and pleasure.
After George Alfred Caldwell, the elder brother of Isaac, already referred to, returned from Congress, in 1851, the partnership with Judge Wheat was dissolved, and the broth- ers formed a partnership in the practice of the law, which continued without interruption until the death of Colonel Caldwell, in September, 1866. They removed to Louisville in March, 1852, and opened their office, being induced to make the change by the desire to have the broader field of- fered by the city.
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HISTORY OF THE OHIO FALLS COUNTIES.
That the elder member of the firm was a man of distin- guished talent, eloquence, and skill as a lawyer and not less as a legislator, his biographer has sufficiently demonstrated. The junior member of the firm had, in a few years of prac- tice, won a place among lawyers and a reputation for learn- ing and talents with the people beyond that of any man of his age on the circuit. Thus prepared for business, by the time that they had become familiar with the peculiarities of the prac- tice in the city, George Alfred and Isaac Caldwell commenced to attract the attention of clients, and in the course of thiee years were well established in practice in all the courts. As is common in cities, the business of the office was divided by the members of the firm. Each taking different classes of prac- tice, Colonel Caldwell, from choice, took the common law and criminal cases, while the younger brother gave his par- ticular attention to the office work, chancery practice, and argument of cases before the court of appeals, only occasion- ally trying a case beforea jury. In their respective departments the two lawyers rapidly rose to a first place, their business grew to be in a few years of the character most remunerative and important, and for a long time before the death of Colonel Caldwell he had been regarded as unsurpassed at the Louisville bar in common law cases and as a criminal lawyer, while Isaac Caldwell, at the equity bar, occupied a corre- sponding position.
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