USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume I > Part 15
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GEORGE HOAGLAND CONWAY was born on the Hoagland farm in Hunter's Bottom, on the Ohio river. His ancestors came from Wales to Virginia soon after the Cromwell rebellion. The more immediate ancestors of the Kentucky Conways can be traced back to Peter Conway, who was born in Fauquier county, Va., Oct. 14, 1746, and married Mary James, Nov. 15, 1769. John Conway, their son, was born Oct. 16 1770. He married a Miss Hopwood, and in the fall
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of 1802 brought his wife and three little children, with his negroes, to Kentucky, buying a tract of land in what is now Trimble county, near Milton. He was a man of remarkable memory and well informed on the Bible, being for many years a noble worker in the Baptist church. He still owned his farm at the day of his death, which occurred in the ninety-second year of his age, leaving seven children, five boys and two girls. Peter Conway, his fourth child, was born in what is now Trimble county, March 25, 1803. He married Mary Caroline, daugh- ter of Cornelius Hoagland, in 1828, and moved on the part of the Hoagland farm belonging to his wife in what is now Carroll county. Mary Caroline Hoagland, his wife, was born April 2, 1798, in Morris- town, N. J. Her father, Cornelius Hoagland, was born April 12, 1750, and married Mary Trittle, who was born Dec. 15, 1757. He and his oldest son, Moses, came to Kentucky in the year 1800, and bought a tract of land nearly three miles in length along the Ohio, reaching from Hoagland's Branch to Milton. At that time all of this section was a perfect wilderness, and only a few white men lived there- Bristow, Geo. Boon and one or two others. A man by the name of Hunter had been there several years before, following hunting and trapping for a living, and that gave the tract the name of Hunter's Bottom. He had his camp on what is now the Conway farm, near the mouth of Locust creek. In the spring of 1801 Cornelius Hoagland brought his wife, eight children, his brother John, his sister Anna, and several negro slaves from New Jersey to settle in his new home in Hunter's Bottom. There were two children born in this new home. While overseeing a clearing on his farm a burning limb fell on Corne- lius Hoagland, killing him, July 6, 1806. He left a wife and ten chil- dren whose average age at death was over eighty years. Six of them lived to be long past ninety. Peter Conway and his wife, Mary Caro- line Hoagland, had six children; Mary Jane married Captain Oldham of Oldham county, for whose ancestors the county was named; he was a captain in the Union army in the Civil war and died soon after- wards, leaving two children, James Peter, a physician in San Antonio, and Mary Caroline, who lives with her mother at Carrollton, Ky. George Hoagland Conway is still living on the old Conway home- stead and has lived in Hunter's Bottom all his life. He was married in 1889 to Jessie Thompson, who was born in Newport, Ky. One daughter, Mary Caroline, blessed this union. She was born March 28, 1897; Richard lives half a mile from the homestead; William Harvey resides in Oldham county, Ky .; Clinton and John Martin are both deceased.
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REV. IGNATIUS M. AHMANN, rec- tor of St. John's Catholic church, Car- rollton, Ky., was born in the city of Dorsten, Prussia, Oct. 12, 1865. While studying the classics under Dr. Krampf, Bismarck instigated the "Kulturkampf," closing the ecclesiastical seminaries in the German empire. This led Father Ahmann to come to America to finish his prepa- ration for the priesthood. After arriving in this country he studied under Drs. Dyer and Dumont, the latter now a pro- fessor in the Catholic university at Wash- ington. He was raised to the clerical state in the cathedral of Balti- more, June 11, 1887, by Cardinal Gibbons of that city. After a three years' course in theological studies, he was ordained priest in the cathedral at Covington, Ky., by the Rt. Rev. Camillus P. Maes. The first appointment of Father Ahmann was that of assistant pastor at Newport, Ky. In 1894 he was made the rector of St. John's Catholic congregation at Carrollton. This congregation had its origin in 1850. When the smallpox epidemic spread over the city of Cincinnati sev- eral German Catholic families sought refuge from the disease in Car- rollton. There they were without church or priest until the following autumn, when Bishop Spalding of Louisville sent Rev. Father Lean- der Streber once a month to visit them. The corner-stone of the church was laid on the last day of July, 1853, Rt. Rev. Martin J. Spalding officiating. The first church building cost a little over $2,000. Before it was completed the congregation was taken from the Louis- ville diocese and attached to that of Covington, under Bishop Carroll. In 1861 a modest parsonage was erected by George Beyer, at a cost of $400, and about the same time a school house was built at a cost of $277. From the time of the laying of the corner-stone to 1870 the congregation was attended by Fathers Schaffroth, Winaud, Weissen- berger, Gregorius, Froelich, Watson, Englebrecht, Stephany and Schiff. Father Stephany erected a new school house in 1865 at a cost of $2,000. In 1870 Father Schmidt, now of Dayton, Ky., lifted the last dollar of the indebtedness that had for so many years been a bur- den to the faithful little flock. He was succeeded by Fathers Kollopp and Richartz, who served until 1894, when Father Ahmann took charge, as already stated. During the last ten years the congregation has enjoyed a satisfactory growth and prosperity and it is today one
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of the leading religious organizations of Carrollton. Father Ahmann is at present engaged in erecting a beautiful Gothic church at a cost of $50,000, from plans made by Leon Coquard, the well known archi- tect of Detroit, Mich. On Sunday, Oct. 5, 1902, was the grand celebra- tion of laying of the corner-stone. The Knights of Columbus of Cin- cinnati arrived early in the morning with Hill's select military band, and many strange priests came with them. About eleven o'clock the Rt. Rev. Bishop C. P. Maes, D.D., arrived with his chancellor, Rev. James L. Gorey, the silver-tongued orator, who delivered the festive address in the afternoon. Col. Lewis E. Casey, the editor of the Kentucky Commonwealth, and Miss Mary Florence Taney, the famous author of the "Kentucky Pioneer Women," graced the city. Miss Taney had composed a poem and dedicated it to Rev. Father Ah- mann. Mr. Levassor of Cincinnati had set it to music, and it was played for the first time by the band on this occasion. Miss Taney is a relative of former Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, and through him related to Francis Scott Key, author of the "Star-Spangled Banner." Chief Justice Roger B. Taney was married to Miss Key, sister of the com- poser of America's national hymn. For this memorable occasion Rev. Father Ahmann has written his book "Forget-Me-Nots of Past and Present," an historical work. The Golden Jubilee was celebrated in a worthy manner in the city and county of Carroll, named in honor of the distinguished Catholic legislator, statesman and signer of the Declaration of Independence. When completed, St. John's will be a monument to the self-sacrificing spirit of the priest who has toiled so faithfully and patiently for its erection, and an ornament to Catholi- cism in the State of Kentucky.
RICHARD CONWAY, a well known farmer near Milton, Ky., is a native of Carroll county, in that state, where he was born May 25, 1833, and is the third child born to Peter and Mary (Hoagland) Con- way. (For ancestry, see sketch of George H. Conway.) At the age of twenty-one Richard began farming for himself. For a time he rented land, but after the war he went to Missouri, where he bought land in Knox and Davis counties. Subsequently he returned to Car- roll county and took charge of a farm there. In 1880 he purchased 119 acres on the Ohio river, five miles below Carrollton. To this he has added until he now has one of the finest farms on the river, con- . sisting of 240 acres, good buildings, etc. His residence stands upon a mound constructed by the ancient Mound Builders, and relics of this extinct people are abundant on his farm. In digging a cistern a few
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years ago Mr. Conway unearthed two skeletons, each more than seven feet long. Mr. Conway has been twice married: first to Miss Fannie Baker, a daughter of William and Anna Maria (Ambrose) Baker, and by this marriage he had one daughter, Fannie Baker. Her mother died in March, 1883, and on Dec. 8, 1889, Mr. Conway was married to Margaret J. White, a daughter of William Sylvester and Elizabeth (Rauch) White, the former a native of Carroll county and the latter of Montgomery county, O. Mrs. Conway's father was the son of William and Jane (Hoagland) White, and her grandfather was also named William White. His mother, Margaret Hoyt, who was twice married, was the first white woman to live in Cincinnati. They came to Cincinnati while the place was nothing but a fort, later coming to the place known as "Hunter's Bottom," in Carroll county, and for many years he was engaged in boating on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. He was a major in the state militia in an early day. The father of Mrs. Conway left home with a capital of thirty-five cents; learned the plasterers' trade; worked at it in Indiana and Kentucky; later went to Missouri and farmed until 1863; married in that state, and Mrs. Conway was born near St. Joseph. Mr. White served with General Price in the Confederate army; had two brothers killed in that army; returned to Kentucky and took care of his parents during their lifetime; went to Kansas in 1883, and died there in 1899. His widow still lives at Pittsburg, Kan. They had a family of twelve chil- dren: Mrs. Conway, Henry C., George L., Mary E., Harriet V., Will- iam Sylvester, Emma S., Adeline A., John E., Martha J., Sarah and Julia. All married except the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Conway have three children: Mary E., Richard and George White, all at home with their parents. Mr. Conway is a Democrat politically and takes a keen interest in all questions pertaining to public policy. He is a member of the Baptist church, and his wife belongs to the Methodists.
JAMES S. DEWEESE, a farmer and stock raiser near Milton, Ky., was born in Carroll county of that state, March 13, 1857. He is the youngest of thirteen children born to Cornelius and Hannah (Gres- ham) Deweese, the father a native of Kentucky and the mother of Maryland. The paternal grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania, a descendant of the old Knickerbocker stock of New York. After reaching his majority he went to North Carolina and later became one of the pioneers of Mercer county, Ky. Cornelius Deweese was left an orphan at a tender age and was reared by John B. Thompson, whose grandson, Phil. Thompson, afterward became one of the promi-
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nent lawyers of Kentucky. At the age of fourteen years he left Mr. Thompson's home and began the battle of life for himself. For three years he followed boating on the Kentucky river, then went to Louis- ville, and at the age of twenty was the manager of a hotel known as the Wall Street House. Later he bought the hotel and cleared $100,- 000 there in four years; sold out and went into the commission busi- ness; later followed flatboating on the Mississippi river until his health failed; made a fortune in this business; came to Carroll county in 1845; built the finest residence between Cincinnati and Louisville; made a specialty of fine stock, taking numerous prizes at fairs; was called the "Potato King" of the Ohio valley; helped to organize the first Odd Fellows lodge in Louisville and the lodge at Milton; died April 1, 1896, and his wife, March 28, 1884. He left the largest estate ever left in Carroll county. He and his wife had a family of thirteen children, four of whom are still living: Cornelius, residing in Louis- ville ; Virginia, wife of B. F. Fitch, a Methodist minister of Winchester, Ky .; Hannah, widow of S. B. Hitt, and lives in Louisville, and James S., the subject of this sketch. Mr. Deweese received a good educa- tion, and was for some time associated with his father in business. In 1886 he came into possession of his father's farm, by purchasing the interests of the other heirs, and since then has improved the farm until it is one of the finest and most productive in Carroll county. He has over 1,000 acres of fine land and gives much of his time and attention to the production of tobacco. His residence is fitted with all those conveniences to be found in the modern city residence, is connected by telephone with Carrollton and Madison, Ind., and is noted for its hospitality. Mr. Deweese was married May 25, 1880, to Miss Anna M. Alexander, a native of Jacksonville, Ill., and a daughter of John T. and Mary A. (Deweese) Alexander. During the sixties her father was the "Cattle King" of the world, owning 36,000 acres of land in Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Deweese have two children: Cornelius, in business in Louisville, and Annette, at home with her parents.
W. TALBOT OWEN, M.D., deceased, an eminent physician of Kentucky and Mississippi, was born at Port Gibson, in the latter state, Nov. 3, 1829. His family was originally from Virginia, his grand- father, John Owen, being one of the early settlers in Shelby county, Ky., shortly after the Revolutionary war, in which two of his brothers fell while fighting for the cause of liberty. Dr. James Harvey Owen, the father of Dr. W. T. Owen, was born in Shelby county; began the practice of medicine in early life ; practiced in Missouri and Mississippi
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for many years; located in Louisville, where he owned a large drug store at the time of his death. Dr. W. Talbot Owen grew to man- hood in the city of Louisville and graduated from the university there with the degree of M.D. For some time practiced his profession in Mississippi, but later returned to Louisville, and was for six years pro- fessor of the principles and practice of medicine in the Kentucky School of Medicine. During that time he gave the foundation of a medical education to hundreds of young men, who have since had cause to remember him as a painstaking instructor, and one who was well grounded in his subject. After giving up his chair in the college faculty he practiced in Louisville until his death, which occurred on Jan. 17, 1892. Dr. Owen married Miss Sally E. Hoagland, a daughter of Moses T. Hoagland, a prominent citizen of Carroll county, Ky., and a distinguished soldier of the Confederacy. (See sketch of Ellen P. Hoagland.) To this marriage there was born one daughter, Car- rie, who graduated from Holyoke college, and studied both music and art. She married J. E. Bowman, and they live with her mother, first at Louisville, where both mother and daughter are members of the Fourth and Walnut Street Christian church, and since the death of Dr. Owen on the farm owned by Mrs. Owen in Carroll county, and which had formerly been the summer residence of the family.
CYRUS S. TANDY, a successful farm- er and stock raiser of Carroll county, Ky., residing near the town of Milton, is of Irish extraction and can trace his an- cestry back to that of Naptha Tandy, who was exiled from Ireland at a very early date. The great-grandfather, John Tandy, was one of the pioneers of Car- roll county, coming from Virginia about the close of the Revolutionary war. One of his sons, named Roger, married Sarah Wayland, daughter of another old Car- roll county pioneer, and one of the chil- dren born to this union was Samuel Tandy, the father of the subject of this sketch. Samuel married Emarine J., daughter of William Spi- cer, who was also one of the early settlers of that section of Kentucky. Samuel Tandy died in the year 1885, and his wife in 1894. Cyrus S. Tandy was born in Carroll county, Nov. 18, 1858. He received a good education and lived with his father until 1885. On February 25th of
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that year he was united in marriage to Adelia Guiltner, whose ances- tors came from Germany during the Colonial period. Her great- grandfather, Bernard Guiltner, was a native of Pennsylvania, but came to Kentucky along with the tide of immigration in the early part of the nineteenth century, and settled in Bourbon county. At the time his son, Francis, the grandfather of Mrs. Tandy, was a boy. He came to Carroll county in 1820, bought the place now owned by Mr. Tandy and built the house in which he lives. This farm of 400 acres he owned until his death. Mrs. Tandy is a daughter of David and Martha (Jesse) Guiltner. On her mother's side she is descended from some of the oldest families in Kentucky. Her great-grandfather, Samuel Jesse, was one of the early Baptist preachers of the Ohio valley, and her grandmother was a daughter of Col. Virgil McCrackin, who was killed in the war of 1812. Mrs. Tandy is the eldest of three children. Philip is a physician in Illinois, and Thomas resides in Madison, Ind. Her father died in 1881 and her mother in 1901. Mr. and Mrs. Tandy have a family of seven children: Pauline, David G., Ella Jean, Roger P., Nannie B., Cyrus S., Jr., and Mary Jessie. All are at home with their parents. Mr. Tandy now owns over 400 acres of fine land and has one of the best farms in the county. He takes an active interest in politics as a Democrat, and has held the office of county assessor.
RICHARD JACOB WOOLLEY, manager of the "Owens Farm," in Carroll county, Ky., is a son of Daniel Vertner and Elizabeth Mc- Dowell (Jacob) Woolley, and was born April 14, 1872. His father was a native of Lexington, Ky., and his mother was born in Cooper county, Mo. The ancestry on both sides have been prominent in the annals of the country. Aaron K. Woolley, the grandfather, was a professor of mathematics at West Point; afterward professor of law in the Uni- versity of Kentucky at Lexington; practiced law there for years; cir- cuit judge of Fayette county; member of the legislature, and promi- nent in politics. He married Sally H. Wickliffe, daughter of Robert and Margaret (Howard) Wickliffe, of Mercer county, Ky. Her father was a millionaire and was an eminent lawyer. Margaret Howard's father was a son of the Duke of Norfolk's youngest son. Daniel V. Woolley, father of Richard, was a successful farmer near Lexington for some time; went to Arkansas about 1875; returned to Kentucky eight years later; removed to Madison, Ind., the same autumn; still later went to Northfork, Mason county, Ky., where he died in Febru- ary, 1899. On the maternal side the grandfather was Col. R. T. Jacob, whose father, John J. (better known as John I.) Jacob, was born in
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Baltimore, Oct. 20, 1778, and came with his father to Kentucky in 1790. The more remote ancestry can be traced back to a John Jacob, who came from England in 1665 and settled in Maryland. Col. R. T. Jacob was a wealthy farmer near Westport, Ky .; prominent in Demo- cratic politics; colonel of the Ninth Kentucky cavalry during the Civil war; elected lieutenant-governor of Kentucky in 1863; served as com- missioner of parks for the city of Louisville for several years, and was one of the best known men in the state in his day. In early life he went with Gen. J. C. Fremont to California. His first wife was Sarah, a daughter of Thomas H. Benton, to whom he was married Jan. 7, 1848, and by whom he had two children, Richard T. and Elizabeth McDowell. Thomas H. Benton was in the United States senate for thirty years from Missouri. He married Elizabeth McDowell, a daughter of Colonel, and a sister of Governor McDowell of Virginia. After the death of his first wife in Louisville, Jan. 4, 1863, R. T. Jacob married Laura Wilson of Lexington, and to this marriage there were born John D., William J., Donald R., Laura W. and Brent Cook. Daniel and Elizabeth Woolley had a family of eight children, viz .: Vertner, deceased; Sarah H., wife of Dr. J. M. Latham of Alabama; Berta W., Mrs. Howard M. Barrett of Birmingham Ala .; Leila M., Mrs. B. J. Mays of Florida ; Thomas B., married Mary B. Holland and resides at Johns, Ala .; Mary P., wife of J. E. Cuzzort of Memphis, Tenn .; Preston, unmarried, and the subject of this sketch. After acquiring a good education, Richard J. Woolley turned his attention to farming, especially the breeding of high grade stock. At the age of nineteen he took charge of the well known Preston & Norfolk stock farm of 2,400 acres in Trimble county, and managed it successfully for twelve years. At the end of that time he went to Carroll county as the manager of the Owens Farm, where he has been since. He owns property in both Arkansas and Kentucky and is one of the best in- formed stock breeders in the latter state, which has been noted for generations for its blooded horses and fine cattle. Mr. Woolley is an unswerving Democrat, and is one of the leading members of that party in his county, though he bases his political convictions upon the prin- ciple involved rather than a desire to hold office, and is not a candi- date for any position in the gift of the people.
W. A. SHIRLEY, one of the leading business men of Sanders, Car- roll county, Ky., was born in that county, and is a son of John W. Shir- ley, a native of Gallatin county. The grandfather, Miley Shirley, came from Virginia at an early date, and the more remote ancestry came I-11
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from Ireland. Miley Shirley was a prominent farmer of Gallatin county, where he held the office of county assessor. He was a Whig until that party was disbanded, and after that was a Democrat. John W. Shirley was a teamster and farmer. He did overland freighting before the advent of the railroad; finally settled in Carroll county and took up the occupation of a farmer until his death in the fall of 1881. His widow still lives on the old homestead. Both parents were mem- bers of the Christian church. They had nine children, viz .: W. A., the subject of this sketch; T. M., who was burned to death in his infancy; G. W., now associated with his brother in business; Ellen, deceased; J. E., a farmer in Carroll county ; E. F., in the livery business at San- ders; F. W., a dealer in fine horses at Sparta, Ky .; Nora, wife of Wal- ter Kennedy and resides on the old homestead; F. B., deceased. In the fall of 1886 W. A. Shirley traded a team and wagon for a stock of drugs at Eagle Station; followed this business until the fall of 1889; in 1890 came to Sanders and opened a general store; sold out in 1891 and for awhile operated the livery business now owned by J. C. Grif- fith; formed a partnership with his brother in 1892 and embarked in the business of general merchandizing, dealing in tobacco and live stock; built a large store in 1900, and a fine residence since. Mr. Shir- ley is an active Republican; has been frequently sent as a delegate to conventions; served as a member of the county council; and in 1901 was appointed postmaster. He and his brother have the largest mer- cantile establishment in Sanders, carrying a complete stock of general merchandise and machinery. Mr. Shirley is also a director in the Sanders Deposit bank, which was organized on July 23, 1904, with a capital stock of $15,000, and of which G. W. Deatherage is president. He is also interested in the Eagle Valley Lithia Water Company. Mr. Shirley was married on Dec. 5, 1878, to Miss Susie K. Southworth, a native of Owen county, Ky., and a daughter of James and Lucy South- worth of Scott county. To this marriage has been born one son, Arthur W., born Sept. 20, 1880, and on Dec. 28, 1898, he was married to Miss Rosa D. Williams. They have one son, Russell M., born Nov. 5, 1902. Mr. Shirley and his son are both members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, and the father is also a member of the Daughters of Rebekah. He and his family all belong to the Christian church. Mr. Shirley is a fine specimen of a self-made man. All he has and all he is have been the result of his own efforts through the exercise of his industry and intelligence.
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BARTLETT AND ROGER T. SEARCY, well-known farmers, of Carroll county, Ky., are both natives of that county, the former born Dec. 2, 1834, and the latter Aug. 18, 1837. Their father was R. W. Searcy, a native of Madison county, Ky., where his father, Richard Searcy, settled in an early day, coming from North Carolina. A few years later he removed to Carroll county, located on White's run, cleared a farm and lived there until his death. Some time in the twenties R. W. Searcy married Ellen B. Wayland, and the following children were born to this union: William H., who died in infancy; John James, now residing in Carrollton; Richard W., deceased; Bartlett and Roger T., the subjects of this sketch; Susan, who married L. O'Neil and after his death A. Wilson, and now a widow; Martha E., wife of J. W. Gardner, living on the old home farm. This farm the father bought in early life and lived upon it until his death in the spring of 1882. His wife died some time in the sev- enties. Bartlett and Roger T. married sisters, Nancy E. and Pauline A. Spicer, daughters of William and Catherine (Cog- hill) Spicer, who came from Virginia in the pioneer days of that section of Kentucky in which Carroll county is situated. Cath- erine Spicer died on March 28, 1864, and William Spicer on Nov. 18, 1884. Bart- lett and Roger T. Searcy began life as farmers in Carroll county, but after six years Bartlett sold out and went to Gallatin county, where he remained for ten years. In 1876 he and his brother Roger bought the old Spicer farm in Carroll county, consisting of about 200 acres of good land, and lived there until 1884, when they bought the farm where they now live. This farm consists of over 300 acres, with a beautiful residence overlooking the Ohio river, and is located in Carroll county, about two miles above the town of Milton. They have no children, and the two families occupy the same house. Both are Democrats in politics, and in their tastes and inclinations they are as much in harmony as they are in their political affiliations.
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