USA > Ohio > Memoirs of the lower Ohio valley, personal and genealogical : with portraits, Volume II > Part 12
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GEORGE WALTER CLEMENTS, a well known farmer of Union county, Ky., and superintendent of the Uniontown wagon factory, was born in Washington county, Ky., July 7, 1870. His parents, George R. and Sallie (Clement) Clements, were both born in Kentucky, the former in Washington and the latter in Union county. The paternal grandparents were George R. and Anna (Hamilton) Clements. George R. Clements came from Virginia at an early day and settled in Washington county, where he died in 1872 and his wife in 1880. The maternal grandparents were Walter and Martha (Payne) Clement. George Payne, the father of Martha, came from Virginia and was among the pioneers of Union county. George R. Clements, the father of George W., is still living in Washington county, where he follows the vocation of a farmer. He is a Democrat and takes an active interest in politics. He and his wife were both members of the Catholic church. She died in 1874. They had ten chil-
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dren, five of whom are yet living. George Walter Clements was reared on a farm and has followed that occupation all his life. He was educated primarily in the public schools, afterward attending Cecilian college. He owns 375 acres of good land in Union county and is one of the progressive farmers of that section of the state. For some time he has been discharging the active duties of super- intendent of the wagon factory, in which he is a stockholder. Polit- ically he is a Democrat and he and his entire family are members of the Catholic church. Mr. Clements was married in 1895 to Miss Mary Pike, a daughter of Sylvester Pike, mentioned elsewhere in this work. To this union there have been born five children : Ignatius Loyola, Sarah Aileen, Mary Susan, George Forrest and Agnes Amelia.
CHARLES A. J. KELLENAERS, cashier of the Farmers' bank, Uniontown, Ky., was born in Holland, Dec. 12, 1862. He received his primary education in his native land and at the age of seventeen came to the United States, attended the Kansas State normal school and the Catho- lic normal school, of Milwaukee, Wis. For ten years he followed the profession of a pedagogue. In 1894 he came to Union- town as a bookkeeper in the bank. His industry, fidelity, and quick intelligence won the approbation of his employers and when in 1902 the Farmers' bank was organized, buying out the old bank, Mr. Kellenaers was made cashier. He had previously been cashier of the old bank of Uniontown for about two years, and was largely instrumental in the organization of the Farmers' bank, in which he is a stockholder to a considerable extent. Politically Mr. Kellenaers is a Democrat and keeps thoroughly informed on the great questions of the day, though he is by no means an active politician. His highest aim is to intelligently discharge his duties as a citizen of his adopted country. In church matters he has adhered to his early training and is a member of the Catholic church. Mr. Kellenaers was united in marriage, in 1903, to Miss Ellen Lan- caster, a young lady of many excellent qualities and womanly graces, of Calhoun, Ky., and one son, Joseph Theophilus, has come to bless this union.
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SYLVESTER PIKE, a retired banker of Uniontown, Ky., was born in Meade county, of that state, April 30, 1830, and is a son of Joseph and Sarah (Howard) Pike, both natives of Washington county, Ky. Both of Mr. Pike's grandfathers came from England at an early date and settled in Washington county, where both lived to be very old. Joseph Pike received a com- mon school education, but was by nature a close student. He and his wife were both members of the Catholic church. Of their seven children two are living. Sylvester Pike was educated at Rogers college. His early life was passed on the farm, and as his parents were in moderate circum- stances he began life for himself with practically nothing at the age of nineteen years. His first business venture was as a lime burner, and it was in this business that he made the first start toward his fortune. He afterward followed farming for several years, buying more land occasionally until he was one of the most extensive land owners in the county. For more than twenty years he was inter- ested in banking operations at both Uniontown and Morganfield. It has been said that he made more money in the banking business than any other man in Kentucky, and he is perhaps the wealthiest man in Union county today. He owns two fine residences in Uniontown, the wagon factory, a number of farms, and has given to his chil- dren about seventy-five thousand dollars. One thing can be said of Mr. Pike's wealth, and that is that every dollar was honestly acquired. He has always been very liberal and lenient toward his debtors and has shown his public spirit by being a contributor to every scheme for the upbuilding of the town. Mr. Pike is an active Democrat and is an enthusiastic supporter of his party's principles. In religious matters he is a Catholic of the broad gauge sort-one who believes in charitable works and actions. He was one of the heaviest contributors toward the erection of the fine Catholic church in Uniontown and personally supervised its erection. He was mar- ried in 1850 to Miss Sarah Newton, a native of Washington county, and they have had born to them seven children. George is deceased, Benjamin J. is a prominent merchant of Uniontown and has large farming interests in the county; Emma is the wife of R. E. Newman, a farmer of Union county ; Agnes Maria is the Sister Superior of the
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Catholic school at Whitesville, Ky .; William Dun is a priest at Fair- field, Ky .; Mary is the wife of G. W. Clements, a farmer of Union county, and Catherine is the wife of W. M. Morgan, whose farm is said to be the finest in the county. Mr. and Mrs. Pike are both living, having been married for fifty-five years, and in their old age they are enjoying the fruits of their industry and frugality of earlier years and the friendship and esteem of all who know them.
JOHN R. TAYLOR, a retired farmer and business man of Uniontown, Ky., was born in the county where he now resides, June 14, 1825. He is a descendant of some of the oldest families of Kentucky. His paternal grandparents, Jonathan and Ann (Berry) Taylor, were natives of Vir- ginia, but came to Kentucky before the be- ginning of the nineteenth century. Jonathan Taylor had seven brothers in the Colonial army during the Revolutionary war. One of Jonathan Taylor's sons was Gibson B. Taylor, the father of the subject of this
sketch. He was the youngest of the family and was born in Clark county, Ky., in 1797. He studied medicine and when he was about twenty years old located in Union county, where he married Mary Rives, a daughter of Burwell and Mary (Gilliam) Rives, who came from Virginia and were among the early settlers of Union county. Dr. and Mary Taylor had eleven children, ten of whom grew to maturity and five are yet living. In his day Dr. Taylor was one of the best known and most successful physicians of the county. He was an active Democrat and served one term as a member of the legislature. John R. Taylor was educated in the common schools and has been a resident of Union county all his life, part of the time as a merchant of Uniontown and part as one of the leading farmers of the county. For the last two or three years he has been retired from active business cares, enjoying the fruits of his industry and frugality of former years. Mr. Taylor is a Democrat politically and takes a keen interest in all questions relating to public policy. He is a consistent member of the Episcopal church. On April 14, 1863, he was married to Miss Bettie R. Givens, a daughter of Lyle and Polly (Waller) Givens, who were among the first settlers of Union county. Aaron Waller, the father of Polly, was one of the
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very first citizens of the county and was for many years prominent in its affairs. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have had four children, only one of whom is now living. John Gibson, Mary, and Lyle are deceased, and Rives is the wife of Noel Berry, whose father, W. F. Berry, is mentioned elsewhere in this work.
ROBERT N. MERRITT, a carpenter and contractor of Union- town, Ky., was born in Meade county of that state, June 15, 1842, and is a son of Nathaniel David and Harriet M. (Beven) Merritt, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Nelson county, Ky. The paternal great-grandparents of Mr. Merritt came from Scotland. Three brothers came over at the same time; one settling in Vir- ginia, one in North Carolina, and one in Ohio. Nathaniel D. Merritt came to Nelson county when he was a young man, there married Harriet Beven, a daughter of Nicholas Beven, one of the pioneers of the county. After his marriage he removed to Meade county and there both himself and wife ended their days. He died March 9, 1862, and she on Aug. 9, 1867. They had a family of six chil- dren, three of whom are still living. The parents and grandparents on both sides were members of the Catholic church. Robert N. Mer- ritt attended the common schools in his boyhood and later took a course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College, graduating in 1861. The following spring he enlisted in Company E, Twelfth Kentucky cavalry, and served until the close of the war. He par- ticipated in the famous Morgan raid; was captured at Philadelphia, Tenn., Oct. 20, 1863, and held a prisoner until April 25, 1865; was five months in prison at Belle Isle, and at the famous Anderson- ville prison the rest of the time. He now draws a pension for dis- abilities incurred while in the service. After the war he took up the work of a carpenter and since then has been employed in the erection of some of the best buildings in the county. He and his family are members of the Catholic church, and he belongs to Post No. 206, Grand Army of the Republic, for the department of Ken- tucky. On April 1, 1867, Mr. Merritt was married to Miss Ann Melissa, daughter of Milton Greenwood, of Meade county, and to this marriage there have been born three children: Mary C. is dead; John N. married a Miss Maggie Nall and they had three children; one of his daughters married Robert Mattingly and died leaving one daughter, Annie May, now fifteen years old, and lives with her grandparents; his other two children were named Roy and Leo. Frances Belle, the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Merritt, is
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the wife of T. C. Below of Union county. John N. Merritt, the son, now lives in Missouri, where he is a contractor and builder, and is now postmaster of his town.
C. Z. CAMBRON, a distinguished lawyer of Uniontown, Ky., was born in that county, Aug. 12, 1864, and is a son of J. Matt and Ann D. (Wathen) Cambron, both of whom were born in Kentucky, the former in Washington and the latter in Union county. The great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch came from Mary- land at a very early date and was the founder of the Cambron fam- ily in Kentucky. The grandfather, Raphael Cambron, came to Union county as a teacher, afterward becoming one of the largest farmers in the county, owning a farm of 530 acres, on which a daughter of his, Paulina Smith, now resides. On the maternal side Mr. Cambron's grandparents were Theodore B. and Susan (Buck- man) Wathen, natives of Marion and Union counties, respectively. He was a farmer and carpenter by trade, and he and his wife both died in Union county. J. Matt Cambron was a farmer and an active Democrat politically. He died in 1866, but his widow is yet living. They had five children, four of whom still survive. The Cam- bron family are all Catholics, a bachelor uncle of C. Z.'s having given $25,000 toward the erection of the Catholic church at Uniontown. C. Z. Cambron was reared on the farm; attended the common schools and St. Mary's college, of Marion county, Ky .; came to Uniontown in 1855; was deputy county clerk under Capt. J. H. Wall; engaged in the dry-goods business; continued in that line until 1897; then took up the study of law; was examined by Hon. A. O. Stanley and S. B. Vance in 1900 and was admitted to the bar; has already taken a high rank as an attorney and was made city attorney in 1901, holding the office ever since. For several years he has been a notary public. Mr. Cambron was married on Nov. 17, 1885, to Miss Mary S., daughter of Robert L. and Rebecca (Ray) Byrne, both native Kentuckians, the former of Spencer and the latter of Union county. Mrs. Cambron's grandparents, William and Susan (Jarboe) Byrne, were early settlers in Spencer county, where he died, she spending her last days in Union county. On the maternal side her grandparents were Alexander G. and Mary (Kinslow) Ray, both natives of Washington county. The great- grandfather, John Ray, was a native of Ireland, settling in that county in 1813. Mrs. Cambron has one brother living-R. G. Byrne, an attorney of Uniontown. Mr. and Mrs. Cambron have five children :
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Robert T., a student at St. Mary's college and a graduate of the commercial course of Gethsemane college; Willie Mary, Charles Ray, Louis R. and Rebecca.
ROBERT WESLEY CRABB, a retired business man of Union- town, Ky., a son of S. F. and Mary A. (Mathews) Crabb, was born in Charleston, Miss., Sept. 25, 1848. His father was a native of North Carolina and his mother of Virginia. They were married in Mississippi, where both died in the same year-1858. He was a planter, an extensive slaveholder, somewhat active in politics as a Democrat, and both parents were Methodists in their religious faith. The Crabb family is of German extraction, the American branch having its origin in three brothers who came from Germany in the sixteenth century and settled in New York, North Carolina and Vir- ginia. The Mathews family is of old Virginia stock, the grand- father of Mr. Crabb having come from that State to Mississippi in the early part of the nineteenth century. Robert W. Crabb is one of a family of nine children, only two of whom survive. Until he was ten years of age he lived on his father's farm. At the age of fourteen years he became a courier in the Confederate service and later enlisted in Capt. W. F. Burk's company, Company E, Forty- seventh Arkansas cavalry, under Col. Lee Crandall, and served until the end of the war. After the war was over he came to Uniontown, where for twenty-seven years he was engaged in the hardware and implement business, becoming one of the best known and most widely patronized merchants of the place. For a number of years he served as mayor of the city and was internal revenue collector under President Cleveland's administration. During the four and a half years that he held the position he collected over half a million dol- lars. In 1900 he retired from active business, though he looks after his property, being a large real estate owner, and is the secre- tary and treasurer of the Confederate Mining Company, of Globe, Ariz. Mr. Crabb has accumulated every dollar he has by his indus- try and close attention to his business. He married Betty Edwards Delany, daughter of Judge S. D. Delany, formerly of Union county, but later went to Texas and died there. Mr. and Mrs. Crabb have had five children, three of whom are living: Davis D. married Kate Morris and lives in Uniontown; W. V. lives in Louisville, and Lista is at home.
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D. E. CAULTON, superintendent of the National Coal and Oil Company, of Uniontown, Ky., was born in the Province of Ontario, Canada, June 7, 1868, and is a son of Dr. F. G. and Lorinda Jane (Elliott) Caulton, the father a native of England and the mother of Canada. Doc- tor Caulton was educated in his native land; graduated in medicine in New York City, and is still engaged in practice in Canada at the age of seventy-three years. He and his first wife had five children, only two of whom are living: Frederick C., a wealthy grain and stock dealer of Nebraska, and the subject of this sketch. Their mother died in 1875 and their father married a second wife by whom he has two children living. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Caulton was a native of England and a prom- inent Baptist minister. He spent his last days in Canada. D. E. Caulton received a good education in the Canadian schools and began life as a civil engineer. For about seven years he was engaged at Cleveland, then two years at Chicago; came to Louisville and en- gaged in general engineering work until 1898; then became super- intendent of the coal company at Uniontown, now a part of the National Coal and Oil Company. Mr. Caulton is an expert in his line of work and in addition, to his technical knowledge of engi- neering has fine business qualifications. He was married at Morgan- field, Ky., in 1902, to Miss Emma Prentice, daughter of George A. Prentice, one of the leading lawyers of Morganfield, and they have one daughter, named Marion Elliott. Mr. Caulton and his wife are members of the Episcopal church.
H. E. WHITLEDGE, M.D., a promising young physician of Uniontown, Ky., was born in Henderson county, of the same state, Feb. 20, 1875. For several generations his ancestors on both sides have lived in Henderson county. His paternal great-grandfather was one of the first settlers, and his grandfather, whose name was Will- iam Whitledge, was a native of the county. C. C. Whitledge, a son of William, married Margaretta Cottingham, the daughter of Thomas and Sarah (Minton) Cottingham, both of whom were natives of Henderson county, and she is still living there. Thomas Cottingham was a tobacco merchant, and was the son of Isom Cottingham, one
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of the first settlers of the county. Both of Doctor Whitledge's parents are still living in Henderson county, where the father is en- gaged in the business of farming and tobacco buying. He is an active Democrat, a member of the Masonic fraternity, and he and his wife both belong to the Methodist church. Doctor Whitledge was edu- cated at the Corydon high school and graduated from the medical department of the University of Louisville in 1897. He first began practicing at Oakland City, Ind., but three years later came to Union- town, where he has built up a lucrative practice and has a high standing, both with his professional brethren and with the public. He is a member of the American and Kentucky State Medical asso- ciations and the Medical society of Union county. In political mat- ters Doctor Whitledge was reared a Democrat, but in local elections he votes for the man rather than for the party candidate, believing that good government depends upon the selection of honest and capable officials. In fraternal circles he is well known, being a mem- ber of the Free and Accepted Masons, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He was married in 1898 to Miss Edith Snyder, a native of Newburg, Ind., and they have one daughter, Elizabeth May, now four years of age.
JAMES E. BUCKMAN, head of the J. E. Buckman Grocery Company, of Union- town, Ky., is a native of that county, hav- ing been born there on Feb. 21, 1860. His father, L. M. Buckman, was a native of Marion county, Ky., a contractor and builder, and an active Democrat in his day. He died some years ago in Union county and his widow, whose maiden name was Jane Wathen, is still living there. She is a daughter of Stanns and Mary (Davenport) Wathen, both natives of Vir- gina, but came in their early lives to Ken- tucky. The paternal grandfather, William Buckman, was one of the pioneers of Marion county, Ky. L. M. and Jane Buckman had eleven children, five of whom are yet living. James E. was educated in the St. Rose parochial school of Uniontown and for several years after leaving school clerked in a drug store and later in a hardware store. About fifteen years ago he embarked in the grocery busi-
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ness and in 1897 the Buckman Grocery Company was established. Since then it has had the lion's share of the grocery trade of Union- town and the surrounding country. The success of the company is due largely to the fact that it does a strictly cash business and sells goods for the smallest possible margin of profit. It has been a potent factor in educating the people of Uniontown of the uselessness of the credit system, in which the honest patrons of a concern must pay the debts of the dishonest ones in the higher prices necessary to cover losses by bad debts. Mr. Buckman has been successful in life. He owns a number of houses and lots in the city, a small farm just outside the town, and property in Arkansas. His dealings with his fellow-men have been distinguished by punctuality and a strict adherence to the spirit and letter of his obligations. He was married on Sept. 25, 1898, to Miss Fannie Mayfield, a popular and accomplished young lady of Union county. The Buckman family are all members of the Catholic church and contributors to its charitable work.
JOHN MARAMAN BUCKMAN, col- lector, Morganfield, Ky., is a son of Wil- liam Dunbar Buckman, and was born in Nelson county, Ky., March 13, 1830. He takes his middle name from the family name of his mother. (For ancestry, etc., see Sketch of B. Z. Buckman.) John M. was educated in the common schools and at St. Joseph's college, Bardstown, Ky. In early years he worked as a carpenter, and was also interested in agricultural pur- suits. At one time he owned a farm near Morganfield, but after the death of his wife, on Aug. 11, 1890, he sold it and came to Morganfield, where he has since been occupied in his present line of business. In that time thousands of dollars have passed through his hands, but his accounts are always found correct, which is all that need be said regarding his
character as an honest man. Mr. Buckman is one of the active Democrats of Union county. From 1859 to 1863 he was deputy sheriff and sheriff and held the position of chief deputy under Sheriff R. S. Spaulding for two years. He has served for years as county assessor and has held other important and responsible positions. In church matters he is a true Catholic, to which church his family all
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belong. Mr. Buckman was married on Jan. 4, 1860, to Miss Mary A. Clarke, a daughter of Thomas James and Frances (Marshall) Clarke, of Morganfield, where they settled about 1836. He died in 1850 and his wife in 1887. Mr. and Mrs. Buckman had born to them ten children: Mary Clarke, Laura Mary, Frances Catherine, Samuel Edward, John Hamilton, William Clarke, Ann Elizabeth, Benedict Joseph, Charles Marshall and Ida Lillie. All are living except Laura, Ann Elizabeth and Charles Marshall.
BENEDICT ZACHARIAH BUCKMAN, a retired merchant and business man of Uniontown, Ky., was born near Leonardtown, St. Mary's county, Md., March 27, 1834. He can trace his ancestry back to early emigrants from England and Ireland. His paternal great-grandparents, John Baptist and Nancy (Drinker) Buckman, were natives of Lincolnshire, England, who came to Maryland at an early date. A son of this couple was Charles Buckman, the grand- father of the subject of this sketch. He was born in Maryland in 1752 and died in Washington county, Ky., in 1832. One of his sons was William Dunbar Buckman, who married a Miss Maraman, and these were the parents of Benedict Z. Buckman. The maternal grandparents were Zachariah and Ann (Howard) Maraman, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Maryland. Her parents came from France. A brother of Charles Buckman served in the war of the Revolution. William Dunbar Buckman was a farmer and mechanic. He came to Kentucky in 1796 and settled in what was then Washington, now Marion county. About 1852 he came to Union county, where he died Aug. 21, 1864. His wife died on April 28, 1845. Benedict Z. Buckman was reared on the farm, attending the subscription schools of that day, where he managed to pick up a good practical education. He began life as a clerk in a grocery ; was elected constable when he was twenty-one and served two years; came to Uniontown in 1858 and went to work in a dry-goods store; was deputy sheriff from 1860 to 1862; enlisted in the Con- federate army in Johnson's regiment of Kentucky cavalry; fought at Milton, Tenn., and in numerous skirmishes in that state and Ken- tucky ; was with Forrest at Chickamauga; fought under Wheeler after the capture of General Morgan; was captured on the Tennessee river in 1864, and paroled at Nashville; commissioned to raise a company, but the war being almost at end the company was never organized. After the war Mr. Buckman came to Uniontown and took a position in the grocery store of Byrne & Chapman. This concern changed
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hands while he was there but he remained with the firm until March, 1873, when he bought an interest in the grocery business of S. A. Davis & Co. The following January he bought the entire stock and a little later formed a partnership with William Albert, as Albert & Buckman, and this partnership lasted until April, 1876. Mr. Buck- man was made police judge in the following August and served until February, 1878, when he resigned to return to the grocery business with J. C. David. In November of the same year Mr. David sold out to Thomas J. Pike, and in June, 1879, the firm was succeeded by J. A. Mason & Co. Mr. Buckman was then assistant postmaster for some time, after which he was in the sewing machine business for several years. He was then with C. H. Blanford & Co. for some time; formed a partnership with Abram Davenport which was dis- solved in 1889; then sold out and went to Maxonmill, where he was in the grocery business and assistant postmaster; was next in busi- ness at Paducah for about two years; came to Uniontown again in 1892 ; worked for the firm of J. H. Chapman & Son for a while, and from November, 1898, to February, 1903, he was a partner and manager of the J. O. Buckman grocery business. Since then he has lived retired. Mr. Buckman is a Democrat of the rock-ribbed variety, and he and his family are members of the Catholic church. He was married, May 8, 1871, to Miss Mary E., daughter of Raphael T. and Elizabeth (Watt) Cissell, of Morganfield. Her father was born in Marion county, Ky., and her mother in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Buckman have had no children of their own but they have reared several adopted children.
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